A/N: Longest chapter ever coming up! I can't believe it! What's funny is that I was even going to cut it short from what I'd initially planned, but the difference wasn't that much so I kept it in! But there just wasn't an appropriate place to end, ya' know?

OK, so on a different note, I'm going to be updating on the weekends. I'm trying to be good at work (but when I'm bored, I am spending a lot of time writing) and not use the internet for non-business related things. So, to take care of that, I'm going to do the weekend updating. But if you all are very, very good, maybe I'll take my files home and update midweek too. ;D

Next part of business… I'm considering doing a story synopsis at the beginning of each chapter… you know, like the WB does for Smallville at the 30-minute mark. What do you think? Please let me know so I can implement it with the next installment… or not.


Chapter 4

Amazingly enough, I managed to avoid Clark all day. It was really touch and go there at times, but I was able to work the system. Avoiding the Torch also helped, of course. The worst thing was that I didn't know how to explain the morning's events to him… or if I even should. Considering all the trouble we've had with meteor freaks and how freaked out I am, how could I expect them ("Or him," my honest inner voice said wryly.) to take it in their stride?

But I did use him to focus on so my mind wasn't intruded on all day. I had known that boys were horn-dogs, but the things I'd heard all day from everyone! I knew I'd blush any time I'dthink back on that time. For some reason, he was the calm in the storm of thoughts. I just sat as far away from him as I could in class… but when it got too bad, I'd just focus on him. I thanked all the gods I could think of for us having nearly every class together.

I didn't dawdle in heading for the Talon after school. I even managed to beat Lana there… which is odd considering she gets the last period free so she can get to work. It constantly drives me crazy to think about her perks because no one else could get that opportunity… but Lana just bats her big brown eyes and wham! Instant perk!

I shook my head to try and dispel the negativity and the digression. I had come to the Talon to meet and learn from my fellow goddesses. I wanted to laugh at the idea, even after I'd had time to think about it. It still didn't seem believable. Goddesses were figures in myth and folklore… Not the real world! And weren't they born that way? They can't be nominated or appointed!

I was sitting in a large corner booth. I had been getting lots of hard stares and negative thoughts thrown my way because I was taking such a prime location… but apparently my thoughts and doubts were showing on my face because absolutely no one bothered me. I hadn't been sitting there that long before the crowd seemed to melt away to reveal a group of five girls that were coming toward me. From their determined looks, I might have been nervous if the group hadn't contained Trinity and Willow.

I looked around me. Even though I had taken a booth, we would be quite crowded in it. A girl that almost had the look of a biker chick around her (topped off by a short crop of flame red hair) also seemed to notice this and looked around. She noticed two jocks taking a table for four where two of the chairs just held their school stuff. She stopped at the table. "Could we borrow one of these chairs?" she asked politely with a small smile on her face.

Billy Robinson, high school jock and A-#1 in his own head, looked her up and dismissed her with a flick of his fingers. "We're using them."

The smile disappeared from her face. Her body grew all rigid, but I thought she managed to speak without being too confrontational. "But the place is packed. These are the only two chairs left..."

Sam Shepphard, Billy's best friend and hanger-on, cracked his knuckles. "You heard Billy, chica. Scram!"

Both boys immediately turned their attention to alternate between their magazines and ogling our schoolmates. Biker Chick stiffened even more and I could nearly see steam rising from her head. They were totally ignoring her and she looked at them for another minute. Finally, she grabbed one of the chairs, threw the letterman jacket to the ground, tipped over the books onto the floor, and swung the chair around so she could straddle it and face our table. I could feel my jaw drop to my chest… and I wasn't the only one in the joint. The reason for the chair search was obviously because the Talon was super-packed. Whatever else Lana was, she was pretty savvy at getting people, especially students, in. This week was the one free muffin with your first purchase of any drink. It was only good once a day, but Martha Kent's muffins were nearly to die for!

"Hey, chippy! What do you think you're doing? We were using that!" Billy had finally snapped out of the shock he'd been suffering from after her decisive action.

Biker Chick didn't seem at all concerned and didn't even turn around. Her arms were resting on the back of the chair so they couldn't pull it out from under her. "It's a crowded place in here, muscle-for-brains. Taking up chairs for your crap isn't polite." I was amazed that her voice was so calm and reasonable.

"Sullivan's had that entire booth to herself for thirty minutes!" Sam squeaked. My face flamed in embarrassment. Had it really been that long? I looked around and every single person was facing our corner of the place… and it was absolutely silent.

"She didn't realize we'd be late, moron! And did you ask her to move? No… You didn't. You just want to whine and complain because now your junk has to share a chair." Biker Chick was in fine form and her voice rose dramatically. It felt like it was echoing everywhere.

The tension in the Talon made me want to throw up. The jocks were flexing their muscles, but Biker Chick just looked at us with absolutely no concern on her face. I mean, it wasn't as if I hadn't been in tense situations before, but it was always of my own making. Because of the connection between us, I knew I'd defend her even though I didn't know her, but how could I do it without revealing this new aspect of myself?

But before anything boiled over, Clark appeared between the two guys. "Hey, Billy… Sam… What's up?"

"That… She took one of our chairs after we told her no!" Billy's face was flushed a beet red and I worried that he'd give himself a heart attack at seventeen.

Clark's face looked at Biker Chick and then surveyed the room. "Dude, it's totally packed in here! And you were using the chair for your books?"

Billy looked around and noticed everyone staring. Suddenly all color drained from his face when he realized nearly the entire school was staring at him. You could tell that he realized what an ass he was being. But Sam wasn't so easy. "We told her no… and she threw my stuff on the ground. She's a total…"

Biker Chick whipped off of her chair and glared at the guy. Clark put an easy hand on his shoulder. "Relax, Sam. She's new… probably from Metropolis or something," putting all the small-town prejudice he could muster into that one phrase. Sam looked her up and down and nodded reluctantly. He bent down to pick up his things. Clark cocked an eyebrow at Biker Chick who reluctantly sat back down. He helped Sam clean up and then stood and looked at his fellow students. "You know, my mom's out back delivering a fresh batch of muffins. How about I treat you to two?"

Sam's mouth dropped open at Clark's generosity. I knew that he would never have given up any of Clark's mom's cooking. Billy smiled at Clark wryly. "Hey, man. Thanks. But we gotta' scram if we're going to make it to practice on time. As it is, Coach'll probably rip us a new one." I could tell Billy was trying to smooth over the incident. He grabbed his stuff and Sam's arm. "Dude, let's go." He practically hauled Sam out of the place.

Sound returned to the Talon which was almost as shocking as the silence. It was like everyone wanted to pretend like they hadn't been avidly listening to every detail. I could have wept with joy. With a few well chosen words, he had made the whole thing go away. He came up to the table and I flashed him Smile #103 and breathed, "Thanks, Clark!"

I barely got a hint of a smile in return (which is odd because #103 rarely fails in delivering significant returns) and he looked at me with serious eyes. He noticed the other five girls and I could just see him adjust his strategy. "Chloe…"

I didn't even give him a chance to finish. "Clark, I'll come and meet you at the loft later, okay? I just need to talk to my friends."

He looked at the others with such obvious distrust that I nearly laughed. "Are you sure? I could wait…" Then I realized that he was actually being protective of me and I had to tamp down my shout of joy.

"Clark, I'll be fine," I said, flashing Smile #59. It got me a full-fledged Clark smile in return and I breathed a sigh of relief. He was just about to go on his way when a ruffled Lana stormed up to the table.

"You…" She was looking at me, but seemed to realize it was unjustified and turned her attention to Biker Chick. But not before I heard "I can't believe that Chloe's been tanning. That's so passé! I'll bet she thinks that it'll help attract Clark or something. She is so pathetic!" "You cannot treat my customers like that!" She was hissing her words, but she radiated rage. I wondered for a moment if it was more because Clark had gotten me out of trouble yet again and was smiling at me or because of the actual conflict. But her thoughts disturbed me again. I don't know what I did to deserve such venom from her.

And then my KiSA came to my rescue again. He put his arm around Lana (causing me to swallow down my ever-present jealousy) and led her to the back. "Lana, I'm so sorry. Mom sent me in to come get you. She has another delivery."

She melted into his arms and I could have heaved. With one last, dirty look at my table, she looked up at him, radiating innocent attention. "Oh, Clark! I'm so glad! This promotion has them flying off the shelves!" She continued to babble up at him, but it was lost in the background noise.

Trinity nudged me and I looked at her. "I wanted to tell you to freeze her, but there were just too many people and I'm not sure you could affect outside yet."

I laughed. "I probably would have done it… which would have made the Clark situation even harder."

Trinity sobered. "I could make him forget if you want. You wouldn't have to dodge it. He would never know what happened."

I seriously considered it. It would be so much easier… But then I looked at his retreating form and knew I couldn't do it. It just seemed like too much of a violation on my best friend. "Thanks, Trinity, but I'll take care of it."

I looked around at the rest of them and Willow got the clue. "Chloe, you are, of course, wondering who everyone is. The one who caused the ruckus," and she smiled forgivingly at her friend, "is the Goddess of Fire… and she's as hot-tempered as you might suspect."

"Don't listen to her, Chloe," Biker Chick laughed. She stuck out her hand, which I immediately shook. No sense in making enemies with this group. "I'm Francheska… which no one uses. It's always been Fran." She mock glared at Willow. "And I'm not that hot tempered. I just don't put up with a lot of crap!"

"Of course, Fran," a breathy voice beside me practically whispered. She smiled at me. "I'm Destiny, Goddess of Air." I nodded 'cause it was pretty obvious. Her voice sounded just like the whisper of the wind.

"I'm Viniese, Vinny for short," the last girl answered. "I'm Goddess of Water."

"It's really nice to meet all of you," I said, flashing Smile #201. I still wasn't sure how I felt about all of this, but I realized that I truly felt included.

"Is there anything else beside what we told you this morning that you'd like to know, Chloe?" Trinity asked. Everyone looked toward her and I realized that she really did seem to be the leader of this band.

I thought about it for a moment. What did I really want to know? If I knew too much, would I be allowed to leave the group? I thought about the changes that had happened to me since last night. Did I even want to give them up? But they also seemed too permanent for a nebulous "Them" to justsweep it all away. But they were all staring at me… Waiting for me to say something… Finally, I blurted out, "Can you all read minds and freeze time?"

Laughter burst from the table and I felt my face flush hot. Where did they get off laughing at me? If Willow had actually been telling the truth before, they had been at this a lot longer than I had. My anger continued to grow until Trinity finally noticed. "Oh, Chloe! I'm so sorry… We weren't laughing at you…"

I cocked my eyebrow at her and folded my arms. "Oh, really…" In those two words, I tried to express all my anger and disbelief. The rest of the group sobered suddenly and started making apologetic noises. I was a little mollified, but I wasn't going to let them off the hook quite that easily.

Willow's hand covered mine. "It's hard to explain, Chloe." She looked around at the others, but no one else seemed willing to explain. She sighed. "No matter how long we've been doing this, surprises always happen. But it's never the same for any of us. Like Tuesday…" She trailed off, blushing hotly. I didn't interrupt. I desperately wanted to be reassured that I wasn't going to be the only one that would make mistakes here. "Tuesday, I accidentally transformed into a mouse. It was the first time it had ever happened to me and I didn't know how to turn back."

I was shocked. "But at the Torch…"

"Hello! I've been practicing!" Her lips twisted wryly. "I suppose I was motivated because I transformed back in the middle of basketball practice." She started to snicker, which allowed everyone to laugh. I had to admit that must have been embarrassing… since her clothes didn't seem to transform with her.

I looked around and noticed that this was a close knit group that seemed to just enjoy life. I felt privileged to be accepted by them… It helped that they seemed very willing to accept all of me… good points and bad. Suddenly, as much as I was anxious with what was happening to me, I started feeling very thankful for the opportunity to meet them. But then what Willow had said hit me squarely between the eyes. "It just happened Tuesday? But you said…"

Willow just smiled at me. "Honey, we're always growing. The myth of the perfect, all-powerful goddess… Well, that's the real myth." All the others nodded around me.

I thought about that for a moment. I'd always cherished what I knew and how I could grow. Maybe that was one of the reasons I was so reluctant to embrace this new destiny… "I'm so glad," I sighed, feeling a weight released. "So maybe the question I should ask is what your favorite powers are?"

The others looked at me in astonishment… almost like no one had ever asked that particular question before. Destiny smiled at me shyly. "My absolute favorite is that I can fly. It's such a rush and you get such perspective…" She thought for another moment. "It's also fun to be able to create storms… I love everything about it. The rain… The wind…"

I almost didn't hear that last bit. She can fly? My heart leapt in my chest at the thought. That had always been my most fabulous recurring dream. I longed to be up in the air… soaring with the birds and feeling the wind rush in my hair… and all under my own power. "I'm so jealous!" I whined involuntarily. I blushed a little at how selfish that sounded… until I realized the others seemed to echo it. Destiny just smiled.

Vinny twisted her lips. "My favorite has pluses and minuses. I can change the weather, but when I cry, it rains. Talk about a downward spiral! I haven't figured out yet how to divorce it from my emotions. It totally sucks!" She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess they all come with good things and bad. But I do like being able to turn things into ice… I can ice skate in absolutely any weather. How cool is that?" I had to smile. Ice skating hadn't been one of my "skills", but I could see where that would be cool. I rolled my eyes at my internal pun and dragged my attention back to my new friends.

Fran looked at me with a quirk of her eyebrow… "My favorites shouldn't be a surprise." She smiled, but there was a slightly malicious glint to it. "I can create fires and explosions. I can't express the rush…"

"What kind of explosions?" I asked warily. If I hadn't already felt like she could be dangerous, this took all the guesswork out.

"Every kind," she said satisfactorily.

"So, like buildings and stuff?" I was pressing and I knew it… but I hated the thought of one of my sisters being a maniac like the ones we've had to put down before.

Fran laughed a little condescendingly. "Sure, sometimes… but sometimes…"

"Fran!" Trinity barked. "You'll scare Chloe!"

Fran looked at her coldly. "She needs to know…"

"No, she doesn't… Not yet." Trinity folded her arms and leaned forward.

Fran frowned, but then her posture melted into one of resignation. "She asked…" Fran whined.

The silence grew uncomfortably. I didn't know how to fix it. I hadn't realized that there could be such conflict between my sisters. Willow cleared her throat. "I really like the transformation thing… now that I have it under control. But my favorite… My favorite is reincarnating."

I gasped. "You can actually bring people back to life?" I shook my head, trying to understand it all. "That's incredible!"

Willow smiled. "I can't just go about willy nilly bringing people back to life… And reincarnating isn't resurrection. They come back, but slightly different. At least it doesn't make them change species."

"She almost died herself the last time," Vinny said grimly.

"B…b…but I thought we were…" I trailed off, not really knowing how to put my assumption into words.

"Immortal?" Trinity supplied. "For all extents and purposes, we are. But we were all mortal at one point and if we over-extend our considerable reserves…" She trailed off and shrugged.

I was horrified… but seemed to be the only one. The others seemed to have accepted that as part and parcel of the job. I thought about it for a few minutes. Obviously, the Goddesses weren't indestructible… Otherwise, why else would they have needed to call me? But I really didn't want to know. If I did, would it affect my ability to fulfill the mission? Being given this dubious gift, I wanted to use it appropriately. But then a thought struck me. It was totally off subject, but I had to get it out. (And it's a good way to change the subject, I thought very, very privately.) "Why didn't Clark freeze at school?"

Willow and Trinity looked at each other. "We really aren't sure," Willow hesitated. "We've felt like there's something odd about him…" I looked at Willow hard. It really felt like she wasn't telling me everything. When they were so open about nearly everything else, I couldn't understand why they wouldn't just tell me and it was really obvious. I even tried to consciously search her thoughts, but she deflected my clumsy efforts with a smile.

I opened my mouth to say something, but Trinity was too fast for me. "There could be millions of reasons… Was he touching you?"

That caught me up short. My mind cast back to that scene and realized that Clark had been holding my handas the door had opened. After freshman year, our relationship had been firmly placed in the "friendship" track… mostly by me. But it had felt like we'd been at another crossroads. Maybe he would have done something… anything… I could have screamed in frustration when that darn door had opened. "So because he was touching me…"

Willow had been watching me closely. "Or if you'd wanted him unfrozen for some reason." She smiled at me gently. She seemed so observant, knowledgeable, and understanding. I wondered how much was because of her long life and how much was her innate nature. I nodded. Then she added something, almost because she had to… "But that really doesn't explain why it took Trinity so much effort to put him to sleep…"

"I must have been tired. You have to admit that we'd been running ourselves ragged ever since the PTB had announced that our newest sister had just been designated." With a shake of her head, Trinity took over our little meeting again. "Chloe, this is a lot to take in and I don't see that getting easier any time soon. And there is a reason we were so glad for your appearance. Something is coming… Something big… But when it comes, we'll need all you have. This is going to be a truly hard time for you, but we love you… You are truly our sister… We'll do all we can to help, but we'll let you have some time to yourself. We don't want to completely freak you out!" She winked at me and gave me a huge hug.

Everyone smiled and started to get up. I finally felt like the siblings I'd always kinda' wanted were suddenly before me and their hugs almost had me dissolving into tears. But I refused to cry in front of some of the jerks from school. I was feeling overwhelmed and it didn't help that I now had to go talk to Clark. Then I noticed Lana glaring at us from behind the counter... but she didn't come up. I was so thankful. Dealing with a cranky Lana without losing my temper would be darn near impossible today. It was going to be bad enough to have The Talk with Clark…

As I drove to the Kent farm, I kept vacillating between confessing all or confessing nothing. There didn't seem to be an easy middle ground here. I guessed that it didn't help that I've always felt he was hiding something from me. So why should I confess everything to him? But the thought seemed so unworthy of me. Clark was my very best friend. Even though I'd always had a crush on him, he'd been the friend I could always rely on. The biggest reason I could think of for not telling him was because he wouldn't (Or couldn't? my inner voice asked snarkily.) come clean with me.

It wasn't a long drive, but a torrential downpour of memories wouldn't let me relax. For as many times as he rescued me with no thought of reward, didn't he deserve some slack? I parked my car and heaved a sigh. As I got closer, I decided to tell him. I couldn't bear to keep this from him. Besides, I thought with a wry smile, maybe he could help cover for me when the impossible happens.

I got out of my car slowly on shaky legs and could feel the total absence of my normal jaunty step. I was terrified that Clark would look at me like a freak. We had faced so many people with special powers that had threatened our lives. What if he thought I was going to hurt him? As I walked into the barn, I watched him bailing hay. It was such a normal, every day chore for him, which only struck home how I wasn't every day and normal anymore. My fears froze me in my steps and my heart pounded painfully in my chest. Tears burned in my eyes and I felt like I was gasping in pain. I was absolutely terrified.

I don't know how he could possibly have known, but suddenly he turned to look at me and dropped his pitchfork. In an instant, he was at my side, enfolding me in his arms. His gentleness broke my control down and suddenly I was sobbing into his flannel shirt. My mind wandered and was blearily thankful for the absorbency of flannel. As my sobs lessened, I could feel him guiding me up to his loft. When he had me settled to his satisfaction on the sofa and an old-fashioned handkerchief pressed into my hands, I was mildly surprised when he knelt in front of me and clasped my hands. "Chloe, what's wrong? What happened?"

His voice was so gentle and concerned that it almost set me off again. I shook myself irritably and determined that I would totally get myself under control. I looked up at him and tried to smile. I'm not sure it came through… or helped much. I took a deep breath. "Clark, I'm afraid…" I choked to a stop.

Clark smiled softly. "Afraid of what, Chlo? You know that I'll help you in whatever you need…"

I stared at him, trying to memorize his every feature… in case he refused to talk to me after this. "I don't really know how to say this, Clark, so I'm just going to blurt it out." I looked straight into his eyes before I had to close them. Anything to not see the change come over his face. I took a deep breath. "I'm a goddess, Clark."


A/N:
I'm using Smile numbers in this chapter. I kinda' like the idea. I got the idea from a Douglas Adams' book where a man numbered rainfall. I'll put the definitions of the smiles here in the Author's notes… and any acronyms I decide to make up! ;D

--Smile #59 - Joyful gratitude.

--Smile #103 - Relieved thankfulness for someone being a gentleman.

--Smile #201 - Polite smile used when meeting important new people.

--KiSA - Knight in Shining Armor.

--PTB - Powers That Be (not a Danae original, but just in case you didn't know).

South manger 2004, BabyC2003, & vouge09: I'm so glad you're enjoying it enough to want more. Please tell me what you think about the weekend update idea…

iluvsmallville1: I have to admit that my chapters being longer has made me very happy. Unfortunately, I know that's not going to continue. Right now, I'm trying to Danae-acize KentCharm's original work and I'm nearing the end. We'll see how my imagination goes after that…

KentCharm: Your continued enjoyment of this fic is very satisfying to me. Can you think of anything I'm leaving out? Anything you'd thought of adding before?

markmark261: The verb tenses are driving me crazy! I know this may be asking a lot, but if you could note where I do it, then I can be sure and snag them all! You're the best!

micheal: Yeah, I'm venting a bit on the Lana front with this one. Usually I try and be very forgiving, but I'm a little crabby currently. ;D

Dance4Grace: Thank you so much for liking my stuff. I can't express how much I enjoy getting feedback from my fellow writers. That being said, I will definitely try to read your work and be conscientious about reviewing it. If you would like me to beta it or proof it before you post it, please just e-mail it to me… preferably in Word format! ;D