Flame Red, Chapter 8

Kal/Chloe
Season 2, "Rush"
Rating: Adult. If you're under eighteen, please go elsewhere now.
Disclaimer: These characters belong to the CW and DC Comics, not to me.
Read the previous chapter here.
Read the story from the beginning here.

"Lana, I can explain..."

Clark has no idea exactly how he can explain, but he feels like he owes Lana some sort of explanation for why he and Chloe were making out, practically screwing, right in the middle of her coffee house.

But she turns her back on him and stalks into the kitchen. Through the swinging doors, he sees her brushing tears away.

He's sorry to have hurt her, but right now, Chloe's a higher priority for him than Lana is. He remembers that brief glimpse of the parasite he got in Chloe's abdomen, and he knows he has to catch up with her before she does something really crazy.

Like a 69 in the back of a pickup truck, maybe.

He shakes off that memory, because he doesn't have time for it right now. He doesn't understand why he was so totally crazy earlier. He remembers some of the wild things he did-- driving like a freaking maniac, not to mention all the impossibly sexy things he and Chloe did together-- and he can't figure out what the hell he was thinking.

He wonders if maybe a parasite got into him somehow. But if that was the case, he wouldn't be thinking clearly again now. Would he?

He quits trying to figure it out and heads for the door, nearly knocking the sour-faced waitress over in his haste. Outside, Pete's sitting on his car's hood, and Chloe's talking to him.

"Chloe," Clark says, approaching them. She glances over her shoulder at him, then turns away with deliberate contempt, and he reaches out to her. "You don't understand, Chlo. You're not yourself. You need a doctor."

"Whoa." Pete jumps down off his junker. "What's all this doctor talk? What happened to my little red rock?"

All of a sudden Clark remembers what Pete said to him, just before this all started: I figured it out, Clark. In your world, green means stop. And red... red means go.

A terrible feeling of betrayal fills Clark as he realizes Pete stuck a red meteor rock in his pocket. Pete knows what that stuff does to him, damn it. He stares at his best friend with shock. "Pete," he says softly. "How could you do that to me?"

"Relax." Pete isn't at all bothered by his hurt and shock. Under the influence of the parasite, he really isn't concerned with other people's feelings. "You needed it. Now let's go find that rock and jump the gorge. You guys can suck face later."

To Clark's dismay, the idea of "sucking face" with Chloe makes his body tingle. He ignores the reaction and grabs Pete by the shoulders. He's aware of a slight feeling of nausea, but he figures it's the aftereffect of the red rock.

"No, Pete," he says. "I'm taking you to the emergency room, damn it. I don't care what you tell people about--"

Pete lifts his fist and punches Clark in the jaw, and that's the last thing Clark knows.

*****

"Whoa." Chloe is impressed despite herself. She saw Pete break a baseball bat over Clark's head earlier, so she can't quite figure out how he knocked Clark out. "How'd you do that?"

Pete opens his fist. A green meteor rock glints in the sunlight. "Clark might be a boy scout," he says, grinning widely, "but I'm always prepared."

Chloe looks at him admiringly. He's no Clark Kent, but she's always liked him a lot. She's really turned on, thanks to Clark wimping out on her at the last minute, and she needs a guy in a big way. She's pretty damn sure Pete won't reject her the way Clark did, so she figures he'll do just fine as a substitute.

What the hell. A girl only lives once, after all.

"Good job," she says, and links her arm through his. "Let's go."

They get into Pete's car, and take off with a screech of tires, leaving Clark sprawled unconscious on the sidewalk.

Read Chapter 9 here.