Erm, so each chapter has kind of switched POVs. This one sort of switches midstream. Go with it. Remember this is by the seat of my pants with no beta - blame Queenie [or Karen - she did pick the ending after all
] if you must blame someone!
Last timeIt took him a few minutes but he made it to his room. He looking longingly at the bathroom but decided he didn’t have enough energy for a shower. He opened the door, grateful that he'd left the curtains open earlier and there was a bright, full moon outside – enough that he could see.
He turned and stopped, shocked at the sight.
There, on his bed, was Lois Kent.
In the arms of another man.
Naked.
*~*6*~*Lois groaned as a door slammed.
Well, slammed might have been a bit of an exaggeration but it woke her up nonetheless.
"Josh," she whispered, trying to raise herself up off the bed.
"So you're in my bed with your ex?" The voice was irritated.
"What?" she groaned.
"Is there some other room I can have or something then, because I really just want to go to sleep."
Lois sat up. "What?"
She suddenly realized that she was practically half naked, but as she looked at the man lying next to her, she didn't care. She shook him. "Josh. Come on. Wake up."
There was no reaction.
Tears filled her eyes. "Josh. Come on." She shook him again. "You can't die on me." The tears overflowed.
"What?" the voice was more shocked this time.
"They were beating him, Mr. Lane." She struggled to roll Josh over.
"What?" He was kneeling on the bed helping her move him. "He's breathing."
Together they got him rolled over. Clark reached for something and handed it to her. "Here."
Lois looked at the cloth in her hand and then down at herself. Her dark bra contrasted sharply against her lighter skin. "Thanks," she said as she pulled the shirt over her head.
"Go get your parents. They were in the living room a minute ago."
Lois nodded and headed downstairs to return a minute later with her mom and dad. By the time they returned, Josh had his eyes open – as much he could when they were nearly swollen shut.
"What happened?" Martha gasped as she rushed to the bed. "I thought Josh was out of town."
"So did I," Lois told her. "He's at least got a couple of cracked ribs. I wrapped my shirt around him and it seemed to help."
"Jonathan, call Rachel and Dan. Lois, turn that light on and get me some towels and such to use to clean him up and some bandages." Martha turned as Lois flipped the switch. She gasped. "What happened to you?"
Lois shrugged. "I got him out of the tent where they were pounding on him but to stay ahead of them I couldn't just walk through the woods dragging Josh behind me. Wehad to go down by Small Creek and hide out in that cave for a while. It's not the easiest hike without mad military men chasing you."
"Oh, honey. Are you okay?"
Lois nodded. "I'm fine. Cuts and scrapes but otherwise good." She winced. "I've got a bad one on my back from trying to get out of the cave – it's a lot smaller than I remembered."
"*You* were a lot smaller the last time you and Josh played down there regularly and 'cave' is being generous."
"Yeah, I know. Anyway, when we were getting out I scraped my back pretty good and it'll need some antiseptic and a bandage but otherwise..." She shrugged. "We made it back to the car and came here." She looked around. "I'm not really sure why we ended up in here, except it used to be my room before we converted the house. I'm sorry, Mr. Lane."
"It's okay. It just startled me a bit to see you in my bed half-naked." There was a hint of a smirk on his face, Clark was sure.
Lois rolled her eyes and turned as Jonathan reentered the room, laden with supplies.
"Rachel and Dan are on their way. I told them to go the back way and no lights or sirens or anything," he told them.
Clark pinched the bridge of his nose. This was going to be a long night. The guy – Josh - seemed to be okay, at least he was breathing and didn't seem to have any broken ribs or anything.
"Um, can I use a phone to call my... Metropolis?" he asked.
Lois looked up from where she was handing her mom another wet cloth. "I'll show you." She led the way to one of the other rooms. "Here. There's a phone on the night stand. Dial nine, then one, area code, number."
"Thanks." He waited until she left before dialing the familiar number. "Dad? It's me," he said when he heard his father pick up.
"Clark? What's wrong?"
"That's just it," he whispered. "I don't know."
"What?" his dad sounded shocked. "That was a *rhetorical* question."
"I know, but it's not. Something wrong and I don't know what and..." Clark took a deep wavering breath. "How soon can you get to Smallville, Kansas?"
"What? Clark, can't you just come here?"
"No, Dad. That's just it. I can't."
"You can't?" Sam asked skeptically.
"No, Dad. I *can't*. I can't do... anything. I'm..." Clark ran a hand through his hair. "I'm *normal*."
There was a long silence. "I'm on my way."
"Thanks, Dad," Clark said quietly. "I appreciate it. But don't tell, Mom, would ya? I don't want her to worry."
"I don't keep secrets from your mom."
"Please, Dad. I'll tell her if we don’t figure this out."
His dad sighed. "Fine. I'll get there as fast as I can."
"Thanks."
"Be careful, son."
"I will."
Clark carefully hung up the phone and stared at the rug covering the hardwood floors. It would probably be at least mid-morning if not early afternoon before his dad – the doctor who was an expert on his physiology – could get there. He flopped back onto the bed and stared, unseeing, at the ceiling.
He thought he'd dozed off when he heard the sounds of people coming up the stairs.
The next hour was spent with Dr. Rachel Harris patching up both Lois and Josh and Sheriff Dan Scardino was trying to put the pieces together of Josh's imprisonment and subsequent escape.
Clark gladly gave up his room to Josh for the night. He was going to take the room that he'd called his dad from. The elder Kents, Rachel and Dan headed downstairs to talk for a few more minutes. Clark headed to his room for the night leaving the door open – as he'd promised in case Josh needed anything. He just sat down on the bed when Lois crumpled to the ground in the hallway.
He was at her side in a second. "You okay?"
She groaned. "My ankle. Mom wrapped it up and is going to get me a poultice for it and I thought I could make it to my room, but..." She sighed. "It gave out. I'm not entirely certain why Josh and I didn't collapse on the couch, how we made it all the way to that room."
Clark stood and held out a hand. "Let me help you."
Lois grasped his hand and he felt that stream of electricity run through him again. Once she was standing, he bent over and scooped her into his arms.
"Clark! Put me down!"
"You can't walk," he said practically.
"But Mom and Dad said you collapsed earlier," she pointed out.
He looked around. "Is there another room up here you can go in?"
Lois pointed to the door across the hall from his. "This one is fine." She reached out and opened it with one hand.
He carried her through the door.
"That's awfully forward of you, Mr. Lane," she said with a smirk.
"Excuse me?"
She hopped down onto one foot as he stopped near the bed. "Around here, us small town folks wait till after the wedding to carry the girl over the threshold."
"Well, you're not going to get me in bed."
"I never planned on it." She sat on the edge of the bed. "Thanks, Mr. Lane."
"I thought I told you to call me Clark," he said with a grin.
*****
TBC
