Chapter five. *disclaims*

"You did what?" Chloe was shocked.

"I got a timer."

"Without telling me, your girlfriend?" Inconsiderate bastard. Okay maybe that was a bit harsh. She thought about it for a moment. Wait, no. It was pretty damn accurate.

"Well, I mentioned it."

Yes, he had mentioned that he was considering it. That morning, however, while they were having breakfast, and he was planning on going off and getting implanted, he hadn't mentioned it at all. Not a word.

Seriously.

It was all over now.

"Let me see it."

Jimmy hesitated, obviously torn. "Chloe-"

"No, let me see it." She demanded it. It was an order.

"I don't think-"

"Now, Jimmy."

He sighed. He walked forward and held it up.

Oh.

"How long is that?" She was sure he'd done the math.

"About four years." He was obviously uncomfortable.

"Oh. So, 2010-ish."

"Yeah."

"Good luck with that." Bitterness practically oozed from her.

"Chloe, we could still . . . hang out."

"No." Because she really didn't need to be around him, ever again. As he waited for his pretty little soulmate. She'd probably be leggy, and tall. And she probably wouldn't have to lie to Jimmy about almost everything in her life, she realized with a pang.

"I'm sorry."

"Please leave," she needed him to leave at that moment. She almost felt like she was going to cry.

She was.

He left before the first tear fell. He didn't quite shut the door behind himself though.

She sank to the floor in front of the couch. The tears started to fall like a waterfall of sadness. And a slight bit of relief.

Yet-It still hurt.

He was about to knock on the door when he heard crying. He nudged the door open and saw Chloe on the ground.

He strode quickly to her side. "Chloe, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

She hiccuped. She tried to wave his concern away. "I'm fine. I'm just a bit of a mess right now."

Oliver knelt down beside her and wiped a tear away. "What happened?"

"I'm just being-" she hiccuped, "Ridiculous. Jimmy-he got a timer."

"Without telling you?" He rather thought she seemed a bit shell-shocked.

"Kind of. I knew he was considering it, but he didn't say that he was actually going to do it." She knew she was being slightly silly. After all, she and Jimmy had been kind of falling apart for a while now. They had lost their spark. If they'd ever even had one to begin with. But she really didn't care.

"I'm sorry." There was really nothing else to say.

"I've never understood why people say that. That they're sorry when they had absolutely nothing to do with it. Why be sorry?" Chloe was trying to distract herself from the pang in her heart. And the fact that her nearness to Oliver-who really was quite attractive-was making her nervous.

Oliver took a moment to consider her off-handed question. "I think that's exactly the point. We're sorry because there's nothing we can do to change things, and we feel helpless."

"I suppose."Chloe sighed, then realized something. "Oh, Lois said she'd be back a little late. She should be here at any time. I'm sorry. She said to tell you, but I got . . . distracted."

"That's certainly putting it gently." He smiled.

She couldn't help but smile in return. "Thank you, for being here for me."

"No problem." And it really wasn't. He had a hero complex. And he liked Chloe. She was a sweet, comforting presence.

And beautiful.

He noticed how close they were sitting.

Chloe, noticing his gaze, suddenly stood up and moved away. "I have to go."

"Okay."

"You can stay and wait for Lois. I have-something I need to talk to Clark about."

He stay silent, and merely nodded.

"Bye," Chloe grabbed her purse and jacket and bolted out of the apartment.

Lois walked in five minutes later.

"Ollie, hey. What are you doing?" She was obviously confused-it seemed like she was spending a lot of time confused lately.

"I came over, and um, the door was open."

"Oh, Chloe's going to get a talking to then. But that still doesn't explain why you're sitting on the floor in your suit?"

"She was sitting on the floor, crying. Jimmy broke up with her."

Lois cursed under her breath. "I knew I didn't like him."

"He seemed like a nice guy when I met him," Oliver said, trying to be fair, even though he really want to hunt Olsen down and punch him in the face.

"He is. He's was just never right for Chloe. It's really tough for her, you know. Clark really did a number on her self-esteem. And now with Jimmy . . . I worry about her. And I really worry that shew might fall back into old habits. She doesn't exactly have a great history with men."

"You mean like the fact that Chloe used to be in love with Clark?"

"Yeah. How did you know about that?"

"She told me."

"When?" When exactly was her cousin getting together with her boyfriend and spilling her secrets?

"I ran into her the other day and we started talking. She mentioned it."

"Oh, okay. Anyway, are you ready to go?" That was still a bit weird. But it seemed fairly harmless.

"Yeah, sure."

"Clark!" She yelled at him from across the field. He was standing near the barn, as she walked towards it she noticed that he seemed a bit distracted.

"Chloe," he greeted her. "It's nice to see you."

"It's really not. Business, not pleasure."

"What's wrong?"

"Lex has a shipment of timers that he'll get hold of sometime next week. He has a program that should affect body chemistry, and would be able to change moods and affect brain waves-and it may have something to do with a metahuman. I need some more time to figure out exactly what he's up to."

"So . . . mind control. Great. How is he getting the shipment?" Lex really never gave up. It was exhausting trying to keep up with him and all of his evil schemes.

"A 25% interest of the company goes up for sale early next week, he's planning on buying it."

"That's a problem."

"Yes, yes it is."

"What can we do?"

Chloe hesitated. "I have an idea. We need to get someone else to purchase the shares of the company."

"Oliver."

"Exactly."

"I'll talk to him. Hopefully he'll do it."

"He hates Lex. Plus, he has a bit of a savior-complex. He'll do it."

"What are you talking about?"

Chloe sighed. "Don't play dumb, Clark. I know his secret. You didn't think he'd be able to keep it from me very long, did you?" She smirked. She couldn't help herself. She loved proving her investigative skills.

"Does he know?"

"Not exactly."

"You should tell him that you know."

"I will, eventually." Probably. Maybe. Eventually. Possibly not.

Clark just looked at her for a moment. Something was off. "What's wrong, Chlo?"

Chloe laughed. "Nothing, you know. Big day. Found out Lex's plot to take over humanity. Broke up with Jimmy. You know, the usual."

There was an awkward silence in the barn-broken by the sound of a loud gust of wind.

Clark finally spoke, "I'm sorry, Chloe. I know how much you cared about him."

Chloe scrunched her face. "Yeah, but I'll be fine. I will. It hurt, at first. But I knew, you know. I knew he wasn't for me. So it wasn't too big of surprise to have it confirmed. But it still hurt. He's the only guy I've ever really dated seriously. It's tough." It felt like someone had stabbed her in the heart.

"I know." Clark knew his share of heartbreak. "Come here," he opened his arms. She walked into them and they hugged.

It was one of those lovely, comforting hugs. The soft, yet secure ones that make you feel as if everything is going to be okay.

"Thank you."

"You're my best friend, Chlo. You've always been there for me, especially with everything that happened with Lana. It's my turn to be there for you."

This was a little awkward. Clark was pretty sure Oliver would be reticent to go through with this plan. But it was always awkward asking a rich friend to pony up a bunch of money to save the world.

But this was Lex-and his quests of evil had to be stopped. And Oliver would understand that.

He'd called him and set up a time to meet.

Oliver cut his date short with Lois, then he met Clark at the farm.

"Clark, what's going on?"

"We have a problem."

"Would this be a Lex kind of problem?"

"Yes, how'd you know?"

"Lex has been moving money around in his accounts. He's ready for a major acquisition."

"He is. My . . . source says that he's ready to buy about 25% of Timer stock."

"That sounds . . . strange. Why?"

"Apparently he has some sort of mind control technology that he's figured out how to outfit the implants with. He probably figured out a way to harness the power of a metahuman or something." Clark sighed deeply. "He never gives up."

"The good news is, neither do we. I can probably get to it first. I'll probably end up paying an obscene amount of money. But it'll be worth it, just to imagine the look on his face when he finds out." Oliver had a bit of a vindictive streak, it was part of why he was such a good businessman.

"I'd rather just stop him from taking over the world."

"Sounds like a plan, Boyscout."

"Don't call me that."

"Why not? I think it's pretty accurate."

"Says the man who wanders around the city at night in tight green leather and tights."

"They're not tights."

Clark gave him a look.

"They're not."

Yeah, yeah they were.

"Hey, Smallville. What's up?" Lois was in a great mood. Sure, she'd had to end her date with Ollie early, and she had to deal with Chloe. But she was in the mood for some cousin-to-cousin bonding time, and not even seeing Clark in her apartment could ruin that.

"I'm waiting for Chloe. She said I could just let myself in."

"I really need to have a talk to her about that." There was a hint of annoyance in her voice, but she calmed herself.

"Lois, can we just try to get along?"

Lois pretended to consider it. "But it's so much more fun to tease you mercilessly. If I were to stop arguing with you . . . I would lose my favorite form of entertainment." It was strange, because she realized in that moment that she meant it. Arguing with Clark was generally one of her favorite things to do.

She briefly considered what that said about her as a person. Hmm.

She liked a challenge, there was nothing wrong with that. Right?

"How's Chloe feeling?"

A look of surprise crossed her face. "I haven't seen her today. How did you know what happened with Chloe?"

"I am her best friend, Lois. She does tell me these things." He was slightly defensive, because he knew she was digging at him because of how distracted he'd been lately. Or well, longer than lately. Throughout much of their friendship, in fact. He felt really guilty about that.

"I'm warning you, Clark. Be careful right now. The last thing she needs to do is fall back into old habits."

"You mean loving me."

"Yes. I do. You're an important person in her life. She needs to get past that eventually. Because one day, you're going to meet someone and get married, and she's going to do the same. But if she still thinks she's in love with you, it'll never work out. She'll never really open herself up."

"I know that."

"I know you do." Clark wasn't completely awful, in her opinion. He just tended to get wrapped up in his own life. But that happened to everyone, including her. "Just be careful. You're a good friend to her when you're actually trying, Smallville."

"Thank you."

They heard the door open and turned to see Chloe enter. "Well, well. This is a rare sight. Lois and Clark in the same room, and I don't hear arguing. Amazing. Simply amazing."

"Hey Chloe." Lois walked over and gave Chloe a big hug.

"Lois, I kinda can't breathe. You can let go."

"I know." Lois squeezed her one last time and let go. "Anyway, the two of us now have plans for the rest of the night. I brought chocolate, pie, coffee, and ice cream. And very cheesy action flicks."

"Really? Because I kind of wanted to just go to sleep." Chloe hadn't had the best day. After talking with Clark, she'd gone back to the Daily Planet, but she hadn't gotten much work done. So she'd just headed home.

"Absolutely not. Ollie and I canceled our date. I decided I needed to be here for you, and something came up for Ollie at work."

Chloe looked at Clark, lifted an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I should go. Have fun. Chloe? That thing we talked about earlier? Everything should be fine."

Lois looked back and forth between Chloe and Clark.

"Why do I always feel as if I'm missing something?"

"You're not." The two of them said at the same time.

Clark moved toward Chloe, "Remember, if you need anything. I'm here for you."

"I know."

He left, and Chloe and Lois simply stood in silence.

Lois broke it, "So, I know I said cheesy, but what I really meant was that we need a Johnny Depp marathon."

"Sounds perfect."

It sounded like a distraction, actually. But it was nice of Lois to try. And she was always in the mood to ogle Johnny Depp. "Edward Scissorhands?"

"Absolutely."