Not the Wall of Weird

It felt as if everything had been falling apart around her these past few days. Nothing, nothing was going right since she told Lionel Luthor that she had quit. Chloe wasn’t going to be his slave anymore – she wasn’t going to betray her best friend. Because something Chloe had come to learn these past five months was that she wasn’t that sort of person. Or, at least, that wasn’t the person Chloe had hoped to be as she grew up.

The adult a six-year-old Chloe Sullivan hoped to grow into wasn’t necessarily honest. But she was fair, and loyal. Good at words and with people, and curious to a point. Even at six years, she knew that line between right and wrong; she had learned it when trying to ‘report’ the ‘daily news’ to her kindergarten class and spilled a secret her best friend Martha had shared with her earlier that day. She knew the lines: the adult Chloe wanted to grow in new never to betray the trust of a friend, never, no matter what the cost.

But that wasn’t the adult she was now. The adult she was now was selfish. She’d spy on her friend for someone she knew shouldn’t be trusted. She’d do nothing but protect her column at the Daily Planet and continue running the Torch at Smallville. This Chloe couldn’t be trusted – wasn’t the idealistic reporter with that plucky streak in her. She was something darker, something without those friendships that once defined her life.

She was done with being that Chloe.

It’s not what she told Lionel when she said she wasn’t going to work with him anymore. It was what prompted her decision into letting Lex help her beat back his father. But that didn’t matter. Nothing really seemed to matter anymore.

I may have lost my sight, but things are becoming much clearer now. Exactly how long have you and Lionel been looking into my life?

Since last spring. The day after Lex's wedding.

When you saw me and Lana together. Is that why you did this? Your silence is deafening. What did you give him?

Nothing. Nothing he didn't already know.

And if the Torch got a few new computers and you made a name for yourself at the Daily Planet, that was okay too. For all the times you accused me of keeping secrets, how could you do this to me?!

He knew somehow. Clark hated her now. Jimmy was in Metropolis, and Riley? Riley was god knew where – in some alternate universe, probably hating her too for never returning. And it was only a matter of time before Clark told Pete, and then told Lana and then Chloe’s world would be empty. Because as much as reporting was her life, what was the point if you didn’t have those friends to share your triumphs with?

Clark finding out about that deal with Lionel wasn’t all that bad in comparison with what happened next, a couple of days later. She could handle Clark and she could handle Pete and them knowing about her deal because it was over. And it was never going to happen again. Chloe Sullivan was never going to trade her friends’ trust for a column at the Planet ever again. She learned that lesson once in kindergarten, and now at age seventeen, she had learned it all over again.

Because even as everything had been falling apart lately, today Chloe’s world imploded around her.

He had summoned her to Metropolis the day before. And that’s when all began to shatter into pieces. Because when she went, and she faced him with everything she could, it did no good. She told him he could keep the column – she had another, more important article she had been working on instead. A way more important piece.

Chloe Sullivan had found a way to threaten the devil.

And maybe that was her flaw. Maybe she shouldn’t have let him know that just yet.

Today Chloe’s world imploded around her.

Chloe, what's the matter?

I just lost my Daily Planet column.

What? Why?

They didn't exactly spell it out on the pink slip. And in the "when it rains, it pours" category, my dad just got laid off from his job at LuthorCorp this morning.

When it rained, it really did pour. Everything collapsed and shattered and imploded around her. Her life was gone – instantly. Her column stripped, her dad jobless. What was next? Lionel Luthor was capable of anything. And even if maybe someday, Clark would learn to trust her again, she knew it wouldn’t be enough to save her. She doubted even Lex would be able to save her.

Five months ago, Chloe Sullivan had given up on being the adult she had hoped to grow into and had made a deal with the devil.

The thing about making deals with the devil though is that someway, somehow, they always get you in the end.

So how'd you decide? Rock-paper-scissors, coin toss, or did you just happen to draw the short straw?

It still hurts to think about the choice he made. And how he couldn’t find it in him to tell her. She would’ve understood, because there’s Riley. Well, there was Riley, sort of. If she could ever find her way back to Milliways. But he didn’t tell her. She had to find out herself, walk in on Clark and Lana engaged in some serious lip-lock and get that stab of pain that sometimes came when she thought about Riley or Clark.

He was her best friend and he couldn’t be honest with her. And that’s why she was here now. Here where she shouldn’t be, ready to turn her soul over to the devil.

Maybe it was better that she couldn’t get back to Milliways. Then at least he couldn’t find out.

Or was it just that it was too much fun making a fool of me that you couldn't reveal your secret? Have a nice life, Clark.

So she sits there in that beautiful study in the Luthor mansion, her hands gripping a glass of tea in her hand. She sits there, blankly, thinking back on her earlier discussion with Clark and the words that were said. She couldn’t remember ever being that angry with someone. But then again, she had never been betrayed quite like that before. And she had trusted Clark with just about everything. She even tried telling him about Milliways on a number of occasions!

It wasn’t her fault that all Clark could see was raven hair and doe eyes.

“ I'm glad you finally decided to accept my offer. You know, don't you, that you have a very exciting future ahead of you, Miss Sullivan.”

You wouldn’t think Lionel Luthor was the devil just by looking at him on first glance. Maybe if you studied long enough, she decided, and noticed those eyes- that those eyes were nothing but cold steel. The long mane of hair and the beard completed the ensemble and maybe, just maybe, there was something in his demeanor that told you to stay away.

But it was a column in the Daily Planet. And in exchange, well, it’s not like Clark trusted her anyway. It was time to give him a reason.

“Well, opportunities like this aren't dropped on your doorstep every day,” she hears herself say. It’s almost surreal. The past seems more real than her present. Maybe because every instinct she has tells her she’s making a mistake.

“Why the sudden change of heart?”

“You were right about Clark,” she replies, emotionally detached. “He wasn't who I thought he was.”

Or maybe because she knows that she’s really crossing the line now. This wasn’t good journalistic instinct. This was just wrong.

Lionel Luthor utters an unsurprised, “Oh,” and she continues talking, needing to hear herself speak to fight away the doubts and uncertainties: “I'm surprised I hadn't noticed earlier. So much for my crack journalistic instinct.”

“No, no, love has a way of blinding even the sharpest minds. We don't look because we don't want to see.” He says everything so reasonably. No wonder people listen to him. No wonder people fear him. “But once love has been stripped away, then we see the real person clearly. They're revealed to us with all their flaws, their foibles, and their secrets.”

She blinks and she knows she’s not stoic anymore. She’s afraid and nervous and knows she’s making the wrong choice but it’s too late now. It’s not love doing this – she doesn’t love Clark in that way, not anymore. It’s a lack of choices, it’s a lack of belonging. He wasn’t who she thought she was, and now she wants to know why.

Then, Lionel Luthor looks down at his watch and back up at her. Calculating. Serene. “Oh, I've got a meeting. I'm sorry to rush you out like this.”

So she stands, placing the tea cup back on the table and clutching her purse tightly to her chest like a lifeline. It’s not a lifeline. She is, for lack of a better term, doomed.

“It’s fine,” she hears herself say again, that out of body experience returning. It lasts all the way to the door, as the devil himself sees her out and then she stops and peers up at him. “Mr. Luthor? Why are you so interested in Clark?”

And he just chuckles, and it’s scary. “You don’t expect me to show you all my cards, now do you?”

She tries not to let her face fall, but it’s impossible. “No, I guess not.”

But she wishes she knew. Maybe then she wouldn’t feel like such a traitor. Once again, she wonders what Riley would think and if he’d still accept her. How would Pete feel? Or Clark? Even her own father? But it’s her life and she needs to live it and if a deal with Lionel Luthor will get her her dream, well, Chloe Sullivan had never been one to ignore opportunity knocking.

They reach the door and, ever the gentleman in disguise, Lionel Luthor opens it for her. “All will be revealed in good time, Miss Sullivan.”

And that gets a smile, one of the more genuine ones she’s had in weeks. Because in this entire conversation, those are the only words that ring true to her.

“Thank you, Mr. Luthor.”

And the deal’s done.

After Chloe leads Riley through the door, she lets go of his hand, walking towards a bed in the central of the room. It's scarlett and purple - same with the window shades - and while the room looks somewhat bare, Chloe's personality is definately there.

On one wall, there are clippings from the Smallville Ledger - mostly of the weird and paranormal events happening back home in Smallville. On the desk is a laptop and a few books, as well as a photograph in a frame of Chloe with Pete and Clark.

The closet is closed and, for the most part, the room looks neat and organized. But there is that shirt sticking out from a crack, and those boots lying messily to the side.

She turns and smiles at him, shrugging as she gestures to the room. "So?"

“Guys, I’m serious about this!” Chloe whirls around as she walks to face her two companions, gesturing eagerly as they walk down the now empty hallway of Smallville High. “I’m not making it up.”

“Chlo, you know we love you,” Pete begins, pushing the door to the Torch office open, “but there are some things that not even we’re that gulliable about. Right, Clark?”

Clark shifted his feet uncomfortably as Pete punched his shoulder, shrugging by the entrance way. “I guess.”

“Clark, man, you’ve got to give me more than that.”

From her desk, Chloe looks up, her dangling earrings shaking with her head. “I can’t believe you. Either of you. You’d think after all the weird things we’ve seen in this leafy little hamlet you two would know better.”

Pete grins, nudging Clark again. “Looks like someone’s weird-o-meter is about to reach deathcon five again. What is it this time, Chloe? Another meteor rock? Cow grew an extra head?”

“Maybe it’s a spaceship,” the taller teenager replies weakly, his eyes darting around the Wall of Weird for a second or two. “Or, um, not?”

Chloe rolls her eyes, shaking her head again. She bends down to reach in to the bottom drawer, pulling out a long, narrow object wrapped in a blue blanket. “I thought you promised to appreciate me. Both of you. This? Isn’t it.”

Pete laughs and walks over to her desk. He places a hand on Chloe’s shoulder and looks at her skeptically before his eyes dart over to the bundle she pulled out. “Okay, what is it?”

“Never underestimate the power of ingenuity,” Chloe comments, turning her head to smirk smugly at both of them. “I swapped a pencil for this. Wait till you see it!”

Without waiting for another comment from either of them, she unveils the blastsword, dropping the blanket down on to the computer keyboard and holding the weapon up brightly. The meter long, curved metal object resembles a normal sword until reaching the tip, which looked more like a flared nozzle than anything else.

Clark and Pete exchange glances.

“Chloe? What is that?” Clark asks, blinking. His eyebrows furrow and a frown fills his face.

Pete laughs again, shaking his head. “Looks like someone raided the studio warehouse. Spending too much time on eBay, Chloe?”

She glowers at both of them, pushing the bangs out of her eyes with her free hand. “It’s not a prop, Pete. And it’s a sword, Clark. Don’t tell me that farmboy naivety runs past the farm.”

Clark blinks and presses his lips in a wry smile. “A…sword?”

“Yes, a sword,” Chloe repeats, exasperated. She holds it up again, waving it carefully above her lime colored Mac computer. “A blastsword to be exact. It’s from…actually I don’t know where it’s from. But it’s not from Earth.”

Pete’s eyebrows raise and lower. “Unless you took a side trip to the nearest Galactic Mart on the way to school this morning…”

“You traded a pencil for that?” Clark throws in, still blinking confusedly at it. “From who?”

“A good reporter never reveals her informants. Just watch.” She raises her eyebrows and grins at them, fingering for the switch on the handle. “It’s just here somewhere,” Chloe mutters, squinting at the device. “Just wai—there it is.”

Chloe grins at them again, and pushes down on something unseen by her two friends. “Ta-da!”

“Uh, Chlo? Is it supposed to do something?”

The high school reporter frowns and looks down at her device, giving it a few hard shakes in the air. “It’s supposed to glow. This crazy blue color.”

“Looks like it’s busted.” Pete smirks, crossing his arms over his chest. “Nice one Chloe, hey Clark?”

Clark flashes her a sympathetic smile and nods slowly. “Sorry.”

She eyes them both for a long moment before shrugging, and turning the blastsword off. “I guess you win some and lose some,” Chloe says with a slight laugh, forcing a smile on her face. “But next time, I swear, you guys aren’t going to be so lucky.”

“Stick with the meteorites, Chloe,” Pete says, grabbing on to Clark’s arm and pulling him towards the office room exit. “We’ll see you later.”

Clark smiles at her again, then turns around to follow Pete out. With another sigh, Chloe slowly begins to wrap up the blastsword to store in her desk until her next trip back to Milliways. Wes Janson was going to have some serious explaining to do.