When they got through the crowd that had gathered, Kelly saw that the police had one kid on the ground in cuffs, the other kid was holding his face and crying, Mr. Kent was holding a towel to the kid's face, and Lex was crouched on the ground with his face in both hands, blood seeping between his fingers.

"Just these two hurt?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah," someone answered.

"Alright, Mr. Kent, let's see what we got," she said, having him move.

Quinn handed her a clean rag and a water bottle. She dumped some water on it and, as gently as she could, started cleaning the blood off the kid's face.

"Kid, what's your name?" She questioned the boy.

"Ni-Nicholas," he replied.

"Ok, Nicholas. I think you're going to be ok. Broken nose, lots of bruises, but nothing seems broken. Anything else hurt?"

"My ribs. My jaw"

"Ok. Quinn, take Nicholas to station 5. Get some ice on his face and wait for an ambulance," she told Quinn, leaning closer, "And while you're at it, take care of the nose."

He nodded and pulled Nicholas to his feet, a police officer and Mr. Kent going with them.

She turned to Lex and held onto his wrists, "Lex, let me see."

He sat unmovingly. Kelly figured it was the crowd and wanted to move him so she could see what was going on.

"Everyone, get back to what you were doing! Now!" she ordered.

Everyone quickly started to move, Kelly seeing Clark coming forward.

"Kent! Come help me!" she called.

Clark helped Kelly bring Lex to his feet and the nearest empty classroom station.

"What happened?" Clark questioned.

"I don't know. Davis said something about a fight and brass knuckles and Lex and your dad," she tried to explain.

"What?"

"Kids with brass knuckles. Your dad and Lex probably trying to break it up. Clark, I don't know, ok?"

"Where's my dad?"

"He's fine. With Quinn and the kid at station 5."

Clark helped put Lex in a chair, then left to find his dad, closing the door behind him.

Kelly took a deep breath, "Ok, Lex… Lex, I need you to move your hands."

He still didn't move, so Kelly held onto his wrists, stroking the back of his hand with her thumb, leaning close to him,

"It's just you and me here, ok? Just me and you baby and I got you. You're ok," she whispered.

Slowly, he started to move his hands away from his face. His hands were coated in blood, as was his face, a deep gash above his eyebrow.

She tried to keep her composure, grabbing more water and another towel to clean him up. The cut on his face would need stitches, but otherwise, he seemed ok. A split lip, and a bruise by his eye. He remained quiet while Kelly worked, watching her face while she focused on her task.

"I think you're all set," she told him.

"Thank you," he told her, "You're good with people, you know that? Keeping them calm."

She gave a wry smile, "You kind of have to be when you have a dying soldier on your hands. You don't want them to panic, so you have to be calm. Even when you have every reason in the world to be scared and panic."

"I'm glad to have you back."

"It's just for the weekend. To get this done."

"Still. I've wanted to talk to you, I just… haven't found the words."

"It's ok. You know, your wife is probably waiting for you."

"I'm not married."

"Lex, come on. I saw the papers."

"I had the marriage annulled. It was all a con."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I should be apologizing to you. I made promises-"

"They were words on paper. You don't owe me anything."

"I meant every word I said. I still do."

"Lex… there's something I have to tell you."

His face fell a bit, but he tried to maintain his poker face.

"About a year into my enlistment… I got married. I annulled the marriage three weeks in because I realized what a mistake it was, but-"

"But," he continued.

"He never signed them. I only found out today. I haven't seen him in like two years, and today he pops up and tells me that he never did it."

"Do you still love him?"

"No. Honestly, he can't be far enough away from me these days."

"Why tell me this?"

"Because I keep a lot of secrets from a lot of people. I don't want to keep secrets from you. I care about you. And I don't want you to find out something that would think less of me."

Lex sighed and kissed her forehead, "I could never think less of you."

Cupping his hand on the back of her neck, he reached down and kissed her. Kelly kissing him back, holding onto his shoulder.

They stayed that way for a while until the door swung open,

"Hey, Kelly, just making sure-" John broke off, seeing Lex and Kelly together.

Kelly broke away from Lex, "John."

"Get back outside Lang," he snapped before turning and stomping away.

"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear," she stated.

"That's him?" Lex asked.

"Yeah."

"I hope I didn't get you in too much trouble."

"I can handle him. Besides," she reached up and kissed him again, "Worth it."

He laughed, watching her walk out of the room.

The only reason he was even there was to talk to her in the first place. He wanted to explain what happened and tell her that what he said was still true. When he saw her name on the list of people teaching the different stations, he knew it was his best chance. Getting caught in that fight was pure bad luck. Or maybe just dumb luck. Either way, he was kind of glad that it happened. If it didn't, he wasn't sure if he would've been able to get Kelly alone and fix things. And based on what had just happened, he'd say things were fixed.

Later on, Kelly found John finishing cleaning up and restocking some supplies.

"Hey," she called, getting his attention.

He looked up at her, "You need something?"

"I came to apologize. About earlier."

"Is he why you want a divorce so badly?"

Kelly shook her head, "He and I haven't known each other long. And recently, I thought he had gotten married to another woman."

"If not because of him then tell me why, Kelly."

"John. You know that I loved you-"

"Then why did you leave?" John shouted, "We were doing great, we were fine. And then you just take off and send me annulment papers in the mail."

"I didn't want to leave, John, I had to. I didn't have a choice," she replied, "Your temper was out of control."

"My temper? My temper is fine."

"No, John. It isn't. You get mad over the littlest things and it escalated very quickly and when you-" she broke off, taking a deep breath, "I know that the PTS gets to you, but-"

"What do you know about PTS?" John shouted, getting angrier, "You haven't seen or dealt with half the things I have. You need to stop being on my case about that."

"And what about what you did the night before I left? Am I supposed to just forget about that?"

John sighed, "Kell, I'm so sorry that even happened, ok? I'm never going to forgive myself for it. But it was one mistake and it won't ever happen again. I swear Kelly."

"I want to believe you Johnny, but you've said that before. And things are different now."

John nodded slowly, "Fine. If you want me to sign the papers so that you and Mr. Clean can be together, then I will. But I'm always going to love you."

"Kelly?" Lana called out, "Do you have a minute?"

"Of course. Just give me a second," Kelly told her.

Lana nodded and left, Kelly turning back to John.

"That's your sister, Lana, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, it is. Listen, take care of yourself, ok?" she answered.

He nodded, giving her a half-smile. She leaned over and kissed his cheek before going back to Lana, dragging her sister outside.

"What's up?" Kelly inquired.

Lana handed her a photo, "I found this while I was going through some things."

Kelly looked at the photo, recognizing her mother right away, "It's mom."

"I know that. But that's not dad. Do you know who that is?"

Kelly shrugged, "Don't know."

"It's so weird, you know? Thinking about mom being with anyone that wasn't dad. And the date on the photo-"

"Lonnie, be reasonable."

"Did mom and dad ever fight?"

"Everyone fights. Mom and dad, the Kents, everyone."

"You and your husband?"

"Ex. And how do you even know about that?"

"Your friend Davis told me."

"Goddamnit Anthony," Kelly muttered, "It's beside the point."

"I asked Lex to look into it for me."

"I think you should let it go. You might not like the answer."

"Kelly, what aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing. Listen, I got you something."

She fished in her pocket, pulling out a silver chain with a green elephant charm at the end.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" Lana gushed as she put it on.

"Jade Elephant. It's supposed to be for luck," Kelly explained, "Lonnie, I'm being sent overseas. This weekend's going to be the last you see of me for a while."

"What? Where? And for how long?"

"I can't tell you. I only found out a little while ago. They said it so nonchalantly," Kelly let out a dark chuckle, "We won't be able to call or write much, but I will as often as I can. Um, I know that you just met them and all, but Davis, Quinn, and I have a pact. If anything happens to me-"

Lana opened her mouth to protest, Kelly putting her hand over her mouth to silence her.

"If anything happens. They've been told to look out for you, take care of you. If it was one of them going I'd be held to the same promise."

"They aren't going with you?" Lana questioned as soon as Kelly removed her hand.

Kelly shook her head, "Not this time."

"If this is lucky then, you should take it," insisted Lana.

"I don't think it'll work. My luck, it'll keep me alive, yours will get me home."

"I won't take it off," Lana swore.

"Good. Now, I'm going to go take a shower and change. Wanna get dinner with the boys and I after?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah, that sounds great."

"I'll see you at the diner in about an hour."

"Ok."

After watching Lana walk off, Kelly headed back to her hotel. She showered and changed into regular clothes, then pulled out her phone, clicking on one of the contacts.

"Hey, it's me. Are you busy?" she inquired.

"For you? Never too busy. What's up?"

"I was thinking of stopping by for a bit. If that's ok with you of course."

Lex let out an exaggerated sigh, "I don't know Kell. What would your husband have to say about that?"

"About as much as your wife would," she replied.

Lex laughed, "I'll be home whenever you're ready."

"I'll be on my way over."

She hung up and called a cab to the mansion, making sure the door locked behind her.

"It seems like every time I have something to tell you we're in this room," Kelly commented, sitting on Lex's desk.

Lex leaned back in his chair, "Every time you come over with news, it's usually bad."

"This time it's good, bad, and in-between," she shrugged.

"What's in-between?"

"The boys, Lana, and I are going out for dinner at the diner. They would like you to come with us and so would I."

"The boys?"

Kelly smiled softly, "Anthony Davis and Quinnlan O'Brian. We call him Quinn. I've known them since basic training. They're my brothers, my family. Just as much as Lana."

"Is this your way of telling me you want me to meet your family?" Lex teased.

"You know me so well. Actually, they very much want to meet you."

"Should I be nervous?"

"I don't think so. I think they're just curious to meet the guy that can make me so happy and break my heart."

"Kelly-"

"Hey, it's ok. It's done now."

"If that's considered in-between, then what's the bad news?"

"When I leave tomorrow… I'm being sent overseas. I can't tell you where or for how long, but I'm going."

"I was afraid you'd say that. Would we - can I-," he sighed, "What does that mean?"

"You can write to me as much as you want, but it might take a while to get to me. I might be able to call sometimes. But I'll be there until either they decide I can leave or when my tour is done."

"There's supposed to be good news in all of this?"
Kelly nodded and reached up to her neck. She unclasped the chain and pulled it away from herself, holding it up for Lex to take.

"Lana gave me this when I left for basic training. She said it would keep me safe," she explained.

Lex grabbed the necklace and studied the pendant, running his thumb over the engraving, "St. Michael."

"Yeah. The protector. I want you to hold onto it for me."

"I can't. You should wear it."

"Just hear me out," she said, stopping him, "I know that I can be seen as impulsive when it comes to me and relationships. What I did with John was stupid, but it helped me figure out, that I want to come back to you," she took the necklace and placed it in his hand, closing his fingers around it, "I'm coming back for this. I'm coming back for you. Because I love you."

Lex didn't respond for a while. He just stared at the medallion in his hand.

"When my mother died, I began to build a wall around my heart. Every year that wall grew taller and more fortified until eventually, it became impenetrable," he began, "I spend almost every day afraid that I'm going to become my father, incapable of letting people in. You're the only person who's ever been able to break through that wall. I love you, Kelly."

He pulled her into his arms, resting his head on top of hers.

"Promise me you'll come back," he whispered.

"I'll always come back," she promised.

Eventually, Lex and Kelly joined everyone else at the diner. The guys and Lex getting along great and Lana getting to know her pseudo brothers better, Quinn telling her about his wife and two children back in Boston.

"While we're on the topic of family," Lex started, "What would the three of you say if I told you I planned on asking Kelly to marry me?"

A/N: Woah. Kelly dropped the 'L' bomb. and Lex said it back! I did use the speech he gave to Dr. Bryce in the show because it seemed like the most genuine confession of love from Lex. And of course, there are so many other bombs dropped in this chapter, who knows what'll happen next. Stay tuned and be well!