The Love Of His Life Chapter Six

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Clark insisted on checking up on Chloe every night until it was safe for her to return to Smallville. He also insisted she take a room at a cheap but respectable motel room in a better part of town, somewhere she wasn't likely to run into Lenny or his ilk.

Once he arrived at the farm, Clark floated high in the air and listened in on the house and the surrounding grounds. He found a single van parked on the old dirt road that separated the Kent property from the land owned by Lana's aunt Nell. The van had a small dish atop it, as well as an array of antennas.

Clark peered through the walls of the van and found Lois and Lucy Lane inside. They were monitoring the his house. Clark listened in and could hear his mother snoring softly.

"…still say I should have five minutes alone with Clark Kent and his dried up old mother. I could make them talk."

"Their story checks out. Chloe really did take a bus to Chicago. She disembarked and--"

"The woman and her boy are keeping something back. I can feel it."

"Like I said, Lucy, their story checks out," Lois said.

"All I need is five minutes alone with them. I'd have them screaming the truth."

Lois regarded her sister. "What makes you like to hurt people so much?"

"What makes you hate it? You get a sense of power from it, Lois. It's a real trip."

"I've never gotten a sense of power from hurting other people. It's sick."

"Whatever. To each her own."

Lucy looked thoughtfully at one of the monitors that displayed body heat signatures of the Kent house. "I think Chloe told them about the Facility."

"And I think she lied to the Kents to win their sympathy. Chloe wouldn't have told them the truth. She wouldn't endanger someone who took pity on and was kind to her," Lois countered.

Lucy leaned in and studied Lois closely.

"You don't want Chloe found. In fact, I think you want the whole Facility shut down. You've always been soft, Lois."

Lois didn’t shy away from her sister. "You've always had a screw loose. I'd rather be kind and sane than crazy and evil."

Lucy suddenly screamed and launched herself at Lois, who didn't hesitate to punch her sister hard on the jaw. Lucy fell back and hit her head on the back wall of the van. With a scream of frustration she stood as far as the low ceiling of the van would allow and started for the rear door.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm sick of all this waiting. I'm going to get some answers from the old woman. If her son comes in all the better. I'll get some answers from him too."

Clark tensed, ready to land and deal with Lucy firsthand should she make a move on his mother. He'd show her he wasn't so easy to handle.

"Sit your ass down."

When Lucy moved closer to the door, Lois hooked a finger in the back of her sister's belt and pulled, forcing her land awkwardly on her butt. Lucy glared as she nearly tumbled ungracefully to the floor.

"You're going to learn to follow orders. Daddy's little girl or not you can't do whatever the hell you want and get away with it."

"These are stupid orders!"

"Tell me why the General forbade us to touch the Kents. Don't pretend you don't know."

Lucy pouted for a long time. Lois waited her out. She knew how to deal with the girl.

"If something happens to the Kents the cops will suspect us," she said in a petulant tone. "It will endanger the operation."

"Exactly."

"Do you think Chloe will come back to this farm?"

Lois hesitated. "Not a chance. She knows we're watching."

After the women fell silent Clark decided he'd seen and heard enough. He focused his heat vision on the dish and antennas atop the van, melting them to ruins. Lois and Lucy emerged seconds later to investigate the cause of the interruption to their equipment and found a glowing red pool of melted metal.

When they both looked around, and to the sky for the culprit, Clark flew to the side of the house where he was out of their line of sight.

*****

Lois and Lucy were removed by the sheriff who threatened to arrest them for unlawful invasion of privacy for spying on the Kents. Of course that didn't stop them from returning the next evening to a different location and with new equipment.

Sam Lane himself stopped by just as Clark and Martha finished dinner a week later with a very interesting package in hand.

"I know you have some pretty harsh words prepared for me, Mrs. Kent. I'll be more than willing to hear you out if you'll be willing to pay me the same courtesy. You need to know about the girl you're protecting."

He held the manila envelope up and shook it.

"Twenty minutes is all I ask."

"You can tell me whatever you like, General Lane. That won't change the fact that I don't know where Chloe is now. She hasn't called or made any attempts to contact us."

"I believe you when you say you don't know where she's gone. I came here because I want to tell you where she comes from."

Martha considered it before finally opening the door to allow him in. They took a seat at the kitchen table.

"You'd best believe I'll check the house and grounds for bugs. If I find anything suspicious I'll take it to the sheriff," Clark said, coming to stand in the kitchen entrance. He crossed his arms, knowing he made an impressive figure. He was a big man. Even if he didn't have super powers he'd be a formidable threat.

"I'm not here to invade your privacy. I just want to show you this," Sam said.

Clark found the general's words absurd considering he'd had his daughters watching the farm for days.

He opened several photos of Chloe. She looked awful in many of them. She wore hospital garb and her hair was a wild, spiky mess. She looked half dead in them. Dark, bruise-like circles lined her eyes more often than not. There was a look of utter defeat in many of the photos that made Clark's blood boil.

"My God," Martha said, frowning and shaking her head.

"Chloe hasn't been shuffled from one base to another, forced to pretend to be my wife, Mrs. Kent. She's been at the Gotham Facility for the Criminally Insane. She didn't watch her father die in a car crash as she told you. He was gunned down right in front of her. I'm sorry to say that I am the one who had to kill him."

Martha looked up at Sam Lane, surprised to hear him confirm Chloe's story that he'd killed her father.

"What happened?" she asked, staring hard at him, sensing honesty.

"In 1998 Gabriel Sullivan and his wife, my sister Moira, were passing through Smallville when a meteor shower hit. Deposits of some rocks were left behind. Most were green, some were red."

"I've lived here for most of my adult life, General. I know all about that shower. I was here when it happened."

"You know that some people exposed to the rocks were affected by them in different ways, then."

"We call them meteor freaks," Clark interjected.

Sam Lane nodded. "I can see why, considering some of the evil things these people can get up to. Anyway, Gabe, Moira, and Chloe were run off the road and almost killed during that shower. Shards of those green meteors were embedded all over their bodies. Moira managed to get the car started and got her family to the hospital.

Chloe was believed dead but awoke in the morgue with all her injuries miraculously healed. Gabe suffered severe head injuries. Moira died in the operating room at Smallville General Hospital. Millions of particles were so embedded in the three of them they simply couldn't be removed. Gabe and Chloe survived but they were forever changed. That was especially clear in Chloe's case. I'd seen her suffer minor scrapes and cuts and watched them heal right before my eyes. I saw her resurrect a dead cat. Her abilities were amazing.

Gabe had a brilliant scientific mind but he went mad after the accident. He became convinced the government was after him and Chloe that they wanted to study and experiment on his daughter to see if they could engineer some kind of unstoppable super soldier. He took Chloe and disappeared.

I spent years looking for them. When I finally found them in Metropolis I couldn't believe what I saw. Gabe had been conducting experiments on Chloe, trying to make her invincible. Chloe can't be killed, Mrs. Kent, unless she's decapitated or wounded to the heart. Gabe was so frightened that he'd lose his daughter he tried to take Chloe's head off when we came in. I shot him to save her and brought her home to raise as my own."

Martha shared a look with Clark. She didn't want to believe anything she heard from Sam Lane but she didn't know Chloe and the girl had been very secretive about her past.

"I can't believe this. You could be making all this up to cover the horrible things Chloe said you did to her."

"Chloe had been long poisoned by her father's paranoia. She was as insane as he had been. She couldn't adjust to life in a normal house. She would lash out at my girls and me. I realized the best thing for Chloe was intense counseling. I hated to do it but I committed her to the Gotham Facility where she could be cared for by professionals. I'd hoped that if she was treated while she was young she could someday lead a normal life and manage her powers."

"Powers? I thought you said she was just immortal," Clark said.

"Chloe can heal not only herself but others. Like I said, she'd resurrected a dead cat once. Her ability doesn't just work on animals, it works on people. She made some progress toward recovery by helping to heal sick children and abused animals. I had hoped she would have adjusted after four years of therapy but her escape and the wild stories she told you have proven Chloe needs continued care."

Sam Lane leaned toward Martha and laced his fingers together. He looked so convincing that Martha had difficulty not believing his story. Doubt began to creep into her mind and she didn't like it one bit. She liked to think she could read people but now she wasn't so sure. She couldn't get a good feel for Sam Lane and that hadn't happened to her in years.

"My niece is a sick young woman, Mrs. Kent. If you care about Chloe, and I believe you do, you will call me should she ever attempt to contact you, or if she returns to the farm. Study the file. Her life story is inside it."

Sam stood up and straightened his jacket.

"My one regret is not having been there more for her. I allowed my career and my family to get in the way of being there, of visiting Chloe more often."

"Did no one contact you about Chloe's escape?" Martha asked.

He shook his head, his face the perfect expression of sadness and regret. "No. I didn't find out about her escape until days after the fact. Believe me, had I known what had happened I would have been out looking for her from day one."

Martha felt weight lifted off her shoulders. All of her doubts about Chloe were now gone. She knew Sam Lane was lying to her face now. She'd seen Chloe the day she escaped. She'd damn near ran the girl down and she knew that Sam Lane had been there, on the scene, but now he was lying about it.


If he was lying about that then he could be lying about anything. She didn't let on she knew of his dishonesty. Instead of calling him on it she merely stood to signal it was time for him to leave.

"Thank you for the information. I'll look it over and consider what you've said."

"That's all I ask, Mrs. Kent."

He nodded at Clark and left the house. Martha waited until he was gone before having Clark search the house and property for any sign of listening devices or of Lucy and Lois watching the house from any of their usual hiding spots.

"Nothing," Clark said when he came in fifteen minutes later. He'd used all of his senses to search and it seemed that at least on that account Sam Lane told the truth.

"Do you think any of it could be true?" Clark asked.

"No. You?" she asked.

Clark shook his head. "No."

"He lied when he said he wasn't there the day Chloe escaped. I remember seeing him there. I remember Lois being there as well. She chased Chloe into the city."

"All of this is junk," Clark said, waving at the folder in Martha's hand.

His mother frowned and opened the folder to view the pictures inside. She shook her head. "No. I think a lot of what's in here is the absolute truth. Of course it's been skewed to support his lies, and I'm sure it doesn't mention any of the torture Chloe was put through, but there are a lot of facts inside. The best lies have a lot of truth, after all."

"I have to get Chloe back here. They know she's in Chicago and it's only a matter of time before they close in on her."

Martha nodded. "Go on son."

He went for the keys hanging by the door but Martha put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Chloe opened up to us, Clark. I truly believe it's time you opened up to her. Bring her home your way."

"Mom, are you sure?" Clark said.


He trusted Chloe but he didn't expect his mother to. At least not this soon. Keeping his secret from outsiders had been drilled into Clark all his life. His parents' greatest fear had been discovery of what Clark really was. To hear her encourage him to tell someone new, someone they had known for such a short length of time, surprised Clark.

It surprised him but it also pleased him. It would be a relief to open up to Chloe. He didn't know why but he believed that if Chloe knew everything about him she'd accept him with open arms.

He put the keys back on the little hook by the door. "I'll be back in an hour at the most."

He went through the kitchen, out the back door, and took to the sky.

*****

It was after 9p.m. when Clark returned to Chloe's motel. He gave her every detail of her uncle's visit and the story he'd told.

"Most of what he said was true, except my father wasn't crazy. He never experimented on me. He didn’t tell the truth about the Facility either. Sure, I had to heal a few sick kids and animals as part of a program financed by the government but that was only for show. They had to keep up appearances for funding. The dirty underside of the Facility is unknown to the public. Sam never tried to raise me as his own. He just killed my father and took me straight to the Facility."

"I didn't believe him," Clark said.

Chloe smiled but she was clearly skeptical. "Never a moment of doubt?"

"Not for me," Clark said honestly. "Mom may have had a moment of doubt until she caught Sam in a lie. He said he wasn't there the day you escaped but she saw you on the road when she almost ran over you. She saw Lois chase you and saw Sam there, too. Don't hold it against her."

"Believe me, Clark, I'm not holding anything against Martha. She's been nothing but supportive of me. I know I can trust her."

"You can't stay here, Chloe. They're a few days from finding you, if not closer. You have to come back to hide on the farm."

"I don't know how I'll get out of here," Chloe said worriedly. "I can't take a bus. You know they're keeping an eye on every station in Chicago."

"You'll have to fly," Clark said, smiling.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Sure! Great idea, Clark. Wait here while I go to the bathroom and pull money for a plane ticket out of my--"

"No need to finish that sentence," Clark interrupted. "You'll be flying Kent Air this evening."

Chloe regarded him with suspicion. "Don't tell me you have your own plane. You can't afford it....That can't be how you've been traveling between here and Smallville so quickly."

He shrugged. "Come and see."

It was dark when Clark and Chloe exited the motel room from the window into the back where there were plenty of trees for cover. Clark made sure no one was looking and pulled Chloe to him.

She gulped, feeling a little more excited to be pressed to his body than she thought she should be, and backed away.




"What are you doing?"

"Don't be afraid. I never fall," he said reassuringly.

"What about my stuff?"



 "Oh, right."

He went back inside and Chloe watched in amazement as he packed everything into her bag at super speed.

"My God…" she said, looking at him in awe. Clark felt pride begin to inflate his chest. He'd never in his life showed off for a pretty girl before. He liked her reaction since he didn't see fear or disgust in her eyes. There was only wonder.

"I'm quick," he said.

"Do you do everything at that speed?" she joked. The innuendo wasn't lost on Clark. He felt his neck and face warm slightly but he didn't actually blush.

"No. Some things I like to take my time with."

He threw Chloe's bag around his shoulder and then slipped an arm around her waist. He hoisted her up, pressing her to the full length of his body again. He was amazingly warm.

"Ready?"

She nodded and looked at the ground. It suddenly receded as Clark swiftly lifted off toward the sky and she involuntarily yelped. That yelp quickly turned to laughter.

"Oh, my God! This is amazing, Clark!"

She looked down over the city. It glittered like diamonds on a blanket of velvet below them.

"I've dreamed of flying with you," he confessed. He didn't expect her to appreciate just how special that was...how unique she was.

"You say that like it's never happened before."

He shrugged. "It hasn't."

Chloe stroked his face with one hand. "I'm the first person you've flown with? I'm touched. Really, I am."

Clark swallowed. This would be the perfect time for a kiss but he didn't want to have that moment with Chloe before she knew everything about him.

"You might get cold on the way back to Smallville," he said quietly.

"I don't think I will. You're very warm. It's like there's a blanket around me or something," she said.

"Here we go, then. Don't be afraid. I won't drop you."

"I trust you, Clark."

Trust wasn't something that came easily to Chloe. That she trusted him wasn't a fact he took easily for granted.

They took off, shooting toward home at speeds no jet could easily match.

*****

They arrived in Smallville minutes later. Chloe was still warm when they came to a stop a few hundred feet above the farm. Her hair was a ruined mess, though.

Clark checked to make sure there were no more teams watching the house.

"You're sure you're not cold?" he asked.

Chloe shook her head. "The cold didn't bother me at all. I could hardly feel it. It was like you protected me from it somehow."

Clark descended smoothly when he saw no one was around the farm and touched down softly. He put Chloe to her feet but didn't immediately let her go.

"Would you like to go out? Not where you'll be seen in town or anything but somewhere else," Clark asked.

"Clark Kent, are you asking me on a date?"

"Yes I am, Miss Sullivan."

She smiled brightly and Clark felt a bubble of affection swell in his chest. He could deny it if he wanted, and he didn't, but he was falling for Chloe Sullivan. Even more important, he thought she was falling for him too.

He hoped she was.

"I'd like that. Where did you have in mind?"

"You'll see. It's going to be a surprise. Be ready Friday evening at seven."

"I will."

He kissed her forehead and she liked the touch of his lips. They were soft and she wanted to taste them. She didn't make a move to, though. She wanted that to be a very special moment with Clark. He released her so they could walk into the house and she missed the warmth and strength of his body against hers.

Hopefully she'd feel it again soon.

*****

Martha was sitting on the back porch sipping tea when Chloe came out to greet her.

"You're back!" Martha said happily, throwing her arms around Chloe for a tight hug.

"It was an interesting trip home," Chloe admitted. She took a seat next to Martha in one of the creaky old rocking chairs.

"Home," Martha said, and Chloe's eyes widened.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean--"

"No, it's all right," Martha said. "You'll always have a home here, Chloe."

Chloe hadn't realized she'd thought of the farm as home. She'd never thought of anywhere she lived as home. Not since the apartment in Metropolis, at least. The word home had flowed right out of her and had felt so right she hadn't noticed her use of it.

That Martha wanted her to feel that way about the farm gave Chloe a sense of belonging she'd never thought she'd know again.

"Clark asked me to go out with him Friday night," Chloe said. "I wondered how you felt about that."

"I'm more than okay with you and Clark being more than friends, Chloe. You've been through a lot but you have a kind and humble heart. You're better for him than any of the other girls he's dated. Especially Lana Lang."

Chloe looked down in embarrassment. "Thanks. There's only one concern."

"What you'll wear?" Martha said wisely.

"Yeah. All I have are jeans and tee-shirts."

"We'll rectify that. Since you can't go into town, and you really need to pick out the dress you'll wear on a date, I'll get some material and break out the old sewing machine. I can make you something pretty to wear by Friday."

"Thanks, Martha. I wish there was some way to repay you."

"Keep your room clean and we'll call it even."

"My room?"

Martha winked and nodded at the kitchen door. "Come on. I have something to show you."

Martha showed Chloe to the den that she and Clark had converted to a bedroom.

Chloe took a deep breath, embarrassed at how touched she was by the gesture. She hadn't had a real bedroom of her own in years. All she'd known was a cold gray cell with a tiny, hard cot that was stifling in summer and freezing cold in winter.

"I know it's small--"

"It's great, Martha. I love it. I really do."

*****

When Friday evening arrived Chloe left the upstairs bathroom dressed and ready to go. She wore a white dress covered with a shimmering gauzy material that Martha had paid a pretty penny for in town. She also wore blue slippers to match the sash tied around her waist. She'd spent almost an hour alone on her hair and now she finally felt her makeup was perfect.

Still, she was hesitant to go downstairs. She looked at herself in the full-length mirror behind the bathroom door and thought of Lana Lang. The girl genuinely hadn't been worried that Chloe's beauty could distract Clark.

"My nose is ugly," she said. "I have a long face. What does he see in me?"

She always doubted her looks when she really liked a guy. She assumed that they only wanted her to satisfy their physical needs. None of them had ever told her she was pretty. She had a really good body, that much she wasn't concerned about. She was in very good shape, slim without being skinny, toned and firm from head to toe without looking masculine or over-exercised, but she had doubts about her face.

Clark thought she was cute. Would he ever think she was beautiful?

What does it matter if he really likes me?

Chloe came downstairs to find Clark waiting for her by the door. He wasn't dressed in a suit but he looked really good in a new gray shirt that hung just right over his muscular body. It perfectly complimented his powerful physique. His slacks were an even darker gray that were stylishly loose without being baggy. Loafers covered his feet. His hair was combed differently, hanging in curls around his head, giving him that Greek god look that Chloe loved so much. There was a tiny bit of shadow on his upper lip and jaw. He looked rugged and chic at the same time.

She realized she was staring and looked away awkwardly. Martha stood in the kitchen doorway watching them.

"You're beautiful, Chloe," Clark said.

The dress is beautiful. I just look good in it.

"You look pretty good yourself, farm boy."

He offered his arm and she took it.

"Hey," Martha said. When they looked around a camera flashed in their eyes. She'd caught them in a candid moment.

"Aw, Ma," Clark moaned. "We're going on a date, not to the prom."

"I want to remember this moment," Martha said. "You'll be glad to have this photo some day."

She waved the camera once and said, "Have fun but come home at a decent hour."

Once they left the house they walked around to the side yard. Clark scooped Chloe into his arms and that feeling of warm protection came over her. She quickly tied a bonnet over her hair to keep the wind from completely destroying all the work she'd done on it.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see," he said. "It'll take a few minutes to get there. I don't want to fly too fast for you. Just relax and enjoy the ride."

Twenty minutes later Clark asked Chloe to close her eyes. When he set her down, he told her she could open them.

"I can't see anything."

"You will in a second."

Suddenly a nearby flambeaux burst into life. Then another and another. Chloe noticed that they did this when Clark focused his gaze on them. His eyes glowed lightly red and the air would ripple in front of his face. Many candles lit up as Clark lit them by the power of his gaze.

"You're just full of surprises, Clark Kent."

He smiled down at her. "You have no idea."

Chloe walked around the small area that was lit by the candles and flambeaus. They were in what looked like the garden of an abandoned church. Flowers were draped everywhere. They didn't look as though they'd grown there -- rather Clark had brought them in and artfully placed them. There was a large padded swing nearby, just big enough for the two of them to sit comfortably, closely, together. A small table had been set with silver. There was even a bottle of chilled champagne.




This boy truly understood romance. He knew how to woo a girl.

"Don't tell mom about the drinks. She'd pitch a fit," Clark said.

"Our secret," Chloe promised. "Clark, it's beautiful. Where are we?"

"England," he said.

"What about Martha?"

"I'm keeping an ear out for her," he said. He went over to an old-style turntable and a few seconds later Frank Sinatra's silky voice poured from the speakers Clark had hidden behind the flowers.

They ate, they drank, they danced, mostly in companionable silence. Chloe spent most of the time trying to piece the mystery that was Clark Kent together. She couldn't figure out how he could have so many abilities. She'd never met anyone with more than one meteor power. Clark was definitely unique.

He led Chloe over to the swing and they enjoyed another glass of champagne.

When Chloe finished hers she allowed him to take the glass from her fingers and wrap an arm around her.

"So…" he said.

"I really hope this is the point when you're going to kiss me," Chloe said.

Clark smiled and Chloe began to feel more than a little light-headed. It wasn't the champagne. She had a high metabolism that didn't allow her to get easily drunk, nor could she remain that way for long. No, this feeling was all inspired by the dark angel sitting next to her.

Their first kiss was slow and sweet to start. They didn't rush a moment of it. She parted her lips to deepen the kiss but Clark pulled back.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.




Am I a lousy kisser?

"I don't want to go any further until I've told you everything about me. Once you know you might not want to be with me," he said.

She frowned. "Why would you think that?"

"I'm different from everyone else, even the so-called meteor freaks you've met."

"Okay. How are you different?"

"I'm not a meteor freak. I'm not a metahuman. In fact…I'm not human at all."

Chloe sat up straight and put her legs across his. "You're joking."

"No."

"You're telling me that you're an alien from outer space? You're an ET?"




That explains the god-like sexiness... 

"Yes. I'm from a planet called Krypton."

Clark launched into the story of how his parents had saved him just before their planet exploded. How Martha and Jonathan Kent had found him in a field when the meteor shower hit Smallville.  

"I wasn't made by the meteor rocks. I was born like this."

He looked anxiously at Chloe trying to gauge her reaction.He'd told Chloe more about him than he'd told anyone. Though Chloe hadn't seemed unnerved by him before, he didn't know how she'd feel about him literally being from another planet. 


The expression on his face must have been amusing because she burst into laughter. "You're an alien from outer space! This is incredible, Clark. You're incredible!"

Clark cocked an eyebrow. "Is that good?"

"It's awesome!"

"You're not put off, disgusted, scared or angry or anything?"

Chloe laughed again. "I'm none of those things. Why would I be?"

"My ship crashed the day your parents came to Smallville, Chloe. My arrival changed your life. It changed a lot of lives. If I hadn't landed in Smallville you never would have become infected by the rocks--"

"Whoa, Clark," Chloe held up her hands. "You can't blame yourself for what the rocks did to people, me included."

"How can you say that? Your whole life was destroyed by them."

"My whole life was destroyed by my uncle, not you."

Clark sat back. He was deeply relieved. "I thought you'd blame me in some way."

"I'm very good at putting blame where it really belongs. You'll learn that about me as we get to know each other better."

Chloe winked at Clark, making him smile and helping him relax even more. 

"So what all can you do?"

"I can fly. I can move faster than most people can see. I can look through anything except lead. I can blow my breath with incredible force. I can hear half way around the world. I'm super strong and I'm basically invincible."

"You're also a great kisser," Chloe said. "Don't forget the super kissing ability."

Clark grinned. "I don't think kissing is one of my powers."

"It works on me," Chloe said. She ran her fingers across his chest and up the side of his face. He shivered. "Work your magic some more."

"You're sure you're comfortable--"

"If you don't kiss me I'm going to get really peeved, Clark."

He ran a hand up her leg and under her dress. It was Chloe's turn to shiver then. 



"I wouldn't want that to happen."

-------------------------------

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