Those Three Words (Seventeen/?)

[xtremeroswellia]

Title: Those Three Words
Authors: xtremeroswellia and clarksmuse
Rating: R to NC-17 for language and sexual scenes
Pairing: Chlean (Chloe/Dean) :D
Characters: multi-fandom -- Smallville, Supernatural, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Disclaimer: Neither of us own these characters. We're just borrowing them, so please don't sue!!

One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen | Fifteen | Sixteen A | Sixteen B | Seventeen | Eighteen | Cocnlusion



Chloe started to unlock the door to her apartment, a little startled when it was pulled open. "Hey, Clark," she said with a faint smile as he looked at her in concern.

Clark had been pacing all night, worried about Chloe and trying to understand what he had just witnessed that night. And came up with more questions than answers. "Chloe," he said loudly, wanting to hug her tight but afraid to, especially since her bodyguard friends were just behind her, looking at him warily.

"Morning. How'd you sleep?" she asked, slowly moving past him and heading for the kitchen to get some painkillers and coffee.

Dean walked past Clark, holding his stomach a little and simply nodded at the guy. He still didn't like the idea of him being there, but since it was Chloe's choice, he would accept him. Even if it killed him.

Sam entered behind Clark, muttering a barely audible "Good morning" before heading for the bathroom to take a shower.

Clark looked over a Chloe, concern written all over his face. "I didn't sleep at all, thinking about you."

Dean snorted slightly, moving into the kitchen to help her get a glass of water.

"I'm okay." She touched his arm lightly and quickly swallowed the pain pills down dry before accepting the water from Dean. She took a long drink, leaning against the counter. "I need to check on Spike, see if he found anything."

"No, what you need is to lie down," Clark said immediately, moving into the kitchen, dwarfing her with his presence.

"I agree with him," Dean said, rubbing her arm gently. "I'll go to Spike's see if he's still not breathing."

"Wow, the two of you agree on something. That's gotta be a sign of an impending apocalypse."

Dean rolled his eyes, giving her an amused yet annoyed look. "Trust me, it won't happen again."

Clark ignored Dean's comment and continued to stare at Chloe. "Did you get some sleep last night?" he rasped harshly.

"Dude, leave her be," Dean snapped back. Who the hell was this guy to step on his toes?

"Relax, Clark. I slept." She touched Dean's arm. "Call me when you get to Spike's?"

"I will," Dean whispered, placing a lingering kiss on her lips, reluctant to leave her with Clark. At least Sam was there, in case something happened, he thought. "Get some sleep, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can." Nodding at Clark slightly, he threw Chloe one last smile and left the apartment.

Clark looked at Chloe, a little horrified at what he just saw. "Chloe, are you serious about this guy?"

She turned her gaze to look at him. "Yes," she said softly. "Very."

"I don't trust him," Clark protested, moving around the table towards her. "He has... shifty eyes... and it looks like he keeps getting you into trouble."

"Shifty eyes?" she repeated, cocking an eyebrow.

"You know what I mean," he replied, wondering why he was suddenly sounding like a jealous boyfriend. "I mean, what was going on last night? Who were those people? Was Dean responsible for your almost dying? Why the hell wasn't I called until... afterwards?" His voice was filled with hurt and dismay.

Feeling tired at the onslaught of questions, she slowly sank onto the sofa, cradling her mug of coffee and taking a sip. "I got attacked by the vampire...and no, Dean wasn't responsible. Those people...were friends and family of the last Slayer," she said softly.

Clark felt Chloe's withdrawal and mentally hit himself for being so demanding of questions. "OK," he said, sitting down on the couch next to her. "So... what do you know about this vampire that nearly...?"

She let out a breath. "It's... a vampire in its purest form. No humanity. Big, bad, hard to kill."

Clark shook his head. Sounded a lot like him, except for the bad part. "Chlo, you really should sleep," he said finally.

Sam walked out into the living room with a confused look on his face. "Where's Dean?" he asked, rubbing his hand through his wet hair.

"He went to see if Spike had any luck with finding the Turok-Han," she told him.

Nodding, Sam looked at Chloe, concern on his face. "You look like you're about to pass out," he commented.

Clark shot Sam a look. "Just what I was telling her."

"Guys, I'm all right," she said softly, closing her eyes for a moment.

Sam stared at Chloe, knowing how tired she was, how she didn't sleep that much last night. How she was probably worrying about Dean and what he'd find out about Spike. "Don't worry," he said softly.

She glanced up and met his eyes, a faint smile touching her lips as she realized how well he knew her already. "You look like you could use some sleep yourself, Sam."

"Yeah, didn't get much last night," he said with a sad smile. "I was worried about you. No matter how fast you heal."

Clark stood up and walked to look out the window, feeling very out of place and wondering why he'd been called here to begin with.

"Why don't you go lie down? It's been a rough couple days."

"I'll lie down if you promise to go to bed yourself," Sam replied with a smile. "Dean'd kick my ass if he found out I wasn't watching over you." He winked at her.

A short chuckle escaped her. "I promise I'll go to bed within the hour."

"Alright," Sam replied, leaning down and kissing her forehead gently. "Just remember, I'm bigger and can pick you up and throw you in bed if you don't sleep." He looked over at Clark, an indescribable look on his face.

Chloe snorted. "You may be bigger, Sam, but I'm not too worried," she teased, slowly rising to her feet.

"Yeah, yeah," Sam whispered softly. "Threats just get Dean anywhere with you. See you later." He turned and walked down the hall and into the guest room to sleep.

Clark turned, watching Chloe struggling to stand up. Within the blink of an eye, he was there, steadying her. "You need some help?" he offered. "It's what I'm here for, apparently."

"Thanks, Clark," she whispered, offering him a small, but warm smile.

Clark smiled in return and helped her stand up. "Where to?" he asked. "Looks like you could use some sleep."

"Sleep would be good, but I really should do some research." She looked toward her computer.

Nodding slightly, Clark helped her over to her computer, where she sat down and booted it up. "I take it we're going to do look up more on this vampire?"

"Yeah. I don't know that we'll find anything. According to Giles... he was Buffy's Watcher... these things were supposed to be extinct, but they're not." She glanced at him sideways.

Clark shook his head, wondering what exactly had happened to Chloe to make her become someone who literally spoke another language now. He sat down next to her. "Where do we start?" he asked quietly.

"That's... a really good question." She bit her lower lip and connected her computer to Willow's. "Willow has all the info on her computer so I'm gonna network and see what she came up with."

Clark nodded, smiling widely because that's the Chloe he knew. "I'm glad to see you still love your research and computer work," he commented lightly.

A grin tugged at her lips. "To be honest... it's still what's the most natural to me," she admitted. "I'm more comfortable with it and I feel like I know what I'm doing. The Slaying part of being the Slayer..." She bit her lip.

"Yeah, what... exactly... does that mean?" he asked, watching her work her computer magic to network her computer with one of the witches he'd seen last night. "Slaying? as in... killing?"

"Yeah," she said softly. "I fight things and I kill them because it's what the Slayer does, but...it's still weird. New. And... kinda scary."

"I know what you mean," he replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Being different sucks." He winced, feeling like he should say something better to comfort her.

She was silent for a moment, gazing at him. "In some ways, yeah. It's a lot harder than I ever realized." She bit her lip. "But...it also means we get to help people in ways other people can't."

"Well, I know all about that," Clark replied honestly. "I just... Is that why you left town like you did? To come here and help others?" He tried to keep his selfish bitter tone out of his voice.

Chloe gazed at her computer screen. "I left town because who I am... got my father killed." Her voice was quiet.

"Bull," he replied, knowing she was hiding something from him. "Your dad's death was an accident, and you know that." He stared at her, willing her to look at him.

"An accident?" A short, bitter laugh escaped her. "Two of his friends were turned into vampires and he invited them in. He was murdered, Clark. Because they were after me."

Clark leaned back, speechless. "Vampires did that to him?" He blinked, aware that the newspapers never said anything about that.

"Let me guess... the paper said it was some kind of heart attack or stroke," she said bitterly.

Clark nodded, speechless for a moment before shaking himself out of the shock. "But how would your father have known about... any of that?" he said firmly, convinced Chloe was kicking herself for nothing.

"He didn't, Clark," she said softly.

"So why are you blaming yourself?" he asked softly, knowing the answer even as he asked it. Hadn't he lost people he cared about over freak accidents in the past? He looked away from her sadly.

"Because if I had left town the day I was approached by someone from the Watcher's Council, he'd still be alive right now. Those vamps were there for me. Not him. They killed him to get to me." Her voice was quiet, filled with shame. She had no idea Sam was lingering at the entry of the hallway, listening.

Sam hadn't been able to sleep, so he got up, intending to make Chloe sleep... only to listen to her confess things to Clark that she was pretty sure would get him killed if he ever revealed his presence there. So he stood, silent and barely breathing... listening with a broken heart.

Clark looked up at her and saw her broken heart. He didn't know what to say to her, or how to make the pain go away. "I'm so sorry Chlo, I really am," he whispered.

A tear trickled down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. "So I left so no one else would get hurt." She swallowed hard, drawing in a breath.

Hesitantly, Clark put a comforting arm around Chloe, squeezing her to him. He didn't know what to say, and for all the powers he had, he felt helpless against the pain she felt. But maybe....

He stood up quickly, looking down at Chloe. "You should really sleep," he said suddenly. "I'm going to go look for this vampire thing. Best time to do it."

"Clark, be careful," she said softly.

Nodding a little and smiling sadly at her, he said, "I will." Without another word, he walked out of the apartment and super sped towards one of the cemeteries outside town to start his search.

Sam decided to use the moment Clark left to act like he was coming out to check on Chloe. Which was partially true. Clearing his throat like he had just awakened, he half-yawned and walked out into the room. "Guess I'll have to make good on my threat," he commented, smiling wryly.

She plastered a smile on her face and turned to look at him. "Hey, you're up."

"Yeah, for the moment." He padded into the kitchen and grabbed a cold soda from the fridge. "Wanted to see if you would really sleep or not. Guess not." He walked over to her, trying to act casual and not ask the barrage of questions that came to mind.

Reading him as well as he could read her, she sighed very softly. "So, how much did you hear?"

Sam nearly choked on his drink but managed not to snort it out of his nose. "What... what are you talking about?" he asked innocently, sitting in the chair on the other side of the room.

"Nice try, Sam," she remarked, turning back to her computer.

Sighing and taking a long drink of his drink, he looked up at her. "Enough to know why you left home," he confessed, knowing there was no way he could hide that from her.

She fell silent, staring blankly at her computer screen.

"I really didn't mean to eavesdrop," Sam continued quietly. "I'm sorry I did. I just thought... you and Clark needed to talk or something."

"It's okay, Sam," she said softly.

He looked up at her, smiling though his face was flushed with embarassment. "I'm so sorry about your dad," he said softly. "You know how much I am."

"I know," she whispered, trying to smile but not quite managing it.

Sam started thinking about how his mother had died, about Jess... and how it was all his fault. The guilt washed over his face as he whispered, "Remember how I told you about my girlfriend, Jess?" He took a deep breath.

She turned to look at him. "Yeah." She nodded slightly.

"Well, my mother... she died when I was just a baby," he continued softly, not meeting her eyes. "The same way Jess did." He held his breath, afraid of how she would respond.

Chloe's eyes were sad. "I know. Dean told me." She slowly stood up and moved to sit beside him on the sofa.

"Dean... told you?" he asked, confused and a little more than irritated that his brother had told her without letting him know. "So this isn't new for you."

"Yeah. The first night we went patrolling together, actually. I asked him how he got involved in this whole hunting evil business and he said it was because of what happened to your mom." Her voice was soft.

"Oh." He was speechless, not looking at her nor knowing what to say. Kicking Dean's ass was definitely going to be a pleasure, he thought with a hateful look on his face. He felt Chloe put a hand on his arm and sighed sadly.

"Come here." She slid her arms around him.

Sam reluctantly allowed her to hold him. He knew that was probably the wrong thing to do, but they both needed the comfort only friends could offer. He gently enveloped her in a warm hug, kissing the top of her head gently. "I wish things were different... for all of us," he whispered, a little of regret in his voice.

"Me too, Sam," she whispered back, closing her eyes. "We'll get through it. And we'll find that damn demon and send it back to hell where it came from."

"That a promise?" he asked, trying to make a joke. "We got to kill that vamp first, you know."

"We will." She pulled away to look at him.

Sam smiled down at her, just as he heard the door open and slam shut. He jumped a little, popping out of the moment, to see Dean standing there, looking at both of them, tired, confused, and worried all at the same time. "Dean?" he asked, standing to greet his brother.

"Did I interrupt something?" Dean asked tightly, his body tight from the last hour he'd been through. Seeing Chloe and Sam still awake unsettled him even more.

"No, we were just talking." She rose to her feet, as well, a worried expression on her face. "What is it? What'd you find out?"

"Nothing," Dean replied, plopping himself into the first seat he could find. "Spike's not in his crypt, and I searched everywhere he might have been hiding out. Nothing. He's nowhere to be found." He turned a concerned eye to Chloe, who had gone pale. "I'm gonna sleep and continue the search. Maybe Willow and Tara can work some mojo to help locate him." He ran a frustrated hand over his face, too tired to think about the consequences of this.

She drew in a breath. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed to sleep too. Casting a glance toward her computer, she bit her lip.

"No, Chlo," Dean replied, reading her mind. "You have to sleep first. You're no good if you can't let your body heal." As it was, his body started to ache from the attack the night before, no matter what magics Tara might have used on him.

"It's okay," Sam replied. "I'll take over the research and updating your database. I still have a ways to go and am not really tired right now."

She touched his arm. "Thanks, Sam. I appreciate the help." She turned to look at Dean. "Sleep then?"

Sam smiled at both of them and got up, walking over to the computer and resuming her work.

"Yes, babe, sleep," Dean replied softly, not hesitating to pick her up and walk her down the hall to her bedroom. Once inside, he laid her under the covers and then shut the door, shedding his jeans and crawling under the covers with her.

She let out a breath, shifting closer to him and resting a hand against his chest. "Glad you're back," she murmured.

"Me, too," Dean said absently, stroking her hair and back absently, lost in thought.

"Dean? What is it?" she asked softly, sensing something was off.

He blinked, snapping out of his deep thoughts as he heard Chloe say his name. "Nothing, Chlo," he murmured, kissing the top of her head. The last thing he wanted to do was disturb her and keep her from sleeping.

"No, there's definitely something." Her voice was quiet.

Inhaling deeply, Dean whispered, "Would it be too wimpy to admit that I'm... actually a little concerned about Spike?" He grimaced at his own words and wondered if Hell had frozen over.

"No. And I am too." She drew in a breath and let it out slowly.

Dean kissed the top of her head again, nearly laughing out loud. "Good thing you're not Sammy, cause he would have totally laughed at me for admitting that," he said softly before growing serious again. "You don't know the half of it."

"What do you mean?" She slowly sat up and gazed at him, her eyes wide with worry.

Looking down, he took another deep breath, his jaw muscles working in an effort to keep his anxiety under control. "Spike's crypt. It's been trashed."

Chloe stared at him. "What?"

Dean looked into her concerned green eyes and nodded silently. "Ripped to pieces. Completely. That's why I'm worried, because it looks like... Spike fought that damn thing there."

She was out of bed in an instant, moving to the closet and changing clothes before he could even react. She knelt on the floor and pulled her weapon's chest out, yanking it open.

Grunting in pain a little, Dean got out of bed and pulled Chloe back from the weapons chest. "Chlo, stop it," he demanded. "I don't think Spike's dead, okay? You have to rest." She automatically elbowed him in the ribs, making him double over in pain and hit the bed.

"I'm sorry," she said immediately. A dangerous glint in her eyes, she pulled a large battle axe from the bottom of the chest and rose to her feet, heading for the door.

Grabbing his side and his pants, he tried to follow her down the hall, but she was just too damn fast for him. "Chloe!" he cried, watching her run headlong out the door. He happened to notice Sam look up from Chloe's computer, but before he could speak, Dean put a hand up to him, saying it would be okay.

He rushed out the door and down the steps. "Dammit, Chloe! Wait!"

She hadn't gone five steps out of the apartment building when she ran into none other than Spike, who was walking alongside Clark. She stopped in her tracks, looking both of them over in turn. Other than a cut on his cheek and a black eye, Spike looked uninjured. And Clark didn't have a scratch on him. "Guys, what--"

"He's dead," Spike told her.

Dean stopped in his tracks when he saw Clark and Spike. "What?" he asked Spike.

Clark nodded a little triumphantly. "Killing that thing was a piece of cake." He frowned at Chloe. "I thought you were going to get some sleep?"

"Well, that was before Dean showed back up and said Spike's place had been torn apart. We thought--"

"You were worried about me?" Spike smirked, a glint in his eye.

Dean smirked and pointed at Chloe. "She was," he stated flatly. "I went to look for you as a favor to Chloe." Secretly he was glad that Spike was alive, if only to smack him into oblivion.

"Sure," he replied, still smirking. "You should be resting, Pet."

Chloe reached out and touched the side of his face lightly to examine the cut. "Right after we get you cleaned up."

"Shoulda seen Farmboy. Threw that thing across my crypt like a piece of paper." Spike eyed Clark.

Clark shrugged casually, though he hated the fact that Spike had seen him use his powers to help him defeat this super vamp. "Must've been the adrenaline working overtime." He smiled faintly in Spike's direction, though he didn't meet the vampire's eyes.

Dean looked at Clark, then back to Spike. "Come back into the apartment and tell me how you two killed this thing." Turning to Chloe, he gently took her arm. "You need to sleep."

"I'm okay, Dean." Truth be told, she was now geared for a fight that wasn't going to happen. The fear she'd felt upon hearing Spike might be injured or worse had sent adrenaline through her. Now it was just there sitting in her veins and the bad guy was already dead.

Dean saw that look in her eyes and knew Chloe was killing for... a killing. How well he knew that feeling, he thought, looking at her. And he figured he'd have to let her go, bruised and still recovering, to go hunt. Because he got the sudden impression that she didn't want him around. "Okay," he said simply.

"Come on, Spike. Let's get you cleaned up." She led the way back into the building, glancing at Clark with a knowing look on her face.

"Bird makes too much of nothing," he mumbled, though there was an amused look on the vampire's face.

Dean and Clark followed behind Chloe and Spike into her apartment, not speaking to each other. Glancing sideways at Clark, Dean muttered, "Thanks."

Clark looked surprised as he turned to look at Dean. "For what?"

"For helping her," he replied, stepping into the living room and going over to Sam, who was still at the computer.

Chloe led Spike down the hall to the bathroom, pulling out the peroxide and a couple cotton balls. She dabbed it lightly against the cut on his face.

"Kinda silly, really. Not like it can get infected and make me deader," he said with a smirk.

She smirked back at him. "Shut up, Spike."

Dean watched Chloe practically drag Spike into the bathroom with a concerned frown, noticing Clark sitting down on the couch not too far from them. "So Sammy, how's the database going?" He turned to look at his brother, whose eyes were wide as saucers.

Sam had been updating Chloe's database when he noticed files listed under "Winchester." And what he pulled up shocked and astounded him.

"Sammy?" Dean whispered, trying not to get Clark's suspicions aroused. "Dude, what's the deal?"

"All right, I don't know about anyone else, but I could use some serious caffeine," Chloe announced, returning to the room with Spike in town only a moment later.

Spike smirked. "Personally I could go for some O Positive, but I don't think you keep that stocked here."

Sam's shock over what he'd read about his mother and Jess turned to anger when he heard Chloe's voice. And Dean saw it coming, too. "Make it a large pot, Chlo," Dean said to her, though staring at Sam. "Sam and I need to... go run an errand and will be back."

Sam didn't complain as he quickly closed the files on Chloe's computer and got up, walking out the apartment without looking at anyone. "What's his deal?" Clark wondered out loud, but when Dean shot him a 'shut the hell up' look, he looked at Chloe but said nothing else.

"I have no idea," she murmured, watching Dean leave the apartment after shooting her a look she couldn't read.

Dean saw Sam waiting for him by the Impala. "Sammy," he immediately, "what the hell is the deal, man? You actually looked at Chloe like you hated her!"

"She has files on us," he said with barely contained anger.

Dean blinked, surprised by Sam's anger and hurt. "What?" he demanded, looking back up at Chloe's apartment, disbelieving what his brother was telling him. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know, man. But there's files on us, on Mom, on Jess..." He swallowed hard, rage in his eyes.

Dean stared at Sam, shocked that Chloe would keep that information from them. "Dude, you need to get a fucking grip on yourself," he warned. "Let me deal with this, okay?"

"Yeah, great. You go deal with it, Dean," he said bitterly, heading off down the road.

"Sammy, I didn't mean right this second," he replied, grabbing Sam's arm and whipping him around. "Right now I need to get you to talk to me, in that non-chick kind of way." He tried to joke, but Sam was clearly not in a joking mood.

"What do you want me to say?" he demanded, shaking his head.

"How about what's going on in that head of yours?" Dean replied honestly. "You've barely said a word to me since last night."

"I don't wanna talk about last night," Sam replied. "I do wanna talk about the fact that your new girlfriend knows everything about us. And those are just the files I found!"

"Fine, let's talk about my new girlfriend," Dean retorted hotly, "So... what, you're feeling betrayed now? Think I don't, dude?!" The fact of the matter was, Dean didn't know how to feel about what Sam had told him. Why Chloe would keep this from them confounded him.

"Apparently I'm some kind of freak she'll need to get rid of soon," he said bitterly.

"That's bullshit, and you know it," Dean said. "Besides, you know I'd never let anyone hurt you... no matter who it is!" Even if it was Chloe, he realized with a pain in his gut.

"That's not all I found, Dean."

"What else did you find, Sammy?"

"She's got another whole file on..." He paused, looking at the ground. "People with certain abilities. Like mine." His voice was tense.

"What?" he shouted, his anger bubbling to the surface. If Chloe had been hiding this from them, then what else had she kept him them? He looked away, not wanting Sam to see the hurt in his eyes.

"I'm goin' for a walk."

"You know what? Fine. Me too," he muttered, shoving Sam out of the way and getting into the Impala.

Sam didn't reply, just headed off into the night without another word.

Dean threw the Impala into drive and took off out of the parking lot, though instead of going in the opposite direction, he pulled up along Sam. "Get your ass in here," he yelled over the motor.

Not in the mood to argue or listen to Dean yell, he climbed into the Impala without a word.