Lois did not sleep well that night, a combination of the thoughts about Kal's revenge and the fact Chloe had spent half the night with her head down the toilet.
The situation was made worse by the fact that she had no one to talk to about her concerns. The one person she trusted was probably 300 hundred miles north east of Smallville by now, and although she could call him, she did not want to bother him.
In some ways, she wished that Lana and Chloe would have stayed a bit longer, but as soon as Chloe felt up to it, they sheepishly excused themselves from the Kent farm, totally embarrassed by their inability to hold their drink.
Lois had managed to calm herself down by mid-morning, telling herself that Kal was not like that, but then the calls began. Her cell rang every 30 minutes with a unknown caller message coming up on the display, and when she answered the caller hung up. She sat at the table, all sorts of thoughts running through her head, her hands shaking….
Suddenly the door flung open…
Lois panicked, as she turned around to see who it was .
"Hi Lois!" Martha announced cheerily as she came through the door.
"Martha! How was it?" she asked, determined she would not give the game away about Kal.
"It was great." She smiled, just as Jonathan came in carrying some bags.
"Hi Lois." he announced.
Martha looked around the house. "Where is Clark?"
"He is not here. It is a long story!" Lois replied. "Basically he is in Omaha with Pete. Pete's brother Michael was shot and he is not doing well. Pete had no way of getting up there so Clark took him."
Jonathan was concerned. "God, I hope his brother is ok? Did Clark say when he would be back?"
"Sometime later this afternoon! I have not heard from him. I would assume he is on his way back." She smiled looking forward to his return, not that he could do anything against Kal with his powers.
Lois was busying making them a cup of tea when her cell went. She almost dropped the kettle until she noticed it was Clark calling.
"Clark…How is Michael?" she asked.
"He is doing ok! He is still in a serious condition but is stable." He replied.
"You must be on your way back, are you?" she asked hopefully.
"No, I have not left yet. I told Pete I would hang around until later this afternoon. I should be back by midnight. Can you tell mom and dad when they get back?"
"They are back now."
"Can you put one of them on? Lo, I will see you later to talk. If you are still awake when I get home, I will be in the barn." He announced.
"See you soon." She said, unable to say anything about Kal because Martha had appeared from the living room when she heard it was Clark.
Lois gave the phone to his mom.
Later, Lois sat watching TV with the Kent's. The local news was on.
We have some breaking news. One of Metropolis's most notorious crime bosses, Morgan Edge has been found dead in his cell in Granville Penitentiary. He was found this morning during a routine round by prison guards. His cause of death is still not known, but foul play is suspected. Sources have said that on hearing the news, his brother Tom has vowed revenge on the person who was responsible, not only for his death but also for turning him into the police in the first place. There has never been an explanation given about how Morgan Edge ended up outside the Metropolis Police Department last month.
Lois suddenly looked nervous. She looked across at the Kents to see if they had noticed her reaction, but there was silence between them.
"He will not be missed!" Martha said. Jonathan nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, there was a bang from outside….
Lois screamed, and recoiled in horror at the sound.
"Lois, are you ok? It was probably just a car backfiring on the road." Jonathan said as he went to look out of the door.
It did not matter to Lois. The floodgates had been opened, and the tears poured down her face.
Martha went to sit next to her. She hugged her tightly. "Lois, what's wrong?"
Lois pulled back and looked at her. "I am so sorry. I did not mean for this to happen."
"What to happen?" Jonathan joined in with his concern.
"I think I am being stalked by an old boyfriend, and I think he may be watching my every move. I did not want you to be dragged into this." Lois sobbed.
"Lois, calm down, and tell us the story from the beginning." Martha rubbed her arm.
"I met… a man a few months back in Metropolis, and I fell for him."
"Is this the one your father told us about?" Jonathan asked.
"Yes… there was a connection between us, and things happened. "
"Have you been seeing him since you have moved in here?" he asked her.
"Yeah just a few times. I am sorry I have been creeping around behind your back. Anyway last night, I told him that I wanted to end it. He said he knew I had been seeing someone else and he accepted it was over." She explained.
"So maybe he has accepted it. Why do you think he is after you?" Martha asked.
"It was the way he was last night. He was cold towards me, and more or less implied that he had been watching me." Lois admitted.
"Lois, we can't take any chances. I will call the sheriff. What's his name?" Jonathan asked as he picked up the handset.
"I don't know his name." she exclaimed.
Jonathan looked puzzled. "Ok… well what does he look like?"
She looked embarrassed. "I have never seen his face." She sobbed.
Martha held her. "How have you not seen his face?"
"He took me hostage, and for some inexplicable reason, I developed feelings for him. " Lois continued.
Jonathan started to look worried. "He sounds unpredictable. We still need to tell the sheriff. Do you have any clue as to who he could be?"
"I do know he was working for Morgan Edge, and he goes by the nickname of Kal."
Jonathan almost dropped the handset. He shot a look across the room at Martha who had exactly the same look of disbelief on her face…
"You are really worried. I can tell by your faces. I am so sorry." She pleaded with them. "There is something else you both need to know."
Jonathan and Martha were still trying to recompose themselves after their shock. "We are not angry, Lois. You can tell us anything?" she said.
"Kal is powerful. He has different powers and seems invincible. He was the bank robber who took out all those police cars in Metropolis last month. He claimed he did not mean to hurt anyone and something told me he was telling the truth."
Jonathan really needed to get some time alone with his wife to discuss a game-plan. Lois had obviously fallen for their son when he was in Metropolis under the influence of Red K.
"So did he hurt you in Metropolis?" Martha asked trying to calm her down a little.
"No, he didn't. I never thought he would. He seemed so confused and lost. He only agreed to kidnap me for the money and as soon as we noticed the connection between us, he left and took Morgan Edge down to the police station." She explained.
Clark had not told his parents much about his time in Metropolis, although he did tell them that he had turned Edge in.
Martha put her arm around Lois to comfort her. "It is not your fault. You can't help who you fall for. I mean look who I fell for." She announced, looking at her husband who had managed to laugh.
"I need to warn, Clark. What happens if Kal goes after him?" Lois dropped yet another bombshell, getting up to fetch her phone.
"What has Clark got to do with this?" Jonathan asked without stating the obvious.
"We are seeing each other." She announced proudly. "He is so kind, considerate and loving." She went red after thinking of that last word. "I need to talk to him about Kal. I cannot bear to see him being hurt."
"What does Clark say about your relationship with Kal?" Martha asked in a way, which would not turn about to be a lie when the truth came out.
"He has been covering for me, and arranged some of my meetings with him. I am sure he is jealous but he seems to be hiding it well."
"I bet he is." Jonathan whispered under his breath. Clark had some serious explaining to do.
"I am not getting Clark into trouble, am I?" Lois was worried about the angry look on his father's face.
"We promise to go easy on him." Martha replied. "So, did Kal say what he was running away from?"
"He blamed himself for his mom losing her baby, and hated all the pain he had caused them over the years. He just wanted to run away from it all."
"I am sure his parents love him." Martha said with a little tear in her eye.
"They sounded like great parents from what he told me. I can imagine they would be a lot like you. I think he liked having me to confide in. " Lois explained.
Lois could see the looks between his parents. "Look, I am going to bed for an hour. I think you two may find it easier to talk without me here and I am sure you have plenty to discuss."
"Thanks, Lois. You look tired. Maybe a sleep would do you good." Martha added.
Lois took her Whitesnake cushion and went up to Clark's room.
She lay on the bed, and wondered what was being talked about downstairs. Part of her felt guilty betraying Kal's secret but she knew that she had no choice if there was any risk of Kal planning retaliation. She knew the Kent's would not tell anyone about Kal unless it was completely necessary.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Jonathan started. "Clark had better have a good explanation for this when he gets back. He cannot mess with her head like that."
Martha offered a voice of reason. "I think we need to hear his side of the story and to give him a chance to explain. Do you know what I think…Clark came home because Lois talked him into it. There is something very special about her."
"So what do we do? I mean we can't let her think she is being stalked by some crazed psycho. You can see the guilt is tearing her apart. What amazes me is how accepting she is about Clark's powers. It does not seem to faze her or change her feelings towards him."
"What I think we need to do is wait for Clark to come back so we can find out how he feels about Lois and why he has been screwing with her head." Martha commented.
"Ok… but what about Lois? Are we going to let her suffer for another 12 hours? We cannot lie to her…the damage is already done and she is going to find out the truth anyway. I would not normally agree with telling someone Clark's secret, but the horse has already bolted, so to speak." He explained.
"Let's tell her then. She needs to know. We can wait until she wakes up." Martha said not realising that Lois had come back down the stairs to get a drink of water.
"Tell me what?" she stood there waiting to be sent back to her father, because of all the trouble she had caused.
"Lois, sit down. We need to tell you something…" Martha said gently.
"Ok, Mrs K. Hit me with it. I can be packed and out of your hair by this afternoon."
"Lois, you are not going anywhere. We love having you around, but we have an admission to make. We should really wait for Clark to get back but we are not willing…"
Suddenly, the door opened and in walked an unfamiliar man. "Lois Lane…just the person I need to talk to."
He had a gun pointing in his hand, as well as some kind of device strapped to his body. He continued "You know who put my brother in jail and I want to know who he is?"