In My Arms

Clark/Chloe
Season 8, "Injustice"
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: These characters belong to the CW and DC Comics, not to me.
Based on caps of a deleted scene. Caps from Kryptonsite.

She's just sitting there.

He just saved her from being run down by a truck. But she'd been soaked to the skin by the rain, shuddering with cold, and he'd brought her back to his house and told her to take a nice warm shower.

After a few minutes, he'd noticed the water was running, but that there were no sounds of splashing or movement. So he'd peeked in-- very, very cautiously, because he and Chloe are Just Friends-- and found her sitting in the tub, fully clothed, staring blankly at the tile wall, while water sluiced over her.

That shell-shocked, bewildered look is still on her face, and it's so unlike Chloe's normal cheerful expression that his heart melts. He isn't sure exactly what she's been through, but clearly it wasn't pleasant. There are cuts on her face, and she was covered in dirt when he found her, but it's the look in her eyes that really worries him.

"Hey," he says softly, taking a cautious step toward her.

She doesn't answer, even though he's sure she can hear him over the running water. She's still staring blankly at the wall, and he can see her shivering despite the warmth of the shower. He turns off the water, then picks up the red towel he'd handed her earlier, and kneels beside the tub, just behind her.

"Hey," he says again, very softly. "It's okay, Chlo. Everything's going to be all right."

He's repeating what he said earlier, when he saved her from being flattened by the truck. But despite his efforts at comforting her, she only shivers harder, and he hears a pitiful little sound in her throat. His heart instantly shatters into a million pieces.

He was afraid of this. He was scared to death something bad would happen if she left with Davis. He'd begged her not to leave, cajoled, threatened, all because he'd been afraid of what might happen to her. He'd been terrified that Davis would hurt her.

And now it appears all his worst fears were right. She's obviously been through something truly horrible. Chloe's a fighter, and for her to be this distressed, this shattered...

He wraps the red towel around her, trying to warm her, trying to comfort her. His arms go around her too, and she leans her damp head back against his chest, while he whispers soft words of comfort.

With her so close to him, he feels a slight and disturbing feeling of wrongness, but he pushes it away. There's nothing wrong with him cradling his best friend this way, even if it does feel kind of, well, intimate.

Chloe belongs here in his arms.


That's a strange thought, but suddenly he knows it's true. He remembers kissing her a few years ago, when they both thought the world was ending. For the first time, he admits to himself that was the last time things really felt right.

Even so, he'd been too afraid to take her into his arms and kiss her again, too afraid to risk a change in their friendship. Then, and for years afterward, he'd clung desperately to their Just Friends status.

Clearly he'd been an idiot.

He can't help thinking that if he'd held her this way sooner, sheltered her this way, maybe none of this would have happened. She might not have gotten mixed up with Davis. Maybe he wouldn't even have lost her to Jimmy, if he'd just taken her into his arms and held her when he should have.

But he didn't, and he'd almost lost her. He'd barely found her in time, barely saved her from dying beneath the wheels of a huge truck. He came perilously close to losing her.

He won't lose her again. He won't, damn it.

At long last, he's finally learned his lesson. He's finally admitted how much she means to him. He has Chloe Sullivan back in his arms.

And this time, he's keeping her there.

-The End-