Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A limo pulled up in front of the Kent farm several days later. Ollie climbed out gracefully, with Lois climbing out not so gracefully behind him. She stumbled a bit and was saved from falling on her face when Ollie grabbed her.

“Take it easy there Grace.”

“Shut up Ollie, get your damn hands off me. You try getting out of this car with a cast on.”

He took a step back and held his hands up. “Whatever you say Lois.” he said with a small smile.

Lois sent him a glare, fulminating that she was in this awkward position. The only reason she agreed to do this was because Chloe begged her to come with Oliver to see Clark. “Just don’t come near me.” she said as she stalked toward the front door.
Ollie sighed. You didn’t expect gratitude from her did you Queen? he thought, You only saved her life and Chloe’s. He followed her up the steps to the kitchen door.

“Lois, can we just get along for the time being? Clark is going to be wrecked enough without us snipping at each other.”

She knew he was right, but she wasn’t going to admit it. “I’m not planning on speaking to you any more than I have to, and I’ll be civil when I do. I wouldn’t want to upset Smallville anymore than you do. He’s like a brother to me.” If she wanted to be truthful to herself, she wasn’t looking forward to this at all. Clark believed that both she and Chloe were dead. Finding out the truth and what came along with it was going to be hard for him to bear. Chloe had been adamant about Clark being told that she was alive. There was absolutely no dissuading her, and grew very agitated when they were reluctant to agree. When they realized that she was not going to calm down until they promised her that they would tell Clark what had happened and deliver the letter that Lois now had in her purse, they relented. Chloe even in her weakened state was a force to be reckoned with.

Lois looked at Ollie and saw that he felt the same hesitance that she felt. She didn’t know that he felt it for partially different reasons though. He had a feeling that Clark was going to try and pound him into China for not coming clean earlier than this.

He locked eyes onto Lois and took a breath, “Here we go.” and knocked on the door.

Lois heard steps coming down the stairs and to the doors, which meant that Clark was the one coming to the door. He’s the only one in the house that made that kind of racket coming down the steps, she thought, the big dork. She held her breath when the door swung open.

Clark looked like he hadn’t had a nights sleep in weeks. His hair was longer than normal, and looked messy even for Clark. His blue T shirt was wrinkled like it had been slept in and had several stains on it. He wore old jeans that stretched out over his thighs to the stress points, and had holes in both knees and no shoes. But it was his face that disturbed her the most. His eyes looked listless and dull, there were bags under them and his face was so pale with a few days growth of a beard. He didn’t even remotely look like the wholesome farm boy she knew.

“Clark.” Ollie said with a nod.

Clark’s eyes had fallen to Lois when he had opened the door. His mind was obviously playing tricks on him again, but he couldn’t resist looking behind “Lois” to see if he saw anyone else. Of course not, Kent. She’s dead, they both are. he thought. He dragged his eyes to Ollie.

“Ollie. What’s going on?” Clark didn’t want him to know he was seeing things that weren’t there. His mother was worried enough about him, he didn‘t need anyone else on his case.

“Can we come in?”

We? Clark thought confused. “Yeah, sure, c’mon in.” He stepped back to let Ollie inside.

“Hi Smallville. I bet you didn’t think I would be standing on your doorstep huh?” Lois said awkwardly.

“Um, Ollie? What are you doing here?” Clark ignored Lois. Great, now I’m hearing things when other people are around.

“Hello? Earth to Clark?” Lois waved her hands in front of Clarks face. “I know I’m not you’re favorite person in the world but aren’t you going to say anything to me?”

If possible, Clark’s face got even paler. His eyes wouldn’t focus on Lois at all, and he started to fidget. He heard his mother coming down the stairs from packing to leave for Washington again.

“Oliver! What a nice surprise. What….Oh my God! LOIS?” Mrs. Kent cried as she streaked across the kitchen to embrace her former houseguest. “How is this possible, we were told you were dead!” she asked as she released Lois.

“I’m glad someone is glad to see me Mrs. Kent.” Lois replied, throwing Clark a look.

Clark stood there in shock. Lois is alive, she’s really here, this isn‘t a dream. Breaking his lethargy, he stepped forward and caught Lois in a bear hug, trying to be careful to not crush her. “I didn’t think you were real. I’m glad you’re okay.” He sobbed. “But.….Chloe….”

Lois patted him on the back, “Clark, let loose a bit will you? I can’t breath.” Clark released her from the hug, but still held onto her arms. She saw the tears in his eyes and her heart broke for him.

“I’m sorry, I….” Clark looked pleadingly into her eyes. “ Lois, is Chloe…alive too?”

“Well, that’s what we came to talk to you about Clark.” Lois said.

“Lois, please, just tell me. Is she alive?”

Lois could see the anguish in his eyes. “Yes, Clark she’s alive.”

“Oh God.” Clark sank down onto a chair. He had let go of Lois’ arms and covered his face with his hands. “Oh, thank God.” he sobbed.

Martha came over to put her arms around her son. She cradled his head into her breast as he sobbed. Her son had been through hell the last few weeks over the death of Lois and Chloe. He had blamed himself for not getting there in time to save them. By the time he got to Metropolis, he could find no clue as to where the girls were. It wasn’t until a few days later, when they received a call from Gabe, that they were told that there had been an accident. Chloe’s car had blown up and no remains of the girls had been found. A memorial service was held for both girls just a week ago. Clark had not slept or eaten in over a week. She looked at Lois and Oliver standing there, obviously quite uncomfortable with Clark’s reaction. She patted her son’s back and whispered into her son’s ear before speaking again.

“I don’t know what’s going on here, but someone had better explain why we’ve been put through this.” Martha spoke quietly with steel in her voice. It was the same tone she adopted whenever she encountered a fellow senator that assumed he (or she) could push her around since she lived on a farm in Kansas. She had seen her son devastated when Jonathan died, but she had never seen her son react like this.

Ollie shuffled his feet uncomfortably under Martha’s intense gaze. He could understand now why she was a formidable foe on Capital Hill. “There is a lot to go over, and we don’t have much time, can we sit down Mrs. Kent?” He glance at Clark and saw the young man struggle to compose himself.

Martha nodded towards the chairs. “Would either of you like something to drink?”

“I would love to have some lemonade Mrs. Kent.” Lois said, “and if you happen to have any of your fabulous chocolate chip cookies around, I wouldn’t object to those either.” She added with a grin.

Martha couldn’t help but grin at Lois. “I think I can find some for you Lois.”

Clark listened to the conversation around him, but was still in a state of shock. He dimly realized that he had just cried like a girl in front of Ollie, and Lois. He groaned inwardly, she would never let him live it down. But that was okay, because she was alive. Chloe was alive, and nothing could be better than that. He was grateful that his mother was here, and knew that by offering Lois and Ollie something to drink, that she was giving him a chance to compose himself. He took a deep breath and looked at Lois.

“Are you okay?” He looked down at her arm and noticed the cast. He reached out to lay his hand on it. Being able to reach out and touch her, made the reality of the situation begin to sink in. “Do I get to sign this?”

Lois rotated her arm so that her hand could hold Clark’s. “I’m fine, and yeah you can sign it.”

Clark grinned for the first time since she has walked through the door. “Good. I have a great Whitesnake lyric to write.” He chuckled as Lois began to blush.

“You are such a dork Smallville.”

“But at least I have better taste in music.” he teased. Which earned him a swat on the arm.

Ollie cleared his throat. “I hate to bust up this fascinating conversation, but we don’t have a lot of time.”

Lois shot him a glare, but refraining from the retort on the tip of her tongue. She had meant what she had said to him earlier. She didn’t want to upset Cark any more than he already was. Besides, although she would never admit it, Ollie was right, they were on a tight time table. She smiled her thank you at Martha when a plate of cookies appeared in front of her. She glanced at Ollie and gave him a nod. With Martha here, their story would have to have some edits in it, but Lois had prepared by Ollie the whole trip here just for this scenario.

“Chloe was suspicious of being followed and didn’t want to inadvertently put me in danger. So she decided to fill me in about her ongoing investigation of 33.1. She also told me of her kidnapping because she is possibly meteor infected and that she believed Lex was behind it.” Which explained why she had been acting so weird the last few weeks, Lois thought to herself.

“She got a lead that she might have been able to find the location that she had been taken and of course wanted to go check it out. She wanted me to know what was going on in case she didn’t come home. God, she even wanted me to have her research so that I could continue with the investigation if she got caught. Since there was no way I was letting her go alone, I tagged along. She didn’t like it, but I told her that it would be better if she had a partner to watch her back.”

She glanced down at the cookie she was crumbling with her hands. Just thinking about that day made her panic. She put the cookie down on the plate and rubbed her sweaty palms on her jeans. She forced herself to take a breath and calm down. She was safe, and so was Chloe.

“We headed out to a building down by the docks. It was easy to break in, too easy we figured out later, and started to snoop around. It wasn’t too long after we had gotten there, that Chloe started getting real jumpy. She kept saying that she felt that we were being watched. We heard footsteps and ducked into a room. A couple of goons passed by obviously looking for something or someone. We decieded that it was time to make a hasty exit and try to come back another time. We made it back to Chloe’s car, when all of a sudden this black SUV came out of nowhere and started bearing down on us. I won’t bore you with the details, but there was more than one that was chasing us, and one managed to block off the car. Chloe swerved to miss it, and the car flipped. I don’t remember much after that, I was knocked out for a few minutes. When I came to, Ollie was there with a bunch of his bodyguards.”

“I thought you were in Star City Oliver, how did you know the girls were there?” Martha asked.

Showtime, Ollie thought. “I was in town to tie up some loose ends and actually was wanting to get into contact with Chloe. She had been doing some research for me that I couldn’t trust to my own people. I have had some issues with some leaks in Queen Industries that I needed to get to the bottom of. Both Clark and Lois had said that they didn’t know anyone who could track down details like Chloe, so I had asked her if she would help me out.

“I got a call from Chloe while they were being chased. She said she couldn’t call the police, that she and Lois were in trouble and if I could come help them. Before I had a chance to ask what was going on, her phone cut out. I had my assistant track down Chloe’s car and sent my security ahead to them.”

“How did you track down Chloe’s car?” Clark asked.

Ollie looked sheepish as he answered. “I had her car lojacked when she started doing research for me. She wasn’t aware of it, and I knew she wouldn’t approve, but since she was doing some rather delicate work for me, I wanted to make sure that she was safe and keep tabs on her. She’s given me hell for it, but it was a good thing it had been done. By the time I reached where they were, my team was already getting the girls out of the car. No one else was around, and it was obvious that both girls were hurt. Lois was awake and coherent which was fortunate otherwise I would have taken them both to the hospital and there is no telling what would have happened then.

“Chloe was very badly injured. With Lois quickly explaining what had happened, there was no doubt in my mind that Lex would try to finish what his men failed to do. There were sirens in the distance and I knew there wasn’t much time. If the police became involved, Chloe and Lois would not have been safe. I took the chance and we moved Chloe and Lois to my limo. I contacted a doctor friend of mine at Metropolis General, and had him waiting for us when we got there. He examined Chloe very quickly and got her into surgery to get her stabilized. I made the arrangements to transport Chloe to a secure location as quickly as possible. She wasn’t out of surgery an hour when she was moved.”

He looked at his watch. “I’m sorry, I have to hurry. We have only a small window of time before we can be tracked.

“I had a couple of my men go by the girls’ apartment to pick up Chloe’s laptop. After hearing in more detail from Lois what they had been doing and why, I thought it best to try and collect the evidence she had for collateral.”

“Where is she?” Clark asked. Chloe was alive somewhere and he wanted, no he needed to be with her.

“I can’t tell you that right now Clark. I’m sorry, but know that she is safe and being looked after by friends.” Ollie raised his hand at the beginning of Clark’s objection, “Let me finish Clark, I think then you will understand.

“Judging what I was able to find out from Chloe’s computer and some sources that I have, it was a safe assumption that Chloe was living on borrowed time. Now that Lois was involved, she was a target too. Lois and I discussed a few things and came to the conclusion that Chloe and Lois would be better off dead. So, they are. Without ‘bodies’, we couldn’t take the chance of telling anyone that the girls were alive until after the funeral. There would be great scrutiny of the reactions of the people attending the services and everything had to be authentic. Mr. Sullivan was informed yesterday and taken to see Chloe under the guise of a trip to get away from the city and memories of his daughter. Lois was able to speak to General Lane over the phone as well. I’ll be honest Clark, the only reason why we are telling you now is that Chloe refused any more treatment until she assured you would be told.”

“Why can’t I see her?” Clark demanded.

“Because right now she needs to focus on getting well and staying alive. The people she cares about are still being watched very closely and we can’t take the chance of anyone giving anything away. I’ve risked more than I care to just telling you Clark and now that Mrs. Kent knows, I’m growing increasingly nervous. I know neither one of you would intentionally give Chloe or Lois away, but these men play for keeps. They will do anything to get the information they want. So as of now, Chloe Sullivan and Lois Lane are dead.”


“Ollie, it’s time. We have to go.” Lois said. “Chloe gave me a letter to give to you Clark.” Lois pulled the letter out of her purse and handed it to Clark. “She said that you would understand better after you read it.”

“You know I can’t accept that I can’t see her right?” Clark looked directly at Ollie.

“I know. But for her sake right now, you have to. I only brought Lois because there was a small time frame where the farm was not being watched, so that you could see she was okay. Clark, trust me, I’m doing everything in my power to keep them both safe and alive.” Ollie prayed that whatever was in the letter Chloe had written would keep Clark from trying to find her. She had assured him it would. “When it’s safe, and enough time has passed, I promise that you’ll get to see her again.”

Clark took the letter that Lois had in her hand. “So, this is goodbye?”

“For now Smallville. You won’t get rid of me that easy.” Lois flung her arms around the farm boy she had grown to love as a brother. She stood on her toes so that she could whisper in his ear, “I’ll take care of her Clark. You take care of yourself.”

“You too, Lois.” Clark whispered back, hugging her tightly to him. He released her and she turned to hug Martha.

Clark looked at him again with a glint in his eye that Ollie had never seen before. “If anything happens, you had better let me know. If anything happens and she needs me…”

“I’ll call you. Right now Clark I just need time to get them set up so that they are safe. He won’t find them.”

“Thank you Ollie. You have no idea how much I owe you.”

“You don’t owe me anything Clark. I care for them both.” He lowered his voice just so that Clark could hear. “And the boys are delighted to have her around.”

Clark’s chest ached with the thought that he wouldn’t be the one to be with her while she recovered. “How bad is she?”

“She’s healing remarkably fast. She still has a way to go, but she’s alert, eating and giving everyone around her a hard time.”

Clark smiled. “Sounds like Chlo.” He sobered quickly with the thought again that he won’t be able to see her.

Ollie looked at his watch and frowned. “We need to go, now. Clark, I’ll be in touch when I can. Mrs. Kent, thank you for the lemonade and the cookies, they were delicious.” Ollie put his hand on the middle of Lois’s back and guided her towards the door.

“See ya around Smallville. ‘Bye Mrs. Kent.” Lois said and then they were gone.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She swam to the surface, hearing voices, voices she didn’t know, loud then fading away, becoming loud again. There was a drumming, and nothing but black all around her. But that wasn’t right, it had been early morning when they, when they what? She couldn’t remember. She heard someone calling her name, screaming it in terror. She tried to speak and say that she was right here, she was okay, stop yelling, but nothing came out. She tried to move, but her body didn’t want to respond. She could feel the cold seeping into her back, she could feel someone holding her hand. Why was she so cold? Why wouldn’t her body move? Feeling something warm trickle down her face, hearing the voice sobbing her name, begging her not to die. She wasn’t dying, was she? There was no pain, just this floating cold feeling. Then she was pulled back under into oblivion again.

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She woke again, only this time there was light. So much light that it burned her eyes. She closed her eyes and tried to move her head, but couldn’t. There was pain everywhere, and it hurt to breathe. Starting to panic she whimpered and tried to struggle. She felt a hand on her brow and a soothing voice told her it was okay. She was going to be fine, that she had to be a good girl and lie still. She was still so cold, and the hand was so warm and comforting she stopped trying to struggle.

She managed to mumble, “Hurt.”

“Yes, I know sweetheart, you’ve been through a lot, but you need to sleep now dear.”

There was something she wanted to know, something she wanted to ask, but the floating feeling came back, the light faded and everything went black again.
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She became aware of the smells first. Antiseptic, and a faint metallic smell that reminded her of a hospital. Gradually, sounds started to penetrate into the fog she was in. Whirring of machines, beeping, the squeak of shoes on linoleum, a disembodied voice over a loudspeaker asking for Dr. Connor to ICU stat. Hospital?she thought. Why am I in a hospital? she struggled to remember, tried to concentrate through the fuzziness that had settled in her head. She frowned and raised her hand up to her head.

“Well, it looks like somebody is awake.” a familiar voice stated.

Oliver? What is Oliver doing here?

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. Widened in shock as she remembered what happened.

“Oh God, where’s……” her voice was rusty.

“She’s here, just down the hall.” Anticipating her next question he went on, “She’s fine. A broken arm, concussion and cuts and bruises, but alright. You got the worst of it kiddo. You scared the hell out of us.”

“Ollie, I’m….thirsty.” She croaked.

He blinked as if surprised and shook his head a bit. Of course she was thirsty. “Here, the doctors haven’t cleared you for fluids yet, but you can manage ice chips I think.” He very carefully poured some small ice chips out of a pitcher next to her bed into a cup and helped her put it them to her mouth.

The ice melting in her mouth, was so cool and soothing her throat; it felt like the best thing in the world. She cleared her throat and spoke again.

“What happened? How did you find us?” She was pleased to hear that her voice was not as scratchy as before.

“Before I left Metropolis, I had one of my men lojack the car.” He could see this information was not setting very well with her, but it was obvious that she was starting to think clearly. She was still weak, but he needed to speak to her, time was running out, so he forged ahead.

“Chloe, we need to talk. Your life depends on it.”

Transformation

Standard disclaimers apply.
Spoilers for just about all of season 6 past and future episodes.



“Chloe you have to go faster!”

“How fast do you think a Yaris can go Lois? I’m trying!”

“They’re gaining on us Chloe. Oh God.”

Chloe pressed her foot down on the accelerator, which only went down maybe a quarter of an inch. She was pushing her car as fast as it would go, but she was afraid that it wasn’t fast enough. She saw the black SUV loom behind her, just mere inches from her bumper.

“Lois, tell me you have your seatbelt on. We’re about to get hit.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve got it on Chlo. Turn here, HERE!”

Chloe jerked the wheel as hard as she could to the right. The car went screaming around the turn on what felt like two wheels. The SUV missed the turn, but there was no time for relief as a second SUV turned behind them.

“Damn it. There was more than one. Where the hell are we? I don’t know this part of Metropolis.”

“We’re in the red light district, I know where we are. Sort of. Go down two more blocks and turn left. That will take us back to downtown. Maybe we will be able to lose them there.” Lois glanced at her cousin. “How do you think they found out we were there?”

“I have no doubt that Lex has kept tabs on me since the kidnapping. Without his GPS device in me, he must have had me tailed. Damn, I can’t believe I didn’t notice.”

“Don’t sweat it cuz, Lex doesn’t hire amateurs. They didn’t want you to notice. Here’s the turn. Shit, there’s three of them Chloe.”

Shit indeed. Chloe thought. Keep calm, keep Lois calm. “How do you know the red light district Lois?”

“Huh? Oh, I was investigating some leads in regards to aliens who were abducting prostitutes for experimentation. Turned out to be some weirdo who would drug the girls and have his way with them so he didn’t have to pay. The drug he used was laced with trace amounts of meteor rock and made the girls hallucinate.”

“Lois are you serious? Aliens?”

“Hey, I just follow what my editor tells me to follow. It pays the bills.” Lois turned and looked out the back window. “I hate to change the subject here, but they’re gaining on us again. Fast.”

“I see them, is your cell phone working yet?”

“No, and neither is yours. I don’t think we’re going to make it to downtown Chloe. They--” Just then the car was pushed forward as the SUV behind them rammed their bumper. The car swerved while Chloe fought to keep control of the car.

“Okay, Lois, think. Is there any where along here that we can stop and try and run?”

The buildings were moving so fast. This part of town was all low rent housing and apartments. All gated and locked up for the night.

“Not that I can remember, but I was only down here a couple of times. Chloe what are we going to do? If they catch us--” The car was hit again from behind.

Chloe gritted her teeth and gripped the wheel tighter. “They’ll kill us, I know Lois. I don’t know what we’re going to do.” Chloe lowered her voice to barely a whisper, “Clark, help me, I need you.” She prayed that he would hear her, but he was so far away, in Greenland of all places hunting down a Zoner, she held out little hope that even he would get there in time.

“I’m so sorry Lois, I didn’t mean to get you into this.”

Lois shot her younger cousin a lethal stare. “Don’t you dare start that shit with me. There was no way I was letting you do this alone. The Lane-Sullivan’s stick together no matter what.”

“Sullivan-Lane you mean.”

Lois snorted. “Whatever. You always want…Chloe LOOK OUT!” she screamed.

It happened in slow motion, just like the movies. Another SUV had turned the corner in front of them to block them off. Chloe swung the wheel around, crossed over into the opposite lane and swerved around the other car, missing it by a breath. But instead of straightening out, Chloe’s car started to skid out of control, where it hit the curb and by some weird twist of fate, started to flip.

Oh God, Chloe thought as her car flipped once, twice, by the third time, she had lost consciousness listening to her cousin scream.

http://shansgrl.blogspot.com/2007/03/chapter-2.html

End of a Dream

Title: End of a Dream
Author: Shansgrl
Spoilers: “Promise” Most of season 6
Characters: Clark, Lana, Chloe
Rating: G
Summary: Clark watches his childhood dream end……


Clark stood in the hallway of the church listening to the organ playing the wedding march. The song that would mean that Lana Lang, his first love, was about to be married to another man. Clark couldn’t bear to watch, which is why he was in the hallway, emotions swirling inside.

Lana had left the farm no less than forty five minutes ago, which had made her late for own wedding. She had come to him, in her wedding gown, to beg Clark one last time to confide in her.

“I still love you Clark. We can be together, there is still time for me to call off the wedding, but only if you can trust me and tell me what your secret is.”

She had looked beautiful in her white gown, almost ethereal, and so innocent. It was a perfect guise to tempt him into revealing his secret to her. He had no idea if she was being truthful, which had always been so important to her and a trait she demanded from those around her, or being deceitful. He remembered the words that Lionel had said to him a few days before.

Lionel had stopped by the farm to see Martha. He had pulled Clark aside and warned him that Lana may come to him.

“Clark, I know that the wedding may be difficult for you, but I’m afraid I need to tell you something that may be hard for you. Now, what I’m about to tell you is just a theory, but I know my son, Clark, so I think that this bears listening to. I will not tell you how I know these things, there is only so much dirty laundry I’m willing to air.

This marriage between Miss Lang and my son may be one of convenience, rather than one that is based on love. Lex does not know that I am aware of Miss Lang’s pregnancy, but I feel that this is only a part of the reason that they are getting married. I see by the look on your face, you are also aware of this pregnancy. Lex has always been competitive, and like his father, hates to lose. That coupled with the fact that he has developed this unnatural obsession with meteor infected people, which he thinks also includes you, has led him to this marriage. I do not know if Lex has feelings for Miss Lang, she is a beautiful young woman, but he knows that you do Clark and is willing to use that to get to you. I believe that she just may be a means to an end.

I have no doubt that Miss Lang is working with Lex to confirm if you are a meteor infected or not. She is not the innocent young lady that everyone seems to think. People who align themselves closely to Lex, as she has, tend to lose their moral values very quickly. Clark, I feel that I need to warn you that she may approach you before the wedding, to try and find out the truth about you. You must not tell her anything Clark, absolutely nothing. You’re very life may depend on this.”

Clark remembered these words, standing there looking at the woman who at one time, he believed was everything to him. He wanted to believe that she was offering him the dream he always wanted, a life with her without all the secrets he had to keep. He found himself opening his mouth to tell her everything, to save her from marrying Lex, to finally have what he wanted.

But when he spoke, the words were not what he intended to say.

“I’m sorry Lana, I have nothing to tell you.”

He watched the emotions that swam in her eyes. Fury, hurt, and then finally the glacier stare. The fury gave him pause, but when her eyes went as cold as ice, he knew that Lionel was right, Lana was working with Lex and he had taught her well.

She said nothing else, just turned and got back into her limo and drove off.

He sped into the house, showered and put on his suit. He decided to go to the wedding, maybe Chloe was right. It would prove that he had let go of Lana. Even if had not done so before today. He waited about fifteen minutes after he was dressed before he sped to the church.

So there he stood in the hallway of the church listening to the music as Lana walked down the aisle. Too afraid, too weak to walk in and sit in one of the pews and watch her get married he thought. But because he always seemed to torture himself, he peeked around the corner to look.

He saw Lana and Lex, facing each other saying their vows. He expected hurt, but not because he was losing Lana. He wasn’t sure he ever really had her, or even really knew her. He hurt because he knew she was making a mistake, and because he knew she would have betrayed him. He ducked back behind the corner into the hallway.

Sadness came on the heels of anger with the thought of Lana betraying him. Lex as well for that matter. They both had been such an important part of his life, his dream and his best friend. It seemed that he was destined to be alone.

He heard the minister pronounce them as “Mr. and Mrs. Lex Luthor” and peeked around the corner again. He focused on their faces, both of them smiling and gazing at each other. A movement just to Lana’s right caught his eye. It was Chloe adjusting Lana’s train.

Chloe, who looked beautiful in her lavender gown and her golden hair piled up on her head. She looked up then, straight at him as if she had known he was there.

“Hi.” He heard her whisper so no one would hear. He smiled at her.

“I’ll be done in five minutes…wait there okay?”

Everything faded away for a few seconds. Their eyes locked onto each other, and he didn’t realize that he had moved out from the hallway and sat down into a pew. He nodded.

She gave him one of her dazzling smiles and walked out behind Lex and Lana.

People were filing out of the church. Then all of a sudden, Chloe was there with her hand on his shoulder.

“You made it.”

“Yeah. I…it’s, I mean.” Clark stopped and took a breath. “She’s gone, and I’m okay with it.” He looked up at Chloe.

She sat down and took his hand. “Are you sure Clark? You told me just a few weeks ago you still loved her.”

He looked down at their hand entwined and felt comforted. He looked back up at Chloe. “I’ll always love Lana. She was my first love, my dream, but there was never any future for us. I realized that today when she came out to the farm to try and convince me to give her the truth.” He gave out a short bitter laugh. “She told me she was still in love with me. But when I wouldn’t tell her, she changed. I knew then, she never would have been able to handle my secret, let alone keep it.”

Chloe squeezed his hand. “I’m so sorry Clark. You’ll find someone, someday who will be all that you need and all you deserve.”

Clark smiled. “Don’t you have to take pictures or something?”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “They took a ton before the wedding, but I do have to get to the mansion for the reception.” She gave him a small smile. “Are you coming to the reception?”

“I don’t know Chloe, it might be awkward.”

“Tell me about it. I’m sitting next to Lionel. C’mon, be a boy scout and come for me. Please? We can be awkward together.” She gave him her best puppy eye look.

Clark laughed. “Okay, but you had better save a dance for me.”

Chloe stood up when she heard Nell call her name. “You can have all the dances you want. As long as you don’t step on my feet farm boy and that you don’t go running off to save some damsel in distress.” She gave his hand one last squeeze and walked away.

He was still smiling as he watched her leave. Part of becoming an adult was having childhood dreams change and evolve.

Maybe his dream was just beginning.

~fin~