The ride to the field had been nearly unbearable for Chloe. There was kryptonite down in those tunnels and it could kill Clark. Her hands were trembling as she pushed open her door as soon as she felt the car come to a stop. The air was thick with dust, dirt, and debris making it hard for her to see out and find Clark. But a gust of wind blew away some of the fog and allowed her eyes to catch the blue of his shirt.
He turned and saw her, but also caught sight of Lana standing by her side. Chloe wasn't going to just stand by and watch another happy reunion between them. She had been worried sick all day and Lana almost left both Lex and Clark to die. Before Lana could even move one inch Chloe set out in a run for Clark.
When she finally reached him she collided into him and held him as tight as her small frame would allow. She heard him grunt as she knocked the wind out of him and she felt guilty for a moment, but when she felt his arms wrap around her she relaxed and took in the moment.
The tears flowing from her eyes were impossible to hold back, she let them fall onto his dirt-caked shirt. She had no idea if he was still looking at Lana but she felt his chin finally rest on her head so she guessed their moment had passed. Chloe knew she needed to pull away but she wanted to feel him in her arms to know he was safe and unharmed.
After a few silent moments he spoke, "Chlo, you okay?"
Her mouth was dry and she couldn't form any words, so she just slowly nodded her head. If he believed her or not was the question, she was rarely, if ever, speechless so he knew that today must have weighed very heavy for her. but he needed to see her eyes, he could always read what she was feeling in them. He pulled away and grabbed her shoulders, "Hey Chloe, look at me…please."
Reluctantly she pulled hear head away from his chest and looked up into his wide green orbs. She saw concern in them and she felt silly, she made him worry about her when he had probably had one of the worst days on record.
In her eyes Clark could see a mix of emotions ranging from embarrassment to guilt to relief. He knew that she had probably been worried crazy about him when he never answered his phone calls, but he really didn't have the time to pick it up. He couldn't stand her silence and sad eyes any longer, "Chloe you need to say something, anything."
His eyes were pleading her to respond and she couldn't deny those eyes, "I…I thought you had died."
The tears began to stream down her face again and Clark saw just how scared she had been. He drew her back into his arms and hugged her tight, "Well I didn't, I'm okay, everything's okay."
Chloe had a few words for that statement but she figured that since he was alive and seemed okay she would let it be, and just enjoy the comfort of his embrace. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lana and Lex in a similar embrace, only Lana was starring at herself and Clark in a not to happy way.
The jealousy in Lana was almost tangible to Chloe and part of her felt guilty for not allowing her to hug Clark, but Lana hadn't been in a frantic state all day, and she was married to Lex damn it! Chloe was sick of catering to Lana's feelings every time, she deserved to express her own from time to time.
A gentle rub on her back brought her back to reality and to the fact that she was the on in Clark's arms. Pulling backs he looked up at him and smiled at the knowledge he didn't seem upset that he was holding her and not Lana. Clark quickly returned the smile and moved his hands to hold her at her elbows, "You ready to get out of here?"
She giggled and moved to stand by his side, "You read my mind, let's go and get you cleaned up."
Arm in arm they walked away and Chloe waited for Clark to look back, but he never did. Her curiosity got the best of her and as they turned a bend she looked back to see Lana still starring at them as she stood beside Lex who was talking to an officer. A smile graced her lips and she turned to look forward.
~*~
Chloe walked out of the bathroom after she finished freshening up when she heard something coming from the living room.
" Hey Clark it's me, again, where are you? I feel like your stalker ex-girlfriend, even though I was never your girlfriend. It was just an analogy. A bad one, I'm sorry this is awkward okay, uh call me bye."
She froze dead in her tracks as she saw Clark sitting on the couch with his phone open, obviously on speaker. His grin was just about as wide as Kansas itself and he was watching her enter the room. "I don't know Chlo, I have heard worse analogies from you."
Eyes narrowed, she finished her walk to the couch and sat beside him, when she landed she grabbed the phone and hit delete. "Not funny."
His laughter made the couch vibrate and she had to try her hardest not to laugh at him, she wasn't going to allow him to poke fun at her concern for him. Finally he stopped laughing and turned to look at her, "I'm sorry Chloe, I was just trying to make this not so serious."
"But it is serious Clark, you cold have died down there." She wasn't ready to let the fact that she almost lost him go. There silence was broken by the ringing of his phone, looking down she saw it read 'Lana', sighing she handed the phone over, "You should probably take that."
Clark took the phone from her and nodded as she stood to go in the kitchen, he could sense that Chloe wasn't the most comfortable with Lana calling but he couldn't put a finger on why. Shrugging as he watched her back turn the corner he picked the call up, "Hi Lana."
Standing in the kitchen Chloe did her best not to turn around and yell "She almost let you die!" She knew that in reality Lana had meant for Lex to die, not that it made her intentions right, but she gripped the towel next to her hand as hard as she could and took deep breaths.
The increase in speed of Chloe's heart was not unnoticed by Clark as he tried to listen to Lana talk about the days events. It worried him out rash and uncertain Chloe's actions had been. Lana's soft voice startled him out of his stupor, "Clark? Hey what are you doing?"
"Sorry Lana, um I am just at home with Chloe." Clark leaned his head all the way back and closed his eyes, trying to put his complete focus on Lana.
"Oh," the disappointment, or was that jealousy, in her voice was thick and Clark was amazed at how cruel it sounded. "Do you want me to stop by later, maybe talk about today?"
Clark shot his head up as he heard Chloe enter the room, she was carrying a tray with fresh coffee that taunted his nostrils. She smiled at him as she sat next to him and took her own cup in both hands and took a sip. He watched as a smile broke out across her face and she took in the feeling of that first sip. Again he was brought out of his daze by Lana's voice, "Clark?"
She sounded a bit angry this time, like she was a little child who wasn't getting all the attention. Shaking his head he turned his eyes straight ands stared at his own cup of coffee that was awaiting him, "No, you don't need to do that Lana. Not much to talk about really."
Even though she would adamantly deny it, Chloe had been listening to as much of their conversation as she could, and been guessing what she couldn't hear off of what Clark would say. And when she heard him reject Lana's offer to talk she couldn't help but grin, it was a petty feeling and she knew it but she was allowed to be petty every now and again.
"Right well, thank God your okay, and Lex too, I don't know what I would do without him. I should go check on him, I will talk to you later. Bye Clark." Her words were fast and curt as she was obviously upset that Clark hadn't been more concerned about talking with her. She didn't even allow him the time to say good bye fully before she hung up.
He stared at the phone in confusion, not sure why Lana had seemed so upset. Turning to Chloe he saw her shocked look as her head cocked, "What was that about?"
Closing the phone and setting it down to grab his mug he looked at her, "I have no idea, it was like she was mad I didn't want to talk to her about today."
Chloe rolled her eyes, and she hadn't meant to but it was just an instinct, "Well you know Clark she just isn't used to you not fumbling to talk to her."
Holding the drink out before his lips he stopped and turned to her, "Is that a bit of jealousy I sense in your voice Ms Sullivan?"
She snorts, "No, trust me I would never be jealous of the woman married to Lex Luthor."
Returning the laugh Clark finally takes a drink of his own coffee, "I just don't get why she was so upset though."
"Don't worry about it Clark, she will be over it in no time." The honesty in her voice was harsh, but Chloe had decided back by the fancy car they arrived in that she was done playing this game with Lana. She was sick of catering to her every feeling and emotion, she loved Lana like a sister but was sick of her charade.
Clark was stunned by the way Chloe was talking about Lana, he hadn't heard her be so blunt since high school when it came to Lana. "Chlo, don't take this the wrong why, but why all the sudden Lana hate?"
Freezing Chloe didn't know how to explain, turning her head slowly to face him she just went for it. "Because she almost let you die."
~*~
Her words left him without his own and the look on her face reached all the way down to his soul. Finally he set his cup down and turned to face her all the way, "Chloe, what do you mean?"
She watched as he processed the information and could see the wheels turning in his head. When he spoke she wasn't shocked that she could predict his exact words. Sight she closed her eyes and gripped her mug a little tighter, "Lana had found the blue prints to those tunnels in a file on Lex's computer way earlier this morning and ahadn't made one peep until I came to see her."
Listening to Chloe's story Clark found himself very shocked at what Lana had done. But Chloe wasn't done and spoke before he could even form a sentence. "And I guess she wasn't intending on letting you die, but she sure as hell wasn't hesitating about letting Lex die down there."
Again she paused and looked down into the dark liquid of her coffee, but couldn't keep quite for too long. "And I know that I said the idea of Lex co-habitating with rats for all eternity didn't' bother me, but I don't think I could ever really intentionally let him die…"
"You wouldn't Chlo," Clark interrupted her and placed a hand over her own. "I knew that this morning, even when you said it."
Watching his thumb slowly stroke across her knuckles in an attempt to calm her, Chloe smiled and relaxed her death grip a little bit. "Thanks, and maybe I over reacted, she obviously didn't know you were down there and once she found out she brought the blue prints forward. It makes it pretty clear that she still has strong feelings for you, that must make you a little happy."
Clark stops the motion of his finger and looks up, "I don't know how it makes me feel, it scares me that the thought of letting the man she married and said would love forever die didn't seem to even phase Lana. It's like she is a completely different person, not the person I grew up with and loving."
On the inside Chloe was jumping up and down, it was so refreshing to hear Clark say the sensible ting on his own. She released her one hand and placed it over the one he had atop hers. "I know, I think she has become more Luthor than we both imagined, she didn't even seem concerned when I went to see her, and at the filed she was hugging him for dear life with a look of sadness in her eyes. Like she was upset he was alive and well, I didn't get it."
A large sigh released from Clark's mouth as he closed his eyes for a brief moment. "I just don't want to think about it if that is okay."
She laughed, "Fine, by me, after a day like today all I want to do is relax, maybe watch a movie?"
"Sounds like a great idea." Clark pulled his hands away and stood up, "I think I am going to take a quick shower."
Making a funny face Chloe giggled, "Good, you were beginning to stink."
He picked up a pillow and threw it at her, "I almost die and that is all you have to say to me?"
Catching the pillow she held it close to her and took in the home scent it radiated, "Oh don't use that now, besides you would have made it. You can make it through anything, you're a superman, you're my superman."
He laughed as he climbed the last steps before he disappeared from her sight, "Nobody else's I'd rather be too."
With that he went up to take his shower and Chloe bustled off to make their munchies, after all they had been through today she felt confident that they would be seeing much better days in the near future.
The End