Chapter Four Part Four- Close your eyes:

Clark and Pete peeked through the windows hoping to catch a glimpse of something, only to see the dust begin to form on the countertop.

"Haven't you ever seen Cops? The last place Tina's gonna be hiding out is in her mom's store." Pete says looking around seriously, trying to point out the obvious.

Clark was busy scanning the room until he stopped at the sight of a skeletal form stuffed into an larger dresser, panic soon set in as he tried to get into the front door "I need to get in there"

Pete looked at Clark confused, "Why?"

"Just... it's a hunch." Clark stops turning to Pete, hoping to throw him off suspicion and it seemed to work, the two friends quickly rushed around back to find the alleyway door unlocked.

They looked around until Clark walked towards the dresser and opened up the cupboard doors only to reel back when the very pale body fell forward.

Pete looked like he was about to puke, "Whoa. Who's that?"

Clark squats down in front of her saying, "It's Tina's mom"

"Damn. How'd you know she was in there?" Pete asked while keeping his distance from the body.

"Because I can see right through the door, Pete." Clark says with a serious tone, but Pete just tapped Clark on the back.

"Very funny, Sherlock. How do you think she died?" Pete says brushing off Clark's weird behavior off as a joke.

"Broken neck…" He says gazing at her skeletal form until he turned to see Pete staring at him oddly, "I'm Guessing"

"My call, Tina's already on a bus to Metropolis." Pete says looking around until a loud THUD! Sent both boys to stare up at the ceiling.

"What was that?" Pete asked while he watched Clark make his way up the stairs determined.

"I don't know, But I'm gonna find out."

Attic:

Lois lay on the dusty ground in pain over the recent fall which had caused the chair to break on impact, the determined army brat just wiggled her way back to her feet when the creaking sound of footsteps caused her to stop and slip into the shadows.

A huge shadow walked towards the broken chair curiously, Lois quickly jumped onto the person's back and pressed the rope that kept her hands bound together against the person's neck.

The person struggled only to collapse to his knees gasping for air, Lois leaned close to the person's ear whispering "Guess the shoes on the other foot."

The hands stilled on the rope as the man gasped, "L…Lois?"

At the realization to whom she was strangling, Lois slipped her ropes from his neck and appeared in front of him saying "Clark?"

His huge hands were busy rubbing his neck, "I just saw you leave a few minutes ago…w-what?"

He was stunned until he saw Lois shake her head saying, "I saw Tina rushing out of the barn last night and I chased after her, she grabbed me and that's how I ended up here."

"Are you always this much trouble?" Clark said with a smirk until Lois tapped him in the chest with a playful smile.

"You just love the fact that you get to sweep me off my feet and be the hero." Lois says as a joke which just causes Clark to smile a little wider.

His hands work fast to untie her, "Why would Tina tie you up like this?"

"Cause she's a psycho. She kept going on and on about becoming Lana and creating a new life." Lois says quickly rising to her feet and was about to say something until Pete's voice called out to them, causing them to rush down the stairs.

They stopped when Pete showed him the notepad of constant signatures of Lana's name as if Tina had been practicing for weeks.

Lois just turned back to Clark saying, "Looks like our resident shape-shifter is gonna take her obsession the next level"

Pete looked at her confused, "She's gonna try to kill Lana?"

Clark shook his head negatively and stared at both of them, the seriousness reflecting in his eyes "Worse. She wants to become Lana."

Smallville Cemetery:

"I found your journal, Mom. The one you kept in high school? Suddenly all these conversations don't seem so one-sided. I tried to find your graduation speech, but they didn't print it. Every time I get closer to you, something pulls me away." Lana says sitting down in front of her parents grave with a small yet sad smile.

She turns at the sound of her name being called only to see her boyfriend staring at her with a bizarre look on her face, "Whitney, what are you doing here?"

He walks closer to her saying, "You're aunt said you went riding. I just followed the path. What are you doing here?"

Lana smiles and turns to her parents graves saying, "Talking with them, keeps me connected."

Whitney just stands at her side, "They're dead, Lana. You have this great life and you can't even see it. You have no right be unhappy. They're not coming back, Lana. Deal with it."

"Why are you saying this?" Lana asks in disbelief at the sight of her boyfriend's sudden change of attitude.

"I'm saying you don't deserve your life…." The face staring back at her quickly morphs back into Tina Greer's form, "I do."

The psycho stalker grabbed her by the neck and threw her against a nearby tombstone which caused her to lose consciousness while Tina was left standing over her body, the green hue of the emerald necklace that she ripped from Lana's neck glowed more brighter in the darkness of the commentary.

Moments Later…

Clark had sped straight here from the shop only to be surprised when Tina disguised as Whitney threw him up against a nearby tombstone which snapped on impact.

"I know what' it's like to live with a secret. I know what happened to your mother and it wasn't your fault." Clark says rising to his feet while trying to steer clear from the green stone.

"That was a lifetime ago. And don't worry about Lana. You'll be joining her very soon." Whitney slips off the lettermen jacket and throws it to the ground while stepping closer to Clark, "I thought I killed you once. I'm not gonna make the same mistake twice."

He prepared the swing the pipe but Clark sped out of the way and appeared behind him saying, "Where's Lana?"

He swings the pipe only to have Clark duck and force him against the mausoleum walls saying, "Just tell me where she is…you don't have to kill anyone else."

Whitney just laughed before using the meteor enhanced super-strength to throw Clark to the ground, with a quick adjustment of facial structure Tina Greer then morphed into none other then….Lois Lane.

Clark rolled onto his back surprised to see Lois's face staring back at him as she raised the pipe above her head ready to strike, "How does it feel, knowing that the last face you'll ever see is this?"

He braces for the strike only to hear a voice call out, "Find another face to bare, bitch"

A loud bang is heard from behind the shape shifter, who just reverted back to regular form and slumped to the floor unconscious.

Clark peeked one eye open only to see the real Lois Lane standing over him with a shovel and a cocky smirk, "I guess were even now. Since I just saved your ass from a psycho shape shifter and not to mention bug boy."

Clark just laughed and rose to his feet saying, "I'm sure that there will be plenty more where that came from."

They just smiled before Lois looked around saying, "We better go find Lana…"

She turned to see Clark rushing towards a nearby mausoleum, "You would think that I'd be use to this already" she whispered to herself while she rushed after him only to see the gated door on the floor and Clark emerging with Lana in his arms.

"What the hell happened to the door?"

Clark just set Lana down before replying with a small smirk, "It was rusty."

She just shook her head before pulling out her cell and dialing the sheriff's office….

Hours Later…Lana's House:

Clark and Lois were giving statements while Lana and Nell were have a much needed family reunion.

The two friends turned to see Chloe rushing towards them saying, "Hey, I heard what happened."

Clark smiled, "Did you come by to see if I was okay?"

Lois rolled her eyes at his response, "Actually, as concerned as I always am about your personal well-being, I'm not here to see you." Chloe says turning and walking towards Lana, Lois couldn't help but break out in a fit of laughter.

He just turned to her, "It's not funny."

Lois just shrugged and held up her thumb and index finger showing a small gap between them before they combined, "It's a little funny."

He couldn't help but smile until it dropped and he stuffed his hands into his pockets saying, "I wanted to apologize for how I acted in the loft last night, I pushed our boundaries as a friends a little bit and…" a hand shot up to silence him.

Lois stepped closer to him, "There's nothing to feel sorry about, its obvious that we both feel this connection between us and I think it would be best if we kept our relationship strictly platonic. Which means no brushing of the hands, no close face contact, and especially no crossing the line."

He just nodded and was about to say something when Lois just smiled and punched him in the shoulder saying, "Don't fall for me farm boy, I don't have the time nor the patience for it. Plus, your not my type."

She left him in disbelief as she walked away alongside Chloe, the two cousins just laughed and smiled all the way to Gabe's car.

Martha walked up to Clark saying, "Is everything okay with you and Lois?"

Clark turned and smiled, "Yeah, we were just talking about Tina and how this whole thing got out of control."

Jonathan appeared at his wife's side saying, "I still don't understand why a girl would do all this."

"I do. You go through life with a gift you have to keep a secret. When you see everyone around you being normal, you get jealous. You just want to be somebody else."

Jonathan patted his son on the shoulder, the struggle in Clark to turn and peek through the screen door ceased and he was left with the image of Whitney in Lana's arms.

"You really like her, don't you?" Martha said softly so that only he would hear it.

Clark bowed his head and turned to his mother with a reply, "Since the accident with Lois, I don't know how I feel anymore. Its like I'm the rope and everyone is trying to pull me in a certain direction."

Martha just smiled, "That's what being a teenager is, Clark. Its always gonna feel like a game of tug of war that you think you'll never win…until finally you do and the right choices are right in front of you. Its up to you to decide which path you want to take."

Clark showed a brief smile before asking, "If you could see anything, what would you do?"

She places her hand on his shoulder and says motherly, "I'd learn to close my eyes."

She wraps her arm around him saying, "Let's go home, I'll even make my famous cherry pies."

Clark just smiled and walked towards the bright red truck that awaited them.

Sullivan Residence:

Her hand smashed against the glass screaming for help but only the water replied back rushing down her throat and into her lungs.

Lois was frantic and soon began to claw at her belt, the realization that no one was coming only made her cry which was easily disguised by the water which covered over her face.

The shadow of death crept upon her and the numbness swept up her body until the slowing of her own heart could be heard, then…silence.

Lois jolted up from her bed covered in sweat, the racing of her heart only signaled that it was only a dream…a very terrible dream in fact.

She just shook the flashes of the nightmare away when she closed her eyes and took deep breaths.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her stomach and kept her close to the strong chest that pressed into her, the owner of the body behind her just leaned in over her shoulder and whispered "Its gonna be okay"

Her eyes jolted open and she soon shook those "other" thoughts from her mind, her body moved back to its original position until her hazel eyes were left staring up at the ceiling.

"Now I'll never get to sleep." Lois said to herself while the crickets of the grasshoppers began to lull her back to sleep and hopefully peaceful dreams as the dreams began to fade from her mind, leaving her in a absolute unconsciousness.

TBC…

In case you guys were wondering, the nightmare Lois was having was a What if scenario to her rescue in Chapter One and I also wanted to show kind of how the accident had affected both Clark and Lois…REVIEWS!