Davis ducked into the bathroom to finish dressing. When he came out again, he saw Victor and Courtney were chatting together at one of the terminals. He moved over to join them, though he did peek over at the still-sleeping Chloe.

"Alright guys, since I am clearly not at death's door and Doomsday seems to be quiet for now, I'm going to head back to my hotel room for a shower and some clean clothes. Maybe some food and better sleep while I'm at it. You can call me if anything comes up. Otherwise, I'll check back in tomorrow and we can decide what to do then."

"Alright. Thank you for your assistance last night, Davis," Victor said. "You were...very brave."

Courtney hesitated for a moment as if she wanted to say something, but eventually as she said was, "Ok. Bye, Davis. See you tomorrow." She gave him a warm smile.

He smiled back at the young woman, but found his eyes tracking back to the other blonde sleeping on the couch. "Hey, Courtney, if Chloe wakes up, can you tell her..."

Courtney's smile faltered slightly. "Tell her what, Davis?"

Yeah. What message could he possibly give her? Thanks for watching over me while I slept? Did I do the right thing with my powers last night?

Do you still feel anything for me?

"Nevermind. If she asks, just say I went back to my hotel."

"Ok, Davis."

Then he was gone.

Had Davis and Courtney been...flirting? Chloe seethed to herself.

Well, maybe not...they were both friendly people, but she had caught Courtney's eyes on Davis' torso in that thin undershirt. Somehow the nearly transparent fabric had only seemed to highlight the smooth planes of muscle instead of covering them. As for Davis himself...what couldn't he tell Courtney for her? Earlier, she'd seen the dazzling smile he gave the other woman. Did he always smile like that at other people? Or was it something special?

Or am I just being...jealous?

When she, Clark, and Davis had gotten free of the Geothermal Plant, she had expected Davis to quickly rouse. But when they had gotten back to Watchtower, and he had remained unconscious, worry had quickly turned to fear. She had gotten him comfortable on the cot, while Victor had called Emil Hamiliton. That fear hadn't eased until Emil had come and closely examined Davis and declared he should be fine. His body was just recovering in its own way from the Blue-K exposure. The doctor explained that while Clark recovered his powers almost as soon as the contact stopped, Davis had had a more violent reaction - perhaps because of his shared connection with Doomsday. When Davis had finally slipped into a more normal sleep, Chloe had been nearly overcome with relief, which was quickly followed by exhaustion. She had allowed her eyes to close for just a moment as she pillowed her head on her arms on Davis' bedside. Before she knew it, she was asleep. She should have expected nightmares, but her sleep had been surprisingly warm and comfortable. For the first time in years, his unique scent - musk, pine, with a hint of something spicy and male - had filled her nostrils as she slipped into sleep. Unsurprisingly he had filled her dreams as well. Her dreams twined with her memories as she once more saw him singing at the bar...cooking her dinner...playing video games...making love to her. At one point she had roused slightly as she felt someone moving her from the chair to something much softer, but her dreams remained full of Davis.

It wasn't until she woke to the soft murmur of voices, and heard Courtney and Davis talking about using the Blue-K again, that her dreams shattered.

Years ago, she had watched Davis die in a glass cage filled with liquid Kryptonite. Worst of all, it had been done by her own hand, and it had nearly torn her heart open.

Then today, she had felt like it was coming to pass once more when he grabbed onto that piece of Blue-K. She had seen his eyes turn red, then blue, and that scream...! It had been horrible.

And everyone - Davis included - planned for him to do it all again.

And she couldn't think of a better solution.

She had hoped to come up with some other way, but despite all her efforts, it was the only thing that might actually work against Doomsday. It had become clear today that there was no longer a question of trying to stabilize the plant enough to keep the monster trapped. The plant would fail, no matter what they tried. Between what Lex had done and Doomsday's efforts, too much damage had been done to ever secure the structure again. Davis and the Blue-K was their only chance for holding the monster at bay until they could find another way to neutralize Doomsday. A way they still didn't have - whether it be here on Earth or in The Phantom Zone. Davis was their only leverage, especially with Lex out there intent on releasing the creature for his own purposes. Chloe had briefly considered telling Lex some of the truth of the danger of the creature, but there was no way they could be sure that Lex wouldn't see the monster's insatiable destructive tendencies as something he could harness.

But the danger to Davis would be worse next time. While he seemed ready to jump into the lion's maw, Chloe found she wasn't quite so ready to see him do that. After all this time, she had finally found out that he was alive, that he wasn't the one that killed Jimmy, and that under it all...he was still trying to be a hero.

Chloe cut the last thought off quickly. It didn't matter any more. They had gone their own ways years ago. She had mourned him and what they might have had and let it go years ago. Now it was too late.

Or was it?

"Do you still love him?" Clark had asked.

She had replied then that she didn't know. But if she had come to realize one thing between then and now it was that the man she had once loved - the one that would risk his life, the one that would willingly inflict terrible pain on himself to save others from his monstrous twin, the one that could melt her with a smile - was still there.

And that she was falling in love with him all over again.

Crap!

Chloe threw back the covers from where she lay on the couch and sat up, surprising Courtney.

"Chloe! You're awake!" she said.

Victor's voice was calm as usual. "I assume you heard everything Davis said? You've been awake for almost an hour."

"An hour?" Courtney asked, her face going red.

"Yeah, I heard. Thanks, Victor."

She and Davis needed to sit down and have a real conversation. Alone. No Clark or Victor or Watchtower eyes on them. They needed to put it all out there and clear the air. Now seemed like the perfect time with everyone else occupied, and the breather that Davis' maneuver with the Blue-K had bought them.

"Do you know where to go?" he asked.

"Yes. Thank you."

He turned, his human eye serious. "Be careful, Chloe."

She frowned back at Victor. "I'd think after everything he did last night, you'd cut him some slack, Victor. He certainly wouldn't hurt me."

Victor turned back to his monitors. "No, not on purpose he wouldn't."

Chloe let the comment slide and started fumbling around under the couch for her shoes.

Author's Note: I won't be posting an update next week. I'll be busy with holiday stuff. So Happy Holidays to you and yours and I'll be back in 2 weeks!