Chloe/Davis fic: Remembrance (3/3)
May. 22nd, 2009 06:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seriousficTitle: Remembrance
Fandom: Smallville
Characters/Pairings: Chloe/Davis, Clark, Jor-El
Rating: R
Author’s Note: AU for Bride. Davis doesn’t know he’s Doomsday, Chloe doesn’t remember Clark is Kryptonian, and Jimmy is engaged to marry her. Betaed by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
vagrantdream.
Word Count: 2,208
Previous Part: Chapter 2
Summary: Chloe finds a way to save Davis.
Davis let out the breath he’d been holding as the last of his wounds closed up. “Did you mean it?” he asked Chloe suddenly. “You said you loved me, but you don’t have to. Not if I’m like this. Not if it makes your life any harder.”
Chloe wiped at another bloodstain with a Wetnap from her purse. “I tried safe and easy once. He wound up snapping pictures of a newly-minted orphan. A friend of mine had that happen to her once. I don’t think Lana ever got over it…”
“I must be a terrible person to be feeling the way I am about your break-up.”
“It’s only human. If you saw my diary, you’d be able to track the sparkle-ink usage by what height the Clark-and-Lana-coaster was at.”
“He never… saw you like that?”
“No. There was always something in the way.”
“If you care, you should move things out of the way.” Groaning, Davis laid back. Chloe laid down beside him, arms folded behind her head as Clark’s silhouette argued with Jor-El through the silent crystal.
“I thought that’s what we were doing.”
“Yeah, we are, aren’t we?” Davis smiled. “For so long I’ve felt… doomed. And now here we are. In the Arctic.” He rolled onto his side. “Hey, look.”
Chloe propped herself up to look over him, planting one arm in front of Davis, her hair brushing against his arm in the kind of casual intimacy he’d never felt with her before.
Outside, the Northern Lights flowed and shimmered like rivers in the sky.
“You’ve given me hope, Chloe. I don’t wanna lose that.”
“We won’t.”
“But if I do, I want to remember this moment as the first time we… the first time I meant it.” He shifted onto his back, now lying under her, and Chloe felt his arms wind under hers to end up resting on her back. The arms Chloe was holding herself up with trembled. Davis eased her down onto him, more and more of her body covering his, until the only parts not touching were above the neck.
She stared into his eyes, free of the darkness that’d been clouding them for so long, and felt a hand cup the back of her neck. He was so tentative, so cautious, like a little boy wheedling for a cookie. Then Chloe remembered the passion of the kiss he’d given her in the alley, the passion she’d forced herself not to feel, yet it had pulsed at her core all through the ride home and for most of the night.
She brought herself down on him like a weight finally giving in to gravity. It took a moment for the slow kiss he’d been ready for to become the fiery passion she’d wanted, but then she felt powerful hands at her back and scalp, trying to pull her tighter against him as if that were possible.
Chloe felt the rising heat in his groin and parted her legs, straddling him, undulating against him, making an animalistic noise thunder in his throat. It ended, their lips parting wetly, and Chloe sucked in breath for another (he’d made her fucking pant) when she felt his hands lifting her off him. Which probably should have killed the mood, but the way Davis lifted her like a ragdoll… she licked her lips.
“I love you, Chloe Sullivan.”
Chloe smiled wickedly and grabbed his wrists. “Show me.” She twisted them out of the way, a little pain, and in a moment she was on him again, no, he was rolling on top of her, Chloe’s legs clenched around his waist.
The window to the outside slid open, letting in a blast of cold air. Davis rolled off Chloe, sheltering her with his body.
“Jor-El!” Chloe shouted, beyond pissed.
“My apologies. A minor malfunction. Miss Sullivan, you may speak with Clark now. Mr. Bloom, you may wait for them in Smallville.”
“Wait, Small…“ Davis disappeared in a flash of white light.
Chloe got to her feet. “Jor-El, if you’ve hurt him, I swear I’ll—”
“That will not be necessary. He is back in Smallville, resting comfortably. Clark would like to speak with you now.”
The wall came down. Clark stood there, hands in his pockets. “Chloe, are you alright? You look flushed.”
“Just worried about Davis,” Chloe said, ears burning. “Is there a cure for him?”
“Maybe. But you’re not going to like it.”
***
The hologram of the Destroyer rotated in the air, a cage for the smaller hologram of Davis inside. “Brainiac engineered Davis to be a hybrid,” Clark explained. “Think of Davis as a living anchor for the creature, which exists partially in the inexhaustible energy of the Phantom Zone. That’s where its mass and strength comes from.”
“So just sever the link,” Chloe said.
“That would kill Davis Bloom,” Jor-El said. “The creature was engineered to grow up alongside Clark and kill him if he refused to become Zod’s vessel. Only happenstance prevented this from occurring. Either those loyal to Zod activated Bloom’s sleeper programming or it was the unlucky coincidence of meeting Clark, but the Destroyer is becoming more dominant.”
“So how do we stop it?”
“We can’t break the link, but we can divide it. With the Destroyer halved, it won’t be able to override its host personality. Davis could control the changes.”
“Great! Sign me up, I’ll do it.”
Clark glanced at the hologram, then back at her. “It’s not that simple. If either of the hosts come into contact with their target, it might be enough to trigger the programming. Chloe… I’m the target.”
“Okay, we’ll find someone in deepest, darkest Africa who’d never meet Clark in a thousand years…”
Clark’s face lapsed into agony as Jor-El spoke. “You were able to control a Brainiac infection for months. Your power can prevent the link from becoming more stable. It must be you, Chloe Sullivan.”
“So if I save Davis, I never get to see you again?” Chloe asked Clark.
“You must choose,” Jor-El continued.
Chloe turned away, holding herself.
“She already has,” Clark said quietly.
“Clark… you’re my best friend.” Further words failed her.
“I understand. He’s the man you love. And he can love you better than I ever could.”
Chloe looked at him over her shoulder. “We can still talk. I can help you, just like I do Green Arrow!”
“I just won’t be part of your life anymore. Chloe, it’s fine. You’ll be safe. You’ll be happy. That’s all I ever wanted.”
Chloe nodded, her face screwed up to hold in the tears, then she threw her arms around him and let them out anyway. “I forgive you, you big lunkhead.”
Clark hugged her in return. “Feels like I just got you back and now I’m losing you all over again. I wasted so much time trying to be your guardian instead of your friend…”
“It’s alright. I forgive you. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
***
Davis listened calmly as Clark explained it, but he’d known since Chloe sat down beside him and Clark across from him.
“We have to hurry,” he said. “I can feel it coming back.”
They went back to the Fortress. There were two chambers waiting.
“You aren’t going to try and talk me out of this?” Chloe asked Davis. “Try to protect me?”
“You’re the one who protects me.”
They got into the chambers. Clark poked his head into Davis’s at the last moment. “Take care of her.”
“Til the day I die.”
Beyond the rage the beast felt at Clark, Davis felt a certain thankfulness. Clark had tried to keep Chloe safe, tried to be a good friend. He’d made Chloe happy. And now Davis would.
All of a sudden, he realized he didn’t want to die.
The world disappeared in soft, welcoming light.
***
Lois was getting ready to reheat Chloe’s meal for the sixth time when she heard a knock at the door. She wasn’t disappointed that it was Clark, but she wasn’t too pleased either. “I don’t suppose you know where Chloe is.”
“She left.”
“Left?”
“Eloped with Davis, ran off to Edge City, said this place has too many bad memories.”
Lois thought of how Chloe had been trying to contain herself the last time Lois had seen her with Davis. Good for her. “I knew that petite frame had some Lane in it.”
“Yeah, well… it was her choice. That’s what’s important.”
“And now apparently I have two servings of kolach. Want to have one, save you from myself?”
“Sure.” Clark paused in the doorway. “Lois, how do you feel about monster movies?”
“Can’t stand ‘em.”
“Me either.”
***
Chloe felt a beast nibbling on her arm. “If you don’t stop that, I’m going to have to get out of this bed and ravish you.”
“Then won’t I be sorry.” With one last peck, Davis crawled under the sheets with her, standing a pillow up against the headboard and sitting back against it, not yet tired enough to be horizontal. “I love when I come home from a long shift and you’re still up.”
“Enjoy it while it lasts. Now that I have someone to keep me warm, I’m going right to sleep.”
Davis obligingly folded an arm under her, letting Chloe melt against his side. “Maybe I should hold up on fixing the AC another week.”
“Maybe I should hire an actual repairman.”
“He’d never offer as many services as I do.”
“Bet he’d charge less.”
It’d been a year since they’d fled Metropolis. Davis had quit his career as an EMT, saying he’d had enough excitement in his life, to become a trauma surgeon. Chloe had gotten a job as a columnist for the Daily Globe. Watchtower and the Isis Foundation were still a part of her life, but just a part. Like Davis, and reporting. Or letters to Clark.
Five months after she’d left, the Red Blue Blur had gotten a new costume and a new name. If Chloe were still in Metropolis, she would have told Clark to wear his underwear on the inside, but she supposed it didn’t matter. He looked at Lois now like she used to look at him. Only she didn’t look at Clark anymore.
She sometimes thought about what it would be like if Clark had returned her feelings. Not as often as she used to, but sometimes. And she always decided it wouldn’t be as nice as the quiet moments she had discovered with Davis, moments of friendship, moments of happiness.
“So, did my hero save any lives today?” she teased.
“Two,” Davis said, too quick. Because it wasn’t like it was his ego that made him keep track.
Chloe laid her head down on Davis’s chest, feeling it rise and fall, his heart sending tremors into her jawbone. She’d felt him lose himself in her enough times to know when he was free and when he was holding something back. It always made his muscles tense, like he had to be ready to fight something down.
She let her breath stir his chest hair three times before saying “Then why are you acting like someone died?”
“Because someone did die, Chloe. A lot of someones.”
Chloe could feel him stiffening into a statue, like he was ready to push her away. She wrapped her arms around him and rose up to look him in the eye. “And how many people do you have to save before you stop blaming yourself? Double the people who died on Doomsday? Triple? I’d just like to know so I can plan when I have my husband back.”
“I’m sorry if I haven’t been a good husband,” Davis began, his voice so fragile Chloe thought it would crack if he had to go on.
“You have been…”
“But this is just something I’ll have to live with,” he said over her. “For months, I blocked it out, but then they brought in a hit and run. High school student. He was all smashed up and I could barely operate on him. All I could think was that he could have been one of mine.”
Chloe kissed him, knowing he wouldn’t, couldn’t respond. She kissed his lips and cheek and forehead and lips again, as if she could infuse him with sheer love. “I wish I could’ve taken your pain along with the Beast. But since I can’t, could you do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Add another name to your list. Mine. Because you saved my life, Davis. I’ll always love you for that. Even if I wish you would believe redemption was possible.”
“I believe.” He finally put his arms around her, guiding her back down onto his chest where he could nestle her body against his, petting her hair like it was spun gold. “You’re my redemption, Chloe. The agent of it, the proof of it, the fact of it… but that’s not why I love you.”
“Then why?”
”Haven’t you figured it out by now?”
“Yes. But I like hearing you say it.”
He brushed the hair away from her ear, tilted his head down, and whispered the reasons he loved her until he was drifting asleep, beyond the reach of nightmares.
Fandom: Smallville
Characters/Pairings: Chloe/Davis, Clark, Jor-El
Rating: R
Author’s Note: AU for Bride. Davis doesn’t know he’s Doomsday, Chloe doesn’t remember Clark is Kryptonian, and Jimmy is engaged to marry her. Betaed by
vagrantdream.Word Count: 2,208
Previous Part: Chapter 2
Summary: Chloe finds a way to save Davis.
Davis let out the breath he’d been holding as the last of his wounds closed up. “Did you mean it?” he asked Chloe suddenly. “You said you loved me, but you don’t have to. Not if I’m like this. Not if it makes your life any harder.”
Chloe wiped at another bloodstain with a Wetnap from her purse. “I tried safe and easy once. He wound up snapping pictures of a newly-minted orphan. A friend of mine had that happen to her once. I don’t think Lana ever got over it…”
“I must be a terrible person to be feeling the way I am about your break-up.”
“It’s only human. If you saw my diary, you’d be able to track the sparkle-ink usage by what height the Clark-and-Lana-coaster was at.”
“He never… saw you like that?”
“No. There was always something in the way.”
“If you care, you should move things out of the way.” Groaning, Davis laid back. Chloe laid down beside him, arms folded behind her head as Clark’s silhouette argued with Jor-El through the silent crystal.
“I thought that’s what we were doing.”
“Yeah, we are, aren’t we?” Davis smiled. “For so long I’ve felt… doomed. And now here we are. In the Arctic.” He rolled onto his side. “Hey, look.”
Chloe propped herself up to look over him, planting one arm in front of Davis, her hair brushing against his arm in the kind of casual intimacy he’d never felt with her before.
Outside, the Northern Lights flowed and shimmered like rivers in the sky.
“You’ve given me hope, Chloe. I don’t wanna lose that.”
“We won’t.”
“But if I do, I want to remember this moment as the first time we… the first time I meant it.” He shifted onto his back, now lying under her, and Chloe felt his arms wind under hers to end up resting on her back. The arms Chloe was holding herself up with trembled. Davis eased her down onto him, more and more of her body covering his, until the only parts not touching were above the neck.
She stared into his eyes, free of the darkness that’d been clouding them for so long, and felt a hand cup the back of her neck. He was so tentative, so cautious, like a little boy wheedling for a cookie. Then Chloe remembered the passion of the kiss he’d given her in the alley, the passion she’d forced herself not to feel, yet it had pulsed at her core all through the ride home and for most of the night.
She brought herself down on him like a weight finally giving in to gravity. It took a moment for the slow kiss he’d been ready for to become the fiery passion she’d wanted, but then she felt powerful hands at her back and scalp, trying to pull her tighter against him as if that were possible.
Chloe felt the rising heat in his groin and parted her legs, straddling him, undulating against him, making an animalistic noise thunder in his throat. It ended, their lips parting wetly, and Chloe sucked in breath for another (he’d made her fucking pant) when she felt his hands lifting her off him. Which probably should have killed the mood, but the way Davis lifted her like a ragdoll… she licked her lips.
“I love you, Chloe Sullivan.”
Chloe smiled wickedly and grabbed his wrists. “Show me.” She twisted them out of the way, a little pain, and in a moment she was on him again, no, he was rolling on top of her, Chloe’s legs clenched around his waist.
The window to the outside slid open, letting in a blast of cold air. Davis rolled off Chloe, sheltering her with his body.
“Jor-El!” Chloe shouted, beyond pissed.
“My apologies. A minor malfunction. Miss Sullivan, you may speak with Clark now. Mr. Bloom, you may wait for them in Smallville.”
“Wait, Small…“ Davis disappeared in a flash of white light.
Chloe got to her feet. “Jor-El, if you’ve hurt him, I swear I’ll—”
“That will not be necessary. He is back in Smallville, resting comfortably. Clark would like to speak with you now.”
The wall came down. Clark stood there, hands in his pockets. “Chloe, are you alright? You look flushed.”
“Just worried about Davis,” Chloe said, ears burning. “Is there a cure for him?”
“Maybe. But you’re not going to like it.”
***
The hologram of the Destroyer rotated in the air, a cage for the smaller hologram of Davis inside. “Brainiac engineered Davis to be a hybrid,” Clark explained. “Think of Davis as a living anchor for the creature, which exists partially in the inexhaustible energy of the Phantom Zone. That’s where its mass and strength comes from.”
“So just sever the link,” Chloe said.
“That would kill Davis Bloom,” Jor-El said. “The creature was engineered to grow up alongside Clark and kill him if he refused to become Zod’s vessel. Only happenstance prevented this from occurring. Either those loyal to Zod activated Bloom’s sleeper programming or it was the unlucky coincidence of meeting Clark, but the Destroyer is becoming more dominant.”
“So how do we stop it?”
“We can’t break the link, but we can divide it. With the Destroyer halved, it won’t be able to override its host personality. Davis could control the changes.”
“Great! Sign me up, I’ll do it.”
Clark glanced at the hologram, then back at her. “It’s not that simple. If either of the hosts come into contact with their target, it might be enough to trigger the programming. Chloe… I’m the target.”
“Okay, we’ll find someone in deepest, darkest Africa who’d never meet Clark in a thousand years…”
Clark’s face lapsed into agony as Jor-El spoke. “You were able to control a Brainiac infection for months. Your power can prevent the link from becoming more stable. It must be you, Chloe Sullivan.”
“So if I save Davis, I never get to see you again?” Chloe asked Clark.
“You must choose,” Jor-El continued.
Chloe turned away, holding herself.
“She already has,” Clark said quietly.
“Clark… you’re my best friend.” Further words failed her.
“I understand. He’s the man you love. And he can love you better than I ever could.”
Chloe looked at him over her shoulder. “We can still talk. I can help you, just like I do Green Arrow!”
“I just won’t be part of your life anymore. Chloe, it’s fine. You’ll be safe. You’ll be happy. That’s all I ever wanted.”
Chloe nodded, her face screwed up to hold in the tears, then she threw her arms around him and let them out anyway. “I forgive you, you big lunkhead.”
Clark hugged her in return. “Feels like I just got you back and now I’m losing you all over again. I wasted so much time trying to be your guardian instead of your friend…”
“It’s alright. I forgive you. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
***
Davis listened calmly as Clark explained it, but he’d known since Chloe sat down beside him and Clark across from him.
“We have to hurry,” he said. “I can feel it coming back.”
They went back to the Fortress. There were two chambers waiting.
“You aren’t going to try and talk me out of this?” Chloe asked Davis. “Try to protect me?”
“You’re the one who protects me.”
They got into the chambers. Clark poked his head into Davis’s at the last moment. “Take care of her.”
“Til the day I die.”
Beyond the rage the beast felt at Clark, Davis felt a certain thankfulness. Clark had tried to keep Chloe safe, tried to be a good friend. He’d made Chloe happy. And now Davis would.
All of a sudden, he realized he didn’t want to die.
The world disappeared in soft, welcoming light.
***
Lois was getting ready to reheat Chloe’s meal for the sixth time when she heard a knock at the door. She wasn’t disappointed that it was Clark, but she wasn’t too pleased either. “I don’t suppose you know where Chloe is.”
“She left.”
“Left?”
“Eloped with Davis, ran off to Edge City, said this place has too many bad memories.”
Lois thought of how Chloe had been trying to contain herself the last time Lois had seen her with Davis. Good for her. “I knew that petite frame had some Lane in it.”
“Yeah, well… it was her choice. That’s what’s important.”
“And now apparently I have two servings of kolach. Want to have one, save you from myself?”
“Sure.” Clark paused in the doorway. “Lois, how do you feel about monster movies?”
“Can’t stand ‘em.”
“Me either.”
***
Chloe felt a beast nibbling on her arm. “If you don’t stop that, I’m going to have to get out of this bed and ravish you.”
“Then won’t I be sorry.” With one last peck, Davis crawled under the sheets with her, standing a pillow up against the headboard and sitting back against it, not yet tired enough to be horizontal. “I love when I come home from a long shift and you’re still up.”
“Enjoy it while it lasts. Now that I have someone to keep me warm, I’m going right to sleep.”
Davis obligingly folded an arm under her, letting Chloe melt against his side. “Maybe I should hold up on fixing the AC another week.”
“Maybe I should hire an actual repairman.”
“He’d never offer as many services as I do.”
“Bet he’d charge less.”
It’d been a year since they’d fled Metropolis. Davis had quit his career as an EMT, saying he’d had enough excitement in his life, to become a trauma surgeon. Chloe had gotten a job as a columnist for the Daily Globe. Watchtower and the Isis Foundation were still a part of her life, but just a part. Like Davis, and reporting. Or letters to Clark.
Five months after she’d left, the Red Blue Blur had gotten a new costume and a new name. If Chloe were still in Metropolis, she would have told Clark to wear his underwear on the inside, but she supposed it didn’t matter. He looked at Lois now like she used to look at him. Only she didn’t look at Clark anymore.
She sometimes thought about what it would be like if Clark had returned her feelings. Not as often as she used to, but sometimes. And she always decided it wouldn’t be as nice as the quiet moments she had discovered with Davis, moments of friendship, moments of happiness.
“So, did my hero save any lives today?” she teased.
“Two,” Davis said, too quick. Because it wasn’t like it was his ego that made him keep track.
Chloe laid her head down on Davis’s chest, feeling it rise and fall, his heart sending tremors into her jawbone. She’d felt him lose himself in her enough times to know when he was free and when he was holding something back. It always made his muscles tense, like he had to be ready to fight something down.
She let her breath stir his chest hair three times before saying “Then why are you acting like someone died?”
“Because someone did die, Chloe. A lot of someones.”
Chloe could feel him stiffening into a statue, like he was ready to push her away. She wrapped her arms around him and rose up to look him in the eye. “And how many people do you have to save before you stop blaming yourself? Double the people who died on Doomsday? Triple? I’d just like to know so I can plan when I have my husband back.”
“I’m sorry if I haven’t been a good husband,” Davis began, his voice so fragile Chloe thought it would crack if he had to go on.
“You have been…”
“But this is just something I’ll have to live with,” he said over her. “For months, I blocked it out, but then they brought in a hit and run. High school student. He was all smashed up and I could barely operate on him. All I could think was that he could have been one of mine.”
Chloe kissed him, knowing he wouldn’t, couldn’t respond. She kissed his lips and cheek and forehead and lips again, as if she could infuse him with sheer love. “I wish I could’ve taken your pain along with the Beast. But since I can’t, could you do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Add another name to your list. Mine. Because you saved my life, Davis. I’ll always love you for that. Even if I wish you would believe redemption was possible.”
“I believe.” He finally put his arms around her, guiding her back down onto his chest where he could nestle her body against his, petting her hair like it was spun gold. “You’re my redemption, Chloe. The agent of it, the proof of it, the fact of it… but that’s not why I love you.”
“Then why?”
”Haven’t you figured it out by now?”
“Yes. But I like hearing you say it.”
He brushed the hair away from her ear, tilted his head down, and whispered the reasons he loved her until he was drifting asleep, beyond the reach of nightmares.
