My Funny Valentine

Clark/Chloe futurefic
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: These characters belong to the CW and DC Comics, not to me.

My funny valentine
Sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with my heart...
"My Funny Valentine," Frank Sinatra

"Men never remember Valentine's Day."

Chloe Sullivan sighed as she took a long, bracing sip of frappuccino. She'd just left the Daily Planet offices, where she worked as a reporter, and met her cousin Lois Lane for an after-work coffee. Lois wrote for the Inquisitor, a tabloid, but the cousins had remained close, and little sense of competition marred their friendly relationship.

Lois grinned as she gulped her own coffee. "Ollie remembered," she said, glowing happily. "He sent flowers. Dozens and dozens of them."

Chloe barely managed to restrain herself from growling. Lois and Oliver Queen had had an on-again, off-again relationship for years. But of course Ollie didn't have any problem remembering Valentine's Day-- he was a billionaire, and he had employees to remind him of this stuff. Chloe was willing to bet her laptop that the person who'd actually sent those flowers was Ollie's secretary.

"That's great, Lois," she answered, uncomfortably aware that she sounded insincere. Fortunately, Lois didn't seem to notice, which was typical. For a supposed investigative reporter, Lois didn't notice much.

"I just wish I could see him tonight." Lois sighed. "But he's always busy with business stuff. He told me he was going to be too busy to fly in from Star City."

"Yeah, Clark's busy, too." Chloe echoed Lois' sigh. Her boyfriend Clark Kent was a journalist at the Daily Planet by day, but he was also a superpowered alien with a savior complex. He'd made his debut as a red-caped superhero last year, dubbed "Superman" by the Daily Planet, and he spent most of his free time patrolling the city, protecting Metropolis and its people.

She understood that dating Superman meant that a lot of holidays would go uncelebrated. At least she knew it intellectually. But emotionally, she hated that he couldn't make the time to spend Valentine's Day with her.

And besides, she thought irritably, he could at least have gotten her a card, or flowers. She'd seen Clark at the office, of course, but he'd seemed oblivious to the date, despite several broad hints on her part. It was their first Valentine's Day together, and she had waited hopefully all day for a dozen red roses, a singing telegram, or some similar cliched sign of devotion. But here it was, well past five-thirty, and she hadn't seen so much as a single rose petal.

Damn it.

"Well, you know Clark..." Lois looked past Chloe, her eyes wide, and whatever derogatory comment she'd been about to make regarding Clark died unspoken. Chloe glanced over her shoulder and saw the boyish, handsome face of Oliver Queen smiling at them.

Lois leapt from her seat and bolted across the room, flinging herself into Ollie's arms. Then she lifted her face, and the two of them kissed. And kissed. And kissed some more.

Chloe looked away, rolling her eyes at the public display of affection. Lois and Ollie looked like they might just start making love in the middle of the restaurant. But then, neither of them had ever understood the meaning of the term discretion.

I guess I'm on my own for dinner, she thought unhappily. Since her own boyfriend had apparently forgotten Valentine's Day, she'd been counting on Lois to keep her company. But it looked like that wasn't going to happen, either.

Apparently she was going to wind up spending yet another Valentine's Day alone. Oh, joy.

Lois and Ollie finally broke from the kiss, and spoke in soft, intense whispers, then headed for the door. "See ya, cuz," Lois called over her shoulder. "Ollie says he's taking me out to du Jour."

Of course Ollie was taking her out to du Jour. Du Jour was only like the most exclusive restaurant in Metropolis. Where else would a billionaire take his girlfriend? Chloe smiled weakly and waved.

"Have fun, guys."

She watched with longing, and a fair bit of envy, as Lois and Ollie disappeared out the door into the red light of sunset, their arms wrapped around each other. She looked down at the remnants of her frappuccino and thought about ordering another one, but then decided against it. She wouldn't sleep tonight if she had a second cup.

And it wasn't like she needed to stay awake. It wasn't like anyone was taking her out for a frigging romantic dinner or anything.

Damn it.

She crushed the cup with a little more violence then necessary, then stood up, slammed it into a trash can, and headed for the exit. As she approached the door, she became aware that people were gathering on the sidewalk outside and looking upward. Her investigative reporter senses began tingling, and she walked faster. Something was going on out there.

She stepped outside and looked up, and saw huge words written across the sky, lit by the red glow of sunset.

The words read simply, I LOVE YOU.

That was all. There was no name, and no signature. But she knew the words were for her, and who'd written them, and her heart promptly melted into squishy marshmallow.

She stood gaping at the sky for a long moment, barely hearing the excited chatter around her. And then someone touched her shoulder, and she turned her head to see Clark smiling at her.

"Hey," he said. "I was wondering if you maybe had time for dinner."

She stared at him for a long moment, wondering how she could have believed he'd forget. She supposed it was the memory of too many disappointing Valentine's Days, when he hadn't even glanced in her direction. For too many years, she'd sat alone at home on Valentine's Day, loving Clark and wishing hopelessly that someday, he'd love her.

And someday was finally here.

She turned her head and looked up at the words in the sky, then back at him. "How did you..."

He tugged on her shoulder, moving her back, away from the crowd. "Superbreath," he said quietly in her ear. "It's just a vapor trail. No big deal, really."

She looked back at the sky. No big deal. Yeah, right. She suddenly giggled.

"You're the only guy I know who'd try to downplay something like that," she said. Then again, he was the only guy she knew who could do something like this.

"Well..." He shrugged, looking down at the pavement. "I wasn't sure you'd like it as much as flowers, or a card."

"Are you kidding?" She looked at the letters, glowing redder than ever as the sun flared on the horizon. "It's amazing, Clark. You're amazing." She turned back and looked into his eyes. "Thank you."

She stood up on tiptoe and kissed him, in a long, passionate kiss that was just as public a display as Lois and Ollie had engaged in five minutes ago. But she didn't care. It was Valentine's Day, after all. It was a day meant for public displays of affection.

At last she pulled away and put her hand against his cheek. "I love you, too," she said softly.

The corners of his mouth turned up. "I'm glad to hear that. So how about dinner?"

She grinned. "You know, I was just complaining to Lois about how men always forget Valentine's Day. I honestly thought you'd forgotten."

"Forget our first Valentine's Day together? Are you kidding? Do I look suicidal to you?"

She laughed and hooked her arm through his, and they began walking down the sidewalk together. "I'm glad you remembered," she said softly. "So where are we going to eat?"

"Anywhere you want." He grinned down at her. "If you want Italian, we'll go to Italy. If you're in the mood for Chinese, we'll go to China."

She blinked at him. "You're kidding me."

"Have we met?" He lifted an eyebrow. "Hi, I'm Clark Kent, and I can fly."

She burst out laughing. "I know that. I just... you've never flown me to another country."

He looked down at her, his eyes very serious. "Chlo, I'll fly you anywhere you want to go."

Her laughter faded at the sincerity in his voice, and she looked into his eyes. "Actually," she said softly, "I think I'd like to go to the Burger Barn."

He blinked at her. "Seriously?"

"Seriously. It's where we went on our first date, remember?"

"Well, okay, if you're sure. Is that really the place you most want to have dinner?"

She nodded, remembering their first date six months ago, Clark's funny awkwardness, the way he'd reached across the booth to take her hand, then yanked his hand back like she'd burned him, blushing furiously. She'd stood up, walked around the table, and sat down in the booth next to him, drawing his head down for a kiss. He'd frozen up, then suddenly wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back like she was the sexiest woman in the world.

Yes, that was definitely where she wanted to have dinner. Her memories of the Burger Barn were all good ones.

"I'm sure," she said.

He shrugged. "Okay. But I was going to fly you wherever you wanted to go, and that's just around the corner."

"Maybe we can fly together later."

He gave an exaggerated leer that made her giggle again, and spoke in a low, sexy voice. "I'm counting on it, baby."

They walked down the sidewalk, arm in arm, and she stole a last glance at the sky. The sunset was fading, but the words were still visible against the darkening sky. I LOVE YOU. The words she'd been waiting for, written across the sky for all of Metropolis to see. It was a grand, romantic gesture, and it meant a lot more to her than a card, or dozens of roses. It had been worth the wait to see those three words written across the sky in huge red letters.

She leaned her head against Clark's shoulder, smiling to herself. Yes, men sometimes forgot Valentine's Day. But she was lucky, because her boyfriend wasn't just a man.

He was a superman.

-The End-