Thanks for the reviews guys.
I totally agree with you, The Die Hard. Smallville tends to leave off really good plots, and I hope they keep going with this one. Here's to hoping for that!
Nows here's the second part. Reviews are much appreciated! Now, onto the show.
Gathering herself and taking deep, healing breathe, Chloe turned back to Clark. Her red-rimmed eyes pleaded forgiveness and her tear-stained face looked as though the world had fallen down around her and she had been buried in the wreakage. This only registered in the back of Clark's mind as he sat, staring at one of his best friends, knowing that she might well have just signed his death warrant. He was horrified by what he'd just heard, but it simply could be as bad as he imagined. He decided to wait and see what she told him.
"A few months before school was out last year, Lionel Luthor approached me. He said that if I'd be willing to look into you, your background, family, etc, anything I could find, he'd get me a job at the Daily Planet as a guest columnest." At this point, Clark was trembling a little, looking at his friend totally aghast, the color draining out of his face, faster every second until he was a shade of white that reminded Chloe of a fresh fallen snow. Still, he kept his mouth clamped shut, just staring with wide, open eyes. 'This is worse,' Chloe thought, 'why can't he just yell? Yell and scream and jump up and down. Hurt me like I've hurt him. No, this is definetly worse.' Steadying herself, she continued. "I told him in no uncertain terms I was not going to do it. He seemed to get it and I didn't hear from him again." Clark just stared, his glaze piercing Chloe, willing her to go on and unnerving her at the same time. Realizing that was all the response she was going to get, she plunged on.
"Last year, after you left for Metropolis, I was hurting so bad. I felt like you'd stabbed me in the back and that nothing could ever be the same in my life without you. And the more I hurt and kept hurting, the more I wanted to hurt you back. So I went to see Mr. Luthor and told him that I'd reconsidered. I accepted, Clark." At this, Clark stomach fell so hard and so fast he was sure the sound was audible. 'Okay, this is it. My life is officially over,' was all he could think. He was so digusted and betrayed he couldn't even look at her any more. His legs were telling him that he should get out of there, run, flee, his was no longer safe for the life he was living. Lionel Luthor was after him and he'd already gotten to his friends. Shuddering involunterarily at the thought of the fate that awaited him, he bored holes in the ground with the intensity of his glare. Then he glanced slightly up at Chloe, and nodded for her to continue.
Chloe had never worse felt then the moment when he shuddered. He looked so betrayed and so ancient suddenly that the tremor passing through him was more like an earthquake that crumbled the foundations. 'I did that. I just shattered his world.' Soundlessly, the tears once again poured down her cheeks and she went on.
"I found you in Metropolis soon after. You were so different and disturbing that whatever shame I felt in cashing in the offer dissolved. But I was still suspicous about Mr. Luthor and his motives about you that the only work I forked over was the report I did on you in school last year. I kept delving into your past, the adoption, everything I could find though. I vowed that if you gave me reason enough, I was going to give him what he wanted. But you never did. You hurt me so much emotionally, but you never crossed that line of no return. The more time I gave it, the worse I felt and the worse I needed to get you home, back to normal. Eventually you did, and I knew I could never, ever, ever give Lionel that information. You meant, and mean, so much to me, I was terrified that I would lose you all over again."
She shivered, knowing that it her that was turning the lovable Clark Kent into the shell of a man across from her. None of the friendly spark in his eyes or confidence she knew so well was there. He was dim, recluse, affected. Now she just wanted it to be over, just wanted to words to fly into his head without her ever having to saying them so that he could scream at her. Tell her how horrible she was, reenforce the feeling coarsing through her body, lacing with her soul, and wracking her with pain. But he just sat, slowly nodding again, zapping her energy and killing her softly with his silence. And soon she wasn't aware she was speaking anymore, there were just words falling out of her mouth, tumbling over one another in a desperate attempt to explain, to right her wrongs.
"At first, he was happy with the report. But when I refused to continue, he got so angry. I offered to return all her gave me, with my apology for not being able to help him, that you meant too much to me. He said you were lucky to have such a friend and left. I breathed again, thinking that it was over. I was wrong. Oh, Clark, I've never been so wrong." She was rushing, but stopped and sucked in some air, gasping from the effort of holding back her sobs.
"That's when the threats started. My family, my friends, the Torch. He threated to fire my dad, Clark!" She snuck a side-long glance at him, but he wasn't responding, just studying his shoe with a rapt attention, as though the fate of the world could be told there in his dirt-stained shoe laces. She plowed on. "I was terrified, but wouldn't budge in my opinion, giving him nothing, trying to get out of the deal I'd made with the devil. Didn't work, as you can tell. I sold my soul Clark, and I couldn't be more sorry."
Finally, he looked at her again. It was a level look, some of the color flushing back into his cheeks. It was an eternity that he sat there, hands holding his head up, propped on his knees. Mercifully, he found what he was looking for at last, letting her drop her gaze. And though his beautiful, unnatural eyes still shone with a bottomless pain and fear Chloe had never known, even now, he opened his mouth. "No, Chloe, you sold me. Our friendship, maybe my life. I know that you were hurt, and that I hurt you. I'm sorry I had to be the one to do it, much more than you know. I'd never truly gripped what I'd done though. Now I see it." He paused, studying her deep green eyes, pools of regret and sorrow. "Chloe, you are playing in a game you don't understand with a weapn more powerful than you realize. And you just burned not only yourself with it, but me too." Including himself seemed to be an after thought, as he was obviously worried about her. That just made her feel worse, sucking her heart straight out of her chest. "Lionel Luthor is a very dangerous man, more than you know. Right now, just keep your head down, okay? I need some time with this."
With a grace she'd never noticed before, he rose and walked toward the door. Clark looked just like more than human, in both the hollowness his cheeks adapted and the depth of pain. His shoulders seemed heavier, as if the weight of the world wasn't enough and he was now burdened with the weight of himself as well. His face drooping and long, Chloe saw a tear wind it's way down his face. Clark looked beaten in a way Chloe had never seen before, and turning around, he faced her, eyes locking with hers and delivering the message straight into her soul before he even spoke. He murmerred a mournful "I'm sorry" and he slunk down the hall and out of the school, merging with the shadows and slipping easily away into the night.
Her heart clattered to her feet and shattered into a thousand pieces. The sound of it was deafening in her mind, and Chloe's perfect night was nothing but an illusion, becking cruelly at her from a courner of her mind, the thoughts she'd had just an hour ago missing without a trace.
In one fell swoop, Chloe was sure she'd lost all that mattered in her life.
Thoughts? Feelings? Rant on.
I totally agree with you, The Die Hard. Smallville tends to leave off really good plots, and I hope they keep going with this one. Here's to hoping for that!
Nows here's the second part. Reviews are much appreciated! Now, onto the show.
Gathering herself and taking deep, healing breathe, Chloe turned back to Clark. Her red-rimmed eyes pleaded forgiveness and her tear-stained face looked as though the world had fallen down around her and she had been buried in the wreakage. This only registered in the back of Clark's mind as he sat, staring at one of his best friends, knowing that she might well have just signed his death warrant. He was horrified by what he'd just heard, but it simply could be as bad as he imagined. He decided to wait and see what she told him.
"A few months before school was out last year, Lionel Luthor approached me. He said that if I'd be willing to look into you, your background, family, etc, anything I could find, he'd get me a job at the Daily Planet as a guest columnest." At this point, Clark was trembling a little, looking at his friend totally aghast, the color draining out of his face, faster every second until he was a shade of white that reminded Chloe of a fresh fallen snow. Still, he kept his mouth clamped shut, just staring with wide, open eyes. 'This is worse,' Chloe thought, 'why can't he just yell? Yell and scream and jump up and down. Hurt me like I've hurt him. No, this is definetly worse.' Steadying herself, she continued. "I told him in no uncertain terms I was not going to do it. He seemed to get it and I didn't hear from him again." Clark just stared, his glaze piercing Chloe, willing her to go on and unnerving her at the same time. Realizing that was all the response she was going to get, she plunged on.
"Last year, after you left for Metropolis, I was hurting so bad. I felt like you'd stabbed me in the back and that nothing could ever be the same in my life without you. And the more I hurt and kept hurting, the more I wanted to hurt you back. So I went to see Mr. Luthor and told him that I'd reconsidered. I accepted, Clark." At this, Clark stomach fell so hard and so fast he was sure the sound was audible. 'Okay, this is it. My life is officially over,' was all he could think. He was so digusted and betrayed he couldn't even look at her any more. His legs were telling him that he should get out of there, run, flee, his was no longer safe for the life he was living. Lionel Luthor was after him and he'd already gotten to his friends. Shuddering involunterarily at the thought of the fate that awaited him, he bored holes in the ground with the intensity of his glare. Then he glanced slightly up at Chloe, and nodded for her to continue.
Chloe had never worse felt then the moment when he shuddered. He looked so betrayed and so ancient suddenly that the tremor passing through him was more like an earthquake that crumbled the foundations. 'I did that. I just shattered his world.' Soundlessly, the tears once again poured down her cheeks and she went on.
"I found you in Metropolis soon after. You were so different and disturbing that whatever shame I felt in cashing in the offer dissolved. But I was still suspicous about Mr. Luthor and his motives about you that the only work I forked over was the report I did on you in school last year. I kept delving into your past, the adoption, everything I could find though. I vowed that if you gave me reason enough, I was going to give him what he wanted. But you never did. You hurt me so much emotionally, but you never crossed that line of no return. The more time I gave it, the worse I felt and the worse I needed to get you home, back to normal. Eventually you did, and I knew I could never, ever, ever give Lionel that information. You meant, and mean, so much to me, I was terrified that I would lose you all over again."
She shivered, knowing that it her that was turning the lovable Clark Kent into the shell of a man across from her. None of the friendly spark in his eyes or confidence she knew so well was there. He was dim, recluse, affected. Now she just wanted it to be over, just wanted to words to fly into his head without her ever having to saying them so that he could scream at her. Tell her how horrible she was, reenforce the feeling coarsing through her body, lacing with her soul, and wracking her with pain. But he just sat, slowly nodding again, zapping her energy and killing her softly with his silence. And soon she wasn't aware she was speaking anymore, there were just words falling out of her mouth, tumbling over one another in a desperate attempt to explain, to right her wrongs.
"At first, he was happy with the report. But when I refused to continue, he got so angry. I offered to return all her gave me, with my apology for not being able to help him, that you meant too much to me. He said you were lucky to have such a friend and left. I breathed again, thinking that it was over. I was wrong. Oh, Clark, I've never been so wrong." She was rushing, but stopped and sucked in some air, gasping from the effort of holding back her sobs.
"That's when the threats started. My family, my friends, the Torch. He threated to fire my dad, Clark!" She snuck a side-long glance at him, but he wasn't responding, just studying his shoe with a rapt attention, as though the fate of the world could be told there in his dirt-stained shoe laces. She plowed on. "I was terrified, but wouldn't budge in my opinion, giving him nothing, trying to get out of the deal I'd made with the devil. Didn't work, as you can tell. I sold my soul Clark, and I couldn't be more sorry."
Finally, he looked at her again. It was a level look, some of the color flushing back into his cheeks. It was an eternity that he sat there, hands holding his head up, propped on his knees. Mercifully, he found what he was looking for at last, letting her drop her gaze. And though his beautiful, unnatural eyes still shone with a bottomless pain and fear Chloe had never known, even now, he opened his mouth. "No, Chloe, you sold me. Our friendship, maybe my life. I know that you were hurt, and that I hurt you. I'm sorry I had to be the one to do it, much more than you know. I'd never truly gripped what I'd done though. Now I see it." He paused, studying her deep green eyes, pools of regret and sorrow. "Chloe, you are playing in a game you don't understand with a weapn more powerful than you realize. And you just burned not only yourself with it, but me too." Including himself seemed to be an after thought, as he was obviously worried about her. That just made her feel worse, sucking her heart straight out of her chest. "Lionel Luthor is a very dangerous man, more than you know. Right now, just keep your head down, okay? I need some time with this."
With a grace she'd never noticed before, he rose and walked toward the door. Clark looked just like more than human, in both the hollowness his cheeks adapted and the depth of pain. His shoulders seemed heavier, as if the weight of the world wasn't enough and he was now burdened with the weight of himself as well. His face drooping and long, Chloe saw a tear wind it's way down his face. Clark looked beaten in a way Chloe had never seen before, and turning around, he faced her, eyes locking with hers and delivering the message straight into her soul before he even spoke. He murmerred a mournful "I'm sorry" and he slunk down the hall and out of the school, merging with the shadows and slipping easily away into the night.
Her heart clattered to her feet and shattered into a thousand pieces. The sound of it was deafening in her mind, and Chloe's perfect night was nothing but an illusion, becking cruelly at her from a courner of her mind, the thoughts she'd had just an hour ago missing without a trace.
In one fell swoop, Chloe was sure she'd lost all that mattered in her life.
Thoughts? Feelings? Rant on.