Chapter 2 –Responsibility

At the Luthor mansion, which was surprisingly left untouched by the meteor shower, Lex entered with Chloe following suit. Lex immediately took out his mobile and dialed a number.

"Sirus this is Lex. I haven't been able to contact the helicopter that transported Lana Lang out of here. Find out what you can immediately. Also…..send someone to the Kent farm and see if everyone got out safe ok? Ok. Call me when you find out anything."

Lex then turned to Chloe. "Ok Chloe sit down. We're going to wait here for any news and talk while we're waiting ok?"

Chloe nodded feeling a little scared, something that didn't go unnoticed by Lex, who immediately softened his tone. "Look Chloe… I'm sorry for the way I reacted back at the cave. I was just disoriented from whatever it is that happened there. You know I wouldn't hurt you don't you?"

What scared Chloe the most was that she honestly didn't know the answer to this question. She certainly considered Lex capable of many morally ambiguous acts. Whether hurting her was one of them, she still wasn't sure.

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As Martha had almost cleared the debris from around of Jonathan, someone hit her from behind.

"Martha!" screamed Jonathan and turned to see Jason standing there holding his shotgun, looking worse than he ever has. Jonathan noted he was barely standing up. "Jason, look… I don't know what has come over you, but you won't make it. You are in an awful shape, let us take you to a hospital." said Jonathan trying to sound as paternal as he could.

"SHUT UP! Don't act like you care all of a sudden!" screamed Jason. "Cut that holier than thou crap! If you could, you'd kill me with your bare hands. Now tell me where the stones are, cause I really won't ask you again!" said Jason as he pointed the shotgun at Jonathan.

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"Father! Please! This is all my fault! Don't let her pay for this!" yelled Clark at the empty cave walls, as tears rolled down his cheeks. He looked once more at the bloodied face of Lana and felt desperation and helplessness. "FATHER!" He yelled once more, before he fell to his knees with Lana still in his hands.

A strange glow then surrounded Clark, and his father's voice was heard once again. "Lana Lang will not die tonight my son." When Clark heard those words his heart started feeling at ease.

"Thank you father" he said with a choked voice.

"I haven't done anything son. It is just not her time. She has yet to play her full part." said Jor- El.

Clark immediately froze. "What do you mean? Leave her out of all of this!" he said as he felt his anger swell towards his father. "It's bad enough you control my life as well as my parents, I will not let you control her as well!"

"You still can't seem to understand my son. It's not about control! It's all about choice. I'm just presenting the facts. I can't control the choices you and everyone else make." spoke Jor-El coldly.

"No but you manipulate us!" shouted Clark at his father.

"My son, there comes a point in everyone's lives where they must start taking responsibility for their decisions and actions. That time has finally come for you. But enough for now. Lana Lang may not die today, but she still needs all the medical attention she can get. Go!"

Clark didn't need to hear anything else. He immediately sped out of the caves towards Metropolis.

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As Jason stood there with his gun pointed at Jonathan, he heard something from behind him and turned abruptly to face whatever it was. A gun shot was heard and Jason fell to the ground with blood pouring from his chest. Jonathan looked up and saw a tall man in suit standing there sheathing his gun. The man approached Jonathan and extended his hand. "Mr. Kent I presume. My name is Jack. Mr. Luthor sent me to check if everyone was fine here."

Jonathan took the man's hand and stood up with difficulty. He immediately turned to his wife, who was lying unconscious on the floor. "Martha sweetheart." He said as he checked up on her.

"Mr. Kent I have a car outside. Maybe we should take her to a hospital." Said Jack.

"Uh… Yeah, that would be great thanks… Jack" said Jonathan a little uneasy at the thought that Lex had sent this man. "But what about Jason?"

"I will take care of this mr. Kent. Let me just make a phone call." Said Jack as he took out his mobile and dialed.

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Chloe sat uneasy opposite Lex, as he sipped a glass of whiskey. "Chloe listen… I'm aware that you know more about all of this than you're letting on. I also know that there's more about Clark than he is letting on and that somehow he is involved in all of this… stones fiasco." Said Lex calmly.

"Lex I don't know anything about this, and I'm sure that Clark doesn't either." Said Chloe defensively.

"Please Chloe. Deny it if you want, but don't insult my intelligence. And don't worry, I don't blame you for not saying anything. It shows your strength in character. I admire that. The thing I hate though is that every time I try to look past Clark's secrecy, somehow something happens that finds him involved in whatever endeavor it is that I'm delving in and I don't know how long I can continue to ignore that." What surprised Chloe was that Lex was speaking calmly and seemed to be speaking truthfully.

"What do you care about these stones anyway?" asked Chloe.

Lex smirked. "I suppose it doesn't make any difference so I will try and indulge your curiosity. These stones are ancient, and there is a legend that says that if these stones are united, they point to a treasure of knowledge so great that… well let's just say that… blessed be he who has that kind of knowledge." Said Lex with a smile in his face.

"And why do you think this legend is anything more than just a legend?" asked Chloe, her curiosity now intrigued.

Lex laughed. "Come on Chloe… you and I both have seen stuff that would put legends to shame. Besides, every legend is based on something true. And I intend to find what that truth is."

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Clark arrived at the Metropolis general hospital, and stopped at a dark alley near the hospital so that no one saw him. He then run towards the entrance of the hospital. It was then that he noticed that the hospital was starting to fill with people, most of them probably from Smallville.

As he entered the hospital with Lana in his hands, he yelled: "Help! I need a doctor."

One of the nursing stuff, approached him quickly, and gasped when he saw how badly Lana was hurt. "What happened to her?"

Clark was at a loss. He realized that he didn't quite know what had happened to Lana. He just knew that that monstrosity tried to choke her. The rest of her injuries remained a mystery to him. Then an image flashed in his mind. He remembered a helicopter having crashed near where he found Lana. "I'm not sure but I think she was in a helicopter as it crashed in Smallville."

The nurse made a signal to another one and they brought a gurney to place her on. "Are you a relative?" asked the nurse.

"No. I'm a friend." Answered Clark as he placed her gently on the gurney.

"So who should we put down as a contact?" Asked the nurse.

"I will be here with her." Answered Clark.

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As Lex and Chloe were talking, Lex's mobile went off. "Yes." Lex answered the phone and listened to whoever was talking on the other side. His face quickly changed from calm to a look of worry. "What? Was she there? …I don't care, find her! …What else?... Fell where?... Near the helicopter?... What do you think could have done that? … Ok Keep me posted." Lex hang up, and remained silent and thoughtful.

Chloe who had figured something bad had happened spoke. "Lex, did something happen to Lana?" she asked as she waited for the answer with fear in her heart.

"I don't know… The helicopter she was on crashed, but she was nowhere to be found." As Lex saw Chloe's face have a horrified look, he added: "She must still be alive Chloe. My people saw traces of someone crawling away from the crash and they found the body of the pilot that was flying the helicopter."

"But if she was in the crash she must be hurt! Where could she have disappeared to?" asked Chloe her voice full of worry.

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Lana was lying in the hospital bed, and it tore Clark inside to watch her at such a state with all those machines around her. The doctor that had checked up on her, said that she was going to be fine, but she would have to stay for a couple of days in the hospital. They tried to get a hold of Nell but it seemed she was out of town, and Clark didn't know her mobile phone number.

As Clark sat by her side and held her hand, he felt her stir uneasily. "Shh… everything is fine." He said as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. He then decided to try and contact the others. He got up and then bent down to give Lana a kiss on the forehead. "I'll be back soon Lana"

To be Continued…

Thanks Guys…

Nightcrawler8 (another X-Men fan  )- Yes I did post it on sweet. I just thought I'd post it here as well…