PART NINE


"How are you feeling?"

Startled, Chloe looked up from notepad she was scribbling on. A new visitor stood in the doorway to her hospital room.

"Hi, Lex," she smiled. "I feel fine, thanks. In fact, I'll probably be going home tomorrow morning."

"That's good to hear." Lex stepped further into the room and closed the door. "Considering the fall you took, you were lucky not to have been hurt worse than you were."

"Yep. All I got was a lucky mild concussion, not to mention bruises in every color of the rainbow. But I didn't break anything, like my neck." She pointed to the small, white bandage on her head. "And they even managed to stitch me up without cutting too much of my hair."

"Which is, of course, the most important thing." With a wry smile, Lex lowered himself into the chair next to the bed.

Chloe grinned. "Hey, the last thing I need after my ordeal is bad hair. And, believe me, I know how lucky I am that I wasn't hurt worse." Slowly, her grin faded. "In fact, according to the doctor, if you hadn't found me, I might never have fully have regained consciousness, and I'd probably still be lying in that clearing. Which makes me wonder." She hit the young millionaire with her most penetrating, no-nonsense stare. The kind seasoned reporters used to get the answers to tough questions. "How did you find me, Lex?"

When Lex opened his mouth to answer, she held up a hand. "And don't give me that fairytale you fed my dad and Clark. They might believe you went to the lake 'to think'"—she made air quotes—"and it was a happy accident that you stumbled across me, but I don't. So, what really happened?"

But it seemed her penetrating, no-nonsense stare needed work, because Lex ignored the question altogether. "I have some interesting news," he said.

Chloe sighed. She should've known it wouldn't be that easy.

"Two young boys," Lex continued, "Tommy Fielding and Craig Ebert, confessed to being behind the ghost scare."

"What?" Chloe eyes widened in surprise. "When?"

"They officially turned themselves in this morning. Apparently, after hearing what happened to you while you were chasing them, they were overcome by remorse and confessed to their parents."

"Wow. I guess you can't underestimate the power of guilt."

"True. Although I sometimes think guilt is highly overrated."

Chloe rolled her eyes, which caused I minor head twinge. Wincing, she closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them again, she saw Lex staring at her notepad.

"A white noise generator?" he asked, one brow peaked in curiosity.

"Oh, yeah." As she remembered her idea, Chloe grinned with renewed excitement. "I was thinking about the problems you're having with your senses, and I remembered that some people who live in big cities use white noise generators at night to block out the sounds from outside. It helps them sleep. Now, I'd need my laptop to be sure, but I think you can get portable generators, which might help control your sense of hearing when you go out in public. They're probably expensive, but I'm thinking that won't be a problem for you."

Chuckling to herself, Chloe made some notes on her notepad. She didn't like to brag, but she thought it was a brilliant idea.

A full minute of silence had passed before Chloe realized Lex hadn't said anything. When she looked up, she found Lex staring at her, a frown creasing his brow.

"What?" Chloe said, feeling a twinge of doubt. "You don't think it will work?"

"No, I think it might," Lex said. "In fact, you've been a great help the last few days. You pulled me out of the zone at the Talon. You brought me that article, which convinced me I wasn't delusional. Then, at the lake…" He paused, his gaze thoughtful. "Do you remember me finding you?"

A little taken aback by the change of subject, Chloe shrugged. "Um, barely. I think I woke up long enough to see your face, but that's pretty much it. Why?"

He took in her answer, considered it carefully, then nodded as if she'd confirmed something for him. But instead of telling her what, all he said was, "Hmmm."

"What?" Chloe demanded, more than a little frustrated. "What does 'hmmm' mean?"

But he didn't answer. Instead, his customary smirk curling his lips, he stood up. "I'm sorry my visit has to be so short. I'm expecting my father in an hour and, knowing him, he's probably already at the mansion. But, before I leave, I do have a favor to ask."

Chloe gritted her teeth so hard, her jaw popped. It was obvious the man liked doing stuff like this. He gave you just enough to let you know he had something interesting to say, and then he didn't say it. She pitied his employees. If they had an ounce of curiosity in their bodies, dealing with him on a day-to-day basis would…

"I'd like you to act as my Guide," Lex said, interrupting her mental rant.

Chloe was so surprised, her eyebrows disappeared under her bangs. As frustration was shock, all she could say was, "Huh?"

Smiling at her reaction, he continued. "In order to learn to use my abilities, I need to practice, to learn control. Considering what will probably happen once I start consciously trying to focus on my senses, I'd like someone there to pull me out if I zone. Since I don't want to tell anyone else about my…abilities, and you already know, you're the logical choice."

She supposed that made sense. She could just imagine some member of Lex's staff—or, worse, his father—walking into a room to find him staring at a wall, then being unable to 'wake' him up for 10 or 15 minutes. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they'd think. And they wouldn't be good thoughts, either.

"I see your point," Chloe agreed. "But I don't know any more about Guiding a Sentinel than what I read in that article."

"Neither do I. But I think I can figure it out, especially if someone else is there for me to bounce ideas off of. Besides," Lex said as he tapped her notepad, "you already have some good ideas about dealing with my senses."

As Chloe considered his words, she nibbled at her bottom lip. She had to admit she was fascinated by this whole Sentinel thing. She didn't even care that she couldn't print a story about it in the Torch. This was about her own curiosity. All of a sudden, learning more about Sentinels was all she could think about.

But, after hours on the Internet, she hadn't found more than a few brief mentions of the "myth" of the Sentinel. She knew that, if she wanted to know more, she'd have to get the information from Lex. But after giving him that article by Blair Sandburg, she'd figured getting him to tell her anything would be like pulling teeth.

Now here he was, offering her a front row seat to the entire thing. She'd be crazy to pass up this opportunity.

But her excitement was tempered by uncertainty. It wasn't like she could take a correspondence course on how to be a Guide. What if she did something wrong? Were specific things they needed to do to help their Sentinel develop? Were there things they absolutely shouldn't do because they would hurt the Sentinel, make his condition worse?

"Well?" Lex asked, not a hint of impatience in his voice. In fact, he sounded only mildly interested in her answer. Like, if she said no, he'd just find someone else to help him.

Chloe sighed. She really wanted to know more. Plus, while she was helping him, she might just find out how he'd really found her at the lake.

Coming to a decision, Chloe smiled. "When do you want to start?"

*****

As Lex paused outside the door to Chloe's hospital room, relief coursed through him. For a moment, he wasn't sure she'd agree to help him, despite her curiosity. Despite the little hints he'd dropped that he had interesting information to share. Things he wouldn't tell her outright, but might let slip while she was helping him.

Hands in his pockets, Lex leaned back against the wall. Maybe he should have told her the rest. The spirit animals. The dreams. The fact that he could sometimes hear her heartbeat when she was nearby.

But no. As open as she was to the idea of meteor mutants, he didn't know if she'd accept this. Because Lex had come to conclusion that Chloe was wrong. Not just any Joe Shmo could Guide a Sentinel. Just as some people were meant to be Sentinels, some were meant to be Guides. In fact, there might be several potential Guides in Smallville, but the cougar had chosen the fox. And it seemed the cat had chosen wisely. For the past few days, Chloe had been Guiding him without even realizing it. Imagine what she could do if she put her mind to it.

Standing erect, Lex pushed his hands into his pockets. He just didn't know Chloe well enough to know how she'd react to all of this. It was one thing for her to be given the chance to study a "myth" brought to life. It was another to hear that, thanks to two spirit animals that she'd written off as 'mumbo jumbo', she was now mystically connected to a man she barely knew.

"Oh, damn, I forgot!" came the exclamation from inside the room. With his Sentinel hearing, Lex heard a pencil scratching against paper. "Gotta look into self-hypnosis. And visualization. I bet that would work, too."

Smiling, Lex walked down the corridor. He had the feeling things were about to get very interesting.


THE END


Author's Note: I really think this story might have a sequel. I already have several ideas. But writing this did help me with my writer's block. So I'd like to get back to some other stories I've kinda left hanging. I'd also like to thank you guys for reading, and for the great feedback. I hope you liked the fic. I love all the SENTINEL lore, and weaving some of it into the world of SMALLVILLE was much fun!