The Memoirs

Three generations of Senatori's and Finn's were sitting together at one table, and had it been any other occasion, Gran would have been thrilled. Brunch, Lindy had suggested, and so here they were, sitting in Derchi's Italian restaurant--an ode to her little teacup--eating pasta and cannolis to their hearts content.

And her normally boisterous, talkative family, was not saying a word.

Megan had not stopped crying since they sat down; Graham was stony and cold. Lindy and Riley were equally as quiet, and little Shayla was too perky. Gran knew her little dear enough to see a breaking heart in a young chest.

It was just them, as well as Gideon and her husband. Eating. Silently.

Gideon was barely pushing the food around on his plate, barely even showing the pretense of eating. He knew, just as surely as he was sitting here, if he ate, he was going to be massively sick. However, Crystabel had glared him into submission, and he'd ordered the lightest thing he could find on the menu--fettuccine--and was pushing it around on his plate as he glared at it. His cousin Rosalyn, the murdering bitch, was nowhere to be found at the table, and he was glad of it. Because most of them at the table would have risen up and choked her if she'd shown her face. Instead, she'd let the doctor do her dirty work for her, tell them all that she'd be killing her son at three that afternoon.

Lindy could barely swallow down the sips of iced tea she was taking, and she should have been encouraging everyone to eat up, be strong, because they were going to need every ounce of strength given to them to get through this.

Graham wasn't even making a pretense of eating, just sitting with his arms crossed at the table, glaring down at the plate full of ravioli that Lindy had ordered for him, when he hadn't bothered.

Shayla, on the other hand, was packing it in. She'd made it nearly all the way through her chicken parmagian with garlic, had eaten half a loaf of garlic bread on top of that, her salad and Gideon's both, because he'd passed it to her silently, and she was polishing off the cup of soup that Lindy had ordered instead of a salad. She'd also drank half a pitcher of iced tea, and was eyeing Graham's ravioli.

Megan was crying silently. She hadn't stopped since she'd arrived in Smallville, and couldn't find it in herself to stop. Morgan, precious Dominic, was the other half of her. Seeing him lying so foreign and so closed off from the world had broken her heart. Finding out her own mother was doing the most evil and terrible of all deeds was worse. Killing him. Killing him, even when there could be a chance.

So she choked on her sobs and tried not to scream at the world as she kept her napkin to her face and eyes.

Riley glared, darkly and terribly, at the light soup he'd ordered. He hadn't touched it, could barely get food down his burning throat, and he made them all jump when he slammed a fist on the table top. "Its not fucking fair."

Lindy did jump, and her napkin went to her mouth as soon as Riley spoke, pressing hard against her lips and muffling the little cries that wanted to come out.

Graham silently shoved his plate towards Shay, and glared at his brother. "Isna fair at all, bruther," he ground out, teeth and jaw hurting from the clench he'd held them in. "Tis no fair that we dunna ge'a voice in anythin'."

"Thanks, Man Mountain!" Shayla chirped, finishing off her food in two bites and starting to plow through Graham's. "S'good," she said around a full mouthful.

Gideon tightened his grip on the handle of his wheelchair. "Tis nothin' fair aboot this, laddies and lassies. But we canna tear at each o'her now. We moost be stickin' t'gether."

"It's not fair. Life isn't fair, my babes." Gran murmured, gently, and laid a hand over Grahams tense hand, as well as over Lindy's. "We must stick together. All of us. Life pays those who take from it and who are taken from it both in kind. Our Morgan is a good and just man, and its to heaven he'll go. It doesn't matter the means or the why's."

"How...can you say that?" Riley spit out, as Megan sobbed beside him. "She's killing him! She's going to KILL him in a few hours and we're all just... sitting arund here eating food!"

"Woul' ye rather die wi'him, Ry?" Gideon asked, brogue trilling. "Or woul' ye rather do him honor, by takin' care of yerself an' yer fam'ly?"

"I want him here with us, Gideon, not... not lying in a hospital bed relying on a tube to breath that our very own fucking mother is going to take away from him in a handful of hours. That's what I want."

"But ye canna have it." His voice was surprisingly firm steel, and he passed his plate of fettuccine over to Shayla even as she was reaching for it. "Ye canna ha'e it, an' ye have to traffic in what ye do ha'e, and tis yer family and yer babes that ye mus' b'strong fer."

"Dinna worry, Riley," Graham said darkly. "Mama is going to regre' this. I promise ye tha'."

"She's… she's doing this because she thinks he's an abomination. Don't you all see that? If it were me or Megan or Lindy or any of us in his place, she wouldn't, because we're married and have children. But she thinks his marriage to Lionel is a fucking joke. She thinks everything about him is a joke. If it were me in his place she would tear the DNR to bits and stab herself before show anybody what it was. But she was quick to show it to the doctors, wasn't she? She was quick to get a lawyer."

Megan just sobbed, so hard her entire body shook, into her napkin.

"She didn't come to me, did she? I'm a certified lawyer, but she didn't dare. If I'd known she wouldn't be alive right now." Riley snarled.

"Aye, he's righ'," Shay said through her mouthful, and she swallowed. "Shoulda seen her at Easter, and I can't tell you which pissed her off more, a house full of black people, or the fact that Morgan's gay lover and gay stepson and his lover were meetin' the family and how it'd look on 'er." She shoveled another huge bite of noodles into her mouth at that.

"She knew better'n t'come to any o'us, Riley," Graham grunted. "She knew we'd all ha'e stopped 'er in 'er tracks."

"I would have killed her dead." Riley said, vehemently. "She never accepted his choices, never let herself be understanding of him. I hate her. I hate her. She's willing to kill him because she thinks him of lesser value than any of us. It infuriates me unlike anything I've ever felt."

Gran was quiet, silent, listening to the adults at this table, minus Shay, speak. They were quiet in their grief, sharing their fury and their misery, and she watched silently as her husband prayed silently over his beads beside her.

"Aye, but talkin' agin' Rosie doesna' help nothin'." Gideon pointed his finger in a circle round the table. "She's all of you, ever' one of ye, yer mother, and doesna matter how much she's angerin' ye wi'this, ye canna change it. Dividin' agin' her isna goin' ta help anyone."

"Fuck you, Gideon. You don't have brothers and sisters, so you sincerely do not understand what it is we're dealing with. While you were off prancing around Ireland, Dominic was in Metropolis with Megan and me, and later in Smallville with the rest of us. He's my brother, and you can't honestly sit there and tell me that the man who has saved me from bankruptcy, bailed me out of jail, and saved my wife and my daughter when she went into labor in a fucking cab should just be left to die. No. NO, god dammit! I can't buy it, *I won't*!"

Gran rose her brow at the bailed out of jail part, but then again, they were Finns. They had to spend at least one night in jail apiece, that's the way it worked.

"Marghan's me brother, as sure as he is alla you! I knew him afore ye were born, Riley Senatori, and I changed yer bloody shitty nappies when ye were a babe. Dinna ken t'tell me what I do and dunna think!" He slammed his own hand down, and rolled up closer to the table. "He bailed me arse outta jail, I bailed his out, I know t'ings about him I dinna think ye do! I know Marghan, little Ry, and I don' want him t'die, but the choice is outta m'hands, and yers too, an' all we kin do now is help ourselve' and our kin as he'd wanted, aye?"

"Yes, he would have." Gran answered as Riley fell silent, and gently looked across their faces. "He would have wanted us to come together, you know. And we're going to. We will. We're his family, even if one of us made the hardest choice of all in what she did." Gran said, carefully. "You are all going to behave as ladies and gentlemen."

"Aye, Gran," Lindy said, slipping her arm around Megan's shoulder and hauling her in closer. "Ye'll ha'e no trubble from me."

"Dor be," Megan sobbed, as she wrapped her arms around Lindy's shoulders and held her, crying so hard her entire body shook.

Graham's teeth were audibly grinding. "Nor fro' me." He glared at his youngest brother. "Nor from Riley, aye?"

Riley felt like he was going to be sick. He shook his head, softly, but didn't trust himself to speak as he looked at anywhere but them.

"Hey, you know I'm good," Shay said, finishing off Gideon's pasta with a little burp and starting on the other half of the garlic loaf in front of her.

"Ye'll ha'e no problems from me, Gran," Gideon added, finishing the circle.

"You're good lads and lassies." She said, softly.

"Aye, but you are." Father Finn said softly from beside her, and offered his hands to them to join a circle in prayer.

Gideon held his hands out, taking Crystabel's one side and Shayla's on the other. Shayla dropped her bread long enough to take Riley's hand, and Graham took his other. Graham's hand slid over and picked up Megan's, and Lindy took her other hand as she and Father Finn joined hands.

Father Finn watched as the lot of them took hands, and gently took one of his wife's in his own, the other wrapping gently about Belinda's hand. He lowered his head in prayer, and murmured softly, "May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields. Until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of His hand. May the Irish hills caress you. May her lakes and rivers bless you. May the luck of the Irish enfold you.

May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you." He murmured, softly, and then whispered the most ancient of Celtic blessings. "Deep peace of the running waves to you, deep peace of the flowing air to you, deep peace of the smiling stars to you, deep peace of the quiet earth to you, deep peace of the watching shepherds to you, deep peace of the Son of Peace to you. Amen."

"Amen." Gran whispered, and heard her granddaughters whisper it as well as her grandsons. Tears filled her eyes to brimming, because the last prayer, the prayer of safe passage upon death, meant her husband had given up. She didn't let go of his hand when he finished, just squeezing it tightly as the tears overfilled and fell down her cheeks.

Gideon changed the angle of his wheelchair so that he could lean forward and wrap his arms around her shoulders, letting her cry. "Aye, Gran. Tis th'time for weepin'."

Graham's jaw just gritted even more tightly. He knew exactly what his grandfather had just prayed, and he wasn't at all happy about it. But rather than call the old man on his lack of faith, he let it go.

Father Finn caught Graham's slight glare at him, and he chuckled softly and pet his hand. "Just in case, boyo. Aye, my dearest wife, you can be cryin' now my love, but let us cry on the way to him, eh?"

Gran nodded, still sniffling softly as she rose to her feet, hanky pressed to her eyes.

- = - = -

Lex had shot out of bed as soon as the dream ended. "I know it, Clark. Come on. I know how strange it sounds. Get your ass up. Out of bed." He was hopping up and down on one foot, trying to get his slacks pulled up at the same time he was going towards the closet, one arm pinwheeling to keep him balanced while the other tried to reach for a sweater. "Come on. Let's go. We've got to save Dominic."

Clark... was dreaming. Or rather, had been dreaming, anyway. He'd been ass deep in a delightfully wonderful dream that entitled candy canes and Christmas tunes and bathing suits, for some awful reason. He was groggy and exhausted, but he couldn't quite get himself to stop thinking about said Christmas swim trunks when his eyes opened.

And he just blinked when he saw his dancing lover.

"Th' fuck'er y'doin?"

"Wake your ass up, Clark. We're going to the hospital. We're going to save Dominic. I know how to do it. Come on." He thumped down on his ass, losing his balance and wiggling his hips into his slacks, taking the moment to pull the sweater down over his head and then shooting back up to his feet. "I had a dream, as stupid as it sounds, and Dominic was there. He told me where to look, he told me everything."

Clark blinked. Twice. "Eh?"

"Dominic! You know, guy in the hospital there? I know how to save him!" Lex grabbed a pair of shoes out of the closet, tried to put them on the wrong feet, stopped to put on socks, and then started to put the shoes on the correct feet.

With a barely body-abled movement Clark pulled himself to one elbow, and peered blearily at his lover. His eyes were barely focusing on anything, and he was so tired he was sure he was going to drop dead at any moment. And Lex? Lex had too much energy, so much that it had to be a sin in most parts of the world. He stared at his hyper lover like he'd lost his marbles, instead. "Eh?"

Lex bounced, fully dressed, onto the bed, and took Clark by the shoulders, shaking him. "Dominic. You know. My stepfather. The man that's going to die in a few hours? Actually *isn't.*" He got back up off the bed and went back to the dresser. "Because I'm going to go into his head, and bring him back out, with us, where he belongs."

Ohh the bed bounced and Clark groaned, holding his stomach until the shock waves had passed. "Wha?"

And then he heard the second part. And fury had no name like Clark Kent.

"Like fucking hell you are!"

Lex blinked. "What?"

Clark enunciated clearly. "Like. Hell. You. Are. I'm not going to have you going into his head, are you fucking insane?"

Lex just blinked. "Why not? I know. He told me. He told me where he'd be-he said somewhere safe, a neutral zone--and what's the safest place a human can be?" he paused for about a microsecond, and then answered his own question. "Their own minds. Lock yourself away in your mind, nothing can hurt you, you don't know what's going on around you, and you're happily alive until your brain stops and you don't even know that you're dead. Well, I know where Dominic is now. He's trapped inside his head. That's why he was in my dreams like that, I was saving him from everything."

"Be...CAUSE!" Clark yelled, and oh, he felt the beginnings of a nice, powerful headache starting behind his left eye. "You haven't practiced in months, you can barely remember your own powers, going into someone's mind is a HUGE deal you're not EVEN ready for, and… and you just shouldn't, goddammit!"

"No, I shouldn't." Lex nodded. "I should just sit to the side and let Dominic die when his mother turns off his machines and watch from the sidelines knowing that I could have helped." He nodded serenely. "You're absolutely right, Clark."

But his lover wasn't taking it in, and Clark was just... furious. Half asleep, rumpled hair, sheet lines still on the side of his face, but furious nonetheless. he growled low in his throat and rubbed his fingers through his eyes, scratching them up through his hair. "Lex, you don't understand. I can't lose you too."

"You're not going to lose me too," Lex said confidently. "I know what I'm doing."

"Bullshit."

"It's true. I'm going to into Dominic's head, find him, and bring him back out again. And that's all there is to it."

"Lex, please, no!" Clark cried, and swung his legs off from the side of the bed as he climbed to his feet. "No, goddammit, you can't!"

"I can't not do it, Clark!" Lex was pacing the bedroom as he put his wallet in his pants pocket. "He came to me in my dreams. I couldn't wake up. It was him, he knew who I was a couple of times, and he told me. He told me what to do, he told me that you'd be furious with me wearing the suit, which is me trying to save him, and look! You are furious! he's right, he's told me everything that I need to know!"

"LEX!" Clark roared, as he finally climbed to his feet, strode over to his lover, and gave him a hard shake. "Stop it, stop it right now! God, dammit! He's dying, his brain is gone, and there's nothing you can do! Stop doing this to yourself, dammit, stop it STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"

Lex's teeth rattled, but his eyes didn't waver. "His body's sick, but Clark... it's not his brain that's decayed. It's his body. Something... something bad is trapping him in his head. Look... okay. The dream I had? Every time he tried to talk to me, tell me anything, something happened to him. He got shot, he was hit by a car, it doesn't matter! He asked me for help, and every time he tried to tell me, he couldn't because something stopped him."

Clark looked at his lover, helpless in his own grief, and his light eyes welled with grief. "Why are you still doing this? Lex? Lex, he's dying and there's nothing we can do about it. Please, baby, please just stop. Please, I need you to be okay, okay? Please just stop this, please."

"But there is something we can do about it. Something I can do about it, dammit. Clark, please... trust me. Believe me. I haven't lost my mind. I haven't gone crazy, and I'm not overcompensating for helplessness. Please... trust me."

"I do trust you." Clark said on a soft sob, covering his mouth with his hand. "I wouldn't love you if I didn't trust you."

"Then please... trust me on this. I'm not crazy."

"Lex, please. I can't lose you, Lex. I can't. Please, please, Lex." Clark whispered, vehemently, his voice choking as he spoke. "Please don't, I can't lose you baby, I can't lose you like Dominic. I can't, okay? So you have to just... please, okay, please? Please?"

Lex walked back to the bed and laced his fingers through Clark's. "You won't lose me. You won't. I promise you. I won't leave my aushna'. Ever."

"That's what Dominic told Lionel." Clark sobbed out, grasping his lovers hand and dragging him into his lap. He held him there, heart pounding a mile a minute as he fought for a breath, and realized that Lex was his own man. Nothing short of death itself would stop his lover, and sometimes not even that. So he just held Lex, already understanding what was going to happen although he'd have rather died than accept it, and squeezed his lovers hands tightly. "I love you so much, baby, I love you."

"I'm not Dominic," Lex said quietly. "There's nothing that's happened to me that would keep me from coming back to you, even if I had to go through hell to do it." He ran his fingers through Clark's hair. "I love you, my aushna'. Please... let me do this. Help me do this, because I'll need your help. Please... isn't it worth it if it means we get Dominic back?"

"its worth it." Clark sobbed quietly, as he gently, tenderly held Lex close to his chest and gently loved him. "I adore you, Lex. I understand… I can help. I can help."

"Don't cry." Lex wrapped his arms tightly around his lover, holding him closely and kissing his cheeks, his hair, his forehead. "Don't cry. You're not going to lose me; we're connected, Clark, you'll always be here for me to come back to, and I will always come back."

"Promise me," He whispered softly, squeezing Lex's waist as he pressed him close and let his lover's touches pepper his skin. "Please, promise me, pleased Lex. I love you so fucking much, aushna', you're everything to me, and I can't let you risk your life if you don't think… if you.."

"I promise you, Clark," he answered back instantly. "On our son's memory, I promise you. I will come back to you."

"Okay, then." Clarks throat was like tight steel as he gently touched Lex's face. "Lets do it."

- = - = -

Shawn Colvin was singing about Sunny coming home. The wind and rain had died down, just slightly, though Clark figured it had to do with his own reluctant acceptance of what was happening and the weather calming on its own. He was exhausted, that was for damn sure, both spirit and body.

And Lex was in no way helping.

His lover, his crazy, insane, marble-less lover had a plan. A crazy plan that would more than likely result in both of their deaths, but what was death but the start of another new adventure after all?

Clark led the car, which responded to each wisp of feeling from his hands, moving to his every whim as he cruised through town.

Lex was almost vibrating in the passenger seat like a pinball that had just caromed off the flippers and was shooting around the board. The weather was perfect and horrid all at once, cool but not unseasonably, humid but not unbearably, rainy but not soaking, breezy but not gusting and windy like it had been.

Everything but nothing like before, and that's kind of how Lex felt. He felt everything, in that second, wide-eyed and electrified, and it was like nothing he'd felt before.

Maybe this was how Clark felt, when he was helping people, he didn't know. He just knew that he was going to do something important. Something wonderful. Something good.

And it was going to work.

He was bouncing in his seat with the crackling energy, drumming his fingers on the dash and stroking his other hand restlessly over Clark's shoulder.

Clark ignored his lover and concentrated on his driving. He had the sick feeling in the pit of his gut that Lex was excited over nothing, and it thoroughly depressed him to know that it was likely going to fail. His throat closed up tight as they reached the hospital and refused to open as he parked near the front and locked the doors.

His hand gently wrapped around Lex's elbow, firmly but not uncomfortably, and led his bouncing lover inside.

Lex laced his fingers through Clark's, sliding his lover's hand down off his elbow so they could hold hands, and he brought their joined fingers to his mouth. "I can feel that you're unhappy with this," Lex whispered softly. "But don't be."

"Understatement of the century." Clark murmured to him, as they walked quietly through the hospital. There was a sense of deep, dark foreboding that was taking everything inside of Clark not to respond to and take his lover and run. So he just swallowed his pain and gulped down his tears, keeping as strong as he could for Lex even though this was fruitless.

Lex could feel that his lover had no faith. "I have enough for the both of us," he said quietly, tightening his fingers around Clark's. "Remember the promise I made?" he said softly.

"its not that I don't have faith." Clark whispered, softly, looking at him sideways. "Its that... I can't stand you to be disappointed when--if--this doesn't work."

"It will work," Lex said with certainty, leading the way into the elevator. "I don't know how I know. I just *know* it, as much as I know that you are my aushna', that I am standing here, and that we love each other. I just... *know.* Here." He touched his heart.

"You swear it to me, Lex?" He kept his voice low as they entered the elevator, then when a doctor came in behind them, switched completely over to speaking with his mind. You are most certain, aushna'? Don't be wrong. This could kill you, and where will I be without the father of my children?

I swear it, Clark. He caressed his lover's thoughts with his own certainty. You will not be without me. I am not wrong, aushna'; I don't know quite how I know, but I know I am not. He came to me, Clark, in my dream, and asked me for help in every way that he knew. He caressed Clark's thoughts again, this time with love and trust. Believe in me. Believe that I can do this. Because I will need you most of all, to hold me steady as I do this.

If Clark didn't know he and Dominic shared a link he would have been completely opposed to it. As it was, however, he knew exactly what this was, and how likely it was Dominic contacting Lex subconsciously, begging for help. So as they entered the intensive care ward he stared quiet where once he would have screamed, and held Lex's hand in his own as they walked down the by now familiar hall leading to Dominic's room. I trust my aushna'. I trust. I will help you in all you need.

Lex's hand tightened convulsively around Clark's. Do anything you have to do to keep them out. Don't let them in until I come back to you. I swear to you, Clark, I will return.

"I will." Clark whispered, softly, and he stopped at Dominic's door to take his lover into his arms and kiss him, softly, deeply. He licked Lex's warm lips tenderly and choked down another sob, as he wrapped his arms around Lex's waist and back and held him like a man drowning. He buried their heads together in opposite necks and where he would have stroked his fingers through Lex's hair to hold him still, instead he gently cradled the naked skull he so loved as he kissed his neck and ear. "I love you, baby, I love you."

Lex returned the hug, just as tightly, just as carefully, kissing Clark back as hungrily as his aushna' kissed him, then slid his hands up Clark's back to stroke through his hair. "I love you, Clark Kal-El. I will not leave you. I will come back to you." Lex squeezed him all the tighter, and looked down at his watch. "It's eleven." He looked through the chart on Dominic's door, and sighed. "It's been set for three o'clock. If I can't find him, if for some reason I'm wrong, I'll be back before then."

"I'll keep guard. I won't tell anyone." Not even Lionel. "I promise you. Be safe, okay? Be safe." His fingers stroked over Lex's neck and cheeks, up his head to set their foreheads together. "If you need me, just scream. Use the link to come back--it's your lifeline. Okay? When you're in...in there, keep your hand wrapped around it. It'll bring you back."

Lex nodded. "I won't let go. I promise." He stroked Clark's cheeks gently. "I will keep it tied close, like Theseus in the Minotaur's maze."

"Think of it instead like a parachute when you're thirty thousand up. Kay?" He kissed Lex's cheeks and then his nose. "Go. Before anyone else comes."

He nodded. "I will. If anyone asks, I just wanted to be alone with Dominic for a while, before the end." He kissed Clark's hands again, then his face. "I love you. I'll be back." Then he pulled carefully away from his lover, and slipped into Dominic's hospital room, closing the door behind him.

The room was cool and empty, and Lex pulled up the chair close to Dominic's bedside. He slipped Dominic's limp hand between both of his, and closed his eyes. You better be right about this, Dominic, he muttered to himself, and gave a mental jump.

- = -

And his arms pinwheeled as he found himself at the top of a very, very steep, very very dark incline. He shrugged his shoulders as he caught his balance, and he realized, with a small smile, that he had a rather large silver parachute on his back. He tugged it, and he got a deep wash of Clark. Knew then what the parachute was, and snickered at his lover's sense of humor. A parachute.

"Hmm... Lights?" Nothing happened. Lex sighed. "And Lex said, let there be light?" Still nothing. "Fuck." He put his hand out and found a rather secure stone wall, and he reached down with his foot, tapping gently. He found a step, and balancing himself carefully on the step, he went down. He tapped again with his foot, finding another step underneath it, and started the slow, arduous climb down the pitch-black staircase.

He checked each step before he took it, finding some to be a steeper drop than others, and then they ended abruptly. He dangled his foot down as much as he dared, and there was a chasm there, and he was briefly at a loss.

The parachute on his back glowed faintly silver then, casting just enough light to show the width of the gap, almost six feet across, but endlessly deep. "A leap of faith?" Lex muttered. "Dominic, you've been watching way too many Indiana Jones movies." He readied himself, then jumped.

Knew he shouldn't have been able to make it, but he did, feet landing firmly on the other side and he sighed. "That's going to be a bitch to get out of." He proceeded carefully, tapping down another flight of stairs, much shorter this time, and he stopped in front of a large metal door, with a round porthole in it, much like you'd see on a train or a steamer ship. Lex raised a fist, and banged on the metal. "Dominic? Hello? Open Sesame?"

There was pure, dark nothing. Unnatural quiet, the silence of the damned. Not even white noise filled in the void of pure nothingness, where not even the air moved as Lex walked through it. There was an enormous hallway filled to brimming with doors, hundreds and thousands of doors, each more different than the next. Some were gold, some were green, some were short, some were tall. Above each door was a nameplate signifying who the door belonged, starting out very small but getting taller, and taller as the styles moved past. One of the doors was obviously from the cottage in Ireland... another, further down, was straight out of LuthorCorp. There were doors to the mansion, car doors, each a part of Dominic's life like everything else.

Near the end of the hall there was a door with a beautiful glass panel.

The door to Lex's own library and office.

It was shining with light that had no source, brilliant and bold, with specks of gold and white flowing from the cracks and crevices. It seemed to be alight with a heavenly glow, as if God had finally found His son and had come to visit. The door itself gave off a warm, and yet deeply uneasy feeling, as if it were a physical thing, both wooing occupants and begging them out.

And yet, everything was silent.

That... was definitely interesting, Lex thought, as he left the door he'd been banging on, and went down towards the one that was glowing. "You know, I think that might be a hint," he said dryly, unsurprised that his own voice wasn't echoing, but talking to himself anyway just to break up the horrid, oppressive silence. "Dominic?" he called out again, approaching the door.

The door made no noise but it seemed to be singing with celebration, without ever even flickering. Slowly, carefully, it opened, and as Lex passed through it the blinding light waned to show the office.

Everything was as it always was, from the portrait of Clark on the desk to the thick Persian rug on the ground. The fire was cheerfully cracking and popping, the plate glass windows were spilling light across the office, and one could even hear the distant sound of birds chirping, as if only an echo of a memory.

Laying there on the couch with his feet pulled up and his eyes closed was Dominic.

He was sprawled out, cozily, his clothes stained with what appeared to be dried blood. His face was quietly pale, features calm in sleep despite the ravages of his clothing. There was a portrait of Lionel and Dominic themselves from their marriage right on the coffee table in front of him, as well as a small, empty cup of coffee and a closed book with a bookmark sitting on top of it.

A small blanket had been tucked up around his shoulders but he was still shivering with cold, as if even the fire could bring him no heat, and he slept with uneasy shifts and sighs.

Lex was both extremely shocked and yet, not at all surprised to find Dominic here, in the office, lying in a sunbeam. After all, it's where Morgan had said to look, and all Lex had done was follow the directions.

The room seemed neither hot nor cold to him, but a comfortable moderation as he approached the sofa where Dominic was sleeping. He pushed the coffee table back, and knelt down on the floor beside him.

Lex's fingers prodded at the clothes stiff with dried blood, and wondered, briefly, how they'd gotten bloody but didn't probe too far, instead, just shaking Dominic's shoulder gently. "Hey. Wake up."

Dominic didn't move at the first shake. Nor the second. By the third, however, his eyes had flickered open with horror and fear alive in them, and he shrank back from the hands touching him as he fought to focus. "Le'go," He whispered, closing his eyes tightly. "I've been good, you don't have to hurt."

"Hey," Lex said softly, holding his hands up. "Nobody's here to hurt you, Dominic. It's me. Lex. I'm here to help."

Yeah, right. Dominic didn't let go of the tension or fear as he looked at him, eyes foggy and distant with his terror as he shivered all over. "Lex?"

"Yes, Lex." He stayed crouched on the floor. "I need you wake up and talk to me."

Christ. Dominic relaxed all at once, before he threw his arms around Lex's neck and hugged him as hard as his weakened body could stand. He squeezed him close, burying his face in his neck. "Why, why did you leave me here? Why? Where's Lionel? I stopped to nap and you both left! You've been gone so long. God, did you bring food?" All muffled into Lex's neck as he hugged him.

"It's okay." Lex hugged him back. "Dominic... we didn't leave you here. We're in your head, not my house. You're the one that left us, and that's why I'm here. I've come to get you, take you back."

"I've missed you so much, laddie." Dominic whispered, hugging him hard once more before letting to, to touch his cheeks, his shoulders, making sure he was real. "I thought you were her for a few minutes, love, I'm sorry for being rude." He looked over his shoulder as he said it to make sure they were still alone, as he shivered hard and closed his eyes. "I'm so hungry. There hasn't been anything to eat in ages."

"Okay." Lex pinched the bridge of his nose, and let Dominic touch him as he sat there and thought. "It's okay. I've missed you too, Dominic, you don't know how much. So has Clark. And Dad's a wreck." He sat down completely on the floor. "Who's her, why hasn't there been anything to eat, and didn't you just get anything I said?"

"You can sit here...hold on." Dominic struggled to sit up, groaning softly as he did it, and swung his legs off the side of the couch with some difficulty. His knee hurt so badly his eyes teared with it as he gasped, carefully setting his foot on the floor as he let his head back. "Her. The woman. She's around sometimes, but other times leaves me alone for ages." He looked at Lex for a second. "About being in my head? I already suspected, love." His eyes teared again, for another reason, as he grasped Lex and hugged him tight. "How are you here?"

"I came in," Lex explained. "With the abilities I have. I just sort of... jumped in to come and find you." He put his arms back around Dominic and hugged him tightly. "What woman, Dominic?"

"The woman. The woman." He shivered as he hugged his step son, and let go only after he was comforted again, laying his head back with a soft sigh. He rubbed his mouth and goatee with the palm of one hand as he stared ahead, thinking. "A bitch with a devil blade. Every time I've tried to find some food, or even use the bathroom, or leave, she's stabbed me. She's fucking unnatural."

"How bad has she hurt you? We've got to leave, Dominic." He looked serious. "Your mother's about to pull the plug on you; you're going to die if we don't leave. And soon."

"She's what?"

Lex put his head in his hands. "You've been on life support machines. She's about to pull the plug on them. She found the papers you signed twenty years ago."

Dominic nodded softly, absorbing that, and said softly, "She doesn't think I deserve to live in the first place. How like her, to find paperwork that's over twenty years old, and use it against me." Another shake of his head, as he pulled the blanket up and off of him. His arm and chest were a mess, but his knee was bloody and torn, pulpy with wound. "That's the latest one. I can only assume my heads been crashed about, correct?" He looked up, then, suddenly. "Is Lionel coming?"

"Holy shit." Lex swore loudly in the room. "Yeah. You... you fell down the staircase at Felicia's wedding. You'd been in a coma, but able to live on your own until about a month and a half ago, when you started having... well, they're called mini-strokes. Since you weren't awake, they couldn't give you speech therapy to help you breathe, so they had to put you on a respirator. And Rosalyn's going to unplug it." He pointed to the different wounds. "You've had two surgeries on your knee, but it's fine now; your shoulder was dislocated, your arm was broken, and they drilled burr holes." He pointed to each corresponding injury as he told Dominic about them. "No. Dad can't come; you have to leave here, and come back to him."

Dominic suddenly looked at Lex, for a very long minute, as he listened to all of the wounds he'd sustained. He didn't say a word after Lex had finished, fighting down the retch that wanted to come up, and he swallowed hard as he felt his skin grow cold, so cold. "Will there be a chance I'm well?"

"Yes, there will be," Lex nodded. "If you come back, and don't die on us? You'll recover. You'll have to go through therapy, but you'll make a full recovery."

He nodded, quietly, swallowing again and running his hands over his face. "Is that why I'm so hungry? Have they got me hooked up to all those tubes and machines, then?" Terror obvious in every tremor of his voice. "I hate hospitals, you know."

"Yeah. It is. They've got you hooked up to a respirator, a feeding tube, there's something monitoring your brainwaves and your blood count, because of the strokes." Lex squeezed Dominic's hand tightly. "I know you do. Come back, and you won't have to stay in one long, just until Dad can get you home.

Dominic took Lex's hand hard, squeezing it with both of his, as he looked at him. "I'm tired of these things, you know. Why can't Lionel and I just be happy, Lex?"

"I don't know, Dominic. Probably the same reason Clark and I can't be--because we're strong people, who have the strength to see the problems and deal with them as they come, instead of hiding from them all the time."

"Spoken like a young man." Dominic said softly, as he squeezed Lex's hand again. "Is Lionel alright?"

Lex shook his head. "Not in any sense of the word. He misses you; he's angry, he won't talk to anyone, he's not taking care of himself--he got kicked out of the hospital a couple of times because he wouldn't go home and shower and leave you, they made him leave cause he was dirty and germy and a danger to you."

Instead of being upset at the news, Dominic laughed. "Of course he did. He's my lover after all. You people should know by now we've spoiled one another absolutely rotten." He quieted for a moment, looking down at the warm, living, breathing hand down between his. "He wouldn't be alright if I left, would he?"

"No, he wouldn't. At all."

"I don't want to leave him either. I'm just so tired, love, so tired." Dominic said quietly, as he squeezed Lex's hand and looked up into his step son's eyes.

"I know you are," Lex answered sympathetically. "But you can't give up. Please, for his sake, for Clark's. Clark's losing his mind too; you're part of the family now, and Clark needs you, just as much as Dad does." He stopped. "So do I. Please... I'll help you. That's why I'm here. But you've got to do this too."

Dominic thought for a moment, leaning comfortably against the couch back. Crossroads were always hard, and he'd laid the simple truth out for Lex. "I love Lionel so much. I don't want him to be alone, he's hurt for so long. He's everything, you realize."

Lex nodded. "I realize." He looked up at the clock, to see how much time had passed, and was surprised to see it had stopped at a few minutes after eleven, which had been when Dominic had fallen.

Maybe it shouldn't have been such a surprise after all.

"Dad just isn't the same without you. He's... he wouldn't go to the doctor with Toni, for the checkup and the sonogram on Rory. He hasn't said but... I'm afraid that if you die on him? He's going to give Rory to Clark and me and kill himself with work."

At that Dominic's entire body shuddered and he heaved a harsh, hard sob. He looked at Lex as his eyes filled, stark and shocked with pain as twin tears slid down his cheeks. "No. He wouldn't. He's a bastard, but he wouldn't give this baby we tried so hard for away. No. You're lying. He wouldn't, Lex."

"He might," Lex said. "He hasn't said, but I'm afraid he might. He just... hasn't been himself, not since you fell. You're the only thing he cares about right now, and if you die... I don't know what he'll do. You know that we'll take good care of her, but please... come back with me, raise your daughter."

Dominic nodded, twice, the shock still tense in his face as he leaned his head against the cushions again. He closed his eyes, hunger gnawing at the edge of his stomach, wishing like hell for a Mars Bar as he rested, just for a second. So bloody tired, he was so bloody tired. "Okay." He whispered.

"Let's get you something to eat, and get you out of here," Lex said softly. "We've got to hurry; can you walk?" He got up carefully from the couch, holding his hands out to his friend.

Dominic opened his eyes. "No. I don't know if I can. I haven't eaten in so long, Lex." He said softly, even as he lifted up and took Lex's hands. He groaned softly, the blanket falling away, as he climbed to his feet and almost immediately sagged, almost hitting the floor if he hadn't sagged against Lex.

Lex caught his weight quickly. "There we go. This'll do it. Let's head for the door and the hallway, shall we?"

He stopped. Listened. Very quietly, very softly. The woman should have been stabbing him to death by now for accepting help from Lex, for Lex even being here, but Dominic heard nor saw her at all. Though he was disquieted, and admittedly a little terrified, he grasped Lex as tightly as he could and groaned as he set weight on his hurt leg.

Lex winced in sympathy. "If I'd thought, I'd brought a walking stick. Or something." But even as he said it, there was a little sparkle in the corner of his eye, and when he turned back around to look at his desk, the mahogany walking stick that his father had used was leaning against it. "That... actually wasn't there before, but I won't say no to all the help we can get." Lex kicked the walking stick over with his foot, then caught it and handed it to Dominic. "Use that on your other side, and keep your arm around me."

Dominic took it in shaky hands, leaning his weight heavily on it as the other went around Lex's neck. "It would have done you well to bring some pretzels." Dominic answered, eyes closing tightly as he weighted for the blood in his head and body relax into the standing position. "We have to hurry, okay?"

"Yeah, we do," Lex agreed. "As quickly as we can." He straightened up, pulling Dominic up with him and keeping him supported. "The same way I came in."

"She's going to come." Dominic whispered, eyes clenched tightly shut for just a second as he fought for equilibrium. "If she catches us she's going to kill you. We have to hurry, we have to run, okay?"

"You can't run!" Lex hissed, steadying Dominic as he itched to start moving. "I'm not afraid of her. She can't hurt me."

"Move, go, lets go." He started to hobble as much as he could, fingers clenching on Lex's shoulder as he gasped in pain and moved. "We have to go, we have to get back to Lionel right now. Times going faster, can't you feel it? Time's running out!"

Lex nodded; yeah, he could feel it too. "Come on. Door's over this way." He started moving, feeling the parachute on his back tugging, Clark letting him know to hurry up, move, hurry, please. "Come on." He tugged Dominic along with him as he started towards the door.

"Lex, why on Earth are you wearing that thing?" Dominic said, voice a hoarse whisper as they moved out of the library. He was hobbling as fast as he could even as his knee absolutely screamed, like someone was unwrapping all of his gauze and prodding at it, making it ache. He winced hard as he moved, wanting badly to dry heave but not letting himself because they had to go, go, go!

She laughed, from further into the hallways, a wicked, dark laugh full of deep mirth. "She's coming!" Dominic shrilled, and moved faster, harder, as fast as he could.

"It's Clark's link to me, he told me to think of it like a parachute and I am, so I know that if anything is happening, he'll let me know." Lex shuddered when he heard the laugh, chilled for reasons he didn't know, and he kicked the door shut behind him as though that could block their way.

They were back out in the hallway, lined with more doors than had been here on Lex's way in, but it was still a straight walk. "Come on." He kept moving with Dominic, faster than he should have, almost dragging the other man behind him.

"Hurry, we have to hurry," Dominic panted, then looked over his shoulder and gave a cry. She was coming, inhumanly fast, seeing now for the first time that her hood was down and there was the black abyss of Hell in her face. He cried out in horror as he felt like a needle had dived in his chest, and his body flooded with adrenaline, pushing, moving, hurry, HAVE TO GO!!

Lex turned around too, and was glad he had. He swung Dominic around behind him, glad that Clark's link was on his back instead of his front because he had the sudden, insane fear that this creature of Dominic's imagination would have severed it if she could have, taken Clark away from him just as she'd tried to take Dominic, and for the first time, he was terrified.

And in Lex's terror, Clark yanked, as hard as he could, the two thread lines of life that had connected to his in this deep place of Dominic's mind. He yanked them back up and away from deaths beckoning wail of fury, pulling them up the steps of unconsciousness as fast as he possibly could without permanently hurting them both, and a hard, hot sweat broke out over his forehead as he did so.

They were all there. Dominic was minutes away from being unplugged, family was crying, and he had gathered Lex's semi conscious body in his arms, masking the trembling of his lovers body as those of tears. Everyone was crying so hard anyway, so involved in their own pain that they didn't notice, and for once he was grateful of it. He just hugged Lex as closely as he could in his arms and lap, hugging him tightly as they sat there half sharing a chair and half sitting on one another.

Lex gave a hard gasp as he felt Clark yanking on him, and he made sure that his grip on Dominic was tight to the last, to the last possible second that he could hold on, and then let Dominic go, hoping he'd dragged his friend back up far enough.

His eyes flew open for a long moment, gasping for breath as his arms tightened around Clark, chest heaving as he choked out his aushna's name before passing out cold in Clark's arms, exhausted and drained beyond belief.

Dr. Bryce quickly pulled the epinephrine needle out of Dominic's IV, and put it on the silver tray beside the bed, watching the quick spike in Dominic's vital signs. It was a few minutes before three, and he could barely move in the room because it was packed full of blond Senatoris, Luthors, and a red-headed Irishman who was swearing under his breath. The adrenaline injection was required by the hospital, a last attempt to wake a comatose individual, and he kept his eye on the screens by Dominic's bed, looking for a change.

He was still leaning over the bed, watching the monitors, and winced when the ventilator alarms started to shriek, almost in his eardrums.

Clark held his lover as tightly as possibly as he gasped for breath, and he felt when his lover passed out. Megan sobbed her understanding beside them and Clark held his lover, inching across their connection to make sure his lover was still alive. He was, just barely, and he lent Lex all his healing and as much strength as he could spare as he watched Lionel's face.

Riley stood beside his sister, stony faced, expression dark and fierce as he watched his brother, comatose, thin, so sick, and he was barely keeping his emotions in check. He thought he was going to puke, or pass out, or both, and he held Graham's elbow tightly beside him so his enormous brother wouldn't fall, either.

Lex tugged feebly on their connection as Clark poured energy into him, letting his lover know that he was all right, just so drained, and then let himself close down completely.

Bryce stifled the little cheer that he felt, and reached over, turning off the ventilator with a switch of the little orange button.

And was elated to see Dominic's chest rise and fall on it's own. He put his stethoscope on it, hearing the rattling he expected, but the breathing was stronger than he'd hoped for.

He didn't stifle the next little gasp that came out when he noticed Dominic's eyelids fluttering, and he fumbled his penlight out.

When Dominic opened his eyes, and he wasn't entirely sure he had at all, he didn't see anything. A lot of white, and without his glasses he couldn't see at all. He was semi-aware of his body, which hurt so much he didn't want to move for fear of it shattering.

Lionel. Where was Lionel? He looked up and saw a face… a face he didn't really recognize, but he wasn't Lionel. Lionel? Where the hell was Lionel?

Anthony didn't even look up; didn't have to, he could feel the press of bodies closing in around him. "Please, keep your distance," he said calmly, and shined the bright light in Dominic's eyes, watching the pupils react sluggishly, but normally, which was so much more than he'd hoped for. "Dominic? I need to know if you can hear me, all right? I need you to blink."

Oh. The man was talking to him. Apparently, anyway. It took a few moments for him to understand, several moments actually, but after he had to remember how to blink. Oh! Yes! He did it, once, to show he'd understood. Lionel? Where was Lionel? Lionel? He saw faces… his family... where was his lover? Could he speak? No… there was something there that wasn't letting him. Where was Lionel? Lionel?

"That's good." Bryce was smiling widely now. "I need you to blink twice now, just to make sure you can hear me."

There was the same question again. Blinking. He did it, twice in a row, but what was he here, a circus animal? He wanted his lover, god dammit! He would have panicked if he could have remembered how, and as it was his eyes fell again. But wait, he had to make sure, he had to see. He opened them again, slowly, exhaustedly, to see whoever the man was grinning at him.

Clark was just grinning into Lex's shoulder, heart overcome with emotion, as he held Lex close to his chest. Megan had long since fainted, all of the Senatoris were openly sobbing, Gran was wailing and thanking Jesus. It was wonderful, magnificent, marvelous, and he buried his face in his lovers shoulder as he held him close.

Bryce did cheer at that, tiredly to be sure, but he cheered, and turned the respirator entirely off. "Mr. Senatori-Luthor? You are one lucky son of a bitch," he murmured softly, and then turned to the press of people circling the bed. "He's awake, and slowly responsive. All of you out, except for Mr. Luthor, and you can come back in here one at a time and for no more than five minutes each, do you understand me? The nurses will be in here to put him on oxygen, and the first person that gets in their way is going to be thrown out. Mr. Gallagher, you're the only exception to that because of your wheelchair; as soon as the room clears out, we'll help you out, just as we've helped you in."

Lionel was leaning wordlessly against the tall cabinet that had held Dominic's clothes, his hand a tight vise on Clark's shoulder. His fingers were digging into the young man's skin, bruising anyone else but barely making a dent in Clark's as he listened to the doctor. His eyes were closed as he heard the order to clear the room, and silent tears of gratitude were rolling down his cheeks to anyone and everyone who had spared his lover.

They were speaking but honestly, he didn't want to listen to it. His eyes closed again as his fingers shifted up a little on his stomach, just an inch or two, to make sure his body didn't shatter. Which he was sure it was close to doing. His entire being felt inflamed, his head felt like it was packed with cotton, and he was so full of tubes that even with the smallest of trembles he could feel them all tug everywhere. He closed his eyes, wanting to cry at both the hunger he felt and the fact that Lionel wasn't there. Where was he? He wanted his lover, his mother and brothers and sisters wouldn't do. He was so tired, so tired, couldn't move anything, couldn't feel anything.

If he hadn't been so exhausted he would have been terrified, he was sure.

Clark listened as the doctor spoke, his fingers gently stroking Lionel's tense hand and then wrapping his free arm around his waist, hugging his chest and waist close to his body as Dr. Bryce ordered the family out. He had the distinct pleasure of seeing Rosalyn's pale face as she was ushered out by her sons, and looked up at Lionel in triumph.

"Let Clark and my son stay," Lionel said softly, waiting for the room to clear out and give him space to move, and then he nearly shoved Bryce out of the way so he could stand beside his lover. "Dominic?" he asked softly, leaning over, stroking his lover's forehead, kissing his cheeks softly. He gave a trembling little smile and a little sob as he saw Dominic's eyelids flicker, and he squeezed his love's hand tightly. "Dominic."

Oh! Oh! There he was! Dominic opened his eyes again to look up, and all he saw was beard and brown eyes and all that expression and oh, God, it was like coming home. He could even forget he was starving. He couldn't do anything, not right now, even when he would have loved to throw his arms around his lover, but even the thought made him close his eyes to rest for a moment.

When he opened them again his lover was closer, and he could feel fingers around his own and oh, God, it was good, so good! It was safe here, he knew. It was always safe here, no matter what.

He had a hundred thousand billion questions, but they'd have to wait. All he'd wanted to do was see his Lionel, and now, now he could sleep. He let the waiting arms of slumber take hold of him and fell asleep, right with Lionel looking down into his face.

Lionel smiled down, kissing Dominic's hand as he held it tightly. "He's asleep," he said to the doctor. "He just went to sleep."

Dr. Bryce nodded. "I'm actually not surprised; it's the best thing for him, really, a healing sleep most doctors call it, but it's natural rest that's not putting a strain on his body. He'll probably be sleeping a lot, and it'll take examinations over the next few days to ascertain the extent of damage, if any, and what therapy will be necessary. But, based on the prelims of the strong vitals, lack of congestion in the chest cavity and the sluggish but better than expected pupillary reaction, I'm going to venture a guess and say it's not nearly so bad as we'd anticipated."

It was very likely that Clarks sense of humor wasn't exactly what other people would call funny, but he was feeling so light, and his sense of the irony of the situation wasn't lost on him. "Dr. Bryce?" He asked, still holding his sleeping lover in his arms, "How did Dominic just suddenly wake up?"

"We don't know, son, and we likely won't ever." He shrugged a shoulder towards the adrenaline needle. "It could be his body decided it was time to wake up, or his mind decided to work through wherever it was, or maybe the adrenaline kick-started something that needed kick-starting. Waking up from something like this is so rare, nobody ever is quite able to pinpoint the reason." He just nodded. "I'm going to leave you gentlemen alone here, and start sending the family in."

"Doctor," Lionel said suddenly. "I don't want Rosalyn allowed back in this room."

"That's not within my power, Mr. Luthor, but if you speak to the family, and to hospital security, I'm sure they can take care of it."

Clark nodded softly as he held Lex's limp body close, and watched as the Doctor left to leave them alone for a few minutes first. He looked up at Lionel and Dominic, watching them quietly as he gently rocked Lex in his arms. "I need to get Lex home, Lionel. You'll be okay here to oversee the hoards of Senatoris?"

Lionel nodded. "I'll be fine, Clark." His face was slowly cracking into a smile as he sat perched on the edge of Dominic's bed. "I think... for the first time in a while... I'm going to be very fine, actually." He kept his fingers linked tightly to Dominic's, and looked at Clark holding his son. "Did Lex..."

"Did Lex just do something incredibly stupid, incredibly brave, and all because he loves you and Dominic? Yes. Yes, he did." Clark rose with his lover as if he weighed a rag doll, after wrapping him in one of the hospital blankets always kept in the room, and held him close to his body. "Don't ever doubt him again, Lionel. Not ever. Promise me."

Lionel nodded, and stroked a hand over the curve of Lex's bald head, all that peeked out of the blanket before Clark tucked him in the rest of the way. "I won't, Clark. If he could bring Dominic back, then I won't ever doubt again."

"Mean it." he whispered, vehement with every iota of his being. "Don't ever. Even if he does something stupid."

"I do mean it," Lionel said, his voice still quiet as he looked at Clark. "He gave me back the most important thing in my life."

He didn't want to say that he didn't know if Lex would pull through either, but he didn't say anything at all as he nodded and kissed Lex's cheek, softly. "Is there a way I can get out of here without being seen, Lionel?"

"There's a fire exit at the end of the hallway, that goes straight down four floors to the back garden; the alarm will go off but by the time they get there, you should be gone; they'll think it was just a patient or errant family member."

Clark nodded and quietly looked up at Lionel, raising up over Lex to kiss Lionel's cheek, too. "I love you so much. Take care of Dominic... I'm going to take care of Lex. He might be out for a while, okay?"

Lionel nodded. "I'll take care of him." He kissed Lex's head through the blanket, and then caught Clark's arm. "Take care of my son, Clark."

"I will. Believe me." Clark answered back, and he carefully carried Lex out the other door in the room to the empty patient room next to Dominic's room. He walked through it and slipped off under the Senatori radar, quickly walking through the empty hall with Lex in hand.

With a shove of a hip he had the fire escape open, and ran down the steps.

 

-fin-

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