The building had nearly been destroyed, no thanks to Clark and Bizarro tossing each other about for the past hour. Chloe had done well playing "Hide and Seek" to avoid flying debris and electrocution. She knew Clark would probably be angry if he knew she had followed him to this place, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her. What was that about curiosity and the cat? she wondered and winced at the large boom shaking the floor around her momentarily.
Chloe peered out from behind a pile of rubble. There were loose, active wires everywhere, which normally wouldn't have bothered her since she always had Clark to get her out of such sticky situations. But even as she listened to the other-worldly silence of the former Rogers Dam headquarters, Chloe felt her heart constrict and thump wildly as she crept out of her hiding place. She kept low to the ground but crept forward for signs of life... and found not two feet from her, amidst a pile of broken concrete and a pool of green liquid, Clark's inert figure.
Her eyes wide with fear, she looked around suspiciously just in case Clark's demonic look-a-like still lingered somewhere. He seemed to have disappeared, however; Chloe only hoped Oliver and the rest of the super-powered persuasion was in hot pursuit. In the meantime, though, she needed to make sure Clark was okay.
She approached him, careful to avoid any puddles that might fry her and send her to the next world. Crouching, she noticed right away he wasn't breathing. Nor was he writhing in pain, despite the liquefied kryptonite covering most of his visible body. She gently touched his cheek and found it cold. She blinked back the tears that sprung to her eyes and slid her hand down his neck, checking for a pulse.
Nothing. Chloe felt no throb against her fingers, not even a faint beat to let her know he was hanging on by a thread. "Clark?" Something akin to her voice resounded amid the utter destruction. She suddenly felt a little faint-headed with shock, her lungs struggling to breath through her constricted throat. He couldn't be dead, she repeated to herself, her fingers moving gently from his cheek to the large rip in his shirt, exposing his massive, muscular chest. She took a deep breath and placed her palm over his heart firmly and shut her eyes.
The throbbing pain came first: the agony of the death struggle within the now stilled flesh, the silent cry, the despair in his mind when he realized his home world killed him. But all that passed as Clark's memories went backwards, spinning Chloe's mind with the riotous battles he'd fought, the villains he'd helped destroy with the rest of the newly formed Justice League. Clark's classes at Met U (much to her delight, he had enrolled the previous fall), bickering with Lois over the silly newspaper articles she insisted her Pulitzer Prize winners...
But there was one memory Chloe honed in on. A powerful one that flooded her being with such warmth it nearly knocked her onto her back.
Clark knew there was a possibility they'd never see each other again. The world was literally falling apart around them, proof evident by the large white car half that now hung partially inside the Planet's basement. He'd saved her, but he had to leave her... so when Chloe kissed him, her sweet and sassy mouth covering his, Clark was more shocked by his willingness to let Zod take over the world, to let everything they knew wither and die... because all he wanted was one moment more with his best friend. The woman he loved deep down inside because she accepted him as he was. No questions asked. No refusals. When he slid his arms around her, returning her despairing good-bye kiss, he meant the promise he'd silently given.
He would return to her, no matter what the cost. And telling her the truth he'd been harboring for much too long...
Chloe's eyes flew open as a burst of energy brighter than anything she'd experienced emanated from her, energy flowing from her being into Clark. Her touch became hot like quicksilver, as if she burned into him. The whirlwind of emotions behind his memory of her scared her, pleased her, surprised her into silence. Clark Kent loved her.
And just before the world went dark, she swore she felt his chest rise with life again.
&&&&&
When Chloe opened her eyes again, she didn't know where she was for a moment. She felt warm, cozy. The ceiling hovered above her, undamaged and clean. She frowned and, sitting up, found herself in her own bed. She blinked again and rubbed her eyes to get them into focus. "How did I make it to my place?" she said out loud and startled a little at her hoarse voice.
"Clark brought you back," a low male voice replied, the relief evident in it. She turned towards the voice and saw Gabe Sullivan standing in the doorway, a large smile on his face. "Didn't know if you would sleep through the night."
"Dad!" she croaked miserably. "I'm so sorry! I had to follow Clark because he... wait, did you just say he brought me here?" She looked down and saw she was still wearing her t-shirt and jeans from earlier. A sigh of relief escaped her lips, though she frowned when she saw darkness outside.
Gabe nodded and smiled. "He called me from the office, said something about you being in an accident of some kind." He crossed the room and sat on the edge of her bed. "I was worried about you, honey. I think you probably should go to the hospital."
Chloe thought maybe she should, too, though it had nothing to do with a physical ailment. "No, Dad," she whispered and raised her left hand, "I'm fine. I think." When the memory of what happened, what she swore she felt and saw in Clark's mind (how did that happen? she wondered), she turned pale with shock. What she'd seen wasn't real... was it?
A gentle hand touched her forehead. "Chlo, you're clammy and pale," her father whispered, his face flickering concern. "What's happened?"
"She saved my life," Clark's voice wafted through the room and sent a shock of awareness up Chloe's spine. She turned, shy emerald eyes lifted to look into his hesitant blue, and tried to smile. When the corner of his lip upturned a little, she figured she looked more sick than happy to see him. She couldn't admit that was the truth: she'd been sick with worry, then sick with surprise, finally sick with anticipation. The former were expected; the latter was not. Those emotions had been buried a long time ago.
When she said nothing, Clark cleared his throat and looked down, away from her anxious stare. "Mr. Sullivan, can you give us a minute, please?"
Gabe looked between Clark and Chloe, confusion replacing concern. "Sure," he said after a moment, "but only a couple minutes, Clark. I really think I need to get her to a hospital." She touched his daughter's cheek once more and stood. Clark slipped into the room and shut the door behind the older man.
"Okay, last time I checked, you were covered in meteor rock slime and not breathing," Chloe said immediately. Her face fell beneath her mask of neutrality when she watched him cross the room towards her. "What happened?"
A shy smile slipped across Clark's lips. "I think you saved me, Chlo," he replied simply and sat down on the bed next to her. His large frame dwarfed her full-size bed and she scooted away from him. Though she might have dreamed of this moment several years ago, Chloe wasn't all too sure any of this was real.
She laughed nervously. "Right, my meteor freak powers decided to make an appearance."
"No, seriously." He turned towards her and lifted his shirt. She saw what he was doing and tried to hide her eyes, but he grasped her left hand and put it over his heart. She frowned when she felt a faint indentation on his skin and looked at her hand resting against him. A perfect silver outline surrounded her hand.
"Clark," she whispered, unable to look away, "what is that?"
He chuckled a little. "Your hand print, apparently, though the shine's faded in the last couple hours."
The rumble of his laughter against her palm recalled the memory of their last kiss in the Daily Planet basement, an assertive action she had chalked up to temporary insanity and the world ending. She blushed and jerked away from him as if burned. "Okay, so I can heal people and you get a shiny consolation prize?" she asked, astonished and embarrassed.
He made a disapproving face, brows furrowed, and straightened his shirt. "All I remember is you in my head, Chlo. I started thinking about --"
" -- that kiss?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
She flushed deeper and looked down at her hands in her lap. "Because I got into your mind somehow, Clark, and that was the memory that hit me hardest." The silence hung thick between them once her words died, heavy and painful. She swallowed hard and bit her lip to prevent it from trembling like a leaf. Clark had died. She had saved him. He apparently loved her, if his memory was correct. Chloe didn't know what to make of it and mentally shushed the butterflies flapping wildly in her stomach.
So when she suddenly found herself in Clark's embrace, his lips moving across hers gently, she stiffened for a second. Only for a second, though, when she realized he was probably just fulfilling a wish or something. Chloe allowed herself to enjoy probably the last opportunity to kiss this man and wrapped her arms around his neck, fingers playing in his dark curls. Waves of pleasure radiated from her body, and for once, she was glad to be sitting. Kisses weren't supposed to turn her knees to jelly.
"Chloe," Clark breathed when he lifted his head to gaze at her. She opened her eyes and felt a change in the air, saw it on his face. His azure eyes sparkled with something she had never seen in his eyes before. Hopeful expectation.
"What was that for?" she asked hesitantly.
He fingered her blonde locks and smiled happily. "Finishing something you started a long time ago."
"What? Clark..." she started, but his mouth descended on hers again and cut off her protest. His arms wrapped around her, held her against him in a warm embrace, and she gave in and melted against him, returning the kiss she remembered from the night he left to kill Zod. But she still had her doubts: was this another case of 'kiss and fly'?
"Wait, hang on a second," she said and pushed him back to look at him. "What is this? You thought you'd swoop in here, kiss me for saving your butt, then rush out again?"
Clark's smile faltered. "No, Chloe, I thought I'd hang out with you until I get the signal from Oliver that he's got Bizarro in custody. He's found a way to harness his strength and take it from him."
"Really?" she piped up and scooted away from him. "What is it, because I could really help out with --"
"No," he whispered and put a finger on her lips to silence her. "Just this once, can't we stop running around in circles and clear the air? I know I've hurt you, let you down, but Chloe, I'm trying to tell you something."
Chloe remained fixated on his face and dared to hope for a moment. Are you going to fly back to me? she wondered. When he didn't say anything, she gave him a look. "My power doesn't include mind-reading, Clark."
He looked sheepish for a moment. "Yeah, okay. Chloe, I love you. I have for a long time." His words were quiet but honest, as was his face. She could read him like an open book.
She wanted to ask about Lana but kept her mouth shut. That conversation was for another time. Right now, she wanted to pretend this was the real thing. She smiled simply and gazed at him. And when his cell phone chirped loudly, Chloe knew he had to leave. She grabbed his arm quickly before he got up. "Hey, good-luck kiss?" she smiled.
"For you?"
"No. From me." She pulled him down and kissed him quickly, lips brushing against each other in a tender caress. She then pushed him away and got off the bed. "Now go save the world again."