Title: Mirror Imperfect - Part 1: Introduction

Author: Sgccyberwolf

Rating: First chapter is mostly G but has some PG elements. Future chapters will probably be PG-13.

Summary: This story kinda came to me when I was watching a tape of the Star Trek episode "Mirror Mirror." Some Smallville fans maybe a little disappointed, as it does not deal with mutated town residents but more with the evils and ills of society.

Disclaimer: I don't own Smallville or Star Trek. Star Trek is owned Paramount Pictures and Smallville is owned by Warner Brothers and DC Comics.

Part 1

It was a morning unlike any other in the Kent household. Jonathan was working in the field, Martha was in the kitchen being what she considered a normal housewife; even though, during this new millennium, most would disagree with her and then there was Clark. Who had to have his mom wake him up every morning because; otherwise, he would oversleep.

As she did every morning, Martha called up stairs, "Clark Kent, your going to miss the bus." Surprisingly Clark answered, "Be down in a minute mom." This surprised Martha as he was usually still in bed the first time she called. This was a new development.

Fifteen minutes later Clark came down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen. He immediately went to the refrigerator and drank the milk right out of the container. When Martha saw what he was doing she scolded him again about where he learned his manners. Clark, always loving to jest with his mother in the morning, gave his usual answer, "on a farm." Clark grabbed a piece of toast and headed out the door for the bus.

Once on the bus, he took a seat next to Chloe, Smallville's resident cynic, school newspaper editor, and his best friend. As always Pete, another of Clark's friend sat behind them. Occasionally, Pete would tease Clark and Chloe about the fact that they sat together on the bus, when Clark did not miss it and about how much time they spent together at school in the office of the school newspaper, "The Torch". Clark and Chloe would immediately dismiss his ramblings of a possible relationship between the two of them. Clark liked spending time with Chloe; "as a friend", is what he told Pete. Clark did not realize that Chloe had feelings for him as something more than a friend; Clark's pinning for Lana Lang clouded his judgement towards matters of the heart.

Later that day

The bell for the end of the day just sounded. Being that Clark did not like the crowded halls of Smallville High, Clark waited a few minutes before leaving the classroom. By now the traffic in the halls was dying down but what Clark saw caught him off guard. Rounding the corner he saw Chloe, but it did not seem to be the Chloe he knew. Her clothes were duller and dirty. Her hair was not styled and seems brittle. This was not how Clark remembered her this past morning.

When Chloe saw Clark she immediately ran up to him and hugged him. Chloe had hugged Clark before, but this somehow seemed different. Clark could feel his shoulder getting wet, Chloe was crying. Clark tried to ask her what was wrong but received no answer. Chloe then looked up at him "I am glad I found you because I," she paused, "we need your help."

Clark took her hand and led her down the hallway. "Let's find a quiet place to talk."

As he led Chloe down the hall; she got her bearings and realized where he was taking her. She immediately stopped in her tracks and would not budge. Clark looked back at Chloe who seemed to be as still as a department store mannequin. "We can't go in there."

Clark put his arm around Chloe's shoulders to comfort her. "It's just the Torch's office; Pete has gone home and it will be quiet… we can talk about your problem here."

Clark moved Chloe closer to the door. He reached for the knob and it turned easily. As a member of the staff, he knew that they had a lot of valuable stuff in the office… why was the door just left unlocked. "Chloe, you never leave this door unlocked," he questioned.

What he saw next shocked him more than Chloe in her disheveled condition. As he walked through the door he saw Chloe… as he remembered her this morning. "Clark, this is an interesting surprise," his best friend commented. Being playful she changed her tone a little, "so the farm boy has come to me."

Looking serious, "Chloe we have a problem that you need to see." With that he pulled the other Chloe through the door.

Chloe immediately darted up and came around the desk to meet Clark and her doppelganger. "I can't believe this," Chloe exclaimed in utter disbelief of seeing the woman who could pass for a twin sister. As she started to circle around herself the doppelganger Chloe pulled something from her pocket and aimed what looked like a laser pointer at Chloe. There was a slight hum and almost immediately the body of the Chloe that Clark grew up with went limp as if she had fainted.

Clark immediately took hold of her unconscious body and laid her down on the couch in the office. As soon as he put her down, he went after her doppelganger and raised her over his head. "What did you do to her, he shot at her in an angry tone."

Just as quick as he raised her, he put her back on the ground. He remembered that his parents said that he need to control his temper in public as not to expose his gifts. "Don't worry farm boy I know about your abilities," commented Chloe's double, "anyway, she will be fine in a little while. She is just stunned."

Clark started to back away from and turned back toward the Chloe lying motionless on the couch in the Torch's office. He could hear the other Chloe's footsteps on the linoleum floor. He turned towards her and looked at her sternly, "Just who are you?"

The look on the other Chloe's face turned to somber and remorseful. As she spoke to him, "I really am Chloe, she paused for a second, "just not from this universe."

Looking puzzled, "What do you mean not from this universe?"

Then she laid it out for him. The fact that her reality had the technology to monitor and to travel to what they considered parallel dimensions. She told him that her reality was at least a few hundred years more advanced when it came to the technology that this universe possessed. As she continued her voice seemed to be more broken. She told him for all their achievements and advancements; she came from a world that was dominated by one mans obsession for fear and power.

Hearing the pain in voice, Clark once again put his arm over her shoulder to comfort her. "Who could be that cruel."

Chloe's voice was just above a whisper, "Lex Luthor"

Clark immediately looked at her in disbelief. How could the man he knew in this world as his best friend be this despot and a tyrant where she came from. Still a little shocked Clark got off one word, "How?"

"No one knows for sure," she stated. Chloe paused for a moment to collect her thoughts, "Lex has become more powerful than the president of the United States… he and his allies are now unstoppable for sure."

Looking seriously for a second, "Am I one of those allies that helped him rise to power?"

Chloe, looking compassionate, "no Clark, where I come from you were just a normal farm boy with a good," she took a second to think of the correct response, "moral and ethical up bringing."

He could tell that she was still holding something back, so he asked, "does anyone like me exist where you come from…" he paused, "are they trying to stand up to Luthor?" Her tone got somber again, "unfortunately the person who came from Kryp…" she stopped herself and restated, "outer space like you is actually helping Luthor to dominate the world."

"Who?" Was all Clark could muster.

As she spoke her voice immediately trailed off, "Lana Lang."

"Lana," Clark said in disbelief.

Chloe waited for the initial shock past though Clark and then she asked him to sit down so she could explain more in detail. She told him that Lana's parents weren't killed in the Smallville meteor shower, in fact, they lived in Metropolis. Historical records indicated that Nell Lang died during a fire in her Smallville floral shop and Lana's parents to be were coming to Smallville to attend the funeral when the meteor shower occurred. Lana's parents were run off the road by what appeared to be a meteor but was in fact her space ship. Being nice people, they took in the little girl and adopted her.

Chloe paused a second to see if Clark had taken it all in. She looked up at, "do you want me to tell you the rest." Clark motioned for her to continue.

With Clark's approval she continued to tell him about Lana and her parents. She told him that everyone knows that girls mature faster than boys do. Lana was only thirteen when she had full command of her abilities and…

"And what," Clark asked

Although she was already very pale, it seemed the rest of the color drained from her face when she told Clark that she believed that she accidentally killed her parents. She told Clark that when the police investigated and arrested her she played possum. During her trial the Daily Planet reported that Lana admitted to having a fight with them but she did not remember hurting them. She was convicted and sent to a detention home for girls.

Still being a little puzzled Clark asked, "how does Lex fit into all this?"

After his question, she told him that during this time Lex was already very powerful. He had arranged the murder of his father and had taken over of Luthor Corp. She told him that he took an interest in Lana's case and with his power and influence he arranged for her release. After getting out of the detention center, Lex offered to be Lana's guardian.

Clark stopped her again and asked, "how did he find out about her abilities?"

Chloe paused a moment to think, "I was told that Lex found out about her abilities one evening while reviewing a reported security breach. After watching the tapes he saw her leap over the wall surrounding his home. When she tried to sneak back in that night he was waiting for her. He threatened her with exposure if she did not use her powers to help him when he asked."

"That's pretty much the highlights of my world's dark history," said the alternate Chloe.

After hearing how terrible things turned out for her and her world Clark asked, "how do I fit in?"

Chloe looked down for a second and continued, "well I am part of an underground in my world. We have use of one of the devices to scan parallel dimensions."

Clark countered, "what do you mean… scan?"

The doppelganger Chloe sat down in a chair that she found. "Each reality is almost a mirror image of the last. Individual choices we make that determine what reality is for us. The equipment we use can interpret those variances and allow us to visit those alternative realities."

Clark took a seat near her. "Why don't I have my powers where you come from?"

Chloe looked up at him. "We also believe that somehow fate mixes with reality and makes some adjustments. Where I come from you were just normal. Haven't you ever wished to be just a normal high school male?"

For a second Clark looked down at his feet. "Sometime," was all he said.

"There's your answer," the doppelganger answered back. "Your wish influenced reality and created an alternate where you had no powers."

Immediately Clark shot back, "but that does not explain what you want with me."

"Well I was hoping that you could come back with me," Chloe said very somberly.

Clark gave her a very stern look. "Why should I?"

Chloe looked to him again, "I don't believe Lana is all bad. Clark, your abilities give you the unique opportunity to show her the right path," she paused, "If Lana was helping us instead of Luthor, then I think my society would have a second chance."

Clark looked to the alternate Chloe and it seemed he still wasn't convinced as to why she should help someone who stunned his friend earlier in this day. Before she spoke next, the alternate Chloe seemed nervous. All of sudden she blurted it out, "Because I love you."

The Alternate version of Chloe really did it. The words were now echoing in her mind. She just told the Clark Kent from this universe that she loved him. She thought to herself, I don't really even know him.

She still could not believe what she just said. Clark was also in shock. He started to say something and then stopped himself. A few seconds later he was ready. "What do you mean you love me. Don't you mean you love the alternate me?"

After a moment Chloe regained her composure. "You are right Clark; that came out wrong. I did love the man that you were in my universe."

"What happens to me in your universe," he pauses, "I am to young to be…"

"…dead," the alternate Chloe finishes.

Clark slumps down in his chair. Chloe takes his hand in hers. "I know this last part was really hard to hear," she reassures him. She pauses for a second to make sure he is still with her. "In every universe we checked you and I are involved. It would not surprise if the Chloe from here has these feelings but is afraid to show them," she continues.

Suddenly, Clark blurts out, "how?"

Clark, still reeling from Chloe's news, sits up to listen to her. "It happened about six weeks ago," she started. "We used Smallville High's torch as a means of defiance and to tell the truth about Lex."

"So what happened," Clark quickly questioned.

"Most of the time, we were ignored, but we new we were a thorn in Lex's side," she said in a somewhat happy tone. "Sometimes the Smallville Ledger even reprinted our work to their newspaper,"

Chloe tried to pause until the emotions she was feeling past, but felt it was no use, so he continued, "just days before other Clark's death we received a tip that Luthor had stashed secret information about his fathers death at the Smallville plant."

Just then the other Chloe started to cry. Clark moved over to her to try to comfort her. After a few minutes she was ready to continue. "That night we snuck into the plant and everything went just as we thought it would," Chloe paused for a second, "but then it happened."

"What happened," Clark inquired?

"The alarms went off; the whole thing was a trap," Chloe answered. "We were able to get out of the building and almost to the fence, but Lana ran up and grabbed me."

"Then what happened, Chloe" Clark asked.

Starting to feel emotional again Chloe said, "As soon as Clark saw that she grabbed me; he came back and tackled her. This freed me. He told me to run and…."

"…. and what," Clark asked quickly

Just as Chloe was about to answer Clark, she broke into tears once more, "… and she killed him. She killed my Clark while I watched in horror."

Once again Clark tried to comfort the other Chloe that he knew nothing about, but was beginning to understand. "If I agree to help, Clark paused and looked at the Chloe from his universe still lying on the couch, "what will happen to Chloe while I am gone." Clark continued.

Drying her tears and trying to compose herself. "Nothing, we will return you to the exact moment you left," the alternate Chloe said. "When you come back give her some smelling salts… all memories of her seeing me and you up to the point to when you walked through the Torch's door have been edited," she continued.

"How do we get to your universe," he asked with some confusion.

Chloe held out her hand and said, "just take my hand and I will activate the return transponder,"

As Clark took her hand, the other Chloe went to her belt and pulled what looked like a garage door opener. She pushed the button and in a brilliant flash of light, they were gone.

To be continued.

Well here is the first part of the story. This is my first Smallville fan fiction, so please be kind. I wanted this chapter to be about three pages. After I wrote what would have been part two; it was very short and I want to leave the alternate Chloe's universe to the next chapter, so I decided to incorporate and edit the original chapter 2 into chapter 1. I just started to write the new chapter two and hope to have it up in a couple of days. If any would like to offer ideas about the alternate Chloe's universe or just general ideas for the stories future, then feel free to contact me via email or leave your ideas in reviews of this story.