"Lo, I would love to. Thank you for allowing me to come today. It means a lot." Sam sounded emotional.
"It's ok. Can we just enjoy Eli's birthday and then we can have a talk." Lois asked her father.
"Of course."
Clark had headed off to get Eli from Chloe. He approached Sam. "Hello, little guy."
Eli put his arms out towards Sam.
"Looks like he wants a hug from his grandpa." Lois managed a smile.
Sam looked at his daughter who nodded to give him permission to take his grandson. Eli hugged into Sam, it was almost as though he knew who he was.
Lois and Sam chatted on a formal level. Clark could see that there was a long way to go to repair their relationship, hesitancy evident on both sides. He would love nothing more than getting Lois talking to her father but knew he had to let nature take its course.
One thing was obvious, Sam's attachment to Eli. He had not stopped looking at him for over an hour and there was such a proud look in his eyes when he looked at his grandson. The question was how would he take the news of a second grandchild.
Lois left her father and Eli talking to Chloe and saw her chance to go and talk to Clark.
He put his arms around Lois and drew her into a tight embrace. "How are you doing?"
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I had made contact with my father. It was a spur of the moment thing."
"It's ok. I'm glad you are trying to build bridges with your dad. It will take time though. Mind you I never thought I would see the day that the tough army general would be reduced to mush by a one year old." Clark smiled.
Lois chuckled. "You can talk. Eli has you reduced to mush every time he smiles at you."
"That's true. What are you doing about telling him about the pregnancy."
"I don't want anyone to know for a while except obviously your parents and Chloe, especially not my father."
"Do you think he will take it badly?" Clark asked.
"To be honest, I don't care. It has nothing to do with him."
Jonathan and Martha went over to talk to Sam.
"Thanks for all you have done for my daughter. You have shown me up to be the disgraceful, absent father that I always was."
Martha saw the pain and guilt in his face. "Sam, don't be too hard on yourself. You had a lot to deal with losing your wife like that and having to raise two girls alone."
"That's nice of you to defend me but my behaviour has been inexcusable." Sam replied.
"Well, it seems you have made some headway with Lois. She is an amazing mother." Jonathan added.
"Yeah, I can see that and I have been watching her and Clark together and you can see that they have strong feelings for each other." Sam smiled.
"They are one happy family. I never thought they would be able to deal with such a responsibility at such a young age but they have managed it." Martha said proudly.
"Eli is lovely." Sam smiled.
"I can see he has worked his charm on you already."
"He didn't have to try very hard. He is a lot like his mom. I can see the Lane streak in him already." Sam explained.
"Are you staying over tonight?"
"Yes, I have rented an apartment in town."
"How long are you planning on staying."
"Actually I am staying for a few months. Please don't tell Lois this until I have a chance to talk to her further."
"What has Smallville got that would interest a big shot General?" Jonathan asked curiously.
"I am heading up a task force for the Government. The increased odd activity in Smallville has got their interest. They sent me down here to try and get an explanation for events since the Meteor Shower."
Jonathan's heart sank. If Sam was anything like his daughter, he would not give up until he had got to the bottom of things. He needed to find out more without raising suspicions. He could see the worry on Martha's face.
"What exactly do you think you will find." Martha asked.
"Little green men..." Sam joked. "To be honest I have no idea but the Govt is serious about this and is sending putting serious resources into this project. Maybe you could give me some advice of where to look."
"You don't really believe that something is going on do you?"
"Well, that's what I am here to find out." Sam commented.
"Let's blow out the candles, and sing Happy Birthday." Clark announced as he approached his parents and Sam. He could see the seriousness on his parent's face. Something was wrong but it would have to wait until the party was over.
Once all the celebrations were over, he went to see his dad. "What's up between you and Sam?"
"We have major problems, son. Sam is moving to Smallville to investigate the effects of the meteor shower."
"Oh god. This is the last thing we need. Lois does not need any more stress." Clark remarked.
"What's the last thing we need?" They heard a familiar voice behind them say. Lois was standing there with a puzzled look.
Lois wanted to know what was going on.
"Come for a walk and I will tell you." Clark said.
They headed off across one of the fields.
"Your father was going to tell you tonight later so you are going to have to act surprised when he does. He is staying in town for a few months on a mission for the Government. They are investigating why Smallville has been a hive of paranormal activity since the meteor shower."
"Oh god, what can we do? My father will not rest until he has unearthed the truth. You worry about the Luthors finding out but they have nothing on my father's ability to discover things." Lois seemed stressed.
"Well, there is not much we can go except try and deflect his attempts. If we come across all panicked about his presence in town, he will work out something is up. I know you still have a long way to go to repairing your relationship with your father but..."
"You don't have to say it Clark. I know I am going to have to get close to him for the sake of this. I am a fast bridge builder." Lois explained.
"Lois, I love you and we can get through this. We just need to run so much interference that your father won't be able to work his way through it and will give up." Clark suggested.
"It's not going to be that easy." Lois replied.
Later that night, Sam told his daughter about the surprise bombshell. She acted surprised. "You'll be able to spend loads of time with Eli. He seems to really like you."
"I would love that, Lo and I would be grateful if we could work on our relationship as well."
"Ok then." Lois replied, trying not to sound too desperate.
Sam left a happy man and Lois went to discuss their plan with Clark and his parents. They also had invited Chloe, Emil and John Jones for additional support because the way Sam was talking it would be so much more than a one-man operation.
"Well we do have one advantage." John offered. "Your father trusts all of you and would not suspect you of having anything to do with covering up ."
"That's true." Lois replied.
"I will get a transfer to the local police dept so I can keep an eye on things" John added.
"Is it better if we don't ask how you can ask for a transfer and get one without any questions?" Clark smiled.
"Trade secret." John winked.
"I think we need to get to see what the Government are packing so we can plan our next step. Let's see what turns up before we make our next move." Jonathan suggested.
They all agreed to wait a few days and see what happened. Meanwhile Lois asked her father to meet for coffee the following day. It was not just the need to keep an eye on him, but she did want to try and mend things.
Lois arrived at the Talon at 10am with Eli to find her father chatting to some important looking man in a suit. She decided she was quite excited by the prospect of playing undercover detective.
Sam saw his daughter and said something to the man who got up and left. He signalled for Lois to come and sit down. Eli was fast asleep in his pushchair.
"What can I get you?" Sam asked.
"How about a latte?" Lois smiled.
"Ok." He asked the waitress for a coffee.
"So how are you getting used to the fast paced life in Smallville?" Lois asked.
"It's very different to DC but to be honest it makes a nice change to what I'm used to." Sam replied.
"I just hope you are not bringing loads of people and equipment in to take over the town." Lois remarked.
"No, Lois. It's not War of the Worlds. I don't think we are looking at a full blown alien invasion here, well not yet anyway." He joked.
"So what do you expect to find. Personally I think people just accept it is the fact the meteor shower affected certain people that were caught up in it." Lois tried to deflect Sam.
"Well, we'll see. That's why we are here? I think I will be spending a lot of time in the Talon so we will have to meet up more often. This seems to be the hub of the town where I can get to speak to the locals about what they know or have seen over the years."
"Eli is fast asleep I see, does he sleep well? If he is anything like you he will love his bed. We could never get you out of bed." Sam continued.
Lois laughed. "Well I do like my sleep. Luckily Clark is more than willing to get up when Eli starts up."
"So how is your journalism course going? Martha told me in her letters what you are doing. I think you will make a great reporter." Sam said proudly.
Lois was starting to see a change in her father's attitude towards her. He seemed more positive towards her, rather than constantly picking up on the negatives as he used to do.
"I love it. You never know in a few years Clark and I may be hotshot reporters at the Daily Planet." Lois suggested.
"You never know..." Sam smiled. "Do you think Clark will come out with me for a drink sometime. I would like to get to know the father of my grandson. I think he is a bit frightened of me. He seems to cower whenever I am around."
"It's the General thing." Lois laughed. "You always scared off my boyfriends. It won't work on Clark though. I will ask him about a boy's night out, but I'm sure he will say yes."
"Thanks!"
"Who was that man? He looked important." Lois inquired, expecting to be told it was top secret.
"He is my advisor on this project." Sam said, seemingly being quite open on the subject.
Just then John Jones walked in. Lois wondered if he was coming to see her.
"Are you General Lane?" he asked in an official tone.
"Yes I am. Who's asking?"
"I'm Detective John Jones. I have been brought in from Metropolis Police Dept to act as a go-between for the local Sheriff's dept. Apparently they could not spare anyone in the county."
Sam smiled and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you. This is my daughter Lois." Sam replied in a warm tone.
"We have already met. I was involved in bringing Eli to live with Lois and Clark." He explained.
Lois gulped. It would have been nice to be consulted about this new turn of events. She glared at John whilst her father was not looking.
This was getting very complicated..
It became evident over the next few days that the Government was meaning business. It was not every day that such a close knit community saw so much activity and people in town. Some of the people had business in town were enjoying the increasing population, as it meant more custom.
Lois was getting more anxious by the day and she knew Clark was worried too, although he never showed it. One afternoon she received a phone call from her dad asking her to pop over to the disused farm where they had set up all their equipment.
She drove up the overgrown lane to be met by her father. There must have been six or more massive tents and people were milling about everywhere, full of busy.
She got out of the car. "You weren't kidding when you said, the Government meant business."
"Come and have a look around."
"Isn't it all top secret?" Lois asked.
"No, actually on this one the Government is trying to be more transparent so we can get more cooperation from the local people." Sam replied.
"Oh, I see. Have you found out much?" Lois inquired.
"We are just getting set up now. There is a lot of hi-tech equipment."
"What sort of equipment do you need?"
"I'll show you in good time." Sam remarked. "First let's have a coffee and catch up some more. Where is Eli?"
"I thought he might be scared with all the activity so I left him with Clark."
"He is such a lovely kid. I am so proud to have a grandson." Sam was beaming with pride.
"He is! Can I just ask what you would do with an alien if you were to find one." Lois smiled.
"We would take them back to Washington for evaluation."
"You mean run tests on them like lab rats."
"Something like that." Sam laughed.
A chill ran up her spine at that thought. "Well I hope you don't find any."
After coffee, they went into one of the tents. There were noises everywhere from all the pieces of equipment. "What does all this do?" Lois asked.
"I don't understand most of it, to be honest." Sam explained, "but do come and see the piece de resistance." He walked over and grabbed a handheld device from a table.
"Looks like something from a sci-fi film, what does it do?" she asked.
"It scans people and can ascertain if there is any non human DNA in the area." Sam replied. Without warning he switched it on. The machine sprung into life.
"Non human DNA detected." It kept repeating.
"That's funny. It worked yesterday. Must be faulty." Sam smiled embarrassed.
Lois panicked. It obvious did work and had just detected her baby's unusual characteristics. She needed to call a meeting with John and Clark.
"Dad, I have just had a text." She pretended to check her phone. "Eli is playing up. I need to gat back."
"Can we talk tomorrow. Remember to ask Clark about that drink sometime. I might start to think he is avoiding me." He joked, not realising how true that was.
"I'll tell him."
She rushed back to the Farm and saw Clark heading over to the barn to do his chores. "Clark, we have major problems. The government have a machine that can detect alien DNA and when my dad switched it on, it went haywire. I think it detected the baby."
"What did your dad say?" Clark asked, obviously flustered by the turn of events.
"He said it must be faulty."
"I'm going to call John." Clark suggested.
"No you can't. Our networks aren't secure. I noticed some cell phone scanning equipment. You will have to go and get him until we can sort the cells out." Lois explained.
"Lois, you wait here. I'll be back in a few minutes." He soon arrived back with John and Emil.
His parents joined in. It was agreed that they had to try to do all they could to distract and sabotage the operation. John said he would go in and try to break the equipment if Sam could be distracted.
"Clark, my dad has been asking to go out with you so he can get to know you better. How about tonight. John, is it not a bit too risky to break into the tents?"
"I can sort out some interference to keep the people on site busy, if John can go and do his work."
"Right, that's a plan. Emil and I will discuss things. Don't worry about it, Clark. Just enjoy your night out with your future pa-in-law." John laughed.
Sam was thrilled that Clark had agreed to go out with him. They met at the Talon for a few drinks.
"So how is your operation going?" Clark asked, trying to make small talk. He was actually nervous about tonight.
"Fine, I am pretty sure we will find something. Maybe not aliens but there is definitely something in this town affecting the people. You must have seen loads over the years. Do you remember the meteor shower? How old will you have been?" he felt that Sam was on to something.
"About two years old. I don't remember it."
"But weren't you found during the day of the shower."
"What makes you say that? I was adopted by the Kents around the time of the shower but I don't think I was in Smallville at the time. I don't know much about my real parents." He lied.
"Lionel Luthor swears he saw you in the truck with the Kents on the day of the shower."
"You would have to ask my parents. Do you remember when you were two?" he fired back.
"It doesn't matter anyway." But Clark knew Sam would not give up that easily.
" So how is life with my daughter? She can be a bit of a handful." Sam joked.
Just then Sam's cell rang. Clark listened in.
"We've got one, General."
Clark knew this could only mean one thing. They had John. Sam excused himself and shot out of the door. Clark knew he had to act.