The Earth Stood Still

Rating: PG-13
Characters: Chloe Sullivan/Clark Kent
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Smallville.
Description: One moment can change the world.

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Part I:

Sunlight splashed through the windows against the pale white walls. A cool breeze blew unhindered through the opened balcony doors. Unseasonably cold for mid-August and the faint smell of moisture wafting along indicated a storm was on the way.

Silence bounced off the walls of the sun-drenched living room. Chloe Sullivan leaned against the opposite wall watching best friend Clark Kent adjust her couch and chair set. A small smile curled the corners of her mouth sardonically when she heard him grunting.

"Tired, Clark?"

A loaded question if ever there was one, since Clark didn't get tired…or at least not physically exhausted like most humans. He could toss a tractor like a baseball, lifting a couch was nothing compared to that. Clark was an alien from a distant galaxy. His home world was on the verge of destruction and he was sent to earth by his parents in an effort to save him. He'd come down with a hail of meteors that over the years had strange effects on the inhabitants of their town. Chloe, herself, had thought him to be infected for a while after learning of his extraordinary abilities, but had come to find that he was an alien and that his powers came from earth's yellow sun.

Clark's green eyes shifted over stealthily, pinning her with an annoyed glance. "Annoyed ismore like it." he growled. "I've moved this couch five times, Chlo. Pick a spot already."

Chloe's smile grew wider at the hint of annoyance in Clark's voice. There was very little they fought over; in fact, they rarely fought at all. They snarked, of course, Chloe unable to keep the sarcastic comments locked firmly behind her lips and Clark simply couldn't help the rebuttal that spilled from his own. When they did fight, which was a major event for two people who often thought along the same lines, the only emotional twinge in his voice would be pain and anger. There wouldn't even be annoyance in his eyes. He'd look at her, wounded, before the cold steel filtered into his green eyes and harden them.

So the fact now that he was showing annoyance in both his eyes and voice amused her a bit. Even more after she shared a glance with their long-time friend and new Metropolis resident Pete Ross. Pete returned her sarcastic gaze from the barstool he occupied in front of her kitchen, and seemed to shrug carelessly. He'd changed from the boy Chloe had known. Still handsome and charming, his facial features maturing, morphing boy into man. She'd missed him when he and his mother, a federal judge, moved to Wichita at the end of their eleventh grade year. Looking at him now, the young determined man before her, remembering the boy he once was, she realized just how much she had missed him and how happy she was that he was now a part of her and Clark's lives once again.

He'd attended a community college in Wichita for two years and studied abroad for a year before transferring to Metropolis University to complete his undergraduate course study in Political Science. Chloe had the sneaking suspicion that the one time he'd interned in the mayor's office in Smallville had a deep impact on his life.

She herself was also going to complete her undergraduate coursework this year in Journalism, as she really had no other dream that mattered as much as being a reporter. To bring truth and justice to the public. It's something she's worked her entire life for. In high school, she was editor of their high school newspaper. She'd worked furiously to get an internship one summer and somehow got it, beating out nearly five hundred other students. She'd struck a deal with the devil, or someone awfully close to being the devil, at the end of tenth grade. She didn't like to think about that time. Didn't like to think that she let her hurt pride cloud her judgment and betray her best friend. She didn't betray him of course, found she never could since he meant more to her than anything, but the action itself, the moment of weakness as she called it showed her a different side to herself. A side she never wanted to see again. It also further strained the already wounded relationship between her and Clark.

They'd fought their way back somehow. And if she was asked to explain why they had, Chloe knew she couldn't give you an answer. She often wondered herself why they'd stayed friends for so long, even through all the hurt and pain. She wondered why they meant so much to each other and somehow…always ended up back where they started. Back to the center of their relationship, the very foundation that held them together.

They trusted each other.

She trusted him with her life…and over time, he'd come to trust her with his. Clark knew without a shadow of a doubt that Chloe wouldn't hesitate to throw herself into anything if it meant saving someone she cared about. But that wasn't what it meant for Clark to trust someone with his life. Chloe knew his secret. She knew his true identity, his abilities, and all the other things that went along with that. Having information such as that could not only put him in danger, it put her in danger as well. The secret was his life. It shaped everything about him. Showed him who to trust and who not to trust.

Told him who he could rely on in times of need when he was feeling overwhelmed.

And the answer was always her.

He knew Chloe rising to meet the challenge shouldn't have surprised him. It was just the type of person she was. Nevertheless, it did surprise him. Surprised him even more when she seemed amazed by his abilities. The abilities he thought were a curse, a block from his ultimate goal of fitting into this world, she thought was simply amazing. And she looked at him as if he was amazing. But before he could latch on to the thought that she was looking at him that way because of the abilities, he reminded himself she always looked at him that way. That she looked at him that way as Clark. She'd always look at him as Clark, and that thought was more comforting than anything. He didn't want to be different in her eyes…he always wanted her to look at him as her best friend.

And she did.

They'd been through so much together. A series of defining moments strung together in a lifetime that seemed to lead up to some miraculous point. Chloe couldn't quite figure out the destination. Couldn't quite see the bigger picture, but that was okay, she was enjoying the journey.

"Uh-oh." Pete's voice broke into her hazy thoughts. Her eyes focused on him and she found him smiling at her. He shared a glance with Clark, the smile taking a more teasing shape before saying, "She's reminiscing again."

Chloe rolled her eyes at his comment, but couldn't help the smile. She didn't deny his claim as she walked over and sat on the couch next to Clark. She couldn't help the images of him changing over the years that came before her. From the short, scrawny boy she kissed in eighth grade to the strapping, painfully handsome man who sat before her. He'd gone back to college to complete his freshman year the semester Chloe started her sophomore year. He'd dropped out once his father died in order to restore balance to the universe. Chloe batted away dark feelings as the memory washed over her. Clark had been torturing himself for weeks after that. Felt that it was his fault since he'd begged his biological father Jor-El to allow him to go back in time and save the girl he loved, Lana Lang. Clark knew he had a destiny that would be fulfilled whether he liked it or not. Try as he might to outrun it, fate always had a way of stepping in. Chloe couldn't imagine the anguish he felt at knowing his choices resulted in the death of the only father he'd ever known. It tarnished everything from that point on and he never viewed the world the same way again.

He'd let go of the idea that he could save everyone. It didn't stop him from trying though. He would always help those who needed it. It wasn't the Kryptonian in him that drove him to do that, nor was it the humanity he so desperately tried to obtain. It was something wholly Clark. Clark Kent was a man who couldn't sit idly by and watch those around him suffering. He couldn't stand to watch the world around him shift to darkness. It simply was not a part of who he was.

He'd changed his major when he went back to school. Majoring in journalism like Chloe had. She'd smiled at him and asked him why he suddenly decided to become a journalist and he smiled back briefly before replying. Asking her if she remembered back in high school when he ran for a class office and she asked him what his platform was. He answered her question easily now, citing the answer he couldn't complete back then.

Truth, justice and the American way.

She'd smiled at him, not saying a single word, and they'd spent the rest of the night in a comfortable silence where neither…needed to say a word at all.

Clark and Pete weren't the only ones who'd changed, she'd changed as well. She'd been granted a job at the Daily Planet, the newspaper she's wanted to work at since as far back as she can remember, in their first year of college. She'd been fired after she reneged on her deal with the devil, but didn't give up. She couldn't give up. Working at the Daily Planet was a biological need as far as Chloe was concerned. She was on a mission to save the world by uncovering the truths others wanted buried…and she would never stop. She was overjoyed when Pauline Khan, editor-in-chief, hired her. She had to prove herself to be hired, but Chloe Sullivan never backed down from a challenge. It paid off and she got in on the ground floor of her dream. The basement actually, but it was a start.

She'd matured into womanhood as well as she walked the long journey to becoming the type of reporter she wanted to be. The in-your-face tactics of the teenage girl had morphed into the subtle flirtations of a beautiful woman. She still brought out the harsh tactics when needed, especially if she felt she was being stonewalled. She'd allowed her hair to go back to its natural brown color, falling just past her shoulders right now in a mass of curls. Her own features, she's noticed as she looked to herself in the mirror now, had changed from teenager to those of a beautiful young woman. Her hazel-green eyes still held the same spark they always had and it seemed to grow brighter with every passing year.

"So, uh," - it was Clark's voice now that cut into her reverie. He waved a hand in front of her eyes, and she playfully pushed it away with a wide grin. "About that payment you promised?"

The corners of her mouth turned up in a playful, teasing smile. "Payment?"

"Yeah. You promised Pete and I payment for helping you move into your new apartment." Clark's gaze shifted to Pete accusingly. "Though, if I recall, I did most of the heavy lifting myself."

Pete grinned, relaxed under Clark's glare. "Well I figured since you're so much better at it than I am, I'd stay out of your way." Clark's gaze softened and he laughed softly. "And I did help carry the couch out of the truck. But only because it would look awfully strange for one man to be carrying a couch like it weighed nothing at all."

Clark scoffed and shared a glance with Chloe. "Okay, since you did help - a little - your entitlement to payment has been reinstated."

It was Chloe's turn to scoff. "And here I thought you both helped me out of the kindness of your hearts." she snarked. "What do you expect me to pay you, Clark? My internship just turned to a paid internship this week. The money from my Uncle Sam is paying for rent this month."

"That TV over there is looking kind of nice." Clark replied with a grin and a point to the wide-screen TV placed in her entertainment center in front of them.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Don't even think about it, farm boy." she teased. "That was a gift from your mom and I'm not parting with it."

"I know it was a gift. I'm the one who suggested it." he replied as he reached over and pinched her side. "I just didn't think she'd get you something bigger than the one she got me."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Do you realize how childish you sound right now?"

Clark shrugged carelessly. "What can I say; hunger does that to a man."

"Amen to that." Pete retorted as he plopped down in the chair opposite them. "Do you have anything in here to eat, Chlo? I'm starving."

She made a rude sound. "Men. All you think about is food and women." They both graced her with identical smiles and she rolled her eyes. "No, Peter, there is no food here yet. We're supposed to go grocery shopping after we rearrange my furniture." They both groaned as their smiles turned to frowns. "I suppose pizza could be your payment and we could go shopping later."

Both boys liked the idea as their smiles came back. Chloe crawled off the couch to retrieve the carryout number from the kitchen. Pete and Clark struck up a conversation as she ordered the food.

"Delivery in twenty." Chloe said when she returned. Surveying the room, "I guess we could unpack some of my things while we wait."

Clark and Pete, both, opened their mouths to protest. Both very comfortable where they were, but the glance they received from Chloe told them it was not an option.

"Nice to see some things never change." Pete mumbled as she climbed off the chair. He noticed the way Clark was watching Chloe and smiled. "Nice to see that some things do." he replied a little bit softer.