This is the last chapter of this story, so everyone review! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this story.

A gunshot went off a second later, and Lex steeled himself for the pain of the bullet ripping through his flesh.

But it never came.

Slowly, almost afraid to look, he opened his eyes yet again. The sight that met him was the furthest thing from what he'd expected.

Chloe was standing over the body of Jason Teague with a gun in her hand. There was blood spreading along Jason's shirt from a wound in his back. Chloe looked absolutely shocked.

Lex came back to his senses a moment later when Clark whimpered from his position against him. Immediately grabbing the rock, Lex took it and threw it down the hallway. "Chloe," he whispered as Clark sat up next to him.

Tears were starting in her eyes as she stared at the corpse on the floor in front of her. "I-I shot him," she said breathlessly.

Lex stood up and wiped at the blood on his face. It was no use as it just kept coming, but it made him feel better. Clark stood up behind him. "Chloe," he heard Clark murmur.

He watched as Chloe took one step and then two. Before Lex could really even register it, she was running into Clark's arms. Her face was immediately buried in his neck, her soft yellow hair being gently stroked by Clark's large hands.

Lex could tell that she was crying, sobbing even. "Clark, I-I just came in and he-he had the gun on Lex and I heard him s-say-"

"Shhh," Clark whispered. "It's going to be alright, Chlo."

Lex watched them from his place in the hall. He was slightly surprised when, from over Chloe's shoulder, Clark raised his eyes to meet Lex's. "Thank you," Clark mouthed softly before he returned his attention to Chloe.

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Lex had taken care of Jason's body. He'd simply had it dumped on the side of the road with a gun beside it. He set it all up to look like suicide. There had been many suicides since the second meteor shower due to people loosing everything (house, family, friends, etc.) and since Jason had lost his mother it was easy to make it look real.

Jason's death may have been easy to fix, but everything else wasn't. Chloe, to his surprise, seemed to be the most in control. She'd shot a man, but for some reason she wasn't in a state of shock at what she'd done. Lex remembered when he'd shot Nixon and found that he had to commend her for her inner strength.

Clark, as always, had a terrible guilt complex and, despite reassurance that it wasn't his fault, he blamed himself. Clark parents had come to get him a few hours after Jason had died. Lex had hoped that they'd be able to ease Clark's guilt, but as of yet it seemed they hadn't.

Lex himself was feeling...strange. Not guilty, not upset, just...strange. It was almost like he didn't know why any of it had happened, or how it had happened.

How it had actually happened was really a bit strange, and maybe that was why Lex had trouble believing it. Chloe had been driven back to the mansion by Lana because she wanted to see Clark. Lana had realized that she'd lost her cell phone once she and Chloe had entered the mansion and had gone back to the car to get it. Chloe hadn't waited for her and had ended walking in on Jason about to shoot Lex.

Chloe had been carrying a gun since she'd gotten out of the hospital since Jason was still at large. Before she'd really thought about it she'd pulled it out and shot Jason. She hadn't regretted it after either, she said. Lex was pretty sure she wasn't lying since, after all, Chloe would probably do anything for Clark. He knew that he hadn't regretted shooting Nixon.

Lana had come up the stairs to find her x-boyfriend dead on the floor and Chloe in Clark's arms. She'd started crying and Lex suspected that it was probably more due to Chloe and Clark than the fact that Jason was lying in his own blood. Lex had never questioned her though-she didn't need that.

Lex sighed. He thought that maybe he'd go see how Clark was doing.

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Clark had come home with his parents just a few hours after the shooting. Lex had promised him that it would all be taken care of and that nobody would link anything to Chloe. He trusted Lex; he knew that he would do as he said.

Chloe had been calm and collected after the initial shock. She'd told Clark that she'd come by the farm later to see him and then had gone home to see her father. Lana had gone with her, still crying.

When his parents had showed up to take him home they'd hugged him tightly and his mother had even cried. Clark didn't like that. He was positive that he'd had enough crying for a lifetime.

Clark nearly choked when they pulled into the driveway of the farm that afternoon. His parents had done a good job patching up the house, but it was clearly still in the 'fixing stage'. Clark hadn't wanted to sit still and examine his own thoughts so he'd used his speed and fixed the place.

All through dinner his parents kept giving him looks that could only be described as sympathetic. Clark hadn't liked it, so he'd retreated to his loft after dinner.

That was where he was at the moment. The names of the dead had come out in the papers and so he was looking at their pictures in his old high school year book, reminiscing about a simpler time, although his life had never been anywhere near simple. Jocelyn Moody, Amanda Bryce, Nick Connor, Justin Kingsley: They were a few of the people in his class who had been counted among the dead. Jason's picture was in there too, labeled as 'assistant coach'.

It was strange to look at people he'd seen at graduation who had died a few hours later. The last time he'd seen them they hadn't had any idea that their lives were coming to a close. They hadn't had any glimmer of a clue that one of their classmates was the reason for the meteor shower and, indirectly, their deaths.

Jason looked so normal in his picture. He looked like the friendly coach that Clark had felt he'd been able to confide in-at least a little bit. He didn't look anything like the man who had gone crazy just a short time later.

The footsteps on the stairs interrupted his little walk down memory lane. He looked up to find Chloe standing at the top of his stairs. "Hey, Chloe," he said with a small smile.

She smiled back and headed over towards the couch. "What are you looking at?" she asked as she plopped down next to him.

He tipped the yearbook over for her to see. "Just...thinking."

"I've tried to stop doing that over the last few hours," she told him seriously. "Sometimes it's just...easier, you know?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I guess I know that pretty well. I-I try not to think about what happened in the lab, but when I sleep-"

She put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "Clark, you went through something that no one should ever have to go through. Admitting that it's affecting you shouldn't be something that you're ashamed of."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I know, I really do…it's just that it's so hard to talk about."

She nodded. "This whole thing was hard, but life will go on." Clark didn't protest when she slid her hand to his face and turned him so that he was looking at her. "You've got people who will help you move on."

Their faces moved closer until they were a scant few inches apart. "Chloe?" Clark whispered, his breath fanning over her lips.

"Yes?" she replied softly.

"I think I might love you."

She smiled softly and brought their lips together. The kiss that followed was both hungry and passionate, as well as tender and rough at the same time. It was raw want and need manifesting. When they pulled away she grinned. "I know I love you."

Clark smiled to himself. He knew she meant it.

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Chloe had left around nine that night. Clark was left sitting alone in his barn, thinking. After a little while he couldn't stand it anymore, so he took a book, curled up in his hammock, and began to read. That eased his mind some and, before he knew it, he was asleep.

"Where are the stones?"

"What are you hiding?"

"Tell me!"

He was back in the lab again, tied down to the hospital bed. He couldn't get away and the tip of the needle was getting closer and closer to his neck and-

"Wake up, Clark!"

Hands were on him, shaking him as if life itself depended on his awakening. He forced himself to come back through the fog of slumber.

His eyes shot open and he was met with Lex. Lex visibly relaxed when he saw Clark wake up. He breathed out deeply and set to work unwinding Clark from the blanket that was wrapped around himself. "You shouldn't be sleeping out here," Lex told him seriously. "If I hadn't come along you'd still be screaming." He finished untangling Clark and held up the still-intact blanket. "Apparently you can convince yourself that you don't have super-human strength when you sleep."

Clark sat up and climbed out of the hammock. "S-Sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep. I was-"

"Reading?" Lex finished for him, while bending over and picking up the book on the floor.

"Yeah," he confirmed, dropping his eyes.

"I'm not mad, Clark," Lex soothed. "I'm just worried about you."

"I'm fine, Lex," he replied, completely unconvincingly.

Lex raised an eyebrow and motioned for Clark to join him on the couch. "Please forgive me if I don't buy that. You were tied up in a lab and cut open. No one is alright after that."

Clark slowly raised his eyes to look at Lex. "I can't let this destroy me."

"No you can't," Lex agreed with a nod. "But if you keep trying to bury and ignore it, it will."

With a sigh, Clark ran a hand through his hair. "It's hard to talk about."

"Understandable. But you've got a great family, friends, and Chloe-I'm really not sure what to call her."

Clark smiled softly. "The make out session that directly preceded your arrival might help you decide."

Lex laughed. "Clark Kent: All American farm boy, getting some."

Clark shook his head. "It's not like that, I-"

"I didn't mean to imply that you were using her."

Clark sighed again. "I know. I'm just-"

"Not at your best."

"Yeah," he agreed, the frustration in his voice mounting. "I close my eyes and I see the lab. I see Jason and the-"

Both slipped off into silence. Lex was the one who finally broke it. "I know this is hard to believe, Clark, but things will get better. Memories will fade."

Clark only nodded. "I hope so."

Lex leaned back against the couch for a moment and then leaned forward to get to his feet. "I'd better be going. Go in the house and get some sleep."

Clark nodded and then watched him walk down the stairs before getting up himself and going to the loft window. It was a brilliantly clear night and Clark could see all the stars. He remembered the time that he'd stood with Lex at that window and Lex had told him how the past always influenced the present. He'd told him about how some of the stars had been extinguished for years, but the light was only reaching earth now.

Clark watched the stars. Lex had been right, he realized. Who you are is made up of what you've been, as well as what you want to become. The past is an intricate part of who you are, but it is not everything. His experiences in the lab would undoubtedly influence him, but they would not completely make him.

He looked up at the stars again. Things might not be easy, but he had the friends and family to help make it better. Things would get better.

---------------------------- Epilogue

Clark had been right when he thought things would get better. He applied for college at Kansas Central, staying close to his parents and the farm. Thing between him and Chloe heated up, and they officially started dating. Lana and he remained close friends and she became someone that he found he could really talk to. It was easier without any romantic feelings involved.

That wasn't to say that romantic feelings made it hard to talk to Chloe. She helped him through the months after his experiences in the lab, as did Lex. It wasn't easy, but life eventually went back to normal.

Clark wouldn't ever forget what had happened, but it wouldn't destroy him either. With the help of his friends and family it made him stronger. As Lex had predicted, things got better. When asked about it he laughed and said it had at least gotten him Chloe. People had thought he was joking when he said that. He wasn't.

Dealing with what had happened might not have been easy, but in the long run it was worth it.