It started out normally—she was falling, falling, arms flailing, screaming at the top of her lungs, watching the top of the skyscraper grow smaller and not looking over her shoulder at the rapidly approaching ground.
Standard nightmare. She'd had hundreds of them. In a few seconds, she'd wake up and this would be another tally mark.
Then someone caught her. She looked up into his face, but there was some sort of spotlight on him from behind and she couldn't recognize him.
"Don't worry," he said. "I've got you."
"You've got me?" The air rushed past her face, and she risked a glance over her shoulder. The ground seemed miles away, and her peripheral vision filled with billowing red fabric...her rescuer was wearing some sort of cape. "Who's got you?"
He laughed, and they flew, up and over the tall buildings, through the clouds above, almost to the moon. She'd heard about dreams of flying, but her dreams had been full of falling more often than anything else.
"Where are we going?" she asked, because she wasn't comfortable with uncomfortable silences.
"You've always loved seeing the stars without all the lights getting in the way."
How did he know that? She'd only ever told Chloe that, years ago, one time when they were "camping" on her cousin's balcony in Metropolis.
"They make you feel small and safe at the same time."
"I hate that," she snapped, and she caught the hint of a grin.
"No, you don't."
She squirmed against his arms. "Look, I'm really grateful and everything, but I need to get back to earth."
"Lois," he said, and her mouth went dry.
"How did you know..."
"I know more than you realize," he said.
"Having magic flying powers doesn't make you some kind of mind reader. Does it?"
"I don't read minds. I just read you."
Her heart was beating faster. On the one hand, they were miles above ground. On the other hand, her other option was to stay up here with this...this... She put her palms on his chest and pushed. But something was wrong.
"No." She stared at her arms. "No, this can't be happening. I can...can you..."
"See right through you?"
And suddenly there she was, on top of the Kent's barn, of all bizarre places, and she was watching that red cape swirl around the mystery man. "I'll be here when you need me," he said.
"I don't need anybody." But her knees were weak.
He laughed again, and he didn't try to kiss her, like most of the men in her mystery men dreams did, and she stretched her arms to him without thinking and saw she was growing more transparent by the second...
Lois Lane sat bolt upright in the darkness, pouring sweat, shaking uncontrollably, and wondering why that smell reminded her of Clark Kent. As her eyes grew accustomed to the dark, and her mind returned to the present, she remembered that she was in Clark's room...her room for the duration of her stay at the Kent farm. A swath of red fabric lay on the dresser, and she jerked back before realizing it was just one of Clark's shirts.
She should have known it was only a matter of time before she started having nightmares related to Clark's fashion sense. She was lucky the cape hadn't been plaid, too, or she might have had a heart attack and died in her sleep.
There was a soft knock on the door. She pulled the blankets closer around her.
"Lois?" whispered a familiar voice. "You okay?"
"Yes," came the clipped response.
"You sure? You were..."
"I'm fine, Smallville," she said irritably. "Go back to bed. Or…couch."
She heard him heave an exaggerated sigh. "Okay, well...good night. You know where to find me if you need me."
For the first time in years, Lois had to turn the light on before she could fall back to sleep.
