The Last
Never Never Land
I know a place where dreams are born
And time is never planned
It's not on any chart
You must find it with your heart
To come home to never land
As her car pulled up into the school parking lot, Chloe instantly began looking for her tall friend. Once again Clark was absent. Sighing she got out of her car and walked into the building as quickly as possible, hoping not to bump into anyone on her way through. Unfortunately her wish was not granted.
"Hey Chloe." She heard as a large black figure stepped in her path.
"Not right now Pete." She sighed, trying to dissuade him from starting a conversation.
"I just wanted to know if you've seen Clark?" The other teen asked concerned.
Chloe looked up at him aggravated. "Pete, just because Clark doesn't spend every second with you anymore doesn't mean his other friends know where he is either."
"But Mrs. Kent said to talk to you…" he replied confused.
"So maybe I do know what's wrong." She snapped. "What of it? It's not like I'm his keeper. He's a big boy, Pete. If he wants you to know what's wrong, he'll tell you." Startled she felt the cold wetness of unshed tears. Angrily she swiped at them. "And it's not like it's any of my business either!"
Pete watched shocked as Chloe side stepped around him and continued on her way. For several minutes he just stood there, staring at her retreating form. Then a determined frown etched itself on his face.
Quickly he ran after the girl. Catching up with her at the Torch he grabbed her arm and turned her around. "Look, something's going on, and it's hurting my best friend, and you know what it is."
Chloe angrily jerked her arm away from him and glared at him. "Like you and Clark told me! Fine, you wanna know what's got Clark so upset! I'll tell you!" She said, her voice rising. "They're dead Pete! He just found out his real parents are dead! They've been for years! And they're never coming back…" The tears began to fall unchecked down her cheeks. "She's gone… And she's never coming back…"
Pete stood staring, stunned at the crying blonde who had started sobbing uncontrollably. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"Never mind…"She sniffled, moving into the Torch. "Just, never mind…" The door closed firmly behind her. Neither of them noticed Lana as she slipped around the corner.
It might be miles beyond the moon
Or right here where you stand
Just keep an open mind
And then suddenly you'll find
Never never land
Martha once again trudged up the steps Clark's fortress. "Hey!" she said with extreme gentleness. "How're you doing?" No answer. "Pete called for you." Still nothing. She sighed. "Clark, I know that you're upset, but you can't keep moping around up here you're whole life. Do you know how worried your friends are?" He looked over at her, and then back down. "Alright. There's cookies in the house if you want some." Sighing she turned and walked back down into the house.
He was still moping a few hours later when Lana walked in. She frowned when she saw him siting doing nothing. Without saying a word she walked over, and slowly knelt in front of him until their faces were level. Then, with all the strength she could muster, she slapped him. The resounding 'crack' of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the barn.
"Clark Kent." Lana said coldly. "You are the most arrogant, pig-headed idiot I have ever met."
He looked up at her stunned. "Wh-What?" He stammered blinking.
"You act like you're the only person in the universe whose ever lost anyone. Well, I've got news for you. You aren't the only sob story in the galaxy. So someone died. Someone else is going to die tomorrow. There's nothing you can do about it. So get over it." She turned on her heel and started down the steps.
"What do you know about it?" He said, snarling like a wounded wolf.
She didn't turn back, but she did pause. "I know that you aren't the only orphan on Smallville. I also know that Chloe's mom is dead too. And that she's locked herself in the Torch and won't stop crying. And did you know that Pete is terrified that you'll do something stupid? And your Mom is sick with worry. I also know it's time for you to get over yourself." With that she was gone.
Martha looked up when she heard a car door slam. She watched as Lana slammed her car into gear and sped away. Wondering what could have upset the usually calm girl, she looked over to the barn in time to see a blur fly from the barn. She bit her lip. It was dangerous for him to use his powers not knowing who was around, but at least her son wasn't moping anymore.
The treasure when you stay there
Is precious more than gold
Once you've found your way there
You can never grow old
And that's my home where dreams are born
And time is never planned
Clark walked up behind Chloe to see her quickly deleting the files on her computer. "Hey…" he whispered, startling her.
"Oh, hey!" she replied turning and trying to hide her tears. False cheerfulness filled her voice, but red rimmed eyes belied her emotions.
"I-I'm sorry." Clark said quietly.
"Huh?"
"I'm sorry." He repeated a little louder.
"What for? You didn't do anything wrong."
"I spoke to Lana…"
"Oh…"
"I never knew about your Mom."
"It's old hash anyway." Chloe smiled fakely, quickly wiping away more tears.
"I had to run around the world a few times, but I guess she was right… I'm not the only sob story in Smallville."
Once again the sound of flesh hitting flesh was heard. "That was for calling me a sob story…" She hissed slapping him. "And that was for thinking you don't have the right to cry!" She hissed backhanding him. He looked at her stunned. "You never read that file I gave you, did you?"
Confusion, fear, anger, and grief fought for control. Confusion won out. "What files?"
She sighed angrily at herself. "The files I stole from Dr. Swan's computers. You and your parents have the only two remaining copies." She hung her head. "I made two copies of everything, then put a virus on his mainframe… so no one else could hack in. The files should all be gone by now. I gave the first copy to you, and the second one to your Mom…" She looked up as he grabbed her arm. The next thing she knew, he was carrying her, and everything was passing by in a blur of color and sound.
When they stopped second later, they were in the middle of nowhere. She looked around worried. "Clark… where are we?"
"By a lake in Texas. I found it while I was running around the world a few minutes ago."
Her eyes grew round. "You were serious?"
"Very. Now why'd you steal Dr. Swan's files? Never mind. How'd you know about his files?"
"Well, I…um…I sort of followed you that day when you went to see him. I couldn't tell what you were talking about, so I hacked into his files. The a few days later I went back and made the copies for you guys. I figured that if I could hack in anyone could, so I gave him a virus."
"Do you realize what you've done!" Clark yelled angrily. "You've erased any chance I've ever had of contacting my own people!"
Chloe looked at him stunned. "There's a reason I gave those files to you!" she yelled back. "It's so you'd read them! I didn't have the heart to tell you that you almost died too. You were lucky to outrun the shock wave. Do you not have ears? The! Sun! Went! Super! Nova!" She screamed, annunciating every word.
He grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her close to him as if trying to see the truth. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that you're the last! You will never contact them with anything other than a oiji board, because they're all dead. None of them could have survived. It's a miracle you did!"
"B-but…"
She was instantly sorry. "I had no right to say that." She apologized quickly, slapping a hand over her mouth. "I'll understand if you never want to see me again"
Just think of lovely things
And your heart will fly on wings forever
To never never land
Clark looked down at Chloe who was now clinging to him as if she was afraid he'd disappear. He felt the saltine wetness of her tears seep through his cotton shirt. "Chloe." He sighed. "I am mad, but that doesn't mean I want you gone."
"I'm sorry…"
"Look, let's talk later, okay?"
She smiled up at him. "Really?"
"Yeah."
She looked up giving him a watery smile. "Thanks." They stood there for a few minutes, each quietly cursing their own stupidity. Finally Chloe pulled back a little. "Can we go home now?" she asked him.
"Yeah, sure." He glanced down. Then gave her a sheepish smile. "Chloe, hold your breath."
"What? Why-Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
The water of the lake splashed up as they plunged into its depths. Both of them came up spluttering. "Clark…" Chloe gasped, treading water.
"Yeah?" he asked, equally occupied.
"What just happened?"
"Um, can I tell you later?" Not quite sure himself.
"Only if it doesn't happen again on the way home."
A/N: Yay! I made it to chapter three! I've had good and bad news about my friend, and thank you all for being concerned about her. Most of the damage is permanent, but not all of it. And I'm going back into surgery too. Anyway, I hope you like it. I've never heard one way or the other about what happened to Chloe's mom, so I just took a wild guess. Besides it gave her a connection to Clark. And for all of you Lana fans, I decided to give her a small part. As usual, R&R! And please be kind.
