FIC: The Secret Life of the Kryptonian Teenager

[ladydreamer]

Title: The Secret Life of the Kryptonian Teenager
Pairings: Chlark, unrequited Clex (poor Lex)
Word Count: ~44,000
Rating: PG-13
Summary: AU post late S2. After the incident with the cave parasite, the relationships in Clark's life are all unsettled, and even worse, he has an even bigger secret to keep than before.
Warnings: past noncon due to characters being under the influence, violence
Includes: mpreg, angst



Part One

There really shouldn’t have been a pink line there. Mostly because it was just so unfair.

It had been three weeks since the debacle at The Talon. Chloe had been infected with an alien parasite, and Clark had been stoned out of his mind on Red K, and even after Lana had walked in on them, they’d kept riding, riding, riding, for hours. Moaning and groaning in different positions until they were both raw. When Lex had arrived, he’d decided to call Clark’s parents, instead of the police, thankfully, and they’d shown up with a hunk of Green K to make it all stop before he screwed Chloe lifeless.

Pete had been paralyzed from the waist down, Chloe had barely survived the surgery, and Clark might not survive the humiliation. Everyone at school said that it had been the rave to end all raves.

And well, like dad had always said, it’s all fun and games until someone gets pregnant.

When the school bus honked its horn, Clark pressed his face into his hands and made a pained groan. It wasn't fair. He grabbed the test and the box and shoved them both into his backpack. Surely it was a false positive, or something. He was an alien, after all. Who knew what kind of hormones he had to mess up that little stick?

He flushed the toilet and hurried down the stairs, shaking his head wildly when his mother tried to give him some toast on his way out the door. He would be starving by midmorning, but projectile vomit that went over fifty feet was NOT something he was willing to risk at school.

Somehow, he made it onto the school bus, sulking the entire way. Chloe usually took her father’s car with Lana these days, so she wouldn’t be on the bus, and Pete… Clark would never forgive himself for being… entangled with Chloe while his friend plummeted into the ravine. While he was at it, he hated himself for ever telling Pete his secret, because if he hadn’t, then surely Pete would be at baseball practice about now.

By the time the bus jerked to a halt, he’d dozed off. Clark shook his head and pushed himself to his feet reluctantly. It felt lately like he could sleep all the time, if his parents would let him. As soon as he stepped off the bus, he spotted Chloe and Lana walking into the school together. Chloe was still moving a little stiffly and occasionally holding her side. She had insisted on seeing the parasite, no matter how gross it was, and she’d given herself a spot on the Wall of Weird.

Clark wondered if he would get a spot on the wall, once he started…

No. No, no, no. He wouldn’t start showing. Because that wasn’t possible and this wasn’t happening!

Shuffling into the school, Clark kept his head down and wished he could fake being sick, like normal kids. His parents would never buy it.

Or they’d go into a panic.

***

“Parasites can brainwash their hosts into doing all kinds of things,” Chloe murmured, walking around with her article in hand. “Flukes can make a little ant sit on a blade of grass, waiting for a grazing mammal to come get him so they can complete their life cycle. The single-celled parasite toxoplasma gondii can make infected mice scurry towards their predators in a strange reversal of cat and mouse. Did I mention that about half the population is infected with these particular buggers? And horrifyingly, the huge larval form of an unidentified insect found in Smallville, Kansas can cause a young man about to make the first string, who was clocking a solid 1450 on his pre-SATs and planning to head to Metropolis University in two years to study political science or law, drive his 1962 Ford Falcon into a ravine.

“Suffice it to say, the pros haven’t yet determined what this creature is, but we can say that it’s on Smallville’s most wanted for the destruction it has caused. This reporter would like to dedicate this issue to our dear friend Pete Ross, loyal friend and player, who we all know was headed for greater things in the football world. He, however, did survive and will surely go on to greater things in whatever career he puts his mind to.

“Travis Talbot was my partner for Chem Lab and the secretary for the Chemistry Club. He wasn’t so lucky. I've no doubt that in ten years, we'd all be hearing about him graduating from Yale or some other Ivy League school and making breakthroughs that none us understood. I think most people didn't really notice him. He wasn't popular, and he wasn't into sports, but he was a decent guy, and because of this incident, the world has lost much.

“All too often here, we’re caught up with the strange things that happen in this town and forget to take a moment to reflect on our dead, our ones lost to the surprisingly large body count for a town this size. As painful as it may be, we all have our losses, our pains, our secrets. Take care that you remember them, and hopefully, when the random chance of life strikes, our loved ones will remember us in return, and we will have imprinted them indelibly with some mark of ourselves that will allow them to move on, wiser and stronger though a world that does not care that we grieve.”

“Pretty eloquent for an obituary,” Lex said as he walked in.

Chloe turned sharply and blinked, wiping her eyes. “I… sometimes I read out loud. It helps me catch my mistakes.”

“May we all catch our mistakes.” Lex frowned, walking up to her. It was an obvious lie, since she'd published the article soon after she'd gotten out of the hospital. He would say nothing, however. He had no fondness for being caught in the midst of his emotions. “How are you doing?”

“You know me.” Chloe shrugged and laid the article on her desk. “I’m compartmentalizing, pretending to be an objective reporter, who didn’t see a classmate crack his neck right in front of her or just have a parasite dancing around inside her ribcage. Not to mention Clark and Lana."

"Still not talking?" Lex asked with a curl of the lip.

"Whenever they get near each other, it's like they’re two cats arching up their backs and puffing up their tails. I can't believe that Clark would do that, but…" Chloe shook her head. "It's not like Clark hasn't done erratic things before. He claims he wasn't infected by the parasite, though. Not sure I believe that. I wish I knew who he'd been with at The Talon."

Lex slipped his hands into his pockets and leaned against her desk. "So you can scratch her eyes out?"

Chloe caught his eyes and quirked her lips to the side before she turned to put the paper away.

"It's only natural to want to defend your girlfriend. They still haven't talked to you about what happened that day, have they?" Lex continued, unfazed.

"No. It's weird; I'm not used to being the one people treat like a delicate flower." Chloe turned back to him, narrowing her eyes and putting her hands on her hips. "Do you know what happened?"

"Maybe. But I think you should ask Clark and not me. I wasn't even there."

"Clark has enough guilt about what happened to Pete while he was romancing the bone with some girl at The Talon," Chloe replied, walking over to her desk. "What about you? I didn't…" She shook her head and looked at the ceiling. "Come on to you and steal your Porsche or anything, did I?"

Lex laughed softly. "No. You… told Pete and Clark that I should be able to afford a toupee."

"Oh." Chloe's eyes bulged. "I don't really-"

"You were showing off," Lex informed her. "That was fairly obvious. I should have realized you weren't just high, but I did know that Pete had been acting strangely and figured you were doing a little experimenting in the company of friends."

"Still. Ouch." Chloe shrugged. "My bad?"

"It's okay. Under normal circumstances, you manage to keep your reporterly curiosity under wraps when you're around me, which I appreciate. The questions do get old, after a decade has passed."

"I figured. Even though I do get curious," Chloe admitted. "So can I get in a non-reporterly question?"

Lex narrowed his eyes. "Hm. Shoot." 

"Why aren't I seeing you guys together? You and Clark. Normally it's almost like he's dating you instead of Lana."

Lex tensed his lips and looked down. "I uh… well. We had a fight, and he told me to stay away from him, and I'm… just trying to respect his wishes."

"I don't think he really meant it. He couldn't have. What were you fighting over?" Chloe asked.

"Secrets, I think. I'm not entirely sure. It started out about the caves, but he was clearly angry about other things as well."

Chloe put her hand on her hip. "That sucks, Lex. You should go talk to him."

"I'm sure it'll work out." Lex stood and cupped her shoulder. "I just wanted to check on you. Make sure you were coping alright."

"I’m doing fine. Stitches healing, embarrassment waning, and hey, I got on the Wall of Weird!" Chloe said enthusiastically. "It's all good. I'm glad to be back in school this week, even if you know. Algebra. Yuck."

"Well, if you ever need any help with that, I hear tell that Clark's a pretty good tutor."

Chloe nodded. "That's what I hear too, or I used to, from Lana."

Lex reached over and touched her shoulder lightly, as though he were hesitant about the logistics of making human contact, and gave her a nod before he departed from The Torch. Chloe went back over to her writing samples, looking them over and setting the one about Pete and Cave Parasite aside. She had to get her materials together to apply for the yearly internship. And though The Daily Planet had seemed to be interested the last time she'd gotten in the middle of the mess, she wasn't sure she wanted this one in her sample.

***

Clark snuck in through the entrance to the gym and skirted around the basketball court. Coming in late, even though it really made his father mad, at least meant that he didn't have to deal with the rest of the students and how they were looking at him.

Like some kind of freak.

After peering around the corner into the hallway where his locker was, he let out a breath and looked back once before going to get his English book for homeroom. He jumped, literally, as he saw Principal Reynolds’ stern face.

"I uh…"

"Lex Luthor not getting you to school on time? Funny, considering how fast the man drives," Reynolds said dryly. He pressed a heavy hand onto Clark's shoulder. "Let's get you to class, son."

Principal Reynolds followed him to his morning English class and stood by the door as he ducked his head and slunk toward the back of the room.

"Morning, Ms. MacGuffin. Just seeing that Mr. Kent made it to class this morning," Reynolds said cheerfully.

Clark sighed and tried to inch between the seats before anyone really looked at him. Almost there, almost there-

Then Lana caught his eye.

"This isn't about you, Clark!" Lana snapped as she turned around with tears shining in her wide eyes. "I know why Chloe was… with you. But why were you with her? Why would you do that to her when you knew she didn't have control over herself?"

Clark flailed his hands in that vaguely mute way he adopted whenever Lana was talking to him. "But… I didn't know-"

"You knew that something was wrong with Pete that was causing him to act strange. Are you telling me that suddenly Chloe starts acting out of character, trying to… mount you, and you don't suspect something?" Lana crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him angrily.

"It's… Lana, I can't explain, but I didn't realize it at the time. How was I supposed to know?"

"Even if you didn't know, I don't understand why you'd ask me out and then come here with her." Lana dipped her head, shaking it softly. "Get out, Clark."

"Lana-"

"Get out of here. I haven't told Chloe because I don't want her to be any more hurt, but you need to stay away from both of us." She looked up and stepped away. "You aren't a good guy, Clark. I thought you were someone else, but maybe that person I keep seeing whenever you do ask me out is the real Clark Kent."

Lana picked up his rose and threw it in the trashcan before she stormed into the back of The Talon. Extra coffee supplies, sugar, dishwasher, perennial hiding place for Lana Lang. There she bowed over and sobbed.

Clark had to leave. He couldn’t take this anymore. Not if he couldn't defend himself with the truth.

Clark met Lana's eye and sat next to Chloe, who was texting with a source for her next article like she usually did before class started. Lana rolled her eyes and turned around.

"You okay, Clark?" Chloe asked in a whisper, pausing her morning routine of not paying attention to Ms. MacGuffin and tilting her head in concern. "You look a little green."

"I don't feel so good," Clark muttered. He slumped forward on his desk. "I didn't eat breakfast."

Chloe leaned over to her huge patchwork purse and fished around for a moment. "It's not exactly your Wheaties, but this might help." She slipped him a package of peanut butter crackers, and Clark gave her hand a grateful squeeze.

"My savior."

Chloe smiled from ear to ear and mouthed, "Welcome."

With a wiggle of her head, she got back to what she was doing, and opened up her textbook to the page Ms. MacGuffin had written on the board.

Clark felt himself flush as he illicitly munched the crackers.

***

Chloe's wide green eyes flickered up and moved over Clark's overflowing tray as she took in both the sheer amount of food and the rate at which it was disappearing. Roughly ten minutes later, Clark looked up from his feasting and tented his brows in an embarrassed, puppyish expression.


"What?" Clark asked through a mouthful of noodles.

"Um," Chloe shook her head. "Going through a growth spurt?"

Clark chugged down his third carton of chocolate milk and wiped his mouth. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing." Chloe shook her head again and curled her fingers behind her ear. "It's just… you're chowing down there like you've joined the Jodi Melville Weight Loss plan."

"What? No. No, I haven't. Sorry, I've…" Clark shrugged, realizing that if anyone was going to figure this out, it would be Chloe. She kept a sharp eye on everything around her, and her mind was always working.

"It's okay, Clark. Sorry, that was really rude. Just a little worried." Chloe leaned on her hand. "Promise me that you're not knocking back meteor juice, and I'll let you off the hook."

"Gross." Oh, and there it was. That grinding, overwhelming sense of nausea. "I gotta go."

"Clark!" Chloe stood as he ran out, but wasn't quick enough to catch him. Running a hand through her hair, she looked around and realized the entire cafeteria was staring at her. She licked her lips and advised in a sprightly tone, "Um, stay away from the meatloaf."

***

Clark wished that every day weren't like this lately. He was starved, and he was nauseated, and he was exhausted, and now he'd weirded out Chloe (and that took some doing), and… He hit the wall and slid down against it. He just wanted to go to sleep right here, but he had to walk home, because he didn't have the energy to run. School was over, most of the students having drifted to their various projects, and he'd wandered into a deserted hallway where he could be alone for a few minutes.

Closing his eyes, Clark took a few deep breaths, reminding himself that this wasn't happening. He had to keep reminding himself of that, or he might start to think that this mess was real, and it couldn't be.

After a moment of sitting there lazily, a delicious smell hit his nostrils, and Clark opened his eyes. Oh, it was just heavenly. He pushed himself up, sniffing once or twice to discern the direction of the scent, and walked with purpose towards the shop room. It had been pretty empty after school since the last shop teacher died, so there was no one around, and Clark had no idea why anyone would bring food into shop class, unless someone had left their backpack…

Oh. Oh. That was it. That delicious, wonderful, mouthwatering smell.

Clark rushed over to the large bin of nails and stared at it a moment, his mind only able to recognize for a moment how unbelievably freaky this was before he reached his hand in, scooped some of the nails out, and shoved them into his mouth.

With a groan, he sat on the floor, munching through the nails as though they were potato chips. If anyone caught him, he would be completely screwed, but they tasted so good, and they were filling, too. By the time he was too stuffed to continue, there were only a few nails left, and he suddenly felt the heaviness of about forty pounds of iron weighing down his stomach.

"Ugh. Over did it, a little." He tried to sit up once, then looked at the front of his shirt, which was bulging out a little. "Okay, maybe a lot."

He took a deep breath, steadied himself and used his strength to get himself up. It wasn't that he couldn't lift the weight easily; it was just that he wasn't used to having center of gravity so off. Next time he'd have to try to eat a little more slowly.

Clark placed a hand on his stomach and realized he hoped there wouldn't be a next time. Where would he get more nails?

He slunk out of the shop room and pulled his jacket around himself, hoping as he went to get his backpack that no one would notice his tummy sticking out from his gorging. At least he wasn't starving anymore, though.

***

Something was there. Something on the periphery of Chloe's consciousness whenever she walked into The Talon lately. Pleasant and the stuff of flushed cheeks. She didn't know what it was, but it wasn't bad at all.

Chloe walked up to the counter and ordered her drink. Then she saw Lana coming out of the back, spotting Chloe, and then quickly turning her head and picking up a tray to deliver to another table. With a tilted of the head, Chloe blinked slowly, wondering what she'd done to be so clearly snubbed. Lana had been keeping something from her lately, but Chloe was trying to be better about prying into her friends' business. Clark hated it, and Lex was skiddish as a kitten about personal questions. Lana didn't usually seem to mind, but who knew. One of these days, they would probably have some conflict over this stuff between them.

After all, Lana had already practically won Clark. Chloe had to force herself to smile; she had to force herself not to be bitter, and remind herself that in the totem pole of high school attraction, she brought out the freaks and geeks and people who wanted to kill her. Everyone wanted Lana. Why should Clark be any different? And it wasn't really Lana's fault if Clark liked her better.

She took her drink, curled her arm around her waist, and walked over to where Lana was serving some other kids from Smallville High. "I get the impression you're avoiding me," she said.

Lana jumped a little and turned her head, running two fingers through her long, sleek hair. "Chloe! Of course not. I've just… been busy with The Talon lately."

"Are you sure I didn't do anything to make you mad? You can tell me. I can't fix it if I don't know what it is," Chloe pointed out, quirking her head to the side as she looked on with concern.

Lana's eyes narrowed, and she nodded once slowly. "I'll uh… let you know! You haven't done anything wrong. Just busy." She lifted the tray up and went back to the counter. "Tell your dad I'll be late for dinner. He doesn't have to wait for me."

"Oh, uh. Okay." Chloe twisted her earring around with her free hand and nodded quickly. "I'll see you later, then." Taking her coffee, Chloe turned and bumped right into Lex. "Oh! Hot coffee! Did I get any on you?"

Lex checked his shirt. "Nope. I'm in the clear. You?"

"No, I'm fine." Chloe shifted her weight and looked up at Lex. "Um. Clark said he wanted to talk to you, if you have the time?"

"Did he?" Lex asked, narrowing his eyes. "Are you sure? What exactly did he say?"

"Um, that the barn was kind of empty without you. He wanted to see you again," Chloe replied. She was boldfaced lying, and she never did that. Lex wouldn't like it, but it would be good for him. It was weird of Lex not to have any other friends. Sad, too. And Clark clearly needed Lex around right now. So.

"And when did he tell you this?" Lex pressed.

"Um, homeroom."

Lex walked with her over to a table and held out her chair. "I see. Before class started?"

"Yeah," Chloe replied quickly.

"Class must have started particularly late today," Lex drawled, sitting across from her. "Since Clark is almost always tardy for homeroom."

Chloe sighed and leaned back in her chair. Caught. "Can't you just go talk to him?"

"I could. If I thought he in any way would appreciate the offer," Lex replied. "It's sweet of you to try to fix things, Chloe, but maybe it isn't that simple."

"I know it's not, but you can't just… stop being friends because Clark had a bad day. How would you feel if Clark stopped talking to you after one of your temper tantrums?" Chloe argued.

"I don't have temper tantrums," Lex returned acerbically. He took a drink of his coffee then looked out the Talon's front window. No doubt remembering taking a club to that meter-maid's car. "I would be devastated. Nonetheless, if I told Clark to stay the hell away from me, I would, at least, repeal that request before settling on devastation."

"Yeah, let's hope we're all that logical when it comes to friendship and love." Chloe rolled her eyes.

Lex thinned his lips and closed his eyes for a moment. "I think, Chloe, that it would be more in your interests to go have a heart to heart with Clark."

"What does that mean?" Chloe asked with a slow, critical blink.

His chin angled upward as he opened his eyes into slits of stormy gray. "Nothing," he said in a slightly higher than his usual. With a nod he turned and left before Chloe could formulate a response.

Lex was so awkward and odd. Chloe pursed her lips and decided that she could keep working on him. Pete, too, but not very soon. Pete had enough issues to deal with. She, on the other hand, had a pile of chemistry homework to deal with, so she headed over to a table to get started.

This was a lot less fun without Clark across from her cracking jokes while Pete leered at the girls.

***

By the time Clark had walked home on foot, he was thoroughly exhausted and very thirsty, so he headed straight for the kitchen. He would do his chores as soon as he recovered. The nails didn't seem to be doing much, except being heavy, so his day was improving. He just had to find a new place to get nails.

Walking over to the kitchen table, Clark chugged the milk enthusiastically. By the time he was done, the bottle was empty, and he felt uncomfortably full but happy and a little sleepy. With a yawn, Clark pushed himself up, put the bottle in the sink, and made it to the couch before he fell into a deep sleep.

He woke to a hand on his shoulder, his mother's, and she looked rather alarmed.

"Hey, Mom," Clark murmured. He struggled to sit up, then pulled his flannel shirt down over himself.

"Baby? I couldn't wake you. I've been trying for ten minutes," she said with concern.

"Just uh, tired, I guess," Clark said lamely.

Martha sat on the side of the couch, and Clark looked up at her uneasily. He felt like for sure she'd be able to look right through him and figure out what he was hiding. Instead, she frowned for a moment, then leaned over to press the back of her hand to his forehead.

"I don't know if you'd feel warm or not, if you were sick," Martha admitted. "I've never had to deal with it before."

"Mom," Clark protested. "I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me. It was just a nap."

"Yes, but Clark…" Martha trailed off, then leaned over to give her son a hug. "Well, if you start to feel hot or funny, let me know, okay?"

Clark nodded quickly. Martha brushed his bangs away, not looking any less concerned, but she stood and stepped away from the couch.

"Why don't you go upstairs and nap until dinner?" she suggested.

"What about my chores?" Clark asked.

"I'm sure you can get those out of the way quickly enough after dinner," Martha replied.

Clark bit his lip and pushed himself up. He really wasn't sure if he would be able to do his chores as quickly as normal. "I'd better do them first. Then I'll nap."

"Alright then," Martha conceded. "But take it easy, okay?"

Clark stood and gave her a forced smile as he headed outside. He made a show of doing a little speed, but once he was at the barn, he slowed to Earth speed and set himself to his chores.

His tasks took several hours, and Clark was sure that he was probably late for dinner by the time he was through, but instead of going inside immediately, he went up to the loft to look out the window at the setting sun. It was funny, because right about now, Lana should be wandering her way in to his loft, or Pete flopping on his couch to talk about girls, or Lex strolling up to him with some dry observation on history or humanity, or Chloe bounding up the steps with a story to investigate. Instead here he was, exhausted and alone, with no best friends to drop by unannounced.

"Clark?"

Clark turned to see his father coming up the stairs. "Oh, hey, Dad."

"You comin' to dinner, son?"

"Um, yeah." Clark figured he might starve, otherwise. "Sorry, lost track of the time."

"S'okay." Jonathan shook his head. "Are you doing alright? Your mother seemed worried."

Clark quickly crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine. Just… fine."

"Son, if you have anything on your mind, you know you can talk to us about it, right?" Clark's father walked up to him and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "We've gotten through everything else. If something's wrong-"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong, dad. I just…"

Clark hated lying. He hated it. He hated it more than peas, and yet he had to suck it up and do it all the time. He'd never really outright lied to his parents before. But maybe it wasn't lying, if he wasn't really… And he wasn't. Not really. He couldn't be, so he wasn't.

"Thinking about Pete," he finished lamely.

Jonathan nodded and patted Clark's back again. "I know you feel responsible, son, but the situation was out of control. We trusted him, and because he knew your secret, he knew how to keep you occupied."

Clark looked over at his father with a worried frown.

"I just wish there were a way to make it so that Pete didn't remember your secret."

"Dad!"

"Clark, he ran down the street screaming that you were an alien, used the green meteor rocks on you, and then the red." Jonathan narrowed his eyes as he looked at his son. "Adrenaline or not, the parasite was just making him look for a rush. The rest… Well, you know how I feel about the red stuff. That's you, Clark. That's not a great side of you, but it is you. There are things you want, and things you feel, and when you're on the red rocks you take them and say them."

"Dad, I didn't mean-"

"You'd hardly be the first kid on this farm to get frustrated with not having material things." Jonathan met his eye. "We raised you to be a normal kid. Can we complain much when you act like one?"

Clark shrugged.

Jonathan jerked his head toward the stairs. "Come to dinner, Clark. What happened to Pete wasn't your fault. You gotta stop feeling guilty about that. It'll eat you up. If you'd been yourself at the time, you would have saved him."

"Yeah, I know." Clark followed his father out of the barn, only gripping the banister tightly when he felt a wave of dizziness. He needed to eat.

And all this talking about Pete had actually made him feel guilty all over again.

***

When Chloe got home, she flopped on her bed, not bothering to kick off her shoes. It was just her luck that she was getting along better with Lex Luthor right now than any of her school friends. She and Clark weren’t really fighting, but it was still kind of awkward. Had been since the parasite incident.

Chloe rolled over and pulled up her shirt then gently moved her fingers down the scar left by her surgery. Not that she had any plans of joining next fall's Miss Sweet Corn Pageant, but it was weird to be forever ruled out of the bikini club. Should’ve taken the risk while she was scar-free. She laid her head back, feeling her skin gently and blinked slowly. In a few moments her long day got the better of her, and her eyelids began to droop.

"Get a room, you two!"

Sounds of groaning, moaning. They surround her as she smiles, flirts.

"I want you..." she informs him in a saucy, almost stern tone.

Her hands move in front of her, playing imaginary strip poker. She deals and laughs. The handsome boy in front of her 'loses,' and he pulls off his jacket. Next comes his shirt, her blouse, his shoes, her skirt. Her underwear comes off, and his comes down, and all he's wearing is his jeans pooling around his ankles.

She mounts him and rides, rides, rides.

Chloe's eyes popped open, and she felt embarrassed. It was days like these when she really wished she had a mother to turn to. She knew that guys had wet dreams, but girls weren't supposed to have them, were they? Sex ed at Smallville High had failed her.

"Chloe!" Gabe called up the stairs.

"What dad!" she yelled back, not getting up.

"Do you want tacos for dinner! Is Lana allergic to anything in that? I forget!"

"Lana's not coming home for dinner tonight! She said not to worry about her!"

"Well, I won't let her starve just because she's home late! I'll put in a burger for her so she can microwave it when she gets home!"

"Goooood thinking!" Chloe bit her lip and had to laugh. Yelling from room to room had been easier in their apartment, but it was funnier in the house. She got up and went to freshen herself up so she could help her dad chop things for dinner.

As she looked at herself in the mirror, the fringe of her memories began to niggle at her again. Smeared eyeliner. Too dark lipstick on lips that curled over pearly white teeth and let out laugh after laugh after laugh.

Suddenly her heart begins to pound and her cheeks flush. Had she…? Could she have without remembering it?

A tear trickled down her cheek before she even realized that her vision was blurring, and she backed up until she was sitting on the edge of the tub. Chloe turned around and turn the water on. Hot. Hot as she could stand.

Her dream wasn't bad. It hadn't been.

It couldn't be, could it? She would remember having… if she'd been…

Her hand wiped over her cheek, and she looked down at her thighs. Wouldn't she have noticed? If she really…

But then again, Chloe had been on so many painkillers from the surgery, so out of it at first and sore everywhere that it would be unsurprising that her body had gotten away with things her mind hadn't been able to keep track of.

Both of her hands went up her temples, and then she rested her face in them. Chloe wasn't doing a very good job of compartmentalizing right now. But she had to. Had to stop thinking about this because these were memories she was never going to get back.

She stopped the water and looked back at the mirror, almost afraid to look at herself again, that strange unfamiliar girl who made out with random boys, possibly let them take her pants off. Who was this girl? Did she have any standards at all, and was that who she really was?

A girl who would be with just anyone who would have her?

Chloe knew that she'd had her problems with her identity since she'd gotten to high school, but she didn't think that things were this bad.

“Chlo-bear!" Gabe called, knocking on the door to her bedroom.

Chloe pulled her open shirt closed and yelled, "Dad! Don't come in here!"

Gabe was silent for a moment then the ajar door to the bathroom was pulled closed a little from the outside.

"Are you okay, baby?" Gabe asked in an uncertain voice.

"I'm… I'm fine, Daddy," Chloe replied, hoping that the sound of her voice didn't cause him to worry even more. "I'm just… tired. And worried about Pete."

"You can't blame yourself, Chlo-bear. You were both under the same thing. No way you could have protected him at that point."

"I know. I just... It's a lot to take in at once."

In the next long pause, Chloe heard the unspoken words loud and clear. She didn't hear them often, mostly because she did her best to keep from ever having to hear them.

I wish your mother was still here.

Chloe wished it too. But there was no point in wishing to be wanted.

"I'll be okay, Dad. You know me," Chloe assured him. She buttoned up her shirt, turned off the water, and pushed herself up from the tub. When she reached the door she opened it and looked out, her father had stepped back from the door. She looked up at him with a wobbly smile and walked over to embrace him gingerly.

Her stitches limited her movement, and he knew that, so he hugged her lightly.

"I always bounce back. No matter what it is," Chloe promised, almost cheerfully.

"Good," Gabe replied. He kissed the top of her hair and let her go. "Gonna take a bath?"

"I can't wait until I'm cleared for full on shower action," Chloe answered. "I'll be down in a few minutes?"

"Yep. See you in a few, baby girl." Gabe patted her shoulder and retreated out of her room.

Chloe walked behind him and locked the door when he'd left. She hugged her arms for a long while, and when she finally managed to return to the bathroom, she avoided looking in the mirror.


Part Two

Waking Saturday morning to another wave of rolling nausea, Clark supersped outside to throw up. He couldn't let his parents see or hear this. They might think… something.

When he had nothing left on his stomach to throw up, Clark leaned against the barn, panting and looking out over the fields. He put a hand over his stomach, frowning and feeling his own helpless, panicked heartbeat.

"Yeah. Not happening. Just… meteor rocks in the water supply or something. We'll all die of cancer. It'll be great," Clark murmured. He waited several more minutes before sneaking back into the house to get cleaned up.

He was still feeling a little raw when he sat down to the breakfast table, but he hoped he looked a bit better.

Martha came over from the stove and touched his forehead again. "Clark, honey, are you sleeping at all? You look exhausted."

"I'm sleeping," Clark replied in a sulky voice.

"I don't think you can possibly be getting enough rest," she replied in a concerned voice. She put a hand on her hip, then tuned back around to tend to the pancakes.

"I'm fine, Ma. Just don't worry about me."

"I am your mother. I worry," she said, turning around and putting a large plate of pancakes in front of him. "It's what I do."

"Banana pancakes!" Clark said as the scent caught his nostrils. He grinned from ear to ear.

"I thought that might cheer you up." Martha leaned over to kiss his cheek then went to get him a big glass of milk. "So what's the plan for today?"

"Chores, I guess," Clark said as he cut up his pancakes eagerly.

"Well, after that. We're not going to keep you at work all day." Martha set out Jonathan's plate and a bowl full of eggs. "Want some bacon?"

"Um, yesh, please," Clark said through a mouthful of pancake.

Martha handed him the plate and let him take as many strips as he wanted. "You're a growing boy, Clark. Don't be embarrassed of your appetite. You see how your father eats when he works hard? You're the same, only you use a lot more energy than either of us do."

Clark dipped his head. He didn't deserve to have a mother who was so understanding.

"Eat up," she ordered, sprinkling a little powdered sugar on her pancakes.

Clark turned his head slightly so his mother wouldn't see his shining eyes and nodded, taking a deep breath.

***

The sound of little boots trotting echoed off the walls of the empty school. There were baseball players outside doing early morning practicing as well as the swim team at the pool. Otherwise the school was rather deserted, and Chloe quite liked that.

It was peaceful. Kind of like getting to the office early so that you didn't have to deal with the bustle of your fellow employees greeting one another. Chloe only knew about that sort of thing because of her internship over the summer, but it was a nice time of day regardless.

Chloe held a large mocha in one hand as she dug in her purse for the Torch’s keys. She hadn't slept at all that night. Not at all. Every time she dozed off, she was reminded of what might await her there, and while the memory seemed to be pleasant enough, her waking mind kept telling her that if she'd gotten her cherry popped by some guy she didn't even know while she was too out of her head to even recall, this was probably something she didn't want to ever remember.

Hence. Coffee coffee coffee.

Her hands shook a little as she tried to open the door, only to find it already open. She poked her head inside curiously, and spotted a dark head of short black curls sticking up in all directions. The boy looked up and pushed back his thin circular glasses.

"You're here early," he said evenly.

"So are you, Noah," Chloe replied, rubbing one arm. "You scared me."

She walked over to sit at the free computer as he watched her with rich hazel eyes.

"I didn't mean to. I was just sitting here."

Chloe bit her lip and looked over at the mild-mannered new reporter at the Torch. He was a year older than her, but had come to her a few weeks before the parasite incident with a small writing portfolio and a request to be considered for the job. Mostly, he'd told her, he was looking for something to round out his college resume, and he wasn't good at sports.

All in all, Chloe liked Noah. The other boys, she had come to find out through Pete, called him "Mad Dog," in part because of his last name (Maddoc) and in part because he was so calm and easy going. Attempts to ruffle his feathers, even violent attempts, usually failed. He was unruffleable, or so it seemed.

Chloe felt a fondness for him, because of that. At The Daily Planet, they called her Mad Dog, too. Only for different reasons, obviously.

Noah clacked away on the computer as Chloe took another drink of her coffee. She knew he didn't have a computer at home, and likely that was the reason why he'd come in on a Saturday. It was the easiest way for him to get his work done, save going to the library and waiting to use the one dinosaur of a computer that would probably crash anyway.

"Working on a story?" Noah asked after a moment, startling Chloe again. He was quiet as a mouse, sometimes.

"Um, I'm putting my resume together for the Daily Planet internship."

"I was thinking of applying, too. It would look good on a college application. Though, I think that volunteering this summer might look even better in my case."

"Maybe. They only take two interns a year," Chloe pointed out. "That would look good for anyone."

"If I definitively wanted to go into journalism, it would. No offense."

"None taken." Chloe smiled. Noah hadn't even looked up from the computer since their initial greeting, and was typing away, as fast as his coffee-colored fingers would go. "I know you're more interested in computers than reporting."

"I don't know. I think sometimes I shouldn't be so narrow in scope, you know. I feel as though employers want to see variety. They want to see personality."

"You have a personality, and it's a fine one," Chloe assured him.

Noah rolled his shoulders. "That's all a matter of point of view, isn't it? Of who's interviewing?"

"Maybe," Chloe conceded. A few moments later they lapsed into a working silence yet again. Roughly a few hours later, Chloe looked up when she heard the printer going.

"What are you working on?" she asked.

"Lit paper," Noah answered disinterestedly. He rocked back and forth on his heels, waiting for the printer to finish. 

"Is that due already?"

"No, not until next Friday. We got the prompt Monday, though, and I want it out of the way. I have other things to worry about," Noah replied.

Chloe grinned. "Well, that's truer than anything. What are you turning in for your writing sample for the internship?"

"Should I be showing the competition?" Noah asked. He turned his head after a moment and added, "I'm joking."

"I guessed." Chloe smiled softly. "Are you done? I think the Monday paper will be out without a hitch. Want to go get some coffee?"

"No thanks. I can't drink it," Noah explained. He tapped his pages straight then stapled them and went over to put the essay in his backpack.

"Why not?"

"I don't like it straight, and I'm lactose intolerant, so I can't drink the better stuff anymore. It hurts." Noah pulled his backpack on. "Thanks, though."

Chloe gave him a crooked smile. She couldn't force him to be social. "Okay. See ya."

Noah headed for the door, then stopped and stared back at her until she looked up again.

"Forget something?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Are you alright?" Noah arched a brow sharply enough that it rose over his glasses.

"Um…" Chloe shook her head and made a soft laughed. "I dunno. I'm fine. You go enjoy your Saturday."

"Maybe tea?"

Chloe pinched her lips together and remained still for a moment. "Maybe tea… does what?"

"I mean, maybe The Talon serves tea?" Noah clarified. He shook his head. "N-never mind."

"Oh! No, I know they do. I just have an IV of Brazilian roast in my veins, so it..." She shrugged. "Never occurred to me."

Noah's lips curved slightly.

***

Lana let out a sigh as her computer crashed for the third time that day. She'd gotten a virus somehow, and this situation wasn't helping her with her history report at all. She ran a hand through her hair, got up in a swift fluid motion, and stalked into Gabe's office. Chloe didn't have a computer of her own, but when she was at home, she always worked on her father's computer, and so, if they kept saying she was part of the family, maybe Lana could work on it, too.

She popped in her disk and started the computer up.

As Lana leaned her cheek on her hand waiting for the computer to boot up, she looked around the small office. The housing provided for LexCorp employees was pretty good. Not as nice as the house that Nell had when she’d lived in Smallville, but pretty nice. She and Chloe shared a bathroom and both had decently sized bedrooms.

Her eyes roamed over the almond colored carpet and then the overflowing wastebasket. Something about Sullivans meant that they couldn't pick things up properly. Lana knelt down and put a few wadded up papers back in the basket. Her fingers paused on a pink paper.

It was pretty unlikely that Gabe threw away pink papers. Probably Chloe's.

Lana unwadded the paper and began to read it:

I want to let you in on a secret. I'm not who you think I am. In fact, my disguise is so thin, I'm surprised you haven't seen right through me. I'm the girl of your dreams masquerading as your best friend.

She paused, surprised by what she had read, and then situated herself back in the office chair before beginning to read again intently.

***

Pete wheeled into The Talon with a few of his friends and scanned the place. Chloe was at a table hanging out with Mad Dog (Why? He had no idea, man.), and Lana was bussing tables. As he felt Joel's hand patting his back, Pete looked up at the group.

His brother had joked that at least he wouldn’t have to deal with a million white people asking him what sport he played for the rest of his life... It was a little different for his brother, though. Pete had actually played sports, and loved it. Maybe it wasn’t his life’s work, but it had been a part of his high school identity. Now he had to find another one. If that hadn’t been set for him already. Pete still wanted to spend time with his friends, and was glad that they kept him around, but it seemed like since the accident (strange to call it that since he'd done it on purpose), they treated him more like a pet than another one of the guys.

Just as well, since he couldn't attend practice for any of the sports he'd been in. Maybe he was their mascot now.

The other boys buzzed around him with the usual empty chatter, and Pete joined in, talking about his favorite bands and the upcoming dance. When the door opened, Pete's eyes flickered over briefly, then his head jerked in that direction and he frowned deeply.

He'd never liked Luthor. Not once, not ever. Lionel and Lex were the same man with different faces. And seeing Lex stroll in like he owned the place had never been fun, especially when Clark had been beside him. But Clark wasn't there anymore.

"Pete?" Clark peeked his head into the hospital room.

Pete lay limply in his bed and glared at Clark as he came in. "What are you doing here?"

"I… I'm visiting a friend."

"A friend would've had my back," Pete spat.

Clark's face fell. He was in obvious shock. The guy was pale as milk. "Pete, you know I couldn't help it! I was on the red rock."

"You know what's happened to me because you weren't there, friend? You know what happened?" Pete asked in a bitter tone. "I can't walk, Clark. I can't walk."

"I… Pete…" Clark raised his hands ineffectually and shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry's not gonna bring my legs back!" Pete yelled. He couldn't think straight. He didn't care.

Clark backed up several steps. "If I could have been there, I would, Pete. You know that."

"Just get out, Clark!"

"Pete-"

"Get! Out!"

"God, how does anyone work for that guy without cracking up?" Joel sniggered, leaning over their table. Todd stood up and did a little mock-walk around the table, swinging his hips widely.

"An' a shake m'lil tush on the catwalk, on the catwalk…"

"You should see him chasing high school boys," Pete muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Oh yeah, Boss," Joel asked. "He got the fancy for some fresh meat?"

"Are you kidding?" Heather, Todd's girlfriend and the current head cheerleader, leaned over. "Haven't you seen him picking up and dropping off Clark Kent from school? You know, one of the geeks from the paper."

"What is it with the people on the paper?" Todd asked. He pranced a little more before sitting down. "They're so weird."

"Hey," Pete complained. "I write for the paper sometimes."

"Pfft," Joel scoffed. "That's mostly because you wanted a slice of the editor, right? Looks like she found herself a different chocolate somethin' somethin' though."

Pete looked over at Mad Dog and Chloe. That was just not fair, if it was true. "Nah. Mad Dog’s a computer. He’s like asexual or something. Plus, she's into Clark. I bet she's just being nice. Or she needed some more coffee."

His compatriots tittered in agreement and switched to making fun of the baseball team the Crows would be up against next Saturday. Pete let himself follow along the conversation, and pretend he was still one of them. He barely noticed when Clark came in. Barely.

***

"Hey, Lex. Fancy meeting you here. Again," Chloe said, motioning him over. She didn't want him to see the stupid jerks over in the corner making fun of him. Noah was staring at them harshly, though, so it might not work.

"We seem to share an addiction. Who's your friend?" Lex asked, standing over them.

"Noah Maddoc." Noah stood and offered him a hand. "Newest Torch employee. I think I'm the newest."

"Pretty much. What are you up to today, Lex? Going to visit a farmboy?" Chloe asked.

Lex pursed his lips and shook his head.

"Oh, are you a widdle scared?" Chloe teased.

"Maybe of Jonathan Kent's shotgun," Lex shot back with a near grin.

"Don't worry, Lex, I'm not sure there's anything in the world that can kill you," Chloe replied, with a tinge of triumph in her voice.

"That will remain to be seen." Lex raised his cup. "I'll see you later."

"Hopefully with the super moper," she called after him a bit too loudly.

Her eyes followed Lex on the way to the door and widened as Clark came in just then. The two of them stood there for a moment, looking directly at one another before Lex angled his body and slipped out the door.

"I'm missing something," Noah said. "What was that?"

"They had a fight. And they're being stubborn." Chloe sighed and hoped Clark would take the time to come over and talk to her once he had his coffee.

***

"Hey, Clark," Lana said brightly as Clark approached the counter.

His head had been down most of the way across the Talon, and Clark felt like he might burst into tears. It was unreasonable, and it was stupid, but it was reality. He had been thinking of sneaking off to the bathroom so no one could see him crying when Lana had spoken.

"What's wrong?" Lana said after a moment. She leaned on the counter and looked at him with eyes that seemed to grow by the second.

"Nothing, it's just… Lex and I haven't been getting along." Clark tented his brows and shuffled his feet. "And I didn't think we were either. Are you talking to me?"

"I… Clark, these few weeks apart, they've really made me realize how much…" Lana's eyes darted over to a table in the back. "I care about you. I guess that's not very eloquent, but it's how I feel. Some people are better with words than others."

"I never thought you were bad with words. Your subject is English," Clark replied, feeling his cheeks grow pink. He didn't know how he felt about Lana saying this right now. He couldn't say it was bad to have one less person mad at him, though. "I uh…"

"You don't have to say anything, Clark," Lana replied in a breathy voice. "I just think that you should know. I mean, some pretty strange things have happened here, and you never know... Carpe Diem, right?"

"Right. Exactly," Clark replied, grinning softly.

"What can I get for you, Clark?" Lana continued brightly. "Coffee?"

"No, uh… Lemme get…" Clark tilted his head to the side, looking at the pastries. "A hot chocolate and a couple of those."

"I wish I had your metabolism," Lana commented. She nodded to the girl beside her and went to get the pastries.

"Yeah." Clark turned his head a little and spotted Pete. "How's he doing?"

"Who? Oh, Pete. Well, I guess he's adjusting. It's pretty hard for him right now," Lana said as she set his plate on the counter and reached back to get his hot chocolate. "You know, back when I was a cheerleader, I twisted my ankle once, and it was really rough trying to hang out with all my friends when they could still cheer and I couldn't."

"Yeah, that must have been awful for you," Clark agreed with a frown.

"Well, you get through it." Lana smiled and rang up his order. Then she looked up at him with her large eyes.

"Uh, thanks. I'll see you, Lana." Clark turned around, looking for a place to sit, and was glad to see Chloe sitting at a table. He frowned when he saw another guy sitting there. Oh wait, that was just another Torch reporter. Still. He frowned.

Clark approached the table, trying to look casual with his plate full of sugar and fat and his mug full of… sugar and fat and whipped cream. "Hey, Chloe. Mind if I sit?"

"Not at all," Chloe breezed. Her eyes looked a little moist, but she forced a smile and pointed to a free chair. Noah hopped up and pulled it over for Clark.

"Thanks," Clark said to him. "How's your weekend going?"

"We had an early day of work at the Talon, so we decided to treat ourselves," Noah informed him. "You too?"

"I don't know about work… Well, at the farm," Clark amended.

"That counts as work," Noah argued. "The most family business stuff I've done has been at the shop. Sweeping hair is not exactly bailing hay."

Chloe chuckled. "No, our Clark does more before 9:00 am than most farmboys do all day."

"I'm not just a farmboy." Clark felt himself flushing again, and his stomach growled.

"You should get something in the genre of real food, too," Chloe suggested, cocking her head to the side. "Not just sweets."

"I like sweets," Clark shot back, then tore a bite out of his bear claw. Mmmm.

"Sweets are good, Chloe. You can't argue that," Noah told her.

"Oh, fine. You eat your sweets." She wrapped her fingers around her mug and took a long sip. "I'll have my java."

Clark wiped his mouth a little and shook his head. "Know that I say, without condoning or judging, that you have a problem, Chloe. Admitting it is just the first step."

"But we do love you," Noah added.

"Or we wouldn't bring it up." Clark reached over and squeezed her shoulder. "You're a coffee-aholic."

"You're both a riot. If I'm a coffee-aholic, Clark's a pie-aholic," Chloe teased.

"Am not."

"Are too." Chloe leaned over and tried to poke his stomach, but he pulled away quickly.

"Then what am I addicted to?" Noah asked.

Clark and Chloe wrinkled their brows at one another for a moment as though the puzzle was hard to solve.

"Hm…" Chloe pushed her lower lip up as she considered it. "Your computer. Funny for me to say that, I guess."

"That's fair. I'll be a computer-aholic," Noah conceded.

"I was going to say chicken fingers, because that's all I ever see in your lunch," Clark said.

"You lie," Noah replied. "Occasionally I have pizza. It's school lunch. I eat what they give me."

"How can you eat pizza?" Chloe asked, as though she were interviewing him. Clark cocked his head.

"I pick off the cheese," Noah informed her.

"Then it's just soggy bread and tomato sauce," Chloe said. "Gross."

Noah shrugged. He looked at his cup. "Okay, I gotta go. My mom needs her hair sweeper this afternoon, so… Looks like a job for Sweeper Man."

"Is that really all you do?" Clark asked.

"Well, don't tell anyone, but sometimes I do perms," Noah replied in a deadpan as he stood. After a moment he added, "I'm kidding."

Chloe gave him a bright smile and a wave then turned to Clark. "You get a break from the farm?"

"Mom wanted me to take some time off. She thinks I'm working too hard on everything," Clark told her. He looked at his empty plate sadly.

"I kind of have to agree." Chloe wrinkled her nose and laughed. "Am I one to talk? I'm a bad role model for you."

"You're a good taskmaster. I wish I were a better employee sometimes."

"You put out good work when you try. I just can't make you love writing. I don't know if anyone can make you love it." Chloe trailed her finger around the rim of her mug.

"I don't dislike it. I don't know. There's just a lot going on right now."

Chloe stroked a finger along her cheek. "I don't suppose you'd wanna talk about that lot going on."

"I wish I could." Clark sighed heavily and kept his gaze down. When he looked up, Chloe wasn't sitting there anymore. He turned his head around and saw that she was at the counter, so he rubbed his hand over his lower stomach, which felt a little tender and strange, and waited for her.

When she return, she set a new plate in front of him with one of the large pre-made sandwiches that they kept on-hand sometimes and a little bag of chips.

"You're too good to me," Clark said honestly.

"Probably," Chloe said with a wiggle of her head. She smirked as she sat down and watched him devour the sandwich.

"This is so good," Clark said, with full cheeks.

"You were raised in a barn, weren't you?"

Clark nodded enthusiastically as Chloe giggled.

"Big barn. Lotsa cows. They were like my brothers and sisters."

"What an odd couple we are. City girl and farm boy." Chloe lifted her chin and looked out the window pensively.

"If it works, don't knock it."

"I'll knock you," Chloe replied offhandedly.

"I guess… You would." Clark ate a few chips and looked at the back of Chloe's hair. She'd started smoothing it down recently now that it was growing out a little, and it framed her face in a way that made her features seem, different somehow.

"Knock-knock."

"Chloe, do you… Um. I mean, it's been a few weeks since everyone got out of the hospital…" Clark froze as Chloe looked at him.

"Do I what, Clark?"

"Do you remember… anything?" Embarrassment oozed out of his voice.

Chloe's eyes seemed to shift around uncertainly for a moment. "No. Nothing. Just… nothing really. A blur. You know. I told you that before. Why?"

"I don't know. I'm just…" Clark took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.

"Hey." Chloe touched his knee. "You don't have to worry about me. Okay? Worry about you for once."

"I worry about you." He met her eye once again, then reached over hesitantly, halfway. He dropped his hand and shook his head. "If I don't worry about people how will they know I care?"

"I dunno. Maybe you could tell them," Chloe suggested with a shrug.

"Cause you're great with that."

"I'd just write a letter."

"Dear so and so, I care, by the way," Clark joked.

"Something like that," Chloe said softly.

Clark felt something inside him tingling in a way that he was in no way familiar. Not a tingling followed by the pain of the meteor rocks, but a good tingle. He wanted to feel warm like this all the time, and he realized he was grinning like an utter fool.


Part Three

"-and in the end, one has to wonder if humanity has further to go, or if we are merely beasts with big brains."

Noah laughed and clapped. Chloe turned around quickly and glared at him.

"I have to start locking that door," she said peevishly.

"It was a good editorial. I admit I didn't really read the paper much before joining up." Noah shut the Torch's door behind him and walked over to where Chloe had been performing her editorial on the abandoned child who they had found living in the Kawatche caves. She had possessed empathic powers and cut through the town on a bender, pulling everyone's emotions to the extreme before she had been captured and taken away by the authorities.

"Who knew a school newspaper actually reported news?" Chloe joked.

"And on little green men?" Noah added.

"I've never written about aliens," Chloe scoffed. "Yet."

"Yet," Noah repeated. "You write about the meteor rocks plenty."

"Well, anyone with half an ounce of observational power could see that this leafy little hamlet is full of strange occurrences that often relate back to individuals being affected by the meteor rocks," Chloe argued. "Fat sucking vampires, queen bees, hyper pheromone black widows… I mean most of my boyfriends have just been guys with powers. Sean sucked the heat out of people. Justin had telekinesis. Ian split himself in two so he could date me and Lana at the same time. I'm a mutant magnet."

Chloe made a face and motioned toward the Wall of Weird.

"Are you?" Noah shrugged and sat on the edge of Chloe's desk. He reached up and touched the picture of Chloe in the hospital, which was next to a picture of that gross parasite. "Do they all turn out so bad?"

"I dunno. I've not met them all," Chloe replied simply. "I don't think that people are normally that psycho, but I could be wrong."

"The meteor rocks causing instability?"

"No, I think you give powers to unstable people, and they're going to use them in destructive ways," Chloe clarified. "You give powers to good people, they'll stay under the radar, or do something good with them. I've never written on people with meteor powers like they were all evil, or something. Ryan wasn't evil."

"Because that would show a journalistic bias, and you make an effort not to do that," Noah concluded.

"Where's this coming from?" Chloe asked, crossing her arms.

"Just feeling you out."

"I'm not talking nasty about your mutant big brother, am I?" Chloe asked cautiously.

Noah smiled. "No. My brother's not a mutant. He's a slacker."

"Good. I think." Chloe tucked the paper back into her bag.

"I brought you my writing samples." Noah shrugged. "I don't have anything really pathos laden."

"Well, I… Hm. Why don't I read over them, and maybe I could give you an assignment to work on that you can include?" Chloe paused. "What about what we were just talking about? I give you room for an article showing a positive spin on mutants."

"No offense, but I can't see why anyone with powers would want to come out. People would think he’s a psycho-killer or a freak."

"I just report the news, Noah. I don't make it happen," Chloe replied a little defensively.

"No, I know. I just… I wonder how many people would be willing to give me information for something like that," Noah clarified. He took off his glasses and started to polish them with the hem of his shirt.

"You can protect your sources, you know. You don't have to say who they are, as long as you do have them and they're accurate. It's a common journalistic practice," Chloe pointed out. She rolled her shoulders and went over to the computer. "I have a list of people you might talk to, if you want to. But you definitely don't have to do it. It was just an idea. I'd like to see what you came up with."

"I'll think about it."

Chloe reached over to take his folder and then started to look through it. "What motivation did you put into your application? Did you say why you wanted to get into journalism?"

"I said that from a very young age, I've wanted to know everything, so investigation is a logical step."

Chloe's lips fought a smile. That was such a Noah answer. He was like a little walking computer. "I think they might want more personal."

"I like… to know things." Noah thought for a moment. "My sister died during the meteor shower, and she was always the smart one. The one who knew everything. My brother and I pale in comparison to her."

"And you wanted to be like her?" Chloe prodded.

"Maybe. I was four at the time. I barely remember her." Noah sighed.

"Try to work the story in. It doesn't have to be a Pulitzer winner, but you do want them to get an idea of who you are. This is the only chance to put a human face on your resume."

"I appreciate your help."

"I don't mind at all. It looks good on the school and on the paper if we get in, and I think you could. Two of us going are better than one. Betters our chances." Chloe smiled up at him warmly.

Noah nodded, his curls bobbing along with his head. Chloe patted his arm and began going over his resume.

***

Clark turned as he heard his name being called through the hallway and spotted Lana jogging up behind him.

"Hey, Clark. In your own world there," she said, sounding a little put out.

"Sorry. I was… Thinking about something," Clark replied. He leaned against his locker and crossed his arms over his stomach. He had to stop scarfing down nails in between classes.

"I was wondering if you had the time to help me with my algebra homework. Um, we have a big test on Friday." Lana drew a long tress of black hair behind her ear. "I can offer you some pizza if you'll come over tonight to help me?"

Clark looked down on her with a perplexed expression and slipped his hands in his pockets. "I guess, I mean. Heh. I'm not opposed to pizza. Are we meeting at The Talon?"

"No. Well, we could. I was thinking at the house. I'm off tonight, thankfully," Lana explained.

"Um. Okay, then. I'll come over tonight, ah… Lemme ask my parents and call you. They've been a little… Twitchy lately." Clark winced. "You know how it is. But they'll say yes. I just need to ask."

"Great! I mean, thanks, Clark. I get so lost in there," Lana said in relief.

"We all have our weaknesses, I guess."

"Yeah, guess my Achilles' heel is the quadratic equation," Lana replied with a smile. She began walking down the hallway with him and looked up as she spotted Chloe coming their way. "Does Chloe have a new boyfriend?"

Clark jerked his head up. Oh, that was not a fun feeling he was experiencing. "No," he said with almost too much protest in his voice. "I… She hasn't said anything about a boyfriend."

"Do you blame her after the fuss last time? I don't even know this one, though, so at least he isn't two-timing," Lana said wryly.

"I know him." Clark realized that it felt like his stomach had dropped down to his ankles. That surely couldn't be a good thing. Why were she and Noah always hanging out together? They shouldn't hang out together so much.

"Hey, Chloe," Lana said cheerfully, touching Clark's arm as Chloe drew near enough to hear. "Are you busy?"

"Uh, no, not really. Just in between things. I'm helping Noah with his internship app for The Daily Planet," Chloe explained.

Clark hoped that he hadn't sighed in relief too obviously.

"Are you going to apply, Clark?" Noah asked.

Clark shook his head vaguely, as the reasons that would be a bad idea piled up in his brain.

His father would never say yes.

The farm would wither and die without him there.

And oh yeah.

The baby.

Which he totally wasn't pregnant with, by the way.

"He really should, but I can't get him to do it," Chloe answered for Clark. "Which is just as well, because he turns all of his articles in late anyway."

"Hey!" Clark complained.

"Brilliance is a combination of talent and effort," Chloe continued with a raised brow. "Of talent, Clark is overburdened."

Clark found himself laughing and moving over to squeeze her shoulders. "Do you have to bust my chops today?"

"I don't have to. It's just a perk," she teased.

Clark managed to stop himself from planting a territorial kiss on her head, but only just.

Lana looked like she had just swallowed a whole lemon.

***

Clark hopped into the shower before getting dressed for his study date with Lana. As he stripped off his clothes, Clark took a look at himself in the mirror, trying to assure himself that he wasn't any fatter than he had been the day before. Then with a tense sigh, he stepped into the shower, turned up the hot water all the way, and began to wash himself as quickly as he could.

Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, while he was in the shower, he did things that he didn't ever talk to his parents about. As comfortable as his folks were about having family talks about his abilities, or heart-to-hearts on why his father was always right, the issue of 'down there' had never once really come up.

So when Clark went down there, he tried not to think much about what he was doing.

Only lately, he had more of an idea of what he might be doing with that, if he weren't alone in the shower.

And it involved certain events at The Talon. Also of which they never spoke at the Kent house.

Clark's eyes rolled back in his head, and he began to pant, envisioning what had happened, remembering his hands on her soft, round backside, her sides, her breasts, her back… She had felt so good, better than anything, and oh, he wanted to feel that again.

He bit back a cry and held his hand in front of him to catch any shooting fluids, then let them wash down the drain as he leaned back against the wall of the shower, utterly relaxed.

"Yes," he murmured.

***

Chloe turned off her father's midlife crisis convertible and looked to Noah for confirmation. He nodded and got out. They were in front of a little corner hair salon entitled simply, "Rose's Place."

The inside was actually pretty cool. There was a song playing in the background that sounded like it might be from the 40s or 50s, and they had all sorts of art hanging on the walls.

"Oh, hey, hon," Noah's mother Rose said, waving them both over. Her hair was straightened, short in the back with long bangs swept over one eye. It was a cute, but edgy haircut, which Chloe appreciated because who wanted a barber who had bad hair?

"Who's this?" Rose asked.

"My editor at The Torch," Noah replied.

Rose cocked a brow. "You kids really take your school paper seriously, don't you?"

"It's a serious publication, Mrs. Maddoc. It's not just school lunch menus," Chloe replied.

"Simmer down, girl, I'm not criticizing. It's good you guys are putting your extra-curriculars to good use." Rose brushed off the back of the swivel chair. "Have a seat."

Chloe shook her head. "Um, I'm just playing chauffeur here."

"Well, I got a spot open, and your hair's a mess. C'mere."

"I'm… kind of letting it grow, though."

"Yeah, but you're doing my kid a favor, so let me do you one." Rose pushed Chloe down into the chair a little. "Your hair looks like a bird's nest."

Chloe bit her lip in embarrassment. "I thought it was cute."

Rose shrugged. "Maybe. I think a cut like that is pretty difficult to keep up. Lemme see where you've got your layers."

She draped a towel around Chloe's shoulders and pinned it, then laid her down with her head over the sink.

"I'm gonna start by givin' you a wash, okay? I have a conditioner for distressed hair."

"This was a setup, wasn't it?" Chloe accused, looking sideways at Noah, who was smirking as he swept up the shop. After a moment, she sighed and let herself relax under the hot water.

***

Clark rapped on the Sullivans' door and shoved his hands in his pockets. He felt funny in his stomach and wondered if he should be going on even a study date with Lana when he knew he'd just end up hurting her again or causing more of a mess. Though, this time, Lana had asked him. That made things different.

It was algebra, not…

Anything else that would require Clark to actually deal with whatever his weird alien body was doing.

"Coming!" Lana called, hurrying to the door.

Clark tilted his head to the side when he realized that he smelled brownies. Oh dear.

By the time Lana opened the door, his stomach was growling. She looked up at him in surprise. "Well, good to know Aunt Nell's recipe smells that good! You'll have to wait until I put the frosting on them, though, and don't forget I ordered pizza."

"Frosting?" Clark thought he might fall to her knees, slavering for chocolate.

"Just my little way of saying thank you for the help," she replied, heading back into the den. "So, um… algebra?"

"Oh, yeah. We should…" Clark fidgeted impressively and stared at the Sullivans' carpet.

Lana sat on the sofa and pulled out her book, looking up at him with ever widening eyes that implored him to come over.

Clark sat beside her and pulled out his own book. She had her hair swept up with two pencils, a bit of girl-magic that Clark understood about as well as the towelhead thing they did after a shower, and she was wearing a pink spaghetti strap tank top with jeans. He was frozen for a moment, staring at her. It was like those moments in his barn, spying at her through her window and feeling that twinge of guilt, like he shouldn't be looking.

"Um, okay, so where are you guys in algebra now?" Clark asked, trying to ignore the curl of dark hair that had escaped and was contrasted against her pale neck.

"Okay, I… think I have this order of operations thing down," Lana started. She pointed at the lesson in the book that they were working on, and soon Clark's brain had entered the safety zone of higher math.

When the timer went off, Lana curled her fingers behind her ear. "Um, I'll be right back?"

Clark nodded and looked in the other direction for a moment, then got up to go use the bathroom.

As the door opened, Lana returned holding a plate of frosted brownies, and Clark returned as well, wiping his hands on the back of his jeans. He goggled for a moment.

"Chloe?"

Chloe looked between the two of them with a smile and a questioning frown. "Uh… yeah, that would be me. Who'd you think it was, Tina Greer?"

"No." Lana blinked rapidly and shook her head. "Uh…"

"You look different," Clark said bluntly, looking her over. "Have you lost weight?"

"No," Chloe said, rolling her eyes as she shut the door and walked past them. "Hardcore study session, I see."

"Algebra just isn't quite complete without the chocolate. Stand still, I wanna see." Lana put the plate on the coffee table and turned to Chloe. "I didn't know you were going to get a haircut."

"Oh! You got a haircut!" Clark exclaimed. Both girls stared at him until he snatched a brownie and sat on the couch in chastised silence.

Lana reached up and brushed her fingertips along Chloe's smooth hair. "Who'd you go to? They really did a good job."

Chloe sighed. "Was my hair really that bad before?"

"No, it just looks really good right now," Clark replied between bites. He took another brownie. "It's not that much shorter."

Chloe touched her hair tentatively and smiled. "She just evened up some of the layers and reshaped it. Then she showed me how to style it when I don't want it to get flippy and crazy. It wasn't much."

"She curled it, too. I think I want to go to her sometime. We can go together on girlie outing day," Lana declared.

"I'm sure she'd appreciate the business. Noah's mom did it for me. She was saying stuff about face shape and all that." Chloe shrugged. She took a brownie, figuring they wouldn't last much longer at the rate Clark was going through them. "I'm glad you like it, anyway. I do. Gosh."

She petted her hair again and laughed. "You think I'll ever be able to replicate this?"

"Probably not. Did she put a lot of stuff in it?" Lana held up a finger. "Hang on." She darted out of the room.

Chloe sat on the arm of the sofa and looked over at Clark, who immediately blushed. "What?" She patted his shoulder. "How's the study session going?"

"Not bad. Uh… You and Noah seem to be getting along okay," Clark said, trying to sound casual.

"Don't start, Clark. It's strictly an editor/reporter relationship," Chloe informed him.

"Yeah, we'll see," Clark grumbled.

"Oh, please. You know my type only includes the freaks and geeks of the world. Noah's far too normal and unlikely to try to kill me," Chloe joked. “Besides, workplace romances between people at different levels of power are unethical. I’d never do that.”

Lana returned with a camera. "C'mere."

Chloe stood and flashed her a huge smile. Lana snapped the picture.

"Cuuute. Clark, take a picture of the two of us," Lana ordered.

Clark raised his brows, then snapped to and took the camera. Lana and Chloe each hung an arm around the other's shoulder, and then tilted their heads together.

"Can I get one of these?" Clark asked after he took the picture.

"Yeah," Lana replied, taking her camera back. "Okay. I'm satisfied. Night documented."

"Might you document the plate of half-eaten brownies?" Chloe asked.

Lana looked at the plate in surprise, then laughed. "Well, I guess I don't have to ask if you liked them!"

"Uh." Clark blushed again.

"God, I hope he isn't going through another growth spurt. I have to get on a stepstool to yell at him as it is," Chloe put in.

Lana laughed again and returned to the couch. "Really, you look great, Chloe."

"Thanks, guys. Um, I'll get out of your… hair. With my hair. Have fun." Chloe waved at the two of them and backed out of the room.

Clark bent over the book and took a breath. He felt very, very warm.

"Clark, are you okay?" Lana asked after a moment.

"Yeah, I just uh…"

"Eat too many brownies?"

"No, um. I have to go uh…" Clark motioned vaguely behind him and hurried back to the bathroom. He locked the door and slashed cold water on his face a few times, then closed his eyes. His heat vision was about to go off, and he couldn't set the Sullivans' house on fire!

Clark looked up at his flushed face and tried to breathe slowly. He felt uncomfortable and out of control, and dammit, he had to pee again.

By the time he'd left the bathroom, Lana was sitting on the couch reading Night by Elie Wiesel with her lips pursed tightly. When she heard him, she looked up. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I've just been kind of sick for the past couple of days. I'm fine now."

"You sure? Maybe we should continue some other time," she suggested, rubbing the back of her neck.

"No, um… Would you mind? Sorry, Lana," Clark excused himself quickly and headed out the door before she could say anything else.

"Do you need…?" Lana looked down at Clark's abandoned bookbag and then at the brownies. She picked the plate up and walked into the kitchen, where she promptly knocked the remains into the trashcan.

***

In her room, Chloe sat at the desk, biting down on her thumbnail lightly and staring at her history book with little to no absorption. There were times when she had to sit down and remind herself that it didn't matter that Clark liked Lana more than her, That Way, because Chloe had his friendship. That should be enough for her.

And most of the time it was. When she got to be the one who Clark came to with problems, the one who Clark could depend on and hang out with and share their most important moments, or even the boring moments. Sometimes, though, the fact that she didn't really factor into his life as a priority in any real way hurt. It hurt a lot. She'd almost called it quits last year because he was doing a great job of focusing on Lana and Lex, but forgot even the most important things in regards to her.

Chloe wiped a tear away from her eye and took a breath. It didn't matter. Friendship was far, far more important than some high school crush. That much she believed completely.

With a sigh, she stood up, putting her hand to her side, and walked across the room slowly. Then she began to put on her pajamas. It wasn't time for bed, but they were comfortable, and she was more tired than she'd realized.

"Did I lose weight," Chloe muttered derisively. Clark was such a boy.

A few minutes later, Lana entered with a pizza box, plates, and napkins in hand. "I come bearing pizza. Clark bailed before it arrived."

"What kind?"

"Half everything, and half black olive and mushroom. Obviously, the everything was for Clark."

Chloe chuckled softly. "Obviously." She patted the bed beside her. "Break out the black olive. Dad can eat the other half."

"Agreed." Lana set the box on the bed and started to pull out a slice for each of them.

"Was Clark at least helpful with the math?" Chloe asked as she positioned a piece of pizza.

"Yeah, for the first half of the session. Then he ran off and said he was sick. I dunno." Lana daintily picked up her pizza with the napkins.

"He has been kind of pale, lately. Hungry a lot, but then I catch him throwing up. Either he actually is sick, or he's bulimic," Chloe informed Lana. She would have to keep an eye on the guy. As far as she knew, Clark never went to see the doctor.

"Am I a bad person for being relieved that he actually is sick?" Lana asked.

Chloe cocked her head and laughed softly. "Maybe a little. But I understand. It's hard when someone's bailing on you all the time."

Lana nodded and took a small bite. She wiped her mouth. "I just wish… He'd give some clear signals, you know?"

"Wait was…." Chloe set her pizza down. "Was this supposed to be a date?"

"No. It- Not really. We've had study dates before." Lana drew some of the hair away from her face and looked at Chloe with a sigh. "He was just a lot more focused on the math than he usually is."

"Oh." Chloe felt as though Lana had just punched her in her stitches, and now expected Chloe to comfort her for it.

"Maybe I'm just imagining that. Maybe he just has other things on his mind right now."

"Oh, yeah," Chloe said brightly. "I, well, I'm sure he does. He's Clark. Weight of the world on his shoulders, and everything."

Lana nodded again.

Soon Chloe filled the silence with chatter about The Torch, and Lana brought it back around to her difficulties at The Talon. When they were finished, Lana departed to put the rest of the pizza away for Chloe's father, and Chloe laid back on the bed, wishing she had someone she could talk to, really talk to, about what happened that day at The Talon.

***

Clark didn't go home after leaving the Sullivan house. He wandered the town streets, his arms crossed tightly around himself, and tried not to hyperventilate.

At some point, Clark realized, he would have had to figure this out anyway. He wished it had been later. Not now. Not right now when he had no one to really talk to about this. If it had been anything else, he could have talked to Chloe, or to Lex, but right now he didn't have either of them because Chloe was involved and Lex was not talking to him.

Tonight it dawned on him, in that hardheaded way that it did sometimes when he should have known something already, that he was pregnant. Not just pregnant.

Pregnant with Chloe's baby.

And Chloe didn't even remember having sex that night. He couldn't really tell her about it because he couldn't tell her about the red meteor rock without explaining why it affected him that way and no one else. She'd put it together. Chloe wasn't dumb.

And this might fall under alien things, which he would normally talk to Pete about, but Pete was done with him. On that, Clark was crystal clear.

So that left Clark and the cows. Or Clark and the baby, which was trying to make his life as hard as possible by making Clark devour everything in sight and sleep all the time.

He realized that he'd ended up at the caves and dropped down against the cave wall, staring up at the pictures. If they really related to him, they should have said something about accidental pregnancies.

They should have told him what to do.

Clark's hand snaked around his stomach, slipping under his shirt and touching his warm abdomen. It occurred to him then that in the weirdest way, he was completely alone. But soon, although the exact timing was unknown to him, he would not be alone. There would be someone else on this planet just like him, who would need his protection more than anything else.

The thought made Clark shiver.


Part Four

It was early, before school, when Chloe slipped into the school counselor's office. Mr. Marcelo Molina looked up at her curiously.

"Ms… Sullivan? Is that right? Have a seat."

Chloe squeezed her fingers. "Uh, I'm okay standing."

Because that means I can flee more quickly.

The man stood up and stepped behind her to scoot her towards the chair.

"Everything in my office is confidential, Ms. Sullivan."

"You're new here, right? The one who gave Lana the carpe diem shtick?" Chloe asked as she sat down and put her bag between her feet.

"Well, relatively new. I came here at the beginning of the school year. You don't have anything in your file. You never saw the old counselor?" he asked seriously, looking through his desk.

"No. Mostly because I'm such a well-adjusted young woman," Chloe replied dryly.

"In my experience, no one really thinks they're well-adjusted. Reynolds told me that for a girl your age, you have a pretty good handle on where you want your life to go. He was impressed by how you've managed the school paper."

"Thanks. It's very important to me." Chloe shrugged. "It's practically my whole life."

"Why is that?" Molina began scribbling on a pad.

"Do I have to get on a couch for this?" Chloe joked, trying to ease up the tension she felt.

Molina looked up at her with a humorless expression.

"I think… Um, I think I had sex."

The counselor put down his pencil and rubbed his temple.

Chloe looked across from the desk at him, feeling her chest grow tight in embarrassment. "Wow. So how many years did you go to school just to make me feel like a stupid whore?"

"Ms. Sullivan-"


"You can call me Chloe. And I'm not an idiot. I know what sex is. I just don't remember what happened, okay? I just keep having these dreams…" Chloe stood up abruptly. "You know what? Forget it."

"Chloe!" Molina followed her quickly and took her arm. "We should talk about this-"

"No, you're right. I'm wasting your time, aren't I? You should really get back to handling great big problems like not being able to tell if he likes you or if he like likes you!"

"I didn't mean to offend you. Please sit down," Molina said in a soft voice.

Chloe looked up at him for a moment, frowning slightly as she looked into his eyes.

"I'm sorry. I get a lot of students in here who want to ask me elementary sex ed questions or just take condoms and go. I shouldn't have diminished what happened to you."

Chloe blinked and shrugged his hand off of her, then wiped her eyes with one hand. "I don't even know what happened. How should you?"

"It doesn't sound like a good situation. Were you on something? Did he give you something?"

She sighed and moved back to the chair.

"If you read the school paper, you'd know. No one gave me anything. I got infected by this weird parasite in the caves that causes your adrenaline to go through the roof." Chloe shook her head. "I don't remember anything between the caves and waking up in a hospital bed."

Molina looked at her curiously, as though he didn't know whether to believe her or not.

"Wanna see the picture of the parasite? It's gross."

"No, that's okay." Molina shook his head, looking like he wished he'd taken an assignment elsewhere. "So you don't remember, but you're having these dreams… They feel real?"

"Very real," Chloe admitted. "And…"

"And?" Molina prompted. "Chloe, you need to talk about this with someone. I legally can't tell anyone what we say in here."

Chloe nodded and bit her lip. A tear escaped from her eyes and she looked down. "When I was, um, getting ready to take a shower a few days ago, I sort of… I saw myself in the mirror and then I felt like… I was there. Where it happened."

Molina reached across the desk and took her hand. "You're having flashbacks. This is what happens when you've experienced trauma."

"But the dreams aren't bad. That's the problem. I was high as a kite, and if I could remember it, I bet I'd say I enjoyed it, but it still feels… scary."

"Same problem with being roofied. You might have seemed to like it at the time, but that doesn't make it any less of a rape."

"No!" Chloe pulled her hand away. "He… He couldn't have known. Whoever I was with. How the hell would you guess that someone was out of their head because of an alien parasite?"

"If he didn't know, if his intentions were pure, does that really change how you should react?" Molina asked seriously.

Chloe leaned on her hand. "I think there's something seriously wrong with me. Why would I have sex with some random guy? Just because my inhibitions are gone doesn't cover it. Why would I want to?"

Molina shrugged. "Sex feels good. At your age, sometimes your virginity seems like a hindrance, like it's keeping you back, making you inexperienced when you find people who matters."

"No. There's only one person who matters," Chloe replied immediately.

"Oh." Molina put his pen down and scratched the back of his hair. "Chloe, are you feeling guilty because this wasn't with your boyfriend?"

"I don't have a boyfriend. The Torch is my boyfriend."

Molina licked his lips and nodded. "So there's someone you like, and you feel guilty about what happened to you, because you feel that this person who matters should be the only one, yes?"

Chloe was silent for a moment. "I dunno if that's all of it."

"Might be part of it. You're in a complex situation here. Certainly nothing I ever learned about." Molina stood up and walked over to her. "Look, you've got several issues here. You're suffering from post-traumatic stress because your mind couldn't handle the rush of what was happening. Second, you had sex for what I'm guessing is the first time, and maybe you weren't ready for that, which compounds it."

Chloe nodded along, looking down at her hands.

"And third, you have someone who you care about who you are afraid will judge you if he finds out what happened. Now, even if he isn't your boyfriend, that doesn't matter. You can't even pretend that what you did while you were under the influence was your fault. Maybe it wasn't the fault of this guy you were with either, but unfortunately, we can't logic our way out of trauma."

With another nod, Chloe looked up at him. "Okay. Okay."

"I hope having someone agree with you that this is something, and not just your mind playing tricks on you helps a little."

"Well, what do I do about it?" Chloe asked him earnestly. She so seldom put her trust in adult figures that it felt very strange indeed to be begging advice.

"Well, for starters, you might what to talk to your mother-"

"Can't. She abandoned me when I was five," Chloe said shortly. Of course, since she didn't have a file going in, he wouldn't know that, but right now, she felt raw and didn't want to talk about it.

Molina blew air through his lips and straightened up. "Any older female figures in your life who you could talk to?"

"If I had one, I'd be there instead of here. No offense, but I've avoided psychiatric professionals like the plague. They weren't all that helpful when my mom left us."

"How about friends?" Molina paused. "This guy you like. Is he a friend?"

"I can't tell him," Chloe whispered. "He has enough on his shoulders, and I don't want him to think…"

"What? That you're flawed? Tainted?"

"Stupid," Chloe spat. Then after a moment, "Fragile."

"We're all stupid and fragile." Molina sat on the edge of his desk. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have a school counselor here. Honestly, Chloe, I think this is out of my league. Why don't I find you a number of a counselor who can give you more specialized advice? You can keep talking with me, of course, but-"

"I don't want to talk to a shrink every week," Chloe said bluntly.

"I'm sorry, but this isn't something that can be dealt with in a short session."

Chloe began to stand up.

"Wait." Molina held up a hand. "Okay, I'm asking you to come back. Keep talking to me when you need to, but know that the first and best way to heal regarding this is time. What you're going through is a normal human response to an abnormal situation."

"No kidding? Alien parasites."

Molina shrugged his head to the side. "Whenever you start down that road of blaming yourself, you need to put the breaks on and tell yourself to stop that right there. Don't let it go on. It is normal to have these dreams, to dwell on what happened, and to feel unsafe, scared, or even numb. It should get better day by day. That isn't a very satisfying answer, but waiting it out, giving yourself time, and allowing yourself to be weak without feeling that you are a bad person for it are all necessary strategies right now."

"Yeah. Okay. I guess I can do that," Chloe replied. She looked toward the door.

"And if the dreams and flashbacks get worse, come back? It's not a solution, but we can put you on anti-anxiety medication for the short term to help you move through this part."

"I'm not eager to join the pill-popping majority, but thanks. I mean it." Chloe rolled her shoulder. "I have to get to home room."

Molina nodded and watched her as she left his office quickly. His job sucked.

***

"Um," Clark cleared his throat as he entered the school counselor's office.

The man looked up a bit irritably, then forcibly relaxed his face and motioned Clark in. "Have a seat. I'm Mr. Molina. What can I help you with?"

"Um… You can't tell anyone the things I tell you, can you?" Clark asked nervously.

"Nope. Unless it involves legal action, we're both protected by confidentiality. What's your name?"

"Uh… Clark. Clark Kent."

Molina pulled out a file, causing Clark to frown.

"You have a file on me?"

"We have a file on everyone. Some of them are empty, but I have basic information on you, yes. Nothing that isn't accessible by the general public. So go on, Clark. What's your problem?"

"Um, I have this friend."

Molina turned to him with a skeptical look. "A friend?"

"She's pregnant."

"Oh. You do have a friend," Molina amended with surprise. "She your age?"

"Yeah. And she… she can't tell her parents, and the other person, well, it was kind of a wild night, and he doesn't remember that they had sex, so…"

"Amnesia's common in this town, isn't it? Well, she's going to have to talk to him. I don't want to be harsh about this." Molina leaned back in his chair. "Unless she wants an abortion-"

"No! Oh, god, no."

"It's her choice, Clark, not yours. If she wants an abortion, she can get rid of the problem- at least the one involved with her parents finding out- but if she decides against that, she really needs to tell the father. He has a right to know in either case, but keeping the child is going to affect him no matter what happens." Molina paused. "She can put the child up for adoption or raise it herself, but she does still need to tell him. And her parents are going to find out."

"Maybe they don't have to find out," Clark suggested.

"I wouldn't advise she run away in her condition. And barring that, if she keeps the baby, they'll know."

"Why do they have to know?" Clark pleaded.

Molina sighed heavily. "Because, she's going to get bigger. Right here." He motioned around his abdomen. "It'll become obvious. Everyone will know."

"That can't happen! She's going to have to hide it somehow," Clark protested. He felt as though his throat might close up.

"She could go live with a relative for a time. That's the only way I can think of, but that's going to involve, likely, telling her parents," Molina reiterated harshly.

"I don't know how her parents will react," Clark muttered, staring at the carpet.

Molina leaned forward. "Will they hurt her? If so, she might consider going to a shelter in Metropolis."

"I don't… think they'll hurt her." Clark thought about that for a moment. He doubted his parents could hurt him, unless they used the green meteor rock, but they wouldn't do that. Not unless he was becoming a danger to someone.

"Then she needs to tell them."

"She can't tell them," Clark snapped. In one motion, he got up and left the office. He was halfway down the hall when he realized that he'd just stormed out of there in a way that he probably shouldn't have, given it was a friend he was talking about. He sighed and looked around. He should probably head to the cafeteria.

***

"Hey," Pete said in a less than thrilled voice as he entered the school counselor's office.

Molina looked at him with a crooked smile. "So we meet again."

"Only because they make me come, man. Believe me, I'd rather be in geometry," Pete grumbled. He rolled up to the desk. "I'll just take a seat."

"It's normal to be angry."

"It's normal to be angry. Do you really think that helps at all? Of course I'm gonna be angry," Pete said gruffly. "I got fuckin' paralyzed, and I don’t get to do anything anymore. Because of a stupid parasite!"

Molina paused. "Is this the parasite Sullivan was writing about in the paper?"

"Yep. Chloe, Chloe. And her upbeat, Pete will go on to do great things without any legs at all piece!" Pete clenched his fists. It was stuff like that. That’s what made him really angry.

"I'm sure she was just trying to put it out there that you were more than your sports persona. She seems like a nice girl."

"She's fine. She's nosy, but she's fine. Believe me. Fine." Pete sighed and rolled his chair back and forth a little. "She didn't even ask me for an interview about this."

"Are you upset about that?" Molina asked with confusion.

"No. Well, it's just that she always asks for the interview. It's who she is. That paper is her life. And I still do things every once and awhile, but she's gone soft on me, and it feels like she thinks I'm pathetic, or something."

"I think you might be surprised to realize that she has other things to think about besides how pathetic you are," Molina replied.

"Is that supposed to help?"

"It's supposed to give you perspective. She was infected by the parasite, too, and while she didn't lose her legs, upon a bit of research, the damage done to her was pretty extensive. And if you'll remember, which you don't, she doesn't either. You know what I'm saying?"

Pete arched a brow. "I didn't know she was hurt that bad."

"I made a few calls. She almost didn't make it out of surgery. She got lucky. Pretty lucky to still be here at all. Just like you."

Pete paused to think about that.

"At least neither of you plummeted to your death, like some of the people infected with the parasite," Molina pointed out.

"I sure as hell did the plummeting. Hope you understand sometimes I don't think that missing the second part of that is such a great thing," Pete replied.

Molina nodded and scribbled on his pad. "Tell me what you're up to this week."

Pete grumbled and searched his mind for something, anything, to talk about. He hated coming here every week.

***

When Molina's door opened yet again, he looked up, hoping that one of his troubled teens had come by to talk a bit more. Instead he bit back a groan.

"Mr. Molina?" Lana said in a soft, breathy voice. "Do you have a moment to talk? It's about that guy."

***

As Clark stepped through the kitchen door after school, he froze at what he saw: Lex sitting there at the kitchen table, waiting for him patiently with folded hands. Clark felt his eyes watering, and he couldn’t stop them.

Lex looked up when he heard him and exclaimed, “Clark? What…” He came over to him and put his arms around Clark’s shoulders. “What is it? Are you alright?”

“You’ve just been avoiding me, and-“ Clark sobbed loudly and grabbed Lex around the waist as he pressed his face into Lex’s shoulder. “A-and I’m losing my b-best friend!”

“I haven’t been around because you told me not to be. Remember that?” Lex explained in a gentle voice. He moved Clark over to the kitchen chair where he'd been sitting and rubbed Clark's back. “It’s okay. I’m here now, and as long as you want me around, I’m not going anywhere.”

“Is that a threat or a promise?” Jonathan Kent boomed jovially as he stepped into the kitchen. With one look at the two embracing, his face became suspicious. “What’s going on here?”

“Clark?” Lex whispered, touching Clark’s cheek with a smile. “Come on. I’m not even mad at you. You were under the influence, right? When you said those things?”

Clark made a noise and nodded his head. He’d gotten Lex’s expensive sweater damp, and he hoped that Lex didn’t care. Looking up sheepishly, Clark felt like such a girl for bursting into tears like that, but Lex was still rubbing on him, and he wasn’t going anywhere, thankfully.

“Someone had better tell me what’s going on,” Jonathan warned.

“During the events regarding the cave parasite, Clark told me to stay away from him, and I suppose he doesn’t remember, because I have, and now I’ve upset him. I’m truly sorry, Clark. The fault is mine."

“At the time I did. You’re a killjoy when people are drugged,” Clark explained apologetically. “But I remember. I just… I didn’t mean that you’d stab me in the back, I was just thinking about last time, when you turned around and told my parents, and you were just looking out for me.”

A few more tears rolled down Clark’s cheeks. He felt so guilty for not telling Lex, more than he had ever before. Lex pulled a purple silk handkerchief out of his pocket and began wiping Clark’s face off.

“I’ll take killjoy as a complement. I’ve been slipped something on more than one occasion, and it’s hard to live up to things you do when you aren’t yourself.” Lex favored him with a gentle smile. “I’m glad you don’t actually hate me, though.”

“Gosh, Lex, I don’t think I could ever hate you.” Clark made his lower lip stop shaking and accepted the handkerchief, wiping off his face and blowing his nose with it.

Jonathan moved around to the other side of the table and started to put on some coffee. “Son, I wish you’d talked to us about this. We could have made sure things got patched up. There’s no reason for you to be alone, especially after what happened to Pete.”

“Because it was my fault,” Clark said. After the words came out of his mouth, he wasn’t sure how that followed the conversation. But he believed them.

Lex shook his head. “It wasn’t your fault. The parasite infected him, and you weren’t even there for that.”

“If I hadn’t been so out of it-“ Clark protested.

“You wouldn’t have been out of it if Pete hadn’t drugged you,” Jonathan pointed out, taking a seat across from them.

“If anything, I feel responsible. I should have seen that something was going on and stopped you all. Been my killjoy self,” Lex admitted.

Clark shook his head firmly. “No, Lex, how were you supposed to know? Cave parasites? It’s pretty crazy.”

“I had a few clues-“ Lex began.

“But not enough to do anything with, or you would have called me and Martha,” Jonathan said certainly. “I know you’d alert us, because you’ve done it before, and you understand when parents need to be involved.”

Jonathan’s words were spoken so pointedly that Clark had to turn and give his father a look. They could have been praise, but instead he was giving Lex a lecture on his responsibility toward Clark.

“We’re going to the barn,” Clark said abruptly, grabbing Lex’s hand and taking him along.

Lex was quiet until they’d cleared the porch, then spoke in a soft but meaning-filled voice: “Only you’re getting older, and your parents don’t always need to be involved. In the case when you were about to run away, Clark, I was worried for your safety. There was something wrong with you, and with all the sudden mood shifts that we’ve seen over the past year…”

“You knew that something like that had happened to me. What was different this time?” Clark turned his head when Lex was quiet for too long. “What was it?”

“I thought perhaps you were still angry over my father’s shooting. Not to mention the issue with the caves. I don’t want to upset you again, Clark, but I’m beginning to feel that those caves are more important to you than I am, and if I hadn’t gotten involved, my father would have had them filled with cement for his office park.”

Clark stopped just in front of the barn. Dammit, he was about to cry again. Is that what Lex really thought about him? He turned his head away and bit his lip hard. Lex’s hand touched his shoulder.

“If you say that’s not true, then I’ll be forced to believe you, but I’ve been getting the impression that you’re tired of me, so… I pulled back preemptively, again, as you asked of me.”

After taking a few deep breaths, Clark looked at Lex again. “Maybe… I’ve been taking you for granted. I was mad about the thing with our fathers, but that wasn’t your fault. I was just blowing off steam. Sorry.”

“So… are we okay?” Lex asked.

Clark nodded and led them into the barn. “Lex, if… if I had to tell someone something and I directly asked you not to tell my mom and dad, would you tell them?”

“That would depend…” Lex licked over his bottom lip slowly, “on why they should be kept out of the loop. This doesn’t involve kidnapping of a minor again, does it?”

“What?” Clark turned and looked at Lex in confusion.

“Me running away to Metropolis with you?” Lex said motioning between them. “That’s what that would be. Legally speaking.”

“And you’ve never bent the law?”

“Well, I think our experience with Ryan proves that I obviously have. If I were convinced that you were better off out of your parents' care, then I wouldn’t mind to do it,” Lex conceded. “But I don’t think they would ever hurt you.”

“I’m more afraid that… they just don’t understand me,” Clark said softly. He began ascending the stairs to the loft and could hear Lex’s soft footsteps behind him.

“You and every other sixteen year old,” Lex murmured. “There were levels of my father not understanding me. The levels had their own levels.”

“Yeah, as opposed to now, where you two are like peas in a pod.” Clark turned his head when he reached the top to grin at Lex, who managed a smile back.

“So, what’s bothering you?” Lex asked, stepping up to Clark. He paused. “Or do you need to keep that one to your own thoughts right now?"

“I um…” Clark rubbed the back of his neck and turned to the loft window. “I think I just need some more time to sort it out.”

Lex looked out the window himself. “It’s your choice, Clark. I won’t push… Hm.” Thinning his lips, he looked up at Clark pensively. “Well, I won’t unless I feel that you’re in danger.”

“I like that caveat. It lets you off the hook if you change your mind,” Clark said with a sigh.

“Clark-“

“No, it’s sensible. You can’t promise no matter what. Then you just end up having to lie.” Clark shoved his hands in his jean pockets and closed his eyes. “You’re good, Lex. Good to me, and I know I screw up. A lot.”

“We all do. I certainly do, and often. We’re only human.”

Clark’s lower lip trembled.

“Well, some of us are. Some of us had our DNA altered during the meteor shower.”

“Or from drinking meteor rock smoothies.”

“Or being stung by meteor bees," Lex added dryly.

Clark laughed, feeling lighter, even if it meant that Lex was just talking about all the freaks, and not aliens.

“Are you feeling a little better?” Lex asked, stepping closer to the window frame and then leaning on it. “I know the last couple of weeks must have been incredibly jarring for you.”

“Yeah, it’s… It’s been a roller-coaster,” Clark looked down at the front of his shirt and made a concentrated effort not to burst into tears again.

“If you ever want to talk about Pete, I’ll listen. It may not seem like it; I may seem like the last person who ever had friends who… well. Friends at all. However, I’ve lost my share of them.” Lex narrowed his eyes and pinched his mouth back. “I know how, unbelievable it is at first, when you realize that you’ll never spend time with them again, never talk to them again. When you pick up your phone and start to dial their number-“

“Unn…” Clark covered his eyes and leaned over. This was too much, and it wasn’t even just about Pete. For the last month and a half, Clark had just felt completely alone. Pete hated him, the only kid his age who knew his secret.

"I'm sorry," Lex whispered. He put his arm around Clark's shoulders, looking over at him worriedly. "But it'll be alright, in time. I promise."

"In time," Clark muttered. "I guess it will have to work itself out."

Part Five

As the green Audi TT zipped down the road to Smallville High, Lex turned his head to look at his sullen passenger, slumped over like someone had kicked his puppy.

Maybe Lex should get him a puppy. But then again, a puppy would be much sadder to return than a truck.

“I know high school isn’t the brightest of places to be, but I feel like I’m driving you to the electric chair,” Lex joked in a dry tone.

“Huh?” Clark looked up. His hand was curled over his stomach, and he blinked a few times before shaking his head. “Sorry, Lex, I was off in the clouds.”

“Really?” Lex deadpanned. After giving Clark a smile, he asked, “What’s on your mind, Clark?”

“I dunno.”

“Hm. Is it about Pete?”

“No.”

“Lana?”

“No.”

Lex raised a brow and made a mental note to find out more about that particular response later. “Well, that narrows it down. Have you considered talking to her about what happened?”

“What?” Clark’s brows shot up in an expression that Lex assumed was supposed to be innocence.

“You need to be the one to talk to Chloe about what happened. It’s been too long already,” Lex said. He pulled up in front of the school. “You weren’t responsible, but I think she’d like to know who took her virginity. Letting her deal with that on her own... It’s cruel.”

Clark’s mouth opened, then he looked down at his lap and murmured something.

Lex sighed and put his hand on Clark’s shoulder. “Perhaps that was a bit harsh. What I mean to say is, if you care about her, you’re going to have to find a way to talk to her about what happened.”

“I know that, I guess. I just don’t think I can handle it if Chloe hates me too.”

“Who hates you?” Lex tilted his head to the side. “I certainly never did. Lana’s talking to you again.”

“Pete hates me.”

“I think Pete hates what happened, and you’re a convenient scapegoat at the moment. If you two were really friends, you should give him some time to cope with that, and things will get better.”

Clark shrugged. He looked over at the school. “Principal Reynolds is gonna close the gate on me, if I don’t get going.”

“Somehow I think you could manage to get over that gate.” Lex licked his lips then motioned for Clark to leave with his hand. “Try to have a good day.”

Clark looked back at Lex, sighed, and got out of the car to leave. Lex frowned, hoping that his young friend would open up to him at some point, but knowing Clark, it was unlikely. Lex didn’t think, despite their time together and relative closeness, that Clark trusted him, or ever would.

***

If he could get nothing else right that day, Clark was determined to get to his first class on time for once. He jogged alongside the school toward the entrance, trying to keep ahold of his book bag.

“Hey, Claire!”

Clark stumbled back as strong hands slammed into his shoulder from the side. Taking the blow was almost instinctive by now, even if it wasn’t in his best interests, and he fell into the side of the school, looking up at the boys in front of him with confusion. He recognized one or two of them as football players, not that they had much to do at this point in the school year. Joel Masters was quarterback this year. Tom Fitzpatrick was his best friend, and Doug McAllister followed Tom wherever he went. Todd Jenkins, well, Clark wasn’t sure what his role on the football team was, but he was pretty sure he was tight in their group. He looked up at the group of four boys, and then caught Pete out of the corner of his eye.

“Pete?” Clark whispered. Although he was looking straight at Pete, it was like the young man didn’t even see him. Clark paled, fearing that Pete might have given these boys a chunk of green meteor rock.

“Oh, sweet Claire Kent,” Joel teased in a sing-song voice.

Todd started to sashay around. “Your mista-mista gave you a ride to school, huh?”

Tom and Doug laughed uproariously.

“What a swtheetie he is!” Todd lisped triumphantly, clapping his hands together.

“Guys, I just want to get to homeroom on time,” Clark protested.

“Aww, we upset the princess,” Doug sneered. He batted his lashes at Clark then moved in closer.

“Poor princessth,” Todd lamented.

Now Clark felt heat rushing to his face, and he was seriously worried that he was going to do something stupid and cry. And if he cried these guys were really going to rip into him, and if they ripped into him without the meteor rock... Everyone was going to know one of his big secrets!

It was then that Chloe’s voice came ringing out through the courtyard like a siren as she barreled toward the boys. Todd and Joel both got a heavy whack from her sturdy, oversized purse before the four of them backed up in surprise.

“What are you, pack animals? What’s wrong with you?” Chloe demanded.

“Whoo! It’s the wild girl!” Tom cheered. He raised his hands and started wiggling his hips toward her.

“Hey, galfriend,” Todd teased. “You wanna come study with me at the Talon?”

Chloe’s mouth dropped open for a moment, then she tightened her jaw and pulled out her phone. “You know I have the principal on speed dial, right? For newspaper purposes. Getting expelled is going to look seriously shitty to those college recruiters.”

“Fine,” Doug spat. “Fine. Take your little princess.”

“And be sure to use some condoms,” Todd said, hitting her shoulder as he walked past. “Don’t want our little overachiever to get pregnant.”

“I’m on the pill, sweethearts, but thanks for the concern,” she shot back as she went to Clark’s side. Making sure that he wasn’t wobbling as he stood, she touched his shoulder gently. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“You’re on the pill?” Pete cocked his head to the side in disbelief.

Chloe grabbed Clark’s hand and pulled him toward the door. Her lips curled angrily over her teeth. “Don’t talk to me!”

Clark saw the stunned expression on Pete’s face and felt a moment of empathy. Surely Pete felt like he had to play along with his friends, or lose them. And he probably hadn’t considered how Chloe was going to react to that kind of bullying behavior, although he should have figured it out from two and a half years of knowing her.

“Thanks,” Clark whispered to Chloe as she stalked down the hallway. Wow, was she mad.

“No problem. I know you could have taken them, Clark, probably. At least a couple of them, but who needs fighting on their record? Reynolds would have punished you, too.” Chloe shook her head and then crossed her arms as she let herself fall back on her locker. “They’re football players.”

“You don’t think he’d punish them? I thought he was all about treating everyone the same.”

“He’s not. He plays favorites, and I happen to be one of his favorites because I’m a girl who should be “at risk” because my mom’s AWOL and my dad doesn’t make much.” Chloe took a deep breath and petted her hand over Clark’s firm bicep. “You have everything going for you, and your best friend is Lex Luthor. Even if he wants to teach them a lesson, and he would in his own way, you’re going to get the brunt of it.”

“Then thanks for the save.” Clark leaned on the lockers next to her and smiled. “My hero.”

“And here I forgot my cape.”

“You have the tights, though.” Clark looked down.

“Yeah, I have to be harboring a parasite to show my legs without the tights. It’s a bit much to accessorize this skirt with.”

“There’s nothing wrong with your legs.”

“I won’t be doing any high kicks on the football field.” Chloe fetched a book out of her locker then took his side as they walked down the hall together.

“But you’ll be beating up the football players, so that’s okay.” It felt good to be talking to Chloe again, to hear her little giggle. Just talking, with tension evaporated away like it didn’t matter anymore.

Of course, Clark had a tightness at the waist of his jeans that said it completely mattered, but for the moment he could forget and enjoy being with this amazing girl who feared nothing.

“Hey, Clark.” Chloe looked up at him, her eyes creased with worry. “Are you okay? Don’t be upset by what they said. They’re idiots. I bet you anything more than one of them is gay, and they’re too scared to admit it.”

“I’m not gay,” Clark grumbled.

“To homophobes, you’re gay by association.” Chloe growled deep in her throat. “I hate people like that. It’s not right, or fair, or even logical in any way. Like it’s contagious or something.”

“It makes them feel better about themselves, I guess.” Clark rubbed his abdomen. “When you’re insecure about your manhood, tearing other people down about it probably makes you feel better.”

“That’s why you’re more man than they’ll ever be,” Chloe said confidently. She stopped and held open the door for Clark at their class.

Clark grinned. “You’re more man than they’ll ever be.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Chloe fluffed her hair on the way to their seats.

***

“It’s been so boring in Smallville since the parasites.” Chloe twirled her finger around the loose curls that formed when she didn’t straighten them. All in all, it seemed like Rose really knew her way around a head of hair.

Noah looked over the settings on his computer screen, then set the printer going to spit out the 250 copies needed for the next morning. “Well, I don’t think we want more parasites to liven the place up. Is boring a bad thing?”

“For news, yes. For the integrity of our bodies, not so much.” Chloe took a sip of her diet soda and hit save before standing to pack her things back into her bag.

Noah shrugged. “I thought a little more about that article you were suggesting. I know a few people who might speak for it, but only if we promise not to reveal their identities. Can we do that?”

“Yeah! That would be great. Wow.” Chloe drew a curl out of her eyes. “I’d love to give you some real space for this. When you’re getting close to ready, let me know. I’ll give you the editorial.”

“That’s... generous.” Noah walked over to where Chloe was standing. “Are you feeling guilty?”

“What? No. I just... I’ve always promoted The Torch to others as a means of getting credits on your resume. Your style is a little stiff but you’re intelligent and your writing shows it.” Chloe shifted her bag onto her shoulder and looked at Noah with a shrug. “It’s not like any of my other reporters are dying to take on any more responsibility.”

“Just making sure. I just don’t want anyone handing anything to me.”

“Well, if the story is terrible, it won’t be printed on a napkin, let alone The Torch.” Chloe elbowed Noah before heading for the door.

Noah followed her part of the way. “It won’t be terrible.”

“You sound pretty certain of yourself.” Chloe looked back once she was at the door.

“I’m 73% certain-” Noah paused and looked to the side. “-if I can get the interviews I want, it won’t suck.”

“I’ll take those odds.” Chloe flashed Noah a smile before leaving The Torch. She trusted him to lock up when the paper was finished printing.

***

“So, um, I hear you’re getting tutoring again tonight.” Chloe took a small piece of brittle off a plate next to the register labeled “Free!” and watched Lana trying to prepare a latte with extra foam.

“I think this thing just bit me,” Lana grumbled before replying. “Um, yeah. I really need another session before our test next Friday, or I might as well resign myself to slinging coffee here for the rest of my life.”

“I thought you were happy to own The Talon. Sort of your place in the world.” Chloe bit into the brittle and nodded in approval. Nell had sent the package from Metropolis a few days ago, and Chloe was sure Nell had made it herself.

“Oh, no, I do. I appreciate what I have here, but some days are more... appreciable than others, if you know what I mean.” Lana turned and set several drinks on a tray.

Chloe quirked her lips to the side. “I suppose I do.”

She sighed and turned around, leaning on the counter as she watched Lana walk out to the table by the window.

“It’s always nice to be appreciated,” she murmured to herself as she took another piece of Nell’s brittle. “Mmm.”

Clark slunk in with his backpack over his shoulder. When Lana had cornered Clark in the hallway earlier that day, he’d just been about to sneak off to the shop room to get a snack (even if Reynolds was going to catch and fry him for it eventually), so in bobbing his head along, Clark hadn’t even noticed that he’d promised to play tutor again until she’d responded with relief. He supposed that he wouldn’t have said no anyway.

After dropping onto the couch by the wall, Clark placed his backpack strategically in his lap and looked around. Spotting Chloe, he thought that he might like to go over to her, but now he was starting to feel a little sick and heavy, obviously from the chewed up nails in his belly. He didn’t think he’d throw up, but the notion of spewing sharp fragments of nails all over the Talon was pretty horrifying.

When she came over to sit beside him, Clark’s heart jerked a little. This was where they’d made their little baby. “Uh, hey.”

“Hey.” Chloe bumped Clark’s shoulder and offered him a piece of the peanut brittle she was holding.

“Uh, no thanks.” Ugh. That peanut smelled so awful right now.

Chloe patted his arm and then leaned against him. “Looking forward to tonight?”

“Um, not really.”

Chloe tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes at Clark.

“I’m just not feeling that well. I just don’t want to blow Lana off again.”
Chloe stuck out her lower lip and rubbed Clark’s arm. “You’ve not been feeling well a lot lately. Is something wrong?”

“What? No,” Clark said too quickly. Then he turned his head toward the counter.

“Hm. Not sure I believe you. You know I could pry it out of you if I wanted.”

“I know... Please don’t?”

Chloe laughed. Her chin dipped just a little and her glossed pink lips parted slightly. Clark’s stomach felt a lot funnier just then.

I know why Chloe was… with you. But why were you with her?

“Chloe...” Clark murmured with a smile.

“Yeah?”

“Do you, um. Would you want to... do something?”

“Something?”

“I... um. I mean, how are you doing in geometry?”

“Passing by the grace of extra credit paper constructions,” Chloe quipped. “I’m all right. Don’t feel like you have to tutor all the girls in the school. Although if you decided to do that, you might want to start charging.”

“I’m not going to tutor everyone. I just...” Clark sighed and hugged his book bag.

“If you really feel that bad, I think Lana would understand if you rescheduled.”

“I can’t blow her off again.”

“Yeah, we could try that reliable thing. Even if we are teenagers.” Chloe patted his arm and stood up. “I’ll leave you to your books. My final is actually coming up pretty soon. If you want to get together for a end of the semester powwow? We could set something up at my house. You, me, and Lana. We’ll get our plans for our final English papers sorted out, and you can save yourself some time by having us ask our little questions at the same time.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Clark would have much preferred Lana not to come, since she would monopolize the session, but he wasn’t sure how to say that in any way that wouldn’t be awkward.

“Cool. See ya, Clark. Try to take it easy.” Chloe flashed him a smile before heading for the door.

Clark sighed, wondering how he could manage to talk to Chloe alone without it being awkward, or weird. And the longer he waited to tell her, the worse it was going to get. He rested his chin on his arms and dozed over his backpack.

“Clark!” Lana whispered, poking Clark’s shoulder.

His head jerked up and he blinked as he looked around. The Talon was mostly deserted, aside from Lex talking to one of the girls at the register.

“You were knocked out there,” Lana said. “Ready to get going? Or do you want a cup of coffee first?”

“Ugh. No coffee.” In fact, if Lana hadn’t suggested the Talon, he might have avoided it.

“Okay.” Lana sat next to him and looked up expectantly.

Clark swallowed and nodded to Lana, who pulled out her math book. A few minutes later, Clark was more or less awake again and they were working steadily on reviewing the concepts that had escaped Lana’s brain. Clark didn’t envy his peers. It was easy for him to memorize equations. Easy to see how all the pieces fit together. He could probably have taught algebra better than the teacher himself.

Of course, Clark was already in pre-calculus.

Lex strolled over to them, and the moment he caught Clark’s eyes, waggled his pale, thin eyebrows. Clark cleared his throat. “Hey.”

“Working hard, I hope.” Lex looked between the two of them.

“We were,” Lana replied.

Clark shot her a look before setting the book aside. “Big plans with Doctor Destructo tonight?”

“Ah ha... That’s a good one,” Lex said appreciatively. “Actually, no, we won’t be seeing each other this evening. She’s out of town.”

“Again? Does she spend any time in town?”

Lex opened his mouth to think about that. “Ahh... Some workdays.”

“Sounds like a tightly knit relationship.”

“It’s actually probably better for our relationship that she doesn’t have to be in a room with me too often.”

Clark laughed. “You and I do okay seeing each other every day.”

“Hm. I think our relationship is slightly different from mine and Helen’s,” Lex said thoughtfully. He slipped his hands into his pockets. Lana was pointedly pursing her lips and looking at the math book. Lex took a deep breath, then nodded to them both. “I have to get going. Have fun, kids.”

“You too. Don’t read too much dry antiquated stuff. You’ll put yourself into a coma,” Clark joked.

Lex gave them both a wave on the way out the door. Lana breathed a sigh of relief.

“Are you and Lex having a fight?” Clark asked after a moment.

Lana turned the page of her algebra book. “No, I’d just really like to get back to work.”

“He just wanted to say hi.”

“Well, it’s only a matter of time before you go darting off on me-”

“Did you hear that?” Clark looked toward the back exit.

Lana spread her hands. “I don’t understand why you act like you want to be with me, and then when you’re with me, you act like you’re rather be with anyone else.”

“That’s not fair, Lana. Lex was here less than a minute,” Clark protested.

“Yes, and then when you asked me out on a date, you were with Chloe, and the time before that you were with that girl Jessie.” Lana set her book aside.

“That was- Okay, I can’t explain that, but I wish you’d understand that I have my reasons like everyone else.”

Lana huffed and curled her small fingers into her hands. “Well, maybe I’m done with hypothetical reasons.”

“Done with them or not, you can’t pretend to have forgiven me and keep holding a grudge,” Clark snapped back.

“I think it’s up to me what I do or don’t forgive, Clark!”

Clark jerked up and looked around. “Did you hear that?”

“What?” Lana rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

Leaping to his feet, Clark wasted no time in rushing to the alleyway by the back exit. He scanned the area quickly. Two men were standing by Lex’s car, kicking something vigorously. They looked up when they saw him and bolted in opposite directions as a tire iron clattered to the pavement.

“Hey!”

Clark ran after one of them, whipping around the car. He was about to catch the one when he heard an unmistakable groan that caused him to return to the car. On the ground, curled on his side with blood smeared across his head and face was Lex. Above him, spray painted in red paint across the silver Lamborghini was the word: “FAGGOT.”
Part Six

Clark was a solitary figure in the waiting room of the hospital, slumped over and head in hands. One group sat off to the right. A family waiting for their loved one.

There was no family waiting for Lex. And Clark had lost sense of the time since he’d arrived here, begging for information about Lex. There had been so much blood. It was a miracle he hadn’t thrown up at the time, but he’d felt turned inside out ever since the ambulance had arrived.

They didn’t let him ride with them. He’d gotten there before the ambulance anyway. He would have carried Lex there if he hadn’t seen broken ribs inside his friend and been afraid to move him.

When a nurse came out, Clark’s head snapped up, following him as he walked over to the family waiting. It was then that Clark realized that he’d been sobbing. Still was. Couldn’t stop.

Somewhere in the back of his head, Clark could rationalize that it was probably hormones making him cry so hard. It wasn’t as though Lex hadn’t been hurt before, but... that he’d been hurt like that, because of that. And he knew who those boys were, even if he didn’t have the chance to get a good look at them. There were few coincidences in Smallville. 


I should have taught them a lesson this morning... yesterday morning... he thought miserably. He curled up in his chair again, hiding his eyes.

Soft hands touched his shoulders and Clark lifted his head. His eyes were wide, but puffy and bloodshot. Chloe’s lips bowed downward and she leaned over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

“Oh, Clark! God, you should have called me. I didn’t hear until I got home from Lana. Have you been here the whole time?” Chloe sat beside him and kept her arm on him, then rested her hand on his leg. “Hey. Clark. Look at me.”

Clark turned his head and blinked. Her green eyes shone with determination and when she spoke again, it was like she was willing the world to fix things through sheer will.

“Lex has been through a lot. And he’s going to be fine. Just fine.”

For the first time in hours, Clark let himself belief that things might be okay.

Pulling Clark toward her, Chloe placed Clark’s head on her shoulder and ran her fingers through his hair. “Shhhh... Hang in there, Clark. When they let us in to visit him, Lex won’t want to see you so distressed. He loves you.”

Clark made a scoffing sound.

“He does. He really does, you know. What those guys did... that was beyond the pale. It scares me to think they might get the jump on you...”

Wetness dropped onto Clark’s forehead and his eyes flitted upward.

“Chloe, they can’t hurt me,” Clark promised. “They won’t.”

“All teenage boys think that they’re invincible. Lex is only twenty-two. Obviously you guys are not unbreakable.” Her arm curled around his back and hugged him more tightly. “You just need to learn to be careful. I don’t know what I’d do, if something happened to you.”

Clark reached up to hug Chloe’s arms. “Ditto.”

“Very eloquent.”

“Some people are just better with words than others, I guess.”

***

When they finally let Clark and Chloe in to see Lex, it was late, and he wasn’t very lucid. Chloe had called her father and made sure that there were some flowers from the plant workers waiting for him, so Clark sat by his side, took his hand, and pointed out the flowers.

“See those? Those are for you,” Clark whispered. Like most days lately, he felt his eyes getting moist.

Chloe stood behind Clark with her hand to her mouth. For a long moment, Lex just stared back at Clark, his face swollen and mottled with bruises. Then he squeezed Clark’s hand, and Clark let out a huge sigh, and tears rolled down his cheeks.

“...always there... hm. When I open my eyes.” Lex’s words were a little slurred, from the bruises or from the painkillers that were coming through his IV.

“Yeah. It’s always Clark, isn’t it?” Chloe smiled warmly and came over to kneel by Clark’s side. Seeing the tears, she reached up to wipe them away gently and put her arm around his shoulders.

“Not soon enough. Not always,” Clark muttered.

“Not your fault.” Chloe glared him down.

“I was right there. Right there the whole time.” Clark shook his head. “I’m sorry, Lex.”

Chloe huffed a little. “Lex knows you saved his life. If you’d been back there, they might have hurt you too.”

“They wouldn’t have. And even if there was a chance, I can’t stand by while people get hurt.”

“Well, you can’t save everyone, Clark. You did the best you could.”

“It wasn’t good enough!” Clark snapped, loudly enough for Chloe to jump back.

“You...” Lex whispered.

The two of them looked to Lex quickly.

“...have nice hair. Clark. Really nice hair.”

Clark let out a little laugh. Chloe followed, her nervous giggles breaking up the remaining tension in the room.

When Lex was better, they would of course be teasing Lex about the hair bit as much as they could. Because he was still with them, and they could.

***

The following day, despite his father’s protests, Martha had insisted that Clark stay home and rest. He’d been at the hospital late, and she hadn’t the heart to make him leave until he had the opportunity to see that Lex was going to recover. So for the first time in a very long time, Clark Kent got to sleep in.

Being who he was, Clark didn’t usually take sick days. This was sort of a novelty, and Clark lay in bed until the late hour of nine am before the deep hunger in his belly caused him to wake. He tried to roll over on his side and coax his brain toward sleep once again, but it was no use. He may have wanted sleep, but the baby wanted breakfast.

By midmorning, Clark was dozing on the couch. With a wide yawn, he stretched out, his legs reaching over the armrest. A little giggle made his eyes pop open.

Chloe was sitting in the chair next to the sofa with her fingers interlaced under her chin.

“Were you watching me sleep?” Clark asked grumpily.

“Maybe. Your mom said I could find you in here. I didn’t want to wake you. Last night was hard.”

“Harder for Lex.” Clark pushed himself up and wrapped the blanket that his mother had probably draped on him while he was out around him. “What are you doing here?” He sniffed then opened his eyes. “Do I smell chocolate?”

Biting her lower lip, Chloe reached over for a box that was on the coffee table. “I wanted to make you cookies, but I, uh, I’m not any kind of cook, at all.”

She lifted the lid to reveal chocolate glazed doughnut with sprinkles.

“Your horrible. I’m not the one who got a beating last night, y’know.” Clark reached for a doughnut. “Thanks.”

“No problem. When Lex is feeling up to it, we can give him some chocolate therapy, too.” She set the box down and took one herself. “His girlfriend didn’t even show up.”

“She was in Metropolis.” Clark took a big bite out of the doughnut while Chloe tore off little pieces of hers to eat.

“If the guy I loved were in the hospital, I wouldn’t let two hours keep me from getting there. I might employ some Luthoresque driving techniques to get back here faster.”

Clark licked his fingers and reached for a second. “I don’t like to think of you driving like he does. I don’t like to think about him driving like he does.”

“You’re so protective,” Chloe murmured. She rubbed her eyes a little and stared at her doughnut.

“You look terrible. Did you sleep at all?”

“Sleep is for the weak. I finished my papers for English and US History instead.”

“Great.” Clark set the doughnut down and grabbed Chloe’s hand. “C’mon.”

“What are you doing?” she protested.

“Just... come on.” 

He pulled her onto the couch and tucked the blanket around her. Chloe let her head drop back and sighed heavily.

“I’m not used to being mommied,” Chloe complained.

“That’s okay. I think I’m picking up a knack for it.” Clark rested her legs on his lap and watched her as he munched.

“Mama Clark.”

“I wish this weren’t so hard on you.”

“It’s not Lex. Well, it is a little, and it hurts-” Chloe motioned to her chest. “-right here to think about those guys doing that to Lex and why they did it. But I haven’t been sleeping much anyway.”

“Yeah? How come?”

“It’s stupid.”

Clark wiggled her foot. “Come oooon.”

It was a long moment before Chloe answered, her voice quiet and serious. “I keep having flashbacks about that night at the Talon. And it’s... seriously... screwing with me.” She let out a tense, forced laugh. “The memories aren’t that bad, really, but it’s just... it’s like I’m having a panic attack when I start to remember, because my body wasn’t in control, and my head can’t logic out of that. Mr. Molina says I have PTSD. He prescribed me some pills.”

As Chloe spoke, Clark’s eyes grew wider and wider. “God, Chloe...”

“It’s not a big deal, Clark. It’s just... aftermath of that stupid parasite.”

No longer hungry, Clark shoved the box aside and pulled Chloe closer to him. In spite of herself, she curled into his shoulder.

“It is a big deal,” Clark said. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

“Not your fault. Not anyone’s fault, really. That’s what’s so stupid. Normal girls get raped because of something someone did, and by someone they know. Me? I get raped by a faceless stranger who doesn’t even know that I’m out of my head.”

Clark held Chloe more tightly and felt tears stinging his eyes again. He didn’t let them fall this time, though, because this was Chloe’s pain, and not his. How could he ever tell her that he’d done this to her?

“Chloe...”

She lifted her head, looking at him with weary but stern eyes. “Don’t you feel sorry for me, Clark Kent. I’m tougher than you think.”

“You don’t have to be. Why does it have to be “no big deal?” Why can’t it just be you need someone to lean on? Like everybody does. Why do you have to be the one who comes through for me and brings me doughnuts because Lex is hurt when I can’t even recognize how much pain you’re in?”

“I don’t want this. I don’t want to be... I dunno. Burdening anyone.” Her head dipped until all Clark could see was a limp mess of blond curls, and the hint slightly darker roots.

Clark took her face in both of his hands. “You aren’t a burden, Chloe! You’re my best friend. You’re one of the bravest people I know.”

He couldn’t stop himself. His lips touched her forehead and his arms wrapped around her small, stubborn frame. Chloe shook in his arms, and he was afraid that he’d gone too far. She didn’t try to get away, though. Instead she clung to him, like the time he’d pulled her from being buried alive.

“I hate being like this. I’m ready for this part to be over now, and to be me again,” she said.

“You’re still you. It’ll be okay. Are you taking those pills Molina gave you?”

“God, no.”

Clark chuckled.

“I just wish I could remember what happened. And then it could be over with, and I could deal with it.”

Clark licked his lips and petted the hair on the back of her head. He really didn’t know what to do.

***

After their day of recovery, Chloe and Clark both had to return to school. No matter how their parents felt for them, Principal Reynolds was cracking down on truancy, especially for Clark.

Having dropped off her father earlier that morning, Chloe swung by the farm to give Clark a lift. She brought a couple of breakfast biscuits as well, since Clark didn’t seem to be managing to eat breakfast lately, and that made him woozy or cranky later in the morning.

Clark was a bit quiet as they drove to school, but did eat his biscuit as he was told.

“I don’t want you worrying about me today,” Chloe ordered as she pulled into her parking space.

“Chloe-”

“I mean it. My life hasn’t exactly been a bowl of cherries. But other people have had it harder.”

“That doesn’t mean your angst doesn’t matter.” Clark looked down, seeming vaguely ashamed of something, then reached for her hand.

Chloe let his large hand envelop hers for a long moment and averted her eyes. Somehow it was almost too intense, now that she’d told Clark what was happening.

“I have to go get the paper ready,” she murmured, pulling back her hand. “We missed an issue yesterday.”

She slipped out of the car and headed for the school. Clark followed her a moment later, head down like a kicked puppy.

Inside, the kids were milling around as usual, but heads turned as the two of them entered. With a raised brow, Chloe shifted her book bag on her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at their fellow students. There was a ton of purple on the students today.

Chloe looked back at Clark. “Is it dress like a grape day?”

“No idea.” Clark kept close to her back as they moved through the hallway.

They were almost there when Chloe stopped cold at the sight of one of the students reading a school paper blazoned with the familiar Torch logo and a very unfamiliar headline.

It’s NOT Okay.

“They got the paper out.” Chloe shook her head then ducked into the Torch office. No one was there at this hour, and she zeroed in on the extra copies piled by the printer.

“Amazing that they do anything without you.” Clark trailed his fingers over the tops of the computers.

“Pete wrote this. Oh, wow.” Chloe sat on the table and began to read Pete’s article.

It’s NOT Okay
by Pete Ross

Usually our yearly “Where Are Our Priorities” rant is written by our energetic editor Chloe Sullivan, but since she’s taking a well-deserved and probably literal mental health day, I thought I’d step up. Now, I’m not normally Mr. Political, and my 2 cents won’t be as well-worded as hers, but here they are anyway. Take ‘em or leave ‘em.

Smallville is well-named town, so is anyone out of the loop on what happened late last night? To sum up: Clark Kent found Lex Luthor being beaten by three guys who had painted ‘faggot’ on his car. As I’m writing this, the man is in a coma, and I wonder how anyone in this town could be anything but horrified and ashamed.

Not just by what these three guys did. Obviously, they should be prosecuted. I’m talking about every one of us who sits idly by while someone hassles a gay guy, or cracks gay jokes, or speculates about whether our fellow students or teachers are gay. We’re all making our town a painful place to be for anyone who is different. And unless you’ve been living in the Kawatche caves for the past three years, you should know that we have a critical mass of mutants who all feel the pain of being outsider, not to mention a handful of minority students that have to put up with all the signs pointing to what is supposed to be normal. Smallville isn’t exactly Normalopolis, but we try to pretend that it is and force that lie on everyone else who doesn’t want to pretend.

Does it matter where Lex Luthor does or doesn’t belong in the homo rainbow? An assault like that on one man is an assault on every person who either IS or is close to someone who isn’t straight. And it reminds the rest of us who don’t fit into the perfect ideal of humanity that society doesn’t value us as much, or is actively afraid of us. I’m not gay, or a mutant, but all my outsiderness is in plain sight. Maybe this needs to come from me, instead of someone from the group being harassed, so people will listen.

So as one of the few students of color in this school and one of the two students who has to use the crappy ramp on the side of the school just to get to homeroom on time, I’m asking that people show their colors tomorrow. Show all the mutants in hiding because people think they’re psycho, and the gay kids who aren’t out yet because they might get bashed, that we’re all saying that this is not okay. It’s not okay to harass someone for who they are. It’s not okay to beat a man who hasn’t done anything to you. It’s not okay.

It’s not okay.

Wear something purple tomorrow. It’s Luthor’s favorite color.

Clark, who had been reading over Chloe’s shoulder, murmured something as she read, then ran his hand through his hair and walked over to the window.

“I guess I need to talk to Pete,” Chloe whispered when she was finished.

“Maybe I do, too. You think he knows who did it?”

“He might. I don’t know if I can ask him to help, though. He wasn’t there.” Chloe set the newspaper down and rubbed her thumbs against the bottom of the table. “It’s not like he can testify.”

“I’m just thinking... maybe he felt like he had to do something. He doesn’t even like Lex, but he wrote that article anyway. A lot of the kids did it, too. Wear purple today.”

Chloe looked down at herself. “Now I want to change my shirt. At least if we mixed your shirt and jacket together, it would make purple.”

“Ha ha.”

The warning bell rang, and Chloe folded her hands in front of her.

***

Chloe slipped into the counselor’s office and had to resist rolling her eyes when Mr. Molina tried to urge her into a seat. The office was already occupied, however.

“Hey, Pete.”

“I didn’t know you came to see the school counselor.” Pete raised a brow and scanned his eyes over her.

Chloe lifted her chin and looked around the office as though she’d never been here before. “You know me. Covering all things to be covered in the school and beyond. I wanted to ask Mr. Molina a few questions about... handling school bullying. And things like that. I...” She paused and looked at Pete. “Thank you for writing that article. You’re wrong, though.”

“What?”

“I don’t think I would have written it better. You don’t give yourself enough credit.”

“Nah. Reporting’s in your blood, not mine.” Pete rubbed his thumb along the metal rim of his chair.

“Clark really appreciated it, too.” Chloe finally took a seat and tried to ignore Molina eyeballing them. “You have a way of moving people to action. Maybe you should get political, sometimes.”

“I don’t care what Clark thinks.”

“You have to forgive him sometime. Not even Clark can be everywhere at once.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it, Chlo. You’re great, but you need to keep your journalistic nose out of it this time.”

“Okay!” Chloe folded her hands and looked down at them. “I’ll just um, come back later. For that interview.”

“I’d make way for you, if they weren’t making me come,” Pete told her.

She grinned. “Go easy on Molina. This is his first job with teenagers. He used to be a cop.”

“Wha-at?” Molina sputtered. “How did you know that?”

Pete threw his head back and laughed. “You really don’t know our Chloe, do you? She’s like our Girl Friday, Nellie Bly, and Marvel Girl all wrapped into one.”

Chloe squeezed Pete’s shoulder as she left. She didn’t think he’d been fooled by her lie at all.

***

“Um, Pete?” Clark slumped his shoulders over as he approached Pete in the hallway.

Pete looked back and rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to do that. It’s not like there’s that much difference between me sitting and standing.”

“You’re not... that short,” Clark said. He was caught a bit off guard by Pete’s words.

“For you, I’m sure everyone seems like a midget. What do you want?”

“I just wanted to talk to you.” Clark hooked his thumbs in his back pockets and waited for Pete to look at him again.

“Look, Chloe already thanked me for the editorial. It’s not like I really did anything. I didn’t save anyone.”

“You might have. What if someone reading that... feels like they can hope because that was in the paper, or because they saw all the people today supporting them?”

Pete tilted his head to the side. “I don’t wanna be friends with you anymore.”

“I...” Clark blinked. “Pete, I’m sorry about-”

“This isn’t about the accident. It happened. I’m alive.” Pete shrugged. “People have finally started recognizing that I have a brain and am not just here to do sports.”

“I don’t understand.” Clark blinked more rapidly.

“I feel like shit for just sitting on my ass while those guys act like fools. That’s why I wrote that. It’s not about you. Who cares if they hassled you? It’s not like they could hurt you. I’m tired of covering for you, Clark. We don’t have anything in common anymore, and you don’t have time for me with Chloe, and Lex, and Lana, and saving everyone in the world.” Pete held his hands up. “I don’t care if you’re sorry. I don’t blame you. I just don’t want to be your secret-keeper, and I don’t want to be in your shadow forever. I want my own life, and I don’t want to have to spend it playing sidekick in the story of my life, okay? I’m done.”

Clark’s jaw went slack.

“I would laugh like a maniac if it weren’t so obvious that you totally don’t get it. Phone home, Clark.”

Clark gaped as Pete slammed his locker and wheeled away. Then his heart sped up when he realized he was going to burst into tears any second, and he couldn’t do that in the hallway. He ducked into the closest bathroom and let the fat tears spill down his cheeks.

His face turned red when he saw Alicia Baker washing her hands.

“Uh, wrong, um, I...” Clark tried to cover his face as he stumbled backwards.

Alicia reached into her bag and handed him a tissue. “It’s okay. I know it’s hard on you with Lex being in the hospital. I’d be a mess if my significant other had gotten hurt like that.”

“I’m not gay!” Clark winced as Alicia jumped backward. He tried to wipe up his tears, but he kept coming. Why the hell there was a sofa in the girls’ room, he didn’t know, but he sat on it anyway and covered his eyes.

“Well. It doesn’t matter. He was always a gentleman, from what I saw.”

“He’s g-gonna be okay.”

“Good.”

Alicia crouched down and looked at him. For the first time, Clark noticed she was wearing a purple blouse with poofed sleeves, and a little purple hairband with a butterfly on the side.

“Not that I have a problem with that,” Clark managed.

“Are you gonna be okay?”

Clark didn’t quite know what to make of Alicia Baker talking to him. She hardly ever talked to anyone.

“I... I think so, yeah. I just got dumped, I think. By a friend.”

“I wouldn’t know what that’s like. But I bet it hurts.” Alicia pulled out the package of mini-tissues and just gave it to him.

“I’m deficient as a human being.”

Alicia pulled the corner of her mouth to the side. “Hmph. I kinda doubt that. You’re sort of terminally nice. Sorry.”

“How do you not notice when someone is starting to hate you?”

“It’s high school. People turn on a dime. That’s what my mom says. Everyone’s super emotional, and scrabbling for position. Especially girls. If they could afford it, my parents would send me to an all girls’ school.”

“That would stop the jockeying?”

“No. But it would remove the boy element, which is what they’re afraid of. That I’ll get caught up in girl games and start having sex with guys to be cool.”

“You’d have to start talking to guys to have sex with them,” Clark pointed out.

“I’m talking to you.” Alicia stood. “I have to get to class. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“Yeah.” Clark wiped his eyes again and gave her a little smile. “Hey, purple pride, huh?”

Alicia’s cheeks grew pink, and she bit her lip. “You’re not wearing any?”

“I didn’t see the article until this morning. I’d wear it if I had any.”

“Hm.” Alicia pawed through her bag once more. Then she shifted the bag on her shoulder to free her hands and took off her headband. “Here. Have some color.”

“A headband?”

“You can keep the hair out of your eyes. You need a haircut.” She smiled and ruffled his hair before heading out of the bathroom.

Clark looked at the purple headband, then slipped it on and stood to look at himself in the mirror.

His tummy was starting to pooch out, his eyes were red and puffy, and he was wearing a girl’s headband. There would be no forgetting this day.

The door swung open, and Clark snatched the headband off his head quickly as he turned.

“Clark?” Lana stopped where she was with two cheerleaders on either side of her. “What are you doing here?”

“Um, I...” He looked at her two friends, who were biting back their giggles. “I walked in the wrong door and I ended up talking to Alicia for a minute.”

“Alicia?” the girl on the left laughed. “Alicia doesn’t talk to anyone. She’s sooo too good for Smallville.”

The other girl laughed. “I think he just didn’t make it into the stall in time to peep.”

“No,” the first said, as though she was thinking it over. “I think he need to change his tampon.”

“Guys.” Lana sighed and looked at them. The girls looked to one another, then let Lana pass as she left the bathroom. Clark followed her, not wanting to be trapped in the girls’ room with Thing One and Thing Two.

“So are we...?” Lana tilted her head back and took a breath before looking up at Clark.

“What?”

“Clark, I haven’t heard from you in almost two days. What’s going on?”

“Just the obvious. I waited at the hospital until Lex woke up and my parents let me sleep in yesterday. They didn’t want me going to school when I was that messed up.”

“Yeah.” Lana’s lashes fluttered, then her eyes drifted over to a clump of teenagers on the other side of the hallway. “They were fine with Chloe coming over, weren’t they?”

“She was checking on me. And she had a long night and really could’ve used a friend, too.” Clark started to feel his cheeks burning. “You could have come over.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Lana met his eye crossly.

Clark threw his hands up. “Whatever you want it to mean. I can’t deal with this anymore, Lana! My best friend is in the hospital. I thought he was going to die. I’m glad Chloe came over, and I’m glad Chloe felt that she could talk to me. I’m not going to apologize for taking Lex to the hospital or spending time with my friends.”

“You are the most self-centered person I have ever met, Clark Kent!” Lana turned and stomped away.

Clark watched Lana, storming through the hallway, all pinked out today like a Peep. He lifted the headband again and put it on. He didn’t take it off all day.

***

Narrowing his eyes, Lex rolled his head to the side of the pillow.

“Am I hallucinating?”

“No.” Clark chuckled and dipped his head. He took off the purple headband with the little butterfly and waved it in the air. “I’m totally wearing this.”

“Is this some kind of attempt to make a broken man smile?”

Clark’s pouty expression caused Lex’s grin to widen.

“No. It’s... it’s a thing.” Clark reached into his back pocket and pulled out a newspaper, which he set on Lex’s lap. “Yesterday’s Torch.”

Lex rubbed his eyes and tried to focus on the words before him. It took him a moment to register what the article was about, then he looked up at Clark. “Pete doesn’t even like me.”

“He doesn’t like me anymore either. But... I guess it’s not about that. It’s about not standing by while people do wicked things.”

Lex set the paper down. His head ached. He scratched his temple under the bandage covering his head. “I... have a historical quote for this situation. I think.”

“Don’t strain yourself. Just rest.”

“I’m not used to being in the hospital for this long.”

“I’m not used to it either.”

Lex looked at Clark once again, thinking that he seemed different somehow. His face was a little rounder, his hair a bit shaggier. His cheeks were flushed. It could be the temperature in the hospital, but Lex felt cold.

“I appreciate the visits, anyway. I assume there’s been more than one because the nurses told me you and Chloe were here.”

“You don’t remember?”

“Head trauma.” Lex shrugged. He dragged his tongue over his dry lips. “But thank you regardless.”

“Lex...”

“Clark, I’m okay. C’mere.”

Clark scooted closer in his chair, and Lex reached over for Clark’s hand, his heart pounding as he gazed at Clark’s puppy eyes.

“What happened to me is not your fault. This was not the first time I’ve been attacked. Not even the first time I’ve been attacked for that reason.”

“I hate that people are like that. I wish I could make the world a better place, where everyone respects each other and .”

“World peace.” Lex smirked. “On The X-Files, when Mulder encountered a D’Jinn, he wished for world peace.”

“Did he get it? Isn’t that the show Chloe likes?”

“Probably. And yes, he got it. Everyone in the world disappeared.”

“They... what?” Clark frowned. “Wait. So basically, everyone in the world has to die for us to have peace? I can’t believe that!”

“You’re young. When I was in high school, I thought better of the human race, too.” Lex let Clark’s hand go. “Well... a little better. But you should have faith in people. I wish I did. It’s one of the things I admire about you.”

“You should’ve seen all the kids who wore purple today,” Clark protested. “People are good, even if some of them have meanness in them.”

“Maybe a few people are.”

Clark smiled.

“A very few.”

Lex felt his chest grow warm as Clark dipped his head and laughed.

***

Chloe was laying flat on her stomach on the floor of her room when she heard Lana’s heels clipping down the hallway. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking that it was a bad idea to do her homework on the floor. Of course, she was on the floor because she would fall asleep on the bed.

Impervious homework logic.

“Chloe?”

Chloe looked up and rested her chin on her hand. “Hey. No Talon today?”

“I have the afternoon off.” Lana sat on the bed and smoothed her hand over the bedspread. “We need to talk.”

Chloe raised a brow and tilted her head to the side. “Are you breaking up with me?”

“What?” Lana pursed her lips. “No. Get up here.”

Chloe chuckled and pushed herself to her feet. “I’m up. But I need to study more tonight. End of the year tests, and all that. I’m hoping to pull out a B in math, somehow. Clark and I were talking about a group study session soon.”

“About that.” Lana’s mouth tightened and she lifted her chin. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Why not?”

Lana raised her hands slightly, then folded them in her lap. “Look, I should have told you about this sooner. I guess I was just... trying to protect you. I can’t ask you to forgive me for keeping the truth from you.”

“The world is an onion of secrets and lies.” Chloe pulled her legs underneath her. “What’s going on?”

“I know... who you were with that night at the Talon.”

Chloe’s heart seemed to flip around in her chest. She realized that she’d been staring at Lana silently for some time, and finally nodded and grasped the bedspread in her fingers. “Tell me. Molina said-”

“Molina? The school shrink?” Lana frowned. “I didn’t know you were seeing him.”

“It’s confidential for a reason. Anyway, he said that if I need to process what happened, but my brain is keeping me from remembering. Tell me who it was, Lana, please.” Chloe bit her lip. “It might help.”

Lana twisted her fingers and sucked in her cheeks slightly, as though she was reconsidering what she’d been about to do.

“Please!” Chloe begged. “Just tell me!”

“Clark! It was Clark.” Lana got up and took a few steps away from the bed.

“Wait. Did I just have a mini-stroke? Did you say Clark? I had sex with Clark??” Chloe leaned forward, shaking her head over and over. She could barely breath. “No, no... No... Clark wouldn’t have... He...”

“I’m just telling you this to help you, Chloe. I don’t think you should be around him right now.” Lana stared at the door and kept her back very straight. “Sometimes he seems like a good guy, but sometimes...”

“Clark wouldn’t do that to me!” Chloe squeezed her fists so tightly they started to hurt. She stood and walked over to Lana. “He knew what was happening with the parasites.”

“Yes! And when I walked out of the back room you and he were...” Lana flailed her hands around vaguely.

Chloe pressed a hand to her stomach, unsure of whether to believe what Lana was saying or, or... She couldn’t think of a reason Lana would lie to her. Rather, as tears began to well up in her eyes, Chloe could only think of how Lana was wielding the truth, like a sword she’d just used skewer her through the gut.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Chloe managed with the little air she could push out. “It’s been almost four months.”

Lana put her hand on Chloe’s shoulder. “I didn’t want to make it worse for you. I didn’t know if Clark would try to take advantage of you again-”

“So you just decided to sit around and watch? And then try to date Clark again yourself? Are you out of your mind?!” Chloe’s voice kept rising in pitch and in volume, but she didn’t care.

“I’m just trying to help here. Don’t blame me for what he did!”

“I’m blaming you for being a liar and a shitty friend!” Chloe shrugged off Lana’s hand and went to get her shoes. “I know why you didn’t tell me.”

“What are you implying?” Lana wrinkled her nose and looked at Chloe with deep offense.

“Just stay out of my way, Lana,” Chloe slipped on her clogs, grabbed her jacket and keys, and darted past Lana.

***

When Clark got home from the hospital, he went in through the kitchen to grab a cold soda. He looked around for something to eat and pulled out some fixings for a sandwich.

“Hey.”

The greeting was so soft that Clark almost missed it. He turned to see Chloe sitting at the dining room table in the dark, her eyes wide and, if he wasn’t being dramatic, a little shiny.

“Chloe? Uh, are you okay?”

Chloe tilted her head to the side and took a breath. “How’s Lex?”

“Good. Sore, and everything. He keeps complaining about having to stay in the hospital. The dork. Can’t even take a break for a day or two.” Clark set his soda down and walked over to her. “Can I get you anything?”

“No. Did you... I guess you didn’t have time for dinner.” Chloe got up, went into the kitchen, and got out a plate.

Clark put his hands in his pockets and frowned deeply. Chloe was better than anyone at hiding what was bothering her, and he knew she’d pretend with all her heart that she hadn’t spilled to him before.

“Clark, I... I need to talk to you about... something. Um. I just need you to be honest with me.” Chloe spread some mayo on the bread, then squished the sandwich down and cut it in half. She handed the plate to him. “I won’t ask you of anything ever again, and I’ll totally resist the urge to scour the farm for clues to your weirdness every time I think that I’m onto something. I just need honesty, right now. And then you can lie up and down, all you want.”

“I don’t want to lie to you. What’s...” Clark took the plate and froze. “Chloe?”

Chloe leaned against the counter and straightened her arms tensely. “Lana said you were the one who... I was with... at the Talon.”

Clark’s jaw went slack. “I...”

“Just... I just need you to say...” Chloe laughed suddenly. “That she’s lying. It’s not true. Right?”

“Chloe... I...” Clark cursed himself. He wanted to push the words out of his mouth and explain everything.

“Oh... GOD, it is true.” She covered her eyes and leaned over. “Goddammit, Clark!”

“I’m sorry!”

Chloe’s head snapped back up and the dark glint in her eye told him that was exactly the wrong thing to say.

“Sorry that you had sex with me or sorry that you lied to me? Sorry that Lana is twisted enough to try to get you for herself after seeing that, so she told me everything?”

“No! I wasn’t...” Clark looked down and dropped the plate back on the counter. “I’m... I’m pr- I’m sorry. I never meant for you to get hurt.”

“Why? Did you know I was infected?”

“I... no. Not at the time. I was just... I wasn’t myse-”

Chloe slammed her palm on the counter. “Don’t you give me that Clark Jerome Kent! I deserve... some kind of answer. Something. Anything. Just give me some reason to believe in you. I’m all ears.”

“I knew... There was something wrong.” Clark took a few deep breaths. “I was just so... so...”

“So what?” Chloe’s voice begged him. It was almost too hard to hear.

Clark couldn’t look at her eyes anymore. “High. I was so totally high. Pete gave me something. I was... I knew something was wrong with you, and that you wouldn’t be so aggressive like that, but I was high out of my mind, and I didn’t care.”

“Jesus Christ.” Chloe crossed her arms and slumped over.

“I’m sorry.” 

“Stop saying that,” she said quietly.

“But I am. I should have told you. I just didn’t want you to hate me.”

“This isn’t exactly helping.”

She slid down the counter and curled up against her knees on the kitchen floor. Clark wanted to move to comfort her, but he’d already hurt her so much.

“I wish you remembered,” he muttered.

“Was it... okay?”

“Uh, yeah. It was... amazing.”

“This is not what I wanted my first time to be like. Both of us out of our freakin’ minds.”

Clark lowered himself onto the floor and watched Chloe. She didn’t move, was barely breathing.

“I didn’t think...” Clark began. He went quiet again quickly.

Chloe lifted her chin and set it on her knees. “What?”

“I didn’t think you remembered. Or that it was hurting you so bad, until... yesterday when you told me. I thought...”

“You thought I would be better off if you kept your trap shut. You thought getting rid of your guilt wasn’t worth hurting me more.”

“You mean more to me than you know, Chloe,” Clark admitted.

“I want so badly to hate you right now.”

Chloe stared at the linoleum despondently. Then she reached for Clark’s hand, and he took hers and stroked it gently.


Part Seven

A few days later, Clark dropped by the castle after school, backpack slung over his shoulder. He and Chloe hadn’t left each other on the worst of terms, but they hadn’t spoken since that night in the kitchen, either. He was getting a little frantic.

“Lex?” Clark called tentatively as he walked down the hallway. Lex had been released from the hospital but wasn’t in the study, for once, and so Clark continued to explore for a few minutes, scanning the castle for his friend. He smiled and headed for the gym, where Lex was going at his punching bag. It had been a while since Clark had seen Lex at that.

“Lex! Hey!” he called again as he walked into the gym.

Lex turned his head, wiping his brow with a frown. “Oh, hello, Clark.” He headed for his water bottle and took a drink. “It’s good to see you. How was your day?”

“I uh… I need your advice on something… Lex, should you be working out like this? What about your stitches?” Clark frowned in concern.

Lex shook his head and touched his temple. “I’m fine.”

“Having a bad day? Another fight with Helen?” Clark sat on a weight bench and looked up at Lex, who merely shrugged.

“We broke up. I’m a bit too much for her, I think, and she’s a sneaky, self-interested bitch who will be enjoying herself doing research at John Hopkins.” Lex rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “I started that sentence off in a fairly mature place…”

“That’s okay. You wouldn’t be the first to be pissed at someone who jilted you. Especially someone who did it right after you got out of the hospital!”

“Enough about my dramatic love life. You came here with a purpose.” Lex leaned against the weight machine. “What can I do for you?”

“It’s Chloe… I uh…” Clark looked up at Lex, feeling tongue-tied, fat, and useless. Lex touched the curve of Clark’s shoulder. Clark tried to catch his breath because he could feel his face turning red. He pulled away and stood up, turning away to put some distance between them.

The next thing Clark knew he was blinking in confusion up at Lex, who had his hands on his neck and forehead.

“I’m okay,” Clark muttered.

“You fainted,” Lex accused. He kept a hand on Clark’s chest and searched Clark’s eyes determinedly.

“I’m… I’m okay, Lex,” Clark murmured. Even laying on his back, he felt dizzy. Lex’s warm hands steadied him, but he was still afraid he’d faint again, or worse, throw up. Clark hated throwing up. It was the worst thing in the world.

“I’m going to call your parents-“

“No! Please, don’t,” Clark begged.

Lex patted Clark’s shoulder. “Clark, are you sick? You know, don’t you? I can help, but I need to either get someone else to help-“

Clark shook his head quickly.

“Or I need to call your parents, because there’s something wrong with you.”

“You said you wouldn’t. My life isn’t in danger, Lex, I swear. Don’t tell my parents. I can’t talk to them about this yet,” Clark pleaded. “I just can’t. Please.”

Lex’s lips almost disappeared into a thin line. He wasn’t happy about this at all, and Clark wasn’t sure that it had been a good idea to come over at all. Lex wanted to take him to his parents, but obviously his loyalty to Clark was warring with that impulse.

As Lex turned to get up, Clark grabbed Lex’s wrist. “I’m pregnant!”

Lex’s head snapped back to Clark’s face, studying it intensely, and for a moment, Clark was afraid that he was going to have to go through a painful and drawn out scene in which he tried to convince Lex, or left with Lex not believing him at all.

Watching Lex’s face was like watching a mind working. Pulling pieces together from everywhere and making the fragmented mess into a whole.

“Then we’d better get you upstairs,” Lex said finally. “Are you hungry?”

“Always,” Clark said with a little more irritation than he’d intended. Lex grinned as he took Clark’s hand and helped him to his feet.

Less than ten minutes later, Clark was lying on a bed with Lex sitting by his side and calling down to the kitchen for a nutritious snack.

“I don’t really need to lie down. It’s… My head just feels funny sometimes. I got up too fast,” Clark explained.

“That doesn’t sound out of the ordinary, considering.” Lex toed off his shoes and pulled his legs underneath him cross-legged. “Talk to me, Clark. What happened? About how far along are you, do you think?”

“Um…” Clark knew exactly. He down on himself from the pillows and moved his fingers slowly over his abdomen. “About… fourteen weeks.”

“Fourteen weeks. The incident at The Talon? Your first time?” Lex asked, tenting his brows. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, “May I see?”

“There’s not much to see.” Clark pulled up his shirt, exposing his belly so that Lex could get a good look at growing swell below his navel. “For… for awhile, I just pretended that it wasn’t happening.”

”I can understand that,” Lex replied dryly. "My gibbering mantra for the past two years has been more or less 'this can't be happening.'"

His hand reached forward almost shyly, and soon his fingers were brushing over Clark’s belly. Lex’s expression was unlike Clark any he’d seen on him before, open and almost tender. Clark bit his lip, his eyes widening as he watched Lex.

“What symptoms have you had? Faintness, what else?” Lex asked. He looked up and saw Clark watching him. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “You’re going to need some medical care.”

“I can’t see a doctor, Lex!” Clark protested, pushing himself up on his elbows. “It’ll be all over the papers and they’ll take me to a lab and dissect me!”

Lex held up his hands. “No one is going to dissect you! I…” He sighed. “Look, for starters, you need to be taking vitamins, and you need to eat better, starting now. Every day counts when you’re pregnant. You’re responsible for this baby inside you, unless you decide not to have it.”

“Wait… what? Not have it?” Clark said in alarm.

Lex flailed his hands then put one of them on Clark’s shoulder. “Only if you want to. No pressure. It’s entirely your choice.”

“I don’t know. If I wanted to do that, I’d have to see a doctor, and it’s… it’s mine, Lex.” And it was Chloe’s, whether she still hated him or not. Clark sucked his lip in and put his hands on either side of his abdomen. “I can’t do that, Lex.”

Lex scooted closer. “Then we’re going to have to make sure that we take care of you. Does anyone else know?”

“No… Lex, I’m getting fatter and fatter, and people are going to start finding out-“ Clark groaned.

“No,” Lex said firmly. “People aren’t necessarily going to guess this. Especially in Smallville. Besides, years of juvenile delinquency have taught me how to hide a bundle. Let’s get some measurements tonight, and I’ll order some of your regular clothes. Jeans around here-“ Lex touched below Clark’s waistline.”-and the shirts will be longer to cover.”

“Yeah. You think I can make to summer without anyone knowing?”

“No one will be the wiser. You’ll just look a bit heavy.”

“I look heavy anyway,” Clark grumbled. 

”You really don’t. Actually, your height has covered it so far. It’s not noticeable,” Lex assured him. One of the servants rolled in a cart with two trays and a kettle of tea. With a nod, Lex accepted a tray and set it beside Clark. “Come on. You need to eat.”

“I eat all the time. Everything in sight,” Clark complained, sitting up.

Lex shrugged and poured himself some tea. “Well, you have a better reason than most.”

Clark started cutting up the lean cut of meat on his plate and forked some of the creamy noodles on the side to eat it in one bite. Lex watched quietly as Clark plowed through the small portions while ignoring the vegetables. Then Lex pulled his own plate over and set it in front of Clark.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Clark asked, pausing to wipe his mouth.

“Not really. It’s a bit early for me to have dinner.” Lex sipped his tea and tilted his head to the side. “You don’t like vegetables, do you?”

“Not a lot. Especially not green ones.” Clark compromised and bit into a carrot.

“I’ll find a way around that. You’re going to need veggies. Especially the green ones.”

“You’re going to find a way around that?” Clark wrinkled his nose and tried a piece of broccoli. It wasn’t horrible. Lex’s cook had made it taste almost buttery. Then he tried a green bean. And spit it out. “Okay, that’s gross.”

“No green beans then? What else?”

“Peas. And spinach. And lettuce and asparagus. Brussels sprouts. Cabbage. Okra. Beets, oh God, no.”

Lex sighed and rolled his eyes. “You aren’t giving me much to work with. Zucchini or squash?”

“Yuck and yuck.”

“So, do you actually eat any vegetables at home, or is it all meat and carbs? If the broccoli is edible, can you try to finish at least that?”

Clark nodded and tried to get the broccoli in between bites of meat and noodles. “My mom makes me finish some of the vegetables she makes before I leave the table. Never peas, though. Usually just salads or broccoli.”

“Does she make salads with romaine lettuce?”

Clark took a long drink of milk. “Uh… I dunno. I don’t think so.”

“Iceberg isn’t good. It doesn’t have anything in it. Go for romaine when you shop. It has a different texture and contains fiber, at least. I’ll have Cook trying a few things with vegetables and we’ll figure out if there’s anything at all you like.”

Clark wiped his mouth again and leaned back against the bed frame with a sigh. “Thanks, Lex. I really don’t know what to do.”

“I can’t say I’m an expert—it isn't as though I'll ever be pregnant—but I can try to keep you healthy.” Lex set his tea aside and put both plates back on the cart. “I guess you really needed to eat. Look, how often are you eating? Are you carrying snacks with you?”

“Um… no?”

“Do you get dizzy during the day? You should stock up on snacks you can keep with you.” Lex got up and pulled his laptop over to the bed. “Let’s Google.”

Clark grinned as Lex’s body pressed against his, and they began reviewing websites on tips for pregnancy. In that fashion, they whittled away several hours, finding a few helpful sites, some unhelpful, and some quite frightening. A few times Clark put his hands over his eyes, especially when Lex found videos.

“Have you had any odd cravings?” Lex asked, scrolling down a page.

“What’s odd? Um…” Clark felt himself flushing. “I licked the soap in the shower, and uh…”

Lex raised a brow and looked over at him.

“I crave nails,” Clark added sheepishly.

“Nails? As in… nails? Huh.” Lex thought about that for a moment. “Given your dislike of vegetables, you may be deficient on iron. It’s called pica.”

“And normal human women do this too?” Clark asked incredulously.

Lex nodded. “Yep. Here, look at this… They crave dirt, laundry detergent, clay, cigarette butts…”

”Gross. Pregnancy is so weird!”

“It is,” Lex agreed. “For everyone. I know you’re skittish around doctors, but would you be comfortable with me giving you a checkup now and then? Internal medicine isn’t my expertise, but I think I could get by. Then we don’t have to tell anyone else. Less chance of it getting out. Don’t get me wrong; I’d like to have a specialist, maybe a team of them, but I understand the desire for secrecy under these circumstances.”

Clark thought about that for a moment. “Check-up how?”

“Well, for starters, take your blood pressure and your pulse-“

“That doesn’t require needles, does it?”

“No,” Lex assured him. “No needles. Then I can feel where the baby is. I’d like to do an ultrasound, if I can get the equipment without suspicion.”

“Ultrasound?” Clark felt a moment’s panic when he thought about someone looking inside of him. “Oh, wait, to see the baby?”

“It should be safe for you both, as long as we aren’t doing it all the time.”

Clark nodded softly. “Lemme think about that one.”

Lex rubbed Clark’s back affectionately. “I think you could fall asleep now. Want to take a nap? The bed is yours.”

Clark snuggled back on the pillows. “I might take you up on that.”

“No hurry.” Lex rolled over on his side and watched Clark yawn and make himself comfortable. Lex pulled a cover over Clark and watched him quietly. “Thank you for telling me, Clark. I’ll do my best to help you.”

“Thanks for believing me, and for not treating me like a freak about this.”

“I don’t have much room to talk.” Lex smiled and patted Clark’s shoulder. “Get some sleep. We’ll talk more when you wake, and I’ll drive you home.”

Clark rolled over onto his side, yawned loudly, and felt his lids drooping. He had hardly expected things to go this well, but he was glad now that he’d let Lex know. He could use a friend in this.

***

As Lex turned down the road to the Kent farm, he slowed down, and eventually pulled over to the side.

“Lex?” Clark looked over at him with those damn puppy eyes.

There was nothing like Lex’s maternal instincts to put a huge damper on the crush he’d been nursing for almost a year and a half.

“What do I do? Do you think she’ll ever forgive me?”

Sliding his hands over the leather cover of his wheel, Lex considered what Clark had told him for several moments. He considered and dismissed an “I told you that you had to tell her.” He relaxed his hands.

“I sort of imagine, Clark, that Chloe would forgive you anything. It’s a flaw she and I share.”

Clark ruffled his hair and looked out the window. He was clearly feeling guilty. In moments like this, part of Lex’s brain schemed. He was the one here now. He could probably say something in this moment that would make Clark decide to stay away from Chloe, permanently. For her own good, of course. After that? Being there for Clark during this hard time would bind them closer, and helping him with the baby would push that even further. In time, maybe...

Lex wouldn’t say that either, though. Because Clark had trusted him with this. Maybe he’d felt at the time that he’d had to, but he’d trusted Lex. And Lex would take that reality and cherish it until the end of time.

“Go to her. Either in person tomorrow or call her tonight. Tell her this, exactly: I’m going to give you as much time as you need, but I just want you to know that I’m there for you, no matter what. Whenever you need me. Call. I’m there.”

Clark turned back to Lex and half smiled. “Sounds like I should be you.”

“I...” Lex looked down and shrugged. “Well-”

“You’re a really good friend. I’m not. I... I take too much.”

“You’re going through a hard time right now.” Lex leaned his elbow on the door. “What with the pregnancy, school, stress... your best friend was just in the hospital...”

Clark’s eyes started to go shiny, and Lex froze.

“Don’t be upset! I’m fine now!”

“I know, I just... I don’t want to think about losing you.”

Lex took Clark’s hand and wiped the tear from his cheek. “You won’t. I promise. And you won’t lose Chloe, either. I’ll talk to her, if you like. She’s going to be angry with me, anyway. Maybe it’ll take some of the heat off of you.”

“Maybe I should take the heat. I don’t want her to get fed up with me one day. I don’t want to be such a bad friend.”

“You aren’t” Lex sighed, getting a bit irritated. “You’re sixteen. Sixteen-year-olds are not famed for their steadfast nature. Just understand that it wasn’t your fault, and she has a right to be upset anyway. She loves you, and she’ll come around. It’s simply that she needs a little time to heal.”

“I just wish I could be there to help her with that,” Clark muttered. He moved a hand over his belly.

Lex couldn’t help but smile. He was going to give them away, with this constant grinning of his. “I’m sure looking back, she’ll wish she had been here for you.”
“Well, I have you.”

Lex nodded once, then swallowed. “You do. But... I imagine it would be better to have her by your side. To go through this together instead of apart.” He turned the key in the ignition again. “Which is why we have to get you two back together somehow.”

Clark was quiet for a long moment, then said, “When we’re all looking back on this, she’s going to hear stories of how her Uncle Lex saved the day.”

“I don’t know about... Just make sure that you talk to Chloe soon, okay?”

Clark laughed softly. Probably because he’d managed to embarrass Lex twice in a conversation. Lex remembered how Clark enjoyed that.

Brothers it is, then, Lex thought.

***

Clark said the words exactly. He’d called Chloe after his parents had gone to bed, and said what Lex had told him to.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Clark,” Chloe whispered hoarsely.

Clark felt like he was going to throw up.

“But I appreciate the sentiment. I know... Well, I’ve known for a while. Some people don’t get this.” Chloe took a breath, sounding weary. “You might not always be there when I want you to be, but you’re always there when it really counts. I don’t hate you, Clark. It’s just hard for me to... I don’t even know how to say it.”

“Chloe, I’m so, so sorry-”

“We’ve been through this. Neither one of us were in our heads that day.”

“I wish...”

“You wish what?”

“That you could remember. Unless that hurts you more, and then I don’t.”

Chloe laughed, albeit weakly. And Clark’s heart danced.


“I um... I’m going to be heading to Metropolis this summer. I want to see you before school lets out.”

“Metropolis?” Clark curled his hand over his belly and bit his lip. “All summer?”

“You knew I was probably going to go again. I guess this means you’ll miss me.”

“I missed you last summer, too.”

“We can keep in touch on the phone. And I’ll drive down to visit. Or you could come up!”

“Maybe.” Clark felt a little unraveled by the idea of waddling his way into her summer professional life. What would happen to her career if she had to be a teen mom?

“It’ll... It’ll be okay. I’m doing a little better, I promise. I’m glad you called. Really glad.”

“I’m glad, too. Lex kind of... Well, he didn’t push me, but I’m not sure I would have had the courage. I wanted to, but I felt like...”

“Like?”

“I’ve done enough.”

“We’re going to get through this.” Chloe paused. “I started taking those pills. Not forever, but I figured I might as well, for the time being. See if I can start sleeping again.”

“Good. That should help some. Sleep can be the best way to recuperate, sometimes.”

“Then I need to sleep for a month.”

Clark laughed, then covered his mouth. Chloe chuckled, too, so he guessed it was okay.

“Speaking of which, I need to lay down and try.”

“When do you want to meet?”

“I dunno. Saturday?”

“Do you still need some study help for the final?”

“Oh. Right.”

“I’ll come over and help you with that. No pressure.”

“Honestly, I don’t want to study with Lana. I don’t think I ever want to talk to her again.”

Clark was a bit surprised by the heat in her voice. She sounded more angry with Lana than she had been at him. “Well... the invitation was only for one. And it was the first time, too, but I didn’t want to be rude.”

“Oh? I didn’t catch that. Sorry to force her on you. Can’t say I’m sorry that didn’t work out.”

“At this point, I’m not either. It wasn’t a good idea for us to go out in the first place.” Clark pulled his shirt up a little and circled a finger around his belly button.

“Nope.”

“So, do you want to study here instead? Or at the castle? Lex’s chef is an amazing cook.”

“That sounds good, actually. I’m not in the mood to parent-dodge, and I’m not in the mood to deal with Lana-glares either.”

“These are both things I’d like to avoid. I’ll call him tomorrow to make sure it’s okay, and I’ll get back to you.”

“Great. Sweet dreams, Kent.”

“Back ‘atcha, Sullivan.”

Clark hung up the phone and turned on his side, looking out the window.

***

Before homeroom, Chloe popped in front of Noah with a letter in hand. “Guess what this is?”

Noah raised a brow. “A letter.”

“Well, yes.” She sat in the chair at the computer next to his and handed it to him.

Noah took it, stared at it for a moment, then opened it. “I have the Daily Planet internship? I haven’t even interviewed yet.”

“I sent them an advanced copy of your article. You’re in!” Chloe flailed her hands. “Aren’t you excited?”

“I... I’m not sure. What about you?” Noah blinked at her.

“They gave me another position for the summer. I’m working as the assistant to one of the editors. Getting coffee, but also fact-checking, investigating, and so on.”

“Wow. That’s good to hear.” Noah read over his letter again. “I can’t believe I got in.”

“You had a good writing sample, and a good cover letter. And you work for the Torch, which can’t hurt,” Chloe insisted. She held up a hand for a high-five. “Summer in Metropolis!”

Noah just stared at it. “Do you know the editor you’ll be working for?”

“Oh, yeah. I met him last summer, and I’m pretty sure I got in on his word alone.” She stood and hitched her thumbs on the loops of her jeans. “Perry White. Can’t you believe it? Can you stand it? I’m not sure I can!”

With a laugh, Chloe attempted to compose herself. Gloating wasn’t a desirable trait.

“Summer in Metropolis. I have to tell my mom. She’s going to go crazy.”

Chloe sat back on one of the desks. “Working at The Daily Planet has been a dream of mine since I was little. I’m not sure I can do the investigative work there that I want to, but working there is like a launch pad for my career. Most girls dream about fluffy wedding dresses, I guess. But I’ve always been different, and I love that The Daily Planet rewards that.”

“It’s exciting to think about. Somewhere it’s okay to be different.” Noah’s voice began to get a bit more inflection. “I’ve never spent time out of Smallville that wasn’t part of a road trip to see my grandparents.”

“Wherever you end up, I hope you’re able to use this internship as a step up. All the extra side stuff in getting into college and careers, it’s tough. I always wanted to start early, because it takes people so long to establish themselves.” Chloe slit her eyes and leaned back on her palms. “I think I’d like to swing my first Pulitzer by the time I’m twenty-three.”

Noah’s lips twitched.

“I think that’s a totally doable goal.” Chloe grinned and grabbed a paper to whack the back of Noah’s head with. “Get to work. We have Pulitzers to win.”

“Don’t we have the final edition laid out already?”

“Make that classes to pass.”

***

That evening had been a little tense, at first. Chloe hadn’t been in the castle in a long time, and her first order of business was to ask a number of questions about where Big Daddy Luthor was and how they knew they weren’t being filmed. Lex had assured her that he did regular sweeps for bugs and guided them into the library so he could do his own work.

Although Clark felt self-conscious about eating so much in front of anyone, Chloe didn’t seem to notice, so eventually the two of them settled in comfortably and began review what would be on Chloe’s geometry final.

“You’re smarter at this than you think.” Clark leaned over to check Chloe’s work.

Chloe rested her chin in her palms. “I’m not playing dumb. This is just the most boring class ever, and it has no relation to my future career.”

“You don’t know that. It might.”

“Clark, if you can come up with one, just one, practical use for geometry in investigative journalism, I’ll...” She frowned and pressed her lips together. “I can’t think of an act equivalent to coming up with the impossible.”

“You’re hilarious. Do this problem.”

“Fine.”

“I’ll have you know, I’m pretty good at doing the impossible.”

“I’m... aware of that. The impossible follows us around. Like a creepy stalker.”

“Hm.” Clark rested his hand on her leg gently as he looked over her shoulder. “That’s right, Chlo. You’ve got this.”

“I admit, I wasn’t worried about failing, but I’d like not to have an ugly C on my transcript. I appreciate the help.” Chloe gave Clark a soft smile.

“No problem.” Clark rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “It’s been good to see you.”

“Let’s not be weird about this. It was just...” Chloe shrugged. “Something that happened...”

“‘Something that happened’? Are you kidding?”

Chloe stood and walked away. “There’s no reason anything has to change. I’ve thought about this. You just weren’t in control, and neither was I. Why be mad at each other? It’s just like any of the other crazy things that happens here-”

“Except it’s not.” Clark shot up. “Chloe, you can’t pretend like it never happened. Isn’t that what got you so messed up to begin with?”

“Don’t tell me how to deal, Clark. I’m doing the best I can.”

Clark took a deep breath, realizing that meeting Chloe so soon had been a mistake. He approached her slowly and put his hands on her shoulders.

“I know you are. I know it’s hard. But I wasn’t lying, with what I said last night. I’ll go if it helps, and you can call me whenever you want.” He paused as he felt her breath shuddering through her body. “Like you said, we’ll get through this.”

Chloe looked back at him with a frown. “We’ll still be friends after I get back from Metropolis, right?”

“If I have anything to say about it, we’ll always be...” Clark swallowed. Chloe’s soft green eyes were wide and watchful and they bore into him with their strange intensity. He held onto her shoulder a little tighter. “Don’t run away. I know you have to go, but don’t run away.”

“I don’t want to do that. I guess I’m just...”

Clark leaned over and met her eye sternly. “If you don’t want to, then don’t. I’ll let you go. Just make sure you come back to me.”

Chloe let out a little laugh of surprise and looked away. “What does that mean?”

“What... I dunno.” Clark expected he was flushing a little by now. “I care about you. Enough to let you go because I think you need to. But not for that long. There are things, um... I want to have the chance to say...”

“You’re not making a lot of sense.” Chloe watched him for a moment, then lifted her chin and moved closer to him.

Then she took a doubting step backward.

Clark caught her arms again and bowed over her. “Don’t. Not yet, okay?”

“So, when you say, you care...” she murmured, trying to look at one of the floor-to-ceiling bookcases.

“I mean, I wish we’d... I wish our first time hadn’t been so...”

“Our first time?” Chloe’s eyes locked in on him.

“I don’t mean there will be a second but, um...”

Clark’s insides felt all fluttery, and he realized that this girl, unafraid of everything, was terrified of losing him, even after all he’d done to her. If he hadn’t been holding her tight, she might have flitted out of the room and his sight for the rest of his life.

“No, I just-” she whispered.

There was nothing left to lose.

I know why Chloe was… with you. But why were you with her?

Clark kissed her. Gently and almost apologetically, he kissed her, letting his fears of where this was going and all the weight of the consequences fall away from the moment. She was unsure, and she had to be sure, before she ran off back to the big city and decided to stay there.

It was too familiar, that hungry way she kissed him back, as though she needed his touch to survive and had been starving of it too long. Clark lifted her up took her back to the sofa, where he could comfortably kiss her and caress the back of her head, run his fingers through her hair. Maybe he’d been starving for this, too. Months had gone by without her perfect kiss.

She was breathless when she pulled back, searching his eyes.

“Chloe,” he managed.

“You’re not on anything right now, are you?” she demanded.

He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. “Nope. Just nerves and fear that you’re going to leave your fat best friend behind on the farm.”

“You aren’t fat.” Chloe leaned into Clark’s hand and sigh. “I’m having a little trouble believing this is real.”

“I don’t know how to convince you. Maybe if we do that again.” Clark leaned forward for another kiss.

Chloe stopped him with her hand. “Hey.”

“Don’t tell me- Chloe, if you’ve changed your mind again, I don’t think I can take it.”

“Whoa! Don’t cry!” She cupped his face and gave him another kiss. “I just... I guess wanted some definition here.”

“That’s very romantic. We can’t just be kissing now?”

“I’m only a romantic when it’s inconvenient. That’s also my rule for being pragmatic.” Chloe’s hands moved down Clark’s shirt. “Seriously. The last time I pulled off my mask and let you see how much I adore you, you ran away.”

“There was a tornado. I wasn’t running away from you. And you were the one who called it off, remember.”

“And then you started panting after Lana again.”

Clark twisted his lips, feeling a sour feeling rising in his throat. “That won’t be happening again. Even if you dump me again.”

“I didn’t dump you!”

“You gave me the ‘let’s be friends’ speech,” Clark argued. “That’s a dump.”

“You couldn’t have taken five seconds to tell me where you were going? You just disappeared!” Chloe pushed away from Clark.

“Okay. Honestly? When I know someone I care about is in danger, and Lana was still a friend then, I don’t always think it through. I ran to her rescue. I’m not sorry that I did, but I am sorry that I hadn’t told you...” Clark licked his lips slowly. “About my powers, and how I was probably the only one who could have saved her.”

Chloe’s expression was blank for a long moment, but the curiosity returned in full force soon enough, and she drew closer again, as Clark began to tell her all about his powers and the little he knew about where he came from.

***

“Wicked cool.”

“Is that all you have to say?”

Chloe looked over at Clark in the passenger seat, grinning. She couldn’t help herself. She’d just gotten the big scoop, and for once she intended to keep it all to herself. “Have I told you that I’ve always thought it would be awesome to meet an alien?”

“I think you may have mentioned it a few dozen times.”

“Then why would you hide this? I’m the Queen of Weird!”

She watched as Clark dipped his head, looking embarrassed and a little scared. Clark never had been good at hiding his feelings, funnily enough. Chloe had just gotten used to telling herself that she wasn’t seeing what she wanted so badly to see.

“By that I don’t mean that I think that you’re weird-”

“Come off it. You totally meant that. From you, weird is a complement.”

Chloe smiled and reached over to take his hand. It was very late, but she’d insisted on driving him home. Her car in the driveway at midnight would cause a lot less fuss than Lex’s.

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Chloe lowered her head as well, then looked over at Clark. His dark curls were falling into his eyes, and she reached over to brush them away. “You need a haircut.”

“I guess so.” Clark met her eye and licked his lips. “I’m glad you’re okay with that. Pete was... not so okay.”

“How was Lex when you told him?”

“Lex doesn’t know.”

Chloe leaned forward then shook her head. “He doesn’t know? Are you... sure?”

“I never told him.”

Leaning back in the driver’s seat, she looked at him critically. “That doesn’t mean he doesn’t know.”

“I just don’t want to lose another friend. Knowing is a huge burden...”

“I don’t think it’s a burden. I think it’s a gift,” Chloe replied stubbornly. “Is that why you and Pete fell out? Because of this secret he had to keep?”

“Kind of, but that wasn’t the only reason. I’m also apparently a terrible friend.”

She made a noise in her throat. “If you were a terrible friend, Pete was terrible right back. Not in junior high, but once we got to high school. He started to change. And you did too, I guess.”

“Yeah. I found out that I’m a freak from another planet.”

“Stop.” Chloe couldn’t move any closer with the separator between them, so she just squeezed his hand. “Normal is a fiction, Clark. No one is perfect 100% of the time, and everyone has weirdness that they try to hide.”

“I think I have an overabundance.”

“Lucky me,” Chloe whispered.

Clark bit his lip and then took a deep breath. “There’s still something we have to talk about.”

“Okay.” Chloe settled into her seat.

Clark had only hesitated for another second or two before they both jumped at the rather hard rapping on the window. Chloe flushed and rolled it down.

“Hi, Mr. Kent!” she chimed.

“Chloe.” Jonathan looked at her sternly, then fixed his gaze on Clark. “In the house, son.”

“We were just studying tonight. You can ask Lex,” Clark protested.

“I don’t have to. He’s the one who called and said you’d be late. Funny, since I was sure that would have been your responsibility.” Jonathan opened the passenger door and took Clark’s book bag. “Thank you for seeing him home, Chloe.”

“I just appreciate the tutoring. Sorry we got back so late.” Chloe sensed Clark would be up a bit longer getting his rights read to him, and now she felt guilty for their long chatter session over everything Clark knew about his alienness. “It’s really my fault!”

“Goodnight, Chloe.” Jonathan slammed the door.

She watched for a moment as Clark headed to the house with his father. She didn’t understand why Mr. Kent was so cross with Clark, just for being out late. Her father didn’t seem to care about things like that at all.

Frustrated by their truncated discussion, Chloe pulled out and headed home. She had so much on her mind that she doubted she’d ever be able to sleep.


Part Eight

Clark frowned at the pile of laundry Chloe had just dumped on her bed. When it stayed there for a while as Chloe dug around in her closet for her suitcase, Clark started folding and laying out the warm clothes.

“Are we close enough for you to be handling my underthings?” She teased as she dragged out a beat-up leather case and a green duffle.

“I’m pretty sure Lex has people who handle his underthings, and they’re nowhere as close as we are.”

Chloe sat next to Clark and rubbed his back. “That’s a bad example. I don’t think Lex wears underthings.”

“I...” Clark blinked and looked at her.

She just laughed. “Don’t look so grim.”

“I can’t believe you’re going for three months.”

“I did last summer, too.” Chloe grabbed one of the shirts and tossed it into her case.

Clark grumbled, bent down, and picked it up to fold it.

“Why do you care if it’s folded? It’ll get wrinkled on the drive anyway.”

“It’ll be less wrinkled. Don’t you ever fold anything?”

“Nope.” Chloe pulled up her legs and sat on them as she watched Clark folding.

“You’d make a terrible fifties housewife.”

She laughed again. “This was your first clue?”

“No. I think my first clue was the singleminded drive toward your inevitable career at The Daily Planet.” He set the suitcase on the bed and began to put things in neatly. “I’m really going to miss you. I hate being separated after all that’s happened.”

“I’ll be okay on my own, you know. A little distance is good. Just make sure that you and I call each other, and I’ll try to come by on some weekends. And maybe Lex can drive you up there, too.” Chloe slipped off the bed and hugged Clark from behind. “It won’t be so bad.”

“You’re really cheerful now.” Clark moved her arms upward toward his chest.

“I’m not... scared anymore. I guess. Mm.” She sighed into his back. “And you’re letting me hug on you. You’re warm.”

Clark looked back at her. “Who said I wouldn’t have let you hug on me before?”

“You never let Pete-”

“Pete is a guy.” Clark rolled his eyes. “We’ve hugged. But not a lot.”

“You should get a lot more hugs.”

“I can’t argue with that.” Clark turned around and put his arms around her. “We need to talk-”

“Wait.” Chloe went still suddenly. She looked toward the door, then ran over to it and shut it hard, locking it behind her. The sound of footsteps disappeared down the hall.

“Your dad?” Clark didn’t look forward to explaining all of this to Mr. Sullivan.

“Lana. I’m really glad I don’t have to deal with her this summer. She’s going to hate me when she figures out that we... that we’re...” Chloe flailed her hands and then hurried back to her closet. “Whatever we are.”

Clark grabbed her wrist. “Whatever, huh?”

“We never said... I mean, we’ve made out a little here and there. I guess I’m your secret keeper, if anything...”

“Pete did not get to make out,” Clark pointed out. “As my secret keeper.”

“Well, maybe if you’d given him more hugs and kisses-”

Clark cupped her cheek and answered her with a kiss. The last week had been perfect, so much better than things had been since that fate-changing night at the Talon. Chloe seemed to be getting better by leaps and bounds, and she was amazing at covering for him. Plus, whenever they were alone, Chloe was up to touching, hugging, snuggling, kissing...

It was the best he’d felt since he’d admitted his situation to himself.

But he had to tell her before she left. He couldn’t have her coming back for a visit with him looking like he had a beachball under his plaid shirt. She’d figure it out, and he wasn’t going to risk her being mad at him for lies of omission ever again.

“Chlo... Chlo... Wait...” Clark pulled back just enough to speak. His arms kept her close to him.

“You started it, mister.”

“I know. I just... I told you... I keep letting it slip, but I told you the other night I needed to spill something else, and I can’t let it go anymore.”

“I was kinda waiting for you to come to me. You’ve already given me so much. I didn’t want to push when you were obviously uncomfortable.”

Clark kissed her forehead for that, then moved them back over to the bed. “Let’s just... um.”

Chloe put her hand over his. “If it can wait, Clark, so I can I.”

“Yeah... no. It can’t wait. I shouldn’t have waited this long, but I couldn’t tell you this without... telling you about The Talon and about me.” He paused for a long moment. “I’m just scared you aren’t going to believe me, or that you’ll be mad.”

“I’m not crazy, or unreasonable. If you had to let me know the first two first, of course this didn’t come sooner.” Chloe leaned on him. “You know you can pretty much tell me anything at this point.”

“Just don’t put me on the Wall of Weird.”

“I’m sorry the Wall freaks you out so much. It’s really just a visual puzzle for me, figuring out the source of all these wacky happenstances.”

“Well, you know the source now, don’t you? It’s me.”

Chloe shook her head. “You were just a kid. You didn’t send that ship. C’mon. I told you to quit blaming yourself for all those things. It doesn’t even make rational sense for you to.”

“Okay, okay.”

“Now tell me what’s bugging you.”

“Just, um.”

Clark took another breath and pulled up his shirt. Chloe sat up straight and looked at him curiously.

“Uh...”

“Okay, I know Lex says you can’t tell yet, but I can feel it, for sure.” Clark took her hand and pressed it to his belly.

“What... wait, what does Lex have to do with this?”

“Nothing, just feel. Chloe, after knowing what happened at The Talon, and after knowing what I am, maybe it makes a little more sense when I tell you this. I hope it does-”

“Just say it, Clark,” she murmured, moving her fingers over the firm swell.

“I’m pregnant,” he said quickly. She looked up at him and he began to ramble. “It’s only about fourteen weeks, but she’s a girl, and my parents don’t know, only Lex because I fainted in his workout room.”

“You fainted.” Chloe was frowning, but looking up at him with a mixture of both disbelief and amazement. “Are you serious about this, Clark? You’re- We?”

“Yeah.” Clark felt his throat threatening to close on him, pinching off any words he might have been able to get out.

Chloe’s eyes were growing wider now, and she looked down at his stomach again. Then, after a long moment, she whispered, “God, Clark. How am I supposed to leave you now?”

“I’ll be okay here. I just needed you to know. It’s not fair that I keep you out of it. Not that I want you to... play mommy or support me or anything, I just-”

“Clark, I knocked you up. That denotes some kind of responsibility on my part.” Chloe leaned in and held him tightly. “I can’t believe you’ve been doing this alone... Well, with Lex, too, I guess.”

“I didn’t mean to tell him before you.”

“No, I’m glad you had someone to tell. And he’s... not always, but he’s kind of an adult, and he has resources. That would be awful to deal with alone.” She rubbed her hand over his side, then his back. “I can’t go.”

“You have to. I didn’t tell you this to keep you from your dreams.”

“I can do it some other time.”

“No.” Clark put his hands on her shoulders and looked at Chloe in the eye. “You can’t. You told me just a few days ago that working with one of the editors was a once in a lifetime opportunity for someone your age.”

“I’ll have other opportunities. I don’t want to be a deadbeat mom!” Chloe shot back fiercely.

Clark watched her for a moment before stroking her cheek. “You could never be. You’re just... focusing on your career. Women do that these days, I hear. I don’t suppose you’ve had time to think about one of us needing to be able to get a job?”

“Jobs. God. Yes. And a nursery, and all that baby stuff... I’m not really good with kids, Clark.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Clark sighed.

Chloe counted on her fingers. “September?”

“Lex is trying to figure a way to convince my parents to let me be home-schooled for the rest of high school.”

“Well, they may not have a choice. People in Smallville are willfully dense, but they might notice.”

Her hand touched his abdomen again, and Clark smiled a little.

“Thanks for being so cool about this.” He bowed his head over hers, his bangs brushing over her forehead.

“I hate to break it to you, but after that last secret, this one is a little lacking in the shock factor,” she teased. Her lips curved slightly, but her brow creased. “How do you feel? Is it weird?”

“Very. But I feel okay. The morning sickness is pretty much over. So for now it’s just feeling fat and tired.”

“You really do not look fat at all,” she argued.

“I feel like my stomach is sticking out, even if it isn’t big yet. It’s hard to explain.” He stroked his fingers through her hair. “You should finish packing.”

“Give me a minute. I just found out... that I’m going to be a teen mom.”

“Maybe I should go back to school in the fall. A cautionary whale for all the boys who don’t want to use condoms.”

Chloe shook in laughter, then kissed Clark tenderly. “They wouldn’t have to know everything. It is Smallville, after all.”

***

Feeling banished, Lana sat in the kitchen twisting a napkin tight. It simply wasn’t fair that Clark and Chloe had decided to forgive each other and turn on her. What had she ever done to either of them?

The Sullivan’s kitchen tended to be a mess for most of the week until Chloe got to the dishes, unless Lana kept up with it. They weren’t very good housekeepers, or cooks, and were probably the exact opposite of Nell. They celebrated her birthday with just a muffin and a candle in the morning and a pizza and a movie in the evening. They didn’t really do Christmas at all, or Thanksgiving (since neither cooked), or New Year’s, but Halloween seemed to be a big deal, for some reason. You never came home to a freshly made layer cake or fresh cut flowers on the kitchen table, but you might find Chloe covered in flour and a counter full of over-frosted skull cookies for Dias de los Muertos.

There might be a pile of folders from the office at the kitchen table. Or a notebook full of clippings for a ‘case’ Chloe was working on. Most likely there would be a bag or box of whatever Gabe had picked up for dinner.

The Sullivans were odd, for certain, and Lana didn’t really feel like they’d made the effort to make her feel like family. It wasn’t like she’d thought it would be when she pressed Nell to let her have her independence. She’d thought she and Clark would get together soon, and The Talon would really take off so she could put in the extra screens, and school would be getting really great, since she’d be an upperclassman soon. Instead, school was just getting harder, and The Talon was just more and more work, since it wasn’t making much money and Lex had all but lost interest, and Clark?

Clark hadn’t said anything, but it was obvious that if he wasn’t with Chloe yet, he would be really soon. She was so mad at them for not talking to her that she didn’t know what to do. Talking about the situation wouldn’t probably do anything good for her right now. She could refuse to talk to them, but they might not even notice right now. She could confront Chloe and try to get her to see her side. She was good at that.

Gabe strolled into the kitchen.

“Oh. Hey.” He dropped a cardboard bucket of Chick-n-Jiff on the table and set his briefcase in a chair. “Do you know where Chloe is?”

Lana perked up and dropped the napkin. “Oh. Um, she’s upstairs in her room... With Clark.”

“Oh. Okay.” He walked over to the refrigerator and leaned over. “Good.”

“I... thought you should know, since she and Clark are probably...”

Gabe turned and frowned at her.

“Well, you know that they’ve been together, right?”

“Hm. I’ll go up and check on them.” Gabe headed for the door, then turned back and crossed his arms. “Lana, I think you ought to give your aunt a call.”

Lana raised her brows.

“I mean, well.” He looked at the door and pressed his lips together. “You can probably get her to take you for the summer, and you can find someone else to live with next year, if you still want to go to Smallville High.”

“Wait, what?”

Gabe met her eye. “Look. I let you live here because we had the room, and I thought it would be good for Chloe to have more girl friends. But I’ve heard a little bit about what’s been going on between you two since March, even though Chloe hardly tells me everything that’s going on with her. I know she’s needed a real friend. You took advantage of my little girl, and you’re not welcome in our home anymore.”

“Mr. Sullivan, I never took advantage of her-”

“You should call your aunt.”

He left the room swiftly, leaving Lana there with her mouth agape.

***

Chloe jumped up and slid to the other side of the bed when she heard her father’s rapping on the door.

“Hey, Chlo-bear? You in there?”

“Uh, yeah, Dad.” She patted herself down to make sure she was properly buttoned up, then looked at Clark, who had just pulled his shirt down. “I’m in here. Clark, too.”

Gabe opened the door and looked around. “Clark, I don’t think you know what you’re getting yourself in for, if you’re trying to get Chloe to fold her laundry.”

Clark laughed nervously. “She keeps trying to distract me.”

“I bet.” Gabe pulled up a chair. “Lana said you kids were up here, so I thought I’d come up and say hi.”

“Did she.” Chloe tucked one leg under her and swung the other.

“I’m glad you two are getting along again. She’s needed someone, Clark,” Gabe said seriously.

“Dad!”

Clark leaned over on his thighs and nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

“You be good to her.” Gabe looked to Chloe. “I’d like you two to take a break. Come down for dinner. Are you hungry? I brought home some chicken.”

“Clark’s always hungry,” Chloe said. She grinned when he looked at her. “We’ll come down. Is... Lana still down there?”

“I think she’s talking to her aunt.” Gabe got up and patted Chloe knee. “I’ll set the table. See you in a few?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Dad.” Chloe watched him leave, then turned to Clark, who was a little flushed. “Don’t be embarrassed. He doesn’t know what we were doing.”

“Yeah. I’m just... I don’t want to think about talking to your dad about all this.”

“I think my dad will be cool about it. He’s pretty hands-off. I’m more worried about your dad. Should we go over there together before I leave?”

“No.” Clark rolled his eyes. “No way. I’ll tell him on my own. I don’t want him taking his temper out on you.”

“I don’t want him taking it out on you, either. You’re the one in a delicate way.”

Clark grinned a little, then got up and took her hand. “I’m indestructible.”

“On the outside, maybe.”

“He can’t be too mad.” Clark walked with her into the hallway. “We didn’t do it on purpose.”

Chloe shrugged. “I dunno if that would stop him. He’s been pretty determined to hate Lex forever for things that either had nothing to do with him or were only indirectly caused by his actions.”

“It’ll be fine. I just need to, I dunno, work up to it. Maybe tell Mom first.”

“She’ll be so delighted to hear about a grandchild, maybe I’ll be forgiven for ruining your life.”

Clark scoffed. “You aren’t. Neither of us knew what would happen.”

“Hmm. Smell that chicken?”

“Are you kidding? I smelled it before your father came up.”

“While we were kissing?” Chloe faked a scandalized look.

“What can I say?”

Clark flushed a little again, and Chloe turned to him on the middle of the stairs and gave him a kiss. His hand snaked around her back and squeezed her to him.

“Mm.”

***

“Okay, cut it out.” Chloe stood with her bags by the train, bouncing on her heels. “You need to stop, Clark.”

Clark wiped his eyes and sucked in his lower lip. “I’m trying! This isn’t easy. I have extenuating circumstances!”

“I’m not getting on that train with tears in my eyes,” Chloe said firmly. She shifted the bag on her shoulder and stared down at the ground.

Clark moved closer and kissed her forehead. “You don’t have to cry. But you do have to call me when you get there.”

“I can manage that much.” Chloe blinked and looked up at Clark. “And if you need anything, you let me know. We’ll still see each other.”

“All the time. As long as I can still run, and we can call. Lex already said he’d drive me up when he has to go for business, and I can stay for a few days. We’ll see each other all the time. You’ll get sick of me.”

“Right.” Chloe closed her eyes. “All the time. All the...” She stopped and swallowed hard.

“Aww.” Clark lifted Chloe up in his arms. “Can I say how happy I am that you want to stay with me? And you don’t hate me. I’ve been so afraid that you’d hate me.”

“I can’t do that. I could never hate you.” She hugged him, then patted his back. “Put me down, hulk. Dad’s here.”

“Oh.” Clark set Chloe on the ground and turned around sheepishly.

“Told you I’d make it!” Gabe came up to Chloe and gave her a big hug. “There’s my career woman, off to save the world.”

“C’mon, Dad. I’m just going to be an assistant for the summer.”

“Don’t. Connections are important to have.” Gabe kissed her cheek and straightened up. “I’m really proud of you. Clark and I’ll be holding down the fort here.”

“I’m really glad you made it,” Chloe said softly.

“I wouldn’t miss my last chance to see you for the world, Chlo-bear.”

“I know.” Chloe took a deep breath, then moved to hug him again. “Oh, man, I am going to miss your corny jokes. You’ll have to save them up for me, for when I call.”

“Oh, you don’t know what you’re in for!”

They both laughed and when Chloe pulled back, her eyes were bright. “Bye, Dad.”

“I’ll get the luggage,” Clark offered, grabbing the bags on the ground. This was hard, but he wouldn’t let Chloe give up her opportunities just to sit around and watch him get enormous.

***

“How’s our little bundle?”

“Is that a euphemism? My jeans aren’t even close to fitting. One morning I woke up and she was just poking out there.”

Chloe laughed as she ironed her clothes for the next day. “God, I miss you. I want to see. Can you take a picture, or something?”

“I’ll get Uncle Lex to take it. It’s ridiculous.”

“He’s really excited. I talked to him the other day, and you’d think he was having the baby.”

“Lex is a little... I don’t know. He’s kind of weird about kids. I think he’s crazy over them, or something, but he won’t get near them.”

“Trauma. Of some kind. Maybe he’s afraid he’ll morph into Lionel. Kryptonite infection kind of thing.”

“No. He already told me about his ‘useless’ powers, as he calls them. They don’t sound that useless to me, though.”

“Is this a secret? Can I know what they are?”

“Well, he mentioned to you that he was a mutant, right? Um, he can heal himself. Not as fast as I can, but pretty fast.”

“I noticed that. I think that’s useful. Especially for a guy who told me he’s had cancer scares. Apparently his immune system can beat up cancer cells.”

“I’m just glad he can recover from all the injuries he gets.”

“What’s the other one? You said powers, right?”

“Oh yeah. He has dreams. I mean, dreams that come true.”

“...really?”

“Yeah. It’s kind of neat. He told me one of them, but now that he knows about me, he won’t tell me the ones he’s had that involved the two of us.”

“Classing precog behavior! That explains a lot.”

“Not that much. He doesn’t get them that often. It’s just that since he met Cassandra, they’ve gotten a lot more intense. He didn’t really recognize them as showing him the future before then.”

“Ohh!

“I just flat out asked him if there was anything about me and the baby, and he said he was sure we would be safe, because the dreams are usually about bad things that happen.”

“That’s really all I need to hear. How is Smallville? And your parents? Have you told them yet?”

“...I haven’t. I’m... I need to, I know.”

“Well, don’t feel rushed. It’s not like they’re going to notice you outgrowing all your clothes or anything.”

“Chloe!”

“Your parents love you. They’ve learned to deal with you floating and seeing through things and running, literally, to Metropolis for a few errands. They’ll get over this, too.”

“I just... I don’t know. My dad can be funny about these things. He’s going to get angry.”

“I’m offering again to come back and help you do this. You don’t have to talk to him alone, Clark.”

“It’s better this way. This is a family thing, as far as he’ll be concerned, and he’ll appreciate it staying that way, for the time being.”

“All right.” Chloe yawned, but made no indication that she wanted to end their long conversation. Despite exhaustion, staying up all night talking to one another was quickly becoming a staple of their summer.

***

Martha rubbed her eyes as she shuffled into the kitchen. It was early. The sun wasn’t up yet, and Jonathan was in the shower. Time to start the day.

Like every other day, she started the coffee. First water, then grounds. Then onto getting breakfast ready. As she moved to turn on the light, she jumped a little when she saw Clark sitting at the breakfast table.

“Oh! Sweetheart, I didn’t even see you there.” Martha came over to the table and pulled out a chair for herself. “Why are you sitting all alone here in the dark? Clark?”

Clark was slumped over the table and staring down at it and he mumbled something very quietly.

Martha brushed her hair back with one hand. “I’m sorry, I just woke up. What did you say?”

“I’m having a baby.”

“What do you mean? I don’t understand. Is this some kind of school assignment?”

“No.” Clark bit his lip and looked over at her with wide eyes.

Martha was silent for a long moment. Now that he was looking at her, she could tell that he’d been crying, and he’d probably been up all night.

“I’m... pregnant?” Clark said finally.

“Honey, you can’t be pregnant,” she replied automatically with a laugh of disbelief. “That’s impossible.”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought.” Clark dipped his head and a tear rolled down his cheek. “But I am. Lex has sonogram pictures and everything.”

Martha shook her head to clear the remaining cobwebs, chastised herself for not catching onto what he was saying sooner, and moved over to embrace her boy. “Oh, Clark, don’t cry. It’ll be okay.”

“I know, I’m just... having a bad night, and I’m just freaking out about it... right now.” Clark clung to her tightly. “I’ll be fine.”

“Shh.”

Martha rubbed his back, feeling almost breathless by what had just happened. There had been so many times when Martha found herself speechless in raising this amazing boy of hers, but... now was a moment that almost stopped her heart. She hadn’t prepared him for this, not at all, and she was torn between feeling inept for not talking to him about contraception or for not finding some way to learn that he could become pregnant.

“Finding this out must have been really scary for you,” she whispered.

“I... was in denial for a little while.” Clark rested his chin on her shoulder, like he had when he was a little boy.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Clark pulled back and gave her a hurt look. “Why?”

“I don’t want you to have to go through something like this at your age, Clark, but I especially wouldn’t want you to have to go through it alone.” Martha stroked her hair. Her boy, so attached already. She looked up when she heard the shower go off. “Why don’t we talk to your father about this later today?”

He drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. Martha wasn’t happy that Clark felt so hesitant to share this with his father, but there was little to do about that now.

“Are you hungry? Let me whip you up something to eat.”

“Banana pancakes?” Clark asked almost shyly.

“Of course.” Martha squeezed his shoulder. “And some eggs and bacon, too. You’ll need to make sure you get enough protein.”

“Mom, you’re the best.”

Martha sighed as she opened the cupboard. “I never set out to be the ‘cool’ parent, but there’s just no use in assigning blame. Not on you of course, I’m just... I hate that you have to find these things out with nothing to prepare you.”

After setting the flour on the counter, she turned. “Whatever happens, Clark, we love you. Okay? Even if it’s hard...”

Touching her chest, Martha shook her head as she began to cry. Clark was up with his arms around her before she had a chance to regain control.

“I’m sorry, Mom. I’m sorry!”

“Don’t be sorry. Don’t.” She kissed his cheek. “We love you. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Mom.”

“I hate for things to be so hard for you.” She steadied herself with a cleansing breath, wiped her eyes, and nodded. “We’ve made it through everything else that’s been through us, and we will handle this as a family, too. Now. Could you get the eggs out for me?”

Clark moved quickly to obey... but not at the speed where she could hardly see him. This explained too much. Many things she might have picked up on if Clark had been a girl. She wanted to kick herself for not thinking that gender and reproduction would likely be different on another planet.

Still, there was breakfast to make, and she needed to consider how she was going to bring this up with Jonathan. Who knew how he would react? With anger, at first, then hopefully, the love for his son would win out.

***

“Jonathan, we need to have a family talk,” Martha said in a light tone.

Clark looked up from his lunch to see his mother pouring some iced tea for his father. Her features were perfectly pleasant, and he wondered, not for the first time, how she would have done as a business woman or a lawyer. Probably on par with Lionel Luthor, but with a moral compass.

Jonathan tilted his head to watch her as she sat down and started putting a healthy portion of potato salad on each place. “A family talk? About what?”

“Well, Clark is seventeen now, and we’ve held back on having a serious discussion about sex-”

Jonathan choked on his iced tea and covered his mouth. “Is this lunch conversation?”

“We’ve held back a bit too late, unfortunately. But I’m not sure our talk would have covered what needed to be, given the circumstances,” Martha barreled onward.

Clark could feel his cheeks growing pink. His father looked at him for a moment, then back to his mother, who seemed determined to take the brunt of this one.

“Martha, I have no idea what you’re talkin’ about.”

“Clark is pregnant.”

Jonathan stared at her for a long, long moment. Clark squeezed the back of his chair, and it was silent, until the wood snapped.

“Sorry.” Clark put his hands in his lap.

“Clark is what now?” Jonathan looked straight at Clark.

Clark was a little afraid he was going to throw up. His father looked angry, and he’d been prepared for that, but now that it was on him, it was hard to stand up to. Clark had challenged him on football and other stupid little things. He’d even challenged him on being friends with Lex, but this was a part of his biology.

“Honey-” Martha started. 

“I’m pregnant, Dad,” Clark managed. “Don’t say you don’t believe me. I’m an alien, and I’m pregnant. I didn’t know that could happen, but it happened. I can see her in there, okay?”

Martha covered her mouth and looked at Clark tenderly. A moment later, she dropped her hands and mouthed, “A girl.”

Clark would have grinned if his father hadn’t still looked so ready to explode.

“How in God’s name did this happen? Don’t try to tell me we haven’t talked about what needs to be talked about, Martha.” Jonathan stood. “I’ve given you condoms, and I’ve told you that you’re never to have sex unless you know that it’s safe. You know better than this!”

“I didn’t plan this!” Clark argued.

“Obviously, you didn’t plan this. How are we supposed to cover this one, Clark? What are we going to do with this baby?”

Clark jumped up and stepped backward. “You’re not going to do anything with my baby!”

“Whoa!” Martha stood and held her hands up. “You two just need to calm down. We’re not going to do anything do your baby, Clark. And Jonathan, cool down. Barking accusations isn’t going to help-”

“Our son is pregnant, Martha! What is going to help, now?”

“What do you want me to do, Dad? Stop being an alien? Stop being...” Clark clenched his fists. “It’s not going to happen! I can’t change what I am!”

Jonathan pointed at him. “You should’ve been more responsible, and you know it!”

There was a tentative knock on the screen door, and all three Kents looked at the same time. Over the yelling, none of them had noticed the sound of a car driving up, and Lex stood behind the door with a mixture of curiosity and concern on his face.

Jonathan looked from Lex to Clark. Then he rushed toward the door.

“You son of a bitch!”

By the time Clark got to the door, Jonathan was landing a second blow in Lex’s face. Lex flailed backward, and there was a sickening crack as his head slammed against the railing.

“Oh my God!” Martha cried, rushing out behind them.

Clark shoved his father into the house. “What is wrong with you!”

Martha was already at Lex’s side and pulled the dishtowel out of her back pocket to cradle his head.

“After what he did to you, you’re going to defend him?” Jonathan demanded.

“Lex is not the father!” Clark yelled through the tears already streaming down his face. “I’m not gay! Goddamn you! Would it matter if I was? Lex would never do anything to hurt me on purpose. But he’s not the father.”

Clark turned to Lex, x-rayed him, then scooped him into his arms and headed to the car.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Jonathan yelled after him.

“Probably to the hospital!” Martha snapped. She jogged after Clark towards Lex’s car. “Lie him down in the backseat, honey. I’ll drive.”

“Thanks, Mom. Lex, are you with me?” Clark pressed the towel to the back of his head and winced with Lex groaned.

“I...whuh...”

“He probably has a concussion,” Martha said as she got into the driver’s seat. “Look for his keys.”

“Okay. Gosh.” Clark started searching Lex’s pockets. “It’ll be funny, one day, Lex. When she’s older, you and I can tell her how funny it was, when we told Grandpa Kent about her, and he popped Uncle Lex.... Got ‘em.”

Clark tossed the keys to his mother and secured Lex in his arms as they peeled out.

Part Nine

“And that’s why you’ve never met your grandfather before,” Lex said cheerfully as he bounced Kayla on his knee. She giggled with her hands over her mouth.

“Lex!” Clark appeared from the other room loosening his tie from work. “Don’t tell her that!”

“She asked, and it happens to be true. You should always strive to tell the truth to your children.”

“When you and Bruce have children, you can tell them the truth.” Clark scooped his daughter out of Lex’s lap and rested her on his him. Her dark curls fell into her face, and Clark turned to her, meeting her mother’s green eyes. “Don’t listen to Uncle Lex.”

“But you said he was the smartest man you knew!” Kayla protested.

Lex chuckled, stood, and slipped his hands in his pockets.

“Sometimes people who are very smart can also do really dumb things.” Clark eyed his best friend, then took Kayla into her room to get her properly dressed.

They would be meeting his parents for dinner, sans Lex thankfully, and Chloe wasn’t home from work yet. It was to be expected, what with her being the star reporter for The Daily Planet. They’d given her a job practically out of high school to keep her from going anywhere else, and even through the big changes in the newspaper business, she made The Daily Planet shine where other newspapers had gone toward more prurient news in hopes of garnering profits.

Lex had helped a little. That was undeniable. When The Daily Planet had been on the verge of a buyout, he’d acquired it and gotten its delivery methods up to speed. At the time he’d argued that it was a wise acquisition, since Chloe had won more than one award, including the Pulitzer, for her writing. Lex didn’t think much of the Pulitzer, in fact thought their methods questionable, but there was no denying the scattering of other awards up on the wall of the bullpen for all to see.

Clark knew, however, that he’d bought it mostly for Clark, Chloe, and Kayla’s benefit. And he’d added a daycare. Why he had to pretend to be the mean business man around them, Clark would never know.

Once Kayla was in her blue dress, Clark set her on the sofa and instructed Lex to be a good babysitter for once so he could change out of his work clothes.

Only a few minutes had passed when Clark felt Chloe’s arms around his waist and he looked back at his wife with a grin.

“Busy day saving the world?” he asked her.

“Back atcha.” Chloe snapped the suit under his suit and sat on the bed, crossing her legs at the knee. “Have you heard from your mother? Should we expect dramatics from your father?”

“He can be as dramatic as he wants. She’s probably going to ask him the moment she sees him why he popped Uncle Lex in the mouth.”

“You told her?” Chloe laughed and started to unbutton her blouse.

“Lex told her. That’s my fault, actually. I didn’t think he’d remember me promising him he could be the one to tell her.” Clark leaned back against the closet and watched her undress. “Sometimes I forget how evil my best friend is... Is that a new bra?

“You perv.” Chloe unhooked it and slid it off slowly as she came toward him.

“I’m the perv?”

“Yep.”

Chloe pressed herself against him, and Clark lifted her up and began kissing her hungrily. Between their jobs, both professional and vigilante, and raising a six year old, they had precious little time to spare. Especially now that their favorite babysitter had finally rekindled a romance with his old boarding school buddy...

Who happened to have the same costume wearing tendencies as Clark. Chloe wasn’t yet done teasing Lex about having a type.

A little gasp from the doorway stopped their affections, and Clark rolled his eyes when his daughter became a blur and disappeared. Second favorite babysitter. At least Kara could keep up with Kayla.

“I say let Noah monitor the city for a few months from up above, let Kara do patrol duty, with Alicia if she’s interested, alert Governor Ross to your impending vacation, and we skip up on North for a little conjugal bliss,” Chloe drawled. She kicked her legs. “Let me down. We need to get ready.”

“We can’t leave Kayla for a couple of months,” Clark said.

Chloe slipped out of her clothes and went into the closet to pull out a nice formal dress. “I was just thinking about cutting back on saving the world. We’ve been at it since helping Lex put his dad in the slammer.”

“I’m not sure that counts, since it benefitted us for him to be out of our hair.” Clark smirked. “Yours and mine, anyway.”

“Lex could only hide Kayla from him for so long,” Chloe said. “He knew better than anyone what Lionel would have done with a little half-Kryptonian. But getting him out of the way was a big first step in dislodging the crime in Metropolis. It would be like Gotham by now, if we hadn’t done something.”

“I agree with that, but our motives were still selfish.”

“Oh, my Superman.” Chloe rolled her eyes as she shimmied on her dress and grabbed a pair of earrings.

A few moments later, she was in the living room, holding her daughter and scolding her for getting away from Uncle Lex.

“It’s not fair for you to zip out of his sight. And you could get hurt,” she reasoned.

“Are you gonna have another baby?” Kayla asked.

Chloe raised her brows. Clark entered the room and shrugged at her.

“Not right now, sweetheart,” Chloe answered.

“Why?”

“Because we have a lot of important work to do.” Clark knelt by them. “And we want to make sure we are able to take care of you.” He touched the tip of her nose.

Honestly, he thought his biological clock was ticking because he’d been downright clucky whenever he saw a baby lately. Chloe, with her sharp reporter eyes, had realized it very quickly, but they’d yet to discuss it. He didn’t think she’d be against another baby, but he didn’t think she’d be interested in pulling herself away from her career, even if they could find a way for her to be the one to carry their second child.

The question really was, Could the world do without Superman for about a year?

“I’d help take care of her!” Kayla promised.

“A little brother or sister isn’t like a puppy,” Lex offered. “They need a lot more help. Just be patient with your parents. They have many responsibilities.”

“We can talk about it later, okay?” Clark promised.

Chloe met his eye. So little planning had gone into the first... and that had turned out okay, eventually. Clark’s heart tugged at the thought of a tiny little bundle in his arms, and Kayla so excited over the new baby.

That night, they went out to dinner with his parents, introducing Kayla to her grandfather for the first time, and watching Martha laugh as she grilled the old man on his behavior before she was born. She was exacting, smart, tenacious, and above all, very kind. A true blend of her two parents.

The next night they would go out with Gabe, who doted on Kayla with all he had to give her. None of the grandparents had much to give, but that was all right. Uncle Lex spoiled her enough for everyone.

The night after that, while Kayla was staying the night with Aunt Kara at her flat, having been promised that Kara would have no boys or girls over, the two of them undressed one another slowly, kissed each other all over their bodies, and then Chloe climbed on top of Clark. She kissed him, held his cheek, watched his eyes the whole way through.

By morning, they would know there was to be one more Kryptonian in the world. They didn’t know if they’d be any more prepared for this at twenty-one than at sixteen, but they’d always lived their lives at the speed of light, and Clark knew as he rubbed his hand over his flat, rock-hard abdomen, that his love for this one would expand his love for all the wonderful people in his life. And that love was what kept them fighting for a better world.

He had his daughter, his parents, his friends. He had this new little one, and he had Chloe. The woman of his dreams, and his best friend. If he had any regrets in his life, they were all washed away by the reality that the most unexpected developments had brought his life together, and forced him to face the fears that could have kept him and Chloe apart.

Clark would nurture this one inside him, bring him or her into the world unafraid, and love and protect them all with every fiber of his being.

Comments

[marikology]

I read this in one setting and I loved it! I miss the characters as they were at this age, and I really felt sorry for both Clark and Chloe, but I'm glad it had a happy ending. And poor, unrequited Lex!

[ladydreamer]

Thank you so much :D

[lastscorpion]

What a terrific story! I really enjoyed reading it.

[ladydreamer]

Thank you :D