Much thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing. I appreciate it. Big hidden homage in this chapter, if you recognize it, please let me know.

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Lois walked downstairs in pajamas rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She grunted with each step, the fluffy bunny slippers leading the way. At the bottom of the stairs her eyes snapped open and she turned quickly towards the kitchen counter. That scent… that wonderful heavenly aroma… "Coffee." Smiling slightly she headed straight for the coffee pot, grabbing a mug from the cupboard and pouring herself a cup. Wrapping her hands around the mug, she smiled even wider and shut her eyes as she inhaled the deep rich aroma. After her first sip she moaned. "Oh god that is amazing."

"Mrs. Kent does make a good cup of joe, gotta give her that."

Lois looked up quickly and saw the deputy Clark was always talking to… Whitley? Winfred? Whitney, that was it! "What are you doing here? Isn't Clark taking a couple of days to stay around the farm?"

Whitney nodded. "Yup, but he also gets pretty antsy staying cooped up inside. I'm keeping an eye on the comings and goings of the house while he messes around in the barn, feeds the stock and all."

She raised an eyebrow when she noticed the sales paper that he was reading. "I thought that boy's toys got more expensive and extravagant when they got older?"

Whitney just chuckled, folding the toy store sales ad. "Yea well, kids' toys nowadays, it doesn't seem like that anymore. I'm looking for something for my son."

Her attitude softened some at the mention of his child. "How old is he?"

Whitney reached into his shirt pocket, pulling out a photo. "He's turning five." He held it out to her, showing a family picture of himself, his wife Lana, and a smiling little blonde boy.

Lois took it and smiled. "Cute family. Let me guess, captain of the football team and the cheerleader, went off to college on a full ride, didn't hit the juice so you would have to hang around the minors for a few years, decided you didn't want to put the family unit through that and came back home to grow up in a little slice of Americana?"

He laughed. "Not quite. Captain and cheerleader yes, college no. I went off and joined the Marines, got the money to help Lana through school, did a couple tours in Indonesia, took shrapnel to the hip and was Honorably Discharged, came home and married the girl, best friend used his pull to give me a job on the police force. Not that I'm not qualified though, I mean come on… the Marines." He gestured to himself on his last statement, smiling. "No better training out there."

"Hey now, you're talking to an Army brat here mister, complete with the Lieutenant General father and growing up on bases around the world." She crossed her arms and smirked.

Whitney held his hands up. "No offense, all the respect to your father. What kind of Jarhead would I be though if I didn't talk up my branch?"

She just sighed. "So where is your fearless leader?"

He picked the paper back up, flipping it open. "Out in the barn last I saw, loading the pickup with feed to take out to the pens."

Walking upstairs to change, Lois came back down in a Whitesnake t-shirt, black running shorts and tennis shoes. Grabbing a fresh cup of coffee she walked outside and down to the barn, looking for the man in question.

She found him tossing big bags of feed into his beat up truck. The sun was already up and bearing down obviously because Clark was only in his jeans and boots, a t-shirt was tossed over the open driver's side window. She stopped for a moment… several moments and watched him. The way his muscles moved as he picked up the heavy bags with seemingly no effort, the light sheen of sweat covering his torso, the way his butt looked in his jeans when he crouched to pick up another bag. "Whoa Lane, stop right there. Stay professional, stay professional. God you could bounce a quarter off that…"

"Everything ok Miss Lane?"

She snapped out of it and looked up, seeing him staring back at her. He pulled his work gloves off, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Y-yea, everything's great. I just… was coming to see if you wanted some coffee, but you look plenty hot already."

He raised an eyebrow after hearing that.

"I mean, you look like it's hot out here, with the sweaty shirtlessness and all." She kicked herself internally for not making it any better.

Clark held his laughter back and walked up to her. "Coffee sounds great. I got an early start today." He took the cup and nodded his head to her before taking a sip. Walking back to the workbench he set the mug down and picked up a pocketknife, tucking it in his back pocket. "So what's got you up and around this early?"

She shrugged. "I feel like a bum if I'm not doing something. And I can't really work right now, sooooo…" She smiled at him brightly, "I thought I could help you."

His eyes raised then. "You want to help me? With farm chores?"

She put her hands on her hips. "Ok, maybe I didn't grow up on Green Acres here, but I am perfectly capable of a little manual labor, thank you very much."

Clark held his hands up in surrender. "Ok ok, no arguing. Grab yourself some gloves there and we'll head to the pens." He walked over and picked his up again, slipping them in his back pocket.

Lois grabbed the gloves hanging on a nail and walked over to the battered truck, pulling herself up into the now familiar seat. She had to bite back a whimper as she watched him pull his t-shirt back on. "So uh… what are we feeding?"

Clark chuckled as he hopped into the driver's seat. "Cattle and chickens. It's easy, just cut the bag and pour it in the feeder."

--

Two hours later they came back to the farmhouse. Clark hopped out of the truck, still laughing. He leaned back against the grill of the truck holding his ribs. "Oh god… that was amazing!"

Lois climbed down from the passenger side, her formerly clean clothes now covered in mud (she hoped), feathers, and feed pellets. "Not… Funny," she stated through gritted teeth.

"It was from my point of view!" Clark doubled back over, laughing hard enough to almost bring him to his knees.

"Oh that is it farmboy!" Lois jumped up and onto Clark's back, her arms around his neck. She held on tightly, not letting go even when it felt like he was pitching forward.

Clark caught himself on the fencing around the house, still chuckling. He jumped suddenly when Lois licked her finger and stuck it in his ear. "Whoa whoa! No fair, no wet willies!"

"You didn't make any rules, so hah!"

Clark was trying to toss the filthy reporter off of his shoulders when they heard a throat clearing loudly. Looking up he saw Whitney standing on the porch with his arms crossed and the stare Clark knew he used on Kyle when the boy did something bad. "Look at the two of you. Grownups acting like this. Kyle would even tell you to act your age."

Lois kept up her hard edged attitude. "Watch it deputy, or I'm coming for you next!" She resumed trying to noogie Clark.

Whitney whistled sharply to get their attention back. "Number one, I don't think my wife would appriate it, but thanks for thinking of me. Number two, do I need to go get Mrs. Kent down here?"

Lois hopped off of him quickly, smoothing out her muddy clothing and grunting. "I'm going to take a shower. Again. Thanks a lot… SMALLVILLE!" She rushed past Whitney into the house, slamming the door behind her.

Clark watched her go, confusion on his face. "Is she blaming the town? Or was that aimed at me?"

Whitney scoffed. "Hell Clark, like I got the time to try to figure that woman out. She's all yours buddy."

Clark was about to respond when he heard a pop and a hiss. Turning around he saw steam coming from his truck and water pooling beneath it suddenly, a lot of water. He groaned, holding his face in both hands. "Not now, this is the last thing I need."

He walked over to pop the hood while Whitney came down and opened it up, stepping back quickly. "Whoa, bad news bossman. That's a cracked radiator, can tell that already."

Growling, Clark kicked the bumper of the truck hard… then watched it fall to the ground with a loud clunk. He took a deep breath, crossing his arms before looking over to Whitney. "I guess jumping off a bridge onto another vehicle isn't covered by that 'lifetime warranty' huh?"

Whitney laughed. "I thought you told everyone that it wasn't a bridge? Just a patio?"

Clark slammed the hood down. "It was over a road and high enough for a semi to go under, it was a damn bridge Whitney, call it what it was." He looked around the farm, trying to figure out what to do for transportation. There was his mom's car, but he didn't want to take away her transportation. He also wasn't fond of the fifteen year old Camry. He felt like he was in a sardine can when he had to use it back in high school. He suddenly smirked. "Give me a minute, I need to check with mom on something. You got time to help with a project?"

Whitney just shrugged. "Lana's got Kyle visiting Nell, it's either here or the station. And Billy's starting to wear on my nerves. He's so hyper about the big case we have going now." He shivered.

Clark chuckled. "Alright then. Get your truck and a tow strap ready," he tossed over his shoulder, jogging up to the house.

Whitney sighed as he walked to his truck. "So sure of himself, but that Kent charm doesn't always work on Kent women. He'll learn one day."

--

Lois walked downstairs after her long shower, finally feeling clean. She had seen Clark and Whitney were up to something from the bedroom window upstairs. Whitney towed something from a shed behind the house into the barn with his truck. "Don't even try to figure out what these people are up to Lois, it's like a bizarro world out here."

She came downstairs in time to see Mrs. Kent finishing up a plate of sandwiches. "Lois, would you mind taking these out to the boys? They haven't been in for a while now and it's past lunchtime." She held out the plate and a pitcher of lemonade.

Lois smiled at the sweet woman. "Not at all Mrs. Kent." She took the offered goods and made her way out towards the barn, hearing a radio going in the background. "Trace Adkins, whodathunk it?"

She had almost made it to the barn when she heard an engine rev loudly. Stopping in mid stride, she slowly stepped closer to the barn before something came barreling out of it, pulling a 360 in the driveway before pulling to a slanted stop in front of her. Clark pulled himself out of the driver's seat window, smiling. "Well Lois, what do you think?"

She hadn't even heard him. She was too busy staring at the machine he had obviously been working on.

Whitney slid out of the passenger's side window, slapping his hand on the roof of the car. "Well damn, I think she's actually speechless."

Clark laughed. "Make a note, this might not ever happen again." Clark slid the rest of the way out of the car and walked around to her, his arms crossed over his chest. "I take it you approve?"

She handed him the plate and pitcher, never looking away from the car. She ran her hand along the side, touching the deep blue paint. "1969? Am I right?"

Clark looked up at Whitney, impressed. "She's got a good eye."

Lois walked all around the car, entranced. "Where did you get this?"

"It was my dad's. We'd work on it here and there, but it sort of fell to the wayside when he passed. I'd take it out now and then, but mom wasn't big on driving it. She said it had too much power."

Lois scoffed. "A 1969 Dodge Charger with too much power? There's no such thing. This is gorgeous."

Whitney came over and snatched a sandwich from the plate. "Well, since the truck's radiator bit the big one, this is what Clark is gonna be driving for a while."

Lois looked up at the sheriff. "Can we go for a ride? Please?"

Clark's jaw dropped and he turned to Whitney. "I save her life, I get sass. She hits me in my mom's house, I get attitude. She finds out I have a classic car, I get manners. What is up with this woman?"

Whitney just chuckled as he took the lemonade and the rest of the sandwiches. "Like I said bossman, that's all yours to figure out. You two kids play nice now."

--

Clark drove down the dirt road, listening to the radio and glancing over at Lois. She was leaned against the passenger door with her legs stretched out up on the seat and her arms draped over the door and headrest. "That's not the safest way to ride you know."

Lois just chuckled. "Come on, this is the perfect way to cruise in a classic Charger out in the middle of nowhere. Besides, I've seen you drive in the most messed up situations ever, I think you can take care of me out here too."

Clark smiled. "Careful, that almost sounded like a compliment." He leaned back and stretched his arm over the top of the seat too, his fingers brushing hers. With a mumbled apology, he pulled back a bit.

Lois pulled her knees up against her chest and watched him as he drove. Gone was the uptight Sheriff who was always on the lookout for danger and bad guys. This just looked like a country boy who was having fun. He drove with an easy grace, moving over the back roads smoothly from the years of experience racing down them she guessed. "You look… happy."

He glanced back to her, still smirking. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Lois shrugged. "I don't know. There's a conspiracy out there in your town that got one of your friends in trouble, apparently we can't really trust the city cops since this looks like it's an inside job, and you're stuck on babysitting duty with someone who annoys you. Take your pick."

Clark opened his mouth but didn't say anything. He slowly pulled off the road and drove up onto a hill overlooking a pond surrounded by trees. Shutting the car off, he turned to her. "Well first off, yea I am pissed off about what happened to Eric but I'm gonna figure that out. And the issue with the Metropolis PD has me worried, but if it gets too bad I'll get Turpin a stool so we can finally have a real face to face argument." He smiled when she snorted at that. "And lastly, you don't really annoy me. You're just… different." He looked at her, studying her for a moment.

Lois looked skeptical. "Different? That's the best you got?"

He chuckled. "Look, it's hard to find different out here. Smallville is a pretty plain town. The occasional pot bust and drunken idiot with a firearm, but that's almost normal nowadays. But you… there's no easy way to describe you Lois. You're loud, outspoken, you have a fiery temper, and you don't apologize for it. That's refreshing to see."

She tried to keep her smile from growing too wide. "Careful there Sheriff, someone might think you were trying to woo lil' ole me." She batted her eyelashes in an exaggerated way.

Clark laughed loudly. "Oh, so wooing you only takes a classic muscle car and some sweet talking?"

"The car was definitely a step in the right direction." She winked at him to throw in an extra little tease.

Clark rubbed his chin. "I see. So…" he slid closer across the seat, determined to play her own little game just as well as she did. "Since I'm off to such a good start, what would be the next step?"

Lois looked surprised at his forwardness. Was Smallville stepping up here? "Oh Sheriff Kent, I don't think you could handle me if you caught me."

"Technically I've already caught you a few times Miss Lane."

Jutting her chin out, she shifted in the seat so she was on her knees, sitting closer to him. "Well, if you're so sure of yourself, what do you think the next step would be?"

Clark was ready to send the snark right back at her, but he couldn't. He looked at her… deep, beautiful eyes… pouty full lips… slightly messy but very cute hair… "God you're beautiful."

Lois was taken aback. She didn't know where that came from, but she liked it. "What… why did you say that?"

"Because it's true." His hand slid up to cup her face, his thumb tracing along her cheek.

She shivered. His hand was big, his skin rough and calloused from years of hard work, but she didn't care. She bit her lip and finally opened her eyes, looking back up at him. "Clark…"

He leaned in toward her, his eyes slipping shut.

She closed hers again, heavy breath rushing through her.

"Sheriff Kent? You out there Clark, it's Whitney, come on."

They both stopped short, opening their eyes again. Clark licked his lips before looking over at the radio clipped to the sun visor. "I… I should check on what he needs."

Lois nodded quickly, scooting back against the door. "Of course, go ahead."

Clark pulled the radio down with a growl and keyed it up. "Clark here, go ahead Whitney."

"Hey bossman, just got news from the Metropolis PD."

Clark grunted. "Lemme guess, an angry guy, sounded like he belonged on the lollipop guild?"

"Huh? Not sure what that's supposed to mean, but no. Said her name was Sawyer, Captain Sawyer."

Clark looked over at Lois, seeing the shock on her face too. "Clark, if the Captain herself is calling you, I think she's trying to reach out."

He nodded. "What'd she have to say Whitney?"

"She said she had news on the case. They found Eric's car at the Daily Planet parking structure."

--

After running back to his mom's house to change into his work attire, and arguing with Lois about why she needed to stay here, Clark was finally on the road to Metropolis. As he got closer he was swept up in thinking about what almost happened there with Lois. He rubbed his hand over his face and sighed. "What the hell is going on with me? She's… she's not the type of girl I go for. Of course that hasn't exactly worked in the past three decades, has it Clark? NO!"

He muttered to himself until he pulled into the parking structure, checking in with the man at the gate and finding out where to go. He found the car up on the third level with several members of the MPD around it. He walked over and found Captain Sawyer. "Thanks for the heads up ma'am."

She nodded. "We haven't been able to find anything out of the ordinary in the vehicle, just basic stuff like registration, insurance and a bag with some high school science books."

Clark sighed. "Yea, he taught geology at the high school. Was there anything that looked like a sample? Our lead said he found something out of the ordinary and was trying to get it looked into."

Captain Sawyer shook her head. "We haven't found anything, sorry. I did look into the SUV, and you were right. The VIN number came back matching one registered to our department. But the paperwork came through the day after the fire showing that it had been stolen a week earlier from the station garage."

Clark looked at her skeptically. "Stolen from the police garage? And the paperwork happened to come through the next day?"

She sighed. "It was dated the week before. I agree that it looks suspicious, but honestly in a city this size, I can't rule out that inter-departmental paperwork could have taken a back burner and not been pushed through on a normal timeline."

Pulling his cap off, Clark brushed his hand through his hair. "I'm guessing Turpin loved it when he found that out."

"Detective Turpin is a good cop. He's just… very emotional. You called his men, his friends into question."

"Well I'm sorry, but I get tired of people calling my ability to do my job into question because I'm Sheriff in a small town. That doesn't mean I can't get the work done. And I'll prove that to anyone who tries to say otherwise. Warn your 'good cop' about that, would you?" Clark walked over to the car and pulled the door open, leaning in. He went through the glove compartment and console, not finding anything, just like Sawyer said. Giving up after a while he shut the car and walked back over to her. "I have to pick up some of Miss Lane's files while I'm here, but would you keep me posted on anything you find?"

Captain Sawyer nodded. "I am sorry about your friend Sheriff Kent. I'll do anything I can to help you here."

He nodded as he walked off, heading for Lois' floor. Grabbing a box from the supply room where he was directed, he went to the drawer she mentioned and started pulling the files she listed for him, along with several discs. Finally getting all of them, he stood up and was heading back for the elevator when something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.

Listening to his gut, Clark followed the mystery over to the copy room and looked through the window. He saw someone inside but the blinds were obscuring the view. Setting the box down he opened the door to find… "ERIC?!"

The man in question jumped and turned around, his eyes wide. "Whoa, you scared me there big guy. Who are you looking for?"

Clark walked into the room, staring at the shorter man in front of him. He had on a baggy button up shirt with a camera strapped around his neck. "You're… you're Eric Summers."

The man shook his head, giving Clark a confused looking smile. "Sorry, but you've got me mistaken for someone else there man. Henry James Olsen. But most people call me Jimmy."

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