Before Sunset (Part Forty - Epilogue)

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Now for the end!

Set after Thirst.

Part 40 (Epilogue)

Chloe rolled over, sighing at the darkening sky. "Who'd have thought? I like camping."

"Told you I was an expert camper." Clark stretched his arms outside the sleeping bag. "Just need the right equipment and guidance."

"Yeah, well, the assurance that you can pack up and speed us out of here at the first sign of bears helps."

"I told you, there are hardly any bears in Kansas."

"And I told you about the DP's story about that bear that refused to leave that yard and..."

"And it was only written up because there are hardly any bears in Kansas. But fine. Live your life in deadly fear of bears."

"I will. Thank you," she said on a slight shiver.

He just chuckled and pulled up the zipper on his side. It was getting chillier. Not that he could feel it, but he could feel the gooseflesh on her skin. "Anyway, no work talk. You promised." Ever since she'd won her internship back at The Daily Planet, Chloe was full of deadly statistics and depressing tales of corruption. It was like a constant stream of information he never needed to know.

"Jealous of my new boyfriend?"

"That would be a waste of my time," he said, rubbing light circles on her back. "You were chasing after the Planet long before you were chasing me."

She poked at his side. "Imagine that hurts for me."

"Hey, I'm not complaining. Glad to be caught."

She leaned over him. "This was a good idea. I mean, not that we absolutely needed to be in the open air. You're doing much better."

He rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding? After last week?"

"I personally think the barn needed a skylight," she said, nuzzling his shoulder. "But I'm serious." She turned his face to hers. "I think you actually had your eyes open at the end. And the ozone layer isn't sizzling, so..."

"Well, I've been doing my homework." Most of which involved Chloe on the other end of a phone and a way with words that could have landed her a job at an entirely different kind of publication.

"Speaking of homework..."

"Chloe," he groaned. 

"Well, I only think..."

"I have a farm to help run, I'm assisting a professor, and I have classes of my own. How am I supposed to find time to audit yours?"

"It's only on Tuesdays and Thursdays and you should hear the way Professor Mochrie talks. It's got me so much more passionate about investigative journalism and..."

"Breathing gets you so passionate about journalism. I don't know. I mean, all those years on the Torch... sometimes I think, deep down, I only did it to be close to you." He gave her what he hoped was a winning smile.

She rolled her eyes. "Very cute. But flattering me won't change my mind. I want to work together again."

"In the last two weeks, we've saved Smallville's marine life, saved Lana from a vampire sorority, not to mention keeping tabs on the spaceship."

"Yes. But think of how much more fun all that would be if it were official," she said on a grin.

"You have strange ideas about fun." He pulled her in, replaying that moment when he held her limp body in his hands. "Anyway, can we not argue? Who knows when we'll get to be alone together again. Now that you had go and invite Lana to move in..."

"I thought you didn't want to argue," she broke in.

"Well, it's weird."

"There's kind of nothing about our lives that isn't weird. Rooming with Lana's comparitively normal. Anyway, we're all getting along and she's letting me put the Wall of Weird back up and she gives me bags and bags of free coffee. Argument over. I win." 

"One of these days, I will find something to top free coffee."

She suddenly sat up, gasping and shivering. "What time is it?"

"I don't know. Dark?"

Chloe grabbed his arm and glanced at his watch. "We're gonna be late. Come on. We've promised Lana we'd help with decorations."

He pulled her back down again. "The fundraiser's not till Sunday."

"Clark, it is Sunday."

"Damn it." He quickly moved around their campsite, tossing various clothes in her direction and the rest on himself. "I feel like we had hardly any time."

She poked her head out of the bag, shivering as she pulled on her bra. "Maybe because our first time camping was a horrifying race for survival." 

"Not all of it was horrifying," he said, throwing her a glance as he made quick, but messy work of the tent. "I mean, not in the end."

"Does that mean you're going to talk to him?"

He stilled. "I will when I'm ready."

"Clark..."

"You're the one who freaked out when I..."

"When you planned on getting dropped in the middle of the tundra and risk your life without telling me? Of course I did." She moved to him, pulling on her jacket. "But it's different now. And you said he said there were dark times or darkness and..."

"And it's probably more of his head games." He took her by the shoulders. "Listen, I'm all for using what I can do to do good. I'm even learning to be okay with what I am, but if I hear the word destiny one more time..."

"Clark, he's the only link you have to answers. Also, he did save your life..."

"Which was only in danger because he..."

"And he seems to have sucked most of the evil out of Lionel Luthor. I almost want to send him a muffin basket... or maybe a virtual one."

"Did you know he called you a weakness? Well, not you specifically, but... Remember, he tried to snow you to death. Still love him now?"

"Eh, he's a program. They're always a little glitchy. It's like when my computer tries to tell me my printer's out of ink. It's just being a brat, so you keep repeating the command until it..."

"So Jor-El is a bratty printer now?"

"He's a link," she said, gripping him back. "He may have some programming flaws in the operating system, but there must be a way to bypass them to get to the truth. Clark, don't you think he might need to know about the ship?"

He stared at her. He had nothing to say to that. She always had a way of putting things that made it damned hard to argue with her. So he kissed her.

She briefly kissed him back before pulling away. "Don't change the subject."

"I have to," he said, sliding hand under her shirt. "It's just you're so cute when you talk crazy."

She frowned. "You know I'm right."

"Well, we'll see," he murmured, pulling her closer and nibbling at her neck.

"Yes. You will see," she grumbled, but she tilted her head to give him better access. "We have to be at the Talon in less than twenty minutes."

"I'll make this quick."

"Oh, that's tempting," she said on a giggle, then she really did push him away. "But no. Town Hall is not going to restore itself."

He groaned, but released her. "You think Lana seems okay now? I mean, she's still going on with the astronomy, but..."

"Well, I think maybe that's just reassuring for her. After what she went through and all. I mean, anyone would snap. But she seems less... jumpy now, I guess."

"You went through a lot of the same things and you never snapped."

Chloe shrugged and started rolling up the sleeping bag. "Well, we're very different people."

"Yeah, you are." Sometimes he wondered what things would be like if none if it had happened. If, right now, he were with Lana and still desperately wishing he were different, normal. But a wise woman once told him being normal was highly overrated and he was starting to believe her. And all that guilt about the trouble he'd brought to this town, the guilt that had made him try for so long to make it up to Lana? That same wise woman had been telling him to stop feeling responsible for things he had no control over. He wondered if he'd have paid so much attention to what this wise woman said if he didn't get to see her naked. He'd like to think so, but he kind of doubted it. 

"Why are you so quiet?" She stood and crossed her arms. "Clark Kent, if you are moping about something, I swear..."

"I'm not," he said truthfully, moving to her. "I'm thinking about you. For some reason, I can't even dredge up a mope when I think about you." He brushed the hair off her forehead.

She stared up at him, then pushed at his chest. "You jerk."

"What?"

"We just got dressed," she grumbled, roughly shrugging off her jacket.

"I wasn't..."

"And I just rolled this damned thing up," she said, stomping over to the sleeping bag and ripping at the ties. 

He laughed. "I was only saying..."

"Yeah, yeah. You'll say anything to get your way." She pushed the bag open and moved to him. "Well, fine. But I'm not happy." She grabbed him by the collar and jerked him down to her.

"I am," he said, smiling against her lips. 

And he meant it. In every way.

****************************

"You look pleased with yourself."

Lana turned, her smile dropping as she saw Lex moving to her with a glass of wine. The Talon didn't have a liquor license, but she'd been granted one for just this night. She thought the Town Hall fund would be a little fatter if people were feeling relaxed and generous. "I am," she said, pasting a new, brittle smile on, looking away from him and over the dancing crowd. It had to be most of the town by now and a few ex-pats. Even Nell had shown up. "We've got half the money needed."

"I might be willing to cover the other half."

"Why?" She turned to him with a scowl. "So you can rename it Luthor Hall?"

He chuckled. "Maybe just a plaque. If you were so eager to restore it, you'd accept my help."

"I'm doing just fine without your help," she said tightly. "In every way." .

"Oh, so that was some other meteor-infected vampire that broke through my slylight and knocked me out and..."

"None of that was in my control."

"None of that would have happened," he countered, "if we were working together."

"I'm glad it did," she said, shrugging. 

"Why's that?"

Because she didn't remember everything about that day, but she did remember sinking her teeth in a certain ex-boyfriend of hers. He'd tasted like power... and answers. But she wouldn't tell Lex that. "Just a life lesson, I guess," she said, keeping her smile. "And it brought me and my actualfriends closer together." She glanced at Clark, laughing at something Chloe said under the staircase. It still hurt sometimes, but with a duller ache each day. Maybe it helped that she was starting to see them as they really were, maybe were all along -- coconspirators. And she hated the idea of it, but it seemed inescapable. Still, it was best to keep them close.

"Oh, yes. I hear you and Chloe are going to be sharing a room. Don't try to tell me that's all about girl talk and pillow fights."

"Whatever my reasons are," she said, lifting her chin, "they're none of your business. I don't need your help, Lex."

"Maybe I need yours."

"And maybe you'll never get it." She dropped her smile. "Do you really expect me to tell you anything when you tell me nothing but lies?"

"I would give you truth," he said, pulling out his check book, "if I knew I could trust you with it."

"Trust goes both ways."

"I'm aware of that," he said, folding the check carefully. "So call this a gesture of good faith." He smiled. "Great party."

She waited until he walked away before she looked. Not at the check, but the slip of paper he'd folded inside it. 

Warehouse 25. Metropolis loading docks. Midnight.

She nearly crumpled it in her hand before she saw the tiny scrawl beneath it.

Black ship.

She caught his eyes across the room and nodded.

He smiled and lifted his glass.

She felt her stomach drop as she shifted her gaze to Clark and Chloe. She had no clear idea what it all meant, whether she was actually working... against them in all this. They'd all been friends for so long. She pushed away the sickened feeling and pulled a candle closer, burning the note. Friends trusted each other. Friends didn't hide things. 

She glanced at Lex again, wondering if he might turn out to be the better friend. 

It might not be the strangest thing that had happened in Smallville, but it was close.

The End


I know, I know. That ending sounds like a kind of cliff-hanger, doesn't it? Really, I just wanted to set up the idea that the adventure continues and it'll be Chlark vs. Lexana, which I personally think would have made for a more interesting season 5. 

I might return to this one at some point. But for now I'll leave you all to imagine how the rest of season five might have gone in a world where the crazy crap that happens to Lana is orchestrated by her and Lex and where Clark and Chloe are a team in every way and regularly foil team Lexana while also handily trouncing Brainiac here and there and where, should Jonathon die, it will not be because Jor-El is a giant douche. 

I'd like to thank you all for sticking with me as I took FOREVER to finish this thing. I started with the idea of powerless Clark and Chloe are stuck in the arctic. Whatever will they do to keep warm?  


Then I realized that I couldn't end it without restoring his powers and dealing with the fall-out. In the end, this thing is about 150K, which is about a novel and a half. Yikes! But I'm pleased with it. My only regret is that it wasn't finished two years ago. 

Thanks again for reading!