Chapter Six
Clark could hear the sound of Chloe's sobs long before he reached the Torch office.
"Chloe?" she turned to him, her eyes were red from crying and her expression was accusatory.
"How could you?" she asked, wiping her tears away.
"How could I, what?" he asked, but he had a nasty suspicion that he already knew.
"I got a letter from Lana today... She said she couldn't live with herself any longer, she had to confess and try to make things right."
"Chloe-"
"No, it's my fault, really." She got up and began tidying random objects in an attempt to to stop herself crying. "I knew what you were like, I knew you'd do this eventually but I ignored my instincts, I told myself that you deserved a chance. God, I am such an idiot. "
"You're not an idiot, Chloe." He took a step towards her but she took two back. "This is my mistake, not yours."
"Yeah, it is. I mean I get that you like sex, I thought that was something we shared but foolishly, I thought it was something we shared only with each other, you know?"
"Chloe-"
"Some random woman would be hard enough to deal with, Clark, but you chose to betray me with my best friend." Her tears began to fall afresh. "How could you?"
The look on her face made Clark's heart break.
"Chloe, I'm sorry. It was a horrible mistake and if I could take it back, I would."
"Well that's the thing about life, Clark, there are no take-backs."
"Chloe, just tell me how I can make this up to you? Please, I'll do anything." Clark's eyes were now shining with unshed tears.
"There's nothing you can do," she said, shaking her head.
"No, I won't believe that."
"Well it doesn't really matter if you believe it or not, it's over either way." She turned towards the office door. "Don't follow me, Clark. I never want to see you again." She left the office and managed to make it to her car before she broke down again. She had no idea how long she cried for but when when her tears finally subsided she was sure she must look frightful. She knew she couldn't let her father see her like this so she pulled out a tissue and dried her eyes.
She still had to lock the office but she could see Clark's car was still here so she decided to wait until he left.
As she waited, she wished she'd brought something to distract her from the pain she felt. She looked around the parking lot and noticed a strange van idling near the entrance. She frowned.
Moments later she saw six black clad men carrying Clark out of the school.
"What the..." she watched as he was loaded into the back of the van. He was unconscious and Chloe saw something green around his neck. Kryptonite.
As the van pulled away, Chloe was still arguing with herself but in the end she knew that Clark would be helpless against kryptonite and she had no choice but to try and help him. She started her car and followed the van at a discrete distance.
When the van turned off into the warehouse district, Chloe turned her lights off before following. As it slowed down, she parked between two other warehouses and opened her trunk.
Usually she had Clark to help her investigate dangerous situations but she hadn't completely lost her skills. She grabbed her lock picks, netbook, tazer and a torch, then after a moments hesitation, added the flash-bang grenade Lois had once given her. She continued to the warehouse on foot. The van was parked beside what looked like a disused warehouse but the high-tech security keypad on the side door belied it's innocent façade. She watched for a few minutes to make sure no one was around, then quickly jogged to the door.
Using her netbook she jacked into the keypad and found the code. She opened the door quietly and checked to see the way was clear before she went in and closed it behind her. She found herself in a short corridor. To her left was a staircase and an office, to her right there were two more offices and straight ahead was a final, unmarked door. The sound of two gunshots nearly sent her running back to her car, but she couldn't leave Clark here.
Chloe headed up the stairs, hoping to get a birds eye view of what was happening. She hid behind a stack of pallets as she scoped out the upper level. The stair case led up to a walkway that surrounded the warehouse. Three guards were posted up there. She guessed they were supposed to be watching for intruders but all three were focused on what was happening below.
She crawled forward to the railing, praying that the guards didn't look in her direction and below she saw her worst nightmare unfolding.
Clark was bound to a chair with a rock of kryptonite hanging from a chain around his neck and what looked two bullet holes, one in either shoulder. The pain on his face made her heart wrench.
Lex was pacing in front of him, a gun held casually in his left hand.
"It's a shame Chloe wasn't with you," Lex said. "First you break her heart, then you watch her die. Oh, didn't I tell you? That letter from Lana was actually from me."
"How..." Clark managed to gasp through gritted teeth,
"Did I find out?" Lex finished. "I've been watching you for months, Clark, just looking for an opportunity. I imagined I'd have to create one, imagine my surprise when I discovered that you betrayed her all on your own."
"Why'd you wait so long?" he rasped.
"Know your enemy. I had to fire a few warning shots to see what you were capable of but I saved the big guns for the real fight."
"Leave Chloe out of this," Clark managed to say. "It's me you want."
"You really care about her, don't you?" Lex sounded surprised.
Just then a security guard approached.
"Mr Luthor, Miss Sullivan isn't at home or at the school."
Lex looked pissed, he raised the gun and shot Clark again.
"Find her!" he yelled. The security guard hurried away before any bullets could be aimed in his direction.
"Lex, no, please. Let Chloe go."
Lex took a deep breath, Clark's pleading seemed to help abate his anger.
"I'm sorry, Clark, but I can't do that." Lex walked to the side of the room and got a second chair, which he placed in front of Clark. He sat down, looking quite relaxed.
"You know, Clark, it's not that I don't like you, you and I are more alike than you know.
"Lex don't do this."
"I know you had no say in who adopted you or in how Lionel raised us, but this is war, Clark, Lionel saw to that. It's kill or be killed, survival of the fittest."
"Lex, please."
"This is getting old." Lex shook his head and stood up.
Something told Chloe to crawl back behind the pallets so she had to strain to hear Lex from her hiding place.
"I want everyone on this. Find Chloe Sullivan. Whoever finds her gets a generous bonus, the rest of you will be fired."
Chloe watched through the pallets as all three security guards from the upper level descended the stirs.
She waited a few moments as doors opened and closed and footsteps echoed. Finally there was silence, except for Clark's agonised gasps.
Chloe gave it as long as she dared, then crept back down the stairs. The door into the main warehouse didn't have a window so she would be walking in there blind, which wasn't a pleasant prospect. Instead she opened one of the office doors, slammed it against the wall as loudly as she could and quickly hid behind the warehouse door.
"Who's there?" she heard Lex call. A few moments later she heard footsteps echoing off the concrete floor. He came through the door with his gun in front of him. He noticed the open office door and headed straight for it. Chloe fired her tazer into his back.
He fell to the ground, unconscious and Chloe plucked the gun from his hand. She made her way into the warehouse, keeping the gun raised in case there was anyone else left.
By the time she reached Clark, he was unconscious. There was so much blood that for a second she froze, thinking he must be dead. Finally she saw the slight rise and fall of his chest, which kick started her back into action. She took the chain with the kryptonite from around his next and threw it as far away as she could. She expected Clark to rouse once it was gone but he didn't.
She untied his hands and feet and helped him on to the floor. When he still didn't wake up, with little other option, she grabbed his hands and began to drag him out of the warehouse.
Once outside she knew she'd never make it to her car with him in tow so she hid him as best she could behind a dumpster and went for her car.
By the time she parked beside the dumpster, she was certain that she would run out of luck and someone would come back soon but by some miracle she finally managed to get Clark into her car and drive away. Still, she kept checking her rear-view mirror, certain that someone would start following her.
She wondered where to take him, Lex would surely wake up soon and he would be more than a little angry. She needed somewhere that she could hide her car from view and still take care of Clark.
She remembered the Kent farm. Their adopted son had shown her around the school on her first day and offered her a tour of their farm, but the farm had been repossessed a few years ago. As far as she knew, no one had bought it and their barn would be a perfect hiding place.
As she drove up she could see that the barn doors were long since gone, probably victim of the hurricane a few months back, so she drove the car straight inside and rushed around to the passenger side to get Clark out of the car so she could examine him.
She lay him on the floor and tore his shirt open. Using her flash light she examined the bullet wounds, wondering why they weren't healing.
She thought she saw a flash of green in his shoulder so she grabbed Lex's gun and ejected the magazine. The bullets were made from Kryptonite.
Chloe tossed the magazine away and looked around the barn for something she could use to extract the bullets. There were a few old tool boxes in one corner and she rummaged through them, eventually finding a pair of rusty pliers. They were hardly ideal but they would do.
Extracting the bullets was probably the worse thing she'd ever had to do, but Clark needed her to do it. She was thankful that he at least wasn't awake to feel it.
When she had all three bullets she took them and the gun magazine and shut them inside one of the metal toolboxes.
When she returned she expected Clark to be healed and asking what was going on but that didn't happen. He was healed but he wasn't awake.
Chloe tried to cajole him awake but it didn't work. She tried to take comfort in the fact that he had a pulse and was breathing steadily, but that didn't mean that he couldn't be brain damaged.
Half an hour later, when he still showed no signs of waking, she got two blankets from her car. She wrapped Clark up in one of them and spread the second one out beside him so she could lay down there.
She was still mad at him but right now she was regretting having rejecting him.
You always thought you had more time, she mused. Time to change your mind, time to say what needed to be said, time to forgive. Today she had nearly run out of time and that thought scared her.
The thought of losing Clark, of leaving things as they were...
The truth is that there was only one person that Chloe could really take comfort in and that was Clark. Against her better judgement she moved her blanket next to his and repositioned him so that she could rest her head on his chest.
"Don't leave me, Clark," she told his sleeping form. "I love you."
III
When Clark awoke the next morning he initially thought he was dreaming or dead. The last thing he remembered, Lex was about to kill him and he was pretty sure that Chloe had not been in any mood to snuggle.
"Chloe?" he gently shook her awake.
"Clark?" She turned her head to look at him. Thankfully relief was the only emotion he saw there. "Oh, than god," she hugged him tightly.
Clark held her tightly, enjoying the scent of her apricot shampoo while he still could. Finally Chloe pulled away and looked down at him.
"I was so worried when you didn't wake up," she said.
"I think I just needed the sun light," he explained.
Chloe looked around to see daylight streaming in through the barn door. The sun was still low on the horizon so it couldn't be long past dawn.
"What happened?" Clark asked.
Chloe disentangled herself from him and sat next to him.
"I followed you from the school. When Lex sent his security to look for me, I tazered him and dragged you out."
Clark felt his chest. "The bullets?"
"In one of those boxes in the corner. I had to use pliers to get them out."
The look Clark gave her as he sat up made her uncomfortable, like he was looking through her, into her soul.
"What?" she asked.
"I just... You saved my life." He had always known she was strong, he just never realised exactly how strong.
"Yeah, well... I guess I couldn't leave things the way they were between us."
"Chloe," he had no idea how to verbalise how sorry he was. After everything he had done, she still rescued him, all alone. He knew he had to win her over and the only way to do that was to be honest.
"I'm so sorry. You are the best thing that ever happened to me and I can't believe I was so stupid. I never meant to hurt you."
"I believe you," she told him. "But you did hurt me, Clark. Why did you do it?"
"I wish I knew. Every day I wonder why I do the things I do, what drives me to destroy those around me, to ruin the few good things in my life? I don't have any solid answers, Chloe. All I know is that being with you soothes the strongest of those destructive desires."
"So you did the one thing that you knew would drive me away?"
"Not intentionally. I didn't plan it, Chloe, it just sort of happened."
Chloe didn't respond for a long while and finally Clark couldn't stand the silence any longer.
"Can you ever forgive me?"
Chloe was annoyed with herself when she felt the sting of tears again.
"I don't know," she told him honestly.
"Chloe, please. I need you. With out you, I don't know what I might become."
"You can't do that to me, Clark. You cant make me responsible for how you behave. It's not fair."
"I know it's not, Chloe, and I'm sorry. It's just than when I'm with you, you make me believe I can be more than just Lionel Luthor's son. I know I have no right to ask anything of you right now, but if you give me a second chance, I promise I won't disappoint you again."
Chloe looked at the man before her. He was capable of so much, he had gifts that mere mortals like her could only dream of. Really, the power he possessed was too great to be bestowed on any one person. He could be a real force for good in the world or the cause of some of it's greatest suffering.
In that moment Chloe realised that if she had to sacrifice part of herself to save the world, or better still, to help inspire it, she didn't have the right to refuse. Clark said he needed her, and that would have to be enough.
"Okay," she smiled, though it wasn't as bright as usual.
Clark pulled her onto his lap and kissed her deeply. Sensing her hesitancy, he pulled away.
"Chloe?"
She cupped his face in her hands. "Things wont go back to normal overnight," she said sadly. "But I need you to know something, Clark. I need you to know that whatever the future holds, whatever happens between us, I will always be here for you."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
Clark wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly.
"I love you, Chloe."
Chloe closed her eyes in an attempt to stop her tears from falling. It took her a moment before she could answer without her voice cracking.
"I love you too," she whispered.
They sat like that for a long time, neither wanting to break the tentative truce they had formed.
Finally Chloe knew that reality had to be faced and pulled away.
"So what happens now?" she asked. "With Lex?"
A shadow crossed his face as he thought about what he would do to Lex.
"I have to kill him," Clark said. "It's the only way to keep you safe."
"No," Chloe shook her head firmly. "You can't become a murderer."
"It's not murder, it's self defence."
"Clark, you might have the power of a God but you don't have the right to play God."
"Chloe-"
"No, Clark! Killing Lex would be the biggest step you could take towards you becoming your father, the one thing you don't want to be. If you want me in your life, if you want me to keep you out of the darkness, you have to trust me."
"What if he tries again and hurts you this time?"
"We'll take precautions and we'll deal with that if and when it happens. He's only human, Clark, and between us we can handle him," she assured him.
III
"Oh, Clark, could you come in here for a moment?"
Clark turned and headed into Lionel's office. Not even a dressing down could ruin his mood tonight, he thought as he fingered the ring box in his pocket. It had been just under a month since Lex's attempt on his life, and Clark was more sure then ever that Chloe was the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Tonight he hoped to make it official.
He was far from certain that Chloe would say yes though. She was really trying hard to forgive him and get their relationship back on track but he could still sense her pain just below the surface. He hoped that this gesture would help prove his commitment, both to her and their relationship.
"What's up dad?"
"I've been speaking to Lex and he told me some very disturbing news." Lionel poured himself a drink and stepped around the bar to face Clark.
"Oh?"
"Yes. He told me that Miss Sullivan known your secret," Lionel laughed as though the idea was absurd.
Clark laughed too, though he suddenly felt uneasy.
"What would make him say something so ridiculous?"
"Well, I have no idea," Lionel said seriously. "I was wondering that myself. I told him that Clark would never be idiotic enough to risk telling someone but he seemed insistent."
"Dad, Lex tried to kill me last month, he's obviously unstable."
"Yes, I did wonder about that myself, so I thought the only way to find out was to ask the source."
"Dad, I didn't tell her anything."
"Oh no, I didn't mean you. I meant Miss Sullivan."
Clark felt sick to the pit of his stomach but he trusted Chloe not to betray him.
"Then she confirmed what I told you,"he said with more confidence than he felt.
"Oh yes..." Lionel turned away and sipped his drink. "Until I tried an experimental truth serum LuthorCorp had been developing for the military."
Suddenly Clark really felt sick and fell to his knees. He looked up to see Lionel approaching him with a rock of green Kryptonite in his hand.
"I thought you knew better, Clark," Lionel sounded dissapointed.
"Dad, you don't understand."
"Oh, I understand perfectly. Here," he dropped something on the floor.
Clark picked it up to see it was his blue kryptonite ring.
"Put it on and I'll let you see her."
Clark hesitated but in the presence of the green rock, he was helpless. At least under the influence of Blue K he wouldn't be completely incapacitated. He slipped the ring onto his finger.
"Good," Lionel purred, putting meteor rock back into it's box. "I expect it goes without saying that if you remove it, I'll bring out the green kryptonite again."
Clark got to his feet as Lionel walked around his desk and pressed the intercom button on his phone.
"Bring Miss Sullivan in."
Seconds later Lex came in through he side door. He had two security men with him and between them they dragged a bound Chloe. Another two security guards entered through the main door, behind Clark.
"You didn't really think I was going to let things go, did you, Clark?" Lex said with a self satisfied smile.
Clark looked at Chloe. Her right eye had a fresh bruise forming and her cheeks were stained with tear tracks.
"I'm sorry, Clark," she said.
Lex turned around and slapped her across the face.
"Stop talking!" he yelled.
Clark lunged for Lex but the guards behind him grabbed his arms and forced him to his knees.
"You can do what you want to me, Lex, but you will never be even a tenth of the man, Clark is." Chloe glared at Lex.
"Speaking of doing what I want, why don't you tell Clark what we got up to this afternoon?" Lex smirked.
Clark saw fresh tears stream down Chloe's cheeks. She looked to Clark and he knew that the haunted look in her eyes would stay with him until the day he died.
Lex sauntered over to Clark and leaned down.
"I was pleasantly surprised," he said softly. "She's very good."
Clark tried to break free from the guards but without his powers he was helpless. He looked to Lionel for help but he was leaning against his desk, enjoying the show.
"Get on with it, Lex. These cheap theatrics don't become you and I don't have all day," Lionel chided.
"Dad, don't let him do this," Clark pleaded.
"I'm sorry, Clark, but you knew the risks when you told her. Now you have to live with the consequences."
"Dad, she won't betray me."
"She's not family, son, you can't trust her."
"But she will be, Dad, I was going to propose tonight."
Lionel looked thoughtful for a moment and Clark thought he might be coming around.
"Check my pocket, the ring is in there."
Lionel nodded to the security guards, one of whom reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box. Lionel walked over and took the box.
"It's beautiful, son," he said as he opened it. "You have very good taste."
"Dad, you're not buying any of this, are you?" Lex argued.
"Please, Dad, give her a chance."
"He broke the rules, he has to pay."
"Dad, Chloe has saved my life on more one occasion. She's is the most loyal person I know."
Lionel looked from Clark to Chloe and back.
"But loyal to whom?" he asked. "No, I'm sorry, Clark. I though in the beginning that Chloe might be having a beneficial influence on you but it has been made clear to me that she is distracting you from your true destiny. She has you running around, investigating meteor freaks and rescuing people. You know your destiny is greater than that, son."
Lionel nodded to Lex who pulled out a gun and aimed it at Chloe. He looked over his shoulder at Clark.
"It's for your own good, Clark."
Clark looked into Chloe's eyes and she held his gaze until the bullet entered her heart.
"NO!"
Chloe looked down at the wound then up at Clark. 'I love you' she said almost silently before she collapsed. The men holding her let her body fall to the floor.
"Chloe! No!"
The security guards let him go and he ran to her, cradling her lifeless body in his arms. He cupped her cheek.
"Chloe?" his tears began to fall. "Chloe, I'm so sorry." He pulled her too him and held her tightly as he sobbed. For a while he forgot about his audience, he forgot everything except Chloe.
"Son," Lionel rested a hand on his shoulder. "Come away now, you're making a scene."
Clark looked up and saw Lex smirking at him. Suddenly he lunged towards Lex, knocking him to the ground and straddling his chest. Lionel held a hand up to stop the guards from intervening.
Clark punched him repeatedly, putting all his hurt, anger and pain behind each blow. Lex tried to fight back but Clark's rage was fuelling him. Lex was no match for his fury.
When Lex's face was a battered and bloody mess, Clark picked his head up and hit it against the hard wood floor. Again and again he slammed Lex's head into wood and he kept pounding long after the light had left Lex's eyes. Finally though, his strength gave out. Panting, he climbed off Lex and looked over to where Chloe lay, then down at his hands. They were covered with Lex's blood, as was the floor.
Lionel signalled the guards that they could remove the bodies and put his hand on Clark's shoulder.
"I'm proud of you, Son. I wasn't sure you had it in you."
III
Present Day
Tess watched Clark for a while before she approached him because the way he was glaring at the headstone frightened her. Finally though, she went up to him.
"Clark?" She put her hand on his arm. "What are you doing here?"
"I come here every year," he said, his voice full of venom. "On the anniversary of her death."
Tess had never known Clark to be introspective before.
"You must have loved her very much,"
Clarks gaze narrowed and he turned to glare at her. "I don't come here to mourn her." He turned back to the headstone. "She taught me a valuable lessons, Tess, a lesson I never intend to forget. I come here every year to remind myself."
"What lesson?" Tess asked cautiously.
"Trust no one," he answered bitterly.
"Why? What did she do to you?" Tess hadn't been around for the relationship but she had always thought that Clark and Chloe had been deeply in love. This current turn of events was as confusing as Clark's attitude.
She had never seen Clark like this before. He was always unpredictable but right now he also seemed unstable. She wanted to help him, but she didn't want to become his next victim.
It took Clark a long time to answer her and she didn't press him. She watched as his expression softened, then she saw his lips turn in in a small smile, then his anger returned, possibly stronger than before. When he turned to her and answered, he looked so chilling that Tess breath caught in her throat.
"She told me she'd always be here for me," he said. He looked back to the headstone and flames sprang from it, then he turned and walked away.
Tess watched him go then turned back and read the headstone
Chloe Anne Sullivan
Who's love was Eternal
Below that Clark had inscribed a third line with his heat vision.
Liar