Title: Thirteenth Times a Charm
Author: aquaxeyes
Rating: K+ to T, no reason (yet)
Full Description: 3 words. 13 attempts. Just how many times can Clark put his heart on the line without Chloe getting it? AU. Chlark and some Chlollie.
Author's Notes: Big thank-you's to Sculllyga, dispatcher652, ChlarkCandy, Kairan1979, Luna Kompton, and LadyAlchemy for the feedback on the last chapter. You call caught on to every detail, which put a smile on my face (so did the Fine-Bart comment.. I wrote that when I was tired and half-delirious, and when I scrolled back to review everything I couldn't stop laughing when I got to that).
The one song I can only think of:
He Can Only Hold Her - Amy Winehouse
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story.
The Tenth Time.
There was death and destruction everywhere. The ground was black ice that stretched out for miles and was littered with dusty debris. No plants, no buildings. No colors. And every few meters a foot-long crater filled with blood and bones decorated the earth. Beyond the horizon was a thick blanket of darkness. Nowhere to go.
It was the scene of a broken dream; a cold, desolate world, and she was standing in it. She shivered, crossing her arms and looking out into the vast emptiness, but who she was looking for, she couldn't recall.
Strange. She couldn't picture anyone in her head. It was like her mind had been emptied of all important people, things, and events. She couldn't get herself to feel like she was missing something though her conscience was telling her she should. How awful that she could be so detached, but then, maybe that was a good thing. If she was still holding on to anyone or thing in the living realm, she wouldn't be able to stand the devastation.
A gust of wind hit her at the nape of her neck. Instead of turning away, she turned in the direction of the breeze. A presence was making itself known.
The wind gathered into a flurry, quickly evolving into a whirlwind. When she blinked, the wind had disappeared and left a man in its wake. Suddenly, a flash of faces and names..
It had always been Oliver. Now it was Clark. This couldn't be good.
She looked him over as he walked toward her. Same shoes, jeans, plaid shirt. But his hair didn't move at all as he walked, and he didn't blink. His eyes struck her as different, too. Pale, opalescent. All-knowing. He stopped four feet short of her, and she realized his eyes were glowing.
"Is this the last time?" she asked, her voice low even to her ears.
He shook his head slowly. "I don't know why I'm here."
She furrowed her brow. "I'm dead, Clark."
"What?" he asked, and his face held some sincere shock. "Am I dead, too?"
"No," she said, "you're just here with me, in my mind."
"I don't understand," came the response. "What are we doing here?"
Now she was even more confused. Why didn't Clark know what he was there for? Whenever Oliver appeared to her, he would tell her she needed to wake up, that she still had plenty of things left to do in the living realm. He'd always known what he came to convince Chloe of. Why didn't Clark? "Why am I seeing you now?" she asked aloud, more to herself than to him.
Suddenly, it hit her.
She was dead.
She was going to stay dead.
Clark was there because she was going to stay there.
She slowly backed away, not knowing what to expect. Clark could be pretending to be unaware of what was going on and then turn on her in the blink of an eye. And who knew what would happen after that? She could be swallowed into the darkness.
She should've been looking at where she was going, because her heel sunk into a liquid-filled crater. Her foot squished against the liquid and she cried out, her balance slipping.
She almost fell onto the ice but then two arms were wrapping around her, holding and lifting her up. Clark. His hand was gentle against her neck as he cradled her head. Maintaining eye contact with her, he said, "You don't have to be afraid of me."
When he set her upright, she shook her head, trying to catch her breath. "I thought you'd come to take me to the other side."
He could've been amused. "Why?"
"Because," she answered, "when I die.. Wherever I go, I want you to be with me."
She should've felt embarrassed. What she'd said could be misconstrued in various ways. But then, she meant it exactly the way she said it. If she was going to be facing the afterlife forever and ever amen, she wanted to spend it with the only person she couldn't handle ever being without.
She expected Clark to be shocked and slightly disgusted, but he wasn't. He looked.. happy? Hopeful? "Chloe," he uttered. He lowered his head, then glanced back up at her. "What about Oliver?"
"What about Oliver?" She shrugged. "Clark, you're in every part of my life. What we have.. it's something I want to take with me even in death."
Definitely hope in his eyes. He raised his hand, cupping it and moving toward her face. But midair, he stopped himself. He turned his back on her and in that moment, he started to appear more like the real Clark, with a heavy burden on his shoulders. "Seems so clear here, huh?" he asked, then turned around and set his pale eyes on her. "Who you really love."
She didn't deny it. No use, really, not with his eyes the way they were. "I love you both."
"You love me more."
Chloe was stunned. This Clark, this whole experience, it was nothing like she had encountered before in this state. He was actually arguing with her, like as if he had his own opinion in this realm. And the way he said that, he sounded so sure. Like there was no question of her loving Oliver as much as she loved him.
Clark got closer and placed his arm around her waist, bringing her flush against him. This time, his hand caressed her face.
She didn't think it was possible, but her skin broke out in goosebumps. "I.." What was she trying to say?
He leaned over, his eyes searing her to her soul.
"I'm married," she blurted like a reflex.
He smiled. "Not here." And then he was pressing his lips against her.
Dying.
She'd do it again in a second.
When Chloe came to, her lungs were completely compressed. She gasped, and the air rushing in made her head spin for a second. She clutched at her head, trying to force her mind to concentrate, get her bearings.
"Chloe.." Clark was right at her side, helping her sit up.
Her chest throbbed, but she ignored it. The pain was only an echo of the injury she'd absorbed. As she adjusted she realized she was laying on the couch in Clark's barn loft, still in her wedding dress. It was covered in dried blood. She checked her hands; they were clean. Clark must have cleaned them while she was.. out. Clark..
She looked up at her best friend, who looked like his calm facade was ready to crack. Memories came back to her, one in particular. "You can fly."
The expression he gave her was one that made her feel like she'd brought up the most inane fact to light. "You can self-resurrect," he countered, his face stoic.
When he said it like that, she felt guilty. Had it not been for Fine crashing the wedding reception, she would've kept this a secret. Speaking of the wedding.. "Oliver.."
"Okay," he reassured her, but he refused to be sidetracked like her. "Chloe, I thought you were dead."
There was no easy way to say it. "I was." She shifted uncomfortably. "For how long?"
"Thirteen hours."
She saw the conflict written on his face. Disbelief that she could actually do it, rise from the dead, versus the proof. She had come back to life. "This is going to be difficult to internalize, but I have the power to heal people. I discovered it the day after I almost got mugged by Lex's henchmen when I was passing by the children's ward. I saw a girl who was in an armcast, and I was so overwhelmed by her sadness, it just happened right then and there."
He took it silently.
That bothered Chloe. Her gut was telling her that he wasn't saying anything because he was somehow disappointed in her for not trusting him enough. Which was complete bull. It wasn't like she wanted to keep it from him forever. What she didn't want was for him to feel responsible for her condition.
She sighed. "Clark, I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But this power is a direct result of my being constantly exposed to Kryptonite all these years."
His eyebrows arched, shocked and anguished at the same time. "You mean--"
"I tried to find a cure, but it turns out the concentration of meteor rock surrounding my heart is so high, it's inoperable and irreversable by all other means."
He grimaced, guilt and sadness apparent. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" she asked. "I've come to terms with this. I've accepted this power as a gift." Which was easier said that done. When she realized that she was infected by the alien meteor rocks, everything she'd done in her past to compromise the "meteor freaks" came back to haunt her. She'd become the weird. So yeah, it had taken her a long time to accept that she couldn't change her condition, but what she learned in practicing her power was something she didn't regret.
Her friend was still brooding. "I love you, Chloe, and I don't want to lose you," he said vehemently. "Promise me you won't do that again, use your powers."
"I don't die every single time, Clark. Only when the injury is fatal."
He considered that statement. "That could be why Fine interrupted the reception in order to get to you," he concluded. "He wanted to know more about how you could do that."
"By the way," Chloe said, knowing she was getting off-topic, "did anyone.. see? You know, me looking like a corpse."
"No. As soon as Oliver began to stir I took you here."
She gulped, her throat dry. "Thank you." He didn't have to do that, but he did. Sometimes she wondered who made who do backflips more.
"I think you should tell Oliver," Clark said suddenly.
She was flabbergasted by the idea. "What--why?"
"You two are married now, and you just saved his life. I think he deserves to know the truth." To emphasize, he made a stern face.
"And I'll tell him," she conceded, "Someday. But for now, I think the first task at hand for us is staying alive. It would be nice to be Mrs. Sullivan-Queen for more than twenty-four hours."
He smiled, but didn't comment. Instead, he asked, "What was it like when you were dead? Do you remember anything?"
She pulled back, trying to think of what she'd gone through for the thirteen hours he said she was gone. Nothing. "No."
( If that's what you're thinking, yes, Chloe didn't remember what happened in the world of the nonliving. It says she recalls Oliver visiting her, but those memories are stored there whenever she is in that state and do not come back with her when she wakes up. Time for number eleven! )