SV: His Girl Friday Chapter Five
TITLE: Chapter 5 - Falter
FANDOM: Smallville
RATING: SFW (Safe For Work - new simpler rating system I'm using)
GENRE: Action-Adventure/Romance
CHARACTERS: Chloe Sullivan, Pete Ross, Jonathan Kent, Martha Kent, Clark Kent, Lois Lane
PAIRINGS: Clark Kent/Chloe Sullivan
WORDS: 5068
CHAPTER SUMMARY: Chloe's Saturday night takes an unexpected turn that brings her dreams of the Daily Planet that much closer. It also pushes Clark to take drastic measures.
ARCHIVED: FanFiction.net
STORY LINKS: ( First Chapter) | ( Previous Chapter) | ( Next Chapter)
STORY NOTES:
***
Dinner at the Ross House was once a regular occurrence for Chloe Sullivan, at least it was until last May when she and Clark finally became an official couple. After that, the invitations disappeared until she returned from her summer in Metropolis. They weren't as frequent as before and Chloe noticed an awkward tension that seemed to exist in the house when she came over now.
No one made a big deal about it so Chloe ignored the tension and enjoyed herself like she always did with that family. Pete always seemed to complain about his large family but outside of the rare vacation with the Lane girls, this was Chloe's opportunity to experience the everyday life of having siblings.
Pete had three brothers and one sister and whenever Chloe came by they treated her like one of the family and she enjoyed every minute of it. Chloe cherished the opportunity to be around the happy family again and was grateful the opportunity came about because of her calling the Ross house earlier that day to beg Pete to drive her out to Lander's Field later that night to see the results of a rare magnetic storm and having Judge Ross answer and invite her to dinner.
And that's why that evening after dinner, Pete was driving Chloe in the blue Ford Falcon Futura that the older Ross siblings - and now Pete since he could drive - shared amongst one another. Lander's Field happened to be in close proximity to the Luthor Mansion, a place well known to Chloe and her friends over the last year.
As a result Pete knew the route to take and Chloe settled in for the ride. She rolled down the passenger side window and relaxed against the door, her head leaning out as she stared up at the night sky while Pete drove through town heading for the outskirts of Smallville.
“Remind me why Clark isn't the one you're dragging out to this magnetic storm?” Pete asked after awhile, interrupting the monotonous silence.
Chloe tilted her head just slightly to look back at Pete. “Well, first off I wouldn't have missed out on a Ross home-cooked meal,” she said with a fond pat of her stomach. “Secondly, I might have convinced Clark to take me to a paranormal conference in Topeka last weekend that was fairly disappointing and with the uncertainty of the magnetic storm results I'd rather not risk him having two consecutive bad experiences from outings I arranged.”
“Thanks, Chloe,” said Pete sarcastically. “So you're saying there's a chance I'm out here for nothing.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “No, Pete, you're here being the supportive friend. My odd proclivities don't affect that. Clark, on the other hand is my boyfriend and it's important in a relationship for the couple to support each other's interests.”
“I think Clark is even more supportive now that you're dating,” said Pete.
“Exactly,” said Chloe with a nod. “And I'm looking to keep it that way, especially since my interests tend to be more fantastical than others. That's why I brought my camera with me, if there are significant results from the storm than I'll be happy to share - Watch out!”
Pete immediately slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a skidding stop on the two-lane road. Their seat belts kept them safe but they watched in horror as in front of them a van was run off the road, crashing into the cornfield running along the road.
The reason for the van's crash was another car that was driving on the wrong side of the road. The SUV was currently stopped and the driver didn't seem interested in moving to help the crashed vehicle.
“Can you believe that?” Pete asked in disbelief. “How can they just sit there? I have a good mind to go over there and -”
“No, Pete!” said Chloe holding his arm. “People don't just go driving on the wrong side of the road by mistake. And in Smallville there is just as much chance of them being meteor infected as under the influence of normal alcohol and drugs.”
Pete scowled. “So are we just going to ignore the crash to avoid this nut? That driver of the van might need medical attention.”
“Of course we're not going to ignore the crash, Pete,” said Chloe sighing. “We just need to scare this other car away of here. How about we ...” She reached across to the steering wheel and honked repeatedly.
That seemed to jolt the stopped SUV into motion and it sped off in the other direction. Chloe and Pete shared a look of relief and Pete drove them up the road close to the spot where the van went tumbling into the cornfield. Pulling over to the side, Pete and Chloe got out of the car and followed the path of downed crops towards the crashed vehicle.
Off in the distance they could hear the blaring horn of the van and see its' flashing lights among the crops as they made their way through the mess. When they finally reached the site where the van landed they noticed that it was overturned. Pete hustled over to check on the driver and Chloe followed behind but something caught her eye as she approached the van.
The headlights of the van lit up a section of crops in front of it and amongst the cornstalks was a sizable dark object that the light reflected off of. Chloe looked over at Pete and saw him asking the driver of the van questions and working on opening the door so she continued on past the van and approached the dark object.
Her jaw dropped the closer she got and the shape of the object became more discernible. Chloe let out a gasp as she realized she was standing just feet away from what looked like a real spaceship. UFOs weren't exactly her thing but considering this was Smallville she wasn't surprised that aliens could be involved with the weirdness of the town.
“What is that?”
Chloe jumped. She had been so mesmerized by the sight of the ship that she had forgotten that Pete and the driver were there too. She turned to Pete. “I believe it's called a spaceship, Pete.”
“For real?” Pete asked with wide eyes.
Chloe smiled. “Well it's possible that the ship is some type of prop replica but we are in Smallville. The percentages of it being Wall of Weird worthy are high.” She looked over Pete's shoulder at the driver he had pulled out of the van lying on the ground behind him. “How's the driver?”
That seemed to remind Pete about the driver. “Oh, he got knocked silly from that crash from what I can tell. He'll need to go to the hospital. The quickest would be getting him into my car and taking him over to Smallville Med Center.”
The urge to tell Pete to put the spaceship in his car instead of the driver was great but Chloe resisted and moved to help Pete with the injured man. The walk back to the car felt ten times longer now that they were practically carrying and dragging the driver along. He wasn't too coherent but it did worry Chloe that she heard the word 'spaceship' more than once from the man's mouth. She knew they would have to figure out a way to move the ship, and move it soon before the man's loose lips gave anyone the motivation to look into the crash site.
Pete helped the man into the car and closed the door before looking over at Chloe and motioning her over to the trunk - far enough away from the disoriented man that their conversation wouldn't be overheard. “What are we going to do about the ship? The police will want to investigate the crash. I can say I don't remember where I found him but sooner or later they'll find the van.”
Chloe hopped onto the trunk, crossing her skirt-clad legs as she nodded thoughtfully. “What we need to do is move the ship. Unfortunately even if we didn't have Mr. Crash Test Dummy here there'd be no way we could do it ourselves. Not only would it not fit in your car, that ship definitely weighs more than he does and we could barely get him to the car. I wish Clark was here.”
“Clark! That's it,” said Pete excitedly. “We can go by the Kent Farm in the morning and get Clark to borrow his dad's truck”
“That would work,” Chloe agreed. She flashed Pete a smile and clasped her hands together. “Okay. New plan. Early tomorrow morning we meet up at Clark's and drive out with his dad's truck and pick up this outer space baby.”
Pete looked surprised. “What about going to Lander's Field for your storm results? Wasn't that why we were out here?”
Chloe waved him off dismissively. “Are you kidding me, Pete? This spaceship is like the Mount Rushmore of Weird. Straight to the front page of the Daily Planet let alone the Torch. Everything else goes to the backburner.”
“Never a dull moment in Smallville is there?” said Pete.
“And that's how I like it. Now help me go cover that thing,” said Chloe, leaping down from the trunk and walking back through the path towards the spaceship picking up fallen cornstalks along the way. She stopped briefly to turn back to the trailing Pete. “And before I forget, you are so giving me an exclusive rescue interview for the Torch.”
***
The next morning found Chloe sitting at the Kent breakfast table bright and early looking very chipper. Martha Kent seemed surprised to see her when she arrived at the Kents' backdoor but Chloe was nonetheless welcomed in and offered a seat while Mrs. Kent started on breakfast. Clark was still asleep and Mr. Kent was outside working on the farm so Chloe passed the time telling Martha about the misadventures of her cousin Lois Lane now that she didn't have to watch over her younger sister Lucy while living on the bases the General traveled to.
When Jonathan Kent walked into the house and saw Chloe, he only stopped for a moment before shaking his head and going about his morning routine of kissing Martha and heading upstairs to wash up. Chloe was just finishing off a story about Lois narrowly avoiding an international incident when she was caught in a less than desirable position with an assistant of a highly revered visiting diplomat when Mr. Kent returned downstairs, sitting down at the head of the table.
“Thank you, Martha,” said Mr. Kent while accepting a hearty breakfast plate from his wife. As he poured himself a cup of coffee he eyed Chloe at the other end of the table nursing her own cup of coffee. “Not that you aren't always welcome, Chloe, but what brings you out to the farm this early on a Sunday?”
He startled Chloe, catching her in the middle of planning in her head what she was going to do with the spaceship she and Pete had found the night before. Before answering Mr. Kent she took a big swig from her cup of coffee and gathered her thoughts. “Well, something unexpected came up last night but it was too late to investigate. I was too excited to sleep very much.”
Mrs. Kent laughed as she handed Chloe a small helping of breakfast. “I should have guessed it was your reporter instincts motivating the early start. Eyeing another front page for the Torch and need Clark's help?”
Chloe gave the older woman a guilty smile. “Am I that predictable?”
“It's more that we know you so well,” said Mr. Kent warmly.
“And we love you for that, Chloe,” said Mrs. Kent, patting Chloe on the shoulder. “It's wonderful that Clark is close with someone so goal-oriented and determined.”
“I'm not taking him away from any work you need him to do today, am I?” said Chloe as she put down her fork and looked at the faces of both Kents. “Sometimes I just rush into things and forget that there's a whole world not revolving around what I do.”
The Kents shared a knowing look with each other before Martha turned to answer Chloe. “Don't worry about it. Clark finished his chores yesterday and was planning on taking it easy today and complete his homework. Weren't you, Clark?”
Chloe turned in her seat and stared as her boyfriend walked slowly into the kitchen rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His long-sleeved blue plaid shirt was unbuttoned and revealed the white undershirt he wore underneath. It brought a smile to Chloe's face and was a great way to start the morning from her perspective.
“Wasn't I what, Mom?” said Clark as he took in his surroundings. He smiled when he noticed Chloe staring. “Hey, Chloe,” He kissed her on the cheek and started buttoning up his shirt.
“I was telling Chloe that she could borrow you for the day since you had nothing planned,” said Mrs. Kent, planting a kiss on her son's cheek and handing him a paper bag. “Here's a little breakfast to go since I figure Chloe is in a hurry this morning.”
Clark looked puzzled but Chloe was on her feet at Mrs. Kent's cue. “That's right, Clark,” said Chloe. “You just have to see what Pete and I found last night in Lander's Field. You won't believe it until you see it.”
A car horn could be heard honking outside.
“That must be Pete,” said Chloe, grabbing Clark's hand and pulling him towards the door. “Let's go get our Scooby on. Bye Mr. and Mrs. Kent! Thank you for breakfast.”
Clark waved quickly at his parents and let Chloe pull him out the door, both of them missing the amused look on Martha and Jonathan's faces. Chloe and Clark rounded the corner of the house and found Pete leaning outside his car waiting for them to arrive.
“What took so long?” said Pete as they approached.
“Just this lug and his beauty sleep,” said Chloe, patting Clark's chest.
Clark scratched his head. “What has you two in such a hurry?”
“There's not enough time,” said Pete excitedly. “Come on, we need to borrow your dad's truck while we're at it.”
“I'll explain on the way,” said Chloe. “At least most of it; the surprise is the best part.”
The three friends piled into Mr. Kent's red Dodge Ram pickup truck and Clark drove them away from the farm. Pete was clearly excited but stayed quiet while Chloe explained the circumstances around the previous night's discovery. They met very little traffic as they drove through Smallville; only the dedicated early birds were up and about so early on a Sunday. Chloe and Pete quickly recognized the stretch of road where the crash had occurred and pointed out to Clark where to pull the truck over at.
Pete insisted on leading the way through the cornstalks and even began humming a tune for dramatic effect. Chloe rolled her eyes but held Clark's elbow excitedly as they approached the area where the spaceship rested. The van came into sight and Chloe and Clark took a second to survey the crash. For Clark it was his first time seeing it and for Chloe, she hadn't been paying much attention because of the spaceship distraction.
Their delay didn't stop Pete's progress and they soon heard rustling just ahead of them. Chloe assumed Pete wasn't waiting for them and she tugged on Clark's elbow to indicate they should keep going. Clark nodded and they left the wrecked van alone. They moved on through the final rows of cornstalks and Chloe's hunch was confirmed as they found Pete on the other side pushing away the fallen crops he and Chloe had put on top of the ship to hide it.
Chloe let go of Clark and quickly moved over to the spaceship. It was still covered by a dark blanket she had thought to use from Pete's car. She put her hands on the blanket and eagerly looked up at Clark's face wanting to see his reaction at their discovery. “Get ready to have your whole world turned upside down, Clark,” she said with a smile before yanking the blanket off and revealing the spaceship.
“Pretty mind-blowing, huh,” said Pete with his eyes glued to the spaceship, eagerly soaking up the vision of the ship in daylight compared to the poor view he had from the van's headlights the previous night.
He wasn't looking at Clark at the time of the reveal but Chloe had been, and she found herself surprised when in all of the emotions that showed on Clark's face that a moment of dread shined through. He quickly covered it though.
“What do you think it is?” said Clark in a measured tone.
Chloe's eyebrows shot up at Clark's question as she was pretty sure he and anyone else who would see this ship would know what it was at first sight, but Pete, in all his excitement didn't interpret Clark's leading question like she did.
“Oh, Clark!” said Pete laughing. “It's a spaceship. What the hell else would it be?”
Clark approached the ship and crouched near it to inspect it closer. “I thought maybe it could be a downed military aircraft or a foreign satellite.”
“I think Smallville would be the last place a foreign nation would have a satellite anywhere near and if this was military made I'd have heard about it,” said Chloe, slightly disappointed that Clark wasn't more excited about the spaceship. “I do have a contact.”
Clark gave her a dubious look. “Lois does not count. I doubt your uncle is letting her anywhere near anything that would be considered this level of top secret technology.”
“You'd be surprised what Lois can find out about when she puts her mind to it,” said Chloe in defense of her cousin.
Pete interrupted the growing argument. “Besides, this puppy has extra-terrestrial written all over it.”
Clark quickly became sarcastic. “Yeah and I bet there's little green guys running around in the cornfield too, Pete.”
“I'm serious, Clark, have you ever seen anything like it?” said Pete.
Clark refused to back down. “If aliens came to Earth, don't you think they'd pick somewhere a little more exciting than Smallville?”
Pete had an answer for that too. “No, no, think about it, Clark. Crop circles, cattle mutilation-” Chloe pulled a face at that. “They would be like kids in a candy store.”
Chloe jumped in before Clark could reply. “As crazy as Pete sounds - and I hope you haven't been searching for cattle mutilation on the Torch computers - he has a point Clark. This spaceship-”
“UFO,” said Clark, interrupting her.
“Fine,” Chloe sighed, patting the spaceship. “This possible unidentified flying object that we have here is clearly made of some alloy I've never seen before. It could be a rare element which would go along with your secret tech theory or it could be from out of this world which would prove me and Pete right. Either way we need to get this out of here before anyone else gets wind of it and breaks the story before I can.”
“Yeah,” said Pete, moving to grab a hold of the spaceship. “Come on; let's load it into the truck.”
Clark seemed hesitant. “Wait, we're not just going to take it are we?”
“Even if this belonged to someone else Clark, we're not going to find out until we have a look at it,” said Chloe patiently. “And we don't have time to look at it out here with the sheriff bound to be searching for the van sometime today. I don't think I need to tell you that they won't be as careful with the ship as I can be.” She gave her best doe-eyed look to convince Clark of her sincerity.
Pete rolled his eyes but Clark finally agreed to help. “Alright, fine. We can take it to my house.”
That stopped Pete in his tracks. “No, no, no, Clark. I know your dad; he'd make us turn it into authorities.”
“I won't even tell him. He won't know it's there,” Clark argued.
“Clark,” said Pete. “We're taking it to my house. We can hide it in the tool shed in the back of the house; no one ever goes back there.”
Clark stood up and towered over Pete. “My house would be perfect, it'll be safe there.”
“Whoa, whoa there boys,” said Chloe, moving between the two friends. “As fond as I am of the macho testosterone act, both of you need to lighten up.” She first turned towards Pete. “Pete, the reason no one goes back to your tool shed is because that place still stinks from the time you and Clark tried to prank your brothers with that pile of manure only to have them dump you two in it. I have no desire to spend anytime near that shed.”
Chloe then turned towards Clark and her stern look wiped the growing smile from his face. “And Clark, you're acting a little over possessive about something Pete and I found and decided to bring you in on because we're all friends and we don't keep secrets from each other.” She moved closer and brought her hand to Clark's cheek. “Now I was hoping you'd be more excited about me finding something amazing like this but in any case, need I remind you boys that I am the resident expert in everything weird and this spaceship will be coming home with me.”
Both boys looked stunned but at Chloe's raised eyebrow they immediately began working on moving the spaceship. Feeling victorious, Chloe put her hands on her hips and watched them at work.
“Come on, boys,” Chloe cheered with a clap of her hands. “Let's get this baby home before sundown. This article isn't going to write itself.”
***
Unfortunately for Chloe, even hours after driving the spaceship back to her house and hiding it under a tarp in the carport she had not come any closer to unlocking the ship's secrets. After she had taken a multitude of photos, Pete spent significant time trying to open the ship with various tools he'd grabbed from his house. The crowbar could not pry an inch of movement and although the hammer made a grating sound to Chloe's ears it did not affect the ship. In fact, it continued to look untouched.
Clark, still acting strangely, made his excuses once they had brought their cars back to her house from the Kent Farm and left without even a goodbye kiss. Chloe acted unfazed for the sake of Pete's presence, but inside she was the exact opposite with a strange feeling in her gut and dozens of observations from the day floating around in her head.
Instead of dwelling on her boyfriend's sudden shift in moods, Chloe focused on the tasks at hand. Since the spaceship was being stubborn, she convinced Pete to give it a rest and sit down for the rescue interview she had wanted for Monday's edition of the Torch. The lack of success on the spaceship made Pete a very willing participant to be interviewed and Chloe was sure that her friend would not be lacking girls eager to date him once the piece hit the school.
After the interview was done with Pete had to leave and her dad had finally come home from a LuthorCorp weekend management training seminar so Chloe moved the old red Ford Falcon she shared with her dad into the carport to further hide the spaceship. Gabe Sullivan was already well-versed in his daughter's weird hobbies after suffering a few mishaps from being too curious over the years and now knew just to ignore anything Chloe had set as off limits.
Much to her dad's dismay, Chloe spent most of the rest of the fading day on her computer looking for any lead she could find on the spaceship. She uploaded the photos to her computer and ran several image comparison programs she had to try to find anything similar on the internet. Most of the results brought up images from science fiction movies but nothing substantive.
Chloe then visited some trusted chat rooms, forums and user groups and sent out a creatively cropped image of the spaceship to see if anyone could recognize the ship or what it was made of but again came away with no results. The ship was quickly becoming an impossible mystery to even attempt to solve without any lead or progress and Chloe refused to print a speculative article with only images to support her claims. It would be no better than the tabloids she refused to acknowledge as journalism.
Disappointed by the lack of results and distressed that her research had taken her late into the night Chloe was happily interrupted by a phone call from her cousin Lois. It gave her an opportunity to forget her frustrating day and devolve into more fun topics like girl talk.
Chloe soon found herself sitting on the kitchen counter in the dark wearing her pajamas and talking to Lois on the phone like she was right there with her for a girls' night. Her cousin however was just as observant as Chloe and after a few minutes of conversation determined that she was not her usual peppy self.
“Give it up, Cuz,” said Lois. “I can tell that something is amiss. Why is my usually sunny Sullivan experiencing storm clouds? I thought that farm boy of yours was being a proper boy scout and always keeping you happy.”
“I don't think female joy is high on the priority list of boy scouts, Lois,” said Chloe with a small smile.
“It is with all the boy scouts I've run into,” said Lois sweetly.
“And Clark, has been fine - I mean, he was strange today but I think one day of strangeness after months of bliss is nothing to go crazy about right?” said Chloe uncertainly.
“Well you do have a fondness for the weird, Chlo,” said Lois. “What happened today that caused your knight in shining flannel to freak?”
Chloe hesitated, trying to decide what she could reveal to her cousin. “If you were here, Lo, I'd be telling you everything, but you know how secure lines on the base can be.”
“Wow. If it's even remotely on that level, maybe Clarkie had reason to freak. Is it dangerous?” Lois asked.
“No one else knows about it but me, Clark and Pete. And it's well hidden,” Chloe explained. “This is potential DP front page material but I'm having no luck and little help. Clark bailed on me and it was like last year all over again, back before we were dating, no explanation - just gone.”
“Maybe he recognized whatever you found and went to find out more about it?” Lois offered. “You've said he was flaky at times in the past, but I can't think of why he wouldn't want to help you.”
“Maybe,” said Chloe, not wanting to think bad about Clark. “I'm sure it's just a coincidence that ...”
Chloe trailed off and dropped the phone from her ear the moment she saw a flash of headlights pass by the kitchen window. After a few moments of silence, Lois piped up.
“It's a coincidence that what? Hello? Chloe?! Are you there?”
Chloe heard her cousin's rising voice and quickly returned the phone to her ear. “Sorry, Lois,” she apologized. “But I just saw car lights outside and need to check it out.”
“Chloe! Don't you know most horror movies start out that way and they never end well!”
Chloe frowned. “That was the last thing I wanted to hear right now, Lois.”
“Well, be careful and take something you can use as a weapon with you,” said Lois, slightly chagrined. “Oh, and stay on the phone with me so I can send help if you need it.”
“This is Smallville, Lois, not the Hood. I'm sure it's nothing,” said Chloe reassuring her cousin while inwardly fond of Lois' protective instincts.
Noise from the side of the house where the carport was heightened Chloe's sense of alarm and she quickly grabbed a wooden broom from the closet. Chloe held the phone in one hand and the broom in the other as she moved around in the darkened house. The noise outside was faint enough that her dad wouldn't be awoken and the only reason she noticed was because she was up and had seen the flash of light in the windows.
The sounds of an engine starting up pushed Chloe into motion and she slipped out the back door quietly, making her way towards the carport. There was a little gap in the wall of the carport and the house and Chloe used it to gain a view of what was going on. What she saw made her gasp.
The tarp that was covering the spaceship was lying on the ground with no spaceship anywhere near it. Shadows moving around further down the carport gained her attention and Chloe shifted lower to get a better perspective. The back end of a pickup truck came into view and she could vaguely see a covered shape sitting in the bed. Chloe didn't have to think hard to guess that the shape belonged to her spaceship.
She debated about making a move to stop the thief but what Chloe saw next made any notion of action disappear from her mind. The passenger side door of the truck opened and a shadowy figure emerged to take one final look at the truck bed. It was then that the dim lights of the carport hit the figure at an angle and Chloe gained a glimpse of a blue jacket and a plaid shirt. The figure went back into the truck and the vehicle moved away from the carport and Chloe's house but the damage was already done.
“Clark?!” said Chloe in disbelief, dropping to her knees - the phone and broom falling out of her hands forgotten.
The build, the clothes, and the strange behavior earlier that day - things began to fall into place. Her boyfriend and best friend had just stolen the spaceship!
FANDOM: Smallville
RATING: SFW (Safe For Work - new simpler rating system I'm using)
GENRE: Action-Adventure/Romance
CHARACTERS: Chloe Sullivan, Pete Ross, Jonathan Kent, Martha Kent, Clark Kent, Lois Lane
PAIRINGS: Clark Kent/Chloe Sullivan
WORDS: 5068
CHAPTER SUMMARY: Chloe's Saturday night takes an unexpected turn that brings her dreams of the Daily Planet that much closer. It also pushes Clark to take drastic measures.
ARCHIVED: FanFiction.net
STORY LINKS: ( First Chapter) | ( Previous Chapter) | ( Next Chapter)
STORY NOTES:
- Apologies for missing my publishing date. This chapter was slow starting and then ran long on me. I trimmed some excess words off but this is still a very lengthy chapter - almost one thousand words more than I wanted. So enjoy the extra-size!
- This chapter starts into "Duplicity" and the next chapter will finish that episode. A few lines were taken from the episode as well.
- Crossposted to: sv_fanfic, chloesullivan, chlark_crazed
***
Dinner at the Ross House was once a regular occurrence for Chloe Sullivan, at least it was until last May when she and Clark finally became an official couple. After that, the invitations disappeared until she returned from her summer in Metropolis. They weren't as frequent as before and Chloe noticed an awkward tension that seemed to exist in the house when she came over now.
No one made a big deal about it so Chloe ignored the tension and enjoyed herself like she always did with that family. Pete always seemed to complain about his large family but outside of the rare vacation with the Lane girls, this was Chloe's opportunity to experience the everyday life of having siblings.
Pete had three brothers and one sister and whenever Chloe came by they treated her like one of the family and she enjoyed every minute of it. Chloe cherished the opportunity to be around the happy family again and was grateful the opportunity came about because of her calling the Ross house earlier that day to beg Pete to drive her out to Lander's Field later that night to see the results of a rare magnetic storm and having Judge Ross answer and invite her to dinner.
And that's why that evening after dinner, Pete was driving Chloe in the blue Ford Falcon Futura that the older Ross siblings - and now Pete since he could drive - shared amongst one another. Lander's Field happened to be in close proximity to the Luthor Mansion, a place well known to Chloe and her friends over the last year.
As a result Pete knew the route to take and Chloe settled in for the ride. She rolled down the passenger side window and relaxed against the door, her head leaning out as she stared up at the night sky while Pete drove through town heading for the outskirts of Smallville.
“Remind me why Clark isn't the one you're dragging out to this magnetic storm?” Pete asked after awhile, interrupting the monotonous silence.
Chloe tilted her head just slightly to look back at Pete. “Well, first off I wouldn't have missed out on a Ross home-cooked meal,” she said with a fond pat of her stomach. “Secondly, I might have convinced Clark to take me to a paranormal conference in Topeka last weekend that was fairly disappointing and with the uncertainty of the magnetic storm results I'd rather not risk him having two consecutive bad experiences from outings I arranged.”
“Thanks, Chloe,” said Pete sarcastically. “So you're saying there's a chance I'm out here for nothing.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “No, Pete, you're here being the supportive friend. My odd proclivities don't affect that. Clark, on the other hand is my boyfriend and it's important in a relationship for the couple to support each other's interests.”
“I think Clark is even more supportive now that you're dating,” said Pete.
“Exactly,” said Chloe with a nod. “And I'm looking to keep it that way, especially since my interests tend to be more fantastical than others. That's why I brought my camera with me, if there are significant results from the storm than I'll be happy to share - Watch out!”
Pete immediately slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a skidding stop on the two-lane road. Their seat belts kept them safe but they watched in horror as in front of them a van was run off the road, crashing into the cornfield running along the road.
The reason for the van's crash was another car that was driving on the wrong side of the road. The SUV was currently stopped and the driver didn't seem interested in moving to help the crashed vehicle.
“Can you believe that?” Pete asked in disbelief. “How can they just sit there? I have a good mind to go over there and -”
“No, Pete!” said Chloe holding his arm. “People don't just go driving on the wrong side of the road by mistake. And in Smallville there is just as much chance of them being meteor infected as under the influence of normal alcohol and drugs.”
Pete scowled. “So are we just going to ignore the crash to avoid this nut? That driver of the van might need medical attention.”
“Of course we're not going to ignore the crash, Pete,” said Chloe sighing. “We just need to scare this other car away of here. How about we ...” She reached across to the steering wheel and honked repeatedly.
That seemed to jolt the stopped SUV into motion and it sped off in the other direction. Chloe and Pete shared a look of relief and Pete drove them up the road close to the spot where the van went tumbling into the cornfield. Pulling over to the side, Pete and Chloe got out of the car and followed the path of downed crops towards the crashed vehicle.
Off in the distance they could hear the blaring horn of the van and see its' flashing lights among the crops as they made their way through the mess. When they finally reached the site where the van landed they noticed that it was overturned. Pete hustled over to check on the driver and Chloe followed behind but something caught her eye as she approached the van.
The headlights of the van lit up a section of crops in front of it and amongst the cornstalks was a sizable dark object that the light reflected off of. Chloe looked over at Pete and saw him asking the driver of the van questions and working on opening the door so she continued on past the van and approached the dark object.
Her jaw dropped the closer she got and the shape of the object became more discernible. Chloe let out a gasp as she realized she was standing just feet away from what looked like a real spaceship. UFOs weren't exactly her thing but considering this was Smallville she wasn't surprised that aliens could be involved with the weirdness of the town.
“What is that?”
Chloe jumped. She had been so mesmerized by the sight of the ship that she had forgotten that Pete and the driver were there too. She turned to Pete. “I believe it's called a spaceship, Pete.”
“For real?” Pete asked with wide eyes.
Chloe smiled. “Well it's possible that the ship is some type of prop replica but we are in Smallville. The percentages of it being Wall of Weird worthy are high.” She looked over Pete's shoulder at the driver he had pulled out of the van lying on the ground behind him. “How's the driver?”
That seemed to remind Pete about the driver. “Oh, he got knocked silly from that crash from what I can tell. He'll need to go to the hospital. The quickest would be getting him into my car and taking him over to Smallville Med Center.”
The urge to tell Pete to put the spaceship in his car instead of the driver was great but Chloe resisted and moved to help Pete with the injured man. The walk back to the car felt ten times longer now that they were practically carrying and dragging the driver along. He wasn't too coherent but it did worry Chloe that she heard the word 'spaceship' more than once from the man's mouth. She knew they would have to figure out a way to move the ship, and move it soon before the man's loose lips gave anyone the motivation to look into the crash site.
Pete helped the man into the car and closed the door before looking over at Chloe and motioning her over to the trunk - far enough away from the disoriented man that their conversation wouldn't be overheard. “What are we going to do about the ship? The police will want to investigate the crash. I can say I don't remember where I found him but sooner or later they'll find the van.”
Chloe hopped onto the trunk, crossing her skirt-clad legs as she nodded thoughtfully. “What we need to do is move the ship. Unfortunately even if we didn't have Mr. Crash Test Dummy here there'd be no way we could do it ourselves. Not only would it not fit in your car, that ship definitely weighs more than he does and we could barely get him to the car. I wish Clark was here.”
“Clark! That's it,” said Pete excitedly. “We can go by the Kent Farm in the morning and get Clark to borrow his dad's truck”
“That would work,” Chloe agreed. She flashed Pete a smile and clasped her hands together. “Okay. New plan. Early tomorrow morning we meet up at Clark's and drive out with his dad's truck and pick up this outer space baby.”
Pete looked surprised. “What about going to Lander's Field for your storm results? Wasn't that why we were out here?”
Chloe waved him off dismissively. “Are you kidding me, Pete? This spaceship is like the Mount Rushmore of Weird. Straight to the front page of the Daily Planet let alone the Torch. Everything else goes to the backburner.”
“Never a dull moment in Smallville is there?” said Pete.
“And that's how I like it. Now help me go cover that thing,” said Chloe, leaping down from the trunk and walking back through the path towards the spaceship picking up fallen cornstalks along the way. She stopped briefly to turn back to the trailing Pete. “And before I forget, you are so giving me an exclusive rescue interview for the Torch.”
***
The next morning found Chloe sitting at the Kent breakfast table bright and early looking very chipper. Martha Kent seemed surprised to see her when she arrived at the Kents' backdoor but Chloe was nonetheless welcomed in and offered a seat while Mrs. Kent started on breakfast. Clark was still asleep and Mr. Kent was outside working on the farm so Chloe passed the time telling Martha about the misadventures of her cousin Lois Lane now that she didn't have to watch over her younger sister Lucy while living on the bases the General traveled to.
When Jonathan Kent walked into the house and saw Chloe, he only stopped for a moment before shaking his head and going about his morning routine of kissing Martha and heading upstairs to wash up. Chloe was just finishing off a story about Lois narrowly avoiding an international incident when she was caught in a less than desirable position with an assistant of a highly revered visiting diplomat when Mr. Kent returned downstairs, sitting down at the head of the table.
“Thank you, Martha,” said Mr. Kent while accepting a hearty breakfast plate from his wife. As he poured himself a cup of coffee he eyed Chloe at the other end of the table nursing her own cup of coffee. “Not that you aren't always welcome, Chloe, but what brings you out to the farm this early on a Sunday?”
He startled Chloe, catching her in the middle of planning in her head what she was going to do with the spaceship she and Pete had found the night before. Before answering Mr. Kent she took a big swig from her cup of coffee and gathered her thoughts. “Well, something unexpected came up last night but it was too late to investigate. I was too excited to sleep very much.”
Mrs. Kent laughed as she handed Chloe a small helping of breakfast. “I should have guessed it was your reporter instincts motivating the early start. Eyeing another front page for the Torch and need Clark's help?”
Chloe gave the older woman a guilty smile. “Am I that predictable?”
“It's more that we know you so well,” said Mr. Kent warmly.
“And we love you for that, Chloe,” said Mrs. Kent, patting Chloe on the shoulder. “It's wonderful that Clark is close with someone so goal-oriented and determined.”
“I'm not taking him away from any work you need him to do today, am I?” said Chloe as she put down her fork and looked at the faces of both Kents. “Sometimes I just rush into things and forget that there's a whole world not revolving around what I do.”
The Kents shared a knowing look with each other before Martha turned to answer Chloe. “Don't worry about it. Clark finished his chores yesterday and was planning on taking it easy today and complete his homework. Weren't you, Clark?”
Chloe turned in her seat and stared as her boyfriend walked slowly into the kitchen rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His long-sleeved blue plaid shirt was unbuttoned and revealed the white undershirt he wore underneath. It brought a smile to Chloe's face and was a great way to start the morning from her perspective.
“Wasn't I what, Mom?” said Clark as he took in his surroundings. He smiled when he noticed Chloe staring. “Hey, Chloe,” He kissed her on the cheek and started buttoning up his shirt.
“I was telling Chloe that she could borrow you for the day since you had nothing planned,” said Mrs. Kent, planting a kiss on her son's cheek and handing him a paper bag. “Here's a little breakfast to go since I figure Chloe is in a hurry this morning.”
Clark looked puzzled but Chloe was on her feet at Mrs. Kent's cue. “That's right, Clark,” said Chloe. “You just have to see what Pete and I found last night in Lander's Field. You won't believe it until you see it.”
A car horn could be heard honking outside.
“That must be Pete,” said Chloe, grabbing Clark's hand and pulling him towards the door. “Let's go get our Scooby on. Bye Mr. and Mrs. Kent! Thank you for breakfast.”
Clark waved quickly at his parents and let Chloe pull him out the door, both of them missing the amused look on Martha and Jonathan's faces. Chloe and Clark rounded the corner of the house and found Pete leaning outside his car waiting for them to arrive.
“What took so long?” said Pete as they approached.
“Just this lug and his beauty sleep,” said Chloe, patting Clark's chest.
Clark scratched his head. “What has you two in such a hurry?”
“There's not enough time,” said Pete excitedly. “Come on, we need to borrow your dad's truck while we're at it.”
“I'll explain on the way,” said Chloe. “At least most of it; the surprise is the best part.”
The three friends piled into Mr. Kent's red Dodge Ram pickup truck and Clark drove them away from the farm. Pete was clearly excited but stayed quiet while Chloe explained the circumstances around the previous night's discovery. They met very little traffic as they drove through Smallville; only the dedicated early birds were up and about so early on a Sunday. Chloe and Pete quickly recognized the stretch of road where the crash had occurred and pointed out to Clark where to pull the truck over at.
Pete insisted on leading the way through the cornstalks and even began humming a tune for dramatic effect. Chloe rolled her eyes but held Clark's elbow excitedly as they approached the area where the spaceship rested. The van came into sight and Chloe and Clark took a second to survey the crash. For Clark it was his first time seeing it and for Chloe, she hadn't been paying much attention because of the spaceship distraction.
Their delay didn't stop Pete's progress and they soon heard rustling just ahead of them. Chloe assumed Pete wasn't waiting for them and she tugged on Clark's elbow to indicate they should keep going. Clark nodded and they left the wrecked van alone. They moved on through the final rows of cornstalks and Chloe's hunch was confirmed as they found Pete on the other side pushing away the fallen crops he and Chloe had put on top of the ship to hide it.
Chloe let go of Clark and quickly moved over to the spaceship. It was still covered by a dark blanket she had thought to use from Pete's car. She put her hands on the blanket and eagerly looked up at Clark's face wanting to see his reaction at their discovery. “Get ready to have your whole world turned upside down, Clark,” she said with a smile before yanking the blanket off and revealing the spaceship.
“Pretty mind-blowing, huh,” said Pete with his eyes glued to the spaceship, eagerly soaking up the vision of the ship in daylight compared to the poor view he had from the van's headlights the previous night.
He wasn't looking at Clark at the time of the reveal but Chloe had been, and she found herself surprised when in all of the emotions that showed on Clark's face that a moment of dread shined through. He quickly covered it though.
“What do you think it is?” said Clark in a measured tone.
Chloe's eyebrows shot up at Clark's question as she was pretty sure he and anyone else who would see this ship would know what it was at first sight, but Pete, in all his excitement didn't interpret Clark's leading question like she did.
“Oh, Clark!” said Pete laughing. “It's a spaceship. What the hell else would it be?”
Clark approached the ship and crouched near it to inspect it closer. “I thought maybe it could be a downed military aircraft or a foreign satellite.”
“I think Smallville would be the last place a foreign nation would have a satellite anywhere near and if this was military made I'd have heard about it,” said Chloe, slightly disappointed that Clark wasn't more excited about the spaceship. “I do have a contact.”
Clark gave her a dubious look. “Lois does not count. I doubt your uncle is letting her anywhere near anything that would be considered this level of top secret technology.”
“You'd be surprised what Lois can find out about when she puts her mind to it,” said Chloe in defense of her cousin.
Pete interrupted the growing argument. “Besides, this puppy has extra-terrestrial written all over it.”
Clark quickly became sarcastic. “Yeah and I bet there's little green guys running around in the cornfield too, Pete.”
“I'm serious, Clark, have you ever seen anything like it?” said Pete.
Clark refused to back down. “If aliens came to Earth, don't you think they'd pick somewhere a little more exciting than Smallville?”
Pete had an answer for that too. “No, no, think about it, Clark. Crop circles, cattle mutilation-” Chloe pulled a face at that. “They would be like kids in a candy store.”
Chloe jumped in before Clark could reply. “As crazy as Pete sounds - and I hope you haven't been searching for cattle mutilation on the Torch computers - he has a point Clark. This spaceship-”
“UFO,” said Clark, interrupting her.
“Fine,” Chloe sighed, patting the spaceship. “This possible unidentified flying object that we have here is clearly made of some alloy I've never seen before. It could be a rare element which would go along with your secret tech theory or it could be from out of this world which would prove me and Pete right. Either way we need to get this out of here before anyone else gets wind of it and breaks the story before I can.”
“Yeah,” said Pete, moving to grab a hold of the spaceship. “Come on; let's load it into the truck.”
Clark seemed hesitant. “Wait, we're not just going to take it are we?”
“Even if this belonged to someone else Clark, we're not going to find out until we have a look at it,” said Chloe patiently. “And we don't have time to look at it out here with the sheriff bound to be searching for the van sometime today. I don't think I need to tell you that they won't be as careful with the ship as I can be.” She gave her best doe-eyed look to convince Clark of her sincerity.
Pete rolled his eyes but Clark finally agreed to help. “Alright, fine. We can take it to my house.”
That stopped Pete in his tracks. “No, no, no, Clark. I know your dad; he'd make us turn it into authorities.”
“I won't even tell him. He won't know it's there,” Clark argued.
“Clark,” said Pete. “We're taking it to my house. We can hide it in the tool shed in the back of the house; no one ever goes back there.”
Clark stood up and towered over Pete. “My house would be perfect, it'll be safe there.”
“Whoa, whoa there boys,” said Chloe, moving between the two friends. “As fond as I am of the macho testosterone act, both of you need to lighten up.” She first turned towards Pete. “Pete, the reason no one goes back to your tool shed is because that place still stinks from the time you and Clark tried to prank your brothers with that pile of manure only to have them dump you two in it. I have no desire to spend anytime near that shed.”
Chloe then turned towards Clark and her stern look wiped the growing smile from his face. “And Clark, you're acting a little over possessive about something Pete and I found and decided to bring you in on because we're all friends and we don't keep secrets from each other.” She moved closer and brought her hand to Clark's cheek. “Now I was hoping you'd be more excited about me finding something amazing like this but in any case, need I remind you boys that I am the resident expert in everything weird and this spaceship will be coming home with me.”
Both boys looked stunned but at Chloe's raised eyebrow they immediately began working on moving the spaceship. Feeling victorious, Chloe put her hands on her hips and watched them at work.
“Come on, boys,” Chloe cheered with a clap of her hands. “Let's get this baby home before sundown. This article isn't going to write itself.”
***
Unfortunately for Chloe, even hours after driving the spaceship back to her house and hiding it under a tarp in the carport she had not come any closer to unlocking the ship's secrets. After she had taken a multitude of photos, Pete spent significant time trying to open the ship with various tools he'd grabbed from his house. The crowbar could not pry an inch of movement and although the hammer made a grating sound to Chloe's ears it did not affect the ship. In fact, it continued to look untouched.
Clark, still acting strangely, made his excuses once they had brought their cars back to her house from the Kent Farm and left without even a goodbye kiss. Chloe acted unfazed for the sake of Pete's presence, but inside she was the exact opposite with a strange feeling in her gut and dozens of observations from the day floating around in her head.
Instead of dwelling on her boyfriend's sudden shift in moods, Chloe focused on the tasks at hand. Since the spaceship was being stubborn, she convinced Pete to give it a rest and sit down for the rescue interview she had wanted for Monday's edition of the Torch. The lack of success on the spaceship made Pete a very willing participant to be interviewed and Chloe was sure that her friend would not be lacking girls eager to date him once the piece hit the school.
After the interview was done with Pete had to leave and her dad had finally come home from a LuthorCorp weekend management training seminar so Chloe moved the old red Ford Falcon she shared with her dad into the carport to further hide the spaceship. Gabe Sullivan was already well-versed in his daughter's weird hobbies after suffering a few mishaps from being too curious over the years and now knew just to ignore anything Chloe had set as off limits.
Much to her dad's dismay, Chloe spent most of the rest of the fading day on her computer looking for any lead she could find on the spaceship. She uploaded the photos to her computer and ran several image comparison programs she had to try to find anything similar on the internet. Most of the results brought up images from science fiction movies but nothing substantive.
Chloe then visited some trusted chat rooms, forums and user groups and sent out a creatively cropped image of the spaceship to see if anyone could recognize the ship or what it was made of but again came away with no results. The ship was quickly becoming an impossible mystery to even attempt to solve without any lead or progress and Chloe refused to print a speculative article with only images to support her claims. It would be no better than the tabloids she refused to acknowledge as journalism.
Disappointed by the lack of results and distressed that her research had taken her late into the night Chloe was happily interrupted by a phone call from her cousin Lois. It gave her an opportunity to forget her frustrating day and devolve into more fun topics like girl talk.
Chloe soon found herself sitting on the kitchen counter in the dark wearing her pajamas and talking to Lois on the phone like she was right there with her for a girls' night. Her cousin however was just as observant as Chloe and after a few minutes of conversation determined that she was not her usual peppy self.
“Give it up, Cuz,” said Lois. “I can tell that something is amiss. Why is my usually sunny Sullivan experiencing storm clouds? I thought that farm boy of yours was being a proper boy scout and always keeping you happy.”
“I don't think female joy is high on the priority list of boy scouts, Lois,” said Chloe with a small smile.
“It is with all the boy scouts I've run into,” said Lois sweetly.
“And Clark, has been fine - I mean, he was strange today but I think one day of strangeness after months of bliss is nothing to go crazy about right?” said Chloe uncertainly.
“Well you do have a fondness for the weird, Chlo,” said Lois. “What happened today that caused your knight in shining flannel to freak?”
Chloe hesitated, trying to decide what she could reveal to her cousin. “If you were here, Lo, I'd be telling you everything, but you know how secure lines on the base can be.”
“Wow. If it's even remotely on that level, maybe Clarkie had reason to freak. Is it dangerous?” Lois asked.
“No one else knows about it but me, Clark and Pete. And it's well hidden,” Chloe explained. “This is potential DP front page material but I'm having no luck and little help. Clark bailed on me and it was like last year all over again, back before we were dating, no explanation - just gone.”
“Maybe he recognized whatever you found and went to find out more about it?” Lois offered. “You've said he was flaky at times in the past, but I can't think of why he wouldn't want to help you.”
“Maybe,” said Chloe, not wanting to think bad about Clark. “I'm sure it's just a coincidence that ...”
Chloe trailed off and dropped the phone from her ear the moment she saw a flash of headlights pass by the kitchen window. After a few moments of silence, Lois piped up.
“It's a coincidence that what? Hello? Chloe?! Are you there?”
Chloe heard her cousin's rising voice and quickly returned the phone to her ear. “Sorry, Lois,” she apologized. “But I just saw car lights outside and need to check it out.”
“Chloe! Don't you know most horror movies start out that way and they never end well!”
Chloe frowned. “That was the last thing I wanted to hear right now, Lois.”
“Well, be careful and take something you can use as a weapon with you,” said Lois, slightly chagrined. “Oh, and stay on the phone with me so I can send help if you need it.”
“This is Smallville, Lois, not the Hood. I'm sure it's nothing,” said Chloe reassuring her cousin while inwardly fond of Lois' protective instincts.
Noise from the side of the house where the carport was heightened Chloe's sense of alarm and she quickly grabbed a wooden broom from the closet. Chloe held the phone in one hand and the broom in the other as she moved around in the darkened house. The noise outside was faint enough that her dad wouldn't be awoken and the only reason she noticed was because she was up and had seen the flash of light in the windows.
The sounds of an engine starting up pushed Chloe into motion and she slipped out the back door quietly, making her way towards the carport. There was a little gap in the wall of the carport and the house and Chloe used it to gain a view of what was going on. What she saw made her gasp.
The tarp that was covering the spaceship was lying on the ground with no spaceship anywhere near it. Shadows moving around further down the carport gained her attention and Chloe shifted lower to get a better perspective. The back end of a pickup truck came into view and she could vaguely see a covered shape sitting in the bed. Chloe didn't have to think hard to guess that the shape belonged to her spaceship.
She debated about making a move to stop the thief but what Chloe saw next made any notion of action disappear from her mind. The passenger side door of the truck opened and a shadowy figure emerged to take one final look at the truck bed. It was then that the dim lights of the carport hit the figure at an angle and Chloe gained a glimpse of a blue jacket and a plaid shirt. The figure went back into the truck and the vehicle moved away from the carport and Chloe's house but the damage was already done.
“Clark?!” said Chloe in disbelief, dropping to her knees - the phone and broom falling out of her hands forgotten.
The build, the clothes, and the strange behavior earlier that day - things began to fall into place. Her boyfriend and best friend had just stolen the spaceship!