He had seen her.

Chloe.

Davis had known it was her looking at him even before he turned around. He found her watching him from the upper story window of an apartment building. Had she recognized him from that distance?

No, she couldn't have. As far as she knew, Davis Bloome was dead.

But she had watched him nonetheless.

He had stopped and watched her in return, seeing her clearly despite the distance. His eyesight had become incredibly keen after splitting from the monster, though he didn't think it was inhumanly so. Still, he had drunk in the sight of her as a man stranded in the desert drinks himself full upon encountering an unexpected oasis.

She was tanner than he had ever seen her before, but her blonde hair was tumbled slightly from sleep in an all-too-familar way. Even the cute pajama top and shorts she wore were familiar to him.

Best of all, there had been no wedding ring on the fingers that held her coffee cup.

It had taken everything in him to turn and walk away when she had been momentarily distracted.

He had brought terrible pain to her before. If he could, he should resolve the problem with Doomsday without involving her. He had told himself he would only contact Clark, not Chloe, and he had meant it.

But had he been kidding himself?

It was almost more coincidence than he could bear to believe that she would be back in Metropolis - and single - at the same time he returned. Or that her apartment would be just around the corner from the hotel he had chosen at random.

Could something be drawing them back together again?

Hefting the duffel bag more comfortably on his shoulder, he felt the box buried inside shift. The box that contained the Phantom Zone crystal Tess Mercer had sent to him after her death. Could this be her doing? Her reaching out from the grave to set things in motion? He wouldn't really put it past that woman to arrange for things to play out even after her own death.

Or could it be something else? Could The Fortress be setting this up? It certainly had shown it had a mind of its own - even when infected by Brainiac. And the crystal he now bore and the Fortress had been a turning point for him and Chloe. They had left together after that. Could it be that it had a part in bringing them together again? If so, why now?

And there was Clark - now known as Superman - to consider as well. What would be his part in this?

Had the cycle come back around so Superman and Doomsday could meet again once and for all?

If so, had Davis been drawn back to help Superman...or Doomsday?

That chilling thought was interrupted when the second quake hit Metropolis.

"Chloe? Chloe, you there?" Clark's voice buzzed in her ear from the headset communicator, making her jump. She had been so intent on the analysis of the blueprints, she had forgotten Clark was going onsite at the plant to investigate.

"Clark. Yeah, I'm here. How does it look?"

"Not good. Someone has definitely been working here. I can see signs of it everywhere. A lot of the support beams of the original structure are visible now. I've been taking readings on some of the support areas. I'll send them to you."

The data started flashing across her screen.

"Ok, cool. Give me a moment to set it to run through this program here..."

She dumped the data into the program she had written based upon the original design specs from the blueprints.

Just then another rumble started shaking the earth, nearly knocking Chloe out of her chair. As she righted herself, an alert appeared on her screen.

"Clark!" she cried out. "Get out of there! Now!"

"No, no, I'm ok. It's a little shaky, but I haven't explored the whole area yet. I just need to -"

"Now, Clark!" she yelled back.

Without further argument, she heard the tell-tale whoosh sound of Clark moving at superspeed come over her headset. A moment later, the rumbling stopped. She collapsed back in her chair in relief, her heart racing as if she had been the one running.

Clark, dressed in his Superman outfit, landed lightly on the Watchtower balcony just as the quake ceased. It was only then that she noticed the darkening of the room. Dusk had come while she worked, but she had paid it no more attention than she had the last night coming on. However the time she had spent working had been worth it, because Clark had escaped the plant in one piece. As he came into the room, she couldn't help but admire the heroic figure he cut in the red-and-blue suit.

"What's wrong, Chloe? Why did you drag me out of there? You know that falling debris wouldn't hurt me."

She shook her head. "What might come down wasn't the problem, Clark. I'm more worried about what might come up." With that, she turned her screen around to face him.

The program she had up calculated the structural stability of the collapsed plant compared to the force of the last quake. According to the data, it would only take two or three more events to compromise the integrity of the Core Shaft where the monster was trapped.

Then Doomsday would be out.

Davis had never been in an earthquake before, but he instantly knew what it was.

He also felt what was causing it. Doomsday. Being this close to the monster once more, he could sense the mindless rage and hate that drove it. There was no doubt in his mind that the tremors were caused by The Beast trying to escape.

Davis hadn't tapped into the alien power he shared with the monster for years, but the link was still there. As Davis could feel the monster buried not far from here, he had an uncomfortable sensation that Doomsday also somehow knew of his own presence back in Metropolis. He also felt its desperation to finish what it had attempted years before.

The monster seethed with a need to destroy Davis. To destroy Clark. To destroy Metropolis.

To destroy Chloe.

That last thought drove Davis back to his feet even before the quake stopped.

He didn't have a specific destination in mind when he took off running, but habit and instinct overcame him. He took off, racing at something that just barely counted at human speed. He hadn't had a destination in mind, but when he raced past a street sign, he realized where he was going.

Not to the Daily Planet. Not to the address he had found listed for Clark. Not even to Chloe's new apartment.

He ran to the place he had only learned of after his Dark Double had killed there.

He ran for the place called Watchtower.