SV/SPN crossover: Nowhere to Run (1-7/?)
Title: Nowhere to Run: Part One
Author: X_tremeroswellian
Fandom: Smallville/Supernatural crossover
Rated: R for violence, language and sexual content
Pairing: Chloe/Sam
Author’s Note: Title inspired by the song “Snow White Queen” by Evanescence. Thanks to clarksmuse for the beta. *smoochi*
Parts 1-7 | Parts 8-16 | Parts 17-19 | Parts 20-23
For Sam Winchester, it was all about being in the right place at the right time. He had no idea when he’s stepped onto the Met U campus that there was a girl running for her life from a man who’d been stalking her for weeks. Who’d videotaped her every move and had waited for just that night to make his final move and make her his own for eternity.
He had no idea that the girl’s regular superhero was off with a pretty brunette who’d recently dumped her billionaire fiance’ to be with her first true love, and that said superhero was similarly clueless that his Girl Friday was in mortal danger yet again, this time by no fault of her own.
It hadn’t been about her tracking a story or a meteor freak. This had been obsession plain and simple. He’d met her in at a coffee shop and unbeknownst to her at the time, followed her back to her dorm. Then to the Daily Planet. Then to Smallville. He’d tracked her every move, rarely letting her out of his sights and even though she couldn’t see him, she’d *felt* his presence.
In her worst nightmares--which were on an almost nightly basis these days--she dreamt of being chased through the woods by a man with a knife. He’d had no face, and he’d had many faces. In her dreams, he violated her, hurt her, and eventually killed her. She’d awaken feeling frightened and alone--the latter which she’d grown accustomed to since her superhero had all but ditched her--again--for her other best friend. The pretty, sweet brunette who could do no wrong in the eyes of…well, anyone. Herself included.
She’d had no idea about the cameras the man had set up in her dorm room, at the Talon, at the Daily Planet--every place she frequented. Though her subconscious had obviously picked up on the fact that she was being violated, she’d had no idea it was because she really was.
No, Sam had no knowledge of any of that, save the fact he was hoping to find some girl by the name of Chloe Sullivan to help him track down what he suspected was another shape-shifter: but not the type of shape shifter he was used to dealing with. After spending hours on the internet searching for information, he’d come across her name multiple times in articles dealing with things the majority of people would chalk up to myths and legends. She was clearly not one of those people. And from what he’d dug up, she was exactly the person he needed to talk to in order to learn more about ‘meteor freaks’ from some tiny town south of Metropolis called Smallville. Which is where said shape-shifter had been dwelling.
After searching information, he’d gotten into contact with a pretty girl named Lois Lane, whom ironically enough, had turned out to be the cousin of the very girl he was attempting to track down. She’d eyed him suspiciously, warily, with narrowed brown eyes and tightly pressed lips and informed him if he was there to stalk Chloe, he better be prepared for an ass-kicking. After buying the woman a cup of coffee and explaining he just wanted Chloe’s help, she’d reluctantly given him her cousin’s address and confirmed that Chloe was definitely the go-to girl when it came to meteor freaks.
Which is all he needed to hear in order to justify the three hour trip north to the crowded city of Metropolis to his brother, who’d insisted on staying behind in Smallville.
“Plus I can keep an eye on things here while you’re off researching,” Dean had said with a grin. Which in Dean-speak meant he was going to keep an eye on Lois.
Rolling his eyes, Sam had taken the Impala with a warning that “if you scratch my car, you’re a dead man, brother or not.”
It was after dark when Sam arrived on campus and he immediately felt chilled and not just by the cool air. There was something wrong, though he couldn’t place what it was. That is, until he heard the frightened scream. Immediately on guard, he stood still, trying to determine where the sound had come from.
A couple of people walked by him quickly, ignoring the scream all together, as people tended to do when they weren’t the ones in trouble.
The sound came again, farther away this time and his gaze shifted toward the darkened dorm a few yards away. He ran toward it, his heart thudding heavily in his chest. He was wishing he’d brought a weapon from the trunk of the Impala, but he didn’t have time to go back now.
Someone was clearly in danger.
And unlike most people who ran away from danger, Sam Winchester’s whole life had been about running directly toward it.
* * *
Her shoes pounding the tiled hallway floor of the pitch black dorm, Chloe fumbled with her cell phone, frantically trying to call the one person she could always count on to help her when she was in trouble. But he wasn’t answering. Tears stinging her eyes, she felt the sharp burning pain in her shoulder from the knife wound, the blood hot as it ran down her arm, stained her shirt and splashed onto the ground like a thick rain.
She knocked on doors, tried the handles, but no one was answering and none of the doors were unlocked. For all she knew, the dorm was completely abandoned. It was, after all, Spring break.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are.” The sing-song voice called, chilling her to the bone with fear.
She was trapped and for the first time in a long time, she had a sinking feeling she wasn’t going to survive the night. She had no weapons, and her superman wasn’t even aware she was in danger.
Simply put, she was screwed. And not in the fun way.
“I see you, Chloe,” he whispered in the darkness, his voice closer this time.
Pressing her back to the wall at the dead end of the dorm corridor, she trembled, tensing herself for a fight that she had no expectations of winning. She wasn’t trained in combat like Lois and she didn’t know karate like Lana. She might be a meteor freak, but she no abilities to her knowledge.
“There you are, sweetheart,” he whispered, pinning her to the wall, the knife pressed against her cheek. “Just relax.” His breath was hot against her ear as he slid his free hand down the front of her body, jerking on the material of her shirt violently. Just like in her nightmares. The fabric ripped as if it were made of nothing but paper.
Chloe screamed.
* * *
Sam had no idea what to expect as he made his way quickly down the darkened corridor, but what he wasn’t expecting was to see a man with a knife obviously about to commit a horrendous act against a woman that made Sam’s blood boil. Not hesitating, he rushed the man, grabbing him by the back of the neck and throwing him hard against the wall. The knife clattered to the floor.
* * *
One minute, she was struggling to keep the rough hands from violating her body, consciously aware that she was reliving her nightmares except she was in a dorm rather than the woods. The next, a tall, dark figure had yanked the man away, tossed him almost effortlessly into the wall. “Clark?” she whispered, her voice strained. She was shaking violently, her face pale and tear-stained.
The tall man stepped a little closer, so she could make out his figure a little better. And it wasn’t Clark. This man was a few inches taller than even Clark Kent. “Are you okay?” There was concern, and warmth in the unfamiliar voice as he moved a little closer. “God. You need a hospital. Take it easy.” Keeping a wary eye on her attacker, she listened dimly as the man called for the police and an ambulance.
“No,” she protested. “I’m not hurt that badly.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“I don’t need an ambulance. Please.” Would a blood test determine she was a meteor freak? Would they lock her up in Belle Reeve?
He hesitated a moment. “Okay.” He told them to cancel the ambulance, then put a gentle hand on her uninjured shoulder. “I’m Sam. You’re safe now.”
Swallowing hard, she let herself believe him before letting the dark consume her.
He caught her before she hit the floor.
* * *
The sirens were approaching rapidly. He could hear them and in his mind’s eye he saw the red and white light spinning on top of police cars. He alternated between looking at the man he’d knocked unconscious and looking down at the woman who was cradled in his arms. He’d taken off his jacket and covered her with it--her shirt was ripped and Sam Winchester was nothing if not a gentleman.
In the faint light from the window behind them, he found himself gazing at her. She was pretty--shoulder length, curly blonde hair, smooth pale skin. She reminded him of Jessica in ways he didn’t want to be reminded. He wished she would wake up so he could see her eyes. He kept one hand pressed gently against her injured shoulder to help stop the blood flow from the wound.
He felt her start in his arms as she woke up, a frightened expression on her face. “It’s okay,” he said quickly, gently tucking some hair behind her ear. “It’s me, Sam.”
Recognizing the name, she relaxed, closing her eyes again momentarily before slowly trying to sit up. He let her pull away, watched as she pulled his jacket closer around her, trying to get her bearings.
“What’s your name?” he asked, his voice quiet.
The pretty woman regarded him for a moment, hesitant. “Chloe,” she said finally. “Chloe Sullivan.”
Two
Fate sure had a weird way of presenting itself sometimes.
Sam stood beside the ambulance with its flashing lights, watching the paramedics dress the petite blonde’s wounded shoulder. Even as the police officer interviewed her, her gaze was locked on him, her green eyes intense. As if she was somehow looking right through him. For all he knew, she might have been.
He’d known when he learned she was a reporter at the Daily Planet at the young age of 19, that Chloe Sullivan wasn’t an average woman. She was brighter, wittier. Her eyes reflected a depth of knowledge and experience that was rivaled his own and he felt an instant sense of kinship with her.
He answered the questions the police asked him, keeping his answers simple and straightforward. He’d heard a scream and gone to help. No, he didn’t know either Chloe or her attacker, he was new in town, sight-seeing and had decided to check out the campus.
They thanked him for his statement and headed to the car where the man he’d knocked unconscious was sitting in the backseat, glaring intently at him. No, not at him.
At Chloe.
Feeling oddly protective of her, he stepped into the man’s line of sight, meeting his glare with an intense, warning one of his own.
The car pulled away and Sam watched it disappear down the road before slowly turning to look at Chloe once more.
Her eyes were still focused on him, though she was silent. Curiosity filled her green orbs and he had the distinct impression she’d seen right through his lies about being a tourist.
Sam met her gaze and offered her a small smile. “How’s it feel?” he asked, nodding toward her shoulder.
She looked down at the large bandage, his coat resting on his shoulders, dwarfing her in its large size. “Better.”
He cocked his head to one side, gazing at her. She hadn’t complained about the pain though he knew the wound had to hurt. He’d been knifed a couple of times in his life and it was never pleasant--even the non-life-threatening wounds hurt like hell. It didn’t seem to faze her.
She was definitely not your average woman.
* * *
“So who are you really?” Chloe asked as she stood beside Sam, watching the ambulance pull away after she’d politely refused the paramedic’s advice to take her to the hospital.
He was silent for a moment and she looked at him.
It was hard *not* to look at him. The man was taller than Clark Kent, slightly older, and had dark hazel eyes with a depth of sorrow and hope in them that she’d never seen before. He was amazingly good looking. She was surprised to realize she thought he was better looking than Clark.
“My name really is Sam.”
“You’re not a tourist.” She knew a cock and bull story when she heard one.
A wry smile touched his lips and he glanced at her, his cheeks dimpled.
Definitely better looking than Clark. She swallowed hard, waiting for him to say something.
“No. Not a tourist. I was actually looking for you.”
Chloe blinked. She hadn’t expected that. “I’m assuming you’re not here to kill me.”
Sam’s eyes widened a little. “Of course not!”
It was her turn to offer him a wry smile. “Good. One near death experience a day is about all a girl can handle.”
He smiled back at her, surprised and amused that she could joke so easily about having almost died.
“I imagine so.”
“That does, however, beg the question of why you were looking for me.” She gazed at him intently.
Sam held her gaze. “I talked to your cousin Lois. She told me you were here.”
Again, she was caught off guard. “You know Lois?”
“Not exactly.” He slid his hands in his jean pockets, looking a bit sheepish.
Adorable. She blinked back the thought. “Okay…”
“I read some of your articles online. About weird things happening in Smallville.”
“Oh.” She shivered slightly and pulled his jacket around herself a little more tightly.
“I was hoping you could help me.”
Now her curiosity was even higher. “With what?”
“A shape-shifter.”
Chloe was silent for a moment. “Who are you again?”
He grinned and held a hand out to her. “Sam. Sam Winchester.”
Three
He looked around the small dorm room, fascinated by the articles and clippings she’d cut out and tacked up on various bulletin boards on the walls. Most of them were ones she’d written herself.
“It’s my Wall of Weird,” Chloe told him, a faint, almost shy smile on her face.
He smiled and turned to meet her gaze. “You’ve been doing this awhile.”
“Ah, but not as long as you have.”
Sam stared at her, surprised by her words. He hadn’t told her how long he’d been involved in pursuing the paranormal.
“Sam Winchester. From Lawrence, Kansas. Right?”
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
Chloe’s eyes were twinkling. “Bet you’re wondering how I know that.”
“Yeah, you could…you could say that.” He eyed her warily.
“You and your brother are sort of famous.”
He blinked. “What?”
“Come here.” She moved to sit at her computer and he slowly crossed the room, standing behind her and watching as she pulled up a website.
“Paranormal Gathering dot com,” he read, wondering how he’d never been on this particular site before.
Nodding, Chloe typed something else in and much to Sam’s surprise, pulled up an article from Jericho, California.
“What the hell?” he whispered, leaning down to read. The article, short as it was, detailed how two good looking men, names withheld, had rid the small town of an angry spirit that had plagued the place for years. “This doesn’t mention our names.”
She smiled. “Nope.” She pulled up another article, this one more recent, and in Illinois.
This one did mention their names.
It also mentioned they were wanted by the FBI for bank robbery, murder, and a spree of other crimes. “Chloe, I can explain--”
“You don’t have to.” She typed in something else and his eyebrows furrowed. “All of these articles are from people you and your brother helped over the past several months.” She glanced up at him and he met her eyes questioningly. “Trust me when I say I know that bad luck follows good people.”
“But how do you know we didn’t do those things?” he asked, nodding toward the screen where an article about Dean’s “death” in St. Louis was pulled up.
Chloe smiled at him mysteriously. “I have my ways.”
Four
He was more than intrigued.
Sam gazed at Chloe with something akin to amazement as she shut down her laptop and closed it. “You know all about us.”
Chloe smiled a bit and met his gaze. “Yeah, I keep up with that site on a daily basis. Never really imagined I’d meet either of you, let alone that you’d save my life.” Her smile brightened and it made her whole face light up.
She was beautiful.
Sam sucked in a breath, feeling strangely comfortable with her knowing so much about them. There was something about her, an inner light that shone in her eyes. She was definitely trustworthy.
Sam Winchester had good instincts.
“A lot of people know who you are. Well, what you do, anyway. You’ve saved a lot of lives. People are grateful. Word gets around--especially on the Internet.”
He couldn’t look away from her. “I didn’t realize that many people really…”
“Took notice?” She smiled again. “You’re heroes to these people.”
“That include you?” He had no idea where that came from. It sounded more like something Dean would say right before he flashed her a cocky but charming grin that would have most girls falling into bed with him moments later.
A faint blush touched Chloe’s cheeks. “Well, like I said, you did just save my life.”
Sam smiled back, his eyes warm.
“So tell me about this shape-shifter. You think it’s meteor infected?” Her demeanor changed to one of curiosity and worry.
“Well, its first attack was in Smallville.”
“Definitely meteor-infected,” she said without hesitation. “But if it’s a shape shifter, how do we track it?”
“Good question. Normally shape shifter’s shed their skin when they change form.”
“Like the thing in St. Louis?”
Sam’s eyebrows rose. “How did you--”
“Like I said, I’ve been following the adventures of the Winchesters for awhile now.” She smirked and he shook his head in amusement. “But not all shape shifters do that, right?”
“No, not all of them,” he agreed.
“Werewolves don’t.” She paused, tilting her head a bit. “Are those real?”
“Werewolves? Oh yeah. Haven’t dealt with one for a long time, but they’re definitely real. And nasty. And dangerous.”
Nodding, Chloe gazed at him intently. “Well if the shape-shifter you’re looking for is meteor-infected, there’s a pretty good chance I can locate him. Or her.”
“How?” he asked curiously, though he had no doubt she was serious.
She opened her laptop once more. “Because a lot of the meteor freaks from Smallville have GPS trackers inside them.”
Sam stared at her. “How did that happen?”
A bitter smile twisted her lips. “Ala Lex Luthor.”
“As in Luthor Corp?”
“Got it in one.” She pulled up a set of files as he watched, startled by all the numerous blinking green dots spread throughout Smallville on a very detailed map.
“What is this?” he whispered, feeling nervous for reasons he didn’t understand.
“This is how Lex monitored the undesirables.” She didn’t look at him. “Except he doesn’t have these files anymore. I do.”
“Why would he wanna do that?”
Chloe glanced at him. “Kinda obvious, Sam,” she said quietly, not quite meeting his eyes this time. “For termination.”
Five
His silence was unsettling.
“Are all these people…bad? Dangerous?” His expression was unreadable and she wondered what was going on in his mind.
“Not all of them, no.” She bit her lip and turned back to the screen. I’m not, she added silently. “A lot of them were just…unfortunate enough to get caught in the midst of one of the meteor showers. The exposure gave them abilities other people don’t have.”
“What kinds of abilities?” he questioned, leaning forward a little.
Chloe hesitated a moment. “It’s different for everyone. Everything from telekinesis to teleportation and mind reading.” She didn’t dare look at him. Would he know somehow, that she too, was a meteor freak? Would he want to hurt her, kill her? Like Lex?
“And you’re sure that all of it relates to the meteor showers? To the rocks?” Sam’s voice was quiet. “And not…something else?”
“Like what?” She glanced at him briefly, curious.
Sam was silent for a moment. “Were there any nursery fires around here in the last few years?”
“Nursery fires?” she repeated, her eyebrows furrowing. “Like the one…” He inhaled sharply, and she quickly shut up. That probably wasn’t something he was eager to talk about with anyone, let alone a complete stranger. “I’m sorry. I’m a reporter and when I’m curious I ask questions that sometimes aren’t any of my business.”
“It’s okay, Chloe.” He was quiet for another moment. “I have abilities. But they didn’t come from rocks. And I’m not the only one.”
Six
He couldn’t believe he’d just admitted that to her.
He didn’t know her and he certainly wasn’t one to go around announcing or flaunting his powers--which may or may not be rooted in evil and darkness. But somehow telling her felt natural.
What he wasn’t expecting was her reaction.
“What kind of abilities?” She didn’t sound the least bit surprised.
Sam paused momentarily. “I have visions. Of people in trouble. And…” He hesitated a second. “I’ve got powers of telekinesis but I don’t know how to use them. I don’t have them under control.”
Chloe gazed at him, her green eyes focused intently on his hazel ones. “Well, if we’re spilling deep dark secrets…you should know that I’m a meteor freak.”
“You have powers?”
She dropped her gaze to the floor. “Not so far. But I am infected.”
“If you don’t have powers, how do you know--” He froze, staring at the computer screen with the blinking green dots.
“I was an involuntary lab rat for Lex Luthor,” she said bitterly.
Sam felt the breath catch in his throat. “What the hell did he do to you?”
“Other than implant a GPS tracker under my collarbone? I don’t know. His scientists wiped my memory after they abducted me.”
He felt a knot form in his stomach and he reached out to touch her arm, his hand gentle, wanting to offer her some form of comfort.
Chloe looked down at where his hand rested lightly on her arm. Then she looked up at him once more. Unshed tears were pooled in her eyes.
She was frightened and he could read it on her face as easily as he felt the fear in his own heart.
Sam met her eyes. “He’ll never hurt you again.”
Interlude
Chloe swallowed hard, gazing at him intently, unable to look away. For some reason, she believed him. There was something about Sam that made her feel incredibly safe, and it wasn’t just the knowledge that he and his brother helped people who were in trouble, which she definitely was.
It also wasn’t the fact that just a couple of hours ago, he’d saved her life, although she knew that contributed to her feeling of ease with him.
“Lex is powerful,” she whispered. “He can get to anyone.”
Sam’s smile was one of quiet confidence. “Not anyone.”
Seven
Even as he spoke the words, he wondered how he was going to keep her safe and why he felt it was his responsibility. He’d once heard the expression that when you saved someone’s life, that life belonged to you, and while he certainly didn’t think of Chloe as anything remotely resembling a possession, he could at least admit to himself that he wanted to make sure she was all right.
He wanted to keep her safe in a way that rivaled his desire to keep himself from turning evil.
If he could just find a way to do that, maybe…just maybe things would be okay.
Sam slowly rose to his feet, holding his hand out to her. “I need to go back to Smallville. It’s where my brother is.” Probably hitting relentlessly on your cousin, he added silently. “Come with me?”
Chloe gazed at his hand for only a moment before sliding her own smaller one into it. “Okay.”
Sam smiled.
Author: X_tremeroswellian
Fandom: Smallville/Supernatural crossover
Rated: R for violence, language and sexual content
Pairing: Chloe/Sam
Author’s Note: Title inspired by the song “Snow White Queen” by Evanescence. Thanks to clarksmuse for the beta. *smoochi*
Parts 1-7 | Parts 8-16 | Parts 17-19 | Parts 20-23
For Sam Winchester, it was all about being in the right place at the right time. He had no idea when he’s stepped onto the Met U campus that there was a girl running for her life from a man who’d been stalking her for weeks. Who’d videotaped her every move and had waited for just that night to make his final move and make her his own for eternity.
He had no idea that the girl’s regular superhero was off with a pretty brunette who’d recently dumped her billionaire fiance’ to be with her first true love, and that said superhero was similarly clueless that his Girl Friday was in mortal danger yet again, this time by no fault of her own.
It hadn’t been about her tracking a story or a meteor freak. This had been obsession plain and simple. He’d met her in at a coffee shop and unbeknownst to her at the time, followed her back to her dorm. Then to the Daily Planet. Then to Smallville. He’d tracked her every move, rarely letting her out of his sights and even though she couldn’t see him, she’d *felt* his presence.
In her worst nightmares--which were on an almost nightly basis these days--she dreamt of being chased through the woods by a man with a knife. He’d had no face, and he’d had many faces. In her dreams, he violated her, hurt her, and eventually killed her. She’d awaken feeling frightened and alone--the latter which she’d grown accustomed to since her superhero had all but ditched her--again--for her other best friend. The pretty, sweet brunette who could do no wrong in the eyes of…well, anyone. Herself included.
She’d had no idea about the cameras the man had set up in her dorm room, at the Talon, at the Daily Planet--every place she frequented. Though her subconscious had obviously picked up on the fact that she was being violated, she’d had no idea it was because she really was.
No, Sam had no knowledge of any of that, save the fact he was hoping to find some girl by the name of Chloe Sullivan to help him track down what he suspected was another shape-shifter: but not the type of shape shifter he was used to dealing with. After spending hours on the internet searching for information, he’d come across her name multiple times in articles dealing with things the majority of people would chalk up to myths and legends. She was clearly not one of those people. And from what he’d dug up, she was exactly the person he needed to talk to in order to learn more about ‘meteor freaks’ from some tiny town south of Metropolis called Smallville. Which is where said shape-shifter had been dwelling.
After searching information, he’d gotten into contact with a pretty girl named Lois Lane, whom ironically enough, had turned out to be the cousin of the very girl he was attempting to track down. She’d eyed him suspiciously, warily, with narrowed brown eyes and tightly pressed lips and informed him if he was there to stalk Chloe, he better be prepared for an ass-kicking. After buying the woman a cup of coffee and explaining he just wanted Chloe’s help, she’d reluctantly given him her cousin’s address and confirmed that Chloe was definitely the go-to girl when it came to meteor freaks.
Which is all he needed to hear in order to justify the three hour trip north to the crowded city of Metropolis to his brother, who’d insisted on staying behind in Smallville.
“Plus I can keep an eye on things here while you’re off researching,” Dean had said with a grin. Which in Dean-speak meant he was going to keep an eye on Lois.
Rolling his eyes, Sam had taken the Impala with a warning that “if you scratch my car, you’re a dead man, brother or not.”
It was after dark when Sam arrived on campus and he immediately felt chilled and not just by the cool air. There was something wrong, though he couldn’t place what it was. That is, until he heard the frightened scream. Immediately on guard, he stood still, trying to determine where the sound had come from.
A couple of people walked by him quickly, ignoring the scream all together, as people tended to do when they weren’t the ones in trouble.
The sound came again, farther away this time and his gaze shifted toward the darkened dorm a few yards away. He ran toward it, his heart thudding heavily in his chest. He was wishing he’d brought a weapon from the trunk of the Impala, but he didn’t have time to go back now.
Someone was clearly in danger.
And unlike most people who ran away from danger, Sam Winchester’s whole life had been about running directly toward it.
* * *
Her shoes pounding the tiled hallway floor of the pitch black dorm, Chloe fumbled with her cell phone, frantically trying to call the one person she could always count on to help her when she was in trouble. But he wasn’t answering. Tears stinging her eyes, she felt the sharp burning pain in her shoulder from the knife wound, the blood hot as it ran down her arm, stained her shirt and splashed onto the ground like a thick rain.
She knocked on doors, tried the handles, but no one was answering and none of the doors were unlocked. For all she knew, the dorm was completely abandoned. It was, after all, Spring break.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are.” The sing-song voice called, chilling her to the bone with fear.
She was trapped and for the first time in a long time, she had a sinking feeling she wasn’t going to survive the night. She had no weapons, and her superman wasn’t even aware she was in danger.
Simply put, she was screwed. And not in the fun way.
“I see you, Chloe,” he whispered in the darkness, his voice closer this time.
Pressing her back to the wall at the dead end of the dorm corridor, she trembled, tensing herself for a fight that she had no expectations of winning. She wasn’t trained in combat like Lois and she didn’t know karate like Lana. She might be a meteor freak, but she no abilities to her knowledge.
“There you are, sweetheart,” he whispered, pinning her to the wall, the knife pressed against her cheek. “Just relax.” His breath was hot against her ear as he slid his free hand down the front of her body, jerking on the material of her shirt violently. Just like in her nightmares. The fabric ripped as if it were made of nothing but paper.
Chloe screamed.
* * *
Sam had no idea what to expect as he made his way quickly down the darkened corridor, but what he wasn’t expecting was to see a man with a knife obviously about to commit a horrendous act against a woman that made Sam’s blood boil. Not hesitating, he rushed the man, grabbing him by the back of the neck and throwing him hard against the wall. The knife clattered to the floor.
* * *
One minute, she was struggling to keep the rough hands from violating her body, consciously aware that she was reliving her nightmares except she was in a dorm rather than the woods. The next, a tall, dark figure had yanked the man away, tossed him almost effortlessly into the wall. “Clark?” she whispered, her voice strained. She was shaking violently, her face pale and tear-stained.
The tall man stepped a little closer, so she could make out his figure a little better. And it wasn’t Clark. This man was a few inches taller than even Clark Kent. “Are you okay?” There was concern, and warmth in the unfamiliar voice as he moved a little closer. “God. You need a hospital. Take it easy.” Keeping a wary eye on her attacker, she listened dimly as the man called for the police and an ambulance.
“No,” she protested. “I’m not hurt that badly.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“I don’t need an ambulance. Please.” Would a blood test determine she was a meteor freak? Would they lock her up in Belle Reeve?
He hesitated a moment. “Okay.” He told them to cancel the ambulance, then put a gentle hand on her uninjured shoulder. “I’m Sam. You’re safe now.”
Swallowing hard, she let herself believe him before letting the dark consume her.
He caught her before she hit the floor.
* * *
The sirens were approaching rapidly. He could hear them and in his mind’s eye he saw the red and white light spinning on top of police cars. He alternated between looking at the man he’d knocked unconscious and looking down at the woman who was cradled in his arms. He’d taken off his jacket and covered her with it--her shirt was ripped and Sam Winchester was nothing if not a gentleman.
In the faint light from the window behind them, he found himself gazing at her. She was pretty--shoulder length, curly blonde hair, smooth pale skin. She reminded him of Jessica in ways he didn’t want to be reminded. He wished she would wake up so he could see her eyes. He kept one hand pressed gently against her injured shoulder to help stop the blood flow from the wound.
He felt her start in his arms as she woke up, a frightened expression on her face. “It’s okay,” he said quickly, gently tucking some hair behind her ear. “It’s me, Sam.”
Recognizing the name, she relaxed, closing her eyes again momentarily before slowly trying to sit up. He let her pull away, watched as she pulled his jacket closer around her, trying to get her bearings.
“What’s your name?” he asked, his voice quiet.
The pretty woman regarded him for a moment, hesitant. “Chloe,” she said finally. “Chloe Sullivan.”
Two
Fate sure had a weird way of presenting itself sometimes.
Sam stood beside the ambulance with its flashing lights, watching the paramedics dress the petite blonde’s wounded shoulder. Even as the police officer interviewed her, her gaze was locked on him, her green eyes intense. As if she was somehow looking right through him. For all he knew, she might have been.
He’d known when he learned she was a reporter at the Daily Planet at the young age of 19, that Chloe Sullivan wasn’t an average woman. She was brighter, wittier. Her eyes reflected a depth of knowledge and experience that was rivaled his own and he felt an instant sense of kinship with her.
He answered the questions the police asked him, keeping his answers simple and straightforward. He’d heard a scream and gone to help. No, he didn’t know either Chloe or her attacker, he was new in town, sight-seeing and had decided to check out the campus.
They thanked him for his statement and headed to the car where the man he’d knocked unconscious was sitting in the backseat, glaring intently at him. No, not at him.
At Chloe.
Feeling oddly protective of her, he stepped into the man’s line of sight, meeting his glare with an intense, warning one of his own.
The car pulled away and Sam watched it disappear down the road before slowly turning to look at Chloe once more.
Her eyes were still focused on him, though she was silent. Curiosity filled her green orbs and he had the distinct impression she’d seen right through his lies about being a tourist.
Sam met her gaze and offered her a small smile. “How’s it feel?” he asked, nodding toward her shoulder.
She looked down at the large bandage, his coat resting on his shoulders, dwarfing her in its large size. “Better.”
He cocked his head to one side, gazing at her. She hadn’t complained about the pain though he knew the wound had to hurt. He’d been knifed a couple of times in his life and it was never pleasant--even the non-life-threatening wounds hurt like hell. It didn’t seem to faze her.
She was definitely not your average woman.
* * *
“So who are you really?” Chloe asked as she stood beside Sam, watching the ambulance pull away after she’d politely refused the paramedic’s advice to take her to the hospital.
He was silent for a moment and she looked at him.
It was hard *not* to look at him. The man was taller than Clark Kent, slightly older, and had dark hazel eyes with a depth of sorrow and hope in them that she’d never seen before. He was amazingly good looking. She was surprised to realize she thought he was better looking than Clark.
“My name really is Sam.”
“You’re not a tourist.” She knew a cock and bull story when she heard one.
A wry smile touched his lips and he glanced at her, his cheeks dimpled.
Definitely better looking than Clark. She swallowed hard, waiting for him to say something.
“No. Not a tourist. I was actually looking for you.”
Chloe blinked. She hadn’t expected that. “I’m assuming you’re not here to kill me.”
Sam’s eyes widened a little. “Of course not!”
It was her turn to offer him a wry smile. “Good. One near death experience a day is about all a girl can handle.”
He smiled back at her, surprised and amused that she could joke so easily about having almost died.
“I imagine so.”
“That does, however, beg the question of why you were looking for me.” She gazed at him intently.
Sam held her gaze. “I talked to your cousin Lois. She told me you were here.”
Again, she was caught off guard. “You know Lois?”
“Not exactly.” He slid his hands in his jean pockets, looking a bit sheepish.
Adorable. She blinked back the thought. “Okay…”
“I read some of your articles online. About weird things happening in Smallville.”
“Oh.” She shivered slightly and pulled his jacket around herself a little more tightly.
“I was hoping you could help me.”
Now her curiosity was even higher. “With what?”
“A shape-shifter.”
Chloe was silent for a moment. “Who are you again?”
He grinned and held a hand out to her. “Sam. Sam Winchester.”
Three
He looked around the small dorm room, fascinated by the articles and clippings she’d cut out and tacked up on various bulletin boards on the walls. Most of them were ones she’d written herself.
“It’s my Wall of Weird,” Chloe told him, a faint, almost shy smile on her face.
He smiled and turned to meet her gaze. “You’ve been doing this awhile.”
“Ah, but not as long as you have.”
Sam stared at her, surprised by her words. He hadn’t told her how long he’d been involved in pursuing the paranormal.
“Sam Winchester. From Lawrence, Kansas. Right?”
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.
Chloe’s eyes were twinkling. “Bet you’re wondering how I know that.”
“Yeah, you could…you could say that.” He eyed her warily.
“You and your brother are sort of famous.”
He blinked. “What?”
“Come here.” She moved to sit at her computer and he slowly crossed the room, standing behind her and watching as she pulled up a website.
“Paranormal Gathering dot com,” he read, wondering how he’d never been on this particular site before.
Nodding, Chloe typed something else in and much to Sam’s surprise, pulled up an article from Jericho, California.
“What the hell?” he whispered, leaning down to read. The article, short as it was, detailed how two good looking men, names withheld, had rid the small town of an angry spirit that had plagued the place for years. “This doesn’t mention our names.”
She smiled. “Nope.” She pulled up another article, this one more recent, and in Illinois.
This one did mention their names.
It also mentioned they were wanted by the FBI for bank robbery, murder, and a spree of other crimes. “Chloe, I can explain--”
“You don’t have to.” She typed in something else and his eyebrows furrowed. “All of these articles are from people you and your brother helped over the past several months.” She glanced up at him and he met her eyes questioningly. “Trust me when I say I know that bad luck follows good people.”
“But how do you know we didn’t do those things?” he asked, nodding toward the screen where an article about Dean’s “death” in St. Louis was pulled up.
Chloe smiled at him mysteriously. “I have my ways.”
Four
He was more than intrigued.
Sam gazed at Chloe with something akin to amazement as she shut down her laptop and closed it. “You know all about us.”
Chloe smiled a bit and met his gaze. “Yeah, I keep up with that site on a daily basis. Never really imagined I’d meet either of you, let alone that you’d save my life.” Her smile brightened and it made her whole face light up.
She was beautiful.
Sam sucked in a breath, feeling strangely comfortable with her knowing so much about them. There was something about her, an inner light that shone in her eyes. She was definitely trustworthy.
Sam Winchester had good instincts.
“A lot of people know who you are. Well, what you do, anyway. You’ve saved a lot of lives. People are grateful. Word gets around--especially on the Internet.”
He couldn’t look away from her. “I didn’t realize that many people really…”
“Took notice?” She smiled again. “You’re heroes to these people.”
“That include you?” He had no idea where that came from. It sounded more like something Dean would say right before he flashed her a cocky but charming grin that would have most girls falling into bed with him moments later.
A faint blush touched Chloe’s cheeks. “Well, like I said, you did just save my life.”
Sam smiled back, his eyes warm.
“So tell me about this shape-shifter. You think it’s meteor infected?” Her demeanor changed to one of curiosity and worry.
“Well, its first attack was in Smallville.”
“Definitely meteor-infected,” she said without hesitation. “But if it’s a shape shifter, how do we track it?”
“Good question. Normally shape shifter’s shed their skin when they change form.”
“Like the thing in St. Louis?”
Sam’s eyebrows rose. “How did you--”
“Like I said, I’ve been following the adventures of the Winchesters for awhile now.” She smirked and he shook his head in amusement. “But not all shape shifters do that, right?”
“No, not all of them,” he agreed.
“Werewolves don’t.” She paused, tilting her head a bit. “Are those real?”
“Werewolves? Oh yeah. Haven’t dealt with one for a long time, but they’re definitely real. And nasty. And dangerous.”
Nodding, Chloe gazed at him intently. “Well if the shape-shifter you’re looking for is meteor-infected, there’s a pretty good chance I can locate him. Or her.”
“How?” he asked curiously, though he had no doubt she was serious.
She opened her laptop once more. “Because a lot of the meteor freaks from Smallville have GPS trackers inside them.”
Sam stared at her. “How did that happen?”
A bitter smile twisted her lips. “Ala Lex Luthor.”
“As in Luthor Corp?”
“Got it in one.” She pulled up a set of files as he watched, startled by all the numerous blinking green dots spread throughout Smallville on a very detailed map.
“What is this?” he whispered, feeling nervous for reasons he didn’t understand.
“This is how Lex monitored the undesirables.” She didn’t look at him. “Except he doesn’t have these files anymore. I do.”
“Why would he wanna do that?”
Chloe glanced at him. “Kinda obvious, Sam,” she said quietly, not quite meeting his eyes this time. “For termination.”
Five
His silence was unsettling.
“Are all these people…bad? Dangerous?” His expression was unreadable and she wondered what was going on in his mind.
“Not all of them, no.” She bit her lip and turned back to the screen. I’m not, she added silently. “A lot of them were just…unfortunate enough to get caught in the midst of one of the meteor showers. The exposure gave them abilities other people don’t have.”
“What kinds of abilities?” he questioned, leaning forward a little.
Chloe hesitated a moment. “It’s different for everyone. Everything from telekinesis to teleportation and mind reading.” She didn’t dare look at him. Would he know somehow, that she too, was a meteor freak? Would he want to hurt her, kill her? Like Lex?
“And you’re sure that all of it relates to the meteor showers? To the rocks?” Sam’s voice was quiet. “And not…something else?”
“Like what?” She glanced at him briefly, curious.
Sam was silent for a moment. “Were there any nursery fires around here in the last few years?”
“Nursery fires?” she repeated, her eyebrows furrowing. “Like the one…” He inhaled sharply, and she quickly shut up. That probably wasn’t something he was eager to talk about with anyone, let alone a complete stranger. “I’m sorry. I’m a reporter and when I’m curious I ask questions that sometimes aren’t any of my business.”
“It’s okay, Chloe.” He was quiet for another moment. “I have abilities. But they didn’t come from rocks. And I’m not the only one.”
Six
He couldn’t believe he’d just admitted that to her.
He didn’t know her and he certainly wasn’t one to go around announcing or flaunting his powers--which may or may not be rooted in evil and darkness. But somehow telling her felt natural.
What he wasn’t expecting was her reaction.
“What kind of abilities?” She didn’t sound the least bit surprised.
Sam paused momentarily. “I have visions. Of people in trouble. And…” He hesitated a second. “I’ve got powers of telekinesis but I don’t know how to use them. I don’t have them under control.”
Chloe gazed at him, her green eyes focused intently on his hazel ones. “Well, if we’re spilling deep dark secrets…you should know that I’m a meteor freak.”
“You have powers?”
She dropped her gaze to the floor. “Not so far. But I am infected.”
“If you don’t have powers, how do you know--” He froze, staring at the computer screen with the blinking green dots.
“I was an involuntary lab rat for Lex Luthor,” she said bitterly.
Sam felt the breath catch in his throat. “What the hell did he do to you?”
“Other than implant a GPS tracker under my collarbone? I don’t know. His scientists wiped my memory after they abducted me.”
He felt a knot form in his stomach and he reached out to touch her arm, his hand gentle, wanting to offer her some form of comfort.
Chloe looked down at where his hand rested lightly on her arm. Then she looked up at him once more. Unshed tears were pooled in her eyes.
She was frightened and he could read it on her face as easily as he felt the fear in his own heart.
Sam met her eyes. “He’ll never hurt you again.”
Interlude
Chloe swallowed hard, gazing at him intently, unable to look away. For some reason, she believed him. There was something about Sam that made her feel incredibly safe, and it wasn’t just the knowledge that he and his brother helped people who were in trouble, which she definitely was.
It also wasn’t the fact that just a couple of hours ago, he’d saved her life, although she knew that contributed to her feeling of ease with him.
“Lex is powerful,” she whispered. “He can get to anyone.”
Sam’s smile was one of quiet confidence. “Not anyone.”
Seven
Even as he spoke the words, he wondered how he was going to keep her safe and why he felt it was his responsibility. He’d once heard the expression that when you saved someone’s life, that life belonged to you, and while he certainly didn’t think of Chloe as anything remotely resembling a possession, he could at least admit to himself that he wanted to make sure she was all right.
He wanted to keep her safe in a way that rivaled his desire to keep himself from turning evil.
If he could just find a way to do that, maybe…just maybe things would be okay.
Sam slowly rose to his feet, holding his hand out to her. “I need to go back to Smallville. It’s where my brother is.” Probably hitting relentlessly on your cousin, he added silently. “Come with me?”
Chloe gazed at his hand for only a moment before sliding her own smaller one into it. “Okay.”
Sam smiled.