Clark opened the door to his small motel room and sighed as he entered the less-than pristinely clean dwelling space and looked at the small one bed room. "Home sweet home." Clark tried to keep the place, which was all that he could afford since he routinely left most of the contents of his paychecks on the Kents' door step at super-speed every payday, as clean as he could. But that was proving to be difficult since the cleaning staff at this location were not very diligent with their job. As a result, the floors were seldom vacuumed, Clark was lucky if he got clean bed sheets once a week, and the room had a serious mice problem. The Kryptonian supposed he could have bought some supplies to take care of those problems himself, but between his days fighting crime, and his nights working as a bouncer at a dance club whose manager didn't ask too many questions about his age or identity, he was exhausted.

As the young man collapsed onto his bed, he thought back over the last two months. Clark had known he would need to get a job in Metropolis before he had even left Smallville, but he had quickly come to the conclusion that he needed to do more than that shortly after arriving in Metropolis. That first night living in the big city had been a real-eye opener for Clark concerning just how bad crime in this town really was. Within half an hour of entering Metropolis' city limits, from his vantage point on top of his father's bike, Clark had spotted a woman being mugged by a man with a knife in a nearby alleyway, screaming out: "Somebody save me!" Clark had expected one of the numerous motorist around him to react to the desperate woman's cries, but the only response that anyone around the young man gave was to roll their windows up and drive faster. For one second, Clark had attributed the other by- standers reactions to indicate that they were too calloused or jaded to care what happened to the woman being mugged, until he saw the look on one such passing motorist's face. His widened eyes and slightly pale face indicated that he was afraid, and a quick scan of Clark's surrounding indicated that the other people around him were terrified to act, or even call the cops, as well. Clark hadn't been sure at the time why that was, but he knew there had to be something seriously wrong with this city if people were afraid to report a mugging performed in public to the cops. It had barely taken Clark a millisecond to decide what to do, and the young man had quickly pulled his vehicle into a deserted alleyway just out of the public's view and used his super speed to quickly disable the mugger, save the woman in distress, and go back to his own vehicle in just under a second.

During the rest of that first night in Metropolis, Clark had been busy finding a hotel that would allow him to pay the little money he had with him as a down-payment on a room, and which had a manager that wouldn't ask too many questions about his age or identity. The next day had been occupied with two tasks. Finding a job had taken him all of three hours (Clark had been surprised how many jobs in this corrupt city didn't require proof of age or a background check of any kind), after which Clark was given a job as a construction worker, since he already knew a little about building and fixing things from days on the farm. The rest of that day had been spent at the Metropolis Public Library discovering the reason for the city's crime wave, and the fear it put in its citizens. A quick perusal of archived newspapers revealed that one man was behind most of the crime in this city. That man, Morgan Edge, lead a powerful criminal organization known as Intergang. Although this fact was common knowledge in Metropolis, no one had ever been able to prosecute Edge for any of the numerous crimes he was accused of being behind, including numerous bank robberies, drug dealing, prostitution, kidnapping, assault, and several counts of murder. The reasons that Morgan Edge hadn't been convicted were the subject of much speculation by Metropolis' newspapers. Most of the papers in the city had stuck to the official police line that there "just isn't enough evidence to convict Mr. Edge" because the criminal mastermind was too good at what he did to be caught. The Daily Planet, however had been receiving considerable flak from government officials for speculating that individuals in several levels of city government in Metropolis, from ordinary cops to the mayor himself, may be accepting bribes by Mr. Edge to look the other way, or were being blackmailed or threatened to keep quiet. Clark had thought this speculated reason for the crime in Metropolis explained a lot. No wonder nobody in this town had wanted to call the cops when the lady had been mugged. No ordinary citizen could know whether or not they would be reporting an Intergang related crime to a dirty cop that would threaten them, or make them disappear for interfering in Morgan Edge's business. And that had bothered Clark, it had bothered him a lot.

Clark had known that he had come to Metropolis to lie low, not play hero, but the Kents had taught him long ago that looking the other way when injustices where being committed was just as bad as committing a crime yourself. So Clark had reluctantly decided that he would spend a few hours every evening, after his day job was done, to patrol the streets of Metropolis at super speed looking for threats, while stopping every few seconds to listen to a police scanner he had "borrowed" from Metropolis PD. The job had been bigger than Clark had ever imagined. Every night, the dark haired alien found himself being kept busy as he interrupted several crimes, often doing so several minutes before any cops could arrive (in the event that dispatch had even bothered to send a patrol car before the crime had already been foiled). And yet, even as the crime rates in this city plummeted due to his efforts, and the Daily Planet praised the mysterious "Blur", Clark was no closer to discovering just how deep the corruption in the city's government went. Nor had he had any luck linking any of the criminal activity that he was fighting to Morgan Edge, even after the young man had changed jobs, and his schedule, to start fighting crime in the daytime after Intergang had gotten wise to the fact that "the Blur" had mostly made appearances at night. The truth was, Clark had recently admitted to himself, that kind of thing had always been Chloe's department in Smallville. As smart as Clark was, and as good as he had become at finding and preventing crimes in this city, the young man knew he would never be able to match his ex-girlfriend's researching or hacking abilities.

Clark sighed again after Chloe Sullivan entered his thoughts for what felt like the millionth time since he had left Smallville for Metropolis. He had long ago stopped trying to tell himself that he shouldn't still miss the blonde haired girl that he had discovered he was in love with months ago, or that he should stop trying to think about the young reporter he had left behind in Smallville. None of his attempts to talk himself out his feeling for Chloe Sullivan had worked in the slightest, and the young Kryptonian found himself missing his girfrie…ex-girlfriend more every day he was apart from her. And every day, Clark's mind taunted him by reminding him of all the things he had done wrong during his short relationship with the young reporter. Waiting so long to realize and act on, his feelings for Chloe in the first place, not telling her his secret, not telling the young woman what had happened on the awful day he had accidentally killed his unborn sibling, and finally…leaving Chloe behind in Smallville. Intellectually, Clark was able to tell himself that last decision had been the right one, that he was keeping Chloe safe by staying as far away from her as possible, but part of him kept wishing that he had taken his ex up on her offer to come with him to Metropolis. It wasn't that he didn't miss Lana, or Pete, or the Kents, but his feelings for Chloe seemed to be most paramount in his thoughts these days. Besides, after what had happened…Clark was not sure how his adoptive parents would react if he ever came home again after what had happened to Martha's "miracle baby." No. The person that Clark missed the most, the only person that he even dared to hope hadn't given up on him yet as he stared up at the ceiling, waiting for sleep to claim him for the few hours he had till morning, and the beginning of his daily patrol, started, was Chloe Sullivan.

….

Chloe Sullivan pulled into a space in the parking lot of the run-down motel complex 30 seconds behind Clark, carefully managing to stay out of sight until her boyfriend had opened the door to his room, stepped inside, and closed room 162 off from the outside world. Chloe shook her head, Clark's chosen residence was even worse than she had imagined it would be. To simply call the motel "run- down and dirty" would be an insult to run-down and dirty motels. The complex in the middle of Suicide Slum, which had graffiti on many of its walls and doors, enough pieces missing from the roof that rain most likely poured into many of the motel rooms on a fairly regular basis, old walls that probably contained asbestos, and garbage all over the parking lot, looked like a miniature slum all by itself. Chloe's somewhat cynical mind couldn't help but think that, if this building were in any other part of town, it would probably have been condemned years ago. But apparently, whoever was in charge of such things in Metropolis had written off "Suicide Slum" as a lost cause, and no longer cared if its buildings were presentable, or even safe for human occupation.

After turning off the engine to her cousin's car, and mentally preparing herself to see Clark again after two months, Chloe got out of the vehicle and approached her boyfriend's motel room. As she stopped in front of room 162 of the hotel room (and Chloe noted the 2 was just barely hanging onto the door by one nail), the blonde cursed herself for not having brought her lock picking kit with her. She had not believed she would need it, or many of her other usual tools of the trade, simply to go clubbing with her cousin. Frustrated, Chloe turned the door handle in what she had thought would be a gesture of futility, and to her surprise, the door actually opened. Apparently, either Clark had forgotten to lock his door, or he just didn't care if anybody broke into his modest dwelling space. As Chloe opened the door all the way, she barely paid attention to just how "modest" Clark's room was, with the holes in its walls, slightly dirty carpets (Clark had been fighting a losing battle with the dirt with a broom and dustpan), and cracks in the mirror next to the door that lead to the room's toilet and shower. All the blonde teen saw was an exhausted looking, apparently sleeping, Clark Kent. Now able to get a closer look at the young alien, who was still wearing his outfit from earlier that night, including the sunglasses, Chloe saw that he looked even worse than she had thought. He didn't looked like death warmed over, he looked like hell. Whatever was on Clark's mind, whatever he was running from, had left its mark on him, as evidenced by his paler complexion, nearly emaciated frame, and a frown that seemed permanently etched onto his face even as he slept. For a moment, Chloe's anger at the young man in front of her was forgotten. Right now, she felt nothing but love and pity for Clark, and a strong desire to bring him home. Taking a deep breath, Chloe composed herself and whispered. "Clark?"

The young reporter, who had thought Clark was still slumbering, was caught off guard by the Kryptonian's immediate response to her voice, as he quickly shot his head and body up into a sitting position on the bed. Clark stared at a gasping Chloe for several seconds, as if trying to decide is she was real or not. Finally, the young man took of his sunglasses, revealing his green eyes (which Chloe noted with a wince were bloodshot from lack of sleep) and spoke. "Chloe, is that really you?" The alien shook his head, as if he was trying to clear a fog from his mind. "No, it can't be you. I must be dreaming about you again. I broke up with you and left you behind in Smallville to protect you…."

Chloe's anger at Clark returned when she heard her boyfriend's words (even though she was glad that Clark still thought of her often enough to dream about her), and she quickly yelled at Clark as she slammed her fist down onto the bed between Clark's feet. "I am very real, Clark! And I told you that this is my life and it wasn't your choice to make whether or not I could put it at risk to help you with whatever shit you are dealing with! But you wouldn't listen, so I've had to spend the last two months trying to find you before I finally spotted you in a night club, of all places! What the hell Clark?! You promised me when our relationship started…you promised me that you wouldn't leave me in the dust again…and then you do this…"

Chloe's anger gave way to tears as she broke down sobbing. Clark reacted by quickly jumping off of the lumpy mattress on his bed and embraced Chloe in his arms, letting her head fall into his chest and putting his head on top of hers before replying in a voice that betrayed both excitement and regret. "You are here! I can't believe you're actually here! I'm so sorry, Chloe. I know it wasn't right for me to leave you like that, without telling you why, but I was scared and I didn't know what else to do!"

Chloe tried and failed to maintain a stoic expression. She was glad that Clark had finally acknowledged her presence, but she was still a little mad at him, although the blonde admitted to herself that the simple act of Clark hugging her had seemed to take most of her anger towards him away. 'Damn it!' Chloe thought to herself. 'How does that boy do that?! No matter what he does, I can never seem to stay mad at him for very long!' Trying to put her game face back on, but refusing to pull away from the hug from Clark that felt so good (even if his new beard made the top of her head itch), the junior reporter forced a not very convincing scowl to appear on her face. "You could have trusted me, Clark! I know your parents don't want you to tell me whatever your secret is, but I already know that you have powers from the meteor rocks, so I don't see how whatever it is could be that shocking to me."

Clark pulled away slightly from Chloe. "What do you mean? What makes you think that I have special abilities?"

Chloe rolled her eyes and laughed as she mentally berated herself. 'Damn it, Sullivan! You need to stay mad at him, or he won't know how wrong it was to leave you behind and…' But then the young reporter saw what seemed to be the Kents trademark emotion, guilt, in her boyfriend's eyes, and she instantly came to the conclusion that he already deeply regretted all of the bad things he had done to her. 'On second thought, Clark has probably beaten himself up enough for that already. Fine.' Finally, after several seconds, Chloe answered Clark's question. "It's pretty obvious at this point, Clark!" Chloe then went through her entire thought process that had led her to the conclusion that Clark had special abilities, including his acts of heroism in Smallville and the changing crime rates of Smallville and Metropolis that had occurred since he had left the small town. Clark opened his mouth with a dubious look on his face, the one Chloe had learned meant he was going to try to convince her that what she had just said was wrong, but Miss Sullivan preemptively sank his attempt. "And don't try to tell me that is all just a coincidence! I'm not stupid, Clark! And I would greatly appreciate if you didn't act like I was, okay? I've been looking for you too long for you to treat me like that!"

Clark nodded, noting the angry tone in Chloe's voice, then hesitated for several seconds, as if he was deciding something, and a frown emerged on his face. "Fair enough." The young man sighed. "You're right. I do have special abilities, or 'gifts', as my fam…the Kents, liked to call them. But I didn't get them from the meteor rocks."

Chloe's eyes widened in interest, her anger now completely replaced by fascination. "Okay, I'll bite. Where did you get them from then?"

Clark sighed. "It's a long story."

Chloe shrugged. "We've got time."

Clark nodded. "I know. But I'm just…I'm afraid if I tell you the truth about what I am...that it may change the way you feel about me."

Chloe shook her head emphatically. "I promise you that won't happen. I love you far too much to let you go just because there is something…different about you that gives your…gifts. I mean, it's not like you're from outer space or anything…" Chloe's eyes widened after she saw the stunned expression on Clark's suddenly even paler face, and the young man's own wide eyed look. The yellow haired young woman gasped as the full implications of what Clark's freaked out expression meant began to sink in. Chloe sat down on the bed while trying to compose herself. "Oh." Clark, who was now looking at the floor very intently, reluctantly nodded his head to confirm that Chloe's "wild guess" was accurate after several seconds, causing Chloe, who was still rather stunned by this revelation, to take an involuntary deep breath to further compose herself before she spoke. "Okay. I think you better tell me that long story now."

So Clark told Chloe everything. Almost. About how he had been sent in a spaceship by his biological parents from a dying planet called Krypton as a child, an act which had inadvertently caused the meteor shower in Smallville years ago as some of the remains of Clark's home world where dragged along for the ride, and how he had been told all of this by a scientist named Dr. Swann. He also told Chloe about his not-quite legal adoption by Jonathon and Martha Kent, all of the special abilities he had acquired over the years, and his weakness to both red and green forms of the meteor rocks, which he now referred to as Kryptonite.

It was at this point that Chloe stopped Clark while nodding in understanding. "That makes a whole lot of sense. Now I know why you would trip all over yourself around Lana when she still had the green kryptonite necklace. I always used to think that you were so klutzy around her because you were just so 'in love' with her that…" Seeing Clark blush (an unusual sight given his slightly paler complexion), Chloe changed the subject. "And the red kryptonite. What that makes you do. That would certainly explain the last couple of times that you were acting more weird than usual. That was what Pete drugged you with, wasn't it?" Clark nodded, still blushing. Deciding that Clark had put her through enough hell over the last two months to still deserve a little payback, Chloe decided to make Clark squirm a little more. "And x-ray vision, huh? Remind me to buy some lead-lined underwear. I wouldn't want you to fry me with that heat vision of yours." The blonde reporter said all of this with an amused smirk, now realizing just what had been going on last time she had taken her top off in front of Clark and his eyes had glowed a little before he had ended that particular activity. In truth, the x-ray vision didn't bother her all that much…as long as Clark only used it to look at her, not that she would tell him that. But she was enjoying watching Clark squirm far more than she should.

Clark's eye widened as he shook his head wildly and stuttered. "I would never…I wouldn't use my x-ray ability to violate anyone's privacy. Except that one time that happened accidentally before I could control my abilities, or when I was under the influence of red k. I swear I…"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Relax boy scout. I believe you. Just out of curiosity though, did you ever...even when you weren't in your right mind…did you ever use your x-ray vision to sneak a peek under my clothes?"

Clark hesitated for a second, blushing even harder than before, then nodded. "Yes. Once the first time I was on red k…"Clark purposefully left out that he had been scoping out Lana at the time as well. "And several times the second time that happened, when Pete drugged me while he was under the influence of the parasite."

Chloe nibbled her lip thoughtfully. "Huh. Okay. I guess I can't blame you for any of that, since you weren't in your right mind at the time. And given the exact effects that red k has on you, I guess I'm a little bit flattered that you bothered. Tell me something though: Did you enjoy the view?"

Clark gulped, which made Chloe smile. Clark seemed to be acting more like his usual awkward self after spending just a few minutes around her, and the young reporter took that as a good sign as her boyfriend stammered out. "Um…yeah. Of course."

Chloe smiled in a flirtatious manner. "That was definitely the right answer, Clark."

As if wanting to stop the conversation from continuing in an awkward direction, Clark changed the subject. "Right. Anyway. I think it's only fair that I should tell you why I left Smallville as well." Evidently seeing that Chloe was looking at him with widened eyes that indicated she was now playing close attention to what he was saying, Clark interrupted his own thought. "You know something, Chloe? You don't seemed all that freaked out by all of this. Are you sure you're okay with me being…not from around here!?"

Chloe smirked at the way Clark referred to his status as an alien and mentally noted that her boyfriend did not like being referred to as an "alien." "Well, I'm not going to lie. That news did surprise me quite a bit, which is why I was so shocked earlier. But…"Chloe gave Clark the look that she reserved only for him, a look which conveyed the extent of her love and trust in him. "I love you, Clark. Because, whatever world you may be from…you are a good person. Your selfless acts of heroism in both Metropolis and Smallville, as well as how well you treated me before you left Smallville, confirm that. Besides…" Chloe leered at Clark in a playful manner while she teased the young man. "It's kind of cool that I have an alien with superpowers for a boyfriend! And you clean up pretty good for an E.T.! You definitely aren't little and green, that's for sure!" Clark blushed as Chloe whispered. "You are…anatomically correct under those clothes, right? I mean, you look completely human. I'm just asking in case there is anything I'll need to prepare myself for later…"

Clark gulped again and shook his head. "No…everything's normal in that department!"

Chloe smiled. "Good." Then the young woman's expression quickly became a frown. " But rest assured, I'm still pretty pissed that you left me in Smallville like that, so you won't be getting any anytime soon, and I haven't forgotten that you were about to tell me why you left to begin with. So spill."

Clark nodded. Almost glad that Chloe had changed the topic of conversation to something slightly less awkward, even if she was still mad at him. "I understand. You have every right to be mad at me. I'm just glad that your feelings for me haven't changed after I told you where I came from, and that you didn't give up on me when I left Smallville. And as to the answer to your question about why I left …that's another long story. So I guess I better start telling it to you now." Clark then proceeded to tell Chloe about the many ways the "ghost" of his dead father had been trying to manipulate him over the course of the year, including "possessing" him to go to the Kawatche caves one night (he left out the part about the flying) and burn alien symbols into his barn, downloading the Kryptonian language into his brain, leaving him a message that he (apparently) wanted him to conquer the planet, and burning the symbol of the house of El into his chest when Clark tried to defy him. A symbol that would burn him every time Jor-El wanted him to do something. It was at this point that Clark paused his story for a second as he once again began to wonder about the timing of those "burning symbol" events. Most times it happened close to a phone, and wouldn't go away until he dialed the Kent household, only to hang up several seconds after someone answered. Once the burning sensation had occurred near a liquor store that Clark had almost failed to notice was being robbed, because he was so exhausted from leading his double life, and that had stopped after Clark super-sped to stop that theft from occurring. And just tonight, it had happened on his way out of the club, and Clark had a strong suspicion that it had incapacitated him just long enough for Chloe to catch up with him. He decided to ask Chloe about that later. All Clark knew was that he was starting to suspect that Jor-El's true plans for him may be more complicated than he had first thought.

Chloe balled up her hands into fist. Clark's words had made her angry again. But now she wasn't mad at Clark, or Kal-El, as he had told her his Kryptonian name was, but at the young alien's biological father or…at least what was left of him. "Can I see it? The scar, I mean?"

Clark hesitated for a moment, then pulled his shirt off. Allowing Chloe to see the big "S" looking symbol burned into his chest. Chloe winced as she saw the scar that Jor-El had carved into his son's flesh, as well the damage that Clark had apparently done to his own physique by fighting crime almost non-stop and working full time over the last two months. Although Clark still had some muscle on his frame, a lot of the tone of Clark's muscles had started to vanish as the young alien was now on the verge of being unhealthily thin. The blonde reporter ran her right index finger over the symbol. Any other time, she would have enjoyed touching Clark's chest, but right now, she was too angry at Jor-El to think about such things. "Does it hurt?"

Clark shook his head. "Not right now. Only when Jor-El wants me to do something, like I said."

The young alien opened his mouth to ask Chloe about whether she had spotted him in the club and followed him home from there, in order to confirm his suspicion (and his fear, the reason that Clark had not asked Chloe how she found him before) that Jor-El had wanted her to find him, but Chloe interrupted him by voicing a thought of her own. "This isn't right, Clark!" The young woman fumed. "What your biological father has done to you. Threatening you, manipulating you, branding his family crest into your chest! Damn it!" Chloe was yelling now, and Clark had to remind her that it was very late, and people in the other rooms were probably sleeping, before the young reporter calmed down enough to lower her voice. "I don't know how they raise teens on Krypton, but here on Earth, this is abuse! I can understand what you were so afraid of when you left Smallville now. You were afraid of him, weren't you?!" Clark nodded, deciding that was enough truth for Chloe to have right now. Chloe considered something silently, then spoke again. "Well, that settles it. You need to come back to Smallville with me now."

Clark shook his head. "I told you that I couldn't do that. And this city needs me n…"

But Chloe wouldn't even let Clark finish that thought. "Clark, look at me!" Clark reluctantly looked into Chloe's eyes, and was surprised to see a mixture of love and anger in them. "What Jor-El is doing to you…that is not okay! We need to find a way to stop him from hurting you like this! And the most likely place that we could find a place to do that would be in those caves in Smallville. Besides, your parents are worried sick and losing the farm, Pete and Lana keep wondering why you ran off, and they all miss you! I miss you!"

Clark looked away from Chloe's imploring gaze. "I miss you too, Chloe, more than you know. But I need to stay here in Metropolis. I'm helping people here, Chloe. And it's safer…"

Chloe once again cut the farm boy off. "And I think it's very admirable that you are trying to simultaneously protect your loved ones from afar and watch over the people of this city. But look at yourself, Clark! You're burning the candle at both ends! I can't tell just from just looking at you that you haven't been getting enough sleep, you haven't been eating enough, and it's all taking its toll on you! Invulnerable or not, if you keep doing this to yourself, you could…" Chloe took a moment to compose herself. "You could die, Clark!" The young woman stood up to her full height and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "And I'm not going to just stand by and watch you kill yourself!" Chloe sighed and added, in a gentler tone of voice as she draped her arms around Clark's neck and behind his back. "Let me help you, Clark! Just this once, let me be the one saving you for a change!"

Clark averted his eyes for a second, then nodded. "Okay. I guess you're right. I'll go with you. But can I get some sleep first? It's been a really long day for me and…"

Chloe smiled, glad that she had finally been able to successfully track down Clark and convince him to come home. "I guess that wouldn't hurt. You do look like you could use some rest. But…" Chloe added in a tone that made it clear she wouldn't leave any room for disagreement on this issue. "I will be sleeping here with you. And I do mean sleeping, Clark. I'm still mad at you after all! I just don't want you to change your mind and run out on me again in the middle of the night! " The young reporter had already told Lois not to wait up for her while she was driving to this motel, and she knew her father wouldn't be back from his business trip for another couple of days, so this sleeping arrangement wouldn't be a problem.

Seeing the downcast look on Clark's face that had been there since she had said she was mad at him, Chloe softened her stance…but only a little. The blonde teen quickly drew her lips toward Clark's, causing a reaction between both teens as they quickly found themselves in an intense lip-lock that lasted almost fifteen seconds. Finally, however, Chloe remembered that she was still supposed to be mad at Clark…no matter how good it felt to finally be able to kiss him again after two months. The young woman tried and failed not to smile as she pulled away from the kiss. "Well, maybe I'm not quite as mad at you as before…" That earned a big grin from Clark, but Chloe was finally able to gather her wits about her enough to be slightly stern with him again. "But that's still all you're getting tonight! And for the love of all that is good and holy…" Chloe quickly ran her hand over Clark's beard. "Shave that thing off first thing in the morning, would you! It's as prickly as a cactus and it just doesn't look like you, you know!?"

Clark laughed and drew Chloe into an embrace while drawing her next to him (more like squishing into him, given the extremely small size of the mattress) onto the bed. "Alright, I'll do that! This thing itches like crazy anyway." Chloe and Clark both laughed at that. "But I think it's time for us to get some sleep. You look almost as tired as I am!"

Chloe yawned, proving her boyfriend's point, and nodded. "That sounds like a good idea, Clark. Good night." Chloe closed her eyes and wrapped her arm around Clark's torso. "I love you, Clark Kent."

Chloe felt Clark kiss her forehead before he added. "I love you too, Chloe Sullivan."

Within five minutes, Chloe Sullivan was in dream land.

When she woke up the next morning, Clark was gone.

I know, I know! Sorry I had to end it there, but there is still much more of this story to come! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, but let me know if there is anything I could do to improve me work in the future, if the characters where to OOC in this chapter, etc. I guess what I'm saying is… please review! Your feedback lets me know that people are still interested in my story and helps me to gauge how I am doing as a writer! As always, thanks go out to all of my readers and reviewers. Without you, I would have no reason to post anything on this site, after all! And a big thanks to my beta reader (you know who you are) without whom this story would be a jumbled mess!

Until next time, I am…

-supercode

*Beta Reader: (looking under bed, etc.) "Dammit! Where did Clark go off to now?!"*