A/N: Disclaimer- I do not own Smallville, its characters, or the main plot.

In case anyone is wondering, this chapter takes place during Pandora. I really hope you like it!

Chapter Seven: Trust

Chloe was furious with Clark Kent. It seemed to be a habit lately- all he did these days was speed to the Watchtower, get whatever information he needed, lecture her, and speed out.

She didn't mind it at first- Clark was just embracing his Kryptonian heritage, and it led to him finally being serious about his role as a hero. She was almost proud of him for accepting his destiny, and was honored to help however she could.

And then, she realized that he no longer confided in her with his worries. Clark, who used to spent hours moping around the Barn because Lana didn't like him. Clark, who constantly asked her for relationship advice because he was afraid Lana couldn't handle his secret. Clark, who was genuinely concerned about his destiny, and freaked out every time he was given a new power. She had been there for all of the silly things, but now when things were getting rough, he accused her of kidnapping her own cousin. Lois was the Blur's new confidant now- he called back, e-mailed, and was completely dependable.

Clark didn't know about the fight she had with Lois- Chloe was sure of it. Lois had no reaction to the fight: Lois wasn't concerned for her, didn't worry, didn't want to kick Clark's ass for not being there for her. In fact, it was almost as if the fight never existed. Chloe may have been mad at Lois for her lack of a reaction, but at the end of the day, she was family. Chloe would never kidnap her.

Regardless of her faltering relationship with her cousin, Chloe was concerned for her health. Post-traumatic stress disorder was no joke when your cousin spent weeks in the future, and Chloe wanted Lois' symptoms gone, so that they wouldn't kill her. She had no idea what the triggers were, and was determined to find out just what they were. She called Stuart Campbell.

"Hello?"

"Stuart, this is Chloe. Tess is trying to experiment on my cousin- Lois Lane. Do you know anything about it?"

"Yeah, apparently your cousin went to the future. For some unexplained reason, Tess wants to know what happened during her trip. She basically racked through her brain until she found the memories she needed. Tess is hooked up to the same machine Lois is in right now, trying to figure out what's going to happen."

"Okay, where are you guys right now?" Chloe asked him

"We're in some sort of lab. You have a pen?" When Chloe said yes, he gave her the address, and they hung up. Stuart seemed to be panicking where he was.

Chloe called Clark, but she didn't get an answer. Leaving a quick message, she hung up her phone and thought for a moment. This was family- Chloe could go to the lab herself and maybe get Stuart to put her in the memories so that she could find out what Lois went through. Or she could keep calling Clark, and hope that he would make the difference.

Chloe made the conclusion that whatever was going on, she couldn't do it by herself, and she couldn't rely on Clark for help. She already left a message, if he wanted to help; she wasn't going to stop him. Chloe reached for her phone. After the first ring, a voice replied "Hello?"

"Oliver, I need your help. I know where Lois is."

***

Within ten minutes, Oliver found Clark and Dr. Hamilton. They knocked out Tess, Stuart was safe, and Clark was in Lois' head.

"I'm sorry for dragging you away from work, Oliver. But I didn't know who else to call." Chloe told him

"No problem Chloe. I'm always here." He assured her

Chloe smiled, and turned to face Emil. "We should try and erase Tess' memories- while she's cooperative."

"Alright" Emil said, as he fiddled with the machines.

***In the future***

"I had the shot. I had to take it", Chloe told Oliver in a ruthless tone. He took the body of Tess Mercer outside, and buried her.

When they returned to their camp, the group bickered over the plan.

"We may have won the battle, but Zod will come back harder now", Chloe said, spreading out maps and blueprints.

"This time, we take a stand. Lois vanished a year ago when she put on the Legion ring", Clark explained.

"You time traveled here?" Chloe asked

"I'm pretty sure I didn't walk a whole year into the future. Not in these heels. The thing is I lost the ring. That one named wonder Zod took it" Lois told them.

"We need to get the ring back. Then Lois can return to the past, and prevent Zod's tower from being built in the first place." Clark decided

"That's not a bad plan Clark, but why should I trust you now? You already left us once to fight on your own." Chloe told him bitterly

"You abandoned us big guy, plain and simple" Oliver said, stepping forward.

"I thought I could stop Zod myself. I tried to take him on as my enemy, and I was wrong. But I'm here now." Clark tried

"Okay then look, why Clark decided to take on the enemy's ETs by himself is beyond me. And maybe you think that he abandoned the cause or something, but come on! Aren't we all in this together?" Lois questioned

"You guys shut down that tower and bring back the yellow sun, you know I'm your best chance at getting back that ring." Clark said

"Maybe. I still don't trust you." Chloe told him

"I guess that's a start" Lois said.

After they created a plan, Clark and Lois went to the Barn, while Chloe and Oliver decided to stay behind and motivate their followers. Chloe offered them some hope, and walked to her room. She closed the door, a sign that nobody should follow her. Chloe took off her belt, and dumped her bow and other weapons on a table. She took off her bandana and hat, and walked over to the mirror.

Chloe stared at herself for a moment, and wondered how she became this way. A leader and a killer- ruthless and cold. She turned her back to the mirror, and curled up on her bed. Tears were flowing freely down her eyes, and she didn't care.

Oliver opened the door to the room quietly, and closed it behind him. He sat next to her on the bed, and silently held her in his arms as she cried.

"I'm so sorry, Oliver. I know how much Tess meant to you. It was for the cause." She said, sobbing

"I know." He said, holding her "I know."

"We've killed so many Kandorians, and now humans? Ollie, when does it stop? I keep washing my hands, but the blood is always there, no matter what I do."

"You did what you had to do. She was Zod's right hand man. I wouldn't have been able to kill her. It was the right thing to do."

"Please make it stop" she repeated over and over, her voice no higher than a whisper.

"I will." He promised her "I love you" he said, kissing her forehead.

They lay there for a moment. In time, Chloe broke the silence.

"Oliver, I need you to promise me something" Chloe said, looking up at him.

"Okay."

"If I die tomorrow, make sure that Lois goes back to her own time. If I die tomorrow, lead them." She tilted her head toward the door.

"You are not going to die tomorrow", Oliver said fiercely

"I almost died today in the mansion. There was a struggle, and you struck the Kandorian that was trying to kill me. I started this resistance group- they're after me. And you're faster than me. Stronger. You can take over."

"I'll help you. I'll stop them, just like today." Oliver said stubbornly

"I'm not fast enough. And you have enough on your plate when we fight them. The Kandorians- they're all looking for me." She explained

"You're not going to die. I can't do this without you. I won't" Oliver told her, holding on to her tighter than before.

"You have to." She said simply

"Okay. If you die, I promise that I'll take over the group and get Lois back to her own time. But you are not going to die tomorrow. Not when it's almost over." He insisted.

***

"Come on Chloe, you can make it!!" Lois exclaimed as Chloe looked up to see a Kandorian flying towards her as she ran as fast as she could.

Chloe stopped in her track the moment that she was face to face with the Kandorian. She looked around, for Oliver. He was too far ahead.

The woman whipped out her sword, as Chloe reached behind her back for her daggers.

She was too slow- all she could feel was pain. The sword went right through her body, and Chloe felt completely paralyzed. She couldn't reach for her daggers in an attempt to strike back- she couldn't move.

Her eyes widened as she comprehended the pain- this was it. She had come close to death so many times that it was almost surreal that it was happening. They knew exactly where to find her, and it was too late to fight back.

Right now, she could only feel. Chloe was so blocked out before, that the pain penetrated through her emotional barriers, replacing every wall with pain.

"No!!" She heard Lois scream. Please don't come here Lois. Don't let them see you, she thought desperately. The Kandorian slowly pulled out the sword, the pain building on itself.

Chloe could feel her pulse slow, and let out a gasp, as she fell down to her knees. Letting out a deep breath, she fell to the floor.

Chloe knew that it wasn't over yet. Kandorians had an unusual way of killing- they ripped your body to pieces so that it was unrecognizable. The pain would continue, and the unique identity of Chloe Sullivan would be destroyed well after she died.

"Get the hell away from her!" She heard Oliver shout out. The Kandorian sped off as she saw Oliver, bow and arrow at the ready.

Lois came running towards her, and rolled her over, stroking her hair.

"Chloe, look at me. You're going to be fine. You're going to be okay." She assured her.

Although Lois was close to her, it was Oliver that Chloe saw. He was wearing a fierce expression, surrounded by a vision of white. He had never looked so beautiful. Chloe looked at him and felt completely safe. She let out her last breath; Oliver's face the last image in her mind.

Oliver wanted to cry, wanted to scream out loud, and kill every single goddamn Kandorian. He wanted to grow wings and chase down the alien bitch that killed Chloe. He was disappointed in himself- disappointed that he couldn't tell Chloe that he loved her one last time. He couldn't with Lois there- he couldn't change her perspective of the past.

Oliver wanted to tell Chloe that he loved her, but the only thing he could physically do was drive away the Kandorian. He needed to see her- needed to preserve the memory of the woman that won his heart and gave her life to help change the world.

Right now, the only thing that he could do was honor Chloe's last wish. He put a gloved hand to Lois' shoulder.

"The best way to avenge her death is to get that ring." he said

Lois shook her head "No. No, I won't leave her."

"She's still alive in the past Lois. You can save her. Make sure this future never happens, and you'll save all of us." Oliver told her. Lois nodded, kissed her cousin's forehead, and left.

Oh god, please have Lois survive this. Please prevent this future from happening. Chloe is the most beautiful part of this world. I can't survive without her, Oliver thought desperately.

Oliver pulled back the arrow, and felt the tension of the string on his bow as Kandorian after Kandorian filled the sky. He fearlessly stared at the sky.

I have nothing left to lose now, he thought to himself. There is nothing more that they can take from me. He thought of Chloe, of her laughter and smile.

Suddenly, the tension in his bow lifted, and it felt as if Chloe was right beside him, holding the Kryptonite arrow in his fingers. Oliver Queen smiled, and released the arrow, letting it soar.

***Present Day***

Clark sped away from the Watchtower, blindly hopeful for the future. After learning about his own death, he decided to befriend Zod and try to teach the Kandorians about life on Earth. It was a ludicrous idea, but it was very…Clark. He sped off, leaving Oliver and Chloe in the Watchtower alone.

"Great. Another hopeful idea that's going to end up going horribly wrong" Chloe said, under her breath.

"We can't let this happen, Chloe. We can't let Clark run away with his ideas this time." Oliver told her

"Trust me, I've learned my lesson. My days of following Clark blindly are over." Chloe assured him

"What do you think happens to the League? I mean- from what Clark says, we start a resistance team, but the League members are nowhere to be found." Oliver wonders

"I don't know. I'd like to think that they didn't abandon the cause." Chloe says

"I know that they wouldn't. Not after everything." Oliver told her

"So either the Kandorians literally took over the world and they had their arms full somewhere else or…" Chloe trailed off

"Or they were with us at first, and they died." Oliver finished

"You never should have let them go off on their own." Chloe said, with a tone of finality.

"We're meant for bigger things Chloe. We're meant to impact the whole world, not just Kansas. I couldn't just cage them." Oliver told her

"I know." she sighed "I'm sorry. I've just gotten used to bouncing ideas off of everybody that I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting to it just being me again" Chloe said. She was shocked at her own openness with him. Her cheeks turned pink, and she tried to distract herself by typing on her computer.

"I'm here, Chloe. It impacts me too."

"We just…we just need to do something different." Chloe said, letting the seriousness return again.

"Well, apparently a resistance group doesn't work." Oliver thought aloud

"Sure it did. Just not well enough. It lasted us a year, didn't it?"

"The idea of Kryptonite weapons was good. We can use that." Oliver said

"Kryptonite bullets, maybe?"

"They'll get lost too quickly. Besides, I don't think that they'll be big enough to make a difference." Oliver said

"I think the arrows and daggers were good. They seemed to work pretty efficiently." Chloe said, getting right down to business

"Yeah. Daggers satisfy hand to hand combat, arrows satisfy long distance." Oliver agreed

"Yeah, but how are we going to create them?" Chloe asked

"I think I can make it happen." Oliver told her confidently

"That's right- you probably can, can't you?" she said with a smile.

***