Ghost From the Past

Folc4evernaday | Rated: M | Chapter 1

Gunshots rang out as she watched Clark struggle in the water with the man she and Clark had come to know as Jason Trask. The echo of that final shot…

"Clark!"

Two men in uniform pulled her back as she screamed in agony…

"Clark!" Lois shot up in bed, tears falling down her cheeks. She looked around the room, trying to gain her bearings. "Just a dream…" she mumbled swiping at the tears as she buried herself in her tear-stained pillow.

It had been five years since that day in Smallville.

Five years since she'd last seen Clark.

Five years since she'd felt his lips against hers.

Five years and she still wasn't over it.

Six Years Ago…

Lois Lane looked up at the building in front of her and smiled. This was it. The beginning of everything: her independence, her career, her life, her…

"Lois!" Ellen Lane's voice interrupted her thoughts and shoved a box in her arms. "Come on! We've only got the truck for a few more hours. Let's get you unpacked."

Lois smiled wryly at her mother, "I'm going. I'm going…" Here she was in her last year at Metropolis University and moving into her very own apartment.

"Isn't this exciting, sis?" Lucy asked as she followed her up the stairs with an armful of boxes. "Independence…excitement…." she glanced at a tall gentleman that passed them in the hallway, "boys…"

"I don't have time for that, and you know it…" Lois said exasperated, "It's my last year at Metropolis University…I just want to finish my degree and start my career at…"

"The Daily Planet." Lucy cut her off. "I know, I know…It's still exciting though…"

"This is me…" Lois said, stopping in front of her door, "501,"

Clark stepped off the bus and looked around the campus. After dreaming about leaving Smallville for so long he'd finally taken the plunge and transferred to a large University. His parents had been hesitant about the move at first, but when he'd shown them the full scholarship Metropolis University had offered him there wasn't much of an argument there.

He looked around the streets of Metropolis and smiled. This was the first day of the rest of his life. He looked up at the large university and couldn't seem to wipe the smile off his face. He'd dreamt of this for so long. Now, here it was. His chance at a life outside of Smallville.

"Whoa! Sorry!" a young brunette bumped into him as she dropped the handful of textbooks in her hand.

"Uh, sorry…" He knelt down to help her. She had the most gorgeous brown eyes he'd ever seen.

"It's okay…Typical for me….barreling in without looking where I'm going…" the young woman said shyly. All he could manage to do was just stare at her and smile. She was gorgeous. "Uh, hi, Lois Lane," she extended her hand to shake his.

He took her hand and smiled back, "Clark Kent."

Present Day…

The room was filled with a green glow. Glass was shattered all over and the leather binds on the table were torn. Several soldiers were surveying the scene. Everything had been destroyed. All of their work….

Jason Trask stepped into the room and glared at the two soldiers that stood by the lead box that held the mysterious green glow.

"Where is the alien?" Trask asked.

"He's escaped…"

"Find him…" Trask ordered.

Lois pushed her way through the doors of the Daily Planet, ignoring everyone around her as she headed towards the elevators. She jabbed at the elevator call button and stepped on the elevator, waiting impatiently to arrive in the newsroom. After last night's dream, all she wanted to do was lose herself in a good scandal. Thinking about Clark and everything she'd lost was too painful.

As she exited the elevator she noticed the newsroom was quiet. Everyone was huddled around the televisions as the footage of a meteor showed on one screen and a group of military officers and scientists in front of City Hall showed on another. "What in the world?"

"'Nightfall' is close to seventeen miles across. It's travelling close to 30-thousand miles an hour. this could knock the Earth off its axis. Even throw us out of our current solar orbit. It's far larger than the meteor that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. The crater alone will throw enough dust into the air to start a new ice age. With something this size, there is no military option. We're looking into modifying a rocket, but, at best, it would be a fifty-fifty proposition."

Martha stared sadly at the empty room before her. It had been five years but she just couldn't let go. She couldn't accept that the little boy she and Jonathan had raised and watched grow up with his special 'gifts' was gone.

"Martha?" Jonathan's voice broke her out of her reverie. "Martha, you can't keep doing this to yourself…."

"I know…." She cried. "I just can't seem to let go….I had another dream last night…Jonathan, I just can't seem to shake the feeling that our boy is out there somewhere…."

"If Clark were alive he would have come home…" Jonathan argued. "Please, honey, I can't stand to see you like this…."

"It's been five years today…" Martha shook her head.

"I know…" the shakiness of his voice was evident as he tried valiantly to be the rock Martha so desperately needed right now. "I miss him too…"

"He was our miracle…" Martha cried. "I want to try and look again…"

Jonathan shook his head, "No, we have gone through that city from top to bottom and found nothing…No good can come of it. Now, Clark died …."

"But what if he didn't….With all his gifts why would you think he would …."

Jonathan sighed, "Martha, I'm not going through this again…"

A stern look crossed her face as she turned away, "I'm going to Metropolis whether you like it or not. You're either coming with me or not, but you're not going to stop me…My boy is missing..."

Jonathan hung his head, "Martha, it's been five years..."

"Jonathan, my boy is going to come home...one way or another I am going to find him and bring him home...dead or alive."

The pain he'd felt earlier seemed to have subsided. The streets he was walking seemed so familiar. The beautiful town seemed darker...

He looked up and watched as a large shadow passed in front of the sun. He wasn't sure of a lot of things but he was pretty sure that this was not normal.

"Lois Lane," Lois answered her phone through the frenzy of activity that had taken over the newsroom after the announcement of Nightfall.

"Lois?" a familiar voice asked on the other end.

"Martha?" Lois asked in a hushed whisper. She looked around to see if anyone was watching or listening then turned back to the phone, "It's been…ages…"

"I know…" Martha gave a watery smile through the phone, "I wanted to take another look at Clark's apartment…Do you still have the key?"

"Ye…Yes…Yes, I do…" Lois said shakily, resting her head in her hands as she spoke. The key. The key to her missing fiancé's apartment. She went through this every year. It killed her every time. He had been written off by authorities as 'deceased' but there was no body and she just couldn't accept he was gone.

"Good…" she said, "We'll be coming in on the first flight in the morning…Can you meet us over there?"

"Sure…" Lois said softly.

"Great. See you then…" A resounding click was heard on the other end of the phone. It was hard to imagine this was the same woman she'd met so many years ago. They all had changed.

Lois and Clark walked hand in hand as she surveyed the small-town festival. They approached a middle-aged woman and Clark tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. She turned around and smiled, giving Clark a big hug.

"Mom, this is …Lois," Clark said with a grin, wrapping a protective arm around her from behind.

"Hi," Lois said shyly. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Kent," she held out her hand for the woman to shake.

"Martha, please," she corrected.

"Martha," Lois echoed.

"Clark tells me you're a journalism major as well?" Martha said, trying to break the ice.

Relieved to be talking about something comfortable, Lois nodded, "Yes, senior year. I'm hoping to be working at the Planet next year when I graduate."

"Daily Planet, huh?" Martha grinned, "Well, I'm sure if you work hard enough anything is possible." She cast Clark a grin, "Shoot for the moon I always say. Come on, you kids must be starving…"

Clark gave a wink then interrupted, "Actually, Mom, Lois thinks the chef might be a cross-dresser…"

Lois rolled her eyes and twisted her mouth as she glanced at the middle-aged man flipping burgers. Martha laughed, "Oh, honey, that's Clark's father! I can't get him to buy me a dress let alone one for himself…"

Lois stared at the picture on her desk as she hung up the phone, "Oh, Clark…"

There was something so familiar about this place. The brick seemed so familiar. Everything felt normal. He stared up at the steps in front of the apartment building. It felt like home…whatever that was.

He brushed his hands against the wood railing as he stepped up the stairs It almost felt like there was something drawing him to this place…a presence.

Martha turned back to Jonathan and sighed, "I know he's ALIVE. I can feel it in here…" She patted her chest to emphasize her point.

Jonathan sighed, following her out to the barn, "You keep doing this to yourself and dragging poor Lois into this depression with you every year. How is she supposed to move on with her life when you keep doing this to her?"

"Move on with her life?" Martha scoffed. "What makes you think she WANTS to move on with her life after what happened?"

"Martha…."

A loud bang was heard in the stalls and Martha jumped, "What was that?"

Six Years Ago…

Lois flipped through the articles in her hand as she made her way to her first meeting at the Met Daily newspaper. She'd been working her way up the ladder last two years and this year she was going to be in the action…not just doing research but actually writing stories and reporting like a real reporter.

"Whoa!"

Lois silently cursed her luck as she watched the papers go flying and a very familiar face behind brown rimmed glasses knelt down to help her once again. "I think you should probably look into that whole looking where you're going thing…" he grinned back at her, "or look into getting a siren…"

Lois blushed, "Sorry….again." She grinned back at him. This was embarrassing. She'd crashed into him at least a dozen times in less than a twenty-four-hour period. That had to be a record. "Clark, right?"

He nodded, "You headed to the Met Daily too?" he asked, pointing to the Met Daily sign a few feet away.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"Well, after you," He motioned for her to go first and he followed behind.

"I guess it's safer that way," she shrugged.

"Sure," He smiled, opening the door for her.

Later that evening, Lois stared at the papers scattered all over her coffee table. This was what she'd wanted…dreamt about and worked for, for so long. Working on the university newspaper and hunting down stories. She should be worried about how her first story for the paper was going to look and what her angle was going to be…. Instead, all she seemed to be thinking about was that gorgeous smile that seemed to make her want to melt.

'What is wrong with you? Pull it together.'

She had put on a good show and tried to stay focused on the story and ignore everyone around her during their first staff meeting. She'd put on a great tough act for everyone, but it had all been a lie. She'd spent a good bit of the afternoon fantasizing about Clark Kent and watching him while he tapped his pen against his notepad...biting his lower lip when he was trying to concentrate on something…

She felt something….every time she'd bumped into him, brushed up against him and touched him today. She felt a spark. It had been insanely hard to go about the day …. ALL day…and focus when her mind kept drifting to this very handsome man that she had tried to take out several times today. He probably thought she was nuts. He'd been polite but….crashing into him over and over today…

'You don't have time for this. You do not have time for ….'

She shuddered involuntarily, recalling her daydreams that afternoon.

'Focus. Focus. Focus…'

"Yeah, everything went great…" Clark said as he spoke on the phone with his parents. "I like it…. Everyone's going somewhere…. doing something…."

"Impatient…. like you," his dad said. "Well, I know you'll do great, son,"

"Did you get settled in okay?" his mom asked.

"Yeah," Clark nodded. "Between the money I've got left over from the football scholarship and the internship at the Planet I should be fine." He tossed the football in the air aimlessly and caught it as he spoke.

"Don't spread yourself too thin…" his mom interrupted. "You have to keep up with your grades as well as …."

"I'm not, mom," Clark smiled. "Everything will work out. The Planet is part time. I'll be fine." He looked around at the dump of an apartment he'd moved into. "Hopefully after graduation, I'll be able to get something better…"

"Clark, you're being careful, aren't you?" his dad asked.

It was always a concern of his dad's. The gifts he had been given made him 'special' as his mom had put it, but there was always a fear they had that if anyone found out what he could do they'd put him in a lab and dissect him like a frog.

"I'm fine, dad," Clark sighed, raking a hand through his hair, "I'm being careful. Acting normal…getting crashed into ….pretending not to see or hear things I'm not supposed to…I'm being careful. I promise."

"Crashed into?" his mom asked.

He laughed, "Yeah, this girl on the paper kept crashing into me today…I'm not sure if she was doing it on purpose or what but all day…"

"Girl?" his mom prompted mischievously. "Was she pretty?"

"Mom…"

"She was, wasn't she?" his mom continued to tease him.

He could feel the back of his neck turning bright red. Yes, she was gorgeous. "Uh, yeah….she's very pretty." He admitted shyly.

Present Day…

The Daily Planet conference room was packed with reporters as Perry White, Editor-in-Chief began barking out orders, "Okay; people. I know we're working late but this is a big one. I got us an extra half-hour before we go to press. Let's make the most of it." He turned to Lois, "Lois, where's the copy on the mayor's press conference this afternoon?"

"Uh, I'm still cleaning it up. It should be ready within the hour, though," Lois said hurriedly.

"If you need help you can get with Roberto…" Perry offered.

"I work alone," Lois said curtly.

"Uh-huh," Ralph sneered from across the conference room table.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lois asked, throwing a pencil across the table at him.

"You ain't always worked alone and you know it…" Ralph shrugged. "Just cuz …uh, what's his name…your boyfriend… ain't here anymore don't mean you can't partner with the new guys like the rest of us…"

"His name is Clark!" Lois hissed at him angrily.

"Whatever…" Ralph shrugged. "He ain't here no more…" At the last remark, Lois stood up from the table, ready to clobber him when Jimmy and Cat grabbed her from behind.

"He's not worth it…" Cat whispered in her ear to calm her down.

"Hey hey, that's enough of that you two…Now, we've got a paper to put out. " Perry interrupted, "We don't have time for this. Ralph, shut your mouth unless I'm talking to you and keep your comments from the peanut gallery to yourself. Lois, get a grip and get me that copy…"

"Yes, Chief," Lois mumbled as she sat back down.

"Now, Jimmy, how's the lab coming with the slide from the telescope?" Perry asked, turning to Jimmy who had just taken his seat after the scuffle between Lois and Ralph.

"They said it'd be ready on time." Jimmy shrugged.

Perry let out a long breath, "I want you to go down to the lab, grab one of those folding chairs, and set your fanny down and wait. The second that picture's ready, I want it in layout."

"Okay, but I was thinking I could be more help…" Jimmy began to argue.

Perry glared at him, "Jimmy, I am in the 'order mode,' not the 'discuss mode.' Now, which mode are you in?"

Jimmy sighed, "I guess I'm in the, uh, 'Grab-A-Chair-At-The-Lab-Mode.'"

"Good choice," Perry barked. Jimmy hung his head and grabbed his notebook to head down to the lab.

Lois watched him leave and mouthed, 'Good luck,' He smiled back and pointed at Ralph then did a slitting the throat motion. She couldn't help but smile.

Perry turned to Cat who was tapping her pen impatiently against the pad of her notebook, "Now, Cat, where were you when the lights went out this morning?"

"In bed," Cat said exasperated as if the answer should be obvious.

Lois rolled her eyes, "There's a surprise,"

Perry gave Lois a glare then turned back to Cat, "I'm talking side-bar here, ladies. Cat, I want you to call all those big names in that Rolodex you keep locked up in your desk and get me some human interest. If you need help, ask Applegate."

Lois and Cat both glanced at Applegate who was waving with a huge grin on his face. If you ever wanted to find the exact opposite of Cat Grant, Applegate was it. A short, balding, middle-aged man with thick glasses and an asthma problem.

Cat gave a fake smile then turned sweetly to Perry, "I don't think so. I work alone."

Perry clapped his hands, "Then do it fast." He then turned to the rest of the room, "Okay, boys and girls. It's show time. Let's go."

They all exited the conference room leaving Lois alone with Cat. "You know you shouldn't let Ralph get under your skin like that…He's a man trying to make a dig because you're a woman…"

"Easy for you to say. He wasn't …" Lois pinched the bridge of her nose. "I can't talk about this right now."

"Lois, it's been five years…Maybe you should…"

"What?" Lois asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Never mind, forget I said anything."

"No, what is it…?" Lois prompted.

"I just thought if you dipped your toe out there and started dating again…" Cat began but stopped when Lois glared at her. "You're a mess. Perry talks about how great you used to be to the interns and…"

"Used to be…used to be? I have won four Kerth Awards, three Merriweather Awards and I was THIS close to being nominated for a Pulitzer. Used to be?" Lois fumed angrily.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry I said anything…" Cat held her hands up, hoping to calm Lois down.

Six Years Ago…

They'd been partnered up by the editor and had been working together for about six months. So far it seemed to be going pretty well. She tried to deny the fact that she was madly in love with him. She did her best to distance herself as much as possible by burying herself in her work, but it was harder and harder…especially when they spent so much time together. He was just so…

Clark sighed, following Lois into the conference room at the Met Daily with a look of exasperation, "Tell me again why I'm doing this…"

"Look, I got a tip that some of the football players aren't taking their own tests…You're friends with some of the guys on the team…They trust you. So, you can wear a wire and that'll be our proof." Lois explained as if it was obvious.

Clark raised an eyebrow at her, "I'm not sure what this has to do with the paper. Isn't this something that should go to the school board?"

"It will," Lois shrugged her shoulders, "This could be a really big story and I don't want to…" she stopped for a moment, hearing a noise in the corner of the conference room. She motioned for Clark to be quiet then turned towards the noise. "Is somebody there?"

Clark looked around, "I don't see anyone,"

Lois took a few steps closer, to get a better look. After a few moments of not seeing anyone she turned back to Clark, "What was I saying?"

"Oh, you were trying to explain what this 'story' has to do with the paper," Clark explained.

"It's a big story. Neanderthal macho jocks not taking their own tests …"

Clark gave her a funny look, "Neanderthal macho jocks? You know some of these guys have more between their ears besides the game…"

"Not from where I'm sitting," Lois snapped back. "Every guy that I've met on the team has only been interested in three things: girls, football, and booze…"

"Don't you think that's a bit stereotypical?" He asked.

"No," She shook her head, "So, are you gonna help me, or not?"

He hung his head as if he was going to think about it for a few minutes, then caved, "If anyone isn't taking their own tests, then I guess it is our job to report it."

"Exactly," Lois smacked him on the chest. "Let's go!"

TBC...