Lois was relaxed, sunk deep into the cushions of the plush, leather sofa. Her slippered feet perched on the coffee table. She held a glass of red wine in her hands. The only light in the room was cast by the crackling fire in the large, rock, fireplace. There was soft music, an opera of some sort, playing through the sound system. She recognized it as Lex's favorite. He played it whenever he was feeling good. She heard footsteps on the hardwood floors behind her.

"Are you awake?"

Lois looked up and saw Lex leaning over her, from behind the couch.

"Just barely," she smiled up at him. Lex walked around to the front of the couch and sat down next to her, lifting his arm and letting Lois nestle herself into his side. She rested her head on his chest, listening to his heart beating.

Lex reached down for her wine, taking a sip. They sat there for several minutes, not speaking. Lex brushed a loose strand of hair off Lois's forehead. Lois reached for Lex's hand, intertwining their fingers. It was a perfect moment.

Suddenly the phone on the side table of the couch rang, startling them. Lex reached for the phone.

"This is Luthor," Lex answered heavily.

"Mr. Luthor, this is Agent Merks from the FBI. I have some information about your father."

Lex gently nudged Lois off him, and he stood up and took a few steps away from the sofa. Lois sat up as well. She set her wine aside and followed Lex with her eyes.

"Agent Merks, what have you found," Lex turned and met Lois's eyes. They stared at each other, while Lex listened to what Agent Dina Merks had to tell him.

Approximately five minutes later, Lex hung up the phone. He sat on the coffee table, in front of Lois, his back to the fire, his head hanging in disbelief. Lois sat forward on the sofa, taking Lex's hands in hers.

"What did she say?" she asked gently.

"It appears he's been dead for quite awhile. The body was so decayed, they had to use dental records to identify him," Lex swallowed hard, "his neck was broken, and his," he stopped.

Lois waited patiently, giving him time to compose himself.

"His eyes, and most of his internal organs were taken," he finally spat out, disgusted. He lifted his head, looking at Lois, a childlike fear in his eyes.

Lois was at a loss. She had never seen Lex this emotional, especially in regards to Lionel. She knew that the last few months before Lionel disappeared, it seemed that he and Lex were starting to come to some sort of understanding. But she still didn't know what to say, or do.

Lex didn't understand the emotions flowing through him either. Since he became involved with Lois, he had grown more tolerant, had become softer somehow. He didn't like the feeling, especially right now. He wanted to be in control of his emotions. And right now, Lex was completely out of control.

Lois pulled Lex onto the couch and held him close.

Lila was still struggling with her emotions when they arrived at the hotel, so Clark offered to help her up to her room. She accepted silently.

They rode the elevator in silence, up to the 56th floor. Clark supported Lila as they walked down the hall. Lila was carrying her bag, and her broken heel. She didn't even remember picking it up.

"This is my room," she stopped them in front of room 5613.

"5613-you're not superstitious are you," Clark tried to joke. Lila looked at him, not amused.

"Sorry, bad timing."

Lila sighed. "It's ok, I'm just ready to fall into bed, I'm exhausted after this day of craziness," she smiled at Clark.

Lila reached into her bag for her hotel key. When the door opened, Lila hesitated.

"I don't want to seem silly, but, would you mind?" she motioned towards the room. Clark looked from her to the room.

"Sure, just give me a second." Clark entered the hotel room. He checked the bathroom, and the closets. The balcony was also clear. He stuck his head out the door and gave her a smile.

"The coast is clear."

Lila entered the hotel room, threw her bag and key onto the desk, and collapsed on the bed. She lay there for a moment, than sat up.

"Thank you Clark, I did have a nice time tonight. I enjoy your company, and I hope we can see each other again."

"I had a good time too. I'm sorry about the way the night ended," he smiled apologetically.

"It wasn't your fault," Lila took off her boots-one missing a heel, then stood and walked Clark to the door.

"I'm sorry I got so worked up about it," she added.

Clark brushed her apology off with a hard shake of his head.

"There's no need to apologize," he said to her.

Lila smiled in thanks.

"Thank you again," she stared hard at Clark.

Clark felt his blood rushing to his head. His mouth went dry, and he couldn't think of anything to say.

Lila made the move first. She tilted her head up, and moving closer, she reached up and pulled Clark's head down. Clark, succumbing to his attraction, reached his hands up and cupped the back of Lila's head as they kissed.

Clark didn't remember his walk home. He replayed that kiss over and over in his head. He was so out of it he didn't even use his super-speed to get home. It had been a perfect ending to what could have been a disastrous evening. Clark made a mental note to have Chloe dig into the DMV records tomorrow to see if they could track down the owner of the car the attacker took off in.

Clark was fiddling with his apartment key when he was roused from his dreamy state by Chloe herself.

"Hey Clark," Chloe came walking up from the landing.

"Chloe," Clark looked at her, confused, "what are you doing here?"

"Well, I was curious what Dr. Lotz thought of the story," Chloe was prepared with the excuse, "and I didn't want to wait for you to call me; or to see you tomorrow."

"She thought the article seemed fair," Clark responded, a little confused that Chloe had come all the way over here just for that. Clark finally got the entry door open, and Chloe followed him into the freight elevator that took him to his top floor loft.

"Good, I wouldn't have changed any of it anyway," she filled the silence. Clark didn't respond.

"I was also curious about that thing we talked about earlier. You said you thought you saw something in the robot, something weird?" Chloe pressed him for more.

The elevator stopped at the fifth, and top, floor, and Chloe and Clark exited into the open room of Clark's loft. Every time Chloe was here, it blew her mind how Clark could live with so little around him.

"Well, since I'm not sure what I saw, I'm going to go back over there tomorrow and take another look. I thought we'd determined this already?" Clark questioned, tossing his keys on the table where his phone sat. No new messages, he noticed.

"Yeah. Okay-well, I guess I'll head back," Chloe said.

"Chloe, something did happen tonight," Clark said, remembering his mental note and getting Chloe's attention.

Chloe looked at Clark, her eyebrows raised in question.

"Well, when I was walking Lila back to her hotel, she noticed someone following us. When I approached this person, they struck out at me, knocked me to the ground, and took off in a car. I got a partial plate, and I was hoping you could help me track down who it might belong too," Clark replayed an abbreviated version of the events.

"Yeah, I'll contact my source at the DMV first thing tomorrow. Are you ok?" Immediately Chloe felt dumb for asking.

"Sorry, you know what I mean. Is Lila ok?"

"Yes, she's fine. A little freaked out. I don't think anything like this has happened to her before."

"Did you tell her you were the resident super-hero in Smallville?" Chloe laughed, "Saving all the women in your life, time and again! She's lucky she was with you."

Clark smiled. Chloe had no idea…

"I didn't want to scare her by telling her all about the range of freaks I've encountered!"

"I get it," Chloe said, feeling another slight pang of jealousy. She was certain this woman had already become the new object of Clark's affections. Chloe had just about resigned herself to being just friends, but after Lana left for Paris, Chloe let herself dare to hope. Now she was feeling the sting of rejection again. True, it was in a roundabout way, but she felt rejected nonetheless.

"Give me the partial plates, and I'll call over to the DMV first thing," Chloe offered, hiding her feelings. Clark wrote the letters on some paper and gave them to Chloe.

"Thanks Chloe," Clark said. He watched her, and thought he saw something in her eyes. Clark suddenly had a guilty feeling for the way he treated Chloe when she showed up.

"How's your research into Lionel Luthor coming?" he asked, trying to make up for his behavior.

"I haven't found much yet," Chloe shrugged.

"It's leading me to think there's something big out there, hiding. So I'm more determined than ever to find what that might be," Chloe added, causing Clark to smile. That's the Chloe I know and love, he thought.

"Just give me time."