Chapter Ten
The doctors finally allowed Clark in to see Lex.
The young Mister Luthor was hooked up to several devices that were monitoring his vital signs, and his leg was elevated and in a cast. He had bandages around his head, and some bad scars on his face and arms.
"You look a little worse for wear," Clark said.
Lex laughed, then winced in pain. "Lucky to be alive, was how the doctors put it," he said. "Clark, what in the world are you doing in New York City?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Clark replied. "I'm here with Chloe, she won the Daily Bugle Writers of the Future contest."
"Ah," Lex said, "I remember hearing about that."
"What about you?"
"I'm here on business."
"Looks like the deal didn't go so well."
Again, Lex stifled a laugh. "Yeah, well… I didn't really plan on being attacked by the… what do they call it? Green Goblin?"
"I guess so. What did it want with you, anyways, Lex?"
Lex was silent for a minute.
"Lex?"
"I know who he is, Clark."
"What?"
"The Goblin. I know who he is. He's a former friend of mine, named Harry Osborn."
"Have you told the police?"
"Not yet. Clark, I don't want you getting any ideas. Stay out of this. I'll talk to the authorities, they'll take care of it."
Clark nodded. "Yeah. Of course." He smiled. "Listen, I should really get back and check in with Chloe, she's probably worried."
"All right."
Clark turned to leave.
"Hey, Clark," Lex called after him.
He turned around.
"See if you can find out what they did with that battle-suit…" Lex said, a familiar gleam returning to his eyes.
. . . . . .
Peter Parker lay in the empty bathtub of Clark and Chloe's hotel room, drifting in and out of consciousness. He was aware of the fact that he'd lost a lot of blood, and that he felt like a rock concert had just taken place inside his skull.
He managed to get a grip on his surroundings long enough to notice Chloe Sullivan sitting by his side, holding a bag of ice against what was probably a particularly nasty gash across his forehead.
He reached up and touched his own face. His mask was gone. Looking down, he saw that he was still in the rest of his costume, tattered and torn though it was.
Chloe saw the look of confusion come across Peter's face. "It's okay," she whispered.
"Chloe?" he asked, confused. His voice sounded like sandpaper.
"You're going to be all right," she said.
"How did I…?"
"Shhh… just relax."
Slowly it started coming back to him. The fight with the Goblin. Getting his mask ripped off. The Goblin turning out to be Harry. Barely escaping with his life when Lex Luthor attacked Harry in that battle-suit. He must have blacked out while he was web-swinging back through the city.
Peter tried to sit up, and pain raced up and down his back, like needles digging into his spine. He winced and laid back down.
"So…" Chloe said, as Peter reached up and took the ice pack from her. "You're 'kind of friends' with Spider-Man, huh?"
Peter actually smiled. "I guess you could say that," he said, holding the ice to his forehead again.
"If you don't mind my asking… are you a…?"
"Am I a what?"
"Y'know… a mutant?"
"No," Peter said. "I'm not."
"Then how did you get your powers? It didn't have anything to do with meteor rocks, did it?"
"Meteor what?"
"Never mind. How did you get them?"
"I was bitten by a genetically enhanced spider."
Chloe raised an eyebrow. "Okay… never heard that one before." She touched his ripped up costume. "Did that Goblin thing do this to you?"
"Yes."
"What does he want?"
"He wants me. He… wants to kill me."
Chloe looked scared. "Why?"
"He thinks I killed his father."
"Did you?"
"No."
"Why does he think that?"
Peter smiled. "Is this that interview that you wanted?"
"What interview?"
"When we first met… you told me I should tell Spider-Man to swing by for an interview."
"Oh, God…" Chloe put her hands over her face in embarrassment. "No, it's not. Really, it isn't."
Peter nodded. "I know."
"Honestly," Chloe said. "…this has to be the first time I've ever stumbled across something this big… I mean, this is huge, 'Spider-Man's Secret Identity Revealed,' you know? And for the first time… I didn't just think of what a great story it would make."
"Yeah, that is funny," Peter said. "Because this is the first time that someone ever found out my secret… and I wasn't afraid that they'd use it against me."
Chloe smiled. She looked down and noticed that her hand was resting on Peter's. She looked back up at him, embarrassed, and started to pull her hand away, but he stopped her.
Slowly, he sat up, and set the ice pack on the ledge of the bathtub.
"Are you going to be okay?" she asked.
"Yeah… though I gotta admit, I wish I'd gotten in the Healing Factor line the day they were handing out super powers."
She reached up and wiped some of the dried blood off of his face.
"Why do you do this?" she asked.
He looked deep into her eyes. "Someone once told me… with great power, comes great responsibility. I'm just trying to live up to that."
Chloe nodded, slowly, letting the words sink in. "Wow. That's very profound. But, just… just don't get yourself killed, okay?"
"I'll try not to."
They stared into each other's eyes for a few moments longer. Her hand was still touching his face. He reached up, and put his hand over hers. Slowly, they leaned closer to one another, and their lips touched, ever so lightly, ever so gently.
Outside the bathroom, the door to the hotel room opened.
"Chloe?" It was Clark's voice.
"Oh my God," Chloe whispered. "It's Clark."
Peter jumped to his feet, ignoring the pain that was still racing through his body. He leapt to the window and slid it open.
"Peter… be careful. Please," Chloe said.
He smiled. "I will be."
With that, he fired off a webline, and swung out over the city once more.
"Chloe?" Clark again.
The bathroom door was still closed. "I'll be out in a minute, Clark," Chloe called through the door.
She walked over to the window and watched Spider-Man swinging away. And as she felt her stomach getting heavy as she feared for Peter Parker's life, for the first time, she truly understood why a hero would need to hide behind a mask.