Title: Affliction
By: Jesse Drache
Disclaimers: I don't own Smallville, Clark, Chloe or Lex. I'm only borrowing them for a small amount of time, so don't sue me.
Warning: This is a Chloe/Lex/Clark fic, it includes slash themes and a threesome. If you are bothered by any of these themes, do not read this fanfiction.
Rating: PG-13 but will get up to NC-17 in the future.
Chapter 1: An accident
"What are we looking for again?" Clark asked, swinging his flashlight around, and looking at the weed covered ground.
"There was an explosion near here last night that left a man in a coma. According to hospital reports, the man disappeared last night, leaving behind a dead nurse and security guard. We're trying to find anything strange," Chloe answered, motioning towards a space that was blocked off by police caution tape.
Clark nodded walking on, then stopping for a moment to help Chloe step over a fallen tree before continuing towards the clearing.
"What was the man doing out here anyway?" Clark asked as he ducked beneath the caution tape.
"I don't know, he apparently was attempting to dig something up when there was an explosion. He was found by a hunter who heard the blast and took him to the hospital," Chloe answered, following Clark into the clearing.
Clark turned to his left, examining what seemed to be half of a shovel as Chloe ventured farther into the clearing where the ground had been agitate and dirt and rocks had been strewn about.
Clark abandoned the mutilated shovel and moved towards Chloe.
As he got within a few feet of Chloe, he began to feel faint.
The feeling increased as he got nearer to Chloe and Clark had to stop for a moment to catch his breath.
"Chloe," he panted out, as he felt the lightheadedness increase even though he had yet to move a step closer to the source of the disrupted earth. "Get away from there."
"Wait, there's something down here. Some meteor rocks and-something else."
Chloe was on her hands and knees peering into the hole.
"Just let me get a picture," she said, taking out her camera and holding it out until she could get a clear picture of the hole. "
Ok, now all we need is a couple of pictures that my contact at the morgue is supposed to fax me and this is ready for the Wall of Weird," she said, putting the camera in her bag.
"Are you ok?" she asked, taking in Clark's pained expression and his labored breathing.
"Chloe, get away from there," Clark managed to get out before the dizziness and nausea overtook him and he was forced to bend over.
Chloe made her way towards Clark, concern on her face, but only managed to get a couple of feet from the hole before a loud rumbling shook the ground and the hole behind them burst in a shower of meteor rocks and dirt.
Chloe and Clark were both thrown far from the hole, landing unconscious somewhere in the woods.
***
When Clark came back to consciousness, he was laying at the base of a large tree, his head cradled against fallen branches.
Slowly he got to his feet, shaking his befuddled head.
Looking around the woods, he found his flashlight shinning among a group of bushes, but whenever he neared the bush the nauseous feeling came back to him and he noticed the small piles of meteor rock that lay near the flashlight.
Deciding that it wasn't worth going after the flashlight, since he could see just as well with it as without it, Clark walked in the other direction looking for Chloe.
"Chloe!" Clark yelled, scanning the forest as horrible pictures of a wounded Chloe ran through his head.
Walking to his right, his ears caught the sound of crying.
"Chloe?" Clark followed the sound through bushes until he came across two dark figures strewn upon the forest floor.
"Chloe!" Clark said, dropping to the ground and extending his arm out to touch the crying girl's arm, where a deep gash was oozing dark blood.
"No!" Chloe screamed as Clark's hand hovered inches above her skin.
"What's wrong? Is your arm broken?" Clark asked, honoring her request and not touching her.
He watched as Chloe pulled back to reveal the body that lay next to her on the ground.
As Clark eyes adjusted to the darkness, he discerned the shape of a deer.
Moving to its side, Clark touched the creature, then quickly withdrew his hand.
"It's dead," he murmured.
"What happened?" he asked, turning to face Chloe once again.
"I woke up and this deer was hovering above me," Chloe said, her eyes welling with new tears. "I felt so weak but I managed to sit up. I reached out to touch its pelt. Suddenly I was filled with a great surge of energy. When I opened my eyes the deer was lying on the ground, dead. I-I k-killed it," Chloe managed to get out as tears fell down her cheeks.
Clark looked from Chloe to the deer to the ground then around Chloe where all the vegetation had wilted and laid strewn upon the grass.
He watched as Chloe reached out and touched the deer.
Her face drained of color as she came into contact with the cold skin and she fainted, her body dropping over that of the dead deer.
Clark looked down at her, his eyes growing wide as he saw the grass that came into contact with Chloe's boy drain of color then fall to the ground, dead.
***
"Lex!" Clark yelled as he pounded on the door to Lex's mansion. "Lex!"
The light came on and the door opened to reveal a rumpled Lex in his pajamas and a bathrobe with his butler and maid behind.
"Clark?! What are you doing here? Chloe? What's wrong with her?" he asked, opening the door and allowing Clark to step in, a shivering Chloe wrapped in a blanket in his arms.
"She needs help. Can I-can she stay here? I'll explain it all upstairs." Clark looked pleadingly at Lex, then glancing meaningfully at the other two people.
"Sure. Mr. Harrison, Mrs. Embry, everything will be taken care of. Please excuse us, and I expect the utmost discretion from you." Lex said, turning and leading Clark up the stairs and into one of the guestrooms.
"Put her on the bed," Lex said, turning down the sheets and allowing Clark to place the shivering Chloe on the bed.
He moved to check Chloe's temperature but she moved back, letting out a yell.
"Don't touch me!"
"Ssshh, it's ok. Just relax," Clark said, grasping her through the blankets and pushing her down on the bed.
Chloe looked at him through red-rimmed eyes.
"Don't let him touch me. Don't let anyone touch me. Please." She begged.
"I won't," Clark said soothingly. "Now get some rest. I'll stay here to make sure that no one touches you."
Chloe looked up at Clark fear in her eyes and watched as he pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed, Lex hovering nearby.
Eventually Chloe's eyes grew heavy and she shut them, falling into a dreamless sleep.
***
"Clark! Clark!" Chloe woke up, screaming his name.
"SShh, it's ok, Clark went home for a moment to make sure his parents don't worry about his absence, he'll be back soon."
Chloe opened her eyes to find Lex sitting on the bed next to her.
Looking up at him, she realized that he was stroking her hair in a soothing manner.
"No! You're touching me! You'll die," she said trying to move away from Lex.
Lex moved his hand from her hair to her cheek to still her movement.
"It's ok. Clark told me everything. See, I'm wearing gloves." He moved his hand back, showing Chloe his leather gloves.
Chloe shut her eyes, fighting back the tears that welled up in her eyes.
"Don't worry, we'll figure it out and fix whatever happened," he promised, wiping a tear that escaped her tightly shut eyes.
"Clark will be back soon. Then we'll figure all of this out," Lex said in a soothing manner.
"What about school?" Chloe asked, quietly.
"Oh, don't worry about that. Your dad's at Metropolis at a convention so I had Dominic call in for you and Clark. He made up some excuse about you two being ill. I'm not sure if they bought it, but I'm sure I can always bribe your teachers into ignoring your absence," Lex teased, smiling down at Chloe.
Unfortunately, Chloe's expression did not lighten, although it did soften slightly.
"Now, why don't you rest for a while longer and I'll wake you when Clark returns," Lex suggested quietly as he stroked Chloe's head reassuringly.
Chloe reluctantly nodded, and allowed Lex to tuck in the covers around her before she fell back to sleep.