A/N: Sooo... everything the past two chapters have been leading up to. Well, I'm not going to say much here, because this chapter should speak for itself... so, enjoy!

Chapter 8

6x13 - Crimson, Part 3 of 3

When Chloe regained awareness, it took her a minute to figure out she was at the Luthor mansion. It took her another minute to figure out exactly why she was there, but that meant that she was missing a day of her memory. She looked into her cousin's eyes with about a million questions, but when she saw who was standing next to her, the only thing that came out of her mouth was, "Jimmy Olsen?"

"Hi, Chloe," the ghost from her past waved at her. Chloe could only stare at him. "I guess you don't remember, but you walked in on Lois and I… having a date." Chloe could only let her jaw drop almost to the ground. "I know you always said you lived in a weird town, but damn! Rocks that mutate people?"

"Something happened with the meteor rocks?" Chloe looked from Jimmy to Lois.

"Yeah," Lois said. "You and Clark were acting really weird, so Jimmy and I decided to use some of that investigative journalism we all love so much." At this point, Chloe couldn't help but laugh. Sure, Lois had seen her fair share of weird things in her past couple of years in Smallville, but that did not make up for the fact that she worked for a trashy tabloid. Still, Lois had to start somewhere, and Chloe wasn't going to try and stop her from her newfound passion for journalism. "Anyways, we found out that at the party you guys went to, there was a 'love expert' or whatever using red meteor rocks. Have you even heard of such a thing?"

"Red meteor rocks?" Chloe asked. This was bad, this was really bad. Lois nodded slowly. "Lois, where's Clark?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "He was gone when I got here. Which is weird, because he was all over you. Except for, you know, when he turned all creepy, and wouldn't shut up about wanting to kiss me."

"What?" Chloe practically shrieked. She could hardly believe her ears. Maybe this had something to do with red kryptonite, but she thought she'd been completely overreacting about Clark's kiss with Lois when she thought he was Oliver. Turns out, not so much. "Oh god," she said, and the room began to spin. She grabbed the nearest chair, and sat down.

Lois kneeled down next to her, and Jimmy remained standing behind her. "I'm really sorry," Lois whispered to her cousin.

"It's not your fault," Chloe said, trying to focus on breathing. She looked slowly around the room and finally noticed that something was not right. She had been in her own little world, and somehow she had failed to notice that none of the guests were happy, and she couldn't spot Lana anywhere. "Where's Lana, isn't this her party?"

Lois only offered a shrug. It was apparent she had only arrived after whatever went down.

"Your boyfriend took her," Chloe spun around to face a very angry and hurt Lex. "He was about a breath away from killing me when she offered herself up to him." She could see it in his eyes when his heart sunk. "Now I intend to get her back."

"Lex," she said, standing up and putting a hand on his chest. "Whatever's going on with Clark, however deep this is…" Chloe paused to think about what she even wanted to say next. "Maybe Clark isn't completely over Lana, and maybe he's even starting to develop some new feelings for Lois, but I think, just maybe, he does care enough about me that I can get through to him." She could almost spot a touch in sympathy in the billionaire's eyes, but it disappeared almost as soon as it arrived. "Let me go with you."

/

"Clark, this is crazy!" Lana racked her brain to think of anything to get out of this situation. She had only agreed to leave with him, because it was obvious he didn't really have any qualms about killing Lex in that moment.

"Tell me you don't love me," he forced the issue.

"What about Chloe?" she pleaded. His grip on her arms was painfully tight, and the tears stung against her eyes. She would not let them go, though. She would not show him her weakness, not now. "Things have been going well there, it seemed."

"This, this isn't about her!" he screamed, and for the second time in her life, she had begun to fear for her life in the hands of Clark Kent. The first time, though, he was trying to kill her because he was imagining her with Lex, now it was because she was really with Lex. "This is about you and me!" He stared straight into her eyes, and then lowered his voice. "This about you betraying me with Lex fucking Luthor."

Lana was still terrified, but if she had learned anything living with Lex for the past few months, it was to never back down in the face of such injustices. At this point, it didn't even seem like Clark knew what he was saying, and Lana needed to fix that. "I betrayed you?" she laughed, incredulous. After that, she tried to make herself sound as calm as possible. "I waited, for years, for you to open up to me. I stood by your side and I held your hand. You lied to me for years. It got to the point where I hated myself for letting it go on. I've been walked all over my entire life, and I just couldn't take it from you, Clark. You, who were supposed to make me feel like the most important thing in this world. Instead I felt like shit. So I left you. And then your dad died, and you needed me… so I had to be there for you. I did everything for you, and you still couldn't let me in. After everything, after all of the months I put up with your crap… and then you left me!"

At this point, Clark opened his mouth to speak, but at some point while she was talking, Lana's façade of confidence turned into real confidence. She shrugged herself out of his incredibly strong arms and turned around. "You looked me right in the eye and you told me you didn't love me. You broke my heart, and Lex was there for me." She turned around again, so that she could meet his stare. "Clark, this isn't about whether or not I love you. There's nothing I can do about that. This is about what is right for everyone, and you and I… we don't work together.

"We hurt each other, and we burn each other to the ground. We love each other, but we can never be happy." He tried to look away from her, but she put both hands on his face and forced him to keep looking at her. "I think the first time I've seen you happy in such a long time was when you and Chloe got together. It's obvious you can talk to her about… the things you couldn't share with me. As for my relationship with Lex, he understands me in ways I could never get you to. We both have so much going for us right now, so why do you want to try to screw all of that up for something with no future?"

When she let go of Clark, she didn't know what to expect, but what she got was complete silence. She had rendered him completely speechless.

/

Lex was driving even faster that normal, and he could see that Chloe was clutching onto the seat beneath her, but he needed to find Lana as quickly as possible. Chloe was the one who insisted on accompanying him, and if she had a problem with the way he was driving, it just wasn't his problem.

"I'm sorry about my part in what happened," Chloe finally broke the silence. Lex admired that she wasn't trying to apologize for Clark. She had no control over him and she knew that. It was refreshing.

"Yeah well, it's not like you were exactly yourself," Lex admitted, still staring straight through the windshield. He wanted all of his attention on getting to that farm where he knew Clark had predictively taken Lana.

"Yeah," Chloe said quietly. "I just wish I could remember."

Lex felt a twinge of empathy for the woman next to him. He knew what it felt like to be wronged by Clark. That was why he and Lana were so close. Chloe was just the latest in a long trail of victims. The worst part of it all was that Clark couldn't even see it. He was so wrapped up in making sure everyone else stayed on the straight and narrow that he abandoned his relationships and made everything worse. Lex could hardly say any of this to Chloe, though. That woman was loyal to Clark until the end, and she would always run back to him.

The rest of the ride was passed in silence, neither of them knowing exactly what to say to each other. They had spent so long hating each other, they didn't even remember how to have a civil conversation.

When they arrived at the farm after what felt like an eternity, Lex reached into his glove box and pulled out his gun.

"Whoa!" Chloe jumped back. "What the hell, Lex?"

"I'm going to get Lana back, at any cost," Lex said as he turned off the safety.

/

"You know what, Lana?" Clark decided he was not going to just take that from her. "You're right. We could never have a future together, do you know why?" She only stared back at him, waiting for him to continue. "It's the same reason that, yes, I'm happier with Chloe than I ever was with you. It's because I trusther."

Lana looked like she was about to hit him, and Clark almost wished that she would try, so that he could show her how easily he could foil her.

"She's independent, but she's loyal. She'd die before she'd let me get hurt, and she lets me know it, too." He stared deep into her eyes with purpose. "You were just a pretty face."

That was all it took to get Lana to slap him. If he hadn't been invulnerable, it probably would've hurt, too, but all he could do right now was laugh.

"You don't have anything Chloe has," he said, as he shoved her so that she hit the railing of the loft. He watched as her body crumpled to the ground. She tried to get back to her feet, but he ran to her almost, but not quite, at superspeed. Kneeling down next to her, he whispered, "I'm not quite done with you yet."

/

"I don't care how far over the edge he is right now," Chloe was trying her hardest not to scream right now. After all, Lex was the one with a gun in his hand. "You are not going to hurt Clark!"

"I don't think you understand, Chloe," he practically growled back. "I know you don't remember, but back at the mansion, I thought I was going to die. Clark wasn't going to stop. Lana saw this, too, and she made him stop. But the look in his eye when he forced her to come with him… Chloe, I've never seen a look so blood-churning in my life. Especially not on the face of Clark Kent.

"Now, we can start out doing it your way, but if I think Lana or I are in danger, I will not hesitate to use this."

"Just, please, Lex," Chloe could only plead at this point. "I know you're going to do what you can to save Lana, but I can stop Clark from hurting her. However bad things look when we go in there, you need to let me take care of it."

"I told you we could do it your way."

"I know," she said. "I just need to make absolutely sure. I don't want to lose him." She turned to look at Lex, while willing the tear that threatened to fall to remain still. "I love him."

/

When they got out of the car, Lex heard a crash from inside the barn. He made a run for it, but somehow Chloe was able to catch up to him, and pull on his arm, making him stop.

"Lex, I need to go in the house and get something first," Chloe said in an effort to calm him. She really needed to work on that, because it didn't work. "Please promise me you won't go in there until I get back."

"He's hurting her!" was all he could say in return.

"Please, Lex, you saw it yourself. Clark is very dangerous right now, and you don't need to get caught up in that."

"Fine," Lex said, remembering the fear that coursed through him as Clark's hands crushed his windpipe. Chloe seemed satisfied and turned and ran as fast as she could to the house.

Lex turned around as he heard another crash inside the barn. "Screw this," he said. Yes, he believed Chloe that Clark was dangerous, and that was exactly why he needed to go in there. He was not going to leave Lana alone in there with whatever version of Clark had decided to come out to play this week.

As he made his way into the barn, he thought he could hear Lana whimpering.

"Lana?" he called out.

/

Lana took Lex's voice as a beacon of safety and started to run to him. Clark wasn't really worried about either of them getting away, though, so he started to calmly walk after her.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he found Lana hiding behind a gun-toting Lex. The sight made him laugh.

"You're going to shoot me?" he said through his laughter.

"If I have to," Lex replied. If only he knew his courage wasn't going to get him anywhere this time.

"Then shoot me," Clark said, walking towards Lex. He walked right up to the gun, and then looked Lex in the eye. When it was clear Lex wasn't going to pull the trigger, Clark yelled, "Bang!"

Lex still looked him directly in the eye, although Clark thought he saw a hint of fear. Still, Lex had tenacity, he had to give him that much. Without much effort at all, he took the gun from Lex's hand, and then pointed it at the bald head.

He laughed a little as he put his finger on the trigger ready to pull. "You know, your brains would go all over Lana's face. It might shut her up for once."

"There's something seriously wrong with you," Lex said, even as Clark held all the cards.

"Maybe," Clark smiled as he tightened his grip on the gun. When he tried to pull the trigger, though, he felt all of the strength drain out of him at once. As he fell to his knees and lost his grip on the gun, he knew it could only be kryptonite. The source of the pain was behind him, but he didn't even have the energy to see who it was.

Along with his strength, though, Clark could feel something else leave his system, something that didn't belong. All at once, Clark wanted to cry. He couldn't believe all that he'd done in the past day. Between Lana, Lex, Lois, and Chloe, Clark didn't even know how he was ever going to set things right.

Maybe it didn't even matter, he thought as he saw Lex go for the gun again. It was now pointed at his face and he didn't have a way to defend himself. A pitiful "sorry" was all he could muster.

"You're sorry?" Lex laughed, and Clark could feel his heart beating in his chest. The tears started to slip out, and Clark had no way of stopping them.

"Lex, don't shoot him," the voice behind him was definitely Chloe, and he didn't blame her for wanting to use kryptonite on him.

"I really don't think he deserves another chance," Lex said, without even attempting to veil the anger in his voice.

"Lex, please," this time it was Lana talking. He didn't know why she was trying to save him now, but it seemed to work, as Lex threw the gun on the ground.

"Just get Lana out of here and go," Chloe said. "I've got it from here."

Instead, though, Lex walked toward Clark, and then knelt down next to him. Clark wanted to try and get away, but he was too weak. "Whatever you did to Lana," he whispered, so that only he and Clark could hear. "You're going to pay."

Lex stood up, and then looked at Chloe was still behind Clark with the kryptonite. "Thank you," was all he said. Then he turned around, grabbed Lana's hand, and led her out of the barn.

/

When Chloe finally hear Lex's engine start, knelt down beside Clark.

"Chloe, please… you're hurting me," he said weakly.

"Good," she said, before throwing the rock as far as humanly possible. She stood up and turned around so that Clark wouldn't see the stream of tears that was now making its way down her face.

"Chloe," he said, and she heard him easily get up. "I'm sorry… I don't really know why I did any of that, I just need you to know..."

"Shut up," she cut him off. "It was red kryptonite, but please don't try to use that an excuse for your behavior." She wiped her eyes and then turned around to face him. "You really hurt me, Clark."

"I don't really know what else I can say," Clark said, as he turned his gaze into the ground.

"Good, then we don't really need to talk," she said. The truth was, she wanted more than ever to hold Clark and tell him everything was alright. She wanted to forgive him and go back into the relationship she had waited for so long to be in, but she couldn't allow herself to lose herself in him so easily. She couldn't let him walk all over her and get away with it.

"Chloe, please," he said.

"Clark, I need some space," she said, and started to make her way to the barn door.

Before she could reach it, though, she felt Clark grab her arm, and turn her around to face him. "I get it," he said. "I just want to let you know… you waited for me for a long time, Chloe. Now it's my turn to wait for you."