Chloe Sullivan: Maid of Might- AU Smallville Fic
Title: Chloe Sullivan: Maid of Might
Rating: PG-13 (for some sexual language and innuendo)
Pairings: Chlark; Chlart; a bit of Chimmy; a silly hint of Clark/Bart
Spoilers: Heavy for Phantom; some for season 7 through possibly Wrath.
Disclaimer: If I owned Smallville, Clark and Chloe would have gotten together a freaking long time ago. So, yeah, whatever.
Summary: An explosion at a Luthorcorp plant causes a full emergence of Chloe's latent meteor power... and also creates a few others.
Notes: This is my long-awaited story for tobywolf13's Meteor-Powered Chloe Fic-a-thon. It's two months late, but better late than never, right? lol
This story is mostly from Clark's point of view, sort of his reaction to discovering her abilities, sort of a direct reverse of her experience. Parts of this story are based on a plot device used in a particular season 3 episode of Lois & Clark, and another assumed plot device from the movie Sky High. Two versions of one DC Comics character were used as "bases", so to speak, in this story, as well. This story is dedicated to lunarknightz, not just because she came up with the prompt, but because it's a subject I feel might be near and dear to her heart. Feedback is loved! ♥
Chloe had been acting strange since that day at the dam. And Clark had more than noticed it. He was worried about it.
On that fateful day, Chloe's cousin Lois had nearly died, Chloe's friend and Clark's ex Lana had died in a car explosion, and Clark himself had battled and had nearly been overtaken by the final phantom from the Phantom Zone.
All that was enough to stress out or even change anyone, but Chloe had changed in a way that Clark had never expected.
Chloe had become secretive.
Clark always sensed that she was hiding something every single time that he was around her now. He never questioned it, however, because he respected her in the same way she'd respected him. If she wanted him to know, she'd tell him.
In spite of those feelings and thoughts, Clark was still curious, almost nosy. She knew his secret, and now he wanted to know hers. He had a feeling it might have something to do with her meteor-infected status, but he couldn't be positive. As he had been to her several years before, Chloe Sullivan was now an enigma unto herself.
Nearly four months after that showdown at the dam, something happened that caused that enigma to deepen.
Oliver and his band of merry men --er, two men and a boy-- returned to Smallville, with the report that something big was about to go down at the Luthorcorp plant. Chloe and Clark immediately sprang into the action, more than happy to help.
Chloe stayed outside with a walkie talkie at first, playing Watchtower again as the boys went inside to do business.
Before long, Clark and Oliver had realized that something had gone terribly awry.
They could no longer hear Chloe, and it seemed as though Chloe could not hear them.
Clark immediately panicked, but as Oliver tried to calm him down, Chloe suddenly appeared beside them. Apparently, the walkie talkie had malfunctioned, and she'd decided to come in to lead them out of the building.
As the three of them walked across the elevated walk way located in a section of the plant, searching for the other guys, they heard a scream.
It was Bart.
"Ohh, craaaapppppp!!"
Clark was there before Oliver and Chloe could even blink, and they darted after him.
"Bart, what's wrong?"
Bart pointed. "Dudes... WE HAVE A BOMB."
Clark's eyes widened in shock when he saw the device in the corner of the room. "Five minutes." he murmured. "We have five minutes to get out of here."
"It was a trap." Oliver said, starting out of the room, shaking his head. "Luthor set us up."
"Where's A.C. and Victor?" Chloe wondered. "We need to find them immediately."
"Somewhere around here..." Bart trailed off, looking at Clark. "We gotta step on it, bro."
Clark nodded, and started to walk out with the young man, but out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Chloe moving toward the bomb. He stopped.
"What are you doing, Chloe?" he asked.
"I think I might be able to disarm it." she said, bending down. "The structure is fairly simple."
"Chloe!" The fear was apparent in his voice. "Don't do that. Just come on. We've gotta get out of here!"
Chloe remained firm. "Clark, go. I'll be fine. Go find Cyborg and Aquaman."
Clark still looked worried, but said nothing, just went on out the door.
"We'll go back for her, dude. No worries." Bart insisted, but Clark couldn't help but worry.
A.C. and Victor were located within two minutes, and were on their way out when Oliver turned to Clark.
"Find Watchtower. Get her the hell out of here. I'm gonna make a run for it. I'll contact you later." His orders were really in no way necessary, but he gave them anyway.
He exited the building as quickly as he could, and as Bart was about to leave, Clark's superhearing was activated by a small, high-pitched curse word leaving Chloe's lips.
She somehow knew Clark had heard her, or so it seemed, and as she darted out of the room, she yelled to him.
"The timer changed when I moved to stand back up! The building's going to blow in 50 seconds!"
Clark's eyes widened, and as she ran toward him, the building began to shake, as if in anticipation of the bomb.
Clark waited at the end of the walkway, knowing she'd make it to him in time, and then he'd whisk her out of the building.
Little did he know, Bart was still standing behind him, and seemed to see what was about to happen seconds before it actually did.
"Chloelicious!" he shouted, and as he did, a portion on the side of the walkway Chloe was running along broke, and began to crumble. She slipped, screaming.
"Chloe!" Clark yelled, and darted toward her, but the little guy in red beat him to it.
Unfortunately, though, as Chloe slid a little further, it was proved that Bart just wasn't strong enough. The walkway beneath his feet crumbled as well, and he slipped.
Chloe screamed again, as Bart's hand grabbed at what was left of some of the railing, stopping them both from falling completely.
Clark was there then, one huge hand reaching out to grab Bart's arm.
"Come on, amigo, hurry!" Bart cried. "I can't hold on for much longer. We can't hold on for much longer."
The tone in Bart's voice made it very obvious to Clark that the young hero was definitely more worried about the little blonde than himself. For a millisecond, Clark wondered if Bart loved her.
He managed to pull the younger speedster about halfway up, when suddenly, he heard a loud rumbling.
In an instant, it felt like an earthquake beneath his feet.
"Oh, crap." Bart murmured, and Chloe screamed again.
As the bomb exploded, pale green sparks flew from it, and those sparks hit an electrical cord that had fallen near Clark. Electricity crackled from the broken cord, and struck Clark.
He stiffened from the shock, and it stung pretty badly, but it didn't hurt as much as it could have.
The electricity seemed to flow from his body, and he blinked as he dizzily noticed what looked like a large volt of electricity appear below his hand on Bart's arm.
Bart's entire body seemed to light up, giving him the appearance of a human lightning bolt.
In that moment, all three began to fall, and Clark felt helpless.
He felt even more helpless when it seemed that the volt of electricity had entered Chloe's body.
She screamed in agony, her body jerking and twitching, but somehow, Bart was miraculously still clutching her hand.
The building was, at that moment, rocked with another explosion, this one seemingly coming out of nowhere. A blue, foggy haze appeared, one that Clark couldn't even see through.
As he still gripped Bart's arm, he felt as though the three of them were sailing through the air at almost warp speed. He felt a crash, as though they'd went right through something.
When the haze cleared, Clark opened his eyes to discover that they were on the ground, at least half a football field away from the now demolished plant. Their bodies were stacked on top of each other, his large body sprawled out over Bart's smaller one, and Chloe beneath them both.
Bart groaned, squirming a little. "God, man!" he cried out in hoarse voice. "I've always dreamed about being on top of Chloelicious, but not like THIS. Get your big ass off me, dude!"
Clark didn't exactly like their positions, either, but he also knew that they were both probably crushing Chloe.
He rolled off his small friend, falling on his nearly bare back. The second explosion had apparently blown off most of his shirt.
Bart carefully moved off Chloe, sitting on his knees beside her. Her body was still jerking and twitching, and as he reached out to gently turn her over, he and Clark watched in amazement as a large crackle of electricity rose from Chloe's body. The moment it left her, her body became still again, and her eyes fell shut.
Bart panicked. "Oh, God... is she dead?" His hand touched her cheek, and he actually looked as though he was about to cry.
Clark felt as panicked as Bart looked. His superhearing seemed to activate on its own again, and he could hear her heartbeat, one that was surprisingly still steady and strong. "She's alive." Clark muttered. He looked over at his friend. "She's alive, Bart. We have to get her to the hospital."
Bart nodded, and within seconds, the three of them were gone.
***
Chloe had fallen into a coma.
At least, that's what the doctors had told Clark and the guys after thoroughly checking her out.
And she stayed that way for several weeks, with Clark by her side nearly every waking moment, and even in moments of slumber. Bart stayed right outside her hospital room most of the time, too, as if he believed himself to be her new bodyguard. No one went in or came out without his watchful eye and his okay. Once a day, he'd speed off to Oliver's place in Metropolis for a shower, but then he was back and "on duty", so to speak.
Those few weeks were agony for Clark. He'd sit by her bed, holding her hand, and talk to her for hours, hoping that something he said would make her come back to him. He'd cry for her, he'd plead for her to come back to him.
And in those weeks, Clark began to realize just how much Chloe meant to him. He realized that he couldn't live without her. He realized that he needed her, in probably every way a man could ever need a woman. He realized that, after all this time, it felt as though he might be falling in love with her. But he also realized, even if she woke up, he couldn't tell her that. She had Jimmy, and also, the little guy outside was pretty crazy about her, too.
When Chloe had finally woken, Clark had been overjoyed, to the point of nearly kissing her. Bart had seemed just as happy, and had kissed her... only to be slapped almost immediately.
"Get your lips off me, Impulse. I still have a boyfriend, and his name isn't Bart Allen." She'd chided him in a weak voice as Clark had almost glared a hole through him. Chloe had been partially teasing. Clark hadn't been.
The members of Oliver's team soon left Smallville, all glad to see Chloe was alright, and then things seemed to go back to normal.
Almost.
In the two months following Chloe's awakening, Chloe began to act... well, weird. Weird in the weirdest way possible. She also seemed to have an extra air of mystery about her, and Clark found himself wanting to pry, but he didn't.
Weird moment number one happened only days after her release from the hospital.
They were talking, just as usual, even joking, but as Chloe turned to face him, her jaw suddenly dropped, and she nearly dropped the cup of hot coffee she'd been holding. She was staring at him, her eyes seeming to grow wider and wider by the second, but he didn't realize just where on his body she was staring.
His brow furrowed. "Chloe, what's wrong?" Worry filled his voice. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Her head jerked up suddenly, as if startled by the sound of his voice.
"Penis!" she randomly blurted out, and immediately turned red.
Clark's eyes shot wide open, and he couldn't help but find himself looking down, checking to see if he might've left his zipper down.
"Er... I mean... pen... is... My pen is in my purse." she said, clearly trying to cover for herself. He looked up, raising an eyebrow. "My... big... huge... uh... favorite pen is in my purse. I... I... accidentally left it in there."
He realized she was staring at him again, and bit his lip nervously. "Um... okay."
She cleared her throat, her eyes shifting back and forth, and took a sip of her coffee. "So... um... uh... are we still gonna go to Metropolis's big balls? ...Er... um... mall?"
All Clark could do was blink at that.
Weird moment number two happened only six weeks after Chloe's awakening, and it was a doozy.
Clark witnessed the breakup of Chloe and Jimmy.
And to be perfectly honest, it reminded him of a conversation he'd once had with Lana during the last real strains of their relationship.
"You know I'm crazy about you, Chloe." Jimmy had said, and Clark had nearly cringed. "But I gotta know what the deal is with us just going around and around. We just can't seem to move forward."
"I know." Chloe said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Just tell me the truth, Chloe." Jimmy said, a little bit of sadness in his face. "Do you love me? At all?"
"I care about you, Jimmy." Chloe bit her lip. "I always have, and I always will." She'd paused, taking a deep breath. "No matter what happens." She looked at him sadly. "But I don't love you, Jimmy. And there's things about me that you're better off not knowing." Jimmy's face fell, and she sighed. "I'm sorry, Jimmy."
She'd tried to hug him, but he'd backed away, a tear in his eye, and a mix of anger and confusion in his face.
Moments later, Clark approached Chloe, one eyebrow raised.
"Okay... what just happened there, Chloe?"
She shot a look in his direction.
"Well, hello to you, too, eavesdropper extraordinaire."
Her snippy tone alarmed him. "Chloe, is everything okay?"
"What do you think, supergenius?" She turned as she snapped back at him. "I just broke up with my boyfriend, Clark!"
The word cut him, but he wouldn't admit it. "But why, Chloe? You seemed so... happy with him."
Chloe sighed. "I thought I was."
"What happened?"
"The... truth... it... it got in the way."
She seemed to stumble over the words, and suddenly looked down, frowning.
"Truth? What truth, Chloe?" he asked. When she didn't answer, he gently touched her arm. "I know you're hiding something from me, Chloe. What is it?"
When she looked up at him again, he could practically feel her falling into defensive mode.
"I'm not hiding anything. Why would I be hiding anything from you? What makes you think I'm hiding something from you?" She stared at him, wide-eyed, blinking every few seconds.
"That look is a pretty big clue." Clark gave her a knowing glance. "Spill, Chlo."
But Chloe wasn't budging.
She shook her head. "There's nothing to spill, Clark. Leave it alone."
And that was the last of that conversation.
The fact that Chloe was keeping a secret didn't come up again for at least six weeks, and when it did come up, it was in the biggest way possible.
Clark found himself battling a meteor-powered bad guy on top of the Daily Planet building.
The two were fighting as they stood atop the giant spinning globe, and his loyal sidekick was standing at the base of the globe. She looked desperate to figure out how to help him, but there seemed to be nothing she could do.
The baddie managed to overcome for just a second, and when he did, Clark fell. He fell from the big globe.
Clark knew he wouldn't be hurt from his fall, that was a given, but he'd always been afraid of heights, so he didn't exactly like the idea of free-falling.
He heard Chloe scream his name, and then there was a sudden zipping sound. It sounded slightly similar to the sound he others heard when he'd take off in superspeed.
Before he could really react, he felt a pair of arms around him. Small, feminine, familiar arms.
And when he looked into the face of his best friend, his eyes widened.
She gave him a small smile, and he felt them both going upward. "Don't worry, Clark. I've got you."
His eyes went over her, and then down, and he saw the air beneath them. He blinked a few times, then looked back at her face. His voice was soft and quiet when he spoke again, but quickly grew in pitch. "You... You've got me? Well, who's got you?" He stared at her, and she just giggled shyly.
When they reached the top of the building again, they lowered until their feet touched the roof, and Clark when stumbled backward, staring at Chloe with big wide eyes.
"What... what the hell was that?" he blurted out.
Chloe sighed, shrugging. "You got a couple hours?"
Clark looked around. The bad guy he'd been fighting was nowhere around. He had no idea where he was now, and was positive that his opponent had weakened, to some extent. Surely, he had the time to discuss this.
Their discussion started out with a loud blurtation.
"You can fly! How and when did that happen?" Clark frowned then. "And more importantly, why you didn't you tell me?"
Chloe looked down, a little shame filling her face. "I didn't tell you --or anyone else, for that matter-- because I was afraid."
"I can understand feeling like you couldn't trust others, but why not me?" He was hurt, honestly. "You know I'd never hold anything against you. I mean... Come on, Chloe. I'm... different, too."
Chloe bit her lip. "When it first happened, Clark, I was afraid to tell anyone, simply because I couldn't accept it myself. But then... when things changed, I was afraid to tell you for a completely different reason."
Clark's brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean, 'things changed'?"
Chloe laughed. "Maybe I should start at the beginning." She took a deep breath, as if preparing herself. "That day at the dam. That's when it all started. Something happened to me that day." She tilted her head, biting her lip, as she looked into Clark's eyes. "That's the day I believe my meteor power first emerged."
"And that power is the ability to fly, right?"
"Yep."
She nodded, then looked down again.
"It all happened so fast, Clark." She shook her head. "I showed up and found Lois stabbed and bleeding to death, and I knew I had to get her out of there. So I helped her up and started to leave, and then the dam or whatever broke... water was flooding in on us, each way we turned. And suddenly, Lois passed out. I knew I couldn't waste any time. I knew we had to get out somehow, someway." She looked back up at him. "I found an opening. And suddenly... we were high above the dam. Floating for a few seconds. And then I was sailing across the sky, so fast, I... we were behind the hospital in less than a minute."
She looked near tears, and Clark felt the urge to reach out and pull her into his arms.
But he didn't.
Instead, he cleared this throat.
"Wow. Your ability kicked in just in time, didn't it?" He watched as she nodded at him slowly.
"Yeah... You could say that." She sighed. "The weird thing is... my ability almost became an inability for a while after that."
His brow furrowed again. "What do you mean?"
"Well... for quite some time after that, I couldn't really do it... fly." she said. "I tried, but... I failed. I couldn't keep myself in control, and I ended up hurting myself."
"What changed things?"
"That day at the plant."
Clark's eyes widened. "R-Really? What happened?"
"I'm not totally sure, to be honest." She tilted her head again. "But I have a theory."
A small smile touched his lips. "Of course you do."
"You told me that during freshman year, Eric Summers became 'Superboy' because of you... you were holding his arm, trying to pull him up, when lightning hit you, right? And there was Kryptonite around, wasn't there?"
Her question made him blink a little.
"Um... yeah."
"I think something similar happened to me." Chloe bit down on her bottom lip. "Uh... Bart has said many times that he's kind of like a human lightning bolt. I have the theory that when the explosion occurred, and caused you to take that hit of electricity, Bart may have become like a... human jumper cable. I think there was a small transference."
"'Transference'?" Clark raised an eyebrow. "But I can't fly, Chloe."
"Maybe not now, yeah." She gave him a knowing look. "But you have in the past, remember? You told me yourself, when Jor-El had reprogrammed you, you could fly."
"Okay, so... I guess that makes sense, but..." he trailed off. God, this was confusing. "Does this mean you have all my powers? And why aren't mine gone?"
"I'm not sure, honestly... Maybe something about how it happened, and the fact that I'm already... empowered to some extent, made things different. And um... as for your first question..." She cleared her throat. "I did."
His eyes shot wide again. "DID?" He blinked again when she nodded slowly. "What happened?"
She shrugged. "I really don't know, Clark. Over a few of the days after I woke up, they all seemed to just come to me. After a few weeks of having your powers, they all completely just faded out and disappeared... except for one."
"Which one?"
She gave him a look and laughed.
"Superstrength, duh. How else would I have been able to catch your big butt?"
He laughed along with her. She was right. She was a tiny little thing.
"I don't think mine is at the same level of yours or anything." she added. "I can't catch or lift cars, but I can hold onto things that are half my size." She took a deep breath. "I also think I ended up with some of your invulnerability... I heal a lot quicker than I used to. And then there's that... other power."
"What other power?"
"Uh... well... I call them telekinetic blasts. In times of great stress, or when I get angry or upset, I can cause mini-explosions, just by thinking about it, I guess. I can also knock people or things down, just with the right amount of concentration."
Clark was impressed, and he was sure that it was clear on his face.
"Wow... What about the flying?"
"Well... being that that's my given power, I think whatever I gained from you in that area helped me learn how to control it. It made it a little stronger, too, I think."
Clark nodded slowly, taking in all this information.
Very suddenly, his eyes flew wider probably than they ever had as he remembered something.
"OH MY GOD!" he shouted, and then turned his head to look back at Chloe again, into her eyes. "That afternoon at your apartment... You were looking at me funny and almost spilled your coffee, and..." he trailed off, and noticed that she turned bright red just as he did. "You... you... oh God."
She looked down, looking totally and completely embarrassed. "Uh... yeah... that's when I first discovered the temporary x-ray vision."
"You... you saw my... oh, God."
"It was... uh... uh... nice... uh... guh..."
He felt his cheeks blaze. "Chloe..."
She hopped up from where she'd been sitting. "I was only trying to make you feel better about the situation!"
He gave her a look, then broke into a slow smile. He couldn't help it. Her quick phrasing and nervous reaction was more than a little adorable. He laughed. "What are you trying to say?"
"It was... er... is... it's..." She fell short of finishing the sentence, her eyes slowly reaching up to meet his glance as he stood. "Gah, I... um... I liked what I saw, okay?" She blurted out the words, sounding frustrated, and immediately blushed again.
The redness in his cheeks returned as well, but he couldn't stop smiling for some reason. "Oh, you did?"
She shot him a glare. "Knock it off."
"Or what? You'll blast my pants off with that fancy new power of yours?" He was teasing, and the statement was a little bold coming from him, but he said it anyway.
She cocked an eyebrow. "Uh... is that Kal talking? If so, Kal needs to stay at bay. I have Kryptonite in my desk downstairs."
He laughed. "Relax... I'm just messing with you, Chlo." He reached out for her, lightly tickling her ribs. "Can't you take a joke, Chloe?"
She seemed to be struggling to contain herself. "Clark, stop it..." She finally broke after a moment or two, and started to giggle uncontrollably.
She was suddenly pressed against him, and he stopped his actions, just holding her still.
She slowly stopped giggling and looked up at him.
Clark's eyes went over her face, stopping momentarily on her lips.
It wasn't long before he felt himself leaning down, pressing his lips against hers.
She made a small sound of surprise, but slowly eased into his embrace.
When he found the strength to break the kiss, they were both breathless, even he was. He watched her eyes flutter open, and she looked up at him, a bit startled.
"W-what was that for?" Her voice was hushed.
He gave her an irresistibly sweet smile. "I just like kissing people. There something wrong with that?"
She stared at him, a bit dumbfounded, and he changed the subject before she could say anything else.
"Well... super-sidekick... wanna go help me save the day?"
She smiled slowly, and nodded. "Let's go, superhero."
***
Chloe dropped a copy of the Daily Planet on Clark's desk.
Her hands were on her hips, and she did not look amused.
Clark's eyes slowly went from the paper to her face. He gave her a sheepishly sweet smile. That same smile of feigned innocence had not changed a bit in the last six and a half years, it had only gotten more obvious.
"Turn to Page 1, Section B." Her arms moved to cross over her chest.
He did as he was told, adjusting his glasses, and then leaned back in his chair. "'Cat's Column: Superman and Supergirl to Wed, by Cat Grant.'" He bit his lip, then cleared his throat. "Hmm."
She glared at him. "'Hmm'? Your big mouth has gotten us in trouble again, and all you can say is 'HMM'?"
Clark sighed. "Why don't we take this outside, Chloe?"
"Fine." she snapped, then turned on her heel.
They were on the roof of the Daily Planet in minutes.
Chloe paced in front of Clark as he sit near the door leading back inside.
"God, I cannot believe this. You were asked a SIMPLE question, and what do you do? You give them the worst possible answer."
Clark rolled his eyes. "Chloe, relax. It's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal?" She stopped pacing. "Clark, someone's gonna figure us out now!"
"How can you be so sure?"
"I don't know. I just am." she frowned.
"Chloe... what did you want me to do? I told the truth. Maybe I told too much of it, but you know what's in my heart." He stood. "The reporters at the press conference asked why Superman and Supergirl seem so close, and I blurted. I tried to cover it up, but given the truth, there wasn't much I could say."
Chloe sighed, sounding frustrated. "Clark... Vera Wang called my desk this morning, and asked me to pass the message to Supergirl that she wants to design her dress."
He was impressed. "Wow. Nice."
"But Claarrrrk... I'm already married. I just had the most beautiful wedding in the world. I don't need another one." She pouted at him. "What are you gonna do?"
He gave her a small, sweet smile.
"Well... I guess we're gonna have to get married again." His hand reached up to touch her cheek. "Married twice in just a couple months... and even under two separate identities. That's a real commitment.:"
Really, they were already married under two identities. On their wedding day, they'd flown to the Fortress, and had had a private Kryptonian ceremony, where Clark had given her an honorary Kryptonian name: Chlora Van-El. He had told her that in Kryptonian, it meant "Blossoming Goddess", which is what he believed she was.
She took in a long breath. "I'm so scared they're all going to find us out, Clark. Find out who we are."
He tucked a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear. "Won't happen. I promise. And if it does... we'll find a way to deal."
She stared up into his eyes, and finally smiled again. "How'd you get so smart, Kent? You used to be a big dummy."
He blushed lightly, chuckling. "Shut up."
Mischief filled her eyes. "Make me."
He smirked back at her. "Gladly."
He pulled her to him, and pressed his lips hard to hers.
Her arms slid around him, and she made a little noise in the back of her throat.
He suddenly jerked away from their embrace. "Damn it." he muttered.
"What is it?" Her eyes searched his face.
"There's a robbery at the bank down on 59th and Jurgens."
"Do you need back up?"
He gave her a grin. "Nah, I think I got it, babe."
She grinned back at him, and reached for the front of his shirt. She pulled it open to reveal a big red and yellow S. "Go get 'em, Speedy."
He gave her another quick kiss before spinning out of his regular clothes.
She sighed as she watched him take off. "That's my hero." After only a minute, she shrugged. "To hell with it."
In an instant, Chloe Sullivan-Kent was gone, and Supergirl had taken to the skies.
Superman appeared surprised when he saw her land beside him.
"What's the story, Boy Scout?" she asked.
He raised an eyebrow. "Situation contained, Angel Wings."
Like "Boy Scout" had been his code name when the Justice League had just started, "Angel Wings" had became hers after Oliver has learned of her powers. They had not used those names in quite some time.
Clark leaned closer, whispering. "I thought I told you that you could stay behind."
"Oh, you did." She gave him an impish grin. That grin, combined with the large bright blue headband she wore over her now blonde hair, made her look like a child. "But we're a team. We play together, we work together, right?"
He practically beamed. "Right."
And then he didn't care who was watching.
He grabbed her and kissed her, just as he had years before, when he'd discovered the truth about her.
And just as before, when the kiss broke, she whispered, "What was that for?"
"I just like kissing my partner. There something wrong with that?" he wondered.
She giggled. "Nope. Not a damn thing wrong with that."
He kissed her again, and moments later, they both took to the skies again, and anyone who saw the twin red and blue streaks knew exactly what they were.
It was the Man of Steel, and his little Maid of Might.
Rating: PG-13 (for some sexual language and innuendo)
Pairings: Chlark; Chlart; a bit of Chimmy; a silly hint of Clark/Bart
Spoilers: Heavy for Phantom; some for season 7 through possibly Wrath.
Disclaimer: If I owned Smallville, Clark and Chloe would have gotten together a freaking long time ago. So, yeah, whatever.
Summary: An explosion at a Luthorcorp plant causes a full emergence of Chloe's latent meteor power... and also creates a few others.
Notes: This is my long-awaited story for tobywolf13's Meteor-Powered Chloe Fic-a-thon. It's two months late, but better late than never, right? lol
This story is mostly from Clark's point of view, sort of his reaction to discovering her abilities, sort of a direct reverse of her experience. Parts of this story are based on a plot device used in a particular season 3 episode of Lois & Clark, and another assumed plot device from the movie Sky High. Two versions of one DC Comics character were used as "bases", so to speak, in this story, as well. This story is dedicated to lunarknightz, not just because she came up with the prompt, but because it's a subject I feel might be near and dear to her heart. Feedback is loved! ♥
Chloe had been acting strange since that day at the dam. And Clark had more than noticed it. He was worried about it.
On that fateful day, Chloe's cousin Lois had nearly died, Chloe's friend and Clark's ex Lana had died in a car explosion, and Clark himself had battled and had nearly been overtaken by the final phantom from the Phantom Zone.
All that was enough to stress out or even change anyone, but Chloe had changed in a way that Clark had never expected.
Chloe had become secretive.
Clark always sensed that she was hiding something every single time that he was around her now. He never questioned it, however, because he respected her in the same way she'd respected him. If she wanted him to know, she'd tell him.
In spite of those feelings and thoughts, Clark was still curious, almost nosy. She knew his secret, and now he wanted to know hers. He had a feeling it might have something to do with her meteor-infected status, but he couldn't be positive. As he had been to her several years before, Chloe Sullivan was now an enigma unto herself.
Nearly four months after that showdown at the dam, something happened that caused that enigma to deepen.
Oliver and his band of merry men --er, two men and a boy-- returned to Smallville, with the report that something big was about to go down at the Luthorcorp plant. Chloe and Clark immediately sprang into the action, more than happy to help.
Chloe stayed outside with a walkie talkie at first, playing Watchtower again as the boys went inside to do business.
Before long, Clark and Oliver had realized that something had gone terribly awry.
They could no longer hear Chloe, and it seemed as though Chloe could not hear them.
Clark immediately panicked, but as Oliver tried to calm him down, Chloe suddenly appeared beside them. Apparently, the walkie talkie had malfunctioned, and she'd decided to come in to lead them out of the building.
As the three of them walked across the elevated walk way located in a section of the plant, searching for the other guys, they heard a scream.
It was Bart.
"Ohh, craaaapppppp!!"
Clark was there before Oliver and Chloe could even blink, and they darted after him.
"Bart, what's wrong?"
Bart pointed. "Dudes... WE HAVE A BOMB."
Clark's eyes widened in shock when he saw the device in the corner of the room. "Five minutes." he murmured. "We have five minutes to get out of here."
"It was a trap." Oliver said, starting out of the room, shaking his head. "Luthor set us up."
"Where's A.C. and Victor?" Chloe wondered. "We need to find them immediately."
"Somewhere around here..." Bart trailed off, looking at Clark. "We gotta step on it, bro."
Clark nodded, and started to walk out with the young man, but out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Chloe moving toward the bomb. He stopped.
"What are you doing, Chloe?" he asked.
"I think I might be able to disarm it." she said, bending down. "The structure is fairly simple."
"Chloe!" The fear was apparent in his voice. "Don't do that. Just come on. We've gotta get out of here!"
Chloe remained firm. "Clark, go. I'll be fine. Go find Cyborg and Aquaman."
Clark still looked worried, but said nothing, just went on out the door.
"We'll go back for her, dude. No worries." Bart insisted, but Clark couldn't help but worry.
A.C. and Victor were located within two minutes, and were on their way out when Oliver turned to Clark.
"Find Watchtower. Get her the hell out of here. I'm gonna make a run for it. I'll contact you later." His orders were really in no way necessary, but he gave them anyway.
He exited the building as quickly as he could, and as Bart was about to leave, Clark's superhearing was activated by a small, high-pitched curse word leaving Chloe's lips.
She somehow knew Clark had heard her, or so it seemed, and as she darted out of the room, she yelled to him.
"The timer changed when I moved to stand back up! The building's going to blow in 50 seconds!"
Clark's eyes widened, and as she ran toward him, the building began to shake, as if in anticipation of the bomb.
Clark waited at the end of the walkway, knowing she'd make it to him in time, and then he'd whisk her out of the building.
Little did he know, Bart was still standing behind him, and seemed to see what was about to happen seconds before it actually did.
"Chloelicious!" he shouted, and as he did, a portion on the side of the walkway Chloe was running along broke, and began to crumble. She slipped, screaming.
"Chloe!" Clark yelled, and darted toward her, but the little guy in red beat him to it.
Unfortunately, though, as Chloe slid a little further, it was proved that Bart just wasn't strong enough. The walkway beneath his feet crumbled as well, and he slipped.
Chloe screamed again, as Bart's hand grabbed at what was left of some of the railing, stopping them both from falling completely.
Clark was there then, one huge hand reaching out to grab Bart's arm.
"Come on, amigo, hurry!" Bart cried. "I can't hold on for much longer. We can't hold on for much longer."
The tone in Bart's voice made it very obvious to Clark that the young hero was definitely more worried about the little blonde than himself. For a millisecond, Clark wondered if Bart loved her.
He managed to pull the younger speedster about halfway up, when suddenly, he heard a loud rumbling.
In an instant, it felt like an earthquake beneath his feet.
"Oh, crap." Bart murmured, and Chloe screamed again.
As the bomb exploded, pale green sparks flew from it, and those sparks hit an electrical cord that had fallen near Clark. Electricity crackled from the broken cord, and struck Clark.
He stiffened from the shock, and it stung pretty badly, but it didn't hurt as much as it could have.
The electricity seemed to flow from his body, and he blinked as he dizzily noticed what looked like a large volt of electricity appear below his hand on Bart's arm.
Bart's entire body seemed to light up, giving him the appearance of a human lightning bolt.
In that moment, all three began to fall, and Clark felt helpless.
He felt even more helpless when it seemed that the volt of electricity had entered Chloe's body.
She screamed in agony, her body jerking and twitching, but somehow, Bart was miraculously still clutching her hand.
The building was, at that moment, rocked with another explosion, this one seemingly coming out of nowhere. A blue, foggy haze appeared, one that Clark couldn't even see through.
As he still gripped Bart's arm, he felt as though the three of them were sailing through the air at almost warp speed. He felt a crash, as though they'd went right through something.
When the haze cleared, Clark opened his eyes to discover that they were on the ground, at least half a football field away from the now demolished plant. Their bodies were stacked on top of each other, his large body sprawled out over Bart's smaller one, and Chloe beneath them both.
Bart groaned, squirming a little. "God, man!" he cried out in hoarse voice. "I've always dreamed about being on top of Chloelicious, but not like THIS. Get your big ass off me, dude!"
Clark didn't exactly like their positions, either, but he also knew that they were both probably crushing Chloe.
He rolled off his small friend, falling on his nearly bare back. The second explosion had apparently blown off most of his shirt.
Bart carefully moved off Chloe, sitting on his knees beside her. Her body was still jerking and twitching, and as he reached out to gently turn her over, he and Clark watched in amazement as a large crackle of electricity rose from Chloe's body. The moment it left her, her body became still again, and her eyes fell shut.
Bart panicked. "Oh, God... is she dead?" His hand touched her cheek, and he actually looked as though he was about to cry.
Clark felt as panicked as Bart looked. His superhearing seemed to activate on its own again, and he could hear her heartbeat, one that was surprisingly still steady and strong. "She's alive." Clark muttered. He looked over at his friend. "She's alive, Bart. We have to get her to the hospital."
Bart nodded, and within seconds, the three of them were gone.
***
Chloe had fallen into a coma.
At least, that's what the doctors had told Clark and the guys after thoroughly checking her out.
And she stayed that way for several weeks, with Clark by her side nearly every waking moment, and even in moments of slumber. Bart stayed right outside her hospital room most of the time, too, as if he believed himself to be her new bodyguard. No one went in or came out without his watchful eye and his okay. Once a day, he'd speed off to Oliver's place in Metropolis for a shower, but then he was back and "on duty", so to speak.
Those few weeks were agony for Clark. He'd sit by her bed, holding her hand, and talk to her for hours, hoping that something he said would make her come back to him. He'd cry for her, he'd plead for her to come back to him.
And in those weeks, Clark began to realize just how much Chloe meant to him. He realized that he couldn't live without her. He realized that he needed her, in probably every way a man could ever need a woman. He realized that, after all this time, it felt as though he might be falling in love with her. But he also realized, even if she woke up, he couldn't tell her that. She had Jimmy, and also, the little guy outside was pretty crazy about her, too.
When Chloe had finally woken, Clark had been overjoyed, to the point of nearly kissing her. Bart had seemed just as happy, and had kissed her... only to be slapped almost immediately.
"Get your lips off me, Impulse. I still have a boyfriend, and his name isn't Bart Allen." She'd chided him in a weak voice as Clark had almost glared a hole through him. Chloe had been partially teasing. Clark hadn't been.
The members of Oliver's team soon left Smallville, all glad to see Chloe was alright, and then things seemed to go back to normal.
Almost.
In the two months following Chloe's awakening, Chloe began to act... well, weird. Weird in the weirdest way possible. She also seemed to have an extra air of mystery about her, and Clark found himself wanting to pry, but he didn't.
Weird moment number one happened only days after her release from the hospital.
They were talking, just as usual, even joking, but as Chloe turned to face him, her jaw suddenly dropped, and she nearly dropped the cup of hot coffee she'd been holding. She was staring at him, her eyes seeming to grow wider and wider by the second, but he didn't realize just where on his body she was staring.
His brow furrowed. "Chloe, what's wrong?" Worry filled his voice. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Her head jerked up suddenly, as if startled by the sound of his voice.
"Penis!" she randomly blurted out, and immediately turned red.
Clark's eyes shot wide open, and he couldn't help but find himself looking down, checking to see if he might've left his zipper down.
"Er... I mean... pen... is... My pen is in my purse." she said, clearly trying to cover for herself. He looked up, raising an eyebrow. "My... big... huge... uh... favorite pen is in my purse. I... I... accidentally left it in there."
He realized she was staring at him again, and bit his lip nervously. "Um... okay."
She cleared her throat, her eyes shifting back and forth, and took a sip of her coffee. "So... um... uh... are we still gonna go to Metropolis's big balls? ...Er... um... mall?"
All Clark could do was blink at that.
Weird moment number two happened only six weeks after Chloe's awakening, and it was a doozy.
Clark witnessed the breakup of Chloe and Jimmy.
And to be perfectly honest, it reminded him of a conversation he'd once had with Lana during the last real strains of their relationship.
"You know I'm crazy about you, Chloe." Jimmy had said, and Clark had nearly cringed. "But I gotta know what the deal is with us just going around and around. We just can't seem to move forward."
"I know." Chloe said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Just tell me the truth, Chloe." Jimmy said, a little bit of sadness in his face. "Do you love me? At all?"
"I care about you, Jimmy." Chloe bit her lip. "I always have, and I always will." She'd paused, taking a deep breath. "No matter what happens." She looked at him sadly. "But I don't love you, Jimmy. And there's things about me that you're better off not knowing." Jimmy's face fell, and she sighed. "I'm sorry, Jimmy."
She'd tried to hug him, but he'd backed away, a tear in his eye, and a mix of anger and confusion in his face.
Moments later, Clark approached Chloe, one eyebrow raised.
"Okay... what just happened there, Chloe?"
She shot a look in his direction.
"Well, hello to you, too, eavesdropper extraordinaire."
Her snippy tone alarmed him. "Chloe, is everything okay?"
"What do you think, supergenius?" She turned as she snapped back at him. "I just broke up with my boyfriend, Clark!"
The word cut him, but he wouldn't admit it. "But why, Chloe? You seemed so... happy with him."
Chloe sighed. "I thought I was."
"What happened?"
"The... truth... it... it got in the way."
She seemed to stumble over the words, and suddenly looked down, frowning.
"Truth? What truth, Chloe?" he asked. When she didn't answer, he gently touched her arm. "I know you're hiding something from me, Chloe. What is it?"
When she looked up at him again, he could practically feel her falling into defensive mode.
"I'm not hiding anything. Why would I be hiding anything from you? What makes you think I'm hiding something from you?" She stared at him, wide-eyed, blinking every few seconds.
"That look is a pretty big clue." Clark gave her a knowing glance. "Spill, Chlo."
But Chloe wasn't budging.
She shook her head. "There's nothing to spill, Clark. Leave it alone."
And that was the last of that conversation.
The fact that Chloe was keeping a secret didn't come up again for at least six weeks, and when it did come up, it was in the biggest way possible.
Clark found himself battling a meteor-powered bad guy on top of the Daily Planet building.
The two were fighting as they stood atop the giant spinning globe, and his loyal sidekick was standing at the base of the globe. She looked desperate to figure out how to help him, but there seemed to be nothing she could do.
The baddie managed to overcome for just a second, and when he did, Clark fell. He fell from the big globe.
Clark knew he wouldn't be hurt from his fall, that was a given, but he'd always been afraid of heights, so he didn't exactly like the idea of free-falling.
He heard Chloe scream his name, and then there was a sudden zipping sound. It sounded slightly similar to the sound he others heard when he'd take off in superspeed.
Before he could really react, he felt a pair of arms around him. Small, feminine, familiar arms.
And when he looked into the face of his best friend, his eyes widened.
She gave him a small smile, and he felt them both going upward. "Don't worry, Clark. I've got you."
His eyes went over her, and then down, and he saw the air beneath them. He blinked a few times, then looked back at her face. His voice was soft and quiet when he spoke again, but quickly grew in pitch. "You... You've got me? Well, who's got you?" He stared at her, and she just giggled shyly.
When they reached the top of the building again, they lowered until their feet touched the roof, and Clark when stumbled backward, staring at Chloe with big wide eyes.
"What... what the hell was that?" he blurted out.
Chloe sighed, shrugging. "You got a couple hours?"
Clark looked around. The bad guy he'd been fighting was nowhere around. He had no idea where he was now, and was positive that his opponent had weakened, to some extent. Surely, he had the time to discuss this.
Their discussion started out with a loud blurtation.
"You can fly! How and when did that happen?" Clark frowned then. "And more importantly, why you didn't you tell me?"
Chloe looked down, a little shame filling her face. "I didn't tell you --or anyone else, for that matter-- because I was afraid."
"I can understand feeling like you couldn't trust others, but why not me?" He was hurt, honestly. "You know I'd never hold anything against you. I mean... Come on, Chloe. I'm... different, too."
Chloe bit her lip. "When it first happened, Clark, I was afraid to tell anyone, simply because I couldn't accept it myself. But then... when things changed, I was afraid to tell you for a completely different reason."
Clark's brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean, 'things changed'?"
Chloe laughed. "Maybe I should start at the beginning." She took a deep breath, as if preparing herself. "That day at the dam. That's when it all started. Something happened to me that day." She tilted her head, biting her lip, as she looked into Clark's eyes. "That's the day I believe my meteor power first emerged."
"And that power is the ability to fly, right?"
"Yep."
She nodded, then looked down again.
"It all happened so fast, Clark." She shook her head. "I showed up and found Lois stabbed and bleeding to death, and I knew I had to get her out of there. So I helped her up and started to leave, and then the dam or whatever broke... water was flooding in on us, each way we turned. And suddenly, Lois passed out. I knew I couldn't waste any time. I knew we had to get out somehow, someway." She looked back up at him. "I found an opening. And suddenly... we were high above the dam. Floating for a few seconds. And then I was sailing across the sky, so fast, I... we were behind the hospital in less than a minute."
She looked near tears, and Clark felt the urge to reach out and pull her into his arms.
But he didn't.
Instead, he cleared this throat.
"Wow. Your ability kicked in just in time, didn't it?" He watched as she nodded at him slowly.
"Yeah... You could say that." She sighed. "The weird thing is... my ability almost became an inability for a while after that."
His brow furrowed again. "What do you mean?"
"Well... for quite some time after that, I couldn't really do it... fly." she said. "I tried, but... I failed. I couldn't keep myself in control, and I ended up hurting myself."
"What changed things?"
"That day at the plant."
Clark's eyes widened. "R-Really? What happened?"
"I'm not totally sure, to be honest." She tilted her head again. "But I have a theory."
A small smile touched his lips. "Of course you do."
"You told me that during freshman year, Eric Summers became 'Superboy' because of you... you were holding his arm, trying to pull him up, when lightning hit you, right? And there was Kryptonite around, wasn't there?"
Her question made him blink a little.
"Um... yeah."
"I think something similar happened to me." Chloe bit down on her bottom lip. "Uh... Bart has said many times that he's kind of like a human lightning bolt. I have the theory that when the explosion occurred, and caused you to take that hit of electricity, Bart may have become like a... human jumper cable. I think there was a small transference."
"'Transference'?" Clark raised an eyebrow. "But I can't fly, Chloe."
"Maybe not now, yeah." She gave him a knowing look. "But you have in the past, remember? You told me yourself, when Jor-El had reprogrammed you, you could fly."
"Okay, so... I guess that makes sense, but..." he trailed off. God, this was confusing. "Does this mean you have all my powers? And why aren't mine gone?"
"I'm not sure, honestly... Maybe something about how it happened, and the fact that I'm already... empowered to some extent, made things different. And um... as for your first question..." She cleared her throat. "I did."
His eyes shot wide again. "DID?" He blinked again when she nodded slowly. "What happened?"
She shrugged. "I really don't know, Clark. Over a few of the days after I woke up, they all seemed to just come to me. After a few weeks of having your powers, they all completely just faded out and disappeared... except for one."
"Which one?"
She gave him a look and laughed.
"Superstrength, duh. How else would I have been able to catch your big butt?"
He laughed along with her. She was right. She was a tiny little thing.
"I don't think mine is at the same level of yours or anything." she added. "I can't catch or lift cars, but I can hold onto things that are half my size." She took a deep breath. "I also think I ended up with some of your invulnerability... I heal a lot quicker than I used to. And then there's that... other power."
"What other power?"
"Uh... well... I call them telekinetic blasts. In times of great stress, or when I get angry or upset, I can cause mini-explosions, just by thinking about it, I guess. I can also knock people or things down, just with the right amount of concentration."
Clark was impressed, and he was sure that it was clear on his face.
"Wow... What about the flying?"
"Well... being that that's my given power, I think whatever I gained from you in that area helped me learn how to control it. It made it a little stronger, too, I think."
Clark nodded slowly, taking in all this information.
Very suddenly, his eyes flew wider probably than they ever had as he remembered something.
"OH MY GOD!" he shouted, and then turned his head to look back at Chloe again, into her eyes. "That afternoon at your apartment... You were looking at me funny and almost spilled your coffee, and..." he trailed off, and noticed that she turned bright red just as he did. "You... you... oh God."
She looked down, looking totally and completely embarrassed. "Uh... yeah... that's when I first discovered the temporary x-ray vision."
"You... you saw my... oh, God."
"It was... uh... uh... nice... uh... guh..."
He felt his cheeks blaze. "Chloe..."
She hopped up from where she'd been sitting. "I was only trying to make you feel better about the situation!"
He gave her a look, then broke into a slow smile. He couldn't help it. Her quick phrasing and nervous reaction was more than a little adorable. He laughed. "What are you trying to say?"
"It was... er... is... it's..." She fell short of finishing the sentence, her eyes slowly reaching up to meet his glance as he stood. "Gah, I... um... I liked what I saw, okay?" She blurted out the words, sounding frustrated, and immediately blushed again.
The redness in his cheeks returned as well, but he couldn't stop smiling for some reason. "Oh, you did?"
She shot him a glare. "Knock it off."
"Or what? You'll blast my pants off with that fancy new power of yours?" He was teasing, and the statement was a little bold coming from him, but he said it anyway.
She cocked an eyebrow. "Uh... is that Kal talking? If so, Kal needs to stay at bay. I have Kryptonite in my desk downstairs."
He laughed. "Relax... I'm just messing with you, Chlo." He reached out for her, lightly tickling her ribs. "Can't you take a joke, Chloe?"
She seemed to be struggling to contain herself. "Clark, stop it..." She finally broke after a moment or two, and started to giggle uncontrollably.
She was suddenly pressed against him, and he stopped his actions, just holding her still.
She slowly stopped giggling and looked up at him.
Clark's eyes went over her face, stopping momentarily on her lips.
It wasn't long before he felt himself leaning down, pressing his lips against hers.
She made a small sound of surprise, but slowly eased into his embrace.
When he found the strength to break the kiss, they were both breathless, even he was. He watched her eyes flutter open, and she looked up at him, a bit startled.
"W-what was that for?" Her voice was hushed.
He gave her an irresistibly sweet smile. "I just like kissing people. There something wrong with that?"
She stared at him, a bit dumbfounded, and he changed the subject before she could say anything else.
"Well... super-sidekick... wanna go help me save the day?"
She smiled slowly, and nodded. "Let's go, superhero."
***
Chloe dropped a copy of the Daily Planet on Clark's desk.
Her hands were on her hips, and she did not look amused.
Clark's eyes slowly went from the paper to her face. He gave her a sheepishly sweet smile. That same smile of feigned innocence had not changed a bit in the last six and a half years, it had only gotten more obvious.
"Turn to Page 1, Section B." Her arms moved to cross over her chest.
He did as he was told, adjusting his glasses, and then leaned back in his chair. "'Cat's Column: Superman and Supergirl to Wed, by Cat Grant.'" He bit his lip, then cleared his throat. "Hmm."
She glared at him. "'Hmm'? Your big mouth has gotten us in trouble again, and all you can say is 'HMM'?"
Clark sighed. "Why don't we take this outside, Chloe?"
"Fine." she snapped, then turned on her heel.
They were on the roof of the Daily Planet in minutes.
Chloe paced in front of Clark as he sit near the door leading back inside.
"God, I cannot believe this. You were asked a SIMPLE question, and what do you do? You give them the worst possible answer."
Clark rolled his eyes. "Chloe, relax. It's not a big deal."
"Not a big deal?" She stopped pacing. "Clark, someone's gonna figure us out now!"
"How can you be so sure?"
"I don't know. I just am." she frowned.
"Chloe... what did you want me to do? I told the truth. Maybe I told too much of it, but you know what's in my heart." He stood. "The reporters at the press conference asked why Superman and Supergirl seem so close, and I blurted. I tried to cover it up, but given the truth, there wasn't much I could say."
Chloe sighed, sounding frustrated. "Clark... Vera Wang called my desk this morning, and asked me to pass the message to Supergirl that she wants to design her dress."
He was impressed. "Wow. Nice."
"But Claarrrrk... I'm already married. I just had the most beautiful wedding in the world. I don't need another one." She pouted at him. "What are you gonna do?"
He gave her a small, sweet smile.
"Well... I guess we're gonna have to get married again." His hand reached up to touch her cheek. "Married twice in just a couple months... and even under two separate identities. That's a real commitment.:"
Really, they were already married under two identities. On their wedding day, they'd flown to the Fortress, and had had a private Kryptonian ceremony, where Clark had given her an honorary Kryptonian name: Chlora Van-El. He had told her that in Kryptonian, it meant "Blossoming Goddess", which is what he believed she was.
She took in a long breath. "I'm so scared they're all going to find us out, Clark. Find out who we are."
He tucked a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear. "Won't happen. I promise. And if it does... we'll find a way to deal."
She stared up into his eyes, and finally smiled again. "How'd you get so smart, Kent? You used to be a big dummy."
He blushed lightly, chuckling. "Shut up."
Mischief filled her eyes. "Make me."
He smirked back at her. "Gladly."
He pulled her to him, and pressed his lips hard to hers.
Her arms slid around him, and she made a little noise in the back of her throat.
He suddenly jerked away from their embrace. "Damn it." he muttered.
"What is it?" Her eyes searched his face.
"There's a robbery at the bank down on 59th and Jurgens."
"Do you need back up?"
He gave her a grin. "Nah, I think I got it, babe."
She grinned back at him, and reached for the front of his shirt. She pulled it open to reveal a big red and yellow S. "Go get 'em, Speedy."
He gave her another quick kiss before spinning out of his regular clothes.
She sighed as she watched him take off. "That's my hero." After only a minute, she shrugged. "To hell with it."
In an instant, Chloe Sullivan-Kent was gone, and Supergirl had taken to the skies.
Superman appeared surprised when he saw her land beside him.
"What's the story, Boy Scout?" she asked.
He raised an eyebrow. "Situation contained, Angel Wings."
Like "Boy Scout" had been his code name when the Justice League had just started, "Angel Wings" had became hers after Oliver has learned of her powers. They had not used those names in quite some time.
Clark leaned closer, whispering. "I thought I told you that you could stay behind."
"Oh, you did." She gave him an impish grin. That grin, combined with the large bright blue headband she wore over her now blonde hair, made her look like a child. "But we're a team. We play together, we work together, right?"
He practically beamed. "Right."
And then he didn't care who was watching.
He grabbed her and kissed her, just as he had years before, when he'd discovered the truth about her.
And just as before, when the kiss broke, she whispered, "What was that for?"
"I just like kissing my partner. There something wrong with that?" he wondered.
She giggled. "Nope. Not a damn thing wrong with that."
He kissed her again, and moments later, they both took to the skies again, and anyone who saw the twin red and blue streaks knew exactly what they were.
It was the Man of Steel, and his little Maid of Might.