I've Fallen and I Can't Get Down

Summary: One-Shot Chloe is amused when Clark gains a new power. Contains spoilers for "Mortal"

A/N: Got the idea for this fic after watching the vent scene in "Mortal" (totally hilarious!). And repeatedly watching the part of the commercial where Clark is trapped on the barn ceiling.

FYI, it's about a month after "Mortal." The Kent household is completely rebuilt and refurbished. Since I'm too lazy to work out a whole other floor plan for one little fic, the house is exactly the same. And Clark has his powers.

"Thank you so much for dinner, Mrs. Kent," Chloe's voice was somewhat muffled. She was so full she was surprised she could breathe, let alone speak. "The chicken was really good."

Martha as she began to clear the table. "Please, it's the least I could do. We never did appropriately express our gratitude for saving our lives."

Chloe waved away the flattery. "Yeah, right. Clark did most of the work – I was the 'behind-the-scenes' girl." She got up from the dining room table and began to gather dishes.

"Chloe, put the plate down," Jonathan ordered, taking the plate from Chloe's hand. "Martha's right. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be here right now."

"Correction. If it wasn't for my cherry bomb that I conveniently had in my car, you wouldn't be here right now," Chloe argued.

"That still disturbs me a little," Clark admitted, stuffing the salt, pepper, and butter container into his hand. "But besides that, you helped me navigate that vent system."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "A lot good that did us. We found our way inside…and you got zapped by the electric force field."

"Chloe!" Clark muttered when his parents both shot him confused looks. He hadn't exactly told them every detail of their little adventure.

Martha nodded her head in understanding. "I was wondering why you had a cut on your arm."

Clark sighed and, on his way past the embarrassed blonde into the kitchen, murmured sarcastically, "Thanks, Chlo."

"Your welcome, Clarkie," Chloe taunted, using the name her cousin frequently used to drive Clark nuts. It really works, Chloe mused, noting the glare Clark gave her. Following Clark into the kitchen, she whispered, "Hey, at least I didn't mention how impressed I was that you went up against the psycho without using your powers."

Clark froze and stared at her, horrified. "You wouldn't!"

"No," Chloe comforted. She wouldn't do that to him. Not tonight, anyway, when he had been nice enough to invite her over for dinner. "But you really should tell them about your little revelation. They're going to find out sooner or later."

"Why would they?" Clark questioned, thinking. "They couldn't know unless either you or I told them."

"All I'm saying is that it would be safer for you if you spilled the beans," Chloe clarified, taking a seat on the island.

Clark smirked at her. "I guess there's a first time for everything."

"Chloe, can you do me a favor?" Martha called. She was on her tiptoes, attempting to reach a shelf fastened to the wall. "No matter how hard I try, I can't get those tea bags."

"No problem." Chloe got up from the kitchen table and moved so that she was standing next to Martha under the shelf. She raised her arm up before realizing that she wouldn't be able to take hold of the tea bags either. "Alright, since apparently we're both vertically challenged, I'll get a chair."

Chloe pulled over one of the kitchen table chairs and stood on it. She had the box of tea bags in her grasp when her hand slipped, knocking into the shelf. The unsteady piece of wood wobbled. "Get out of the way!" Chloe warned, jumping off the chair seconds before it came crashing down.

"What was that?" Jonathan inquired, bursting into the kitchen, Clark right behind him. "Is everyone okay?"

"We're fine, Jonathan," Martha consoled, wincing when she spotted one of her best dishes broken into pieces. "There was just an accident."

"I'm so sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Kent," Chloe apologized, noticing the way Jonathan had panicked over a shelf. Then again, Chloe reasoned, with Clark for a son, he's probably on edge 24/7.

"It's not your fault, Chloe," Jonathan reassured her, bending to examine the damage. "It's mine. I was supposed to tighten those nails a week ago. Clark, can you run to the barn and get the screwdriver?"

"Yeah, sure." Clark disappeared into the barn.

A shout sounded, and Martha, Jonathan, and Chloe dashed into the barn. And looked up. Clark was floating a good twelve feet in the air, his arms and legs dangling. "Oh my God!" Chloe exclaimed, the elder Kents standing beside her, horrified.

"Clark, honey, are you okay?" Martha shouted, extremely concerned.

Clark was having trouble maintaining any sort of balance, but replied, "Yeah, great."

Still in shock, Chloe cried, "You didn't tell me that aliens could fly!"

"They don't," Clark grumbled loudly. "At least, I didn't think so before right now."

"So this is a new power?" Chloe inquired incredulously. "Cool!" It had taken a moment for her comments to register in the Kents minds, but once it did, they stared at Chloe, stunned. Not noticing their faces, she yelled, "So how do you get down? What is it, some kind of alien trick thing?"

"How should I know?" Clark retorted.

There was a pause, then Chloe stated, "So you're stuck up there? Oh, this is rich." She proceeded to laugh…really, really hard.

"Chloe, stop it!" Clark warned, exasperated and beginning to lose feeling in his legs. "This isn't funny!"

"Oh, come on, you don't see the humor in this?" Chloe sputtered between gasps for breath. The giggles would only subside temporarily before erupting again.

She couldn't see it, but Clark was giving her the angriest glare he could muster. Which wasn't much. "No, not really. Especially when I'm going to be floating in the air for the rest of my life!"

This only caused Chloe to chuckle more. "Don't be such a drama king, Clark. You'll get down eventually…probably. Meanwhile – it's not everyday you see Smallville's resident superhero having a panic attack."

"Thank goodness," Clark commented. "Now, if you're done laughing, I would like to touch solid ground sometime in the near future."

Snapping out of his astonishment, Jonathan weakly announced, "I'll get a ladder. Be right back." With that, he went outside, and came in wit the ladder under his arm. "Martha or Chloe, can you hold the bottom?"

Martha held onto the sides as Jonathan climbed up. He was about a foot under and a little to the side of his floating son. "Reach for my hand, Clark!"

"Okay…" Clark agreed uncertainly, stretching out his arm towards his father. Much to his chagrin, he only flew farther away. "Yeah, this isn't going to work."

"Hey, Mr. Uncoordinated Flying Organism," Chloe called, coming up with her own version of what UFO stood for. When Clark turned his head toward her, she suggested, " Maybe you could use one of your powers. Heat vision…nah, heat rises….strength won't help you here…x-ray vision…wait, you've never looked through…here, right?" Chloe accused, motioning to her clothing.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Clark sneered.

Choosing to pretend she didn't hear that, Chloe went on, "Hearing…no…speed…wait a second, that might do it."

Clark raised an eyebrow incredulously. "You want me to run through the air?"

"Not through it, on it," Chloe shook her head, "No, I mean…oh, just put your feet on the ceiling."

"Like this?" Clark had twisted himself so he appeared to be standing on the ceiling. He craned his head back to see if she approved.

"Yeah," Chloe circled him from below, thinking. "Ok, now run. But not too fast. Enough to run along the roof, down the side and back onto the floor."

There was quiet, each of the Kents considering her idea. Martha shrugged, "You might as well try it, Clark. I can't come up with anything else. Jonathan?"

"Nope, go for it," Jonathan conceded, going to the side of the barn where the door was, where Chloe and Martha had expectantly pushed themselves against the wall.

"If you say so," Clark huffed, preparing to take off. He did. He attempted to start out slow and made it three-quarters down the rear wall. Losing control, he accelerated at an alarming rate and crashed into the barn door.

"Oh my God, Clark!" Martha screamed, then she, Jonathan, and Chloe, ran over to Clark. He was sprawled among the hay, flat on his back. The barn door now sported a decently-sized dent.

There was rustling as Clark sat up, a bit disoriented. "Wha…yeah, I'm fine Mom."

Chloe sighed with relief. "Oh, right, I forgot you were invincible for a second. I think my heart skipped a beat."

"Chloe, you know me better than that," Clark admonished, standing straight and leaning on his mother's arm for support.

Jonathan rubbed his suddenly-aching forehead, glancing between the two best friends. "Yeah, we need to talk."

"I can't believe you did this without consulting us!" Martha reproached her son, referring to him revealing his secret to Chloe. "We always told you to be so careful…"

"Mom, I wasn't even planning on doing it!" Clark argued. The four of them were in the living room, having the discussion. "She was transported to the Artic with me! What was I supposed to say? 'Oh, yeah, you bumped your head and I decided we should take a trip the North Pole'?"

"I know, I know," Martha breathed. "I'm worried about you, though, Chloe. Clark's secret is a lot to keep inside."

Chloe laughed. "No kidding. It's been constantly on my mind for months and I couldn't talk to a soul about it."

"What do you mean, months?" Jonathan repeated, confused. "The caves incident was a few weeks ago."

Chloe gasped quietly, realizing what she had let slip. Blushing, she admitted, "I actually found out about Clark a while ago. I just never told him."

"But how? And why?" Martha questioned.

"Well, it was when Alicia tricked Clark into stopping a speeding car with his bare hands, right in front of my eyes. When he wasn't aware of it." Chloe explained. "I didn't want to confront him because I felt that he would confide in me when he was ready."

Clark glanced at the floor sheepishly. "I already said that I was going to tell you, but – "

"It was never the time, yeah, whatever," Chloe interrupted. "Anyway, I thought he was a more powerful meteor freak at first. Recent events proved me wrong, obviously."

"We really do appreciate it, Chloe," Martha assured her. "Not many others would have been as…loyal. It does make me feel better knowing that you're not going to spread the word to the local tabloids."

"Pete wanted to, remember?" Clark recalled, fondly remembering his old friend. "Although that was more when he found the spaceship. He agreed to keep his mouth shut when he learned the whole truth."

Jonathan smiled at his son's friend, "You did surprise me, Chloe. I am ashamed to admit that I was a little afraid that if you ever were let in on Clark's secret you would tack him up on the Wall of Weird. Thank you for reacting the way you did."

It's no big deal, Mr. Kent," Chloe replied modestly, then addressed Clark,"Speaking of which, you have to show me your spaceship. Now."

The others laughed and Clark playfully whined, "Can't it wait until after dessert? Mom made chocolate chip cookies."

Chloe huffed. "While it is near impossible to refuse Mrs. Kents' cookies, butI think I have to. We're going to examine every inch of that ship, and then we're going to work on your landing."

Clark stared at her, aghast. "What?" His parents were desperately trying to maintain a straight face.

"Your form is awful," Chloe pointed out bluntly. "How are those other powers of yours? I noticed you didn't launch yourself as quickly when you super-sped out of the Talon the other day. We should set up a practice schedule."

Clark groaned. Something told him his life was about to get much more complicated.