"Clark, we've got a problem," Chloe said into her phone.

Not even two seconds later, there was a knock on the door.

Emmeline just shook her head and laughed. It was funny how all of the unexplainable things that had happened in the past now made sense.

Chloe jumped up and opened the door. "Fast but oddly formal. Usually when I say it's urgent, you whip in here without the least regard for my privacy."

"I didn't want to disturb you," Clark said as he walked in and looked around.

"Don't worry, Lana's not here. Actually, she didn't come home at all last night." When she saw the look on Clark's face, she quickly added, "It's not another guy. She's just been hanging out with these med students, and they keep really wicked hours." Chloe resumed sitting in front of her desk. "But you know, Clark, it will happen. Eventually, she will find someone else."

"She deserves to be happy."

The way he said that, Emmeline felt he was trying to convince himself more than them.

"What's our crisis?" he asked.

"Mass destruction and death in Central America and the possibility that your former professor, Milton Fine, is involved."

"He's dead."

"I know we thought we saw him die, but the only thing we're really sure of is that he disappeared, and so did that ship."

Chloe printed off what was on her computer. Someone had sent her a picture taken in South America, and Chloe had zoomed in to reveal Fine's face in the background.

Clark looked at the print of the picture in disbelief. "Where'd you get this?"

"A source tipped me off."

"The last time he was involved, he tried to kill me just to hurt you," Emmeline put in. "I would like to not have a repeat of that experience."

The door opened and Lana along with one of the med students Chloe had mentioned walked in.

Clark's eyes widened at the sight of his ex-girlfriend. He had never seen her look so sick before. She had shadows under her eyes and her entire face was deeply pale. He may have told her that he didn't love her anymore, but it was a complete lie and it took everything he had to not throw his arms around her and shield her from whatever had made her this way.

Everyone in the room awkwardly looked at one another as Lana and Clark simply stared at each other, both at a loss for words.

"Catch you later, Lana," the med student said before quickly leaving.

"Yeah," Lana answered softly.

She glared at Clark before moving over to her side of the room.

Chloe quickly ushered Clark out of the room. "Call you later."

Clark cast one more look towards the young woman he loved so much before the door shut.

"Sorry," Chloe apologized.

"You guys are friends. It was bound to happen sometime, right?"

"Um, I didn't think you'd be back. So, uh, should I even bother asking you what you were up to last night?"

"Just hanging out, Chloe. It was no big deal."

"Maybe not. But it doesn't really look like all-nighters agree with you. Are you okay?"

Lana put her schoolbag over her shoulder. "I'm okay."

"'Cause you don't look okay. Lana, I know that Clark's breakup has been really difficult but—"

"Chloe, it's not like someone died, all right? People break up every day. It's not a big deal. I'll get over it."

"Lana, it's okay to feel upset," Emmeline told her. "Break-ups require a grieving process just as much as a death does."

"I'm fine. Quit worrying about me."

Lana hurriedly exited the room.

"I don't know what's going on, but this goes way past any of the steps involved in the grieving process. There's a difference between hurting and hurting yourself."

"Yeah, I know," Chloe agreed. "But there's not much else we can do. We can't force her to talk about her problems. Lana's way of dealing with grief is to just pretend the problem isn't a big deal and attempt to rush past it."

"If only it was that easy."


Emmeline had just entered Chloe's dorm room when the blonde was getting ready to leave.

"Hey, I thought we were going to do some homework."

"Yeah, that was until I got a call from Lex saying Lana tried to steal money from him and now she's missing along with his car."

"Wait…what?"

"Come on, I'm going to go talk to Ally."

"Who's Ally?"

"That one med student with way too much makeup."

The two girls hurried to the dorm room Lana had messily written down on a piece of notebook paper. The door had an Egyptian ankh on it which meant 'eternal life'. They were probably in the right place.

After Chloe knocked, the door opened to reveal the same woman who had dropped Lana off the day before. Except now, she looked even sicker than Lana had. Her makeup was all gone and had been replaced with extremely reddened eyes and ashy skin.

"We need to talk," Chloe demanded before stepping into the room.

Ally smirked. "Lana warned us her roommate was nosy."

"You look worse than Lana."

Ally sat on her bed and pulled a thick blanket around her shoulders despite the fact that she was sweating. "So you're gonna go all 'Mrs. Brady' on me, bring me some chicken soup?"

"No," Chloe answered firmly as she pulled up a chair and sat directly across from the girl. "I'm here because I'm worried about my friend. Look, Lana's boyfriend just broke up with her, and she's really vulnerable and depressed right now. The last thing she needs is to flunk out of school because she's out all night partying.

Ally coughed harshly. "And you think it's your business?"

"Yeah, I know it's my business. And if you don't tell me what you guys are up taking all night, I'll make it the university's business too."

"Chill. Lana hasn't been partying, and she isn't moping around mourning her high school sweetheart either."

"Well, she isn't exactly acting like herself. And the two of you look like the poster children for the Betty Ford Clinic."

"Look, I told you to let it go. Now, I'm done talking with you."

Ally started to get up, but Chloe firmly pushed her back down. "No. What is she taking? Drugs?"

Ally chuckled lowly. "You're so small-minded. No wonder Lana came to us."

"Came to you for what?"

"That's between Lana and her loved ones."

Suddenly, Ally started choking and gasping for breath. Her previous smirk was quickly overtaken with fear as she grasped her throat.

"Ally, what is it?" Chloe asked quickly. "What's happening?"

"Near-death experience," Ally choked out.

Chloe looked over at the pile of books by the bed, all of them detailing the afterlife and out-of-body experiences.

"It's a compound…meteor rock."

Ally leaned over and coughed up blood onto the white blanket.

Chloe and Emmeline bolted next to her in a flash. Chloe put her hands to her back while Emmeline put hers on her knees. Ally continued to cough up blood until her hands and face were stained red and the thick liquid dripped from her palms to continue tainting the comforter.

The blonde frantically pulled out her cell phone. "I need an ambulance, please. It's an emergency. Crosshouse, room 1170."

"Please," Ally whimpered. "I don't want to die."

She choked again and then collapsed onto the bed…motionless.

Emmeline put her hand to her mouth and fought the urge to vomit. "I'm going to go look for Lana," she stated. "Call me if you find out anything."


Emmeline burst into one of the lab rooms in the medical building. "Lana!"

Lana frantically turned to look at her, her entire body shaking.

"Thank goodness I found you." Her eyes widened when she saw the small syringe filled with green liquid in her hand. "Lana, listen, you can't use that. Your friend, Ally, she—"

"I know, she's dead."

"Wait, but…but if you know…why are you still trying to use that stuff?"

"You don't understand," Lana whimpered. "I…I get to see my parents with this. I know it's a risk, but for that one moment where I get to see them…"

"Lana, do you really think your parents would want you to do this to yourself?"

"You don't know a thing about my parents, so shut up."

"Maybe not, but I know they love you and they wouldn't want you to put yourself at risk for them."

"Just one more time. One more and I can see them."

"How do you know you'll even wake up this time?"

Lana looked at her angrily. "I am so sick…of you always telling me how I'm doing everything wrong. How I can never live up to your perfect expectations. And now you're even saying my parents would think so? What about you? You've talked about your mother almost every single day for the last year. If you could see her again, wouldn't you take that chance?"

Emmeline didn't know how to respond. Lana may be acting like a junkie, but all those feelings had to come from somewhere. How long had she been feeling this way towards her?

"Well, maybe this will show you."

Lana jammed the needle into Emmeline's arm.

Emmeline cried out in pain and tried to remove the needle from her bicep. She painfully dislodged the object and immediately felt her heartbeat slowing.

Then she collapsed onto the floor.

Lana looked at the girl in horror as the reality of what she had just done hit her. "Oh, no…" she whispered. "What have I done?"

Someone grabbed her from behind and painfully whipped her around. She found herself face-to-face with a very angry Lance.

"Ah, I figured I'd find a junkie where the needles are," he said coldly. He slammed her into one of the medical shelves. "Let me help." He picked up the fallen bottle of the serum and laughed when he saw Emmeline lying on the ground. "Is she a friend of yours? Well, I guess you saved me the hassle of having to finish her myself."

"No," Lana whimpered.

Lance grabbed the needle Lana had used on Emmeline and filled it with the green liquid. Then he forced Lana up by her hair and turned her head so he could expose her neck. "Tell Ally I said hi," he growled.

Suddenly, Lana stumbled forward as Lance's grip on her released. She frantically turned around and saw Clark. She never thought she would be so thankful to see him after everything that had happened between them.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Clark, please help me," she begged softly. "I need them."

"Lana…"

"Please. And Em…"

Clark looked at the floor where Emmeline's unconscious body lay.

"Clark!" Lana yelled.

Clark quickly turned around just in time to stop Lance from pushing the serum into his neck. Unfortunately, the green liquid had been made from kryptonite and Clark felt himself weaken instantly. He tried to push Lance away but with his strength stolen from him, Lance was able to shove the needle into his chest.

Clark screamed in agony as the liquid entered his bloodstream. He collapsed on the floor next to Emmeline.

"Clark!" Lana screamed, running to his side.

Lance forced her up again before hitting her in the face. "You know how much trouble you caused me? Freshmen."

"We need to help them."

"Or choice 'B'." Lance picked up a bone saw and turned it on much to Lana's horror. "I'll take care of all three of you."

Lana glared at him, her anger overtaking her fear. She refused to die here at the hands of this psycho. It was his fault she was addicted to his little project and that she had put two of the people closest to her at risk. She reached behind her and felt a glass beaker. As Lance got closer to her, she picked up the beaker and slammed it over top of his head.

Lance screamed in pain as the liquid inside the beaker got into his eyes. He dropped the deadly weapon and put his hands to his face.

Lana watched with disgust as he fell over and landed directly on top of the still-running bone saw.

With Lance dead, Lana raced over to Clark's body. "Clark! Clark!"

After several tense seconds, Clark's eyes opened and he sat up. How he had managed to come to without the counteractant didn't make any sense to her, but she gasped with relief when she saw he was alive.

However, that relief was short-lived.

"Emmeline!" Lana cried. She crawled over to her best friend. "I…I think it's been too long."

Clark used his x-ray vision to scour the lab for anything that might save Emmeline's life. He came across syringes tucked away in a fridge and quickly opened the container to see what was inside.

Fortune smiled down on him because the syringes contained adrenaline. Why they were here, he didn't know but now wasn't the time to ask.

He quickly went over to Emmeline and ripped open her shirt, hoping she would forgive him if and when she woke up. Thankfully, she wore a black camisole beneath the shirt.

Then he plunged the large needle directly into her chest.


Emmeline looked around her and realized that she was back in her living room.

How had she gotten here again?

A woman entered from the kitchen, and Emmeline couldn't believe it.

"…Mom?"

"Hi, baby."

She rushed directly into her mother's arms and clung onto her as tightly as she could. She felt that if she never let go, somehow, her mother would never leave her side again.

"I miss you so much," she said softly.

"I know." Her mother forced her to pull away. "Honey, what are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're holding onto the past far too strongly. I know how much you miss me, and that's okay, but I don't want you to lose sight of what you still have."

"How can I focus on that when you're gone?"

"Because you still have so many people who care about you. Your father, and Chloe, and Lana, and Clark are all there for you. Look ahead to the future and you might like what you see."

"It's just…lately I've felt…so confused and lost…and I can't talk to anyone about it. I still need you. I need my mother."

"Sweetheart…you still have a mother."

Emmeline shook her head. "She's not my mother."

"She may not be your mom, but she is your mother. And she wants to have a relationship with you. She'll always listen to whatever you want to talk about. It's okay to talk to her. You won't be replacing me."

Emmeline hugged her again. "I wish I could stay here with you forever."

"I know. But you have to go back. You have people waiting for you."

"I love you."

"I love you too, sweetie. Good-bye."


Emmeline's eyes flung open, and she bolted upright taking heaving breaths in between ragged coughs.

Lana gasped in relief once again.

Clark put his hands on Emmeline to steady her. "It's okay, you're all right, take some deep breaths."

Emmeline put her hand to her chest which ached something fierce.

"I'm so, so sorry…" Lana cried.

Emmeline felt tears come to her eyes. Lana mistook them as tears of fear and anger at coming so close to death, but it was really because of the still vivid conversation she had had with her mother and remembering what it was like to be in her embrace.


"So apparently, actually dying neutralized the kryptonite in your system," Chloe explained to Clark. "That's good to know."

"Yeah, although, it's nothing I ever plan to try again," he answered dryly.

"Wise decision. What did you find out about your favorite Professor? Has Milton Fine been resurrected?"

"Fine was definitely in Honduras with the black ship. I just don't know how."

"That concerns me," Emmeline stated. "Isn't there any way to get rid of him? Preferably before he attacks either you or me or anyone else again?"

"I don't know," Clark said honestly.

Chloe sighed. "Well, I'll reach out to my source and see if they know anything else. Clark, don't worry about it. You won the first fight. My money's on you in the rematch."

"Chloe, I don't think Fine is the only thing we need to worry about. When I was injected with the serum and died, I saw my father."

"Holy crap, Clark…"

"Yeah, he told me that there's someone else who knows my secret. Lionel Luthor."

"…Well, you can't be sure. I mean, what you saw, it could have been a hallucination. You know, a manifestation of your desires and fears."

"Chloe, I could feel my father. It was real. I know it in my heart."

"…Well, the source that led me to Fine was Lionel."

"What? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Clark, he made me promise to keep his involvement quiet, under the umbrella of a reporter/source confidentiality. He knew exactly how to play me."

"He may be playing all of us."

"But if he really does know your secret, why hasn't he done anything?" Emmeline asked. "Why hasn't he come forward or approached you about it or asked your mother?"

"Maybe he's just biding his time. I feel like we don't even know the man anymore. Ever since he was in prison, he's not the same Lionel he was before, but I don't know if that means he's willing to take my secret to the grave."


Emmeline knocked on the dorm room door. "Hey."

Lana turned and awkwardly crossed her arms over her chest. "Um…hey, Em." She took a couple steps forward. "Look, I—"

"Let me talk first."

Lana quieted.

"About what you said…there was some truth to all of that. Lately, I haven't really been taking your side of things into account. I've accused you and I've blamed you for things that weren't always entirely your fault. And what I said about your parents…it was inconsiderate of me, and I'm sorry."

Lana scoffed lightly. "Em…I'm the one who needs to be apologizing to you. You literally died because of me. And that's…unforgivable."

Emmeline took a deep breath. "When I was under…I saw my mom."

"…You did?"

"Yeah. And when I woke up, I was ready to do anything to see her again. To have her hold me just a little longer. I didn't know what that felt like."

An awkward silence stretched throughout the room as both tried to think of what to say next.

"How did you…get over that feeling?" Lana finally asked.

"Mom told me that I had been living in the past too much. I knew she wouldn't be very happy with me if I tried to see her again. She told me it was okay to miss her, but I had to focus on what I had not what I lost."

Lana smiled sadly. "That's what you were trying to tell me, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but it clearly wasn't the time for that, and if I had been in your shoes, I wouldn't have listened to me either."

"I'm so sorry, Em. For everything."

"I'm sorry too. But at least…I got to say good-bye."


Emmeline took a deep breath and dialed the phone.

"Hello?" a voice answered.

"…Hannah?"

"Emmeline! It's been a long time! It's so good to hear from you!"

"Yeah, I'm sorry for not calling sooner."

"It's okay. What's going on?"

"I just…thought we could talk…for a little while…if that's all right."