Chapter III

Clark had let Kyla sit on his desk, beside his computer. She was certainly small enough to do so without knocking anything off or over. Kyla was a surprisingly quiet, where as most kids, such as Chloe's daughter, were energetic and bouncing off the walls.

"You saved my mommy."

Clark looked up at the little girl, utterly confused. What on earth was she talking about? Had Lana been telling her daughter about the unexplained events in Smallville or was it something else?

"My mommy tells me the story about the tornado in Smallville." Kyla watched Clark in awe, her green-hazel eyes bright and curious. "You saved her from the tornado, she just doesn't know how."

Clark laughed and brushed a strand of dark brown hair out of Kyla's face, smiling gently at the little girl. She truly was adorable. He couldn't understand why her father hadn't wanted to fight for her. He certainly would have. But from what Chloe had told them about her father, he was a drunken, self-centered bastard.

"Well, your mommy and I were really very close friends when we were in high school, Kyla." He told her lightly, a small smile on his face. For some reason, Kyla's eyes lit up at this and she smiled happily.

"You can be my new daddy!" She said, sounding completely thrilled with the prospect of him being her father. Lois and Chloe looked up at him after hearing this, both wearing identical grins.

"Wha-?" Before Clark could say or do anything, Kyla had wrapped her arms around his neck, sitting on his lap. Clark looked up at Chloe and Lois helplessly, mouthing 'What do I do?'

The pair of cousins simply smiled back and went back to typing, leaving him with Lana's daughter, who had now made it quite clear that she wanted Clark to be her daddy. He awkwardly rubbed the little girl's back, before suddenly having an idea and pulling the girl to arm's length.

"Why didn't you like your real daddy?" Clark asked, the question catching Lois and Chloe's attention again. The two women looked up from their work, watching Clark and Kyla curiously.

"I didn't like him, he yelled at me and mommy a lot." Kyla said in a small voice, sounding downcast. It made Clark wonder if he had perhaps done more to her than just yell.

"Well, you don't have to worry about him anymore." Lois broke the silence by picking up the girl in her arms and smiling. "Chloe and I will personally make sure he doesn't bother you ever again….and Clark will too."

Kyla brightened again at this and instead wrapped her arms around Lois' neck, settling comfortably against her. Lois looked very pleased that the little girl was relaxed enough around her to do so. Chloe gave her cousin an encouraging smile. Lois had always wanted a child, and was thinking of adopting, since she was single. Clark grinned at the sight of Kyla and Lois, turning back to his work.

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Lana impatiently waited for the elevator to reach to right floor, glaring at the button. She needed to know that her daughter was alright, it was first day in a long time that they had been apart for more than a half-hour. There was a resounding 'bing' that signaled the stop of the elevator and the two metallic silver doors slid open, allowing the mother to gladly get off the machine.

"Mommy! Mommy!" The sweet sound of her young daughter's voice reached her as the girl bulleted over to her mother. Lana crouched down and wrapped her arms around her daughter, smiling gratefully up at Chloe, who had followed her young charge.

"Mommy, I met Clark! He's the one who saved you; he's my new daddy!" Kyla puffed out her little chest proudly, pointing at the figure of Clark Kent, who stood back slightly, a bit of bewilderment on his face. The moment her eyes met Clark's, her heart starting beating faster and she felt butterflies in her stomach.

"Thanks again Chlo, you're a life saver." Lana told the reporter, holding her little girl in her arms securely. Her friend waved it off, smiling as she went back over to her desk, leaving Clark and Lana alone. "So, daddy, huh?"

"She got it in her head that she wants me to be her daddy. She said she didn't like her real daddy. That he yelled at you two a lot?" Clark said with concern in his voice. A couple of things Kyla did while she was with them had made him increasingly worried. Like the fact that whenever one of them had raised their hand, she stiffened up, as if expecting something, always relaxing after they put their hands down.

"Yeah. Mike, isn't a good person. He's a drunk. I don't want my daughter exposed to him, and I don't want her to have to face his drunken rages." Lana said, hugging her daughter lightly.

"I can understand that." Clark nodded. He didn't want little Kyla to have to experience those either. In the time they had spent together, he had grown rather attached to the young girl. "So, how did you come up with the name Kyla, anyway?" He was rather curious about that.

"So you remember the girl you met when we were in high school? Her name was Kyla, she was a skinwalker." Lana said slowly, a soft smile gracing her features. "I named my Kyla after that one in honor of her memory." She had named her child Kyla because the girl had meant so much to Clark.

The pair shared a moment of silence before Lana broke it, bidding him goodbye as she entered the elevator with her daughter again, smiling at Clark. The farmboy-turned-reporter had an almost goofy smile on his face. He had a feeling he'd be seeing a lot of Lana from now on.

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Chapter IV

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Several days passed since she had last asked Chloe to look after her daughter, and in that time, one if the worst things she could have imagined had taken place. Mike had been granted the right to have time spent with his daughter every Friday. She had been completely dumbstruck at this, and extremely worried about his ulterior motives for his sudden interest in their daughter. Lana was still trying to figure out how to explain to her daughter that she would be spending seven hours, approximately, with her father every Friday.

"Kyla, honey." Lana sat her daughter in her lap on the couch, forcing a smile onto her face. "You're going to be spending some time with Mike today." Lana had refrained from referring to Mike as 'daddy' or anything of the sort, and that was how Kyla had come to know who they were talking about. At her mother's words, the cute seven-year-old frowned, looking confused and slightly scared. "He'll be coming to get you any minute, Kyla."

After hearing this Kyla seemed to become distraught, but Lana couldn't do much about it because just as she was about to say something there was a heavy knock on the door, indicating that Mike had arrived. Lana set her daughter reluctantly on the ground and walked over to the door, taking her time. Mike's cold, unnerving dark eyes skimmed past Lana, to Kyla, who had her green-hazel eyes fixed on the floor.

"Let's go kid." Mike ordered gruffly, walking in and grabbing Kyla's arm roughly. "We'll see you later, Lana." The man sneered as he pulled his daughter out of the apartment. Kyla gave her mother one last fleeting look before the door closed.

Lana felt like crying at the look she gave her, feeling her heart being torn to shreds. Kyla seemed to have gotten the impression that she had done something wrong, that she had made her mother mad at her, and was being punished by being sent away with Mike. The young woman picked up her cell phone. She needed company at the moment -- anyone to make her feel less guilty.

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"Don't worry Lana, we only have 110 minutes left until Kyla comes home." Chloe told her friend soothingly, inwardly seething at whoever had given that-that…man, permission to have little Kyla for seven hours. Lois and Clark traded concerned expressions before turning back to watch over Lana.

Suddenly a beeping sound echoed throughout the apartment. Lois blinked and shoved her hand into her jeans pocket, pulling out her pager. She glared at the miniscule contraption for a moment, before sighing and looking at the other three. "It's Perry, I gotta go, or he'll have all of our heads."

After Lois departed, reluctantly, Clark moved to sit beside Lana, who was staring at her watch, as if hoping that this might somehow speed up time. Clark rubbed her back comfortingly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders on instinct. The minutes slowly ticked by, and Lana had her eyes closed, fretfully waiting for her daughter. Chloe sat on one side of her, while Clark sat on the other, each offering their comfort and support.

A little less than two hours passed, and they were all jerked out of their silent, apprehensive states by a loud knock on the door. Lana leapt up and shot to the door, throwing it open. Her eyes immediately flew down to her daughter. Wait…something was different….

"Here's the kid back, I'll be here for her next Friday." Mike smirked after giving his daughter a rather forceful shove in the back, making her go inside. Lana shut the door sharply without a word to Mike, her green eyes scanning over her daughter's appearance. Chloe seemed relieved just to see her again; she had been worried about her friend's daughter. Lana suddenly realized what was so different.

Kyla hadn't come running in to her when she opened the door, as she usually did after being away from her mother. In fact, the little girl was rather quiet, her eyes on the ground, her tiny hands clasped in front of her. Lana felt Clark move by her to pick up her daughter, smiling gently. Kyla looked up at him and seemed to become more relaxed, a small, delighted smile on her face.

However, within less than two minutes, Lana's daughter had fallen asleep, her head resting on Clark's shoulder. Chloe, Lana, and Clark exchanged perplexed glances. After tucking her into bed, Clark emerged from Kyla's room, seeing Chloe and Lana talking in low voices.

"What could she have done to make her that tired?" Chloe asked him abruptly, her blue-green eyes meeting his. The reporter sighed and sank onto the couch beside his colleague, just as clueless as she was. Chloe glanced from Clark to Lana and stood up, stretching.

"I'd better be going, Pete expected me home from work over a half-hour ago. See you tomorrow Clark." She smiled and, before either could protest, left the apartment, an amused smile playing on her lips. Both Clark and Lana stared at the floor, thinking 'She set us up.'