Chapter Eight:

"What happened to Lionel Luthor?" A faint smile crossed her lips.

"He died in prison before his case came to trial, liver disease. A Luthorcorp trust takes care of Lex's needs and medical bills" Some of the anger inside of him abated slightly.

"Who are you talking to?" Chloe demanded and Clark flinched at her abrasive tone. She strode towards him and for a second he saw the ghost of the old Chloe.

"Where's my dad? Do you know where he is?" she demanded and he could only stare helplessly at her.

"I don't know Chloe" he wanted to touch her but knew that he couldn't. She frowned fiercely.

"How do you know my name? What's your name?" Clark swallowed.

"My name is Clark"

"Clark. I need to find my dad. Can you help me? My dad will save me; he'll save me… he has to save me. I don't want to be here" her voice broke and she turned and walked back towards the wall. Clark looked back at his companion who just shook her head. She walked towards him.

"We have to leave now"

"I can't leave her" he looked back at Chloe, who'd slid down the wall again, muttering beneath her breath. The guide took Clark's hand.

"You have to. You can't help her"

"Maybe I can. Maybe I could find her dad?" She shook her head.

"Her father is dead Clark. She knows it. It's part of her psychosis, every person she meets she asks if they can find her father" Clark turned his head and looked at Chloe one last time.

"She won't leave here will she?"

"She's completely broken" his guide confirmed what he already knew.

"But she can see me" Her hand tightened on his.

"What she sees is a figment of her imagination, a delusion. You don't exist Clark, not in this world" Chloe looked up at him and she frowned.

"Are you leaving me Clark? Don't leave me, you have to find my dad" her voice rose as she scrambled to her feet a second time and walked towards him demanding, screaming, wanting and he hated the helplessness he felt even more.

They stood in the corridor and Clark watched Chloe, heard her screaming his name. He watched as two uniformed orderlies unlocked her door and went inside. It took them both to restrain her, to strap her to her bed with an easy proficiency that suggested to him that they'd done this with her before. She still screamed his name and it echoed around the inside of his head. He took a deep breath and took a singular step towards the room only to feel his guide's hand on his wrist. He looked at her, her expression was fierce.

"You can't help her Clark," she told him. Clark turned on her, angrier than he'd felt ever before in his life.

"You don't understand, she confided in me once… her mom is in a place like this. And she was always afraid that she'd end up the same, and she has!"

"And what you don't seem to understand is that in this reality Chloe never knew you, yes she found her mother and yes she found out about the mental issues her mother had but she didn't tell you, she couldn't, you didn't exist and you can't help her. You have to accept that!" she argued back. The fight went out of Clark then.

Clark looked around. Nothing. Just brightness. There was no floor, no ceiling, no beginning or ending. He looked to his guide.

"It's decision time Clark. Right now you're lying on the floor in that coffee shop, your life pouring out of you thanks to that kryptonite bullet. If you still feel that this world would still be a better place without you then so be it, you can die on that floor. The ones that love you will grieve over you but life goes on, as horrifying as it can get and as wicked as it will become, it will go on. Or you can have another chance" Clark frowned.

"At what?" she sighed.

"At living Clark. You have astounding abilities; you could put them to great use for the better of mankind. It doesn't have to end here" she watched the decision warring in his eyes.

"Is it such a hard choice to make? The good that you do? How much you could really help someone? It's who you are Clark, it's who you're meant to be"

"The good that I can do? What about me? What about my needs? I hate keeping these secrets, I hate the pain that they cause. There have been so many times that I've wanted to sit down with Lana, with Chloe and just tell them about me, the real me and share it with them" she frowned, listening to the anguish in his voice, feeling the pain in his soul. She looked up into his eyes.

"There'll be a day when you won't have to hide your true self Clark, there is someone out there for you, and she will understand and accept you for who you are better than you could ever hope for"

"You sound like my mother" he muttered and his guide smiled and moved towards him. She took both of his hands. He looked at her and her eyes were filled with something, he couldn't exactly see what but her smile was radiant, as if she understood.

"Your mother is a very wise woman, you'd do well to listen to her. She's right. There is someone out there, she's waiting for you"

"Who?" she took a step back, releasing her hold on him.

"I can't tell you that Clark, that's part of your life's journey if you choose to follow it, but you'll know. One day you will just know" Clark listened to her words. More than once on this freaky little journey he'd wondered how she'd known so much, about his life. She'd said she heard his darkest thoughts, but how exactly?

"Don't question Clark. Choose" her voice seemed to fill his head and he looked questioningly at her. She smiled.

"Who are you?" the smile didn't fade.

"You know who I am," she told him.