Darkness. Light. Pain. Darkness.
He'd been struggling for what had seemed an eternity to regain consciousness. Clark felt like he was floating upwards toward some unknown destination. He couldn't feel or move any of his limbs and he couldn't cry out for help. There was only the darkness and the pain. Panic overwhelmed his senses for a moment. He thought that after all of the near death incidents he'd been through, the 'Grim Reaper' had finally caught up with him. 'Oh my God, I'm dead. I can't be dead. There's still so much to do. Mom and dad, and the farm. Pete and Chloe, and Lex, and Lana. My friends, I need them. Please, not yet. NOT YET!'
The panic subsided quickly as rationality returned to him. For starters, there wasn't a white light leading anywhere. Also, if he was dead, why was his body wracked with pain? Memories started flowing through Clark's damaged mind; the ride to Chloe's house, the snow coming down. The horrible feeling in the pit f his stomach and the scream he'd heard from Chloe before he surrendered to the darkness. 'Oh No, Chloe. CHLOE!!!'
Clark's eyes fluttered open suddenly. When he tried to move his head a searing white-hot pain ripped through his senses. Breathing hard, he tried to ignore the pain and find Chloe. He painfully looked back and forth over the cab of the truck. The dome light was on for some reason and it dimly illuminated the interior. The windshield had been badly hit; cracks in the glass looking like the webs of some huge spider. A strange coppery smell invaded Clark's nostrils and he realized that he was bleeding. His face was covered in blood. He tried to sit up, but the pain pushed him back down again. His body screamed for sleep and he almost surrendered to the darkness again. Almost.
A terrible moan came from under Clark's still form and he sat bolt upright, afraid of what he'd find. Dizzying black motes appeared before his eyes, causing him to clutch his head in pain. Through blurry eyes, he saw someone with an unruly mop of blonde hair sit up next to him. The blurry stranger started babbling hysterically and hugging him, much to his head's discomfort.
"Clark? Oh, Clark. Oh my God, you're alive. I was so scared." Chloe cried and clutched her best friend tightly in her arms, trying to prove that he was really breathing. Tears of joy ran down her cold features, partially freezing to her soft pink complexion. She looked into his eyes and cringed when she saw the horrid gaping wound on Clark's forehead. She reached out to touch it, but pulled her hand away quickly. Her joy was replaced by anger.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU! Why'd you swerve off of the road like that, Clark? You could've gotten us both killed. You stupid farm boy! I was so sure that you were dead. I thought you'd left me behind. I, I." She said more, but Clark's couldn't understand what she was babbling about. She shook and started smacking Clark's body angrily, crying as she did so. She still couldn't believe that he was alive.
Clark's body cried out in protest of Chloe's repeated blows, but he didn't try to protect himself. The look of contrasting anger and relief on his friend's face nearly broke Clark's heart. She suddenly looked at him, not in anger or pain. Her face lit up as she looked him over. Clark held up his hands, uncertain of what was going to happen next. Chloe smiled and kissed him full on the lips. Clark was so shocked by the sudden change in her mood that he could only sit there as she explored his lips with hers.
She moaned angrily and pulled away, slapping him across the face. "Asshole. Don't you ever scare me like that again." Her lips quivered as she tried to pull herself together. She noticed the horrible wound on Clark's forehead and tried to find something to put over it. Pulling out her scarf, she went to wrap it around her friend's injured head.
Clark stifled a laugh at his friend's erratic behavior. His eyes were still blurry and he was sure he had a concussion. The dizziness stopped and the injured farm boy tried to speak. "Chloe. I'm sorry. I'm okay though. I-"
Clark cringed and put his other hand on his head. He felt strange. Suddenly, everything hurt. For one horrifying moment, he could have sworn that his brain had shifted in his skull. As quickly as the pain began, it was over. The blurry vision was gone and Clark couldn't smell the coppery scent of his own blood as strongly as before. Touching his hand to his forehead, he found that the open wound had sealed shut. He smiled for a second before remembering that Chloe was in close proximity with him. She'd seen the wound heal.
Chloe looked at Clark in amazement and repulsion. Her body screamed for her to run away, but the sight of the healing wound had her transfixed. Finally, she scooted away from Clark, slamming against the truck's far side door. "Sta, Stay away from me." She looked around the cab with the look of a frightened animal. She dove over the passenger seat into the back and tried desperately to open the back window. Snow stared her in the face, sealing her in with what she used to call her best friend. She beat her small hands against the glass savagely. It still wouldn't give.
Clark dove over the backseat and grabbed Chloe's hands. He was afraid that she'd hurt herself. He searched for words to try and calm his best friend down. "Chloe, it's me. Clark. Your best friend. Chloe, please calm down. I, I'm not exactly ordinary."
Chloe sneered at him. "Well, that's the fucking understatement of the year. Is this what you've been hiding all of these years, Clark? Is this why you lied to me so much?" She kept up an air of anger, but her thoughts were quickly scrambled to put the situation into perspective. She'd always suspected that Clark was more then just the son of a farmer. The way he'd saved so many people including her; always putting himself at risk. "LET GO OF ME!"
"Chloe, please. This isn't how I wanted to tell you. It just happened. I'm so sorry, Chloe. Please, calm down." Clark spoke soothingly to her. She was talking coherently, but the animalistic look of terror was still in her eyes. He finally let go of her hands and she drew back away from him.
Her eyes narrowed a fraction as she tugged on her coats. Her heart still pounding in her chest, she continued to question her friend. "So what are you? An alien? Super Soldier? Or are you just another 'Smallville' freak of the week. You could have told me, Clark. You Should Have TOLD ME!" Chloe was still scared, but she tried to look more angry then scared. She set her jaw and crossed her arms over her chest.
Clark didn't know why, but anger flared inside of him. "Chloe, I, I don't know what I am, exactly. I wanted to tell you everything, but I was afraid. You're an aspiring reporter and news of a super powered teenager would have made your career. I was afraid that you'd put our friendship aside and try to get the biggest scoop of a lifetime."
Chloe shook her head avidly. "Clark, I wouldn't have told anyone. You could have, well, I guess you could have trusted me." She looked at her boots on the floor. Her thoughts ran wild. 'I might very well have tried to report him. I love him and he's my best friend and I'm not even sure I wouldn't throw him to the wolves. What kind of friend am I?'
Clark continued. "You're honestly not sure are you? Chloe this is exactly why my parents and I chose not to tell anyone. You're the first person outside of our family to find out about my powers. I'm trusting you now. Okay?"
Chloe sniffed irritably, but nodded. She couldn't be mad at him, if anything, she loved him more for finally opening up to her totally. "Does Lana know? I mean, you two are close now. Probably closer then you and me. Have you told her?"
Clark moved and sat next to her. "No Chloe, you're the only one of my friends who knows now. You, literally, hold my life in your hands." The farm boy smiled and picked up his best friend's hand, examining the wounds on her palms. "You really went at the glass. Am I that scary?" He smiled up at her, trying to lighten the mood.
Chloe tried not to, but a smile appeared on her face. The Kent charm was making her melt inside. "Naw, you're the cutest alien/super solider I've ever seen. Oh my God, I can't believe I said that." Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment as she pulled her hand out of Clark's feather light grasp.
Clark just smiled tiredly and started to look around the cab of the truck. "I know we need to talk more, but right now the important thing is getting out of here." The farm boy concentrated and tried to manifest his X-ray ability, but found that it would only come forth in sporadic bursts. One second, the metal frame of the truck would appear, and the next second he'd see the inside of the truck again.
The blond reporter sitting next to him noticed the look of dismay on her best friend's face. "Clark, what is it?" Chloe reached out and touched Clark's arm. Every muscle in his body was tensed to the breaking point.
Clark looked at her, fear ebbing at the surface of his voice. "I, I can't see through the truck." He broke Chloe's grasp and reached out to the doorframe next to him. Placing both hands against the frozen door, Clark pushed. Letting out a gasp of anger, he backed away for a moment and looked at his hands. He sucked in his breath and pushed again. Groaning with the effort, Clark planted his feet into the floorboards of the truck and pushed as hard as he could. The door groaned slightly, but wouldn't budge. His right hand slipped and into a jagged piece of metal sticking out of the ruined door. The metal pierced Clark's flesh.
Chloe grabbed Clark's arm and pulled him away from the door. "Jesus Clark, what's going on? Oh, look at your hand. Here, let me see it." While Nurse Chloe went to work wrapping Clark's hand in her scarf, Clark tried to figure what was happening to him. His veins weren't crackling green so there weren't any meteor rocks around. What else could take away his abilities? He didn't get struck by lightning.
Chloe snapped Clark out of his train of though. "Clark, why isn't your hand healing like your head did?" She held up his scarf wrapped hand. Blood seeped through the white silk. Clark shook his head in bewilderment. "I don't know Chloe. My powers are gone. I, I don't think I can get us out of here." Above them, snow continued to flow swiftly from the skies, preventing any escape.
A/N: I'd like to thank Deanz, the best person I've ever met, for beta-ing my stories. Thank You Much.
Kids, tomorrow is the anniversary of a tragedy. It will be a time of quiet remembrance and prayer for all those affected. I'd just like to ask anyone who reads this to please be very careful where you go tomorrow. We've lost too many already. The government has issued strong warnings for possible terrorist attacks. They are asking that each person use special vigilance tomorrow and to pray that nothing happens.
Please be careful kids.
-I. Savant
He'd been struggling for what had seemed an eternity to regain consciousness. Clark felt like he was floating upwards toward some unknown destination. He couldn't feel or move any of his limbs and he couldn't cry out for help. There was only the darkness and the pain. Panic overwhelmed his senses for a moment. He thought that after all of the near death incidents he'd been through, the 'Grim Reaper' had finally caught up with him. 'Oh my God, I'm dead. I can't be dead. There's still so much to do. Mom and dad, and the farm. Pete and Chloe, and Lex, and Lana. My friends, I need them. Please, not yet. NOT YET!'
The panic subsided quickly as rationality returned to him. For starters, there wasn't a white light leading anywhere. Also, if he was dead, why was his body wracked with pain? Memories started flowing through Clark's damaged mind; the ride to Chloe's house, the snow coming down. The horrible feeling in the pit f his stomach and the scream he'd heard from Chloe before he surrendered to the darkness. 'Oh No, Chloe. CHLOE!!!'
Clark's eyes fluttered open suddenly. When he tried to move his head a searing white-hot pain ripped through his senses. Breathing hard, he tried to ignore the pain and find Chloe. He painfully looked back and forth over the cab of the truck. The dome light was on for some reason and it dimly illuminated the interior. The windshield had been badly hit; cracks in the glass looking like the webs of some huge spider. A strange coppery smell invaded Clark's nostrils and he realized that he was bleeding. His face was covered in blood. He tried to sit up, but the pain pushed him back down again. His body screamed for sleep and he almost surrendered to the darkness again. Almost.
A terrible moan came from under Clark's still form and he sat bolt upright, afraid of what he'd find. Dizzying black motes appeared before his eyes, causing him to clutch his head in pain. Through blurry eyes, he saw someone with an unruly mop of blonde hair sit up next to him. The blurry stranger started babbling hysterically and hugging him, much to his head's discomfort.
"Clark? Oh, Clark. Oh my God, you're alive. I was so scared." Chloe cried and clutched her best friend tightly in her arms, trying to prove that he was really breathing. Tears of joy ran down her cold features, partially freezing to her soft pink complexion. She looked into his eyes and cringed when she saw the horrid gaping wound on Clark's forehead. She reached out to touch it, but pulled her hand away quickly. Her joy was replaced by anger.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU! Why'd you swerve off of the road like that, Clark? You could've gotten us both killed. You stupid farm boy! I was so sure that you were dead. I thought you'd left me behind. I, I." She said more, but Clark's couldn't understand what she was babbling about. She shook and started smacking Clark's body angrily, crying as she did so. She still couldn't believe that he was alive.
Clark's body cried out in protest of Chloe's repeated blows, but he didn't try to protect himself. The look of contrasting anger and relief on his friend's face nearly broke Clark's heart. She suddenly looked at him, not in anger or pain. Her face lit up as she looked him over. Clark held up his hands, uncertain of what was going to happen next. Chloe smiled and kissed him full on the lips. Clark was so shocked by the sudden change in her mood that he could only sit there as she explored his lips with hers.
She moaned angrily and pulled away, slapping him across the face. "Asshole. Don't you ever scare me like that again." Her lips quivered as she tried to pull herself together. She noticed the horrible wound on Clark's forehead and tried to find something to put over it. Pulling out her scarf, she went to wrap it around her friend's injured head.
Clark stifled a laugh at his friend's erratic behavior. His eyes were still blurry and he was sure he had a concussion. The dizziness stopped and the injured farm boy tried to speak. "Chloe. I'm sorry. I'm okay though. I-"
Clark cringed and put his other hand on his head. He felt strange. Suddenly, everything hurt. For one horrifying moment, he could have sworn that his brain had shifted in his skull. As quickly as the pain began, it was over. The blurry vision was gone and Clark couldn't smell the coppery scent of his own blood as strongly as before. Touching his hand to his forehead, he found that the open wound had sealed shut. He smiled for a second before remembering that Chloe was in close proximity with him. She'd seen the wound heal.
Chloe looked at Clark in amazement and repulsion. Her body screamed for her to run away, but the sight of the healing wound had her transfixed. Finally, she scooted away from Clark, slamming against the truck's far side door. "Sta, Stay away from me." She looked around the cab with the look of a frightened animal. She dove over the passenger seat into the back and tried desperately to open the back window. Snow stared her in the face, sealing her in with what she used to call her best friend. She beat her small hands against the glass savagely. It still wouldn't give.
Clark dove over the backseat and grabbed Chloe's hands. He was afraid that she'd hurt herself. He searched for words to try and calm his best friend down. "Chloe, it's me. Clark. Your best friend. Chloe, please calm down. I, I'm not exactly ordinary."
Chloe sneered at him. "Well, that's the fucking understatement of the year. Is this what you've been hiding all of these years, Clark? Is this why you lied to me so much?" She kept up an air of anger, but her thoughts were quickly scrambled to put the situation into perspective. She'd always suspected that Clark was more then just the son of a farmer. The way he'd saved so many people including her; always putting himself at risk. "LET GO OF ME!"
"Chloe, please. This isn't how I wanted to tell you. It just happened. I'm so sorry, Chloe. Please, calm down." Clark spoke soothingly to her. She was talking coherently, but the animalistic look of terror was still in her eyes. He finally let go of her hands and she drew back away from him.
Her eyes narrowed a fraction as she tugged on her coats. Her heart still pounding in her chest, she continued to question her friend. "So what are you? An alien? Super Soldier? Or are you just another 'Smallville' freak of the week. You could have told me, Clark. You Should Have TOLD ME!" Chloe was still scared, but she tried to look more angry then scared. She set her jaw and crossed her arms over her chest.
Clark didn't know why, but anger flared inside of him. "Chloe, I, I don't know what I am, exactly. I wanted to tell you everything, but I was afraid. You're an aspiring reporter and news of a super powered teenager would have made your career. I was afraid that you'd put our friendship aside and try to get the biggest scoop of a lifetime."
Chloe shook her head avidly. "Clark, I wouldn't have told anyone. You could have, well, I guess you could have trusted me." She looked at her boots on the floor. Her thoughts ran wild. 'I might very well have tried to report him. I love him and he's my best friend and I'm not even sure I wouldn't throw him to the wolves. What kind of friend am I?'
Clark continued. "You're honestly not sure are you? Chloe this is exactly why my parents and I chose not to tell anyone. You're the first person outside of our family to find out about my powers. I'm trusting you now. Okay?"
Chloe sniffed irritably, but nodded. She couldn't be mad at him, if anything, she loved him more for finally opening up to her totally. "Does Lana know? I mean, you two are close now. Probably closer then you and me. Have you told her?"
Clark moved and sat next to her. "No Chloe, you're the only one of my friends who knows now. You, literally, hold my life in your hands." The farm boy smiled and picked up his best friend's hand, examining the wounds on her palms. "You really went at the glass. Am I that scary?" He smiled up at her, trying to lighten the mood.
Chloe tried not to, but a smile appeared on her face. The Kent charm was making her melt inside. "Naw, you're the cutest alien/super solider I've ever seen. Oh my God, I can't believe I said that." Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment as she pulled her hand out of Clark's feather light grasp.
Clark just smiled tiredly and started to look around the cab of the truck. "I know we need to talk more, but right now the important thing is getting out of here." The farm boy concentrated and tried to manifest his X-ray ability, but found that it would only come forth in sporadic bursts. One second, the metal frame of the truck would appear, and the next second he'd see the inside of the truck again.
The blond reporter sitting next to him noticed the look of dismay on her best friend's face. "Clark, what is it?" Chloe reached out and touched Clark's arm. Every muscle in his body was tensed to the breaking point.
Clark looked at her, fear ebbing at the surface of his voice. "I, I can't see through the truck." He broke Chloe's grasp and reached out to the doorframe next to him. Placing both hands against the frozen door, Clark pushed. Letting out a gasp of anger, he backed away for a moment and looked at his hands. He sucked in his breath and pushed again. Groaning with the effort, Clark planted his feet into the floorboards of the truck and pushed as hard as he could. The door groaned slightly, but wouldn't budge. His right hand slipped and into a jagged piece of metal sticking out of the ruined door. The metal pierced Clark's flesh.
Chloe grabbed Clark's arm and pulled him away from the door. "Jesus Clark, what's going on? Oh, look at your hand. Here, let me see it." While Nurse Chloe went to work wrapping Clark's hand in her scarf, Clark tried to figure what was happening to him. His veins weren't crackling green so there weren't any meteor rocks around. What else could take away his abilities? He didn't get struck by lightning.
Chloe snapped Clark out of his train of though. "Clark, why isn't your hand healing like your head did?" She held up his scarf wrapped hand. Blood seeped through the white silk. Clark shook his head in bewilderment. "I don't know Chloe. My powers are gone. I, I don't think I can get us out of here." Above them, snow continued to flow swiftly from the skies, preventing any escape.
A/N: I'd like to thank Deanz, the best person I've ever met, for beta-ing my stories. Thank You Much.
Kids, tomorrow is the anniversary of a tragedy. It will be a time of quiet remembrance and prayer for all those affected. I'd just like to ask anyone who reads this to please be very careful where you go tomorrow. We've lost too many already. The government has issued strong warnings for possible terrorist attacks. They are asking that each person use special vigilance tomorrow and to pray that nothing happens.
Please be careful kids.
-I. Savant