Worlds Apart, a smallville fanfic

Author's note: This is my first fanfic that I wrote. I actually wrote it mid season 10. It is now complete, just a few minor changes here and there. I hope you enjoy it and reviews are always welcome.

The morning sun filtered through the sheer curtains that gently blew with a slight summer breeze wafting through the open window, cooling the warm bedroom. He had been up before dawn, not needing as much sleep as everyone else, he enjoyed watching the rising sun, that which was the source of his strength, enjoying its beauty, but no more beautiful than the woman lying in his bed.

"Wake up sleepy head" Clark told his sleeping fiancé, nudging her gently on the shoulder.

"Ugh go away" Lois grumbled sleepily, pulling the covers over her head.

"Are you sure?" he asked, lifting the covers off her laying soft kisses on her exposed shoulder and down the curve of her back.

"Hmmm" Lois moaned at the wonderful sensations he was stirring in her, as a smile formed on her face.

"And don't forget you have your interview today with your source, we really need to finish up the story before the deadline, unless you want to face Perry's wrath?"

Stretching lazily and yawning as she said "okay, okay I'm up, but why don't you go shower and make us some coffee first?"

"Already showered and coffee's brewing as we speak" Clark smiled proudly.

"Show off!"

"Okay if you say so." Arching one eyebrow and smiling smugly at her as he stood up, clad in only his towel which was wrapped around his waist and his hair still damp from his shower, showing off his perfectly muscled physique.

"Hmmm, come here you" she said breathily, pulling at the terry fabric that was covering him up until it was lying in a heap on the floor beside their bed.

"Yes ma'am" he replied as he joined her on the bed, covering her mouth with his.

Lying next to each other after making love, Lois said "Now that's what I call a wakeup call" kissing him passionately before getting out of bed.

"I'll be right down, I'm just gonna jump into a quick shower" she said.

"Okay" Clark called out, knowing her quick shower will take no less than half an hour.

Clark went downstairs and turned on the T.V. just to see what was happening around the world, to see if Superman was needed. When he saw the breaking news on a devastating forest fire in Australia, he quickly made his way upstairs to let Lois know what he just heard on the news and that he was needed. Swiftly changing into his Superman outfit, he made his way to the land down under, faster than can be detected by the human eye.

Wrapped in her towel, her long dark hair already dried, she went to the dresser to apply her makeup and get her undergarments out. When she was finished she went over to the closet to pick out her suit. She stood there for a moment trying to think of what to wear. She picked a blue blouse and a black fitted jacket with a matching pencil skirt which fell just above her knees, the one that would nicely show off her long shapely legs. Choosing her outfit carefully, knowing that her source she was to meet later today had an affinity for long legs. As the great reporter that she was, she would stop at nothing to get the story that she investigated, especially one where Lex Luthor was concerned. Fully dressed she bent down to grab her stiletto heels. One of several pairs that took up residence among the many in the small space, taking over Clark's own and that's when she noticed it. After putting on her shoes she bent down to examine the crack in the closet floor. Something glinted under there; she wondered what it could be. Testing the floor board to see if she could pry it open, pulling hard a few times until it finally gave way. She retrieved the object that captured her attention on which the brilliant morning sun was causing it to shine brightly. She picked up the small metal box that fit in the palm of her hand. It was smooth all around except for the slightly raised House of El, the famous S symbol on top of it. Feeling its weight in her hands, looking at the odd looking box, wondering if it opened somehow since it didn't appear to have any visible seams, she twisted it this way and that in her hands, when she noticed the barely visible circle slightly etched underneath it. Wondering what it could be, she rubbed her thumb lightly when unexpectedly the top opened up in half revealing a ring inside, one that she has never seen before. Wondering why Clark kept it hidden like that, it didn't look like anything special. It was gold with a lacquered black center with a simple gold letter L's that were stamped on it. Knowing lots of people with that initial, she didn't think it was necessarily for her, but curious nonetheless, she removed the ring and absentmindedly placed the box in her purse. Holding the ring between her thumb and index finger, wondering if it really was for her, why else would Clark keep it hidden, otherwise he would have told her about it. She had all intentions of putting it back in the box but couldn't help but put it on her finger.

"Whoa!" She said to herself, she better go downstairs and get her caffeine fix fast, because for a moment there, she felt a little light headed and dizzy blaming it on caffeine withdrawal. Shaking her head to clear it, she quickly made her way downstairs for that much needed coffee. On her way down, remembering the ring on her finger, she immediately took it off and put it back in its box that was in her purse. She entered the kitchen to the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, frowning slightly when she opened the cupboard and didn't find her favorite big blue mug the one that Clark gave her when she first moved in. Wondering where it could be, especially since Clark always left it out for her on the counter beside the coffee machine. Smiling at how thoughtful he always is, she didn't think too much of it since he did tell her his Superman duties were needed, she took out another mug instead. With her cup in hand, she took a sip of the heavenly elixir. Looking out the kitchen window thinking of Clark who was presently in Australia helping with a forest fire and aiding the people evacuate from the danger. She knew he would be a while and most likely would be late for work, she would have to just tell Perry he was following up on a lead.

"Can I help you Miss?" came a woman's voice from behind her. Turning around to the familiar voice, slightly shocked to see the older red haired woman dressed in a pair of old blue jeans and a green tee shirt that was slightly stained with sweat as if she had just finished doing farm work. Lately Lois was used to seeing Martha since she became a United States Senator, dressed in tailored suits, and not in her old farm work clothes. Wondering what her future mother-in-law was doing here. Not that she wasn't happy to see her, she just wasn't expecting to see Martha for another day. Unless off course Clark's mom decided to come home early and surprise them, it was her house and her farm after all. Putting on a smile, always happy to see the older woman, she went up and gave her a hug.

Martha on the other hand wondered who this young woman was and what was she doing in her house and why did she seem so happy to see her? Perplexed, she moved out of the younger woman's embrace, stepping back a bit, with confusion on her face and asked "who are you?"

"Lois, Lois Lane?" Lois answered, puzzled as to why Martha was eyeing her like she was a total stranger. As much as she wanted to stay and spend some time with her, she really needed to get to the Daily Planet to set up for her interview with that very important source, one that had indisputable evidence to prove of Lex's corrupt corporate transactions or Perry White the editor in chief was going to have her head.

"Martha, as much as I'd like to stay, I really need to get to the office right now, I'll see you later okay?" Grabbing Clark's truck keys off the key ring that hung by the door, she rushed outside, her high heels clicking on the gravel driveway. She opened the door to the truck and got inside. God she hated driving this thing to work but what choice did she have, her car was in the garage once again being fixed and she couldn't exactly fly there like a certain somebody that she knew. Starting the ignition, she drove away, waving back at Martha who watched her from the front porch.

Lois Lane? What was the Daily Planet's star reporter doing in her house and why did she just drive away in Clark's truck? Martha wondered to herself. She's heard Clark talk about her often ever since he started working there few months ago, how he would always say how bossy she was, always ordering him around just because he was new. But Martha knew her son well and didn't fail to notice that little sparkle in her son's eyes every time he spoke of her and knew he was smitten by her. Finding it all strange and amusing at the same time, she couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of what just happened, reminding herself to speak to her son about it when he came home later.

Rushing inside the building after parking the old red truck in Clark's parking spot, hurriedly making her way into the Daily Planet building, working hard for her promotion, she wanted to get everything she needed to interview her source. Not a moment before she entered the bullpen when she heard Perry call out to her.

"Lois, do you have that story ready yet?"

"Almost, just going to interview my last source soon and after the story shows up on the front page tomorrow, everyone in Metropolis will know the real Lex Luthor, the crook that he really is." She said proudly, knowing that Perry had entrusted her and Clark to get all the dirt they could on that so called philanthropist.

"Lex Luthor, I don't give a damn about Lex Luthor! I want that story on, what did you call him again? Oh yeah Superman" You got that inclusive last night ago and I want to see an update on him first thing on this evening's edition, is that clear?"

"But—"

"No buts, Lane, I'm not gonna be outdone by some tabloid newspaper on the biggest story ever! Is that clear?"

Walking back to her desk frustrated and annoyed, wondering what the hell Perry was talking about, that story she did on Superman was like three years ago. Fine if that's what he wanted, all she had to do is take it out from her file that she stored on her computer and submit it to him, again. She really didn't want to do this, she didn't have time for this she really needed to get to her interview with her source, but Perry White was the Editor in Chief, and therefore her boss and didn't have much of a choice but to do as he asked.

She walked over to her desk, switched on her computer to retrieve her file, except she couldn't seem to find it after looking for it for a while. Okay, so it had been some time since she last looked, well more like three years ago, but she knew it should still have been there, somewhere in her files. Searching for the missing file, growing more and more irritated as the minutes passed, "Where the hell is it" she grumbled to herself. After spending a quarter of an hour trying to find it with no results, she had to rewrite the whole story once more. She was not happy, she just didn't have time for this and she quickly set to work. At least she knew everything there was to know about her future husband and quickly wrote up the story and submitted it to Perry. Now she could finally start working on that story that she toiled for months now. But first she needed another cup of coffee to calm her nerves.

Lois sat back down, took a sip of the hot brew and clicked on the file where she had it titled under the name 'Lex' but that too wasn't there, all her stories that she had done on the billionaire from three years ago were there, but nothing recent. Great, just great and the tech guy wasn't even here today, so she had to figure out how to retrieve her missing files all by herself. An hour later with still no results, her coffee forgotten and cold by now, she was going to chew someone's head off when she finds out who the hell messed with her computer, when suddenly she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder.

Looking up at Clark, smiling lovingly at him, it always seemed to amaze her how his presence alone could always make her forget about what was troubling her, well almost always.

"Lois is everything all right?" He asked, sensing how tense she felt underneath his hand.

Turning around in her chair, smiling brightly at her fiancé, dressed in his slightly oversized charcoal gray suit, she stood up to face him and said "well now that you're here, yes."

Okay what did she want from him now, and why was she so happy to see him? He suspected she probably wanted to go and do something that would land her in trouble and most likely wanted him to cover for her while she went to investigate a story or another, Clark thought to himself.

Grabbing him by the hand she led him to the copy room, locking the door behind them.

"Lois, what are you doing?" He asked nervously, adjusting his horn rimmed glasses that seemed to constantly slip down his nose.

"What does it look like I'm doing silly?" she said teasingly as she leaned in close to him, about to kiss him, remarking to herself how nerdy but sexy he looked in those glasses just before she was about to take them off him.

Bewildered, he moved away from the door that he was just leaning against, trying to get some distance between them.

"Uh, Lois" he gulped loudly, not knowing what else to say as she leaned in closer to him as he bumped himself into the photocopy machine behind him.

"Do you know how incredibly sexy you look with those glasses on?" Whispering breathily into his ear, her hands still wrapped around his neck.

Was Lois Lane coming on to him, did she just say he's sexy? He couldn't suppress the smile from forming on his face, he's wanted to ask her out for months, ever since he saw her when he started working here and they were made partners. However she never seemed to give him the time of day before, except of course when he gave her the exclusive last night as Superman after he saved her from that helicopter crash the day before. At first he thought the name Superman she gave him was a bit arrogant sounding but everyone seemed to think it was perfect. Oh well he just had to get used to the moniker. Of course Lois like everyone else had no idea that he and Superman were one and the same and she seemed to be infatuated by Clark's alter ego. It made him speculate that she might have figured out his secret, Lois was an investigative reporter after all and a good one at that.

"Lois, I don't think we should be doing this" As much as he fantasized about this many times before, and as flattered as he was, he had to control his temptations.

"You're right Clark" she said, hesitantly pulling herself off him, besides she still had to finish with her story that she was working on, she glanced at her watch, she didn't want to be late to meet her source. Grumbling, she said "I have to go but I'll see you later" giving him a quick peck on the cheek before unlocking the door to the small room and making her way out to make her interview on time.

Grabbing her recorder, stuffing it in her purse along with her pens and note book, she didn't want to keep her source waiting. Thank goodness the meeting place was just a short walk away. She got there with still some time to spare, noticing her source had not arrived yet; she took the opportunity to review her notes. As minutes passed and he still had not shown up Lois was starting to think that he might have chickened out, for fear of Lex finding out. She promised him anonymity; she did have a reputation to never reveal her sources to anyone. She wanted their full and complete trust. There was a reason why she always got the best scoops.

She waited patiently, but after close to an hour had passed and still a no show she decided that she waited long enough and besides her stomach was starting to grumble. It was way passed lunch and all she had to eat this morning was a stale jelly donut, because some bastard, obviously new to the Daily Planet, stole the last maple donut. Everyone knew that the maple ones were for her and damned be the person who would dare touch it.

Needing to rest her feet, and satiate her hunger, she walked over to the deli across the street to grab a bite to eat. After eating her late lunch, which was the only good thing so far today, she paid for it and headed back to the office. Thinking of all the things that had gone wrong today and not paying attention to where she was going. She was distracted by her thoughts as she rummaged through her purse, when she abruptly heard the sound of screeching tires and horns blaring. Finding herself in the middle of the street, eyes wide with shock, her brain telling her to move but her body as if paralyzed, refused to obey. When unexpectedly she felt big strong arms lift her from the spot she stood only seconds ago, causing her to almost drop her purse, clutching onto it and to the man who just saved her life, never noticing the small silver box falling out from her handbag.

Clark was just coming back to the office after following up on a lead, when he noticed Lois across the street, he was about to walk over to her when to his horror she walked right in front of moving traffic never paying any attention to where she was going. Within a blink of an eye he had changed into his costume, rushing towards her as he quickly lifted Lois off the ground just before she was about to be hit by a semi. He landed her safely on top of the Daily Planet, knowing that the entrance to the roof was unlocked so she could make her way to the bullpen by taking the elevator down.

"Miss Lane, are you all right?" Superman enquired gently, concerned for his friend.

"Miss Lane?" Lois wondered out loud with one eyebrow lifted and a smirk on her face, amused by the sudden formalities since there was no else was around except for them. "Yeah I'm all right, still shook up a bit. But if it wasn't for you, I'd most likely be a mound of human pulp under the truck's tires by now" Trying to make a joke out of the seriousness of the situation, but not succeeding very well, from the stern look he was giving her.

"What would I ever do without you?" she said as she leaned up towards him, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him passionately, to show the man who she would do anything for in return, just how much he meant to her.

Clark was so lost in the moment, kissing her back just as passionately when he suddenly realized what he was doing, he gently pushed her of off him. "Miss Lane, we shouldn't be doing this"

"Miss Lane? Oh that's cute, but you're right we shouldn't be doing this, after all we don't want anyone catching us up here now, do we Superman?" She said sarcastically. Feeling exasperated, she walked away from him towards the roof's entrance, wondering what the hell was wrong with everybody today. It's not like they've never come up here to have some alone time before, whether it was him as Clark Kent or as Superman and what was up with all the Miss Lane stuff anyways. She was tired and still shook up from the near hit, she just wanted to go home, hoping tomorrow would be a better day. Just before she opened the door, she turned around to look at Clark.

"I'm going home, I'll just tell Perry some excuse or another, I've had it for today and I'll see you later" were the last things she said to him before slamming the door behind her.

Did he do something? He wondered to himself, did she really feel that insulted by breaking that embrace with her. But she hardly knew him, well his Superman persona at least. As Clark Kent, they did become good friends in the short time they worked together, but she would never give him the time of day to bring their relationship any further than the strictly platonic one that it was. Recalling how she once told him, how nice and sweet he is, and how he can make any girl happy. Getting his hopes up, when his little bubble was burst, after she informed him that he was just too mild mannered for her, and besides it wasn't everyday that a girl could have a male friend without worrying about him putting the moves on her. But last night after meeting with her as Superman on the balcony of her apartment, spending some time with her as she tried to keep the interview as professionally as possible but failing miserably at it. Of course he wasn't that much better, he just couldn't get enough of her. He even took her flying with him. They soared through the clouds as they held hands, he felt a very strong connection to her and he knew deep in his soul she felt the same. He almost told her his secret last night too, when he came back later that evening as Clark Kent, when they were to grab a burger and go see a new movie that just came out. He came so close, but chickened out at the last minute, not sure on how she would react and not ready to face the pain if she rejected him. So he said nothing and continued with his façade, hating himself for lying to her, but what else was he to do? Except for today, she actually came on to him in the copy room. He didn't understand it, maybe she had a change of heart or maybe she knew his secret, whatever was going on with Lois Lane he was sure to find out.

She was tired, her head was pounding and she couldn't wait to get home. She climbed into the truck, knowing it would be a long drive back to the farm, but she didn't mind it so much, it gave her the time to decompress and gather her thoughts. She turned on the radio, turning the dial till she found what she liked; they were playing 'Here I Go Again' one of her favorite Whitesnake songs. After the song ended, the DJ announced they'll be right back after the commercial break to continue the Whitesnake marathon tonight. Smiling happily, at least something was going her way, as the radio station announced they will be playing her favorite band, making her drive back home even that more enjoyable, her headache soon forgotten as Lois sang along to her favorite tunes.

Martha stood at the stove preparing this evening's dinner, when she heard the sound of tires crunching underneath the gravel driveway. Looking out the kitchen window she saw the familiar red truck. She's been thinking all day about what has happened this morning and never did get the chance to speak to Clark. Now that he has come home she could finally ask him why his coworker was at the farm this morning? Feeling a bit impatient Martha quickly turned off the stove and rushed to open the door for her son.

Finally glad to be home, Lois parked the truck in the driveway and wearily got out, slowly making her way up the porch steps in her stocking feet, aching from running around all day. With her black stilettos in hand she was about to open the front door when Martha had done just that.

"Lois?" Surprised once more, Martha was surely not expecting to see her twice in one day. Thinking it was Clark but finding Lois instead, craning her head out to see if her son was still in the truck.

"Hi Martha is Clark home yet?" She was too tired to even notice that Martha seemed puzzled to find her standing on her front porch.

"No... but I thought...he's not with you?

"I know we should have been here together, but I just had a really unpleasant day. I guess he'll be here soon."

Martha figured Lois was here to meet her son, so she moved out the way to let her in.

"I just finished making dinner, would you like some?" Not wanting to be rude and always happy to have company at the house, especially since the death of her husband and Clark always busy with either work or his Superman duties.

"Yes please, that would be wonderful Martha, and since I can't cook, I can never pass up on your wonderful meals" Lois said as she walked right into the kitchen, opened the fridge looking for her favorite beer, but not finding any. Odd, didn't she have one in there the night before? Feeling a little annoyed, but didn't mention it to Martha in case she drank one, although she doubted that she did.

Martha on the other hand was looking at Lois as if she had just lost her mind. What was the matter with this woman, she was calling her by her first name, she acted as if she lived here and how would she know anything about how good or bad her cooking was in the first place. Unless Clark and Lois were seeing each other, but he would have told her about that, especially since he always talked about her. She definitely had to speak to Clark about his co-worker's strange behavior.

Lois never noticed the look Martha was giving her, since her back was turned to her, she closed the fridge door and went to take a seat at the kitchen table.

"So what's for dinner? I'm starved."

"We're having chicken and roast potatoes with a salad, nothing fancy."

"Martha, no matter what you make, you know I'll eat it, I just hope Clark can put up with doing all the cooking once we move to our apartment or it'll be take out every night."

What did Lois just say, what apartment was she talking about? Oh she really did need to speak to Clark, but first she needed to get some questions answered. "Uh, Lois wha—"

She was interrupted just when Clark came through the back door which led right into the kitchen.

Before entering the house, Clark heard voices coming from the kitchen, realizing his mom had company he put his glasses back on to maintain his disguise. He opened the door to the kitchen to be greeted by his mom and Lois?

"Lois, what are you doing here?" baffled from seeing her sitting at the kitchen table.

Looking at him with a puzzled expression on her face "Where else am I supposed to be?" Didn't she already tell him on the roof of the Daily Planet that she's going home?

Martha noticed that Clark too had no idea as to why she was here. "Uh, Lois is everything all right dear?" Martha wanted to know as she set the dinner table, noticing Lois looked a little tired but wanting to get some answers of her own.

"No actually everything is not all right. First Perry wanted me to write a story on Superman, and I think the story I was working on about Lex Luthor was more important"

"It is?" Clark asked, he thought his first appearance to Metropolis as Superman was actually a big deal, especially from the vibes he got from Lois last night, he thought it was for her too. Not that he was conceited or anything, he was just about to ask her why she thought the story on Lex Luthor was more important but he never got the chance as Lois added "It's not that he's not important, it's just it's been pretty quiet in Metropolis lately so Superman hasn't made too many appearances lately, except for today of course when he saved me before I almost got hit by a truck" she said, winking at Clark.

Why did she just wink at me? Thought Clark. Did Lois know and what did she mean by Superman not making any appearances lately? He only made his first appearance two days ago. He glanced over at his mom, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"So no, things have not gone to well and I have a pounding headache on top of it all. Oh and Clark I forgot to mention to Perry that I have to take Chloe for her final dress fitting tomorrow, you mind letting him know I'll be in later?"

"Sure no problem, but who's Chloe and what dress fitting are you talking about?"

She looked at him like he's sprouted another head "Chloe my cousin, your best friend, the wedding, or did you forget?"

"Uh huh" he said shaking his head, completely clueless to what she was talking about, he asked "So your cousin is getting married?"

That's it, she just had more than she could take for one day, she loudly dropped her fork on the plate, causing Martha to slightly jump, she pushed her chair back forcefully and got off it, storming out of the kitchen. On her way out she said angrily "I don't know what the hell is going on but I have had just about enough of this crap for one day. And what the hell is the matter with you anyways Clark, did you swallow some new type of kryptonite that causes memory loss or something? I'm going to take a long hot shower and then I'm off to bed and you can sleep on the couch tonight!" Was the last thing she said as she climbed the stairs making her way to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Clark and Martha sat there stunned, wide eyed and mouths hung open at what just happened .

"You told her your secret?" Martha was stupefied, she just couldn't believe that Clark would just go and do something like that.

"What? No!" He was equally bewildered, as was his mom.

"Well then do you mind telling me what's going on between the two of you, because since this morning she's been acting like she lives here?"

"What are you talking about, when was Lois here? I didn't see anyone before I left this morning and I think I would know if anyone else was here besides you." Clark said defensively.

"Oh really, then why did I find Lois in the kitchen this morning with a cup of coffee in her hands, and then took your keys to the truck to drive to work? Look Clark, you're a grown man, your life is your business, but I would at least expect some decency out of you to let me know if you have a female friend staying over for the night and Lois did just say you can sleep on the couch, did she not?" Martha said with her eyebrows raised and her arms crossed across her chest, looking at him questioningly.

Never before had he ever experienced a headache but if he was ever to have one he could just imagine how it would feel, because right now it's just how he felt. Rubbing his hand across his face trying to figure out this bizarre situation, but coming up with no answers, he got off his chair and walked over to the living room and decided to reveal what he did know. Martha doing the same thing, she sat down on the couch as Clark took a seat on the chair next to it. Hearing the water run, he knew they wouldn't be overheard and he kept an extra ear out for Lois too, just in case.

He looked at his mom and then away not feeling to comfortable talking to her about this, he felt a blush creeping up his cheeks as he blurted out. "She kissed me today after I saved her as Superman."

"Oh, okay, well maybe she just wanted to thank Superman for saving her?" Martha replied back, thinking that Lois gave her son nothing more than a peck on the cheek. As if reading her mind he said "It wasn't that kind of a kiss."

"Oh, oh!" It finally dawned on her by what he meant.

"And earlier today she hit on me in the copy room and she's never done anything like that before" Even though he's thought of it many times before

Martha's eyebrows immediately shot up, and said "Well I'm pretty sure that must have made your day?"

"As flattering as it was, it's just so out of character for her. And what about now?" he indicated with his hand pointing upstairs.

"We need to figure out what is wrong with her and do you think she really does know your secret?" Martha asked.

Shaking his head not sure of the answer himself. "I don't know mom, but from the kryptonite comment that she just made before it would seem that she does, the question is, how?"

The hot shower felt good against her aching muscles and it helped to relieve her headache as well. She didn't know what it was, but everyone seemed to be acting very strange today. First the thing with Martha this morning, why didn't Clark tell her she's coming over even if it was only a day earlier than she should have? And not only that, she had the peculiar feeling that earlier this morning Martha seemed to think that she had a stranger in her house. Then Perry, her editor told her to write up that article that she did on Superman three years ago, which made no sense, especially when he made it very clear to both Clark and her that they were to work on nothing else but the story on Lex Luthor. And last but not least there was Clark, why was her fiancé acting so strangely with her and what was up with this whole Miss Lane thing any way? Why was he acting like he was clueless about who Chloe is, who also happens to be his best friend? And worse still he seemed clueless about their upcoming wedding this weekend. Unless he thought he was being funny, but she didn't find anything amusing about today, nothing at all. She didn't want to deal with any of it tonight. After her shower she'll go straight to bed and deal with it in the morning.

Stepping out of the shower, grabbing a towel when she noticed it wasn't the same one she left hanging this morning, figuring Martha must have changed them while she was at work. She walked out of the bathroom and headed towards the bedroom she shared with Clark. Walking in, sitting on the bed and looking around Lois became aware that something was different, but couldn't figure out what exactly. Thinking it was just her imagination she opened the drawer where she kept her pajamas only to find them not there. Odd she thought, but after opening all the drawers and not finding any of her stuff, she walked over to the closet only to find nothing of hers in there either. Now she was pissed, where the hell were her things, it wasn't enough that her shampoo and body wash weren't where she left it in the shower this morning but now all her stuff was missing too. Unless of course Clark had already moved her belongings to their new apartment in Metropolis, but then again why were all of his things still here?

"Okay take deep breath Lois, there must be a good explanation for all of this" she said to herself. She was sure Clark had his reasons, unless that was his way of breaking up their engagement, because if that was the case she'll go find some kryptonite to shove down his throat.

Having nothing else to wear, she put on one of Clark's red plaid flannel shirts which was long enough on her to cover up to mid thigh. Not about to wait till tomorrow to figure out what was going on, needing to get to the bottom of things, she wanted answers and she wanted them now! Lois walked out of the bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

Clark was just about to go upstairs to see what was with all the banging, when he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Lois come down the stairs, her long bare legs showing, dressed in nothing more than his shirt. Silently remarking to himself how incredibly sexy she looked. He tried to banish those thoughts from his head, especially since his mom was just in the next room. Gulping nervously, he said "Uh Lois—"

"Don't you Lois me, Clark!" Storming off into the kitchen, with Clark right behind her.

In the kitchen, Martha stood at the counter with her back turned to the two people who just walked in, when she asked, "Lois, Clark I'm just about to fix myself a cup of coffee, would you like some too?"

"That would be great, thanks" Lois replied back with a slight annoyance in her voice, trying very hard not to worry her future mother-in-law with her and Clark's problems.

"Sure mom" Clark replied somewhat awkwardly, trying to understand what going on with his friend and coworker.

Turning around to hand them their cups of coffee when she noticed Lois dressed in nothing but Clark's plaid shirt.

Not failing to notice the look on Martha's face, Lois said, "Yeah, I'm sorry for my appearance Martha but it seems like Clark here, has decided to move all my things, probably back to our apartment in Metropolis." She glared at Clark as she took a seat at the table.

Martha was giving Clark a look as if to ask what was Lois talking about, he shrugged his shoulders in return and shook his head as if to say he was clueless himself.

"Uh, Lois, honey why don't you tell us exactly what's wrong?" Martha felt concerned for the young woman maybe she was going through some emotional breakdown, but she didn't seem to be so vulnerable as much as just irate though.

The three of them sat there at the kitchen table sipping their coffees, exhaling loudly Lois said "thanks I really needed that" placing her cup back down "Clark why are you still wearing your glasses?"

Looking over at his mom before answering "What do you mean Lois, I always wear them, you know that, without them I'm as blind as bat" he said apprehensively.

" Very funny Smallville, you need glasses like I need a second head, besides it's just a disguise that we came up with so that nobody would recognize you, but why are still wearing them at home?"

"What disguise?" pretending like he had no clue as to what she was talking about.

"And what the hell did you do with all my stuff, did you move it all to the apartment in Metropolis, is this your way of breaking up our engagement? Usually I'm the one who runs from commitment, but I thought this was different, I really thought you're the one Clark" Lois got up from her chair, she was hurt and angry, she couldn't believe that Clark of all people would do this to her especially after making love to her this morning.

"You know Martha maybe I need something stronger than a coffee, because I feel like I just stepped into the twilight zone" she went to look for the bottle of brandy she kept in the pantry but finding none where she had last left it. Big surprise that was, she thought to herself.

"Lois honey why don't you sit down and we can talk about it" Martha came up to her and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

"What's to talk about Martha? It's clear to me that Clark is not even man enough to break it off with me to my face, and he definitely is no Superman!"

Throwing her son a look that said Lois knows and Clark giving his mom the same look back.

"Come sit" Martha directed her towards the couch.

Clark entered the living room and took a seat on the chair as before and gently said "Lois I'm sorry but I just don't know what you are talking about"

"He's right Lois, we're both at a loss over here, could you please explain to us what's going on?"

"What's going on? First of, back at the office Clark acts like we're nothing more than friends and after saving me earlier today he kept calling me Miss Lane and now my belongings are missing, I believe that sums it up. No wait, as much as I love you as if you were my own mother, but Clark didn't even have the decency to let me know you're coming early, unless of course you came to surprise us, in either case I'm always happy to see you, after all this is still your house."

Martha and Clark were both thinking how right Lois was when she made the Twilight Zone comment, because that's how the both of them were feeling right now. Instead of getting answers they just kept getting more questions.

"Lois, Clark never invited me over, I live here" Martha feeling confused at what was going on and gave her son a quizzical look.

"I just thought you wouldn't be moving in after your term ended, since you decided to run for another term" Lois said, just as confused.

"Another term for what?" Martha was oblivious to what Lois was talking about.

"Running for your next term as a U.S. senator, what else did you think I was talking about?"

"Me, a United States senator? Now I've definitely heard everything." At the moment she was getting a headache too. Rubbing her temples as she got up of couch yawning, she was feeling tired, she wanted to go to bed and hopefully they could sort this mess out in the morning. "It's late and I'm exhausted, I don't want to seem rude but I do need to get some sleep, I have to be up early to milk the cows tomorrow. Lois your more than welcome to stay and Clark can take you home later, hopefully everything will be sorted out by morning, good night you two" and she headed upstairs to her room.

Lois waited till she heard Martha close the door to her bedroom, she turned around to face Clark, who looked as mystified as she felt.

"Okay Smallville what's going on here, why are you and your mom acting so strangely?"

Smiling inwardly at the name Smallville, one she had called him often enough in the last few months since they started working together. Ever since he told her from the first day they met at the Daily Planet that he came from a town called Smallville she's used that nickname on him. But right now he had to get to the bottom things.

"Lois we're not the ones who are acting strangely, you are" he objected.

"Me? Now look here Clark if you just wanted to break off the engagement then just tell me all right! I've had enough of these games!" She rubbed her forehead and abruptly got up of the couch.

Unexpectedly Clark shot up from his own seat and grabbed her by the upper arm "Lois wait." He didn't want her leave; he wanted to know what she was talking about, because none of it made any sense to him.

"Get your hand off me" she glowered at him.

"I'm sorry, please sit, I just honest to god's truth don't know what you're talking about. And what's with all the engagement talk, what makes you think that we're engaged?"

Lifting her hand in front of him, her fingers splayed out, clearly showing a solitaire engagement ring "If you really don't know what I'm talking about then how you explain this?"

He noticed it earlier at the Daily Planet and his heart almost plummeted down to his stomach upon seeing it, but when she dragged him to the copy room all thoughts of it have banished from his mind. Besides, they were good enough friends that she would've told him if she's getting married. As far as he knew she wasn't dating anyone either.

"It's a beautiful ring Lois, it looks just like my grandmother's, the one my father gave my mom when he proposed, it's supposed to be a family heirloom."

"That's because it is and if you don't believe me than I suggest you go check your mom's room to see if it's there"

Pulling her hand closer for better inspection, when it dawned on him that it did look just like the one his mom wore he said "Well how do you expect me to go check without waking her up, exactly?"

Putting her hand on her hip, arching her brows, she said "Really! You and I both know that you can make it there and back faster than I can blink, and would you take of those damned glasses off already?"

Knowing there was no point in hiding it from her, since she obviously knew his secret; he did what he was told and took off his glasses and went up to his mom's room. With a slight whoosh and he was back, staring at her blankly. She was right, but how? There must be some kind of explanation to this. He had to know, everything. Sitting back down, as if in a daze, "I don't understand, Lois, I... I just"

He couldn't continue, he was at a loss for words. He sat down, leaning back against the chair cushion, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands, he leaned forward, his forearms on his thighs and his hands clasped together. Feeling overwhelmed, his deep blue eyes looking pleadingly at her for some answers, he delicately said "Lois, please sit down."

She did what he just asked, seeing the inner turmoil that he was going through, feeling it herself. She realized that he really didn't know what was going on and wasn't playing some sort of mind game with her.

She had to let her emotions out and had to let him know how she was feeling. Lois leaned closer to him to cup his cheek in her hand when to her surprise he got up of the chair and sat next to her on the couch, feeling the sudden need to be close to her, all pretenses of his mild mannered reporter persona gone.

She turned around to face him once more with tears welling up in her eyes.

"This morning when you woke me up, kissing me and making love to me—"

She stopped for a moment, smiling slightly at the memory that seemed so distant know. "Afterwards when I was in the shower, you told me there was some emergency in Australia and that you were needed. After my shower I got dressed to get ready for work, I went downstairs to get some coffee that you had made earlier. But then your mom showed up suddenly and asked me who I was. I thought it was a little bizarre since she has known me for years." Taking a deep breath, Lois wiped the unshed tear from her eye and continued. "And from that moment on, it just seemed like my whole world had just turned upside down." She bit on her lower lip and turned her head away from Clark, wanting to be strong, not wanting her emotions get the better of her. That's not how the General had raised her, not that he had done any much parenting anyways. When suddenly Clark took her gently by the chin before she fully had a chance to turn her head, and said "Lois, look at me"

Wanting to resist but finding it difficult, she slowly turned to face him, her tears which she tried so hard to suppress were now running down her cheeks.

He knew she was telling the truth, at least a truth that Lois believed to be because he didn't know how such a tale was possible. He also knew since he listened to her heartbeat and paid close attention to her slight facial changes to indicate if she was making it up and she wasn't and there was one more thing that lead him to believe that something strange had indeed happened at some point during the day.

Taking her hand in his, assuring her that he was there for her. "I believe you, as crazy as it sounds I don't think you're making it up. I really did have to go to Australia this morning, that's why I was a little late coming into work today."

She was feeling weary and she just couldn't wait to wake up from this nightmare, because that's exactly how she felt.

Seeing how tired she looked, Clark asked "Do you want me to take you home and we can figure this out tomorrow? I can pick you up, I'll even bring you a coffee and maple donut."

Giving her a slight smile, trying to make her feel better.

"Clark this is my home."
"What do you mean Lois? You live in Metropolis just a few blocks away from the daily planet." Smiling at the memory from last night. "I even came by last night, to give you that Superman exclusive. I took you flying with me, it felt so..."
She looked at him like he's just completely lost his mind, she would remember, if of course it actually happened. "Clark we have an apartment in Metropolis that we're moving into after the wedding. But ever since the fire at my apartment above the Talon I've been living here."

"Lois that fire happened six months ago and no one has lived there at the time, it's been vacant for years."

"No you're wrong! I lived there, don't you remember Clark?" She had to see if there's anything that she can stir in him, any memory at all and maybe this nightmare will end somehow. "Don't you remember, after I moved out from here, I moved in with Chloe above the Talon?"

Okay, now he was even more confused "Lois, I thought you just said you lived here and now you're saying you moved out? You're not making any sense. By the way I don't recall you ever living at the farm, I think I would rember that."

"Clark, try to keep up, all right?"

Feeling exasperated, she grunted, "Ugh" lifting her arms in the air in a show of frustration; she abruptly got up of the couch and started pacing around the room.

"Look, I'm not making this up; I think this is proof enough!" She pointed to the ring on her finger.

Bewildered, was an understatement of what he felt right now, he just had a hard time wrapping his head around this. None of it made any sense.

"You know what? I'll call my cousin right now, she'll confirm everything. How six years ago I found you naked in a cornfield after you were hit by lightening, or so I thought then. I was on my way to Smallville to investigate my cousin's apparent murder. You helped me figure out that she was never killed but was actually in protective custody. I didn't want to go back living on the army base with my father, so your parents let me stay here."

"My parents? Wait a minute, you knew my dad?"

"Yes I did and after about a year I moved into the Talon with Chloe"

Maybe she was right, he thought to himself, maybe his memories and his mom's were somehow changed. How else would Lois know so much about him? He did land in a cornfield after his brief meeting with his birth father but he was never found by Lois and again she brought up this Chloe person. Something didn't make sense, something didn't add up.

Lois momentarily stopped pacing to retrieve her phone from her purse. After dialing, she waited for her cousin to pick up, but got her voicemail instead. "Chloe it's me, call me back ASAP."

And with that she hung up and put the phone back in her purse, when she noticed, the silver box was missing. Poking around her bag, it had to be somewhere? "Okay, Lois, don't panic, its' in here somewhere, I'll find it" muttering to herself under her breath.

Clark with his super hearing heard every word she said "Find what?" he asked

'Uh-Uh n-nothing, nothing, don't worry about it okay?" Lois didn't want Clark to think that she was stealing from him or snooping around his stuff. If he had it hidden then he must have had a good reason for it.

Looking at her skeptically he asked "are you sure?"

"Yeah of course I'm sure" she said as she stretched and faked a yawn. Quickly glancing at her watch, she added "You know, you're right, let's continue this in the morning, I'm beat."

"Lois, are you sure everything's all right?" concerned for his friend.

"No, things are not all right but there's no point of trying to figure anything out at this time of night" she said as she climbed up the stairs.

He couldn't argue with her on that so reluctantly he said "yeah you're right."

Maybe she left it in the bathroom, but found nothing in there of interest when she went to check. She went into Clark's room, maybe she dropped in there, but that wasn't possible, since she never brought her purse upstairs with her. And she was sure she never took it out of the purse either, so where could it be?

It didn't really matter so much now, since she had more important things to worry about and besides it's wasn't likely for Clark to find out , since he didn't seem to remember anything from their life together.

She was tired and emotionally drained, she climbed into bed, and within moments her head hit the pillow, she was fast asleep.

Clark on the other hand sat there contemplating on what he has learned. Thinking on how he can remedy the situation, when without thinking, his ears attuned to Lois's heartbeat, listening to the steady rhythm of her heart, using his x-ray vision he watched her sleep. A small smile crept up on his chiseled face. He didn't mean to eavesdrop; it was more like his subconscious taking over. Feeling guilty of his actions, he changed into his Superman costume and decided to go flying; knowing it usually helped him clear his mind when he felt restless. No sooner than he opened the front door, when he heard a call of distress coming from afar, using super speed to get to his destination. At least it was one way to get rid of the adrenaline he was feeling and hopefully by tomorrow they would get this whole situation figured out.

The next day Lois woke up to the smell of bacon, eggs and fresh coffee, she reached out to the side of the bed where Clark normally slept but found nothing but the cool sheets. Thinking nothing of it, since there were nights when Clark had to go out as Superman on some distress call or another, he must have come home and started breakfast upon his return. Not wanting to get out of bed, but the smells coming from the kitchen was just too enticing. She lazily swung her legs out bed, eyes still partially closed, she trudged out of bedroom and down the stairs, wondering if the events from yesterday have somehow fixed themselves up or better yet, it was just some bad dream, she hoped.

Lois entered the kitchen and saw Clark at the stove preparing breakfast, but she didn't see Martha anywhere, maybe it was some horrible dream. Clark turned around when he heard Lois walk in and take a seat at the kitchen table.

"Good morning" he said, smiling happily at her.

"Good morning" she replied, smiling back at him.

Raising the pot of coffee for her to see, he asked "Coffee?"

"Yes please" she answered, still grinning.

Scooping up the food of the frying pan and onto two plates, he brought them to the table along with two mugs of coffee, handing her one of the plates and a mug of the hot brew.

"So how did you sleep?" he asked

"Fine and you?"

"There was another emergency that needed Superman's attention, this time it was a volcano eruption in Iceland."

"I thought you might have gone out at some point during the night, I hope everyone was okay?" sounding concerned.

They continued with small talk over breakfast, neither one mentioning anything from the previous day. Thinking it must have been a bad dream or if not then at least things were back to normal, it seemed. Whatever it was, she just wanted to put the last 24 hours behind her. They were enjoying they're quiet moment together until it got interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She quickly got off her seat and went to get her phone out of her purse. Looking at the display, she saw it was Chloe calling.

Answering, she said cheerfully into the phone "Hey Chlo"

"—No, no, no emergency, I just wanted to make sure that you didn't forget about your dress fitting today—" Feeling there was no need to tell Chloe of the real reason of why she called her last night, since things seemed to be back to normal.

"—For what, what do you mean for what? For my wedding this Saturday, what else?—"

"—What do you mean who am I marrying? I'm marrying Clark!—"

Growing more and more frustrated as the seconds passed, wondering if Chloe was pulling her chain, to which she didn't find it funny in the least bit.

"—Yes that Clark Kent, who else would I be marrying?—" Lois raised her voice as her irritation grew.

"—No I haven't lost my mind—"

"—Where am I? I'm at the farm, why?—"

"—No I haven't been drinking—"

"—I have to go Chlo, I'll speak to you later, bye." She hung up the phone, feeling the stress from last night all over again.

"That was your cousin wasn't it?" Clark asked.

Startled by the sound of his voice, not realizing that he was right behind her, she almost dropped her phone.

"Sorry I didn't mean to startle you" he apologized, noticing how fast her heart was beating and by the look on her face, he knew the conversation she just had with her cousin didn't turn out the way she expected it.

Frowning, trying to control her emotions, she dropped the phone back into her purse.

"Just for a minute there, I thought everything was back to normal. I really thought this nightmare was over."

Stepping closer to her, taking her in his arms and holding her tight, wishing he could just hold her like this forever, wanting to tell her of how he truly felt for her.

"Lois I'm really sorry, but we'll figure this whole mess out, I promise."

"I need some air" she said as she stepped out of his arms.

She walked out the front door and sat on the porch swing, tucking her legs behind her, she silently wept. She needed to figure this mess out; she did have a wedding to attend to this weekend. Namely her own!

Turning around to the sound of tires crunching on the gravel driveway, she saw Martha coming out of the car. Opening the trunk, Martha went to retrieve the grocery bags out, and set them on the ground as soon as she saw Lois sitting on the porch swing looking very melancholy. She walked up the few steps up to the front porch and took a seat next to her. Seeing that she had just been crying, Martha gently rubbed her back supportively.

"Honey, whatever it is, we'll do our best to figure out, I'm sure of it."

Martha got up of the porch swing, opened the front door and called out for Clark to come help her with the grocery bags. Once he put everything inside, he went back out to sit with Lois.

Both sat there in silence, both with a million questions on their minds, but none with answers. They sat this way for a while until Lois broke the silence.

"Clark, I've been thinking, about everything that has happened and no matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to figure how this mess started. What I can say, is that I somehow ended up in some alternate reality or something, but one thing that stumps me is, if that were the case, then where is the Lois Lane from this reality? Is she back in my reality, what's happened to her, you know what I mean? And what about the Clark Kent from my world, is he wondering what happened to me, is he in the same position that we're in right now?"

Nodding his head, he thought about that too, but there were just a few things that just didn't add up. If this Lois Lane was actually from another reality then why was she wearing his mother's engagement ring and how was it she knew so much about him.

"What are you thinking?" Lois asked.

"I was just thinking it's best to explore all possibilities before we come to any conclusions."

Sighing deeply, she stood up in front of him and said "look at me, I don't even have anything decent to wear" pulling at his plaid shirt that she still wore. "And I'm not wearing my suit again!"

"You don't need to worry about that Lois I've already spoken to Perry this morning and told him we won't be coming in today as we'll be following up on several leads for our next story."

"Thanks Clark, but it still doesn't solve my wardrobe dilemma."

He's been thinking that maybe if he took her back to her place in Metropolis, maybe she'll remember something. Because the more he thought about it the more he became convinced that it was Lois who might be confused, since it was her who believed that her life had somehow changed. And as far as he knew, nothing had changed for him. Well almost nothing, there was still the situation with the ring and the fact that Lois knew things about him that she shouldn't have.

"Lois, how about I take you back to your place in the city, you can always change there?" He asked, sounding as casual as possible.

"I don't know Clark; I just don't want to be going through somebody else's things."

"Well technically it's Lois Lane's apartment and since you are Lois Lane, then I see no harm in it" he tried his best to convince her.

"Okay, fine, but I'm only going to change my clothes and that's all, after that I want to be out of there." She finally agreed, but she also secretly wondered how did the Lois Lane from this reality lived.

"You ready?" he asked, as he quickly changed into his Superman outfit.

"Sure" she replied back, shrugging her shoulders.

He scooped her up into his arms and flew them to Metropolis.

It was strange it seemed, to be this close to him, to feel his strong arms holding her tight, to feel his warmth so close to her. She shut her eyes and tried to imagine that this was her fiancé. Everything about him reminded her of her Clark, every action, every word spoken even his scent.

Having Lois this close to him, holding her in his arms, feeling her warm breath against the nape of neck. Even though his head told him she might not be the same Lois he's known for the past few months, his heart was telling him different. It was a feeling that he couldn't explain nor could he wrap his head around it either.

He landed them on her balcony that was surrounded with lots of lush greenery. Lois stood on shaky legs as he set her down, taking the scenery around her. Clark noticed her apprehension right away "Lois is everything all right?"

"Yeah, I guess, it's nothing" she shook her head, trying to hide her unease, but knew she couldn't hide anything from him. "It's just being out here, on this balcony" she emphasized by lifting her arms "reminds me so much of the place that Clark, my Clark and I were to move into. It was actually one of the reasons why we chose this place."

"I can see why, it is beautiful out here."

Noticing how peaceful it truly felt, even though it was right in the middle of the city and only a few short blocks from the Daily Planet. Thinking how he would've chosen a place like this for himself if he were to live in the city.

"Do you want to go inside?"

Nodding her head she walked up to the balcony door and opened it. Not knowing what to expect, but definitely not this.

Sirens in the distance brought her out of stunned disposition; she turned around towards Clark "I guess you have to go?"

Nodding his head, she said "okay then, I'll see you later I guess?"

"I'll be back as soon as I can" and with those words he was gone in a flash.

She walked into the apartment, looking around in disbelief, how was it possible that it looked exactly just like the apartment she got with Clark. Everything, absolutely everything, as far as she could tell was exactly the same. She walked around as if in a daze. She slumped down on the couch, she felt like she couldn't breathe. She tried to get her bearings, knowing that panicking wouldn't solve her problem; she needed to know what else remained the same. Deciding to be brave she got up and went to check the rest of the apartment out, leaving the bedroom for last.

Approaching the last room, she took a deep breath and opened the door to her bedroom. She knew she should be shocked, but by now she felt to numb to feel anything at all and just like the rest of the place, the intimately decorated bedroom was of no exception.

Entering the room, she saw a red t-shirt lying on the bed. Funny, she thought. The last time she saw that shirt in this same spot, was just a few days ago when clark and her came here to set up the finishing touches for when they moved in. Not wanting to bother with unpacking and doing all the work for after they wed, wanting everything to be ready beforehand. And besides, even though Clark suggested using his super speed to get the place in order, she wanted to enjoy doing everything with him, slowly. That day they had just finished their bedroom. She was just putting the last pillow on the bed, when she suddenly found herself lying on top of it and Clark on top of her, kissing her passionately, not wasting any time to make love to her in their new room. That day she was wearing that red t-shirt and she must have forgotten to put it in the hamper. Lois opened her eyes from her reverie with a grin on her face when she found herself sitting on the edge of the bed, the t-shirt against her nose taking deep breaths. Realizing what she was doing she silently admonished herself for being silly. But just as she pulled the shirt away from her nose, she just as quickly put it back, to smell it once more. The t-shirt smelled like Clark!

Okay, what exactly was going? She wondered. She will definitely needed to tell Clark all about it, because she had a funny suspicion that Clark probably thought that this problem was hers alone, and he probably wanted her to remember that she was from this world and not some other. If only it were that simple she thought to herself. But now she truly believed it had affected not just her but the both of them. There was no denying that Clark had feelings for her, she sensed it when he hugged her this morning and by the way he held her on the way over here.

She tossed the t-shirt back on the bed and changed into cutoff jean shorts and a ribbed white tank top and tied her hair into a ponytail. After getting dressed she went to the living room, sat on the couch and turned on the television. While she waited for Clark to come back, she might as well make herself comfortable. Finding an old sitcom on TV, she got up and went to the kitchen to get herself her favorite beer and chips that she had already found earlier.

Not even half way through her show, Clark showed up.

He didn't want her to see him yet, the emergency had ended some time ago, he's been mesmerized by her ever since he flew back. She looked just like the Lois he knew, being herself, not a care in the world when she had nothing else to do. She sat there, looking beautiful as the afternoon sun shined on her, making her hazel eyes sparkle. For the first time, she looked relaxed and peaceful. He made a little noise, just to let his presence be known, Lois turned around and noticed him coming through the balcony door.

"That was fast" she said.

"It was a false alarm, I stuck around to make sure everything was all right."

Lois got up of the couch and headed straight to bedroom, only to come out, holding a red t-shirt. She walked straight up to Clark and raised the shirt to his face and said "Smell!"

He looked at her, puzzled by her request, as Lois rolled her eyes at him and demanded once again "Smell!"

Doing as she asked, he bent his head slightly to take a whiff. Standing straight up once more when Lois said "Well?"

"Well what?"

"What does it smell like?"

"It smells like it needs to be washed" he said with a small smirk on his face.

"Very funny Smallville, now tell me what do you smell?" She asked again as she glared at him, her one hand on her hip and the other holding the shirt to his face once more. Her patience reduced to nothing. Taking another whiff of her shirt, grinning "It smells like you."

"And?" she persisted.

"And men's cologne" his grin now gone.

"Exactly!" Rolling her eyes at him again, finally he got it.

"I don't think it's any of my business what Lois, this Lois does in her spare time" he said with a bit of an edge in his voice. He didn't want to think about any man touching her.

"No Clark, don't you see? This whole place, even the clothes they're all mine, all of it. And the last time I wore this shirt was just a few days ago and the cologne smells exactly like yours."

"And how would my cologne get on your shirt?" he asked, clearly not following her.

She crossed her arms, quirked an eyebrow and the corner of her mouth formed into little smirk.

"Oh" he said finally understanding.

"I've been thinking that whatever happened, took place at the farmhouse after you left."

"And what would make you say that?" Clark asked skeptically."

"Well for starters, before everything changed for me, things seemed fine before you left yesterday morning."

"So are you saying all this came about because I left?" he was taken aback by her suggestion.

"No, I'm not saying that at all, all I'm saying is that whatever happened, happened after you left and maybe we should go back to the farmhouse, since that's where it all started."

He was still somewhat skeptical, but had agreed to go back to the farm in case she might be right.

"You know what, I see no reason why we shouldn't go and at least check it out" He told her.

"Okay, so what are we waiting for?" she said while tapping her foot.

The moment they arrived back at the farm Clark heard his cell phone ringing. He quickly changed back to his regular clothes and went into the next room to answer his phone.

"Hello?"

"—Hey Oliver—"

"—No, I've been on Superman duty, why is it anything important?—"

"—It is?—"

"—Where am I? I'm at the house—"

"—Sure, I'll see you soon."

"What was that about?" Lois asked as she walked into the living room.

"That was a friend of mine, he said he needs to see me about something very important, actually he's on his way over here right now."

"Okay she said" shrugging her shoulders as she sat on the couch. "But we still need to figure out how to straighten this whole situation."

"We will as soon he leaves."

Before long there was a brief knocking at the door.

"I'll get that." Lois said as she went up to the door to open it, not knowing who to expect, but definitely not him. "Ollie?"

Surprised to see the tall handsome blond man, why hasn't Clark mentioned to her that Oliver was the one who called? Oliver on the other hand, was looking uncertainly at her, since only his closest friends called him that.

Noticing the look on Oliver's face, Clark quickly stepped in and said "Oliver this is..."

"Lois Lane, from the Daily Planet, isn't it?" He beamed as he extended his hand to her. "I've read every article you've written, I have to say, you look just like your picture, but a lot more beautiful in person, if I say so myself" he added flirtatiously, as he took her hand in his and laid a gentle kiss upon it.

Blushing at Oliver's flirtations as Clark stepped in between them, adding, "So what exactly does the billionaire Playboy need that is so important?" He asked as he took Oliver by the arm and led him to the kitchen away from Lois.

Noticing Clark's ill concealed jealousy she said playfully "Oh Clark, Ollie here meant no harm, he was just being friendly, weren't you Ollie?" She winked at him as she followed them into the kitchen.

"Why do you keep calling him Ollie, you just met him?" Clark wondered, since the Lois lane he knew has never met Oliver Queen, Star City's own billionaire.

Looking at him puzzled, she said "Ollie? We've known each other for years, you know that Clark."

"As much as wish I could say that I do, unfortunately I have to say I've never met you in my life" Oliver informed her.

"Of course you do Ollie, how else would I know that you're the Green Arrow?"

Oliver's jaw dropped, for a minute he was completely speechless.

"Um, I think you've got me confused with someone else Miss Lane." He said with a nervous laugh.

"Oh forget it Oliver if she says she knows you, then most likely she does." Clark informed him and then added "And she knows everything about me too."

By the shocked expression on Oliver's face, sighing heavily, Clark said "it's a long story."

Curious to how the reporter known as Mad Dog Lane had finally uncovered both their secrets. "You know, since I'm here, and I have nothing else planned for today, all my meetings have been postponed, I say that I have all day. So why don't you explain how Mad Dog Lane here, discovered our secret identities?"

Knowing they had a lot of explaining to do, she said "why don't you sit down and I'll make us some coffee, it's gonna be a long story and we're still trying to figure it out. Hey you never know, maybe you can help?"

After the coffee was prepared and three full mugs were placed on the table, Oliver noticed the engagement on Lois's finger for the first time. "So I see you're getting married?"

"Yes I am, Clark and I are getting married" she said with a grin then quietly added "I hope."

By the bewildered look on Oliver's face, Clark and Lois took the next hour trying to explain the best they could, the events of what had occurred in the last two days.

"So what you're trying to say is that Lois here, is from another dimension?" he still had a hard time wrapping his head around it.

"Yeah something like that... we think." Clark replied.

"We're still trying to understand it ourselves" Lois added.

"So now that you know our predicament what was so important that you needed to see me right away?" Clark asked his friend.

"Oh I almost forgot." Oliver replied back, still baffled by what he just heard. "Funny thing, yesterday as I was on my way to a board meeting at the Daily Planet, guess what I found lying in a corner on the street?" He said as he dug into the pocket of his suit jacket and took out a small silver box with the 'S' symbol on top of it. "I think you need to be a little more careful with your toys." He tossed the box to Clark who caught it easily in his hand.

Both Lois and Clark recognized the box right away, "Oliver where did you get this?" They both asked at same time with concern in their voice.

Looking at Lois with a shocked expression on his face "what, you know about this too?" Clark was completely taken aback by this new discovery.

Her Cheeks turning red, she quietly replied, "I'm sorry I was going to put it back, I guess it must have fallen out of my purse." Feeling guilty that she took something of his and didn't return it, she wasn't stealing it or anything like that; she meant to ask him about this yesterday but got distracted from all the weird things that have happened.

"What are you talking about Lois, when did you find this?"

"I found it in the closet yesterday morning while I was getting ready for work, what's the big deal it just a plain old ring anyways, but why the fancy box?" She asked as she took a sip of her coffee, realizing that he cup was now empty, she got up to pour herself a refill.

This wasn't right; the ring should have been in the same hiding spot in his closet where it's always been. Instead of answering her, he sped up to his bedroom and back down again all within a blink of an eye.

"It's not there!" he said mostly to himself as he sat back down on the chair.

"What's not there?" Oliver asked as soon as he felt a slight breeze and realized that Clark must have gone and checked something and was now back.

"The ring" he said with alarm.

"What ring?" Oliver asked again, confused by his friend's sudden agitation.

"The Legion ring, this box was specially made for it so that nobody gets to it, but it seems that Lois here somehow figured out how to open it."

"Did you just say the Legion ring?" Oliver asked, suddenly getting off his chair and backing away from the table at Clark's nod of the head. "Get that damn thing away from me."

"So what's so special about it anyways?" Lois asked as she tried to get the box out of Clark's hand.

Quickly closing his hand around it before Lois had the chance to grab it.

"Smallville, what the hell?" she asked astonished by his sudden action, still not understanding what was so special about it and why Oliver seemed terrified of it. "Oliver come back and sit down, as long as the ring stays safely inside this, you have nothing to worry about." Clark pointed to the closed box on the table. Warily Oliver took his seat at the kitchen table again.

Now he needed to make Lois understand the importance of this ring and the powers it wields.

"Lois you don't understand, this box was made specifically to hold this ring. This is the Legion ring. You didn't happen to put it on, did you?" As much as he hoped her answer would be no, he already knew the truth.

"I did, but I still don't understand what the big deal is?" Perplexed as ever and her frustration growing, how was this ring more important than her predicament?

Rubbing his face with his hand and running it through his thick black hair, Clark exhaled deeply. "Lois this ring transports the wearer into a different time, either to the past or to the future."

"You mean like time travel?" She asked not any less bewildered than before.

Both men nodded their heads.

"Okay so why don't I just put it back on and it will take me back to where I'm supposed to be and we can all go along with our lives like nothing happened?" She thought it was uncomplicated enough, if she had known that all along she would have put it on a long time ago. Or better yet, she would never have touched it in the first place if Clark would have told her about it like he has everything else.

"If only it were that simple." Clark replied back.

"Why what's wrong with my suggestion?"

"This ring is not something to be messed around with Lois" Oliver answered her instead.

"Oliver is right Lois."

By the confused look on her face, Clark elaborated on what Oliver had just said. "The ring is used for time travel but if you don't how to use the Legion ring properly you may end up in some alternate reality. Which is what I now believe has happened to you."

"Oh" she said with great disappointment. "So does that mean I'm stuck here forever?" She wanted things back to normal, she wanted her Clark back. Even though Clark has explained to her what the Legion ring can do, she still had a hard time accepting certain things. Namely how it was possible for Martha to be missing her engagement ring, she doubted it was a coincidence. There was also the fact that their apartment was exactly the same. Clark had mentioned previously that he came by three days ago to give her the exclusive on Superman. But she knew that wasn't right ever since she found her shirt on her bed earlier today, the one she left behind precisely three days ago.

"I understand what you're saying, but is it possible that once I put on the ring reality had somehow changed? Don't you think there are too many coincidences for it to be a coincidence?" She tried explaining, as both men looked at her with puzzled expressions.

"Whoa, wait a minute there, I don't think I really like the thought of something messing around with my life!" Oliver shot in. "I know my life! I'm not gonna believe that it has been changed!" Oliver abruptly got of his chair, his annoyance growing.

"Let's not get all up in arms over here all right?" Clark tried reassuring them as he too got up off the kitchen chair and walked over to the back door in the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" asked Lois.

Quickly changing back into his superman costume, he said "I'm going the Fortress to see if I can figure out how to reverse things, if what Lois says is true. Oliver I want you to stay here with her, don't go anywhere okay? I'll be back as soon as I can."

"I don't need a baby sitter!" Lois said frustratingly. But Clark didn't respond back, by now he was too far away for her to hear even if he did. It didn't stop her though from angrily crying out through the open door "I know you heard me Smallville" Looking back at Oliver exasperatingly "I don't need a babysitter!" huffing, she took her cup into the living room, with Oliver right behind her.

With the box held tightly in his hand and the ring safely tucked inside, Clark flew north with great speeds to his Fortress of Solitude. Being impervious to the cold, he drew near the safely hidden citadel, tucked away in the frigid arctic. This was the one place he went to when he needed to just get away from everything but it was far more than his personal sanctuary. Not only did he begin his training at the fortress, but it was also imbued with highly intricate Kryptonian technology. Krypton, before its destruction was the most scientifically advanced planet in the 28 known Galaxies and his father was one of the most brilliant of scientists. He also came here when he had extremely complex issues to figure out, like this Legion ring for instance. At least he knew the cause of this whole situation, now all that was left, is to figure out how to set things right again. The question is was it Lois's reality or his or both that had to be set right?

Softly landing on the frozen floor of the crystalline structure, surrounded by pillars of ice, Clark walked over to a round console with several series of crystals jutting out, each having its own function. He retrieved one of the crystal rods and inserted it into one of the cylinders that was part of the apparatus as well. He was using the fortress's vast database to figure out how to reverse things back to the way they should be, when unexpectedly Clark heard his father's voice calling out to him.

"Kal-El my son" the voice of Jor-El reverberated through the vast expanse, seemingly coming from nowhere and everywhere at once, as he gradually materialized in front of Clark.

"Father?" Curious as to why he had just shown up without being summoned. Ever since he's become Superman, his destiny complete, Jor-El did not interfere in his life anymore unless Clark would specifically call upon him.

"What is it you seek, my son?" Jor-El inquired as he strode closer to Clark and stopped an arm's length away from him.

Hesitant to brooch the subject with him but with all the knowledge instilled in Jor-El, he might be able to help.

"Father a friend of mine had somehow gotten hold of this." Extending his hand forward, uncurling his clenched fist to reveal the small silvery container.

"I believe my friend put the Legion ring on and was somehow transported into another dimension instead of another time. I came here to figure out how to use the ring to send her back to her world."

"Who is this friend of yours that got hold of such a powerful object and be foolish enough to wear it?"

Feeling as if he was being chastised, Clark was about to go into defense mode, but thinking better of it. He didn't come here to have an altercation with Jor-El, he came to get answers.

"The question is not about how she got it but how to send her back."

Jor-El instantly sensed a hint of emotion that Clark tried concealing. "I sense you have feelings for this human."

Clark not appreciating how Jor-El had just referred to the word human, Clark quickly let him know that this human had a name. "Her name is Lois Lane."

"Ah, I see, maybe you should tell your betrothed that some things are best left untouched. As for you Kal-El it is best that this ring stayed here. Please set the box down here." Jor-El pointed at one of the ice pillars and Clark did as he was asked. After placing the small package down, it dawned on him what Jor-El had just said about Lois. His heart skipped a beat, could it really be possible, but how he wondered?

"You must be mistaken, Lois is not my betrothed." Clark tried hiding his nervousness

"Are you sure about that?" Not waiting for a reply back. The pillar on which the ring, safe in its compartment was just set upon, was immediately enclosed by slabs of crystal and ice that had spontaneously risen from out the column. As the crystal and ice have completely enveloped the object inside, a great white light flashed brightly, encompassing the whole fortress. Reflexively Clark shielded his eyes by the sudden glare, then growing wide instantly upon opening them and seeing the image projecting from the thick chunk of ice that had just erected from the pillar.

Before him was an image of Lois and himself the previous morning, exactly as Lois had described to him. The image continued to play in front of him detailing even the most intimate moments, up until the point Lois had donned the Legion ring on her finger. All the while he watched, he wondered how can all of this be possible, shouldn't he had remembered it? Then all of a sudden, just then exactly that had happened, all of his memories came rushing back to him. Everything about his life as shown on the screen of ice came flooding into his mind in an instant.

How was this possible, how can he have two sets of memories at the same time?

"JOR-EL" Clark yelled out as he clasped his head in both hands and fell to his knees on the cold hard ground, confusion assaulting all of his senses.

"Kal-El my son, I am sorry you had to experience it this way. After analyzing the source of power from this ring, I had to show you that there is no alternate reality, but reality itself was bent and twisted. Shifting to what was once to something never existing in the first place."

"But that's not possible, this ring is used for time travel and it also might have the possibility to transport someone to another dimension, but even that theory was never proven. The Legion of Superheroes who brought this to me from the future had told me what this ring was capable of, but never have they told me anything to what you're telling me now." There had to be some kind of mistake, none of this was making any sense, but he also knew that Jor-El did not make mistakes when it came to analyzing theories and possibilities.

"It is true that this ring's main purpose is to be used for time travel but there are still many things about it that remain a mystery, even to me. It will be kept here for further analysis. It is safer for it to be kept here, away from those who want to use it for themselves, whether intentionally or unintentionally."

"But why do I still have two sets of memories, shouldn't I only have one, the one that Lois had told me about, the one you just showed me?" Clark's confusion did not wane, he was still trying to comprehend the peculiar state that he was in.

"I have recalibrated the ring, right now you're in a state of limbo, somewhere between the two realities. All I can say is that the true one is the one of the image you have just seen projected for you, but I cannot give you any guarantees of which one of the two will endure."

Clark had enough of this cryptic talk, he wanted answers and he wanted them now! "What do you mean which one will endure, what is that supposed to mean?" Clark's anger escalating, he needed to know exactly what Jor-El was talking about.

"At best, the original reality, the one before Lois Lane put on the ring will return as if nothing happened.

"You said at best, then what is the worst that can happen?" Clark stood there with clenched fists at his sides, his anger boiling.

"At worst, things will continue as they were when you came here to seek help."

Clark had a feeling that there was still more that Jor-El was not telling him. "Jor-El what else is there that I need to know?"

"Because Lois Lane was the one who put on the ring she will lose all memories of her life she had before putting it on. However your memories of the life you had with her before all this happened will endure and the false one will eventually fade."

Jor-El, who never before expressed any sort of emotion, had a trace of sorrow in his voice.

"WHAT! No, I will not let that happen" Clark yelled out. This couldn't be happening he couldn't bear to live in a world where she did not love him. The Lois lane of this reality saw him as nothing more than a bumbling friend and would never see him in a romantic way. Clark would do anything to make sure this never happened.

"I am sorry Kal-El, but if this were to happen, there will be nothing you can do to prevent it. Even with your powers you won't be able to stop it."

"Then don't do anything, please. Just let things be the way they are now. Now that I remember our life together, I won't risk losing her" he tried pleading with him.

"I am sorry, but it has already begun." Were the last words spoken by Jor-El before he once again disappeared into the depths of the fortress walls.

Anger flowing like a raging river through his veins, emotions swirling in his head at the madness that he felt was about to take its hold on his usual cool collective self. He felt the vast chamber spinning around him wondering when it will stop. Never before has he felt as if a part of his soul was threatening to be ripped away from him. Memories of his life with Lois were all coming back to him full force and remnants of a life that never was, were slowly dissipating. The only thing that he was certain of right now is that he needed to be with her right now and nothing else mattered. There was nothing left for him to do but trust that everything turned out the way it should have been before Lois put the ring on. All he had to do was go back to the farm and hope for the best.

He couldn't move, immobilized by sudden indecision, he's never been this scared before. Wanting to go back but was too afraid of what might be, if Lois no longer remembered. Maybe if he stayed here and waited to see if he lost any memory of her altogether that way it wouldn't matter anymore, none of it would. Feeling ashamed at his cowardliness, he was Superman after all and wouldn't be known as that, if it wasn't for Lois, she was the one who gave him that name after all. As much as he wanted to, he knew he couldn't stay here forever, gathering his last bit of courage, taking a deep breath Clark flew back to the farm at great speeds.

Clark's stomach was in knots as he flew toward the farm, hoping that there was no emergency dire enough that needed his immediate attention. he put in a burst of speed, wanting to get this over with and get back home to Lois, he hoped.

Arriving back at the farm, in his haste and his mind on Lois, Clark never noticed that Oliver's car had no longer stood in his driveway. Wondering if things have returned back to normal or was he still in state of limbo. His false memories have not yet faded completely and the real ones having resurfaced. Given that Lois wore the Legion ring and that the current time had been warped, he still wasn't sure if things were back to normal again. Jor-El's words still fresh in his mind. Needing to be sure, he super sped inside the house looking for her.

"Lois" he called out, when he received no reply he called out once more a little louder. Gripped by sheer dread at the thought of losing her, using x-ray vision, he scanned the house looking for her. Not finding her, he walked out the house on shaky legs. It was strange to think that nothing could make him feel so week at the knees, except for kryptonite and Lois Lane.

For the first time since arriving back at the farm he noticed Oliver's car was no longer in the driveway, his worst fears seeming to come to fruition. Feeling a sense of defeat, he fell down onto his knees and looked up into the heavens as if searching for her. Clark closed his eyes as the crushing sensation took over him. With one last effort, even though there was no sight of her, Clark concentrated on her heartbeat.

Then he heard it, the familiar sound seeming to come from afar and progressively growing louder. At first he was to afraid to admit it, thinking he might be hearing things out of shear desperation. But he did hear it, her heartbeat loud and clear in his ears, coming directly from the barn.

He still wasn't sure if things might have changed or were as they should be. Using x-ray vision yet again to confirm what he was hearing. Clark saw her lounging on the old worn red couch, reading a book. She looked so comfortable, her long dark hair in a ponytail, spilling over her bare shoulders covered only by the thin straps of her white tank top, looking radiant from the sun shining through the open window. Her toned bare legs tucked underneath her, one elbow on the arm rest supporting her head as the other held the book on her lap. She looked like she didn't have a care in the world.

Clark fought the urge to rush up to the loft and possibly startle her. Taking a step at a time until he reached the top landing, he took a deep breath "Lois?" He asked nervously, heart pounding in his chest, threatening to burst out. She looked up from her book, her hazel eyes glinting as she set it down on the coffee table in front of her, revealing a small smile on her face.

"Hey Smallville" happy to see him as she looked up to where he stood by the stairs, a small frown appeared on her face as she noticed Clark looking uncertain. "Is everything all right, Smallville?" She wondered as she got up off the couch, just as he was approaching her.

Instead of answering her question, feeling apprehensive he asked one of his own. "Lois, how do you feel?"

Looking oddly at him, puzzled by his peculiar question, tilting her head slightly to the side, "fine, why do you ask?"

He needed to know if she remembered anything, especially about the Legion ring since she wasn't wearing her engagement ring either.

Still looking at him with a perplexed expression on her face, Clark continued before letting her answer "I was wondering if you're busy this weekend?" he asked somewhat hopefully with the side of his mouth curving into an unsure smile, looking right into her eyes.

Tilting her head slightly again "This weekend, hmmm let me see?" She bit her lip and furrowed her eyebrows together, as if trying to remember.

Oh no, he thought, did she really not know about their wedding this coming weekend, how was he going to fix everything, all sorts of thoughts running through his head.

"Well Smallville, I wasn't planning on doing anything special, you know, just saying my I do's, but other than that I can't think of anything else" She smiled brightly at him, gazing into his blue eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck biting her lower lip that he always found to be extremely sexy.

Relief flooding through him, he took her by the waist, pushing her closer, "I thought because of the ring you wouldn't remember." Words could not describe how he felt.

"Of course I remember how could I forget our wedding" but why are you asking me about my ring?" Peering over his shoulder to look at her hand to admire the ring, she suddenly stiffened in his arms when she noticed her ring was missing.

Noticing her tense up just as she pulled away from him, clutching her ring finger. "You saw, didn't you that's why you asked about the ring? I'm so sorry I clearly remember putting it on this morning. Funny I don't seem to remember much after that. In fact the whole day seems like a blur."

Anxiety rising up in her, that ring meant everything to her, how could she have lost it?

"Lois, the ring is not what's important, you are." At this point he could care less about anything but having her back in his life.

Smiling coyly at the compliment, she dug her hands into the pockets of her cut offs and rocked on her heels. Her fingers in her left jean pocket felt a familiar object, her small smile turning into a huge grin as she produced the small object and held it out to Clark. "I knew it had to be somewhere." Lois said as she put the ring back on her finger. "Ah, this is more like it."

Seeing how happy she looked, how she glowed, he pulled her close to him once more, needing to feel her warmth next to him. Cupping one hand on her cheek as he looked into her eyes and kissed her tenderly, slowly intensifying the kiss.

Murmuring into his mouth, she said "Somebody's happy to see me"

Just to show her how much, he pulled her even closer to him, running both his hands up and down her back, kissing her passionately. Needing to feel her, all of her, it felt like lifetime to him. Picking her up in his arms and sped them to their bedroom where he planned on making love to her for the rest of the day.

The End