A/N--Thank you for the lovely reviews, something's wacky with my profile and I'm not getting email notifications as they come in. References to season 2, Skinwalker and season 4 Jinx are made in this update. There's a lot of metaphor in this chapter, at least from my end as a Chlarker.

Scene 1: Clark and Chloe at Talon Apartment

Scene 2: Kara and Jimmy at Daily Planet add Clark, then Kara and Clark at Daily Planet

Scene 3: Clark and Chloe at Talon Apartment

Scene 4: Clark and Martian Manhunter in the barn, add Kara (this is not Kara's exit from the story).


Tools

Chloe was Clark's guinea pig when he experimented with transporting adults. They had spent an afternoon figuring out the best way for him to run with someone in his arms. The bridal position worked better for him than piggyback. After a few attempts, they modified the position to be more or less a hug. His right hand supported her back while his left hand and arm went to her knees and legs. He would draped her across his broad chest, like she was some-sort of pageant ribbon. She reached her right arm over his shoulder and the left arm went under his pit. When he felt Chloe's hands latch from behind, he ran.

It took just a second. When it was over, Chloe usually had her face pressed tight against Clark's chest or shoulder. An obstructed view helped with the disorientation. It seemed like it took Chloe a long time to process when he started and stopped—not that it could be helped. The pace was unnatural for her. Clark wasn't surprised that it took Chloe a few moments to lift her head up to see that she was at her apartment door. He put her feet down, and she continued to hold him as the dizziness past. Her hands inadvertently slipped to his waist.

"What is that?" Chloe said, looking at Clark's jacket pocket with curiosity.

Clark's eyes flashed surprise. He didn't know what Chloe was talking about. He felt his pockets and realized something was in them. Awkwardly, Clark pulled out the gold and turquoise bracelet, as Chloe jiggled the lock open. He had forgotten to return the bracelet to its hiding spot.

Chloe opened the door. She set her stuff down on the counter and turned to face Clark. She held her shirt closed as he showed to her the object.

"It's a bracelet." Clark said, without any inflection in his voice. She looked astonished at the item. Coming closer, she carefully touched it—examining the design of golden polygons and green squares. Clark could tell she liked it, but then he saw her conclude it wasn't for her. She stopped admiring it and pulled away.

"No'' Clark said. "I think you should keep this, for a while… Chloe"

Chloe looked at Clark uncertainly. Was he giving her the bracelet or was he just letting her be its steward? She stared again at the bracelet, and let her fingertips drum at its design—trying to decide whether speak. Clark set it on the table, next to miscellaneous items she had left out. There it rested with her yearbook and the broken handcuffs. She lifted her head upwards, to look at him. "Just give me a moment." She said, as she went to the bedroom to change.

Clark stood in the living room, with his back turned to the sleeping quarter of the loft. Chloe changed into a comfortable striped shirt and denim jeans. She went to the kitchen and started to make herself some coffee, filling the decanter with water, and swearing when she saw she was out of grounds. She fished out a tea bag from a box in a cubby behind her.

"Chloe?" Clark said concerned. She never had coffee this late unless she was going to be up all night. Four years of helping her publish the high school newspaper on a weekly, and sometimes, daily basis, taught him the signs. Chloe was in Torch mode, itching to write.

"Tell me you're not going to work tonight Chloe. You were nearly carved up like a Butterball."

"I have to Clark." Chloe said. "I've got about fifty minutes to get this story to the editor-in-chief. If I'm lucky, I can make this morning's edition." She was already clearing a spot on the kitchen table. She gave Clark her yearbook and his bracelet back. Her fingers gently caressed the handcuffs. She tried to put them on her wrists, showing Clark how they once were. She didn't complain that the rings were destroyed, that they couldn't be worn, but Clark could see her mentally repair the item in her mind.

"You're always giving me bracelets." She shrugged, at last, setting the handcuffs aside.

"When did I give you bracelets?" Clark whispered.

"Don't these look familiar to you?" Chloe held up the handcuffs.

He walked over and took the broken circles from her, inspecting them closely. "I gave these to you?"

"Sort-of" Chloe explain. "They were the handcuffs Mikhail Mxyzptlk put on me. You made them into bracelets when you broke the chain."

"Say what?" Clark thought. But Chloe didn't need to repeat herself, her voice rung in his head repeating her last statement, perpetually. "You made them into bracelets when you broke the chain." "You made them into bracelets when you broke the chain."

"I made bracelets for you." Clark could barely say. "I made you bracelets."

Clark's pale eyes focused on Chloe as she poured herself some hot water for her tea. He felt his mouth hang loose, aware of the air rushing in and out of him. Thoughts like "No" and "It couldn't be" were in direct conflict with "Of course" and "It makes sense now." He placed his handiwork back on the counter and took a cleansing breath. He even grabbed the support of a chair—overwhelmed by the fact, he had his own version of a bracelet ceremony.

Kara had tried to explain to him, that he was pair-bond with Chloe, but maybe, it was because he carelessly forced the connection in rescuing her.

"Our libraries housed several examples where two men wanted the same girl as their betrothed. The antagonist forces her to love him and the protagonist rushes in and saves the day by giving her a bracelet in front of him. He protects her from him."

Mikhail, through his power of suggestion, made Chloe kiss him. He forced her to love him. Then, he tried to manipulate Clark by antagonizing Chloe's life. He cuffed her and held a knife to her throat. Clark pushed him hard into the wall and then broke the chain. Why? Why did he break the chain? He knew he pushed Mikhail hard enough to disarm him and knock him unconscious. He didn't really need to break Chloe's restraints. He did so anyway. Why stop there? Why didn't he break the handcuffs off of her too? Was it his instinct to do so as a Kryptonian?

Had he not done a version of the same thing in the last ten minutes?

Had he not protected her by challenging the bracelets Knox put on her too?

"It had to be a coincidence," Clark prayed. There was no intent on his part to pair-bond with her—or declaring her has his, even symbolically. Pair-bonding was still a foreign idea, chalk full with ambiguities.

Clark looked at Chloe, she was still talking about the handcuffs—oblivious to his thoughts.

"God, they were so damn hard to get off too." Chloe rolled her eyes. "I had to track down the stadium janitor and ask him to use fence cutters to remove them. And I am sure he thought I was into kinky stuff." Chloe shook her hair out and then pulled it back into a loose bun. She sat down at her laptop. "Anyway, I changed on that day, Clark. It was the day I realized you had powers. I adapted myself, for you."

Clark remained statuesque but slowly started to speak. "Chloe, I never realized what I did. I'm sorry."

"For saving my life?" Chloe said. She noticed how hard Clark was thinking. "What's goin' on Clark?"

"I need to tell you something… But it might be… awkward. We… definitely should talk about it."

Chloe's eyes perked up, her eyebrows reached into her hairline. "Unfortunately, it's gonna have to wait. I have a real shot of publishing a headline news story." Chloe said.

He knew her well enough not to even try to pull her away from the grindstone. And what would he tell her, about Kara's conclusions, and his concurrence? Would she agree or laugh? He stood there conspicuously, unable to blend into the surroundings.

"Hey, if you don't mind… can you drive my car home from the Daily Planet?" Chloe asked finding a use for him.

"How'd you get back to Smallville?"

"Kara." Chloe tried not to make a big deal about it.

"What? You flew with Kara!" Clark concluded. His eyes flickered strangely. "She helped you, when I told her about what that procedure would do to you?"

Chloe cringed at Clark's mixture of surprise and anger. She handed him her car keys. "It was a necessary evil…Oh, can you get whatever is in Lois's inbox too?"

Clark immediately left. It was too much to take in. First, this idea…that he and Chloe were…well, he's always felt very protective of her. Which explained the overwhelming anger he felt towards Kara and his disappointment in Chloe for wanting this cure.


Jimmy was astonished when Kara walked into the bull pen with a large crate of electronic items. He thought she had left him to work on Lois's video alone. Other than the brief excitement of Clark Kent looking for Chloe, Jimmy was nearly paralyzed with boredom. Downloading, rendering, creating cross-sections of pixels was so mind-numbing and repetitive, that Jimmy required frequent trips to the coffee station.

"James" Kara said. "Sorry I ran off for a moment, but I got a sudden idea and I think you're going to like it." She smiled very hard at him. He set down his coffee mug and met Kara in the middle of the room. He took the box from her and nearly toppled from the unexpected heaviness.

"Wow… You must work out." He heaved it on to Chloe's desk. "What do you got in here?" He pulled out some gold wiring, an old radio receiver, an oscilloscope and a car battery.

Kara continued to grin. Jimmy was completely baffled.

"Um" Pausing he admitted his ignorance. "What is this for?"

"I can help you build an infrared-radio receiver." Kara said. "I noticed you have a scanner, and Chloe told me you know about radio triangulation."

She brushed his arm, gingerly. "Maybe we can track down a Martian, if we're lucky."

Jimmy blushed. Kara was coming on too strong. He was really flattered, but, he liked to be the one in charge of a relationship. He was a man, after all.

"Kara, I'm glad you like me." Jimmy said, holding her hand. "I really am, but put on the brakes for a minute, and let me try and catch-up."

Her eyes were so crystal blue. His lips parted for a moment and he stifled an urge to kiss her. He shouldn't do this, he told himself. Chloe. He loved Chloe. Kara was nothing compared to Chloe. He let go of her hand and feigned interest in the electronic gadgetry.

Kara's eyes burned, so she turned around and paced the circumference of Chloe's desk, allowing her time to regain control over the heat building in them. She stood next to Jimmy, on his other side, and waited.

"You know Chloe and me are…"

"Are you?" Kara asked. "Because, it looked like she gave up."

"Only because you and I were sitting together, staring at one another, talking about ships." Jimmy pinched his brows together. "I need to talk with her, first." Jimmy said. "That is, if she remembers me… I dunno, you might be right— I think she's already decided. Clark was looking for her."

"Jimmy, Chloe gives you the best that she can. I believe that. You should too."

He had tonight all planned out. He bought concert tickets, a new shirt, and was even going to dine her at Chang's. She canceled out on him, and it always had something to do with Clark. He's tried asking Chloe before about her attachment to the farmer, but only succeeded in making her upset.

"You're Clark's cousin. What is it about Clark that makes her so willing to leave me in the lurch?" Jimmy asked. "I'm good to her."

Kara leaned in and kissed him on the check, softly, giving Jimmy the opportunity to turn his head, if he wanted to. "You need a better confidante than Chloe. Clark has her out on loan, but, when he needs her, he'll take her away."

"Yeah" Jimmy said. "It's never been a competition, has it?"

Kara hugged Jimmy and he brightened a tad.

Clark walked into the bull pen and thought he saw Jimmy and Kara kissing. Jimmy's hand was reaching for her waist, to place it on the small of her back and encourage her to come closer. Kara pulled her head back a little, and Jimmy brought his other hand up to her face.

"Jimmy… Kara!" Clark said. The two immediately took two steps back from each other and wore guilty expressions.

He was so mad at both of them. Clark's friendship with Jimmy had always been strained because of Chloe. He didn't deserve whatever time he did get with Chloe. He hated the fact that Chloe and Jimmy were romantically involved. She was loyal to him. Chloe even wrote a note to Jimmy, asking him to help her remember them after her procedure. Clark didn't even get that courtesy—and he had known her for what? Eight years? Clark hated Jimmy Olsen more than ever.

And Kara! What was she thinking?

Clark walked up to the desk and grabbed Kara by the elbow. "Come with me."

Kara turned and disagreed with her cousin. Kal-El meant business. What would happen if they got into a fist fight in front of Jimmy? Tilting her chin, she expressed in her mannerism, "I dare you."

Clark glanced at Jimmy, who seemed paralyzed.

Reluctantly, Clark dropped his hand and Kara inspected her arm for any bruises. In a huff, she stomped out of the bull pen.

Clark looked at Chloe's desk. Jimmy's things were all over it. He had no respect for Chloe or her privacy. If he were any other man, he'd punch him. Instead, Clark warned him, "Quit going through Chloe's stuff." He looked at the box of junk and picked it up with one hand and shoved it into his arms. Jimmy buckled under the weight. "You're pathetic."

On his way out of the bull pen, Clark picked up Lois's paperwork from her inbox. Kara was waiting for him outside the doors. He super-sped her to a remote corner of the basement, where he felt more comfortable raising his voice.

"Why were you kissing Jimmy Olsen?"

"We weren't kissing." She added. "I'm getting Jimmy to help me find my crystal, since you've been too busy tonight."

"Forget the crystal, Kara!" Clark said. "I know that you helped Chloe return to Smallville. Do you know that she was nearly killed and you helped with that?" Clark felt like he was on the verge of screaming.

"What? Kal-El, she needed a lift home and I decided to do what you would have done. I helped her. I didn't ask her why or anything else." Kara explained. "You sound like… Like it was something I wanted to happen to her. I'm not a homicidal murderer."

"But you don't like Chloe, do you?" Clark said. "The moment you laid eyes on her and called her 'just a human', you hated her."

"That was before I knew she was your pair-bond." Kara said. "And before I knew she was meteor-infected."

Clark groaned, he had briefly forgotten about the Kryptonian tradition, or biological imperative, or declaration—or whatever it was. He was yelling at Kara, when he had so many questions about what it would mean if Chloe was pair-bonded to him. He started to back down, realizing, that he needed Kara's help.

"She's not pair-bonded to me."

"When are you going to believe me? I have no reason to lie to you. I need your help if I'm ever going to find my crystal. Why can't we work together on this?"

"I'm sorry" Clark said. "The overwhelming message I get is not to trust you. Finding you like that with Jimmy—it didn't help."

"I'm sorry too. Your friend, the Manhunter, he's not your friend, okay. He works for Jor-El, not for you. He does things for Jor-El's sake, and not for yours. You cannot trust what he says in regards to me, because our fathers hated each other."

Clark seemed to understand, so Kara continued.

"But if you don't mind, there something I've got to put together with Jimmy."

"I'm telling Chloe about this." Clark said. "About you and Jimmy"

Kara turned around and acknowledged Clark's frankness. "There's nothing to tell. He's not my pair-bond. Aago was, and he's gone."


When Clark got back to the Talon apartment to return Chloe's car keys, he found her asleep on the sofa. She still had her shoes on and a cup of hot chocolate was next to her, the beverage still gave off some steam. Clark briefly considered, picking her up, and carry her to her bed, but opted to wake her instead.

He ran his hand underneath her shoulder and helped her sit up.

"Chloe?"

"I'm awake Clark." Chloe said. "I got everything filed with The Planet."

"Why aren't you in bed then? You've had a long, hard day."

"First reason, if I go to bed, I can't complete my new assignment, "Brainless Girl found at Medical Center". Office Walters is coming over in a few minutes. I'm going to tip him off on Knox's lair—can you give me the address of his house of horrors? And then, Lois called. She's stuck in LA without money."

Chloe added. "Don't worry. She's taken a cab to a nearby hotel—where, I'm sure she'll raise some cash quickly."

"What?"

"No, not like that" Chloe said. "She'll start shot contest at a bar and win a betting pool. It her M.O."

"How very Indiana Jones of her." Clark said sitting next to Chloe.

"I'm sure she got the idea from the movie." Chloe shrugged. "She got kicked out of Met-U because of it. They can't stop underage drinking on campus, but, when it looks like illegal gambling is involved, they'll crucify."

"So why did you decided to zone out on the coach?"

"I didn't mean to doze off, it just happened." Chloe asked. "Lack of intent doesn't change the fact I was in la-la land for a few minutes. Did you get Lois's inbox?"

"Yes. It's over on the table, under your car keys."

"Thank you" He seemed tired too. "You should go home—Lana's probably wondering about you."

"She left a voicemail. She's staying with her Aunt Nell tonight in Metropolis. I guess she's opened a new flower shop there."

"Oh" Chloe said. She stood up and stretched like a cat. Yawning, she muttered, "I'd pay more attention to her, Clark."

"Yeah" Clark thought. He probably should. Maybe he can reverse this whole pair-bond thing.


Clark worked on the tractor. He hadn't touched it since Lana magically reappeared a few weeks ago. Since then, it had been pulled apart and put back together. Each nut and bolt inspected for corrosion. Clark tossed out the rusty bits and swapped them for new ones. When he was done fixing the tractor, it would run like new and bare no memory of its past life of disappointment.

Giving up for the night, he returned the socket wrench back to the red tool box. He put away other tools, a small hammer and pliers, and noticed his favorite photo of Lana underneath. She was fourteen, and in her riding outfit, with her favorite horse, Whisper. Her necklace was a piece of green kryptonite. He thought it was Lana that made him clumsy and weak. Today, he sees that it was the meteor-rock all along. It was what made Lana so untouchable in his mind. Funny, of all the people he'd felt pulled to, it was the girl that had kryptonite over her heart.

Clark brushed off the dust and hay from the glass and smiled as the warm memories pulsed through him. How could he ever be pair-bonded to Chloe, when he felt this way about Lana?

Clark heard the rush of wind and the disturbance of space in the barn. He put Lana's photo away before greeting his visitor.

"What'd you do with Knox?" Clark asked the Martian Manhunter.

The black man with telepathic abilities answered. "Your father and I had a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy when it came to crime and punishment. I suggest we abide by the same rules."

Clark wasn't expecting such a diplomatic response. Suddenly, he realized that maybe the Manhunter hurt Knox. "You didn't kill him, did you?"

"Knox is immortal, Kal-El. You can't kill him."

"Right" Clark thought. "He's immortal, like I am, on this planet." Clark thought about Lana, and how he couldn't give her the one thing she wanted. He couldn't grow old with her.

Clark ascended the stairs of the loft.

"I know what it's like to have feelings for the people here, but the truth is, you'll outlive them all. And when they're gone, you still have a greater calling to fulfill. Have you found the crystal?"

"I got a little sidetracked."

Suddenly, Kara blurred into the loft. "What is he still doing here?"

Kara didn't allow Clark to answer her question. It was rhetorical.

"I heard Red Eyes telling you about my father. He's the one who can't be trusted. Ask him to tell you about what he did to my family."

Kara recalled how her mother woke her in the dead of night. They were brought in by the Martian Manhunter to the court of Kryptonopolis. The council exiled Zor-El and his immediate family to Kandor, spared from the phantom-zone by his own brother. It only made the alleged crime look worse, because Jor-El came across as kind and forgiving senator.

"Your father was a traitor." The Manhunter stated.

Kara turned her head to look at Kal-El. Clark believed him still. Kara couldn't believe how naïve Clark was. She spelled it out to him. "He's lying. Who are you gonna believe, Clark? Your family or this Martian Manhunter? Guess this family reunion is over."

Kara waited for him to speak. Kal-El looked a lot like Jor-El, and he was just as stubborn. How did she not see this before? No matter. Kara didn't need his help in making decisions. She didn't need his approval either. She knew how to make her own friends. She flew off in a huff, on her way to seek comfort from Lois.

TBC