Petite reminder: Takes place during what would be 3rd season. So pretty much Clark was abducting middle of 2nd season and returned 3rd season. Yeah...
Chapter 25:
Chloe drove down the lonesome Kansas road. Somehow every time she made the tedious trip she felt the abandoned fields were mocking her, knowing that even they have forgotten what she could not. A year ago, almost to the day, her dearest friend had disappeared off the face of the earth without so much as a fingerprint left behind. At first everyone was eager to help find the ever selfless Clark Kent, but as the weeks slowly dwindled by, each hour coming up with nothing, people gradually began to lose hope and tried to move on with their lives. The problem was they couldn't. Unable to face her true feelings, Lana moved to Paris for an Art History program she read about. No longer having the motivation to stay, Lex Luthor barely even visited Smallville anymore. Even Pete lost himself in school work and his newfound hobby - drag racing, as he tried to forget the disappearance of his best friend and the invisible guilt that lingered with it.
For the last three months, Chloe was the lone warrior on her mission to find the young hero, except for the Kents of course. Yet she could tell, like everybody else, their hope was hanging by a thread, ready to snap at any second. For a while, Chloe had been preparing for them to give up, especially with the one-year anniversary fast approaching. Of course she couldn't blame them if and when they did. Every time she visited their house with a new collection of information, she could see the pained look on their face. The look of utter despair and failure, knowing that they did not have the power to save their son from the inevitable.
Chloe was surprised how they hid Clark's secret from everyone for so long. She, herself, didn't know until three months ago. It was the day Pete finally called it quits. Chloe had already been nearing her breaking point. For the past couple months, she knew there was something more behind the story that the Kents weren't telling her, and whatever it was Pete knew it too.
Chloe had been pressuring Pete to let go of the secret, convincing him that all she wanted to do was help. He was about to snap, she could tell. Yet, instead of telling her what she was dying to know, he stood up angrily and stormed out of the room. She could tell he couldn't take the stress anymore. Deciding to give him a break, she headed towards the farm house. But as she drove, her frustration continued to build. What was so important that she, the self-appointed leader of the 'find Clark group', couldn't know? She remembered the rest of the day like it was yesterday...
By the time she reached the farmhouse, Chloe's frustration about Pete's hidden secrets had already boiled over into anger. Mascara running down her face, she slammed the door open. The girl was instantly greeted by a startled Martha Kent. Tossing her small box of gathered information on the floor, the young reporter exclaimed, "All this stuff is useless, isn't it!"
Her mother's instincts kicking in, Martha rushed over to Chloe's side. "Oh, honey what's the matter?" she asked, her arms outstretched.
Chloe instantly brushed off the woman's arms and took a couple steps backwards. No matter how comforting the woman was, she was still in the cruel secret gang that refused Chloe entrance. "I want to know!" she shouted in between her tears. "I want to know Clark's secret. I want know what everyone is hiding from me, including Pete!" Seeing the hurt look on Martha's face, Chloe paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "Please, stop insulting my intelligence," she begged as she brushed a stray stand of hair out of her face. "I knew Clark was hiding something even before his disappearance. And I know his secret is tied to his disappearance. Please, I want to know." She looked down at the hundreds of papers she collected over the months now scattered on the kitchen floor. "I deserve to know."
Martha placed a gentle hand on Chloe's shoulder. "We aren't-"
Utterly exhausted, Chloe turned towards Martha. "What good is it hiding it now? You can't protect him anymore," she interrupted, her voice eerily calm.
The next two hours were filled with more revelations than Chloe could ever dream of. At first she thought it was some type of sick joke. Her best friend...an alien? But the more Mr. and Mrs. Kent explain the more everything seemed to fall together. The lies, the secrets, the way he would constantly disappear in the blink of an eye. It all tied together. For so long, she was craving to know the secret behind the mysterious green eyes, yet now it was too late. She couldn't save him. She knew she couldn't. But part of her knew she had to try.
Later that evening, she threw away her old 'missing child' research and trying to find 'alien found' news articles on the web. On her bedroom nightstand, her cell phone began to ring her favorite tune. She quickly rushed towards it and smiled as Pete's name appeared on the screen. "Hey there, I'm really sor-" she started, but was quickly interrupted by Pete's distraught voice.
"Chloe, I'm not angry. I just...I can't take it anymore," Pete explained, his voice breaking a bit more with every word. "The stress...the guilt. It's just too much. I'm sorry. I just want to forget and try to move on with my life."
"Pete! Listen to me!" she shouted her voice brimming with excitement. "I know now too! The Kents told me. You don't have to quit. We can work on this together. I'm sorry but I didn't understand before, now I do."
"No! You don't understand, Chlo! I knew! I've known for over a year now! I could have done something! I should have checked up on him more..." There was a long pause on the line. "I should've done...something," he muttered, his frustration and evident.
Chloe whispered, "Pete." She could hit herself for never noticing how his guilt was quietly tearing her poor friend apart. "It's not your fault. There's nothing you could've-"
"I don't want to hear it!" Pete instantly exclaimed. "I'm tired of hearing it...from the Kents and now from you. I even tell it to myself. But the moment I think of Clark...in some type of lab..." He paused again to choke back a sob. "He's probably dead now," he stated, his tears evident even through the phone. "I just...I can't...not any more..." he muttered incoherently through his tears.
Speechless, Chloe clung to the phone with both hands. "I...I understand," she managed to whisper, ignoring her own silent tears.
"Thanks Chlo," Pete answered before hanging up.
Three months later, Chloe was still determined as ever. She supposed she always would be; it was the reporter instinct in her. She could barely let go of a story, let alone a dear friend. She glanced in the review mirror at her box overflowing with information. Soon she would have to find a bigger box. Sighing, she turned her attention back towards the road, slowly making her way to the Kent farm.
Eyeing the old, wooden sign, she turned onto the driveway, preparing herself another long day of searching and exploring to find the answer...even a hint would be a nice change. As she shifted her Volkswagen beetle into park, she glanced out the window to see one sight she thought she would never see again. Clark Kent.
To Be Continued...
oOo
Chapter 26:
It had been a week since Clark's miraculous recovery. Everyday since had it's ups and downs, yet just the look of recognition on Clark's face when he looked at his parents was reward enough for the Kents. It had been a relatively uneventful day as Clark bailed what seemed like a never ending stack of hay in the front yard by the barn entrance.
Without warning he heard an ear-piercing scream behind him. " Clark!" Even though all of his instincts were tell him to use his super-speed, for some reason his mind screamed otherwise. It was a common and familiar battle between his mind and his heart. He felt using his powers exposed himself to the world, therefore making him different. And he wasn't human when he was different. He was just a thing, with no thought or emotion. So, against his better judgment, he slowly glanced behind him. He barely had a chance to look before a body collided against him wrapping their arms around his neck. "Oh my God, Clark!" another broken cry tore through the air.
He was here...in her arms. Chloe could barely believe it. It had been so long. She prayed that the moment would come when she could feel his warmth again, and now that he was here she never wanted the moment to end. She never felt the tears of joy slide down her checks, or how the boy's muscles tensed beneath her arms. None of it mattered to her. All that mattered was that second. That one second where everything fell back into place.
Yet, that second never happened. Without warning, Chloe felt strong arms push against her...hard. Stumbling backwards over her own feet, the only thing that kept her upright was her inner grace. As quickly as the pieces were placed back together, it shattered, leaving her alone and confused. "C-Clark?" she whispered, blinking the once tears joy out of her eyes.
Clark quickly wrapped his arms around himself, as he took a couple steps backwards. They were here. They found him. He didn't know how, but they did. He supposed they would. It was too good to be true. Now, they were trying to take him back, force him into a van as they did so many months ago. He needed to fun. But where? They would always find him. He wasn't meant to live amongst humans. He knew. He always did, even before they found him. They just helped him figure it out. Now they came back to help him find out more things about himself. But he didn't want their help. Can't they just leave him alone?
Chloe watched in horror as Clark continued to walk backwards while slowly shaking his head. His long, wavy hair felt down over his eyes, masking the fear that lay behind them. Her voice caught in her throat, she could only stare as the boy backed up against the barn. Transfixed by his broken appearance and incoherent mutterings, she slowly lifted up a hand before springing into action. She quickly ran to Clark's side, naively wondering what had disturbed her friend so much. In the deepest depths of her mind she knew it was what happened to him over the past year, yet her heart couldn't accept it yet.
Finally reaching his side, she placed a shaky hand on his arm, only to have him flinch away. But, unnerved, the girl persisted. " Clark?" she asked as she finally made stable contact with his arm. " Clark, please, look at me." Her voice shook with sadness and doubt, yet she words remained as confident as her touch. Chloe watched silently as the boy's trembling decreased. Never faltering, she placed her hand on his cheek, and guided him towards her face. Seeing his nervous green eyes, she asked once again, " Clark?" her own eyes wide with hope. Then she smiled.
That smile. He'd seen it before. Clark tilted his head slightly, looking at the girl's face for one long moment. It was the same smile that greeted him every morning when he boarded the bus. It was the same smile that shined with satisfaction after cracking that week's mystery. It was the smile he knew. The smile he loved. "Chloe?" the boy asked his voice barely above a whisper.
The smile still plastered to her face, Chloe swallowed barely able to contain her joy. It took everything in her power to not through her arms around him once again. She merely nodded, her own eyes filled with delight. What happened next was the last thing she expected. Warm arms wrapped around her and the words, "Chloe, oh, Chloe," were whispered repeatedly in her ear. Not depriving her own arms any longer, she hugged back, welcoming the warmth back into her life.
Chloe didn't know how long they stayed like that, the sound of each other's breaths mending their broken hearts. Realizing her muscles were becoming stiff, she slowly pulled away, her eyes never leaving his face. She swore she could look at that face for the rest of her life. Her eyes clear from the tears, she noticed the long, thin scar running down Clark's left cheek. Her face crumpled at the sight of it. It somehow represented all the cruelty Clark must have endured over the past year. All naive fantasies that maybe Clark left on his own or was treated like a guest instead of a mouse rat vanished at the sight of the mark that branded his beautiful face. "Oh, Clark..." she muttered as she reached across.
Seeing the ever familiar look of sympathy on the girl's face, Clark instantly looked away and side-stepped the approaching hand. He nervously rubbed his left arm as he hanged his head. "I-I...um..." he stuttered, swallowing afterwards.
Noticing Clark's unease, Chloe quickly retracted her hand and asked, "Why don't we go to the barn...talk in the loft?" The topic seems platonic and simple enough. She could tell Clark was on edge, ready to fall apart at her feet.
Clark glanced up at her for a second. "The loft?" he asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.
Thrown off by Clark's question, Chloe looked at him skeptically for a second. "Yeah. You know. Your 'fortress of solitude'," she answered, mimicking a low, serious voice at the end. Chloe became increasingly worried as Clark continued to stare at her with the same blank expression. "You did your homework up there. The place with the telescope...so you could look at the stars," the girl urged, her words coming a bit faster every second.
"Oh! That place!" Clark exclaimed, the memory snapping into place. Nodding he continued, "Yeah I remember...the loft." He hated it when that happened. For some reason he would catch himself lost within his own mind, trying to pinpoint what people were talking about. It was as if his memories were no longer emotionally attached to him, just scenes played in a movie he saw. It seemed to be happening less frequently. But each time, when he looked at his parents' concerned faces, he became more and more frustrated.
Yet, this time it involved Chloe. No doubt she would realize something is wrong with him. Something was missing. He was now a broken toy that couldn't be fixed. He prayed she wouldn't notice. But the moment he looked at her worried face, he knew she must have caught it. He knew what must be going through her mind right now, since it was going through his own. He was no longer the Clark she loved and missed. He was just a shadow of what he once was: the perfect boy that no one could forget. He was his own replacement. And no one can ever love the replacement as much as the original. A call from the house snapped Clark out of his thoughts.
" Clark! You still out there?" He turned towards the house the second his mother stepped onto the porch. " Clark! What's ke-...Chloe! What are you doing here?" Martha asked, shocked, as she ran towards her son. She knew Chloe would never hurt Clark. Yet, Clark was still emotionally fragile, and they never knew what could set him off.
"I was just stopping by to-" Chloe stopped mid-sentence, for some reason scared to reveal that she came by to research Clark's disappearance in front of Clark. She couldn't exactly place why she was so cautious, she supposed it had something to do with the fact that know she knew Clark's secret, and she wasn't sure how much his parents have told him yet.
Seeing the look of discomfort on Chloe's face, Martha instantly changed topics. "Well, I just finished dinner if you would like to come inside and eat with us."
Chloe turned to her friend and answered, "It's up to Clark," slightly smiling afterwards.
There was a moment of silence before Clark realized they were both looking at him. Snapping out of his thoughts, Clark hastily answered, "Huh? Oh, yeah. Of course you can come. I mean...if you want to."
Her smile only growing, Chloe responded, "Well, I guess it's settled then."
To Be Continued...