Thanks to Beth for looking the rest of this over!
No time - more later
Last time"The alien took over your mind," he said almost to himself, lowering the gun fractionally.
Lois took her chance. She brought both feet up and kicked as hard as she could into Trask's gut. He stumbled backwards and she hopped up, following up with another blow.
Trask stumbled again.
She had one more shot. It wasn't what she wanted to do, but as the gun started to come up, she knew she had no choice.
She kicked out with her bad foot, knowing even as she did that it was going to hurt like the dickens.
A shot was fired as Trask disappeared over the ledge.
Lois screamed in pain as she slipped, following him over the side of the cliff.
*~*15*~*"*Lois*!"
Clark saw her disappear over the side.
"Clark!"
There was only one splash.
He crawled towards the edge, pain searing his entire body as he did so. "Lois!"
"Help!"
He reached the edge and looked over to see Lois desperately hanging on to a rock. He held a hand out. "Grab on."
She looked at him and then back over her shoulder into the black water and rocks below.
"Come on." He could only hope that what strength he still had held out long enough to get her up and that the other guy stayed gone.
She bit her bottom lip and pushed upwards with the one foot she somehow managed to use against the side of the cliff.
His hand closed around her wrist as she grabbed onto him. He reached his other hand out. "One more."
"Are you sure you can do this?" she managed to get out.
"Now!"
She tightened her grip on his wrist and lunged upwards again, their other hands finding their way together.
Clark pulled on her and did his best to slither his way backwards at the same time.
And then he felt someone grab his ankles.
And pull.
A moment later, Lois was lying next to him.
He wasn't sure when or how but the searing pain had disappeared. He rolled towards her, breathing heavily. He reached out resting one hand on the side of her now scratched up face. "Are you okay?"
She closed her eyes but nodded. "I'm okay. Thank you." She moved slightly until her forehead rested against his. "How are you?"
"In pain, but better."
He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to chalk it up to relief but he knew that wasn't strictly accurate.
"I'm sorry."
A voice interrupted his slow movement towards her.
"We had no idea Trask was insane."
They both turned in unison to look at the military man standing there.
Clark looked back at Lois to see her eyes closed as she took a deep breath. "Here's what we're going to do," she told them, struggling to her feet.
Clark eyed the other man carefully before taking his offered hand. It took help from both of them to get him to his feet.
Lois crossed her arms in front of her. "Okay, Sergeant Bass. This is what's going to happen. We're going to get in the back of the van. You're going to drive back to the Irig farm. You're going to back up to the tent I tell you to. You're going to get out and find all of that green rock that you can." She nodded towards the small box lying closed on the ground. "You're going to put it in a lead box and you're going to stand guard while we drive off with the van. No questions asked, no looking in the van to see what else we took. Got it?"
Sergeant Bass nodded. "With Trask gone, the rest of the team will scatter quickly. I guarantee it."
Lois nodded curtly and grabbed the box on her way to the van. "Let's go."
Clark sat near her, his head leaning back against the wall as they drove back. "How do you know we can trust him?" he asked her quietly.
"He was mad while Trask was beating you up, but he was more scared of Trask. Now that Trask is gone..."
"Are you sure he is?"
Lois nodded. "He'd have to be Superman to survive that fall. There's a suicide there every couple of years because of the height and the rocks at the bottom." She leaned slightly until her head was on his shoulder. "Thank you for saving me."
"I couldn't have done it without his help," Clark told her, his head tipping sideways to rest on hers. "I would have died trying but I don't think I could have pulled you up."
"That's the other reason I know we can trust him. He could have just pushed us both over."
Clark nodded against her. "Good point."
"We're almost there," Bass called. "Stay out of sight."
Lois quickly told him which tent she wanted him to back up to, telling him to make sure everyone else was out of there and that there were tarps available.
Clark realized her plan.
They were going to smuggle out his ship.
And any of that stuff that Trask had, that Jonathan Kent had, that made him pass out in pain and lose his powers.
The van came to a stop and a minute later, there were two quick bangs on the side. Lois cautiously opened one of the doors.
"The coast is clear," she called, hopping down.
Clark climbed out more carefully. "Wow," he breathed, getting his first look at it.
"Come on. We can stare later."
Lois dragged a tarp over the top of it. Working together, the two of them managed to get the ship in the back of the van. They covered it with several more tarps.
Lois did a quick search of the rest of the tent while Clark sat at the edge of the van.
"Anything?" he asked.
"Jackpot," she breathed, opening a file drawer. "UFO, meteor shower and falling star sightings. The day your parents found you." She pulled a stack of folders out. "Put those inside," she practically ordered, handing the files to him.
He turned and stuck them in the van, intending to look through one of them when there was a hissing sound.
"We gotta go. Get in."
Lois turned and took a large metal box from Sergeant Bass, climbing into the back of the van with it. Clark closed the doors behind them.
Bass hurried to the front of the van and practically spun the wheels in his rush to leave.
"What's going on?" Clark asked as they left the Irig property.
"The sheriff is on his way and I didn't figure you two would want to be there when he arrives. Where to?"
"My house," Lois told him without hesitation. "Try to get in unseen and park with the back of the van to the storm shelter near the barn."
"Yes, ma'am."
"When I tell you to, leave and don't come back. I don't care where you go, but stay away from the Irigs and away from my house."
"Yes, ma'am."
The van slowed to a crawl as they turned. Gravel crunched under the tires. It seemed like forever before he put the vehicle into reverse, then park. "There you go."
Lois opened the doors and headed straight to the doors of the shelter. She swung them open as quietly as she could before coming back to the van. "Let's go, Lane."
They worked together again, moving the ship down the stairs. Lois set her side down and walked to the bare wall on the other side of the small room. From out of nowhere, an opening appeared.
"Let's get it in here."
"What's that?"
"This house wasn't on the Underground Railroad, but Kents hid plenty of runaway slaves back in the day," she grunted. "There's a tunnel leading to the house, but it caved in a long time ago."
They quickly maneuvered the ship into place, with the file folders and the metal box set on the ground next to it.
Once out of the shelter, Clark helped her carefully close the doors to it and the van.
Lois grabbed his hand and headed into the barn. "We'll wait till he's gone then head up to the house. Rachel's here and so is your dad – at least I guess that's who that other rental car belongs to." She sat on one of the still-overturned bales of hay.
He sat next to her. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For saving me."
*****
TBC
