Author's note:

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

Warning - this chapter contains religion-related issues. If you are easily offended, please do not read.

Reviews - you review, I write. I think that's fair enough.


"Young River says that the Alliance 'meddle' with the outer worlds' affairs, and we are suppose to think that this is a bad thing. I don't think so. I think that if the Independents were more willing to accept the Alliance authority, they would have been better off…"

An excerpt from Clark Kent's Serenity DVD review.

"…above all, he has the divine force of flying! No Earth-born man is able to perform such a miracle!" The speaker said into the microphone, spreading his arms and making wide gestures for emphasis.

Clark leaned closer to Chloe's ear "At least he got the 'Earth-born' part right," he murmured.

"Shh," she whispered, "I want to listen."

The old lady who sat next to them made a "tsk-tsk" voice with her tongue, shaking her head in disapproval. By the look on her face, it was certain she considered them to be members of the Antichrist's minions. Chloe turned her attention to the stage again.

"He does good deeds and asks nothing in return!" the speaker continued 'I seek not mine own glory!' Our lord's son did not ask for fame and fortune at the first time he walked among us, and not this time, either! He is beyond such pettiness!"

Poor Men's Pat Robertson got that right, too, thought Chloe. For Clark, saving the world was an honest day's job. Honest volunteering day job. It was very hard to fall out of love with such a guy, even after watching every Jennifer Lopez movie ever made and Battlefield Earth, too. They didn't talk about what happened ever since – as she had expected – but the tension was there again, after a short, golden period of time when their friendship was comfortable for the first time since they were fifteen. Chloe hoped they would be back to normal, eventually, despite Clark's bruised male ego.

"I have to go," whispered Clark. Chloe nodded at him in understanding. He got up, earned himself another shake of the head from the old lady, and made his way out as fast as he could without super-speeding.

And there he goes to save the day again, she thought, following him with her eyes till he closed the lecture's hall's door behind him. He spent the last hour flinching and moving uncomfortably in his chair, listening to Poor Men's Pat Robertson's speech about Superman as the new-and-improved Jesus. Chloe had a good time watching him, and that lecture would make for another article by the Sullivan-Kent team at the Kansan. She was sure Clark cheated at their coin-flipping so that her name would come first, but couldn't prove it. She looked around her so she could register the audience's reactions for later use. Most of them looked fascinated with the speaker's vivid description of the war and famine that were to come, proving yet again that people were awfully fond of bad things happening to other people. They were sure that they would be among the lucky 144,000 'true believers' to be taken up to sit next to God's throne (of course God had a throne) any time now. In Chloe's opinion, God had better sense than taking up people who 'tsk-tsk-ed' at other people.

"…and I'm telling you, that Jesus Christ has returned to this sinful earth to save His children!"

Would those people keep on hoping year after year? wondered Chloe, or will they understand at last that Superman does not equal their sainted saviour, and that the Rapture wasn't going to happen any time soon? She doubted that. They'll just keep on hoping. Perhaps they'd end up deciding that Superman was actually the dreadful Antichrist. The funny part was that either way, Clark had nothing to do with it. It all took place in people's minds.

Chloe checked her watch and saw there were still twelve minutes left. Now that she didn't have Clark as entertainment, she was bored out of her mind. It was her journalistic duty to see this to the end, just in case anything smart would be said, which seemed unlikely. Chloe had the urge to climb on her chair and yell 'I slept with Superman!' just to see their reaction. The speaker went on and on about hell fire. Chloe was sorry she didn't eat more at lunch.

Finally it was over. Clark was not back yet, and Chloe closed her laptop and put it in her bag, making her way out of the hall with the rest of the crowd.

Still there was no sign of Clark, which was a relief, because she didn't have to deal with the odd tension again. It was the first time they'd seen each other since the…Chloe preferred to call it the 'incident'.

She turned and walked to the bus station – she left her bug at the university's parking lot, since the price of gas just kept going up. Besides, she was saving for a new laptop (she was always saving for a new laptop). Chloe was going to spend the evening alone with her current laptop, trying to hack the university database. It was good practice.


"Always look on the bright side of life…"

Monty Python, Life of Brian, 1979

"Clark, what would you have done if it was Naomi that came through the door instead of me?" asked Chloe. She just entered room 101 to find Clark sitting on her bed. He straightened when he saw her, and passed a hand through his mass of unkempt hair.

He had on what Chloe called his other uniform: jeans, plaid shirt and a blue jacket.

She was tired of the day and the travelling in the bus, and now Clark's presence was making her very nervous. She tried to pass her nervousness off as annoyances. He really shouldn't come flying through the window whenever he feels like it. It used to be ok, but with all that happened…they shouldn't be in the same room together on their own.

"I X-rayed the door, Chloe. If Naomi was behind it, I would have gone through the window." answered Clark, as if to a child.

"Whatever," said Chloe. She wasn't in a mood to argue with him about secrecy, nor did she want to hear him patronizing her. She changed the subject when she remembered why he had left earlier.

"Got there in time?" she asked, trying to keep the distance between them by sitting herself on the edge of Naomi's bed, far from Clark as possible.

"Yes." He didn't smile, but he did look pleased. "Everything's ok."

"Great," she smiled at him.

"Sometimes I love this job," Clark said in a low voice.

"And sometimes?" asked Chloe.

"Sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing. I could have just gone on with anonymous rescues…back in Smallville I didn't need a costume, or a nickname, or too much publicity."

"Clark, we've already been through that," Chloe told him. She felt the illogical sting of guilt. If she hadn't come up with the idea…but it's not like they had much of a choice. She remembered how Clark had wanted primary colours for his costume as well, and she had to put her foot down on that. Clark really hadn't picked any of Lex' fashion sense during their entire friendship. Maybe it was for the best. People assumed that nobody but a farm boy would wear plaid so often, and didn't look any farther.

"I know," he said, "but look what happened. It's even worse than the hero thing. Now they think of me as a Messiah! Have you heard that preacher? He wants me to be responsible for elimination of one-third of the Earth population, and God knows what else. Maybe there was a good reason for my parents to insist on low profile."

"Clark, you can fly. I doubt 'low profile' is possible in your case, pun not intended. Sooner or later someone would have understood you're more than an urban legend."

"And I couldn't have rescued half the people I did"

"That's right," agreed Chloe. "It was the best move possible," she assured him and herself.

"So, how do I convince people I'm not the carpenter from Nazareth?"

"Well," Chloe said, "you did spend a lot of time in a barn…"

"Chloe!" exclaimed Clark.

"Ok, ok," she grinned. "Just trying to cheer you up."

"Hmmph," grumbled Clark.

"Clark," Chloe said seriously, "I don't think there's anything you can do against that kind of people. They believe what they want to believe. You, or your alter-ego, have nothing to do with that."

"There must be something I can do," said Clark. "I feel like shouting 'I'm not the messiah!' and I know they will answer I say you are Lord, and I should know. I've followed a few.' When did my life become a Monty Python movie?"

He really had a great memory, thought Chloe, and he was right, his situation was a lot like that of Brian. Actually, it was worse – Clark had proven that he was able to do things no other person could. It made sense, in a twisted way, to believe in him. People called for Superman, and he answered.

"Maybe I should step forward," murmured Clark. "Tell the world it's just the different sun radiation that gives me my abilities. I'll tell everything to the world, save the Kryptonite vulnerability part, and hope for the best."

"I think you'll be about as successful as Brian in that," said Chloe. Certain people might even be mad at him for 'ruining the magic'. After all, Keats was upset with Newton for explaining how rainbows were created. For Chloe, the explanation was the best part of everything –unexplained phenomenon were meant to be explored till successfully explained.

"They'll say that only the true Messiah denies His divinity'" sighed Clark.

"Did I mention that your memory is way too good?" asked Chloe.

"Just once or twice. Or ten times." Clark answered. "Chloe…"

Was he about to talk about the subject they avoided so well until now? Chloe wondered.

"…maybe it's time for me to give that interview all the papers are after for the last six months, " Clark finished.

Chloe released the breath she didn't know she was holding. That was a topic that they could reasonably discuss.

"I thought you didn't want any more publicity," she pointed out. They had agreed, before he made his first public appearance as Superman, that the less the people know about him, the better.

"I don't," replied Clark in an isn't-it-obvious tone, "but I might have to."

"And why is that?"

"Because Lex is running for the House of Representatives." Clark's jaw tightened. "He wants to represent the 20th district."

Oh, thought Chloe. Wasn't Lex on their topics-not-to-be-discussed list? It was a short, yet significant list. A list that included Lana, marriage proposals, and Lex.

"I've read about it at the Planet…and I don't think it's such a bad idea," Chloe said carefully. When a person manages to keep you alive for three months after your supposed 'death', you come to respect, if not to like, him. Lex wasn't Mr. Smith goes to Washington, but he was decent enough. For a politician, anyway.

Clark stared at her in disbelief. "You don't think it's such a bad idea?" he repeated.

"Well, there's less of a chance he'd be bribed," said Chloe. Clark looked as if he was about to combust." Without him, there would have been hardly any rebuilding in Smallville. Most of the insurance companies weren't willing to pay anything. He gave loans in extremely comfortable terms," Chloe finished. If this continued, she thought, not only would Clark not ask her to marry him again, he wouldn't even talk to her. Maybe she should go for it.

"So he would own the entire town," said Clark. He appeared like he was trying to decide whether he should be surprised, angry, righteous, or all of the above.

"He already does. He's the biggest employer, and he owns the saving& loans bank. He pretty much owned Smallville, even before the shower."

"And get credit for being the town's savior. It's a great way to start your political career. It's not like he expects nothing in return."

Chloe had to agree on that one. She nodded, "that's true, but that just makes him a good politician. Look, Clark, I'm not saying you should be best friends all over again. All I'm saying is that you should wait a little bit before revealing details the world might be able to use against you." Sometimes trying to be objective wasn't a pleasant task. Chloe felt fifteen again and supporting Paul against Clark at the class presidency elections. Well, somebody had to.

Clark looked frustrated. "What am I supposed to do, Chloe? Sit back and watch Lex gaining even more power? I have influence; we both saw that. I might as well use it."

"Would he be worse than most politicians?"

"I don't know any other politicians," Clark replied in annoyance, "how should I know?"

"Exactly. You have no idea what they are like, in comparison with Lex. The Kennedy family had connection with the Mafia; Nixon had Watergate and who knows what else. Lex' investigations of you, and even those experiments of his that went wrong, look pretty innocent in comparison." It was obvious that Clark didn't share that point of view with her, she thought.

"Lionel Luthor had connections with organized crime, too."

"Lionel Luthor is dead." Chloe stopped for a moment as she shuddered, "it's Lex we're talking about."

"Lex knows my secret," said Clark, who'd apparently decided to change his tactics.

"Well, that was inevitable," said Chloe. She didn't add 'and you were a fool for not telling him to begin with.' If Clark would have told Lex…perhaps things would have gone differently. "Lex keeps your secret," she said instead. Lex knew most of the secret anyway, Chloe thought. He just wanted to be told.

"He enjoys holding a sword above my head," said Clark bitterly. "He can call a press conference whenever he feels like it, and my life as I know it would be over. I think he's just waiting for the right moment, when he can gain the most out of it. "

That was a possibility, thought Chloe. Unfortunately, there was nothing either she or Clark could do about it. They could threaten to reveal some of his father's shady business, but those secrets were nothing in comparison to Clark's.

"So basically, what you want to do is to ruin your life before Lex does? There will be no Clark Kent anymore, only Superman. You won't be able to graduate, get a job, live a normal life. Nothing. No offense, Clark, but that's kind of idiotic." She noticed that Clark looked a little bit hurt by her last remark. Well, it was an idiotic thing to do. Again, being a truth-teller sucked. On the other hand, they weren't discussing the other topics on the not-to-be-discussed list.

Clark, now that her remark had time to sink in on him, looked a little taken aback by the scenario she had drawn.

"I just don't want to sit and wait for Lex to strike first."

"Perhaps he won't," said Chloe. "Perhaps he's keeping your secret for old time's sake."

"Perhaps," murmured Clark, who didn't look too convinced.

Ok, thought Chloe. Now it was time to exit the scene, before another topic would come up. There was always hope Clark understood the whole thing was a bad idea, and was never going to mention it again, but just in case, she wanted to be someplace else.

"Ah, Clark, I just remembered," Chloe said as she grabbed both her long coat and her bag at the same time, "I promised to meet Dan at the paper in," she made a big deal of checking her watch, "eleven minutes."

"Isn't it a little late?" asked Clark.

"Not for Dan," replied Chloe.

"Chloe…" said Clark, but Chloe was already closing the door behind her. She went down the stairs in a run, and stopped only when she was at the bottom of the staircase, where she caught her breath. She was a coward, Chloe told herself, postponing the inevitable, but at the moment she was willing to live with the title. She went outside the building, the cold air reminding her she still had her coat hanging from her arm. She put it on and wondered what to do next. Maybe it was a good idea to go and check what was going on at the Kansan.


"Ad Astra Per Aspera," (To the Stars Through Difficulties) -

Kansas state motto

There was no one at the Kansan meeting room when Chloe entered, but she did see light coming from the little pit Dan liked to call his office. An interview with Clark would have gotten her that pit, freshman or not. Hell, an interview with Clark would have gotten her a job at the Planet.

"Who's there?" she heard Dan's tired voice. He sounded tired. High school, college or the Times, paper editors were always tired.

"It's me, Chloe," she answered.

"What are you doing here so late?" Dan asked when she entered his niche. He sat in front of his laptop, but appeared to be daydreaming, or was it evening dreaming?

"I used to be my high school newspaper editor once…old habits die hard and all that, you know. Guess I wanted to see if everything's ok." She finished lamely.

"Well, if you're already here, have a seat." Dan waved towards the only other chair in the place. Chloe moved the chair so she could close the door, then sat down.

"I was going to give this assignment to somebody else," Dan said, rubbing his eyes, "but then I remembered you come from Littleville,"

"Smallville," Chloe corrected automatically.

"Never mind. I assume you know that Lex Luthor is running in the upcoming elections."

Know. Hah.

"You want me to interview him?" Was that good, or bad? She wasn't even sure Lex would want to see her. She wasn't sure she wanted to see him.

"You got it. Call his office, try to arrange an interview. Have you ever met him, by any chance?"

You could say that.

"I've seen him around town," she answered.

"Good enough. Let me know how it goes"

Dan and his assignment solved the problem Chloe had difficulties with for a while now. It was definitely time to go and see Lex.