A/N: This chapter wouldn't be so great without the help of llk6165 and carito_2p, thank you very much.
Chapter 7: Queen
September 2007
It has been five months since Lois had stayed at Oliver's Mansion in Star City. She had been in and out of the hospital, three separate time in just a month each lasting anywhere from two to four days. The first trimester of her pregnancy was the most difficult.
As the doctor had ordered bed rest, Lois had stopped working at The Inquisitor but managed to send some articles to The Daily Planet. The time was well spent for her and helped Lois from feeling too dependent on Oliver. Although he had insisted she allow him to help her, she also insisted on paying him back once she was back to work. Knowing Lois' stubborn disposition he realized he would never win the battle and agreed.
Oliver had hired a private nurse to take care of Lois while she was on bed rest. Lois's belly grew bigger with each passing day. The General became angry when he learned of the pregnancy and wrote it off as yet another part of her rebellion against him. His reaction and lack of support made Lois feel like she had failed him – again.
Then Clark left without a word. Lois had no idea why he left so suddenly but thought; perhaps he left to find Lana. Lois told herself that, whatever his reasons were, she did not care. Unfortunately, she did not do a very good job convincing herself. The wounds were recent and his sudden disappearance hurt. Lois had no idea when her heart would heal or if it would ever heal at all.
To add to the stress, Lois almost lost her baby. Each day, she thanked God her baby was ok. The pregnancy and the thought of being a mother was the only thing keeping her sane. When she was 20 weeks pregnant, Lois had a routine ultrasound and learned she was having a baby girl.
Lois smiled at the thought of tying ribbons in her baby girl's hair and buying her pink dresses. Lois vowed to give her baby the best education in the world and support her in whatever she wanted in her life. "I will give her all the love she ever needed," she promised. "I will never leave her side."
The creaking of the door interrupted Lois's thoughts. She looked up and saw one of the two constants in her life.
"Good evening Lois," Oliver greeted her with a gorgeous smile - the kind that used to make her knees weak.
"Good evening Ollie, how's your meeting?" she asked.
He sat beside her on the couch. "There's nothing new. How about you? You still look sexy and vibrant despite even if you're in your last trimester."
"Fine," Lois said. She gave him a teasing glance, "Don't say those words to me. Maybe I'll stay pregnant all the days of my life. You're still the arrogant, pretty boy billionaire I knew."
"Ouch! Why don't you just stick to the pretty boy adjective?" Oliver joked back knowing not to take Lois' comments too personally.
"You bet." she laughed. Then, she felt something, and her eyes became as wide with amazement.
"Lois, what happened? Anything hurt?"
"No, the baby's kicking." Tears suddenly filled her eyes. Oliver offered her tissue, which she accepted. "Thanks," she smiled appreciatively.
"Ah Lois, may I?" Oliver asked hesitantly.
She looked at him, her smile widening. "Sure."
Lois took Oliver's hand and placed it over her belly where the baby moved. "I can feel her, Lois." Oliver said, excitement and awe in his voice. She's moving. She's a very active girl like her Mom."
"Thank you Ollie." Lois said wistfully her thoughts on another man.
'I don't know what's wrong with me,' she thought to herself. 'Why am I thinking of him instead of Ollie. He left; Ollie's been by my side the entire time, except that - I really miss him.'
Lois thought about how it would have been to have Clark at her side during this time for all the special moments, for every 'first' – the first kick, first smile, first step, first word. She tried to accept the fact that he wouldn't be there - not even for a day.
Lois looked back to Oliver who was staring at her longingly. He leaned in for a kiss. She let him to touch her lips with his, but when he wanted to deepen it, she pulled back to stop him. She couldn't; he wasn't Clark.
"I'm sorry, Ollie."
"No Lois, it's my fault. I'm sorry." He stood and held his forehead.
"No, it's my fault too." She answered.
They were silent for a minute, both confused with the situation.
"I better go; I think you need some rest," Oliver finally said. Then, he turned and walked away.
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Although, Lois had difficulty walking around, she managed to go make her way to the bar inside the Queen's Mansion where she found Oliver.
"Mr. Queen, I think there's always a reason someone drinks without a companion. Maybe we should talk about it." Lois said.
He laughed a little. "I really wanted to ask you for a drink, but we don't want to turn baby girl into alcoholic before she's even born."
Lois chuckled. Then the pair fell into another awkward silence. Lois had things she needed to tell Oliver, she just didn't know how. For the past months, Oliver had been a supportive friend and a good companion. Every night he heard her cries and simply held her until she shed her last tear for the night. He was there every time she was in the hospital or at the doctor's office. And during those times when she got sick, he was there to rub back and ease the pain.
Neither one of them imagined that he would be the one that was always be there for her, no matter what. When they were in a relationship, his work kept him away, but since learning about the pregnancy, he changed. Now, he was there for her, in whatever way she needed.
Why now? Lois wondered. Why did he wait until after someone else already captured her heart? It was too late. Not knowing how to say what she wanted to say she finally said, "I need to go to sleep. Don't drink too much, okay. Goodnight Ollie."
"Goodnight Lois."
Lois could not fall asleep. When she finally dozed off the sound of a piano woke her. She followed the sound to the music hall, and looked in quietly so as not to be discovered. She was surprised at the sight – Oliver playing the piano and singing. Moved by the sadness in his voice, Lois I listened very carefully.
There
I was As my love is stronger than before Maybe, it's wrong to say please love me too I
believed what you said to me But my love is stronger than before Maybe, it's wrong to say please love me too (Instrumental) Maybe,
it's wrong to say please love me too
Waiting for a chance
Hoping that you'll understand
The
things I wanna say
I
wanna see you more and more
But you closed your door
Why don't
you try
To open up your heart
I won't take so much of your
time
'Cause I
know you'll never do
Somebody else is waiting there inside for
you
Maybe it's wrong to love you more each day
'Cause I know
he's here to stay
But I know to whom you should belong
We should set each other free
That's
how you want it to be
I
wanna see you more and more
But you closed your door
Why don't
you try to open up your heart
I won't take so much of your
time
'Cause I
know you'll never do
Somebody else is waiting there inside for
you
Maybe it's wrong to love you more each day
'Cause I know
he's here to stay
But my love is strong
I don't know if this is
wrong
But I know to whom you should belong
'Cause I know you'll never
do
Somebody else is waiting there inside for you
Maybe it's
wrong to love you more each day
'Cause I know he's here to
stay
But my love is strong
I don't know if this is wrong
But
I know to whom you should belong
Lois stood undetected as she thought of the words she knew she should speak, 'You wouldn't have to feel this kind of loneliness if my heart chose to love you back. It's not fair, isn't it? I'm waiting for someone who walked away from me and never said goodbye. You're right here, offering your whole heart to me and giving your two shoulders to lean on, but still my heart and soul wants to be with someone else.' Although Lois wanted to say those words to Oliver, she remained silent. She might never saw his face from where she stood, she finally comprehended, what he needed to say for a very long time.
By morning, it seemed as if nothing happened the prior night. Lois and Oliver ate breakfast together enjoying each other's company and sharing light conversation.
Later that morning, Lois' water broke. "This can't be happening, I'm only seven months along," Lois thought. "My baby girl is too young to see the real world. At least not yet." Lois felt a searing pain cut through her – a pain so intense, she felt herself losing consciousness. She heard Oliver calling her name just before darkness totally consumed her.
Lois slowly woke up not quite sure if she was still alive. "Am I in heaven?" she wondered. She felt as if she had slept a lifetime. She looked up and saw her knight in shining armor smiling at her. "Smallville," she smiled weakly.
His smile faded as soon as he heard what she said. She fell silent as she gazed at the dark circles around his eyes. "Lois, it's Ollie. How are you?"
"I'm fine - I guess?"
"Lois, can I ask you something?"
Lois nodded.
"He's the father. Isn't he?" Oliver asked, although he already knew the answer.
Lois looked at Oliver and sighed. "Yes, she's Clarks."
"Now, I understand." Sadness filled his voice.
"I'm so sorry."
"Don't be."
"I have to, because I keep on hurting you even though I don't want to. And despite everything you're always there for me."
He smiled bitterly. "That's okay Lois… We cannot choose who to love. Love chooses us. There's no love that comes with pain-free guarantee. We simply have to accept that getting hurt will always be part of loving someone. It is a given fact that we cannot change… And besides… You're my friend. And I'm okay with that." Sparks of tears filled his eyes.
Lois placed her hand on her belly – something was different. "Where's my baby girl?"
Oliver looked down at her. He was quiet for a moment. Taking a breath, he finally said, "Lois, the baby is weak… She needs to stay inside the incubator."
A silent tears ran down Lois's eyes. "May I see her?"
"Let me find the doctor," Oliver stood up from the chair, but Lois grabbed his arm. "Thank you," she whispered.
Oliver reached down and gave Lois' hand a little squeeze. "You're always welcome." Oliver left momentarily. When he returned he helped Lois get into a wheel chair and took her to the nursery. They stood before a large window looking at the rows of infants. A nurse pointed out a small infant in an incubator. "Here's the baby," she mouthed to them.
As Lois and Oliver looked at through the window, Chloe walked up and gave Lois a hug. As soon as Lois was safely at the hospital Oliver arranged for Chloe to fly into Star City from Smallville.
"Lois I named her Lovell Joanne as you wished." Chloe said.
"Thanks Chlo."
As Lois looked at her daughter, she felt intimidated and frightened by all the tubes and valves placed on her daughter's small body. Even though Lois could see her daughter's heartbeat on the monitor, she looked frail.
"Chlo, she's so small." Lois whispered.
"She'll grow," Chloe said reassuringly. Then she added, "She's very pretty."
Lois tried to convince herself that everything would be okay by whispering words of encouragement to her little one through the glass barrier between them. "You are a fighter LJ, you're going to survive. Mommy's here." Lois said. "Aunt Chloe and Uncle Oliver are here too."
-------------------------------------------
Three months later…
"Go… Go… Go… Double time boys. We already monitored another set of frequency from the outer space."
"Sir, do we need to report it to NASA?"
"Not yet, we need to be sure."
-------------------------------------------
From a distant land, a tall blonde girl in her teens fell from the sky. She stood and looked around confused. She started walking down a road until a bright light appeared. It almost blinded her.
…Screeeeech
A man in his black three-piece suit emerged from the black Mercedes Benz.
"Miss are you okay?"
"I think so."
"Are you sure? What's your name?"
"I don't know."
A second older man got out of the car. "Master Bruce is the lady okay?" the older man asked.
"Alfred, I think she needs immediate medical attention. She can't remember her own name."
The girl looked at the S shield on her wristband, then up at the gentlemen in front of her before she passed out.
--------------------------------------------
Two out of three shooting stars fell in the cornfield. They wore black suits and bore devilish grins. Looking around the field, they found a cobra and killed it by shooting red laser beams from their eyes. Then, they soon discovered that they could fly and could run faster than they could have ever imagined..
"I love where you live Kal-el," said one of the men. "Here, I possess amazing powers. Based on my studies, you're still confused about your true heritage. Hah, human feelings have made you weak. I also discovered that you found a mate here. I will find her. Based on the book of knowledge, she will bear the heiress of the House of El." General Zod laughed together with Faora, his wife.
General Zod and Faora walked out of the cornfield and into the road. Upon seeing a car's headlights, they used their laser beams from their eyes to blast it off. They grinned at each other and flew away.
"Zod, we should try that hospital." Faora said. "The child of Kal-el may be there."
Zod and Faora landed in front of Smallville Medical Center and threw away all the cars on the parking lot.
"Come on Big Sis, we need to go inside. I want to see Mommy." A little girl ran into the hospital as fast as she could. She missed her mother who had been in there all day for dialysis.
"Wait Caroline! We need to wait for Daddy." Joschelle, the older of the two girls called out. Six years older than her 3-year old sister, Joschelle took her role as big sister seriously, and ran in after her baby sister.
The 3-year old kept running until she bumped onto something. She slowly looked up and stared at the weird-looking woman in front of her.
"Where's Kal-el? Are you Kal-el's daughter?"
The little girl shook her head with mouth's wide open.
"Carol---, hey let go of my sister!!!" Joschelle cried out.
Faora took Caroline and Joschelle by their hands.
"Faora, let go of those humans. Based on my calculations, the heiress is a new-born baby." Zod ordered. That's good we can kill her easily."
She released the young girls she was holding. "That means it won't be difficult for us to eradicate Kal-el's child." Faora answered. The two girls ran away.
Zod and Faora went inside the medical center and looked for Kal-el's daughter.
------------------------------------------------
Talon, two hours later…
"Hello Chloe! Where's Lois?" Oliver called and talked in a rapid tone.
"She's with Baby LJ, why?" Chloe puckered her brows.
"Listen Chloe, you need to get back to Star City now. I'm on my way to pick the three of you up."
"What?!?" Chloe asked confused. "Would you please explain it further?"
Oliver sighed and tried to gather his thoughts.
"My scientists discovered that three unidentified flying objects fell from the sky. Based on the pictures taken by my satellite, two of them fell in Smallville. Turn on the T.V. They're on the news, and they're looking for Kal-el's baby. Do you still have the kryptonite?"
"I don't have it. Clark has it. Maybe he left it in the barn." she answered truthfully.
"Oh, Sh-t! I have some in powdered form. I don't know if there's enough to kill them. I'll see in you in few minutes." Oliver cut the line.
Chloe watched the live newscast and cried out. "Lois!!!"
"Chloe, what's with the screaming?" Lois whispered. "Lovell's already sleeping."
"Lo, we need to go. I can't tell you all the details. We're running out of time."
"What?" Lois got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Lois, Oliver called," Chloe explained as she started to pack. "We need to get back to Star City now."
"What's the rush Chlo?" Lois asked even though she was already rushing around and helping Chloe to pack.
"Oliver's will be here in a few minutes."
They gathered up their bags, and Lois picked up LJ and went downstairs of The Talon where two strangers met them.
"That's Kal-el's baby!" Faora shouted.
Lois embraced her daughter and looked up at them.
"I don't know any Kal-el." Lois said, holding LJ tighter. "You got it all wrong. For your information, this is not his baby. This is my baby." She emphasized the words, my baby.
"You're the mate of Kal-el?" Zod confronted her.
"I don't know what are you talking about?"
"You carried his child and yet you expect me to believe you don't know him." He laughed in a disgusting way. "Give me that thing!" He yelled reaching for LJ. Lois and Chloe stepped back in shock. They tried not to let the strangers see how scared they were. LJ woke up from all the commotion and began to cry.
"Let them go!" Green Arrow appeared. "You will have to kill me first before you can take that child."
"Really? You're brave! You can't defeat me." Zod goaded him.
Zod attacked Green Arrow. The two struggled, but not for long. Blood flowed from Green Arrow's head. His dark glasses fell from his face to reveal his true identity. Oliver tried to shoot the intruders with his bow and arrow, but they were too fast and too strong. Zod shot laser beams from his eyes to melt the arrows. He grabbed Oliver and gave him a final crushing blow to the head.
"Hahaha! Human life is brittle. Go Faora! Get that woman and her child. She may rule the House of El!"
As the two aliens walked to Lois, Chloe went to Oliver to get the gun and Kryptonite powder.
"Lois, run!" Chloe cried out and tossed a gun to Lois. "Catch this" Go, I'll take good care of these aliens." Chloe threw the kryptonite powder at Faora killing her in a minute.
"Noooo!" They heard Zod yell out with a mixture of anguish and evil in his voice. "You'll pay for this Earth woman!!!"
Lois ran as fast as she could, "Shhh LJ, Mommy's here. We'll get through this." Her only thought was to save her little angel.
"Where are you going lady?"
"Lois, look out!"
The laser beam coming from the alien's eyes, hit Chloe in the chest.
"No, Chloe!!!" Lois pulled the trigger and the kryptonite bullet that passed through his heart killed him instantly.
"Chloe," Lois rushed to her cousin's side.
"Lois… Take good care Cuz," she whispered. "Don't worry," she coughed, "Clark will come back." Then she closed her eyes.
"Chloe…" Tears flowed from Lois' eyes.
Lois heard the sirens of police patrols, ambulances. Screams of terror echoed through her head. Chloe and Oliver were dead. She blinked past the tears and held LJ much closer to her heart.
Jimmy appeared and ran up to Lois. "Lois, Green Arrow is Oliver Q--…" He glanced at the woman lying in front of Lois who kneeled before her. "Oh my god, Chloe!"
o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o
TBC
A/N: This chapter includes the lyrics of the song Maybe by Neocolours (A Filipino Band).
I posted more than one chapter, so please leave your review for each chapter. Thanks.
