Chaos Theory

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Chloe had taken Oliver for a walk through the Kent fields until dinner was ready, though walk was sort of a misnomer since they'd actually found a handy hay bale to sit on. They didn't discuss anything earth shattering, they just chatted.

By the time they got back to the house dinner was nearly ready and over pork stew, the conversation turned to Chloe.

"Don't you think you should tell the younger you about you?" Clark asked. "You can't avoid her forever."

"Why not?" Chloe asked.

"Well Smallville isn't that big," Clark argued.

"Yeah," she said hesitantly. "I don't actually know that I'll be staying here."

"Why not?" Clark asked.

"Clark, I don't know what I want to do with my life yet but something tells me things will be a lot easier if I start it away from here."

"Edge City is nice," Oliver suggested. "Not too far away either."

Chloe thought about the idea.

"But what about warning us of dangers?" Clark asked.

"Clark, I can't be your own personal oracle. I need my own life. Besides, the more we change things, the less use I'll be."

"So what did you do for a living where you come from?" Jonathan asked.

"I guess you could say I was sort of a coordinator for super-heroes."

"Cool," Clark grinned.

Martha and Jonathan looked at each other then at Oliver.

"That sounds interesting," Martha said. "What is involved."

"Well, I created Watchtower, which is basically a computer network in Metropolis that helps me compile data for investigations and look out for possible threats. Now I run Watchtower II, which is the same as Watchtower, but on a global scale with a supercomputer."

"Where does the money come from to fund something like that?" Jonathan asked.

"Let's just say I had a wealthy benefactor."

"Couldn't you do that here?" Clark asked.

"Even if I could find something like that here, right now the super-hero's I work with aren't so super."

Chloe looked around the table, thinking how many secrets there were there. Oliver was hiding his archery abilities, the Kent's were hiding Clark's abilities and she was hiding both from the other party, not to mention a few facts about the future, like the fact that Jonathan was dead. She wanted to just clue everyone in on everyone else but she knew better than that.

"You could go back to journalism," Clark suggested. "Working at the Planet has always been your dream."

"Unfortunately I spent more time hiding the truth than exposing it," Chloe gave a rueful smile.

"I'm sure I would have a job for you," Oliver offered. He could see the looks being exchanged around the table and he knew that there was more going on here than he knew about. Still, he had his own secrets so he couldn't begrudge them theirs. Besides, he liked the Kent's

"Thanks," Chloe smiled at him. "I might be taking you up on that offer."

Clark watched the easy comradery between Chloe and Oliver and he didn't like it. He much preferred it when she left his apartment in tears to them becoming friends. Plus Oliver was the one who gave Chloe her new identity and in Clark's mind, that meant he was the reason she was leaving.