Clark tried to ignore the blaring sirens and focussed his hearing on signs of life. He could hear no human in for the ten miles surrounding the chemical plant. Most animal life had also wisely departed. Unless he could find some way to stop it, a toxic gas was about to explode out of main holding warehouse and poison everything in the immediate vicinity. It would then be blown by the easterly wind towards the small city thirty miles away, contaminating the soil and water on its way, and then slowly killing the half a million people who were still to be evacuated. From his knowledge of the substance being brewed in the soon to erupt tanks inside, those half a million wouldn't die easily or quickly. It could take anything from days to years. But though he had tried to persuade the officials there that they needed to take steps in case in failed to contain the incident, they hadn't listened. They didn't want him here and they didn't need him. The plant was safe and the people around it were safe.

If he made a mistake, a lot of people would die. But he was finding it difficult to focus his entire mind to the problem.

A Plan B. She'd been joking but the comment had stung.

He exhaled deeply, freezing the contents of the third tank. The first two he had been able to repair roughly by using materials from the roof and his heat vision to entomb the chemicals in several inches of metal. But the third's containment had degraded too far for him to have time for this unwieldy patch-up. Instead he was freezing the whole thing. Leaving it in situ wasn't an option, so after carefully examining his repair work a final time he picked up the final tank and flew through the now roofless warehouse and up into the stratosphere.

Flying always made him think of Lois. Even before he had taken her for her first flight with Superman, he had found himself associating this power with her. And with good reason. Up until a few years ago, he had experienced flight but he had never been able to consciously control it. Until she had been able to show him where he was going wrong. She had helped him unlock this last aspect of his Kryptonian biology without even realising.

The day he had learned how to fly he had once again woken up floating several feet above his bed. And once again he hadn't been able to prevent himself crashing down once he regained full awareness. He lay on his back bemoaning the fact that the only way he was going to damage his bed was by dreaming of a woman rather than actually being with one.

For almost seven days in a row he had been plagued by these fantasies of him and Lois together. It wasn't even as if all the dreams were x-rated, some were PG content-wise. But every moment of them seemed saturated with longing and desire, whether the two of them were talking in a Daily Planet scenario, or making out on Krypton with his grade-school teachers applauding behind them.

His dreams had also never caused him to sleep-fly this much. But then he had never dreamed about Lois like this, this much. The root of the problem was her lunch-date with Oliver the other week. Since Ollie had come back into town he had appeared renewed with fresh purpose. He'd spent the last two months in Gotham and had met some interesting people there he'd said. The kind of people that had persuaded him that despite his mistakes, he was still meant to be a hero. Though Clark had initially been glad to see his friend back, with an apparently renewed sense of purpose, he'd quickly discovered that the billionaire was also keen to revive other aspects of his life.

He was interested in Lois again. More than interested, Clark realised, he was still in love with her. He was unsure why the idea was bothering him so much. Lois and Oliver deserved happiness, and if they thought being together was the way to do it, he should be pleased for them. But instead he was furious. He was angry with Queen for presuming that he could stroll back into town, snap his fingers, and Lois would take him back. He'd had his chance with her. Twice. And it hadn't worked. Surely someone else deserved the chance to have a relationship with her. Besides, Lois needed someone who was more of a counterpoint to her. Someone who could be her partner, her team-mate.

She cared about Oliver, he knew that. Loved him even. But not like that, not anymore. Right?

He rolled over and buried his face in his pillow. He was going to have no peace from her, day or night it seemed. He was shocked at the intensity of his response to Oliver's pursuit of Lois. Yesterday he had almost set the bouquet he'd sent Lois aflame as she'd smiled at the card attached. The flowers had probably cost a fortune but Lois put no store by that. She cared about the gesture. About the card. The one that had made her smile, made her heart speed up a little.

And he had been steadfastedly ignoring Oliver since Lois had returned from that first lunch-date, with her always maintaining that it was nothing but a casual meeting. But he had seen how distracted she had been since then. Had noticed how she would pause as she was typing to stare at nothing. It had taken a lot of self-restraint to prevent him from running over to Oliver's office and demand he back off.

He was jealous. And the emotion stirred up in his dreams were making it all worse. Every day he had to watch Oliver trying to claw his way back into Lois' affections. Every night he was the one raising a smile to her lips, causing a blush to spread across her cheeks.

It had been almost eight weeks since he had kissed her and since then he had done nothing more. Lois and he were back where they had been again. He had managed to repair the damage caused by his absence following Jimmy's death. Why would he disturb the status quo by trying to change their relationship? Kissing her had been an instinctual response, one he wanted to be able to ignore. But it was getting to be too much. He didn't want to keep his distance from her anymore.

After a long, cold shower, and a quick stop off at a car accident and an attempted mugging, he arrived at the Planet to find Lois absent from her desk. A half-eaten muffin said she had been in and judging by the still warm contents of her coffee mug, she couldn't have gone far. He settled down on his chair and as he turned on his computer, he let his attention wander, the sounds of the building slowly rolling over him. The sound of Lois in full tilt caught his attention.

"…raw talent chief, and it's never going to be…"

And he remembered he was late for a meeting with Perry and Lois, a meeting that had clearly already started without him. It sounded like Lois was giving her new editor a piece of her mind about her status at the paper. After the poisoning story Lois had been convinced that the new editor was finally going to give her the recognition she deserved and assign her some big stories. But that hadn't happened. Although Perry had decided the two of them would make a good partnership, the only things they'd been working on recently had been run of the mill stories. Lois wanted something juicier and she intended to browbeat Perry until he gave it to her. He just had to reach her before she went from charming-persuasive to waterboarding-persuasive.

As he walked closer to the office he could hear Lois' slowly escalating loudness and not a peep from the chief. He knocked on his office door, and without waiting for an answer, walked in. Lois was already on her feet and Perry was leaning back in his chair, seeming quite unruffled.

Lois broke off to glare at him, her look saying both, 'Late, again? Really?' and 'What's the deal with your tie?' He adjusted his tie, realising he hadn't quite put his work outfit back on properly after rescuing a mugging victim. Lois was immaculately turned out of course, looking gorgeous in a dark red blouse and suit skirt, her long hair pulled away from her face. She was not being helpful. She'd been wearing the exact same outfit in his dream last night before asking for his help in removing it.

He'd been happy to assist.

He mumbled an apology to them both and sat down. Lois had been knocked off her stride by his arrival so Perry took the opportunity to cut in.

"Lane, the two of you are still learning the ropes, and this paper has some talented and experienced staff who are eager to get their new boss' attention. Now I admire your chutzpah and you landed a great story with the meteor rock gang. But your turn will come."

"Oh please, all due respect chief," and Clark winced, that phrase did not bode well, "but you're talking out of your ass."

"What Lois means to say is…" Clark added quickly but Lois turned towards him and said firmly,

"Exactly what I said. How can that article not convince you that there's something special there?" Clark glanced at the desk, where yesterday's edition was lying in front of their boss. "It's got everything a true reporter needs! It's smart, it's punchy, it's funny. Hell, it's even moving. That bit at the end, when that poor woman's talking about the memorial service for her children, Bitsy and Misty? That could make grown men weep. I even felt a little teary."

Perry was apparently confused. "Lois, it's a report on a dog show." Clark looked at her. She hadn't written a piece on the dog show.

"Exactly! They make me come out in rashes, and that woman was unhealthily attached to those schnauzers. But that article made me care. I'm not saying its perfect but there is raw talent there chief and you need to give it the stories it deserves." She was talking about his piece. She was talking about him. Lois shrugged slightly. "And maybe I'm not the right partner for him."

"What?" He was on his feet now, staring at with total shock. Where was all this coming from?

"Look Clark, I'm not going to apologise for looking after your best interests. And maybe this partnership won't work as well for you as it would for me. You let me take the lead too often because you're a nice guy, it's not fair on you." Though she sometimes rode rough-shod over his opinions, like having a meeting with their boss to talk about his career, as if she was his mother, she had the best intentions. The fact she was even up here, that she even thought he had potential, that she was fighting for him, was everything. Was she trying to protect him from herself? The idea of not working with her was unthinkable. She was not doing this.

"No. We're partners, and that's it," he said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at her return.

"Oh, so you think what you say, goes?"

"Yes."

"Newsflash, Smallville. Until I die and make you the boss, you are not the boss!"

"We are partners," he repeated.

Perry cleared his throat. "If the man who actually makes the decisions around here could get a word in…? Thank you. Now Lane, I don't want to hear anymore of this B.S. from you. You two are working together, end of. But you made one or two good points amongst your attempt at career suicide. If you want good stories, you have to fight for them. And I see you want to fight for them. Go and tell Torres that I want you on the embezzling story with the banker." Lois looked about to say something else but he said firmly, "Go." She nodded and left, casting once last irritated look over her shoulder at Clark.

He tried to avoid looking at Perry directly. Things had got just a little embarrassing and he wasn't sure what part was worse; looking like he needed Lois to fight his battles for him or arguing with her in their usual style in front of the editor. He hadn't realised how much the tension he was feeling around her had been getting to him. He had to try and control his reactions to her better.

"Clark, normally I would steer well clear of this. I'm your boss, not your nursemaid. But I owe you. So whatever your strategy is for dealing with your partnership, I'd pick a Plan B." Clark wasn't sure how to respond, so he simply nodded and waited for Perry to dismiss him. Once he got back to their desks he discovered she'd taken off, clearly not keen to talk to him. But it wasn't too hard to find her once he concentrated on the sound of her voice, her breathing, her heart. He wasn't sure when he had picked up this bloodhound trick with Lois and he didn't want to think about it too closely.

She was sitting in a diner two blocks away, picking at a pile of pancakes. Once she saw him enter she gave up on the attempt and slumped back in her seat. He settled in the cramped booth opposite her and she began to drum her nails on the table-top.

"Are you going to tell me what that was about? Apart from being really out of line." She bristled at his tone.

"I was trying to do you a favour. It's dog eat dog okay, and you're the adorable kitten. You need to get in the game Clark, or they'll walk all over you! Especially me."

"Adorable?" He said with some annoyance. Having Lois label him as cute and harmless would be frustrating at any time but given how things had changed between them, it was especially maddening now. He wanted to be able to show her he was far from ineffectual. "I can handle myself and I can handle you. But that doesn't matter right now. What were you talking about, ending our partnership?"

"Like I said, you'd be better off." She set her jaw and jabbed her fork into the food in front of her.

"Is this about Oliver?" She looked confused. "Now you're getting back with him, are you…"

"We're not getting back together," Lois cut in.

"Oh." A buoyant feeling was starting to fill his chest. Could he really still have a chance? Because that was what he wanted he understood. He wanted a chance with her. Up in Perry's office he had had a glimpse of it all crumbling away from him. Friendship was no longer enough, he couldn't pretend that it was. He couldn't pretend that he hadn't noticed she was beautiful, that the sound of her laugh eased the weight off his shoulders. Or that when he had kissed her all those weeks ago that he hadn't relished those brief moments of contact, or burned the feel of her in his arms and the taste of her lips into his mind.

"Right. Oh." She shovelled some food into her mouth half-heartedly. "Not that it's any of your business."

"What happened?" He asked gently. He didn't want to sound too pleased, especially since she might be devastated.

"He…he still…" She stared down at the limp pancakes and sighed. "I can't do it. I care about him, I do. I love him." Clark drew in a sharp breath, his fragile hope suddenly wavering but she spared him in the next moment. "But not like that. Not anymore. I thought that…but it's not right between us. I spoke to him last night and it wasn't easy. But it's the right thing."

"Is there someone else?" He asked, his voice a low murmur. She lifted her head to stare right back at him.

"What do you think Smallville?" He realised their knees were touching under the table. He didn't dare move in case she noticed, or had she already known? Did she realise they were both leaning over the table, her left hand almost touching his own? If he moved his finger just a few millimetres…or moved his mouth to her own…A strange prickling sensation was blooming all over his skin as he looked into her eyes.

Then he felt himself drift off the floor. In a panic he moved his legs and the spell was broken. Lois pulled away and picked up her purse, sliding out of the booth. He was now firmly back on the ground but the shock was evident all over his face. Unfortunately she had no way of knowing that his look of panic was to do with him achieving flight while he was awake for the first time in his life. From the look on her face, she read something quite different into his reaction.

"I guess I should have known," she said flatly, avoiding his eyes. "Don't come after me Kent, I don't want to speak to you."

She had walked out and he could only stare after her, his heart gripped with equal measures of joy and terror. After all these years, he had finally worked it out. And he wasn't sure if he meant Lois or flying.

--------------

Twelve hours later he had stood in the dark field beside the farmhouse and waited as Chloe walked over to him. She looked exhausted and annoyed but she had come when he'd asked. She always came when he asked her. He had deserted her when she had needed him the most but she still had faith in him. He didn't deserve the gift of her friendship. But tonight, maybe he could pay a little of that faith back.

"Clark, I have had the worst day. I've had no luck on the Kandorian front, I dropped my favourite earring down the sink and I have seriously overdosed on caffeine. Unless you're…"

"I have something to show you," he said.

"Okay, you kind of already said that. What is it? You look like…I don't know what you look like. You look crazy happy. You didn't ask Lois to marry you did you?" She asked wryly.

"Not exactly. Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do," she said uneasily. "What is it Clark, you're weirding me out. Come to think of it, you haven't been this chipper since you were butting heads on the football field."

"I promise not to drop you." He picked her up in his arms and Chloe let out a yelp.

"Okay, freaking me out a lot, what the hell are you doing?!"

"I did it Chloe!" He said, his voice sounding dazed even to his ears. "I finally did it!"

"Oh no," she said with dawning comprehension.

"Oh yes!" He laughed and flew twenty metres off the ground and then stopped, suspended in the air as the grass rustled below them. Chloe shrieked and grabbed hold of his shirt. Tearing her eyes away from the distant ground, she looked at him with amazement.

"You did it. You really, really did it. You did it!" And she let out a whoop of joy, before bursting out into laughter. "My best friend can fly!" She hugged him tight and he found himself joining in her laughter. As she calmed down she looked back down at the ground nervously. "You know Clark, I'm starting to get that whole fear of heights thing of yours. Could we, descend a little, maybe?" He smiled at her and landed, before letting her get back on her feet. "Wow. Wow." She let out a deep breath. "Wow."

"You said that already."

"I know. Wow."

Clark grinned, "It is pretty wow isn't it? You should see what it's like further up Chloe, you've never seen anything so beautiful." Chloe took a small step back.

"Maybe another day, let a girl adjust first."

"Of course." Her reaction was understandable but part of him was certain that the person he had first thought of calling would have wanted to see more, would have wanted to fly as high as she could. As soon as he had picked up the phone he had realised he couldn't call her, though he wanted to share this discovery with her instinctively. It was right that Chloe be here for this though. He owed her so much and she knew more than most what gaining this ability meant to him.

She deserved to share in this success. But despite all that, she wasn't the first person he had wanted to share it with.

"How did you do it? I didn't even know you were practising."

"I wasn't. At least, not awake." And he explained how he'd been dreaming and flying. And that today in the diner he had risen a few centimetres off the floor. Chloe pressed him for details, but overlooking his vague and embarrassed references to 'intense dreams'.

"I don't know how to explain it," he sighed, his blood still thrumming with the exhilaration he'd experienced since he'd come back home and realised he had finally claimed the most elusive power. The last few hours had been some of the most incredible of his life. He had never realised how fantastic it would be to fly. Why had Kara never told him? "When I concentrated on how I felt at that moment, I was able to do it."

"And what was this feeling?"

"It was like I…I was invincible."

"Clark, you are invincible."

"No, this was different. I felt really invincible. Like I could do anything, be anything. As if I could see the whole world falling into sync with me and everything was…perfect. I'm not explaining this very well."

"No, I think I'm getting the idea," she said gently, trying to hide a grin.

"But it wasn't just that. I also felt…this is stupid." She smiled encouragingly. "I felt safe. Does that make sense?"

"Like you were understood."

"Right."

"And this is what helped you fly?"

"Because I knew I could do it. And even if I didn't, it didn't matter. I wasn't afraid anymore." It all still sounded so unreal to him. He had been so afraid of failing for so long, how had being with her in that diner been able to banish those feelings?

"Jor-El always said it was because you wouldn't embrace being a Kryptonian," Chloe mused. "That you had to cut your ties to have full control over your abilities. But he had it all wrong."

"How do you mean?"

"It's your connection with a human that's allowed you to do this." She looked at him curiously "There was always something between you and her but I didn't think it would be like this."

"There's not…it's not like that between us," Clark said falteringly. She looked at him scornfully.

"Clark. Do you love her, or not? Because that moment you described, the incredible rush but also this stillness inside, I've felt that way before. When I was with him." Her eyes filled with tears but her voice was still steady. "And I felt I could be anything, do anything, as long as I could look at his face. But just being who I was was okay too because he was there beside me. That's how it is when you're with her, isn't it?" He nodded. "Then you need to stop pretending Clark. Do you love her, or not?" Her voice was sharper now.

And he had been able to give her an answer, at long last.

That day, when he learnt to fly, that was why she filled his thoughts whenever he rose above the clouds. As he ascended into the highest reaches of the atmosphere, he felt those same old sensations that he had described to his friend. Up here, with the Earth falling away beneath him and the power of the sun flooding him with strength, he felt it all again. Like a deep breath being held for one long moment.

Then he burst free of the planet's gravity and he began the long journey towards the sun. The chemicals could be safely disposed of there, the best option he could think of yet to get rid of some of the more dangerous substances. As he hurtled the tank towards the star, he found himself wondering if he could have prevented this damage by saying different things to her that night. He had flown to Metropolis after speaking with Chloe. He had knocked on her door, demanded she let him in. He had told her things he hadn't understood until only a few hours before. He had changed everything.

But he hadn't told her the wonderful thing she had done for him by almost touching his hand, by telling someone a story about a woman's dead pets had made her tear up. That one moment without fear she had given him had saved countless lives. Had saved her own.

No, he really hadn't done right by Lois. He watched as the metal object was pulled inexorably towards the firestorm of the sun's surface. He didn't know of any power in the galaxy that could stop its course now. He understood gravity well enough and he could defy it if he needed to. But some things weren't as easily resisted. It didn't matter how high or far he flew, eventually a greater force would pull him into her orbit.