A/N: And on and on…


Chapter 17

"Chloe? Chloe!" I could feel myself being not so gently shaken and wanted to protest. But I had never been an easy riser before and being summarily knocked unconscious to get some bogus instructions was really getting under my skin. Considering the last couple of days, maybe I should have wondered more at this, but Clark was starting to panic, so I decided to deal with him first.

"I'm fine, Clark," I croaked and winced at the inelegant sound. I cleared my throat and opened my eyes. Poor Clark. He looked so pale and distraught that I just wanted to cuddle with him instead of revealing my first mission. "Sorry, Clark. I was just getting some instructions…"

"What do you mean instructions? Chloe, you were unconscious!" Now that I was awake, some color was returning to his cheeks, but his eyes definitely still looked worried.

I sat up straighter and looked him square in the eye. "Apparently the PTB feel that the only way they can talk to me is if I'm unconscious."

He laughed… just like I'd meant him to. "Are you serious?" I shrugged and that set him off again. While it was true that I supposedly didn't have a lot of time, showing Clark the ridiculousness of the situation was necessary. It helped that he sobered pretty quickly. "So what did they want?"

"My first assignment is here," I said softly. I thought about it and tried not to shudder. Then I wondered if I should really take Clark. There was no telling what was going to happen out there and risking one hair on Clark's hair seemed like too much of a risk. "I'll talk to you later."

I actually made it to a standing position before Clark grabbed my hand. "What do you mean you'll talk to me later? I'm going with you." I could hear the determination in his voice and sighed.

Knowing my vulnerability to all things Clark, I didn't turn to look at him. "Clark, it's too dangerous. We don't know what's going to be there…"

"So maybe you shouldn't go either…"

I smiled. Now he was just whistling in the wind… "I have to believe that the PTB wouldn't send me out on something that I have no chance of succeeding at. But you…"

"…Are indestructible. Chloe…"

I could feel the tears coming, but I didn't want Clark to see. I could bring him along, but if he got hurt, I'd never forgive myself. "Not quite," I said softly as soon as I was sure my voice wouldn't give away the tears.

"Look at me," he commanded. I shook my head in refusal and I heard him leave the swing. I wanted to look anywhere but at him, but Clark was having none of that. He lifted my chin so I had to look at him. "Chloe, there is absolutely no guarantee in this life. I could die, sure… but so could you. You need help now that your sisters aren't around." His face was stern but then he broke into a smile. "And if you think you can leave me behind, you've forgotten about my speed. I could follow you anywhere, so just forget about leaving me behind."

I had to smile. I wanted to pretend I was shocked somehow, but I knew there was no way Clark was going to be left out of the fight. "OK, but we're going to do this smart." I had no desire to become a lab rat or an insta-celebrity if my powers got caught on camera. "We have to change… some sort of disguise so that we won't be recognized. Then you can run us to Coast City and the address the PTB says is on my phone. And if you can think of anything else we might need…" I knew that as soon as I changed, I was going to be plundering my fully stocked car trunk. While super-powers were all swell, well and good, doing things the old-fashioned way wasn't a bad thing.

"Five minutes?" He looked ready to tackle the world and I took heart from his confidence. I nodded and he was off in a flash. I headed into my house and sighed. This day had held such promise in the beginning…

"Chloe, you're home early," Dad yelled from the front room. College football was still playing on the television and I wondered if he had even moved. Then I noticed the junk food wrappers littering the floor. He was totally engrossed in the game which would be perfect for me to jet out again.

"Not really, Dad. I just flew home to change. I accidentally fell on my keister and I want to clean up before dinner at the Kents'." I really had to swallow hard on the laughter my pun inspired. Dad wouldn't know what it mean, but I was telling him the absolute truth.

"OK, honey," he said absently just before he shouted in anger at the screen at the umpires.

Sometimes, I was willing to push my luck a lot of times, but this wasn't one of them. Plus, Clark would be back any minute to pick me up for Coast City. I rushed up the stairs wondering what Clark was telling his parents. Without revealing my secret, he had no real reason to give them for jetting off for Coast City.

Ripping through my wardrobe, I was glad for my momentary Goth period with that stupid parasite. I actually had a black leather outfit that would help protect me and a black backpack to hold all my tools. I did a quick Mapquest search for the specific address the PTB gave me and printed it out. Clark may be fast, but that would be totally worthless if we got lost. I grabbed a stocking cap and a basic Halloween mask that just covered the top part of my face and then bounded down the stairs again. I wondered if I'd look too odd, but shrugged my shoulder. Wasn't it better to be thought odd than to be outed?

I was almost out the door when I looked back at Dad. My heart chilled in my chest when I thought that this might actually be the last time I saw him. I raced over to the couch and embraced him from the back. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, honey," he smiled a bit absentmindedly. "Have a good time."

I kissed him on the top of the head and rolled my eyes. I knew my dad loved me, but it was hard to compete with his passion. "I will, Dad. See you later."

Clark was waiting for me as I shut the door. Quickly, I ransacked my trunk for some useful things, but it was hard going into the unknown. The least they could have done was give me a quick update on what I should definitely have! I thought a bit angrily. I held my fingers to my lips and led him to the woods down the street. It took some time, but we really needed to be circumspect. As soon as we got there, I looked him over in satisfaction. He had on his Kal outfit. I knew that I had never mentioned to him before how absolutely hot he looks in it, but decided that now wasn't the time for that either. I handed him the directions. "This is where we're going?" he asked. I thought it was cute that he was so nervous that he was just restating the obvious.

"That's the address text messaged on my phone." I looked at him and realized we had to figure out one key thing. "How are we going to do this?"

He just smiled and swung me up in his arms. How cool was that? It was the perfect solution for the pressures I was sure to encounter and was one of the most romantic things he'd done in the last 24 hours. I barely had a chance to get settled before he was off. We didn't talk on our way there… We were both too nervous for words. Anything that could only be handled by a nearly indestructible Kryptonian and a goddess had to be bad… Really bad.

It didn't take half as long as I'd thought for Clark to skid to a halt in front of the building we wanted. He set me on my feet, but we held hands as we walked to the door. I knocked softly, almost hoping that whoever was supposed to be there had stepped away for a quick smoke or something. Unfortunately, a wizened old man opened the door and looked at me with the most amazingly piercing eyes. "Mistress, welcome to our humble abode. Please enter." He stepped aside and bowed us inside. His deference was almost more unnerving than the whole situation.

He silently led us through a very austere room. His silence influenced both of us so we followed him mutely, although we did exchange worried glances. Really, anyone could have sent me that text message. Why had I believed it so implicitly? I was a little worried that we had fallen into a trap, but had to have some sort of faith in the PTB… or else I really wouldn't know who to trust. We didn't have to wait too long before the little man pressed a series of hidden panels and a door slid open. He bowed us inside and the door shut quickly behind us. If it hadn't been a bustling hive of activity and Clark hadn't been right beside me, I would have been totally freaking out.

A middle aged man who really epitomized nondescript walked up to us. "Mistress, welcome to the Coast City operation. We are extremely relieved that you arrived in good time."

Everything seemed genuine, but I was still pretty irritated… and scared. It had to have an outlet and I started in on this person. "In good time for what? I know that I have a mission, but why can't anyone tell me EXACTLY what's going on?" My voice was starting to get shrill, but I couldn't seem to help it. Clark wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I could feel myself relaxing a bit.

"What's the situation… ummm, what's your name?" Clark's manners always surfaced before my own. I was a little embarrassed that I didn't think to ask before I started to lay into him and I could feel a blush race across my cheeks.

"You may call me Thomas," he said with a bow. The way he said it, however, made me wonder if that was his real name. But I didn't have the time to worry about that. "The situation, as you say, is that there is a bomb… possibly nuclear… in the city in the hands of a suicidal maniac."

I gasped and pressed further into Clark. "A nuclear… Why aren't the police involved?"

"They are, Mistress. However, our sources have stated that they will not get to them in time. And apparently the bomb is strong enough to totally eradicate Kansas and irradiate all of the North American continent. That doesn't include what the wind will push across the globe." He looked at me and in his eyes I could see the deaths of millions upon millions of people and I shuddered.

I straightened suddenly, absolutely determined that this wouldn't happen. "All right, Thomas. What do we know about this man? Do we know the address of where this will take place? Do we know the make and model of the bomb so we can look up defusing strategies?"

He looked at me sadly and I knew that this wasn't a good sign. "Unfortunately, all we know is his name. Hamilton Jeffries."

"And that's it?" Clark demanded.

Thomas just nodded solemnly, but then he stopped. "We do know one more piece of information. This will occur before the next sunrise."

I looked at Clark and we knew this was even worse than we'd thought. "Okay, Clark. I guess this is the reason that we've been so involved in the newspaper. It's time to kick it into high research mode. Thomas, we need at least two computers and I'm going to want some coffee. I may not need it, but it might help me think…"


A/N: Not much to say. Mondays may turn into my update days if my Fridays don't clear out. 'Cause this week I got a funeral! Oy!

carcassi: I do as well. I don't know if you've noticed, but my last TWO fics have had that type of thing going down. Hmmm… And I really appreciate the encouragement. I have to admit, without all of you rooting me on, I may have let the whole fan fic thing slide… ;D

markmark261: Hey, cutie! Have I mentioned lately that I really appreciate your feedback and proofreading? I always feel like my stuff is just that much tighter after I get your response. On the Lana front… You know, I have a hard time writing that girl without bashing. (I've been in a snit this last season.) But I don't want to totally hammer on her and alienate those Lana-lovers out there. I will admit that my next fic is even lighter in the Lana version… but more bashy! ;D (Yeah… that spelling thing with exercise… I have the hardest time spelling that word! I have no idea why!)

Cherri202: I am doing another story… and it's very Alternate Universe-y. It's called "Clarkie's Choice"… which I thought was just super funny… because I'd just watched "Krypto" again! ;D

BabyC2003: I don't blame her either, but I think I'm going to drop it out of my writing soon. I mean, I can only harp on that too many times before I make Chloe a whiny baby! (I'm not looking forward to the Jimmy element… purely because they're setting him up as a Chloe love-interest and I had hopes for more Chlark moments… and because he's being introduced way too early and way too old for my tastes. I'm not a purist, but the continuum, people!)

iluvsmallville1: I've been meaning to check out your stuff, but I'm not a HUGE "Phil of the Future" fan (just figured out that that's what POTF means…) so I haven't checked that one out. Maybe I should expand my horizons! ;D (And I don't flame. Usually I just point out grammatical errors… ;D)