Title: And Then, Suddenly.
Author: Frances
Summary: Clark and Lois switch bodies. Whlist solving the mystery as to why it happened they discover more about themselves and each other.
Notes: Thanks Marcy, Summer.

Prologue - A Lonely Highway

She admired how her hands wiped the cloth along the outer lining of the table, her tongue hanging slightly from the side of her mouth as she did so.

One swift, precise motion each time around. Three times around.

Nothing but the reflection of herself and the aroma of artificial lemons was what one capful of Mr. Clean had left behind.

Habitually, her arms folded in front of her as she leaned back, complimenting her own work.

"Even Mr. Clean can't clean a table like that."

Perfection, to be stating the obvious. Lois Lane was one hell of a waitress.

Mimicking a basketball player, she slightly knelt over, placed her hands into throwing position, and focused her attention on the bucket that sat in a chair on the over side of the room.

"If I make this shot… his love for flannel will soon be crushed."

Without another thought, she willed her hands upward, following as the rag flew from her reach, over about four tables, and onto the floor, just beside the chair that occupied the bucket.

With her arms still reaching into the air, her hand dipped forward, she knowingly cocked her head sideward. Her arms collapsed to her sides, slapping her thighs, sending a vibration throughout them.

Another sigh she took in, as her gaze flashed upward to the wall clock.

Almost an hour had passed since the last time she'd called him. Her patience was hanging by a thread and staring into her watch every other minute wasn't at all reassuring her.

"Okay, let's try this one more time."

She shook her head before digging one hand into her pocket to retrieve her cell phone. Her eyes watched as she went through the call history, they flared slightly when she reached Clark's number. She then moved to press send to trace him.

Her arms moved to cross her chest; she began balancing the phone between her cheek and shoulder, plopping down into a chair behind her.

A heave of frustration with the air as her feet began tapping, impulsively, onto the floor. She grunted when his plain answering machine message rand through her ear for the umpteenth time.

If she left another message then she'd die where she stand.

Her eyes rolled, as she closed the phone and slipped it back into her pocket. She then moved to retrieve her jacket and backpack, both of which were hanging on latches by the entrance.

Clark Kent was dead, for sure.

Her teeth chatted together as a gush of cold wind seeped through her jacket to her spine. She folded each side of her coat, one on top of the other, and began pepping her step. Nothing could her fight this kind of weather.

Not even the warmest, nearly two hundred dollar warge.

When folding the sleeves of her coat didn't work, she finally decided to zip it up and pull her hood onto her head.

"Smallville definitely has a unique way of showing you harsh reality, doesn't it?" he said from behind her. "Still need that ride?"

He brightened the headlights of the truck as he slowed down, riding beside her.

Well, that's certainly the way it seemed. "Talk about wrong place, wrong time."

Her feet kept pacing forward. Moving farther away from him.

"Lois, look, I know you're mad but could you stop, please?"

He abandoned the running truck to follow behind her, screaming for her.

"Lois, where are you going?"

"Oh, no where, Clark. Just hiking. Late at night. In the cold. No worries."

"Lois! Come on, I'm so sorry."

"Oh, don't be sorry, Clark. Hikes are fun. Especially ones that take place in the middle of the night. As if Smallville isn't safe enough during the day."

"Lois." He called out once more. "Lois! Stop!"

He put much emphasis and aggression on that last word making sure she understood his demands.

And she did.

Her feet fell dead. She stood there. Her expression the epitome of a deer mesmerized by headlights. Then, he stopped just a few paces behind her. First thought being relieved then morphing into agonize.

Something had not been right. He could see that by staring into the eyes that wore on the back of her head.

His feet began to step, cautiously, toward her. "Lois?" The light then came into his view.

"What the hell." He whispered, moving closer toward it. He moved until he stood next to her.

As he watched the field, the light filled his eyes.

Just then two strips of lightening ran above them. His eyes followed them, as he fell backwards, knocking him and Lois onto the dirt side.

She gasped, her eyes flickering astonishment.

"Clark, what is that?" She finally spoke.

He flashed his gaze over to her. In her eyes he saw something that had never before been evident.

Fear.

He then set his sights back onto the pinkish-white ribbons, as they danced into the sky, flying higher then he could ever imagine.

Something screamed for him to grab her and flee the scene as fast as possible. But it was too late.

Before he could even begin to dash over her, to protect her, the two strips flipped backwards, piercing through them both.

One piece for each soul.

And as quickly as it had grabbed them, it spat them back down onto the the pave, leaving them for dead.

Wrong place, wrong time.