1, 2, 3, 4

by htbthomas

"What was that you said, Smallville?" Lois lifted her eyes from her notepad to look across the desk at Clark. She was sure that he'd said, "Gotta fly." Her head was suddenly filled with odd images of Clark actually soaring through the air. Absurd...

Title: 1, 2, 3, 4
Author: htbthomas
Category: Smallville
Prompt: #14 / "1, 2, 3, 4" by the Plain White T's
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2,637 words.
Summary: There's only one way to say those three words...
Spoilers: General spoilers for Season 9, and the information from the 2009 Comic Con panel.

Author's Notes: Thanks to fictionalknight, chickadilly and mark_clark for the beta.

~o~o~o~o~o~

1.
"What was that you said, Smallville?" Lois lifted her eyes from her notepad to look across the desk at Clark. She was sure that he'd said, "Gotta fly." Her head was suddenly filled with odd images of Clark actually soaring through the air. But that was absurd... she rubbed at the bridge of her nose.

"I... I just said I was going to take off to check on that lead." Clark tilted his head to look at her with that same concerned look he'd been giving her since they'd found her passed out on the train. "Are you okay, Lois?"

She still couldn't figure out how she'd ended up on that train, when her last memory was fighting with Tess Mercer at the Planet. Lois shook her head to clear it. "I'm fine. You go chase that lead, I need to finish up this other story first."

He nodded, his eyes still worried, and grabbed his jacket from his chair. "I'll be back later, then."

She waved him away, pretending to be focused on her article again. The next time she looked up he was nowhere to be seen.

Lois' shoulders slumped as soon as she was sure he couldn't see it. Truth be told, this wasn't the first time something Clark had said had made Lois' vision swim. She wasn't sure why it was happening, or why it only seemed to happen when Clark was around. If the images hadn't been so bizarre -- Lois seeing herself standing on a broad silver platform, Clark dressed in some sort of odd uniform, and now Clark flying through the air -- she would have chalked it up to flashes of memory coming back from her time of amnesia.

Perhaps she should go see someone, a doctor trained in head injuries... Lord knew she'd had enough of those in the last five years. But why were all of these flashes centered around Clark?

She looked toward his empty desk chair. Clark claimed that no one had any idea where she had gone during her memory blackout. Chloe, Oliver, even Tess -- none of them knew anything.

And the oddest thing about these visions, dreams, whatever... was that instead of being frightened or weirded out, she felt strangely... comforted. Protected. Loved.

Lois shook her head. What was her crazy brain trying to tell her? Hadn't they already decided that she and Clark worked best as partners, and not as a couple? She focused back on the story in front of her. The Red-Blue Blur was as active as ever, and she needed to finish her write-up on his activities over the last week. The Blur was a safer subject to dwell on anyway. At least she knew how she felt about him.

2.
Clark straightened his tie as he came back to the newsroom an hour later. He'd had plenty of time to stop the robbery across town, and get a few quotes from the eyewitnesses at the scene. Clark had decided that if he wanted to control how much information the public had about the Blur, he needed to write some of the stories himself. He hoped that Lois wouldn't be upset with him horning in on her territory. He figured that as long as he saved the one-on-one interviews for Lois, then he'd be all right.

Lois looked about the same as when he'd left her -- staring at the words on her computer screen with a thoughtful expression. He probably shouldn't interrupt her, but it was better to tell her now about the Blur story he had, and deal with the annoyance right away, then wait and probably suffer a firestorm of vitriol after the story was published.

"Lois," he began as he walked toward her.

She didn't turn around, or react, her eyes still staring ahead. Was she ignoring him? Did she already know and was giving him the silent treatment?

"Lois?" He placed a hand on her shoulder. When she still didn't react, he leaned closer to her ear. "Lois..."

Lois' eyes fluttered closed and she leaned into his hand, breathing softly, "Clark..."

He froze in shock. What in the heck...?

Then her eyes flew open again and she flinched away from him, startled. "Clark!" She rubbed a hand over her eyes. "Oh, my God, you scared me!"

"I'm sorry..." He took an awkward step back. "Were you..." He struggled to figure out what had just happened. "...daydreaming?"

"Um..." Lois bit her lip and then turned away. "Something like that." She minimized the article on her screen quickly, and then turned to face him, all business. "So, what did you find out?"

If she was going to pretend like nothing happened, then he might as well do the same. "Not much... Actually, before I could meet with my source, the Blur stopped a bank robbery in the neighborhood. All the police presence must have scared my contact off."

"A Blur sighting?" She started to reach for the phone. "I'd better call my friend in the department, see what he can tell me--"

Clark moved into her line of sight, and held up a warning hand. "Don't worry about it. I got everything we need."

"You got everything, Smallville?" She held the receiver in the air as she waited for his explanation.

"Yeah," he said, trying to seem nonchalant. "I was already in the area, so it was easy enough to get information from some of the eyewitnesses and from the arresting officer."

Lois was silent for a moment. Then she nodded and set the receiver back in its cradle. "Good for you. Saves me the time." She maximized her window on the screen again. "I can add the information to my article. Can I see what you got?"

Clark's eyebrows rose. He had expected at least a little bit of anger, but she didn't seem bothered in the least. "Sure."

She read through his notes without much comment, other than to ask a question here or there. It was so unlike the way she had been before her disappearance that he started to worry again. What exactly had happened to her during those missing days? She said she didn't remember anything, but these odd stares in his direction, lapses in concentration, and strange reactions to things he said -- they all made him wonder.

He missed the feisty Lois from before. The Lois that would do anything to get an interview with the Blur, and wasn't just content to write articles about him. Maybe that was what she needed...

"It's too bad that there's no way to talk to the Blur in person about these saves," Clark said, putting a tone of regret into his voice. "How did you get him to talk to you before?"

"He came to me," she said without looking up from what she was scribbling on a notepad.

"But why you?" Clark pressed.

"I don't know..." She looked up at him, a bit of the old spark in her eyes. "...because I'm the best?"

"Of all of the reporters in Metropolis?"

"He trusts me, I think. Not to push him to talk more than he wants to." She lifted an eyebrow to punctuate her point.

Clark lifted his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I get it." He winked dramatically and went back to typing his own article.

Inside, he felt a little better. Not only had he seen a glimpse of her usual personality, but he could also see how protective she was of his alter-ego. She was right. He did trust her. And he really wanted to trust her with so much more, but it was so dangerous. If only he could bring himself to say those three little words...

3.
Lois waited at her usual street corner. The one she'd set up with the Blur before disappearing. She wondered if he would call tonight; after all, she'd missed the last couple of appointments. Did he wonder about where she was? Or did he even notice?

But right on time, the phone rang. She let it ring a couple of times, suddenly apprehensive. Everything had been so different since she woke up with amnesia that she worried that things might have changed with him as well... She took a deep breath and then picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Lois," came the digitally-altered voice. But it wasn't on the line -- instead, the voice came from behind her.

She spun to face him, the phone dropping from her hand to clatter against the Plexiglas. A figure stood out of the glare of the streetlight, in the shadows of a tree a few yards away. "Is it you?" She took a hesitant step forward.

He stayed put. "Yes, Lois. It's me."

When she was close enough, she could see his outfit: a hooded black trench coat, black shirt, pants, and boots. There was some sort of raised print across his chest, but it was too dark to make it out in the shadows of the tree. "That's different," she commented, gesturing at his coat.

He inclined his head. "I thought it was time to come a little more into the open."

She took another step forward. She could see the logo a little better now: a diamond shape with a stylized S in the center. "'S'? I would have expected a 'B' instead. And a lot more red and blue."

He laughed, warmth coming through the digital filter. "It's sort of a... family crest."

"So what do I call you now? You know, since the Red-Blue Blur doesn't exactly fit anymore?"

"The Blur is just fine... for now."

Lois frowned, but didn't press him for more. "Can I ask you a few questions about your recent rescues?"

"Sure..." He nodded toward a car coming toward them down the street. "...but maybe somewhere else?"

Suddenly the world around her blurred, and she found herself on the top floor of an empty parking garage. The Blur stood a few feet away, the tails of his coat shifting slightly in the breeze.

"Whoa." The time he had saved her from the car, she hadn't felt anything at all. This time, she could still feel a ghost of his arms around her as they traveled. The sensation overwhelmed her memories, and she had another flash -- strong arms around her, and Clark's brilliant blue eyes.

She staggered, putting a hand to her head. What was going on? This had only happened when Clark was around, and now she was having visions of Clark even with the Blur? She took another unsteady step.

He was catching her before she could lose her balance. "Are you okay, Lois?" he asked, voice full of concern.

Even that was uncannily like Clark earlier that day. She responded the same way, out of habit. "I'm fine."

He gently set her back down. "You don't seem fine. What's wrong?"

Could she tell him? He was fast and strong... but could he save her sanity, too? Maybe it was time to trust him the same way he trusted her. "It's just..." She swallowed. "I disappeared for a while, did you know that?"

He didn't answer for a few moments, like he was considering what to say. "I did know," he finally said. "I was happy to see you had returned."

"You were?" Her heart felt lighter at his words, but she had to know one more thing before she confided in him. "Do you know what happened to me?"

"I wish I did. I looked for you..."

She smiled, blushing slightly. "Thank you." It was enough that she felt she could continue. "Anyway... since I came back, I've been having these... flashes. Images... visions... almost like they were memories. Except they don't make any sense."

"What kinds of images?"

There was something in his voice that was so familiar, but she didn't examine it. "Like I'm seeing some sort of fantasy world - people who can fly, futuristic landscapes... stuff like that." She didn't mention the vision she'd had this afternoon after Clark had touched her on the shoulder -- of she and Clark making love. Even thinking of it again made her blush and turn away.

"People who can fly?" His voice sounded worried.

"It's crazy, right? And someone I know is in all of them, someone I work with. The most stunningly normal person ever..." She looked out over the city, lights twinkling in the dark. "Do you think I should go see a doctor?"

He was silent again. It was such a long time that she worried he had left. She turned around, and saw him standing beside her, seeming to look out over the city as well. She opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but he spoke first.

"Was there a ring, Lois? A golden ring?"

"A ring?" She started to say no, when she had another flash -- of grabbing hold of a ring just before the world split into brilliant, magenta light. She turned to him, excited. "Actually, there was!"

4.
Clark's heart grew cold. She'd had the Legion ring -- the one he thought he'd hidden away. She had obviously been to the future, too, because she was having visions about it now. How long before everything came back? How long before she figured him out?

How long before he lost another person he cared about -- the one he had hoped to protect this time -- to the secret?

"You had the ring? I was afraid of that..."

"You know what that was? Is it yours?" Lois' curiosity seemed to be back full-force.

He ignored her question to ask one of his own. "So... in these visions, you can see this person doing all sorts of amazing things?"

"Yes."

"Things like I can do?"

"...Yes." He could almost see the wheels turning in her mind. "But like I said, they don't make any sense."

Somewhere down the line, a future version of himself had found Lois, had showed her who he really was, and had sent her back here. Did he know that she would remember? Was it a message for the here and now: to tell Lois?

"And it's always Clark that you see?"

"Always..." Then she gasped, putting a hand to her mouth. "Wait -- how did you know it was Clark?"

"Because, Lois..." Those three words he had been holding back until the right time... it looked like that time was now. He disengaged the digital filter and pushed back the hood of his jacket. "I'm the Blur."

Lois' eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. Then her eyes rolled back and she staggered, her hands clutching the sides of her head.

"Lois!" he cried out in fear, scooping her up into his arms. What had he done? He had to get her to a hospital, fast. He gathered himself to leap from the ledge of the parking garage...

Then she groaned loudly and her eyes opened. "Clark, oh my God... Clark..."

"I'm right here, Lois, I've got you." He tightened his hold on her and stepped off the ledge. He gently set her back on her feet. "Are you all right?"

"I think so... I remember what happened to me." There was no trace of pain or confusion in her face now.

"In the future?"

"I never would have believed it if--" She stopped, frowning, and cuffed him lightly on the arm. "But I wouldn't have believed you were the Blur, either!"

Clark smiled. Here was the Lois he knew and loved. "Not so 'stunningly normal,' after all, am I?"

She grimaced. "Looks like we both have a story to tell." Then she smiled, put an arm around his shoulders and jumped lightly into his arms again. "You got any coffee back at your place?"

End.