It's late when Lex calls me. He's disoriented and babbling about the hospital. He finally steadies his breathing and I tell him to walk me through what happened.

"I don't know. I went up to try to calm down that dude and he slammed his fist into my face and I blacked out. I woke up in the Metropolis hospital on Grant." The line goes quiet for a moment and I'm worried he's fallen into a coma.

"Lex?"

"I've gotta get out of here, Sarah."

"Lex, if you're really beat up, you should stay in the hospital."

"This is a request from me as your boss, Ms. Vanderhaul, not as your friend." He hangs up without so much as a goodbye and I panic, grabbing my keys and sprinting to my car. I don't remember the drive there, I just blink and I'm there, coming to a stop in front of Metropolis Hospital. Lex is waiting for me, his suit jacket draped across his shoulders, covering the top of a hospital gown. I take a picture of this in my mind, to remind myself he has the potential to look just as ragged as I do. He slumps into the car, facing away from me and in a hushed voice, he simply tells me to drive.

"Lex, look at me." He moves his head a fraction, just so I can see his profile. Even from just a glimpse, I can tell he's pretty beat up. The skin around his eye is bruised and the bridge of his nose is taped. "Jesus, Lex." He shrugs and I smack his shoulder. He howls in pain and grabs at his rotator cuff.

"Fuck, Sarah!" He growls out. With his eyes plastered shut, he calms his breathing enough to grit out "Just drive." I do as he says until we are back in Smallville. "Go to the mansion. I'll have my doctor come in the morning to help fix my shoulder."

"No you will not." He isn't in the mood to fight and doesn't have the energy, but he tries just once.

"Please, Sarah, I'll be fine."

"Unless you plan on sleeping on that arm, we will be getting some help tonight." I hear him groan next to me.

"Call Clark. Maybe he can help." I doubt a kid can help, but I try him anyway. I have to dig in Lex's pocket and fish out his phone to reach him, and Clark doesn't seem pleased to hear me this late at night.

When he gets to the house, he has a man with sandy brown hair and a weathered look in his eye in tow. The man doesn't seem happy to see Lex and doesn't move to help like Clark does.

"Lex!" Clark is already by Lex's side looking at his shoulder. He carefully peels back the suit jacket and hisses at his discovery. The man raises his chin an inch to see a bit better and scoffs when he looks at Lex's shoulder.

"For Christ's sake, Lex. It's just dislocated. Calm down."

"Didn't they try to fix that at the hospital?" Clark asks.

"They did. And they succeeded too. But it popped back out when I was fighting my way out of there."

"Why did you want to leave so badly?" He tries to shrug but winces.

"I couldn't stay there." Clark shakes his head, disappointed that Lex would clam up like this.

"Dad, can you help me?" The man near the door doesn't budge, simply assessing from afar. "Dad!" He sighs, walking over and kneeling next to Lex.

"Lex, why did you have to leave?" Lex shakes his head, his mouth sealed shut. "Lex, we are going to help you. But I can't in good conscience do so if I feel you are withholding information which may put my son or my family in danger."

"Please, Mr. Kent. It will be better if I tell you nothing at all." The man looks as if he's going to slap Lex.

"You know, you're exactly like your father." Lex moves with surprising speed despite the pain he seems to be in. Within the blink of an eye he's leveled himself with Mr. Kent.

"Don't ever compare me to my father." Mr. Kent seems unphased, refusing to back away, though I see his jaw clench.

"Fine, let's talk about you then. How can I trust a man who continually puts my son in danger -"

"That's enough!" My fists are clenched so hard my nails are starting to draw blood from the skin on my palms. I stomp towards them, ready for battle. "Lex needs help. Now. Either you help, or you get out of here." Mr. Kent turns his steely gaze towards me. His eyes are lined with crows feet, a usual sign of happiness and kindness, though his eyes hold no humor now.

"I have a right to protect my family."

"So does Lex. If he says it's unsafe for you to know why he had to leave, then perhaps it is in the best interest of your family that you do not press him." Lex is looking at the ground, refusing to look at me or Mr. Kent. Mr. Kent, however, hasn't moved his eyes at all, and I can feel the skin on my scalp burning from the look.

"Clark, cradle the arm. It needs to be bent so I can push the shoulder back into place." Clark does as he's told, raising Lex's arm. Mr. Kent stoops and takes control. "Now hold him still." Lex reaches out his hand and looks at me. I take his hand, now slick with sweat. Mr. Kent leans in and with a small grunt shoves Lex's shoulder back into place. He slumps against me and a sharp pain travels from the crook of my neck to the tips of my fingers. Lex's teeth have embedded themselves into my shoulder to keep him from crying out.

"Keep his arm at that angle, try to find a sling if you can."

"Of course."

"And Lex, the next time you think about calling my boy for help, don't." Lex nods unconvincingly.

Once they're gone, I smack Lex's shoulder. A howl erupts from him as he doubles over. "Sarah! What in God's name was that?"

"You want to tell me what the hell is going on?"

"What?"

"Lex, you scared the crap out of me! I drive out in the middle of the night, only to find you beat to hell, and then you pull this mysterio crap. No, not to me, not tonight, I feel like my whole body is breaking down from worry. So I deserve something."

"Then what was all that earlier with Mr. Kent?"

"You were in trouble and the two of you were bickering like children. I needed to get you both to prioritize." He huffs and struggles to stand, balancing his arm in the proper position. He roots around the office, groping through cabinets until he pulls out a first aid kit. He hands it to me, dropping down to the ground with a grunt.

"I'll tell you if you make me a sling." I crouch next to him, taking out cloth and pins and attempting what I can with my unskillful hands. "My dad is looking into the incident at the charity gala. And I really wish he wouldn't."

"Right…"

He watches as I wrap his shoulder up in the sling. He pays special attention to the little ways my hands tremble. His eyes trail from my fingers up to my shoulder where I can already feel a bruise starting to form.

"I'm sorry about that."

"Are you trying to change the subject?"

"What subject?"

"The subject of what exactly is going on."

"I told you that already."

"No you did not."

"I gave you the broad strokes."

"You better start talking or I will stop bandaging." He sighs but keeps his eyes on his teeth marks on my skin.

"Ok, what exactly do you need to know?"

"Why did you have to leave the hospital in such a rush?"

He doesn't answer right away, turning over something in his brain. "He's looking into what happened at the gala and he thinks I know what's going on." Lex can't seem to bring himself to say more, and I know he doesn't have to.

My hands still with a pin in my hand not yet securing the cloth. I know what he's about to say. He's the blur. And his father is onto him. I wait for him to say it, to settle my suspicions once and for all, but he simply stares at my shoulder. He grapples and grapples but can't seem to pitch himself over the edge in full confession. I force my hand to move, to secure his wrapping and let him take his time. As long as he needs.

"I'm really, very sorry about your shoulder."

"And I'm sorry about yours." I say, patting him lightly this time. He catches my hand in his fingers, pulling me towards him, stare fixated on his teeth marks. He brings his lips down gently to my skin, making the flesh on my arms goose pimple. He traces the mark he left with his lips, sending a blazing fire through me.

"This isn't the way I wanted to first bite you." He says. His lips move from my shoulder to the base of my neck, lingering at the hollow of my throat, lightly pecking. His lips then sweep higher, pressing against the line of my jaw until I feel a light whimper escape me. "Would you like me to show you?"

"Show me what?" I barely breathe out.

"The way I really want to bite you."

I shudder as he pulls the skin on my jaw into his teeth, applying a tantalizing amount of pressure. My hand snakes up to the back of his neck, keeping his lips flush with my skin. I feel my mouth dry, thirst I didn't know I had leaving me breathless. The suction on my jaw softens and Lex raises his head once more, his focus now on my lips.

"Lex."

"Yes?"

"I think we should stop." He pulls back slightly, but not enough to clear the fog his touch has created.

"Are you sure?"

"No."

When his hand snakes to the back of my head, I want to melt, but a voice is steadily growing in the back of my mind, one I didn't know was there until it's screaming in my head. It keeps repeating Linus Luthor's words, and I'm stripped down and thrust in a line with all the other women Lex has had sex with.

But I can't be that. I have to work with him, I have a job to do. And one thing he has said tonight is most definitely true; this would mean more to me than it would to him.

I push at his chest and lean away from him, looking him squarely in the eye. "You need to rest, Mr. Luthor. And I need to go home." He nods, though he doesn't look as if he's about to move. So instead I move, rising to my feet and helping him up in the process. As soon as he is up, I step back once, twice, and then turn and leave, bidding him a hasty goodbye.