Lex and Lois were regaining consciousness when Chloe let loose her blood-curdling scream.
The man that was watching the unconscious Lex and Lois heard the scream and turned his attention towards the sound, entering the hidden doorway, and moving down a few steps in case he was needed.
Those few seconds were all Lex needed to get to his feet. He grabbed the nearest thing he could get his hands on, a soldering tool. Lex crept up behind the guard in the stairway. One swift jab to the ear and the guard fell forward, tumbling down a few steps before getting stuck between the two walls. Lex rushed down and grabbed the man's gun.
Lois appeared at the top of the stairs.
"Are you okay?" Lex asked, looking up to her.
Lois nodded, rubbing her neck where she had almost been strangled to death.
"Did you know about this stairwell?" she asked, coming down to meet him on the stairs.
Lex shook his head, and together they slowly started to descend.
Mason was tired of all the screaming, he approached Chloe-his hand raised to hit her. She stared back at him with pure hatred, not the least bit afraid.
"Don't you dare," Clark gasped, barely over a whisper. His head was starting to build pressure again, and Clark was sure that very soon he'd have another explosion of pain. He really felt his life leaving him, bit by bit.
Mason glanced at Clark.
"You are in no position to give me orders," he growled, his jaw clenched.
Suddenly Katherine appeared behind Mason. She grabbed his arm and spun him around.
"Stop! We have bigger problems, namely Lex and his girlfriend right upstairs!" Katherine whispered urgently.
Chloe breathed relief, Lois had made it. But would she find them down here, she thought.
Mason led Katherine away from the captives, and they put their heads together, whispering. Clark was swimming in despair. He was powerless to help anyone, let alone himself. His nose had stopped bleeding, but his eyes were completely bloodshot, and Clark's wrists were bloody from the rope cutting into his vulnerable skin. He looked to his right, at Lila, then Chloe; he turned his head to the left, and looked at Lana.
Lana was looking back at Clark, her eyes searching his for explanation. Clark was about to speak when the room was engulfed in a white light that originated from behind him. The ensuing explosion spewed a fireball that consumed most of the oxygen in the room in an instant, and vaporized the liquid kryptonite that was spilling from the PVC pipes as they split open from the sudden heat. The shock wave from the explosion extended across the room into the narrow stairwell and caused a partial cave-in at the base of the stairwell, burying the man that was guarding the door.
It was a clean, fast burning explosion. There was hardly any smoke, and very little residual fire. A few minutes passed in silence, and as Clark opened his eyes he found himself on his back, no longer bound to a chair.
Still very weak from his prolonged exposure to the Kryptonite, Clark sat up slowly, throwing debris off his body. The lab was pretty much destroyed. The high ceiling was black with residue, and there were chunks of cement and lead missing from places. Clark looked towards where the explosion had originated, and saw the vault had totally caved in, and the lead door was on the ground, a few feet from Clark.
"Chloe? Lana? Lila?" Clark called into the destroyed room, worry and fear replacing the residual pain from his bleeding arms and face.
Clark tried to stand, and as he struggled to get his feet under him, he saw an arm sticking out from under the lead door. Panic seized Clark, and his chest nearly exploded with pressure as his heart rate climbed through the roof. Forgetting about the pain, Clark stumbled to his feet, and using every ounce of strength he could muster, he lifted the door off the body. Clark flipped the door over and nearly collapsed from the exertion. He fell to his knees as he looked on Lila's motionless body. He placed his fingers on her neck but there was no pulse.
Clark dropped his head and as he sat there with his eyes closed he heard a soft moan. Clark opened his eyes and as he looked closer he saw blond hair through the rubble, underneath Lila's body. Clark gently rolled Lila's body onto her stomach, revealing an injured but alive Chloe Sullivan.
Chloe opened her eyes as Lila's weight was moved off her body, her face contorted as she groaned with pain. Her eyes were teary as she looked into Clark's face. She attempted to smile as he gazed at her, a pained expression on his own face.
"Don't move Chloe-you could be seriously injured," Clark said gently, as he smoothed her hair. Chloe nodded and closed her eyes against her pain, tears leaking out the corners and running down the sides of her face, leaving clean trails through the dirt and soot that caked her exposed skin.
"Where's Lana," Chloe asked softly, concerned. Clark started as he realized he'd forgotten about Lana.
Clark turned his body to the far side of the room where Lana had been tied up. She was sitting up, watching Clark with a dazed expression. Her face was bleeding again, but whether it was from the old cuts or fresh ones it was impossible to tell.
"She seems okay," Clark smiled down at Chloe. Chloe breathed a sigh of relief for her friend.
"Lila?" she asked softly. Clark just shook his head. He grasped Chloe's hand as he fought the feelings of loss. He'd barely known Lila Lotz, but in the time they had spent together, he had grown to like her, more than he'd liked any woman since Lana.
"Clark?" Lana had been able to stand, and she approached, kneeling next to Clark.
"You okay?" Clark asked her, pushing his feelings of loss away to concentrate on the situation at hand.
Lana nodded in response.
"Stay here with Chloe, don't let her try to get up, she may be injured internally. I'm going to see if I can somehow get us out of here," Clark again struggled to stand, feeling some strength beginning to return to him.
In the narrow stairwell leading down to the lab, the dust from the crumbling concrete was so thick Lois could barely see her hand in front of her face. She coughed as she slowly stood and brushed the fine dust and chunks of cement off her clothes. She winced as she felt pain in her back. Great, she thought, two steps further and I would have been crushed.
Large chunks of concrete lay piled, filling up half the available space. Lois saw a bloody leg sticking out of the bottom of the pile or concrete, and she felt bile rise in her throat. She looked away quickly.
She began glancing around for Lex, and not seeing him she began to panic. Then she heard movement and coughing from just behind her.
"Lois!" Lex called, his voice raspy from the polluted air.
"I'm here," she responded, sending herself into another coughing fit. Lex appeared next to her as the dust in the air slowly settled and cleared their field of vision.
"What the hell was that?" Lois asked, rhetorically.
Lex shook his head, "Whoever was down there may not be anymore," he added.
Lois started towards the pile of debris blocking the doorway, avoiding the leg, and worried for Chloe. Lex followed behind her, both of them still coughing in random spasms.
Mason Hines stirred underneath some rubble. He came to and immediately was aware of pain in his side. He guessed he'd broken some ribs. He heard movement around him, and he slowly raised his head, his shifting body moving the rubble off his body. Mason saw Clark stumbling towards the collapsed doorway, bleeding from different cuts over his arms and face. Mason laid his head back down, and turned slightly. He caught sight of Katherine out of the corner of his eye; half of her face was burnt off. Mason felt a momentary stab of sadness for her, but it passed quickly. She's better off, he thought.
Mason slowly raised his body to stand, clutching at his side, his breathe short, and hard to take in. He hoped he didn't have a punctured lung.
Out of the corner of his eye Clark saw Mason stand and watch him. Clark turned his head and in return watched Mason. The two men stared at each other for a moment, and as Clark reached the partially caved in doorway, he broke the stare, assessing the situation before him. He felt he was probably strong enough to move all the debris to form a path big enough to get Chloe and Lana out. Clark started rolling pieces of concrete and lead off the top of the pile, when he heard noises from the other side.
"Lex, I hear someone moving on the other side," Lois said excitedly.
"Hello!" she yelled, "Chloe! Clark!"
Lex started pulling down chunks of cement off the top of the pile, in hopes of revealing who was on the other side.
Clark paused, hearing Lois yelling on the other side. Clark began to pull away the piled up rubble faster, "Lois?" he yelled back. Suddenly the small square of light at the top became larger, and Clark saw Lex's smeared face staring back at him through the rubble.
"Clark, are you okay?" Lex asked, seemingly genuinely concerned. Clarks face was bleeding from some several cuts.
"I'm fine and Lana's fine, but Chloe isn't, she's hurt pretty bad," Clark responded urgently, no time for bitter arguments now, he needed Lex's help.
"Lana's here?" Lex asked without pause.
Clark looked at him darkly. Some things never change, I guess, he thought.
"Chloe? What's wrong with her," Clark heard Lois ask, as her worried face appeared dirty and smudged next to Lex.
"I'm not sure, but she's in a lot of pain," Clark said gently, his eyes moving from Lex to Lois. He held his gaze on Lois, wishing he weren't the one telling Lois this news. Lex watched Clark stare at Lois, recognizing the caring stare. He felt a flash of jealousy as he glanced sideways at Lois, and saw her staring back at Clark, looking for comfort from him.
"Let's clear some more of this so we can get you guys out of here. Lois, go call the authorities, Clark and I can clear this out," Lex ordered, more forcefully then he meant.
Lois gave Lex a look that changed quickly from a glare to a blank expression almost before Lex realized he had angered her.
Clark watched as Lois ascended the chipped and broken stairs. When Lois had stepped out of view, Clark looked back at Lex. Lex was watching him closely.
"Let's get this cleared," Clark said, avoiding Lex's hard stare, as he pulled the next piece of concrete off the top of the pile. Lex nodded, and the two of them set to work.
Lionel, the cyborg, had been partially protected from the blast, as he was held in an adjoining room. The blast had busted out the viewing window, and Lionel had been peppered with bits of broken glass and cement.
After the explosion, he stood and observed the scene before him, partially hidden from view by the portion of wall still standing that separated his captivity from the lab. He waited for the perfect moment to make his appearance.
Mason watched with dread as Clark opened the tunnel. His plans lay in ruins. If he couldn't take care of these people before the police and emergency services arrived, he'd never see the light of day again. Time for a new plan, he thought.
Lana sat with Chloe while Clark and Lex cleared the doorway. Chloe was having difficulty breathing, and Lana wasn't sure what to do for her. She held her hand, and kept giving Chloe reassuring smiles.
Soon after Lex sent Lois to call for help, she was back at the bottom of the steps, anxiously waiting for the men to lower the pile enough to get a stretcher through, and to climb over. Finally, Lois couldn't wait any longer. She moved forward, and ignoring the protests of both Lex and Clark, she climbed over the remaining pile to get to Chloe. Clark helped her at the other side, and Lois rushed to Chloe's side.
"Chloe! Oh my God, Chloe," Lois took Lana's place as Lana stood up and backed away a few steps, leaning her back on the wall. Lois' eyes welled with tears, tears she couldn't hold back this time. They spilled over her bottom eyelids, and traced crooked paths down her cheeks.
Chloe looked up at her cousin, smiling weakly.
"Anything for the story," Chloe tried to joke.
Lois returned the smile, glad her cousin's sense of humor seemed to be intact. That was a good sign.
Clark and Lex moved as fast as they could to clear the remaining rubble, and Lex finally leapt over the small pile they left. Clark backed up a few steps, and as Lex landed the two of them looked at each other for a moment. Lex broke the stare first, as he moved towards Lois, Chloe, and Lana. Clark watched Lex walk away from him, and he took a deep, shuttering breath and followed, exhausted after moving all that debris. Clark still was not feeling himself, and none of his powers had really come back to him yet.
Lex looked around the lab as he crossed the room. His eyes taking in the pieces of destroyed equipment and working surfaces. His gaze fell on Mason Hines, who hadn't moved since he'd stood. Lex hardened his look, and instead of moving to Lois's side, he approached Mason.
"What have you been doing down here, behind my back," he asked coldy, his voice dripping with anger and the handgun he'd taken from the guard stuck in the waistband of his dusty, dirty, designer slacks.
Mason stared back at Lex, feeling some trepidation.
Lionel, who had been captive for six months and had seen no other human life except Katherine Trumpet and Mason Hines, moved out of the shadows when he heard Lex's voice.
"Hello, son," he said.