Chlark Fanfic: No Compromise, Chapter 4

[babydee1]

Banner of awesomeness by the lovely ctbn60. Thanks, babes! :-)  

Title:              No Compromise
Author:          BabyDee1
Pairing:          Chlark
Rating:           PG-13
Warnings:     None 
Timeline:      Follows Season 10’s Masquerade with reference to Collateral
Disclaimer:   All known characters belong to the CW & DC comics. 
Summary:     After Chloe resists all Desaad’s temptations, she finally admits to the truth of what’s in her heart. 
Feedback:      …makes me squee. :-) 

Read previous chapter here.
Read story from the beginning here.

Chapter 4

“You gave away everything that I have,” Lois said with a smug, jubilant expression on her face.  “And you want it back.” 

At the callous words, Chloe slammed the shutters down on her heart and stood her ground.

This wasn’t Lois, not the real one.  She needed to find a way back to reality before the visions drove her crazy…before she was tempted to succumb to them. 

“Get out of my head!” she screamed fiercely. 

Suddenly the air fractured and Chloe found herself in a leaky abandoned building, rancid rainwater dripping down her hair and through her clothes.  Her hands were bound at the wrists, and she had been hung up most unceremoniously on a very large meat hook.

“It’s the heart, actually,” Desaad said dryly, his smarmy voice cutting into her reality as he came into view.  “The window to the Soul.  Both mankind’s greatest asset…and his greatest weakness.”   

***

This couldn’t be happening, she thought wildly.  Not again.

“Desaad!” she screamed, stomping back into the cave and shining her flashlight at the ceiling.  “Not funny!  It didn’t work yesterday, and it’s not going to work now, so will you please just get the hell out of my head!”

Clark jumped back, startled.  “I’m sorry…what?”

“This isn’t real,” she moaned in anguish, dropping her flashlight and pressing her hands to her head.  “You’re not real…Oh God, how many times do I have to go through this?”   

“Chloe---” Clark dropped his own flashlight and took her clammy hands in his, squeezing them tight.  “Chloe, it’s me, it’s Clark.  I’m right here.  What…are you okay?  What’s wrong?”

“How dare you!” she screamed, wrenching her hands out of his.  “How could you say that to me, Clark?  How could you?”

His eyes widened in surprise, and he reached for her again.  “I’m – Chloe, I just want to be honest with you---”

“You’re sick!” she seethed, backing away in anger.  “You’re marrying my cousin in weeks, she’s – she’s wearing your ring, sleeping with you every night and you dare to bring me out here and try it on with cheesy pick-up lines?”

“Chloe, listen to me---”

“Is this my punishment for breaking up with Oliver?” she said with a mirthless laugh, gazing skyward.  “Another stupid test before you remind me yet again that I can never have the one thing I truly want, huh?  Is that it?”

“You broke up with Oliver?” Clark echoed.

“You want me to admit it?” she screeched, her voice resonating loudly as it bounced off the cavernous walls.  “Fine!  I love Clark Kent!  I never stopped loving him, not for a second!  There, you have it!  So go ahead – kill me, drain me, stamp my forehead with that damned symbol – whatever.  Because I really, really don’t give a shit!”

“Chloe!” Clark called, hurrying after her as she stormed off.  “Chloe, wait---”

“Let go of me!” she snarled as he grabbed her arm. 

“Is it true?” he asked, looking hopeful.  “Did you break up with Oliver?”

“What do you care?”

“I need to know,” he said gently.  “Please…is it true?”

“Yes,” she said flatly.  “Not that it matters to you, it never has.  Now if you’ll excuse me---”

“Chloe, please – don’t go.”

“Why?” she cried.  “What do you want from me?”

“You just said that you love me,” he said.  “That you always loved me.”

“It doesn’t make a blind bit of difference, Clark,” she said with a diffident shrug.  “You know why?  Because you love Lois.  You love her so much you’re getting married in six weeks, and I’ll be there, as her bridesmaid, smiling and holding her bouquet while you share your first kiss.  Whoopee.”

“Chloe, I---”

“You don’t owe me anything for what I just said in here,” she continued, holding her hands up.  “Like I said, I know I don’t matter to you.  And if you so much as attempt to give me some bullshit consolation kiss-on-the-cheek again, so help me God I will get the biggest chunk of kryptonite I can find and ram it up your stupid Kryptonian---”

“Lois and I broke up,” he interrupted loudly. 

Chloe stopped midstream and stared at Clark as if he was a creature from outer space.  Which he actually was, but…

“What did you say?” she whispered, convinced her ears were deceiving her. 

“I called off the wedding,” he said softly.  “It’s over.  Lois and I aren’t getting married; not in six weeks, not ever.” 

***

Chloe couldn’t have been more shocked if she’d stood on a live wire. 

“You two broke up?” she managed, still in shock.   “But…why?  When?”

Clark sighed and ran a hand through his hair.  “Yesterday.  It’s a long story, but the short version is that we didn’t really love each other.”

“That’s not true,” Chloe countered, shaking her head.  “I’ve seen you two together, Clark.  You love her, she loves you…you’re in love---”

“We are,” he agreed.  “…but not with each other.” 

“I don’t understand,” she said, baffled.  “What happened?  Why the sudden split?”

He took a deep breath.  “Lois has feelings for someone else.”

“Clark, come on.  Why would you even think that?”

“Because yesterday, Lois literally tried to turn me into the Green Arrow.” 

***

“Drink it in, Handsome,” Lois drawled from behind him, stepping forward when he didn’t make a sound.  “You gotta...you know, roll it around in your mouth for a little while, and tell me how you feel.”

“I feel like I can’t believe you did this to my jacket,” he said, still stunned and shocked at the crude red hood she’d stitched onto the collar. 

“Keep in mind that it’s just a prototype,” she said cheerfully. 

“It’s not practical,” he pointed out.  “For starters, it won’t stay up in superspeed, and I won’t be able to see a thing at night through these glasses.”

“Well, you can use a bobby pin to hold it in place when you’re superspeeding, and, er…e-ray vision for the shades,” she suggested, pulling up the zipper on the jacket and turning him to face the mirror.  “And you’ll need to do something about your voice, because too many people know what you sound like…one of those voice distorter thingies might come in handy.  Put them all together, and boom – instant superhero!”

He shook his head and unzipped the jacket.  “Lois, this isn’t me.  I don’t want to wear a mask.”

“But it’s perfect for you!” she argued.

“Is it?” he asked, dropping the jacket on the sofa.  “Menacing hood, dark glasses, voice distorter…sheesh, all that’s left is to dye my jacket green and I’m a completely different hero.”

“We’d have to bleach your hair first,” she murmured under her breath, tearing the hood off the jacket as she spoke.

“What?”

“Nothing.”  

***

Chloe listened with wide eyes as Clark filled her in with the details of his break-up with Lois.  They were sitting in on a ledge in one corner of the caves, the flashlights turned off beside them.  A beam of light from the setting sun pierced one of the cracks in the cave roof and hit the ground in a strangely shaped halo, providing ample illumination for its occupants.

“She pasted on a smile and tried to act like it was nothing, but it was obvious something was bothering her,” he was saying.  “I told her that she’d clearly modelled my new look on Oliver Queen, and asked if there was something I should know.  She just…shook her head and started crying.”

“Why?” Chloe asked with a frown.   

“Because she still has unresolved feelings for him, but thought she’d lost her chance when he moved on to you,” he said gently.

“But that’s crazy!” she exclaimed.

“Is it?” he said, and gave a short laugh.  “You didn’t see the hood.”   

“Lois loves you!” she insisted.  “Look, she’s probably just got cold feet like you have, and is mentally revisiting her past relationships…you know, just finally making sure that she’s with the right one…”

“You’re probably right,” Clark said, swinging his legs back and forth.  “And after a long discussion, we realised that we weren’t meant for each other, but that the people we really had feelings for had already moved on to each other.” 

Chloe shook her head stubbornly.  “That’s not true,” she said, her expression mutinous.  “You love her, Clark.  I’ve seen the way you look at her---”

“I only started noticing her when she started becoming the woman you’ve always dreamed of being,” he said softly.  “When she literally stepped behind your desk at the Daily Planet and started working her way up.  Chloe…that was your dream, your life.  Why did you give up on that?”

She stared at the ground and sighed.  “Lots of reasons,” she finally answered.  “Chief of which was I didn’t want to be at the Planet if it meant sitting next to both of you as you made puppy dog eyes at each other, while I nodded and smiled and tried to pretend that my heart wasn’t breaking.”

“What makes you think I wouldn’t have been making puppy dog eyes at you?” he challenged, and she snorted.

“You’ve never wanted me, Clark – not that way,” she said firmly.  “That’s never been one of your secrets.” 

“Okay, let’s assume - for now - that we would have remained platonic friends,” he said.  “That didn’t mean you had to give up on journalism entirely.”

“I didn’t,” she said.  “I actually have a day job with the Star City Register under a different name.  I’m just on vacation, is all.”

“Really?” he said, surprised.  “You never told me.”

She shrugged.  “Like you said, we haven’t had much time to chat.”

“I see.”  He paused.  Then: “Why Star City?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” she said with a wry grin.  “I thought Oliver might want to return to his home city, and we could continue to build on what we had.  Only…”

“Only what?” he pressed when she fell silent.

“Only Desaad got me and put me through all those tests, and…and in addition to everything else he opened my eyes to, I suddenly realised what I did with Oliver’s disguise,” she said in a low voice.  “Clark, I dyed his hair dark brown and gave him blue-green eyes.” 

Clark stared at her with wide open eyes for several seconds, rendered speechless.  Chloe turned to him and gave him a sad smile. 

“Looks like Lois isn’t the only one whose mind is playing tricks on her,” she finished. 

“So, let me get this straight…I fall in love with Lois when she turns into you,” Clark said slowly.  “Meanwhile, she tries to turn me into Oliver’s alter ego…while you try to remodel Oliver after… after me?” 

“And Oliver only got with me when he couldn’t have Lois,” Chloe muttered thickly, and dropped her face into her hands with a groan.  “You couldn’t make this stuff up, could you?”  

Clark chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.  “It’s been a strange, strange couple of years, hasn’t it?”

“Crazy,” she agreed.  “So where’s Lois now?”

“Well, the Planet has a foreign correspondent opening in Egypt, and she put herself forward for it a while ago,” he said.  “She got the job, and she’s packing to go to the airport as we speak.” 

That was quick.  “Huh,” she mused.  “So why go through the trouble of digging up the Soulmate bracelet for her if she’s not your Soulmate?”

Clark used a finger to lift her chin and stared into her questioning eyes.  “I didn’t get the bracelet for her, Chloe,” he whispered.  “I got it for you.”

***

Chapter 5…

Comments

[jlvsclrk.livejournal.com]

*squeeeee* He said it, he said it!

“So, let me get this straight…I fall in love with Lois when she turns into you,” Clark said slowly. “Meanwhile, she tries to turn me into Oliver’s alter ego…while you try to remodel Oliver after… after me?”


“And Oliver only got with me when he couldn’t have Lois,” Chloe muttered thickly, and dropped her face into her hands with a groan. “You couldn’t make this stuff up, could you?”

Too, too funny!

[babydee1.livejournal.com]

This show really does my head in sometimes. The subtext/hidden messages in all the 'ships are crayzay!!! :-D

[karinxx.livejournal.com]

Finally confession time! Well Ms. Dee the more I read the more I love it, you're such an awesome writer.

"You gave away everything that I have,” Lois said with a smug, jubilant expression on her face. “And you want it back.”

“I only started noticing her when she started becoming the woman you’ve always dreamed of being,” he said softly. “When she literally stepped behind your desk at the Daily Planet and started working her way up. Chloe…that was your dream, your life.

True. I didn't keep up with the show as much but I still thought it was so unfair to have Lois live out Chloe's dream...

Anyway, great chapter!

[babydee1.livejournal.com]

"Finally confession time! Well Ms. Dee the more I read the more I love it, you're such an awesome writer."

*blushes* Karin, you make my head expand, LOL!!! Thanks so much, I really appreciate it. :-)

"True. I didn't keep up with the show as much but I still thought it was so unfair to have Lois live out Chloe's dream..."

It was extremely poorly handled, they just wrenched everything away from Chloe that she'd loved and worked for, and left her with nothing. If not for the ardent appeals from Chlollie fans and AM & JH's insane chemistry, it probably would have remained that way.

"Anyway, great chapter!"

Thankee! Glad you like. :-)

[jacques21.livejournal.com]

Oh Dee you're AWESOME! I've never really looked at the foursome that way before.

No Lois I thought you were going after Ollie. I need for her to turn around and talk to Chloe about her true feeling.

The bracelet... Oh Clark.

[babydee1.livejournal.com]

You think I'm awesome, Yay!!! :)

Lois wouldn't be going to look for Oliver, not when she thinks he's with Chloe.

Glad you like, babes!

[silversnikle.livejournal.com]

Is it bad that I'm reading this at work, because I just can't stop!

[babydee1.livejournal.com]

Just don't get caught, I beg of you!!! :)