ellelea
12th June 2005, 08:37
Title: Déjà vu
Author: ellelea
Rating: PG-13?
Pairing: Chlex with some vaguely implied Clana
Summary: Déjà vu? I don't think so, Chloe... A girl awakens from a horrible nightmare only to find herself forced into a much more real one.
Disclaimer: You all know the drill... not mine... don't sue... etcetera, etcetera
Spoilers: Relatively AU. No spoilers, I don't think.
Déjà vu
Segment I
It was night. Only a cluster or two of brilliant stars lit the black sky, tiny pinpoints valiantly trying to illuminate the dark atmosphere. The moon was a perfect crescent hanging in the sky, tilting slightly as the Man in the Moon swung on its tip, vaulting upwards and into the swooping nook in which he slept. Metallic clouds floated drearily along at the push of the chilly wind, and their intimidating presence pushed back the timid stars into seclusion.
The urban part of Smallville was quiet, and the moonlight that filtered through the clouds reflected eerily building windows. The streets were quiet and solemn, inactive and deserted during this foreboding midnight hour. Only periodic streetlights let small, blurred circles of dingy orange light glow on the pavement, attracting late mosquitoes and gnats that hovered and buzzed about the sizzling colored light bulb. Houses and buildings were as lightless as the rest of the small town. Lamps were off, blinds pulled down, and curtains shut tightly. Some bedrooms held nightlights; gentle, reassuring heroes to fend off the monsters of the night.
The sky boomed in a threat of rain, and in one building a girl sat up suddenly, out of breath as if she'd been running a marathon. Her shaking hands clenched the bedspread and her frightened hazel eyes darted around in the darkness of the room, frantic. A thin sheen of sweat covered her skin, and small wisps of her ruffled blonde hair stuck to the back of her neck, wet with perspiration.
The girl stared into the darkness blankly, her heavy breathing slowing down as she sat there, trying to recollect what had scared her so awfully. She'd dreamt something horrifying, scary, and painful, but she couldn't remember just what, and it seemed strangely familiar….
"Déjà vu…" She muttered to herself, placing a hand on her forehead and exhaling loudly. The nightmare was fading away slowly, and she felt herself relax more as the memory of the event slipped from her mind. She slumped against the bed pillows and closed her eyes once, trying to return to sleep, but a ground-shaking crash made her eyes snap open.
Her forearms reflexively shot up in front of her face as the wall of her bedroom exploded inwards with an impossibly loud detonation. Dust and debris was showering her body and covering all her possessions with gray powder. The girl winced as chunks of the wall hit her, not quite hurting but hard enough to stun her. As the cloud dimmed, she coughed and wheezed, scrambling out of her bed and promptly tripping over the saggy bottoms of her purple pajamas, scraping her bare feet on sharp debris and banging her knee on the hard rocks of it. Her short blonde hair fell into her eyes and she brushed it away with a dusted hand. Her fall stirred up a bigger cloud inside the already massive one, and she squeezed her eyes shut, unable to see through the gray smog.
Loud footsteps stumbled their way toward her and she winced in surprise as a strong hand grasped her upper arm and heaved her to her feet, pulling her to him and supporting her when she wobbled on shaky knees. She coughed again, squinting up at the tall person and waving her hand around to clear the air and see who had helped her up. A strong jawline and bald head swam into her view. He was a tall young man somewhere in his mid- to early twenties, she suspected.
"What…?" She began, but he cut her off.
"Come on, we don’t have much time." He said harshly, and his grip on her tightened. He swept hurriedly through the demolished wall, taking care not to trip over anything with the teenager in tow. The dust cloud thinned and they emerged in a long hallway. They ran, skidding into an elevator at the end of the corridor, and the man grunted as he pulled the elevator doors shut, jamming the ground floor button and tapping his foot impatiently when the elevator finally started moving. The two leaned on the cool silver wall of the box, catching their breath. The girl stopped, realizing her companion was still holding onto her, and wrenched her arm from his grasp. She turned to face him, adjusting her overlarge t-shirt so that it didn't fall over her shoulder and pulling her baggy pajama pants up so as not to tread on their cuffs.
"Who are you?! What's going on?!" She demanded, panicking and glaring at him with piercing eyes. An explosion erupted in the distance, and the older man’s head snapped in that direction, ignoring her question.
“He-llooo?” She said loudly, waving her hand in his face. He swatted it away.
“The elevator wasn’t my first choice, but unfortunately the stairs have collapsed. They were demolished when it hit.” He said emotionlessly.
She grabbed onto his arm and tugged hard with unexpected strength from such a small girl, roughly grabbing his attention and staring into his eyes.
"What. Is. Going. On?" She said slowly, deliberately emphasizing each word. Her hazel eyes were burning in their intensity and she kept her gaze trained on his. The young man's face fell and the corners of his mouth turned down in disappointment and some other emotion she couldn't identify. He brought his hand tentatively up to her pale cheek and she stiffened as he gently traced her cheekbone, a look of pain arising in his eyes.
"You really don't remember…" He murmured softly.
The elevator made a loud and melodic "ding", much too upbeat and out of place in their situation. Tensing and tearing his gaze away from her, he ran out, looking behind him to make sure the girl was still following.
Another bomb went off, closer this time, and they could feel the ground shake beneath them. The bald man grabbed her and dragged her along, but she dug her heels in and glared at him.
"Tell me what's happening." She said ferociously.
He frowned, then his mouth opened in fear and surprised, he let go of her as the ground shook a second time, harder. The young woman lost her footing and fell backwards, a second from bashing her head on a jagged, hard piece of wall with rusted nails angrily sticking upwards at evil angles, but in a quick movement the man caught her. Another tremor burst through the building.
He scooped her up with a grunt though she protested and he ran, shielding her body with his as he dodged to the side quickly, seconds from being crushed beneath the falling ceiling. Shouts and screams echoed, and roars and explosions deafened the two. The girl squirmed against his chest, desperate to get away from him, but he held her close, refusing to drop her.
"Who are you?!" She screamed above the noise.
But the young man holding her didn't answer; a boy of about her age was approaching, running toward them, waving his hands in the air to catch their eyes as he did. The man stopped short, pausing in front of this newcomer, who was finally close enough to see clearly. He was incredibly tall and had dark, messy black hair that was currently salt-and-pepper due to the powder that coated it. The boy was sweaty, grimy, and covered in dirt and dust, but surprisingly (to the man) no visible wounds.
"Lex - " He panted, wiping a mustache of sweat from his upper lip. "Did you – get her?"
The girl huddled closer to the strangely comforting chest of the man holding her, shying away from yet another strange character. "Lex" squeezed his arms around her reassuringly, and looked at the other boy, then nodded down at her. The teenager nodded in response, offering a half-smile, which faded not long after it appeared.
"Good." He said, relieved. He had a kind sort of aura about him, and the girl found herself trusting him though she'd never met him before. He addressed "Lex". "I wish he hadn't gone alone, but Pete is gone looking for Lana…"
FLASH
"Okay, okay, Chloe, let me try again. It’s up to me to save you from your bad mood!"
"No." She said shortly, clutching her coffee and shaking her messy locks. "You can't make me laugh and you never will ever, ever, ever again. Very sweet of you, but also very pointless."
The boy’s face fell for a moment, but then his eyes lit up as a girl walked by, holding a tray perched precariously on her right hand.
"Lana!” He said happily. “You’re just the person we need!”
The brunette turned and flashed a sweet smile at the pair, totally oblivious of Chloe’s groan of irritation.
“Hey you two! I was worried I’d lost my best customers.” Lana said, genuinely happy to see them.
"Great,” Pete said with a big grin. “Well, I’d like to get Chloe the biggest coffee you have, on my tab.”
Lana gave a soft, adorably girly chuckle that had Chloe suddenly filled with the urge to bang her head against the table. Lana shifted the tray to a more comfortable position and graced her company with another smile before departing, saying perkily, “Just give me a sec and I’ll have it ready to go!”
“See?” Pete said, nudging Chloe’s shoulder. “Life is good.”
Chloe groaned and put her head down on the table, but not before letting out a tiny chuckle.
FLASH
"Has she remembered anything?" The teen's breathing had returned to normal, and he was still speaking. "Is she better?"
The bald man frowned and sighed.
"Not yet, Clark… She didn't even remember me."
The teenager’s eyes widened to almost comical proportions.
"Not even you?"
"Not even me."
The young woman suddenly squirmed, her pajamas twisting as she struggled to get free. Surprised, Lex dropped her, and she fell in a heap on the ground. She scrambled to her feet and bolted, running off in the opposite direction away from the two men. Both gasped, and Clark took off running after her, but the earth shook with another tremor and eruptions and explosions echoed as a meteor crashed into the ground, thundering and making both Lex and Clark fall to their knees. Both tried futilely to stand and catch the runaway girl, but the ground brought them mercilessly down each time.
The night sky wasn't black any more; the dust and meteor power had burst upwards and was hanging in the sky, sticking to the clouds like a second skin and coating the atmosphere. Now slate gray and heavy with scratchy particles, the air hung thick and hot around everyone, compressing and claustrophobically close. Buildings were crumbling now; the town was being destroyed.
Lex’s eyes widened as he saw the blonde head of his charge swing to look behind her as she ran and she fell, crying out in pain as her ankle twisted into a disturbing angle. She rocked back and forth, grasping her injury, and screamed as a slab of concrete broke from a withering office building behind her and landed heavily on her leg.
"Chloe!" Lex yelled hoarsely, but his voice was lost in the turmoil, just barely reaching her ears. He uselessly reached his hand out to her as if he might reach and save her.
'Chloe?' A small part of her thought through the throbbing pain.
Author: ellelea
Rating: PG-13?
Pairing: Chlex with some vaguely implied Clana
Summary: Déjà vu? I don't think so, Chloe... A girl awakens from a horrible nightmare only to find herself forced into a much more real one.
Disclaimer: You all know the drill... not mine... don't sue... etcetera, etcetera
Spoilers: Relatively AU. No spoilers, I don't think.
Déjà vu
Segment I
It was night. Only a cluster or two of brilliant stars lit the black sky, tiny pinpoints valiantly trying to illuminate the dark atmosphere. The moon was a perfect crescent hanging in the sky, tilting slightly as the Man in the Moon swung on its tip, vaulting upwards and into the swooping nook in which he slept. Metallic clouds floated drearily along at the push of the chilly wind, and their intimidating presence pushed back the timid stars into seclusion.
The urban part of Smallville was quiet, and the moonlight that filtered through the clouds reflected eerily building windows. The streets were quiet and solemn, inactive and deserted during this foreboding midnight hour. Only periodic streetlights let small, blurred circles of dingy orange light glow on the pavement, attracting late mosquitoes and gnats that hovered and buzzed about the sizzling colored light bulb. Houses and buildings were as lightless as the rest of the small town. Lamps were off, blinds pulled down, and curtains shut tightly. Some bedrooms held nightlights; gentle, reassuring heroes to fend off the monsters of the night.
The sky boomed in a threat of rain, and in one building a girl sat up suddenly, out of breath as if she'd been running a marathon. Her shaking hands clenched the bedspread and her frightened hazel eyes darted around in the darkness of the room, frantic. A thin sheen of sweat covered her skin, and small wisps of her ruffled blonde hair stuck to the back of her neck, wet with perspiration.
The girl stared into the darkness blankly, her heavy breathing slowing down as she sat there, trying to recollect what had scared her so awfully. She'd dreamt something horrifying, scary, and painful, but she couldn't remember just what, and it seemed strangely familiar….
"Déjà vu…" She muttered to herself, placing a hand on her forehead and exhaling loudly. The nightmare was fading away slowly, and she felt herself relax more as the memory of the event slipped from her mind. She slumped against the bed pillows and closed her eyes once, trying to return to sleep, but a ground-shaking crash made her eyes snap open.
Her forearms reflexively shot up in front of her face as the wall of her bedroom exploded inwards with an impossibly loud detonation. Dust and debris was showering her body and covering all her possessions with gray powder. The girl winced as chunks of the wall hit her, not quite hurting but hard enough to stun her. As the cloud dimmed, she coughed and wheezed, scrambling out of her bed and promptly tripping over the saggy bottoms of her purple pajamas, scraping her bare feet on sharp debris and banging her knee on the hard rocks of it. Her short blonde hair fell into her eyes and she brushed it away with a dusted hand. Her fall stirred up a bigger cloud inside the already massive one, and she squeezed her eyes shut, unable to see through the gray smog.
Loud footsteps stumbled their way toward her and she winced in surprise as a strong hand grasped her upper arm and heaved her to her feet, pulling her to him and supporting her when she wobbled on shaky knees. She coughed again, squinting up at the tall person and waving her hand around to clear the air and see who had helped her up. A strong jawline and bald head swam into her view. He was a tall young man somewhere in his mid- to early twenties, she suspected.
"What…?" She began, but he cut her off.
"Come on, we don’t have much time." He said harshly, and his grip on her tightened. He swept hurriedly through the demolished wall, taking care not to trip over anything with the teenager in tow. The dust cloud thinned and they emerged in a long hallway. They ran, skidding into an elevator at the end of the corridor, and the man grunted as he pulled the elevator doors shut, jamming the ground floor button and tapping his foot impatiently when the elevator finally started moving. The two leaned on the cool silver wall of the box, catching their breath. The girl stopped, realizing her companion was still holding onto her, and wrenched her arm from his grasp. She turned to face him, adjusting her overlarge t-shirt so that it didn't fall over her shoulder and pulling her baggy pajama pants up so as not to tread on their cuffs.
"Who are you?! What's going on?!" She demanded, panicking and glaring at him with piercing eyes. An explosion erupted in the distance, and the older man’s head snapped in that direction, ignoring her question.
“He-llooo?” She said loudly, waving her hand in his face. He swatted it away.
“The elevator wasn’t my first choice, but unfortunately the stairs have collapsed. They were demolished when it hit.” He said emotionlessly.
She grabbed onto his arm and tugged hard with unexpected strength from such a small girl, roughly grabbing his attention and staring into his eyes.
"What. Is. Going. On?" She said slowly, deliberately emphasizing each word. Her hazel eyes were burning in their intensity and she kept her gaze trained on his. The young man's face fell and the corners of his mouth turned down in disappointment and some other emotion she couldn't identify. He brought his hand tentatively up to her pale cheek and she stiffened as he gently traced her cheekbone, a look of pain arising in his eyes.
"You really don't remember…" He murmured softly.
The elevator made a loud and melodic "ding", much too upbeat and out of place in their situation. Tensing and tearing his gaze away from her, he ran out, looking behind him to make sure the girl was still following.
Another bomb went off, closer this time, and they could feel the ground shake beneath them. The bald man grabbed her and dragged her along, but she dug her heels in and glared at him.
"Tell me what's happening." She said ferociously.
He frowned, then his mouth opened in fear and surprised, he let go of her as the ground shook a second time, harder. The young woman lost her footing and fell backwards, a second from bashing her head on a jagged, hard piece of wall with rusted nails angrily sticking upwards at evil angles, but in a quick movement the man caught her. Another tremor burst through the building.
He scooped her up with a grunt though she protested and he ran, shielding her body with his as he dodged to the side quickly, seconds from being crushed beneath the falling ceiling. Shouts and screams echoed, and roars and explosions deafened the two. The girl squirmed against his chest, desperate to get away from him, but he held her close, refusing to drop her.
"Who are you?!" She screamed above the noise.
But the young man holding her didn't answer; a boy of about her age was approaching, running toward them, waving his hands in the air to catch their eyes as he did. The man stopped short, pausing in front of this newcomer, who was finally close enough to see clearly. He was incredibly tall and had dark, messy black hair that was currently salt-and-pepper due to the powder that coated it. The boy was sweaty, grimy, and covered in dirt and dust, but surprisingly (to the man) no visible wounds.
"Lex - " He panted, wiping a mustache of sweat from his upper lip. "Did you – get her?"
The girl huddled closer to the strangely comforting chest of the man holding her, shying away from yet another strange character. "Lex" squeezed his arms around her reassuringly, and looked at the other boy, then nodded down at her. The teenager nodded in response, offering a half-smile, which faded not long after it appeared.
"Good." He said, relieved. He had a kind sort of aura about him, and the girl found herself trusting him though she'd never met him before. He addressed "Lex". "I wish he hadn't gone alone, but Pete is gone looking for Lana…"
FLASH
"Okay, okay, Chloe, let me try again. It’s up to me to save you from your bad mood!"
"No." She said shortly, clutching her coffee and shaking her messy locks. "You can't make me laugh and you never will ever, ever, ever again. Very sweet of you, but also very pointless."
The boy’s face fell for a moment, but then his eyes lit up as a girl walked by, holding a tray perched precariously on her right hand.
"Lana!” He said happily. “You’re just the person we need!”
The brunette turned and flashed a sweet smile at the pair, totally oblivious of Chloe’s groan of irritation.
“Hey you two! I was worried I’d lost my best customers.” Lana said, genuinely happy to see them.
"Great,” Pete said with a big grin. “Well, I’d like to get Chloe the biggest coffee you have, on my tab.”
Lana gave a soft, adorably girly chuckle that had Chloe suddenly filled with the urge to bang her head against the table. Lana shifted the tray to a more comfortable position and graced her company with another smile before departing, saying perkily, “Just give me a sec and I’ll have it ready to go!”
“See?” Pete said, nudging Chloe’s shoulder. “Life is good.”
Chloe groaned and put her head down on the table, but not before letting out a tiny chuckle.
FLASH
"Has she remembered anything?" The teen's breathing had returned to normal, and he was still speaking. "Is she better?"
The bald man frowned and sighed.
"Not yet, Clark… She didn't even remember me."
The teenager’s eyes widened to almost comical proportions.
"Not even you?"
"Not even me."
The young woman suddenly squirmed, her pajamas twisting as she struggled to get free. Surprised, Lex dropped her, and she fell in a heap on the ground. She scrambled to her feet and bolted, running off in the opposite direction away from the two men. Both gasped, and Clark took off running after her, but the earth shook with another tremor and eruptions and explosions echoed as a meteor crashed into the ground, thundering and making both Lex and Clark fall to their knees. Both tried futilely to stand and catch the runaway girl, but the ground brought them mercilessly down each time.
The night sky wasn't black any more; the dust and meteor power had burst upwards and was hanging in the sky, sticking to the clouds like a second skin and coating the atmosphere. Now slate gray and heavy with scratchy particles, the air hung thick and hot around everyone, compressing and claustrophobically close. Buildings were crumbling now; the town was being destroyed.
Lex’s eyes widened as he saw the blonde head of his charge swing to look behind her as she ran and she fell, crying out in pain as her ankle twisted into a disturbing angle. She rocked back and forth, grasping her injury, and screamed as a slab of concrete broke from a withering office building behind her and landed heavily on her leg.
"Chloe!" Lex yelled hoarsely, but his voice was lost in the turmoil, just barely reaching her ears. He uselessly reached his hand out to her as if he might reach and save her.
'Chloe?' A small part of her thought through the throbbing pain.