Eveything Changes but Some Things Don't

Chapter 18

Back in the 21st century…

A week had passed since the Doomsday incident and Metropolis and its people were getting back to normal. The day was beautiful now if it weren’t so sad for those standing around one solitary grave to say goodbye to an average guy in his last moments became a hero.

As the priest said the funeral words and the words “Henry James Olsen, Rest In Peace” Chloe found herself just look at old negatives of pictures of her and Jimmy that she had tied together like a bouquet of flowers. She placed this on top of his grave and touched it for a moment before she stepped back away from the coffin. As Chloe tried to keep a strong face she looked around her at her friends and Jimmy’s little brother. Dinah and Oliver were trying to stay strong for Chloe, but still a tear escaped Oliver. Henry’s little brother, having to be tough for his dad even though he was in tears over losing his hero, his idol that he looked up to.

As he and his dad began to walk away he let go of his dad’s hand and turned around to face his brother’s coffin one more time with tears in his eyes.

Chloe walked up to him saying, “Hey, you must be Jimmy’s little brother?”

And before the tears could make her inconsolable and not understandable she smiled softly and said, “Well I think this belongs to you,” and put Jimmy’s camera over his neck. The camera made him look dwarfed whether because he was a child wearing an adult camera or because of the immense presence the camera had for Jimmy was now being passed on to his little brother.

As he touched the lens of the camera and looked up to her slightly she stepped back saying, “He would have wanted you to have it.”

“Thanks,” the boy finally got out through his parched throat and tears.

“Who knows maybe someday you’ll follow in his footsteps,” she said again smiling down at him just as his dad came back to take him to their car and Dinah who had getting closer without her noticing came fully to her side.

~The song Better For You by Kutless starts to play~

As they walked away from the grave Chloe stopped to look around for Clark but he was nowhere in sight on at least in the front of her at least. But when she couldn’t see him and he didn’t show himself they began to walk away. Only to show a silhouette that was Clark beside a tree below and behind the gravesite just standing there watching with sad eyes and heavy shoulders.

Clark watched everyone walk away from the sight and took a heavy breath just as Oliver who was the last to walk away left.

Clark had made up his mind and it wasn’t going to be changed this time. He was just finding it very hard to say goodbye to the one person he didn’t want to leave, but knew he had to.

Later that day as the sun began to set found Clark stepping into Chloe’s new place and walking right to the spot where the dried blood still covered the floor, just looking at it as if it held the answers to the universe’s questions while he wore black suit boots, pants and jacket over a navy blue almost black suit shirt.

Just then he heard the clicking of Chloe’s heels and her breathless, “Clark,” as she spotted him from the above floor banister and came running down the steps as she said, “You’re alive!”

He watched her every movement quietly and stoically. She was wearing black heeled shoes, black suit pants, and a beautiful black silk shirt that had a black belt over the stomach.

"God she looked lovely even in mourning black,” he thought.

When her feet touched the floor she ran to him with a “hey” and caught in such a tight hug that if he had been a normal man he probably would be having a hard time breathing right now, but seeing as he wasn’t a normal man he just held her as tightly as was safe for her and kept his cool and calm face.

As she caught her breath from her tears and tried to calm herself by listening to his heartbeat, laying her head on his chest she asked, “How did you survive the geothermal explosion?”

He took a deep breath and disentangled Chloe from him, knowing if he didn’t distance himself in some way he would find it much harder to do what he had to even more than it was right now.

He did answer her though with a calm and deep voice, “Just before Dinah pressed the button I…” but he couldn’t finish his sentence and went on to say, “I don’t know. I got out before the blast but not fast enough to save anyone else.”

His voice at the end of his little spiel was confused and sad. He was upset with himself that he couldn’t save those he felt he had an obligation to. Chloe had closed her eyes in sadness and relief and shook her head in understand but when he called her name she opened them and looked him right in the eyes.

He looked around on the ground from a moment before saying softly, “I’ve searched everywhere…There’s no sign of Lois.”

Chloe could feel tears falling again but tried her best to stay strong. She needed to stay strong right now. Her friends and cousin were counting on her strength. But when she saw Clark’s disappointed and sad eyes watching her she felt herself shake her head ‘no’ as if to say ‘no that can’t be, we’ll find her sooner or later’ and begin to cry just a little with her head down. After a moment she looked up at him and said through red and puffy, tear-stained eyes, “I saw someone tacking her photo on a missing person’s board…and I keep thinking that maybe…you know maybe…”

“Haven’t lost everyone…” he said and swallowed down his own tears and grief to be strong for her.

He went to open his mouth to say something, tell her he loved her always had always would but couldn’t find the strength to. She had just lost her ex-husband even though they were divorced technically. So instead he took a breath and walked around her to the back wall of the apartment/home/whatever it was now. He heard her turning to face him, heard her heart pounding out its pain in his ears though he didn’t show it.

He heard her sweet, tear filled voice saying, “You were there today Clark, weren’t you?”

And he turned his profile to her to show he was listening as she went on to say with a hurt and confused tone to her voice, “I really needed you. Why didn’t you come to me?”

“Why didn’t you come to me, she asks. Why indeed? Maybe because if I had I wouldn’t be able to do what I’m about to. I’m sorry for this Chloe, I really am, but I must do this. This is what’s best for all,” he thought.

He took a deep breath suddenly finding it hard to breathe through his hurt, guilt and grief replying, “The reason Jimmy’s dead…” finishing up by turning back to face her with, “and Oliver’s right…”

He took a breath and got a tone to his voice that sounded almost like he was going to break down as he continued on, “I put humanity on a pedestal…” watching as she watched him with clearer eyes and a set jaw as if to prepare for something and he thought, “Good, she’s getting her nerve back. She’s going to need it once I do this.”

but instead of saying anything about his thought he quickly shook it off and got a hard, angry edge to his tone almost self-punishing, self-discriminating even as he said while he looked right at the dried blood on the floor by her feet, “It wasn’t a Kryptonian beast that killed Jimmy, it was a human.”

He watched as she took a breath and got a determined tone to her voice as she stepped right on the blood spot and said, “I was standing right here, Clark,” and then with a fire in her eyes he hadn’t seen in a while she stated, “I know full well who killed Jimmy.”

He couldn’t face her, he just couldn’t so he began to look around him saying, “This place Chloe…Just get rid of it. Just walk away and don’t look back.”

“You don’t get it, Clark,” she said stepping closer to his back with a small smile on her face and in her voice, “Jimmy is here.”

Then as she walked up to him and passed him to stand in front of the stained windows he stood in front of looking up at them she said, “He’s watching over me. He knew me so well…he knew this place would be perfect.”

She was now facing him and he her and she had the excited, determined tone to her voice she always used to get when she was on to a good story or they were doing some scoobying together, “Jimmy wanted to know no matter where I was in the city I could look up here and see this beacon…The Watch Tower. Dinah, Oliver and Bart all disappeared…” she said stepping up to him.

Then she continued on searching his face for some emotion and assurance, “Maybe it’s up to us to bring them back home.”

“Home?” he questioned with a tone she couldn’t recognize from him.

Then he said something that scared her in that same tone, “I don’t have a home.”

“I don’t like the way that sounds,” she said calmly even though her heart was pounding and she was sure something was about to happen she really didn’t want to.

He opened his mouth to say something but stopped and tried again. This time with a softer tone he replied, “I’ve always tried to forget I was an alien…” and then he walked away from her saying, “Or creature…I’ve always tried to pretend I was human,” he stated only turning his head her way. He had sucked his lips into his mouth and set his jaw for his next words.

Then he came to face her on the other side of the floor on the other side of the blood stain near the doorway as he said, “I was raised to believe it was my Kryptonian part that was dangerous Chloe but I was wrong.”

“It’s my human side…” he began softly gaining more courage and volume as he went on, “It’s the side that gets attached. The side that makes decisions based on emotions, that’s my enemy, and Davis proved that too me.”

“So because of some psychopath you’re going to cut the rest of us out of your life?” she asked stepping toward him with an angry edge to her voice but went on more determined than angry now as she watched him, “Clark, human emotion is what made you the hero that you are today.”

“They’re what are stopping me from being the hero I could be,” he replied just as determined to stick to his plan and not get turned away from it even though it hurt to do this.

~songs ends~

He went on to say, “It’s what the world needs now.”

Her heart couldn’t take much more of this so with tears in her eyes she asked the question she didn’t want an answer to, “What are you saying?”

~Dead and Gone by T.I. featuring Justin Timberlake starts playing~

She watched him as he took a swallow and breath and then he said something she never thought she’d hear him say, “Clark Kent is dead. Goodbye, Chloe,” and with that he turned and walked out the door into the bright setting sun and was gone. And Chloe was left holding her stomach, crying right on the spot Jimmy was killed thinking her heart and stomach might just fall out of her if she didn’t hold herself together somehow.

She didn’t know how long she stood there, but finally after what felt hours she slowly got herself to walk back to her room. She took a hot bath trying to soothe her nerves and tense muscles. She tried to ignore the sense of complete loss and soul wrenching pain engulfing her but couldn’t so she took a pill the doctor had given her to sleep easier and went to bed, crying herself to sleep.

~song ends~

Later that night back in Smallville at the Luthor Mansion Tess was awoken from her sleeping state in the library above the office by voices and a bright purplish, white light coming from outside. She rushed to her room and looked out one of the windows on to the grounds.

There was the orb floating above the grounds and then it sent a ray of light at the ground and it looked like the ground was going to explode open from beneath and with a flash of light that only lasted a moment, suddenly a naked male figure appeared holding the orb Tess had “lost” which was glowing the same color the light had been. The man’s body glowed gold for a moment in certain places and once the light dissipated there was a glowing symbol of some kind the man was standing in the middle of. Once the glowing and lights faded the grounds were burnt with the symbol for ‘Zod’.

AN: thats the last scene from actual finale now any scenes I use will be mentioned or memories and the fun stuff coming. Give me a day or so got some financial stuff to figure out so not gonna be near comp for a bit. Please keep reading rating reviewing voting on and stuff please Enjoy