Chapter Four: End of Witness Part Two
Chloe takes a deep breath before re-entering the Torch. The destruction is both worse and better then she had thought. She quickly begins picking up and piling the bigger pieces in the middle of the room until they were all out of the way. 'Now for the smaller things.' Chloe kneels down and begins gathering papers from the floor.
"Miss Sullivan."
Chloe stands up and turns around, seeing Lionel standing in the center of the office. "Mr. Luthor!" 'What is he doing here?'
"Your principal told me you might be here. I hope I'm not interrupting you."
Chloe eyes him carefully 'Ok Chloe pretend to be nervous but keep your attitude.' "No. No, I mean I'm-I've never entertained a billionaire before."
Lionel chuckles and looks around at the damage.
"Um, you'll have to excuse the destruction. I was recently vandalized."
"Ahh, so I heard. By the same men who hijacked my truck, I think." Lionel pretends to sympathetic as he takes in the damage.
"Actually, there's still a question." Lionel turns back to Chloe, interested. 'Of course he's interested. He wants to know what I found out.' "Eric Marsh owned up to the robbery of the truck and the assault, but he said he didn't have anything to do with the Torch."
"Hmm." Lionel nods his head as he keeps looking around the room.
"I mean, why confess to the heavy crimes and deny that?" Chloe says talking with her hands. 'Yeah why didn't you cover that angle Lionel?'
"Well, it's not easy to understand the criminal mind." Lionel beings walking around the room and notices the remnants of the Wall of Weird so he walks over to it. "What's this?" Lionel reaches out and touches an article titled "Local Teen Discovers Indian Caves", with a picture of Clark alongside it. "Hmm... this is an interesting display."
"Yeah, I call it The Wall of Weird."
Lionel chuckles. "I'll come to the point, Miss Sullivan. I'd like to help you rebuild. I've instructed the LuthorCorp Foundation to make a donation to your school-the funds are specifically earmarked toward rebuilding and updating the journalism department."
Chloe looks at Lionel, her expression a mix of joy and confusion. 'I don't get it. He destroyed my office just so he can rebuild it and get me in his debt. What exactly does he want from me?' Shaking her head slightly she says. "Mr. Luthor, I'm confused."
Lionel looks at her curiously. 'I can't wait to get her completely alone. She is such a fine specimen of female. Smart, strong, sexy and best of all an innocent.' Chloe struggles to keep from gagging as Lionel's thoughts fill her mind. 'Ugh, gross. What a disgusting old man. Ok keep it calm Chloe. You're out of here in a few weeks so just play it up. He hasn't asked for anything and I won't be here anyway.' "I mean, the struggling editor in me wants to just leave it at 'Thank You' but... the journalist in me has to ask 'Why?'"
Lionel smiles at Chloe in a slightly creepy way. "I'm impressed with your, um, willingness to explore alternative ideas, options. You interned at the Daily Planet this summer, didn't you?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm. Well, I have a little influence there. They certainly could use some new blood. Maybe, um, a column..."
Chloe's eyes widen and she looks at Lionel, interested. 'Wow, that would be a really great opportunity but at what cost? He is really trying to get me under his thumb. Or under him. Ewww gross!"
"To introduce your unique point of view."
A mix of emotions appear on Chloe's face. "I... I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but... I don't understand why the most powerful man in the city is interested in helping *me*."
Lionel walks closer to her, eyeing her with a hint of lust in his eyes as he speaks. "We're after the same thing, Miss Sullivan-the truth. You know, um, journalists are the midwives of history. Perhaps, with my help, we could, uh..." Lionel hands a card to her making sure to move even closer. "...make history together."
Chloe takes the card and studies it curiously. Lionel turns to go, and Chloe watches him as he starts to leave. As he reaches the door, Lionel looks back, and Chloe nods slightly. Chuckling, Lionel exits the Torch office. Chloe looks at the card again, then at the door, wondering what she's gotten herself into.
Chloe was in a kind of daze as she walked through the halls to her last class of the day. She couldn't stop thinking about Lionel Luthor and the Torch. 'Those disgusting thoughts that he had running through his head as he looked at me…Ugh I wish I could bleach my brain. But he was going to fix the Torch. That didn't make him any better in my eyes. He did try to basically buy me back there. However being able to leave the Torch in a good condition, not completely trashed like it was, does make me feel better. And since he was the one to order it destroyed he should pay to fix it right?'
Lana walked up to Chloe jerking her from her thoughts. "Are you coming to the movie Sunday?"
"Movie?" Chloe asked as they continue on towards the class.
"Yeah, you know the old House on Haunted Hill? We were all gonna go together but I wasn't sure since you and Clark aren't really talking right now. Have you talked to him?"
"No I haven't talk to him and I don't really plan to either. But I will be there for the Fright Fest. Can't beat a classic horror film in an old theater right?" Chloe says clearly trying to end the conversation.
"But you two have been best friends for years. Are you really gonna just throw it away and give up?"
Not knowing that Clark and Pete are right behind them Chloe snaps at Lana. "Well I'm not the one throwing it away. And we couldn't have been the best of friends if he's always dropping me, or accusing me, or outright blaming me for things that aren't my fault. Whenever he's needed me to be there for him, I always was. I can't say the same for him. Whenever he needed research done he went to me and basically had me do it for him. But when I did research on things on my own he either implied I was crazy or accused me of prying. And maybe it's not fair but whenever he promises to do something important for me you just happen along with something menial, just a passing request and he drops me and any promise he made. At times he makes me feel like I'm nothing, like a pest who has somehow gotten in the way of being with you, like I'm not worthy, like no one should or could trust me. Do friends really treat you like that Lana? Best friends?" By now Chloe was crying. She turned around and without seeing Clark or Pete runs out of the school gets in her car and drives home.
Clark is dumbfounded; he turns to look at Pete. "I can't believe she thinks that! I don't act like that! I do not treat her that way!"
"Actually Clark you do." Pete says with a sigh.
"But…" Clark begins.
"Clark if you really looked back at the past few months you would realize that it is true. It started after she got back from Metropolis. Slowly and small at first but it's been getting a lot worse since then. I remember her saying only once or twice a month that you forgot to do something with her when you were actually helping me back at the beginning of school but now. It's to the point she hardly asks for favors from you anymore and 4 out of those 5 times she does you forget." Lana points out before heading into class. "I better go explain Chloe's absence and get notes for her. Bye Clark."
"Pete I couldn't have been acting like this for so long. You or Chloe would have told me." Clark says. Pete doesn't reply he just pulls Clark into the nearby Janitor's closet.
"Clark, man…Look it's like Lana said at first it wasn't much. Occasionally you'd be a real jerk to Chloe or completely blow her off but then you would act like it didn't happen and things went back to normal. And when it started to get more frequent Chloe did try to tell you but you'd just accuse her of being jealous. You've been kinda harsh towards Chloe when she's in reporter mode. Like that research assignment, we were given less than a week to finish that project and you blew her off the first two days. Then when she went to your parents and asked questions you freaked because she's pretty thorough. If you hadn't been from another planet would you have freaked so much when she found out the information? I seriously doubt it, since I remember you saying that you wanted to know the parents that gave you up for adoption. You would have thanked her. But then right after that you used her skills to dig into something that Lex wanted you to keep out of. And that barn thing she did an article on. You were really harsh on her about it but that's the only reason you found out where you came from. And you blamed the whole Rachel Dunleavy situation on her and have yet to really apologize. You haven't even thanked her for letting Lana move in with her, which she only did for you, since you like Lana so much." Pete sighs and runs a hand over his face. "You've been walking all over Chloe a lot lately and I'm actually proud that she hasn't let you off the hook yet for the article. If that had been a paper for a teacher it would have been in on time and you know it, but instead you used Lana as an excuse and then accused her of being jealous. You've got to stop treating Chloe like this. She's not the enemy, she's not a research tool, and she's not your back up plan. If you don't check yourself soon you're going to lose the best friend anyone could ever have."
Clark was in a daze all through the last class of the day, thinking about Chloe and the past few months. They were right. He had been treating Chloe really crappy. As soon as school was out he rushed over to Chloe's house. But once he got there he didn't know what to say so he began pacing on her porch.
"Clark? Why are you wearing a rut into my front porch?" Chloe asks from the doorway.
"Um Chloe…hi. Well you see…the thing is I umm…kinda overheard your conversation with Lana. At first I thought you were…I don't know overreacting but Lana and Pete both pointed out that you weren't. And when I look back at the past few months I kinda realized that you are all right. I've been a jerk and I'm sorry." Clark bumbled through his speech and when he finished he looked at Chloe expectantly. She looked a little stunned but didn't say anything for a few minutes. "Aren't you going to say something?"
"What do you expect me to say Clark? Am I supposed to just accept your apology and move on? To just thank you for finally realizing that you've been treating me like crap for the past few months? One little apology isn't going to fix this friendship Clark!" Chloe snapped.
"I know….I know it's not. I've been monumentally stupid and I don't know where to start in trying to make it up to you Chloe. I am so sorry for treating you like I have. I know that fixing our friendship won't be easy but I'm hoping that it can still be fixed."
"I don't know if it can, Clark. And after everything I don't know if I want to. The way you've treated me has hurt a lot. I've been letting things slide, pretending they were ok when they weren't. I won't do that anymore. If you want this friendship back then we're gonna have to fix the things I let slide. We're gonna have to dig up things you thought were taken care of."
"Ok, I'm willing to do anything Chloe. Just please let's try. Please give me another chance." Clark begged.
Chloe was torn. 'Should I really give him another chance? Is it even worth it when I'm leaving in a little over 3 weeks?'
'Yes it's worth it.'
'Jacob? I didn't realize you were listening. But do you really think I should? I mean you've been kinda anti-Clark for a while now.'
'Yes but that's because he's been a jerk for a while now. Look I know that he's been a jerk but he used to be a really good friend to you. Someone important to you and like you said you're leaving in 3 weeks. Wouldn't you rather leave with Clark as your friend then as an ex-friend?'
'You're right. Thanks Jacob.'
'Very welcome cuz.'
"Alright Clark we can give it a try. We might as well start now so you should probably come in and call your parents this might take a while." Chloe said holding the door open for Clark. Clark hesitantly smiled at Chloe as he walked through the door. "I'm serious you should call your parents this first conversation could take hours."
Clark chuckled. "I'll go call them then. Thanks Chloe, for giving me a chance."
Clark called his parents while Chloe waited for him on the couch. When he finally joined her on the couch Chloe was fidgeting horribly. "Ok Chlo, dad says I've got til about 5:30 then I have to get home." He laid his hands on hers to get her to calm down. "I think we should start with the dance. The more I thought about it during the summer I just knew that something was wrong even though you said it wasn't."
"You're right it wasn't. I told you that I was scared to death you would leave me there for Lana and after you promised you wouldn't you did. But then I couldn't be mad at you since you somehow saved Lana and your dad was missing. And when I tried to find out how you felt about me you said it'd be best if we stayed friends. I guess the way I tried to find it out wasn't the best but I was so afraid you were trying to tell me that we should just be friends so I said it first."
"I'm sorry Chloe, I never should have left you at the dance. I promised I wouldn't but I knew Lana was in danger. I wasn't leaving you to be with her, I was leaving you in a safe place to get Lana out of the dangerous place. And I did want to have a relationship with you but then you said you wanted to just stay friends. I was going to try again over the summer and once you got back but I barely ever heard from you and when you got back you were talking about some other guy."
"So I guess we were both at fault for that. But when you went back to fawning over Lana again so quickly it made me feel…used. And you kept doing this thing where you'd give me attention like you wanted to try again but stop short and go right back to Lana. I still liked you a lot Clark, heck I do still but I decided after…well I decided a few weeks ago to move on."
"After what Chloe?" Clark asked grabbing her hand.
"I wrote you a letter and when you were sick I read it to you but at the end you called out Lana's name. God that hurt Clark."
"So that's why you acted so weird at the dance. I was going to ask you to dance but you kinda ran away." Clark paused for a minute. "I see now why everyone says I treated you like a back-up plan and I guess I did but it wasn't intentional. I really do like you Chloe I just…"
"Really like Lana too."
"Yeah…she's been my dream girl since I was 8 and…I'm sorry. I'm saying that a lot today but I really do mean it. And if it's any consolation, I probably only said Lana's name because she was the last person I was talking to before I collapsed from the fever."
"It makes me feel a little better, but I'm done trying to make any kind of relationship happen between us other then friendship. And as far as the whole you and Lana thing goes…honestly it stills kinda hurts when I think about it. But it hurt more that you would promise me something or offer to do something for me and then not because she casually asked for help doing something like cleaning up or moving a box or just watching her ride. Whenever I called you on it you acted like I shouldn't be upset. And more than once you threw in the 'you're making it about Lana' comment."
"You're right. I let you down and both Pete and Lana pointed out that I did it a lot. That article on the debate team should have been turned into you before I even left school that day and I blew it off. I forgot all about it and then treated you like it shouldn't have been such a big deal and it was. The paper should be treated just as important as a class. And it should be treated as important because it means a lot to you. I'm sorry I've been treating you so poorly and I'm sorry the Torch got destroyed."
"Thanks Clark, but don't think this means you're back on as a writer just yet. You've got to prove you want a spot there." Chloe laughed slightly. "Oh I haven't told anyone yet, well cause it happened just before I rushed out of school, but Lionel Luthor came by and told me he was donating to the school to get the Torch fixed and upgraded."
"That's great Chloe." Clark said with a huge smile on his face.
"Yeah it'll be good to have the Torch whole again. It feels like someone cut off my arm with it so destroyed." Chloe says with a smile before adding under her breath. "I just wonder what Mr. Luthor is going to want in return."
"Ummm well I should get back home. Dad'll need some help with the chores." Clark said standing up.
"Ok, I'm glad you came over Clark. We've still got a lot to talk about but it's good that we're on the road to rebuilding this friendship." Chloe says walking him to the door. "I'll see you Sunday for the Fright Fest. Goodnight Clark."
"Night Chloe." Clark leaned in and gave her a hug smiling as he left.
Closing the door Chloe sighed. 'I'm letting him off to easy aren't I?'
'No, you aren't. If you were letting him off easy you would have just forgiven him without confronting him at all, stayed there and continued to let him walk all over you.' Jacob smiled, his happiness passing through their link to warm Chloe. 'I'm proud of you Chloe, and I'm really happy that you're coming to live with us. And if after next school year is up you want to move back to Smallville for Senior year I'll move back with you.'
'That's sweet Jacob.' Chloe smiles as she walks to the hall closet. Opening the door she grabs a few empty storage boxes and carries them up to her room. 'So my Dad said he talked to yours and we're just going to remodel the twins' room for me and leave my stuff here. I'll be bringing a few boxes with me and some clothes but I convinced Dad that I should get a new wardrobe too. So I'll leave here Sunday morning after finals and I should get there by Tuesday since I'm taking my car. So in 25 days I'll be there to help you bug your Dad.'
'That sounds awesome. When are you going to tell everyone you're leaving?'
'Probably not until after finals are finished. So the day before I leave. I do plan on getting the info about Lex's dad and fiancé before then though. I'm going to use my new abilities and get the evidence I need.' Chloe places the boxes down by her bed and lays down on it.
'How are you going to do that?'
'Well I'm sure that Lionel Luthor is the type of man to keep proof of something like this to use as blackmail at a later date and with a few handy gadgets I bought and my speed I can get audio and video of some of their meetings.' Laying on her bed she begins to feel the weight of the past few days pressing on her. 'I don't know why but suddenly I'm exhausted. I'll talk to you tomorrow cuz, after I call Lois to tell her I'm moving in with you. Night.'
'Night Chloe'
The next day Chloe didn't wake up until nearly noon and only because her phone was ringing off the hook. "Ugh, stop calling it's too freaking early!" When the phone didn't stop ringing Chloe flung herself from the bed and stomped over to her phone to answer it. "WHAT?"
"Oh thank god you answered finally." Lana's voice greeted Chloe. "You've got to come quick. There's something going on at the Torch and you HAVE to see this."
"What? The Torch! What's going on? Why are you there? What else could possibly have happened to it?" Chloe was freaking out as she dressed as fast as she could (which was like 2 seconds thanks to the new speed), and was out the door in her car before the last word.
"Just get over here and I'll explain everything." Lana says before hanging up the phone.
Chloe speeds the entire way to the school, her mind filled with thoughts of what could have been done to the Torch. She barely has the car in park before she's out of it and running up the stairs into the school. Chloe was racing through the halls skidding around corners until she had reached the Torch office. Chloe stood in the doorway completely shocked by what she saw.
"What…how…when did this happen?"
"Well, Clark, Pete, and I were talking with Lex and we decided to come in and fix it up." Lana said as she guided Chloe in.
"And Lex being Lex brought in a bunch of workers to get the major repairs done." Clark added as he rocked on his heels.
"We came in this morning to add a little Chloeness to it." Pete said happily pointing out the bright colors.
"I hope you don't mind. I know my father was going to donate the money to get it fixed up but I thought it should have a more personal touch. Something designed and rebuilt by your friends." Lex added.
"Oh my god guys, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!" Chloe exclaims as she gives everyone a huge hug. "Thank you guys so much. I mean this is just so…so…wow. You are ALL great friends for doing this."
"You're welcome Chloe. We all know how much the Torch means to you and we just wanted to help." Lex says giving her a hug back.
"Yeah, it just wouldn't be right without the Torch and our favorite editor." Pete says laughingly.
"So umm…did we do ok? I mean is everything how you'd like it?" Lana asked.
"Everything is perfect."
Chloe was on cloud nine. The Torch was in pristine condition and she wasn't in debt to Lionel Luthor for it.
'I'm feeling some major waves of happiness. What happened?'
'Pete, Clark, Lana and Lex fixed up the Torch for me. It was beautiful. I mean you couldn't tell that just two days ago it had been completely destroyed. And they really captured me in the space. I was so tempted to tell them right then that I was moving but I just couldn't burst their bubble. But oh my god Jacob it was it was perfect.'
'So you're not going to tell them until the day before you leave? And you're still coming? I was so worried for a second that you weren't going to come now that the Torch is restored.'
'Of course I'm still coming Jacob. Smallville isn't the place for me anymore. And yes I'm not telling them until the day before I leave. First off I don't want our last weeks or days together to be full of gloominess. Second I'm leaving right after finals don't want them failing cause of me. And third that's Lex's wedding weekend.'
'So you're fine with possibly ruining Lex's wedding?'
'Jacob I'm trying to prove his fiancé is a gold digging whore who's sleeping with his dad. Of course I'm fine with possibly ruining his wedding. Speaking of that I've got to go. Helen is out of town and conveniently so is Luthor Sr. I've locked down her location so I'm gonna go spy on them and hopefully get some good evidence.'
'Good luck with that.' Jacob says sarcastically. 'You do realize you're talking about videoing them having sex right. That's just gross.'
'Yeah I know, ugh I've got shivers just thinking about it but Lex is so…skeptical. Ok off to do the groddie spying, I'll talk to you later.'
AN: So I kinda let Clark off easy. I kinda wanted to blast him but I lost that mindset when writing. I just thought that Chloe would want to leave with things resolved or settled. So Read and review. blast me if you want tell me what you think honestly good or bad