Lois awoke to the warm sun on her face. She stretched lazily, feeling rested and lighter than when she had gone to sleep. She felt the comforter slip off her, and she reached to reclaim it without opening her eyes. When her fingers couldn’t find it, her eyes flew open, wondering if Shelby had gotten a hold of it.
She suddenly realized that the bed wasn’t under her body… she was somehow – suspended over the bed. And just as she realized she was floating, she hit the bed with a thud.
It took her a second to process what had happened, but she knew she absolutely had been floating. Her hand went to her belly, which she thought was a little bigger than when she had gone to sleep last night, but not alarmingly larger.
“Did you make mommy float?” she asked softly, with awe and a just a bit of trepidation in her voice. “I wonder if daddy can do that…”
She got out of bed and slipped on a robe to head downstairs to tell Clark what had just happened.
“Clark?” she called out as she reached the living room. But she didn’t see or hear him. She listened a little harder, and could hear wood being chopped in the barn. Did I really hear that? She wondered, thinking it might be another consequence of the pregnancy.
She grabbed the blue crystal box off the counter, just in case these odd abilities needed to be tamed in the meantime…
“Clark! You’ll never believe what just happened!” she called to him, entering the barn.
Clark put down the axe and instantly, looking worried. “What? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Smallville… but I woke up floating – like two feet over the bed!” she exclaimed.
Clark appeared more worried than she did over this sudden discovery of ability. “What? You mean, the baby is giving you abilities?”
“I don’t know… but I heard you were in the barn from the kitchen… Clark! This is so exciting! I wonder what else I can do?” she said, looking around eagerly for a target to try another power.
Clark laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Lois, it has got to be a side effect of the pregnancy, and you may not have all my abilities. Use the blue crystal, Lois. You are human, and you don’t know what kind of long term effects they may have.”
“Spoil sport,” she said glumly, taking it out of her pocket but not opening the box. “I’ll use it during breakfast. But Clark, have you ever floated before?” she asked thoughtfully.
“Yeah, once or twice… usually while dreaming though,” he answered, looking almost embarrassed.
Lois suddenly became curious, feeling closer to him than she had last night with her newly discovered skills. “So what are all your powers then?” she asked.
He was glad to see her in a better mood than last night, but he was genuinely worried about how the baby’s transference of abilities might affect her.
“You mean my abilities… well, I suppose you should know. In case you have any of them… I can shoot fire from my eyes. See through things… um – I have enormous lung capacity and can freeze things with my breath,” Clark said, cataloguing his abilities. Then he glanced at Lois and saw her grow wary once again.
“That’s quite an arsenal, Clark,” she said quietly. “And yet, you are just content to do chores on the farm and work at the Daily Planet with me bossing you around?”
He shrugged. “There are other things I do, Lois. But yeah, those normal things – ground me.”
She scrutinized him, her reporter instinct kicking in. “What other things, Clark? I mean, I know you save people – including yours truly –on a regular basis. But what else keeps you occupied?”
Clark resumed chopping the wood, unsure of how much to tell Lois. He didn’t want to worry her with Zod and the Kandorians, especially since he didn’t have a solution. But if Zod should approach Lois, she would need to know to be on her guard, especially with the baby coming.
“There have been a lot of… consequences to me being here on earth,” he began, guilt leaden in his voice. “I mean, all the meteor freaks… they are because of the meteor shower. Because my parents sent me here. It is why I feel I have to protect the earth – I am largely responsible for the chaos the meteor rocks have caused.”
He stopped chopping wood a moment, and Lois laid a hand on his shoulder. “Clark, you can’t beat yourself up over the meteor shower… you had no choice in coming to earth. And despite the occasional weirdo to deal with, I’m glad you’re here.”
He tried to smile at her, but he knew the consequences of his being on earth couldn’t be dismissed so lightly. Clark sighed, resigned to telling her the full truth. “There’s more,” he said grudgingly.
“Well, stop making with the Paul Bunyan a moment, and talk to me.”
He set the axe aside and sat next to Lois on a hay bale. “There are other Kryptonians on earth.”
“Wait. You mean others who have your powers?”
“No, not exactly. But they are trying to get the same powers… you see, it has to do with the sun.
That is possibly why you have some of my powers. The yellow sun gives me strength… but the sun was red on Krypton. And if the Kandorians – it’s a long story, but that is what the other Kryptonians are called – if they can change the sun red, then they will have my powers and I will be like a normal human…”
Lois sat in silence a moment, processing what he had told her. “Is that what you saw in the future? These Kandorians taking over the earth?” she asked quietly, thoughtful.
Reluctantly, Clark nodded. “Yeah… and I’m afraid it would be all my fault. I don’t know how to move … their leader, General Zod, was once a friend of my father’s. But he has since abandoned notions of brotherhood, unless it means ruling over the earth with me – which is absolutely not going to happen,” he quickly added. Clark sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t want to burden you with all of this, except Jor-El warned me to keep Zod away from you and the baby.”
Lois reached for Clark’s hand. “I don’t know how you do all this, Clark. And keep sane! But whatever I can do to help, I will.”
He gave her a small smile. “Just don’t get involved, Lois. Please, promise me that. I have enough to deal with without worrying about you getting hurt in the middle of it all."
~L&C~
The next few days passed in relative peace for Lois. She went back to sleeping at the Talon, but she would stop by the farm to ride in to work with Clark, and would also have dinner with him there. She knew it was only a matter of time before she would move in, but her pride kept her from doing so.
Clark was as solicitous as she could ever hope for, always asking about how she was doing and whether wearing the blue kryptonite was helping.
Standing at a safe enough distance from it so it wouldn’t affect him, Clark used his heat vision one night to cut a small chunk off the larger stone and set it in a bracelet, like he had seen Dax-Ur wear. Clark encouraged her to wear it whenever he wasn’t around, and they had a lead box nearby with the stuff should she ever feel ill due to the pregnancy when she was with Clark.
But Lois still wasn’t convinced that it was for her sake that Clark was being so helpful. So, every night, she returned to the Talon, feeling a little sad and alone. Clark would kiss her good-bye, each time holding her a little longer, encouraging her to stay with his body language if not his words. But she would quietly disentangle herself from his embrace, and with a slight shake of her head, walk down the steps and say, “Good night, Smallville,” before driving off into the night.
~L&C~
A week later, the Planet was hosting a charity gala, which Lois and Clark had RSVP’d for months ago. Clark was nervous to push Lois any faster than she was ready, but the night before the event he asked if they would be going as a couple.
She surprised both Clark and herself by answering, “Yeah, why not? It could be a sort of test run.”
Lois had bought her dress for the gala before she knew she was pregnant, and even though the baby was developing slightly faster than a normal human baby, she didn’t expect her dress to be as tight as it was. So she wore a long overcoat to cover the snugness. To most people, it would just look like that she had gained a few extra pounds. At least she hoped so. She wasn’t ready to tell the world that she and Clark were having a baby just yet.
Clark picked her up at the Talon at six, so they would have enough time to drive into Metropolis to be at the gala at eight.
“Lois?” Clark asked, knocking on the apartment door.
“Come in, Clark!” Lois called, putting on her earrings. She wasn’t feeling entirely well, and wanted to wear the blue kryptonite bracelet, but was wary of it having an effect on Clark during their date. Yet she didn’t want to go through the whole evening nauseous, either.
She stepped into the living room just as Clark opened the door.
“So what do you think? Do I look like a whale, or what?” she said, doing a small pirouette for him.
He didn’t seem to notice her baby bump at all, which was only just beginning to show. His eyes never left hers as he came closer to her to help her into the overcoat. “You look beautiful, Lois,” he said sincerely.
Lois felt a rush of pleasure up her spine at his praise, but simply smiled back. “Well, quick question for you,” she said, darting over to where she kept the blue K bracelet. “I’m not feeling all that great and am kind of hoping I could wear this… but I don’t want it to hurt you…”
“It doesn’t hurt me, Lois. Not like the green meteor rock does… It just takes away my powers.”
“And they can come back, right?”
“Yeah, of course. Wear it, if you feel like you need to. I don’t need to be the Blur tonight. I can just be Clark Kent, your date. How’s that sound?”
She smiled, grateful that he put her fears at ease and slipped on the bracelet, a shade of blue which perfectly complemented her dress.
She linked her arm into his and smiled up at him.
“Sounds perfect.”
~L&C~
Only Clark noticed that Lois ordered non-alcoholic drinks all night, while he decided to try a few alcoholic ones for a change, wondering if it would affect him at all with the blue kryptonite around.
Lois brought him another glass of wine, while she held a martini glass. “You know, good thing the money is going to charity, because I just realized that I’ve been paying $8 a glass for cranberry juice.”
Clark smiled as he took his wine from her. “Well, thanks for getting me a refill, just the same.”
They clinked glasses, and Lois eyed him over the rim of her non-alcoholic Crantini. “Are you doing okay?” she asked, lifting her bracelet to indicate why he might not be.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry,” he assured her. “I don’t feel anything.” Then looking down at his glass, “Well, maybe this just a little.”
Suddenly, the music started to change to a nice slow dance number. Clark took both of their glasses and set them down on a nearby table. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe he was just tired of trying to be too careful with Lois’ feelings, but he wanted to dance with her.
“Hey! What are you doing, Smallville? There was still some good cranberry juice left…”
“Lois, will you dance with me?” he asked, gesturing for her to move towards the dance floor.
“I might trip over you in these heels and this dress,” she said, suddenly looking a bit wary of the prospect. “Besides, it might not be a good idea if you are too close to—“ she raised the bracelet again. “And I just don’t know if I want to take that kind of ri—“
“Lois,” he said, in a slightly deeper tone, getting her attention. “Get over here.”
Lois gave in and let Clark lead her onto the dance floor.
The song was a slow jazzy version of ‘When I Fall in Love.’ Lois stepped into the welcoming embrace of Clark’s arms, her head drifting towards his shoulder.
“You know, we haven’t danced since… Chloe’s wedding,” she murmured.
He squeezed her just a little tighter, remembering how that dance had ended. “That was in the past, Lois. I’m sorry if I ever hurt you…”
“I guess, maybe one of the reasons I’m reluctant to move to the farm-- Clark, what really happened between you and Lana?” she asked, barely realizing, until the words were out of her mouth, that Lana was the reason she was afraid to entirely trust her heart to him.
She saw the pain and awkwardness of her question in his eyes, and she immediately tried to brush it off. “Sorry… now isn’t the time, I know…” she said, starting to pull away.
But he held her firm. “Lois, I couldn’t see it for years, but Lana was never the right person for me. I think you knew that before I did,” he said, somewhat ruefully as he recalled some of their long ago conversations. “I wanted to see strength in her, someone that I could rely on to carry my secret with me, to be a life partner. But, looking back, I realized that I put her on a pedestal, hoping she would be what I needed… but she never was. Lois, you were always there for me. Even when it seemed we were at odds, you could always see what I couldn’t. And that is what made me fall in love with you. Your strength, and your heart.”
Lois was quiet for a long moment, settling her head back on his shoulder as she took in his words. “You know, Clark? That’s what made me fall in love with you, too,” she eventually said.
The music inevitably ended, though they stood embracing for a moment longer.
As the lights came up for some faster music, Lois stepped out of his arms with a smile, though her eyes were bright with unshed tears. “Hormones, you know?” she said lightly.
Clark wrapped his arm around her. “What do you say we call it a night?”
She nodded and they headed out to get their coats.
As they left, a light, misty rain settled over the city. “See, that party wasn't so bad. Plus, all the money from the bar goes to charity, so somewhere a kid is getting a new pair of shoes all because I drank a non-alcoholic Crantini… or as I pointed out, an $8 cranberry juice in a fancy glass.”
“Sure, it's more than a few kids getting compliments from Lois Lane. Not that I was keeping track,” he teased, knowing he had his own fill of glasses of wine. In fact, Clark was now enjoying a slight buzz, something he rarely experienced.
They crossed the street, heading to Lois’ car. “Well, money well spent anyway. Besides, I guess I was just a little nervous. It was our first public outing as, kind of like, a couple.”
“So you admit it?” he prodded. “That we’re a couple?”
Instead of directly answering his question, Lois rambled on. “Tess seemed okay when she found out her top basement reporters are dating. Although, not everyone was doing the happy dance when they saw us together. Ollie didn't have much to say. He left right after we got there.”
“Oliver's gotten over bigger hurdles in his life than his friends dating.”
Lois paused, turning to face him. “Well, it is a lot to get your head around. Clark Kent and Lois Lane? Who knew?”
“I did,” he answered softly, surprising her.
“Did you now? I recall you saying I knew before you did… not that I’m keeping score.”
They reached Lois’ car, knowing the night was officially ending. Lois hadn’t stayed at the farmhouse since the day she found out she was pregnant. She turned to him to say goodnight, but suddenly noticed a sultry quality in Clark’s gaze that she had never seen before. She felt her heart quicken at the sight of him, the nearness of his breath. “You know, Lois we could go back to the farm and take a walk. I could give you Clark Kent's Tour of the Galaxy, like I promised.”
She knew he wanted her to stay with him, but she wanted it to be her decision. And while she was more than flattered that Clark wanted to be with her, she wasn’t sure if now was the time.
“Smallville, I don’t think it’s a good idea...”
He suddenly leaned in and kissed her, perhaps emboldened by their dance floor confessions, or the alcohol. Clark hadn’t properly kissed her since the spectacular kiss in the middle of the Planet, weeks ago, which felt like a lifetime ago. It felt right to be in his arms, but she wasn’t ready to give much more than a kiss just yet.
The kiss ended, and she searched for a way to get back to an even footing with him. She gently tapped his chest in reprimand, “Okay, then, that was PDA number four on date number five. I'm just keeping track… trying not to rush into this relationship like I've done before.”
He didn’t seem to get the message, reaching to brush her hair out of her face. “Well, Lois, there's nothing we'll be doing in five weeks, that we can't do tonight,” he said softly, pushing her capabilities of resisting that Kent charm of his.
She sighed, trying to make him understand. “I know. It's just, this is the one. You're the one I want to get it right with, okay?” she admitted. Lois turned out of his embrace to get into her car. “So, good night.”
Clark nodded, his eyes pools of light, heady from their kiss and maybe a bit from the wine. But he understood Lois’ need for boundaries. His eyes met hers, full of promise for when she was ready for more. “Night.”
Clark left her reluctantly on her own. When he got out of range of the blue K, he heard a cry in the distance. He turned to Lois to wave good-bye, and then sped off into the night.
~L&C~
The car wouldn’t start. “Damn it. I knew I should have changed the alternator myself,” Lois grumbled, getting out again to check what was wrong.
Suddenly, an arrow came out of nowhere and landed by her car. Shocked, Lois turned around and saw the silhouette of a man with what appeared to be a bow standing on top of a building.
Shocked at who she thought she saw, Lois shook her head in dismay, “Come on, Oliver. Jealous much?” she called up to him. Suddenly, he drew another arrow from his quiver. Lois looked on in shock, until instinct kicked in and she began to run. “Oh my god!”
She wasn’t fast enough, and the arrow sliced through her shoulder, sending her to the pavement.
