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"C.K." - an AU Chlark Fic, PG-13/R
Title: "C.K. - The Origins of Helaku"
Premise: (A rewrite of the show from episode 7-01, focusing mainly on Clark & Chloe) After Lana is supposedly murdered by Lex, Clark and Chloe turn to each other in their grief and a child is the result. But when their enemies conspire to unearth Clark's secret and steal their child - there is no where for Clark and his new family to hide. It is a story about finding happily ever after when there is no where left to go.
[Although it's angsty here & there, I promise it will be worth it and have a happy/satisfying ending if you'll hang in there with me.]
Timeline: Although not told in a linear fashion, time-wise the beginning of the story takes place at the very beginning of season seven, right after Chloe comes back from the dead after healing Lois & discovers that Lana was "killed" in the car bomb, although I actually start the story about 8 1/2 months after that day.
Description: An Alternate Reality Chlark (Clark & Chloe) fan fiction. This is kind of a reboot/rewrite of my "The End is The Beginning" serial fic that I never finished. But I promise to finish this one - it's much better, much more concise, and is also very loosely based on the "Breathe Me" video by Ferdalump. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWAk7...91A9725DD0D7C9; but the rewrite was inspired by this vid by talia170 "Love Song Reqium" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwijd8wUI0E which I HIGHLY recommend watching ASAP!! One last thing: because it is a rewrite, there may be a few scenes that are the same - although this will be VERY rare because it is basically a whole new story - just about a similiar concept - and told completely differently. Hope you enjoy...
Rating: PG-13/R for now, if it gets much worse I'll move the thread to the Adult section or link those updates to an adult thread, we'll see...
Disclaimer: I obviously do not own any of the characters, names, places, etc. Smallville, Superman & all characters belong to the WB, DC Comics, the CW - which is why we are forced to try and salvage these wonderful characters and this amazing ship ourselves...
Subscriptions: If anyone wants me to PM or email you personally with the link each time I post an update let me know (PM me) it sure beats digging through comments for the updates Thanks for reading.
Links To Sections:
Part One/Month One:
Ch I.
Section 1 is below
Section 2 pt 1
Section 2 pt 2 & Section 3 (PG13 Version, Original is in Adult Thread)
Section 3 pt 2
Section 4
Ch II.
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Ch III.
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Ch. IV
Section 1 & 2
Section 3
Ch. V
Section 1
Section 2
Ch. VI
Section 1
Section 2
Part Two/Month Two:
Ch. I
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Ch. II
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Ch. III
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Ch. IV Coming soon...
.................................................. .................................................. ...........................................
C.K.
The Origins of Helaku
Part One
I.
Clark sat on a blue metal chair in the hospital room, head in hand, the last few moments ringing through his head like a broken record.
“Time of death, 12:43am,” the doctor had said, his voice sounded far off, as if it came from the end of a very long tunnel.
“No, no – she’s not dead – she’s not,” a distraught Clark had insisted, cradling Chloe’s limp blonde head against his chest, “you don’t understand, she’s not really dead – she’ll come back – she just needs more time…”
“I’m sorry son, your wife lost a lot of blood after the delivery, no one could have survived that…” The nurse put a comforting hand cautiously on Clark’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry for your loss, but you really need to accept what’s happened, she is gone, she’s not coming back. You need to be there for your son now.”
You’re wrong! You don’t know anything! Clark silently raged back against the little nurse’s assertions, Chloe’s going to be fine, I just need to get here out of here. He leaned over the hospital bed, scooping up her tiny body into his arms. She was so light, so cold.
Clark’s mind was spinning a million miles an hour. Everything had gone terribly wrong. She wasn’t supposed to deliver so early, not here in Smallville, and not now when they were so close to finally finding a way out of the tangled mess they were in. He had to get her out of here now, but he couldn’t leave their baby. He was sure Lex already had someone en route. He knew he only had minutes.
Where is Oliver! He screamed silently to himself. Something’s gone wrong, something’s gone wrong - I just know it…
Clark desperately wished that he could super-speed Chloe and their son far away from Smallville, from Lex, from everything – but his powers had been gone for so long he almost forgot what it felt like to vanish into thin air at a whim. But he would if he could, he told himself, and he wouldn’t care if anyone saw. He ground his teeth as his whole body convulsed with anger. He hated this, feeling powerless, being dependant on Oliver, on everyone, even on Chloe.
Chloe.
He looked down at her face cradled against his shoulders. Her skin was turning a grayish blue. His stomach turned as rage and denial roared up from his chest, burning the back of his eyes with the threat of tears that he refused to shed.
“I know what you did Chloe, I know what you did for our son,” He whispered almost silently into her ear, knowing she could hear him somehow.
Clark looked over at the hospital bassinette in the corner of the room. The nurses were still hovering over the tiny wrinkled and crying infant – who only a few minutes ago had been silent and lifeless. He remembered Chloe’s horrified face when the long awaited moment had come…
“Push honey, PUSH!” The nurse had cried. Clark squeezed Chloe’s hand encouragingly, his other hand holding her knee to her chest.
“I AM pushing you Bi… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” And with one last push and a scream that could have broken glass, Chloe Sullivan saw the person she had been waiting almost nine months to meet.
“Congrats,” the doctor said, “It’s a boy, he’s…”
But then there was total silence, and with one look at the tiny purplish colored baby – she knew…
At first Clark didn’t understand what was happening. The nurses swept the baby away into a corner, busily poking and prodding – but the deafening silence seemed to go on forever …
“Chloe?” He heard his questioning voice but it didn’t sound like him – it was scratchy and high pitched. Chloe didn’t look at Clark, she just held her hands out toward her baby boy.
“Give him to me,” she demanded. Clark thought her voice sounded strong, steady even.
“I’m so sorry, but we really should…” the nurse tried to argue but Chloe wouldn’t hear of it.
“No – just give him to me, I don’t care, I need to hold him.” Chloe insisted, and the nurse reluctantly obliged, swaddling him quickly and then laying down the tiny blue bundle into Chloe’s arms.
Clark remembered looking down that tiny face, so beautiful, every detail from his little nose and pink mouth, to his eye lashes and a smattering of wispy blonde hair. He looked like an angel.
Clark couldn’t get it to register, or understand why this perfect little baby was so silent and unmoving, he could not accept what was happening – it was too horrible for words and nothing seemed real.
My son, he remembered thinking, he’s my son…
Clark remembered Chloe looking up at him then, her green eyes full of tears but also of joy and love – he didn’t understand why but he felt like she was trying to say something to him…
But then she leaned over their baby, shoulder length blonde hair cascading like a curtain over the tiny body, and sobbing - she let her tears flow freely onto his motionless face. Suddenly, there was a burst of bright light that seemed to come from everywhere at once. Clark instinctively closed his eyes and heard the light bulbs exploding, and tiny shards of glass were raining down all around them.
He instinctively threw himself over Chloe to protect her, but the minute he touched her he felt something was wrong. And suddenly he heard something that filled him simultaneously with both indescribable joy and horror.
Their baby was crying. He was screaming like his life depended on it, a high shrill wail that ripped through the stunned silence in the room. And Clark immediately understood what had happened. But before he had a chance to react, the nurses had snatched the baby out of Chloe’s limp arms – hurriedly rushing him back into the corner.
“Oh no! Doctor! Come quick! She’s hemorrhaging!” A nurse cried out – and the focus quickly shifted to Chloe. In seconds the room was full of nurses and more medical carts as the doctor barked out orders loudly into the hallway.
But it all sounded muffled and far off to Clark, who was frozen - transfixed on Chloe’s face. It was the same color their son’s had been moments ago. He could tell she wasn’t breathing. He knew what she had done.
Someone was shaking Clark's shoulder, bringing him back to the present. It was the same nurse, and she was holding something out to him. It was the baby. Without thinking Clark reached out and took the child, who almost fit in the palm of his hand, and cradled him against his chest. He looked down into tiny bright green eyes that looked sleepily up at him through swollen lids, and the illusion was shattered. This was no dream – it was all too real – and his heart was ripped to a million pieces as he realized that Chloe may not be coming back. Tremors of silent sobs began to resonate from deep inside his chest, but they never had a chance to overtake him.
He felt a tiny hand curl tightly around his pinky, and looked down to see his son’s hand had escaped the swaddling blanket. Clark drew in a sharp breath as a very distinct feeling began to spread outward from that hand and up his arm – it was pain.
A burning pain quickly shot through Clark’s body – enveloping him entirely within a few seconds, and seemed to penetrate every nerve and every muscle from head to toe. It was so excruciating that he almost dropped the child from shock – but suddenly the pain was gone – as if it had never happened at all. Clark shook his head as everything seemed to blur around him. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again he knew everything had changed. He could just feel it... somehow his powers had returned.
“Clark?” He heard Oliver’s voice behind him. Oliver took one look at a lifeless Chloe and all the color drained from his face. “What happened?”
Clark didn’t answer. He simply stood up, turned around, and handed his tiny son to a confused Oliver.
“Get him somewhere safe,” Clark said sternly, placing his hand on Oliver’s shoulders. “I know Lex will be looking for him. You can’t let him find him.”
Oliver’s face was twisted with confusion and emotion. “Don’t worry Clark, I can make sure that you, Chloe, and this little guy are all safe from Lex…”
“No Oliver, there’s something I have to do, we’re not coming with you.” As he spoke, Clark picked up Chloe’s lifeless body in his arms. “No matter what happens you have to make sure he’s safe.”
“Clark what are you talking about? You have to come with me right now! Lex will hunt you down… Chloe is… well there’s nothing you can do for her now… she would want you to be with your son… you’re not thinking clearly!” Oliver protested as he held the swaddled baby awkwardly in his hands.
“Promise me!” Clark barked at Oliver, “Promise me you’ll keep him safe.”
“I promise Clark, but what are you gonna do? You can’t…”
And suddenly with a whoosh of air - Clark and Chloe both vanished. The nurse in the room screamed and fainted dead away. And although completely taken off guard by Clark’s sudden rejuvenation and simultaneous departure, Oliver didn’t hesitate for a second. He concealed the tiny baby inside his jacket and took off down the hall as fast as he could without running.
“Stop!” another nurse cried, “Someone call security!”
She started to chase him down the hallway. But when she turned around the corner, Oliver was gone.
…
Eight and ½ Months Earlier
When Clark entered Chloe’s apartment that day she was watching her laptop and sobbing. He heard Lana’s happy laughter coming from the laptop speakers…
“Next time, we are taking a Taxi…” Lana voice emanated from the video, echoing like a ghost in the room.
Chloe tried in vain to wipe away the tears that would not stop flowing down her face.
“Chloe?” Clark’s concerned voice broke through her trance.
She turned toward him with a sigh. “It’s really hard to concentrate when Lana was here one minute and now she’s just …” her voice broke with a sob. “I’m so sorry Clark,” she finished, rushing to embrace him, her arms flying around his neck as he leaned down to hold her.
Clark could feel her shaking - invisible sobs rippled through her petite frame like waves. She held onto him for dear life. Her tender affection slammed into his heart like a wrecking ball – knocking a fatal crack in the Jericho sized wall he had hid his emotions behind. He blinked hard to keep the tears at bay.
Clark felt Chloe’s breath on his neck, as hot as the tears that fell from her face. Her heart was pounding like a snare drum in his brain. He closed his eyes and for a nanosecond let himself surrender to the feel of her body against his, the sound of her heart, the warmth of her breath. For an instant the pain in his chest began to fade. He wished he could just dissolve into her and lose himself.
Reality fought its way back as he tried desperately to steel himself against the onslaught of emotions.
But as he held onto Chloe, Clark could still see Lana’s picture, frozen on Chloe’s laptop screen – haunting him, as he knew she always would. The image of Lana's death certificate still burned in his mind. Clark’s rage rose up like a rush of burning lava in his chest – but he forced it back down. He didn’t want to feel anything right now, he couldn’t… not yet. He knew that with the Phantom out there he was on borrowed time; the battle was not won yet.
“There’s a lot more people that could get hurt right now…” Clark said, watery eyes blinking.
“Yeah,” Chloe said, placing a hand tenderly on his cheek, “denial should be our friend right now.”
And then she leaned in to give him one last hug. “But I’m here for you Clark – if you need
to talk… when you’re ready…”
What Chloe did next she could not explain later. She just felt drawn to Clark, she could see the agony in his eyes; she felt it too. And she could see that he was fighting furiously for control over his emotions.
So as she pulled back from their embrace, she titled her head towards him, grazing her teary cheek against his face, and pressed her lips tenderly against his - for just a split second. She meant it to be completely platonic, comforting, and reassuring. But it wasn’t.
Chloe’s lips were still wet from her tears, and as Clark’s lips touched hers, another tear rolled down her cheek and onto his. Chloe should have known better, especially after what had just happened with Lois in the Reeves Dam tunnel, but in the moment all she could feel was love for Clark as her heart broke at the thought of all he must be suffering.
For an instant Clark was taken aback – pulling away from her with wide-eyed shock. But then Chloe noticed his eyes dropped down to her mouth – then shot quickly back up again – staring at her with a panicked expression that was both pleading, confused and questioning all at once. Chloe became alarmed as a strange, yet familiar warmth begin to spread out from her body, and tendrils of white light seemed to stretch out and envelop both her and Clark in a brilliant cocoon of energy.
And suddenly Chloe realized that Clark's lips were on hers again.
...
To jump to section 2 click here
Premise: (A rewrite of the show from episode 7-01, focusing mainly on Clark & Chloe) After Lana is supposedly murdered by Lex, Clark and Chloe turn to each other in their grief and a child is the result. But when their enemies conspire to unearth Clark's secret and steal their child - there is no where for Clark and his new family to hide. It is a story about finding happily ever after when there is no where left to go.
[Although it's angsty here & there, I promise it will be worth it and have a happy/satisfying ending if you'll hang in there with me.]
Timeline: Although not told in a linear fashion, time-wise the beginning of the story takes place at the very beginning of season seven, right after Chloe comes back from the dead after healing Lois & discovers that Lana was "killed" in the car bomb, although I actually start the story about 8 1/2 months after that day.
Description: An Alternate Reality Chlark (Clark & Chloe) fan fiction. This is kind of a reboot/rewrite of my "The End is The Beginning" serial fic that I never finished. But I promise to finish this one - it's much better, much more concise, and is also very loosely based on the "Breathe Me" video by Ferdalump. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWAk7...91A9725DD0D7C9; but the rewrite was inspired by this vid by talia170 "Love Song Reqium" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwijd8wUI0E which I HIGHLY recommend watching ASAP!! One last thing: because it is a rewrite, there may be a few scenes that are the same - although this will be VERY rare because it is basically a whole new story - just about a similiar concept - and told completely differently. Hope you enjoy...
Rating: PG-13/R for now, if it gets much worse I'll move the thread to the Adult section or link those updates to an adult thread, we'll see...
Disclaimer: I obviously do not own any of the characters, names, places, etc. Smallville, Superman & all characters belong to the WB, DC Comics, the CW - which is why we are forced to try and salvage these wonderful characters and this amazing ship ourselves...
Subscriptions: If anyone wants me to PM or email you personally with the link each time I post an update let me know (PM me) it sure beats digging through comments for the updates
Thanks for reading.Links To Sections:
Part One/Month One:
Ch I.
Section 1 is below
Section 2 pt 1
Section 2 pt 2 & Section 3 (PG13 Version, Original is in Adult Thread)
Section 3 pt 2
Section 4
Ch II.
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Ch III.
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Ch. IV
Section 1 & 2
Section 3
Ch. V
Section 1
Section 2
Ch. VI
Section 1
Section 2
Part Two/Month Two:
Ch. I
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Ch. II
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Ch. III
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Ch. IV Coming soon...
.................................................. .................................................. ...........................................
The Origins of Helaku
Part One
I.
Clark sat on a blue metal chair in the hospital room, head in hand, the last few moments ringing through his head like a broken record.
“Time of death, 12:43am,” the doctor had said, his voice sounded far off, as if it came from the end of a very long tunnel.
“No, no – she’s not dead – she’s not,” a distraught Clark had insisted, cradling Chloe’s limp blonde head against his chest, “you don’t understand, she’s not really dead – she’ll come back – she just needs more time…”
“I’m sorry son, your wife lost a lot of blood after the delivery, no one could have survived that…” The nurse put a comforting hand cautiously on Clark’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry for your loss, but you really need to accept what’s happened, she is gone, she’s not coming back. You need to be there for your son now.”
You’re wrong! You don’t know anything! Clark silently raged back against the little nurse’s assertions, Chloe’s going to be fine, I just need to get here out of here. He leaned over the hospital bed, scooping up her tiny body into his arms. She was so light, so cold.
Clark’s mind was spinning a million miles an hour. Everything had gone terribly wrong. She wasn’t supposed to deliver so early, not here in Smallville, and not now when they were so close to finally finding a way out of the tangled mess they were in. He had to get her out of here now, but he couldn’t leave their baby. He was sure Lex already had someone en route. He knew he only had minutes.
Where is Oliver! He screamed silently to himself. Something’s gone wrong, something’s gone wrong - I just know it…
Clark desperately wished that he could super-speed Chloe and their son far away from Smallville, from Lex, from everything – but his powers had been gone for so long he almost forgot what it felt like to vanish into thin air at a whim. But he would if he could, he told himself, and he wouldn’t care if anyone saw. He ground his teeth as his whole body convulsed with anger. He hated this, feeling powerless, being dependant on Oliver, on everyone, even on Chloe.
Chloe.
He looked down at her face cradled against his shoulders. Her skin was turning a grayish blue. His stomach turned as rage and denial roared up from his chest, burning the back of his eyes with the threat of tears that he refused to shed.
“I know what you did Chloe, I know what you did for our son,” He whispered almost silently into her ear, knowing she could hear him somehow.
Clark looked over at the hospital bassinette in the corner of the room. The nurses were still hovering over the tiny wrinkled and crying infant – who only a few minutes ago had been silent and lifeless. He remembered Chloe’s horrified face when the long awaited moment had come…
“Push honey, PUSH!” The nurse had cried. Clark squeezed Chloe’s hand encouragingly, his other hand holding her knee to her chest.
“I AM pushing you Bi… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” And with one last push and a scream that could have broken glass, Chloe Sullivan saw the person she had been waiting almost nine months to meet.
“Congrats,” the doctor said, “It’s a boy, he’s…”
But then there was total silence, and with one look at the tiny purplish colored baby – she knew…
At first Clark didn’t understand what was happening. The nurses swept the baby away into a corner, busily poking and prodding – but the deafening silence seemed to go on forever …
“Chloe?” He heard his questioning voice but it didn’t sound like him – it was scratchy and high pitched. Chloe didn’t look at Clark, she just held her hands out toward her baby boy.
“Give him to me,” she demanded. Clark thought her voice sounded strong, steady even.
“I’m so sorry, but we really should…” the nurse tried to argue but Chloe wouldn’t hear of it.
“No – just give him to me, I don’t care, I need to hold him.” Chloe insisted, and the nurse reluctantly obliged, swaddling him quickly and then laying down the tiny blue bundle into Chloe’s arms.
Clark remembered looking down that tiny face, so beautiful, every detail from his little nose and pink mouth, to his eye lashes and a smattering of wispy blonde hair. He looked like an angel.
Clark couldn’t get it to register, or understand why this perfect little baby was so silent and unmoving, he could not accept what was happening – it was too horrible for words and nothing seemed real.
My son, he remembered thinking, he’s my son…
Clark remembered Chloe looking up at him then, her green eyes full of tears but also of joy and love – he didn’t understand why but he felt like she was trying to say something to him…
But then she leaned over their baby, shoulder length blonde hair cascading like a curtain over the tiny body, and sobbing - she let her tears flow freely onto his motionless face. Suddenly, there was a burst of bright light that seemed to come from everywhere at once. Clark instinctively closed his eyes and heard the light bulbs exploding, and tiny shards of glass were raining down all around them.
He instinctively threw himself over Chloe to protect her, but the minute he touched her he felt something was wrong. And suddenly he heard something that filled him simultaneously with both indescribable joy and horror.
Their baby was crying. He was screaming like his life depended on it, a high shrill wail that ripped through the stunned silence in the room. And Clark immediately understood what had happened. But before he had a chance to react, the nurses had snatched the baby out of Chloe’s limp arms – hurriedly rushing him back into the corner.
“Oh no! Doctor! Come quick! She’s hemorrhaging!” A nurse cried out – and the focus quickly shifted to Chloe. In seconds the room was full of nurses and more medical carts as the doctor barked out orders loudly into the hallway.
But it all sounded muffled and far off to Clark, who was frozen - transfixed on Chloe’s face. It was the same color their son’s had been moments ago. He could tell she wasn’t breathing. He knew what she had done.
Someone was shaking Clark's shoulder, bringing him back to the present. It was the same nurse, and she was holding something out to him. It was the baby. Without thinking Clark reached out and took the child, who almost fit in the palm of his hand, and cradled him against his chest. He looked down into tiny bright green eyes that looked sleepily up at him through swollen lids, and the illusion was shattered. This was no dream – it was all too real – and his heart was ripped to a million pieces as he realized that Chloe may not be coming back. Tremors of silent sobs began to resonate from deep inside his chest, but they never had a chance to overtake him.
He felt a tiny hand curl tightly around his pinky, and looked down to see his son’s hand had escaped the swaddling blanket. Clark drew in a sharp breath as a very distinct feeling began to spread outward from that hand and up his arm – it was pain.
A burning pain quickly shot through Clark’s body – enveloping him entirely within a few seconds, and seemed to penetrate every nerve and every muscle from head to toe. It was so excruciating that he almost dropped the child from shock – but suddenly the pain was gone – as if it had never happened at all. Clark shook his head as everything seemed to blur around him. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again he knew everything had changed. He could just feel it... somehow his powers had returned.
“Clark?” He heard Oliver’s voice behind him. Oliver took one look at a lifeless Chloe and all the color drained from his face. “What happened?”
Clark didn’t answer. He simply stood up, turned around, and handed his tiny son to a confused Oliver.
“Get him somewhere safe,” Clark said sternly, placing his hand on Oliver’s shoulders. “I know Lex will be looking for him. You can’t let him find him.”
Oliver’s face was twisted with confusion and emotion. “Don’t worry Clark, I can make sure that you, Chloe, and this little guy are all safe from Lex…”
“No Oliver, there’s something I have to do, we’re not coming with you.” As he spoke, Clark picked up Chloe’s lifeless body in his arms. “No matter what happens you have to make sure he’s safe.”
“Clark what are you talking about? You have to come with me right now! Lex will hunt you down… Chloe is… well there’s nothing you can do for her now… she would want you to be with your son… you’re not thinking clearly!” Oliver protested as he held the swaddled baby awkwardly in his hands.
“Promise me!” Clark barked at Oliver, “Promise me you’ll keep him safe.”
“I promise Clark, but what are you gonna do? You can’t…”
And suddenly with a whoosh of air - Clark and Chloe both vanished. The nurse in the room screamed and fainted dead away. And although completely taken off guard by Clark’s sudden rejuvenation and simultaneous departure, Oliver didn’t hesitate for a second. He concealed the tiny baby inside his jacket and took off down the hall as fast as he could without running.
“Stop!” another nurse cried, “Someone call security!”
She started to chase him down the hallway. But when she turned around the corner, Oliver was gone.
…
When Clark entered Chloe’s apartment that day she was watching her laptop and sobbing. He heard Lana’s happy laughter coming from the laptop speakers…
“Next time, we are taking a Taxi…” Lana voice emanated from the video, echoing like a ghost in the room.
Chloe tried in vain to wipe away the tears that would not stop flowing down her face.
“Chloe?” Clark’s concerned voice broke through her trance.
She turned toward him with a sigh. “It’s really hard to concentrate when Lana was here one minute and now she’s just …” her voice broke with a sob. “I’m so sorry Clark,” she finished, rushing to embrace him, her arms flying around his neck as he leaned down to hold her.
Clark could feel her shaking - invisible sobs rippled through her petite frame like waves. She held onto him for dear life. Her tender affection slammed into his heart like a wrecking ball – knocking a fatal crack in the Jericho sized wall he had hid his emotions behind. He blinked hard to keep the tears at bay.
Clark felt Chloe’s breath on his neck, as hot as the tears that fell from her face. Her heart was pounding like a snare drum in his brain. He closed his eyes and for a nanosecond let himself surrender to the feel of her body against his, the sound of her heart, the warmth of her breath. For an instant the pain in his chest began to fade. He wished he could just dissolve into her and lose himself.
Reality fought its way back as he tried desperately to steel himself against the onslaught of emotions.
But as he held onto Chloe, Clark could still see Lana’s picture, frozen on Chloe’s laptop screen – haunting him, as he knew she always would. The image of Lana's death certificate still burned in his mind. Clark’s rage rose up like a rush of burning lava in his chest – but he forced it back down. He didn’t want to feel anything right now, he couldn’t… not yet. He knew that with the Phantom out there he was on borrowed time; the battle was not won yet.
“There’s a lot more people that could get hurt right now…” Clark said, watery eyes blinking.
“Yeah,” Chloe said, placing a hand tenderly on his cheek, “denial should be our friend right now.”
And then she leaned in to give him one last hug. “But I’m here for you Clark – if you need
to talk… when you’re ready…”
What Chloe did next she could not explain later. She just felt drawn to Clark, she could see the agony in his eyes; she felt it too. And she could see that he was fighting furiously for control over his emotions.
So as she pulled back from their embrace, she titled her head towards him, grazing her teary cheek against his face, and pressed her lips tenderly against his - for just a split second. She meant it to be completely platonic, comforting, and reassuring. But it wasn’t.
Chloe’s lips were still wet from her tears, and as Clark’s lips touched hers, another tear rolled down her cheek and onto his. Chloe should have known better, especially after what had just happened with Lois in the Reeves Dam tunnel, but in the moment all she could feel was love for Clark as her heart broke at the thought of all he must be suffering.
For an instant Clark was taken aback – pulling away from her with wide-eyed shock. But then Chloe noticed his eyes dropped down to her mouth – then shot quickly back up again – staring at her with a panicked expression that was both pleading, confused and questioning all at once. Chloe became alarmed as a strange, yet familiar warmth begin to spread out from her body, and tendrils of white light seemed to stretch out and envelop both her and Clark in a brilliant cocoon of energy.
And suddenly Chloe realized that Clark's lips were on hers again.
...
To jump to section 2 click here
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