Chlark Fanfic: The Fallen Sky, Chapter 1
Here's chapter 1, folks! Make it stretch, because I probably won't post the next chapter until the middle of the week. Plenteous comments, however, *may* make it materialise sooner. You know what to do. ;-) Enjoy! Awesome banner by ellashy. Thanks, babes! :-)
Title: The Fallen Sky
Author: BabyDee Pairing: Chlark
Rating: NC-17, this chapter R for language 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 the Prologue here.
Chapter 1
A Plea for Warmth
Present Day
January 1, 2010
“Happy New Year, Chloe.”
As soon as she heard his voice, Chloe stiffened and her hands stilled. The newspaper clipping she held between her fingers fluttered to the floor, hitting it with a light pat.
Clark waited with bated breath for her to turn around, not quite sure what to expect. The last time they were in a room together, she’d run to him and taken him in her arms. And he’d rejected her.
Eight long months had passed, months in which he’d missed her terribly and thought of her daily with longing in his heart. He’d only just been released from his training at the Fortress, and the Watchtower had been his first port of call, only to find out that she’d sold the place months ago. It hadn’t taken him too long to track her down to this apartment.
He’d let himself in through the open door and followed the faintly audible sounds that indicated that somebody was home. There she was, populating her display board, looking different from the last time he’d seen her. Her hair was longer, for starters, and she appeared to be a bit thinner; but that was all he could really tell without her turning around.
It was extremely presumptuous of him to think that she would run into his arms this time, considering the conditions under which they’d parted, but he had faith in the fact that this was Chloe. She’d always had a smile and a hug for him, no matter how strained things got between them.
“Happiness is subjective,” she finally replied flatly. “You don’t know whether I’ve had a happy year, or whether I’m going to.”
He sighed despondently. In all honesty, he’d expected a chilly reception, but was hoping he could break down her defences; he’d always managed to in the past.
“Well, I, er…I’m back,” he said to the back of her head.
“Whoopee.”
Her dry sarcasm threw him a little, but he was determined to press on.
“Listen, um…can we talk?” he ventured.
“What for?” she asked flatly, her back still to him. “We have nothing to say to each other.”
Her icy tone hit him like a bucket of freezing water. It was a lot worse than he’d originally thought.
“Chloe, I know when I left, things were difficult between us, and -”
“Difficult?” she whispered dangerously. She finally turned and faced him and walked across the room, stepping into the light. “You have no fucking idea.”
Clark flinched at her acerbic tone. Chloe never swore. The woman before him looked like Chloe and sounded like her, but the eyes…
Her eyes were blank, the eyes of someone who had seen enough horror to last two lifetimes, and her smile, that beautiful smile that lit up his world, was gone.
He struggled on. “I couldn’t explain at the time, but I just had to leave. I-”
“Save it,” she cut in harshly. “I really do not want to know.”
Okay. Severe discontent he’d expected, but this venom…this pure, unadulterated hostility was totally out of character for her - and was beginning to scare him a little.
He swallowed nervously. “Chloe…did something happen while I was gone?”
She snorted. “Like you care whether I live or die. Please, feel free to crawl back under whatever rock you’ve been hiding all this time. I really couldn’t care less.”
He sighed wearily. “I came back for you, Chloe; I want to make things right between us,” he said. “But I can’t do that if you won’t let me at least talk to you.”
She ignored him and crossed the room in quick strides. He went on.
“Chloe, I know I let you down,” he continued, following her. “I never should have left you when you needed me the most, and I’m sorry…but, if you let me, I can try and make it up to you. We can be close again.”
“Close?” she echoed, turning to him. “I seem to recall that we got plenty ‘close’ before you left, Clark, but as with everything else in your life that you don’t have the courage to face, you chose to stick your head in the sand and hit the reset button. It really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me that you’d follow it up by actually running away, but I guess I always put more faith in you that you ever deserved.”
She took a few steps towards him and continued. “Tell me Clark…what was the sudden turn-off? Was I too eager, was my hair too blonde…what?”
Clark swallowed past the sudden dryness in his throat. Of course, he knew what she was referring to, but he had no idea why she would bring it up now, unless…
Unless…
His eyes quickly scanned the room, stopping when he got to the desk mirror. Cautiously he approached the desk, his eyes widening when he saw what was tucked into the upper right hand corner.
No, he thought wildly. It couldn’t be…
But there was the evidence, staring him right in the face. With trembling fingers, he reached out and plucked the grainy black and white photograph, the collection of dots clearly identifiable.
“Chloe,” he said hoarsely. “Who is this?”
She folded her arms and looked at him. “Who do you think it is?”
“This is…” he swallowed. “This is a sonogram picture of a baby…at twenty weeks,” he replied, studying the printed dates on the scan and gaping at her as the nuts and bolts in his brain clicked into place.
Chloe gave him a mirthless smile. “That’s right. Say hello to your son, Clark.”
***
Chapter 2…