A/N: i had to reload this chapter cause i just got the beta one back so u don't have to read it just a reload.

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After hours of waiting, Dr. Haslam came out to give Jonathan and Martha the news on their son. "We got the damage repaired, and it seems to be going well, but Clark's still not out of the woods yet."

Jonathan looked at her intently. "There's something you're not telling us is there?"

Dr. Haslam looked down at her hands then back at Jonathan. "While he was in surgery we almost lost him, but don't worry - he's stable and we've got him breathing on his own now."

Martha's face went from relief to shock then finally back to relief. "Do you think we could go see him?"

Haslam nodded. "Sure, but we have him heavily sedated so he probably won't wake up for a while. You can still talk to him though."

"Okay. Thank you doctor." Jonathan turned to Martha. "Are you ready to go see him?"

Martha nodded and then turned to Lana who was just sitting on a chair looking utterly stunned. "Lana, do you want to come with?"

Lana just sat for a moment then said, "Yeah sure."

Chloe ran to her car and was just about to drive away when she saw Pete running toward her. She stopped the car abruptly and

Pete got in. "Pete, what are you doing?"

He turned to her. "I was going to ask you the same thing."

"I was just going over to the Talon 'cause I thought maybe I could find something the police missed."

"Okay. But I'm coming with you"

Chloe gave him a smile, pulled out, and headed over to the Talon.

Jonathan, Martha, and Lana walked into Clark's room shutting the door behind them. Martha cringed at the sight before her, but ignored it as she sat down beside her son. She took his hand and started to rub it. Clark's hand twitched making Martha jump. "Jonathan, I think you should go and get Dr. Haslam."

Chloe and Pete walked up to the Talon; the police had closed the place for further investigation. Chloe strode up to the police line fully intending to get in when Pete stopped her. "Chloe, I don't think we should be doing this. I mean, come on, what do you expect to find?"

"I don't know, Pete - something that might help us find out what's wrong with Clark. The police said they couldn't find any reason for Clark being sick. Maybe there's something that might still be here."

"Chloe, the police have gone over this place a thousand times. Trust me, there won't be anything left."

Chloe glared at him. "I know, Pete, but if there's even the smallest chance that they've missed something, there's still hope."

Chloe looked back at him expecting him to argue against her but was surprised when he didn't say anything. So, with a last look at Pete, Chloe stepped over the police tape. It was dark and Chloe was just about to turn the lights on but Pete grabbed her arm. "Someone's gonna wonder why the police would be over here this time of night then they would call to see if anyone from the team is over here. When they find out no one's there, we're really gonna have trouble."

Chloe nodded then pulled a flashlight out of her purse. Pete looked at her with a questioning look she smiled. "A good reporter is always prepared."

After about an hour of searching, they still hadn't come up with anything. Chloe sighed in defeat, she was sure they would've found something by now. She shone her light around one more time and this time something caught her eye. It wasn't very big, so Chloe doubted it was really anything that could help.

"Pete, look at this," Chloe stated picking the small thing up. It was a syringe with the needle still on it. But it wasn't just any needle - this one glowed almost like the meteor rocks of Smallville. In fact, it was exactly like the meteor rocks.

Pete on the other hand, imediately knew it was kryptonite and was probably the cause of Clark's downfall. "Chloe, maybe we should let the police handle this one."

"Oh yes, we'll let the police do everything for us because we're too scared to find out what happened here." The sarcastic voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere across the room. "Yes, everyone thinks the police will take care of all of it and no one will have to worry about it." The voice laughed. "So naïve."

Chloe shone her light around the room but found no one there. She shakily asked, "Who are you?"

"Oh, Chloe, I think you know."

"What do you mean I know?" Chloe started slowly backing up toward the door, Pete following her lead.

"It seems you've been doing quite a bit of digging in my past - and I don't like it."

Suddenly it all made sense to Chloe. "Wait, you're Derek Jones."

"Wow, you're good," said Derek sarcastically. "Now, tell me, why are you and Ross here? Oh, wait, let me guess..." There was a pause. "...you're here to see if you can find anything that might help Kent." Derek laughed. "You shouldn't be wasting your time."

"Why? What did you do to Clark?" Chloe started to worry.

"Don't worry your little blonde head. He'll be perfectly fine - for a while," Derek laughed.

"What did you do?" Chloe repeated angrily. There was no answer from Derek. "What - did - you - do?" It was no use - Derek was already gone.

Pete went over to Chloe. "Come on we've got to get out of here," he said holding up the syringe, "and show this to the Kents."

Jonathan walked out of Clark's room to quickly locate a nurse. He told her to page Dr. Haslam to room 324. Shortly after being paged, Haslam ran down to Clark's room.

"What happened?" she asked while checking Clark's vitals. Everything appeared fine.

"I think he's waking up," Martha said stepping away so Dr. Haslam could examine Clark closer. Haslam took his hand and gently started coaxing him to open his eyes.

Chloe drove like a maniac all the way back to the hospital. Pete pushed himself as far into the seat as he could. If Chloe decided to run a red light, at least the cushion from his seat would break his fall.

"Um, Chloe, do you think you could slow down?"

Chloe swerved out of another car's way. "We have to get back as fast as we can."

Pete looked over at her. "I know, but could you be a little safer about it? I'd like to make it in one piece."

Finally, to Pete's relief, they made it to the hospital with no accidents. Chloe rushed in through the doors running straight to the waiting room. She looked in to see if anyone was there and after finding it was empty, she ran down to Clark's room.

She was about to burst in when she saw everyone around Clark's bed. It looked like they were waiting for something. Pete came up behind her. "Come on. Let's just go wait and see if anyone comes out." Chloe nodded and Pete led her out to the waiting room.

Why won't he just die?! I thought that last beating would do some good.....make him die a slow painful death. But no! God, too many people get in the way of this, why can't they just leave? Why?! Wait, I know....I can just go back to the cave and forge more stuff to use against Kent and his beloved friends and family. Then when the time comes - WHAM! I'll strike. Yes....it's perfect....so flawless. I love me! I'm such a genius!!!

After a few more minutes of Dr. Haslam trying to coax Clark to open his eyes, it finally worked.

"Mom?" He tried to say it louder, but it all came out in a whisper.

"Yeah, Clark. I'm right here," Martha went over and took her son's good hand and started to stroke it.

After Dr. Haslam was satisfied with Clark's condition, she excused herself from the room. Clark tried to sit up but didn't have the strength to do it so he just settled back into the bed.

"What happened?" he asked.

Lana stepped forward. "Clark, do you remember anything that happened?"

He thought for a moment, then it all came back to him. He was in the Talon helping Lana close, when someone attacked her so he tried to defend her, but something happened....something went wrong.

"Lana, are you okay?" he asked.

Lana just smiled. That was Clark - always thinking of others before he thinks of himself. "Yeah, Clark, I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me."

Clark nodded and relaxed a little more into his bed.

Lana walked toward the door. "I'll leave you three alone."

Lana walked out to the waiting room and was surprised to see Chloe and Pete. "When did you guys get back?"

"Oh, about a half hour ago," Chloe said.

"Where did you go?"

"Over to the Talon. Chloe wanted to look around for herself and found this." Pete took out the needle.

Lana gasped. "Do you think it has something to do with Clark?"

Pete nodded. "Unless we have another meteor junky, I'd say it had something to do with Clark."

"So Lana, what was going on with Clark? We were about to come in, but saw everyone gathered around the bed,"

Chloe said.

"Clark woke up," Lana said happily.

Chloe stood up surprised by the news. "He's awake? He's gonna be okay?" She saw the look on Lana's face, then said a little weaker, "Right?"

"Well, he's not there yet, but there's a really good chance he'll get to come home in a few days if nothing else goes wrong," Lana said trying to give Chloe some hope.

Pete stood up. "I'm gonna go show this to the Kents. I'll be back in a few minutes"

Chloe looked over to him and nodded. "Okay. Tell Clark I said hi and I'll be down in a little bit."

"Will do, Chloe."

Pete walked quickly down to Clark's room and was about to go in to show Jonathan and Martha the needle when he remembered: ClarkKryptonite=bad. Instead, he knocked on the window and signaled them to come out and talk to him.

"What is it Pete?" Jonathan asked.

Pete held up the needle. "I think this is the cause of Clark's vulnerability."

Martha just looked at it. 'Of course, what else would've caused this?' she thought. Then it hit her. "Jonathan, that stuff is in Clark and there's no way to get it out."

A/N: k there u go c all y'all later!