Disclaimer: Smallville: Superman the Early Years, and Superman, the comic and all their relevant characters, places and items, are the direct property of Warner Brothers Inc, The CW and DC comics.

A/N: I would like firstly to thank my one and only reviewer so far,AnutheaBrae09. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I hope that this one is equally interesting.

I have taken part of this chapter from the season 9 episode "Echo," and while I'm aware that it doesn't follow the TessxOliver scene to the letter, I'm okay with it. I chose to manipulate it for my own devices. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and please review; I find it hard to tell if I'm screwing it up or not unless you all tell me!

Much Love!

Darkeyes xo

Nostrum Terra

Chapter Two

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."-T.S. Eliot

The spitting of the machine gun was head throughout the bar. One of the bullets must have hit a light bulb, because from Oliver's position, with his head against the bar top, something wet dribbling over his cheek, he heard the tinny crash of glass with the combined gasps of his captors, as they jumped away from him. He felt hands release his hair and lift their weight off him, and didn't have to look to see whose smooth as scotch voice had commanded them.

"Really?" Tess had said.

One word... It never failed to impress Oliver. With one word, they'd all backed off. Oliver wasn't surprised though. Tess was that kind of woman, she would never need to speak more than once. He groaned as he pushed himself off the counter, not quite getting out of his hunch. It was almost too typical; Chloe would wait him out, Clark would try tough love, but only Tess would storm a Bolivian Bar with an automatic weapon, knowing how much he hated guns. She was always a fan of the direct approach.

The captors began to file out. Oliver didn't turn to look at Tess, and poured himself out another shot. If he was going to have to listen to a lecture he figured he might as well be drunk. That said, he wouldn't have expected the lecture to have come so soon, which meant she wanted something, but what he couldn't say.

"Y'know Mercy," he said lifting the glass "If you wanted more Facetime, all you had to do was ask."

She didn't respond immediately, but Oliver heard her heavy booted footsteps approaching him. He downed the glass, paying more attention to the burning tequila washing down his throat that the prickling feelings of her eyes on the back of his head.

"This is me asking." She said.

Oliver frowned at that, turning his head to look at her. There was a severity etched on it and a seriousness, the like of which he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Huh…" he said, sizing her up in her Lara Croft get up and her trigger happy expression. He wondered if she was going to turn the gun on him.

Might be putting the thing to good use. He thought to himself.

"You look serious." He said. "Maybe you should lighten up. Here." He said pouring out another shot. "Have a drink."

"I'll pass." She said. "Plane to catch."

"Well then I guess you won't be sticking around for la fiesta." Oliver said turning away from her. He was planning on ignoring her until she left; it worked on most girls in bars. If Oliver was less drunk, he would have realised it wouldn't work on her.

"Oliver, what the hell are you thinking." She asked. It was strange, her voice was laced with concern rather than frustration, confusion rather than reproach. He blinked back surprise and continued to look away.

"I've seen you go off the rails before… but this…" he could practically feel the disappointment in her voice, he really wanted to roll his eyes. "This vanishing act… these binges…" he chuckled internally, taking a swig out of his beer bottle, wondering what psychological conclusion she'd come to.

"You're punishing yourself." He swallowed, staring at the label on the bottle. Maybe she did know him after all.

"Why?"

Oliver said nothing. He didn't have to, he didn't want to. That was the thing about being one of the richest people on the planet; you didn't have to do anything you didn't want to.

Then she stepped closer. And her hand slid onto his shoulder. Oliver tensed at the contact, it was so foreign to him. He turned his head into it a little, trying to understand. It had been so long since anyone's touches had been anything other than fleeting, passionate, painful. But this… Tess' hand was warm, constant… like a touch he hadn't felt in so long…

"Oliver, what did you do?" she asked. Oliver swallowed again. He felt a strange longing, for the kind of touch she was giving him. A hand on the shoulder, strong hands holding him, a comforting voice telling him everything was alright... That he was forgiven.

"No matter what this is about, I understand." And it was true… she did understand. He could tell her anything, and she would understand. That was just their nature, they'd been through enough shit to be able to say that. But telling her changed nothing. She didn't have the power to forgive him. She couldn't tell him it wasn't his fault. She wasn't the one who could tell him…

"Just talk to me…"

Telling her changed nothing.

And she knew that…

He turned to face her, on the barstool. "Y'know it sounds like you're the one who needs to do the talking." He said, looking right into her face. She took a tentative step back, a little fear on her face. "So I guess the real question is, what do you want from me?"

He watched with more than a little relish as she recoiled. She was almost too readable. She watched him with a measuring look, before looking down, as though in defeat. With a breath she looked up. Mercy was gone. Mercer was left.

"I need your pretty face." She said. "And your boyish charm."

Oliver grinned. "Not planning to get me back between your sheets are we Mercy?"

Tess gave him a glare. "Focus less of it on me, and more of your sweet talk on our shareholders." She said. "The REO solar tower is opening in Metropolis tonight. All our shareholders, plus most of our competitors will be there. So you need to be there too. And you need to make sure that they realise that you aren't planning to die and leave everything to a lemur named Dr Good-time."

Oliver scoffed "Why should I?"

Tess let a little smirk raise the corner of her lips. "Consider this one of the many favours you owe me."

Oliver nodded and turned back to the beer he was nursing. "Is that all you want?"

"I've learned not to expect too much from you, Oliver."

That would have hurt, if Oliver wasn't quite so numb. Instead he just sulked and raised the bottle to his lips again.

"Cheer up," she said, "You can fall down drunk in a gutter as soon as it's over."

Oliver felt his shoulders become that much heavier. Perhaps he was sobering up all too quickly. Maybe Tess had put something in his drink, because he'd started to feel, and he felt like a failure.

"Wheels up in twenty."

CRASH!

Chloe covered her ears, as the Kent Living room shook, and dust rained out of the ceiling. Once the tremors stopped, she sighed. Clark had been at this for hours; X-ray scanning, and punching stuff open. There were now holes in the shape of the Sagittarius constellation in Clark's dry wall. Not to mention, the fact that he was ignoring her very existence. She sighed again. She'd been doing that for a while. Frustrated, she blew her hair out of her face.

"Y'know," she began to say, folding her arms and watching as he brushed dust from the hole in the ceiling. "If you give me some idea of what you're looking for, I could help Clark."

He ignored her and turned his head to look at the other drywall. There was a determined frown on his face, which was all too similar to his Kryptonian personality for Chloe's liking. After all, that personality barely knew, and definitely didn't like Chloe.

"Seriously, I could tell you if anything's been moved since you left," she said, "I've been monitoring your house for months, I would know-" she bit her tongue, as she suddenly realised what she said, as she saw Clark turn to her with a different kind of frown. "… um…"

"What do you mean monitoring?" he demanded, stepping closer to her

Chloe took a defensive step back. "Look," she said, raising her hands. "Calm down. Okay? I was just watching to see when you would come back- If you'd come back."

She shrugged, "I was worried."

Clark seemed to accept this, but his eyes narrowed a little as he turned away from her. "I told you Chloe." He said monotonously. "I don't need your help."

"No, don't get me wrong Clark." Se stepped to the side, trying to get him to look at her, as he ploughed his fist into the other drywall. "I heard you loud and clear when you stopped answering, or returning my calls, and pretended I didn't exist, and I get that dear-old-dad is now the sidekick in your two-man team (I've seen the S'es- nice touch). But don't forget that before Jor-El jumped out of his crystal-"

Chloe grabbed his shoulder and forced Clark to turn his baby blues on her. "I was there. We have a good two decades of friendship that I would have thought got more brownie points than Jor-El's Krypto-genes."

Clark got that look in his eyes again, it was as though he hadn't even heard her. He looked at her like he was losing his patience. "This isn't something humans can understand Chloe." Clark said. "And it's not something you need to put yourself in the middle of."

"For Heaven's Sakes Clark!" Chloe exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration. "What is so important that you need to tear your home apart to find?"

"It's not something you would understand, Chloe-"

"What Krypto-babble haven't I heard, Clark?"

Clark sized her up. "Fine," he said after a minute. He handed her a piece of paper. Chloe looked over it.

"Jor-El told me that he hid that object somewhere in this house." Clark said looking around the room again.

Chloe frowned. On the page was a hexagonal shaped disc, with Kryptonian symbols written all over it. "What is this?"

"The Book of Rau." Clark said.

There was something strange about the way he said it. Like there was something dangerous about this "Book," which didn't look anything like a book, if you asked Chloe. "What does it do?" she asked, a little wary of the answer.

Clark frowned, he looked angry, like she was crossing a line. "I can't tell you."

Chloe scoffed. "What d'you mean you can't tell me"

"Chloe." Clark said, a stern expression on his face. "Unless you can tell me where that is, you are of no use to me."

Chloe almost choked on air. "What the hell!" she cried. " 'I am of no use to you?' What d'you think I am? An Encyclopaedia? I want to help because I'm your friend-"

"I don't' need you to be my friend, Chloe." Clark said. "I need to know where that is."

That was when it hit her. What he'd said all those months ago, he really meant it.

Clark Kent is dead…

He wasn't her friend anymore. He hadn't just left. People who leave, come back. Pete came back once in a while, even Lana came back.

Goodbye Chloe…

Clark was gone.

She stared at him in horror, wondering how he could do this to her. Then she saw something in his face; that determination, it wasn't a stoic kind. In his eyes she saw a desperation that she hadn't seen in a long time, and suddenly she felt scared. A horrible sense of foreboding flooded her stomach, and she began to feel sick. It was the same feeling she got before something terrible happened.

She began to approach him. "Clark." She said wary of his answer. "What's happening?"

Clark said nothing, but took a step back and avoided looking at Chloe.

Chloe's voice became more insistent. "Clark!"

Clark looked up at her, and Chloe's heart fell. That cold vacancy behind his eyes could make her heart break. "Clark…" she pleaded, a painful lump of tears, began to rise in her throat, which she tried to swallow back down.

"I suppose you cannot help me after all, Miss Sullivan."

Tears threatened to fall, as Chloe's shoulders fell. That was the same face he wore when he'd walked out of her life.

And sure enough, with a gust of wind; Clark Kent was gone.

Zod was a Major. A military man. A military man can always appreciate an imminent victory. He smiled a little to himself as he watched the sun set over the Metropolis skyline. It was fiery, and filled with life. At times like these, this Earth reminded him of Krypton. He could almost pretend… yes, the city skyline was the towers of Kandor. He stood on the balcony of his home. A warm Westerly breeze ran over his body, he closed his eyes, and turned his face into it. The smell of smoke was replaced with blossoms, and fruit. There was a laugh behind him. He turned and saw…

What do you see, my love?

He saw his wife. She was so beautiful. Draped in white, her hair flowing with the breeze, she was ethereal… she was almost there. Her eyes were almost living, her smile almost real, and her skin almost touchable… Almost.

"Major Zod?"

Faora stood in the doorway looking at him in confusion. Zod frowned. "Faora…" he murmured. He turned back to the view. "What is it?"

"I…" she began, "The technicians, they've connected the tower to the satellites. Everything is ready."

Zod nodded. "Good." He said. He leaned on the wall overlooking Metropolis. "The human woman… she has been good to us, yes?"

"She has been very helpful."

"Hmm…" Zod murmured to himself. "Look out Faora… you've always been fairly insightful."

She took a few hesitant steps to the wall and looked out over the city.

"What do you see?" Zod asked.

Faora shrugged, "It is a city." She said. "There's a sun setting over it. There are towers, and monuments… it's a city."

Zod nodded. "Indeed it is."

Faora turned toward the Major. "Sir, if you don't mind my asking…" she began

"Yes?"

"You seem… distracted."

A short laugh escaped Zed's lips. "Distracted… yes I suppose." He said. "You know, Faora, In Kandor- on Krypton, I saw a past; strong, and resilient. A glorious history of a superior race. And it was very good. But here…"

He looked up into the sky, as dusk stained it with red and gold. "… I see Krypton rising under another Sun. Faora, I see a future… greater that any could have predicted."

Zod pulled the heavy disked book of Rau out of his pocket. The sunlight poked through the symbols, giving the disk an ethereal light.

He smiled at Faora. "Be ready."

A/N: So... that was my second chapter of this my first Chlollie fic. Now i love these two with a passion so please let me know if i'm doing this right and review. If for nothing else, for my own piece of mind!

Also, i'm aware that while this is a Chlollie fic, there has been little Chlollie interaction, but that's just the nature of this storyline... in other words I'm lettin' em stew! but i will be getting them into contact with one another soon.

Much Love

Darkeyes xo!