You Found Me

But in the end everyone ends up alone
Losing her, the only one who's ever known
Who I am, who I'm not and who I wanna be
No way to know how long she will be next to me
-The Fray, You Found Me

Ship: Clark and Chloe
Spoilers, vaguely up to 8.20, Beast

***

1.

“I can’t believe that you of all people could betray me. I trusted you!”

The hurt in Clark’s eyes cut Chloe to the core. She wanted to make him understand that this wasn’t her fault. She wanted to explain everything so that he would know that of all the people in the world, she was the one person who would never betray him. He could still trust her.

She was doing this for him.

But what she wanted to tell Clark and what she could tell Clark were two separate things. She swallowed heavily and said, “I’ve made my choice, and it’s not you.”

Chloe's voice was thick with unshed tears. Clark, on the other hand, had no difficulty shedding his tears. They spilled from his eyes in a steady stream, pooling under his chin where they dripped onto his torn and bloodstained shirt.

She turned from him and faced the man who harbored the one beast on earth that could kill the only man she’d ever truly loved. There was dark triumph in Davis’s eyes as she moved toward him.

Clark’s voice was gravel and ice when he said, “Chloe, you go to him now and there’s no coming back. We're no longer friends.”

She stopped in a moment that seemed to stretch into minutes. So was her sacrifice; the greatest sacrifice she’d ever made. She was deliberately giving up her friendship with Clark Kent - deliberately turning him against her. Her heart was broken, but time, the one thing that not even Clark Kent had the power to stop, resumed it’s inevitable march into an uncertain future. Chloe even thought she could hear it ticking by with each step she took.

Look back at him, Chloe urged herself. For God’s sake, just look back. He’ll see the truth in your eyes…

But that was just it. Clark would see the truth in her eyes. He could read her as easily as he could read any open book, and he'd try to stop her.

Davis began to morph into a monster right in front of her.

“This isn’t over,” Clark vowed, to both of them, for they were now both his enemies.

Fully transformed into Doomsday, he scooped Chloe into his arms, turned, and leaped high into the air. He couldn’t fly, but he could leap quite long distances, and every time he landed it shook her to the bone so that she wondered if she would survive it. Seconds later they were gone, disappearing into the mists of some strange mountain range that Chloe couldn’t put a name to.

***

Clark watched the one person in the world who knew him best, outside of his own mother, turn her back on him to side with his most dangerous enemy. Doomsday swept Chloe up into his arms and leaped away with her, and this time Clark wasn’t going to go after her.

***

Clark sped toward home, pushing himself to move at top speed and wishing he could fly like his cousin Kara could. He crossed mountains, deserts, oceans, all at a blur, until he finally arrived at the Kent farm. Oliver Queen was back on his feet, and Kara had recovered as well. Lana, Dinah, AC, Victor, all of them were blood spattered and bruised, but alive. Thankfully alive.

John Jones was the only one who bore no signs of fighting, since he'd been at the Fortress during the battle with Doomsday. Jor-El had restored his powers, though, and he would battle beside them when they next faced Doomsday.

“Kal-El,” he said solemnly. He was fully aware of the pain Clark was suffering in that moment. “Chloe?”

“She’s with Doomsday. Willingly.”

“I don’t believe that,” Victor said, shaking his head. He winced, at once regretting the movement. He looked gray and ashen, as though he might vomit.

“It’s true. Now we move on.”

“She knows all of our plans,” Dinah reminded him. “When she talks we can just kiss it—”

Clark wasn’t going to entertain the idea of changing their strategy. They'd worked too hard on it, and he knew it was a good plan, regardless of Chloe's betrayal. It had the highest chance of success, and he wasn't changing anything. “We keep to the plan. It’s too late to change things now.”

John nodded readily. “You’re the boss. We’ll follow your orders.”

“Maybe you will,” Dinah said hotly, “but I’m not risking my neck, or the neck of this team, because Boyscout’s not willing to compromise!”

“He knows what he’s doing, Dinah,” said Lana.

Dinah looked at Lana with the utmost disgust. “Since when?

Clark marched over to Dinah and got in her face. She stubbornly refused to back down, though her eyes widened with surprise.

“Get out,” he ordered.

Dinah paled visibly. “W-what?”

“You heard me, I said get out. Everybody has to be behind me one hundred percent, and if you’re not, you’re a liability. Now leave. Go back to headquarters and hide and hope we can stop Doomsday to save you and the rest of the world.”

Dinah trembled with fury. “I’m not a coward!”

Clark turned away from her, facing the others in the room. “If you’re not with me, you’re against me. If you want out, leave with Dinah. Now.”

No one moved, not even Dinah, though Lana did start forward with the clear intention of placing a soothing hand on Clark's arm. She pulled up short when she remembered that touching Clark was the last thing she could do, and she stepped back again.

“Clark, we need everyone,” Lana said.

Clark was beyond discussing the situation. He was going to do this whether or not the team backed him up. He was too angry to think about anyone's feelings, or worry whether or not he'd offended any of them.

“The discussion's over. We have six hours before the Fortress completes the holding chamber. Get some rest. Prepare yourself…not to survive this.”

He stalked off toward the barn. Dinah glared at him as he passed her, and Oliver put a hand on her shoulder, a silent warning to keep her impressively loud mouth shut, which she sensibly obeyed. None of the others, not Lana, or even John, followed after him.

2.

Two Hours Earlier

The computer lab at the Isis Foundation was alight with light from the many monitors that adorned the walls. They all showed the Isis screensaver except for the one directly before Chloe. On it was a database she’d saved while inhabited by Brainiac, and all of the information that took up the screen concerned the various Kryptonian beasts who’s DNA comprised Davis Bloom’s inner monster, Doomsday. Not all of them were beasts in the traditional sense. Two of the contributors were Kryptonians - Zod and Faora - and they were of the worst sort as far as Chloe was concerned.

There was a gust of wind that preceded Kara's arrival. “I came as quickly as I could.”

“Fifteen seconds is pretty quick, considering you were coming in from Gotham,” Chloe said.

“Yeah, well, I’ve been feeling a little sluggish lately.”

Kara did look tired, which wasn’t a common state of being for a Kryptonian living under a yellow sun. There was a hint of shadow under her blue eyes. Their recent battles with Doomsday had left a toll on everyone, but especially Clark and Kara, who fought him hardest.

“What’s this?” Kara asked, looking at the database entries. “Kryptonian animals? How did you get this?”

“When Brainiac was took over my mind, he would often have to shut down and go into a kind of power save mode. I’d still have access to all his knowledge, but he wasn’t completely aware of what I was doing with it. If I tried to tell Clark or send a message to warn anyone what was happening to me, he’d come back online and stop me. But if I was doing research, or anything else he considered harmless, he’d leave me be. I created this during those quiet moments, and it's a good thing I did. This data will come in handy.”

There were complex anatomical drawings that Chloe couldn’t have created on her own without Brainiac’s superhuman skill, all of the various animals that had been used in the creation of Doomsday. Some of them were fairly innocuous creatures, but most were Krypton’s strongest and most dangerous beings. They ranged from the horribly grotesque to ethereally beautiful.

Chloe called up an image of an animal that was about the size of a horse, but looked more like a cross between a rhinoceros and a wooly mammoth. It had leathery skin as hard as steel and could change its shape to mimic other creatures, even Kryptonians, at will. There were two rows of razor sharp teeth in its mouth, and its exaggerated jaw muscles made it look as though it were purposely inflating it’s cheeks. Kara recognized it at once, and shuddered.

“A kreedaal,” she said. “They lured their prey by mimicking weak, wounded animals, or potential mates, and then changed back to it’s natural form when it was ready to kill. It’s saliva—”

“Paralyzed its victims, though that wasn’t really necessary because its jaws were strong enough to kill almost anything it attacked in one bite. It would hunt Kryptonians by mimicking someone they knew, and then stand in the distance, calling to them. When the person would come…. This is the creature that gives Davis his ability to change from human form to Doomsday. But when is the one time this animal can’t transform?”

“During a mating cycle,” Kara said, looking horrified. “Chloe...please don’t tell me you want me to mate with it!”

Chloe smiled at her horror. “No. Like most animals from Krypton, he’ll only mate with the one he’s chosen, and that’s…that’s me. That’s the main reason he hates Clark so much. He sees Clark as a rival mate.”

“Not to be graphic, but you couldn’t withstand sex with Doomsday, Chloe. When he transforms he'll tear you to shreds - from the inside out.”

“He won't be in Doomsday form, he'll be in Davis form, trapped when he's most vulnerable.”

“But how do you know the kreedaal’s weaknesses were ingrained with it’s strengths?”

“I know everything about him, thanks to this database. Believe me, this is one of his few weakness. I'm the only one who can exploit it, and I am.”

“I thought you loved Clark,” Kara said, looking sadly at Chloe. “How could you be with Davis when you love someone else as completely as you do my cousin?”

Chloe had no difficulty answering that question. “It’s because I love Clark so much that I can do this. Kara, Doomsday is the only creature I know who could kill Clark. I have to give Clark the chance to make his plan work. Besides, it's not like I'm Clark's woman, Kara. I'm just his friend.”

Kara shook her head. “You've never been ‘just his friend’, Chloe. I’ll go find Clark and tell him what your plan—”

Chloe grabbed Kara’s arm tightly. “No. Davis has to believe I’m choosing him over Clark. If Clark’s in on this he'll give it away. Clark's a great fighter, and he's brave, but he can't lie worth a damn when his emotions are running high. Davis will know he’s being tricked. Clark has to believe what I'm selling if we want Davis to buy it too.”

“You know Clark better than anyone, Chloe. If he sees you choose to go with Davis instead of staying to fight on his side it’ll break his heart.”

“I know, but it’s a risk I have to take.”

Chloe filled Kara in on the rest of her plan, making Kara vow she would tell no one until the time was right. As she spoke, Kara’s face became pinched with worry and regret.

Kara shook her head sadly. “This is suicide for you.”

“I'm tougher than I look, and it has to be done. There are things worth dying for, and the world is one of them. Clark is one of them. You know where Davis and I will be. Tell Clark you’ve found us, just as soon as he's taken the Chamber from the Fortress.”

Kara nodded, and then her ears perked up. “Davis is coming.”

“It’s time. Send Clark here. Tell him I need him. Go.”

Kara gave Chloe a breath stealing hug, and then flew from the room. Davis arrived a minute later, after Chloe had shut down the computer system. She just knew she would never see this room again.

“Have you thought about what I said?” Davis asked.

Chloe nodded. “I’ll go.”

“And Clark…does he know?”

“Not yet.”

“I want him to see you choose me over him.”

Whatever goodness had once been in Davis Bloom was gone. Chloe didn’t doubt that he loved her, but it was a greedy, selfish love. Animalistic. She couldn’t expect better from a beast, and a beast was all that Davis Bloome was now.

“Chloe? Are you okay?”

Clark had sped into the outer office. As soon as he saw Davis in the room, a change came over him like nothing Chloe had ever seen before. Determination married with loathing and hate twisted his features.

Clark held out a hand to her and said, “Chloe, come here.”

Davis stepped in front of her, but Chloe touched his arm. “Don’t fight. Not now.”

Confusion mingled with the many other emotions so plain on Clark’s face. Davis transformed, and Clark tensed, ready for a fight, but instead of charging, Doomsday took Chloe and leaped high, crashing easily through the roof as though it were made of straw.

Clark took off after them.

3.

After the confrontation with Clark...

Doomsday leaped high into the mountains and came to rest one last time on a wide ledge. A cave was nearby, offering much needed shelter from the wind. Chloe looked out on the majestic beauty of a mist shrouded valley and wished she were sharing it with Clark instead of Davis.

“Chloe.”

Davis had transformed behind her, while she was looking out at the valley. His hands, large and warm, and once so caring, came to rest on her shoulders.

“Come inside. It’s windy out here.”

He was right. The wind was icy, and strong enough at times that it nearly pushed her over the edge. She allowed him to lead her inside the cold darkness of the cave. It wasn’t any warmer, but at least the wind was off of her.

Davis’s clothes had shredded on his last transformation. Now he stood before her naked but unaffected by the cold. She wouldn’t be able to boast the same. The floor of the cave was damp. Davis didn’t seem to notice, or care, how uncomfortable she was. She didn’t mind either way. She estimated they had another two hours before the Fortress completed its work on a chamber that would be strong enough to contain Doomsday, hopefully forever.

“You made the right choice, Chloe. Clark will never love you the way I will. He'd rather pine after Lana, or take up with someone else rather than be with you. He's a fool.”

“I know.”

He advanced on her, and put his hands on her waist. “All those years of ignoring you and pining for Lana. Wanting to be with any woman but you. You’re too good for him. I would never do those things to you, Chloe. I’ll appreciate you. I’ll adore you, like you deserve.”

Chloe's stomach was now tight inside, fighting anger and disgust at his words. “You’re right. You’re…absolutely right.”

Though it was the last thing she wanted to do, Chloe wrapped her hands around Davis’s neck and hugged him close. His hands rubbed over her back and she shivered, her skin crawling at the feel of his hands.

“It’s cold,” she said.

“I can get something to warm you.”

“You’re enough. Just hold me close.”

Holding her wasn’t going to be enough for long, though. Eventually he’d want more, and she was going to give it to him.

***

The barn was awash in afternoon light. Clark sat on the old red couch, remembering the many hours he’d spent there with Chloe. He’d spent a lot of time there alone, wondering what it would be like to be more than friends with her, but never acting on it. He’d been scared of ruining the bond they had, which meant more to him than anything else. Now he felt like he’d wasted so much time.

He’d watched while she’d gone on to Jimmy Olsen. He hadn’t felt threatened by Jimmy, because he’d thought Jimmy was just a passing phase, a first boyfriend that Chloe would eventually get over. He’d never dreamed they’d end up married. Now that marriage was over, he’d assumed there would be plenty of time for him to get ready to act on his increasingly amorous feelings for Chloe, unaware that Davis Bloome was waiting in the shadows, ready to be the next to take her away from him.

For the first time Clark really understood what it had been like for Chloe to watch him go from one girl to the next but never to her, but he’d never dreamed Chloe would willingly turn on him to side with an enemy. Apparently he and Chloe hadn’t needed sex to ruin their friendship, as he'd feared, just a powerful enemy that Clark probably couldn't overcome.

Bitter anger clenched Clark’s stomach. He wanted to punch something, to destroy something. He wanted to grab Chloe by the shoulders and make her tell him why she’d turned her back on him to side with his greatest enemy.

Kara flew in through the open loft window. “J’onn has gone to the Fortress. It’s nearly completed its work on the Chamber.”

“How long now?”

“About an hour. Lana and I are still searching for Chloe and Davis.”

She sat down on the trunk in front of him. “I’m not in the mood to talk, Kara.”

“I understand. I don’t care, but I understand.”

He frowned at her, grinding his teeth. “Kara.”

“Chloe loves you.”

He got up and went to the loft windows. He didn't want to share his feelings right now. He didn't want to talk, and he didn't want to look into anyone's eyes so they could see the truth he wouldn't let spill from his lips.

“She loves me so much she chose to side with Doomsday.”

Kara held up an old piece of paper that she pressed to his chest. He reluctantly took it. “When Chloe took me to the Fortress to have my memories and my powers restored, Jor-El ignored her until she told him she loved you. Her love for you was strong enough to sway a cold, emotionless computer to restore me so that I could save you. Do you really think that kind of love fades so easily?”

He didn’t respond, so she floated out the loft window, but turned to face her cousin. “Don’t be so quick to give up faith in her, Clark.”

She left Clark alone in his loft with the piece of paper in his hands. He opened it, recognizing it at once as a letter in which Chloe had confided that she was the girl of his dreams, masquerading as his best friend. He sat down and read it several times, unable to reconcile the girl who’d written the letter with the woman who’d turned her back on him earlier that day. He’d believed, until today, that the intensity of love in that letter had never fully faded from Chloe’s heart.

She thought I was worth the wait. Maybe I just made her wait too long...

For some reason, Kara thought Chloe still loved him. Did she know something he didn’t? He thought back to Chloe’s odd behavior at the Isis Foundation, when she’d told Doomsday not to fight now. He’d assumed that was the first sign of her betrayal, but had it been something different? Had Chloe worked out some plan that she didn’t want him to know about just yet?

I’m reaching, he thought. I’m trying to hold on to a friend I no longer have.

Almost an hour later, a familiar voice called up to him from the yard. “Clark.”

Clark looked down to the loft entrance. Dinah stood there, looking slightly better with the blood cleared from her face, though one of her eyes was swollen shut. He felt a stab of regret for their earlier confrontation. Doomsday had nearly killed her, and she’d been rattled. He should have used more tact.

“Yeah?”

“Jones is back with the stuff.”

She turned on her heel and stalked off. With a heavy sigh he followed her out into the yard.

The team stood looking at a tall, oblong chamber with a circular lock in the center. John stood with a set of chains slung over his shoulder. The only people missing were Lana and Kara, who were off trying to locate Davis and Chloe.

“The locking mechanism is simple enough,” John explained. “Once the beast is chained, we will put him into the chamber and seal the lock. Then it must be buried underground. What that is done, it will be filled with a powerful sleeping agent that will self-replicate using his own blood and DNA to adapt to his immune system. It will keep even Doomsday unconscious...hopefully forever.”

“Easier said than done,” AC said. “None of us can fight this thing head on except for you, John, Lana, and Kara.”

Clark said, “We stick to the plan. Head to Metropolis, be ready to alert the police and the national guard for a possible hostile invasion. John and I will team up with Lana and Kara to try to fight this creature. Dinah, are you still with me?”

Dinah nodded. Her power had been the only thing to come remotely close to having an effect on Doomsday. She’d be needed when they met up with him, and Clark had to try to wrestle the beast into the cuffs.

“Stick close with me,” he said. “I’ll need you to focus all you’ve strictly on Doomsday while Kara and I chain him.”

Everyone’s comm units buzzed in unison. They picked up and found a set of coordinates sent from Kara.

“Kara’s found them,” said Oliver. “Let's go, everyone.”

Oliver looked at Dinah for a long moment, and then back to Clark, and the worry in his eyes was not only understood, but shared. If Doomsday got past Clark, Kara, Lana, and John combined, then Oliver and the combined strength of every military force in the world wouldn't be enough to stand against Doomsday, who would literally bring about the end of the world.

John picked up the chamber and took to the air. Clark watched him, wishing he could fly too. Slinging Dinah onto his back, he took off running at full speed, keeping sight of John who flew relatively low through the air.

***

Chloe wished she could find it within herself escape her body by retreating into her mind. She’d never known such loathing as she did now. Davis’s heavy body invade hers with animalistic lust, pounding painfully into her. His teeth clamped dangerously onto her throat in brutal kisses and bites that left her bruised and bleeding. She cried out with each thrust from pain that she hoped he believed was pleasure, but in all honesty she doubted he cared either way what she was feeling.

It seemed as though he would never finish. The wet, rocky ground beneath Chloe left her back half numb, and Davis’s hand dug into the flesh of her ass leaving finger shaped bruises there. His thrusts and grunts came faster until he finally went rigid and cried out. His release filled Chloe, making her stomach churn in disgust as it . Sated, he collapsed onto her, breathless.

She didn’t have much time to wound Davis, who, even weakened, was still much too tough for her to harm with her bare hands. She urged him off of her and pulled on her clothes. He mumbled sleepily, asking where she was going.

“I want to see the view,” she said.

“Be careful. Don’t get to close to the ledge,” he warned.

“I won’t, I promise.”

She got up, her body sore and aching from Davis's lustful attack, and went to the edge of the cliff. The fall would kill her, but Davis would survive. He’d be wounded and weak, and Clark would be able to contain him without too much of a struggle.

Taking a deep breath, Chloe stepped to the edge.

“Chloe? What are you doing?”

Davis was coming out of the cave behind her. She gave him a silent glance, glad to be away from him once and for all, glad not to have to ever relive the nightmare she'd just suffered beneath his body, glad to put an end to the most serious threat to ever face Clark...

And jumped.

4.

Kara and Lana were waiting in a grassy valley, next to a bubbling brook that was home to silvery fishes that swam lazily by in search of food. It would have been a lovely spot for a picnic, rather than the burial grounds of a terrible creature. John landed with the chamber and chains, while Clark set Dinah on her feet.

“Where is he?” John asked.

“There’s a cave behind that ledge,” Lana said, pointing behind Clark.

In the distance there was a high cliff, and a small black dot that was a cave. They were undoubtedly outside of Davis’s hearing range, which was better than any humans, but not as sensitive as Clark or Kara’s. Somewhere, up there, was their worst enemy and a friend who’d turned against all of them. Clark was tempted to listen in on them, to see what kind of plans Chloe was making with Davis to kill him.

“What do we do with Chloe once we have Davis locked away?” Dinah asked. “Most of the outside world doesn’t know about Doomsday, and she hasn’t exactly broken any laws.”

“I’ll deal with her,” John said.

Clark had a vague idea of what it meant for John to “deal” with an enemy of his family.

“You won’t hurt her,” he said.

Dinah snorted derisively. “She betrays you and you’re still defending her?”

“Of course I won’t hurt her,” John said, as Clark threw Dinah a dirty look. “But she knows too much about you to be allowed to remain, shall I say, free.”

“You won’t have to do any of that,” Kara said hotly. She looked at John with the utmost disgust. She knew Chloe didn’t want anyone to know about her plan, but they were planning to lock her away, who only knew where, and Chloe just didn’t deserve that; she was on their side, ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for them, and none of them appreciated it.

It was really pissing her off.

“Kal-El, I really don’t understand how you can lose faith in Chloe so easily.”

“I know you want to believe in her—” Clark started, but Kara cut him off.

“Maybe she’s not the traitor you want to think she is.”

“Kara, do you know something we don’t?” asked Lana. Chloe was her friend too, and she’d been devastated when she’d learned Chloe had turned against them, but Kara kept saying things that hinted to the possibility that Chloe was up to something that could at least explain what was going on, if not completely absolve her.

Kara clamped her mouth shut, and Clark’s heart began to pound. Kara knew something about Chloe, and that feeling of hope that maybe Chloe was still somehow on his side clawed and fought to take hold of his heart. He wanted to believe in Chloe, but she’d made it so clear who she really wanted to be with.

Kara’s eyes suddenly widened. She was looking at something over his shoulder. Turning around, Clark saw a tiny mark that was unmistakably Chloe, standing at the edge of the cliff side. He perked up his ears and could hear Davis’s voice.

Chloe, what are you doing?

Then, to Clark’s disbelief, Chloe jumped.

It was as though something had hollowed Clark’s entire body out and filled it with horror like he’d never known. Chloe had dove from the edge of the cliff, deliberately jumping to her death. Davis screamed her name in rage and leaped after her. Clark didn’t doubt that if the fall didn’t kill Chloe, Davis would when he caught her.

Acting purely on instinct, Clark reached for Chloe. Not just with his hands, but with everything in his body, and his heart. All he knew was that he had to reach her, he had to save her. He left the ground, shooting like a bullet toward Chloe’s plummeting form, outstripping Kara, who’d started flying toward Chloe, and leaving her in his wake.

***

“Chloe!” Davis’s enraged voice screamed behind her. He sounded murderously angry.

It'll be over soon...

Chloe was filled with a sense of relief once her body was in the air. She’d never have to see Davis, or let him touch her again. She’d never have to remember the things she’d let him do to her. His rage wouldn’t matter, because she wouldn’t be around to see it, or deal with it. The ground was rushing toward her. It would all be over soon.

But then she heard another voice calling her name, and there was no anger in it. Fear, yes, but not anger. She looked around and saw something that took her breath away.

Clark was coming for her...and he was flying.

He was heading right for her, hands outstretched, with Kara behind him. He reached her a little over half way to the ground, scooping her into his arms and shooting up toward the sky. Davis passed them, flailing in the air and screaming in rage. She and Clark looked down to see him slam into the rocky ground below, hard.

Chloe began speaking in a rush. “Clark, you have to hurry. He’s weakened, and he can’t change into Doomsday right away. Chain him now, before he can recover.”

“Why did you—”

“Now, Clark! I’ll explain everything later, I promise.”

He rushed for the ground so fast Chloe felt a little queasy. John had brought the chains and the chamber, while Lana had carried Dinah over.

“We don’t have long,” Kara said. “Let’s get the chains on him.”

“You knew about this?” Clark asked his cousin, while they manhandled a viciously struggling Davis into the chains.

Davis’s eyes never left Chloe’s. They burned with pain, anger, and hurt. “I can’t change,” he said. “Why can’t I change?”

Chloe didn’t answer. She just looked at him with all the loathing she’d come to feel for him. Clark pulled Davis to his feet and then pushed him into the chamber, where he and John fastened the chains to their moorings inside. They’d been made to fit him while he was in Doomsday form, so they were loose, but they’d tighten up when he transformed, after he was safely locked away.

“Why?” he asked.

“You know why. You're a monster, Davis. We have no choice.”

Davis's face twisted, all hurt gone so that nothing remained but pure rage. “And it’ll all be fore you. This thing won’t hold me forever, Clark. I’ll get out, and when I do I’m coming straight for you...and her.”

Chloe’s insides turned to ice at those words, because on some level she knew it wasn’t an empty threat. Someday he would get out, and he would find her.

“I’ll destroy the world if I have to, just to kill you,” Davis said. His forehead began to ripple, as did other parts of his body. He screamed with the pain of transformation, and with the rage of Chloe's betrayal, and Clark's victory. Clark shut the lid, and then, with Kara’s help, began to turn the lock in the center until there were deep, resounding thuds of many powerful locks slipping home. There was a light that circled around the lock once, and Davis’s screams of rage were finally silenced, even to Kryptonian ears.

Chloe was shaking when Clark put his arms around her, his stomach burning with guilt. He'd believed, so easily, that she'd turned on him, when in reality she'd remained his most loyal friend. “You had this planned all along.”

Chloe nodded. She was weary down to her very bones. “Take me home, Clark. Take me away from here.”

“Kara and I will bury the creature,” John said. “The rest of you go home. Lana, Dinah, tell the others we’ve succeeded. We’re safe.”

“Are we?” Lana asked. “Do you really think he’ll escape someday?”

“Only time will answer that question,” John said.

Lana, who couldn’t fly, and was still careful to remain at a distance from Clark, picked Dinah up and started for Metropolis, while Kara used her heat vision to begin blasting a hole in the earth that would go deep underground. Clark scooped Chloe into his arms, and took to the sky.

“You’ve found your wings,” she said, as the wind rippled through her hair.

Clark looked deeply into Chloe’s eyes and said, “You gave them to me.”

5.

There was no air in the chamber, not that he needed it to survive. Davis didn’t know how deep he was, only that the darkness was impenetrable and completely silent. He’d left his human form behind, and he knew he would never return to it.

Chloe…

He’d trusted her. He’d believed in her. And as much as he was capable of it, he’d loved her. He’d thought she loved him, was devoted to him, but it had all been a lie. He’d struggled so hard to hold the monster in him at bay, all for her, but no longer. He’d never be Davis Bloome again. He would never pretend to be something he isn’t. He was Doomsday, and he would escape this chamber, somehow.

He tried struggling against the chains, but there was suddenly a hissing sound. Something bitter filled his mouth, and at once he felt dizzy. Was this a death chamber, rather than a device to hold him? Some small part of him found the idea of death a relief, but there was too much rage and hate in him now to let give into it, to welcome death. He wanted to live. He wanted to destroy. He wanted to kill Chloe Sullivan for betraying him.

A different kind of darkness began to envelop Doomsday, as the gas filled his lungs and made his body impossibly heavy. One day he would awaken. One day he would be free.

Despite his best efforts he gave into it, and knew no more.

***

After a quick shower to wash her hair and body of the grit and grime of the cave, and of Davis, Chloe sank into a tub of water so hot she could barely tolerate it. She still thought she could smell Davis on her, though she knew that was just her imagination. That would fade with time. At least she hoped it would.

Her sore muscles began to relax in the heat of the water. The whole experience had left her tired and emotionally drained. There was hardly a part of her body that didn’t have some mark from Davis' brutal touch. Her body would heal, but she wondered if the wounds he’d left on her soul would ever fade.

There was a light knock on the door that she recognized as Clark’s. “Come in.”

Ever the gentleman, he peered cautiously in, and then closed the door behind him. She was leaning forward with her legs up to her chest, and her head resting on her knees. Clark got a look at Chloe’s back, which was covered with bruises and scrapes.

“Kara told me what you did,” he said.

Clark knelt beside the tub and dipped his hand in the water. He spent some time gently rinsing her back, washing away left over dirt and blood. His eyes stung with tears at the sight of her battered flesh.

“I figured she would.”

“You could have told me about the database. We could have found another way,” Clark said.

Chloe shook her head no. “Clark, he almost killed you in your last fight. You weren’t ready to face him. I had to do something that would give you an advantage, and I found it. If there had been another way, you know I would have tried it.”

“He raped you.”

“No he didn’t. I went with him willingly.”

Clark’s jaw was set. His teeth were grinding. “For me.”

“For you. For everyone. He’s going to get out one day, Clark. That chamber won’t hold him forever.”

Clark nodded, looking away from her back. “I know.”

“You’re maturing, you know. I mean physically. When he does get out, I don’t think he’ll have any humanity or goodness left in him, and you’ll be our only hope. My only hope.”

“I’ll die before I let him hurt you,” Clark vowed.

Chloe knew he would. She just hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Ever.

They sat in silence while the water cooled. Chloe was just glad that Clark understood why she’d done what she did, and that she’d never betrayed him.

“I was always on your side, Clark. I’d never betray you.”

“I know. And I’m sorry I was so quick to doubt you. It won’t happen again. Chloe, I…I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Clark smiled. Chloe was always ready to give him an out, to let him walk away so that they never had to face the undercurrent of feeling between them. He wasn't going to let that happen--not this time. “I mean I love you.”

Chloe smiled tiredly, but happily. “I love you too, Clark.”

Chloe sat up, revealing more of her body than he’d ever seen—when he wasn’t peeping while high on red kryptonite, anyway—and then leaned in to him. He kissed her softly, deeply. It started off tenderly, but soon he felt longing stir deep within his body. He pulled away, both of them breathless.

“I want to be with you, Clark. I just need some time.”

Clark looked at her body again. There were cuts and bruises, some of them hand shaped, all over her body. He nodded his understanding. Now was not the time, but when it was, he was going to make sure it was perfect.

“It’s late. Let’s go to bed.”

She climbed out of the tub and got into Clark’s old robe. Ten minutes later she was dressed in one of his blue shirts that hung to her knees, and curled up in his bed with him behind her. His body was warm, and so was the blanket thrown over them. He felt so big and solid behind her. She felt safe in his arms.

“Tell me again,” she said.

Clark didn’t need her to elaborate as to what she wanted to hear. He kissed her temple lightly, and it was so soothing Chloe couldn’t hold her eyes open under the soft pressure of his lips.

“I love you.”

Tired, bruised, but happier than she’d ever been in her life, Chloe drifted off to sleep on those three wonderful words.

-End

***

Author's Note: I hope I didn't disappoint with the ending. That's my biggest fear, that I'll let someone down and they'll think the ending sucks. I didn't write Chlark sex at the end, and I know readers were looking forward to that, but the reason being that as I wrote the story it didn't really fit in. Chloe has been through a lot with Davis, and he left her pretty banged up. Also, I thought the tenderness between Chlark made for a better ending, because we know they're together and sex will come between them eventually.