Previously:
Clark let out the breath he'd been holding and relaxed a little. Realizing he seemed like a madman, yet again, he thought some damage control might be in order. As he caught up with her at the gate, he said, softly, "sorry."
She looked at him, clearly confused.
"For getting so mad … not at you, of course … but …" he trailed off, not sure what else to say.
"Yeah, that was a little intense," she said, climbing the gate. He reached out to help her but she glared in his direction so he dropped his hand and began climbing the gate himself.
As they hopped down on the other side, she began trotting carefully toward the back of the building about 50 yards away. Clark stayed close behind her trying not to dwell on their previous exchange and focusing on the task at hand.
CHAPTER 4
Unbeknownst to everyone, at the very moment Lois and Clark were scaling the back fence of the Colby Plant, Lex was in his office at the mansion in the midst of a heated discussion with his head of security.
"I want more men stationed at the Colby plant."
"Yes, sir, I understand sir … it's just after the firings last week, I'll have to pull men from here to cover the plant."
"And why are you still standing here?"
The man nodded and left briskly.
At watchtower, Chloe had a sinking feeling, having just witnessed Lex's conversation with his security guard thanks to the video bug she'd had planted earlier in the day. She knew Lois and Clark were in for company. She quickly sent him a text.
Back at the plant, both Lois and Clark jumped a bit as Clark fumbled to pull the phone which had just chimed rather loudly from his pocket.
"Geez, Smallville, sneak around much?" Lois asked, glaring at him.
"Sorry," he mumbled, finally retrieving the phone.
"Who's calling you this late anyway? Girlfriend I don't know about?" She asked, hoping she didn't sound too interested.
"No," he choked out quickly, "it's just Chloe." He knew he was blushing; his face felt hot.
Looking at the text, he said "Lois, we've got to get out of here now."
"Not till we're done Smallville," she said, turning to walk away.
But he grabbed her arm to stop her and she spun toward him.
"No, Lois, we're done now. Chloe's got intel that security's on the way."
"I just want to…," she began squirming from his grip.
"No, Lois."
"Let go Smallville," she said through gritted teeth and he released her arm. "Leave if you want but I'm not going anywhere just yet."
"God Lois do you have to be so stubborn all the time?" He practically yelled. She froze before him again. His outbursts were becoming more frequent.
"I'm not being stubborn but I came here for a reason, and I'm not ready to give up yet." When he didn't say anything back to that, she continued, "Now, you coming?"
Trying to calm himself from the emotional roller coaster he seemed to ride around her, he sighed and said, "Do you ever not get what you want?"
"All the time," she said quietly before him and he was almost certain that her gaze traveled to his lips for a brief moment. But then as quickly as it happened (if it happened, he thought) she was walking away from him down a long corridor that opened into a much wider space.
The open area looked like the main assembly area of the old plant, with conveyor pulls across the ceiling in different directions leading across ceiling thresholds into rooms off the main area. It was pretty dark but Clark could see that all the rooms, which appeared to be old freezers, were open except one. Lois instinctively moved toward the closed door. After Lois tried the knob, though she figured it would be locked, Clark subtly attempted to use his x-ray vision to see inside the room. But no luck. That makes sense, he thought, old freezers were probably lead lined. That scared him a bit, not knowing but having a pretty good idea of what was on the other side that he was so willingly walking into.
As Lois fiddled with a hairpin in the lock, Clark became more and more uneasy. His super hearing picked up movement from across the wide expanse of the assembly area.
"Lois?" He whispered.
"Almost, Smallville."
"Lois, we need to go."
"Almost, Smallville."
Suddenly something was moving toward them with increasing speed. As it came into focus, Clark saw something rather large tied to the conveyor system. It looked like multiple bags of something, sand maybe, and they were heading straight for the door where Lois was fidgeting with the lock.
"Lois."
She kept fiddling
"Lois!"
He stepped between her and the object, which hit him clearly in the chest and hurt, knocking him forcefully backwards into Lois and through the door. Suddenly his insides screamed in agony. As he slid off Lois - oh god I fell on her, is she okay? - he rolled his eyes back to look at the green glow encompassing the room. He felt as though he was being stabbed repeatedly all over his body and he wanted to vomit but feared the movement would make his head explode.
He turned to see Lois lying beside him unconscious and he felt like he'd die right there. He must have caused her to hit the concrete floor with such force it knocked her out. And surely people would be coming. Whoever sent that careening into them would be standing over them any second. He had to get her out of there. He had to get them out of there.
Lois began to stir, hand to her head and moaning in pain. She opened her eyes and closed them several times staring at the ceiling.
"Lois?" He could barely speak.
She turned her head slowly to him still blinking exaggeratedly and was taken aback by his condition. She sat up quickly, grabbing her head again as a result but then said, "Clark, what's wrong?" She was leaning over him now and he was crying in agony.
"Go," he said weakly, "they're coming."
"I'm not leaving you. What happened? What's wrong?"
"I'm allergic. To the meteor rock. There's too much."
"What?!" She stared at him, what he said sinking in. Oh my god, he can't get up.
"Go," he said, trying to sound clearer and more certain.
"No," and she leaned toward him, wrapping her arms around him to try and help him up. God he's so big. "Clark, you're too heavy."
"Go," he said again.
"Shut up," she said, practically hitting herself in the face to wipe away the tears that were forming.
"Lois, please," he begged, "they're coming. You have to get out—"
She cut him off, grabbing both his shoulders, "No, Clark. Listen to me. Get up."
His face was soaked from tears and she was trying to keep it together.
"Get up Clark! Now!"
He kept his eyes on hers and began fighting through the pain to his knees, then she braced herself against him as he pulled to a standing position.
They began moving toward the door as quickly as possible and she said firmly, "We are walking out of here now." Then more softly, "Don't get all weak in the knees on me now."
How she could make him smile right now was beyond him but he felt the corners of his mouth curl.
As they moved out of the room and further back into the corridor, Clark felt his strength returning. He grabbed her hand firmly in his and they began running, only as fast as humanly possible, toward the exit. They never let go of each other until they reached the back gate, scaling it as quickly as they could.
They ran to Lois' car. As she started it, she asked, "What about your truck?", though she realized she didn't see it anywhere.
"Go" was all he said.