Three Times Chloe Sullivan Did Not See Clark Kent Hold Their Son and One Time She Did - R
Title: Three Times Chloe Sullivan Did Not See Clark Kent Hold Their Son and One Time She Did
Author: ivorykiss
Rating: R (language, sap, violence and angst)
Characters: Chloe, Clark, Kal, Kal-El, Bizarro
Spoilers: Vague ones for Phoenix, Crusade, Persona and the Future
Disclaimers: I don’t own Chloe or any version of Clark. This makes me unbelievably sad.
A/N: This is a continuation of my Three Times Chloe series, each part has four unconnected ficlets based around a theme. I highly recommend reading the first two, Kisses and Sex. This one will certainly make more sense if you do. Comments, critiques are always welcome.
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after Phoenix
A soft little noise of complaint woke her.
Chloe opened one eye and shot a quick, sleepy glance at the clock on the dresser as she rolled over and threw off the heavy heirloom quilt.
Primary colors were really not her thing and it was a distressing reminder of a boy long gone, but she hadn’t had the heart to tell Mrs. Kent that when she had proudly gave it to her after the Kent’s had taken her in. It was really beautiful though; swatches of reds and blues bordered with bright yellows and it matched the smaller one in the sturdy crib that Mr. Kent had made.
“Conner?” she murmured as she sat up and yawned.
At the sound of her voice the complaint grew louder and more insistent. Drops of milk wet the front of her nightgown as she stood and shuffled over to the crib.
“Shh…” she admonished softly, “You’re going wake your grandparents up again.” Dazzling bright green eyes focused on her and Chloe smiled as she reached for the wriggling baby within. “You can’t be that hungry. It’s not even been an hour yet.”
She held him as tightly as she dared and walked carefully to the rocker next to the window. Chloe sighed in relief as she sat down.
At two months, Conner had doubled his birth weight and grown three inches. She was terrified that some drowsy morning he’d wriggle out of her arms and she’d drop him; twenty pounds of squirming baby was hard enough to hold on to when she was completely awake, let alone exhausted and sleep deprived.
And Conner was strong. Very strong. Just like his father and growing stronger every day.
She pushed down the strap of her nightgown and shifted him to her exposed breast; Chloe winced as he latched on and suckled hard. She stroked an errant dark curl away from his forehead and smiled at his impatient little grunts as he nursed.
“Greedy little guy isn’t he?”
Chloe half turned in the rocker, instinctively shielding the baby at her chest. Her heart pounded furiously and she held her breath as a tall figure stepped out of the shadows.
“Connor, huh? I like that name.” He gave her a crooked grin as he stepped closer.
“Kal.” Chloe said crossly as anger and elation mixed and surged through her. She looked down at the baby in her arms and forced herself to relax and resume her rocking. “It’s been awhile.”
“I missed you.”
She looked back up at him, a sharp retort on her lips and with one look into his crimson tinted, haunted eyes, all anger fled.
His hair was long, longer than she’d ever seen it before, curling in dark, lank waves just touching his shoulders. The dark stubble on his face only highlighted how very pale he was and the sharp angles of his cheekbones, the way his black shirt and jeans hung loosely from his body more than hinted at how painfully gaunt he was.
He grinned crookedly at her again and held out the crumpled brown paper bag he held tightly in one large hand.
She took it silently and tears sprung to her eyes as she looked into the bag filled with handfuls of candy bracelets and sparkling diamonds.
“You wanted some candy. I didn’t forget,” Kal said softly as he knelt before her and wrapped his arms carefully around her and the baby. He rested his head next to Conner’s.
“You left me. You left me on the street and told me to wait.”
“Not by choice.” Kal murmured against her chest.
“What happened? I waited for days Kal, days before I went back to the apartment and I was so worried and you never came back and then these men came and they trashed the place and threw me out.”
“I’m so sorry Chloe. I… I walked into a trap Edge had set for me and…” Kal shuddered.
Chloe shifted in the rocker and hugged him best she could with the still nursing Conner cradled in one arm.
“I heard you everyday,” Kal whispered. “I focused on you, your heartbeat, remembered the comforting smell and feel of you every time they brought out the knives made of green kryptonite and every time they injected me with the syringes full of red.”
Chloe choked back a sob as Kal continued.
“And I wanted to come to you so badly, I swear. Every cell of my body echoed with your heartbeat.” He laughed humorlessly, “I think that sound was the only thing that kept me sane all those months and months in hell.”
“It’s okay. You escaped and you’re here. Everything will be okay now.” Chloe rested her head against the top of Kal’s head and it was hard to ignore how he trembled.
“I don’t think so. Chloe, it burns. Like acid eating away at me and I don’t want it anymore, but the burn is such a part of me now. I hate it; it feels good, the pain feels so fucking good and…”
Conner made a soft little noise of distress and reached out and splayed one tiny hand across his father’s cheek. Kal closed his eyes and Chloe wept silent tears as she gently rocked them both to sleep.
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after Crusade
Chloe stood a couple of paces back from the ledge and shivered under the bright arctic sun. Kal-El stood behind her, his large strong hands on her shoulders, his voice deep and resonant as he spoke first in his birth language, and then repeated himself in the many tongues of Earth.
She pulled the cape of thick white fur, an offering from the Kawatchee, who had been loyal from the beginning, tighter around her and the dark haired babe sleeping in her arms as she studied the small crowd of dignitaries and sycophants below her.
It had been three years.
Three years since the world went silent and Kal-El had found her. Three years since he had flown her north to his fortress made of crystal and confessed his secrets as he claimed her, imprinted on her, worshiped her and there was no doubt in his brilliant green eyes as he promised to make this planet that had sheltered him a better place for all the sons and daughters of Earth.
Promised a better world for their children.
Despite his earnestness to help mankind, the world had swiftly turned to bedlam, and it wasn’t until he started to rule them with an iron fist that order emerged from chaos.
Kal-El had mourned the senseless loss of life, couldn’t understand why the one’s he tried to help constantly fought against him and Chloe comforted him the only way she knew how.
She opened her arms to him, couldn’t struggle against the feelings the young man she once only knew as Clark stirred deep in her soul.
Chloe turned her head and smiled up at him and was rewarded with a brilliant smile and a soft kiss.
Kal-El moved and bowed his head as he knelt before her and she carefully placed their son in his large, strong hands as the crowd murmured in anticipation.
He stood slowly and turned as he held the sleeping infant up towards the bright sun and spoke proudly.
“Greet your Bethgar, your prince. My son.”
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after Persona
It didn’t matter how he found them, all that mattered was he did.
Chloe bit back a moan of terror and swallowed hard as she struggled to sit up. She ignored the bite of the IV needle stuck in the top of her hand as she fought against the nausea of the painkillers in her system, the vertigo of the nightmare before her.
It was a surreal sight, which, in another lifetime would have made her breath catch for a very different reason.
Tears silently wet Chloe’s face and her chest burned with the need to breathe, ached, for what was, for what should have been.
A wayward lock of demon-dark hair had curved lazily across his forehead as he smiled down at the hours old infant he held in the crook of one arm.
Bizarro’s smile grew broader and he chuckled as one chubby little hand reached up and fisted around the large finger he held before the babe.
He lifted his head and his brilliant green eyes sparkled with obvious delight as grinned at her. “Our son is strong.”
“Our son.” A soft voice corrected as a small figure stepped into the room.
She could do nothing but watch helplessly as Lana held her arms out and Bizarro gave her the baby, who started to cry, and then in less than an eye blink he was next to her.
Chloe shuddered and closed her eyes as she felt his hand, large and heavy and warm, on the back of her neck. His thumb absently stroked right under her ear, sending a crazily soothing buzz rushing through her veins and she couldn’t help but to lean against him.
Unlike Clark, Bizarro didn’t have any qualms about using her body’s instinctual attraction to his.
Chloe bit back a sob at her body’s betrayal and swallowed hard and more tears trickled down her face as she opened her eyes. Her arms trembled as she lifted them towards her former friend and she didn’t even try to hide the plea in her voice as she spoke softly.
“Lana, please. Let me have him.”
For several long moments Lana ignored her and cooed at the fussing infant. Lana shifted the baby to her shoulder and turned her head. She stared at Chloe, her eyes malice bright as she spoke calmly.
“Kill her.”
Chloe struggled to breathe as Bizarro’s fingers tightened around her neck. She focused through her graying, tear blurred vision on the sight of the dark haired infant squirming at Lana’s shoulder. Her heartbeat pounded loudly in her ears and Chloe felt the rumble of Bizarro’s words echo through her more than she heard them.
“You know sweetheart.” He mused. “We might want another one.”
Lana threw her head back and laughed; a discordant, piercing sound that chilled Chloe to her core and caused the baby to start wailing.
Chloe fought against the beckoning oblivion, the confusing, comforting buzz of Bizarro’s embrace as he pulled her to his chest and the last sounds she heard before the world went black was the soul chilling sound of Lana’s laughter and the heartbreaking sound of the distress in her newborn son’s cries.
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the Future
Chloe carefully walked down the stairs of the old farmhouse and paused when she reached the bottom.
“Clark? Conner?” She called quietly as she looked around the dim kitchen. She heard a soft noise from the living room and followed the faint sound and smiled at the site that greeted her.
Clark was fast asleep in the old rocker in front of the fireplace. His head thrown back, snoring softly as the flickering fire limned his white tee shirt and blue plaid boxers clad form and Chloe’s smile grew broader as she noted that one arm dangled towards the floor, an empty bottle held loose in the fingers of one large hand while the other held their barely three month old son firmly to his chest.
Conner opened his eyes as Chloe walked slowly towards them and his little mouth curved into a smile when she knelt beside the rocker and gently stroked a wayward curl from one chubby cheek.
He had his father’s hair, thick and dark and it curled wildly from the day he was born and he blinked at her with big, brilliant green eyes, another gift he had inherited from his father and Chloe laughed softly as the sweet little smile turned into a big yawn.
Conner turned his head and rubbed his face against soft cotton as he fisted his strong little hands in the white tee shirt that covered Clark’s chest and fought against the sleep that called to him.
Clark woke with a snort and blinked sleepily at her as he smiled.
“Hey,” he said softly, and then yawned.
The two of them were so much alike Chloe couldn’t help but to giggle as she rose to her feet and held out her hands.
Clark shifted the sleeping baby into her waiting arms then stood and rubbed at his face as he yawned again.
She leaned up on her toes and gave her husband a soft kiss on the corner of his very kissable mouth.
“Come on sleepyheads, it’s time for all good boys to be in bed.”
And with Conner firmly snuggled against her shoulder Chloe took Clark’s hand and led her family upstairs.
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