A/N: I know that this is short and after a long hiatus, but real life and extreme writer's block have taken a hard toll on me. So any feedback is appreciated. Now onto part 5
Clark isn’t sure exactly how long it takes for Lara to recover from whatever had brought her literally to her knees. He’s torn between the desire to comfort her and the fear of hurting her more.
Deciding to take a chance, Clark attempts to pull Lara close to him. Surprisingly, Lara not only allows him to pull her into an embrace, but she clings to him like he is her only lifeline. Eventually, whatever had happened to Lara passes and Clark feels Lara go as limp as a ragdoll in his arms.
Lifting Lara in his arms, Clark is again struck by how little his daughter weighs. If Clark had to guess, he’d suspect that Lara, even though she is at least a foot taller, weighs about the same as Mariah. It makes Clark wonder when the last time was that Lara had even eaten, much less had a proper meal.
Clark carries Lara over to the couch. As he lays Lara on the couch, Clark realizes that right now Lara doesn’t have a bed of her own. In fact, Lara seemingly doesn’t have any belongings at all; other than the clothes she is wearing. And if Clark is honest, he has seen homeless people with better clothing.
And the idea that Lara had been told that he had been complicit in what had happened to her. It made him physically ill to think about what Lara had been through, all the while, believing that he had simply handed her over to those who had hurt her so deeply that she would even consider trying to take her own life.
Every nightmare he had ever had since the day his father had told him the truth behind his origins and stressed the need to keep it secret with his ‘dissect you like a frog’ speech came to the forefront of his mind. The images of being experimented on, restrained on a lab table as scientists cut into his body, attempting to discover the secret behind his powers. He doesn’t know how much of those images had become a reality for Lara, but he swears that he will do anything in his power to prevent her from experiencing the abuse again.
Movement from Lara draws Clark from his thoughts. Clark realizes that not only is Lara awake, but a pair of brown eyes, which are a perfect match to his, are watching him intently.
“Are you ok?” Clark asked.
“I will be.” Lara answers. But she offers nothing more in a way of explanation as to what happened to her.
“What happened?”
“Seizure. I’ve had them periodically since I was three.” Lara explains so matter of fact as if this was a daily occurrence.
“How often is periodically?” Clark asks, as concern for his daughter grips him. He knows that Dr Klein had found abnormalities in Lara’s blood, but what if the seizures are just the tip of the iceberg and Lara has serious medical problems.
“Sometimes I can go as long as a week without having one or I can have multiple seizures a day.” Lara answers, again she offers no more information than what she seemingly has to.
“Do you know what causes them?” Clark asks, wanting to know as much as he could about Lara’s seizures.
“Nope. They just happen; no cause, no prevention.” Lara answers. Clark suspects that she isn’t telling the truth. But before he could question her more, the sound of Lois and Mariah coming home catches his attention.
“Your Mom’s home with your Sister.” Clark says, trying to keep his tone light; like this is a normal situation. But it was clear by the way Lara tenses that this is anything but a normal situation. Lara obviously has a lot of trepidation in meeting her mother and sister.
Clark gives Lara a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder, hoping that it will be a comfort to her. Clark could almost see her steeling herself for whatever Lara thinks is about to happen in meeting her mother and sister for the first time. Clark wonders what exactly Lara had been told in regard to her mother.
Had Lara been told that Lois had been complicit as well in her suffering? Or had they put the blame entirely on him? It makes Clark angry that those who had taken Lara from them had told her that to make her think that she had been abandoned; that her parents had willingly given her over to the abuse.
Trask had called his parents ‘traitors’ for the fact that they had provided a home and love to a defenseless baby. He can only imagine what Bureau 39’s opinion is of Lois.
While he would have normally not cared what other people thought about them or their relationship. These people have had his daughter at their mercy for who knows how long, and they will have to overcome the attempts to break Lara if they are going to repair their family. Clark knows that they have a long, arduous road ahead of them, but he has never been more determined to do anything more in his entire life.
***
As Lois opened the door, she isn’t sure exactly what she is expecting what would be on the other side. But she isn’t prepared to see the young woman sitting on the couch next to Clark.
Lara doesn’t look like the young girl that Lois was expecting. She is so mature looking, even more so than the kids she had seen at Mariah’s school. Her baby is half grown now, really a young woman. It is another stab of pain to Lois to know that they had missed Lara growing up.
But as soon as Lois sees Lara, every doubt and question she has disappeared. It was almost primal, instinctive feeling that Lois experiences as she immediately recognizes Lara.
Lois also wasn’t sure exactly what to; does she grab Lara and pull her into an embrace? Or does she take her ques from Lara?
But before she could process her actions, Lois crosses the room and has her arms around her daughter. Lara doesn’t respond immediately. And when she does move Lara doesn’t return the hug, but instead tries to step out of the hug. If possible, Lara pulling away from the hug was yet another hot knife to her heart.
Lois tries to console herself that Lara’s actions are due to the fact that she doesn’t know them. But that thought just adds another layer of anger. Looking at Clark, Lois could tell that Clark is fighting the same emotions that she is. Her normally stoic husband, who had been her rock when they had lost Lara, was at the end of his emotional rope.
At that moment, her and Clark come to a mutual agreement that they will do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of what had happened to Lara and rebuild their family.
