Sunset Red, Chapter 6

Kal/Chloe
Season 7 (spoilers for "Persona")
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 Chapter 5 here.
Read the story from the beginning here.

Oh, God. He hadn't. He hadn't gotten high on red K and come over to Chloe's apartment to make love to her.

He looked down and saw that their bodies were still linked.

Yeah. He definitely had. He'd made love to her, and he was still inside her.

His cheeks turned as red as the kryptonite. She must have read his expression and seen his embarrassment, because she reached up and touched his cheek in a familiar, consoling gesture.

"It's okay, Clark. You were under the influence."

He had to fight not to lean his head against her hand and close his eyes. "Yeah, but I didn't mean to..." He suddenly realized how that sounded, and hastily corrected himself. "I mean, yeah, I meant to. I totally meant to. Eventually. But not like this."

"It wasn't your fault. Lana drugged you."

"Yeah." He bent his head and pressed his face against her hair. "She seemed to have this weird idea that I'm easy when I'm on red K."

"Yeah, that's a weird idea, all right. And totally off base."

At the wry note in her voice, he couldn't help himself. He started to laugh.

"I wish you could have seen her face when I told her I was going to have sex with you, Chlo."

"Well..." There was amusement in her voice, too, as well as a certain smugness she didn't show too often. "I bet that was funny, Clark. But it's going to cause problems, you know. Lana's a little on the vengeful side lately."

"A little? Lana is vengeful like you're nosy."

"Hey. That's rude. I'm not nosy. I'm merely inquisitive."

"Uh-huh. Sure." His body slipped out of hers, and he pulled her against his chest even more tightly to make up for the loss of contact. "Look, Chlo... I'm really sorry this happened. Not because making love to you wasn't great, because it was. But because you deserved better. A lot better. I don't want you to think I only want you when I'm doped up."

"I don't think that," she said softly.

"And besides... I'm really scared you're going to be on Lana's hit list now."

"I can handle Lana."

"Uh... maybe. But you have to remember she managed to kidnap Lionel. If she can pull one over on the Prince of Evil, then I don't think you're safe."

"Lionel's supposedly on our side now. I think he's more like the Prince of Unclear Motives."

"Whatever. Lionel Luthor is no one to mess with. The fact that she managed to catch him unawares-- well, she's scary, Chlo."

"Unlike Lionel, I already know she'll be after me. I'll watch my back. I'll be fine, trust me."

He inhaled the clean vanilla fragrance of her hair. "You have to be really careful, Chlo. If she kidnaps you or something... she knows my weakness now. I doubt she'll make it easy for me to save you. And if she goes to Lex and gets him involved..."

"Relax, Clark. It'll all be okay."

He breathed out, an angry exhalation that dried her hair instantly. "I'm just sorry I screwed everything up."

"It wasn't your fault. Red K makes you really obnoxious."

"True. What'd you do with the rock, anyway?"

"It's in the toilet."

"Good place for it."

"No kidding." She pushed at his shoulders. "Let's get dressed and talk some more about how to deal with this situation, okay?"

He squeezed her a little more tightly and smiled. "I don't think I want you to get dressed quite yet."

"Hmmm. Maybe you need to step a little further away from the red K."

"No," he said softly. "It's not the red K. This time... it's all me."

*****

The next night, Chloe left her desk at the Daily Planet and headed out onto the street. The sunset cast a crimson glow over the city, making the tall glass towers gleam and sparkle.

She'd gotten about fifteen emails from Clark today, as well as a bouquet of red tulips and an invitation for a dinner date. Now that the barrier between them had been removed, and they were officially dating, he was showering her with an almost annoying level of attention.

At least she thought she ought to be annoyed, but she wasn't. A silly, infatuated smile curved her lips as she walked rapidly toward the Japanese restaurant where they were meeting for dinner. Clark, who was still worried about Lana, had wanted to meet her at the Planet after work, in order to protect her, but Chloe refused to have him hovering over her constantly. She could take care of herself. So she'd insisted on meeting him at the restaurant.

She faltered and came to a halt as she saw Lana, sitting on a bench, clearly waiting for her.

"So," Lana said. Her hair was pulled back tightly, and she wore all black, from her leather jacket to her high-heeled leather boots. Her clothing was decidedly more dominatrix in style than the sweet-girl-next-door clothes she'd been affecting for Clark, and her lovely face was set in angry lines, making her look almost ugly. "Going to have dinner with my boyfriend?"

"You've added stalking to your long list of talents, I see." Chloe managed to keep her voice calm and even. "And by the way, he's not your boyfriend. He's mine."

"No. He's mine. He's always been mine. And I want him back."

"You gave up any right you might have had to him when you tried to drug him for sex."

Lana laughed, an unpleasant sound that made Chloe think of fingernails and blackboards. "You act so morally superior. But you took advantage of him while he was still on the drug. Didn't you?"

Chloe winced, because that particular barb hit close to the mark. But Clark had proven conclusively later that he had really wanted to make love to her, so she shook it off and glared at the other woman. "Don't waste my time, Lana. Go ahead and say whatever you have to say. I have to get going. Clark's waiting for me."

"You're not going to have dinner with Clark," Lana said, her voice very soft but very dangerous. "You're going to break it off with him."

"And why exactly would I do that?"

"Because if you don't," Lana said, "I'm going straight to Lex. I'm going to tell him everything I know about Clark. And your boyfriend will wind up in a lab, screaming his life out in the name of science."

At the savage, almost pleased note in Lana's voice, Chloe felt simultaneously horrified and enraged. Something lit inside her, something fierce and protective. The brilliant colors of the sunset began to fade, and the city began to darken around them. Chloe stared at the other woman through the dimming light for a moment, then grabbed her by the arms and hauled her to her feet.

"Hey!" Lana broke her hold, stepped backward, and glared. "Don't try to push me around, Chloe."

"Don't... ever... threaten... Clark." Chloe was so angry she could barely form the sentence. She took a step forward, getting right up in Lana's face. "If you ever hurt him, I swear, I'll..."

Lana laughed, a sharp, unpleasant sound. "You'll what, Chloe? You'll hurt me? We both know you don't have the guts to take a Taser to me, let alone a gun." Her lips curved in a really nasty smile. "There's nothing you can do to stop me."

Chloe took a deep breath and got a hold on herself. Her rage cooled to a simmer, and she smiled back, her smile only marginally nicer than Lana's.

"Actually," she said, "you'd be surprised what I can do. I've spent the day researching everything you've done lately, Lana. It's quite a story. Faking your own death-- which is a felony, in case you weren't clear on that... blowing up a living human in your place--"

"It was a clone. And it hadn't been activated."

"It might not have had any brain activity, but it had a heartbeat. Good luck convincing a jury that wasn't murder. Which, by the way, is also a felony. Let's see... embezzling ten million dollars from LuthorCorp. Which, surprise, surprise, is also a felony. Abducting a well-known billionaire and holding him against his will... do I even need to say the word felony again? Plus there's some lesser stuff, like setting up a non-profit organization as a false front, and growing marijuana on your property... tsk, Lana. You've been a very busy girl lately."

Lana was starting to look less confident. "You don't have any proof."

"Oh, I most certainly do. I've very carefully documented everything. I do know how to document my research, you know. And there are multiple copies of my proof in multiple places. And by the way, don't think of killing me, because if you do, they'll all be opened, and the whole story will come out right away. A little trick I learned from a guy I work with."

Lana lifted her chin. "No one will believe you."

"It's not a matter of believing me, Lana. I have proof. Iron-clad proof that the legal system would be very happy to get its hands on. Oh, and did I mention that I have a witness? Lionel would be pleased to testify against you, both in the matter of the kidnapping and the embezzling."

Chloe could see fear in Lana's eyes now. "You won't print all that. You don't have the guts."

"I won't print it," Chloe agreed, "as long as you go away and leave Clark alone. I want you out of town, Lana. No... I want you out of Kansas. Go somewhere far away and start a new life. But don't leave the country. And forget about Clark. Don't even think of hurting him, or going to Lex, damn it. I'll know if you go to Lex, and if Clark gets so much as a hangnail, I swear to God I'll print everything. Everything. You'll be lucky to get out of jail fifty years from now."

She glared into the other woman's eyes for a long moment, and saw defeat there. She lifted her chin and swept past Lana contemptuously.

"But right now," she said over her shoulder, "I have a date with my boyfriend. Goodbye, Lana."

The last rays of sunset faded, and the stars started to sparkle in the night sky, as she left Lana standing behind her, defeated, and strode toward her future with Clark.

-The End-