A/N: Hello all. Here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy! Leave me a review and let me know what you think! Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. They are the property of DC comics… I think.

Chapter 5: Intervention:

Lois sipped at her hot cup of Talon coffee as she contemplated the headline in that day's Smallville Gazette.

'Smallville's Billionaire, one time wild man, now our very own recluse!'

Lois shook her head in disgust. The article went on to detail the fact of Chloe's death and then how Lex was taking it all. It was true that he hadn't left the mansion in at least a week. But they made it out to be a really bad thing. What did they expect him to do, go on life as usual?

"I see you're reading today's trash," Lois looked up to see Martha arrive with Diana in tow.

"Hi," Lois greeted, throwing the newspaper aside. "Yeah I was… I thought you could only read crap like this in Metropolis."

Martha put Diana's car seat down and started to lift her out. "Unfortunately not. I'm afraid that because Lex and Chloe are pretty high profile, the fact that someone ran Chloe off the road is getting buried up."

Lois looked from Martha to Diana. "Yeah, I know what you mean. But don't worry, I won't let that happen."

"Lois…" Martha warned.

"Don't worry about me," Lois assured, and then smiled at the little girl. "Now I see you've got babysitting duty. How's the little one doing?"

"Oh, Diana is an angel most of the time. But sometimes I do see some of Chloe's stubbornness in her," Martha joked.

Lois chuckled. "Already?"

"Yeah, she is her mother's daughter," Martha added on a more sombre note.

Lois sighed and looked at the baby with pained eyes. Lois knew what it was like to not have her mother. And, though she was older when she'd lost her mother, it was still the most painful thing she'd ever felt. But, at least they both still had their fathers.

"How's Lex doing with her?" Lois asked curiously.

"Not good at all," Martha said gravely. "He refuses to hold her and doesn't want to be around her."

"Mmm… that isn't good. We can't let that go on. Diana needs to know that she still has one parent here that loves her."

"I know that he does love her; I can tell from the way he looks at her when he does look at her. But I don't have a clue how to get him to spend more time with her."

Lois looked determined all of the sudden. "We're just going to have to knock some sense back into him."

"What are you planning, Lois?" Martha asked anxiously.

"Not much. But I'll be by the mansion later tonight," Lois announced. She got up and leaned down to kiss Diana's forehead. "Until then I promised to meet up with Clark."

"All right, I'll see you later," Martha said quickly as Lois sped out in a flash.

"I wish we had got out here sooner," Clark commented dismally.

Lois nodded her head as she looked around. "I know what you mean. There's hardly any sign left of Chloe's accident. If it wasn't for the makeshift memorial right there, I wouldn't have ever guessed anything bad ever happened here."

They both turned to stare at the side of the road where Chloe's smiling picture was surrounded by flowers and stuffed animals, and notes of prayer for Chloe's family.

"I'm not sure, what we're doing out here," Clark broke the silence.

Lois looked at him incredulously. "What we're doing is looking for some kind of clue or hint at who was monster enough to run a pregnant lady off the road. This wasn't an accident and some bastard is going to have to pay for this!"

"The police have been all over this place," Clark countered calmly.

Lois took a deep breath and then let it out, an attempt to relax her. "Yeah, but they didn't have a Clark-sized magnifying glass like I do. I figured you can do your thing and take a look around."

Clark let out a sigh. "All right, I'll give it a shot, but Lois…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Lois replied. He didn't want her to get her hopes up. Too late for that. It had been almost two weeks since that horrifying day. They couldn't bring themselves to go to the accident sight any sooner. It was still too fresh.

Lois watched as Clark went trance like as he scanned the area. He turned one way, and then the other. Then he stopped.

"Anything?" Lois asked eagerly.

"Hold on," Clark told her, as he sped away and in a flash was back again. He was holding a piece of metal shard in his hands.

"What's that?" Lois questioned.

"Piece of the other car maybe," Clark answered absently. "The police did say witnesses saw a red pickup truck around the same time they saw Chloe's car."

Both Clark and Lois looked down at the red piece of metal.

"Well, that's great," Lois blurted out. "All we have to do is search Metropolis for a red pickup truck that's missing a piece. That should be a slice of pie. That is, if this guy is even from Metropolis or stupid enough to hold on to the truck!"

"Lois, Lois," Clark interrupted. "It's still something. Look, I can take it to Oliver."

"Oliver?" Lois wondered out loud. Leaving her thinking why they would need her one time main squeeze.

"Yeah, maybe his guys can analyze the paint and metal. Who knows, it might turn out to be that only a few of these trucks even exist!" Clark explained optimistically.

Lois gave him a 'yeah right' look.

"We have something. Let's go with it and if it's a dead end," he went on, "it's better than doing nothing. And we'll figure something else out."

Lois suddenly realized how Clark felt. With all his powers he couldn't do anything to stop Chloe's murder. To top it off her killer was still at large. He felt useless.

"Come on Smallville," she said affectionately, hooking he arm thorough his. "Let's get this to Ollie. I've got to be at the mansion tonight."

"Why?" Clark asked confused.

"You'll see."

Lex let out a sigh as he looked at this month's Luthorcorp numbers. They'd increased. It was a good thing. And yet there was no happiness in him, not even a sense of pride at his company's good fortune.

Nothing seemed to matter to him these days. He wasn't even sure why he tried to do some work. It was all just a mask, a façade. If he was working, or at least pretending to, then no one bothered him. He was definitely in no mood for visitors.

Ironically, though, that was exactly what he was about to get. The doors to his office swung open and he looked up in complete surprise.

"Lex!" Lois called out. "Enough is enough!"

Lex watched as Lois stormed inside, followed by a meek and apologetic looking Clark. And a second later Martha entered as well, holding Diana.

"Clark, please, control your girlfriend," Lex stated in annoyance.

Clark shrugged. "Sorry Lex, but you've got to hear her out."

Lex let out a long-suffering sigh. He stood up and came around his desk only to lean on it; arms crossed against his chest, he waited impatiently.

"Lex, we are so sorry that Chloe's gone!" Lois started. "There is not one single person in this room who doesn't miss her terribly. I… I still cry a little every morning when I realize I won't see her that day or any other day."

Lex's face took on a pained look. He so did not need to hear this. It was like having his pain doubled and thrown back at him.

"But Lex there is one more thing sadder, more tragic than Chloe's death," Lois continued.

"What's that?" Lex scoffed, his voice coming out harsh.

Lois walked over to Martha and took Diana from her. With the baby in her arms Lois approached Lex so she was standing right in front of him.

Lex gazed at his daughter. She was awake; her bright blue eyes shining brightly at him. She was beautiful with her little tuft of strawberry blond hair. It was still too early to tell whether Diana would inherit Lex's reddish pre-bald locks or her mother's golden tresses. But somehow he knew she would grow up as beautiful as her mother.

Lex looked away abruptly when he started to feel an overwhelming amount of sadness suddenly overtaking him.

"That's it right there," Lois spoke up. Lex looked to her for an answer. "The tragedy is you seem like you don't want anything to do with your only daughter!"

"That's not true!" Lex denied.

"Really? Then why is it Martha told me you refuse to hold her. Or be in the same room with her," Lois countered.

Lex stayed silent at that.

Lois let out a sigh. "Look, Lex, we know how much you loved Chloe. But you know what? A part of Chloe lives on in Diana. And she needs you."

With those words Lex glanced at his daughter. Taking this as a good sign, Lois handed Diana to him. And Lex took her willingly. Everyone watched on as Lex cradled Diana in his arms. He looked down on the baby with such sadness, remorse, and regret in his eyes, but also with an overpowering amount of love as well.

"And I think you need her too," Lois added needlessly.

Lex looked up at Lois to see the tears in her eyes. In fact, if he looked to Martha and Clark each expressed a mixture of happiness and sadness in their gazes. Lex looked away choosing to look at Diana. The only look she gave him was of happy obliviousness.

"What made you decide to stage an intervention with Lex today?" Clark asked.

Lois shrugged. "I talked to your mom today. She told me about how Lex basically refused to have anything to do with Diana. It made me mad! Because that little girl is a part of Chloe. I wanted to make him realize that if he truly loved Chloe then he must love Diana too."

Clark put an arm around her shoulders as they walked down Metropolis's streets to his apartment. "Well, I think what you did was great. It definitely did the trick. He really does love her."

"I knew he did. I just wanted to remind him. They're going to need each other," Lois added sadly.

Clark looked at his girlfriend affectionately. He leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Well lucky for them they've got you too."

Lois smiled up at him as they climbed the steps to his apartment. They opened the door and stepped inside. Lois was immediately encircled in Clark's arms.

"Lucky for me, I've got you," Lois finished warmly before she leaned up to kiss him.

Well that's it for now. This chapter was a tiny bit happier than the last one, so that's something.

Next chapter: Now that Lex has accepted his daughter. How does he really cope with raising her? And an old friend just might be willing to lend a hand.

Thanks to my two reviewers: lily and lexie2.

I'll try to update soon!