Title: What She Can See
Rating PG-13
Category: Crossover Chlark Friendship Chloe/Dean pairing
Summary: This is for the Chloe-Fic-A Thon Challenge about Chloe's Power. Chloe develops her power but it's nothing she ever thought it would be.
Requirements: Chloe's power: I don't mind, as long as it's consistent with canon and it doesn't make her automatically invincible/invulnerable.
Three things you want in the fic: Snark, snark and snark.
Other characters to be included in the fic: Either Lex, Clark or Ollie.
Type of fic (het, gen, or slash but NO Chloe/Lois): Het
If het or slash, which pairing: Chloe/Ollie, Chloe/Dean, Chloe/Clark or Chloe/Kal
AN: I want to thank Xtremeroswellia for beta reading for me
It started with feeling like she was being watched. Between being a reporter and having an intergalactic best friend it came with the territory-- but this was different. Her senses felt like they were on overload half the time. Then there was such an awful smell that reminded her of rotten eggs on the Kent farm. She could smell it around people sometimes and when she would look those people in the eyes they were black and hollow, and that wasn't normal. She had tried to explain to Clark what was going on and even once she tried to show him but he didn't see. He didn't see what she saw and felt from these people: pure evil. In the past few months the death toll was on the rise and the world seem to be going to hell in a hand basket. And for once she had a feeling Lex Luthor had nothing to do with it.
Chloe was completely exhausted. She'd had a long day at the Daily Planet and she had to play referee between Clark and Lois. She swore that they were going to be the death of her. They were both so damn over- protective. Lois found out what happened with Lex and was on a warpath and Clark was being Clark. He didn't think it was a good idea for her to live on her own. The reporter had moved out of the Talon apartment after Lex had kidnapped her, because she didn't want to live in a place so easily accessible to him.
Clark had asked her to move into the farmhouse at least for a while but she didn't think that would have been practical. So now she was in her own small bachelor style apartment about a mile from campus. Her dad had a great job now working for Wayne Industries and was able to help her more with school.
As she was about to turn off her bedside lamp she suddenly had that feeling again and she knew she wasn't alone. Her first thought was to call Clark because he would be there within seconds. Before she could dial her cell phone a bright flame rose up from the floor and she let out a scream as a man appeared before her.
Sensing her fear, the man held up his hands in a stop notion, "I'm not going hurt you. I need your help."
"I've heard that before," Chloe whispered sarcastically. She went ahead with the phone in her hand and pushed one on her speed dial for Clark.
The spirit, or whatever it was replied, "I'm John Winchester and I need you to help my sons." Her eyes went wide. She had heard that name before but couldn't remember where. "Why do you need my help?"
"Because you have a gift which gives you the ability to see demons when others can't, and that will help in destroying them before anymore damage is done," he explained to her.
"Demons? That's a new one." Chloe remembered those people with the hollow eyes and wondered if they were the demons he mentioned, or even demon-possessed. Was this her power from being infected by the meteor rocks? She knew it would come one day but she never thought of anything like this.
"I don't have much time. Just know that they will come to you, so help them when they do." John was already starting to fade out when a rapid knock on Chloe's door drew her attention.
"Chloe, are you okay?" Clark questioned with concern on the other side of the door.
John vanished before her eyes as she headed toward the door. She opened it to find a panicked Clark Kent in his standard jeans and flannel. His eyes darted around the
room as he checked the place out to see if anyone was there. When Chloe didn't answer the phone and he heard her talking to someone he couldn't help but think that Lex or someone working for him was in her apartment.
"Clark, I'm fine," she assured him while gently placing a hand on his arm to calm him down.
Clark looked at her and noticed that she was wearing red flannel PJ's , which meant that she, had been in bed or getting ready for it. He also knew she was lying because he could hear the rapid beating of her heart when he first arrived and even though it was slower now he knew something was wrong. "What happened? Was someone here?" Chloe gave out a little sigh and walked over to sit on her couch. Clark followed her and sat beside her and pulled one of her tiny hands in his. "I know what my power is now, Clark," she explained softly.
Clark's eyes went wide with surprise. "Chloe! Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Chloe rolled his dramatics. "Clark, you remember how Toby could detect people who were meteor freaks?"
Clark frowned and wondered what that had to do with anything. "Yeah it's how we found out you were infected."
"Well you see the thing is..." She paused trying to think of away to explain it to him. "I see demons," she whispered trying to mimic the kid from Six Sense.
Clark looked at her seriously, "Chloe, quit joking. There's no such thing."
Chloe let out a snort, "Said the guy who came here in spaceship." She stood and started pacing back and forth. "Clark, think about it. I mean, do you realize how many cases of possession have came up in the past couple of months?"
"Yeah, but I thought maybe it was because of the phantoms." Clark explained solemnly. He knew that they had possessed people, like the case of the teen from Oakland.
Chloe bent down in front of him, "Clark, honey not everything that happens in the world has to do with you."
He looked up at her and she could see the burden in his eyes, "I know but most of the time it does."
She was really tired at this point and didn't think she could handle a Clark pity-party. "Look, it's late. Why don't we just try to figure this out later? I have a class in the morning and I have a deadline that I have to get done by tomorrow night."
Clark nodded and got up to give Chloe a hug before he left but something was bothering him, "How do you know you can see demons?"
Still wrapped in his embrace she explained with a yawn, "Well, those times I saw people with hollow eyes...I'm guessing those people were demon possessed. And also the reason I called you was that there was a man here who told me to help his sons."
Clark grabbed hold of her should and gently pushed her back, "Was that who you were talking to? How did he find you? And what makes you think you can trust him?"
Chloe reached up and rubbed her eyes and let out another yawn. "He said his name was John Winchester and he just kind of came up through my floor in a ball of flames. I'll look the name up tomorrow because it sounds familiar. And he just had this look in his eyes."
Clark frowned at that. He didn't like the thought that someone or something just popped up in her apartment. "Do you want me to stay with you just in case he comes back or something else does?"
Chloe just nodded a reply to him. She knew that the farm boy would just worry all night anyway.
After she had OK'd it for him to stay, they both crashed for the night. Clark was gone before she woke up. She did hear him tell her goodbye before he left to do the farm chores. She somehow managed to wake up for her class just in time. At the moment Chloe was currently at her favorite place in the world trying to finish her deadline all the while looking up John Winchester's name.
She found out some interesting things about him, like how he was a Marine and survivalist. His young wife had died in a house fire nearly 24 years ago leaving him with a 4 year old and a 6 month old to raise alone. It was really a terrible tragedy to read about. She also found out that his sons were named Dean and Sam and has seemed to get into quite a
bit of trouble with the FBI.
The intrepid reporter was so busy typing in her own little world that she almost didn't hear a deep male voice mention her name.
"I don't see why this chick so important, Sammy, and how do we even know she's here!" A man with a deep voice yelled to his companion over the crowd of noisy people in the basement. The commotion caused a lot of people to stop what they were doing and gave her a reason to glance up from her screen.
She glanced up to see two men stop in their tracks and smile embarrassedly at the people around them. The taller slapped the shorter one on the head, "Way to draw attention, Dean."
Both of the men looked like Clark when he got a super cold, just plain tired and worn out. She could see the weight of the world in their eyes. They were both unmistakably handsome. Sam was dressed in the typical college grunge look with his army green jacket flannel unbuttoned shirt over a gray tee shirt, jeans and black boots. Dean wore nearly the same look except his jacket was a brown leathered one and he wore a black tee with a solid gray button-up unbuttoned. Dean noticed her staring at him because he looked at her and flashed his pearly whites in a cheesy grin.
Well this was easier than she thought as she got out from behind her desk. Chloe straightened her black knee length A-lined skirt and started walking towards them.
"God, you're beautiful," Dean stated flirtatiously when he noticed the hot blonde walking over toward them.
Chloe tried to ignore the comment but she had to admit she was taken back by it. Not many people called her that. The only one recently was Jimmy and they hadn't been together for a few months. He had broken up with her, believing her to still be in love with Clark because she forgave him so easily for the display he put on at Lana and Lex's
engagement party. Of course then there was Bart Allen who made passes at her
every time he was in town, but for unfortunately she didn't feel any type of romantic sparks towards him. It was just so different coming from a totally hot guy like Dean who could probably have any girl he wanted. Not that Jimmy and Bart weren't good-looking guys because they were. Its just Jimmy lacked the confidence that Dean evidently had and Bart lacked the maturity.
"Dean and Sam Winchester, I presume."
Both of them were startled that she recognized them. Sam, of course knew who she was from the dreams he had been having. Maybe she was a psychic too and that's why he was dreaming about her. The only thing he did know was that for some reason there was a lot of activity in the area and he felt that maybe she had something to do with it. He hoped they hadn't gotten to her too late and that she'd already been persuaded by the demon like Ava had been.. Even though the demon was no more, he didn't know how many people had been affected by the demon.
"How do you know us?" Dean questioned suspiciously. The grin from his face had fallen to be replaced by a stern, cold look.
Chloe looked around, knowing that with this room full of reporters everyone had their ear out for some juicy gossip. "By the way this chick is named Chloe Sullivan and prefers not to be referred to as a chick. Anyway, I don't think it's a good idea to talk here. There's a coffee shop around the corner that would be away from prying eyes and
nosy ears."
"We don't have the best track record with seemingly friendly blondes, so what makes you think will walk out of here with you?" Dean demanded as he crossed his arms waiting for an answer.
"Dude, this is the girl we are looking for. I don't think she's evil." Sam relinquished to his hostile older brother.
Dean looked over to his brother and questioned, "Really? But that doesn't explain how she knew us."
"Maybe she's a psychic," Sam offered.
Chloe rolled her eyes at the good cop/bad cop routine, "I'm not a psychic per say. I'm a reporter. And I rather not discuss how I know you in front of a room full of reporters."
"Hold on a second," Dean commanded as he grabbed his brother and pulled him off to the side so they could talk more in private.
Chloe sighed and walked back over to her desk to grab her purse quickly. She checked her messages while she was waiting for them to finish bickering back and forth with each other. 'God they act like an old married couple,' she thought. She was beginning to question the maturity she thought Dean had. She walked back over to them when things
seemed to be calming down. "So are you guys ready?"
They went to a coffee café called Java Junction. All three had placed their orders and once the orders were filled they moved to an empty section in the back. Once seated, the boys looked at her with anticipation but she wasn't about to tell them anything before she took her first sip of her latte.
After she had that first delectable swallow, she set the cup down and started explaining to the guys what happened the previous evening.
"You see, your dad paid me a little visit last night."
Dean and Sam looked over at her in anger and Dean roughly replied, "Hey, lady that's not possible our dad's been dead for nearly a year."
"How is that possible then?" Sam questioned her. A part of him wondered if it was a demon playing a trick on her or if she was one playing a trick on him. His visions haven't really leaded him wrong before and in the visions she seemed to be on their side.
Chloe eyed them with sympathy." I think it was his spirit. He appeared in my apartment last night as a ball of flames came up from the floor." Both of the boys looked toward each other with a knowing look and then back to her. And she started to continue with her story. "Then he told me that he was John Winchester and that I needed to help you because of the power that I had developed."
"So you are a psychic?" Sam asked curiously and wondered just how many people were like him.
Chloe gave a shrug at that question and then shook her head no, " I don't think so. I'm meteor-infected.""
Now it was Dean's turn to ask the question, " Meteor-infected? This is a little too sci-fi for us."
Chloe rubbed her temples in frustration. "Listen. When the first meteor shower hit Smallville, the rocks weren't normal. They had these properties that gave people certain powers depending on what they were doing at the time. The second shower a couple of years ago did the same thing. Now some of these people are harmless but for the most part the power basically drives the people crazy and turns them into murderers.
"I didn't remember it, but I was for some reason in Smallville during the first one and a couple of months ago I was told that I was infected. I wasn't sure what my power would be but about a month ago I started to get this weird feeling around certain people and if I looked that person in the eyes then I could see the hollowness there. I don't think whatever it was noticed because for the most part they just went on their way. And I could always smell something resembling rotten eggs."
"Sulfer," Sam supplied in amazement.
Chloe looked over to him with a dawn of realization. "So that's what it was. I knew it was familiar. Thanks."
Sam just gave her a nod of acceptance. "Dean, do you know what this means?" he asked his brother.
Dean nodded in excitement. "Yeah, we have our own demon detector. We need to let Bobby and Ellen know that we have someone who can help us find the ones that got loose." Dean reached for his phone in his back pocket and was about to call Bobby when Chloe grabbed his wrist and slapped the phone closed.
"Hey I'm not your anything." Chloe interrupted. She didn't want any more people knowing about this. She wasn't ready to end up in an institution like her mom where she would be completely vulnerable.
Dean glared at her with annoyance. " Look, Blondie, we need your help whether you like it or not. And touch me again and I won't be so nice. We need you to go with us to track these demons down and I need to let some friends of ours know what's going on."
"And if you think I'm going anywhere with you you're mistaken because newsflash, buddy, I have a full plate already. I have school, a full-time job at the Daily Planet, a best friend who's pregnant and about to marry a very evil man. Then there's my cousin and other best friend who are either close to killing each other or having the best sex of their lives, same said best friend on his own personal crusade, and a billionaire vigilante that calls up occasionally asking for help, so no, I'm not going anywhere with you." She talked so fast she had to catch her breath. She wasn't about to get dragged into something else when she was needed elsewhere. The reporter knew their father said she needed to help his sons but he didn't say anything about leaving.
Sam nodded in understanding. When Dean first told him about his father having gone missing, he had too much going on and though he lost a lot along the way, he wouldn't take back the chance to help all the people they'd helped.
"It sounds like you need a vacation." Dean commented as he thought about a way to get the woman in front of him to come with them.
"Yes, but this wouldn't be a vacation now would it?" She sat back in her seat and crossed her arms waiting for what ever bull crap he came up with.
Dean smiled at her. " I'll make it worth you wile."
Sam rolled his eyes at his big brother. "Smooth, Dean. I don't think she likes you that much."
Dean threw a wadded up piece of napkin into his brother's coffee. " Think you can do better, Geek Boy?"
Chloe had enough of the childish behavior and she had to get back to work. "Listen it's been fun and if I can help while you're here, I'll be more than happy to do so." She reached in her purse and grabbed a business card. "This has my cell phone on it. Give me a call when you can start acting like grown men again."
She then hurried out of the café and back to her job, leaving the boys gawking over what just happened.
"Well that didn't go over well." Dean let out a little huff. He found the young woman attractive and although they didn't hit it off at first he felt that given time he could wear her down-- especially if they could convince her to go with them.
"Duh, Dean. Can you be a little less aggravating? We need her help and you're not doing us any favors." Sam let at a little tisk of disapproval as he got up out of the chair and grabbed his messenger bag. He was pissed at his brother at the moment even though he tried his best to get along with Dean since the deal to bring him back to life was made. It
was hard because Dean was Dean. He just hoped he could find some way to get him out of the deal he had made with the crossroad demon before it was too late.
"Well, we'll just give her a little time to cool off and then I'll be more charming. There's more than one way to crack a coconut." Dean got up and patted his brother in the chest just to annoy him, which was one of his favorite past times. He was glad he was able to
save his brother's life there was no way in hell he could do this with out
him.
Sam just shook his head. " Great analogy. I doubt she'll enjoy being compared to a coconut."
Dean pushed through the door of the café, "And how would you know? Coconut is a versatile fruit--it's good with liquor and on pie. Two of my favorite food groups."
Sam looked at his brother like he'd lost his mind. "Dean, those aren't food groups!"
They continued to banter back and forth on the way to where they parked Dean's prized Impala across from the Daily Planet. They glanced at the building knowing that they would be back there very soon.
They would do what ever it took to convince Chloe Sullivan to hunt the demons with them. Sam knew he would have to find out more about Chloe when they got back to the hotel. One thing was for sure: they did need to know how to make her more receptive to them.
