Chloe began pacing after a wait of nearly fifteen minutes. Her hands fluttered as she walked back and forth before the portal. Her eyes were filled with worry. "I don't trust him, Clark. He suddenly shows up out of the blue, alive and kicking, tells you all this mumbo-jumbo, and now we're sitting here waiting to see if he's coming back or not."

"And your friend is with him."

"Yes!" she said plaintively. "If they don't come back in five minutes, Clark, I swear I'm going in after him. How could you let him take her?"

"I didn't see any choice, Chlo!"

"You could just stay here!"

She met his eye and stopped.

"You know I can't," he said softly. "Bug knew the risks."

"What if he kills her, and the other Clark, and he closes the door on you! You have to admit that's a feasible scenario. He's dead here. That Lex has all the money in the world. All ours would have to do is kill him and take over. With his abilities it would be a piece of cake."

"He could have already, and he didn't. Chloe, for someone who only recently believed this whole story, you're buying into it hook line and sinker now." He paused. "Do you want me to stay that badly?"

There was a long silence before she replied.

"Yes."

"I can't."

"I know." Her pacing began anew. "I know, I know. I keep telling myself that. I just...make bad choices. I always have."

"You'll find your way, Chloe. I know you will." Clark grinned. "Especially if you're anything like my Chloe."

Chloe smiled back at him, and opened her mouth to reply. She stopped before the first word left her mouth, her brow crinkling. "Did you hear that?"

Clark pushed past her. "The portal!"

There was a low hum coming from the fissure and although it could have been only his imagination, it seemed to Clark as if the light grew somewhat brighter. White on white swirls suddenly began to revolve around in its center and a shadow appeared. It was small and moving rapidly.

"What is that?"

There was no time to answer Chloe's query before the creature burst out of the light and into the cave, fluttering around Chloe's head as if it were disoriented. She ducked with a cry borne more of surprise than fear. After one last swoop at Clark, the little bat disappeared into the darkness of the caves.

Seconds later the portal flared again, and this time the light grew as bright as the sun. Clark put his arm up to shield his eyes.

Lex exploded from the fissure. Behind him came Bug, her slim wrist locked firmly in his one-handed grip. Chloe rushed them, shoving Lex aside to embrace her friend.

"Laura! You're all right? Everything is all right?"

Bug's hair was tangled, and her glasses were askew. With trembling fingers she righted the lenses on her nose and fumbled for her pockets. A baseball hat was produced. Breathlessly she nodded. "I'm okay."

Chloe let her go, and the four of them stood together before the portal. Chloe looked at Clark expectantly.

"I'm still here," he said. "The portal isn't closing." He crutched forward, past Bug and Lex. "It's still open."

"You lied!" Chloe turned on Lex angrily. "It's not closing. Why isn't it closing?"

"It was only a theory, Chloe."

"Where's the key?" Clark demanded. He returned to the others. A trickle of sweat rolled down his back. He was uneasy, and couldn't say why. If Chloe felt it he didn't blame her for being angry. Something was not right. "Did you get the key?"

Lex reached into his jacket pocket. From inside he withdrew the octagonal disc and held it out for Clark and the others to see. "It's here." He turned toward the fissure. His brow creased. "I don't understand why it's not closing. It should have slammed shut seconds after I removed the key from the wall."

Chloe edged closer to the light. Lex reached out to hold her back and she shoved him off. "Something must be blocking it."

Clark felt a chill go up his spine. "It's him," he whispered. "He's here. On this side."

"You are good," Clark Kent said quietly. "I'll give you that."

He stepped further into the cavern, casually walking in with his hands in his jacket pockets and a smirk on his face. How long he'd been waiting in the darkest recesses of the main corridor they did not know, but long enough to have ascertained what they'd been doing. It obviously did not please him. His smirk faded. His expression grew ominous. Bug backed up behind Lex. Chloe took a step forward, situating herself between one Clark and the other. Lex did not move at all, but he studied his alien counterpart very carefully.

The other Clark held out a hand. "Give me the key, Luthor."

Lex folded his fingers around the key. "I can't do that, Clark."

"And why not?"

"Because this isn't right. You don't belong here. That body, its power, doesn't belong to you." He advanced a stride. "I know you. I know you're still grieving for Corbin..."

"Don't you dare even utter his name, murderer," Clark's doppleganger spat. "Don't you DARE!"

The shout echoed through the caverns, multiplying ten times over, repeating itself again and again. Rocks dislodged themselves from the ceiling above their heads until they were forced to cover them. Only Lex stood unflinching. He waited patiently, never taking his eyes from the other Clark.

"I know now," the other Clark said in more normal tones. "What it's like to have power, and I know you do nothing but squander it. You hide in the shadows like a rat. I've seen the other side, Lex, and I won't give it up. I can help people. Save lives. Save people like Corbin." A hint of madness shone in his eyes as he raised his head proudly. He rose a fist to his chest. "I need these powers to protect the world from you!"

"I'm not the enemy, Clark."

"You're not even human!"

"And in that guise, neither are you! You're just like me. Don't you understand that?"

This gave the other Clark pause, but only for the briefest second, when his eyes grew thoughtful and somewhat afraid. Clark could see him rationalizing, sensed the fine line they were all treading with a young man teetering on the edge.

No. He's no longer on the edge.He's lost it. Finding out the truth about Lex, having his consciousness thrown into another body - it's all been too much for him. And there's grief there still, eating away at him. God, can we reason with him?

Clark hobbled forward. "Clark, it's not your fault, nor Lex's. Corbin was just sick..."

"SHUTUP!" One hand stabbed outward, finger pointing accusingly at Clark's chest. "I've seen your world.You're just like HIM. You hide what you are, what you can do. You skulk around feeling sorry for yourself while people in the world are dying. You're murders, both of you!"

"And how can you help anyone if you're locked up in a lab?" Lex shot back. "Or dead. When you found out about me, Clark, you tried to kill me."

"You killed my brother!"

"I have nothing to do with it! He was sick!"

"From your chemicals, from exposure to your chemicals."

"No!" Bug stepped forward, her small hands clenched into fists. "No, Clark! Corbin was sick before he had anything to do with Luthor Corp."

There was a silence as the other Clark took this in, but his head was shaking in denial, and his face grew red with fury. "You're lying!"

"I'm not lying. He told me. He didn't want to worry you or your parents." Tears started to run down her face. "I swore, Clark. I swore I would never tell. But it's the truth. Your brother was sick a long time before he died."

"You're LYING!"

"Laura, get down!"

Clark saw the flash of red in the other's eyes before anyone else, and reacted even before it registered with Lex. He lurched sideways, slamming into Bug so that they both stumbled and crashed into the cavern wall. Where Bug had been standing, flames whipped around in a fury, seeking something, anything, to burn. Finding no fuel they faded, leaving behind only scorched rock and the scent of smoke in the air.

There was a quick flicker of motion. Lex moved as well, gone in a blink. But when the blink ended Lex was flying through the air, pushed aside as if he weighed nothing. His body slammed into the side of the cavern opposite where Clark and Bug were staggering back to their feet. The ground shook and they almost fell again. Rocks, bigger ones, were dislodged from the roof of the cave. They ducked and covered their heads.

"Clark!"

It was Lex's voice, and Clark didn't know which one of them he addressed. It may have been a warning, for as he finally regained his footing the other Clark had again thrown Lex aside and was quickly approaching. Bug stepped between him and it was Clark who shoved her aside, sending her spinning into Chloe's arms as he made one last, desperate lunge in an attempt to escape...

Only to be jerked up short. His crutches clattered to the ground as his head bounced painfully off of something as hard and unyielding as stone. Darkness obscured his vision for a three count. Instinctively he raised his hands to his neck and felt an arm as immovable as a steel girder around his throat.

When his vision cleared he saw Lex standing before him. His blue eyes were narrowed with anger. His fists were clenched. Beyond him, huddled in a corner, stood the two girls. Chloe's expression was wide-eyed, fearful. Bug had lost her glasses. She squinted to see.

Clark heard his own voice at his ear. "One more step, Luthor, and he dies."