Prologue: Ducks

Summary: The story of love and heartbreak...mainly a Clois story...but with Lollie, some Lexana, some Chimmy, and Lois/Bruce..

A/N: This was thought up after "Promise" so it is set then, just ignore everything that's happened afterwards...also, I didn't know the actual cause of death for Lois' mom, so I made it up to work with my story...

Disclaimer: I own nothing…

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Clark stared out the window of the loft. His mind wandered over the events of the day. He thought about the two drastically different conversations he'd had with Lana. He thought about how gorgeous she had looked walking down the aisle and he wished it was him she was walking to.

His ears pricked as he heard footsteps on the stairs. Someone else was coming by to comfort him. Already his mother and Chloe had dropped by to give him the obligatory 'I'm Sorry That the Love of Your Life Just Married Your Former Best Friend' speech. He appreciated that they cared but frankly, he'd heard enough. He didn't want to talk. He just wanted to sit in the loft and think about his past. Think about what could've happened with Lana if he'd told her his secret years ago.

"Self-pity is not attractive," came a voice from behind him. Clark sighed. Lois Lane was definitely the person he least wanted to talk to at the moment. He didn't look up as she moved across the wooden floor to stand beside him. He gave her a short glance and then turned back to the fading daylight.

Lois stood beside him, her hands on her hips. She wasn't going to let sympathy get in the way of her mission. Objective: Get Smallville out of his funk before he was too far gone to save. She gave him a once over before setting her sights on the target.

"Oh, I get it, you're not talking because you think that will make me go away," Lois announced, she stepped in front of him, bending down so her nose nearly touched his, "you know me better than that, Smallville."

"What are you doing here Lois?" Clark asked, though he knew that answer.

"Me? Oh, I'm just visiting. I thought it would be an appropriate time to stop by and wish good tidings on your quest for complete misery," Lois replied with a smile.

"Funny," Clark said without so much as a grin. Lois rolled her eyes, grabbed a chair and moved it in front of Clark. She sat down and stared at the brooding hulk. Clark rolled his eyes but stared right back at Lois. He knew sooner or later she would break from her silence, get frustrated with his and then leave; it was just a matter of time before he had his peace and quiet back. The thing was he kind of didn't want Lois to leave. Her presence was a small comfort to him.

He couldn't deny that in the past few months he'd been thinking about Lois differently. He liked having her around. He liked that she was completely honest, if not abrasive, about people. She didn't like to hide things, one major reason why Clark planned on never telling her his secret. He could only imagine what she'd call him then. He thought about the night in the alley, he'd even had a fair share of dreams since Valentine's Day; but then Lana's stalker incident had brought the former-girl-next-door back into his life and the rest just blew up in his face.

Lois was still staring at him, but he'd disappeared into his thoughts again.

"Ducks," Lois suddenly said. Clark blinked. Even with his super-hearing he wasn't sure he'd actually heard her correctly.

"What?"

"Ducks, Smallville, ducks."

"Lois, did you take your medication today? You're talking crazy," the slip from miserable Clark to normal Clark brought the faintest smile to Lois' lips.

"You need to get your ducks in a row, Smallville."

"I still don't understand you," Clark replied.

"Look, Smallville, yeah, it sucks that Lana went and married Lex, dumbest mistake of her life, if you ask me, but guess what, Clark? You can't change that. Lana made her choice, it was wrong but whatever, there's nothing you can do. And you have to understand that. You have to get your ducks in line, set your priorities straight. You can't just sit here all the time brooding about what you lost," Lois explained.

"What'd you know about?" Clark asked gruffly.

"A lot, my mother committed suicide." Clark had to blink again. Lois looked at him passively; it didn't seem to bother her.

"Oh…"

"Yeah, I was nine; the night it happened, she came into my room, she asked me if I wanted to go to Paris, I told her we'd go later, I was tired, I didn't understand her. The next morning, I found her in the bathroom. She'd O.Ded. I thought she'd done it because I'd said no to Paris."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's not your fault. It's not my fault either, but it took me a long time to figure that out, to realize that I couldn't have changed what happened. It was just a matter of time, whether we went to Paris or not. After several dozen hours of therapy, I finally understood that. Once I did I looked at my eleven-year-old life and I thought about my sister and Chloe, the people I still had. They became my priority; it's been that way ever since."

Clark was silent for minute. Dozens of thoughts drifted around his head. Lois had a point, he knew that. She was usually right, and sharing the story about her mother's suicide had proven that she wasn't just talking. She'd gone through something too, something worse than seeing your friend marrying your ex. The pain Lois must have endured made Clark's problems pale in comparison, but Clark knew that Lois would never allow him to think that. She didn't want sympathy, she didn't like pity. She was strong, and she expected everyone else to be right up there with her.

"I'm not you, Lois," Clark said softly.

"I know you're not, Smallville, and I'm not asking you to develop this hard Lane-exterior because that's not you, I'm just saying, you have to figure out what counts; figure out who counts."

Without thinking about it, Lois placed a gentle hand on Clark's. Her finger looked tiny compared to his, but that didn't bother her. What did was how comfortable it felt, her hand on his. She blinked a few times, reminding herself to breathe. Her eyes met his and the world seemed to fade away. There was no Lana, no wedding, no barn, just Lois and Clark, sitting together amidst a chaotic world. And yet, even though they were aware of the chaos, there was nothing but calm between them.

"Should I just forget about Lana?" Clark asked. His voice cut through the air, she glanced up at him; the moment was gone, the chaos was back. Lois blinked again, clearing her head. She let things slide back to normal, as her mouth erased every thread of their contact.

"Smallville, if you could possibly forget about Lana Lang for a second, I would drop dead," she said smiling, leaning back in her chair.

"That'd be reason enough for me," Clark joked softly. Lois punched him playfully on the shoulder. He didn't mention that he'd definitely forgotten about Lana for more than a second, their kiss had lasted more than a second that was for sure. Not to mention Valentine's Day, everything leading up to the engagement party disaster was about Lois.

The pair stared at each other, Lois hoping her tactics had worked, Clark knowing that they had.

"Ducks, huh?" Clark asked.

Lois nodded, standing. Clark looked up at her, his smile brighter than it had been in months. She had accomplished what she had come to accomplish. She patted Clark on the head before walking to the stairs, leaving Clark alone to his thoughts. Halfway down the stairs, she looked back at Clark, still staring out the window.

She didn't even see Oliver Queen standing at the bottom of the stairs until she walked into him. Reeling backwards and catching herself on the railing, Lois steadied and stared at the man dressed in a black suit and jacket with a light green tie set in the center. She'd never seen him wear clothes like that unless they were at one of his fancy parties.

It was amidst analyzing Oliver's new wardrobe that Lois realized Oliver was in fact standing in the Kent's barn. She frowned. She hadn't remembered him coming back; in fact she believed she remembered him saying that he would probably never see her again.

"What're you doing here?" Lois choked out.

"I figured you'd be here," Oliver replied.

"Well, you figured right," Lois said coolly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry," Oliver began, "leaving you was the biggest mistake of my life."

"Go on," Lois felt herself saying; though she didn't want to forgive him, she couldn't stop her mouth from moving.

"I love you, Lois Lane," Oliver reached a hand in his pocket, "and I want to fix this between us." He bent down, right there in the dust of the barn floor, and extend his hand to her, a black box in his hand.

"Ollie, I-," Lois couldn't speak this wasn't happening. She hated Oliver Queen. She hated him because he had broken her heart. She hated him because of the man sitting upstairs, because she couldn't stop thinking of the mixed CD, because she hadn't thrown away her ripped shirt, because of all those things she hated him. And then he opened the box and said the fateful words.

"Will you marry me?" The ring was nestled against black satin, a green stone set in a gold band. It was a breathtaking ring. But she hated him. She hated Oliver Queen. She knew she hated him, and still words escaped her lips before her mind had a chance to catch up.

"Yes."

A bright smile broke out onto Ollie's face. For a second, Lois thought she saw a flash of doubt in his eyes, but it disappeared as he stood up. Removing the ring from the box, he placed it on Lois' delicate finger. She tried to remind herself to keep breathing.

"It's gorgeous," Lois said softly.

"Only fitting for a gorgeous woman," Ollie cooed into her ear. She looked up at him. He saw her faint tears as a sign of happiness, Lois knew otherwise. And so did the man now standing at the top of the stairs.

Clark had heard the whole thing of course. He'd just begun to forget about Lana, to think of the brunette that had just vacated the premises when he heard her crash into something. He was on his feet in a second but then he heard voices: Lois' and someone else he recognized.

Honestly, Clark hadn't expected Lois to say yes. He thought she had a little more sense than to say yes to a man who had very recently walked out of her life with little to no explanation. Not to mention the fact that Oliver still hadn't told Lois about his alter ego, the Green Arrow.

Lois turned around when she felt his presence, she stared up at him. Their eyes met and she had to look away. Oliver had his hands in his pockets again as he locked eyes with Clark. Both men stared at one another and Lois got the sense that they were having a non-verbal pissing contest and this time it had to do with her.

"Oliver," Clark nodded.

"Clark," Oliver replied with the same curt tone.

"I thought you were in Star City."

"I came back."

"And proposed," Clark made his way down the stairs.

"Well, Lois is special," Oliver explained. It would've brought a smile to Lois lips once upon a time, but now she had to force one at him, before meeting Clark's gaze again. His eyes made her ashamed.

"I know," Clark replied. He wasn't looking at Oliver; his eyes were locked on Lois' bent head. He was making her feel crappy about something that essentially was a good thing. She wouldn't allow his miserable attitude to affect her happy day.

"Look, Smallville," she said straightening, hooking her arm in Oliver's, "Ollie proposed, okay? No one asked you to be big brother." Clark raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing, "Ollie, c'mon let's go tell Mrs. K."

Oliver nodded and started toward the barn door. Clark hurriedly reached out to Lois' arm. She stopped and turned back to him. He was smiling faintly, apologetically. She couldn't help but forgive him.

"Ducks, huh Lois?" Clark asked softly.

"Ducks," Lois said nodding. She gave him a quick smile before leading Oliver outside.

"Ducks?" Oliver inquired as they headed up the porch steps.

"It's--it was--congratulations," Lois replied quickly. Oliver frowned but said nothing more as Lois sped through the events of the last few minutes to Mrs. Kent; the older woman gave Lois a quick glance but didn't chide her, something that Lois was thankful for. Instead the senator gave Lois a tight hug.

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More to come...This is only Part One...there are a few trailers up for this fic on You Tube...use thus URL to get directly to the page: