Final chapter in this installment.

Chapter 7: Restoration

******Nearest Hospital******

Buffy and company raced to the nearest medical facility. Due to the size of Smallville, it wasn't a state of the art facility. For really serious things, patients were flown to Metropolis, the biggest city near them. Lex and the Kents went to find out where Clark was, and Buffy looked at Willow.

"Should you do something?" she asked Will.

"When we find out where he is, I think I should," Willow said. "We don't want to risk him dying. I'd never forgive myself."

"You have to do something, Will!" Dawn ordered, crying.

Lex reappeared. "He's in surgery already," he said.

"They didn't waste any time. That's good," Buffy said.

"Where exactly?" Willow asked.

"Down that hall is the two surgery rooms this place has," Lex said, pointing.

Willow walked down that way murmuring a spell that made people not pay her any attention. She wasn't invisible, but the spell made people excessively oblivious. The door wasn't very far down the hall, and she peered in the small window. There was Clark. Willow slowly opened the door, trying to be as quiet as possible. No one looked her way, so she eased the door shut. Everyone seemed calm.

"He's holding steady," the nurse said, looking at the screen.

"The bullet doesn't seem to be doing too much damage," the doctor said.

It was obvious that the doctor had already gotten it out, and Willow could tell he was satisfied. She felt relieved. When they cut off his pants, though, after the surgery, the stone would be off him. She slipped out of the room and went back to the waiting room.

Martha jumped up when she spotted Willow. "Did you see him? Is he okay?" she asked.

Willow looked around, not seeing anyone but their group in the room. "I did, and he's fine. They're finishing up right now," she said.

"Thank God!" Martha exclaimed, hugging Jonathan in relief.

Dawn hugged Buffy, happy.

"My concern is they hadn't cut off his pants yet, only his shirt," Willow said. "When they do, he'll have the rock off him and begin to heal."

"That's great," Buffy said.

"Well, it's great for him, but not so much for the not freaking out of the doctors and defying medical science part," Willow said pointedly.

"His accelerated healing will be hard to explain," Lex agreed.

Jonathan was leery of Lex knowing anything about Clark, but it seemed it could no longer be helped. He just hoped Buffy wasn't wrong to place such trust in a Luthor.

"Why don't you insist on him coming home to heal? He'll rest better at home," Buffy suggested.

"That's a good idea," Martha said. "It's not unheard of either in small towns."

"It saves money on doctor bills, too," Jonathan added.

"I will take care of his bill as this mess involves me," Lex through in.

"Actually, it's my fault," Buffy said.

"Yea, well, you can pay for the next hospital bill involving an innocent bystander," Lex said, grinning at her.

Jonathan was about to protest on principle, but his wife shook her head. She pulled him aside. "Honey, you know there's no sense in letting your pride get the best of you. Lex wants to pay, and he can. If he doesn't, Buffy might insist, and he can afford it more than she can," she told him.

"I don't like it," he said, frowning. "Gifts from a Luthor always come with strings."

"Lex is not his father," she reminded him. "He's a good man, who cares about our son. Look at the way he looks at Buffy. He's in love with her. You can't think he's working an angle when he looks at her that way."

Jonathan had noticed, of course, that Lex seemed to be infatuated with the young slayer. However, it was still hard for him to let go of his ideas when it came to that family. "I hope he doesn't break the poor girl's heart. She's been through enough," he muttered.

Martha laughed. "Buffy can handle him," she said.

The doctor came into the waiting room. "Good news," he said, smiling. "Clark is going to be just fine. They're cleaning him up and moving him to recovery now."

"So the bullet didn't do any serious damage?" Martha asked.

"Nope. He was one lucky guy. It broke a rib and tore through some muscle. It did nick his lung, which is where all the blood came from, but I was able to repair the damage," the doctor said. "We gave him some blood to replace what he lost."

"So he's going to be okay?" Jonathan asked.

"He's going to be fine," the doctor said.

"That's so wonderful," Martha said, smiling at the man. "When can I take him home?"

"He should be able to leave by tomorrow," the doctor said.

"Doctor, is that necessary? If he's not in danger of dying, I'd rather he recover at home where he can rest," Jonathan said.

The doctor looked surprised. "He was shot, Mr. Kent. Although it could've been worse, it still was a serious thing. We had to do emergency surgery, so he didn't bleed to death," the doctor said.

"If the Kents want their son to go home, allow it," Lex said, butting in. "I will have a private nurse come check on him or stay through the night if necessary."

For once, Jonathan Kent didn't protest because he knew none would be needed. "That's a good idea," he said. "Thanks, Lex."

"Well, I don't like it," the doctor said. "Bring him for a checkup in a week."

"Of course, Doctor," Marth said.

"He needs a half hour in recovery," the doctor said.

"Okay," Marth said. "Can I go see him?"

"In a half hour," the doctor said grimly. Then he turned and left.

"Buffy, shouldn't we get any blood samples?" Xander whispered to her. "We don't want them wondering why his blood doesn't look exactly human."

Buffy's eyes widened as she realized he had a point. "We need to go find out where it'd be," she whispered back. The two of them went sleuthing to see if they could nab the blood.

Chloe, Pete, and Lana finally showed up in a panic as the news about Clark had finally reached them.

"Where is Clark? Is he okay?" Chloe asked.

"What happened?" Pete asked.

Dawn pulled them aside and gave them the sanitized version of events, minus the magic and conspiracy.

"I will go to the recovery room and keep people from checking Clark's wound," Willow said, slipping away again.

Buffy was relieved that things seemed to be working in her favor as she and Xander found the lab, and it was empty of personnel. She was look out while Xander went into the room. Her slayer strength allowed her to force open the door.

Xander went into the room, freaked out when he realized all that there was to look at. "Think," he murmured. "What would Willow do?" Then he wondered why they didn't have Willow do this? "I can do this!" he said, pumping himself up as he looked at the glass cabinets. Then he realized that Clark was the only surgical patient right now, so his blood was probably not in a cabinet yet. The table had blood on it—probably the stuff to be processed next. He scrolled through the samples and grinned when he saw on labeled Kent. Should he steal it or swap labels? If he took it, they'd wonder what happened. But what if some poor guy had cancer, and he didn't get diagnosed? Shrugging, Xander swiped it in his pocket and opened the door. Hopefully, no one would get fired for the missing sample.

"You found it?" Buffy said as she shut the door. He nodded and gave her a thumbs up. The two of them strolled causally down the hall, finding Willow by Clark's room.

"Will, we got his blood sample. Can you check to see if there were any camera feeds spotting our suspicious activity?" she said to Will.

"Good point. My behavior would be a bit suspicious if seen on camera. I'll go get my laptop," she said.

"Did you warn Clark to act sick and in pain until we leave here?" Xander asked.

"Yes," Willow said. "He knows what to do."

"Tell Martha that he's awake," Buffy said. "I'll stay with him."

Xander nodded and went to get Martha.

The Sheriff showed up a short time later. "How's your boy?" he asked Jonathan.

"He's good. They got the bullet out without too much trauma. There's a cracked rib that will cause him some pain for a bit, but they repaired the small tear on the lungs," Jonathan shared.

"That's good to hear," he said, slapping Jonathan's shoulder lightly and shaking his hand. He turned to Buffy. "Ms. Summers, I spoke to the city attorney, and the charges against you are dropped. I also spoke to Detective Phelan's superiors in Metropolis. They'll be looking into many of his past cases."

"That's great!" Buffy said.

"What he say?" Dawn asked, joining the group of adults.

"He's dropping my charges," Buffy said.

Dawn cheered and hugged her sister.

Martha came back into the room to tell them Clark was awake and joined her husband. "What did Sheriff Miller say?" she asked. Jonathan told her the good news.

"But what about the school?" Chloe said to the Sheriff. "The court of public opinion has already judged Ms. Summers and found her guilty. The school may still not let her back in."

"Maybe a letter to the principal on Buffy's behalf?" Lana suggested.

"I will speak to the principal," Miller agreed.

"An article blowing this case wide open might go the longest way," Pete suggested to Chloe.

Her eyes lit up. "That's very true! Can I interview you, sir?" she asked the sheriff.

"Of course," he said. "Anything to help. An ugly mess all around." Chloe took him to the nearby chairs and began getting the news from his perspective.

Buffy leaned against Lex, who wrapped his arm around her. "I can't believe it's over," she said.

"I had faith that you'd be exonerated," he informed her.

Buffy looked up at him, smiling. "Oh, yeah?" she asked.

"Absolutely," he assured her. He couldn't resist kissing her, and her arms move up around his neck as she kissed him back.

Jonathan could see how close Buffy was getting to Lex and was concerned. He was a Luthor, and he honestly didn't think the man could escape his father's legacy.

Martha knew her husband well, and she put her hand on his arm. "Buffy is no fool, Jonathan," she said quietly. "If Lex wasn't trustworthy, she wouldn't be with him."

"He has seduced her," Jonathan muttered.

"It looks pretty mutual to me," Martha said, leaning up to kiss her husband's cheek. "Maybe there's more to Lex than you think. He's not his father.

"Maybe," Jonathan grudgingly acknowledged. They did look very happy together.

"Come on, your son is waiting for you," Martha said, and took him to see Clark.

Less than an hour later, a very alert looking Clark was wheeled out of the hospital, much to the dismay of Pete. Chloe left to type up her story, and Lana went to support her boyfriend, Whitney, whose father was very ill.

"I can't believe you're not staying the night," Pete said, walking with Clark as his dad pushed his chair.

"I'll get better faster at home resting," Clark said.

Pete didn't look reassured, so Lex told him, "I'm hiring a nurse to check on him."

"I'll be better in no time, Pete," Clark assured him. "Don't worry."

Pete nodded and told his friend to call him tomorrow.

"I will," Clark said.

Pete left, and everyone followed the Kents home.

Of course, by the time they were home, Clark was perfectly healed. "I can't believe how effective Willow's stone was," Clark said when they made it into the house.

"A little too good," Martha said, pulling up Clark's shirt and checking the wound. When she removed the bandages, his skin was perfectly healed.

"Wow, there's not even a scar," Dawn said, looking at his chest.

"How about you not ogle the half-naked teenage boy your own age?" Buffy said dryly.

Dawn blushed and glared at her sister. "You were ogling, too!" she accused.

"Was not," Buffy said.

"Was, too!" Dawn argued.

"Girls," Martha admonished.

"Sorry," they both said.

Clark put his shirt back on, smiling at the two girls. "Glad it's over," he said.

"Me, too," Buffy said. "The sheriff said he would clear things up with the principal. I hope she'll let me back into the school."

"She's a reasonable woman. I'm sure she will," Marth said.

"If not, I'll talk to her," Lex said.

"No, Lex," Buffy said. "If she genuinely isn't comfortable letting me back in the school, I don't want her to be talked into it. I'll give it a day, and then I'll go talk to her."

"Fine," Lex said. It was hard for him to not want to fix things. He had never had anyone in his life like Buffy, and he wanted her to be happy and have everything she wanted.

"Don't worry, Lex," Jonathan said. "The downside to being with a strong woman is they don't want you solving all their problems for them."

"That's true," Martha said, flashing her husband an approving smile. He was trying with Lex, and that was what was important with her.

"So now that the bad guy is vanquished, it's time to boogie," Xander said to Lex.

"Huh?" Lex asked, not sure what he meant.

"See, it's a Scooby tradition," Willow explained. "We beat the bad guy, and then we party."

"Good times to be had because tomorrow we could be dead," Xander said with a grin.

Martha found the man's fatalistic view upsetting. "You aren't going to die anytime soon," she assured him.

"Oh, he knows that, Martha," Buffy assured her. "That's just what we'd say when we lived on the hellmouth in Sunnydale because tomorrow wasn't really guaranteed in that town."

"Clark has to pretend to be bedridden and recovering for a week," Jonathan said. "So no parties."

"But, Dad!" Clark protested.

"How about we all go to Metropolis out to dinner away from all the Smallville folks?" Lex suggested.

"What if someone comes by to visit, Clark?" Martha pointed out. "That is likely in this small town."

"Won't they assume he's resting at the hospital," Dawn said.

"Possibly," Martha said.

"You almost died, Clark. You can celebrate next weekend," Jonathan said. "We can have a party here if you want."

Buffy's eyes lit up. "Oh, that sounds great! I'll help plan!" she said excitedly.

"Well, we can't stay a week," Willow said. "I need to get back to Ohio tomorrow."

"Let me take you and Xander out to dinner," Lex said.

"I'll stay here and keep Clark company," Dawn offered.

"Sure," Buffy said, giving her a knowing look. Her sister stuck out her tongue.

"I'll make dinner," Martha said.

"Can I help?" Dawn asked eagerly. She loved how maternal Martha was.

"Of course, dear," she said.

"I need to stop by the mansion," Lex said. "We'll take the limo."

"Of course!" Xander said, grinning. "What else?"

They all said their goodbyes to the Kents and got into their vehicles, driving over to Lex's.

"Come inside and give me a minute," Lex said. He left them looking at one of his paintings while he went into his study. His father was there and looked up when he entered.

"What the hell is going on with you, Lex?" his father demanded.

"Make yourself right at home in my study," Lex said, sourly. He ignored his dad and picked up his phone to call his assistant to get some reservations for dinner.

Lionel didn't like being ignored and grew more annoyed. "I demand answers," he said. "You got arrested for hitting a police detective? Are you insane? And now I find out you're dating a drug dealer?"

Lex thanked his assistant and hung up. "Well, Dad, thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt," he said. "Detective Phelan, as you know, is totally corrupt. He was attempting to blackmail Clark Kent into doing something illegal. My girlfriend intervened and threatened him, and he didn't like it. So he set her up, Dad. Buffy doesn't use drugs, nor does she sell them."

"How can you be so sure?" he asked.

"Sometimes, Dad, you just know," Lex said, slapping his dad on the back. "Do you want to join us for dinner and get to know my girlfriend and her two best friends? You can check her pupils for signs of drug use."

Lionel considered it. "Another time, Lex. I just don't want you to be taken in by some woman after your money," he said.

"Dad, Buffy has a trust fund. She doesn't need my money," Lex said. "She got a settlement from the Sunnydale Survivor Fund, and she also worked at a company for several years that paid her quite a bit of money."

"What company?" he asked.

"The Watcher's Council or something—it's in Great Britain," Lex said. "Next time you're in town, call me in advance, and we'll go to dinner. Once you get to know, Buffy, you'll love her."

"I'm sure you're right," his dad said agreeably. He could see that Lex was under the woman's spell, so there was no reason to push. He'd find out sooner or later everything there was to know about the woman and her friends. Now Lex had given him another clue. He wrote the name down. Watcher's Council—Great Britain.

Lex joined his guests. "Sorry for the wait. My dad was in the study," he said.

"No problem. This house is never dull," Xander said, grinning. "I wish the Cleveland house was as cool."

"Too many girls," Buffy said knowingly.

"So true," Xander said with a sigh. "Maybe, Lex can hire me as his sidekick or assistant."

"Sure," Lex said, smiling as they walked outside.

"No, you can't leave all your legion of fans," Willow told him. "They'd be crushed without their Xander-shape Watcher-man."

"Sometime, you're going to have to tell me about what that means," Lex said as he led them to the garage. The driver stood when he saw Lex. "We're going to need to go to Metropolis."

"Of course, sir," the driver said, opening the limo door.

When they got into the limo, Buffy thought about telling Lex about her calling, and what a Watcher was exactly.

Then Willow's phone rang, and she said, "It's Giles."

While she answered it, Buffy leaned across to Xander. "Do you think I should tell him about me?" she asked.

Xander nodded. "I do," he said.

"Hey, Giles is at the airport in Metropolis," Willow said. "We need to go pick him up."

"That's great! Lex can finally meet him!" Buffy said excitedly.

Lex told the driver to make a stop at the airport. "I'll call and get another person added to dinner," he said, pulling out his own phone.

Buffy decided to not tell Lex about being a slayer until after Giles met him. Then she'd ask Giles. It wasn't that she had doubts about Lex, but she didn't trust herself. What if she was wrong about him?

It didn't take them too long to find Giles and welcome him with hugs all around.

"Giles, this is Lex, my boyfriend," she said, looking up at Lex, whose hand she was holding. "Lex, this is Giles."

Giles smiled and held out his hand. "Please, call me Rupert," he said, shaking Lex's hand.

"It's so great to finally meet you, sir," Lex said, more nervous than he would expect. This man meant everything to Buffy, and Lex knew that man's approval meant the world to his girlfriend.

"You, too, Lex," Giles said. He looked at Buffy. "So I take it that you are no longer wanted by the police?"

"We took care of it," Buffy said. "Wait until you hear!"

On the way to the restaurant, they filled Giles in on how things went down.

"I knew that by the time I got here, things would be copasetic," he said. "But it was a good excuse to see my girls. Where is Dawn?"

"She stayed to keep Clark company," Buffy said. "She's got a crush."

"Well, he is pretty crush-worthy," Willow said.

"That's true," Buffy said, grinning.

"Clark is the best guy I've ever met," Lex added.

"Until you met me!" Xander said with a wink.

Lex laughed. "I don't know. That pirate look you have going makes you seem nefarious," he said.

"Hey, no mocking of the eye!" Xander said with a pout.

"Have you considered getting a prosthetic?" Lex wondered.

"Not really," Xander said. "I figured that I have one eye, so people should just deal with it."

"As someone who can no longer grow hair, let me tell you that appearance matters," Lex said. "People judge you based on it. Of course, those that matter the most to you don't care. However, you also don't want people misjudging you before getting to know you."

Xander frowned. Did he care that much? It was true that some of the moms of the slayers looked at him warily when he first met them. If he had two regular eyes, would he put them at ease? "I don't know. Maybe," he said.

"We love you the way you are," Buffy said, frowing at Lex in disapproval.

"I'm not suggesting we don't," Lex said. "I'm talking about strangers. First impressions."

"It is true that some of the parents seem nervous around me when we first meet," Xander acknowledged.

"Unfortunately, people in the world are often quick to make judgements," Giles added.

"I bet I can make your hair grow back," Willow said to Lex. "Do you think you can come stay with us for a week or so sometime? We can try some different things. It sounds like the hair follicles were damaged by the meteorite shower. I bet I can find a way to heal them."

"Will you teach me some magic?" Lex asked.

"You're interested in learning magic?" Giles asked.

"I'm interested in learning anything that I didn't know before," Lex said. Magic was probably just another type of science no one had really mapped out yet, and he was eager to learn more of this new territory.

They arrived at the restaurant. Buffy pulled Giles aside. "Giles, Lex knows about magic 'cause he saw Will teleport. He took it in stride, and I mentioned the hellmouth to him. But I haven't told him about being a slayer. What do you think?"

"If you love this man, Buffy, I'm assuming that he has your trust?" Giles inquired.

"Completely," she said.

"Then you should let him know who you are entirely. Life is too short to play games," Giles said as they moved to the table.

Buffy knew Giles was right, and she wanted Lex to know the truth. After everyone ordered, she looked at Giles. "Giles, would you like to tell Lex about when and why we first met?" she asked.

Willow and Xander were surprised at her request and gave her a curious look. Buffy nodded; it was time.

"Well, if you're sure?" he asked.

Buffy reached over and grabbed Lex's hand. "I believe that we can trust Lex with all my secrets," she said.

Lex could tell something very significant was about to happen, and he gave her a reassuring smile. "I would never betray you," he said.

"I know," Buffy said. She turned expectantly to Giles.

"The world is older than you know. . ." Giles began, telling Lex the origin of the vampire slayer.

"Buffy is the vampire slayer and has been fighting demons and vampires since she was fifteen," Giles finished. "When Sunnydale was destroyed it was because we closed the hellmouth the town was on."

"She mentioned the hellmouth, but—she didn't mentioned how special she was," Lex said, looking at his girlfriend in wonder.

"I'm not so special anymore," she said. "I told you that I drowned once, right?" Lex nodded. "When that happened, another slayer was called. Faith now handles the active hellmouth in Cleveland. It's her turn."

"Buffy helps out when things are dire," Giles said.

"So all those girls that came at New Years, are they slayers, too?" Lex asked. Now everything was making sense. Too many of them looked right down predatory. They had feline grace that was so unusual.

"In the world, there are countless potential slayers. We train them," Giles said, not sure if Buffy wanted him to know everything.

"There was this First Evil we fought the last year in Sunnydale," Xander said. "He had this demon empowered priest as his disciple. His name was Caleb, and he went hunting and killing many of the potentials. He's the one who gauged my eye out."

Lex winced at that image. "Man, I'm sorry," he said with sympathy.

"That's okay," Xander said, giving Buffy a proud look. "Your girl here sliced him in two with her magical scythe!"

"Maybe we don't need to tell him every gory detail," Buffy said, feeling worried. She glanced at Lex, who seemed to be fine, however.

Lex picked up her hand. "I am sure you would never hurt anyone that didn't really deserve it," he said, kissing her softly.

Willow sighed happily at the clear bond visible between them.

"He was demon powered, and not entirely human," Giles said. "Normally, slayers do all they can to not hurt humans."

"But the first had an army of super vamps, and the hellmouth was going to open," Buffy said. "Willow did a spell using the magic of the scythe I pulled from a rock to empower all the potentials."

"So now you don't have to fight alone?" Lex said, understanding perfectly.

"Now, my burden is shared by many," Buffy said. "It's why I can now go to school and have a life."

"Buffy is the oldest recorded slayer on record," Giles said.

"I couldn't have done it without the help of my friends," she added.

Lex knew that his girlfriend was not like any other girl that he had dated, but he didn't realize how truly extraordinary she was. A whole new world was opening up for him, and he was eager to see what all it held.

"I don't think I've ever had any friends I'd trust having my back like that," he admitted.

Xander was sitting on his right side, and he slapped Lex on the back. "You do now, buddy," he assured him.

Lex was touched at his friend's sincerity. He hoped that he and Buffy lasted forever because he would hate to lose a friend like Xander.

Buffy smiled at her friend, grateful that he'd so easily embraced Lex. She knew how starved he was for affection and friendship. It was good to see him let people in, and she knew it wouldn't take long before he'd become an honorary Scooby.

This was the beginning of something truly special.

*****The End*****

This one is a wrap, but I hope to write more stories about Buffy and Lex. I can see Lex having magical abilities and learning more about that as his father digs into Buffy's secret. Review please! Thanks!