fic for Apeygirl called "Clark's Last Elusion"
1) For Whom: Apeygirl
2) Type of Work (art, fic, vid): fic
3) Rating: PG
4) Length: 1600
5) Plot Summary (if fic or vid): S4, pre-arrival but late in season. Post Recruit. Clark wants to know what Chloe knows about him.
6) Notes: I started with the prompt "investigating something" and this sort of took its own life. This could be called, "Another day with Chloe".
Notes from the mod: This was kind of cute. I posted this in the html box because the writer coded it since LJ used to be so html heavy for things like centering and cuts, how cute!
Chloe Sullivan's hair had grown out from its severe crop last year, just enough that she had to pin her hair back from her eyes. Sometimes she put a pencil behind her ear and that held her bangs, but during those moments it was more about putting the Torch to bed than messing with her appearance.
Clark had noticed this. Ever since Chloe had taken down her Wall-of-Weird bulletin board, his eyes were drawn to her instead of the hundreds of magazine articles and newspaper clippings. The absence of Chloe's hallmark made him preoccupied with the true motivation behind its removal. She really wasn't sharing her reasons. Her answers came out stiff. "Oh, it's old stuff." "I'm on to better things." "Alicia made me see it in a different way." He believed her but he knew deep inside that she was evading him.
Rather he suspected she was on to him and had unravelled his secret. Ever since they returned from Metropolis after a college visit, when she alluded to him to use his super-speed and his super-strength, he had understood this to mean that she knew! It wasn't safe for her to know about his abilities yet he couldn't take it away what she had gleaned. All Clark could do is keep asking her what she knew and every time he failed to call her bluff.
"Oh, she must love watching me squirm," he thought as he summed up the last month in a nutshell.
Chloe suddenly stood up and brushed by Clark, putting her hand on his shoulder. "At least she's not afraid of me," Clark thought. She was on her way to the printer as new copy came out for proofing.
"Clark?" Chloe questioned. "You're not planning to leave soon, are you?" Chloe looked over her story before passing it to Clark for his inspection.
"Do you have more for me to do?" Clark answered. "'Cuz I'm telling you Chlo', this isn't much copy."
"Well," Chloe said. "Mrs. Harding was supposed to drop in and ask us a favor."
"Us?"
Chloe nodded. Chloe never had Mrs. Harding as her math teacher, but Clark had been one of her students. Clark liked to play dumb about it, but he was a math whiz. Chloe didn't know why Clark didn't pursue an academic scholarship, but she supposed that Clark didn't want to draw attention to himself. Chloe knew that he had super powers and she also knew the stigma that came with having a meteor infection. What puzzled Chloe was that Clark seemed normal otherwise. Their meteor-infected peers usually went nuts and that was putting it nicely.
"Do you know what she wants?" Clark passed Chloe’s copy back. "It's fine. No corrections to spelling or grammar." The article was about new air filters in the central heating and air conditioning system. "A little dull though."
"Well, Janitor Dave didn't have much to share." She sighed and sat down on his desk, facing him. She swung her legs back and forth like a pendulum. "I'm sure there's a bigger story out there." Clark leaned back in his chair: his feet up. Chloe looked at his feet and wriggled her nose.
"Clark, do you know you have cow shit on your shoes? Did you go home and muck the stalls before coming here?"
"Sorry," Clark put his feet down. He couldn't admit his guilt. He blankly returned Chloe's questioning eyes.
"I live on a farm Chloe." Clark rose and walked over to the window. "And it's far enough away you know that's not possible."
Chloe was about argue against him, as the smell in the room suggested otherwise, when Mrs. Harding arrived.
"Good. You two are still here." Mrs. Harding said as if she really didn't want to be there.
"Hello," Chloe said in return, sliding off Clark's desk. She pinned her hair back again as it had flopped loose. "If truth were told I really never leave this place. Clark too, he's always nearby when it comes to Torch business."
"Hello Clark."
Clark smiled at her in returned. Chloe noticed he took a few steps away from the teacher.
Mrs. Harding sat down in Clark's chair and quickly presented her problem.
"I lost something." Mrs. Harding said. "My ruby and emerald bracelet, it was a gift from my husband. I tried to report it to security but it's not big enough to warrant their time. They said it was gone. I thought maybe I could put an ad in the paper?"
Chloe's eyebrows raised. "You wanted to talk to us about a classified? You could have just sent an email."
"See about that," Mrs. Harding sighed. "My computer's down. It's been hacked by someone, and my hard drive is completely scrambled."
"Mrs. Harding," Clark asked. "That bracelet, I thought it was made from meteor rock."
"I've told other people in the past that it was made out of meteor rocks, to make it less valuable. You can find meteor rocks everywhere in this town."
"That's not much of an insurance policy." Chloe said.
"Well, on a teacher's salary, I didn't have much choice. But I really want it back, and I..." She looked over at Clark. "I was hoping Clark could find it for me."
"Why me?" Clark asked.
"Oh, com' on." Mrs. Harding laughed. "All the teachers know you have a knack for doing the impossible."
Clark was taken completely off guard. He was always careful about his abilities during school. Chloe was an exception, they spent a lot of time together. There was more opportunity to connect dots. But a teacher? Clark silently wished that Chloe would jump to his defense but she left him hanging.
"I'll be happy to help." Clark finally agreed. He thought about asking her what she meant, yet with Chloe standing nearby, he let the moment slide.
"Do you mind if I ask you some questions and then I'll help you get the ad published." Chloe offered. She steered the teacher away from Clark.
--------
Clark spent a restless night thinking about what Mrs. Harding revealed, 'All the teachers know.'
"Know what?"
He had always followed his father's wish, that he go unnoticed. He blended in until this year. He had proven himself on the football field, however, he was certain that Mrs. Harding wasn't talking about athleticism. Clark toyed with the idea of using his super-hearing to ease-drop whenever he picked up his name being said from the teacher's lounge--but what good would that be when he was graduating in two weeks? He then wanted to call Pete and ask him if he knew what Mrs. Harding might have meant, but that also seemed like a bad idea. He eventually fell asleep embracing the idea that he could talk with Chloe and trust her, since she seemed to know something. He just didn't know how to break the ice.
-------
The classified ad ran the next day.
"Lost bracelet, red and green. No questions asked. Contact Torch office." Clark folded his paper up as he ate some lunch. He knew it front to back already since he proofed it. Chloe joined him, a little bit giddy.
"You snuck out yesterday." Chloe said. "I didn't get to tell you, but Mrs. Harding said before her computer went kaputt, she was emailing her sister, telling her that her bracelet was missing and that it was not meteor rock, it was ruby and emeralds."
Clark furrowed his brow, hoping this would bring clarity what Chloe was trying to tell him. She was happy about it what she had concluded.
"I don't get it." He admitted.
"Who would be number one person to hack a computer at Smallville High."
"Lex." Clark said.
"Ever since I took down the Wall-of-Weird and stopped writing about meteor infections, I've heard that computers elsewhere are crashing. Mrs. Harding isn't the only teacher to lost her laptop. Lex's search engines are digging like crazy to find as many hits as I used to provide. I am willing to bet you Mrs. Harding's hard drive died because the hacker killed it to cover his tracks."
Clark could follow what Chloe was saying now. "I just don't understand why Lex would want it."
"Well, I don't understand why Luthorcorp is so interested in what happens at Smallville High, but I accept it as fact." Chloe said. "I had to learn that one the hard way."
"So Lex gets the bracelet, and what?" Clark pondered aloud. "He finds out it's regular gemstone and not meteor?"
"And he returns it." Chloe said. "I think it's going to show up."
Clark's interest in Chloe theory waned as they finished lunch. Her idea reached a little too far. "Look at the facts," she used to tell him. He started to list them: First, people think it's cheap meteor rock. Second, her "cheap" bracelet disappears. Third, her computer dies at a key moment. Clark could not convince himself Chloe was right on this one. It was a leap that only she could make. He almost hoped it to fail, because maybe she would doubt her conclusions about him, whatever they were.
"It's probably just lost." Clark concluded.
------
When Clark had walked into the Torch office Chloe was sitting at her desk, smiling at him. He hadn't seen her big toothy grin in a long time, and he smiled back, forgetting their lunch conversation. Chloe handed Clark an envelope and inside it was the missing bracelet.
"It was on my desk."
"Well, I'll be." Clark stopped himself. "You did figured it out, didn't you?"
"Yes," Chloe said. "Yes, I did figure it out Clark. And everything is okay."
Clark wasn't sure if he meant Mrs. Harding's bracelet or if she was alluding to him. He just gazed back at her. "Of course it's going to be okay. Why would it be any different?"
The End
2) Type of Work (art, fic, vid): fic
3) Rating: PG
4) Length: 1600
5) Plot Summary (if fic or vid): S4, pre-arrival but late in season. Post Recruit. Clark wants to know what Chloe knows about him.
6) Notes: I started with the prompt "investigating something" and this sort of took its own life. This could be called, "Another day with Chloe".
Notes from the mod: This was kind of cute. I posted this in the html box because the writer coded it since LJ used to be so html heavy for things like centering and cuts, how cute!
Chloe Sullivan's hair had grown out from its severe crop last year, just enough that she had to pin her hair back from her eyes. Sometimes she put a pencil behind her ear and that held her bangs, but during those moments it was more about putting the Torch to bed than messing with her appearance.
Clark had noticed this. Ever since Chloe had taken down her Wall-of-Weird bulletin board, his eyes were drawn to her instead of the hundreds of magazine articles and newspaper clippings. The absence of Chloe's hallmark made him preoccupied with the true motivation behind its removal. She really wasn't sharing her reasons. Her answers came out stiff. "Oh, it's old stuff." "I'm on to better things." "Alicia made me see it in a different way." He believed her but he knew deep inside that she was evading him.
Rather he suspected she was on to him and had unravelled his secret. Ever since they returned from Metropolis after a college visit, when she alluded to him to use his super-speed and his super-strength, he had understood this to mean that she knew! It wasn't safe for her to know about his abilities yet he couldn't take it away what she had gleaned. All Clark could do is keep asking her what she knew and every time he failed to call her bluff.
"Oh, she must love watching me squirm," he thought as he summed up the last month in a nutshell.
Chloe suddenly stood up and brushed by Clark, putting her hand on his shoulder. "At least she's not afraid of me," Clark thought. She was on her way to the printer as new copy came out for proofing.
"Clark?" Chloe questioned. "You're not planning to leave soon, are you?" Chloe looked over her story before passing it to Clark for his inspection.
"Do you have more for me to do?" Clark answered. "'Cuz I'm telling you Chlo', this isn't much copy."
"Well," Chloe said. "Mrs. Harding was supposed to drop in and ask us a favor."
"Us?"
Chloe nodded. Chloe never had Mrs. Harding as her math teacher, but Clark had been one of her students. Clark liked to play dumb about it, but he was a math whiz. Chloe didn't know why Clark didn't pursue an academic scholarship, but she supposed that Clark didn't want to draw attention to himself. Chloe knew that he had super powers and she also knew the stigma that came with having a meteor infection. What puzzled Chloe was that Clark seemed normal otherwise. Their meteor-infected peers usually went nuts and that was putting it nicely.
"Do you know what she wants?" Clark passed Chloe’s copy back. "It's fine. No corrections to spelling or grammar." The article was about new air filters in the central heating and air conditioning system. "A little dull though."
"Well, Janitor Dave didn't have much to share." She sighed and sat down on his desk, facing him. She swung her legs back and forth like a pendulum. "I'm sure there's a bigger story out there." Clark leaned back in his chair: his feet up. Chloe looked at his feet and wriggled her nose.
"Clark, do you know you have cow shit on your shoes? Did you go home and muck the stalls before coming here?"
"Sorry," Clark put his feet down. He couldn't admit his guilt. He blankly returned Chloe's questioning eyes.
"I live on a farm Chloe." Clark rose and walked over to the window. "And it's far enough away you know that's not possible."
Chloe was about argue against him, as the smell in the room suggested otherwise, when Mrs. Harding arrived.
"Good. You two are still here." Mrs. Harding said as if she really didn't want to be there.
"Hello," Chloe said in return, sliding off Clark's desk. She pinned her hair back again as it had flopped loose. "If truth were told I really never leave this place. Clark too, he's always nearby when it comes to Torch business."
"Hello Clark."
Clark smiled at her in returned. Chloe noticed he took a few steps away from the teacher.
Mrs. Harding sat down in Clark's chair and quickly presented her problem.
"I lost something." Mrs. Harding said. "My ruby and emerald bracelet, it was a gift from my husband. I tried to report it to security but it's not big enough to warrant their time. They said it was gone. I thought maybe I could put an ad in the paper?"
Chloe's eyebrows raised. "You wanted to talk to us about a classified? You could have just sent an email."
"See about that," Mrs. Harding sighed. "My computer's down. It's been hacked by someone, and my hard drive is completely scrambled."
"Mrs. Harding," Clark asked. "That bracelet, I thought it was made from meteor rock."
"I've told other people in the past that it was made out of meteor rocks, to make it less valuable. You can find meteor rocks everywhere in this town."
"That's not much of an insurance policy." Chloe said.
"Well, on a teacher's salary, I didn't have much choice. But I really want it back, and I..." She looked over at Clark. "I was hoping Clark could find it for me."
"Why me?" Clark asked.
"Oh, com' on." Mrs. Harding laughed. "All the teachers know you have a knack for doing the impossible."
Clark was taken completely off guard. He was always careful about his abilities during school. Chloe was an exception, they spent a lot of time together. There was more opportunity to connect dots. But a teacher? Clark silently wished that Chloe would jump to his defense but she left him hanging.
"I'll be happy to help." Clark finally agreed. He thought about asking her what she meant, yet with Chloe standing nearby, he let the moment slide.
"Do you mind if I ask you some questions and then I'll help you get the ad published." Chloe offered. She steered the teacher away from Clark.
--------
Clark spent a restless night thinking about what Mrs. Harding revealed, 'All the teachers know.'
"Know what?"
He had always followed his father's wish, that he go unnoticed. He blended in until this year. He had proven himself on the football field, however, he was certain that Mrs. Harding wasn't talking about athleticism. Clark toyed with the idea of using his super-hearing to ease-drop whenever he picked up his name being said from the teacher's lounge--but what good would that be when he was graduating in two weeks? He then wanted to call Pete and ask him if he knew what Mrs. Harding might have meant, but that also seemed like a bad idea. He eventually fell asleep embracing the idea that he could talk with Chloe and trust her, since she seemed to know something. He just didn't know how to break the ice.
-------
The classified ad ran the next day.
"Lost bracelet, red and green. No questions asked. Contact Torch office." Clark folded his paper up as he ate some lunch. He knew it front to back already since he proofed it. Chloe joined him, a little bit giddy.
"You snuck out yesterday." Chloe said. "I didn't get to tell you, but Mrs. Harding said before her computer went kaputt, she was emailing her sister, telling her that her bracelet was missing and that it was not meteor rock, it was ruby and emeralds."
Clark furrowed his brow, hoping this would bring clarity what Chloe was trying to tell him. She was happy about it what she had concluded.
"I don't get it." He admitted.
"Who would be number one person to hack a computer at Smallville High."
"Lex." Clark said.
"Ever since I took down the Wall-of-Weird and stopped writing about meteor infections, I've heard that computers elsewhere are crashing. Mrs. Harding isn't the only teacher to lost her laptop. Lex's search engines are digging like crazy to find as many hits as I used to provide. I am willing to bet you Mrs. Harding's hard drive died because the hacker killed it to cover his tracks."
Clark could follow what Chloe was saying now. "I just don't understand why Lex would want it."
"Well, I don't understand why Luthorcorp is so interested in what happens at Smallville High, but I accept it as fact." Chloe said. "I had to learn that one the hard way."
"So Lex gets the bracelet, and what?" Clark pondered aloud. "He finds out it's regular gemstone and not meteor?"
"And he returns it." Chloe said. "I think it's going to show up."
Clark's interest in Chloe theory waned as they finished lunch. Her idea reached a little too far. "Look at the facts," she used to tell him. He started to list them: First, people think it's cheap meteor rock. Second, her "cheap" bracelet disappears. Third, her computer dies at a key moment. Clark could not convince himself Chloe was right on this one. It was a leap that only she could make. He almost hoped it to fail, because maybe she would doubt her conclusions about him, whatever they were.
"It's probably just lost." Clark concluded.
------
When Clark had walked into the Torch office Chloe was sitting at her desk, smiling at him. He hadn't seen her big toothy grin in a long time, and he smiled back, forgetting their lunch conversation. Chloe handed Clark an envelope and inside it was the missing bracelet.
"It was on my desk."
"Well, I'll be." Clark stopped himself. "You did figured it out, didn't you?"
"Yes," Chloe said. "Yes, I did figure it out Clark. And everything is okay."
Clark wasn't sure if he meant Mrs. Harding's bracelet or if she was alluding to him. He just gazed back at her. "Of course it's going to be okay. Why would it be any different?"
The End