Clark and Chloe stood quietly on the balcony, leaning gently against the railing.
Behind them was the main hall where the ceremony was being held, but they felt like being alone for the moment.
"So... Clark," Chloe began. "I haven't seen you around Smallville lately. Are you still living at home?"
"Yeah, but I... I've been spending all my time here. I'm needed here, Chloe. If I spend too much time in Smallville, I'm afraid that I'll be gone when... when something happens."
Chloe frowned a little. "What are you afraid will happen?"
Clark took a deep breath and stared out over the horizon, toward the city lights.
"I have friends in Metropolis that are in danger. Lionel Luthor's tried to kill them—and me—before."
Chloe's eyes went wide. "Lionel Luthor?! As in Luthorcorp?!?"
"Yeah, that's him."
"Wow... I'd heard rumors of him being involved in shady stuff, but... wow... okay, who's he trying to kill?"
"For the moment, he's sort of laying low, from what we can tell. After he threatened us directly, the police nearly had enough evidence to charge him with attempted murder."
Chloe nodded a little with understanding. "But the Luthor lawyers have managed to keep him clean thus far."
"Exactly."
"So... who is 'us,' exactly? Who's he trying to kill, and why was he after you?"
"Bruce Wayne, for one."
"The boy heir to the throne of Wayne Enterprises? No wonder; they're Luthorcorp's biggest rival."
"Hey, how do you know all this, anyway?"
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Please, Clark. We do have the internet in Smallville. I'm a reporter, and as boring as the inner workings of multi-billion-dollar corporations are, they're front page news. And I read every front page of every major paper."
Clark couldn't help but smile at her. She was the same brilliant Chloe that she'd always been.
She pushed him for more details. "So, who else? Come on! Tell me!"
Clark paused for a moment, and looked back into the hall. Chloe could tell that Clark was troubled by whatever he was about to say. "It's Lois. Lionel's after her, too."
Chloe's put her hands over her mouth in shock. "Lois? Why?"
"Because she's dating Bruce, and she's been investigating Lionel nonstop. She's actually gotten pretty close to finding evidence on him a couple of times."
"Lois is DATING BRUCE WAYNE?!?"
Clark gave her a quizzical look. "Do you ever talk to your cousin?"
"We're both really busy, I guess. Wait, so you're protecting Lois and Bruce all by yourself? Do they know about your abilities?"
"...Yeah, they do. And no, I'm not protecting them by myself. There's a couple of others that we've met... people with powers."
Chloe was surprised. "Powers? Powers like yours?"
"No. One of them's an amazon princess, and the other's a guy who... well, he can run really fast."
Chloe nearly laughed. "An amazon princess? What's her name, Xena?"
"Diana, actually," Clark said with a slight smile.
Chloe tilted her head a little at that. "I saw that smile. So... you like this 'Diana'?"
Clark stepped back a little. "No, it's not that. She's a good friend, but I don't know her all that well."
Chloe wasn't convinced. "Still, though... there's something special about her, isn't there? Other than just the fact that she's got powers."
"Well..." Clark began, "She... she's like me. She's not from here; she's from an island off somewhere hidden from the rest of the world. She's got some powers like mine, and... she really cares about doing the right thing."
Chloe did her best to force a smile across her face. "Sounds like you've found a kindred spirit."
Clark didn't notice her falseness, and a slight smile of his own crept across his face. "Yeah, kinda. But I'm not interested in her... romantically, I mean. It's nice to have a friend like her, but I'm not looking for anything more than that right now."
"Oh." Chloe was pleasantly surprised, but she tried to keep her composure. "So... is there anyone you're interested in?"
Clark was a little taken aback at the question. "Well, I—"
Lois jumped in. "Hey Smallvilles, my award's coming up! Come back inside!"
They both followed her back to their table, and sat down in preparation. This was the final award of the evening, and Lois's article had been nominated.
The presenter on stage had the letter in her hand. "And the award for best single article goes to..." She began opening the envelope.
Clark could almost feel Lois shaking in her seat from three feet away. He wondered how much caffeine she'd had today.
The presenter finally ripped the envelope open and read the card inside. "...'The Red Blur of Central City', by Iris Allen!"
The room roared with applause.
Chloe and Clark both were slightly shocked and a little worried. They both slowly turned to Lois.
Lois was livid, and looked slightly crazed. "WHAT?!?"
She quickly pulled out her phone and looked up the article online. "What?! This... this is about some random red blur that appears at crime scenes! It's... it's all circumstantial evidence! NO!!"
Chloe leaned over to Clark. "Is that blur the super-fast guy you were talking about?"
"No, that's his grandpa," Clark responded matter-of-factly.
Chloe felt as though she were the only person in the room that had a grip on reality. "Okay, you guys really need to sit down and explain this stuff."
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