Here's the correct epilogue. There was a snafu, and the epilogue from my first AU was listed. Sorry bout that folks. Enjoy

Epilogue

Whitney carried Kyle through the halls of the Smallville Medical Center, his other arm wrapped around Lana's shoulders. Several days had passed since the rescue, leading to another round of arrests and a complete sweep of the staff at Billy's old prison, leading to the arrest of three planted "officers" that had been brought in under the fake Marcus' watch. Whitney had not been arrested after the rescue after a friend higher up in the government pulled some strings.

Things were going back to normal in the small town finally, and the Smallville Sheriff's Department was in the news for dealing another major blow to the Edge family crime syndicate.

"Daddy, when can Uncle Clark go fishing?"

Whitney just laughed. "As soon as he's feeling all better, we'll all go, how about that buddy?"

The boy gave him a strange look. "Even mommy and Aunt Lois?"

Lana gave her husband a look and he gulped. "That… that is completely up to them buddy. I'm not gonna be the one to tell Lois she can't go with us. Maybe you should try, you're still cute enough she won't take it out on you."

Lana slapped his arm. "Whitney Clarence Fordman, you will not use our child as a guinea pig to break bad news to Lois!"

"What? She's not gonna do anything to him, she loves the kid." Whitney shrugged. "Would you rather she kick my…" Lana's hand slapped over Whitney's mouth.

"I know you're happy your playmate is back, but don't push the goodwill mister."

Whitney licked her palm, sending Lana off looking for a Kleenex and using a few grown up words of her own.

Walking up to the door to Clark's room, Whitney set Kyle down and knocked quickly on the door before walking in… just in time to see Lois on the bed with Clark, catching up on some missed quality time. Fully clothed, thank heavens.

Lana walked in with them and saw the scene in front of her, dropping her cell phone in shock. The clatter finally snapped the two out of their trance and Lois scrambled off the bed quickly. "Hey you guys. Sorry, didn't hear the knock."

Kyle looked around at the adults. "Is Aunt Lois sick too? Why was she on the bed with Uncle Clark?"

Lana looked at Whitney, but he was too busy turning his back to the room and trying not to laugh out loud. Glancing at Clark, they noticed he too was trying to hold back his laughter. Lana sighed and stared up at the ceiling and Lois shook her head. "Boys."

Lois picked Kyle up and hugged him. "Just so you know sweety, you're the most mature guy I know. Never forget that, ok?"

Lana walked over and gave Clark a hug. "We'll take Kyle to the cafeteria for a snack and let you guys catch up." Kissing her husband's cheek, she walked out with the others.

Whitney stood by the door, trying not to smirk at the man in the hospital bed. "Sooo…"

Clark nodded. "Yup."

"Well… obviously that bullet didn't do too much damage downstairs."

"Whitney…"

"Hey, I'm just saying that's a good thing. It'd be pretty harsh if you ended up the Sheriff with a faulty trigger."

"Whitney."

"And I mean the rumors that would get around if you were always shooting blanks…"

"Whitney!"

The deputy fell into the chair by the bed, laughing. "Just giving you a hard time bossman. Calm down."

Clark sighed. Things were quiet for a few moments. "So uh, Lois said you were busy meeting with some of the higher ups after you came and got me out."

He nodded. "Yea, it was a little sticky legally, but it's all fine now."

Clark raised an eyebrow. "Just like that?"

Whitney shrugged. "I might have had a friend in the Bureau who vouched for me."

Clark looked surprised. "You know someone in the Fed?"

"Yea. Is that so shocking?"

"Well, yea it kinda is Whitney. You've never said anything about it before." Clark pushed himself to sit up a little higher in the bed, wincing at the pain in his leg. "No offense."

Whitney held his hand up. "Don't worry about it. It's just… one of those things I don't really talk about these days."

Clark picked up the tone Whitney used. "Yea. I know we've never talked about it, but… that's how you were able to find me wasn't it?"

Whitney nodded, not saying anything.

Clark crossed his arms, looking up at the TV and watching the sports report. He broke the silence. "You shouldn't have done that."

"If I didn't you wouldn't be sitting here Clark."

Taking a deep breath, Clark turned to face him. "You've never said what happened over there, and I've never asked. I do know what it did to you though Whitney. The shape you were in when you came back, that wasn't all just because of your leg or some pills. You were different. You were… dark. You shouldn't have gone back into that just because of me."

Whitney gave a dry chuckle. "Clark, it took the words of a very wise woman to make me realize that if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have anything right now. No family, no job… no son." He sat up, turning to face Clark. "So you look me in the eyes and tell me that I didn't owe it to you to do everything I could to help you."

Clark stared right back at him. "You don't owe me anything. This isn't a thing where we keep score Whitney, it's not like I helped you out, so you owe me something now. I helped you because you needed it. I saw my friend in pain, going down a bad road, and I helped. You had too much to lose!"

"So did you!"

Clark shrank back from the outburst. But Whitney wasn't done.

"You finally found her Clark. You found the woman who can put up with you, who can keep up with you and is as big a smartass as you are. None of us knew she existed, but she's downstairs right now. After all the shit that's happened, you found her. And I'm just supposed to stand back and let you both suffer because I'm afraid of my past? I beat it back once. And if I had to, I'd do it again. But the reason I moved on last time was you. You forced me to wake up and quit hiding."

Clark looked over at the door, then back to Whitney. "I still don't like it."

Whitney shrugged. "Good thing you don't have any sort of say in it then, because it's done. We're both here, we're alive, and we're both back with our families. And don't give me that 'stop saying that, we're just dating' shit. I saw what you disappearing did to Lois last week, and I know if it was reversed you'd have been just as torn up. So stop trying to be in charge and just accept that there are people willing to lay it all on the line for you Clark. Because we know you do it for us."

Clark rubbed a hand over his jaw. "Yea well, give me a couple more days and I'll be back at work. Then you have to do what I say."

Whitney cracked a smile. "Alright then. I just need to move some stuff out of your office."

Clark turned from the TV, staring wide eyed. "You're using my office?!"

"You weren't there, and we needed a planning area. Besides, it's a nice desk."

Clark shook his head and changed the channel. "Get kidnapped and people start using my office anytime they want. Dang."

Whitney just laughed and kicked his feet up on the edge of the bed. "Oh yea, you need to get something back from Lois."

The nurses just saw Whitney come barreling out of the room before he was chased out by Clark, using a crutch and only wearing the hospital gown. "You gave Lois what?! Come back here Whitney! Get back here! Do you know how hard it was to get that badge back after thirty minutes? She's had it a week now! Stop running you coward!"

--

Hope you enjoyed the story. I never planned on Whitney becoming as big a part as he did in the first story, but he kept growing and people kept commenting on him. So, I wanted to challenge myself and delve deeper into the character. Some might not have liked where it went, but personally I'm not a fan of one dimensional characters. So, I wanted to push myself with this one. And yes, there might not have been as much Clois as some of you wanted, but I'll make that up to you. I just wanted this story to push Whitney and let him stand out. Thank you for your support, and please remember, if you liked it or have any comments, feel free to review. It costs nothing. No hidden fees. I'm serious, try it out.