Author's notes:

At last! Sorry it took me so long, but I had exams. Thanks for all the kind reviewers. I was about to drop the story when another review came along;) You really keep me going.

Thanks, as always, to my beta readers, The Die Hard and Last Scorpion.

Clark – had posed a very big challenge to me, because of his incoherent characterization at the show (SV's biggest crime). I tried to make him seem in character without giving him a lobotomy, which was hard.

Televisionwithoutpity – the best place to discuss Smallville in depth. Most of the ideas in this story originated from there. Thank you all, Twoppers.

Lana – should be executed, but that's nothing new.

Reviews – are very much needed, especially about Clark's characterization. And to motivate me to finish this story.


Chapter 3

"…One of the things Clark's biographers enjoy the most, besides prowling into the reasons of the "Rift" between him and Lex Luthor, those five years in which they had no communication, is to wonder what, exactly, happened between Clark Kent and Lana Lang.

Was Clark ever in love with Lana? Was it a crush? Infatuation?

Most of them ended up defining Lana as "high school crush", although there's a small group (including, of course, Edison) that claims that Lana was and is Clark's one true love. Edison, in "Better than Human" (2017), dedicates five chapters to Lana.

On the other hand, Naismith-Vorkosigan, in her book "Meteor Capital of the World – Clark Kent's childhood and youth in Smallville" (2018) gives Lana only half a chapter, describing her as a "first, immature crush" and as an "eternal damsel in distress".

I doubt even Clark himself knows the answer to that question. He passionately claimed to be in love with Lana through all our teenage years, only to claim later, with equal passion, that he was mistaken.

Why did Clark believe himself to be in love with Lana all those years?

As much as I want to take the historical, scientific point of view of the matter, I have to admit myself hopelessly biased. There's an extremely appropriate Freud quote to describe Clark's feelings towards Lana: "The sense of inferiority and the sense of guilt are exceedingly difficult to distinguish."

Clark already had a crush on Lana, the town's unofficial princess, to begin with.

When he learned how he came to earth, and convinced himself that he was responsible for the death of Lana's parents, it was easy for him to start seeing her as the idyll, to seek her forgiveness, and to believe himself in love with her.

Chloe Sullivan, "Destiny shock – The farm boy turns superhero" unpublished notes

This could only be described as "idyll" thought Chloe. A rare sunny day in the middle of winter, a free period between "106-Writing Structure" and "190-Introduction to Mass Media", and Clark only had to save people twice this morning. They were sitting on a bench in mid-campus, Clark was reading "Starship Troopers" again, and Chloe tried to come up with ways to make the rector confess the upcoming budget cuts at the Kansan.

"Chloe…" began Clark.

"Yes?"

Clark took a breath. "You remember Justin Gaines, right?"

"There's a saying about never forgetting the guy who tried to kill you. Well, perhaps not, but there should be," answered Chloe. So much for "idyll", she thought.

"When you found out about his…ability," he continued "I mean, before you found out he was homicidal," he paused.

"Yes?" said Chloe again.

"Were you freaked by it?" Clark finally asked.

"Hmm," Chloe considered the question for a moment. "No, not really. We kissed, and things flew in the air…it was kind of romantic. Till he tried to kill me, that is."

Clark gave a thoughtful nod. "So, if he didn't try to kill you, and was just a nice guy with telekinesis, you wouldn't have been freaked out."

Chloe chuckled, "I'm not easily freaked out, Clark. If Justin was what he appeared to be…we could have had a great relationship. You know, make each other miserable for three or four years, then break up with a bang." She tried to smile.

Clark nodded, "I see".

Chloe waited for fifteen seconds, but Clark didn't seem like he was about to say anything more.

"Ok, Clark. Is there a reason for this sudden interest in a five-year-old fling of mine?"

"Well…" Clark said, looking away from Chloe.

"Come on, Clark. Spill it." Chloe patted his hand.

"I could be wrong…" said Clark.

"But?" Asked Chloe.

"I feel that…I feel that Lana is freaked out by me." He said at last.

Oh, no, thought Chloe. Lana was never what you'd call "open minded" about Smallville's mutants. If she included Clark with the rest of the "freaks", serious shit was about to hit the fan. On the other hand, Chloe tried to assure herself, Clark did save Lana from the last 13,342 mutant stalkers. That must count for something.

"Maybe she's still a little shocked?" Asked Chloe. "Think about it, Clark: she just found out the guy she's in love with is an alien, that he has super-powers, and that he created an alter-ego that is the most famous hero on the planet. Give her time to adjust." And those have to be the reasons, thought Chloe, because Lana really, really shouldn't be allowed to feed Clark's inferiority complex (why does he have one anyway? You would have thought it would be the other way around).

"You never seemed freaked out by me," said Clark.

"Well," replied Chloe, "I had time to adjust. You know, all those weeks when I dropped elephant-sized hints on your head, and you never noticed."

"I did notice," Clark protested, "and I was the one freaked out. I couldn't know for sure, and I didn't have the guts to ask."

Before Chloe could reply, his expression turned concentrated, as if he was listening to something only he could hear.

"Troubles?" Asked Chloe.

"Always," replied Clark, getting off the bench. "And, freak or no freak, here I come to save the day." He grabbed his backpack; "see you in class," he added quickly, squeezed her hand and disappeared.

Chloe stared at his place for a moment, where his book laid forgotten, and wondered why she felt a sudden urge to cry, and for whom.


"Chloe, we can't print this," said Dan stubbornly, nodding towards his laptop screen.

"That's Inquisitor stuff. The Kansan deals with fact."

Chloe didn't expect Dan to say anything else, but she had to try anyway.

"Dan, have I ever brought you anything that wasn't the truth, the entire truth and nothing but the truth?"

"No," admitted Dan, sitting himself at his chair. "But I can't print this, Chloe. Meteor rocks and mutants? I asked a guy from the Life Science faculty, and he looked at me as if I'm out of my mind."

"That's the popular opinion," murmured Chloe. God, how she missed being the editor. But this was Met U, where people were actually interested with journalism, and nobody handed out editorial positions to freshmen.

"So how do you explain Superman?" Chloe continued "When he first appeared, both biologists and physics said there was no way such a person exists, because he breaks every physics and biology law, but yet he flies around every day rescuing people." She crossed her arms.

Dan shrugged. "One oddness of the universe I can take. Countless mutants attacks – no." He returned his look to his laptop, and waved his hand at her in dismissal.

"Go bring me another one of those budget-cuts articles, and tell Kent I want his Serenity DVD review by Thursday. I don't care how many term papers he has to write."


Chloe went back to her dorm room to find Naomi practicing her sword.

"Another meeting of the historical nuts?" Asked Chloe, dumping her bag on her bed and sitting down.

"We prefer the term "Society of Creative Anachronism"" answered Naomi with a curl of her lips. ""Historical nuts" is only our nickname…and yes. Jeff will be here any moment to pick me up." She returned the sword to its hilt.

"I just don't understand what was so wonderful about the Middle Ages you have to re-create them. As far as I know, it not only had the Black Plague, but the Hundered-Year-War as well," said Chloe.

"Oh, we ignore the bad parts," said Naomi.

"Like the lack of sanitation?"

"Exactly," Naomi unbuckled her belt. "Another subject," she said as she bent to open her sports bag. "Remember that suicidal cousin of mine?"

"Naomi, reporting the news isn't what I'd classify as "suicidal"," protested Chloe.

Naomi shrugged, "it is if you do it from Iraq."

"Well, they do practice an "Off with his head!" routine with reporters there." Admitted Chloe, "but the world needs to know what's going on."

"Anyway, if they won't behead him till next month, he's coming back to Metropolis. Apparently, the Planet wants him back in the city"

Chloe straightened up. Now that was interesting. "Do I get to meet him?"

Naomi smiled smugly, "I e-mailed him a couple of weeks ago, and he remembers your Planet columns. He said he'll be happy to meet you, if only to estimate the competition."

Chloe couldn't help but smile, and felt the blood coloring her cheeks.

"You're blushing," observed Naomi, "is he that good, journalism-speaking? Personally, I enjoy his articles, but I'm biased. I think he was the only older cousin of mine who didn't make fun of me when we grew up."

"Oh, he's good," said Chloe. "Great writing style, clear and sharp. He doesn't butter up the truth so that people at home think that everything's fine. Does he really remember my columns?"

Naomi nodded, "that's what he wrote. I've got a good feeling about this. Maybe you'll finally get over that farm boy of yours." Naomi opened her sports bag and put the belt and the sword inside, then closed the zipper.

"I am over him," protested Chloe.

Naomi gave her a very skeptical look.

"At least, I'm not as in love with him as I used to be. I'm in that comfortable level where I'm interested enough to feel that rush of adrenaline when he enters the room, but not enough to hurt much over him." Added Chloe.

"Meaning you don't mind him and squirrel-face?" Asked Naomi, sitting on her bad and looking at Chloe.

"Lana doesn't look like a squirrel," said Chloe, grinning against her will.

"Yes, she does." Replied Naomi, "Remember when she came here last week and we went for coffee? And she kept complaining about its quality? I kept expecting people to hand her walnuts for storage."

"Well, maybe a little. When she's upset. But she's my friend, and if I'll keep getting a visual of a squirrel every time I look at her, I'm going to laugh so hard she'd never speak to me again."

Naomi snorted "Well, that won't be much of a loss. I still can't believe that, after you let her live in your house, she goes and dates your crush. That's the worst back-stabbing I ever heard of. If she did it to me, she'd get my sword in her guts in return, yet you still talk to her. You must be applying for sainthood."

"But she's Clark's crush." Said Chloe defensively, "I can't expect them both to stay miserable for all eternity because I have a crush on him," especially when she felt so damn guilty about what she did last time Lana and Clark tried to date, thought Chloe.

"Whatever," said Naomi, who didn't sound very convinced. "My point is that you have to get over Clark. Sure, he's nice, and he's hot – don't tell Jeff I said that – but he has bad taste in women. He prefers squir – um, Lana – to you. You are entitled to a mourning period, where you can cry, watch bad movies, and eat as much chocolate as possible, but you have to get over him."

There was a knock on their door. "That's Jeff," said Naomi, getting up, "we'll talk when I get back, ok?" she added, grabbing her bag.

"See you later," said Chloe.

After Naomi was gone, Chloe sat on her bed for a few minutes, thinking. She had to admit Naomi was right - hell, six years is long enough for any crush, love, or whatever, unless you're dating the guy. But her problems with Clark were put aside as she thought about the news. Ethan Lane thought she was "competition!"


"…I should have run. The moment I saw that tall, plaid-clad farm boy, I should have run home and let my father know we're moving back to Metropolis. Clark and I were both thirteen at that time. My father just got a job at the Luthor plant at Smallville, and Clark was assigned by the school to show me around. It wasn't love at first sight, though I was definitely impressed – he was already six feet at height, with that thick dark hair and beautiful green eyes that later would put him in People's Most Beautiful list. He also had tons of charm and quick wit, which I found out later, and fell in love with. Clark was my first love.

But at that first day, all I saw was a flannel-clad farm boy who looked at me in such a way, with puppy eyes, that I felt obligated to make clear to him the situation between us. I kissed him in his barn, near the window. I wanted to get that out of the way so we could be friends, and I wanted to know how his lips felt like. I should have run.

Six years later, I was still in love with Clark Kent, though not with the same heat. We've been through too much, and I became somewhat disillusioned. Clark was in love with Lana, or so I thought, and I understood I had to get over him. Ironically, my decision came about the same time he had "grown into me" as my father once put it…"

Chloe Sullivan, "Destiny shock – The farm boy turns superhero" unpublished notes

He was fine, Chloe told herself as she knocked on Clark's door. He's Superman, after all. So he missed their meeting at the library. Perhaps there was a disaster in one of those parts of the world the media has given up on long time ago, or perhaps was never interested with. Africa, for example; that was a part of the world that would have to die three times from AIDS, hunger and thirst, before getting sixty seconds at one of the major TV networks. Clark could be in Nigeria, or Zaire.

She knocked again and waited. "Clark," she called, feeling rather stupid, "are you in there?" There was no answer, and she tried the knob. The door was open.

He was sitting on his bed, his head between his hands.

"Clark?" She asked, "what happened?" She sat closed to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?" What a stupid question, she thought. His parents are dead, he has the responsibility of being Superman…so many things were wrong. But she had to say something.

"I broke up with Lana," he said in a shattered voice, his head still buried in his hands.

Of course, it could just be teen angst, thought Chloe, then felt guilty. This was obviously a serious business for Clark.

She patted his shoulder. "Are you sure? Perhaps you just had a fight?" She asked.

He took his head out from between his hands, and glanced at her hand on his shoulder.

"She never did that, you know." He said.

"Did what?" It couldn't be, thought Chloe. Lana must be insane; or as cold as the next

refrigerator; or just gay.

"This. Touching. Whenever I tried to put my hand around her shoulder, for example, she made up an excuse to get away. " Said Clark miserably. "I told you, she thinks I'm a freak."

"You're overreacting." Chloe said, though she wasn't that sure. She wanted to jump into her car, drive over to Smallville and hit Lana on the head, Lana-Fu or not.

"I'm not," said Clark gravely. "I remembered the way you always tell me I should talk to her about our relationship. So I foolishly went and asked her if she was freaked out by me."

Chloe swore silently. Why couldn't she hold her tongue? It's not like she knew anything about relationship. They usually tried to kill her on the first date, for God's sake.

"What did she say?" Chloe asked the inevitable question.

Clark stared at a distant point, away from Chloe. "She couldn't even look me in the eye. She began to cry and said she was sorry, that she thought this could work. Then she said again she was sorry. I didn't stay to hear the rest."

She was sorry, too, thought Chloe, somewhat surprised. She always thought she'd be happy the day Clark and Lana would break up, but looking at the broken boy near her, she couldn't feel anything but sadness. He didn't deserve that. He gave his adopted world all he had, especially to Lana. He didn't deserve to be treated like a freak.

She stroked his bent head. "Clark, if it makes you feel any better, I think Lana is an idiot. She's stupid enough to be freaked out by the best guy I ever had the honor to meet."

He looked into her eyes for the first time. "Chloe, why aren't you freaked out by me?"

"I have no reason to be freaked out by you, Clark. I told you I only freak out on special occasions, and you don't qualify as one. Sorry to disappoint you," replied Chloe.

That won her half a smile. "Thank you." He said.

"For what?" She asked, "for telling the truth? You shouldn't thank me for that."

"For being so accepting. You're the only one I can be myself around."

"That's what friends do, Clark. Accept each other. Lana is the exception, not the rule."

He needs human touch, she thought, and hugged him. He clutched onto her as if he was drowning, and she was his rescue wheel, for dear life. And then he kissed her.

"Thank you," he said again as their lips parted, and kissed her again.

Chloe knew she should say something to make him stop. This wasn't right. But this was Clark Kent, whom she never could refuse a thing. She's think about it tomorrow, she said to herself as he took off her shirt. She'd think about dignity and platonic friendship and not being the rebound girl. Right now, she wanted that as much as he did.