A/N: Clark and Chloe discover a few disturbing facts about the elusive crystal. At the same time, they make another surprising discovery that isn't disturbing at all…. g

Chapter Six

A soft breeze tickled her cheek, and Chloe blinked to clear her vision, ignoring the throbbing pain behind her eyes. Clark swam into view, bare-chested, clad only in a pair of jeans, bending over her against a backdrop of blue sky.

She blinked again. Clark was still there, the golden skin of his well-muscled chest tinged red by the slanting rays of sunshine. Lines of concern etched across his face as he stared down at her.

In spite of her headache, she almost smiled up at him. The sight of a semi-naked Clark was more than enough to wake her up.

She tried to remember where she was. Jumbled memories of blueberries, a sunlit pasture, and a kiss whirled through her head in kaleidoscopic confusion, only to melt into stranger, darker visions of flameballs and explosions. The throbbing sensation grew worse.

She groaned and shut her eyes, letting her head drop back against the ground, but the impact was cushioned by a pile of some very soft material. Cracking open her eyelids, she caught a flash of plaid, and a whiff of fresh cotton, and realized her pillow was Clark's shirt. The familiar feel of it was somehow comforting. As she rubbed her cheek against it, she felt her jumbled memories fall back into place like so many jigsaw pieces.

"Chloe? What happened? How do you feel?"

The worry in Clark's voice drew her eyes upward, past the jeans-clad knees and the acres of bare skin, to meet his steady gaze. She grinned weakly and propped herself up on her elbows, looking around at the forest of tall grasses encircling them.

"Fine, except for the Anvil Chorus going on in my head," she answered dryly. Almost to herself, she muttered, "And the surprise magical mystery tour I went on."

"Are you sure you're OK?" He frowned, studying her closely with a familiar squint.

"Hey!" she protested. "No X-raying!"

She scrambled to her feet with Clark's help, and—regretfully—handed back his shirt. Turning, Chloe pointed to the gouged earth close by, near the tractor's tire marks.

"That's where the farmer found the crystal," she declared confidently.

At her words, Clark paused, one arm thrust into his shirt. "How can you be so sure?" he asked skeptically.

"I don't know. But I am. I don't know why I'm seeing things, either." Despite the warmth of the afternoon, she shivered slightly. Clark's arm encircled her reassuringly, and too weak for once to resist, she allowed herself to lean into it.

"Seeing things?" he murmured softly, gathering her closer.

She nodded, her head resting against his shoulder. "The first time was this morning, when I looked at Lex's photos and zoned out," she told him. "It was like watching a movie on fast-forward, except none of it made any sense. And it ended with a bang. Literally." A ragged laugh escaped her throat. "Just now, it happened again, only stronger this time."

Her voice dropped so low that even she could barely hear it. "Why am I going all "Medium" twice in one day? What's happening to me?"

For a minute he lightly stroked her arm in thoughtful silence. When he finally spoke, his voice was grim. "I can't answer that, but I'll bet I know who can." He dropped his arm to take Chloe's hand. "Come on, we need to get you a warm coat. You can tell me more about this on the way."

"On the way where?" She hurried to follow as he marched across the pasture towards the Kent's truck.

His answer sent a fresh shiver down her spine. "To talk to Jor-El."

……………………

It was late evening, but since it was July, the Arctic sun was still high when they appeared in front of the vast crystalline dreamscape that was Jor-El's icy fortress. The clear, jagged spikes of the vaulted ceiling glimmered eerily above them, rising up to impossible heights.

The sheer size of the place had overwhelmed Chloe the first time she'd seen it. Even now, on her third trip, she still looked up in wonder as Clark led her through the entrance. The soaring columns reminded her of the redwood forest she'd walked through once as a little girl, when, craning her neck to try to catch a glimpse of the tree-tops far overhead, she'd exclaimed in delight to her father.

She still remembered what she'd said: Giants must live here.

She felt the same way now.

Dressed in Martha Kent's thickest wool coat and fur-trimmed boots, she followed Clark apprehensively as they crossed the gleaming floor towards a cluster of crystals that had grown together into something like a podium. Clark, on the other hand, still wore the same thin plaid shirt he'd worn in the pasture that afternoon, a smudge of huckleberry juice clinging to his cheek. Looking at him made Chloe feel nostalgic for the sunlight and warmth of Smallville.

Oddly, though, she noticed that, in spite of his farm clothes, Clark seemed as much at home here, in this gigantic, echoing hall, as he did on the Kent farm. His step was confident as he advanced closer to the central podium.

It began to glow softly as they approached, and Chloe jumped at the disembodied voice that suddenly echoed through the hall. Clark immediately stepped in front of her, putting himself between her and the podium.

"Welcome, Kal-El." There was a pause. "Welcome also to your companion, the Keeper of the Element."

"Clark?" Chloe whispered uncertainly. "Is he talking about me?"

"What do you mean, Jor-El?" Clark demanded cautiously. As always when talking with the AI created by his Kryptonian father, he was on his guard.

"Your companion has nothing to fear from me," came the calm reply. "Indeed, I have chosen her for a great honor."

"I don't like the sound of this," Chloe muttered. "What's this 'Element,' and why am I its 'Keeper'?"

To the amazement of both of them, Jor-El's voice responded to her question. "The Element was intended to be the last, and most powerful, part of this fortress, my child. It was placed within Kal-El's ship, and when he destroyed the ship, it was lost. But, with your help, I was able to locate it and use it to open a portal into the phantom dimension, freeing Kal-El and returning General Zod's consciousness to its rightful imprisonment."

Clark's eyes widened. "You made Chloe help you somehow? Why? Why didn't you just use this thing yourself, if it's so powerful?"

Close beside him, Chloe stared thoughtfully into space. "When Lionel grabbed my hands, the day of the riots, I saw a bright light that seemed to come from far away," she mused. "So that's what it was."

"I cannot access the energy stored in this crystal, my son, until it rests inside this structure"—at these words, a clear, slender cylinder rose up from the console—"It can only be used by you, or by the Keeper."

Clark drew an angry breath. "The missing crystal is the Element, isn't it? And you've turned Chloe into this thing's Keeper! That's why she's having these visions."

Before Clark could continue, Chloe interjected quickly, "Jor-El, can you tell me what the visions mean? I seem to see the same things each time."

"Because you are connected with the Element, you see, in part, where it is now, and where it has been in the past."

"So that strange lab must be where the crystal is now?" She frowned. "But I don't understand why the LuthorCorp skyscraper keeps popping up too. This thing was at Cadmus, not at Lex's corporate offices."

Other images re-formed in Chloe's memory. "There was a white city," she said slowly, eyes shut, "and then a red sun. It exploded, and that's the last thing I saw."

"You have seen Krypton, and the city where Kal-El was born. And you have seen its destruction," came the calm reply. Clark stared in wonder at Chloe, then looked back at the podium, his face darkening.

The voice started saying something else, but Clark clearly had had enough. He interrupted, shouting, his hands balled into fists, "You have no right to use Chloe like this. Free her now!"

The AI's voice floated down, sounding almost gentle. "That is not possible, Kal-El. She has bonded with the crystal, and the bonding cannot be undone. Nor can her bonding to you."

"Now wait just a—Huh?" Chloe stopped, stunned. She darted a quick sideways glance at Clark, who looked equally taken aback.

"The Element was made by your mother and me." The voice echoed sadly through the hall. "In it, we placed all our memories of Krypton. These are a part of who you are, my son—as they are, now, also a part of her. On our home world, the sharing of such memories was done as a pledge between life-mates."

Chloe caught her breath, and stood very still, listening.

The AI took on a commanding tone. "You are the last survivor of the House of El, and as such, you bear a great responsibility to see that our line continues. You must take a suitable mate—unlike the one whom you foolishly brought here before." Chloe could almost hear the disapproving sniff underneath the words as the AI dismissed Clark's proposal to Lana. "I have seen this human battle with Zod's servant. She has strength and spirit, and also an acceptable level of intelligence."

"So I have chosen. And, as I have said, the choice cannot be unmade."

Chloe was still scowling at the phrase "acceptable level of intelligence," when she felt a light touch on her hand. Clark's eyes were filled with regret.

"I'm so sorry, Chlo'," he said apologetically. "But don't worry, I won't let him trap you like this. I'll find a way to get you free."

Suddenly, Chloe was looking everywhere except at Clark. "Yeah. I know it must be hard for you, too. It doesn't sound like Jor-El has much use for Lana."

"What does Lana have to do with this?" The honest confusion in his voice surprised Chloe into meeting his gaze.

Clark's eyes locked with hers. "I'm sorry because it's my fault you're stuck. Because I think Jor-El figured out that I love you."

The AI was speaking, but Chloe was too busy staring at Clark to notice. In fact, she had almost forgotten that the AI was there at all. "Are you serious?" she asked, after a moment's silence. "You really love me? Not Lana?" In response, Clark drew her tightly against him, large hands pressed against the warm wool of her coat. When she tilted her head invitingly, he bent down and kissed her, hard.

If the entire fortress had collapsed around them just then, Chloe didn't think she would care. She felt as if she were floating.

After the kiss finally ended, she still felt oddly weightless and looked down to see that they were standing at least a foot over gleaming floor. "Clark!" she yelped, clutching him even more tightly. He smiled back, shrugging a little, and kissed her again.

"Love is an irrational emotion, and completely unnecessary for a successful bonding," Jor-El's voice was declaring, as Clark gently guided the two of them back to the ground. "However," it observed, with the merest hint of smugness, "it is sometimes possible to find both."

Clark, still holding Chloe tightly, frowned as he looked at the podium. "But, Jor-El, what about the crystal? You said it's powerful, but it's still missing."

"True. It is imperative to find it as soon as possible. Now that it has been activated, it must be set in its proper place. It is the keystone of your power, Kal-El, and with it, this fortress will become virtually indestructible."

"And without it?" Chloe asked.

"Without it, neither the fortress nor the Element will survive for long. Apart, they are unstable—as is this AI." Clark nodded, and Chloe guessed his thoughts. That, she reflected, might explain some of Jor-El's stranger mood-swings.

"The Element has been programmed to self-destruct, to keep it from the hands of Zod and his allies." The gleaming columns around them seemed to darken to match the somber tone of the voice. "In that case," it went on slowly, "the Keeper also will be destroyed."

Chloe heard Clark's sharp intake of breath. She reached out for his hand.

"I sense that Zod's servant may be involved in this. Be wary. You especially must take great care, my child." Chloe realized, with a start, that the AI was addressing her.

"Kal-El's destiny is now bound with yours. Remember this. The fate of your world may depend on it."