A/N: Thanks for the replies. I'd like to warn you that not all of the cliffhangers at the end of the season finale are dealt with in this story (namely Lana's). This is a story about Chloe and, eventually, Clark.

Chapter Two

It wasn't hard to remember the first time she was on the Table. Everything had looked exactly the same in the room, spotless and immaculately clean. But before she had even gotten to the room, she had been pacing around back and forth in her own little square room, her mind running a mile a minute. She hadn't even heard the sound of footsteps until they had arrived at the door, unlocked it, and stepped through the threshold. Whirling around, she saw the two guards striding boldly across the room in her direction and placed her hands on her hips.

"Well, if it isn't Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum," she spat out savagely. "I suppose you two lackeys aren't here to bust me out, are you?" The guards ignored her and grabbed onto her arms, pulling her toward the door. Chloe put up a terrific fight— she kicked with all her might, yanked her arms, screamed obscenities, and even tried to dig her heels into the slippery floor to no avail. "Let go of me!" she shouted as they dragged her down the hallway. "Let go of me, damnit!"

The guards paid her no mind as they entered the large room. Chloe stopped struggling when her eyes fell upon the fascinating sight before her: a shining metal table with restraints. Realization dawned on her instantly, and she started kicking again as they pulled her closer to the table in the center of the room. Her fruitless efforts began to cease as exhaustion took over her body from the struggle. The guards snapped the metal bars shut over her wrist and ankles and then moved to her head. As the metal bar was jammed over her forehead, a stab of pain shot through her flesh.

Crap. That damn cut from the cave, she recalled. Clearly it was not healed yet, and her accommodating host did not care.

The guards moved back to their position just outside the doorway, and the soft tapping of designer shoes echoed through the room. Since she couldn't move her head, Chloe rolled her eyes all the way to one side in order to see the man striding coolly up to her. His bald head was nearly as shiny as the chrome all around her, and he was clad rather sharply in a black suit and tie, his onyx designer shoes scuffing softly on the floor as he walked.

"Chloe Sullivan," he uttered calmly.

"What the hell do you want, Lex?" she hissed out his name, seething with newly enflamed anger at the mere sight of him. She didn't care that he had total power over her or that she was strapped into a table and utterly helpless. Her insides were burning with rage, and she wanted nothing more than to be able to vent at him, swear at him, scream at him.

"Now Chloe, I thought we already established who asks the questions around here," Lex replied in mock innocence. "By the way, I hope you're comfortable." He smiled at her maliciously. God, how she hated him. "I've brought you here because I think it's time I start getting some answers out of you. You see, I've developed something rather ingenious, and I thought this would be the most opportune time to test it out," he began explaining as if he were speaking with a business associate.

"Lex, despite what you may think, I don't give a damn about your 'ingenious development.' " Chloe scoffed.

"Really?" Lex retaliated, his voice dripping with mock sweetness. He strolled over to a table on the far end of the room and returned with a large syringe full of bright green liquid. "I think you're going to like this one." He held it up in front of her face so that she had no choice but to look at it. "I've created a solution with minute traces of poison residue enhanced with refined, liquefied meteor rock. The poison reacts with the meteor rock in such a way that it no longer become lethal. However, once inserted into the blood stream, the solution is transported throughout the body and causes extreme pain for anywhere from fifteen to thirty minutes. Unfortunately, I still have yet to test it out on a human for accurate results."

Chloe eyed the syringe carefully, trying to discern whether he was bluffing just to get her to tell him what he wanted. "Well, Lex, why don't you stick that needle up your ass and get your results first hand?"

Lex gave a low, amused laugh. "I think I have a better test subject. But I'll certainly think about your suggestion." He turned around for a moment, collecting his thoughts. Chloe imagined herself plunging that huge needle into the back of his bald head. "Chloe," Lex began again as he turned around to face her. "It occurs to me that you said you know Clark better than anyone, correct?"

Chloe remained silent.

"If this is indeed the case, which I certainly assume it is, then I have some questions for you. If you answer them, then this—" he waved the syringe, "—won't go anywhere near you. But if you don't, then you will be the proud first test subject to what I believe is the most painful poison ever to grace the black market." He paused, allowing this to sink in. Chloe tried not to show that her heart was hammering wildly against her ribcage.

"Now, Chloe," he continued. "I've seen Clark do some rather… extraordinary things, shall we say." Lex grinned to himself. "And I know that you are quite aware of his unique abilities. After all, the ceiling in my lab fell on both of you, and somehow you came out without a scratch."

Chloe's eyes widened.

"Yes, so you remember that, too. Don't tell anyone, but after me, myself, and I were all nice and merged back into one, I had some interesting recollections. I didn't quite remember everything, but I got the gist of what occurred with my better half."

Oh God. Oh shit. He knows. He knows. Oh crap, he KNOWS!

"Now, there's one question that has been plaguing me for quite some time now. In my four years of knowing Clark, there is something about him that I could never explain, no matter how many times I tried to blame it on meteor rocks. Clark is different… special, shall we say. What I want to know is… where did he come from?" Lex had a faraway look in his eyes as he strolled across the room. Then he turned back to Chloe, fully aware of the reality around him. "Where is he from, Chloe? Just answer me that for now. Where did Clark Kent come from?"

"I- I don't know. Smallville, I guess," Chloe stammered, her confidence shrinking away like rainwater falling through a drain.

Lex held up the syringe again. "Now, Chloe, the truth would be quite helpful. I wouldn't want you to have to be the first to experience this untested poison. It's a simple question, really. I'm sure you know the answer. Where did Clark come from?"

"Lex, I really don't know! I-I'm telling the truth!" Chloe felt her lungs constrict as her voice cracked with fear. No, this is not a good time to panic! "I swear I don't know! I don't know where he's from!"

Lex bent down right over her and screamed in her face, "TELL ME WHERE HE'S FROM!"

"I don't know! I don't know where! Please— don't— I don't know where, I don't know where, I don't know!" Chloe sobbed, tears leaking down the sides of her face as she shouted back at him, praying that he would believe what she said.

"YOU KNOW WHERE— TELL ME, CHLOE! TELL ME THE TRUTH!"

Chloe let out an agonized scream. "I SWEAR! I don't know! I don't know where, I swear, I SWEAR!"

With a growl of frustration, Lex stabbed the needle into Chloe's forearm. Instantly, pain ripped through her body like she had never before known. If felt as if gasoline had been pumped through her veins and then set aflame— it felt as if a thousand knives were tearing at her flesh as she bled and bled and bled— it felt as if her whole body were being smashed to pieces, sewn back together, and then ripped apart again. Oh God, she couldn't stand it… the pain was unbearable.

Chloe let out another deafening wail of agony that echoed through the room. Words spilled from her mouth in a mixture of shouts and sobs as tears flowed freely from her eyes. She wailed one word that was impossible to understand over the horrible echoing of room before her eyes rolled back in her head and, unable to take the pain, she allowed the darkness to take over.

She blinked as the memory faded. She was in the little square room. The guards had taken her there after the torture session with Lex. He had wanted to know what happened to her hand… She looked down at the scars and then turned it over so that her palm was facing the ground and she couldn't see it. It was a miracle that He hadn't seen her palm that first time on the Table, for she hadn't thought to hide it until the incident.

The room was deathly quiet, but she could still hear her own echoing screams mixed with His infuriated shouts in her mind from her memory of the first time on the Table. That was also the first time with the green syringe. It was a memory filled with horrible firsts.

Chloe turned her hand over again and examined the scar. She thought of how her palm used to look. She thought of what had happened in the cave. Yet it was difficult— she felt as if her brain had been melted after having been in the little square room for so long. Thinking was difficult. Her thoughts came out all broken and jumbled, and it was hard to keep things straight. So she often let thoughts escape her, trying not to think as she stared ahead at nothing. But she forced herself to think now, to try and put the pieces together.

A key. Somewhat. Not enough of a key to get everything. Just enough to get what I got. Know. Because of the stones. Together. The blast. Knowledge. A key. But not really a key.

Chloe closed her eyes, a dull ache of frustration welling within her. But as soon as it came, it was gone. There were no other emotions but emptiness, lifelessness, grayness. Emotions were a thing of the past. Now there was nothing.

Firsts. Terrible firsts. That's what the memory of the first time at the Table had been. Firsts. What had happened when she first came to the lab, first arrived in her little square room? That she could remember, too. So instead of forcing more thoughts upon herself, she merely let herself sink back into another memory, let the gray walls of the little square room dissolve into the visions of the past…

Her eyes opened blearily, and slowly the world came into focus. Everything was fuzzy and distorted for a moment… Where was she? The cold floor she lay on was bleak and gray… In fact, all four walls that surrounded her were gray as well. Her head throbbed, and she placed a hand to the gaping wound in her forehead. If she crinkled her forehead, she could feel dried blood. Lovely. But there were more pressing matters at hand… like, where was she? Just where on earth was she?

Chloe decided to try and push herself to her feet. She managed to get up on wobbly legs and had to clutch the wall for support. She felt slightly woozy. Probably from that stupid cut in my head, she thought bitterly. When she had attained a standing position, she began to survey her surroundings again. Where in the world am I?

No matter. There was a door. Okay then, I'm getting the hell out of here. And if I find the person who put me here, I'll kick his ass and do an expose on him and his little kidnapping charades. Imagining the headline for that, Chloe cheered up considerably and proceeded to make her way in the direction of the door. She tried to turn the handle— but it was locked. She tried again, jiggling it fiercely. But it wouldn't budge.

Damnit, Sullivan, just how stupid can you be? If someone kidnaps you, he's obviously not going to leave the door unlocked…

She closed her eyes and sighed, trying to push down the rising panic. There was no need to panic. She could get out of there. It was just a temporary setback. She'd been locked in rooms before. She'd even been locked in a fake school before with the threat of being turned into the next exhibit at the wax museum. This was no problem. She was just locked in a little room. A little gray room. Certainly, no problem at all…

But her sanity broke for a moment, and she turned and started to pound on the door, peering out the small window to see if anyone happened to be walking through the adjacent hallway. "HELP ME!" she screamed, banging her fists repeatedly against the door. "Somebody! Help me!" After several moments, she calmed down and stopped banging on the door. Turning around, she allowed her back to slide down the wall until she was sitting on the floor.

I just have to think rationally. There's got to be another way out of here. Chloe stood up and began to pace the room, glancing up at the door every so often in hopes that it would magically spring open. But it didn't, and pacing was only making her more nervous. Her heart was pounding in her chest like a drum roll, and her breath was heavy and uneven. She placed both of her hands on top of her head and looked around, wondering what to do now.

As she stood there in silence, she heard an odd tap, scuff, tap sound coming from the hallway. She watched the door warily, half excited and half terrified of what might appear in the doorway. A key turned in the lock, and the door swung open to reveal a mercifully familiar face.

"Oh, Lex! Thank God!" Chloe cried out. She momentarily forgot her anger and fear towards him after his crazy stunt of dragging her to the caves in light of seeing someone she knew in this frighteningly alien environment.

Alien. Chloe almost cringed at her own choice of wording.

"So, where are we, and when can we get the hell out of here?" she continued, relief still washing over her. Lex grinned oddly at her, and a chill ran down her spine.

"We're in my new lab in Metropolis, if you must know. And I can leave anytime I like. You, on the other hand…" Lex smirked again. "You've been given an indefinite stay in my hospitable facility."

Chloe gulped, not quite liking the sound of that. "Lex, what are you talking about? Why are we here?"

The latter chuckled. "We were both knocked out after that explosion in the cave for quite some time. You were still unconscious when I came to, so I decided that it would be for the best if I rounded you up and took you here. Nice place, isn't it?" He looked around, admiring the pristine condition of his futuristic new toy.

"I don't understand… why am I here?" Chloe ventured, becoming more unsettled by the gleam in Lex's eye with every passing minute.

"You're here to give me answers that no one else can," Lex replied ambiguously. "And I think that I should be the one doing all the questioning around here, if that's all right with you."

"Lex, stop it. This is crazy. I'd like to go home now," Chloe said slightly more forcefully than she had initially intended.

"You're not going anywhere. You're going to stay here until I get what I want. And if you don't cooperate…" Lex strode into the room and adjusted Chloe's shirt collar. "That might be a very, very long time.

Disturbed by the tone of Lex's voice, Chloe tried to pull away. She glanced behind him at the open door and without thinking made a run for it. She nearly made it to the door but Lex grabbed her around the shoulders and yanked her back harshly, and she landed painfully on her back. She started to fight against his grip, trying to escape. But he was too strong for her and held her in place, sneering humorously at her pointless struggle. "You're not going anywhere, Chloe," he whispered harshly in her ear. "You've become my new favorite project."

Chloe felt anger and fear burn wildly inside of her as she tried to sit up. But Lex had her pinned to the floor and was nearly on top of her, and she could not move. "But—WHY? Why me?"

Lex grabbed her by the shoulders and banged her head against the hard, smooth floor. She saw stars for a moment, pain ripping through the back of her head. "No more questions. You just give me the answers," he muttered fiercely.

"The answers to what?" He can't be talking about… no, no, definitely not, how could he possibly know? He can't mean… can he?

But Lex didn't reply. He merely let go of Chloe and made his way to the open doorway. Chloe stood up and stayed where she was, knowing it would be no use to try and bolt past Lex. The corners of his mouth tugged up into a horrible leer, and his eyes gleamed as he had his last words. "Welcome home, Chloe."

Then he turned and closed the door behind him. The metallic click of the door being locked met her ears, and Chloe could do nothing but stare at it, dumbfounded, for several long moments. When the numbness and shock faded away, a terrible dread filled her gut. She was trapped. Literally trapped. There was no way out. She began pacing back and forth again, her breath coming out to the beat of her hurried, nervous footsteps and fluttering heart. Trapped. Trapped in this little square room. This little, square, gray room. Trapped.

She became more hysterical by the minute as she began wondering what was happening out in the world. What had happened to Clark? Was Smallville in ruins, or was the meteor shower still going on? How much time had passed already? Was Lois looking for her? What had ever happened to Lana?

As the questions continued building, she felt more and more cut off from society. A feeling of utter loneliness fell upon her, choking her as she paced back and forth, back and forth in the grayness of the room. Gray.

At last, she could stand it no longer, and her nerves shattered like an exploding mirror. Falling to her knees and burying her face in her hands, she let out a long, tormented, agonized scream of defeat.