Invisible Heart (Prologue)
Title: Invisible Heart (Prologue)
Rating: NC-17
Summary: She's invisible, a ghost, untraceable...but he sees her.
Notes: Alright, here's my attempt at a multi-chatper fic. It has been a VERY long time since I've written anything longer then four chapters. So I'm a bit wary. Reviews are always appreciated, especially in this case. Thanks Gen for all the help. This story is set in an Alternate Universe, you can pretty much ignore everything from the show. Banner by kc_2009
Chloe sighed as she walked into her father’s room. Things had changed since she had moved out, but over all, her childhood home had remained the same. Even the smells were the same. Worst of all was her father’s room, she could smell him everywhere.
As she walked across the hardwood floor she spied the closet with trepidation. This wasn’t new to Chloe. She knew the hardest parts. The memorabilia, the keepsakes, the pictures, and the clothes. They were the hardest.
When she reached for the closet she steeled herself against any emotion. The last thing she needed was to get upset. When she was back home, in her own privacy that was one thing, but she had a job to do now, and getting upset would only prolong that..
Turning the knob she pulled the doors open roughly and sighed, almost in relief at taking the first step.
“Mourning doesn’t give you the reason to be oblivious.”
Chloe gasped, knowing the voice, but still jumping and spinning around in surprise. At the site of the intruder she frowned and turned away from her. “You aren’t welcome in here.”
“I assumed you would say something like that.” Tess crossed the floor, heals breaking the silence, and sat on the edge of the bed.
“And rightfully so. My dealings with you are what caused this to happen.”
“You don’t know that.”
Chloe stopped as she reached up for a familiar shirt, a blue polo that she had seen her father wear often, and spun around. “Don’t try to appease my feelings Tess,” Chloe bit out nastily, almost grateful for the anger to shield her from her other emotions. “It was my dealings with you that made this happen. I don’t care what the police say, it wasn’t an accident.” Tess’ only response was a raised eyebrow. With a roll of her eyes Chloe turned around. The last thing she expected from Tess was remorse or concern.
“Perhaps.” Tess relented. “Your father was an unfortunate bystander, but we both knew if we had done nothing many more would have died.”
The truth hurt, but Chloe had learned a long time ago that sometimes you had to make the hard decisions. Of course when she thought of the consequences never once had they been Jimmy...her father...”What do you want?”
Tess smirked at Chloe’s pointed question. “I could be offering my support.”
“But your not.”
“No...I’m not.”
At that Chloe turned around. There was almost a solemn tone in Tess’ voice, and whatever it was that concerned Tess involved Chloe. “What?”
“I have a proposal.” Tess paused, noting the way Chloe suddenly hardened. “I know what you said, that you were out. But we both no you aren’t, you’ll never be out of it, none of us will. You can run and hide, but it will always be part of you and at some point you’ll get sucked back in. Because we aren’t normal. We’ve seen to much and done to much to be normal.”
“Way to make me feel better.” With a roll of her eyes Chloe spun around to the closet and began pulling out clothes, folding them neatly and placing them on the chair.
“I’m not here for that. That’s Clark and Lois’ job. But I can do something better, and that’s to be brutally honest with you, because you need it. You cannot get out. It’s just a fact. And even if you could, you know too much, people are still in danger. Your mother, who’s locked away in her own silent world, with no clue of what you are doing or what happened to your father, is in danger.” Standing up, and bracing for Chloe’s anger, Tess continued. “Let’s be honest here. You have nothing left. You lost your husband and your father to this life.”
With a sneer to hide the pang of hurt Chloe spun around. “Is that your form of therapy Mercer? Cruelty?”
“I’m cutting to the chase, you need to hear this even if you don’t want to. Your life here is over, it’s time to start a knew one.”
The pair of slacks in her hand were thrown to the floor, forgotten. “If I wanted to start a new life I’d do it. I don’t need you to change my identity, I am more then capable.”
“You don’t need a new identity, you shouldn’t have one at all.”
For the moment, Chloe was caught off guard, surprised at Tess’ words. “What?”
“Disappear, and I don’t mean into another life, I mean entirely. No job, no fake names, no history, no connections. Cut yourself off. Erase Chloe Sullivan.”
“You,” Chloe pointed a finger and nodded, “are nuts. Get out.”
“No, I’m logical. You’re in too deep, you know everything. You are our most important asset. People like Clark and AC they hide themselves with costumes, you have none. Your face, your name, your family, it’s out there for everyone to see. The only way to keep yourself hidden, safe, is to disappear, become a ghost.”
“Do you even know what you are asking?” The problem was, Chloe knew Tess, and as crazy as the idea was, and as crazy as Tess could be sometimes, she was always meticulous, paying attention to every detail. So if Tess came to this conclusion, it was because it was well thought out. That didn’t necessarily mean it was the right decision by any means. The problem was, Chloe must have been off her rocker a little bit herself, because she was actually considering it. She’d always been ready to go the extra mile to save the world, protect her teammates, sometimes even risking her own humanity. So to say that Chloe might give everything wasn’t much of a stretch. And as much as she hated to admit it, she had nothing now. Nothing to hold her back from getting in even deeper. It hadn’t been Chloe’s wish to get out of it all, in fact, she was going to keep on going, having more of a reason now to fight the good fight, take the bad guys down. But Tess was right, now Chloe had nothing left, nothing of her personal life outside the team, outside saving the world. She had nothing to lose.
Hook, line, and sinker. The fact that Tess could see Chloe contemplating it she knew she had won. “They won’t stop. The deeper you go, the more you know, the more they will seek you out. I know how you operate Chloe, on a need to know basis, protecting those around you. Because if they don’t know, then maybe they won’t get hurt. But you...they’ll be after you. Capture you, and it’s game over.” Tess stepped forward, narrowing her eyes, suddenly feeling much more patient about her speech then she had intended. “From now on you have the ability to save hundreds, thousands of people. I’ll do what I can, money, resources, whatever it is you need. But,” Tess paused for the first time, guilt creeping up, “Chloe Sullivan is gone. It would be like you never existed.”
“Tess...” Chloe started, ready to tell her that the idea was crazy.
“You always said you’d give your life to save the world,” Tess said bluntly. “It’s up to you. Is Chloe Sullivan going to die to save the world?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chloe felt the wind in her hair and smiled as she turned around. “What are you doing here?”
Clark frowned. “You know what I’m doing here.”
“We’ve talked about this.” Chloe turned away from him and meandered through her new Tower, looking around for anything that needed her attention, anything to take her mind off of Clark and his reasoning.
“And it doesn’t feel like we’ve talked enough.”
“Seriously Clark,” Chloe turned with a sigh, “we’ve talked multiple times. I’ve told you my reasons. This is it for me. No life is a new life. I’m doing what I love to do. So yea, I’ll be getting around by multiple aliases and having no real friends or relationships like you pointed out, but that hasn’t worked out so well for me. And I’m not giving up on it all. You want to think I’m hiding, trying to bury myself in work, disappear, but that isn’t it. I’m doing it because it’s right.” She closed the distance between them that she had just moment a ago tried to create. “I’m doing it because I’ve lost people that I loved to those evil bastards.” With a sigh she relaxed, allowed the tension on her face to ease away and her voice to soften. “And maybe one day I’ll decide it’s been enough, maybe one day I’ll want to be me again. But right now there are things I need to do Clark. I’m not giving up, I swear to you. I know who I am. But just as much as I’m your ally, your greatest asset as Tess puts it, I’m also your greatest weakness Clark. If I’m caught,” Chloe shook her head, eyes pained, “there are more people at risk than I care to think about.” With a soft smile she took two steps and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close. “Trust me Clark.”
He sighed, closing his eyes, and burying his face into her neck. For some reason it felt like losing her, even if he was one of the only people that weren’t. “Okay.” Moments later they pulled apart and he stepped back, inhaling deeply, trying to shift away from the loving best friend, Clark Kent, and into Superman. “Days Chloe, it will take days.”
“I know.” Chloe nodded.
“Which means you stay here. Have no contact with anyone.” She nodded. They’d already been over it, but he felt the need to remind her. “When it’s done, I’ll come straight here.”
Chloe nodded and when he smiled, something that she assumed was to reassure her, she smiled back, trying to offer him the same comfort. And then he was gone, already flying to the Fortress of Solitude. Chloe could erase her identity on the Internet. Medical records, school history...but memories, no, that was something else entirely. Only alien technology could do that. Watchtower did its part in the sacrifice of Chloe Sullivan, now it was the Fortress of Solitude’s turn.
In a matter of days, Chloe Sullivan wouldn’t be dead; she simply wouldn’t exist. And the woman standing in the confines of the digital fortress would use her anonymity to help any hero in need.
With a sigh she walked towards the colorful glass window, peering out of it with a small bit of regret. The rest of the world seemed closed off to her suddenly. For a moment she felt alone, within her tower, looking out over the city, cut off from anyone and everyone. Then just as soon as the feeling came over her she lifted her head higher, eyes hardening with purpose. It wasn’t the end for her, just a new beginning. With that final thought she turned away from Metropolis and got back to work.
Next