"Whitney probably had people around, watching for Lana to make a move. She couldn't act how she wanted to act when she saw you."

I sighed, hands over my face in order to stop anyone from seeing what was happening beneath it. For the first time I felt out of control. I felt vulnerable. "...maybe. But she was acting so sincere…she probably wouldn't have even looked my way if I hadn't stepped in front of traffic."

"Clark…" Chloe began in whining, protesting-like manner, but I dropped my hands and interrupted her.

"Trust me. I know Lana better than she knows herself. One look in her eyes and I can tell everything she's feeling." I closed my sore, tear-stung eyes and replayed the last moments of Lana's eyes that I could remember. "She really seemed like she truly didn't want to see…didn't want to have anything to do with me…and then she smiled at Whitney and took off to start a brand new life…apparently, where no aliens are allowed."

I felt Chloe's hand creep up my spine, attempting to comfort me. I looked down at the Sullivan's carpeted living room floor, imagining my crushed, broken heart smashed all over it.

"It doesn't make sense, Clark. Why would she be so madly in love with you and just…abandon everything for the one guy she was trying to escape from?"

I shrugged with disinterested. "I don't know. But it was pretty obviously today that it's what she wanted to do, so…I think I'm gonna get back to Met U now."

"What?"

I stood up from the couch, running a hand through my hair and making my way to the front door. "I really have to work on my thesis. The due day's coming up. And I should probably go and tell Lex what happened..."

"What the hell, Clark?!" Chloe leaped in front of me, using her body to block the door. "This girl is practically your soulmate! Do you realize how damn lucky you two are?"

"How lucky we were."

"No! There is something seriously wrong with Lana. Plus, the girl knows your secret for God's sake! You can't just let her walk out of your life without even knowing if she's okay with it! This isn't over, Clark. It's very far from over. You can't just go back to school and pretend like nothing happened!"

"Maybe I don't want to put myself through this again, okay?" I splat, hardly comprehending what I was saying before I said it. "I can't stand to see Lana that happy with someone who isn't me. I don't even care if she tells the whole world my secret! If I can't share my life what that girl, then I don't care what happens to me."

"You're just saying that because you're heartbroken, Clark. You don't mean that. You're not thinking straight," Chloe said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Move, Chloe."

"No."

"Move!" I grabbed my friend by the shoulders shoved her to the side. I then opened the door and bolted through it, not knowing and not caring where I went next.

………

And while I was off, in my own sad, strange little world, Chloe was still at home with more determination than ever. She absolutely would not believe what I'd said was true, I thank her almost every time I see her for that. She spent the better part of that night on the phone with Pete and Lex, filling them in the drastic change in Lana.

After many hours of research (and some illegal hacking by Chloe), Lex found his way to LuthorCorp headquarters, a bright smile beaming on his face as he strutted towards his father's office.

The crash of the doors caused Lionel to look up from the various papers he had lining his expensive, glass desk. He squinted for a moment at his unwanted visitor, and then pulled his small, spectacles from the bridge of his nose in mild shock.

"Lex?"

"Hey, dad. I know how much you've missed me, so I thought I'd drop by and see how things are going." Lex collapsed in a large, squashy blue chair in front of his father, still grinning.

"I must admit this is an extremely surprising visit, my son. I'm kind of in the middle of some important – "

"Perry King."

Lionel stopped, staring at Lex in confusion. "What?"

"I said Perry King. Perry King, Richard Albright, and Bonnie Lenz. These names mean anything to you, dad?"

Lionel hesitated for only a moment as he thought. He then shook his head. "No…no, I can't say that I do. Friends of yours?"

"No, I never met any of them. They all died before my time." Lex stood and casually walked to the large windows of the office revealing the wide nighttime skyline of Metropolis as he continued. "Let me tell you a story, dad."

Lionel leaning back in his chair, hands resting on his stomach, not at all knowing that his son was about to bring up a very old and deadly secret. "Alright."

"See, there was this guy who loved this girl a long time ago. But she didn't love him. Didn't even like him. She turned him down countless times, but he never gave up. Eventually, the girl found a boyfriend, a big guy, who defended her whenever the other guy got near. This made the guy angry. He wanted to have that girl to himself. So he followed them to the movies one night and while the girl's boyfriend was getting a drink, he reached out and tried to kiss her. The girl slapped him right across the face and told him that he was a freak.

"A couple of years went by and the guy's anger towards this girl grew. He figured if he couldn't have her, no one would. He tracked down where she lived after they graduated high school. She stayed in a dorm with some friends. At about midnight, he climbed his way up the side of the building and planned a bomb in the corner of the one of the floors. He left the building and within the next hour, a fourth of it was completely gone, including over 100 students. Among the victims were Perry King, Richard Albright, Bonnie Lenz…and…this girl who you might know…Hannah Potter?"

Lex turned to see his father's reaction to the story. To the average person, he seemed poised and unaffected, but to Lex, his own blood, it was obvious he'd hit a nerve.

"I'm afraid I don't know who – "

"Hannah Potter. Nell Potter's aunt. Lana Lang's great aunt. I'm sure you know Lana right?"

"Well, yes, of course. She's Whitney's wife – "

"And Hannah was the one you wanted to have as a wife, but she said no more times than anyone could count. All through high school you practically stalked her in the hallways, asked her to every dance…you never took a hint, did you?"

Lionel stood, a little quicker than an innocent man would have. "If you're trying to accuse me of killing those students – "

"What? What if I was?"

"You'd be gravely mistaken."

Lex smirked. "Don't think I wouldn't come in here and accuse you of something like this without proof. It took some digging, but I've got evidence."

Lionel folded his arms, laughing a little. "I haven't done anything that would create evidence, Lex. You don't know what you're doing."

"I found Hannah's boyfriend. He told me about all the threatening notes you sent him and how Hannah came to him so many nights, crying because she thought he heard you outside her window. I also found pieces of unsuccessful bombs in the room in the mansion you had as a kid. And I found journals of your notes from college courses and and books from the library on the effects of different bombs. Want me to go on?"

"You're lying."

"No, no I'm not, dad." Lex rushed over to his father, looking him square in the eye. "Looks like you can pay people to shut up, but if you dangle another carrot in front of them they're just as likely to go babbling those secrets again."

Lionel remained silent, watching his son carefully.

"You knew Lana was a descendant of your precious Hannah and you knew Whitney was falling for her like you fell for Hannah. Trouble was, Lana had too much of her great aunt in her – she didn't care for Whitney either. Only now, you had the power to alter her perceptions and give the spoiled child what he wanted. And I'm sure that in some sick way you actually thought that doing this would make up for the stupidity you did as a kid yourself."

"Lex…" Lionel began, his voice somewhat strained as I moved in closer to his son. "Look, I really didn't want this to happen, especially to you, but…" The gleem of reflected metal caught Lex's eye and he looked down to see a small revolver in his father's hands, aiming straight at Lex's stomach, "…when you dig up the past, sometimes it just makes things messy."

"Come on, dad. You're gonna shoot me to shut me up? I'm your son," Lex reminded, backing anyway a little from his now armed father.

"Biologically, yes, but no son of mine would do this to me."

"Find the truth?"

"Threaten to destroy my life! And your brother's life."

"Whitney and Lana don't belong together, dad. And you can't possibly think that what you did in college was alright. You can't get away with something like that."

"A family is suppose to protect itself."

"You never wanted me as son in the first place. Don't pretend like you care for me now."

"Maybe you're right. Maybe that's why I'm finding it not so difficult to hold this gun," Lionel admitted, lifting the gun higher until it pointed directly at Lex's head.

"You're nothing but a cold-blooded murderer," Lex whispered, his vision clouding from tears.

"I killed Hannah because she deserved to die. And now…well…I'm afraid you do too."

But before Lionel could end another life, a throng of police exploded through the doors, grabbing Lionel and ripping the gun from his grip before he could shoot it. As they cuffed him and read him his rights, Lex pulled a small, microphone chip from his collar, looking at it with sadness.

Everything recorded through this small device was guaranteed to put his father behind bars for a while. He was responsible for his own father's downfall…his father…the cold-blooded murderer…

It felt so victorious, but also so depressing to the man who always wanted just one thing from his father, but now he knew he'd never get it. Because how could you truly feel love for someone, if you were willing to put a bullet in them to protect yourself?