Restless Nights (Chapter Six)

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PREVIOUS CHAPTER

Sorry it took me so long to get back here. I had lots going on, real life-wise. 

And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,

Chapter 6

“Just hold still.”

Chloe obeyed, of course, even with the slight stinging pain of the needle. It was all she’d been doing for days now. Just holding still. Obeying.

When Dinah chirped at her, talking about everything but the situation, she listened quietly. 

When Bart fed her samples of everything he could whip up, she dutifully took in every bite.

And when Emil poked and prodded her, she sat there… or laid there, depending on what he was doing.

“What are you doing?” she asked dully. She didn’t really want to know, but felt she should want to.

“Amniocentesis,” Emil answered, transferring a needle full of fluid into a tube. “We’re going to analyze your amniotic fluid and…”

“Thank you. That’s enough.” She didn’t like these words. These very pregnant words. Amniotic, ultrasound, fetus. They didn’t apply to her, really, but to…

Emil turned to her. “Chloe, you need to…”

“Rest, right?” she cut in. “I need to rest tonight. That’s all I actually need to do.”

“Well… Yes. Physically.”

“Can I sit up?”

“Just take it slow,” he said after a moment, offering a hand.

She took it and pulled her legs over the side of the table in Emil’s medical bay. It was very neat, not at all like his cluttered office, all gleaming surfaces and bright lights. 

“I’ll take this to the lab myself and…”

“Yes, you do that,” she cut in. “Thank you.” She didn’t want to know much beyond that. “What do I need with dinner?”

He sighed. “I gave Bart your pills. I figured, as he’s taking care of your meals… You know, tell him to go easy on cured meats, with the nitrates, and obviously, the…”

“Caffeine, I know. Just one cup,” she droned. He seemed to always remind her. Coffee. All her life with it in limitless supply and now… just a cup that would dwindle to a half at some dreaded point. “Can I go?”

Emil hesitated. “Sure,” he finally said. 

She hopped off and moved to the door.

“Chloe?”

She turned back.

“I’ll take good care of you. I'll be here through this. Don’t worry.”

She smiled. “Not worried at all.” 

What was there to worry about? Women had been doing this for ages, hadn’t they? Her body had been specifically designed for just this, hadn’t it? This was just… nothing to worry about.

Except when she thought about it. When she thought of those few moments with Davis, the absentee father in all this, wondering what exactly was inside her. Because there was more than just Davis in that room, there was the beast hovering at the edges… and maybe not just of her mind. Emil had poked and prodded and sampled and swabbed… but what had he found? 

She didn’t want to know. Because then she had to worry about it, worry the way everyone else did… everyone that wasn’t Emil endlessly testing, Dinah determinedly chattering, and Bart constantly feeding.

There was Victor, sometimes staring at her stomach fearfully whenever she passed as if he expected a creature to rip directly out of it.

There was Oliver, trying to meet her eyes, trying to smile, failing at both.

And there was Clark. His reaction seemed to say it all. He wasn’t there.

She sometimes heard that he checked in for patrol . Otherwise, he was nowhere to be found.

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

Tess wasn’t even sure Clark would be here and belatedly wondered why she was bothering. But it was days and several unanswered calls later and she had to try.

Tess didn’t contact Queen. Having dealt with him all spring on this merger of theirs, she’d become more than a little worn out with his constant lateness, functional alcoholism, and flippant seduction techniques. Beyond signing the paperwork, she didn’t want to bother with him.

But she did find it curious, why Lex seemed so confident that Oliver Queen had some kind of “in” with Sullivan and Kent. She doubted Oliver would be any more forthcoming than Lex about just why yet another billionaire shared some strange connection to the farm boy and his tiny blonde pal.

She was getting a little sick of the run-around. She supposed that was why she found herself pulling down the dirt drive of Kent’s farm. It wasn’t as if she wouldn’t get another version of the run-around, but Kent was such a horrifically bad liar that she always left him feeling she knew a little more than before. 

Of course, she had to remind herself that she wasn’t there for answers. She was there for recruitment, ridiculous as it seemed. The answers were just a personal bonus. She saw his truck in the drive, but knew that meant nothing, from what she knew of Clark and just what he could do. He could be anywhere. 

Still, if he wasn’t home, that was just as well. It had been some time since she’d had a good look around the Kent Farm. 

But he was. He emerged from the barn before she’d even stopped her engine. She choked on the humid air as she opened her door, feeling sweat immediately break out on her face. He approached and she noted he looked dry as a bone except for the oil on his hands. Interesting. She’d wondered if the invulnerability Lionel’s journal spoke of applied to mundane things like summer heat. 

“I’ve been wondering exactly what you’re doing with your days now,” she said, pasting on a smile as he approached, wiping his hands on a rag. “Tractor repair?”

He shook his head. “Wood chipper. Something’s jammed in the machinery. Any reason you’re here?” He looked tired, annoyed, as if this was the last thing he wanted. Good. She liked him better off-balance. 

“Well, I was looking over our personnel files and noticed a discrepancy. Mind if I come in?” She moved past him into the barn.

“What disc…”

“You know, the last time I was here,” she said, looking around, “we had the most honest talk we ever did. I’m kind of hoping we can continue in that vein.”

“Is that what you’d call it?” Clark sighed and moved past her, back to what she supposed was his wood chipper. “I thought you were being kind of cryptic, talking about secrets and destiny and civilizations that depended on me destroying a beast and all kinds of crazy…” 

“Well, the beast is gone. It seems you took care of things, didn’t you?”

She heard his very obviously forced laugh. “Me?”

“Listen, keep dancing around the issue all you want, but I’m not in the mood.” She really wasn’t. It was damned hot in here. “The facts are that I know your secret, however much you deny it and I have done nothing to harm you.” It was true. Even with Lex out and about and very much alive, Clark had remained untouched. “I’m not saying that means you owe me anything, not even the benefit of the doubt,” she said lightly, “just heavily implying it.”

He turned to her. “Why are you here, Tess?” he asked again.

“Like I said, I was looking over The Daily Planet’s personnel files and noticed that at least two reporters left without proper notice. Just stopped showing up.”

“It took you this long to notice?” 

Another question. As bad as he was at lying, he was an expert at dodging the truth. “It just took me this long to care. You left without filing any of the proper paperwork.” So had Lane, actually, though she’d been effectively terminated the moment her fist met Tess’ face. The less said about that, the better. “And we’re under-staffed.”

He shrugged. “Seems the paper’s still getting out.”

She scoffed. “Well, thanks for caring. You know, it’s not every day this kind of work opportunity comes to someone without a degree and whose only experience was on a high school paper.”

“Then why did you hire me?”

To keep an eye on you. “To keep an eye on you,” she finally said, trying for honesty again. It seemed to keep him off balance like nothing else. “And now I know why. Now I know your secret. Now I know what you do. If you’ve been staying away because you think I’ll do something with what I know, then at least notice that I haven’t done a thing." She held his eyes now, steadily. "Come back to The Planet.”

“I have other things to…”

“Yes, I know what you do. I also know you’d do it more efficiently in the city. And I’m willing, as I’ve shown, to turn a blind eye to it.” She smiled. “And I also might think someone with your… special talents might prove a real asset to a newspaper. You’ve put in enough time in the basement. I could move you to the main bullpen.”

He stared at her for a long time. “It was a great opportunity,” he said slowly, “but I’m no longer interested in journalism. Thank you for the offer.”

“Well, you can’t say I didn’t try.” She dropped her smile as he turned away. This wasn’t over. “While I’m here, do you have a number for Sullivan?”

He turned back sharply. “Chloe?”

“No, the other one.” She forced a laugh. “Yours wasn’t the only unresolved file I looked into. From what I hear, she earned her degree in night school and clocked more than two years at The Planet before being fired on, what I’ve learned, are some very trumped-up grounds.” She smiled. “And I heard she’s back in town.”

His eyes narrowed. “From where?”

“From the fact that the man-beast she was running around with showed up again,” she said, trying honesty again, holding his stare. “Like I said, I’m assuming you took care of things and saved the damsel. No judgment. But I need staff.”

“She’s not interested,” he said, turning back to his tools.

“You’re sure about that, huh?”

“I know Chloe… well enough.” 

Tess noted the hesitation. “Well, you know where I am if you change your mind.” She sighed loudly. “I did try.”

She tried honesty. She tried enticement. She even tried understanding. Nothing. 

But she wasn’t done. She’d just have to work on Sullivan. Maybe Lex was right. Maybe Queen was the way in.

“Good to see you, Clark,” she called over her shoulder as she walked away.

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

“It’s a good thing you’re back,” Chloe heard Bart hiss loudly. “This place is like a tomb. Maybe you can help me liven things up.”

“Yes. That’s what I’m known for,” John Jones said dryly.

“Well, I’m getting no help from Mutey, over here.” Bart winked at Chloe across the table. “Hasn’t said a word about the peach cobbler I slaved over. You might note the hint of nutmeg. I’ve been experimenting with flavor combinations and…”

“It’s very good,” Chloe cut in quickly, taking a bite to avoid talking any more and in vain hope it would cut off the constant stream of babble. She knew what Bart was trying to do. She could even appreciate it if it wasn’t horribly annoying. Did he expect her to laugh it up, laugh at all? She wished everyone would just stop trying to make her feel better. 

Of course, by everyone, she mostly meant Bart and Dinah. The rest of the little dinner crowd, thankfully, seemed to share her preference for silence. They, at least, seemed to understand this was a miserable situation and trying to put a happy face on it was pointless.

“So you’re all better now?” Dinah chirped at Jones. 

Of course. Silence was just not allowed.

“Yes. Some time spent on my home planet was…”

“Yeah, yeah. So you read minds, right?” she asked in a rush.

“If you want to put it so…”

“What number am I thinking of?”

“I’m not much for parlor tricks, but I think it’s a nine.” He sighed and stood. “It’s not easy to read with all the other thoughts clouding it over. You all seem to think avoiding the situation is best, but I strongly disagree.”

Oliver put down his fork. “We’re not avoiding anything. Emil’s been running tests and we’re all just… taking time to adjust.”

“No. You’re all deciding what’s best in your own minds without discussing it with the person most affected.” He shook his head. “I don’t like to intrude on personal thoughts, but you’re all rather loud and it’s hard to avoid. Putting this discussion off any longer is doing no one any good.”

Oliver pushed his plate away. “We were planning on having a meeting tonight.”

“Yes. After Chloe’s asleep,” Dinah sneered, “which you know I don’t agree with.”

“I just think it’s best not to upset her in her condition.”

“It’s her condition and her body we’re discussing, so I think she deserves to be part of the discussion more than anyone.”

Chloe just stared at her plate, not sure if she agreed with Dinah. She’d rather not be part of any discussion of this.

“Well, everyone is here now,” Jones said. “So why not get some of this…”

“Not Clark,” Victor supplied.

“He is,” Jones said tiredly. “He’s outside the door, trying to avoid this conversation.”

Sure enough, Clark slumped in, staring at the ground.

“Well, Emil’s on shift at the hospital,” Oliver put in weakly. Then he stood. “But he should be back soon. So we’ll meet in the control room in twenty.”

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

It was strange, the whole gang together for something like this. It should be for something huge, some world-ending catastrophe, not for something that was so small, it barely seemed real -- something that was, at most, three and a half inches long, according to Emil. 

“…and the the cheekbones are visible,” Emil droned. “The first hair is appearing. Just…”

Oliver lifted a hand. “Can I stop you for a second?”

“Sure.”

“This is the kind of thing we can get from one of those What to Expect books. I feel like what we really want to know is… what we’re dealing with.”

“That’s what I’m trying to say. This fetus has progressed normally for this… gestational age.”

“So it’s… human?” Dinah asked.

“Like I said, we’re at a stage where it’s hard to tell whether there is anything abnormal developing.”

“So it’s not?” 

“Well, it…” Emil let out a long breath. “It’s hard to tell. Right now, I’m only eighty percent sure of the sex, let alone any other developments.”

John grunted next to her and Chloe noticed he was rubbing at his temples. “You okay?” she asked, kind of grateful for the distraction.

“Some of the machinery in here must be emitting some low-level buzz. Maybe I’m just readjusting. I’ve been without my powers for some time. I’m fine. It’s just interfering with my ability to concentrate.”

“Probably doesn’t help that Emil is boring us to tears,” Bart hissed loudly on Chloe’s other side. “Right?”

“I heard that,” Emil said, plugging in a flash drive. “But, fine. Here is a visual aid if it helps.”

Chloe braced herself as the monitors came on, then kept her eyes away from them.

“I’ve been taking 3D ultrasounds periodically,” Emil said, “tracking activity and growth.”

“Whoa.” Bart nudged her. “You seeing this?”

“I’m good.” She was expecting some grainy, black and white footage with a cloudy image shaped like a peanut. This looked almost like something… too real.

Dinah gasped. “Is it sucking its thumb?”

“Well, the thumb is near the mouth, but it may just be scratching an itch or...”

"That's even cuter!" Dinah cut him off with a giggle. “Can you tell if it’s a boy or a girl yet?”

“I’m only eighty percent sure, but…”

Oliver stood. “I feel like we’re not getting to the point, here. Emil, you knew about this before any of us.”

Victor nodded. “Exactly. What we don’t get is why you didn’t tell anyone.”

“Well, I assumed that Olsen was the father and that this was Chloe’s business alone.”

“But you must have considered the possibility that…”

“It would still have been Chloe’s business alone,” Dinah said loudly, glaring at Oliver.

“Fine. But the fact is that someone else is the father,” Oliver said tightly. “We need to stop beating around the bush and discuss what to do if it inherits some of his traits.” He took a deep breath. “Do I have to be the one to say it?”

“Wow.” Bart stood and paced to the window. “I’m not touching this.” Clark was at the window, obviously also wanting no part of this discussion. Chloe knew the feeling.

“This is still Chloe’s call,” Dinah said, “no matter…”

“Chloe is the one who could be ripped apart from the inside out if or when this thing decides it takes after…”

“Emil said we don’t know anything for sure…”

“Yes, but to be safe…”

Emil put up a hand. “No, if you think we need to speculate for a worst case scenario, that’s fair. I just think we should approach this rationally. I have given this a good deal of thought, myself and…” He stood and pulled out his flash drive, making the screens blessedly blank. “Here’s the issue… One thing we knew for sure was that any attempts to harm Davis Bloome, even in human form, only backfired. In fact, they made him stronger. If the… offspring has inherited that trait, then attempting anything against it could cause more harm and, incidentally, could strengthen… inherited traits.” He sighed. “Added to that is the reemergence of Chloe’s innate healing ability and whether the embryo is also benefiting from that as, I think I explained before, that ability only reemerged due to the change in hormone levels.”

Oliver rubbed at his eyes. “Can you put that in a nutshell?”

“I don’t think we have any options at this point.”

“So what do we do?” Chloe heard herself saying.

“For now, we keep track of it.” Emil moved closer to her. “I will run every test I can as often as I can. And I will tell you if anything changes. Apart from that, we just… take care of you.”

She felt a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll be on it.” It was Bart. “Anything you crave. I’m kind of a mad culinary genius, so even if it’s something crazy, I…”

Chloe let out a hitching breath. “I just… I think I need to go to bed.” Bart moved as if to help her up, but she shrugged him off. “I’m okay. Talk to me in five months, maybe.” She forced a smile as she moved past him, past Clark, still silent by the window. He opened his mouth, but closed it just as quickly as she moved to the door.

“Chloe?” 

She turned back to Emil.

“Did you want to know the sex?”

Everyone turned to look at Chloe, even Clark, though he said nothing, of course. “I guess… this situation will come with enough surprises,” she said tiredly.

“It’s most likely a boy.”

She nodded. “Good to know.” Except it wasn’t. She wished she didn’t know. Wished she could keep calling it “it.” Wished none of this had happened. 

She cried herself to sleep that night.

CHAPTER SEVEN

This was a hard chapter to write, dealing with a divisive issue and trying to figure out where everyone fell. 

I'm going to update one fic, then finish another, then update this one again and then...

Update Subtraction Time
Finish Almost Series
Update this fic
Update Subtraction Time
3 Chapters of this fic
Start the new one
3 Chapters here
Update Subtraction Time
And so on until this one is finished

Basically, this fic is about to get the front burner.