Chapter 10

"Mum? Dad? Where are you two?" Christina called out as she returned to the fortress. She saw them walking hand in hand out of a little room. "Well I see you found the living quarters . . ." she chuckled, and then her face turned sour. "And we'll just pretend that nothing happened otherwise I may need therapy." She said smirking at them.

Clark and future Lois walked over to her shaking their heads and smiling at her. "So how did it go?" Clark inquired.

"As well as expected."

"What do you mean by that Christina?"

"It means Lana is still alive, unfortunately, and grandpa is in hospital but he is alive also. So . . . all in all it was a huge success. There is only one tiny thing I need to take care of before I take you back to your time." She said as she walked over to the console.

Clark and Lois watched as she rushed over to the console and put the blue crystal in her pocket. "What is it you need to take care of Christy? Can we help?" They saw that she was worried about something.

"You can talk to us Christina, we are your parents." Lois said as she approached her cautiously.

Christina stood there looking at them, debating whether she should tell them about Lionel and what she was going to use the crystal for. After a few minutes of silence she decided that her father and mother deserved to know.

"Dad . . . Lionel Luthor knows about you."

"What?"

"At the party, after grandpa was announced senator, he got a phone call on his mobile and I heard the conversation. It was Lionel Luthor. He told grandpa . . . that he wanted to meet with him, that he had something to show him. Then grandpa left the party, I went after him and at the hospital he had a heart attack . . . but they were able to save him. I let him know I was fine and now I'm here." She babbled nervously; wondering what they were going to say or do.

"Why was he at the hospital in the first place?" Lois inquired glancing at Christina.

Christina explained to them how she drugged Lana with sleeping pills and how she pretended to be hurt to keep Jonathan from going to the meeting with Lionel. They were stunned by what she told them. Lois on the other hand, was proud to know her daughter had the strength to do what it did to protect her family. Clark couldn't be any more proud of her.

"So after the police gave up looking for me, I walked to grandpa's room to see how he was."

"And how is he? Is he going to be alright?" Clark asked worried about his father. He already lost him once he didn't think he'd handle losing him again. Lois saw how worried he was so she embraced him and held him close to her.

Christina enjoyed seeing her parents so close, they always did have that strong connection. She remembered witnessing their past selves sharing the same look they were sharing now, in the hospital, and they weren't even together.

"Grandpa is going to be fine. His test results came back clear . . . but he has to keep calm. Don't worry dad, I came back to save him . . . not lose him again. Now I have to go take care of something." She was about to super speed away when she felt Clark's hand on her arm. "What is it dad?"

"I saw you put the crystal in your pocket . . . where are you going with it Christina?"

"I'm going to take care of a little problem." She said nervously.

"What problem . . . Christina? What exactly are you doing with that crystal?"

"Nothing really, it's just for safety," she lied.

"Christina?" Lois gave her a stern look. "I'm pretty sure your dad and I don't believe you."

"Fine . . . I'm going to go and use the crystal on Lionel. I'm going to erase everything he knows about you, and destroy any files he kept." She could see the worried looks on their faces. "Don't worry! I know how to use the crystal. I just don't want to send you two back with him knowing about you, it's too dangerous. Now . . . I really have to go." She didn't wait to hear a reply from them. She super sped out of the fortress, and headed back to Smallville.

"Clark . . . I'm worried about her." Lois said softly, leaning into his embrace.

"Me too Lo," he leant down and kissed the top of her head. She lifted her face up to look at him as he spoke. "But she's our daughter . . . I have faith in her."

"I do too Smallville." He leant down and they shared a tender kiss.

"Who are you?"

"No one you need to worry about Mr. Luthor," Christina said coyly. She pulled the crystal out of her pocket and pointed it at him. The blue light came out of the crystal and into Lionel's eyes. When she saw that he was in a trance like her dad was, she put the crystal back in her pocket and began the interrogation.

"Mr Luthor you will not remember anything that is said here. What do you know about Clark Kent?"

"That he is not from here. He is an alien with special powers. He comes from a planet called Krypton. He arrived in the first meteor shower." Christina stood there in shock as Lionel continued talking about her father. My god! He knows everything about dad . . . I have to make him forget. First I want to know what files he has on dad. Lionel was finished telling her everything he knew.

"How is it that you came to know all this about Clark Kent?"

"We were transferred into each other's bodies. He was me and I was him."

"Thank you Mr Luthor. Now I want to know what files you have on Clark . . . and where they are."

"Everything I have on Clark is in my room . . . upstairs."

Christina took off upstairs. When she entered she was shocked by what she saw. There were pieces of paper on the walls and they were covered with Kryptonian symbols. He knew way too much about her father and she had to make him forget. Using her super speed she gathered all the files into a bag to take back with her and took everything off the wall. Now to wipe his memory.

When she arrived downstairs he was still standing in the same spot not even moving. She stood for a few minutes remembering how to use the crystal properly. She held the crystal right in front of his face and let the blue light enter his eyes again . . . but this time longer. "Now when you wake up the last thing you will remember is congratulating Jonathan Kent for becoming the new senator." She said sternly.

Lionel nodded his head. She pulled the crystal out and once again, the blue light came out of his eyes and back into the crystal. She picked up the bag and super sped outside. Standing outside she heard Lex arrive, and the subsequent argument that followed when he realized that Lionel had just congratulated Jonathan. Satisfied that her father's secret and her family was safe she picked up the bag and super sped back to the fortress.

When she arrived at the fortress Clark and Lois were waiting for her. She dropped the bag in front of him and hugged him. Clark could feel her shaking; he knew she was nervous about something.

"What's wrong Christina? Why are you shaking?" he inquired worried about her. Lois walked over to them and pulled Christina into her arms.

"What is it what's wrong sweetie?" her heart was breaking for her daughter.

"I did something . . . that I'm not proud of. I don't even know if it worked anyway." Christina was trying to hold the tears in. she pointed to the black bag "that is everything that Lionel Luthor had on you dad. He knew a lot . . . he knew everything about you."

Clark and Lois emptied the bag and had a look at the files quickly. They were completely stunned at everything Lionel knew. "If Lex had got a hold of this . . ."

"But he didn't dad . . . now would you like me to burn it . . . or do you want to have the honour?" she asked pointing to the pile of files and papers.

"Why don't we do it together?" he chuckled.

They both looked at the pile, their eyes went red and the files caught on fire. Clark stood holding his two girls watching as the files burnt. "Now that's what I call working as a family." Lois said chuckling, and then the three of them burst out laughing. After the laughter died down Christina walked out of the embrace and faced them.

"It's time to take you back now. Are you ready?" she asked holding out her hand to them both.

"As ready as we'll ever be." Clark said smiling. Lois and Clark grasped her hand.

When they opened their eyes they were in the fortress. "Do you think it worked? The change, I mean?" Clark inquired looking around.

"Well there's only one way to know dad . . . race you both to the farm." Christina took off and was soon followed by Lois and Clark.

Christina, Lois and Clark arrived at the same time. "It all looks the same." Clark said looking around the barn.

"Yeah it does. Aunt Chloe's car is here and it's night time so I would say it worked." She said proudly. "Why don't you both go inside, I just want to know if it worked with Lionel." But Christina didn't have to wait long because walking towards them was Chloe Sullivan, Martha Kent and a fit and healthy looking Jonathan Kent. Christina hid inside the barn listening.

"Son! There you two are. We've been wondering what was taking you so long." He looked towards them and saw they had their arms around each other's waist.

"I'm glad you worked it all out. Now come on, I've got cookies and hot chocolate waiting inside." Martha said pointing towards the house.

"Yeah come on cuz." Chloe said trying to pull Lois towards the house.

Lois and Clark were shocked by everything that was happening. "Why don't you three go inside and we'll be in . . . in a minute."

Jonathan looked at them wearily. "Ok, but don't take too long." he said as he Martha and Chloe began to walk towards the house.

"Hey dad." Clark called for him.

Jonathan turned back around. "Yes son?"

"Just out of curiosity, how's Lionel Luthor?"

"Clark you know Lionel's been in Belle Reeve ever since he had that accident at the manor, are you sure you're alright son?" Jonathan was concerned as to why Clark was asking about any of the Luthors.

"Yeah . . . I'm alright dad, just wondering. Go inside we'll be in, in a minute." Jonathan looked at him for a few seconds, smiled and walked towards the house where Martha and Chloe were waiting on the porch.

Lois and Clark walked inside the barn and headed up to the loft where Christina was waiting for them. Lois saw she was crying, walked over and hugged her, Clark soon joined them.

"Well whatever you did to Lionel worked Christina." Clark said as they walked up the stairs of the loft. Lois saw that she was crying.

"What's wrong sweetie?" she asked tenderly.

"I have to go." Christina said sadly as she turned around to them.

Clark had tears in his eyes when she said that. Christina walked over and hugged them both. "Thank you Christina." Clark said still holding her.

"What for?"

"For showing me that I won't be alone. For what our future is going to be like."

"You're welcome mum and dad." Christina said hugging them again. "It's a shame you won't remember."

"What do you mean . . . won't remember?" Lois inquired.

"Well see once I use the crystal at the fortress and head back to my time, you won't remember me . . . your mind will be filled with memories of what happened after the past got changed. You won't remember anything about your life before, when grandpa died."

"But why can't we remember?" Lois said sadly. "I don't want to forget you."

"Don't worry mum . . . we'll see each other again." She embraced both of them and they held each other for a few minutes. She kissed them both on the cheek. "I love you both." Then she super sped back to the fortress where she once again used the crystal and was engulfed by the bright light.

Lois and Clark stood in the loft holding each other. "Thank you Clark . . . for trusting me with your secret." She looked into his eyes lovingly.

"Well I trust you Lois . . . I love you and I didn't want to go into this relationship with secrets." He smiled at her.

"I love you too and I promise you I'll keep your secret."

"I know you will." They leaned in towards each other and kissed passionately. They broke apart catching their breaths. "Now come on, didn't my mum say something about cookies and hot chocolate?" They walked down the loft stairs and towards the house, arms around each other's waist. Knowing that what they felt for one another was real and that they were soul mates.