(13/14)

Chloe had no idea why Clark always told her to stay put. He had to know better by now. God only knows how much Kryptonite is in there, does he think I'm going to leave him alone? she thought as she made her way back into the stark silver laboratory.

She sneaked along the walls behind the tall metal racks that held supplies and instruments. She watched the confrontation between Clark and Lex, and her worst fears were realized when she saw Clark rush him and stop dead in his tracks.

She should have known. They both should have known that Lex wouldn't go into this unprotected.

As she moved closer she held her breath, watching and waiting for an opening to help Clark. Lex was practically stalking him, and Clark was stumbling back, trying to reason with an increasingly unreasonable enemy.

"I am going to do things no one's ever dreamed of," Lex said.

"Experimenting on innocents? Wreaking havoc on unsuspecting populations? I think Hitler beat you to the punch," Clark shot back.

Chloe crept up behind Lex just as he pulled a large meteor rock from his pocket. She grabbed a metal tray from the table beside the chair where she had been held.

Lex turned as he heard the contents of the tray clatter to the floor. She pulled back and hit him in the head as hard as she could.

He crumpled to the floor and she hurried over to Clark. "Are you okay?" she asked, helping him move away from Lex's body.

"I'm fine." He looked to where Lex lay on the floor, bleeding from his temple. "I'm not so sure about him."

Chloe knelt beside Lex and took off his jacket, then got it as far away from Clark as possible. When she came back, she checked his pulse, and looked up at Clark with wide eyes. "He's still alive, but barely."

"You hit him pretty hard."

"He was trying to hurt you."

"I know," he said. He picked Lex up and said, "Let's get out of here. You need to call the police."

Once they were outside, Clark laid Lex on the ground and Chloe called 911 on her cell.

She put a hand over the mouthpiece once the operator had taken her initial information and told her to hold on so she could dispatch the help. "Couldn't you just take him yourself?"

Clark shook his head. "I don't know what the speed would do to him, Chloe. Tell them Lex Luthor has been seriously injured and Metropolis General should send a helicopter."

She nodded and relayed the pertinent information, adding that they would need plenty of police and a hazardous materials unit.

When she was assured they were on their way, she punched the off button with a sigh.

"What a lovely day," she said sarcastically as Clark pulled her into his arms.

"It started out that way," Clark said.

"Now it kinda sucks," she concluded.

Clark kissed her on the top of her head and let her go a few minutes later when they saw a helicopter approaching over the horizon.

"Now the fun begins," she said as the helicopter landed in the field and medics poured out.

They got Lex on a stretcher and stabilized him as best they could before taking off for the hospital. Ten minutes later the police arrived, and "Lois and Superman" spent the better part of the next hour explaining what had happened.

When the police were satisfied with their statements and had called in backup to search the lab, they let them go.

Chloe accepted a ride back to Metropolis from one of the police officers who insisted on taking her to the hospital to be checked out first. Superman took off with a wave and she knew he would be waiting for her when she got there.

At the hospital, Clark rushed in as a nurse was taking her blood.

"I came as soon as I heard," he lied for the benefit of the lady standing next to them. "Are you all right?" he asked, adjusting his glasses.

"They say I'm fine. Mostly I'm sore. The doctor told me he couldn't find any immediate effects of you-know-what," she said with a conspiratorial look, "but they're taking blood to make sure. And of course they told me to come back if anything odd starts happening."

"Let's hope not," Clark said nervously.

"Hmm," she agreed as the nurse finished up. "Thank you," Chloe said and the nurse nodded as she left.

Clark pulled the curtain around her bed and pulled her to him. He kissed her thoroughly before letting her go so she could catch her breath.

"I missed you, too," she laughed.

"It's not funny, Lois," he said, somehow remembering to address her by her alias. "I didn't know where you were. I couldn't hear you, I couldn't find you anywhere. That... scared me." His face was serious.

"I was scared, too, Clark. I didn't know if I was ever going to see you again." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "I would never have left my apartment alone this morning if I had known Lex had found me."

"Yeah, about Lex," he said, pulling back but still in the circle of her arms.

"Did he make it to the hospital?"

"He's on life support. His brain is bleeding and they don't know if he's going to make it."

Chloe's face fell. "I wish I could say I'm sorry, Clark, but -"

"I know. I'm not either."

She stroked the hair at the back of his head. "You always did all you could do for him."

"Did I?"

"You did more than anyone and he still wouldn't fight hard enough to be good. If you couldn't help him, no one could," she tried to assure him.

"I wish I could believe that," he said sadly.

She knew he hated to lose anyone to the dark and that was just one of so many things she loved about him. "Please believe it," she said, kissing him.

"Come on," he said. "I'll take you home."

"I like the sound of that," she said, hopping off the hospital bed.

TBC