Imperative, Part 1

The Daily Planet had already dubbed it “Dark Thursday” on account that the loss of power had only lasted twelve hours. It was amazing how skittish people were, the moment the lights went out, Metropolis became a war zone. When they all came back on, everybody came back to work as if the only thing that had happened was… a half-day blackout.

Chloe stood at her desk. She had changed into the extra set of clothes she kept in the locker room, and was waiting for Jimmy to come back with news of the vending machine. She was wringing her hands, and it wasn’t because she was afraid that the machine would be all out of Doritos.

But when Clark Kent walked in, his hair a little disheveled, she forgot all about what’s-his-name and whatever the heck he went to check on. “Clark,” she said, her voice nearly caught in her throat. She stumbled around her desk and nearly ran to Clark. She would have if it weren’t for her damn ankle. “Oh my God. I thought you were dead.” She grabbed him around the neck and hugged him tightly, causing him to lean over to accommodate her height.

Hugging her back, he replied, “Hi. Um, so did I… for awhile there.”

She reluctantly unhooked herself, and her pained face close, and whispered, “What happened? Where did you go?”

Gravely, he answered, “A place I never want to go again.” He held onto her waist, keeping her near, even though she showed no intention of backing up. He tilted his head forward, and asked with concern, “Are you okay?”

Chloe smiled as big and as brightly and joyously as Clark had ever seen. She answered, “Yeah, everything’s great now that you’re here.” She hugged him again and held him for a long time, relishing in his safety. He, too, leaned into the embrace.

“We’re safe,” he commented.

Under her breath, she asked, “What did you do about Zod?”

“He promised me he’d protect the ones I loved if I joined him. So, I accepted.” He face remained neutral.

“Clark…” she said, incredulous, pulling away from him, “you… what? You betrayed us?” Somehow, she couldn’t get herself to believe it.

“It’s more like, I betrayed him. I took a trip to the Fortress before I went to see him. Turns out Jor-El keeps quite a few anti-possession knives lying around. I stabbed him in the stomach when he wasn’t looking. Zod’s gone and Lex is expected to recover.”

Chloe stood stunned and speechless.

“What?” he replied, smirking, “A good savior of the world needs to think on his feet.”

“You thought of all of this by yourself?”

“No, I had a little help.”

Chloe tilted her head, an indication that she was in curious-reporter mode, but Clark cut her off.

“I want to show you something.” He held out his hand, and she took it. He led her out of the room, neither of them seeing Jimmy Olsen standing ten feet away watching them leave with several vending machine-sized bags of chips in his hand, wondering who the hell “Zod” was.

Chapter 2