Chapter Seven
Lois came to, finding herself shackled to a chair in a darkly lit room. She shook her head, feeling dizzy and a little sick, the tranquiliser still only just wearing off.
"Where am I?" She wondered aloud.
"Ah, nice to see you've decided to join me Miss Lane." A voice came from the other side of the room. A man's voice but not one she recognised.
"Who are you? Where are you?" She struggled against her restraints, looking down at them with dread. They were solid. She was never getting out of here. No one knew she was here, Chloe was probably already dead, Jimmy too.
Clark was…Clark! He'd get her out of this. He had to. Even though she hated admitting it, he always had a knack of showing up just in the nick of time. Lois considered herself perfectly able to get herself out of any situation, after all, the General had trained her well.
But sometimes, she tended to get into things that were a little over her head. And if she was honest with herself, it felt good to know that Clark was there for her.
"I'm right here." He said and walked into her line of sight. He was dressed head to toe in black, his face covered by a mask.
"Where's my cousin?" She demanded. "I know you took her."
"Who was your cousin?" He asked and Lois felt the dread seep into her gut.
"Was?"
He shrugged. "Well, I can't be certain so a name would be helpful."
"Chloe Sullivan and her fiancé Jimmy Olsen." She growled.
"Ah, yes. I remember." He said, but offered no more information.
"Are they dead? Tell me right now!" She yelled.
"All in good time Miss Lane. We'll begin shortly." He walked back over to the other side of the room, and started fiddling around with something Lois couldn't see.
"Begin? Begin what?" She tried to pull her wrists free of the restraints but failed, only causing pain to her arms. She looked around again wildly, looking for an escape route but seeing none.
She thought of Clark, what was he doing right now? Was he out looking for her? She hoped he wouldn't be dragged into this mess. It had been her idea to pretend they were a couple and she didn't want him to get hurt because of that. But a part of her was wishing that he would come anyway.
Her head lolled back against the chair as she closed her eyes, her mind picturing the adorable look he'd had on his face when he had been taking care of her that morning. She didn't know whether it was the current circumstances or something else, but all of a sudden, the blinders had been lifted and she now saw with perfectly clarity, how she truly felt about Clark Kent.
He ran as fast as he could, back to Metropolis, back to the place they had visited earlier. He had known that their 'engagement' would ultimately end this way, nothing good could come of dangling yourself out in front of a killer but Lois had been so persistent, she was doing anything she could to find her cousin and Clark admired her for that.
She never failed to amaze him when it came to loyalty. She was fiercely protective of Chloe, and sometimes even of Clark himself. True, she often threw herself into things without really thinking of the consequences, but her heart was always in the right place. She'd had to take on the role of protector at an early age instead of being allowed to enjoy her childhood, and the rare glimpses he'd gotten into Lois' mind had left him feeling like he wanted to protect her for a change.
But now she had been taken, possibly hurt, by the man who had held Jimmy and Chloe captive. A million feelings rushed through Clark as he came to a halt outside the jewellery store he and Lois had been in earlier that day. He was scared, afraid that he wouldn't get to her in time.
But the one thing that kept standing out in his mind was the fact that he had left her alone, wandering the city when someone dangerous was out there. Chloe and Jimmy may have been released, but that didn't mean that Lois would be so lucky. He knew that she could take care of herself, but there were some things that even Lois Lane couldn't handle. He drew in a sharp breath and tuned his super hearing in, eventually hearing her voice.
"Tell me right now. What'd you do with my cousin?" It was weak, she sounded tired, emotional. He had to get to her…and fast.
"Where is she?" The words had barely left her mouth as Clark burst through the doors, debris flying everywhere. He paused at the top of the stairs, looking around.
"Lois!" Spotting her sitting in a chair down below, he rushed down to her. "Lois…" He struggled with the metal restraints on her wrists.
"Clark," She said, and Clark made a quick sweeping assessment of her. She'd been drugged but there were no obvious signs of injury. "Clark, you gotta find Chloe and Jimmy."
"He let them go. Listen I'm gonna get you out of here but you need to tell me…where is he?" Clark stumbled on his words as he felt that all too familiar pain hit his gut, sending his blood boiling. Kryptonite!
"Right behind you." He heard a man say, he turned to look but was quickly introduced to the business end of a rather heavy wrench. He fell to the floor, the pain from both the green kryptonite and the blow to his head, was too much.
"Clark!" Lois' voice was stricken with panic but he couldn't fight the darkness swooping up to pull him down.
Lois kept her eye on him the whole time he was unconscious. The man had strapped him to a chair identical to the one she was in, and left him while he went back to doing whatever it was he was doing. Probably sharpening his weapons, Lois thought.
"Clark!" She whispered harshly. He'd been out for a while and it was starting to freak her out. She'd never seen him so…weak before. He always seemed so strong, so resilient, that it was a bit of a shock to see him like this.
"Clark, wake up!" Slowly, he started coming round and she breathed a sigh of relief as his heavy eyes looked up into hers. He had a pretty nasty gash on his forehead and he looked as if he were about to throw up. But otherwise, he seemed okay. She cursed herself for getting them into this. When was she going to learn?
Clark took a look around the room, his eyes slowly landing on their captor.
"I know who you are." He shouted. Lois turned her head, watching as the man took his mask off and turned to face them.
"Then I suppose I won't be needing this." He dropped it to the floor. "Now that we're all acquainted. Let's begin."
Lois recognised him. The man from the jewellery store. "What's the point? Now that we've seen your face, you're gonna kill us anyway."
He turned back to his machine and started cranking something. Lois heard the electricity zapping and felt her stomach drop. He was going to kill them both and there was nothing she could do to stop him.
"Don't be so certain." He replied. "You must really care about her…storming in here like that. Very gallant of you." Lois' eyes flew to Clark, he glanced at her, the pain etched into every line of his face, and then back at the man.
"Yeah he's stupid that way."
"Let her go."
"After her turn you'll get yours." The man dragged the machine and a chair around to where they were sitting and took a seat.
"My turn? What is this some kind of game?"
"No. No, it's a test, to reveal how much you two have been hiding from one another." Lois looked at Clark, she was now officially worried. She didn't want the truth to come out. Not here, not like this. "If you pass, you'll want to invite me to your wedding. If you fail... well, the guest list will be the least of your worries. Ladies first." Lois heard a click, and the sound of the machine powering up.
"Have you ever cheated on your fiancé?" Faced with the fact that she was now hooked up to a lie detector, Lois was suddenly very afraid. How on earth was she supposed to tell the truth about something when she knew that they weren't really a couple in the first place? She swallowed hard.
"Of course not, don't be ridiculous." She replied, her voice as unsteady as her nerves. And then…it all happened so fast. The man pressed a button, and suddenly, Clark was screaming as the electricity coursed through him.
"What are you doing? You're killing him!" She yelled. Abruptly, the man cut it off and stared at her.
"No! Your lies are."
"Okay, okay I'm sorry. I take it back then, just…don't hurt him again." Tears burned her eyes, clouding her vision. She looked at Clark, hoping that he was okay. He was breathing heavily, watching as the man cranked the machine up again.
"Killing us…" He said, weakly. "It won't take away the pain that pushed you here."
"I'm doing this for you."
"What?" Lois asked, confused. Why was he doing this to them?
"The broken hearted are the walking dead. Either way, I'm saving you both a lot of unnecessary pain."
"Okay crazy, here's the deal. We're not even really a couple…" She was shaking, but forced herself to get the words out. She didn't see Clark shake his head at her, warning her not to anger this man.
"So this twisted test, doesn't mean anything." Her voice broke as she spoke.
The man ignored her, and turned back with the device in his hand. "Deep down underneath it all. Do you love this man?" Panic set in, she looked at Clark who seemed to beginning to fade again.
He was still trying to catch his breath but he looked into her eyes as he spoke. "Tell the truth Lois. Don't out think it. Just tell the truth."
"Do you love him?" The man asked again. She closed her eyes, but the image of Clark was as fresh in her mind as it was in front of her eyes.
"Tell the truth." She couldn't say it. She didn't want him to know. But this whole situation had made one thing very clear to her. The feelings she'd been having, the visions that kept plaguing her, it all boiled down to one thing.
The man then moved forward, leaning over her. "Do…you…love…him?"
She looked away, unable to look at Clark as she let out a little sob. "Yes."
Clark shifted, expecting a blast to hit him, but nothing came. Nothing but silence. That meant…? Lois was telling the truth? No, that wasn't possible. But as he looked up at her, she refused to meet his gaze. Her silence was deafening. And he had no idea what to think. He wasn't given much time to ponder it however, as the man spoke up.
"And you?" He turned to Clark, and Clark froze. He was going to ask him the same thing. How could he answer without getting Lois killed? If he said yes, she would get electrocuted. If he said no, the man would kill them anyway because they didn't belong together. With the Kryptonite watch around his wrist, Clark was pretty much powerless to do anything at this point, but he couldn't give up.
"Do you love this woman?" He asked. Lois raised her head, her eyes unwillingly looking at him, expecting his answer. But this was Lois Lane. He didn't love her. He liked her, he knew something was changing in their relationship, it wasn't the same as it used to be. But he didn't love her.
"Answer the question. Do you love her?"
With a deep breath, Clark fixed the man with a cold stare, hating him for putting him in this position. But he had to answer, it was the only way they stood a chance of getting out of here.
"No." Clark couldn't be sure what with the Kryptonite making him weak, but he thought, just for a split second, he saw a look of such disappointment on her face before she closed her eyes and turned her head away.
And then he heard her scream. Thousands of volts shooting through her body as the lie detector needles scratched erratically on the paper.
"Stop! You're gonna kill her, STOP IT!" He yelled, rage filling him. As it stopped, Lois sank back in her chair, her eyes glazing over as she rolled her head around.
"Lois? Lois are you okay?" Silence. "LOIS! Answer me!"
"She'll be fine. Now, next question."
"I'm not answering anymore questions." Clark said fiercely.
He wasn't sure what had him rattled the most, the sight of seeing Lois unresponsive or the fact that he'd given what he'd thought was the true answer and yet, the lie detector hadn't thought so. It had to be faulty. Yeah, that was it. Lois wasn't in love with him and he was definitely not in love with her.
"Have you ever cheated on her?" He asked. Clark ignored him, focusing on Lois as she began to regain enough strength to lift her head. The man walked forward and leaned over his chair, placing his hands on the arm rests.
A fresh wave of pain hit Clark as the green k watch was brought closer, but he forced it down and then, with all the strength he could muster, shot his head forward, smashing his forehead into the guy's nose. He broke the watch off his wrist and tossed it down a nearby drain. As soon as it was gone, he felt his strength start to return.
Lois wasn't sure what had just happened, all she knew was she had never before felt such intense pain. It had taken her a few minutes to even be able to lift her own head. She looked around, wondering why steam had suddenly filled the room, and then she heard sounds of a struggle coming from her left.
"Lois." Her head snapped forward. He was standing right in front of her. Towering over her.
"Clark?" How had he…? What had happened?
She squinted her eyes, trying to see him better but all she got was a flash of white, blinding her for a second and then, she was in a different room. It looked like a lab of some kind. Chloe was lying in the centre, strapped down to a table, Sheriff Adams was standing next to her and Clark was…Oh my God.
Clark was standing over Chloe, holding up two giant steel pillars that had been about to fall on her. They had to weigh at least a tonne. How was he holding them up? She gasped as she watched him push them aside as if they weighed nothing. And then she heard her own voice. "Guess I shouldn't call you Smallville anymore."
"LOIS!" His anxious voice brought her back to their current predicament and she blinked rapidly. Her head felt like a sponge. He was kneeling in front of her. She noticed that the cuts on his face had disappeared.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm uh…I'm not sure." She said truthfully, aware of what had gone on here. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, afraid that, now he knew the truth, she would have to face it.
"Let's get you out of here." He said softly.
She rushed past the bullpen, sneaking a look inside to see that Clark was nowhere in sight. She shuffled over to the elevator and pressed the button, letting out a sigh of relief that she was home free.
"You're not avoiding me are you?" Damn, so close. She looked over her shoulder as he walked up to her, hands in his pockets, looking very handsome.
"Why would I be avoiding you? I was just out shopping for wedding gifts for Jimmy and Chloe."
"Oh, so you're finally on board with the happy couple?" He asked and she was grateful for the change of subject. She had spent the best part of last night, lying awake, thoughts of Clark running through her mind. Why hadn't he told her about his…abilities?
She didn't want to think about the incident with the lie detector so had grabbed onto the one thing that refused to leave her alone. Did he not trust her? What could be so bad about telling her? She thought they were friends.
It sure explained a heck of a lot, she had to admit. The sudden exits, the lame excuses he always came up with. The fact that he was always there, saving her. But more than that, she could see that even in his work clothes, Clark harnessed raw power. Those muscles were…and he was built so… Okay Lois, stop. This isn't getting you anywhere.
She didn't want to believe it, that Clark was different. But how else could she explain the vision? It was real. She knew that he had to be meteor infected, but all the infected people she'd ever come across were either crazy, or just cold enough to use their power for bad. But Clark was different, he was so…good. He'd never hurt anyone. So what was his story?
The elevator pinged and the doors opened. Lois moved to step inside but stopped as Clark moved ahead of her, holding the doors open for her with a smile that lit her up inside.
"In or out?" He asked.
"You know all things considered, stairs are better for cardio." She said, suddenly afraid to be confined in such a small space with him.
"Come on, statistically this is the safer way to travel."
Begrudgingly, she stepped inside. The silence was almost suffocating as they both stood there, looking anywhere but at each other.
"Clark…"
"Lois…" They both spoke at the same time. Clark smiled. "Sorry, go ahead."
"Since I'm not very good at ignoring the huge elephant in the corner, I think we need to talk."
"Talk?" He asked, his expression puzzled but she knew that he knew what she meant.
"About that test." She fell silent, uncomfortable and unsure of exactly how to proceed.
"Who would've thought that you were such a good liar, huh?" He said, clearly giving her an out. But the question was…did she want to take it? Could she go back to pretending she felt nothing for him? She didn't know.
"Well even though I'm a natural master of deception, I needed a little help. That machine was a piece of Kaiser-era junk."
He chuckled. "Well it did work the first time, you know, when you electrocuted me."
"Exactly. So while he was off playing game show host…" She said, thinking quickly and knowing that it was going to sound so false. "I slipped the sensor off my finger." She cringed at herself but she just wasn't ready to talk to him about the truth of what had happened. "Pretty crafty huh?"
Clark frowned. "So you weren't telling the truth?"
"Were you?" She countered, remembering that he'd been asked the same question and had said no. But she had still been electrocuted. Now, what in the heck did that mean? Was he lying? Did he in fact, love her? Nah, that was the most stupid thought she could've had. Clark Kent would never be interested in her, let alone be in love with her.
Get real Lois.
"I…" He paused, looking a little flustered.
"Relax Smallville." She said, punching him in the arm. "We do make a good team, but don't let our cover go to that big old head of yours."
He scoffed. "I didn't."
"Good." She replied, nonchalantly.
"Great."
The doors opened and Lois walked out, leaving him alone with his thoughts. She hadn't been telling the truth. She didn't love him after all. He'd spent most of last night, unable to sleep, thinking of everything that had been said. But she hadn't meant it and he didn't actually know whether to feel relieved or not.
He knew that it was probably a good thing, Lois and Clark just didn't sound right together. After all their years of being friends, it was impossible to be in love with her without knowing it. Right? Even on some subconscious level, he would surely know about it by now, working so closely with her. But then, why did the lie detector go off?
He looked up, watching her walk away from him, and as the doors closed, he thought.
Could I really be in love with Lois Lane?
TBC
