It only took a few moments for Victor to verify that "Aiden Kell" had been part of Emergency International for the past few years and had never returned to the United States until a few days ago.

Spinning back around in his chair, Victor looked up at Clark. "Alright, so everything he said checks out...so what now?"

"Chloe was right, we should see what Lex is up to and if it can be stopped." Clark turned to Davis. "You up for this?"

Davis nodded mutely.

"You know I'm going too, right?" Chloe put in.

"Of course." Clark smiled at her gently. "We are breaking into a Luthorcorp facility. That is kind of your M.O."

Chloe smiled broadly in reply.

"When?" Victor asked.

"Tonight," Clark and Chloe said together.

Later, Davis walked out of the lobby of the Watchtower building, and pausing outside the door, took a deep breath of the Metropolis air. Even though it was thick with dust and exhaust, the breath calmed him because it smelled like home in a way the clean fresh air of the jungle never had. He walked across the street and found a bench outside what looked like a small garden and sat down to think.

He could barely countenance all that had happened in the last few hours. He had almost been made a prisoner again. He had known that was a risk he took by returning, but to have it come some close had filled him with fear. Worse, his instincts had been right. Doomsday was trying to break free, and was already much too close to doing so thanks to Lex Luthor.

But most of all, he had seen Chloe again.

Chloe.

While it was clear she harbored a great deal of anger and resentment toward him, he found that actually gave him hope. She couldn't possibly be so put out at him if she didn't feel something for him. Though what exactly that something was, he couldn't guess. Still...maybe they could come to some sort of peace. Maybe even become friends again.

He didn't dare hope that that even part of the flame that still burned in his heart might still have a small place in hers.

Now that he had seen her, he knew he had been a fool to imagine for even a moment that he would have been able to keep away from her. She was different, yes, but he found that only meant he wanted to know her all over again.

But outside the mission, would she want to know him again too?

"What is he doing now?" Clark asked Victor and Chloe again for the fifth time in as many minutes.

Chloe let out an exasperated sigh. "Clark, he is doing the same thing he has for the past hour. He is sitting on a bench outside, apparently thinking."

"You are sure that is all?" The big man crowded in next to Victor so he could better see the surveillance screen on Chloe's desktop.

"Yes!" She replied with obvious annoyance. "You know I can put this up on another monitor if you wish to watch him more closely. Or you can even go outside to stalk him." She pointedly eyed his costume.

Clark flushed and backed away. "I just want to know what he is up to."

"Fine then." Chloe pushed back her chair. "Since it is obvious we won't get anywhere with trying to locate this secret base the Lex must be building until you know why Davis Bloome is sitting on a bench, I'll just go ask him."

"No, Chloe! This isn't what I meant! I just wanted to be sure..."

Her eyes were alight with fire. "Sure of what, Clark? That he won't kill anyone? That he won't somehow morph into Doomsday again?"

"That he won't take you away again," Clark replied in a soft voice.

Chloe instantly softened. "Clark, it isn't like that now."

"I know that, Chloe!" he replied with some heat of his own, before softening his voice once more. "It's just that I don't want to lose you again. Not like that."

Chloe smiled at her friend with a trace of sadness. Victor had quietly slipped away to allow them to talk more privately. He was thoughtful like that. "Clark, after everything that has happened the last few years, it is going to take time, but we have to learn to trust each other's judgement again. So try to trust me when I say, things are different this time around."

Clark was quiet for a long moment studying her, before he asked quietly, "Chloe, I never asked, because I didn't think it was my place, with Jimmy and everything, but...did you love him? Davis, I mean."

Turning back to the screen, Chloe stared at Davis' image. He still sat quietly on the bench just down the street from Watchtower. Davis was here. Just outside. Her heart started racing, and she hoped Clark didn't have his super-hearing turned on to catch the sound. As much as she had chided Clark for stalking Davis since he had left, her own eyes couldn't get enough of him. "Yes, Clark. I loved him."

She heard him take a deep breath, and she felt an old pain from him in the action. He still felt the pain of her "betrayal" all those years ago when she had run away with Davis. He had never accepted she had left Metropolis for him as much as for Davis.

"Do you still love him?"

She watched Davis run a hand through his hair on the screen. It was much longer now, and she idly wondered if it was still just as soft as it had been years ago. Watching him, she decided she kind of liked it this way. It would be easier to sink her fingers into if he -

She quickly cut off that thought, but kept watching him for a moment more before answering Clark.

"Honestly, Clark, I don't know."