Magnetism

Chapter 9

Chloe pressed a cool compress to Clark's forehead, trying desperately to bring down his raging fever as his eyes rolled around in their sockets behind closed lids, his lips murmuring words in a foreign tongue. He had fallen unconscious as soon as he had defeated the Zoner and had not awoken since. She and Lois had managed to man handle him from the caves, into his truck and bring him back to their house where they wrestled his large, heavy, deadweight form onto the sofa. Once they had him secured on the sofa, Lois had disappeared outside, leaving Chloe with the usually enviable task - if not for the current circumstances - of stripping Clark Kent down to his underwear. Ten struggled minutes later the job was done and she threw a light blanket over him.

She and Lois had never left the caves during the whole confrontation between Clark and Pag Or. They had ducked for cover as soon as Lois was conscious again and watched from the shadows as Clark had abruptly surged to his feet and set upon the Zoner, a glowing 'S' shaped symbol appearing on his chest as he did so. Chloe had stared unblinkingly at him and had only just noticed her cousin stiffen in shock beside her; she had begun to ask what was wrong, but the fight between Clark and the Zoner was over so quickly that she didn't have chance, and the next thing they knew they were dragging his unconscious form out into the fresh air.

Clark finally settled, his murmurs fading as he fell into a deep slumber and Chloe sighed with relief as she checked his temperature again; it was still too high but he was out of the woods. Cooling the cloth again and draping it across his brow, Chloe stood and headed outside in search of her cousin. She found her sitting underneath the oak tree in the front garden, her arms draped over bent knees and her gaze fixed contemplatively on Clark's bright red truck.

"I think he's going to be alright." Chloe sat down next to her cousin.

"Oh good..."

"Are you going to be alright?"

"Huh?" Her gaze was still fixed on the truck, her absent answer a signpost to the fact that she wasn't really listening.

"Still taking it all in, huh?"

Lois finally turned to her, "What?"

"All the stuff about Clark, you know, the Krypton factor and all that."

"Uh, yeah, I guess." Lois went back to staring at the truck, thankful that Chloe had an erroneous reason to satisfy her curiosity for now. She didn't think Chloe could handle what she was really thinking without running back into the house to play matchmaker. What was actually playing on her mind was the frighteningly familiar symbol that had appeared on Clark's chest as he fought the Zoner. She had been plagued by the same recurring dream for months now, the guy in the red cape who would appear and turn her insides to mush as he took her in his arms and did things to her that she would be lucky to experience in real life. His face had always been vague and indistinct, but she knew he had dark hair and full lips, and the symbol on his chest was identical to the one that had blazoned itself across Clark's chest in the caves. Shutting her eyes and leaning her head back against the tree, she superimposed Clark's face onto her mystery man's body and felt her heart freeze in her chest as her fears were confirmed: it fit.

It was him.

Of all the...

Her dream lover was Clark-I-have-so-much-plaid-it-burns-my-eyes Kent. Her flying, super-powered, red-caped, knee-shakingly gorgeous dream lover was Clark Kent.

But what did that mean? Were her dreams merely playing on the increasingly sexual tension that had been steadily building between them, or were they giving her a sign? She opened her eyes and looked at the truck again, debating what the hell it all meant. She wasn't a great believer in destiny, but thinking back to Clark's reaction to her interpretation of the cave paintings when he was Kal El, she realised with a jolt that she may not have a choice. Anger boiled through her at the realisation, some dead alien race did not have the right to tell her who she could and could not love, who she should be with. So what if she was beginning to develop some hard-core feelings for their last son? She'd just have to fight them.

Lois Lane did NOT follow orders.

.&.

"Lois...?"

"No, Clark, it's me." Chloe breathed a sigh of relief as Clark finally woke up, the quiet murmur of her cousin's name music to her ears, "How do you feel?"

Clark groaned and slowly opened his eyes, squinting as even the dim light made them sting, "Ugh... Like a tanker full of kryptonite ran over me, backed up and parked on my head." He struggled into a somewhat seated position with a little support from Chloe, "What happened?"

"You kicked some major ass!" Chloe slapped a hand over her mouth as he winced from the volume of her voice, "Sorry. We were talking, you ran off to rescue Lois, and-"

"Oh my God, Lois!" He bolted upright as if to jump off the sofa, but immediately clutched weakly at his head with a moan and lay back down again, "Oh dear God, that hurt... Is she alright?"

Chloe smiled and placed her hand over his, "She's fine, she was pretty battered by the time I got to the caves, but a friend of yours lent a hand."

Clark frowned, "A friend?"

"Your mother."

Clark's eyes shot wide open as his mouth flapped uselessly. "M-my mother? How?"

"You tell me. I guess she must have sensed through me that your 'Destined' was in danger and helped us while Jor El helped you."

Clark frowned as his memory slowly returned, he hadn't even seen Chloe at the cave, "Wait, how did you know he helped me?"

Chloe grimaced, "Clark, you were down and the zoner was beating seven shades of crap out of you, there was no way you could have done what you did without a little help from Jor El." She smirked, "Besides, the Team El logo shining from the middle of your chest was a bit of a give away.."

Clark smiled weakly and took a deep breath, bracing himself for the next exchange, "How did Lois take it all?"

"I hate to say this, but I don't really know. She's been really subdued ever since we got back; she says she's still taking it all in, but I know damn well there's something else that she's not telling me."

He struggled to hold it back as he tried to reply but a mighty yawn stretched his face and Chloe smiled softly, "Clark, you're exhausted, get some sleep, I'll come check on you in a bit."

"But Lois-"

"Will come to you when she's ready. She does everything on her own terms, Clark, she won't be told when to do something."

"I know," a small smile graced his tired face as his eyelids drifted shut, "That's why I," he yawned again and snuggled down into the sofa, "why I..." He was so tired he couldn't even finish the earth shattering sentence before sleep claimed him.

Chloe gazed down at his slumbering form with a surprised smile, she hadn't expected this turn of events at all; he had revealed his attraction to her fiery cousin while he was Kal El, but she had had no idea that it ran this deep. Lara had whispered into her mind that her son and Chloe's kin were destined to be together, that their polar opposites made them the perfect balance of yin and yang. Chloe had doubted the alien intelligence, but as the words mumbled forth from the horse's mouth itself she found herself wondering what the hell Lois-I'm-so-independant-don't-you-dare-try-to-tell-me-anything-Lane would be making of it all, if in fact she knew. Thinking back on Lois' preoccupied countenance in the back yard, Chloe realised that yes she did know; and not only did she know, she reciprocated Clark's feelings, and she was doing her damndest to fight them.