It was incredible. How could a man like that even exist? Cameron glanced through lowered eyelashes at the dangerous megalomaniac resting on the second bed. He didn't look normal, exactly, but neither did he resemble the monster portrayed in the computer files he'd freely let her examine.

The horrifying acts documented therein confirmed the worst conclusions that could be drawn from news reports and rumors, though. There were crimes described in here that nobody had ever been able to pin on him.

Lex Luthor had never been convicted of anything, but if the information in this laptop could be handed over to the authorities –- he wasn't her patient, after all, Mr. Kent was, and...

"Don't even think it, Dr. Cameron," Luthor said, without opening his eyes.

"Don't think what?" Cameron challenged, weakly.

He opened his eyes, sat up, and smiled at her. "You still couldn't really prove anything, and Clark would be upset. So don't even think about trying to turn me in to the police, based on what you've read there."

Allison stood up, clutching Luthor's computer in her arms. "It's all right here," she persisted. "There are dates, names, places. It must be enough to convict you for at least something!"

He stood up and stretched. She couldn't keep from staring. The man's torso, his shoulders, the way he moved –- it had obviously been a little too long since that terribly embarrassing hookup with Chase. And Luthor was coming closer! Cameron swallowed hard and stood her ground.

He hadn't looked nearly so tall when his partner had been in the room.

"You know, Dr. Cameron, this world we share is gray." Luthor was standing so close that the breath of his speaking stirred her hair. Allison's heart was pounding.

"What do you mean?" she whispered, amazed that she could speak at all. It felt like her shoulders were up around her ears, and she'd never been so afraid in her life.

"You look at things as if the world were black and white." How could his voice be so calm and mild? He was a criminal! "It's a flaw, one that I've struggled with myself. It feels to you as if there are good, pure people who deserve your help, and bad, corrupt people who deserve your scorn. Anyone who is good to you had better be good all the way, because when you see those feet of clay it seems like a personal betrayal. It seems like maybe nobody deserves your trust, like everyone is against you. You stop feeling like a member of the human race."

She could not tear her eyes away from his steely blue gaze.

"But you're wrong," he said softly. "The world isn't black and white. Everyone and everything is painted solely in shades of gray. No one deserves your help. No one deserves your scorn. Whether you help or hurt them is up to you. It only reflects what kind of a person you are. I learned that from him. It took a long time, and I destroyed many, many things along the way."

Luthor stepped back. The laptop was in his hands now. Cameron didn't know how he'd gotten it away from her.

The door opened. Chase and an orderly brought Mr. Kent back in. Chase looked from Cameron to Luthor and back again. "Everything okay in here?" he asked dubiously.

Lex went straight to Clark, helping get him settled back into his bed. Cameron felt flustered, winded almost, as if she'd been running stairs and missed one. Chase looked as if he wanted to touch her shoulder. His hand was suspended in space for a second, and then he put it back on his clipboard.

"You okay?" he asked again.

"Fine. I have to go tell, uh, things to House." She pushed past him and left.