Okay, this is a Missing Scene Fic that is set at the end of Scare. Thanks to Renee for repeatedly betaing this.

"You're right, Chloe." Clark spoke so softly that Chloe could barely hear him. "But I just don't know if I can."

Clark looked up at Chloe, indecision evident in his eyes. Chloe could see that he really wanted to tell her and try to take some of the burden off his weary shoulders, but was unsure if he could or should.

Chloe stood there in stunned silence. She couldn't believe she might actually be about to find out. Part of her desperately wanted to know what was going on. That was the reporter part of her, the part that normally didn't know when to stop and usually got her in trouble. But there was another part of her the concerned friend part who knew she shouldn't push the subject or he might bolt like a scared animal.

"It's not that I don't trust you it just seems like people who know my secret always get hurt, and I don't want that to happen to you." Clark continued. "Besides, I don't want to lose another friend."

Chloe was really puzzled now. What is he talking about? "What do you mean you don't want to lose another friend?"

"Pete," Clark replied sadly. "He had to leave town because of me."

"Wait a minute. I thought he left because his mom got that judgeship in Kansas City," Chloe stated, unsure.

"Pete really didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay here. But he felt that he couldn't after what happened. He left to protect me," Clark explained.

Chloe felt like she was really missing something big now. She'd known there was something going on, but it seemed to be bigger than she'd imagined.

"What happened?" she asked quietly as she sat down next to Clark, trying to give him comfort by her presence. She could see how upset he was.

"Pete was beaten up by the investigator that was working for Lex to try and put his father away."

"Why did he beat him up? Did Lex know about it?" Chloe started spitting out questions.

"No, Lex didn't know about it. He's the one who saved Pete. The investigator beat him up because he was also working for Lionel. He was trying to get information about me. He figured that since Pete was my best friend that he must know something," Clark said carefully.

"So, you've told Pete about whatever it is?" Chloe said, her voice getting slightly higher as she made a frustrated gesture.

"Yes, but please don't be mad at me because he knows and you don't," Clark replied, looking over at Chloe apologetically. "He just kinda stumbled into it and I had to tell him."

Part of Chloe was furious that Clark had let someone else in but not her. She felt like she'd been excluded from a secret club. She wanted to be mad at him, she really did. But when she looked at his eyes pleading her to be okay with it, she conceded.

"Okay, I'm not mad," she said with a slight smile.

"You want to know what my worst fear really is?" Clark asked. "That once someone finds out, they won't want to be around me anymore."

"You know nothing you tell me would make me think differently about you," Chloe said softly. "Remember Cyrus?"

"Yeah."

"Well, everyone thought he was nuts or weird when he said he was an alien," Chloe replied. "I thought it was cool. I said it would be a step up from humans."

"Oh, really?" Clark said, suddenly giving her a mischievous smile.

Chloe's reporter side was starting to really come out again and was thinking, This is good. Just get him to relax. Then he will tell you what is really going on.

"It's good to be able to talk to you, Chloe," Clark said, turning serious again.

"You don't have to worry about putting me in danger. I've put myself in enough dangerous spots without any help from you," Chloe replied, just as serious.

Well, she does have a point there. Clark thought.
Clark sat there struggling with whether to tell her the whole truth or not. He was worried about burdening her, but she was right about getting herself in trouble. He just didn't know what to do.

Chloe sat there like a kid on Christmas morning who couldn't wait to open her presents. She couldn't believe she might be about to find out the mystery that was Clark Kent.

Clark sat there lost in his thoughts. He didn't know whether to tell her or not. He knew what his parents' vote would be. He also vividly remembered what Pete had said about how hard it was on him to make sure and not slip up and say the wrong thing. But he was so extremely tired of lying to people. He hated lying to his friends. He wanted someone that he could talk to about anything besides his parents.

"Chloe, remember when you investigated my adoption and found that I was the only one adopted by the agency that Lionel set up, and then it closed down right after I was adopted?"

Chloe nodded her head, listening intently to everything Clark said. "Yeah, as I recall you got quite upset about that."

Clark blushed slightly. "Yeah. Sorry about that. You'll understand why I got so upset in a little bit. Before I say anything else I don't know if Lionel knows anything about me or not. If he does, he's figured it out on his own, not because of me."

Clark took a breath and then continued, "The reason that the adoption agency only adopted me out was opened and was closed by Lionel is because he was repaying my father for helping him out the day of the meteor shower." Clark shifted and turned to face Chloe.

"That day, my dad helped Lionel get Lex to the hospital. Lionel told my dad if he could do anything to help my dad in the future, he would."

"That certainly doesn't sound like Lionel," Chloe said in disgust.

"Well, there were some strings attached to the offer; my dad just didn't know that at the time," Clark replied. "But that's another discussion."

Chloe decided to let that go. "Okay, but that still doesn't explain why your parents had to go through Lionel Luthor to adopt you."

"My parents found me the day of the meteor shower and . . . Well, they couldn't exactly use traditional methods of adoption for me," Clark replied.

"What do you mean they found you? And why couldn't they use traditional means?" asked Chloe warily.

"My dad says that they didn't find me," Clark stalled. "That I found them."

"Um, that didn't answer my question," Chloe stated as she looked up at Clark in bewilderment.

Clark took a deep breath. There's no turning back now. "What my dad says happened was that they had been to town and were on their way home, when something came streaking across the road out of the sky. There was a large plume of smoke behind it. My dad tried to miss the smoke but couldn't, and the truck hit a ditch and flipped over. When my dad looked out the side window he saw me standing in the field next to the truck."

"Okay, so why were you out in a field all by yourself?" Chloe asked, baffled. That was the only question that she was able to ask at that moment, but there were several more swirling around in her head. Where were your parents? Why hadn't your parents gotten you inside earlier? Why weren't you hurt?

Clark continued on with the story. "My parents crawled out of the truck and my mom grabbed a blanket from inside. She wrapped me up while they looked to see where I had come from."

"And?" Chloe was becoming impatient with the way Clark was dragging out the story.

"They continued to walk down this ditch in the field until they found my my ship," Clark said, unsure of how Chloe would take the bombshell that we would be dropping on her. He waited nervously for her response.

At first it didn't sink in with Chloe. Then she began to rewind what Clark had just said.

"What did you just say?" Chloe asked hesitantly, cocking her head
"I said they found my ship," Clark repeated, trying to guess what was probably going on inside Chloe's head. He watched her, hopeful that she would not freak out on him the same way that Pete had.

"And just what kind of ship are we talking about here?" Chloe asked cautiously, her mind not wanting to accept what her ears were hearing.

"A space ship," Clark responded slowly, still watching Chloe carefully to see what she was going to do.

"So, that makes you . . ." Chloe was unable to finish the sentence.

"An alien," Clark finished for her, gently.

Chloe quickly stood up. "Clark Kent, if this is some kind of joke or you are making fun of me, I don't like it," she said, getting angry.

"I'm not joking, Chloe," Clark said seriously.

Chloe's mind seemed to be going at top speed. He is serious. I can't believe it! He is actually serious. Woah! This is huge

Clark watched Chloe as she seemed to digest what he had just told her. "Chloe, are you okay?"

Chloe didn't respond immediately; she was still in shock. "What?" she finally stammered. "Yeah, I'm okay. Wow!" Now her words were all running together. "So can you do stuff?"

"Let me show you," Clark said, grinning.

Clark walked over to the heavy set of filing cabinets in the corner of the room and effortlessly picked them up with one hand.
"Wow!" That was all Chloe seemed to manage to say now.

Clark blushed, and then he seemed to disappear before her eyes.

"Clark? Where did you . . ." Chloe paused as Clark reappeared in front of her, holding a daisy that he had picked outside of the school.

"For you," Clark said as he handed the flower to Chloe.

"So, that's how you do it," Chloe mused as the proverbial light bulb seemed to appear above her head.

"Do what?"

"All those times when I would be talking to you and then you would just vanish," she responded as the pieces to the puzzle seemed to fall into place in her head.

"Oh," Clark replied, amused.

"Is there more?" Chloe said. She felt giddy with excitement.

"Yeah." Chloe then watched as Clark seemed to be staring intently at the wall. "John and Paul are playing basketball outside."

Chloe ran over to the window and looked at the basketball court and indeed saw the boys playing ball. "How did you . . ."

"X-ray vision. I can see right through things. Well, most things anyway," Clark replied.

Chloe thought for a second and then her face turned bright red. Clark saw Chloe blushing furiously and quickly added, "It only works when I concentrate and I don't use it to invade people's privacy."

Chloe let out a sigh of relief. "You said you can see through most things. What can't you see through?"

"Lead. It's the only thing that I can't see through," Clark said. "Hey, Chloe, how's your coffee?"

"It was really good, but it's cold now. Why are you concerned about my coffee?" Chloe asked, bewildered, as she looked from her coffee to Clark.

"Take the lid off," Clark replied.

"Okay." She removed the lid as she watched Clark stare intently at her coffee cup.

"I hope it's not too hot for you."

"What?" Chloe didn't understand until she picked up the cup and realized the sides of the cup were warm. When she lifted the cup to her face, she couldn't believe her eyes. There was steam coming from it. She cautiously took a sip. "Wow! That's just the temperature I like it! Don't tell me you warmed my coffee by just looking at it!

"Yeah, that's my heat vision," Clark said.

"My own personal microwave. You could've really come in handy when I've been here late working on the Torch." They both laughed.

"So, is that all?" Chloe asked. She was beyond stunned and was not going to assume anything.

"Almost. I can also hear better than anyone else. I can hear a conversation down the hall or across the street. But, it only works when I focus," Clark said. "Last thing, remember when they had the blood drive a while back and Lana wanted me to donate blood. I told her I couldn't because I was scared of needles. That wasn't the real reason."

"You didn't want them to find out about you," Chloe stated.

"Yeah, well, that too. But they wouldn't have been able to draw my blood even if I had wanted them to."

"Why not?"

"The needles would've broken. They wouldn't have pierced my skin."

"So, what are you saying you can't get hurt? But I remember Eric Summers throwing you through the air. You broke some ribs. Then there was that time you were sick and I came to visit you," Chloe reminded him.

"Well, I'm almost invulnerable. You know your friends the meteors which produced all your Wall of Weird material." Clark paused for a moment before continuing. "They are the only thing that can hurt me."

Chloe's eyes went between Clark and her Wall of Weird. "Are you from the same place they came from?"

"Yes. That's why everything bad that has happened since then is my fault," Clark said sadly.

Chloe sat down again right next to Clark. "Everything is not your fault. You had no control over what happened. You were just a small child," she said soothingly.

"But if I hadn't come to Smallville . . ." Clark paused again.

"Then I would've never been able to meet you," Chloe said softly as she leaned in and kissed him. After a moment she pulled back. "Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah, I do." Clark smiled.

"Good," Chloe replied, a smile stretched across her own face.

"Ohhhhh! Do I get to see the ship!" Chloe almost bounced up and down with excitement. "That would be so cool!"

Clark cringed. "No, sorry. I - I blew it up."

"Why?" Chloe inquired.

"That's a whole different discussion. Why don't we take this slowly and go one step at a time, all right?" Clark made a "Slow Down" gesture with his hands.

"Okay, I have the feeling we are going to have several, very interesting conversations." Chloe said and then she noticed that Clark was looking at her funny and she immediately thought she must have something on her face.
"What, do you I have something on my face?"

"Do you know how beautiful you are?" Clark replied while still staring at Chloe.

At first Chloe was shocked speechless by the comment, then her snark came in to help her out. "No, but I will let you tell me."
Clark smiled again. "Are you ready to go?" He stuck his arm out for her to take.

"Yes, Prince Charming. Take me to my carriage," Chloe answered in a mock formal tone. She turned off the light as they exited the Torch office together.

THE END