A/N Okay guys, I have edited this story so GO BACK to the beginning. A lot has been cleared up and some things have changed. So DO NOT continue until you have started again. Hope you like the changes and the additions.

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Soft music filled the ballroom, white and red rose petal littered the marble floor. A younger Lex and Chloe walked in, Chloe dropping her jaw in wonder.

"Lex, this is..." she looked around, taking in the heavenly romantic scene.

"Chloe Sullivan speechless, I must have done something right." Lex grinned down on her.

"Well, it's not bad," she said trying to sound snotty, "A live orchestra would have been better than recorded music." She smiled.

"Who said its recorded music?" She blinked and turned towards where he was pointing. Up on a balcony sat a full philharmonic orchestra playing a soft sonata.

She smiled fully then, reaching up and pulling him down for a kiss. "Okay, so this is perfect." Lex tenderly ran his hand through her short blond hair, loving the feeling of her softness in his fingers.

"Do you deserve less?" he questioned, pulling her to the center of the ballroom into a slow dance.

"I would be more than content just to have you." She smiled softly, "About what I deserve, you might be right, I deserve this and more." She widened her eyes to add to the joke.

He reached down for a kiss, holding her lips between his softly and tenderly.

Her body against his and the music moving slowly between them was the greatest sensation he had ever felt. At that moment he felt complete, capable of anything. The sky was no limit for him, he could go beyond, just as long as she was by his side.

That had been the night he had asked her to marry him. The memory still lay fresh in his mind. It played itself over and over again, sometimes in his dreams, sometimes when he was wide-awake.

Now it had come to him sitting in his office, running over the last few changes of the day, night winning over daylight. She hadn't understood the role she played in his life, she had been his balance, and the only good thing in him was what he felt for her. But all that goodness hadn't been enough to dampen his need for greatness.

"Mr. Luthor" the intercom rang. "A Mr. Kent is here to see you."
Kent? It had been a long time. He sighed, sure anything Jonathan had to say to him would be anything but pleasant.

"Let him in." He ordered. He stood and prepared to receive him.
The doors opened and a tall suited man walked in. Lex tried to recognize the man behind the thick glasses.

"Mr. Kent? It wouldn't be Clark Kent, would it?" He smiled and shook his head.

"Hello Lex." Clark said.

"I knew a Clark Kent once, he was my friend." His features hardened.

Clark sighed and cocked his head. He had been afraid of this.
"Lex, please." He pleaded.

Lex stared at him silently for a couple of seconds. He grinned and then sat behind his desk, offering him a chair with a wave of his hand. Clark walked closer to the desk, but didn't sit.

"To what do I owe this honor?" the sarcasm was evident in his voice. Clark wondered how he could be so offended after all that he had done.

"I need to hear your side of the story Lex." He had decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Really? The eternal optimist, Clark Kent. There is no other side. Whatever you have heard is probably true."

"Then you killed Lana's husband and are holding her captive?" he questioned.

"Oh that I hadn't heard. No, that was a lamentable accident, no more, and Lana isn't captive, she is the head of PR. She travels on my behalf. As a matter of fact she is in France right now; too bad you missed her." He lied easily, looking at him straight in the eye.

They stared each other off for what seemed an interminable time. Lex broke the silence, but didn't avert his eyes.

"If that is what you came for then there you have it, my side of the story. Now if you will excuse me, I have business to attend to."

"I believe you, for now. I only hope we can at least be cordial to one another." Clark said.

"I still owe you my life Clark, I can be anything except unthankful." He turned his chair towards the window behind him.
Clark turned and left without a word.

He walked out of the building, calling a cab that passed by. Once inside he opened his briefcase and looked up the address to Lex's penthouse. He gave the address to the driver.

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He walked out of the cab, the night had grown thick with fog. Lex was still in the office, but he didn't know when he would be back, he would have to be quick.

He scanned the floor where Lex's penthouse was. He spotted one figure, moving busily in what looked like a kitchen. The rest of the floor was empty. He sighed heavily, for even though he knew that to hope to find her in the first try was unlikely, he had hoped he would.

He was about to call another cab when he decided to have another look. The figure, now identified as a maid of some sort, was still in the kitchen, she was placing plates and a glass of liquid on a tray. She walked towards the elevator, raising his curiosity. The elevator went down several floors until it stopped and she walked out. He then quickly scanned that floor. It was mostly devoid of any furniture. The maid went straight towards a door and opened a lock. He then scanned the room. A person lay in the corner opposite of the door, behind the bed, in a fetal position.

He blinked his sight back to normal. He looked at the doorman, who was now looking at him suspiciously, due to his extended stare at the building. He decided against going in through the front door. He smiled at the doorman and walked away.

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The maid opened the door and turned on the lights. She placed the tray in the small table next to the bed and walked towards the window.

"It's stuffy in here ma'am. It's not good for you to have the window closed." She opened the window, letting the soft night wind enter the room. She knelt besides the woman on the floor. "You have to eat something. You know how Mr. Luthor gets when you don't eat." She felt sorry for her, but her fat paycheck helped her set her priorities straight.

"Then don't tell him." She barely heard the soft response.

"He notices whether I tell him or not. You are practically skin and bones! Come on." She helped her up.

Lana let the maid guide her towards the chair next to the bed. She let herself be fed in silence.

Once she had finished at least half of the meal she refused to eat more and the maid decided to let it pass. She picked up the tray and left the room, locking it again behind her.

She cried tearlessly, just a dull pain filling her body, having no more tears left, only ghost of tears and cries she felt, but could not materialize.

She then heard a loud swish; she ignored it, thinking it was the wind playing with her curtain and the branches of the large tree outside her window. She had tried climbing down that tree once, but the branches that connected the tree with her window were too small to hold her weight.

"Lana?" She heard a soft deep voice calling her. Had she fallen asleep? She turned her head towards the sound. A large man was standing on the other side of the room.

"Lana." He called again, the tone of the voice seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't place it. She stared again at the man, and then blinked. This was no dream.

"Clark?" Were her eyes playing tricks on her or was Clark really in the room? She got up from her chair and walked slowly towards the figure.

"Yes Lana, it's me." He said sadly, taking in her ghastly and pale demeanor. What had he done to her?

She stifled a cry and wrapped her arms around him, the familiar smell of him filling her senses. She was safe, now she knew.
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