Stubborn
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the OCs.
-2018-
Taylor slowly opened her eyes. She squinted at the sunshine peaked through the trees that she was staring up at. She slowly sat up and winched at the pain.
Before she could lie back down, a warm hand touched her back, supporting her. She turned to see Dick's face, looking more worried then ever before. She smiled to show him she was ok and he helped her up.
Taylor looked around and her smile grew even wider. Everyone was standing near her and they were in a forest; the edge of a lake could be seen just a few yards away. It was early summer and a gentle breeze drifted along.
"Are you ok," Lois asked. Taylor turned to see everyone standing looking at her in concern. She nodded.
Taylor sighed and said, "How long was I out for?"
Dick replied, "A few minutes. I think this time travel takes energy out of you instead of Jor-El now."
Taylor nodded again and started to walk towards the lake.
"Where are we? When are we?" Chloe asked, as they all followed her.
Taylor turned and said, "Don't you recognise it?" They stopped at the edge of the trees and looked out.
AC smiled and said, "Hey, this is where I met you guys for the first time. It's the lake in Smallville." It dawned on the others and they nodded.
"But what year is it?" Jimmy asked.
Taylor looked up and down the lake's edge and saw a large white tent a few yards away from them. She could see children playing outside it and more people inside the tent. It was obviously a big party.
She walked down the lake's edge, keeping inside the trees and out of sight. Everyone followed her. Taylor stopped a few feet away from the tent. She smiled when she saw the children playing and the large cake that was just inside the door of the tent.
"It's AC and Dinah's wedding. We're 8 years before I travelled through time."
AC and Dinah's eyes grew wide and Dinah's said, "I'm sorry, but I thought you said, 'AC and Dinah's wedding'? There has to be a mistake!"
Taylor shook her head and replied, "Nope. You two are totally in love. But I for one would never put you two together from how you act now."
"Neither would I," AC grumbled, earning a glare from Dinah.
"Don't worry. You learn to depend on each other and after a situation involving a warehouse full of bad guys and a deadly weapon in the middle of it, you both give dating a go. Look's like it turned out pretty well too."
AC was about to say something when a loud voice yelled, "Taylor Fate Kent!"
They all turned and looked as future Clark Kent walked into their line of sight wearing a tuxedo. A small girl in a puffy white dress walked up to him. Her black hair was originally tied back but it was now hang loose around her shoulders. Her white dress was streaked with dirt.
A seven year old Taylor walked up to her father and stood right in front of him, her arms crossed. She had to crane her neck to look up at him, as she only came up to his waist.
"Taylor did you throw BJ across a field?"
"No," Small Taylor said, "It was three fields."
Future Clark sighed and said, "Did you have a good reason for throwing him?"
Small Taylor nodded and replied, "Yes, he pulled my hair."
Future Clark held back a smile and replied, "Honey you can't use your powers to hurt other people."
Small Taylor frowned and said, "What if they're really annoying?"
Future Clark shook his head.
"But he was happy, he was laughing," she said.
Clark let a small laugh out and said, "No honey, he was screaming."
Small Taylor sighed and replied, "Alright I promise I wouldn't throw anyone across any more fields. Even if they're really annoying."
Clark smiled down at her as Future Lois walked up. "Of all the arrogance in the world! Linda King tried to sneak into the wedding, thinking she could get the story! Thankfully they threw her out!"
Future Clark tried to calm his wife. "Well, AC is a leading environmentalist. He and Dinah getting married is huge. Maybe she just wanted to say congratulations?" he tried.
Future Lois snorted and said, "Bullshit!"
"What does bullshit mean?" Small Taylor asked.
Future Lois's eyes grew wide when she saw her daughter standing there. "Um, that is a very bad word that only grown ups can say," she explained.
"Like the bad word Uncle Bart said when he saw BJ flying across those fields?"
Clark nodded and said, "Exactly." Then he turned and shouted, "BART! What have I said about swearing?!"
As Future Clark walked off Small Taylor asked her mother, "Mommy? Now that Johnny is born, does that mean that Daddy's going to win some arguments around here?"
Future Lois looked at her and said, "Well I know that some families do the whole girls on the mom side and boys on the dad side but remember that we don't, ok?"
Small Taylor nodded and said, "So he's got no chance."
"Not a hope, honey."
Future Lois took her daughter's hand and they walked over to where Future Clark was standing. Future Lois walked up and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek on his back. Future Clark turned around, wrapping his own arm around her and kissing her head.
Future Kara walked out of the tent with a baby Johnny in her arms and a three year old Martha beside her, Future Clark picked up Small Taylor while Future Lois took Johnny. Martha was picked up easily by Future Clark in his other arm. Together they walked into the tent.
Taylor sighed and sat down on the grass under the trees. "I can't get us back to your time right now. I'm too tried. Go and have a look around while I rest," Taylor mumbled.
Dick sat down beside her while Kyle and Rachael sat under another tree. The adults however tried to look into the tent.
Chloe and Jimmy smiled when they saw themselves at a table with their children. Kara and Oliver had a very awkward moment as they saw their future selves kissing as their children looked on saying, "EEWW!"
AC and Dinah saw themselves sitting at the head table, smiling at their guests and at each other. Victor and Bart saw their future selves with strange women they didn't know, but apparently loved.
They all watched, seeing one of the happiest moments their future selves had.
Lois was leaning against the trunk of a tree and Clark rested his hand on the tree behind her. He thought she didn't notice him, but she did. She always did.
The two of them watched their future selves sat down at a table.
Clark sighed. Isn't this what he always wanted? A wife who loved him and accepted him. A family who would always be there for him.
He glanced from the Small Taylor to the Taylor sitting underneath the tree. He wanted to be there when she was born, when she took her first steps, spoke her first words.
He frowned as Dick brushed some hair from Taylor's face. A flare of protectiveness sparked inside of him. Wasn't it a father job's to scare the fear of God into his daughter's boyfriend? To make him treat his daughter right, to love her as much as he himself did. But as Clark looked over at Dick, he knew that Dick already knew all of this and already treated Taylor right.
Clark then turned around and looked at Lois. All the feelings he had for her came rushing back and he disparately wanted to wrap her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be ok.
But he once again withdrew back into his shell and put on the mask that he had been wearing for weeks now.
But Taylor had already seen it. And it gave her hope.
Taylor got up and looked at everyone. "I think we can go now," she said.
She pulled the crystal out of her pocket and held it out in front of her. The glow from the crystal grew and right before it blinded them, Clark quickly reached out his hand and took Lois's firmly in his.
-A few minutes later-
Soon they were all back standing outside the Kent farm in the year 2009.
Taylor started to sway and before she hit the ground, Dick caught her. He looked at her in concern and Clark felt Lois squeeze his hand.
Clark stared at her for a second before letting go of her hand and walking over to Taylor. He picked her up in his arms and brought her into the house. He laid her down on the couch in the living room and covered her with a blanket.
When he turned around he saw Dick and Lois standing at the door.
"So much for no humanity," Lois said.
Clark super sped out of there, leaving Dick and Lois still standing at the door.
The noise woke Taylor and she slowly sat up on the couch. "Where did Clark go?" she asked.
"He probably went back to Metropolis," Dick replied.
Taylor stood up and mumbled, "I have to go find him…talk to him…"
Lois shook her head and said, "No. You need to rest."
Taylor shook her head and said, "No I need to go find Clark now. Sort everything out."
Dick sighed and replied, "Taylor, will you sit down! You look exhausted."
"I'm fine," Taylor said as she walked towards the door.
Dick stood in front of her and said, "Why do you always do that?! You're pushing yourself to hard Taylor!"
"No I'm not!" she argued back.
"Everyone has a breaking point Taylor! And you are getting too close to yours."
They stared at each other for a few minutes and then Lois said, "That's a problem you and Clark both have. You both think you're stronger than everyone else."
Taylor turned to her and replied, "Technically we are."
Lois smiled sadly and said, "I'm not taking about super strength."
Dick walked forward and put his hands on Taylor's shoulders. "You need to rest. And I'm not taking no for an answer."
Taylor smiled slightly and "Now who's being stubborn."
-A few hours later-
Clark stood on top of the barn roof and x-rayed the house. Lois was sitting on the couch in the living room, Dick was sitting at the dining table reading the sport section of the newspaper and Taylor was sleeping upstairs in her room.
He closed her eyes and turned off the x-rays. He turned up his super hearing and listened to the three heartbeats in the house. It was comfort, knowing that they were ok.
The others had gone back to their own homes ages ago and Kyle and Rachael had been brought back to their own time by the crystal.
It was the three of them in the house and the only one missing was him.
Clark was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Taylor had gotten out of bed and super sped behind him.
"Penny for your thoughts…because you're really behind on my allowance."
Clark turned to look at her. She was standing looking at him her hair slightly messed up for sleeping.
He sighed and super sped away. Or tried to.
He made it to the gate of the Kent farm before Taylor appeared in front of him and held out her two hands. He banged off them and he stopped and stumbled.
Taylor started to wave her hands and she gasped at the pain. "Ow, ow! Ok bad idea!"
Clark stood up and frowned at her. "What are you doing?"
"Stopping you, duh!"
Clark sighed and said, "Look little girl, I don't care what you do just leave me alone."
Taylor frowned and replied, "Ok, number 1: Don't call my little because if genetics are anything to go by, I could kick your ass. Number 2: I wouldn't leave you alone because this isn't how things are supposed to be."
Clark walked up to her and said, "I am a hero. That is what I do. I don't have a family. I don't have a wife. The only things I have are my powers and I'm using them to protect the city."
Taylor looked up at him with tears coming to her eyes. "You can't just leave! You can't!"
Clark just looked at her with a stony face and he walked around her.
He was about to leave when he heard Taylor say, "Please don't leave me Dad."
Clark froze. She called him Dad. She actually called him her father.
He turned around to see Taylor standing there with tears running down her cheeks. She looked at him with such fear in her eyes that it made him scared. She sobbed and every time she did, it cut through Clark like a knife. Was this the kind of person he was? Did he want Taylor to see him like this? Part of him told him to run away but his feet wouldn't move.
"Please don't leave everyone, Daddy."
In that minute, every wall, every barrier, every mask and disguise that Clark had put up in the last few weeks came crashing down. He ran over to Taylor and pulled her into his arms.
She rested her head on his chest and cried.
He kissed her head and said, "I'm not going anywhere, honey. I'm staying right here."
Taylor cried but she couldn't keep the smile from her face. She had him back.
-Inside the house-
Lois flicked through the channels looking for something, anything, to watch. Dick flipped through the newspaper and sighed.
Then the door opened and Taylor and Clark walked in.
Lois and Dick both looked extremely confused as they thought Taylor was still upstairs and Clark was gone.
Taylor smiled widely and said, "Clark's back to normal. He's home."
But Lois already knew this. The sparkle was back in his blue eyes and the second he had walked in, he had given her those puppy dog stares that made her weak at the knees.
Dick smiled as well and said, "Nice to have you back Clark."
Clark smiled back at him and then looked back to Lois. Lois walked over to them. Clark took a step foreword to meet her.
And when she was a foot away….she punched him right in the nose.
Clark grabbed his nose, not in pain but in shock.
Lois stared at him and said, "If you ever put me through anything like that again, I will hurt you so much that you'll be begging for kryptonite."
Clark nodded and said, "I love you too, Lo."
Lois sighed in relief and hugged him tightly. He engulfed her in his arms and she felt her whole body relax for the first time in weeks.
She whispered in Clark's ear, "Welcome home, Smallville."
Not everyone is going to be so forgiving of Clark. And remember that there is a consequence from Taylor saving Jimmy. Can anyone guess what it is?
Also if any of you have trouble keeping or are confused about the time just tell me and I'll give a quick summery in the next chapter.