babydee1 | Chlark Fanfic: Crisis, Chapter 13 (Reply)

Next chapter of Crisis in the House.

Sorry for the wait, guys (I seem to be saying that a lot!), but I suddenly have a lot less spare time than I used to.

Enjoy. Excellent banner by doomedxdream.

Title: Crisis

Author: BabyDee
Pairing: Chlark/Kaloe

Rating: NC-17 (this chapter PG-13)

Warnings: None

Timeline: Season 2-3 (Exodus – Exile; Clark’s RedK Summer)

Disclaimer: All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.

Summary: A violent encounter between Chloe and Clark threatens to destroy their friendship forever.

Feedback: …is love. J

Read previous chapter here.

Read story from the beginning here.

Chapter 13

Martha had been pregnant.

Chloe let out the breath she’d been holding, exhaling deeply.

The pieces of the puzzle were all coming together. Everything Martha Kent had just told her about the demands from Clark’s biological father all fit in with Dr Swann’s hypothesis about Clark’s refusal to accept his destiny, and the resulting fallout from it had been dire. For Clark to have lived with the knowledge that his actions, though well-meaning, had inadvertently brought about the death of his sibling, and then for his parents to reject him in their moment of grief…

Well. She could see how that the guilt from that would drive a little bit crazy.

Martha went on. “The doctors did everything they could, but…it was too late. I was inconsolable, as was Jonathan, and he said some horrible things to Clark and shut him out of my hospital room. I remember glancing up through my tears and seeing his blurry form at the window, his hand on the glass, face full of grief. That was the last time we saw him until Jonathan brought him home after you told us where he was.”

That was why he’d felt he could never go back home, Chloe surmised. She hadn’t known, but she’d been pressurising him to return to the place of both his greatest joy and his greatest pain. That could possibly explain his flipping out on her and pushing her around, but the rest of it…not quite so simple.

Raping her had been personal; she’d sensed that much.

“Did he…was he on any drugs whilst he was in the city?” she asked. “I know he’d been through a lot, but the violence…” She trailed off. “The Clark I know – or rather, thought I knew – would never have…have done such a horrible thing to me…”

“It was red meteor rocks,” Martha replied.

Chloe frowned. “I’m sorry?”

“Oh - I thought he’d already explained everything to you,” Martha said, surprised.

“We were interrupted,” Chloe replied quickly. “You said something about red meteor rocks just now…?”

“Yes; pieces of Clark’s home planet, similar the green rocks but non-radioactive,” Martha explained.

“I know all that, I did a feature on red meteor rocks when we had our class rings set with them instead of the rubies we’d paid for,” Chloe said impatiently. “What I want to know is how any of that impacted his decision to -” she froze, a bitter memory surfacing in her brain.

In al the time she’d known Clark, he had exhibited violent behaviour only once before; the day they received their class rings. Within moments, he’d gone from shy, sweet farmboy to obnoxious asshole, talking rudely to his teachers and swaggering around in expensive black leather – clothing his parents certainly wouldn’t purchase for him, even if they could have afforded it. She’d heard reports that he’d assaulted his father in the school parking lot right before zooming off on a Harley Davidson.

And that wasn’t all. She distinctly remembered him eyeing her lasciviously in the Talon right before bailing on their study date. Lana had said he’d kissed her the following afternoon. And that same evening he’d swanned off to a nightclub with some scantily clad new girl named Jessie, where he’d proceeded to throw people through windows and God knows what else.

Chloe’s heart hammered furiously as she remembered something chilling. Clark had held his hand over her mouth when he’d attacked her – and she’d clearly seen the crimson glow from the stone of a Class Ring on one of his fingers.

“What exactly does red meteor rock do to Clark, Mrs Kent?” she asked, her voice dangerously low. “Does it make him violent?”

Martha swallowed. “In a way, but-”

“What?” she whispered.

“Let me explain-”

“You knew this? Chloe asked incredulously, her voice rising. “All this time, you knew? And you said nothing?”

“It’s complicated-”

“How do you live with yourself?” she growled, boiling with rage as she got to her feet.

“Chloe, I swear to you that Clark’s never given us reason to believe he could ever do anything like what he’s done to you,” Martha said quietly. “Please…sit down. I’ll explain everything. Please.”

Chloe glared at her, but did as she asked, clenching her jaw in anger. “Clark may never have raped anyone before, but he has hurt people when wearing that ring,” she said stonily. “He attacked Mr Kent, didn’t he?”

The older woman gave a deep sigh, her face a mask of pain. “When a special child like Clark suddenly comes into your life, there isn’t time to map out a plan on how to manage his eccentricities,” she said softly. “We knew he was different from Day One; after all, he’d emerged from a spaceship, so we expected some challenges. But nothing prepared us for seeing a three-year old child lift a tractor with one hand, or inadvertently rip doors off their hinges.”

Chloe waited impatiently for Martha to continue as the older took a sip of rapidly cooling coffee.

“The first time we took him for a walk, he was pretty excited and started to run ahead of us,” she eventually continued. “All of a sudden we saw a streak of red and blue, and he was gone.

“We had no idea what had happened; whether he’d been beamed back to wherever he’d come from, whether he’d disintegrated on the spot…we didn’t know. And we were terrified of calling the police, because at the time Clark’s very existence was just a whole can of worms that we weren’t quite sure how to open. We hadn’t registered him as ours yet, because there were so many questions about him that we were unable to answer.

“Jonathan and I just started searching and calling for him. Eventually we found him way on the other side of Crater Lake; he’d run ahead of us by five miles.”

“I take it you’re going somewhere with this,” Chloe said dryly.

Martha didn’t take offence. “We were relieved, but knew we’d have to do something to stop things like that from happening again,” she said. “We made Clark aware that he was different, and that not everyone would accept him if they knew just how much. We constantly reminded him not to use his full strength or speed to tackle daily tasks, or play regular games, and stressed that he needed to keep his true nature hidden, or he could end up in a government lab, or worse. And Clark was always so sweet and accepting; he did all we asked with a smile on his face, and never complained.”

She paused and sighed. “What we never knew, never ever guessed, was that deep down Clark was harbouring pain and resentment over his differences, like any teenager. He had all this power, but was never allowed to express it. The only times he really uses his abilities is when he’s out saving people’s lives-”

“…and he never gets any acknowledgement for it,” Chloe whispered.

Martha nodded. “He was always the perfect kid; doing his chores, staying home with us while other kids his age were out riding bikes or watching Sharks games. He never complained, and we always thought it never bothered him, but deep down the resentment was always there, simmering, and he just…buried it.”

“Until the day he came home wearing a Class Ring,” Chloe added quietly.

Martha nodded. “Exactly. The red meteor rocks uncovered that latent side of him, so all those buried resentments came rushing to the surface. He stole our credit cards and bought new clothes and computer games. He told us…” she paused, her face awash with fresh pain, so much so that Chloe felt almost compelled to comfort her.

“He publicly denounced us, Chloe. He told us that we weren’t his parents, and then he threw Jonathan across the parking lot,” she said, her voice trembling. “He verbally abused us both; said he hated us…”

“Mrs Kent, you know that’s not true,” Chloe insisted. “Clark loves you, loves you both. I mean…sure, as teenagers we all ‘hate’ our parents when we feel they’re cramping our style, and we can be quite vocal about it – but we know you only have our best interests at heart. It’s like you said, Clark just never had the chance to let this all out before, and…I guess it all kinda slammed into him all at once.”

“We stifled him for too long,” Martha said blankly. “We forced him to suppress his true nature, and a split personality was the result.” She gave a harsh laugh. “If anyone’s to blame for what happened to you, Chloe, it’s Jonathan and me. ”

Chloe shook her head vehemently. “Don’t say that, Mrs Kent, it’s not your fault -”

“No?” she cried. “Maybe not directly, but we had a hand in causing it. Clark’s duality issues are a direct result of our parenting; because all we ever taught him to do is conceal his true identity.”

“You didn’t really have any other choice,” Chloe said softly. “Under the circumstances, you and Jonathan did the best that you could.”

“And look at the result,” Martha whispered with tears in her eyes. “I can’t get around all this. I get that he was angry and upset, but how could he have ever done what he did?”

Chloe understood her dilemma. It was the very same question she’d been asking herself ever since it happened.

“I love my son, Chloe, love him to death, but what he did to you was inexcusable,” Martha said with an air of finality. “I thought I knew who he was, fundamentally but now…” she took a deep breath. “I want to believe that he’d never have hurt you if he hadn’t been branded by Jor-El, but I’m scared that it’s the mother in me that’s just in denial-”

“I’m sorry – branded?” Chloe interrupted with a frown.

“Clark’s biological father designed a sentient computer program which he downloaded into Clark by branding him on his chest,” Martha explained. “It would…I don’t know, speak to him, like a voice in his head giving him some form of direction. Its primary function was supposedly to suppress his earthly side-”

“…and nurture the dormant Kryptonian side of him,” Chloe breathed. “Oh, my God; Clark was being brainwashed, wasn’t he?”

Martha swallowed. “Well…yes, in a way. The branding fuelled his anger and directed it at the people he cared about the most, but he-”

“Then it wasn’t his fault at all,” she went on, ignoring Martha’s words as hope spiralled within her. “His mind was controlled. Oh, I knew it. I knew he’d never willingly hurt me!”

“Chloe, listen to me,” Martha begged, but Chloe got to her feet excitedly.

“Clark isn’t a rapist, Mrs Kent. Someone who saves people’s lives everyday could never have done what he did to me unless it wasn’t really him,” she said confidently.

“But what if it was?” Martha whispered.

“What you’ve just told me proves that it wasn’t,” Chloe argued. “That voice in his head, the brand on his chest…this explains it all. Why didn’t you mention this to me sooner? Come to think of it, why didn’t he?”

Martha shook her head desperately. “Because it’s not that simple-”

“Chloe Sullivan to Room Three, please, Chloe Sullivan to Room Three,” came a cool voice over the public address system.

“That’s me,” Chloe said, picking up her bag. “Thank you for explaining everything to me, Mrs Kent. Please don’t blame yourself or feel guilty about any of this; it wasn’t your fault, Clark wasn’t himself.”

“Chloe…”

“I have to get to my appointment, but I’ll see Clark later and tell him that I know the truth,” she said. “Don’t worry; everything will be okay.” And she sped off out of the café towards the examination rooms.

***

Martha rested her head on her hands, her heart full of pain. From the hopeful look on Chloe’s face, she was going to offer Clark the reprieve he so desperately wanted. A small, selfish part of her hoped she would, so that maybe they could all begin to put this horrible episode behind them.

But could they ever really? she thought. Deep down, she knew the truth, remembered Clark’s aching confession.

I wish I could blame it all on the Voice in my head, but I can’t, he had said remorsefully. I hated her at that moment…I wanted to hurt her, and I did. All the Voice did was amplify what was already inside.

As much as she didn’t want to accept it, there it was in black and white. And she couldn’t let herself or Chloe believe or have any hope in a lie, because if Clark did this to anyone else, it would all be on her conscience. As difficult as it was going to be, she knew that Chloe deserved the truth; the whole, bitter truth.

Sighing, she got to her feet and found her way through the meandering halls till she got to Room Three, and took one of the few chairs just outside the doctor’s office. After waiting for about thirty minutes, the door opened and Martha got to her feet as someone stepped out.

A man. A frail old man with a Zimmerframe, who was clearly neither Chloe nor her examining doctor, emerged from the room and hobbled off down the corridor.

Frowning, she peered into the office and saw a young man scribbling notes on a pad.

“Er…excuse me, but I thought Chloe Sullivan had this appointment with you?” she queried.

The young doctor smiled at her. “Hello, Ma’am. She did, but she told them at the front desk that she was fine, and passed her appointment to the next available person.”

Martha’s face fell. “I see. Thank you.”

She stepped out of the office and closed the door, her mind ticking. Chloe had had a thirty-minute head-start back to town, was likely in Smallville already. Quickly she headed outside the building and dug out her cell, but was unable to get a signal; most likely the hospital had signal-jamming software installed so that cellphones wouldn’t interfere with lifesaving machines.

Martha Kent got into her car with a deep sigh. Chances were she wouldn’t be able to contact Clark before Chloe got to him. She could only hope that her son would do the right thing and be honest with Chloe, as painful as it was likely to be.

***

To be continued…