Happy Ficlet Friday. This is another installment in the MagiKal AU ..
Down The Yellow Brick RoadLois pulled her suitcase off the luggage belt and took a deep breath. Her gaze drifted toward the exit. There was no sense stalling any longer. If Martha Kent was waiting for her at the airport, she'd know that Lois’ flight had arrived on time. Four rounds on the luggage belt were far more than she could reasonably explain anyway. She couldn't put off meeting Clark's mother indefinitely.
Slowly she made her way to the arrival area. Lois wished Clark would be here with her. She missed him badly. Two weeks ago he'd given her the tickets and told her that his mother was going to pick her up at the airport. That was the last time she’d seen him.
It felt all wrong. Clark should be here with her, introducing her to his mom.
Given the enormous secret he carried, it would have been nice to have him stand beside her with a reassuring smile. Lois wished she had at least some sort of proof that he was okay with her knowing. She could only imagine how painstakingly Clark's parents had kept his powers and origins to themselves.
Now here she was, barging in on their lives, a reporter who knew details about their son that most journalists would be dying to print.
Her gut twisted into a tight knot as Lois pushed the doors open. The waiting area was mostly deserted. A few scattered travelers were still here and between them a petite blonde woman holding up a sign that read "Lois Lane."
The air rushed from Lois' lungs as if someone had kicked her hard. She stopped dead, her feet suddenly reluctant to move another step. Socializing had never been her strong suit. How did one greet a woman who had every right to be wary of her intentions? How was she supposed to get through a two-hour drive to Smallville, Kansas?
Suddenly, she couldn't quite understand why she’d suggested going to Smallville. Given Clark's unique problem, she should have known he wouldn't travel by plane.
Because of Houdini's fear of flying and his own increasingly severe hiccups, Clark had decided to walk the distance. Lois found it hard to believe that anyone would want to walk that far. But Clark had shrugged off her concern. According to him, it was safer that way. He’d been reluctant to come to Smallville in the first place and his frayed nerves surely caused his powers to act up more than they already did.
Right now, Lois wished Houdini would have been willing to board a plane. It would have been nice to have his support at least. If he wagged his tail and licked her hand, maybe Clark’s mother would be more willing to trust her.
Filling her lungs with some much needed air, Lois braced herself for meeting Martha Kent. She took a few steps toward the older woman. Her right hand twitched indecisively as Lois tried to decide whether offering a handshake would be appreciated.
"Mrs. Kent?" Her voice cracked a bit and she swallowed to get rid of the lump in her throat.
“You must be Lois." The lips of the older woman twitched into a broad smile. She held out her hand. “I'm Martha. Clark never mentioned how pretty you are. Thank you so much for bringing him back home."
Lois gaped at the other woman, unable to say a word.
"Do you need anything before we head to Smallville?" Martha asked. "I'm afraid that once we're out of Wichita, there won't be many places we can stop."
Lois tried to get her lips to work. She had expected a lot of things, but nothing had prepared her for the warm welcome Martha Kent was offering. Still unable to speak, she just shook her head, feeling slightly dazed.
"Clark arrived yesterday, a day earlier than anticipated," Martha chatted on. "Houdini was really eager to get back to Smallville, it seems. He has a thing for meat pie." She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Though, knowing Clark, he might have carried him at least half of the way. I wouldn’t be surprised if that boy smells my apple pie through eight states. We should make sure to reserve each of us a piece before the guys have a chance to dig in. You wouldn’t believe how much Clark and his father can eat."
Her eyes twinkled with mischief before she laid her hand on Lois’ arm and guided her out of the airport and toward the parking lot.
Lois felt still tongue-tied as she put her suitcase in the trunk of an old pickup truck and slipped into the passenger's seat next to Clark's mother. Only after she'd closed the door and no one was likely to overhear them, did she find her voice again.
"You're okay with me knowing?" she managed. “Just like that?”
Lois couldn’t believe it should be this easy. Surely, the smiles had been for public display alone and the worst was yet to come. But Martha still looked at her with the same warmth in her gaze, genuinely seeming pleased that Lois was in her car.
“Clark trusts you, that’s all I need to know.” She turned the key and started the car. “He told me what a good friend you’ve been to him. And bringing him back here…” Her voice cracked and a tear slipped down her cheek. She wiped it away and her lips twitched back into that warm, now somewhat teary-eyed, smile. “That boy is stubborn as a mule. He’s a lot like his father in that respect.”
“He didn’t have much of a choice but to trust me,” Lois said quietly. “Me finding out about his other identity and his powers - it just sort of happened.” She fumbled with her hands, feeling flustered. “I thought you were going to be much more apprehensive and angry. I mean, Clark isn’t even around to introduce us and…” She trailed off because she didn’t know what else to say.
Martha shook her head. “If you wanted to print the truth about him, you could have done so weeks ago.”
She looked over her shoulder before she pulled the car out of the parking lot. When the pickup truck was facing the right way, she hit the brakes and once more turned her full attention on Lois.
There was a gleam in her eyes, a fire that revealed the heart of a lioness inside the petite woman’s chest. Lois had no doubt that - should anyone threaten her family - Martha would fight tooth and nail to defend them. Whoever dared to mess with her would certainly regret it. But at the same time, Lois couldn’t help the strange notion that even though they’d just met, Martha regarded her as an extension of her immediate family. There was a tenderness in the other woman’s gaze that Lois found both disconcerting and heartrending at the same time.
Clark’s mother swallowed. “I still can’t believe my boy is here again and going to stay for more than a few minutes or a couple of days at best. Somehow you convinced him to try and find out what happened to him, which is more than I ever accomplished. You’ve known him for a few months, but already you did more for this family than you know. You’re more than welcome here. Besides, I’ve never had another woman to whom I could really talk about Clark.”
Another tear slipped down her cheeks which she surreptitiously wiped off. Then she switched gears and hit the accelerator. She steered the pickup toward the street.
“Thank you,” Lois whispered.
The lump in her throat was back, but this time it didn’t feel as choking as before. Lois couldn’t explain it, but she just felt loved, which was an unsettling realization for someone whose family had always been a minefield.
“You’ve chosen the right weekend to come to Smallville.” Martha chatted away happily. “We’re holding the annual corn festival. It’ll be fun.”
Though Lois wasn’t quite sure what was supposed to be exciting about a corn festival, Martha’s enthusiasm was kind of contagious.
All the tension left her as she leaned back in the driver’s seat and listened to Martha recounting stories about Clark’s childhood. Lois had the strangest feeling that a whirlwind had picked her up and carried her toward the land of Oz. She couldn’t help but grin at the thought.
Well, when in Kansas…
The ride to Smallville went by in a blur. Occasionally, Lois asked a question or told Martha how she’d met Clark. Before long Lois had already forgotten she’d ever been nervous at all.
Clark’s mother, it seemed, possessed her own kind of magic.
No wonder, his heart was so big. He was truly loved.
Deep inside her, Lois’s own feelings for him stirred. Everything she learned about Clark made her wish that they’d grow into more than just being friends.
Quietly she sent a prayer to whatever deity was up there, that they would find a solution to Clark’s problem. She knew Clark would never admit to feeling more for her than friendship as long as he still considered himself a threat.
Finally, Martha pulled into a driveway that led to the Kent's farm. Lois' heart leaped with joy as she saw Clark standing in front of the house. His hands were stuffed deep into the pockets of his pants and he was looking slightly anxious. Houdini sat beside him, panting and flopping his tail up and down.
As Clark's eyes met Lois', his lips twitched into the brightest smile she'd ever seen. It made her insides melt.
Lois desperately hoped that once he was free, he would return her feelings. She no longer wanted to imagine her life without him in it.
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