Chapter Nine

They walked for several blocks and then after carefully looking around, Kal-El lifted her into his arms and flew them to the top of the building they had stopped in front of. On the rooftop he again scanned the sky and all sides of the building. "What are you looking for exactly?" Chloe asked.

"Satellites, radar, cameras. I've learned how to look for all kinds of detection devices. I'm not sure what is keeping Zod from starting his mission to conquer, but whatever his reasons I don't want to take anything for granted. Aside from the symbol at the Luthor mansion I have seen nothing of his existence on Earth yet. He might be getting used to whatever being he had to take over. Maybe he's learning. I don't know but I'm not willing to take any unnecessary risks. Ready?"

She linked her arms around his neck, "Yes."

He soared above the clouds and then as slowly as he dared flew them to Smallville watching her face almost the whole time. She was speechless, amazement shining from her eyes. He smiled as he finally set them down close to the new entrance to the Kawachi caves. "Do you remember the location for the 'key' to open the cave?"

She reached out her hand and touched the side of the small hill. The section around her hand retreated revealing the metal pad on which she placed her hand and the wall moved aside to let them in. She smiled at him as they walked inside; the 'door' closing behind them. "Do you have the octagonal key?" she asked him, for the first time feeling no anxiety at all or fear of any kind to be heading to the Fortress.

"You won't need it; it actually won't work anymore. Put your hand next to the opening for the key."

And quickly they were back at the new security entrance for the Fortress where she followed the same procedure as to the entrance of the caves. As the door opened he answered the question in her eyes, "I reprogrammed a few things while we were here today. You once told me to be careful where I left that key. And I remembered what you had said about not being able to find me because the key was no longer in the barn. The Fortress is now also a refuge you can come to anytime you need or want to. You will never be in danger here, not from Jor-El or even from Zod. Once you are inside you will be able to have almost complete control over who enters. Only Kara or I can override your commands."

"Whoa…"

As she appeared to be silently trying to absorb this new responsibility, he knew by that one exclamation that did leave her lips that she would not shy away from it.

He put his sweatshirt down for her to sit on across from the console of crystals and pulling one out turned to her. "This is the first crystal that started speaking to me when I first got here two months ago to start my training. From it I learned many of the same things the AI has been telling me all along; but differently. And today I finally understood it in a way I had never imagined."

He sat down next to her holding the crystal in his hands. "It's my father's actual voice that spoke on that, unlike the digitized version of the AI. He must have recorded it just before he sent me here. He told me my true name and that I was the only survivor of my planet. He explained that I wasn't human even though I'd been raised by them. He explained about the powers I would have here and that I should use them wisely. He believed that the people here only needed the light to show them the way to fulfill their destiny to become a great people. He believed in their goodness. I guess he got that impression from my Kent grandparents. He sent me here to be the light."

He paused for a minute, turning the crystal over and over in his hands, as though looking for help in continuing. "I'm not the light, Chloe," he raised his eyes to hers. "These crystals are…sort of. I watched everyone today; saw how hungrily they absorbed the knowledge I was feeding them. Jor-El wants me to finish training after we've defeated Zod. I don't want to leave you for however long that might take. And I've accepted that my powers can be used to continue the work with the Justice League; crime and natural disasters are not going to stop anytime soon. So that would be another reason to not be gone for any length of time. I've been trying to find a workable solution to this… situation. Tonight I think I solved it. I won't train alone."

"You mean like we did today; bring others here for lessons?"

"Not exactly. Unless absolutely necessary, there will be no more trips to the Fortress for anyone outside the Justice League. I don't want to risk its safety; I want it to remain a well-guarded refuge from disaster and any other danger. A lot of the crystals are merely sophisticated portable computers that can be taken from the Fortress, like laptops except with immeasurable gigabytes of memory. Once we've defeated Zod, I would like to start with you, Oliver's scientists and anyone in the JL who'd like to join me and teach everyone more than just the virus and weapons programs."

"I can learn and translate for everyone else. According to Jor-El, these crystals contain the accumulated knowledge of all the known galaxies of his time. I realized today what an honor it is to be the keeper of this knowledge; but it is not mine alone. It belongs to everyone. Maybe someday soon my existence on Earth can be made known to everyone. In a better way than how it happened with Linda Lake that forced me to go back in time to undo the damage. Hopefully people will accept me like you and the rest of the team have. Like Jonathan and Martha, my parents did. Until then I would at least like to start passing this on to the few people who already know about me."

Chloe leaned against him and took the crystal from his hands, "Is it password protected?"

He laughed, "Looking for the ultimate hacking challenge? Right now, not even Tess' computer guys can access any of it. It's Cyborg and even Brainiac proof. Since the Fortress was rebuilt only my voice or touch can activate it. I'm certain, Oliver would be willing to help me find and build a secure location to set up a classroom of sorts; what do you think?"

"I think I'm glad you don't want to leave us," she said softly.

"I don't want to leave you, Chloe," he clarified.

With shaking hands she set the crystal down on the floor next to her and turned into his arms. "I don't want you to leave me either," she spoke clearly before their lips met and the Fortress with its crystals of endless knowledge, the world and all its problems were forgotten.

When she needed air he let her breathe by taking his time trailing kisses across her eyes and slowly down her cheeks to her throat. His heart was thrilling out of control when her mouth sought his again with a desperation reminding him of her farewell kiss on Dark Thursday. Her hand in his hair finally pulled his head away from her, "You know I have this very comfortable queen size bed back in Metropolis…"

His eyes caught fire and he had to close them for a second to control it, "Are you trying to seduce me?"

"Yes," no hesitation in her voice, only hunger.

"Are you sure, Chloe? I want no regrets tomorrow, no denials, no running away…?" he asked trying hard to control the need in his voice.

"Don't worry, Boyscout, you won't regret a thing. And running will be the last thing on your mind…" she smiled at him, her beautiful green eyes filled only with longing.

"The Fortress has a bedroom…with a bed big enough for both of us to get lost in…" he volunteered.

"The only thing I want to be lost in is you, Kal," she replied with a soft voice that started his eyes to heat again.

He stood up and lifted her into his arms carrying her to a corner of the Fortress where a hidden door opened on his command to reveal a fair-sized room with a large hammock like bed right in the middle of it. Once inside she slid to the floor, melted into his arms and his mouth descended to hers as if in slow motion. He kissed her gently, one arm around her waist holding her close, the other hand lost in her short golden hair.

For the next several hours the world disappeared as they slowly and very thoroughly fulfilled every longing they'd both had for all the years since they'd met.

When she later lay smiling softly in his arms, facing him, her eyes half closed, he spoke for the first time since revealing that the Fortress had a bedroom.

"I didn't lie to you that day, you know, years ago at Lex and Lana's engagement party. I've thought about us …like this …for a very long time. But I didn't think I could keep you with me… And I couldn't, didn't want to lose you. I didn't want to risk it. You've always meant too much to me."

"You won't lose me Kal-El. I don't want to be anywhere else," she reassured him.

"When I left you, I thought that my humanity was to blame for all the mistakes I'd made; that emotions were dangerous and only served to cloud rational judgment. I don't really know why I got it into my head that Kryptonians were an emotionless race. Maybe because Jor-El sent a computer to try to teach me the Kryptonian ways and it was an easy excuse to justify denying my earthly nurturing."

"When I rescued Kara from that domestic security group where they had her trapped in an updated version of the Summerholt memory chamber, I got a glimpse of her memories of my mother. And later I got to meet her, a DNA replicate of her anyway; and learned of her love for me and my father. For all my perfect memory I guess I chose to forget that my natural race was also an emotional lot. They were a proud race with a rich history and a great love of family. There was good and evil among them just like on this planet."

She rose slightly from the pillow and gently forced him onto his back and lovingly started kissing his face, "Don't think about it anymore, Kal. Just think about us and right now."

It was a request he gladly obeyed.

And thus began a new closeness they just accepted without further words to question it. An obsession they could not live without anymore; an unspoken agreement and commitment that completed both of them. Every spare moment they were not working with the JL, or training, they spent close together.

The nights he spent watching out for Metropolis, and not in her bed holding her so close as if his life depended on it; she did not sleep. He had become an addiction, a drug that her entire being could no longer survive without. At first, part of the passion had been driven by the sadness of their shared grief; but slowly without either being aware of the change in their silent explorations of each other, the passion developed a new sweetness, a tenderness that slowly filled her heart with a happiness she had never known before.

He never said he loved her; but his every touch communicated it loud and clear. His eyes were filled with it each time he reached for her. She gave to him as much as she took; he did not take her love for him for granted; he was grateful for every smile, every kiss, and every touch. He was not shy with her once he realized she was his; they denied each other nothing. Words seemed unnecessary although he never hesitated to tell her how much he missed her when he'd had to spend a night away from her; although even if he'd never said a word the desperation in his passion conveyed it just the same.

Even though they did not go out of their way to display any affection around the group, everyone saw the difference in their relationship. Kal-El had developed a calm, respectful attitude with the team, working harder than any of them; spoke little more than necessary and joked seldom. Chloe didn't seem to be an exception to this behavior unless he was caught watching her; a fire amidst a contradictory tenderness in his eyes that he seemed unable to disguise. And Chloe was caught smiling a lot more and the regretful sadness in her eyes only showed when Jimmy's name was occasionally brought up.

---To be continued ---

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