Ok, so that was absolutely chilling! I had to pull myself out of reading it probably half a dozen times because a) sitting down to read 100% guarantees the kids will want me for something and b) I was 100% sure you were going to kill Clark off. I had a sneaking suspicion early on when you talked about the heavy air, his exhaustion, etc, that the Kryptonian virus would be making a cameo appearance. I even suspected Ching of exposing Clark to the virus at one point just because he loves Zara and doesn't want her to be with Clark. Of course, that ignores the fact that Nor would marry her and Ching would do anything to keep Zara from Nor, including letting Clark be married to her.
I also had this weird, scary thought when you placed emphasis on Clark's fidelity to Zara (he can't so much as hug Lois without disapproval) that he would be forced to give her a child/pretend to be the father of a child Ching would sire just to "continue the bloodline" before he could make his escape.
In the end, I am SO relieved NONE of these situations came to pass. And I love that Clark is "dead" to the NKers. At least they'll leave him alone now!
Well done! Thanks for creeping me out all afternoon!
(I mean that in the best way.) I, like Clark, felt the air being squeezed from me as I read and I'm so happy you were able to bring it around to a positive outcome.
(You also make me want to revisit some old "fanfic graveyard" chapters dealing with Ching and Zara...But we'll see.)
