When news reached them that Lex had been shot (…again), Clark, Chloe, and Emmeline went down to Smallville Medical Center, perhaps not in so much of a hurry, and found Lionel looking into one of the post-op room windows.

"Lionel, how is he?" Clark asked.

"He's, uh, in a coma," Lionel answered. "Thank goodness we got him Medevac'd back here from Detroit. The, um, neurosurgeon managed to remove the bullet. He says that there is a very strong possibility that, uh, Lex…may never regain consciousness."

No one said it, but Emmeline knew what they were all thinking. Lex never waking up may not exactly be the worst thing in the world.

"I'm sorry," Clark finally said.

"…We never had a really close relationship. A lot was said. A lot…went unsaid."

"Clark, I know for a fact that every badge in Michigan is on this case, and still, no suspects, no witnesses," Chloe said.

Clark looked at Lex's deadly still body on the gurney. "I find it hard to believe the shooter would leave Lex in a ditch and no one would see anything."

Lionel started fishing through his pockets. "Listen, I got a friend in Detroit, a cop. He, uh, called me when I found out about Lex. He let me borrow this." He took out a pink cell phone and showed them all one of the pictures on it.

It was Lex…and Kara.

"Kara's alive?"

"That picture was taken less than 12 hours ago."

One of the orderlies came out of the room. "Excuse me, Mr. Luthor?"

"Yeah."

Lionel left with the staff member, leaving the three of them to discern what this picture entailed.

Chloe took the phone from Clark. "Clark, this is Lois's phone. Lois, Kara, and Lex? Not exactly Three's Company."

"Kara's wearing a bandage. She may be hurt, which means she doesn't have her powers."

"And whoever Lex was dealing with wasn't playing around, which means that if Lois and Kara were with him—"

"—then they're in danger. We need to find them."

Chloe ushered Clark and Emmeline away from the room and said quietly, "I'll use my healing powers on Lex, and he can tell us where Lois and Kara went."

"Chloe, the last time you used your powers, I pulled you out of a morgue refrigerator."

"Yeah, and then I walked out of there with a clean bill of health and some cold feet."

"Chloe, if you use your powers again, you could die. Permanently."

"Or I could just be adjusting to the growing pains. I mean, we don't know. Nothing happened when I healed Jimmy. We have no choice. The only clues we have to where they might be are trapped inside Lex's mind."

Emmeline looked back at Lex worriedly. Was there really no other way to find Kara that didn't include putting Chloe's life at risk?

Lana brought up several screens inside her hidden computer room at the Foundation. "I couldn't figure out what Lex was doing in Detroit, but I may have found something even more helpful."

"Project Intercept?" Clark asked. "Is it military?"

"LuthorCorp developed it for the military to interrogate terrorists by getting inside of their heads, literally. The entire project was spearheaded by Lionel. Intercept links a suspect and interrogator's brain waves, exposing the interrogator to all the suspect's memories and thoughts."

"You're saying someone could actually go into Lex's mind?"

Lana nodded.

"Where is this thing?"

"LuthorCorp still owns all the equipment, but it was mothballed six months ago."

"Well, I can see why," Chloe said, examining one of the screens that showed some of the test results. "How's this for fine print? 'The project worked several times but then was abandoned after three of the interrogators died during implementation'. Autopsies revealed that their central nervous systems were completely fried."

Clark walked towards the doorway, then said softly, "They're not like me. I can do this."

The four of them found themselves inside the lab that contained all of the equipment for Project Intercept. It admittedly all looked pretty horrifying, especially with a comatose Lex standing up straight on one of the machines.

"Clark, your body may be invincible, but who's to say your mind isn't vulnerable somehow?" Lana asked.

"It's my fault that Kara's missing," Clark told her.

"But using technology built by Lionel Luthor?"

"Lana, there's no other choice."

"Clark, just be careful, okay?" Chloe said worriedly.

The door to the room buzzed, open and a doctor walked in followed by Lionel.

"I watched three field officers die after their brains went into electro-neuro shock," the doctor said firmly. "This machine is a deathtrap."

"I pay you a small fortune, Doctor, so please withhold your negative opinions," Lionel replied.

The doctor clenched his jaw then looked over at Lana, Chloe, and Emmeline. "Ladies, would you please wait outside?"

Lana gently kissed Clark before leaving with Chloe.

Emmeline looked up at Clark. "Are you sure about this?"

"No," Clark admitted. "But I have to find Kara. And if this is the only way to do it, then I will."

"I wish it was me."

"I wouldn't let you do that."

"But all of us are expected to just let you?"

"It's one of those things that comes with being near invincible."

Emmeline wondered what he would say or do if he knew that she was more like him than he realized. "What if something goes wrong?"

"Then I'll fix it."

"What if you can't?"

"I will. Trust me."

"…I do." She tightly hugged him, hoping that it wouldn't be for the last time. Then she followed the other two women out of the room.

Now all they could do was wait.

Each minute that passed felt like an hour.

"I can't just sit here," Lana finally said. "I'm going to get us all some coffee. Any requests?"

"Vanilla bean frappucino for me," Emmeline answered.

"I'll take my usual latte," Chloe added.

Lana nodded. "All right, I'll be back in a bit. Call me the second anything happens."

"We will." After Lana had left the room, Chloe nudged Emmeline's shoulder. "Any updates on the Oliver Queen department?"

"Is this really the time to be discussing that?" Emmeline said.

"Just trying to distract us."

"Fine. He's tried to set up another training session twice now, but I've come up with a really flimsy excuse both times. Considering I've always worked hard to meet with him, I'm sure he knows something is wrong and he also probably knows what it is. I'm just not sure I'm ready to face him yet."

"Because of everything that happened when he was in town?"

"The thing is…I knew that he still had feelings for Lois. We talked about it on the rare occasion he shared something with me. So does that mean he was just using me to forget about her? And worse…was I just using him?"

"I can't tell you that. But you do need to talk to him eventually. Nothing ever got solved from not speaking."

Emmeline eyed her teasingly. "You're sure one to talk."

Chloe winced and gave her an awkward smile, knowing she wasn't exactly the most forthcoming about her new healing ability and her feelings about it. "Touché."

"You're not wrong though. I will talk to Oliver. Soon."

Chloe anxiously bounced her knee up and down. "It's been half an hour, I'm going to see what's going on."

"Chloe—"

Chloe hurriedly stood up and burst inside the lab. "What's taking so…long?"

One of the staff personnel put two paddles onto Lex's chest. "Three, two, charge. Clear!"

Chloe and Emmeline's eyes widened in horror.

Lionel quickly came over to them. "You shouldn't be in here."

"What's happening?" Chloe asked frantically. "Why are they not waking Clark up?"

"He's in Lex's mind. He's trapped. If Lex dies, then Clark dies with him."

The staff member put the paddles down. "Sir…we've lost him."

"No," Emmeline gasped. "No, no, no, that's not possible." She ran over to Clark and put her hands onto his chest, his eyes quickly moving back and forth as he ventured through Lex's mind where he would now stay forever. "You weren't supposed to go so far."

I could've done this, she thought to herself. Would it have made any difference if she had finally told Clark about her father and insisted that she go into Lex's mind instead? Would the process have killed her before she could make any breakthroughs? Whether it would or wouldn't have, she knew she was always going to be plagued with the knowledge that she could've done this instead of him.

"I can save him," Chloe said firmly.

Emmeline whipped her head around to look at her. "Chloe, no."

"How?" Lionel asked.

"Just trust me, Mr. Luthor. I can."

Emmeline quickly went over to her. "Chloe, you can't. We talked about this."

"I'm not going to lose him."

"I can't lose you."

"It's going to be fine. Just let me do this. Now."

Reluctantly, Emmeline stepped aside.

Chloe approached Lex and put her hand to his bare chest. A warm glow emitted from her hand as her power leaked into him, and the screen changed from 'No Signal' to 'Host Engaged'. Lex's heart began to beat again and Clark's body twitched and breathed heavily from whatever was happening inside Lex's mind.

Chloe winced in pain the longer she let her power flow out of her.

Once Lex's heartbeat was back to a normal rhythm, Chloe's skin paled to a deathly white hue and her eyes closed as she collapsed onto the floor.

Emmeline rushed over to her and propped her up inside her arms. "No, no, come on, Chloe." Tears started to spill from her eyes as she stroked the blonde's cold, pale face. "I told you not to do this. Please…I'm not going to lose you because of Lex."

She didn't care whatsoever that Lionel heard that remark. It surely didn't come as a surprise. Lex had already taken so much from all of them, and she did not want him to take the one person she cared about right now more than any other.

Suddenly, Clark's eyes burst open. "I know where they are." He quickly took the electrodes off his head and stepped out of the metal stand. Then he saw his two best friends down on the ground with Lionel, one of them looking as if she were dead. "What happened?" he asked as he knelt down beside them.

"She had to save you," Emmeline said tearfully.

"We need a doctor," Lionel insisted.

"No, no, no, no doctors," Clark said quickly. "Just get her to her apartment."

"Clark, she's barely alive."

"Trust me, doctors can do nothing for her. Just get her home."

Clark sped off to go save his cousin and Lois.

Emmeline quickly wiped away the tears from her cheeks. Chloe needed her to be calm and collected right now, not a hysteric mess. "He's right. I'll stay with her in her apartment until she wakes up. Let's go, now."

Clark found Lois and Kara in Detroit and saved them from the person who had shot Lex before he had the chance to shoot either of the young women. Knowing that Kara had no memory of Krypton or their abilities, he was careful to remain unseen so that neither of the women knew who their savior was.

When Chloe finally sat up almost a full day later, Emmeline wrapped her arms and around her and held her close. Neither of them said anything, but Emmeline was sure that Chloe knew how much she just needed to know that she was alive, and she probably didn't mind being held either.

After she'd put on some clothes, Clark handed Chloe a glass of water. "Here you go."

"Thanks." She slowly sipped it. "Lois didn't, uh…see me, you know, dead, did she?"

"No, she had to shoot back to the Planet to write a story about what happened in Detroit."

Chloe smiled. "Yeah. Lex will kill that story in a heartbeat."

"Speaking of heartbeats, you didn't have one for over 18 hours."

"Look, I was hoping we could skip the lecture and go straight to the 'welcome back' dinner. I'm starving."

Chloe tried to go towards the kitchen, but Clark stood in her way. "It's 15 hours longer than the last time, Chloe. We've been sitting here, literally, trying to think about what to say at your funeral."

"Well, let's both be glad that I'm alive. Because I know how much you guys hate giving speeches."

"Chloe, you cannot just smile and joke your way past this," Emmeline said, frustrated with her making so light of the entire situation. "Think about what the last few hours have been like for us."

"I'm fine."

Clark sighed. "Chloe, I appreciate what you did for me. It goes beyond friendship. But you can never do it again."

"Clark, I have the power to save people's lives. Now, obviously, I am the last person who thought she would drag Lex back from the clutches of death, but it was my decision to make."

Clark reluctantly nodded. "Of course it was." He looked at her intently, silently telling her that they both knew there was more to this than just making that kind of choice.

"But, you know, you're not wrong. I mean, as great as this power is, it does come with a lot of consequences. And I think that one of the responsibilities for both of us is…staying alive. You know, maybe I am pushing my luck with this whole death thing. I mean, it is death, after all."

"Does that mean you're never gonna use your abilities again?"

"It means I'm more confused now than ever. Out of the entire catalog of meteor abilities, why was I the one chosen to be in charge of such an amazing gift?"

This whole conversation really made Emmeline think about her own newfound abilities. Was it wrong for her to ignore them or shove them away when she could be using them to help people like Clark did? Or was she smart by not risking her life with abilities that, like Chloe, she didn't fully understand?

"I listened to my dad's message. And…I think you should hear it too."

Emmeline pressed the button on the device and her father's hologram appeared before her and Hannah. She found herself crying all over again as she heard his beautiful declarations of love for both her and her mother.

When the message concluded, Hannah was crying too. "I told you he loved you."

"I know. I don't think I ever really believed you though until I heard him say it to me himself."

"I don't have the message he gave me with me right now, but I'll be sure to bring it with me next time I come here so you can see mine too."

"I'd really like that. You know, all this time, you've never told me his name."

Hannah smiled. "Elacta-Fer. But to everyone here, Eldon."

"Did he give me two names too?"

"No. We named you somewhat after your grandmother. Who also fell in love with a Kryptonian when she was young if you remember the story I told you about her."

"Right, that drifter who came to town and was blamed for killing her best friend."

"Yeah. Joe was sort of your father's mentor. It's why he came to this town in the first place. He'd heard all the stories and wanted to see the place for himself. Coming to Earth is kind of like a rite of passage for them. It helps them adapt to new environments and learn how to coexist with other species."

"He coexisted all right."

Hannah laughed, and Emmeline realized how rarely she did that. "Yeah…that was…part of the problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Emmeline, when we first met, I told you that I had you when I was 16 and that's why I had to give you up. But…that wasn't true. I was actually 20. Still young, but not young enough to really be that big of an issue. I just felt that I owed you some sort of explanation at the time and that was the one that seemed the most believable. The truth is that it's strictly forbidden for a Kryptonian to have a relationship with a human. It's even worse to have a child with one. When I told Eldon I was pregnant, he told me that if anyone on his planet ever found out about you, they would kill all three of us."

"You gave me up to protect me," Emmeline realized.

"It was one of the best and worst days of my life," Hannah told her, her eyes watering. "Seeing you on the day you were born, knowing that Eldon and I had helped create that beautiful life together, was nothing short of incredible. Time works differently on Krypton so Eldon was able to stay for my entire pregnancy and be there on the day you came into the world. He was there to hold me when I had to watch you get ripped out of my arms and taken away from me even as a I tried so hard to hold onto you. And then he left two days after that to go back home and make sure that no one ever found out what had happened while he was here. I lost the two loves of my life in the span of three days. That was why we left Smallville. My mother, Emily, understood almost exactly what I was going through, and we decided that it would be harder for any Kryptonians to find us if we left, and some distance might help ease the pain of losing my child."

Hannah was so much stronger than Emmeline had ever given her credit for.

"A few years after we moved, Eldon's message came to me and I realized he was gone…as was his entire planet. I waited a little bit longer to make sure that you and I would be safe, and then I started trying to find you. It was really tricky since it had to be a closed adoption so that I wouldn't be able to give up your home or family if I was caught. When I finally saw you, you were so beautiful, and I wanted to be your mother so badly. I really didn't intend to come into your life and try to break it up like I did. I could see how much you loved your adoptive mother and father and I never wanted to come in between you. But after a few days, I heard stories of a young man who always pulled off miraculous saves and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. I tried to just ignore my worries and push them out of my mind. I mean, what were the odds of a Kryptonian surviving the destruction of the planet, ending up in the same place as you, and learning about your father and your heritage? But then, you were in that car accident…and Clark was driving…and you ended up in the hospital while he didn't have a scratch on him."

"…You thought Clark was trying to kill me."

Hannah solemnly nodded. "I panicked. And all I could think about was getting you out of here. That's why I had wanted you to move to New York with me, and…why I later tried to get custody. I was so scared that everything we both had been through was going to be for nothing. The reason I stopped the day that Clark came to talk to me was because I could truly see and hear how much he cared about you and I knew that I didn't have to worry about him hurting you. But I also knew…the damage had been done. And since I couldn't tell you the real reasons why I'd gone so far, I gave you space and let you come to me on your own terms."

"I…I can't believe all this. I really wish you'd told me this back then."

"You would've thought I was certifiably insane," Hannah said with a small smile.

"Maybe. But considering all the other weird things I'd seen by that point, I probably would've more open to it than you think. I'm…sorry it took me so long to reach out again."

"No, it's okay. I'm just glad we're here now."

"Eldon didn't…say anything about learning how to use these abilities, did he?"

"No. According to him, you shouldn't even have them. Right after you were born, he did something to you that I didn't entirely understand that would mask all of your Kryptonian cells so that for all intents and purposes, you were human."

"Something must've jumpstarted them again."

"Have you told Clark yet?"

"…No. Every time I get close, I see that horrible look on his face, even though I know that wasn't really him."

"Emmeline, I could see back then how much you two care about each other, and I'm sure your bond has grown even stronger since then. You shouldn't be alone in this. And right now, he's the only one who can help you."