babydee1 | Chlark Fanfic: The Fallen Sky, Chapter 12 (Reply)

Been waaaaaay too long since I updated this one! But better later than never, I think.

Enjoy. There’ll be one more flashback chapter after this one, then we’ll return to the present.

Awesome banner by ellashy.

Title:              The Fallen Sky
Author:          BabyDee
Pairing:          Chlark
Rating:           PG-13
Warnings:     Major angst up ahead. Brace yourselves.
Timeline:      Season 8 (Hex - Doomsday) Season 9 (My version)
Disclaimer:   All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Summary:     Months after walking away from her in Doomsday, Clark returns to Chloe…but finds that she’s a changed woman from the one he left behind.
Feedback:      …always welcome. J

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

Chapter 12

An Aching Loss

It was seven days since Chloe and Davis disappeared; seven hellish, worrisome days for Clark.

He searched for her everywhere. Every spare moment was spent zipping around all fifty states in superspeed, scanning strangers’ faces in vain as he searched for the woman who was as much a part of him as his own beating heart.

But she’d covered her tracks well, because he never found her. His mind began playing tricks on him, imagining he saw glimpses of her everywhere. More than once, he’d rushed across a room upon ‘seeing’ her only to be met with the wary stare of a stranger and discover it was someone else entirely. Pretty soon, even the mere sight of a blonde holding a coffee cup was pure torture.

But by far, the worst experience of them all was having ‘Chloe’ show up out of the blue yesterday in the path of an oncoming Mack truck, which he’d rescued her from in the nick of time. She’d been hysterical, shivering in the cold and rain, clad in a thin overcoat and not much else. Her legs and face were scratched and bleeding, and when he’d gotten her to the warmth of the farm and calmed her down, she had tearfully told him of her ordeal since leaving town with Davis.

“He never left me alone,” she whispered brokenly. “There was a…this hotel that we found, just outside Metropolis, and…he never let me leave. He—” she stopped and swallowed, trying to compose herself.

“I was so scared,” she continued, her voice wobbling. “We just hid during the day until dark, and travelled at night. There was this motel just outside of Metropolis that we eventually got a room in.”

“Go on,” he prompted when she fell silent again.

She took a deep breath. “When he fell asleep, I escaped through the window, and just ran.”

He heaved a sigh of relief and reached for her hand, squeezing it gently.

“You’re safe now,” he said.

“No, Clark - no,” she said emphatically. “I’m not safe, and neither are you and the rest of humanity. As long as he’s alive, we’ll never be safe.”

“What are you saying?” he asked, his heart pounding with dread.

“You have to kill him, Clark,” she’d pleaded. “Everything that was once good in him is now gone.”

He’d decided to revisit the Phantom Zone plan, but by the time he got to where he’d stashed the crystal, it was gone. He had still been pondering over its disappearance when Chloe had doubled over in pain and died in his arms.

Only he’d discovered it hadn’t been Chloe at all, but a shape-shifter named Eva Greer who had been sent by Tess to persuade him to commit murder. To make matters worse, Eva had given the Phantom Zone crystal to who had promptly destroyed it.

So now he was back to square one. No Phantom Zone crystal, no rescue plan…and worst of all, no Chloe.

Clark stared up at Oliver’s Clocktower apartment and sighed in misery. Eva may have lied when she’d recounted the horrible things that Davis had supposedly done to her, but the fact remained that her harrowing tale could very easily be exactly what Chloe was going through every day she remained in Davis’s company. The thought that Chloe might have to hold him, kiss him or worse just to ensure that he, Clark, was safe, was too agonising for him to bear.

He was getting desperate. He needed to find Chloe, and soon. And if that meant going to Oliver Queen for help, then he would do it. Yes, Oliver’s methods were somewhat questionable and Clark didn’t condone some of his practices; but when it came down to brass tacks, he was the one person Clark could rely upon to come up with a workable battle plan at a moment’s notice.

So he took a deep breath and knocked on Oliver’s door.

***

Oliver listened patiently to Clark’s dismal account of yesterday’s harrowing experience with Eva the shape-shifter.

Once he was done talking, Oliver drummed his fingers on the table for several seconds. Then he suddenly spoke.

“I’ll help you, Clark; I’ll help you find Chloe,” he said evenly. “But we do this my way.”

“Your way?” Clark echoed.

“I know you may not always appreciate my approach to these things, but we’re up against an assailant that is, in your own words, almost impossible to defeat. We have to give ourselves every possible chance, or humanity may be in real danger. With that at stake, I can’t work with you whining in my ear about what’s right and what’s wrong.”

Clark lowered his gaze. “I wouldn’t do that,” he whispered.

Oliver raised a sardonic brow. “You do it all the time, Clark.”

“Not this time,” he promised. “Not when Chloe’s life is at stake.”

Oliver nodded. “Then let’s do this. I’ll gather the team together with a top level emergency alert, and we’ll all meet back here at 23:00 hours.”

***

Chloe nodded and smiled as Davis regaled her with tales of Greek mythology. They were gazing up at the stars from the roof of the car and she appeared very interested in his take, but her mind was in a different place completely.

Something was wrong. Admittedly, there was a lot that wrong with their entire situation, but now even her fragile plan to keep the beast from emerging seemed to be falling to shreds.

Davis wanted her. She wasn’t naïve enough to think he’d be content with holding her hand and staring into her eyes to keep his murderous impulses at bay, oh no; she’d gone into this knowing full well that one day, he’d expect a lot more from her than soothing words. It was a risk and a sacrifice she’d been prepared to make, as long as it would keep Davis away from Clark and ensure Clark’s survival.

So when yesterday afternoon Davis had stroked her hair tenderly and lowered his mouth to hers for a kiss, she’d swallowed her fear and prepared to accept it without objection.

Except a very strange thing happened. The instant his lips touched hers, an irrepressible wave of nausea had risen in her throat and before she could stop herself she had vomited violently all over him. Shocked and startled, she’d apologised profusely but Davis had been more than understanding, and simply gone to wash himself off, after which he’d returned to the dingy room they were sharing…sans his shirt.

There was lust in his eyes, and she could feel the bile rising in her throat as he approached her again. But this time, as he reached for her she saw his irises change from black to red and noticed a subtle but definite shift in his body language.

She was just beginning to think that her mind was playing tricks on her when he stumbled and stepped back, squinting and groaned as if in pain.

“Davis?” she said, concerned. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t—” he held his hands to his temples and waited until the headaches had seemingly stopped. “I don’t understand,” he said raggedly. “It’s impossible…”

She swallowed. “What is?”

“I might be mistaken, but I don’t think I am,” he said soberly. “You activated the beast, Chloe.”

“What?” she gasped. “That can’t be; I thought I was here to prevent that from happening!”

“That’s what I don’t understand,” he said. “Everything was okay until I tried to kiss you. It was almost as if there was a part of you that didn’t want that; like deep inside, you pushing me away.”

Well, that much was true, she thought inwardly. She honestly hadn’t meant for her unwillingness to manifest so physically, but for both of them to have such potent negative reactions to each other was particularly disturbing.

“What if—what if it’s not working anymore?” she asked in a small voice.

“It’s working right now,” he pointed out. “I mean, I’m right next to you and I’m not dooming out, for want of a better expression.” He smiled weakly. “Maybe the beast isn’t a fan of romantic gestures.”

God, she hoped not. “Probably not,” she said lightly. “Listen, Davis…I know you want to - to take things further, but from the look of things, that isn’t a very good idea.”

“I think you’re right,” he admitted ruefully. “I mean, everything was fine until I put my arms around you.” He patted her hand gently. “I don’t want to tempt fate by risking everything we’ve worked so hard to achieve just for one kiss.”

Chloe smiled nervously and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “There’ll be other times. Let’s just focus on lying low for now, okay?” she suggested.

He’d agreed, and true to his word, Davis had been the perfect gentleman ever since. There had been no sign of the Beast, so he was clearly keeping his libido under control. But still she was worried as to what might have set him off in the first place - and why she was so sickened by the thought of him kissing her that she’d actually thrown up in disgust. After all, he’d kissed her before, on the eve of her wedding, and there had been no such reaction from either of them at the time. So for it to happen now was worrying, to say the least.

“…so that’s why I think you’re Persephone and I’m Hades, because by running away with me, you’ve accompanied me to the Underworld,” he finished. “Don’t you see the similarity?”

Chloe blinked and tried to drag her mind on topic. What had he been talking about again? Right - a wildly inaccurate account of Greek mythology.

She opened her mouth to reply, but a sudden stinging in her neck made her flinch and reflexively slap the back of her head.

“What’s wrong?” Davis asked “Mosquito?”

She couldn’t reply. Her suddenly heavy eyelids drooped, and the world around her went black.

***

To be continued…