The room was tall. The ceiling was almost thirty feet high. The wall that faced the outside was made entirely of paned glass. Water trickled down the windows as a light rain dampened the outside world. The small amount of light that managed to break through the clouds streamed into the large office and illuminated the bald head of Lex Luthor.

His back was turned to the dreary weather as he was sitting at his desk writing a personal letter to a client. He was in the middle of requesting a new shipment from the LexCorp plant in Kansas when he heard a beep from his message box.

The man pressed down the button and said, "What is it, Jean?"

"Miss Sullivan is here to see you," the younger woman said in monotone through the speaker.

A large smile quickly grew across Lex's face as he let out a single laugh.

"Let her in," he said slowly.

The door creaked open as a slightly pregnant Latina woman with a blank look on her face ushered the young blonde in. Her hair was short and just above her shoulders, and her body seemed nervous about making a bad impression in the midst of her new job.

"Y-you wanted to see me Lex," Chloe uttered after the door closed behind her.

"Yes, come closer," Lex said with a smooth voice. He used his two tallest fingers and bent them toward his body so that that woman would come closer.

"I don't know if I…"

"Oh come on, Chloe. You know I don't bite."

Once the blonde came close enough, Lex took a large step forward and put his smooth hand on her hip.

"Lex, stop it," Chloe said as she backed away from him, hiding her own desire. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Don't you want me, Chloe?" Lex asked in a voice full of breath. "Or are you still hung up on Clark."

"I told you," Chloe shivered, realizing what this meeting was really about. "I'm over Clark."

Lex continued to come near to the woman and put both of his hands on her waist. He touched his chest to hers and blew a tiny amount of air on her face.

"I love you, Chloe. I'll always love you. I always have. Can Clark tell you that?"

"No," Chloe sighed after a long pause. "No, he can't. Well, he can. He just didn't. He chose Lois instead."

"I'll never choose another, Chloe," the man whispered as the tip of his nose slid across her soft cheek. "You're the one who can make my soul take flight."

No more words were said in that room. A few simple kisses on the neck were enough to make Chloe lose control. She allowed Lex to remove her blouse and she in turn unbuttoned his shirt in a hurried fashion. In what seemed like seconds. All of their garments were strewn across the floor as well as the contents of Lex's desktop. His old wooden work area had become the love bed of the two entwined bodies indulging in the first of the many encounters they would go through during the long year.

Chloe's eyelids slowly lifted to reveal her soft green eyes reflecting a bright light. The blonde immediately had to squeeze her lids shut due to the shock the light caused.

"Ah, Ms. Sullivan, you're awake."

"H-huh?" she asked as she heard the strange voice. It sounded very familiar. Chloe's body immediately woke and became charged. She jerked around for a few seconds before her pain caused her to stop short and curl up into the fetal position.

"It's okay, Miss Sullivan. My name's Dr. Shapiro of STAR Labs. Superman brought you here. You're going to be okay."

The frightened woman didn't say another word. She simply shivered before gulping back saliva.

"Dr. Hamilton, I think I'm going to fetch the rest of the medicine," Dr. Shapiro said. "I'll be back later."

"Thank you, doctor," sighed an older-sounding man in the background. After the other doctor left, he moved the light to the side so that it no longer blinded Chloe and gently touched her wrist so that he could take her pulse.

"It's back to normal, Superman," Dr. Hamilton croaked. "Your friend's going to be okay."

"Thanks, Emil," sighed a very tired Clark. "Now can you finally tell me what was wrong with her?"

"Sure," the doctor said as he lowered his glasses and rubbed between his eyes. "Ms. Sullivan is a very unusual case. You did know she was pregnant, right?"

Clark nearly lost his footing as he heard that word. Pregnant? Chloe was pregnant? Why didn't she tell him? Maybe she didn't know. She could not have known. It would have been too soon for her to know. He looked over at her to see her reaction, but she was simply staring at an adjacent wall, as if this was no news to her.

"I'm guessing you didn't know. Anyway, we think that the fetus inside of her was somehow physically attacking the uterus, thereby creating a domino effect on the rest of the body. That was where the bleeding was coming from. We injected a substance that Dr. Shapiro made in order to weaken the fetus so that it does no more damage."

"W-what do you mean 'physically attacking'?"

"Um…punching, kicking, ripping at the wall of the uterus. That kind of thing."

Clark looked at the seemingly baffled doctor and tried to make sense of what he was saying.

"How can…how can that happen?" Clark stuttered. "If she's not showing yet, how big can the baby be?"

"Pretty small," Dr. Hamilton said as he shook his head. "It boggles my mind. I'm just glad that she came here. Dr. Shapiro apparently knows about this kind of condition and knew exactly what to do. Why did she want to come here again?"

"I don't know," Clark sighed with his fear and confusion apparent. "I guess she really didn't want to go to a hospital."

"It's good she didn't. The doctors there wouldn't have known what to do, or what was wrong. I'm actually surprised that we knew."

"But its how she knew about this place that is a mystery."

"Well, it doesn't surprise me. Luthor's people definitely know about us by now because of their connection with the underworld. Luckily they've left us alone."

"Lex Luthor's an evil man, but I don't think his child could attack the mother in the womb." Clark said quietly to himself.

"Lex Luthor?"

Clark's heart skipped a beat when he realized his slip-up. He knew he couldn't take it back, so he decided to add onto what the doctor already knew.

"We think that he was the one who raped her," Clark said, groaning at his stupidity.

"Oh," Dr. Hamilton said with a very similar fear in his voice. "I can now see why she hasn't come foreword yet."

"You told them?" Chloe moaned in an angry tone. "You told them what happened to me?"

"I didn't tell them anything before just now, Chloe," Clark explained frantically. "It was obvious what happened from the bruises around your body, especially your…area. Besides, the people who work here know me. They're on our side."

The woman moaned again as her head rested on the pillow. She wanted to cry. Someone else had now violated her and seen her without the strong façade. She very much regretted going with Clark that night. She should've just headed for the Metropolis Bridge.

"Well, Superman, even if Lex did rape her, which I wouldn't doubt at all, I don't think the encounter that caused her current injuries would have brought about the pregnancy."

"Why?" Clark asked as his brow furrowed.

"The baby is three months old. Chloe would've been showing next month."

Clark felt like he was going to faint. Was it possible? Could it have happened before? Or worse, could Chloe have been…consenting to sex with that man? He didn't even want to think about what had happened three months ago and before. It did make sense since it was rare for pregnancy to result from rape, but he didn't want to believe it.

Dr. Hamilton put a hand on Clark's shoulder as he saw his surprise. He then said, "We would like to examine Chloe further to find out what is causing the baby to act this way at such a young age. To be honest I have no idea how the child lived this long. Chloe's body is rejecting it, which is very unusual. Her immune system is trying to destroy the form and I'm guessing that was why it was fighting back, quite literally."

"Wait a minute," Clark interrupted. "Are you saying that…that's impossible. How can that happen unless…"

"…unless this very strong fetus can think and reason?" the doctor continued.

Clark had seen many things as Superman that he never would have imagined in his youth, but this revelation still brought shock.

"I'm as baffled as you are, Superman. It's the same size as any normal fetus at three months, but its brain waves and organ development are far above normal. Whatever Dr. Shapiro gave her is weakening the fetus so that it can't fight back even if it wants to, but that lets Chloe's immune system fight against it easier and kill it faster. We have to ask him if he can develop another medicine to save the child."

"Cut it out," Chloe grumbled slowly.

"What?" Clark quickly replied when he heard Chloe had spoken.

"Cut the baby out of my body so that you can study it. You know you want to."

"Wait, Ms. Sullivan," Hamilton said, taken aback. "The main reason I wanted to study the baby was to save both its and your life."

"You said that it was unlike anything you had ever seen. You might as well find out why."

"Chloe," Clark interjected. "This is your child. It doesn't matter where it came from. We have to find some way to…"

"Look, I don't want that demon spawn in my body anymore. Okay!" Her outburst caused her to rise out of bed slightly before plopping back down on the bed groaning in pain.

"So it is Lex's?" Clark whispered.

"No…I mean. I don't know. I just…I want it out of me. You can do that, right doctor?"

"Well…yes," Hamilton stammered. "We do have a few MDs on the premises."

"Then what's stopping you?"

"Chloe…" Clark was speechless. He had never heard Chloe talk like this before. The hate was dripping from her lips as she talked about the tiny being growing inside of her. He didn't know why this was happening, but the woman should at least have a little love for this child. Even the cruelest of women feel that at the very least. What happened to his friend to make her feel this way?

Dr. Hamilton sighed and gave an apologetic look toward Superman before he turned to Chloe. "Even though I don't recommend this procedure…it's your choice whether or not you want to do it."

"Jeeze," Chloe grunted. "You sound like I'm about to sell my soul. I'm doing the world a favor by doing this, believe me."

Dr. Hamilton gulped and shook his head before nodding and writing the request on his clipboard.

Clark felt anguished as Dr. Hamilton called a couple of doctors into the small room to prepare Chloe. She insisted on doing the surgery immediately and under sedation, which the doctors agreed to it since the trauma to her genitals would have caused a greater amount of pain than normal.

As they strapped an oxygen mask onto her pale face, Clark pulled up one of the worn stools to sit by the side

"You hate me don't you, Clark?" Chloe stammered in a barely audible voice. "I know how much you hate abortion."

Clark's eyes began to tear up as he took in that horrible statement. Of course he didn't hate her. He never did. How could she ever think that? Did last night mean nothing to her? Could she even feel love anymore?

As Chloe's eyes began to close, Clark began to stroke her hand with his thumb. He sighed as he watched her drift into her medically induced coma. So many things were going through his mind then. He wondered what this woman went through during her time with Lex. It had to be more than a rape. There was more. Clark knew it. How else would Chloe have lost the glimmer in her eyes that she used to have when she talked about having kids someday? Clark simply continued to rub her hand and begin to sing her a lullaby to ease her hurting soul.

You shake your head
What is so hard to believe?
When you are in your bed
I sing over you the sweetest things

Because oh, my love does not tire
I'm awake when the moon is full
And I know the times when you feel lost
And you just aren't sure

Lo and behold
My love hasn't grown cold
For you

You cold steal away in the middle of the night
And hide in the light of day
While you cloak yourself in the darkest lies

But oh my love, it swims in the deepest oceans of fear
And as soon as you lower your head
I am here

Lo and behold
My love hasn't grown cold
For you

If only you could see
How heaven stills when you speak
I know all your days
And I have wrapped you in mystery

And oh, my love for you
Is as wide as the galaxies
Just hold out your hand and close your eyes
And come be with me

Lo and behold
My love hasn't grown cold
For you.

"My Love Hasn't Grown Cold" by Bethany Dillon