TITLE: Crossroads

AUTHOR: William Rayne
EMAIL: RATING: PG-13

SUMMARY: Chloe takes a trip to the 'real world', our world and now has to deal with the information she has learned. "If you desire to know the truth, you also must posses the courage to accept it."

SPOILERS: pseudo-spoilers for "Velocity" and "Obsession"

PAIRING: Clark and Chloe
DISTRIBUTION: email me

DISCLAIMER someone else owns 'em, I'm just taking them out to play. Don't sue me, I have no money

FEEDBACK: Desired like none other. I want any kind of feedback, but detailed critiques would be an enormous help.

NOTES AND NEWS: Thanks to Deia for being a great beta reader and having better editing skills than I. Still having trouble with formatting this to work with but hopefully this go around I won't hit any snags with the presentation for the story. If you like this story, please read and review my other stories. I'm trying to get the acts done as quickly as possible, but I'm wanting to get the best work possible with all my stories (again see disclaimer). Thank you for being patient with the time between posts.

As always, Italics denote thoughts or voice-over depending contextually. Underlines denote disgust or sarcasm depending contextually. Bolds are stressed.

211

Crossroads

Act 4 - Collision

Chapter 1

Panic ran through Clark at the sight of his parents in the small room with him and his captor. He looked over towards the source of the thud that had interrupted Chloe, his eyes confirming that his father was also a captive. Jonathan Kent groaned and stirred slightly to reveal to all the drying blood on the side of his face.

Dante savagely pushed Martha over in the direction of her husband and turned towards Clark with malice gleaming in his eyes, "Tell you what hero, I'll let you decide…seeing as my original idea didn't pan out due to Ms. Sullivan's family not being home. So I'll give you the honor of choosing who I'm going to make an example of for you to understand that it doesn't pay to cross swords with me."

Clark glowered at the man as Dante crossed his arms smugly and smirked, "Which will it be hero? Who gets tortured and killed."

Dante gestured dramatically towards Clarks parents, "Dear Ma and Pa Kent or" and he continued the gesture to indicate Chloe, "the girlfriend?"

Dante then turned his attention to the Kents and Chloe, "I'll give you all a while to plead your case to the executioner." Clearly deriving pleasure from the horror on everyone's face, he turned to leave.

"I choose you, so help me god, there is no power on this earth that will stop me from ripping what's left of your so called heart out of your chest and shoving it down your throat if you harm either of them!" Clark vindictively shouted at Dante.

Silence filled the room. Chloe looked at Clark and the his sincerity of statement and thought, Why can't I live a normal life so I can appreciate the fact that he hasn't denied me being called his girlfriend rather than being horrified at how much he cares for me and his folks…how much he's willing to sacrifice for us. The shout stirred Jonathan Kent more towards consciousness as he let out a groan. Martha only looked at her son with unabashed horror, knowing that if pushed over the edge, Clark could very well fulfill his statement. Dante just smiled and let loose a demented laugh.

"Oh, that's rich. That's too fucking rich. You, harm me?" Dante said as he stalked over to Clark and gave a full soccer kick to Clark's head. Clark's head snapped back violently, clanging against one of the containers. Martha's maternal instincts took hold and as she made her way towards Dante to protect her beloved child. Dante doesn't skip a beat as he whips around to deliver a spinning backfist to her. Martha falls back from the hit, trips over her husband and gets knocked out by the wall. Chloe's screams of horror draw Dante's attention and as he makes his way towards her, Clark props himself up.

I may not have been able to save Mom from what happened, but I'll be damned if I let anything happen to Chloe too. Dante will pay for all this.

"Hey, Dante," Clark chokes out, his mouth covered in blood from Dante's kick to his nose, "That all you got, tough guy?"

It's enough to divert Dante's attention back to Clark. Dante delivers savage blow after blow onto Clark's vulnerable body. Finally, the sound of a rib cracking causes Chloe to whimper in horror, knowing that she can not do anything to help Clark. Ironically, it is the mechanic who saves them all without knowing it as he called into the room, "Hey Dante. I need one of those canisters of green for The Boss' car."

Dante looks down at Clark's battered body, wipes spittle from his mouth and cracks his neck before calling back, "All right, Johnny. I'm done here for now anyways," he then looks down at Clark, "You still have a choice to make hero." Grabbing one of the canisters nearby, he turns to spit on Clarks face and exits the room. The sound of bolts slamming into place resounds in the small cell. Chloe regains her senses, looks at Clark and silently vows that Dante will pay for what he has done.

Chloe inches over to Clark and the damage became more apparent. Clark looks up at her, his left eye half-swollen shut and the right already showing signs of bruising, his nose smashed in, blood all over his face and matting his hair and worst of all, his skin reacting to the remaining canister of Kryptonite. Tears openly streaked down Chloe's face and Clark choked out jokingly, "So this is what it's like to have your ass kicked?"

Chloe can only sob and nod to his question. Finally she says, "Can you inch yourself away from this filth?" She indicates the Kryptonite container and Clark's answer is interrupted by a fit of coughing that results in him spitting out blood. He nods and as he looks with concern towards his parents, Chloe eyes grow softer and she says, "I'll check on them."

Jonathan's groan startles the two teens and his eyes adjust to the light. The first thing he sees is the prone body of his wife and exclaims, "Oh my God, Martha."

Martha stirred and muttered to herself. Chloe watched this event unfold and remembering how Clark hadn't mentioned her knowledge yet, turned towards to mouth 'What now?'

Clark had managed to drag himself as far away from the container as possible. As he noticed Chloe's question, he barely made out the words. He attempted to shrug back but the action resulted in his stifling a groan of agony. The sound was immediately picked up by Jonathan and Chloe didn't need to turn to see his reaction, she could picture it in her mind.

Giving the man time to recompose himself, she took stock of the new situation. She massaged her temple, thinking up a way out of this new situation. Mrs. Kent looks like she'll come around soon. Mr. Kent, he'll live. And Clark…I've never seen him like that. We've been stuck in here for over an hour and if the meteor rocks don't kill him, those injuries will.

With a sound that is barely a whisper, she hiss, "Clark." It takes a couple of times but Clark finally notices her call with his super-hearing. His demeanor asking her what she wants. She replies to it with the same whisper, "I've got a plan, still up to chewing through these ropes? Also we need to tell your folks that I know, it'll make things easier."

Clark mulls over what she says and even with the damage, Chloe's knows she's seen that look before. Putting herself in Clark's mindset, he guesses at what he's thinking and whispers, "Two things with that. One, 'ow' and two, using your heat thingie in a room with Kryptonite mixed Nitrous isn't the smartest idea in the world. In your condition, there's a good chance you can't exactly control it to zap off our ropes and I don't know about you, but I don't want to see what a second explosion with that stuff will do to us. Cheated death too much this week to try our luck."

The concerned whispers between the remaining Kents attracted Chloe's attention and reminded them that they were on borrowed time. Clark nodded.

Martha regained consciousness and had to bite her lip from breaking down at the site of her son as well as that of her husband. Jonathan inched over to help console her. They pondered the mess they were in. They started to whisper a plan to help Clark and not reveal his secret to Chloe as well as escape. They look up to notice some sort of silent exchange between the two teens and then went back to finalizing their plan. They were so engrossed in the endeavor that they didn't notice Chloe make her way over to Clark and even if they had, they would've never seen what he did to free her since she blocked their view of that. They didn't notice her until she was setting the Kryptonite container near them, as far from Clark as possible.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Kent," Chloe said with an apologetic half-smile. Taking advantage of their stunned silence, she decided to break the good and bad news, "Listen, can you two just trust me for now? I got a plan to get us out of here and we really don't have time for Q&A."

Chloe saw the concern in their eyes and she implored as she removed their bonds, "I know. And I'm sure that statement makes you want to say a bunch of things but not exactly the best time, so just please just trust me?"

Stupefied but knowing the urgency of the matter, they nodded that they'd hear her out.

They gathered in a huddle, Chloe glanced over to Clark and whispered, "Clark? Can you hear me now?" With his nod, she stated, "Ok, here's the plan…"

Dante whistled as he unbolted the door that was serving as a convenient cell for his prisoners. Smiling, he thought to himself, Some days, it's just soooo good to be me. His thought proved to be a fallacy as he opened the door. Dante looked in to see Clark, and then felt something slide hard into his stomach and to the back of his head. The last thing he saw was Chloe lifting his chin to punch him in the face.

All the Kents were surprised by Chloe's strength, both physical and emotional as she lifted and turned the unconscious Dante over and using him as a shield as she rifled through his breast pocket. There was no time for words as Mr. Kent heaved the Kryptonite container out of the room with all his might. Clark's skin stopped pulsating to the radiation but other than that, his wounds should no signs of healing quickly. They all exchanged a worried glance and Chloe thought to herself, Plan B. She took the pistol she felt earlier from its holster out and said to the rest of the group, "Stick to the plan…MOVE!"

Using Dante as a shield, she moved out of the room first as Martha and Jonathan helped Clark out as well. Surprise was still on their side despite her statement, but just barely. The minions spotted the change of luck when the Kents were halfway to one of the cars. One of them made a beeline towards them. Martha dropped her half of Clark, leaving her husband to get their son to safety and grabbed a nearby wrench. She met the thug's aggression with equal force as she brought it up in a vicious uppercut to his chin. She saw the other mechanic start to draw a gun and threw the wrench in an attempt to disarm him before he could fully draw it out. Luck was not on her side with that move.

Chloe watched the scene unfold as she assessed the terrain. Glad to see that there were only two thugs to deal with and that Mrs. Kent managed to take down half of that equation. Chloe noticed the second thug was underneath an engine-block, she followed the chain holding it to its source and fired. The thug's head jerked at the sound of the shot then moved as he heard the sound of the chain snapping after 2 rapid shots. He barely managed to dodge out of the deadly machinery, but it bought enough time for the Kents to get into the car. Dragging along Dante as a shield, she fired off suppression shots towards the remaining minion as she made her way to join the Kents. She winced as one hit a gas drum and was glad that the standard movie reaction of it exploding didn't occur, it only leaked out the gas.

As soon as she had most of her body in the vehicle, she dropped Dante and said, "GO!"

Jonathan replied frantically, "There's no keys."

Chloe kept her eye on the thug as he waited for her to run out of ammo with her suppression fire, she reached over without so much as a look and pulled down the visor.

As the keys slid into his lab, Jonathan started to say, "How…"

"Thank James Cameron's T2."

Clark laughed so hard from the back seat that he ended up in a fit of coughing up blood. Jonathan gunned the car out of the garage. Chloe's gun started clicking as they cleared the garage and the thug saw his opportunity, and used it to step out from his cover. Clark was barely faster as he turned to look out the back window and used his heat vision to make him drop the gun. With an after thought, he started the ground near the gas on fire. The thug diverted his attention to putting it out before the gas neared it and caused an explosion.

It took seconds for all of them to react to the events that had unfolded in the past minute. Their statements all cluttering into one sentence, "Chloe…how did you…do you…that was…intense."

The still smoking gun, clattered to the floorboards and Chloe hid away her trembling hands by crossing her arms. Saying aloud, more to herself than to the rest of them, "Thank you Uncle Sam."

Jonathan was the first to react to her words, "You've never been in the army." The rest of the Kents looked at her, puzzled, awaiting her reply.

Truly smiling since this ordeal began, Chloe elaborated, "I meant my uncle, Sam Lane. He's a Major General, Lieutenant General or Colonel's Fried Chicken…something like that. He was very insistent on having everyone know how to protect themselves. Said I was a natural, who knew it would come in handy."

Clark looked at her and was in awe. Wow. I shouldn't be surprised since Chloe surprising me has been the norm for the past few days, but wow. Admiration and respect swelled within him as he gazed at her. I never knew that this side of her existed. Then again, I never really looked much at her until recently. His subconscious mulled over that last thought.

She turned towards the back seat and with the surge of adrenaline gone, her voice trembled as she inquired, "How you holding up Clark?"

"Like hell," he said and blushed when his mom gave him the evil eye, "er, bad but better. Not healing like normal." Jonathan glanced back at his wife and they shared a look of extreme concern.

Half forgetting the situation, Chloe replied offhandedly, "Probably the prolonged exposure to the Kryptonite…" Her voice trailed off as she noticed the look on Clark's face. They both looked to the floor, knowing they had a lot of explaining to do and other details to take care of.

Chapter 2

Luck was on their side, after delaying an explanation to Clark's parents while they made sure the situation with Dante was well within the hands of the authorities, Clark and Chloe were breathing a shared sigh of relief. It took hours for the police to investigate the scene at the barn and by the time they got around to questioning them in person, Clark's injuries had healed to such an extent that all that was showing was a hint of a bruise on his left eye.

As they finished telling the sheriff the "full" story, Jonathan and Martha escorted the officers to the door and left the teens alone in the family room. Clark looked at Chloe apprehensively and could see she shared the feeling. Chloe nodded towards the kitchen door. Clark raised his eyebrows and pondered the thought of prolonging the inevitable a bit more. Martha must have read their minds and with a mother's tone called back into the room, "Don't even think about it, you two. We'll be in there once we're sure they're gone."

They sighed in defeat and sat down on the couch. The sound of doors slamming and engines turning signaled the end of the few moments they had of not talking they had left. As the Kents strode back towards them, Chloe heard in her mind the tune of a funeral march. Hearing her sharp intake of breath, Clark was amused that of all that has happened today, the talk with his parents was what made her afraid. Women, he thought, will I ever understand them.

Jonathan and Martha wore somber expressions and noticing Clark's demeanor, Martha using the mother voice, "Wipe that smile off your face, young man."

Jonathan softened the tone by adding, "This is serious, you two." Looking directly at Clark he continued, "I'm sure you already know that, but we both feel that we're entitled to a full explanation of what just happened."

Martha finished the parental speech by stating, "Chloe, what you did today for us was nothing short of amazing. I'd be lying if I said I was afraid when you said you knew…our family secret, but your actions today have proven to us that beyond a shadow of a doubt, you can bear that burden."

The teens let out a collective breath that they didn't know they were holding as the tension in the room thinned. Chloe took a moment to figure out her next words. Clark sensed her nervousness and held her hand supportively. As their fingers entwined, she broke the silence by saying, "It's a long story and I'd advise sitting down for it."

The Kent parents sat and listened. At first they almost refused to believe the story Chloe wove but as Clark helped fill in parts as well as confirming the solid evidence that Chloe once possessed, they were left speechless when Chloe concluded her tale with, "…and it's a good thing Gabe was out of town for a seminar or he would've been kidnapped with you two."

Clark and Chloe awaited a response from the parents, trying to ignore their naked amazement. Clark broke the tense silence by saying sheepishly, "It takes some time to process. We could continue this tomorrow, besides it's getting late and there's school tomorrow."

Jonathan was the first to snap out of the reverie and asked Clark, "You're sure that this...fissure is closed, son?"

"Like I said, I managed to close it with my heat vision," Clark responded, not mentioning the backlash that occurred at the end. They have enough on their plate. I'll tell them later when it's all sunk in. Besides, no ill has come of it. 'Yet', his subconscious nagged at him.

His mom interrupted his thoughts by asking Chloe, "How did you know that would seal it?"

Chloe flushed as everyone's attention centered once more on her, "To quote Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 'Elementary, my dear Watson.' Or at least it was to me. Maybe it was dumb luck or something to do with finally seeing a good part of the big picture, but it occurred to me that it would require a very powerful force to rip through dimensions, reality, however you want to look at it. Given what I knew before and now about Kryptonite…ha! I've finally got use to calling it that," she beamed proudly. Clark gave her a bemused smile as she continued, "Anyways, I figured Clark's eyes are the same energy that would be emitted by Kryptonite, both of them being from Krypton and all…so, maybe the heat from his eyes alone would seal it. It was a long shot in the dark, and who'd a thunk it would pay off, but it did."

Chloe was thankful that the silence from her explanation wasn't as long as all three Kents each said, "You're just full of surprises lately, aren't you?" within split-seconds of each other. All four laughed until there were tears in their eyes. Jonathan ended the discussion by saying, "Clark's right, it's getting late and you both have school tomorrow. Clark why don't you take Chloe to get her car, we'll continue this tomorrow."

Relieved, the two teens almost jumped off of the couch. Still holding hands, they scurried towards the nearest exit. As they watched them exit, Martha chuckled softly and said aloud, "Ah, to be young."

Her husband looked at her and smiled. With a gleam in his eyes, he too, took his wife by the hand and they rushed upstairs.

The trip back to the barn garage was silent. The two teenagers only parted holding hands to get in the truck. Chloe leaned her head against Clark's shoulder and they both enjoyed the quiet moment they were sharing. Chloe was half asleep when Clark pulled up next to her car. Turning off the engine, Clark tilted his head towards her and with their faces less than a foot apart, looked her in the eyes and said, "Chloe, wake up."

"There already?" she responded a bit groggy and a lot disappointed.

"Yeah," Clark echoed the same disappointment.

Chloe nuzzled into his arm a bit, bringing their faces slightly closer. Clark deeply into her eyes and Chloe was sure she was dreaming when he said, "You're amazing, you know that, right?"

"That's just the prolonged exposure to Kryptonite talking," she said defensively as she pondered whether she was awake or dreaming.

Clark chuckled, his breath flowing onto her lips and she knew she was awake. He continued, "Well, maybe if it was Red Kryptonite…" Chloe pulled her head back from his slightly and seeing her look of bewilderment, he said softly, "I'll explain tomorrow, but mom was right when she said you were nothing short of amazing today. You saved my life today. You were strong when I couldn't be, took risks where if I were human, I don't think I would've had the courage to take. You were a hero today, more than that, you were my hero today."

Her eyes getting wet, Chloe said, "Clark," only to be cut off with his finger pressed against her lips for a brief moment. Chloe prayed that she wasn't dreaming like she had been the past few nights. God, let this be real.

"Shhh, let me finish," reading her eyes, he continued as he brought his lips closer to hers, "You kept me going through the pain. Thank you for saving me."

Chloe met him halfway and the last responsible thought they both had was that they wouldn't be getting home later than expected.

Chloe had a spring in her step as she thought back on the last few hours. She had cut the make-out session short as Clark rounded third. Not that she wouldn't have minded, but previous experience with Clark made her cut it short.

As she rolled her eyes at his confused expression, thinking to herself 'Men', she asked, "As wonderful and fairy-tale-princess-like this is, I need to know right now, do you love me? Will you love me forever? Do you need me? Will you never leave me? Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life, will you…God, I must be tired to start quoting old rock ballads. Point being, I really want you be sure that this is what you really want…"

She thought to herself, You broke my heart once, Clark Kent and I'll be damned if I let you do it again.

"…Today has been," she paused and found an apt enough word, "intense. I think we should cool things down for now. Neither of us are going anywhere and it's technically tomorrow so I can't say 'there's always tomorrow' 'cause that really doesn't apply. Anywho, you get my point."

Clark began to mount a response when Chloe's finger intercepted him, "Shh, my turn to finish."

Seeing Clark submit to her wishes, Chloe stated, "I want you to know that no matter what you decide, I will always and forever treasure this night." Chloe's hand drifted towards the door handle, "Good night, sweet prince, thank you for letting me live the storybook, even if it was just one night." With these parting words, she leaned in for one last but short kiss as she opened the door. Clark prolonged it a bit longer by leaning as far towards the door as possible as she stepped out. She walked to her car and drove hope, not looking back. Knowing that that if she did, her will would break and she would turn the rest of herself back as well.

As Chloe pulled out and away into the horizon, Clark sat in the fogged up pickup and thought about what just occurred. Mom and Dad are gonna kill me for being this late. Smiling boyishly as he recounted in his mind, he thought, Oh well, it's worth it. What am I thinking…Chloe's right, I definitely need to cool down.

Clark closed his eyes and tried a breathing exercise that Lex taught him a while back, all the while focusing on cooling himself down. When he opened his eyes, he could've sworn there was a thin layer of frost on the window in front of him as well as the dash. Did I? Naw, I couldn't have. Then again. He took a deep breath and let it out again. When nothing happened, he thought to himself, I must be tired if I think I'm Bobby Drake. I've seen that movie too many times, and he started the engine. Must be morning dew or leftover fog from… he snapped himself out of his reverie yet again. I should get home.

As Chloe approached the door, her thoughts turned from reminiscence to the present. I just made out with Clark! Strike that, I made with an alien. Actually strike that too, alien or no, he's still got the instincts of a boy. Well, at least I remember making out with him. Her mind drifted briefly to recall the "Hug" episode she had watched, in what seemed to her, long ago. She got to the door and let out a girlish squeal of delight. While she was fumbling for her keys, the door opened and as Chloe looked at Lana, she thought to herself, Mental note, I need to get more girl friends. I can't exactly tell Lana what happened even if I have to cut out the alien part. Can't gush to Pete, he'd either wig or not really get the girly stuff like Lana would. Arg.

Lana interrupted her stream of thoughts by saying, "Not to sound like a mother, but it's almost four in the morning and what are you so giddy about?"

Lana's eyes pleaded with Chloe to tell her the truth. Chloe bit her lower lip and said, "It's been a long day and I'm really, really tired. Can we have this talk tomorrow night? Please?"

Misery welling in her eyes, Lana nodded. Chloe was so caught up in her euphoria didn't notice the sadness in the nod, she ecstatically kissed her best friend on the cheek and said, "You're a sweetheart. Promise: tomorrow night, you and me."

As Chloe bounded up the stairs to her room, Lana pulled out her cell.

"Hello?" said a groggy but familiar voice.

"Yeah, hello, Pete? I know it's late, but can we talk?"

The tone woke Pete up more and he rubbed his eyes. He replied, "What's up?"

"If it's not too much to ask, I'd rather drive and chat. It was calming the first time…"

"Yeah, sure. I'll be by as soon as I can sneak out."

"Thanks," Lana said as she ended the call, a tear falling down her cheek.

Things are not going good, not good at all. Ever since that Sullivan girl was put in the hospital for the second time that week, things have been one giant SNAFU after another, Adam thought as he paced his new apartment in the Talon. I thought I had it made when I secured the apartment. The boss isn't going to be happy with this, not like he's been happy with events lately. Adam picked up one of the books on the table and threw it at a glass vase which shattered. Smiling at the needless destruction, Adam formulated a plan to get things back on track, which was good because at that precise moment the phone rang and the boss' mood remained quite foul.

"Adam," said the cool, seemingly calm voice of Lionel Luthor, "do remind me what our agreement was."

"In exchange for my 'medical expenses', I'd let you know anything strange about the Kent child."

Adam could hear the predatory smile over the phone, "I'm glad we're on the same page. For a second, I could've sworn you somehow construed that as estranging dear Clark and spending time getting close to Ms. Lang. Then again, if I had assigned you to that task, you'd still be failing."

"Sorry, sir," Adam said through clenched teeth.

"Good, good. I expect a much more positive report the next time around."

The line went dead and Adam glowered. Damn them. Especially that Sullivan girl for no longer bearing some of the burden of the boss' wrath. At least my place in all this isn't compromised, I know about her but not the other way around.

Lionel Luthor tented his fingers in contemplation as he sat at his desk, pondering what went wrong with his latest reconnaissance foray in Smallville. He'd lost his best source into his investigation into the mystery that is Clark Kent when he fired Chloe. His next closest agent in the matter had only succeeded in estranging the target. As for the others in his employ, it could be months maybe even years before he could hope to reap any benefits from them, if at all. As he glanced at a manila folder at the corner of his desk, he knew time was not a luxury he could afford. If I had only known that Ms. Sullivan would've become so damn useful, I would've been less stringent about her faux paus. Alas, hindsight is 20/20 and there has to be some way to correct things.

Lionel spun around in his chair away from his desk and stood up to stare out his office window. The sight of Metropolis at night greeted him. His reflection in the glass gave the illusion that he was standing on air outside the building to admire the view. The globe of the Daily Planet and the lights within reminded him that he needed to look into the rumors that Perry White might've gotten a spine somehow in the past few months. Lionel sighed, So much to do, so much to do, so little time.

Chapter 3

The next day was uneventful, a miracle that Clark and Chloe were thankful for. As the last bell rang, Pete ran up to the budding couple and said, "Hey you two."

"Hey Pete," Chloe and Clark said in unison. They blushed, not because of they were in sync but because they had dreaded meeting with Pete. They had decided, during one of their classes, that they had held off long enough on telling Pete how Chloe was now "in the know".

Before the silence could become awkward, Chloe gestured that the three should find some privacy and stated plainly, "Wow, today has been absolutely gorgeous."

Clark and Pete caught the hint. Clark added on, "Nice enough for a walk."

As the three amigos moved away from their fellow students, Pete added in a question for any potential eavesdroppers, "So, you guys excited about your field trip to Luthorcorp?"

Chloe groaned outwardly, "To tell the truth Pete, I'd rather not think about that for the couple days we have before we have to actually go on it."

Clark gave grunt of agreement then Pete switched the topic, "Speaking of truth…"

Clark took up Pete's lead-in by heading towards some alleys and saying, "I think I could use a coffee. How about we head to the Talon? I think I figured out a short-cut."

Clark gave a quick x-ray and listen to the alleyway for any vagrants before saying, "So we owe you an explanation. Thanks for not pushing for one, it's been a…strange past couple of days. Where should we start?"

Chloe picked up on this and couldn't resist a quick facetious jibe, "The beginning is always a nice place to start."

Taking a moment to savor Clark's reaction, Chloe continued, "Which of course starts with me. So a couple days I was in the bank so that I could get the new Buffy DVD set." She stopped as Pete and Clark rolled their eyes simultaneously. "It's my story and I'm going to tell it my way. Now are you going to listen?"

"Sorry, Chloe," Pete said, "Please continue."

As Clark and Chloe wound down from their tale, Pete stopped dead in his tracks and just blinked at them.

"Pete, you ok?" Clark said with concern.

"Yeah, you haven't said a word since we started," Chloe added with equal concern.

Pete shook his head as if to clear it and said, "Yeah. I didn't want to interrupt. It just took a minute for it to process." Then he took a few seconds to look his two friends straight in the eye before continuing, "Ok. You two really aren't pulling my leg are you?"

"No, Pete, we're not," Chloe said.

"So, I'm a television star of sorts," Pete said with a smile creeping across his face.

"You're more than a star, Pete. You're a Superstar," Chloe added glibly, which made Pete chuckle.

Clark and Chloe started to smile too until Pete started laughing hysterically, almost bordering on maniacal. Pete looked up at his friends and saw the concern returning, catching his breath, he added, "I'm fine. Really I am, guys. It's just that…you have no idea how ironic that is right now."

As Chloe and Clark exchanged a puzzled look, Pete said, "Don't worry about it, that's a completely different subject all together."

"Really, guys, I'm fine," Pete re-emphasized as he caught the two eyeballing him. "Seriously, I mean it. Quit giving me the hairy eyeball."

"Oh, look! Caffeine!" Chloe said with a wide smile as they neared the Talon. Pete silently thanked the Caffeine gods for the break from the looks his two friends were giving him.

Meanwhile…

Adam had spent most of the day doing research. Piecing together information from the briefing Lionel gave on the Kent boy, plus his own personal knowledge and some deft computer hacking skills, Adam's plan was finally beginning to come together.

It took most of the day but Adam had finally managed to get into Swann Institute. Getting in was tough enough but Adam now faced the daunting task of covering his intrusion each step of the way. As he coded the stealth programs he would need to suit his needs, Adam thought, All my troubles began when that Sullivan girl got the killer emails. That's when everything became completely derailed. After that, she and Kent became nearly inseparable. Which wouldn't be so bad but this whole thing has somehow caused Lana to go to the Ross child instead of me. So if I can eliminate the Sullivan girl, maybe things will go my way. Of course, Clark may be with her when that happens and if he's somehow eliminated by accident, that'd be a bonus.

Adam's hands began to shake and he felt a trickle come from the corner of his eye. Damn, he thought, forgot to check on the time. Reaching over to his vial, he found a needle and applied his 'medicine'.

Then again, the boss may not be too happy if the Farm Boy is eliminated but I'll figure a way to salvage that later. If I don't do something now, I'm dead…again. Ah, there we go, this'll set things into motion.

Adam set about his next task. He fed into the computer as many audio files of Lionel Luthor as he could find. K, now all I have to do is let the program compile his voice phonemes and hope I have enough to construct the message. Now all I have to do is call in a few favors then wait for the show to begin. Guess we'll see how well this play goes and not mess up Luthor's endgame too much.

Back at the Talon

"Hey Sarah," Chloe says to the girl working the counter, "Where's Lana?"

"She called in, said she need to do something. I'm in charge here for at least another hour," The brunette behind the counter replied with a smile.

"Ah," Chloe said with a look to Clark and Pete. Turning back to Sarah, she said, "the usual for me."

Sarah nodded.

Clark said, "Ice Mocha."

Pete looked over the menu, "Shot in the Dark. Actually, can you make that a double?"

"Sure can," Sarah replied, "be out with your order in a bit. I'm assuming you're putting this on you guys' tab."

The trio nodded they're consent and walked to a corner table.

Chloe looked at Pete and stated, "Two shots of espresso in black coffee. Not to pry but any reason you want to be jacked up like some hillbilly kid who just stumbled into daddy's meth lab?"

"Just didn't get much sleep is all," Pete replied with a yawn.

"Seems to be going around," Clark remarked then turned toward Chloe, "Hillbilly kid? Where do you come up with these things?"

Chloe shrugged, "What? Just wait and see, he'll be completely jacked up when he's done with his drink."

Clark just shook his head at her and let the matter drop. Glancing at Chloe's bag, he said, "Mind if I check my email on your laptop?"

Chloe pulled the machine out of her bag and handed it to him, "Have at it, big guy."

Before the two could start bickering, Pete said, "Well, there is one thing you guys might want to help me out on."

Clark multi-tasked and Chloe gave her attention to Pete.

"It's about Lana," Pete started. Clark's head perked up at the name, at which Chloe threw him a semi-dirty look. Luckily for all, the waitress interrupted what could have been the budding couple's first argument. Though Chloe's look had a "we'll talk about that later" feel to it.

After the drinks were served, things were settled down enough for Pete to continue. "Well," Pete continued, "the thing is that with the way you two have been acting the past couple days…"

Chloe twirled her fingers in a circle as if to say 'get on with it'.

Pete rolled his eyes and cut to the point, "Lana thinks you two have been going at it like two bunnies in heat."

Clark turned his head to avoid spraying his drink on Chloe's computer and Chloe barely kept from spraying her drink as well. Chloe giggled, "I'll give you points on style for that delivery."

Clark chuckled and Pete laughed loudly. "You're avoiding the subject," Pete said pointedly.

Clark turned slightly red and fidgeted before glancing at Chloe. Chloe sighed, "No Pete, we didn't…er, haven't had sex yet."

"Yet?" Pete said as he smiled broadly, obviously enjoying how uncomfortable Clark was.

"You boys can have the locker room talk later," Chloe quipped and looked at Clark pointedly. It was clear that no exact details would be given, if any.

"Now you're the one avoiding the subject, Pete," Clark said.

Clark to the rescue, Chloe thought with a mental smile.

"Huh?" Pete replied, "What you mean?"

"You implied there's a problem with Lana that you needed us to help out with," Clark said, not wanting to return to the previous point of discussion.

"Well, if you guys were having sex, then it would make things less complicated," Pete said, "but you aren't so what can I tell Lana has been going on with you these past few days. She may be completely oblivious at times but she's not brain dead. She knows something's up. Just not what. Telling her the truth seems a lot more complicated after what you two have told me. So what's the cover story?"

"We could just let her think she's right," Chloe said with a mischievous smile.

"Chloe," Clark said, "that would be cruel."

"Oh, and keeping the relationship you two had from me last year wasn't?" Chloe quipped back.

Pete shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to be a part of this particular spat. Clark winced at the reminder of how much he had hurt Chloe in the past.

"A girl is entitled to a bit of vengeance," Chloe stated with a bit of indignation, "Fortunately, I'm not a spiteful, mean girl. I only wanted to point out that I am entitled to letting Lana suffer a bit as an option."

The boy's let out a collective sigh of relief before tentatively venturing forth, "So, how are we going to handle this?"

"Good question," Chloe replied.

"I hate to say it," Clark said, "but Chloe's right."

"Of course I'm right, it is a good question. I don't know how we should handle this."

"No," Clark said, "I meant about letting Lana keep thinking what she's thinking."

Chloe and Pete's jaws collectively hit the floor.

Clark sighed, "Like Pete said, the truth isn't an option. And what better explanation can we provide that Lana would believe? She's reached her own conclusion, there can't be further harm in not confirming nor denying it, would there?"

"Cold, man, cold," was all that Pete could say in response to that.

Clark didn't respond, he just stared at the computer screen. "Um, guys," Clark said as he regained his composure, "we'll have to figure out that situation later."

Chloe and Pete leaned over to look at the screen as well. On it was an email from Dr. Swann. All it said was that Swann needed to see Clark and that he was to bring Ms. Sullivan as well. A plane would be waiting for them in the Smallville airfield tonight.

Chapter 4

"I don't get it," Clark said as Chloe drove them to the Smallville airfield, "Why the plane? Why fly us to New York?"

"We've been over this a thousand times since you got that email," Chloe responded.

"Yeah, because it doesn't make any sense," Clark rebutted.

"Alright," Chloe said as she took a hand off the wheel to give Clark's hand a reassuring squeeze, "Let's go over it again."

She looked over to Clark, who gave his electrifying smile. Chloe repressed the urge to giggle. Stay on task, she said to herself.

"The real question," Chloe said, "is not why the plane but why me?"

"I think," Clark began tentatively, "Dr. Swann may have somehow found out that you know."

"You know that's not right, Clark," Chloe said, "After all, if that were the case, I'd be with you on asking why the plane."

"True," Clark replied, "What I meant was, maybe whatever caused you to go into that other universe is causing some unknown affect on this one. Other than the obvious, that is. Swann is a scientist above all else, maybe he's detected something."

"Something no other scientist in this world has detected," Chloe scoffed.

"He did detect the message from my biological parents," Clark offered, "and besides that doesn't necessarily mean no other scientist in the world could've detected this hypothetical whatever, it would only mean that Swann is the only one that has information that could help narrow down the cause."

"Point taken," Chloe said with a smile.

"What?" Clark said.

"What do you mean, what?" Chloe said.

"I know that smile," Clark said with a look of mock seriousness.

Chloe laughed, "It's nothing. Just that I was thinking that maybe one of your biological relatives might've been a reporter 'cause you definitely have some reporters blood in you somewhere there, Clark Kent."

Clark laughed and shook his head, "Ok, so now that we've satisfied your question. How about we tackle mine?"

"Well," Chloe supposed, "if you're Johnny-on-the-spot with your theory, then that would mean that Swann doesn't know for sure that I'm in the know concerning your secret and in order for you to bring me along, a plane would maintain said secret."

"I still have a bad feeling about this," Clark grumbled.

"Ok, Han Solo," Chloe teased, "I just think you're trying to find a way to get out of flying."

"Hey," Clark said with a bit of hurt pride, "I'm not exactly fond of heights and you know that. And maybe you're right, if I had my way, I'd never ever fly unless I needed to."

"Well," Chloe said as she eyed the increasingly darkening sky, "this is one of the times I can't blame you for worrying about taking to the skies. Though, if the legends of that other universe are true, you'll have to get use to the friendly and not-so-friendly skies."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Clark said, perplexed.

"Tell you later, we're here and should get on board," Chloe said with a mischievous smile.

"Ugh," Chloe said as she closed her textbook with disgust, "Mrs. Alice is an evil bastich."

"You're just saying that because you don't want to go on the field trip," Clark remarked as he peered over his book. Seeing the glare he received for his comment, he hastily added, "Though, giving a test on the day before a field trip to Luthorcorp is a bit sadistic."

"We've been at this for too long," Chloe said with a smile as she crossed the gap of their private jet and then pushed aside Clark's book. With a devious smile she said, "I think we could use a break."

"Oh," Clark said, perking up at this particular idea, "what do you have in mind to pass the time?"

"I don't know," Chloe said as she ran her hand through Clark's hair, "I'm sure we'll come up with something to pass the time."

"But we'll miss the beautiful mountains of Appalachia," Clark said in mock protest.

"We'll see them on the way back," Chloe said as their lips drew closer together, "for now, screw Appalachia."

Before they could complete their thoughts, the plane buckled slightly and Chloe could've sworn she saw some movement by their window a split second before. This can't be good, she thought.

As to confirm her thoughts, the voice of Lionel Luthor came over the speakers, "Good evening, Mr. Kent and Ms. Sullivan. I trust you've both made yourselves comfortable. By now you should be crossing the wonderful Appalachian Mountains. Do try to enjoy the view, as it will be the last you'll see. Unless, of course, I am correct about you Mr. Kent, then I suspect that you'll find a way to extricate you and your lovely new girlfriend from this matter. As they say in Mission: Impossible, this message…and plane will self-destruct in a bit."

As these last words hung in the air, Clark x-rayed the plane to find the pilot gone and device counting down with 2 seconds left on the clock. He also found no parachutes left in the plane. Having no time to explain to Chloe what he discovered, he quickly grabbed her, ripped open the emergency door and threw himself and Chloe out.

"You pick a hell of a time to learn to fly," Chloe remarked as she held on to Clark for dear life.

"What do you mean?" Clark said, confused.

"I mean, how do you expect me to survive a 50,000+ foot drop from the sky. You'll be fine, bullets bounce off you, what's a little terminal velocity?" Chloe shouted back.

"Well, I'll just brace you for," Clark stuttered, "So you would've preferred exploding?"

"NO," Chloe responded, "I'd prefer for you to fly us out of here."

"Chloe, I can't fly."

"Well, you better learn quick. I'm not afraid of the falling, it's that sudden stop at the end that kills ya. It's not like you can brace me and cushion the fall. At the very least, I'll be in traction and Lionel Luthor will find out your secret for sure."

"I can't…"

"Yes, you can," Chloe interrupted, "Clark. Look, everything that other place has said about you has been true so far. Another thing they said you have the ability to do is FLY. You saw that you really were floating on that DVD. Everything we watched was like a frigging biography of our freshman year. You said yourself, you felt like you were controlling your path in the tornado and that you thought you flew to the caves. YOU CAN FLY."

"But how?"

"Um, concentrate?" Chloe said, truly stumped as well.

Clark closed his eyes and his face scrunched up in a visible sign of attempting to exert his will on a difficult situation.

A few sparse seconds later, Chloe muttered, "Not to put any more pressure on you but…ground. Kinda coming up quick-like."

"I'm trying!" Clark yelled and suddenly, the rush of air they had felt moments before ceased and the world seemed still.

Chloe ventured a look down and squealed, "You did it! I knew you could."

"What do you know?" Clark said in awe, "I can fly."

As Clark finished his sentence, he and Chloe smiled at each other.

"My hero," Chloe remarked as she brought her lips towards his, "You definitely deserve a reward."

As their lips met, they felt the sudden pull of gravity resume. Chloe screamed but a few moments later, they found themselves once again suspended in mid-air. "Sorry," Clark apologized sheepishly, "Guess I need to keep more concentration on this than I thought."

"You think?" Chloe said scandalously.

"I think I got the hang of it now," Clark said as he moved his head closer to hers.

"Nuh-uh loverboy, No reward for you until we're on terra firma," Chloe said decidedly.

It took a bit of practice but Clark finally managed to put them down in a remote location in one piece.

"About that reward," Clark said.

"Actually, will have to be later," Chloe said and seeing the disappointment in Clark's eyes, she added, "we have to find a way to explain our survival."

Clark sighed, "How? This isn't going to be easy."

Chloe's eyes widened, "Actually, it will be."

Clark gave her a look of utter bewilderment.

"You and I were just saved by a mysterious costumed man," Chloe said with a grin, "Now all we have to do is make your costume and figure out a way to make you un-recognizable in it."

"Easier said than done," Clark remarked.

A/N: Sorry for another cliffhanger but still have to figure out how to tie up a few loose ends. Hopefully the next update won't take a couple years. I haven't beta'd this copy so please let me know of any errors that I didn't catch.