21

I'm telling you it had to be her," Clark shouted, pacing the expanse of Mr. Sullivan's modest living room. "It was a call at two a.m. and there was no trace. Some random number from this area code."

"If it were random," Pete countered, "and from Lowell County, come on, man. Chloe has superspeed and doesn't give a shit anymore. Why would she be in the same county here she could be tracked down?"

"Maybe she's lonely?"

Pete snorted. "You've seen her on red K. She doesn't give two shits about anything or anyone else. She doesn't feel lonely. She feels some things and I'm not going to say them in front of Mr. Sullivan, but she's not going to hang out and call her ex-boyfriend, especially the one that broke up with her."

Clark flinched. "I don't care what happened with me and her and Lex. She called me. I know it was her. I'd know just the way she breathes anywhere. No one has ever, ever called my cell at that time before. It had to be Chloe."

"You're reaching, man. Her speed? She could be in Patagonia, living it up in South America. Hell, she can't fly but she could have swum the Atlantic and be living it large in Europe. She's not just hanging a couple hours away waiting for you to bring her home!"

"Enough, both of you," Gabe said, and he wheezed a little. Clark bent over and helped place the oxygen mask over his face. Two months ago, Gabe had woken up. He was still sick. It was hard for him to breathe, since one lung had been punctured in the crash. His left leg had been crushed when the car had flipped over and he was still in a wheel chair. He was working on physical therapy. Clark's mom took him twice a week for his appointments. He thought that it helped to fill the void that was freed up when the baby died, that caring for Chloe's dad replaced getting ready with showers and other things.

Tonight she wasn't with them. Instead, she was working an extra shift at The Talon. She'd thrown herself into that as well, anything to ignore the loss in their family. Dad was the same way, working hard on the farm. It all made him feel almost latch-key and resulted in long, sullen dinners in which no one said anything at all.

"Mr. Sullivan, I didn't mean anything about Chloe. I just mean that that stuff's a drug. It's stripped her of anything Chloe at all," Pete defended.

"But that's not what you two are really doing," Mr. Sullivan countered. "You're set up on opposite sides of everything and have been since Chloe left the hospital. Pete, she might not be as wild child as you think, but Clark, son, you have to realize that the odds she's still this close to Smallville are terrible. Pete has a point, with her speed, we might never find her."

"Maybe she misses us. Maybe she heard that you're recovering."

"Or maybe you had a prank call from a club kid who mis-dialed," Pete added. "Clark, I know you want to believe she's still out there, that the power of love or whatever will bring her back to you, but she left before she even was gone, you know?"

"Pete, why don't you go home?" Mr. Sullivan suggested.

"What?"

Clark shook his head and grabbed his jacket. "You know what? I'm just heading to check on mom. You think she's not here but there's an impossible crime spree going on in Metropolis and with that M.O., I don't think it's just some meteor freak out there. I think Chloe misses us. She just doesn't know how to come home."

"Pipe dream," Pete snapped.

"Maybe, but I'm not the one who insulted her, am I?" Clark bit back, letting out from of the anger he'd felt with Pete since the day in the hospital. They'd all made mistakes, all shared their part in driving off Chloe, but Clark couldn't help but think that Pete's outburst had done the final damage.

Of course, on the other hand, if he thought he'd been responsible for his mom or dad being hurt, he don't know if he'd be able to stay in town and face that fallout either.

"I didn't. I was just telling it like it is."

"You're good at that," Clark snapped. "Look, I have to go. I can't deal with this and, like I said, I have an early shift at The Talon. Mr. Sullivan, I'm taking over for my mom and I'm sending her right over, just to check up. I know you have therapy today and she's always happy to drive. I can keep thinking about the next place to start looking for Chloe. I think that maybe I'll head out to Metropolis myself."

"Clark, you don't have to-"

"No, I want to. She's still my friend and she'd do the same for me," he said, leaving out the front door.

It was six a.m. when he arrived at The Talon. Early morning Czechoslovakian meetings were good for getting him up and ready to face the day and take muffin deliveries. Of course, he wasn't the only one there. Lana was behind the counter, arranging the croissants and bagels. Clark coughed and she shot her head up, her eyes going wide when she saw him. Lana had been weird around him since at least July. He thought maybe it had to do with the tension between him and Pete, except as the last two months had dragged on, he began to notice she was even more nervous when Pete wasn't acting as a buffer between them.

He still couldn't figure out what any of it meant, but it meant something. She'd even manipulated her Talon work schedule so that they rarely shared shifts. This was the first time in weeks he'd seen her behind the counter, in fact.

"Lana, hey. How are you?"

She swallowed and smiled for him. "Oh great. You know how it is. Busy, busy. I didn't know you were going to be in."

"I wasn't but I thought mom might need the help."

"I saw her earlier. She looked so tired."

"Yeah, mom's not sleeping that well, so that's why I thought I'd stop by and take her shift."

"No worries, I did that already. I offered to take deliveries and do everything until Sheryl came to relieve me. For school."

"Yeah, but we can work on it together. I know there's some boxes in back that needs stacking and I can reach the shelves better. You don't have to do shifts alone."

She stood back up and started wringing her hands. "But you can get to school early, make sure The Torch is ready to go. I mean, all I do is cartoons. You're the editor now."

"Until Chloe comes back," he replied, forcing a smile.

She would come back.

"Clark, I really think you should go," Lana said, starting to the tables to wipe them down.

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not."

"We haven't said two words to each other in months."

"We're talking now."

"If you count me watching you scrub tables with your back turned to me. What gives? I thought we were friends?"

"We are."

He sighed and reached out to take her wrist. "Then why don't we ever talk. I thought things were going well."

"They are. I just have been so busy this summer and with learning to be a manager from your mom...it's being busy."

"No, it's something else. Even Pete says you're not around as much, slipping out lately."

"I just have things to do. Besides, you've been so busy trying to find Chloe."

"Well, she'd try and find me."

Lana sat down her rag and looked back at him. "Are you going to Lex's funeral tomorrow?"

"That's a drastic change of subject."

"Not completely. Lex was my friend too and I didn't want to believe he was gone, but he is. Clark, Chloe's gone too and you just have to accept that."

"She's not gone. I got a phone call this morning."

"Was it her?"

"It was just someone who hung up, but it could be her in Metropolis. I have some fliers I put up every month, but I think I'm going to canvas again tomorrow after the funeral, just in case. Someone has to have seen her."

Lana shook her head. "She's gone . She doesn't want to come back. The sooner you get over that fact, the better you'll be."

He took a step back. "I don't want to get over it. That's a terrible thing to say."

"It's what Pete and I both think. She didn't get abducted. She left . If she wanted to come back, she would. I just...I hate to see you set yourself up for disappointment."

"I'm not. A real friend would try and find her."

Lana narrowed her eyes at him. "I am her friend but I'm yours too and you're making yourself sick worrying. I've been avoiding you cause I have to get this off my chest and I knew it would just be a fight. Please, just give it up."

"You too," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I can't and I won't. You can have this shift. I'll start the editing for the next layout early."

"Mr. Kent," a smooth voice crowed.

Clark looked up from where he was just organizing the headline on the latest soccer game and gaped. "Mr. Luthor, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I was in town closing up sections of the mansion, taking some of Lex's childhood things back to the penthouse."

"Right," Clark said. He didn't know how much he trusted that Lionel was sad. He had his suspicions about that plane crash, but it would be rude to say anything out loud.

"And I was wondering where your newest report was, not that your others have been so enlightening."

"I'm done with the arrangement. I can't do this anymore and you haven't even come close to finding Chloe in four months. Not to mention the fact that I don't know anything."

"You dated her for two years," Lionel replied, advancing on him and Clark took a step back. "I think you know quite a bit about Miss Sullivan, about her connection to the caves, about how she manages to pull off so many miraculous saves. You just won't tell me."

"I don't know all you think I do. I've given you what I have and now our deal is done."

"Hmm, that's very bold of you."

"It's honest."

"True. Did you know that your father took out another loan last week from Smallville Savings and Loan."

"Yeah, mom and dad argued about it."

Lionel nodded and stroked his beard. "And I happened to just have purchased that bank yesterday morning."

"I don't understand."

"If you don't give me something substantial on Miss Sullivan in one week, I will have them foreclose, but you can still defend your girlfriend, that's noble of you. Wait, isn't she your ex-tryst?"

"She and I decided not to see each other."

"So loyal. Your family farm or Miss Sullivan. It's your choice, Clark, good day."