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Lois sensed my thoughts and realized I dare not lift the sheet to check. Thankfully, my cousin completed my task for me. Using the barrel of her weapon, she teased up the sheet to see the face of the cadaver. Seeing her exhale deeply with relief I knew it wasn't my favorite farmboy. "It's not Clark, Chloe," she exclaimed helpfully.

I nodded and approached, needing now to see with my own eyes. What I saw was still shocking. "Lois, this is Rich Mitchell!" We had been told Mitchell's body had been destroyed along with Clark's in the explosions, and yet here it was. There was evidence of serious injuries, but they had obviously been tended to at some point. "If his body wasn't destroyed…" I wasn't thinking straight and Lois pointed out what I had so easily overlooked.

"Chloe, Mitchell didn't die at Luthorcorp even if he was hurt there. His body is still warm…"

Instantly, I realized the implications. We had focused on Mitchell's body being the only one in the room, but what if it wasn't? This time I didn't care about being discovered. I scurried to the nearest wall and began running my hands along it in search of any lights. The gloomy green aura in the room was making me nauseous anyway, but there was more I had to see.

Eventually, I found what I was looking for. A whole block of switches that I prayed would bring the room to life. I flicked them all, and with a pop of electricity the lab was bathed in light.

"Oh my God…" Lois was the first to speak. She at least could manage it. My voice had been lost the second the room had been illuminated.

There were more beds spaced equally throughout the area, totalling four, and in the nearest to Mitchell lay a prize even I was not worthy of.

Clark was motionless and pale, hooked up to equipment that could only mean he was being studied. There were dressings too, and for a second I wondered why his injuries from the explosions hadn't healed. Then, I remembered. The room had a green glow. Somewhere here there were meteor rocks, and they were not only inhibiting his healing, they were slowly killing him.

I raced to his side. "We have to get him out of here, NOW," I screamed and didn't care who heard me.

Lois wasn't convinced. She looked to the monitor that he was hooked to and then felt his pulse. "Chloe, I don't think we should move him. Besides, what about the others?" She gestured to the other three Luthorcorp employees from the explosions that now lay as lab rats. "We should get out of here and call the authorities. We need to get some medical help out here."

How could I tell her that for Clark every second in the room was more agony, more torment from the effects of the rocks? If I could just get him away then he would start to heal, to be the person I loved once again. I know it was selfish, but at that moment all I could think of was Clark. He was alive, and I intended keeping him that way.

"I'm not leaving him in here!" I began to shake Clark gently, calling his name. "Clark, Clark, you have to wake up. We can't carry you on our own…"

At first, he didn't respond, and I feared we had found him all-too late. I saw Lois' expression and knew she thought he was dying and that we should high tail it before we joined him on some nutty professor's lab table. To her credit, she didn't voice her thoughts and instead tried to help me rouse Clark.

It took another two minutes before his eyes blearily opened. From his expression, I could tell he thought I was some drug-induced hallucination, so I shook him again. "Clark, you got through to me! I saw the map. I don't know how you did it but I felt your presence!"

A pale version of his beaming smile appeared. "Wasn't me, Chloe…"

I raised a brow, but right now it wasn't my greatest concern. "We'll talk about that later. First, we need to get you out of here, and you have to help. Can you get up?" I tugged at his shirtless body, hauling him into a sitting position, and with Lois help we actually made it.

My cousin silently pulled off any wires to the monitors as Clark regained his breath. "You're bleeding, Smallville," she noted as a small red stain began to seep through a dressing on his side.

"The lab," Clark recalled. "The lab exploded. I don't remember much after until I woke up here." He looked around and I guessed he was searching for the source of his pain- the meteor rocks. There was no sign of actual rocks anywhere, but I knew from the hellish green hue the mineral was around somewhere.

"Come on, Clark, you can explain later once we're all safe." I took one of his arms and wrapped it around my shoulder. Lois took the other side, and together we bore the brunt of his weight.

Clark's feet dragged as we tugged at him, but I could tell he was giving it his all to help us. He panted breathlessly as we reached the door, and I saw his haunted eyes look back guiltily at the other three Luthorcorp people we were leaving behind.

"We'll come back for them, Clark," I promised.

Clark nodded and allowed us to keep pulling him forward. Once we exited the 'green room' I sighed with relief. It shouldn't be long now before Clark began to recover. At least, that was what I had thought, but as we moved through the complex nothing seemed to happen. Had their experiments on him taken his gifts? What had they done? Or was it an after effect of a meteor-powered explosion?

Back at the first corridor, Lois nodded that we should skip into Schenkel's office and take a break. We were all getting tired already, and once out in the wilderness we had a long way to go dragging our favorite farmboy. I agreed with my cousin and we scooted into the office without anyone noticing.

Luckily for us, Schenkel had returned in our absence, but left again hastily. On his desk sat a pile of manila folders that had not been there previously. They were marked 'Smallville.' Naturally, I wanted to examine them, but Clark was my first priority. He still looked sick, and the cuts and bruises from Luthorcorp still glared at me angrily.

Lois checked the door and then spoke first. "You okay, Smallville?" Her eyes showed real concern, and I was reminded that behind her hard exterior lay a real heart of gold. "You kind of freaked us with your messages from beyond the grave if you catch my drift?"

Clark caught his breath and struggled to answer. "It wasn't me. It was Rich…the explosion at Luthorcorp did something to the survivors. Made instant meteor freaks if that's what you want to call them…someone knew…someone took us…" His head lolled slightly with the effort and I could see it was draining him to speak so much. Maybe there are more rocks concealed in this place making him sick?

I wanted answers, for Clark's sake, and the folders on Schenkel's desk called to me invitingly. I quickly ran over and scooped them up. There would be no time to read now, but if we lived I would maybe have the evidence to nail Luthorcorp. "Ready to leave?" I asked hastily.

Clark nodded and I gave him a hand up once again. Lois steadied him too, but she was now once again also poised with the 45. Escaping was going to be the hardest part.

We made it to the last swipe card point before things began to go wrong. I don't really know if it was my theft of the files that alerted them, or someone finally discovering Lois' handiwork. Either way, alarms and klaxons began to blurt out in alarming abundance.

"Run!" Lois screamed as the armed guard from earlier dropped down in front of us and began to fire. She let off a shot back and I suddenly felt myself being propelled forward.

At first, I actually thought I'd been hit by a stray bullet, but then I felt Clark's arm around me as we lay on the ground, and I knew he'd pushed me down and saved both our lives.

There was more shouting and the sound of repeated gunfire. Through it all I heard Lois yell for us to get up and run again, and somehow we did. I looked back, wondering why the bullets had momentarily stopped heading our way. The guard was on the floor, moaning and definitely in no shape to follow.

"Kneecaps," Lois explained as she breathlessly jogged up beside me and helped me with Clark. "I doubt they'll all be that careless, though, so we better hurry!"

I saw Clark shoot Lois a glance that said 'are you kidding' but he continued to try and keep up. In the end, Lois could tell he'd had enough and she stopped running. "What are you doing?" I asked her worriedly.

"Clark is still bleeding. He can't run, and frankly it's pitch black and we're…"

Dread filled my heart. I didn't need for Lois to finish to get the direction she was going. (No pun intended) "We're lost, aren't we?" I groaned.

Lois sighed and threw her hands in the air. "Hey, have you ever tried navigating while kicking butt?"

I hadn't, so I let the matter drop. Lois calmed a little then and we both helped Clark rest up under the shelter of the trees. He didn't speak much, but then I could only imagine what he may have gone through at White Summit. I tried not to think about it, and instead my mind focused on one glorious thought. Clark's alive, ALIVE!

"There is an upside to being lost," Lois offered. "The bad guys will expect us to have headed back to the road and our car. And to be honest, I think we're more likely to be heading further into the wilderness…"

I shuddered at the word wilderness. It conjured up far too much imagery of bears and other dangerous creatures. "How long before they pick up our trail?"

Lois shrugged. "I figure we have enough time to let Clark rest up and make a few plans."

"You should leave me…" Clark eyed us both. "If they get me back it will give you a better head start."

"No way!" I would have slapped some sense into him, but he looked beat up enough already. "Don't you ever think that way, Clark Kent! I've mourned you once already and I refuse to do it again."

He shot me the puppy dog look. "I know, Chloe, but I don't want this to end in your funeral too…"

Lois slipped a new clip into the 45 and watched the exchange. Eventually, she joined in. "So, you said the spook fest we endured wasn't you?"

Clark shook his head. "After the explosion I woke up in that place," he gestured back towards the complex. "Rich and the others were there too. All of us had injuries but Rich's were the worst. Despite that, the explosion had altered some of us."

"You?" Lois queried.

"No," Clark answered. "But Rich could do things. Things with his mind…"

"He moved the stuff in your loft? He made me think it was you?" I was stunned.

"Not just you, Chloe. Rich tried to get through to my parents too. I think only Mom sensed anything, though." Clark looked upset at having put his mom through the anguish and I patted his arm. At my touch he carried on. "You see Rich has no family, no one to reach out to. When he was put in the next bed to me we formed a plan. I never thought it would work, or that you would come out here on your own, though." More remorse from my farmboy. "Then Rich got sick again this afternoon. I think they pushed him too far with his injuries…"

"He died saving the rest of you, Clark. Even if the explosion did something to him, he used the ability to do some good." I couldn't believe the person I had thought of as a bully had given his life so selflessly. Had I judged him so badly?

I looked down at the stolen folders still in my hand. They probably had even more details on what Schenkel had done to his subjects and why. Did he discover Clark's secret?

Lois joined me at Clark's side. "I'm going to do a little reconnaissance," she explained. "You two be careful. I won't be long."

As my cousin jogged off into the darkness I suddenly felt fear, even in Clark's presence. We were so alone, but it did give me the opportunity to ask him questions I couldn't with Lois around. It also meant me revealing things Clark wasn't aware of, but I had to know.

"Clark," I tried to sound neutral. "Why haven't you healed now that you're away from the rocks Schenkel was experimenting with?"

Clark glanced up in surprise, but then his face transformed into a wane smile. "All the little comments these past weeks…I should have known. I …I guess I did know subconsciously." He looked to the woodland floor, never asking what had finally tipped me off about his abilities. "I don't really know why I've not healed yet. It's my guess prolonged exposure to the Kryp…to the rocks has weakened me." He put his big farmboy arm around me then reassuringly. "I feel better since we left that place, though, Chloe. Thanks to you and Lois. Maybe in time my strength will return."

"I have these files," I wafted the folders in the air. "We'll need to read them before we turn them over to the authorities in case they mention your…your uniqueness."

"We have to save the others, Chloe. I won't leave them back there." Clark shot a glance back the way we had come and I knew he was serious. "Not even if it means giving up my secret…"

"We need to get out of these woods before we plan any rescues!" My voice rose just a little too much and I quickly realized my mistake even before Clark scowled at me. It was just so easy to forget we were being pursued when I was in his company. Finally, I asked the question I knew would be a touchy subject. "Clark, did you know who was behind your kidnapping? I mean, everything leads back to Luthorcorp."

He looked at me then with a sadness I had only seen once before in his eyes, and that had been at the graveside of Alicia Baker. "I never met anyone back there, not even Dr. Schenkel. They kept us secluded, alone, and with the meteor rocks around I wasn't exactly coherent."

"But you must suspect?" I pushed.

"I do, Chloe…and when we get back to Smallville I'll make sure Rich didn't die in vain." Those lovable blue-green eyes darted to the ground again then, and I wondered just what Clark had meant. As I watched though, he was so tired his head lolled back onto the nearest tree trunk and he dozed. I didn't break his sleep. There would be so little time for slumber later. Instead, I checked him over and examined the wounds Luthorcorp had so cruelly inflicted with their blasts. Were the explosions accidents, or did Lex set them up to trap Clark? Maybe turning Rich and the others into freaks was just an added bonus?

I don't profess to know much about medicine, but from what I saw I was satisfied Clark wasn't in any danger. In fact, I suspected his wondrous gift of healing was kicking in, just more slowly. Good job! If he heals too quickly Lois will get suspicious!

Lois returned about ten minutes later and shot Clark a glance of concern. He was still sleeping and she obviously thought it wasn't a good sign. "Bad news," she admitted to me. "I think we have company already."

Tbc...