Consort

 

Chapter Two: Gone

 

Lois stared. “What do you mean?”

“I x-rayed the grave. There’s no body in the coffin.”

“Well, that can’t be right. Unless ... unless there was no body to bury.”

“There would be something. Wouldn’t there?” Clark suddenly didn’t look very sure.

“Maybe we should go check out the safe house,” Lois said.

Clark smiled and nodded. “Let’s do that.”

Hand in hand, they walked to her car. Lois looked around.

“I’m guessing you ran? Or did you fly?”

“Uh, no. Kal-El can fly. Clark Kent is still earthbound.”

“Good to know. Course, this doesn’t get you off the hook you know.”

“About what?”

“The whole Kal-El/Clark thing. I mean, what was that about taking over the world?”

“That was Kal-El. I’m not interested in conquering the planet.”

“But Kal-El is you. He’s part of you.”

“The part that is devoid of humanity.”

Lois stopped walking and looked at him searchingly. She bit her lip. “Okay, spaceboy. I’ll buy that. I mean, you are different. Softer, somehow. In manner, I mean.”

Clark nodded. “I know what you mean.” He frowned. “Uh, could you not ... I mean, my parents don’t know about you. Yet.”

“They don’t know that I know that you’re ...”

Clark shook his head.

“So ixnay on the Spaceboy comments?” Lois continued. “Okay, fine. I’ll just call you Smallville or something.”

“Why Smallville?”

“Please, you’re a farmboy from a hick town. No one could make that name up.”

Clark rolled his eyes. She was going to be a handful. “I’m really not going to like this, am I?”

“Hey, it’s my job to bust your chops.” She unlocked the door of her car and got in. Clark sighed, but a small smile played about his lips as he got in beside her. He’d met his match in Lois and he knew it. And he was going to give it right back to her.

“Well,” he drawled, “I guess there’s only one thing I can do about that.”

Lois looked at him, key in her hand, ready to put it in the ignition.

“What’s that?”

He pulled her into his arms, kissing her deeply. Lois was breathless when they finally parted. Clark chuckled.

“Push my buttons Lane, but I definitely know how to push yours.”

“You’re telling me,” she muttered, red-faced as she put the key in the ignition and started the car.

They bantered back and forth, enjoying this new dynamic, as Lois drove to the location. But she fell silent, staring out the windscreen at the blackened remains of the house. The explosion and resulting inferno had wiped out enough for a whole block.

The devastation was written in her expression as she got out of the car and continued staring at the destruction.

“Oh my god, Chlo.”

Clark took her hand and she leaned back in his arms, seeking comfort from him as he squeezed her gently. He too, felt a sickening lurch in his stomach when he thought of the explosion. The thought that Chloe might have been in that was just too horrible to consider. He closed his eyes briefly and took a slow, deep breath, not surprised to find it was shaky. Lois was near tears and he wasn’t far behind.

“What are we expecting to find here?” Lois asked.

“I don’t know. The FBI’s sealed the case. Even the autopsy reports. Doesn’t that sound a little odd?”

Lois turned, smiling tightly. “Remind me if I’m ever a witness to never leave my life in the hands of the FBI.” She looked around, sighing. “I don’t know how she could have survived this, Clark. They said she went inside. It was less than a minute before the explosion. I think you’re wrong. I think she’s gone.”

Clark shook his head. “I don’t know, Lois. I just have this feeling.”

“Is it a Kryptonian thing?” she asked, frowning.

He shrugged and smiled. “No, more a human thing, I think.” He frowned, tilting his head to look up into the sky. He squinted against the sunlight. “Lois, there’s a helicopter headed this way.”

“What?”

He pushed her back toward the car. “Run!”

“What about you?” she asked, but it was already too late. Men in black fatigues, carrying automatic weapons had dropped down from the helicopter, which was hovering above the crime scene. Lois’ eyes widened as one of the men turned his gun on Clark. She ran, covering the distance and grabbed the man’s firearm. “Oh no you don’t,” she told him, aiming a well-placed kick in his stomach.

Clark, meanwhile, was staring at the helicopter. Just as Lois managed to knock the guy out, she saw a small flash on the helicopter and smoke rising. The helicopter was forced to land. Clark turned and ran, grabbing her hand, before the other men on the chopper could reach them.

“What did you do?” she asked when they were in the car speeding away from the scene.

“Heat vision. I just knocked out the engine, that’s all,” he said as she flashed him a concerned look. “Don’t worry. They didn’t see me doing it.”

The car swerved dangerously and Lois fought to correct it. She was still speeding.

“You drive like Lex,” Clark commented.

“You wanna walk the rest of the way spaceboy?” He was silent as she glared at him. “Then shut up.”

Clark stayed silent. Lois had been badly scared by what had just happened. She just wasn’t the type to admit it. But she did slow down.

A short while later, they arrived at the farm. Lois stopped the car just short of the house, but didn’t get out. Clark stepped onto the gravel and was about to walk into the house when he noticed that she wasn’t following. He went around to the driver’s side and could see she was shaking. She was also crying. He pulled open the door, glancing toward the house and x-raying. His mom was upstairs on the other side of the house.

He gently pulled Lois out of the car and into the barn, putting his arms around her. He kissed her salty cheeks, holding her as she sobbed.

“It’s okay,” he said, over and over until she slowly began to respond to him. He kissed her full mouth, tasting the salt of her tears. He knew she was beginning to recover when she kissed him back. They sank to the floor of the barn, holding each other.

It was a few minutes before they came up for air again. Lois looked down at her clothes and grimaced.

“Ugh. Well, that’s the last time I let you drag me to a crime scene. I’m filthy. So are you, Smallville.”

Clark grinned. “Well, better hit the shower then.”

Pulling her up, he walked with her into the house. It appeared Martha had gone out to the field in the time they’d been in the barn. He showed her his bedroom. Lois took in the high school pennants and the books scattered all over the desk.

“Uh, just how old are you? I mean, it looks like you haven’t even finished high school yet.”

“I’m seventeen,” he told her. “I’ll be a senior this year.”

“You’re really seventeen?” she said sceptically.

“Ah, well, I guess so. It says so on my birth certificate, but it’s not really, uh, I don’t exactly know ...” Lois was laughing. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh my god, I’m a cradle snatcher,” she giggled. Somehow she found that hilarious.

Clark rolled his eyes. “Lois, come on, it’s not like I’m just out of the cradle.”

Lois just kept giggling. So Clark kissed her. Her eyes widened, and she stopped laughing.

“Is that your solution for everything Smallville? Kiss me so I shut up?”

He shrugged. “Pretty much.”

“Eh, okay, I guess I can live with that.” She grabbed the towel off the bed. “Last one in the shower’s a rotten egg.” She turned and ran out the door.

“Uh, Lois, I don’t think we should ...” he began, but she just laughed and opened the bathroom door, winking at him.

“C’mon Smallville. Not shy are you? Not after the other day.”

“Well, that was different,” he started to explain.

“Am I your ... what is it, your ‘consort’ or not?”

“Well, technically ...”

“Clark Kent’s a wuss,” she sang. “Can’t even take a shower with a girl,” she taunted.

He was tempted. He was very tempted. He thought for a moment, scanning the downstairs. His mom was nowhere in sight. And he wanted Lois. Badly. Decision made, he picked Lois up and put her over her shoulder.

“What are you doing you Neanderthal?”

He slapped her lightly on the butt. “Be quiet, Lane. Do you want my parents to hear us?” Setting her down and locking the bathroom door, he turned back to her and began stripping her clothes off. She just grinned up at him from her perch on the counter.

“Right. Because I’m not the one who can’t be quiet,” she smirked. “I mean, if the other night was any example.”

“You’re asking for it Lane.”

“Asking for what?” she giggled, eliciting a growl from him as he stripped off his own clothes and turned on the shower. “Told you I wouldn’t let you off the hook that easy.”

“Oh really?” he returned, picking her up and carrying her into the shower with him, silencing her giggles with another kiss. Lois threw her arms around him, giving as good as he gave.

When she started moaning loudly, he was forced to shush her. But he was unable to hold back his own moans as she climbed on, impaling herself on his cock. They both moaned as he drove into her again and again under the water. He dreaded the thought of what would happen if his mother happened to hear them.

Fortunately, there was no knock on the door. No enquiry from Martha as to why he’d kept the door locked. He thought they’d just made it as Lois combed her hair, dressed in a clean shirt of his, saying it was the first thing she could find. But just as Clark had managed to get pants on and open the door, he saw Martha standing there with clean towels.

“Ah, Mom!”

“Hey, sweetie, taking a shower in the middle of the day?”

Lois peeked from behind his shoulder. She grinned. “Hi, Mrs Kent.” Martha stared. Clark rolled his eyes. They were in trouble now.

As they were marched downstairs, Lois quickly whispered to Clark. “Let’s keep the little incident of chopper tag quiet, okay, Smallville?

Both Jonathan and Martha were glaring at them. Clark gulped.

“We were just taking a shower, Mrs Kent,” Lois said.

“Showers,” Clark lied. “We were taking separate showers.”

“Like I said, in the middle of the day?”

“Uh, we went to check out Chloe’s safe house,” Clark said. “These guys showed up and chased us.”

“Clark,” Jonathan said. “That is a federal crime scene. The last thing we want is for you two kids to get involved with the FBI.”

Lois looked from father to son. There was something else going on here. And she had a feeling it had everything to do with Clark’s powers.

“Your non-verbals are killing me here,” she said. “I’m just gonna go.” She glanced at Clark, but he was being stared down by Jonathan. She hadn’t meant to get him in trouble with his father. But the truth was, she couldn’t stay away from him. She thought she’d had it bad for Kal-El. But Clark was ...

Walking out of the house, Lois went to her car. She knew now it was Clark who had made love to her. Clark who confessed his love for her. Kal-El had wanted her as his consort, but Kal-El knew nothing about love. She knew that for certain.

***

Clark tried to look as innocent as possible.

“Dad, Lois just needs to know what happened to Chloe. Can you blame her?”

“You should never have gone to the crime scene. Tell me you didn’t do anything that might expose you?”

Only downed a chopper with my heat vision, Clark thought.

“I didn’t do anything,” he said. “Just those guys chased us and Lois and I ran out of there as fast as we could. At normal human speed,” he added at the look from his father. Jonathan seemed reassured.

“Honey, I know you want to help Lois,” Martha said soothingly. “But this isn’t the way to do it. If you’d been caught at that crime scene ...”

“I know, Mom. I’m sorry.”

Martha patted his arm. “It’s okay, sweetheart. But you should go and do your chores now.”

He nodded, going out to start his chores. But he couldn’t stop thinking about Lois. Wondering if she was in trouble over what had happened. He tuned in his super-hearing, hoping to hear her heart beat. Somehow the bond made it easier. Her heart was beating steadily. She was okay.

As Lois drove into the carpark of the complex, she saw an official car parked beside Maggie’s.

“Oh oh,” she said to herself.

As if he’d heard her pull up, a man came out of the complex. He was a little taller than her, stocky, with a bald pate. He was wearing army fatigues. And he looked extremely pissed.

“Daddy,” she said as she approached him. General Sam Lane frowned at her.

“Don’t start with me Lo. That was a federal crime scene.”

“I’ve already been read the riot act once today, Boss.”

“Don’t get smart with me, missy. You had no business ...”

“Dad, come on. It’s Chloe.”

“Chloe’s gone, Lo. It’s time you accepted that.”

“I know she’s gone, Dad. But I still want to find out who did this to her.”

“You need to leave this alone, Lois. Now who was the boy with you?”

“Leave him out of this. This is between you and me.”

“If you’re protecting ...”

“All we want to do is find out the truth. That’s all. And I’m not going to let this go, General. I’m not a Lane for nothing.”

Sam scowled, clearly not wanting to be reminded of his own failings in that arena. He sighed, the spoke gruffly.

“Pack your stuff. You’re staying with me.”

“Yes sir,” Lois sighed.

As soon as she could, she snuck out of her bedroom in the general’s quarters and dialled Clark’s number. Martha didn’t seem surprised to hear it was her on the phone and she immediately handed it over to Clark.

“You okay?” Clark asked softly.

“Define okay. The general read me the riot act. It must have been him in the chopper. Don’t be surprised if he turns up on your parents’ doorstep.”

“Where is he now?”

“Outside smoking a Chevello I guess.”

“Will you be able to get away tomorrow?” Clark asked. “I’m thinking we might go and see someone.”

“Who?”

“Lex. He’s as involved in this as Chloe was. Maybe he might have some answers.”

But there was a tightness in his voice that made Lois wonder if there was something wrong. “You don’t sound very happy about it,” she said.

“It’s a long story,” he said. “I’ll tell you tomorrow. Uh, but listen, when you come over, my parents ...”

“I get it,” she said. “You don’t want your parents to know about us. I get the feeling they’d be kind of uptight about it.”

“Oh, well, you know, my Dad just got out of the hospital. And last time he caught me in a co-ed situation he kind of blew a fuse.”

Lois smiled. “Don’t worry. I won’t say anything. I haven’t told my Dad either.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said. “Love you,” he whispered.

“I love you too,” she said with a smile. She felt a warmth steal over her body and knew it was the bond. As she hung up, she turned around and gasped. The general had come up behind her. He didn’t say anything except ‘lights out’.

Clark’s thoughts were of Lois as he got out of bed next morning to start on his chores. He wasn’t sure what time she would turn up but he hoped it would be early. He wanted to spend as much time with her as he could, as well as find out who had killed Chloe. Part of him felt guilty that he wasn’t there to save Chloe. But Jor-El had put him in a horrible position. If he hadn’t gone to his birth father, Jonathan would now be dead. And he wasn’t sure what he could have done differently.

He looked up from mucking out the stalls, hearing a car in the driveway. It didn’t sound like Lois’ car, but he went out eagerly, with a smile on his face. His smile dropped when he saw who it was as she got out. Lana.

He didn’t want to see Lana. She was his past. Lois was his future. Any feelings he might have had for the pretty brunette with the almond eyes were gone. He knew now that it had just been a crush.

“Lana. I didn’t know you were back from Paris.”

“I just got back yesterday,” she said. “Uh, look, something weird happened, and well, you worked with Chloe a lot on this, so I thought you should know.”

Clark stepped forward into the sunlight, puzzled. “What is it?”

“I went to visit Chloe’s grave and there was this guy there. It was really strange. He came at me with these blades, only they were like an extension of his arms.”

“Blades? That is weird.”

“I managed to fight him off with some mace, but ...”

Clark was only half listening to Lana. His heart leaped for joy, hearing Lois’ car coming down the driveway. But he quickly schooled his expression. He turned his attention back to the brunette before she could notice anything was wrong.

“That’s great, Lana. That you managed to fight him off. Did he say anything?”

“Only that he was looking for Chloe. That was the weirdest part. I mean, Chloe’s dead, isn’t she?”

Clark didn’t want to voice his suspicions to Lana. So he just nodded. Lois, meanwhile, had got out of the car and was heading straight for them.

“Hi,” she said. She was looking at Lana, then back at Clark as if prompting him to introduce them.

Lois immediately noticed the tension between the two.

“Lana Lang, Lois Lane,” Clark said, clearing his throat.

Lana sent him a look, then turned and held out her hand to Lois. “Clark and I were just catching up.”

Lois looked from one to the other, not missing the subtext. “Really? You two?”

“We were never really a thing,” Clark clarified.

“It’s complicated,” Lana nodded.

Lois nodded back. “A complicated thing.” But despite her mildness on the outside, on the inside she was seething, wanting to rip Lana’s guts out. Get your beady eyes away from my man, she told her silently.

“Well, I better go,” Lana smiled. “I’m moving into the apartment at the Talon. Lex is reopening the shop.”

“That coffee shop I saw all boarded up?” Lois asked.

“Yes.”

“Oh, okay. We’ll see you around, I guess.”

She watched Lana leave, noticing that Clark had gone back to mucking out the stalls. She went into the barn, knowing he was trying to avoid an argument.

“Lucy, you got some ‘splaining to do,” she said, waggling her finger at him.

“Lois, come on.”

“No, Smallville. You start talking about Lana, right now.”

“Not here, Lois. Look, I’ll explain everything on the way over to Lex’s okay? I just have to finish up here.”

“Well, hurry up then.”

“Well, watch the door then. So my parents don’t see me doing this at super speed.”

“Oh, right. ‘Cause they don’t know that I know.”

Clark explained about his crush on Lana as Lois drove to the mansion.

“So, if that was just a crush, why do I still feel like there’s unfinished business between the two of you?”

“I guess because we never really got to finish things.”

“And how do I know that when you say you love me that this isn’t just a crush.”

Clark looked at her steadily, total honesty in his green eyes. “Because, Lois, I’ve never felt about Lana the way I feel about you. I’ve never felt that connection. That bond. If I did, do you think I’d have made love to you?”

“Speaking of which, are you sure you were a virgin before we ... you know?”

Clark rolled his eyes. “Of course I was.”

“Well, let me tell you something, spaceboy, you didn’t make love like a virgin.”

“There’s this little thing called the Internet, Lois. And I did have a fair idea. Besides, Jor-El taught me the rest.”

“Eww, that’s an image I really don’t want in my head. You and your father watching porn together.” She sighed. “Okay, so I guess the whole Lana thing is ancient history. Now tell me about Lex.”

How did he sum up three years of so-called friendship in one short spurt? Clark sighed.

“Okay, well, I met Lex when I was fourteen. I saved his life when he went off the Loeb Bridge. Actually he hit me with his car and that was sort of how I found out I wasn’t from around here. Long story short, Lex got curious and I think he began cultivating a friendship with me so he could study me. Find out what I am.”

“So Chrome Dome had you investigated? What a creep.”

“Anyway, we found out his Dad killed his parents and Lex spent most of last year trying to uncover the truth, and helping the Feds. But then I found out about a room he has at the castle. The last time we talked I told him the friendship was over.”

“Ouch. I’m sorry, Smallville.”

“Yeah, me too.” The gates of the Luthor mansion opened to admit them and Lois drove down the long driveway.

Lex turned and smiled at them as they walked into the study.

“I must admit I was surprised to hear you were at the gate,” he said. “Does this mean you’re talking to me again?”

“Only because I don’t have a choice,” Clark told him coolly.

“Relegated from best friend to last resort. “ Lex looked about as hurt as it was possible for him to look. For a man used to hiding his emotions. “I guess I have to accept it’s the only chance I’ll have to prove myself.” He looked at Lois, who nodded coolly.

“I’m Lois. Chloe’s cousin.”

“Ah, I should have guessed that’s why you’re here. I can’t help you Clark, Lois. Look, I’d really like to set things straight between us, especially after what happened last spring, but even I can’t raise someone from the grave.”

“Chloe isn’t in her grave, Lex.”

“And how would you know that?” Lex said, looking pointedly at Lois.

“Just a feeling.”

Lex smiled tightly. “Well, your ‘feelings’ are usually extremely insightful, Clark, but on this occasion you’re wrong. You’re right about the grave being empty, but that’s because there was nothing left. Not even a body. I’m sorry, Clark. I wish I could help you. But Chloe’s gone.”

But Lois had turned her attention to Lex’s desk. She nudged Clark, who glanced at it. There was an ashtray on the desk. And a cigar stub. A Chevello cigar.

***

 

“Well, that was useful. Not,” Lois sighed.



“But we did get something out of Lex,” Clark said softly as they left the mansion.



“That my Dad’s working with him on something.”



“And I doubt it’s any kind of military contract. My mom said Lex was poisoned the same day of the explosion. He nearly died. If it wasn’t for his healing abilities ...”



“How did he become bald, anyway?” Lois asked, looking at Clark.



Clark grimaced. “Uh, that’s kind of my fault,” he said. “When my ship came down, it brought meteors with it. They kind of have this mutative effect on people.”



Lois turned in her seat and looked at him.



“Wait, wait, how is this your fault?”



“Well, it was my ship,” Clark said. “They came with me.”



Lois frowned. She pulled off the road and stopped the car. “Smallville, I hate to sound like a character from a bad sci-fi show, but that is so not logical.”



“Lois, you don’t understand. A lot of people died that day. Lana’s parents were killed.”



“And that makes you guilty how? Clark, you were two years old. At least, I’m guessing. I was never really good at maths. So unless you had the power to attract them here, doofus, you are not responsible for Lana’s parents, or Lex, or anything else that goes wrong in this town.”



“Doofus?” he said, looking at her with narrowed eyes.



“Don’t you dare, Smallville,” she said, practically baring her teeth at him. He reached for her and she grabbed his hands, trying to push them away. But he was too strong for her and she squealed as he poked her in a very ticklish spot. She squirmed away – as much as she could in the confines of her car. Which wasn’t saying much.



Clark got her in another ticklish spot and she giggled.



“Stop it. No,” she squealed again, laughing harder. Clark just kept tickling her.



Oh that does it, she thought. You are so going to pay for that, Clark Kent, Kal-El. She glared at him, or at least tried to. It might have worked if she hadn’t been giggling. Grabbing his hands, Lois managed to push them away, only for Clark to lift her, pulling her into his lap. Now they really were in a tight squeeze. But Lois didn’t care. All she cared about were his lips on hers, his hand pushing her long dark honey coloured hair off her face, then cupping her neck gently.



Lois thrust her tongue into his mouth, grinding down on him as he pulled her closer, crushing their torsos together. She moaned deep in her throat, her mouth busy tasting every part of his. She rocked against him, feeling his hardness beneath her. Clark’s answering moan was deep and full of his arousal. His hands moved to her butt, cupping each cheek, lifting her slightly, then letting go so she could grind herself down against his erection.



Lois shifted her hand, slipping it in between them, feeling blindly for the zipper of his jeans. She managed to unzip them, pulling his cock out, wrapping her small hand around his hard shaft. Clark’s hand was finding its way inside her own jeans, seeking out the hard nub of her own arousal.



They were both breathing hard, caught up in the heat of the moment. Lois broke away from him for a moment.



“God, Clark, please!” she cried out, moving her hand faster up and down his shaft. Clark, in turn, was rubbing harder and even faster. Lois suspected he was using just a little of his super speed. He thrust his finger inside and Lois gasped, eyes widening. She tightened her hold on him until he gasped in return.



She desperately wanted him inside her. She knew Clark felt the same way, but she just didn’t see how it was going to work. Clark somehow managed to twist to give her a little room to almost kneel over him as he pulled her jeans off. Lois held on, lowering herself onto him, riding him hard and fast. Clark cried out, and she felt him stiffen beneath her, before he released inside her. It was enough to take her over the edge and she came with a cry.



Lois had just managed to get her jeans back on when a car pulled up beside them. The local Sheriff, Nancy Adams got out.



“Problem, kids?” she said, looking into the car. “Kent. What a surprise.”



“Hi, Sheriff. Uh, no, we were just ... talking,” Clark said, blushing.



“Uh-huh,” Adams said with a little grin. She knew damn well what they’d been up to. But she said nothing. “You kids run along now,” she said.



“Yes ma’am,” Lois said, stealing a glance at Clark. He was beet red. She hid a smile. She kind of liked seeing him blush and wondered how she could make him blush even more.



Clark cleared his throat as the sheriff got back in her car.



“Uh, I guess we should go check out the base,” he said. “I figure if your Dad and Lex are working together, there might be a clue in his office.”



Lois nodded and started the car, pulling back out onto the road. She looked straight ahead.

“Think she’ll tell your parents?” she asked.



“She doesn’t have any proof,” Clark said, although his tone suggested he didn’t believe that for a second.



“Not unless your red face was any indication,” Lois grinned, glancing at him. Clark looked at her as if his pride had been hurt. “I like it when you blush,” she added. “It’s cute.”



Clark growled softly at that and she remembered his ‘Kryptonians are not cute’. He couldn’t be more wrong, she decided. She didn’t know from other Kryptonians, but he was definitely cute.



Lois parked the car in the lot and they walked together to her father’s office. It wasn’t locked and Lois was extremely relieved at that. She’d hate to think how she would have explained it if Clark had broken the lock. Clark had an intense look on his face and she guessed he was checking to make sure her father, or anyone else, wasn’t around.



“I think my dad’s out on manoeuvres,” she told him.



“Still, I want to be sure.”



Lois nodded. She opened the door and went in, Clark following.



“Just what are we looking for?” she asked him. Clark shrugged.



“Guess we’ll know it when we find it.”



Lois looked over the desk, then moved to the bookshelf and started looking over papers scattered there. Clark began looking through the calendar on the desk, flipping through the pages. His eye caught the framed photograph and he picked it up. That must be the general, he thought.



Lois saw him studying it and she took it from him, smiling.



“That’s my mom. I was two, I think. Or almost. Lucy hadn’t been born yet.”



“Your mom was beautiful.”



“Yeah. Dad loved her a lot. It was really hard for him when she died. Well, all of us really. I mean Lucy was too young to understand. He kind of cracked. He buried himself in work and kind of left me in charge of the chain of command. Honestly, it was like he was commanding his troops rather than raising two daughters.”



“I guess my family life must seem Rockwellian in comparison,” he said. “I mean, my parents and I, we’ve had our problems, especially over my powers ...”



“But your parents love you. They worry about you. The only thing my dad worries about is how it will look to his superiors.”



“I’m sure your dad loves you in his own, gruff way, Lois,” Clark said. “Why else would he keep this picture on his desk?” He put the frame back where he’d found it.



Lois looked at him. “I never really thought of it that way,” she said. She picked up her father’s date book and flipped the pages. “Hey, look at this. He’s been meeting the same woman every week for the last two months.” She grinned. “After twelve years, it looks like the old man’s getting some action.”



Clark looked at the entry. ‘Nellie Bly’, it said.



“Lois, that’s not ... That’s Chloe, it has to be.”



“What? How do you figure that?”



“Because Nellie Bly was a famous undercover reporter. She’s Chloe’s idol. What’s the address?”



“2348 Walnut Street. Clark, what are you going to do?”



“Hope that Chloe’s there.”



Lois stopped him before he could get out the door. She put her arms around him and kissed him.



“Be careful, okay?” she said. “I’m going to poke around here some more and see what I can find out.”



Clark grinned, then took off. Lois felt the breeze from his speedy departure lift her hair and she grinned. “I’m so never going to get used to that.”



Lois went back to searching through her father’s papers. But she sighed. There was nothing there that would tell her whether the general was working with Lex to protect Chloe. And there was something about Lex that had really rubbed her up the wrong way. It seemed like he knew a lot more about Clark’s secret than he was telling. She was going to have to try damage control there. Especially if Lex had mentioned any of his suspicions to the general.

Suddenly, she froze. There were men right outside the office. And ... oh god, she thought, looking around frantically. The general! Lois stared around the room. There was nowhere to hide. And if the general found her, she would be toast. Scrambling to her knees, Lois scrunched up into as tight a ball as she could and hid under the desk.



The door opened and footsteps were heard entering the room. Lois held her breath. But the general’s steps faltered with the sound of a cellphone.



“Lane. Luthor, what? Well where is she?”



For several agonising minutes, Lois stayed where she was, wishing she was a lot more flexible, as her father barked into his phone. The footsteps paced across the floorboards. Then she heard the click as the general shut off the phone. He must have turned as he barked orders at the junior officer standing at the doorway.



“She’s at the Smallville Foundry. Go and get her. And double time it.”



The footsteps went out and the door slammed shut. Lois felt she could breathe again. She slowly crawled out from underneath the desk and looked through the blinds. The general was at his car in the parking lot, talking to one of his officers. Lois snuck out quietly, hoping the general wouldn’t turn around and see her leaving his office.



Now all she had to do was find the Foundry and she would find Chloe.



As Lois had continued to search the office, Clark had entered the house on Walnut Street. He could hear music playing as he opened the door. He looked around. There was a wall papered with old news articles. Chloe’s Wall of Weird, he decided.



“Chloe!” he called out, moving toward the wall. Definitely Chloe’s work. Continuing to look around, he saw the laptop, playing a selection of MP3s on the media player. Glancing down, he saw a smear of blood on the timber floor. Further investigation turned up another smear of blood on the door frame. Heart pounding with fear and worry, Clark moved quickly into the other room, shoving the door and ignoring the crash of it against the wall. He stared at the two men, presumably Chloe’s bodyguards. They’d both been stabbed.



As he knelt to check the pulse of one of them, he heard footsteps and looked up at the door. Lex. The older man looked around, an expression of deep remorse and concern on his face. Lex immediately pulled out his cellphone and made a call.



“It’s Lex. Chloe’s guards are dead and she’s gone. Activate the tracking bracelet,” he said.



“What?” Clark said, glaring at him.



“I had a tracking bracelet on Chloe. If she’s been taken, the bracelet will help us find her.” He continued to spit orders into the phone.



The two of them paced in the other room. Clark almost felt like an animal in a cage as he watched Lex talk on the phone.



“How long does it take to locate her?” Lex was demanding. “Well do it.”



He shut the phone’s fliptop and looked at Clark, whose expression was accusing.



“Clark, I was trying to protect her.”



Clark just glared at him. He couldn’t have thought she was that safe if he had a tracking bracelet on her, Clark thought. And he told him so. But that wasn’t the worst of it. Lex had lied to him. The one person who could have protected Chloe. Despite what had happened the last three months ... being pulled into the cave wall, Clark felt that he should have been there. He knew Lois would probably have given him a good slap upside the head for that, but he still felt guilty. And the only way he could deal with that guilt was by turning it on Lex.



“I tried to take every precaution,” Lex was reasoning.



Clark stepped toward the man he’d once thought of as his best friend. “You looked me straight in the eye and told me she was dead.”



If Lex could lie so smoothly about this, what other things had he lied about? Were they ever friends, Clark wondered.



Lex just looked away, gathering his thoughts, then back at Clark.



“Look, sometimes you have to do the right thing, no matter what the cost.”



And was that a dig at Clark himself?



“Even if that cost is Chloe’s life?” Clark said coolly.



Lex almost looked smug. “Clark, if it wasn’t for me, Chloe would have died in that explosion.”



So it was going to be that old game, was it? Lex was going to take all the credit and rub in the fact that Clark wasn’t there.



Lex explained how he’d had the investigators watching Chloe, because he’d felt responsible for Chloe’s life. A detonating device had been found in the safe house, to ensure that Chloe would never make it to the witness stand when it came time for Lionel’s trial. Chloe and her father had been grabbed by Sam Lane’s men just as they entered the house and rushed underground through a tunnel built back in the days of abolition. The explosion had caved in the tunnel behind them, but Chloe and her father had survived and were taken to separate safe houses. They were both watched over by Sam Lane, who was Chloe’s uncle on her mother’s side.



Just as Lex began to explain why he had used Sam Lane, his phone rang, alerting him to a text message. He read it.



“She’s at the old Foundry,” he said. Clark didn’t wait around for more. He sped off to the Foundry.



When he got there, Chloe was struggling with the man that Lois had dubbed Ginsu Boy. Clark’s mouth twitched at the thought. Lois and her nicknames. He was so going to have to think of something to nickname her that would annoy her. But then he saw the seriousness of the situation. Ginsu Boy had his hand, moulded into something metal, around Chloe’s throat, and was squeezing. She was gasping for breath.



Clark grabbed his arm and threw him twenty feet across the room into some pipes. The pipes collapsed and the youth groaned in pain as sparks flew and he crashed to the floor. Clark strode toward him, a determined look on his face. No one tried to kill his best friend.



His step didn’t falter as the youth got up and turned, his arm morphing into a sharp blade. A lot like the T-1000 on Terminator 2, Clark thought, briefly remembering the Terminator marathon he’d once watched with Lex.



Sparks flew as he parried each attack of the blade. It was almost as if it was metal against metal, Then Clark leapt at the youth, who turned into liquefied metal. Clark fell to the floor, and almost into the hot, liquid metal bubbling in the foundry vat. He turned onto his back, ready to flip up and grab the guy when Ginsu Boy was suddenly hit with electrical energy. He groaned, trying to turn and attack his attacker.



Clark saw it was Lois. She was holding some kind of weapon which fired off bolts of electricity. My girl is awesome! Clark thought as he fired off some of his heat vision, heating the liquid metal in the body. Unable to keep to solid form, between the electric shocks and the heat, the body exploded into bits of metal which fell into the vat.



Lois stared.



“What the hell was that?” she asked as Clark got up. She grinned at Clark. “I don’t know how you ever survived without me.”



Clark rolled his eyes and she snickered. Then they both realised they were forgetting Chloe, who had passed out.



Clark quickly untied her hands and held her as she laughed in relief.



“Clark.”



“I was afraid I’d lost you,” he said as he hugged her, then helped her to her feet.



Chloe was almost crying as she stared at him and Clark wondered if she was thinking he was some sort of mirage. Then she looked over his shoulder at Lois.



“Lois? Lois what are you doing here?” she said as she rushed into her cousin’s arms.



“Putting the worst three months of my life behind me,” she said as she hugged Chloe. She bent a little, touching the cut on Chloe’s head. “I’m so glad I found you,” she added.



Clark looked at her. “I?” he said. Lois gave him a look as if to say, not now, Smallville. He just rolled his eyes.



The general’s men took over, helping Chloe out of the Foundry. Both Lois and Clark had to face the general after that.



“You went in anyway, after I specifically told you not to,” he berated Lois. Then he turned on Clark. “And you ... I would have expected better from you, Mr Kent. I’ve already spoken with your parents. You two are extremely lucky you weren’t hurt. Or killed.”



“Aw, come on, boss, what did you expect me to do?” Lois said, rolling her eyes at her father.



“Drop the attitude, Lo.”



All in all, Clark realised he and Lois had got off with a warning. A week later, thanks to Chloe’s testimony, Lionel was convicted.



Clark sat on the sofa in the barn with Lois. He’d told her everything about the Kawatche caves and the legend of Naman. He’d also told her about the ceremonial dagger made from Kryptonian metal which had almost killed him, and of Lionel and Lex both touching it.



“I know Lex was trying to help Chloe, but there’s a big part of me that wonders ...”



“What?”



“Whether Lex is the one destined to be my enemy.”



“It’s just a story, Smallville.”



“That’s the thing. Is it just a story? Or some kind of ... I don’t know, prophecy.” He got up and went to the desk, opening the drawer and taking out a box. He handed it to Lois. “Open it.”

Lois frowned at him. Clark shrugged. “Well, you said I had to buy you a ring. I mean, we can’t exactly get married yet, by Earth standards, but ... this was given to me. For the ‘true one’ in my life. I know, somehow, that it’s you, Lois,” he added, as he sat beside her.



“You know I feel the same way. But I can’t take this,” she said.



“You don’t even know what it is,” he said. “Open the box.”



Lois gasped as she opened the box and looked at the bracelet with the stone in the middle.

“This is beautiful,” she said.



“It belongs to you, now,” he said. He took it out of the box and slipped it on Lois’ wrist. The stone glowed for just a second.



“Wow!” she said. “Did you see that?”



Clark nodded. “It’s proof, isn’t it? That we’re meant to be together. That you’re ... my consort.”



Lois grinned and crawled into his lap. “You know, this consort thing works both ways.”



“Really?” he said with a grin. “How so?”



“Well, if I’m your consort, that makes you mine. Which means I can make you do anything I want.”



“I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?” Clark said, but he couldn’t help grinning.



“Oh, you’re done for, Spaceboy,” she grinned back, as she kissed him. And all he could think was, thank the deity that his parents had gone into town as Lois pushed him onto his back on the sofa, and proceeded to have her wicked way with him.