A/N: You know, it's funny. Every time I write about Chloe's insecurity regarding a romantic relationship with Clark, I always go to the Spring Dance incident. And even when I'd mentioned it earlier, I started to do it again. Why would I do that? Is it because it hasn't been resolved within the "real" mythos? I have no idea. But I can really empathize with Chloe. At least Clark is finally learning in my mythos:D

Now, a WARNING is needed here. I don't want to give away the chapter, but if you are extremely sensitive to women being assaulted, please skip from the dash section down to the next one. I tried to make it milder than I had originally written, but I don't want to bring up any painful emotions for those that it may do that to. Thank you.

Chapter 13

Clark was in motion before the breath had barely left Chloe's lips. He really didn't understand what was going on, but this was really too much. Suicide to prove dedication wasn't the way to gain his affection… It wasn't the way to prove anything other than stupidity. In the back of his mind, he wondered why she would even attempt this since she knew about his superspeed. Mentally, he shrugged, grabbed Lana's shirt, and tugged her back to the safety of the bridge. Faster than he would have thought she could move, she wrapped her arms around his neck and he felt something loosely clasped around his neck. "No!" he screamed as he could feel it coursing through his body. Then he looked down at Lana and began to ravage her willing mouth. He felt surprised that he seemed to feel nothing at all but figured he could just as easily take what was so freely proffered.

He heard a gasp coming from his right and lifted his head from Lana. He looked to the side and saw a beautiful vision before him. How had he never realized how gorgeous Chloe was? She was always throwing herself at him and he'd never had the balls to take her up on it. He rushed to her side, carelessly dropping Lana on her butt and swept Chloe up in one smooth motion. He jetted into superspeed as soon as he could.

He felt a tapping on his chest and looked down to figure out where the irritation was coming from. He chuckled as he watched Chloe pounding with all her might on his chest. "Clark! What are you thinking? You kissed Lana! How could you?" He ignored her as he focused entirely on his destination. Paris was too far for what he had in mind… especially when he practically had his own "penthouse" on the farm. He slid to a halt before the couch and unceremoniously dumped her onto it and stripped off his shirt. Chloe had turned white and her eyes were round as saucers. "C-C-Clark! Wh-what are you doing?"

He smiled down at her and Chloe cringed. She wondered how the face she loved could have turned so cold and hot at the same time. She could feel his eyes raking her body and she knew without a doubt that he was using his x-ray vision on her. She wanted to cover herself somehow, but knew it wouldn't help the situation. She scrambled to her feet. He towered above her and she realized that she'd never felt quite this vulnerable and scared in his presence before. He tugged her to him and began devouring her mouth. Her hands involuntarily crept up around his neck and she felt a harsh bit of rope around his neck. "Clark, what's going on?" she pleaded when she had the strength to pull away.

He smiled wolfishly. "Claiming what's mine, of course."

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Chloe gasped and dropped her gaze from his. For a moment, before he pushed her against the sofa again, she saw a shining red gem hanging from the rope. She knew she wasn't going to be able to resist him… even if he had been a normal human man and that thought caused tears to start rolling down her face. This isn't happening! she thought over and over. This isn't how I wanted this…

But then Pete's voice came through the haze of shock. "This'll do the trick," he'd said as he held up their class ring with the red meteor rock in it. "This'll remove the stick from up his butt."

Chloe gasped again and could feel her head swimming. She didn't really remember when that had happened, but she suddenly knew that kryptonite didn't just have to be green. Scenes flashed through her mind as un-Clark-like moments had happened.A red rock always seemed to be around him… By this time, she had been stripped to her skivvies and she knew she had to focus or they would be lost. She looked at Clark and stilled his hands. "Clark, kiss me!" she said as huskily as she could manage.

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"Finally!" he barked. "I knew you couldn't resist me for long." He pressed her against the couch and she briefly wondered if he was going to consume her. Her hands were pressed against his chest, so she reached up until she had a firm grip on the stone and ripped the rude necklace from his neck. She threw it into the corner and wondered if he would come to his senses immediately.

It wasn't long before the kiss turned gentle and Chloe knew she had her Clark back. He lifted his head for a moment and took in her bruised and nearly naked status. He looked around the room and rolled to the floor in shock. Chloe's relief was so great that huge tears started rolling down her face. She clutched her arms around her torso, trying to get warm, and Clark unconsciously draped his discarded shirt around her shoulders. Then he backed as far away from her as he could. Chloe couldn't find it in herself to break the silence right away and just continued to watch him huddle against the wall.

When he finally lifted his head, Chloe gasped in shock. His eyes had never looked so haunted… not even when Alicia had died. She had to strain to hear him. "Chloe, what have I done?" he whispered, stricken.

With a cry, she flew into his arms. His arms encircled her automatically, but loosely enough that she could have easily broken free. "Clark… Clark…" she murmured over and over, kissing him with each repeat. When she finally got herself under control, she took his hand and led him to the couch and sat close next to him. Never in all the maneuvering did she relinquish his hand. "Clark," she murmured. When he wouldn't look at her, she used her hand to make him do so. "It wasn't you. It was Lana and that weird piece of red rock."

They embraced and stayed that way for some time. Suddenly the situation seemed too far out of their control… as if they knew that their teenage assurance of their ultimate triumph over evil was foolish. While the situation had made them nervous before, now it was terrifying. Then a horrible thought came to Clark. "Chlo, how would Lana know of the effects of red kryptonite on me? How would she know that a necklace with that stone in it would make me want to fulfill all my base desires?"

Chloe looked at him and saw her fear mirrored in his eyes. "Obviously the Transmission has upped the ante, Clark." She got up and started to pace.

Clark's eyes followed her every movement… admiring the curve of her legs… and how she looked in his shirt… When he realized what he had been doing, he slammed his eyes shut. She's never going to want to be with me again, he thought in agony. Not now that I've practically raped her… He tried to pay attention to what she was saying.

"…powers, now it's telling them your weaknesses, because you're not cooperating. Maybe taking me to the Fortress was a huge mistake. Maybe it knew your actions and now knows you're not playing the game." She plopped down on the sofa, slumped in defeat… but with an air of activity that communicated to Clark that she hadn't given up on finding the solution yet.

Clark had to smile. He wondered quietly to himself why he'd never realized how wonderful she was before. Because she hadn't changed… only his perception of her had. He'd been blissfully satisfied with being only her friend, secure that if they didn't change their relationship, it would always be there for him. He wondered briefly when his feelings had begun to change toward her. He could list off any number of times when he'd found himself fascinated with the way she moved and the way she talked… or the way she smiled… or how her eyes always had that knowing look in them… He sighed.

Chloe patted his hand. "Don't worry, Clark. We'll figure this out."

Clark smiled, glad that she'd misinterpreted his sigh. He knew he was going to have to compartmentalize his feelings for her again and put them in a little box in his mind. "I know we will, Chlo, but where do we start?"

Chloe's lips twisted as she thought of the problem. "Well, we know Jor-El can't determine the exact location of the signal, but we know it has to be in Smallville somewhere. Why don't you go on a run and see if you can find it?" It wasn't a perfect solution but may just give them each the time they needed to work through what had just happened and possibly find the location of the source.

"What? You don't think that whoever's responsible for it won't know of my weakness of being unable to see through lead?" Clark smiled. "I mean, I'd run around the world until you told me to stop, Chlo, but would that really help us?"

Chloe had to laugh. She smacked him lightly on the arm (so she didn't hurt herself) and explained. "Clark, you're forgetting about your superhearing… If you open up, you should be able to hear the Transmission and then triangulate its location."

Clark looked at her, his mouth dropped open. Chloe smiled and gently pushed his mouth shut. He jumped up in excitement when the shock wore off. "Chloe, you're brilliant! Why didn't I think of that before?"

"Because you didn't know that it was a transmission." She grimaced. "Besides, we don't know if you'll even be able to hear it…"

"But it has to be worth the try, right?" Clark got up, ready for some action to put his guilt behind him. "I mean, where else could we go with this?"

Chloe shrugged. "It's a good question, Clark. We could search for the ship… We could search all the big buildings in town, but it's probably too well hidden." She got up and gave him a huge hug. Clark stiffened in surprise, but quickly relaxed enough to hold her in his embrace. "Clark, I don't know what else will get a result fast enough. They're getting fed your weaknesses now and it's only a matter of time before they totally freak out and try to kill you 'cause they can't have you." She lifted her head and looked him squarely in the eye. "We can't risk you, Clark. When all's said and done, you're the one that's needed most."

He felt suddenly as if he was choking. He still had nightmares about Cassandra's visions from his freshman year and he couldn't bear to lose even one more person… especially if Chloe was talking about sacrificing herself for the good of all. It just wasn't acceptable.

Chloe had been watching his face closely and watched him pale. She sighed and smacked his arm. "Clark, I'm not talking about killing myself or putting myself in harm's way… well, in any new sense… I'm saying that you're the man for the job and that you need to find the Transmission site before our friends and family are fed any more information about your weaknesses. Sheesh!"

Clark swallowed and smiled sheepishly. Not that Chloe was selfish, she just definitely didn't have a death wish. He laughed lightly at himself and slowly let Chloe go. "Crap, I can be such a moron! I'm sorry, Chloe. I think the stress of the situation is getting to me at last. I mean, it doesn't help that I att…" He stopped suddenly and shuddered. "I should probably get going. I'll check in with you soon." He was off in a shot before he could say anything else stupid.

Chloe shook her head sadly. "That boy takes on the weight of the world on his shoulders sometimes…" she muttered, turning back to the sofa to see if she could salvage some semblance of an outfit.

"You aren't just whistlin' Dixie," someone said behind her… just before she was knocked out cold. Her last conscious thought was how she hadn't told Clark that she didn't blame him for red Kal-El's behavior…

A/N: I mean, let's be honest. Chloe had to have something besides falling under the Transmission's spell happening to her. I hope that it wasn't too bad for anyone.

On a personal note, I'm sorry if this slows down in the posting rate for ya'll. I've been ill and haven't been able to totally kick it yet. Add that to the holidays and life has been totally crazy. Plus, I've been having problems with my website software which is totally driving me insane… but really, that's a long walk on a short pier…

iluvsmallville1: You're so enthusiastic! I LOVE IT! I had meant to be reviewing your stories, but I have apparently just forgotten to make you a favorite author so I get notices whenever you write… Whoops! ;D I'll get that fixed up…

markmark261: Yeah, I thought it was starting to take over too much. Of course, I did a bit more… but there was a reason... Are you satisfied with my resolution of the cliffhanger? (P.S. Thanks ever so for the proofing stuff. I really do appreciate it! As an FYI, I know "Transmission" doesn't need to be capitalized, but I thought I would to give it its own evil entity… Muwhahahaha! ;D)

KentCharm: It's only Pete & Lana in the comics, I believe. I don't think it'll happen in the Smallville world. Personally, I would like it if Lois & Clark never get together in the Smallville incarnation. (Can you tell with the way I write?) With the crying...you're in good company. I've been feeling rather emotional myself. And I'm so glad you liked my poem. All of a sudden, while typing, I was rhyming, so I decided I really should just make a full blown poem…

Chloe'll have tons of opportunity to prove she's not a coward. And I can't seem to stop writing, short of being on my sickbed, so no worries! ;D

Vee017: I'm glad you liked it. I was all set to go all for it, but then it just seemed wrong somehow…

Clark's slowly coming out of his adolescent fog. I've never understood why he still thinks he's "in love" with Lana in the show. His physical reaction to her at the beginning was all due to that necklace. And then it just seemed to be because she's so "pretty".

I'm glad my poem is such a hit. I can only pray that they don't do the unthinkable. I would prefer that they kill Lois and then Chloe uses her name while writing to pay homage to her cousin. They're not going to do it, but I wish they would…

And they do make a good couple. It's something about those matching smiles…