It's All in the Timing
Chapter One: The Set-up
"Do you ever think about it Clark?" Oliver asked sitting behind the glass desk in his office and leaning into the oversized leather armchair.
The man looked over at his friend as he perched himself on the corner of his desk and played with the metal contraption. Taking the end ball he let it go watching as it tapped into the others and finally releasing the energy out the other side. Soon the office was filled with the rhythmic sound of metal against metal. "Think about what?" He asked absently thoroughly distracted.
Oliver smiled good-naturedly. "I'll buy you one for Christmas Kent." He stated.
Clark looked up sheepishly and shrugged slightly. "I'm listening."
"I was asking if you ever think about it… you know your life; our lives? I mean is this what we are going to do until we're old and gray?" He asked. "I mean we're kind of like football players… well I am anyway. I've got a few years left in me and then I'm out for the count. But you my friend; is this what you want to do for the rest of your life?"
Clark furrowed his brow as if giving the question serious thought. "I never really thought about it."
"Really; never? Well don't you want to settle down… have a kid? I mean you strike me as the type that likes some kind of normalcy."
"But I'm not normal am I? I mean how many men do you know that can lift an entire fleet of ships with one hand or run faster than a speeding bullet; other than Impulse?" He added with a smile. "I mean I've had dreams… I've wanted things… I've almost had them… but it never seems to work out."
"Right… the elusive Lana Lang!" He pointed out with a sigh. Taking a stand he walked around to stand in front of Clark. "You know Clark just because you didn't strike gold on the first try doesn't mean that you can't still have something more."
Looking up he met Oliver's eyes and nodded. "I know that…" He stated.
They held a stare for a moment and then it dawned on him. "It's not Lana is it? Do tell!" He remarked with genuine surprise. It was no secret that Clark loved Lana… had loved her pretty much all his life. He had heard many stories from the lips of Chloe on just how much his Superhero friend had pined for her, watched her, waited and longed for the chance to be with her. "If not Lana then who?"
"It doesn't matter." He brushed it off trying to drop the subject.
"Oh come on Clark! You can't say something like that and then not expect me to wonder!"
"You're worst than a woman you know that?" He smirked.
"Stop trying to dodge the issue! Come on man! Anyone who knows you knows that the love of your life has been Lana Lang. Chloe has offered more details than I could ever want to hear." He smiled and saw something falter in Clark's features. "Wait a minute."
"Just leave it alone Oliver."
"Oh please don't tell me…"
"I said just drop it!" He warned walking around his friend, needing to distance himself from what was about to emerge.
"After all this time and now… now you want to be with her?" He asked shaking his head in disbelief. "God… Clark Kent has anyone ever told you that you have absolutely the worst timing in the world?" He asked looking over his shoulder staring at his back.
Running a hand through his dark tresses he sighed feeling a half smile come to his lips. "Yeah… she used to tell me that all the time." He didn't need to be reminded of all the years he wasted trying to brush off what had been right in front of him. But you didn't get to choose who you loved and unfortunately at the time he had been head over heels in love with Lana. He hadn't chose to be… it just happened.
Oliver could see the disappointment in his friend's eyes and felt a slight twinge of remorse. It wasn't exactly the worst time. It wasn't as if Chloe was still dating anyone. Yeah she was technically still married to Jimmy but that was coming to an end… anyone who knew them knew that. If Clark wanted to be with the girl perhaps he just needed a little push. "Okay now you know I'm not one to disrupt the masses…" When he saw the look Clark gave him she shrugged. "Okay so I am one to disrupt the masses. Why don't you tell her? Why don't you tell Chloe how you feel? You know she loves you."
"She loved me. And that was a long time ago. It's been years and she's still married." He remarked staring out at Metropolis. Cars whizzing by, horns honking… it was the sound of home.
"She's married in name only. Jimmy has been gone from Metropolis for almost 6 months. Besides are you kidding me? Clark that girl would do anything for you. You call and she comes running. You land on her doorstep at two in the morning and its open and she's there waiting on you."
"She's my friend… that's what friends do."
"Well can I get a friend like that?" He shot back. "Come on Clark… be honest for a change… what's this really about? What are you so afraid of?"
There was a long moment of silence as neither spoke. "Fine; I'm not going to push. If you want to see a good woman pass you by then that's up to you but let me tell you…" He began when Clark cut him off.
"What if I'm not enough?" He asked quietly. Turning around he tilted his head back and exhaled a deep breath. "What if I'm not enough for her? Chloe dreamed about us for so long… what kind of boyfriend I would be, what our relationship would be like…and I have to admit I'm not sure that the fantasy could ever be as good as the reality. I mean yeah I'm good at saving people… but loving someone… giving them what they need… that's so different. Chloe deserves better than that. She deserves the guy of her dreams and as long as I don't overstep my bounds she can always have that. She can always have the fantasy of what we could have been. She's lost so much because of me already… how could I take that from her too?"
"You know Clark… that's very noble of you… and also very stupid!" He shot back. "I mean look at you… you finally have someone in your life that completely understands what you do… they get the quick exits… the constant danger and she still loves you in spite of all that. She's willing to do anything for you and you're just going to let it slip through your fingers because you're scared? You know you may be one of the strongest men I know but when it comes to taking chances with your heart…you're pathetic."
"You don't understand." He tried to defend.
"I do understand! I know what it's like to be afraid that you're finally going to give your heart to someone and then not be able to be there when they need you because you might be out trying to save the world from mass destruction. You don't want her to become a distraction or worst… leverage for one of your enemies to lord over you. You don't ever want to have to choose between the world and her… because let's be honest… it's going to be a tough call."
"…the world may not be who I choose." He stated softly.
Oliver sighed. "Yes it will. You know it and so does she; but something tells me that she would understand." Not realizing that he was had echoed her words almost exactly.
"But maybe I can't… maybe I can't live with having to make that choice." He remarked because that was the truth. Chloe may understand what needed to be done but that didn't mean he had to. He wasn't a selfish man by nature. He understood the concept of self sacrifice. He understood it better than most but with her it was different. He wanted to be selfish with her. Her friendship had become the most constant and honest thing in his life and he didn't want to ever have to give that up… he never wanted to give her up.
"Can you live without her?" He challenged. "I know how good of a friend she is to you Clark. I've seen it first hand. I know that you trust her above all others but guess what… she's not going to be able to just be your friend forever. Someone is going to come around and sweep her off her feet. You know maybe it wasn't meant to be that Olsen guy… but someday Clark, some guy is going to show up and see just how great Chloe is and he's going to do something about it; then what?"
"Who's to say that I haven't tried… maybe she doesn't want me anymore." He remarked. When he saw the disbelief in Oliver's eyes it had Clark going into detail even though he hadn't planned to. "There was a moment… I mean the world was coming to an end and she told me that she may never see me again… and then she kissed me." He could still remember the way she tasted… it was a blend of coffee and chocolate… two of her favorite things.
"Okay, well seeing as how the world didn't come to an end…" He trailed off waiting for him to explain.
"When I got back… I brought it up... I brought up the kiss and she's the one that dismissed the idea of there being an 'us'." He remarked.
"And what did she say when you told her that you wanted to pursue this moment further?" He asked making air quotations around the word 'moment' with a smirk. He saw the hesitation in Clark's eyes and rolled his. "Oh come on Clark… you didn't say anything; nothing at all?" He asked throwing his hands up in frustration.
"What was I supposed to say? She's the one that took the offer off the table before I could even say anything about it… and then Jimmy was there… it just wasn't the right time. I mean what should I have done?" He asked flopping down in a chair. His tall frame seemed to overlap the entire space. Even without trying Clark Kent was bigger than life sometimes.
"How about asked her out anyway? You could have pulled her aside and said 'How would you like to go on a date with me?" He asked.
"I'm sorry did I just walk into some parallel universe that I wasn't aware of?" Chloe asked from the door way. Two sets of eyes shifted in her direction and suddenly she felt a slight nervousness in their stares. "Really… did I walk into some kind of twisted altered state of reality? I mean seriously…" She remarked standing a little straighter looking from one boy to the other.
"I'm sorry… do we know you?" Oliver deadpanned.
Chloe's eyebrows rose to her bangs. "Oliver it's me…" Looking over at Clark she saw the ghost of a smile and felt her panic dissipate. "I hate you! I hate both of you!" She shook her head walking further into the room. Leaning her hip into the chair Clark tried not to blush at the way her body slightly touched his shoulder. "I can't believe we trust the lives of millions of people to you."
Oliver smiled. "So what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" He asked.
"Well there has been some major activity down in South America. I think someone might be trying to open up another 33.1 laboratory. So far we have 14 people coming up on our radar that were known to have shown some peculiar behavior that have gone missing." She reported handing over the folder in her hands to Oliver.
He briefed her notes and sighed. "You know I was looking to take a vacation; now is as good a time as any… what do you say Clark? Are you up for a trip down south?" He asked with a wide grin.
"When do we leave, tonight?"
Oliver watched Clark take a stand already in 'flight' mode. "Uh… actually I want to get some preliminary things worked out before we go barging into this place. I should have everything I need in about 48 hours or so. So you know take the next two nights off… maybe go see a movie or something… you were just talking about doing that weren't you?" He hinted staring pointedly at Clark.
Exhaling deeply Clark rolled his eyes before looking over at Chloe. "Yeah… a movie."
"You're going to go to the movies?" She asked with a furrowed brow.
"I was… well maybe… I don't…"
"Clark you hate going to the movies. You're always complaining about how you can hear people whispering the background. I mean you're the one who made me wait to go and see X-Men 3 just so we could watch it at your parent's farm." She pointed out. "Look why don't you just come over and we can watch a movie at my place? I just rented 'Slumdog Millionaire' and I hear that it's really good."
"…sure." He smiled that damn grin that always used to give her chills. Even now she felt the slight flutter in the pit of her stomach but had learned a long time ago that those would never go away. There was just something about those Clark Kent baby blues that would always do it to her.
"Well then it's settled. You bring the popcorn and the Swedish Fish and I'll bring the movie and the drinks." She remarked already heading for the door. "Oh and Oliver I have those reports on the last Luthor Corp holding… I'll send them to you tonight. And Clark make sure you don't get the mini-fish because they're a lot harder to chew." She stated reaching for the knob.
"Right… it's a date." He remarked trying to make it sound nonchalant and yet meaningful.
She smiled. "Yeah… okay." She slightly chuckled, laughing off his statement. "See you tonight. By Oliver." And then she was gone.
Clark stared at the closed door for a moment feeling slightly crushed. Turning back to Oliver he sighed. "You see what I mean?" He asked.
"Yeah… I can honestly say that you have drifted into what we like to call 'the friend zone'. It's going to take some work to get out of there… but if anyone can do it… it's the man of steel." He smiled.