Oh look, it's a new chapter! Hehe. Sadly, no Chlollie. But do not fret! There will be more Chlollie in the next chapter. Which . . . I will post within the next few days. I start classes tomorrow, so I'll be a bit busy.
Clark and Lois were arguing. Again.
It was maddening.
"I hate it when you do that-pretend like you're almighty Clark, talking down from his moralistic pedestal. Some of us aren't perfect, and don't need to remind everyone around us of all the important thoughts and opinions that we have about everything."
Lois was actually tearing into Clark, which was highly surprising. Normally she just went for the surface criticism-of what he was wearing, of his general complacency, etc. Today she was digging at the big issues, the serious problems that most people had with Clark.
Chloe sighed, "Enough, Lois. Let it go."
"I hate that you let him treat you like his little sidekick, like you'll always be there."
"That's not what this is about, Lois." Chloe was tired of this nonstop bickering between Lois and Clark.
"I know. Right now this about your 'best friend' passing judgment on me because I want a timer. Have you ever heard of a personal choice Smallville?"
"Get a room." Chloe walked out of the Kent kitchen, completely fed up with these bickering fools. She loved them, but sometimes they could be utterly obtuse.
Chloe had been annoyed with both of them for days. Partially for reasons that were their faults, and partially just because of things that happened to involve them. She was annoyed at them for constantly arguing. She was upset with Lois for Clark-bashing when he wasn't around. She was tired of keeping secrets from the people she loved, because, yes, she did know who the Green Arrow was, and she wasn't going to tell anyone-though she knew that Clark, Bart, Victor and AC worked with him was her little secret.
It had taken a lot of work, and careful finagling, but she had managed to start reforming his reputation. It didn't hurt that he'd recently avoided the more Robin Hood-esque missions and taken on more of a traditional superhero role. It was exhausting work though.
She was annoyed with Jimmy-who'd recently decided that he rather wanted to get a timer of his own-though he hadn't quite settled on it, as he was still attempting to convince her that she should get one too- in addition to ogling Clark's cousin Kara whenever she was around. He could at least do it when his girlfriend wasn't around. Ugh. Men.
She was annoyed with Lex Luthor-who apparently was working on some sort of way to include tracking devices and temporary mind control chips into the timers without anyone noticing. Because she didn't have enough problems already.
And, she now knew the secret identity of a hero whom her cousin was desperately trying to unmask. And, in a lovely turn of events, he was her newest boyfriend.
Now, of course, as a journalist she knew that she had to double check that-but she'd hoped she was wrong. But Jimmy had managed to get a picture of the Green Arrow, and a ring he apparently wore on a chain around his neck. The ring had the Queen crest on it-she'd had to go through the trouble of deleting the photos . . . which had in turn put Jimmy in a bad mood that he somewhat took out on her.
Lovely. Just lovely.
She was right about the Green Arrow, and her boyfriend was being an annoying twat.
Because life really wasn't complicated enough, apparently.
Eventually Lois was ready to go to get her timer implanted. A few weeks after she'd decided to get one, of course. She'd taken the time to try to convince Chloe to get one too, and Chloe had taken the time to attempt to talk her out of it.
It hadn't gone well. She'd simply resigned herself, and accepted Lois' choice. After all, it was her body. It was her choice. And Chloe couldn't protect her cousin from her bad decisions, even though it would be really convenient if she could.
Anyway, they'd headed off to the closest Timer store, which happened to be a few hours away.
Lois had babbled the entire time about how important it was for her to get a guarantee, yada yada. That she didn't want her life not being sure of the man she was with. Getting her heart broken, she claimed, was unnecessary. Because if she could just know her One when she saw him . . . everything would be fine.
Lois desperately wanted to fall in love. And she desperately needed it to be with someone who wouldn't hurt her. She was too afraid to live her life alone, or risk missing out on the right guy. The world had timers, it was in everyone's best interest to take full advantage of them. At that point she'd made some weird analogy about how people who didn't seek medical attention were mad in the head. Chloe had blocked out that strange mixed metaphor.
Lois had continued on, in an extremely redundant sort of way-barely taking a moment to take a breath.
It literally put her to sleep, partially because she was tired. Partially because Lois had bored her half to death.
Lois had left her alone, as she was the one driving. When Chloe woke back up, Lois had ignored her. To punish her for falling asleep, Chloe supposed. But in fact, it was rather relaxing, and nice that she stayed silent.
When they arrived Chloe groaned.
Lois just looked at her, raised an eyebrow as if to say 'You promised, no takebacks.' Chloe wasn't getting a timer, so frankly she didn't care anymore. Lois could do whatever the hell she wanted.
They walked in, checked in with the main desk. They waited, awkwardly, until a woman practically popped out of nowhere in front of them.
"Hello, my name is Anabelle, and I'll be your Timer Adviser for today."
"Adviser?" Chloe asked. Fancy title for someone who basically had the skill set of someone who did piercings for a living.
Anabelle, a rather perky redhead, merely smiled. "Yup. We're trying to help you find your One, the person you belong with. It's so much more than just the implantation. We're here for moral and emotional support. If you have any questions, just ask."
Anabelle looked at Chloe, "Are you ready for your life to change?"
"Oh, no. It's not her. I'm getting a timer, I'm Lois. This is my cousin Chloe, she doesn't believe in the timer," Lois cut in.
Anabelle's smile faltered. "Okay. Um, the timer is 100% accurate. It works." She held up her own, which had obviously clocked out. "I clocked out two months ago. My One is . . . amazing." She got a giggly, swoony look on her face. "But that's enough about me. The timer is scientifically proven to work. It's a very complex process that's quite simple for the consumer. You'll be fine."
"I didn't say I don't believe it works. I don't believe it's absolutely necessary that we have them." Chloe bit out. She rather wanted to punch this perky woman in the face.
"Well, okay then." She didn't really have anything to say to that. "Are you ready, Miss Lane?" She turned to Lois, apparently determined to pretend that this anti-timer abomination didn't exist.
Lois smiled brightly. "I'm beyond ready. When can we get started?"
Anabelle smiled back at Lois, gave Chloe a strange look. "Come with me." She led them both back into what seemed to be a dentist-like room. Anabelle motioned to the chair. "Sit down, Miss Lane. Did you fill out the online personality profile?"
"Yup."
"Then all that's left is implantation. It basically searches through physical attraction, personality compatibility, and various other factors in order to find your One-I'm actually not sure how it works. I've always kind of thought about it as some sort of magic." Anabelle giggled. "It's so strange. But it works."
"Anyway," she continued,"If you've already met him, and he has a timer, then the next time you two have eye contact, both of you timers will go 'beep-a-beep-a-leep'-or something very similar to that noise anyway. The timer counts down to the day you'll meet the One. If your timer is blank, it just means he-or she-hasn't clocked into the system yet. Ready?"
Lois was rather nervous now. Especially upon seeing the implantation device, which rather looked like a gigantic stapler. Ouch. "Uh, yeah."
"So which hand do you write with?" Lois held up her left hand. Chloe took her right hand. She was, after all, there to be supportive.
"Okay, lie back in this chair." Lois did, while Chloe sat down next to her.
"Let's do this." A loud clicking noise rang out. Lois cursed aloud, "Son of bitch."
Chloe tried to hide her smile. They all looked down at Lois' timer.
The three of them were silent.
Chloe finally broke the silence. "Well, that was rather anti-climactic."
It was blank.
"Well, at least you don't have to break up with Oliver." Chloe said tentatively. Lois seemed . . . confused.
Anabelle spoke, "That happens sometimes. Give it some time. Over 65% of the US population has a timer, we service about a million new customers a year. Chances are, your One will get one too."
"I certainly hope so." Lois was rather . . . confused. She didn't quite know how to feel.
The ride back home was a little strange. At times, Lois would start to speak. But then she wouldn't really say anything. And they'd lapsed back into silence.
When they'd gotten back to the Talon, Chloe had started to make coffee. Lois just sat down and stared into space.
Chloe placed a cup of coffee in front of Lois. "Okay, spill. What's running through your head right now?"
"I'm not sure."
"When you're ready to talk . . . I'm here for you."
"Thanks." Lois was looking at the timer on her wrist. "I wanted one of these so much."
"And now you have one."
"I do. But it's not what I thought it would be."
"You expected that you'd know when you were going to find your soulmate. It's only natural that you'd feel a little disappointed." To be honest, Chloe was a little disappointed for her. There was a monthly charge on the timer. Not much fun, that was for sure. But at least the General was picking up the tab on this one.
"I know. I mean, I really like Ollie. I do. But suddenly I couldn't wait anymore. I had a dream the week before I asked you to come with me. I dreamt that I'd live my entire life alone, and that one day I'd wake up and get a timer, but I'd be really, really old-but still as sprightly as ever. And then my timer showed that I was supposed to be with someone like . . . Clark," she said with disgust. "Someone I know, but that I just haven't given a chance. I don't want that to happen. I don't want to live my without a guarantee. But apparently I don't have much of a choice."
Chloe actually felt bad for her. "Well, look at it this way. At least it didn't say you'd have to wait until you were like 50. This way it's open-ended. Chances are, like that ridiculously perky timer woman said, he'll clock in at some point. Just give it some time. In the meantime, give Oliver a chance." She also felt bad about keeping the secret from her. "Try opening up to him." There, maybe if she opened up to him, he'd eventually open up to her. Unlikely, but entirely possible.
"Oliver's been distant lately. I don't know if I want to take that chance."
"You are Lois Lane. You're not supposed to be afraid of some guy." Though he wasn't just some guy. He was one of the richest men in the world, known for being a playboy, and he was moonlighting as a superhero. "And he's probably only being distant because you were getting a timer. Why would he want to get more attached to you, if you could meet your One any day?"
"You make a valid point."
Yes, Chloe thought, I do.
For some strange reason, comforting Lois about her feelings for Oliver made her uncomfortable. It was probably only because she was keeping secrets from Lois, she assured herself. After all, she was the secret-keeper. She knew many things she'd rather not know. But since she did, she had a responsibility to uphold the sanctity of the secrets.
People counted on her. And that weighed heavily on her sometimes. With these new secrets, things had become a lot more complicated.
That had to be it. She couldn't imagine what else it would be.
She was lying to herself, of course. She knew it, and simply refused to care.
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