Chloe Sullivan finally got home after a busy day, albeit a fun one. She'd written the greatest story of her short-but-illustrious career, and dumped Whitney Fordman in a truly spectacular style. The only disappointment had been that Lex was busy tonight, visiting the Kents.
"How's my angel?" asked Gabe, lowering the television volume.
"I'm great, Dad," she answered, giving her customary huge smile, although she didn't really feel that great. For one thing, her back ached, and, for another, she still felt slightly hungover from the previous night.
"Great," replied Gabe, raising the volume once again.
Chloe slumped on the couch and watched the news with her father. All the way through, she couldn't help smiling - within the next few days it would be Edward Kent making the headlines. Finally, when the news had finished, she abandoned her father to his dramas and sitcoms and retreated to her room.
She'd been so busy that day researching and writing her Edward Kent story that she'd not yet had a chance to check out her Gotham rival, Vicki Vale. Logging in to the online edition of The Crusader, she couldn't help but laugh. Vicki was writing about rocks, of all things, claiming that they were converting teenagers into evil mutants. Of course these were special green rocks from that meteor storm of twelve years ago, but still it was ridiculous. Chloe looked at the green angel figurine on her bedside table, a present that Whitney brought back from that time Smallville had a match with Gotham High. As if that would turn her evil - besides it was probably a fake, there was no way the number of meteorites that fell on Gotham could ever compete with the meteorite merchandise demand.
Lex Luthor had been psyching himself up for this meeting all day, playing Don't Fear The Reaper continuously on his pre-release iPod. He still wasn't sure if he was ready, or even if he'd ever be ready, but at least he'd had the advantage of preparation time.
"I suppose a handshake's out of the question," observed Lex, as he looked around at the shocked faces of the Kent clan.
Martha, who'd let him in, hadn't even realized that the bald visitor was Lex – she was used to seeing him, on the rare times he'd speed past her in his Porsche, with long red hair. For a moment she was worried that Lex's naked scalp was Edward's doing, just like on that day all of those years ago, but then she looked at the agonized expression on her adopted son's face and knew instantly that wasn't the case. Meanwhile, Jonathan Kent eyed Lex suspiciously – he didn't trust Lionel Luthor and he wasn't in any hurry to trust Lex either.
Edward, his hands placed firmly in the pockets of the coat he'd automatically donned the moment he'd heard the door, looked at Lex's face, shorn of all its hair, and remembered the events of twelve years ago. At the same time, looking at Edward, similar memories were stirring in Lex's mind. Whereas outwardly he appeared calm in his jeans and T-shirt, it was that T-shirt, depicting Warrior Angel in the style of Edvard Munch's The Scream, that more accurately reflected his inner emotions.
"Anyway, Edward, I just came here to thank you for rescuing me yesterday," continued Lex, and then paused for a moment, before adding "Well, that's not strictly true."
"What have you come for, Lex?" asked Edward apprehensively.
"I think you know, Edward."
"No, I don't," replied Edward.
"Lex, I think it's time you left," interjected Jonathan, getting up from his seat.
"Well, I think it's time for the truth, Mr. Kent. And not the aliens built the crop circles truths that you espouse. I know that ..." Lex paused for a moment as he realized how ridiculous what he was about to say sounded, "Edward's got scissors for hands."
Jonathan and Martha looked at him with mock surprise and then started laughing.
"Surely, you can't be serious, Lex?" asked Martha.
But the look on Lex's face remained deadly serious. "With all respect, Mrs. Kent, for the majority of the last twelve years I've been more or less a recluse because of what your son did to me. Now, unless Edward's willing to pull a pair of hands out of his pockets, I'm sticking to my accusation."
"So what do you want, Lex?" asked a resigned Jonathan, finally accepting that they could no longer hide the truth about Edward.
"I just want to ask Edward a question and, once he's answered, I'll leave. Needless to say, anything we discuss will be purely confidential."
"And how do we know we can trust you?" asked Jonathan, who didn't trust Lex at all.
"You don't," replied Lex, "but you'll just have to, I'm afraid."
"Ask your question," said Edward, withdrawing his blades from his pockets and resting their tips together in front of him.
Chloe took some painkillers for her back pain and climbed into the shower. She started to feel better as the warm water ran across her skin, and as she rubbed the shower gel over her body she started to think about the last naked body she'd seen today - Whitney's, just as she'd dumped him. And then she suddenly felt some lumps on her back. Don't panic, she told herself as she started to panic, and the next thing she knew she was out of the shower, frantically clearing the steam from the mirror with her towel. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she prepared to examine her back in the mirror.
As she looked at it, with a mixture of stomach-churning horror and detached fascination, she asked the same question that Lex was now asking Edward:
"Why me?"