Chapter Four

Clark was frustrated. He had been going through the footage from the Ace of Clubs for hours now and still wasn't any closer to finding the woman who had nearly killed Jimmy earlier that day. A woman from another planet, was going around killing men, trying to find her soul mate.

The story Lois had been too busy to work on had turned out to be more than either of them had first thought, which of course, had peaked Lois' interest. Chloe had informed Clark of what he needed to do to send this woman back to her planet but he just had to find her first.

In the back of his mind he registered that maybe he was the one person on this planet who could survive her killer kiss, and that maybe she would come looking for him. But how many people would have to die before she found him? He couldn't let that happen.

He had managed to shake Lois for most of the day, knowing that he didn't want her involved in this if it could be dangerous. As he sat in the bullpen of the Daily Planet scanning the footage, he thought of Lois, and wondered what she was doing. She was probably angry at him for blowing her off. But he knew that he could get more done on his own than with her at the moment. With the way she had been acting lately, he didn't want her anywhere near this.

He spotted Jimmy on the screen, talking at the bar with a red haired woman. Just as he was about to see her face, his screen went black along with the lights in the bullpen, casting him into darkness. He stood up and glanced around, he couldn't hear or see anything out of the ordinary. And then he heard her voice.

"Clark Kent. That's a strong name. I like it." He looked towards the stairs, but all he could see was the outline of her body.

"Who are you?" He asked, and the reply came from behind him. He turned around to see the woman who was actually quite beautiful, with long red hair and pale skin.

"I'm Maxima. You don't know how long I've searched for you."

Before he could say anything, she lunged forward, attaching her lips to his and oddly, he found himself unable to pull away from her. On some level he knew that it was just her kiss, he didn't really want to do this but it lured him in and he was powerless to stop it. He kissed her back, passionately before sweeping the entire contents of the desk next to him on the floor. He picked her up with ease and sat her down, without breaking their kiss.

She put a hand to his lips and said, breathlessly. "Not here."

He grinned at her and led her towards the elevator. Once inside her hands were all over him. He lifted her leg and wrapped it around his waist as she pushed him back against the wall with a loud crash. He was so lost in her kiss that he didn't even notice that doors open, or see the person standing on the other side until her voice broke through the fog in his brain.

"Smallville!" Slowly, he pulled back, still feeling her lips on his neck. But the allure was wearing off as he stared out into the hallway and straight into the very shocked eyes of Lois Lane.

"Lois?" He asked, his throat hoarse as he squinted against the light to see her better. She looked so shocked and if he didn't know her better, a little hurt. But he was sure he was imagining that.

"I'll take the stairs." And with that, she turned on her heel and was gone. Clark watched her for a moment, wondering how he had gotten into this mess and then he felt two hands grab his face.

"Let her go." Maxima said, her tone almost pleading. He swallowed hard, unable to get the look in Lois' eyes out of his mind. He had to make this right. Maxima leaned in again to kiss him but was shocked when he pulled back. Pushing her to the side, he raced out of the elevator and caught up with Lois.

"Lois! Lois, wait!"

"What!" She yelled, spinning around to face him.

Her eyes flitted down to his bare chest, and then as she looked up they connected with his and suddenly, there was a bright flash and she was transported back to the very first time they had met. He had been stark naked after being struck by lightening and he had amnesia. She had tried hard not to look but she was only human.

She found herself actually looking at him standing there again, the way his muscles flexed as he stood up. His broad chest glimmering in the head lights from her car, the way his hair blew in the breeze. Seriously, what was up with all the visions of Clark naked? The man was hot, yes she got it.

She had been speechless then and was even more so now as she watched the scene replay itself before her eyes. She remembered that she had wrapped him in a red blanket from the trunk of her car and taken him to the local hospital. He had watched her with such curiosity as she rambled away, whilst they had been waiting for a doctor to take a look at him.

"Lois!" His voice was calling her but she couldn't seem to pull herself away. There had to be a reason that she kept seeing these things. Other than showing her how buff Clark was underneath all those cloths, she couldn't think what else it could be.

"Lois, you're starting to worry me now…Lois!" Clark grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. She looked up at him, frowning, as she remembered where she was and what she had just seen.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his forehead creasing in concern.

"Oh sorry to rain on your orgy Smallville, I think I scared off your date." She said heatedly.

"Where'd she go?" He asked more to himself, as he looked back at the empty elevator.

"Probably to find you two a motel room."

"You don't understand."

"What's not to understand, you were pulling a nine and a half weeks in the elevator. I mean it may not get you a membership in the mile high club but hey, you gotta start somewhere!" She could tell that Clark didn't know what to make of her tone. She was getting very agitated and she didn't know why. Well, she knew why, she just wasn't willing to admit it, even to herself.

"Just calm down."

"I am calm, I am perfectly calm!" She yelled, poking him in the chest for emphasis. "Why wouldn't I be calm? Dial down the ego Smallville, I don't care what you do with your love life!" She stormed off, leaving him there with a stunned expression on his face.

Lois muttered to herself all the way to her car. She was angry, frustrated, but also a little embarrassed by her outburst towards Clark. Lois was by no means a jealous person, but seeing Clark kiss that woman, brought something out in her that she didn't want to analyse.

As she buckled herself in and turned on her headlights, something blurred into her line of sight. The woman from the elevator stood before her, looking very angry. Lois only had time to draw in a sharp breath before the woman grabbed her car and threw it across the street as if it were a football. It landed upside down on top of another car and Lois had to kick the glass to get out.

"I couldn't kill you in front of him." Her voice sounded very close and Lois looked up to see her standing in front of her. "But now that we're alone I'll make sure you'll never be able to take him away."

"Who, Smallville?" Lois asked, confused as to why this woman thought she was any kind of threat. "Look, I don't know who or what you are, but you got it all wrong, lady. There is nothing romantic between Lois and Clark."

"You have a deep connection to him. I felt it." Lois was surprised. A connection? Sure they were friends but…

"Then your radar's on the fritz. Cause even on a good day, we're barely friends." She said, hoping that she could throw this woman off course, if only long enough for her to get away. She knew that there was no chance she could take her, she had just thrown her car across the street for heaven's sake.

"He would never have been able to pull away from me if he wasn't drawn by his attraction to you." Attraction? Clark could never be attracted to her. Could he?

"Clark is about as attracted to me as a Red Sox fan to the Yankees."

"Oh he may not know it yet. But believe me there's a bond. And I could see it on your face when you caught us together, you feel it too." Lois opened her mouth to respond, but closed it again, unsure of what exactly to respond with.

"But I've finally found the man I've wanted all my life and you can't have him!"

Maxima moved towards her, raising her fist just as Lois shook herself free and stood up. She suddenly felt inexplicably angry, and even though she knew it was a stupid move, she raised her fists and said. "Bring it b***h!"

However before the woman could hit her, there was a whoosh of air, and the next thing Lois knew, she was staring at an empty pavement.

Clark slowed down as he rounded a corner, slamming Maxima hard into the wall. She laughed as he let go of her shoulders.

"Finally, a man with some fight in him. None of the men on my planet had the stamina to keep up."

Clark turned away from her. "Maybe you shouldn't have come on so strong."

"You didn't seem to mind, you came back for more." She smirked.

"I came back to stop you from killing Lois. What would you have done to her if I hadn't stopped you?" When he'd heard that Maxima had gone after Lois, he ran as fast as he could to get to her. He knew that Maxima would kill her, and he couldn't let that happen.

"I couldn't let her have you."

Clark frowned. "What do you mean 'have me'. What are you talking about? There's nothing going on with me and Lois."

"Maybe not right now. But Clark, I saw the way she looked at you. She has feelings for you. And I know that you have some for her too." Maxima moved closer to him, locking eyes with him.

"Lois is one of my best friends. Of course I care about her." He said, but Maxima's words were hard to ignore. Did Lois really have feelings for him? No, that was crazy. She couldn't have. She barely liked being called his friend.

"You're my soul mate Clark." She said, taking his hands and placing them on her hips.

"You don't even know who I am." He replied. This woman knew nothing about him.

"I know the loneliness of not finding your soul mate." He wasn't aware that he'd even been searching for a soul mate. He'd once thought that it was Lana. How wrong he'd been on that. For now he was just content to focus on his job at the Daily Planet and on helping people with his abilities.

"And when we kissed, I could sense that you were as desperate as I was to find a mate. You want me…as much as I want you." She murmured seductively.

"I don't want you." Clark said, knowing that what he was saying was true, but feeling that maybe she was right about him wanting someone to love.

"It's our destiny to be together Clark. Lois could never give you what I can. No one on this planet will be a better match. You come back with me, and you'll never have to be alone again." She smoothed her hands up his chest, resting lightly on his shoulders. He gripped her wrists, staring into her eyes.

"My destiny is here, and you're not a part of it." He grabbed her wrist, and twisted the bracelet, snapping it with his strength. Maxima kept a tight grip on his hand as a portal opened up to take her back to her home planet and with one last pleading look, she was gone.

Lois quietly made her way up the steps of the Kent barn and stopped. Clark was standing in front of the window, looking out at the sky. She tilted her head and studied him thoughtfully. What was it about him that she felt so attracted to? It wasn't just his looks, there was something inside him that seemed like it was calling out to her. She cleared her throat softly to get his attention and she got a warm feeling inside her chest when he turned around to face her.

"Hey Lois, what are you doing here?" He asked, clearly she had interrupted his thinking time. She paused for a moment, unsure as to why she had come here in the first place. But she knew she had to say something so she walked up the last few steps with a smile.

"You know, if you're worried about the editor taking away the story, buck up. It's not your fault. Metropolis PD says that, as far as they know, our big-haired bimbo has vanished off the face off the earth."

"I'm afraid this may not be the last we've seen of her." He replied.

"Hmm, well I'll be ready for her. The late-night game of bumper cars might have knocked the wind out of me, but one supercharged fembot can't put a serious dent in Lois lane."

Clark chuckled but his smile faded as he looked at her. "I'm sorry she hurt you Lois."

Lois felt herself freeze as he reached out and touched the small cut on her forehead, just under her hairline. His fingers felt so warm against her skin. She stood in silence for a moment as she looked into his deep blue eyes, how had she never noticed how blue they really were? She was starting to realise that there was a lot about Clark Kent that she had never realised before.

"You know she said some weird things to me." He muttered, dropping his hand back down to his side. With the moment broken, Lois was now able to think a little more clearly, which meant that she was worried as to how much Clark had heard.

"Really?" She asked nervously.

"She said she was my soul mate." He replied, but he looked as if he wanted to say more.

"I think you can do a little bit better than a man eating meteor freak." Clark chuckled again. It was a sound that Lois was beginning to like a lot.

"I know she's not the one. But it got me to thinking, what if my soul mate comes along and I'm too blind to see it?"

Lois didn't know why, but those words stung. It was a stupid reaction she knew, but she couldn't help but feel sad that he would never see her in that way. She would always be the annoying, self-opinionated, brash woman that he had come to know.

"I don't know Smallville, I think…that when the right girl walks into your life…you'll know."

He nodded and seemed satisfied with that answer. "What did Maxima say to you?"

"Nothing for the front page." She replied with a smile but if felt tight on her face. Maybe coming here to see him wasn't such a good idea.

"Well I gotta go." She said abruptly, turning to head back down the stairs. "I'm meeting with the realtor, finding my own place. Those lovebirds are so sweet, my teeth will rot if I don't move out."

"Hey Lois, you were right. This house is pretty big. If you want your old room back, it's yours."

Lois sighed inwardly. Didn't he have any idea just how cute he was right now? Secretly, she would love to move in at the farm again, but she didn't honestly think her nerves would be able to stand seeing Clark in such close proximity every day as well as working with him.

"Being housemates didn't work out for us the first time Smallville. Why tempt fate?" She smiled, threw him a wink and headed down the stairs.

Clark smiled to himself, feeling partly relieved that Lois hadn't taken his offer. But he couldn't help wondering about what Maxima had said. He thought about his relationship with Lois, and while he wouldn't want that to change, he found himself wondering if maybe, just maybe, he could have feelings other than friendship for her.