Smallville? Lois repeated to herself, unable to tear her eyes away from the image in front of her. Lois blinked, breaking her concentration and searched the image for Clark's familiar face. There – the picture was unbelievably bad quality and could really only see a dark head of hair and a dark coloured jacket, but the resemblance... Lois inched her face closer to the screen, as if that would help, but it only made the image worse. Lois straightened up and shook her head. It couldn't be Smallville, he was here when the quake took place, I saw him. "You're losing it, Lane." She muttered to herself. Of course that's not Clark. Clearly her coffee and sleep deprived state left her seeing the people she wanted to see... and yet she couldn't switch off the monitor. She was about to peer into the abyss of the fuzzy man's face once more when her cell phone made her jump out of her skin. Flicking it open, it was Chloe. "Hey Chlo, look I'm glad you called, I'm looking at something here I think you need to – "
"Lois," Chloe sniffled.
Lois could hear something was seriously wrong. "Chloe – what's wrong?"
"It's..." She sniffled once again, tears falling onto the phone. "It's Jimmy. He collapsed at home, while I was out. He was on the floor."
"Oh my god Chloe, is he..." Lois held her breath. Not now, not to Chloe, she prayed.
"He's – we're – back at the hospital. The Doctors are saying he's stable for now, but Lo..."
The uncertainty and fear permeated in Chloe's voice, and coupled with the heaves of deep breathes, Lois knew what she needed to do. "I'll be there in 20 minutes Chlo, just hold on."
Lois was just about to hang up, when Chloe added, "No, Lois, it's fine," She nodded as vehemently as she could manage to convince mostly herself. "That's not... I just – could you tell Clark. After Jimmy's family and... well, I'm sick of telling people."
Lois nodded. "I get it, totally. Just be with your man." She ended the call and switched off the monitor without even thinking, worrying about her cousin's husband, her cousin, trying not to think about the worst.

Chloe stood outside her husband's hospital room, taking a moment to breathe, reliving all her worries and fears. The doctors say he exasperated himself too much at home. She had concluded he was trying to get up from the bed that morning and collapsed instead. Chloe held back tears, trying to stay brave before entering in, maintaining a positive countenance. She sat in the chair beside him, holding his hand as delicately as she could, fearing that she might break him just by touching him in his fragile state. "Jimmy..." She breathed.
His eyes fluttered, at first while they were closed and then opened and settled on her face still stained with tears. "Hi." He smiled, and she had to laugh at his persistent good mood, even during times like this. He took a moment to look around. "What happened?"
"You collapsed." Her gaze unfailing.
Jimmy head relaxed back into the pillow, and smiled sheepishly. "Oh, sorry."
Chloe smiled and hung her head in his arm. Still the same Jimmy; that he could make her smile through all of it, through everything, made her love him so much more. "You've got to stop doing this to me." Chloe paused, and looked him dead in the eye. "I mean it."
"Sorry, I guess it stops being funny after the first time." He said lightly, brushing the hair from her face.
Chloe sighed a sigh of relief. As she looked into her husband's eyes, she realised there were so many things to be afraid of in the world, most of them were things that Kryptonian superheroes could probably deal with and most definitely protect her from. Other things, such as losing the ones we love and watching them get hurt were things not even the invincible Clark Kent could protect anyone from, and in that instant, she felt incredibly scared.

As Lois left the Talon, getting the car keys out of her bag, her train of thought was completely interrupted by the appearance of Clark Kent standing by the door, and looking like he'd been meandering there for a while. They stood there staring at each other for a few seconds.
"At least tell me that coffee's for me?" Lois said dryly.
Clark looked at the cup in his hand and smiled sheepishly, handing it over to her. "Just as you like it." She took it from him and kept his distance. "Look Lois, I'm sorry about the other day. I'm a little forgetful sometimes, I just remember there are things I should be doing."
"Yeah, totally." Lois nodded, remembering Lana's advice and to not take it personally. "It's just at the time I was trying to tell you..." Lois shook her head, disbelievingly at herself. "Speaking of, Chloe asked me to tell you that she's at the hospital with Jimmy. He collapsed, but she thinks he'll be fine." Lois reassured him, noting the worried expression on his face. Sometimes it seemed like Clark had a history of hearing bad news about his friends, she knew growing up in Smallville must have been a strange and unusual childhood. Explains his behaviour, she smirked to herself.
"Right, ok. Does she need –"
"She's got it." Lois finished for him. They both relaxed into silence for a few seconds, he looking at her and she looking at the gum stuck to the pavement. She looked up and him and smiled nonchalantly, preparing to get stuck in. "So I better get going to the Planet, thanks for the coffee." She started past him, and realised they had somehow transported back in time and the one moment where they were actually honest with each other had dissipated back into the abyss it came from.
"Lois." She stopped and without turning around, drew in a deep breath. She felt him come closer to her, she felt him standing right behind her and his hand on her shoulder.
She turned slowly, looking up into his eyes, absorbing his smile, nervous to move. No man had ever had an effect on her like Clark Kent; she tolerated, maybe even liked, things in him she couldn't stand in any one of her exes, and what scared her was what that meant. She gently placed her hand on his strong chest as he moved his warm hand to her cheek, and she relaxed against his hand, closing her eyes and feeling his sincerity, his love, against her skin. Clark smiled watching her being so vulnerable with him, so trusting when he knew she didn't let her guard down easily.
"I would never hurt you Lois." He promised her.
"As if you could." She lightly joked, but she knew, she knew that she could very easily get hurt here, and yet every cell in her body propelled her forward to him. He smiled as he leaned slowly down towards her lips, and she felt the world around her fall away as his arms enclosed around her body like a shield. Just before he kissed her, she pulled back slightly, "Don't think this means you can ditch me whenever you want, because I won't always end up like putty in –" Clark leaned in more sure of himself and swiftly this time, meeting her lips with his, realising that there was nothing or no one else in the world that he needed more than Lois. Stubborn, insulting, strong, confident and beautiful Lois Lane. He gently pulled away. "Your hand." Lois finished, taking a moment to breath and process. She looked up into his eyes once more, smiling like what she was sure was a complete idiot and not caring in the least with him grinning back at her. "Smallville," She purred, putting her arms around his neck. "This side of you I could get used to."
Clark's smile drifted away as quickly as it had appeared. Suddenly it seemed as if he were somewhere else, as his eyes darted about the place and fell from her grasp. Lois did a double take and released her arms to her sides. "Clark? Did I –"
Clark's attention focused back to her as he grasped her hands in his and, with urgency, he reiterated, "Lois, no, that wasn't... That wasn't about you, it's just... there are things I have to... I have to go."
Lois almost laughed, she had to because he was joking. She searched his face for any kind of humour, any laughter lines peaking out. She found none; he was serious. "You have to go? Just like that?" She slipped out of his hands and took a few paces back. "Right now. You have to go."
Clark's desperation not to lose her , not to lose her trust he had worked so hard to earn made her say something he never considered he'd say. "Lois, there are responsibilities I have. I want to tell you something, but I can't do it right now. I have to go. The way I feel about you has –"
Lois nodded, clearly hurt. She made her feelings for him perfectly clear, and now, for the second time, he was running away. "Clark!" She said almost angrily, stopping him from saying anything more. She shook her head, suddenly uncomfortable and uncertain, "This was a mistake." She whispered to herself, and turned, running to her car.
"Lois!" Clark called after her, but Lois chose not to hear him, not to listen. This was a mistake, she repeated to herself. She opened the car door and closed it, looking back to where the man she kissed was no longer standing.

Starting the ignition, she could only imagine what Clark had to do that was so important. He didn't leave an explanation and clearly it was more important to him than her, which was usually not acceptable in the world of dating Lois Lane. Except Clark was never usual, he always had this air of mystery she knew a farm boy shouldn't have. As Lois was driving down the open road, it never occurred to her that she was the only car on the road, or that she was going fifteen over the speed limit, only that she couldn't keep thinking of Clark. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and almost laughed in despair; in that second without concentration, the lorry coming towards her swerved out on her side of the road. Out of the corner of her eye, Lois only had time to scream and swerve before the truck would hit her. She closed her eyes out of instinct and waited for the impact yet to come – she heard the crash but couldn't feel it, and slowly opened her eyes. Her car was straddling the road and stopped dead in front of a tree. Releasing her breath, she tightened her grip on the steering wheel and looked around at the industrial estates in front of her. She opened the door to see the truck on the other side of the road lingering above the ground, with only a pair of boots showing underneath. The Blur. Lois caught her breath. She watched as the driver struggled out of the ditch he fell in while the Blur held the truck. She was so close. If I just go round the other side, I could see his face. She inched closer and started round the truck slowly. The driver, meanwhile, immediately passed out once he was out of danger's way. The lorry slowly sunk back onto the ground, and the boots were gone.
"It's you, isn't it?" She said lamely, of course it was him. Who else could bench-press a truck? She heard feet shuffling about the concrete road. "Please! Don't go." Lois held out her hand. "Thank you." She breathed. "You're always there when it matters." She could see the tip of his shoes under the lorry, he was waiting, but for what. "Can't I ever see you? You can trust me, you know you can."

I know I can trust you, Clark thought. But the time isn't right now. I want to tell you so much, more than anyone.
"No headlines, I promise." And Clark smiled to himself, knowing that was a large sacrifice on her part. Clark looked at the crushed lorry in front of him. He knew he couldn't speak to her, she knew him too well. He had an idea. Using his heat vision he imparted a symbol onto the side of the lorry, and super-sped off before anyone else noticed.

Lois knew he was waiting, but she didn't know for what. She thought he might want to tell her something, but why this long pause? She heard a searing sound and then a wisp of wind told her that he had gone once again from her life. She ran round the driver, hearing his soft breathing, and stood on the side the Blur had stood on, looking up at the lorry. She smiled at the promise written on the side of that lorry; it was a promise that he could trust her, and a promise that she was never forgotten about by him. "Soon."

Hey guys, sorry it's been so long. I think I needed the new season to start so I could get my creative juices flowing - its a good season so far, no?

I hope u'll like this next instalment - any preferences/ suggestions as how Lois should find out? We know it has to happen.

Thanks - Feral xxx