- Tess Mercer: What about what Lex put you through? He pretended to be your friend for how many years?
- Clark Kent: I'd like to think that there was a time when Lex and I had a real friendship.
- Tess Mercer: That wasn't a friendship. Clark, you were his obsession. Lex wanted so much to be like you. But he knew - he knew in his heart he never could.
- Clark Kent: I'm not changing my life because Tess Mercer *might* know my secret.
- Chloe Sullivan: But she's beyond dangerous, Clark. She tried to kill Lana.
- Clark Kent: Only because she was trying to destroy the Power Suit. She was desperate to stop Lex.
- Chloe Sullivan: I can't believe you're defending her.
- Clark Kent: I'm not sure she's like Lex.
- Chloe Sullivan: Your ability to trust others and always see the good in people is what makes you so special, but it's also what keeps you getting in trouble. You need to be careful.
- Chloe Sullivan: Wow. I haven't seen you this pumped since you threw the touchdown pass that made the Crows state champs.
- Clark Kent: That is a tough one to top, Chloe, but last night, I think I did.
- Chloe Sullivan: I heard. It was quite the coming-out party. Media outlets report that the Red-Blue Blur made more saves last night than a Billy Graham revival meeting.
- Clark Kent: I thought you'd be happy. I mean, you're the one who convinced me to embrace my double identity and inspire the world.
- Chloe Sullivan: Yeah, but, Clark, did you have to make a guest appearance on every single traffic cam in town?
- Clark Kent: Slowing my superspeed down enough to appear on video is not easy. I wasn't even sure it worked the first few times.
- Chloe Sullivan: Look, I'm all about your streak of primary colors making a splash, but this is more like a tsunami.
- Clark Kent: If it means giving people hope, Chloe, I'll take that chance.
- Chloe Sullivan: I just wanna make sure that your rush to inspire Joe Six Pack doesn't unmask Clark Kent.
- Clark Kent: Chloe, working at the Daily Planet is a perfect cover.
- Chloe Sullivan: Right, so, what, you're gonna pull a quick costume change in the middle of the bullpen?
- Clark Kent: I'm getting really good at it.
- Chloe Sullivan: Jimmy, you know that that machine's already locked into a set dosage. It's not gonna give you more, no matter how many times you hit the pump.
- Jimmy Olsen: Well, you need to tell my doctor my pain is Hummer-sized, not hybrid.
- Chloe Sullivan: Being in a hospital bed for five weeks really does a job on you. But, you know, maybe what you're going through isn't all physical. Maybe you should talk to a psychologist.
- Jimmy Olsen: I don't need a shrink, Chloe. I need to go home. Look, if you're doing fine, I will be, too.
- Chloe Sullivan: Jimmy, I wasn't the one that was practically mauled to death.
- Jimmy Olsen: And that, uh... that thing... it hasn't shown up again?
- Chloe Sullivan: The villagers have already put away their pitchforks. I think he's gone forever.
- Jimmy Olsen: It's hard to believe that he just dropped in to destroy our wedding.
- Chloe Sullivan: Just one of the pitfalls of getting hitched in the meteor freak capital of the world.
- Tess Mercer: Nifty napsack, Kent. Are you on your way to PE?
- Clark Kent: I just got back from the gym.
- Tess Mercer: If you wanna graduate from the bullpen to the corner office, you need to look the part.
- Clark Kent: Yeah, well, thanks for the tip.
- Tess Mercer: I think we can find something a little less "High School Musical" and a little more Louis Vuitton to carry around whatever it is that you're hiding in here.
- Clark Kent: Oh, well, it really is just my gym stuff, and I don't think I want my boss going through my underwear.
- Clark Kent: Where are we going?
- Tess Mercer: L.A. I'm announcing the new Mercer Media Group merger at a press conference, and I need a friendly reporter to lob softballs.
- Clark Kent: And you want *me* to go with you?
- Tess Mercer: Every cub reporter gets his big break. This just happens to be yours.
- Clark Kent: It's nice of Oliver to let you use his private jet.
- Tess Mercer: Well, LuthorCorp and Queen Industries are one big, happy conglomerate now. We share all of our toys.
- Tess Mercer: I don't think Oliver Queen would appreciate us finishing off his private reserve of 1990 Cristal.
- Clark Kent: It's a long flight. I'm sure he wouldn't mind us drinking a few more glasses.
- Tess Mercer: Well, there he is. The prince who came to my rescue.
- Clark Kent: I would think parachuting out of a jet and landing in the Arizona desert would've slowed you down, but... you seem to be doing just fine.
- Tess Mercer: I knew I was fine the moment that I woke up in that Phoenix emergency room to see you standing by my side.
- Chloe Sullivan: You think she knows your secret?
- Clark Kent: Well, she didn't exactly just come out and admit it.
- Chloe Sullivan: Well, does she have to? I mean, you saved her by flying out of a falling jet.
- Clark Kent: Chloe, we didn't fly. We sort of jumped, and she was unconscious the whole time.
- Chloe Sullivan: Well, whatever the case, she knows too much and she's getting closer by the minute. So it's time to take extreme measures. You need to quit the Daily Planet and put the Red-Blue Blur back into the closet.
- Clark Kent: Did Lex talk to you about me?
- Tess Mercer: He kept a journal.
- Clark Kent: What'd it say?
- Tess Mercer: I'm sworn to secrecy.
- Davis Bloome: Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I... have hurt... many people. People that I care about.
- Priest: I'm here, my son. Go on.
- Davis Bloome: Something... takes over... without warning. It's a beast inside of me fighting to get out.
- Priest: We all have our inner demons. But we must learn to control them.
- Davis Bloome: I'm trying, Father, the best way I know how. But... I, I drive through Metropolis at night searching for a way to save myself. Pimps, thieves, drug dealers. There's so much... sin committed on those streets. And when I find someone who's lost their way... I reach out. And when I come across... evil... I do everything in power... to put it to an end. When I stop the wickedness that I see... it keeps the beast from coming out. It makes me feel... human.
- Priest: Stay on your righteous path, my son. Be not overcome of evil. But overcome evil, with good.
- Tess Mercer: I don't usually open up about myself to... well, to anyone, really.
- Clark Kent: I understand that what you told me was a part of your past you'd like to keep private. If you're worried that I'm gonna tell someone your secret, I promise you I won't.
- Tess Mercer: Lex was right about you, Clark. There's not a bad bone in your body. My whole life, I've had to deal with abusive people. People who took away my hope. But when I'm around you... somehow, I feel safe.
- Clark Kent: I'm just glad you're okay. I'd better get back to the Planet. I wouldn't want you to think I'm not taking my job seriously.
- Tess Mercer: Clark. I may run his company, and I may live in his mansion, but I'm not Lex. You can trust me.
- Clark Kent: About Lex's journal. He's gone now, so you can tell me...
- Tess Mercer: Enough about Lex's journal, okay? I wanna talk about you. We've had two bottles of champagne. You-you seem to have this inhuman ability to withstand the effects of alcohol.
- Clark Kent: I have a strong metabolism.
- Tess Mercer: Me, too. I can hold my liquor like no other. Daddy dearest used to be able to finish off a fifth before the lunch whistle blew at the mill.
- Clark Kent: That sounds tough.
- Tess Mercer: Let's just say it wasn't the Norman Rockwell childhood that you had at the Kent farm.
- Clark Kent: Nobody's childhood is perfect.
- Tess Mercer: Yeah, but I bet you were read fairy tales at bedtime. Not like what my dad did.
- Tess Mercer: I had these blue sheets, that I used to pull up over my head, and it made me feel like I was underneath the ocean. And I would hide in there and, uh... pretend to be the Little Mermaid waiting, dreaming for my prince to come rescue me. Then my dad would come in. Bastard shattered my eardrum. And he broke my arm, three times. I bet you didn't expect the in-flight entertainment to include my true Hollywood story, huh?
- Clark Kent: I'm just glad it has a happy ending. Look at you now.
- Tess Mercer: I think I'm just good at covering my tracks. Kind of like you, Clark.
- Clark Kent: Why would I cover my tracks?
- Tess Mercer: I don't know. Why would Lex have an entire room devoted to you? Hmm? I've seen the photographs. The crushed Porsche, the-the mushroomed bullets.
- Clark Kent: I can't explain to you Lex Luthor's delusion.
- Tess Mercer: Lex was a lot of things, but he was not delusional. Clark... we all have our deepest, darkest secrets. I just told you mine. Now tell me yours.
- Clark Kent: There's nothing to tell. With me, it's what you see is what you get.