Author: Phantom
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters...or anything else
Clark looked at the doctor, scared out of his mind.
"Chloe's gonna be okay, isn't she?" The way the doctor looked at him, he felt like panicking.
"I'm sorry, son. I can't share any information with you until we've notified Miss Sullivan's immediate family."
"No." What did she mean by that? Chloe had to be okay. She just had to be. He pushed open the doors where they had been operating on Chloe, despite the doctor's protests. When he looked inside he couldn't see Chloe anywhere. In her place was a man with a bandaged head. No.
"Where's Chloe Sullivan?" He waited for his question to be answered by someone. The way that the doctor hesitated made him uneasy.
"She didn't make it. I'm sorry."
"No....." He stumbled out of the room, struggled to keep his emotions under control. It felt like he had tons of pressure on his heart as he tried to keep his focus. He was losing control. He wasn't strong enough and his hearing abilities went out of control. Suddenly he was bombarded by tons of sounds. People screaming, sirens wailing, everything was coming at him at once. But then something stood out. A familiar voice. I must be imagining it. I've heard it so many times before. I can't be going crazy. He tried to focus on the voice, to hear each individual word.
"Clark! Somebody help me! Help!"
Chloe. Clark ran towards where it seemed that Chloe was. He stopped in a hospital room, with no on in it. He looked around and recognized it to be a morgue. He turned and figured out where she was. He pulled out the drawer she was in. When he saw her face his heart filled with joy. She's alive.
"It's okay. It's okay." He said those words more to reassure himself rather than Chloe, but she didn't seem to mind. He was so happy to see her, he wrapped her in a hug. He felt Chloe stiffen up at first, as if he had surprised her. But after a couple seconds she hugged him back. Clark felt so happy to see her, he didn't want to let her go. He hadn't even realized that all she had on was a white sheet.
They stayed like that for a couple minutes, neither willing to let each other go. But Chloe was the first one to break the embrace. She looked around and started, "What happened? Am I in a morgue?" Clark not willing to talk about the morgue didn't answer.
"Come on... Let's get you o.."
"Why am I in a morgue?" She curtly cut him off, talking rather loudly. Chloe looked at Clark, not willing to move until he answered her question.
"You're alive. That's what matters now." Clark really didn't want to tell her flat-out that she had died.
"But I wasn't alive, was I?" It seemed like she figured it out herself. "Lois..."
"Lois is fine. You should know that more than anybody." Chloe looked confused, but then she started walking away.
"Turn around." What does she mean by that? He then realized she was practically naked. Oh. He turned around, figuring that she must want to get dressed.
"She showed me her stab wound, the one that didn't leave a scratch."
"I thought I had the market on resurrections today." Typical Chloe, he thought.
"Lois said that one of Lex's guys may have done something to you when you were out. You want to tell me what really happened?" I don't believe Lois' theory at all. I know it has something to do with Chloe's meteor freak status. Freak. I hate that word. From now on, it's infected. No...even that sounds horrible. Affected? Sure.. that's better... He almost didn't' notice that Chloe had started talking again.
"Clark, as much as I would love to contribute to Lois' divine-intervention story, I was a little busy being unconscious." She's lying. She knows what happened, she just doesn't want to tell me.
"Chloe, c'mon."
"Clark, I don't have time for 20 questions right now. I gotta get out of here." Okay... So she really doesn't want to talk about it. But I can't help worrying about her...
"You just died and came back to life. Don't you think you should have your blood pressure taken?"
"And get turned into some sort of lab rat? From one guinea pig to another, I think I'll pass." Clark decided to stop at this as Chloe grabs her death certificate and rips it out. Then the one underneath it manages to catch her attention. She looks back at Clark and he goes closer in order to read the name. Lana. I guess this is proof. He looks back in Chloe's eyes, seeing the sorrow arise.
---
They were in Chloe's apartment above the Talon. She was watching a video of her and Lana in New York. Tears were flowing freely from her eyes. He couldn't stand to see her like this. He cared about her too much.
"Chloe?"
"Hey." She said quietly, and then she jerked her head back up to look at Clark. "Oh, it's really hard to concentrate when Lana was here one minute and now she's just... I'm so sorry, Clark."
She walked up to him and put her arms around Clark, sobbing. That is when I started to cry. And it wasn't just for Lana. It was for almost losing Chloe too. I hadn't realized how much I would have missed her if she was gone. How could have I forgotten how I felt after Chloe died in that alternate universe? And to experience it all over again was almost too much to bear. But having Chloe in my arms right now is enough to calm me down.
---
"Clark?" Chloe walked in to find Clark listening to the radio. He looked depressed, so she decided to be careful with him, in case he snapped. "I know you wanted to be alone, but... I thought I'd come by and see if I could get more than two words out of you."
"Thanks, Chloe. I think I'll take a rain check." I can't believe how close I was to losing her.
"Yeah, well, I guess you deserve a little bit of peace and quiet after sending the evil bobbsey twin to the sunny side of Mars."
"Who's to say he's any more evil than I am?" I let my guard down. I should have been watching her. What if she really did die? I should be called evil.
"Unless you have a second secret identity that I don't know about, I..."
"Chloe, when I heard about Lana, I went to find Lex. And I wasn't gonna let him leave there alive. The irony is I think it was the first time I ever really understood Lex. Loving someone is hard. It's difficult. But hate -- hate is so... clean." I don't know what I would have done if I lost Chloe. I would have to lock all the doors so no one would have been able to come near me.
"Maybe you need to feel this right now. I mean, anger is a natural human emotion." But I'm not human,
"Well, that's just it. 'Cause when that phantom was trying to kill me and I was staring into my own eyes, I saw the monster that I could become if I wanted to. It was a reminder that I am not human." I could have become that easily. Killed Lex and everyone else who stood in my way.
"Tell that to every person you've ever saved. Clark, whether you want to see it or not, you're one of us now. And the fact that you're from a galaxy far, far away just... adds character. And you know I'm here, no matter what side of nature or nurture happens to be winning out."
"It goes both ways, Chloe. Whatever happened in that dam, you ended up in a morgue." He was still really worried about her. He looked at her as she answered.
"Yeah, it was nothing." She still doesn't want to tell me. I guess I have to give her time.
"I'm just saying that when you're ready..." He lifted his arm and out it around her, pulling her close. He felt Chloe lean into him, and he felt better. When she was at his side he was relaxed, because he could always be himself in front of her. He rested his head on hers, but that's when Lois came in, so he let go of Chloe.
"Clark, there you are. I forgive you." Clark looked at her with a confused expression on his face. What the hell is she talking about. What did I do?
"For what?"
"Don't make me relive it - it was traumatizing enough the first time around." Then, pointing at Chloe, she added, "And by the way, you've got some explaining to do there, Missy."
"Lois, I'm sorry." I still have no idea what she's talking about.
"I know you are. And I know you didn't mean it. You were just in shock. I heard about Lana on the news." She hugged him tightly, and it made Clark uneasy. It was nothing like his hugs with Chloe, but he would have to bear through it. "Clark, I'm so sorry. Look, all I can say is... at first you don't know how you'll ever make it through, but somehow you do. Just trust me on this one." Then her expression suddenly changed and she added in a more stern voice, "But if you ever grab my ass again, I will be taking your head with me when I go. Okay?"
"Um...ya." I did what?? He could hear Chloe stifling her laughter behind him. He waited until Lois had left and then he turned around to Chloe, who had broken out in laughter, unable to contain it any longer. "Stop that. It's not funny."
"You know?" She started in a teasing voice, and Clark could tell that he wouldn't hear the end of it. "I think it it." She sat back down on the couch, with a huge smile on her face. He sat down beside her, resisting the urge to put his arm around her again.
"Well... It's not." When Chloe's smile became bigger he added, "Stop that. I mean it."
"Oh ya? Are you going to stop me?" It was great to be fooling around like this after such a long, saddening day.
"I think I am." He grabbed her around the waist and held her up above his shoulder. She was as scared as heights as he was, so he was careful not to hold her up that high.She struggled to get out of Clark's grip, but she wasn't getting very far.
"Okay...Okay.. I'll stop." Clark let her down a little, but not all the way down.
"I'm not sure... You don't seem like you could be trusted." Of course she could be trusted though. I trust with my secret, and I trust her with my life. It was now when I noticed that I could look directly in her eyes. I usually looked down at her, but now, when she was about a foot and a bit above the ground.... Her eyes were mesmerizing. He couldn't bear himself to look away.
"Could you let me down now? You can trust me." It seemed like her words had broken the state he was in.
"Um...ya." He let her down slowly, blushing profusely. When she was down, she looked up and smiled.
"Well... It looks like I cheered you up a bit. Now... If you don't mind... I'm off."
"Ummm...ya. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Defiantly." She turned around and walked out the door, leaving Clark standing there, thinking. I think I have feelings for Chloe. But... How could I? She's my best friend, and she has a boyfriend which she chose over me a year ago. This is great. When she loves me, I don't. When I love her, she doesn't love me. Well, I guess I'll just have to deal with it. Just wait it out. Eventually she'll love me again, and I'll be right here, ready for her. She'll be worth the wait.
