Spoilers: Seasons 6 & 7
Summary: AU. Chloe seeks out a new life in Star City, far from the painful reminders of her life in Smallville. Set around seasons 6 & 7
Author Note: Originally i was not going to even start posting this fic until I had completed it, but I have the feeling that I need the pressure of not letting people down to push on with writing. I am easily distracted at the moment to this is me taking a stand! All comments and reviews are appreciated. In fact they are encouraged. Feed the author! Keep her happy!
It was the awful realisation that she just wasn't important enough to those she loved anymore that spurs her decision. Despite almost always coming in second place she still felt as though she was loved. Not forgotten in people's affections, just misplaced. Chloe wasn't sure if things had changed or if she had just been to naïve in the first place, but she knew that she was barely a blip on the radar anymore.
It had all started when she died. Somehow her freak powers had kicked in while clutching her dying cousin, leaving her the one laying in the morgue instead of her cousin. Clark had come to her rescue, freeing her from a refrigerated nightmare, only to slip back into the world of Lana.
Chloe had been devastated when she found out that her friend had been killed, but Clark's pain out shone her own and distanced himself from everyone in his grief. When they discovered that she had in fact faked her own death and was very much alive she was just shut out from Clark's life in a different way. Finally together, Clark and Lana's epic romance took centre stage and unfortunately for Chloe she was just not a priority anymore. Lana hadn't said a single word to her since returning. You would have thought that after everything they had been through she could spare her apparent best friend a kind word or hello.
Jimmy had been her solace in the past. The one person who made her feel adored just for being her, not just for what she could do for him. It was her biggest regret that the secrets and lies in her life had come between them, effectively ending their relationship. A small part of her had harboured the hope that he would accept her meteor ability but that hope had been shattered by the arrival of Clark's cousin Kara. It seemed as if fate had deemed that the Kent family would always play a part in breaking her heart. She had to bite back the tears when she saw them walking along hand in hand. Chloe felt as though her last chance of a normal relationship had slipped through her fingers. She would never be called 'Bright Eyes' again.
When it felt as if she had been abandoned by her friends in the past Chloe had always felt her family was there for her. Things had changed in the last few years, and Chloe was starting to feel the effects more than ever now. Her father had moved on, finally leaving the ghost of her mother behind him. It didn't matter that she was still alive and institutionalised, Gabe Sullivan wanted to move on with his life, and that life didn't involve Chloe. Instead it involved a house in the suburbs of Ohio, a new wife and a couple of step children.
Lois had discovered the truth about what had happened in the dam. Chloe was a meteor freak, and it seemed as if her cousin had trouble coming to terms with that. She had temporarily moved back to the Kent farm, citing financial difficulty, but Chloe really knew the truth. Lois had also managed to fall so easily into the job that Chloe had worked her whole life for, grabbing headlines and praise form the editor with little effort. Bitterness didn't suit Chloe and she really hated that she resented Lois' success.
Chloe just wanted to scream. She felt as though there was a hole in her chest and it was just growing bigger. It used to be filled with love and friends, but now it just seemed to be a badge of disappointment. She knew that they loved her in their own way, its just that she just wasn't important enough to hold their attention while their lives were running smoothly. There was no need for a go-to-girl while things were perfect.
But she was a fighter, she had never been one to give up. Being around all of this negativity was slowly starting to eat away at her, and she didn't want to one day look into the mirror and no longer recognise the person looking back at her. She was not some willowy little pink princess who waited in a tower for her own personal hero to rescue her from the dragon. She was Chloe Sullivan. She could kick the dragon's ass on her own.
This was how she came to the conclusion that she needed to be her own hero and save her own life. She needed away from Smallville, away from Metropolis, and away from the life that she had tried to build for herself here. It was time to be the Chloe she was always meant to be. A successful journalist in a city of her own just full of news waiting to be broken.
She sent out her resume to every major publication in the United States hoping that she would be considered for a position, even if it meant starting right back at the bottom again writing obituaries. It would be worth it, she just knew it. Away from budding heroes and cute photographic journalists with bow ties.
It turned out that life was not without its ironies. The first newspaper to respond and offer an interview had been the Star City Gazette. At first she had been reluctant to accept the interview knowing that Oliver Queen and his band of merry supermen were based out of this city, but there were so many reasons to say yes. The newspaper was well respected, the city was bright and exciting - so unlike the city of Gotham where she had also been offered an interview. The year round sunshine didn't make the place any less appealing either.
She took the interview and got the job. It was a large city and very unlikely that her path would ever cross with Oliver and his friends so she started the process of moving. That was now why she was sat on the floor of her apartment at the Talon surrounded by boxes.
There had been no messages when she returned from her interview in Star City, no notes left at her apartment, no communication of any kind left at the Daily Planet. She had been gone two days in total and had not been missed. So she had spent all day in the peace and quiet of her apartment gradually organising her life into bubble wrap, wondering if she just upped an left without telling anyone how long it would take them to notice. The thought hurt and she tried her best to ignore it.
She taped up a box of old photographs and books and sealed it shut with tape. Taking the large permanent marker she had 'borrowed' from the Planet's office supplies she began labelling it. Chloe would be forever grateful that she was driving a hire van to California. She had sold her trusty Yaris that morning as she wouldn't need it in Star City. She had found a small apartment in the city so she would no longer be making two hour commutes to and from work. The thought of an extra hour in bed in the mornings sounded really appealing.
It was the final box and the apartment seemed eerily incomplete. At least she only had to be in the apartment for one more day. Her editor had kindly offered to use Chloe's outstanding annual leave as her notice period so now she had six days paid leave instead of forcing her way through her week's notice. She would have plenty of time to settle her affairs, maybe even let a 'friend' or two know that she was leaving.
She had thought about writing Jimmy a letter but she didn't want to come across as needy. He had moved on and she didn't want to put herself in that position of vulnerability again. She would write Clark a letter. There was almost a small comfort in the predictability that he would be no where around when she finally said goodbye to her hometown.
Her laptop and printer were all safely packed away so she sat at Lois' desk and picked up a pen and paper. After more than a decade of friendship Chloe thought that she would be refraining from writing an essay of gigantic proportions. As it turns out Chloe could only think of a small paragraph, barely filling half the page. What do you say to someone that has cut you out of their life without even noticing?
She sealed the envelope and placed it on the kitchen counter. She would drop it off to the Kent farm in the morning before she left in the afternoon for Star City. She had to say she was looking forward to the one woman road trip, just her, open road and some really bad pop music on her iPod.
All that was left was Lois. Chloe had really wanted to say goodbye face to face, but it was looking increasingly unlikely. She hadn't responded to Chloe's messages and by the look of the time she would be spending another night at the Kent farm. Chloe had been the third wheel in Clark and Lana's relationship, she had no idea how that could appeal to Lois more than spending time with someone she had called her sister.
Chloe wiped a stray tear from her cheek as she began to pen Lois' letter. She asked for her cousin's acceptance and understanding. She hoped that the move would help to salvage her relationship with Lois, that the distance between them would allow Lois so space and hopefully some perspective. Family should accept each other no matter their differences - even if they were of a meteor kind.
Setting Lois' letter on the counter next to Clark's it all suddenly felt so final. Her life was packed and ready to go. She was really going to do this, there was nothing to hold her back anymore.
"Maybe I shouldn't wait." She said to herself. Her voice strangely echoed around the walls.
Would it really make a difference if she hand delivered the letter herself? She might as well leave the letter here to be found with Lois'. She would have to come back eventually for more clothes and she could give Clark's to him. Nothing was going to change her mind and she didn't really think her loved ones would put up a fight. Chloe knew that secretly a part of her wanted them to beg her to stay, to reconsider her decision, but she knew it would never happen.
Her determination was reinforced. So what if it was the middle of the night? It wasn't as if she would be able to sleep, her nightmares kept her too on edge to find any refuge in her own mind anymore. Chloe began picking up boxes and taking them downstairs to the empty Talon. It was easier moving all of the boxes downstairs before bringing the van around to the front.
In thirty-four minutes Chloe had packed up and was ready to go. She collected her handbag and jacket before taking a final look around the place. Leaving her door key beside the letters she turned and left the apartment for the last time.