Thanks, again, to Beth
.
Last time"Clark," Lois said suddenly. "You didn't happen to bring your globe with you did you?"
He looked up from where his dad was putting a bandage on his upper arm. "No. Why would I?"
"Did you, Dr. Lane?"
Dr. Lane shook his head. "No. I didn't think about it. Why?"
"Well, Clark said it's played messages. I was wondering if you knew how to activate them and if maybe there was some others you hadn't seen or something that might help with Clark's powers."
*~*17*~*Clark and his dad stared at each other.
"Why didn't we think of that?" Sam asked his son.
"Because she makes incredible leaps of logic that you and I can only dream of, Dad," Clark told him with a grin. "I'm surprised it took her as long as it did to figure it out once she saw the ship."
"Well, we spent most of that time running through the woods and you weren't very super then," she reminded him, taking a cookie from the container.
Clark nodded. "Any ideas on that, Dad?" he asked softly.
Sam shook his head. "No. The only thing I can think of is maybe the sun since Jor-El said you would have powers because of the yellow sun but..." He shrugged. "It's worth a shot tomorrow. I'll call your mom and have her come out for the weekend. She can bring it with her."
Clark glanced over at Lois and grinned. "Guess I'm bunking with you then, Kent."
Lois rolled her eyes. "Your parents are welcome to have your room and you're welcome to have my tent." Her brow furrowed. "That reminds me. Where's Josh?"
"He went to the hospital earlier and then the sheriff hid him somewhere," Sam told her.
Lois nodded. "Good."
"You do have room for us, right?"
She shrugged. "We're booked actually, but that includes Clark's room. I'll only charge him half the normal nightly rate for the tent."
Clark smirked. "You could take the tent. Your argument was that you had a busted ankle."
"I still do," she pointed out.
"But I have a black eye and cracked ribs."
"And I have that scrape on my back and a guilty conscience for killing that guy."
"No you don't," Clark told her. "You don't feel any more guilty than I do."
"Dreams would be normal," Sam interjected. "And you two fight like an old married couple."
"It's the dreams that scare me," Lois said quietly, staring at the cookie in her hand.
Clark reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "Did you have them..." His voice trailed off.
She nodded. "For weeks. Fortunately – well sort of fortunately – the timing was good, but that was when Dad's back went out and I came home. Graduated and came home. It was two years before he was well enough to really do what he used to and..."
"You're still here."
She nodded. "I'm still here."
"Come to Metropolis," Clark said suddenly. "If they don't need you still. I'd bet money that Perry would hire you on the spot once he sees the story we're going to write."
"We?" she asked looking up at him.
He nodded. "You saved my butt. You figured out as much as I did if not more. There's a lot to leave out, obviously, but a great story nonetheless."
She didn't say anything.
"So come to Metropolis. You can stay with me."
She raised a brow at him. "I'm not bunking with you at my house and you think..."
Clark shook his head. "No. I mean, I have an apartment in Metropolis, but I was planning on spending a couple weeks at my Grandpa's and he's got plenty of room. Right, Dad?"
Sam snorted. "Yeah. He does."
"That won't stop the dreams."
"No," Clark said softly, kneeling next to her. "But I bet you're ready to move on, aren't you? And I can help you do that."
Lois nodded. "Maybe. I'll think about it."
Clark kissed her brow softly. "And even though we won't be bunking together, if they get too bad, come find me. I'll sit up with you."
A throat cleared behind them.
They both turned to see Dan standing there. "I need you two to come give statements tomorrow."
They both nodded.
"We'll be in after we get up and around," Lois promised.
"Thanks." Dan looked like he wanted to say something else, but he just turned and left.
"What was that about?" Sam asked as the screen slammed shut.
"That's what I'd like to know." Martha joined the conversation with an amused tone in her voice.
Lois sighed. "Dan still has a picture from last year's Corn Festival up at his house. I told Clark everything while we were hiding. I guess Dan hasn't moved on quite as much as I thought he had and..." She shrugged.
"Clark was helping him?" Jonathan asked, a smirk on his face.
"Something like that." Lois stood. "On that note, I'm going to bed." She gave both of her parents big hugs. "Good night."
Clark talked to the elder Kents and his dad for a few more minutes before heading to his room – his original room.
He tossed and turned long after he heard everyone else turn in and the light coming in under the door disappeared. He relived the night, the... poisoning by the green stuff. Seeing his ship for the first time since he was an infant.
Seeing Lois dangling below him on that cliff.
He wasn't sure how long it had been when there was a soft knock on the door.
"Come in," he called quietly.
The door opened and he could see Lois' silhouette leaning against the doorjamb. He pushed up until he was leaning against the headboard. "Bad dream?"
She nodded and he held out a hand towards her. She walked towards him leaving the door open in her wake.
"I don't want to bother my parents and Lucy's in town at a friend's house and..." She curled up next to him. "I kept seeing him falling and then he turned into you and I couldn't catch you..."
Clark wrapped his arms around her, kissing her temple softly. "I'm not going anywhere. You can get rid of me that easily."
She looked up at him. "Are you sure?"
One hand came to frame the side of her face. "I've just found you. I'm not about to let you go," he whispered.
He leaned in slightly as she moved toward him. Their lips met in a soft, sweet kiss.
She rested her head on his shoulder. "Can I stay with you?" she finally asked, her voice barely audible.
Clark moved his arm and tugged at the covers. "Of course."
Together they worked the covers out from underneath her and she slid her legs under the sheets. Clark's head was already on the pillow as she laid hers on the one next to him.
"Thank you."
"This is just for sleeping you know," he told her with mock severity. "I'm not trying to get some notch on my cape."
"I know."
He leaned over just enough to kiss her forehead. "Sleep well."
"Night, night. Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite," Lois told him with a yawn.
"You have bedbugs?"
She shook her head slightly as her eyes fluttered shut. "No bedbug would dare come within a mile of Martha Kent's house."
Clark pressed his lips lightly against her forehead again before he settled in.
This time, he fell asleep immediately.
*****
TBC
