Land of Confusion, Chapter 7

Clark/Chloe
Season 6, following my story "Wherever You Will Go"
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: These characters belong to the CW and DC Comics, not to me.
Read Chapter 6 here.

Clark yelled.

He couldn't help it. The sight of the green-tipped arrow flying at him filled him with a mortal terror, and he couldn't stop the howl of panic that rose to his lips, and the desperate, frantic jerk of his body as he tried to wrench loose of his chains and get away.

But he was tightly shackled, and he couldn't escape. The arrow plinged into the wall, a bare inch away from his shoulder. The kryptonite was painfully close now, and Clark shuddered violently.

It could have been worse, he knew. It could have sunk right into his flesh, searing its way through his skin and muscles, so that his blood burned him from inside and his nerves exploded in agony. He remembered the pain of the green K bullet that had once been lodged in his chest, and he knew he didn't want to go through that ever again.

But this was bad enough. The green substance was so close that his skin crawled and his blood boiled in his veins. He leaned his head back against the wall, whimpering with fear and pain.

He hated himself for his display of fear, but he couldn't help it. Not after everything he'd been through.

"I missed you on purpose," the guy told him in his artificially deep voice. "I could have put that right into your shoulder if I'd wanted to. From this distance, I really can't miss... not that I ever miss. And by the way, I've got another meteor rock arrow."

Sweat broke out on Clark's skin, and he rolled his head against the wall, struggling to drag his eyes open. His vision was blurred, but he could see the guy moving toward him, an ominous dark green shadow.

"Fine," he whispered, forcing the words out past dry lips. "You can kill me. So what do you want?"

"I told you already." The guy stood over him, glaring. "I want to know what you are, and what your connection is to Lex."

"I told you already. I'm an alien."

The guy stared down at him a long moment, then slapped him across the face, hard. Clark felt his head snap to the side, and tasted the unfamiliar taste of blood. He groaned.

"Quit mouthing off," the guy snarled, "and tell me the truth."

"It is the truth, damn it!"

The guy stared down at him. "So why are you running around Metropolis, saving people?"

"I..." Clark paused to gasp for breath. He couldn't breathe properly, and his lungs were starting to burn from lack of air. "I was sent here when I was a little kid. My planet... it exploded... and my parents sent me here to save me..."

"Uh-huh," the guy said, a distinct drawl of disbelief below the mechanical distortion. "So you've been here on Earth for years?"

"Yeah. I was brought up... in Smallville... and I got to be good friends with Lex..."

"Should have shot you when I had the chance," the guy remarked. "Oh, well, I can use my other arrow."

Clark started to sweat worse than before. "Lex and I... we had a falling out... a year ago. He hates me... and I..."

"How about Zod? How were you mixed up in that?"

Clark felt his eyes sting at the painful memories. "My fault," he said hoarsely. "Intrigue... from my home planet... my father's enemy..."

"So you brought Zod here?"

"I didn't mean to. See, he'd been imprisoned... and I was tricked into letting him go..."

"Clear as mud," the green leather dude said. "Then what?"

Clark's eyes stung harder. "He... he took over my girlfriend's body..." He didn't try to explain that Chloe was more than a girlfriend, more than a fiancee, more than a wife. There weren't words in the English language to describe their relationship. "And he made me help him. I mean, her. I didn't want to. But she used the meteor rocks..."

"Tortured you, huh?"

Clark nodded miserably. "I didn't want to," he whispered. "I didn't want to help. This is my planet. My friends and family are here. I've lived here as long as I can remember. But she... she made me go to Lex as her envoy, and now..."

"And now Lex wants to execute you," the guy said. "And your girlfriend, too."

"Yeah." The single word was almost too much for him now, and Clark paused to gasp. "My girlfriend... she's not Zod. Zod's gone. And I... I don't... I swear I'm not..."

"I think he's telling the truth."

The female voice spoke from the other side of the room. Clark jerked his head up, startled, and instantly regretted the movement as burning pain spiked through his skull. Through his blurred eyes, he saw a woman with blonde hair, and hope filled him for an instant.

Chloe.

But even through the blur, he could see it wasn't Chloe. He moaned, dropping his head onto his chest. Vaguely, he could hear the two of them arguing.

"I don't see any reason to believe him at this point," the guy said.

"Oh, come on, Arrow. Look at the facts. Lex wants to kill him, and he's been working to save people since he got to Metropolis. Obviously he's suffering from a major guilt complex. A lot like someone else I could mention, actually."

"Leave me out of this," the guy drawled. "So you really think he's on our side?"

"Right now," the other voice answered, "he doesn't know a damn thing about us. But if you'll get over the masculine posturing, let him go, and tell him what you're doing... then yeah, I think he might just join us."

"Let him go?" the guy said incredulously. "Canary, judging from everything I've heard, he could kill all of us with his little finger. Even Cyborg."

"Somehow, I really don't think he will."

The guy sighed.

"I hope you're right," he said. He reached down and fumbled at the shackles, and suddenly Clark's arms and legs were free. Instinctively, he tried to jerk away from the kryptonite. But as weak as he was, he sprawled forward, onto the floor, and lay still, barely conscious.

"Yeah," the woman said sardonically. "He's a real killing machine."

She knelt next to him and stroked his hair, speaking softly. "Hey. Are you all right?"

Clark sucked in air, trying to draw oxygen back into his body. He appreciated her effort to comfort him. The woman, he thought blurrily, was nice. The woman, he liked. The guy in green leather, on the other hand... the guy was going to get his ass kicked.

Just as soon as he could stand up without wobbling.

Read Chapter 8 here.