A/N: Glad people are still enjoying this. Sorry that it took so long to get this going again, but I finally killed the writer's block, for now anyway. :)

~*~*~*~

Panic overwhelmed Lex, as he dropped to her side. She smiled weakly.

"Why is it always me?" She whispered quietly.

"Shh." Lex said. He looked her over. The blood seemed to be coming from her upper body. "Chloe where'd the bullet hit you?" He asked.

"My arm, I think." She managed.

He gently rolled her over, stopping when she hissed in pain. The bullet seemed to have gone in and out of the back of her upper arm. It was bleeding profusely. He swore under his breath.

He pulled a knife out, and gently cut the arm off of her shirt, before using it to bind the wound. He was grateful that the bullet had exited. It meant that they could hopefully avoid a hospital, where by law they were required to report all gunshot injuries.

"Chloe we've got to get out of here. It won't be long until Adams alerts everyone to our presence." Lex said.

Chloe nodded gamely, and tried to sit up, suppressing a gasp at the pain in her arms. "Are you sure that the bullet isn't still in there?" She asked.

Lex nodded, smiling as reassuringly as he could. Then he stooped, catching Chloe around the waist, and under her good arm, and gently pulled her to her feet.

"You okay to walk?" Lex asked. "Not dizzy?"

"Dizzy?" Chloe looked at him strangely. "It hit my arm, not my head!"

"I meant from pain... when the shock wears off it's gonna hurt more. Tell me if you're going to pass out, okay?"

"It's gonna hurt worse then *this*?" She took a step, and breathed. If she moved slowly and carefully, and didn't jar her arm, she was okay. But unfortunately, the situation called for speed.

Following Lex, and doing her best to keep her hisses and whimpers to herself, they made their way across the floor to the elevator.

"How are you gonna get the elevator?" Chloe asked, eyeing the card access.

Lex pulled out his own security card. "It's not like they won't already know we're here!" He said, as he swiped the card. The little light blinked green, and Chloe breathed relief. At least the mole wasn't powerful enough to have Lex's clearance revoked.

The elevator arrived, and Lex stood to one side, with Chloe behind him as the doors opened. They were empty. Not trusting that Adams still hadn't alerted security, but having no other choice, Lex moved onto the elevator with Chloe in tow.

As soon as the doors shut, Lex inserted his access card into a slot on the wall. The elevator jerked to a halt, causing pain to rocket through Chloe's arm. She found herself feeling dizzy, to her dismay, and leaned against the wall.

"I'm not a damsel in distress, I'm *not* a damsel in distress..." She muttered to herself under her breath, until the pain subsided and she felt less woozy.

"What's that?" Lex asked, hearing her speak but not making out the words.

"Nothing. Why'd you stop the elevator?" Chloe asked.

Lex pushed an unlabeled black button at the bottom of the other buttons. The elevator began to descend. Chloe felt her stomach jump a little but otherwise she wouldn't have known they were moving.

"Down?" Chloe asked. "As in, underground with no chance of escape?"

Lex shook his head and smiled a secretive smile. "This plant doesn't have any floors lower then the one where we house the records, Chloe." He said. "Ask any of the inspectors that make the rounds."

Chloe looked hard at Lex. He had a look on his face similar to that one might see on a cat that just caught a canary. "Elevator must be stuck then." Chloe pointed out. "We've been in here for over thirty seconds. And it only took two for you to insert that card." Just then, the elevator dinged.

"This is one of those 'off the record' kind of things Chloe." Lex said, as the doors opened to reveal a long concrete tunnel. It looked like some sort of drain access tunnel.

Lex began walking, with Chloe doing her best to keep up. "Where are we?" She asked, and at his look added, "off the record!"

"This is the part of the plant that doesn't exist." He said, as they walked. "Well, actually two levels up doesn't exist. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what goes on there, but I can tell you that sometimes what goes on has the potential to warrant a quick unobtrusive exit, and that is where this tunnel comes in. It exits by a man hole in Smallville."

"We've got that far to walk?" Chloe asked, not quite hiding the moan that wanted to emerge.

"Yes. It was that or get shot at again. I guarantee that we wouldn't have made it out of the plant without altercation." Lex said.

"It's just that my arm is really, really hurting." Chloe said quietly. She realized what Lex had meant when he mentioned the shock wearing off. Her arm had been sore but sort of numb, and Chloe had secretly wondered if the bullet had hit a nerve. That was all going away. With every pump of blood from her heart, her arm throbbed to the point of agony.

Lex stopped immediately. If she hadn't done such a good job of digging for dirt, he wouldn't have the answers, and she wouldn't be hurt. The least he could do was ease her pain as much as possible.

He helped Chloe sit down, with her back against the concrete wall. She leaned her head back, and shut her eyes, concentrating on not passing out. Taking off his jacket and tossing it on the ground, he pulled his shirt off.

Chloe managed an inward smile at the sight of Lex's bare chest, but couldn't muster more then that. He tipped her forward, using his shirt to fashion a sling for her arm, before pulling his coat back on.

The pain abated slightly as soon as she rested her arm in the sling. The agonizing throb was still there, hurting with every beat of her heart, but at least she didn't have to support her own arm any more. Plus, the shirt still smelled like Lex and that in it self was comforting.

"Can you keep going?" Lex asked, speaking like she had a choice between sitting and waiting for the bad guys and moving ahead.

She nodded, and offered her good arm up so that Lex could raise her to her feet. Chloe was beginning to see the downside to getting shot. Well, not that there was only one, but as the shock wore off, the pain got worse. To the point where she was moving at barely a walk because it hurt so badly.

Hours seemed to have passed, where Chloe was walking through an agonizing nightmare, when Lex gently stopped her forward plodding.

"Wait here." He said simply, as he eased her onto the ground, with the wall to her back again. He reached down to her hip, and pulled the gun she still wore out of the holster. "Shoot anyone that isn't me, okay?" Lex said.

Chloe managed to nod, before Lex turned, and climbed up the wall. It took Chloe a second to realize that they had reached the manhole exit, and that Lex was leaving her. She stifled a sob as her logical self told her wussy self that he'd be right back. She closed her eyes again, trying to drown out the pain.

Lex climbed out of the manhole, and quietly replaced the grate. He needed to find them a vehicle, and then they needed to get the hell out of dodge. He walked down the street, hoping that no one saw him. He was on the news, and he knew that people were looking for him, and he did not want to be found until he had everything under control.

He had worked his way over to main street, and was still no closer to a plan, when he saw a familiar red truck sitting outside the Talon. Clark had an unnerving ability to save the day, surely he'd be willing to 'loan' Lex his truck. Smiling to himself at his thinly veiled excuse for what he was about to do, Lex slipped a business card and a pen out of his coat pocket, he quickly wrote:

Sorry for the trouble

Needed a ride

Will return or replace

Thanks

L.L.

On a second thought, Lex underlined needed before he put the business card under the truck, and weighted it down with a rock. Lex glanced inside, and saw that Clark was suitably occupied watching Lana serve coffee before slipping into the unlocked vehicle and pulling the plastic off the steering column. After a few missed tried, Lex managed to hotwire the truck, and he pulled away from the curb, driving quickly to get back to Chloe.

***

Inside the Talon, Clark looked up suddenly as he heard his truck start. He jumped up, and ran out onto the street, just in time to see the bumper disappear around the corner. He glanced around to see if anyone was looking, preparing to super-speed after the truck. Three or four people were looking on in shock.

"Young man?" An elderly woman said, tapping Clark on the shoulder. "Was that your truck?"

Clark nodded mutely, trying to figure out how he was going to explain it to his father.

"Well, you should be more careful." She said, obviously trying to help, and not succeeding. "That young man looked dangerous." She tsked and shook her head. "I remember when this town was..."

"You saw who did this?" Clark interrupted.

The woman nodded. "Yes, yes. I'm sorry if I didn't get involved, but it looked gang related." She explained. "Shaving your head *is* a gang thing isn't it? And he wasn't wearing a shirt, scandalous, really!"

Clark was stopped by the head shaving comment. "Did you recognize him?" He asked.

"Well, now I might have." She shook her head again. "It would be doubly sad if it was a child I knew that had turned to a gang!"

Clark ignored her further ramblings. Could it have been Lex? He thought, but still being confounded by why Lex would steal a farm truck. Then a piece of paper caught his eye. It had been stuck under a rock, but was fluttering out from underneath when Clark noticed it. It slipped out, and flew off in the wind.

Running down the street after the paper, Clark didn't give a thought to how silly he looked. He simply thought that the paper looked deliberate, and he needed to see it. He finally caught it, his eyes widening with the words.

"What has he got into now?" Clark couldn't help muttering.

***

Chloe raised the gun, holding as steady as possible with one hand. The manhole cover came off and Chloe felt her heart stop for a second, as she imagined Adams coming after her.

"It's me." She heard a familiar voice say, before lowering himself into the darkness.

Chloe sighed, dropping her gun hand to the ground, the gun clattering on the cement.

He grabbed the gun off the ground, tucking it into his coat pocket before turning to Chloe.

"All right." Lex said. "I got us a ride. We're out of here." He carefully pulled Chloe up to her feet, noting that she wasn't even trying to hide the pain anymore. She hissed and whimpered as he got her standing. "You're going to have to hold onto the ladder with one hand." Lex instructed. "I'll be right behind you, holding you up so you won't fall."

Chloe nodded, reaching her good hand up to grasp a rung, before stepping up. She felt Lex wrap his arms around her, grasping the ladder, as he pulled himself flush against her. He felt warm, and Chloe relished it, feeling chilled from the shock and pain.

She managed a mental laugh. Lex was like her personal hot water bottle. Every time she was freezing, he was right there being warm, or make that hot, she mentally corrected.

"Okay, now lean against me, and reach for the next rung." Lex said into her ear.

Obeying, Chloe leaned all her weight against Lex, grasping the next wrung up and then taking a step.

The process was tedious and painful, but she finally made it to the top, Lex pushing her up til she could side on the street, her legs hanging down into the manhole. She swung her legs out of the way, so that Lex could climb up.

Lex slipped the cover over the hole before looking at Chloe. She was white as a sheet. Without any further thought, he gingerly scooped her into his arms, and carried her over to the truck.

Chloe's eyes widened. "Clark knows were here? How come you get to see people and I don't?" She demanded, although the tone of voice was more petulant in reality.

"I sort of borrowed it, actually." Lex said, as he settled her into the truck and shut the door.

Chloe waited until Lex got into the driver's side. "You *stole* Clark Kent's truck! Lex what were you thinking! Jonathan will have your head!"

Lex smirked a little as he fiddled with the wires, starting the truck again. "Well, I did leave a note. I'm hoping that Clark won't report it to the police, or at least that he'll convince Jonathan to hold off for a bit. I mean, he does like saving people, if you haven't noticed, and I did underline the word 'needed' in the note."

Chloe laughed, and then groaned at the pain it produced. "It will probably work." She gasped out, before giving in and passing out.

TBC...

A/N: Sorry this was a little shorter, but it just worked to end the chapter here, so I did.