Hello, thanks for the feedback guys. Here is the next chapter, I hope you all like it.
Linda
oOo
Chapter 25
On reaching the kitchen, Smallville took a seat at the table, informed everyone that Lois was fine, awake and on the phone with Oliver; then looked around the room. Not seeing either of their guests he wondered if they'd had to leave, and when they'd be returning "Where's Dianna and J'onn?"
"I am here my friend." J'onn materialised beside the table, and with a small smile also took a seat.
Titling his head to the side, Smallville looked his friend up and down, but before he could open his mouth to comment, Dianna stepped into the kitchen from the laundry and joined the gathering "How's Lois?"
He gave her the news then looked at all gathered in the kitchen "So have you come up with anything?"
Smiling slightly Choe filled him in. "Lana knows about your powers and she also knows that you're in the JLA correct?" He nodded and she inclined her head minutely "Well if she mentions that to Lois, then Lo's going to wonder just what powers you have to be in the JLA. Since you don't want Lo to know that you're Superman just yet, J'onn's going to remain invisible, Dianna is going to hide in the laundry, and both will observe Lana without her being aware of it."
His lips lifted at his friends cunning "I hadn't thought about that before, but if she saw two members of the JLA here, then she might slip up and say something about me in front of Lois."
"Yeah, but whether she slipped up on accident or purpose, is another matter; either way I'm not willing to trust her." Chloe finished flatly.
He nodded and smiled crookedly "Neither am I, so thanks for thinking of it."
"I didn't." She replied cheerfully.
"Thank mom, she was the one who realised that having two members of the JLA here might cause problems." Clark put in and nodded his head in his mom's direction.
Smallville turned to his mom and shook his head in amazement "Thanks mom."
"That's ok sweetie, I must be getting as suspicious as everyone else to even think of it." She chuckled lightly, and after placing two foil wrapped plates in the oven, joined everyone at the table.
He grinned in reply but sobered and addressed the room in general "I know you're all going to ask Lo how she's feeling which is fine and it's natural, but try not to mention what happened while Lana's here. Lois doesn't like attention when she's been unwell, so it's doubtful that she'll bring it up, but if Lana caused it, then she might expect it to be mentioned." At their curious expressions he explained further "If Lana did it then she'll want to know if whatever she tried worked, but if we don't mention it, she might think she's failed, and hopefully that will be enough to stop her from trying again."
Chloe shook her head in doubt "I think it's a catch 22. She'll either feel gratified that she succeeded in what she set out to do, and feel content enough to not try again; or she'll think that she's failed and want to try again." She groaned and turned to J'onn "Run crazy through her mind J'onn, get as much information from her as you can."
He tilted his head in assent and his lips lifted in a half smile.
At the sound of Lois' footsteps, they began to make small talk, until she joined them in the kitchen, after which the next 10 minutes were taken up with how she was feeling. Rolling her eyes for the fifth time, Lois finally held up her hands in surrender.
"Guys please, I'm fine now really; so please don't fuss anymore. I appreciate it truly, but get off my case." The combination of pleading and frustration in her voice caused all to smile guiltily.
When they began to apologise, she once again rolled her eyes "Stop! Honestly you lot are going to drive me round the bend. I appreciate your concern, none of you bugged me. I'm feeling well and now let's change the subject." She looked at everyone in turn, they smiled and nodded back "Good so did you come up with anything after I left?"
"Kind of..." Chloe gave her the new idea of their visitors hiding from Lana, and bobbing her head in agreement, Lois smiled "Martha you're one sharp lady. None of us even thought of that, and we're all professional doubters of everything."
As each voice rose in protest of her character assassination of them; Lois grinned undaunted, helped herself to a cookie and some coffee; munched calmly, sipped the hot brew and ignored the wailing of each. When they finally grew silent, she sipped her coffee again, then began to address each person, pointing at them in turn "Smallville, Chloe you're both journalists, J'onn you're a detective, Dianna you work for Military Intelligence. Are all of you trying to tell me that you believe everything you're told?" Her brow winged up in query, but instead of giving them time to answer, she swung around and pointed at the last person, who was sitting smugly in the assurance that she couldn't pick on him "Clark despite being a good guy, you're sometimes suspicious until you get to know someone..." when his mouth opened, she held up a hand and sang out "AC." His mouth snapped shut.
They all looked at each other, then back at her. Lois smiled at the piteous look on their faces "Cheer up, it pays to be cynical, and I feel completely chuffed to know that I'm not the only sceptical person in this room; and now it seems that we've corrupted Martha and she's joined our ranks as well." Turning she grinned at the older woman, then laughed at the embarrassment on her face.
Shaking their heads at Lois' succinct summarisation of their personalities, they all looked at each other and sighed hugely.
When she heard the sound of tires crunching on gravel, Lois looked out the window, and turned back "Well Lana's here; but if you wanna prove that none of you are suspicious; Dianna and J'onn can join us for lunch, and we can tell her everything." They looked at each other, turned back and saw the smug smile on her face "Or we can do things my way; I say we sit her down, shine a spot-light on her face and interrogate Lana at will." She turned to the older woman once more and asked simply "Martha, where's your rubber hose?"
Smacking Lois lightly on the arm for her impertinence, Martha laughed.
With a quiet chuckle J'onn de-materialised, Dianna dashed to the laundry, everyone smothered their laughter, then quickly pretended they were doing nothing more interesting than chatting when Lana walked into the house.
When she opened the door and stepped inside the kitchen, the sound of soft laughter was the first thing she heard. No one was concerned, no one appeared upset, which meant that whatever she'd tried on Lois hadn't worked. Even if everyone else was trying to fake her out, she couldn't imagine Lois would be feeling so light-hearted, and neither would Martha. Her mother in law would be worried and it would show. Well it had been a long shot, so she wasn't surprised that it hadn't worked; shrugging mentally in defeat she smiled and returned the greetings called out to her.
Taking a seat at the table, she glanced at all the occupants "So any luck?"
"No, and it's damn frustrating." Smallville replied in a grieved voice.
"Y'know I was thinking that maybe we don't have to do anything." When they looked at her in query, Lois held out her hand and gestured "Maybe you just have to wait for that wall or whatever it was to come back, and when it does you just have to step through and will be home again."
Smallville sighed and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck "Yeah, but it was invisible so how will I know when it's there?"
She chewed her lip, looked around but at the shrugs, turned back and shrugged in reply "I don't know, but you didn't know it was there the first time, it just was. So maybe someone brought you here for a reason, and once you've done what you have to, the wall will come back and..."
"That sounds almost biblical Lo." Chloe interrupted tongue in cheek.
"Shut up..." Lois grinned in reply and threw her hands up in exasperation "I'm making this crap up, but ok, even if he's not here for a reason, doesn't it make sense that the barrier, wall, whatever the hell, will reappear as suddenly as it did the first time, without us having to do anything?"
Martha's brow wrinkled "It does actually..." turning to Smallville she addressed her son "Sweetie you didn't do anything the first time to make it appear, it was just there, so maybe Lois is right."
He nodded doubtfully "Yeah, but since its invisible how am I going to know when it's back?"
"Maybe you just will." Chloe put in quietly.
"Smallville..." He turned when Lois called him "The truth is that none of us know how or why you're here, or how to get you back. Maybe the answer will come to one of us in time, but worrying about it isn't getting us anywhere." She reached over and patted his hand "I know you wanna get back home, and I don't blame you for that, no one does. Unfortunately we don't have any answers, only guesses, and I know we're using the word 'maybe' a lot, but..."
He gave a small smile in return "But maybe you're right, and the wall will re-appear just as suddenly as it did the first time."
She nodded and gave a small smile in return "Yeah...maybe. But I was thinking, do you know where the wall was; the exact spot I mean?" He nodded firmly in reply "Ok, then why don't we put an object in that place. Something big enough that will break when the wall comes down on it, and then you'll know it's there."
"Like what?" Lana asked curiously.
"I don't know, a table, some bales of hay, a pile of junk; anything big enough that we'll notice."
"That's not a bad idea Lo, we'll do it after lunch; yes?" Chloe looked around and found that everyone was nodding in agreement.
"Well now that we've got something constructive to do, how about we have some lunch so we can get to it?" Martha asked rising to her feet. At the answering smiles, she knew all present were looking forward to getting started.
Lunch was quiet as everyone tucked into their meals, and once it was over, the kitchen and dining area was swiftly cleaned, and coffee was brought to the table.
"So what are we going to use?" Clark asked enquiringly, lifting his cup to sip.
"We can use some bales of hay, about 20 should do it." Smallville suggested thoughtfully.
"I think a pile of junk will be better; if we make it big enough, then when the barrier or wall comes down on it, it should make a hell of a noise when the stuff goes flying in all directions." Lois piped up.
Chloe grinned "Ok, so let's go looking for junk."
Pushing their seats back, all got to their feet.
"I'll look in the barn, there's bound to be some crap in there." At Clark's protesting laugh, Lois smiled unrepentant "Now Clark, tell me truthfully, are you like most men who hang onto a useless crap for 20 years, thinking that one day you'll use it, but never do?"
"He is." Lana put in cheerfully.
"You and mom have junk too." He replied sullenly.
The women all looked at each other and giggled.
Lana patted her husband on the arm consolingly "Don't worry, I'll go with Lois, and make sure that what we find is junk. If you try and help, you won't let us take anything."
Sharing a look of camaraderie, Lois and Lana turned and made their way to the door. As Chloe went to step after them, Smallville put a hand on her arm, and shook his head quickly at his mom staying her movement as well.
As soon as the women were out the door, Chloe turned worriedly in his direction "Smallville, why'd you stop one of us from going with them?"
"She won't try anything Chlo, not when we're all here; and especially not when Clark and I can hear and see anything that's going on in the barn." He replied confidently.
Both women nodded in understanding, and let out quiet relieved breaths.
Dianna stepped from the laundry, J'onn re-materialised and looked at all in turn "I have a lot to tell you my friends, but if you don't get some stuff together, they will become suspicious of why you have found nothing."
Clark turned to his twin and nodding, they zipped through the house gathering odds and ends, raced to Clark's house, into his shed, grabbed some more junk, and within 5 minutes had a pile of broken tables, chairs and bric-a-brac sitting at the base of the front porch.
Once done they joined the others at the table, seats were exchanged so both men could sit and face the barn "Ok, we're good, we have a pile of stuff outside that should cover all of us, and we can also keep an eye on what's going on in the barn."
When J'onn opened his mouth, Martha's hand quickly flew up "I know this is silly and probably the wrong time, but neither of you had lunch. Before Lana arrived, I set aside your lunches, and put them in the oven to warm. So you can eat now, or we can talk now and when Lana comes back in, you can both go upstairs and eat. But I won't have anyone in my house go hungry."
The two visitors smiled at the older woman's militant look and deferring to J'onn, Dianna allowed him to decide "It's not silly Martha; on the contrary it's very kind of you to think of us. But for now I think we should talk so you know what's going on, and we'll eat afterwards."
She sighed but turned at Clark's voice "They won't have to sneak upstairs mom; after we finish talking, all of us including Lana will be busy carrying the stuff out to the pasture, and then Dianna and J'onn can eat at their leisure."
Smiling at his reasoning she nodded and as one, they all turned and gave J'onn their full attention.
oOo
His eyes swept over the group, before fastening on the two men gravely "Lana knows; she is aware of what her older self has done." He supplied quietly.
"I knew it." Clark put in quietly.
"She is actually aware of more than you realise." He shook his head and told them quietly "She knows that Smallville was engaged to Lois, she's aware that you are both the same man, and she knows that you are not from an alternate reality. She knows this is your world, and she's also mindful that your mom and Chloe know the truth, but most everything is being hidden from her and Lois."
Smallville felt his heart pound at the news "She knows that I'm engaged to Lois?"
He inclined his head "Yes, last night she forgot her purse and returned to the house to get it; when she did so, she found your wallet and looked inside." Smallville and Clark nodded in understanding, the women waited to be filled in "When she opened his wallet, she found a picture of him and Lois; she also saw his Metropolis driver's licence and his Journalist pass."
When everyone turned to each other uneasily, he sighed once again "She did believe the tale you had told her before that, but after she found the wallet, she realised that you had lied about your feelings for Lois. When she went home last night, she was thinking about everything. The photo had been familiar to her, she had seen you holding Lois like that before, and then she remembered it was at your engagement party. She knew then that you were the Clark who had told her goodbye. At first she thought this world must have been split off from your world when she married Clark, but it wasn't long before she realised that you weren't from an alternate universe; but that you and her husband are the same man."
"She knew last night?" Clark clarified quietly and at J'onn's nod he shook his head "I watched her carefully last night, and knew she was upset but she controlled it so well, that I thought it was just her usual jealousy because Lois was here."
"No my friend, having your twin and Lois here has frightened her, but she never suspected the truth until she found the wallet." He looked between the two men and revealed quietly "When Lana did the spell to change your pasts, she knew there was a possibility that you could be split, but thought the risk was worth taking. You had told her goodbye, she was crushed and wanted you back, so she took the chance."
The men looked at each other and saw the anger flaring in each other's eyes. Seeing their agitation grow, Martha quickly reached out to hold a hand of each man, and Chloe gave both their arms a quick rub.
Smallville closed his eyes tight, lifted his free hand and rubbed his lids "She knew this could happen and did it anyway." He shook his head and breathed out harshly "She knew that she was playing with my life and didn't give a damn what the cost was, as long as she got what she wanted."
J'onn nodded again "She really didn't believe it would happen Smallville, she really believed that you loved her. You were only supposed to be split if your love wasn't true. The part of you that loved her would break off from the part of you that didn't."
Clark looked at his twin then back at J'onn "So basically she got the part of me that was a kid; a foolish impatient boy who thought he loved her, but the man who KNEW he'd never loved her stayed separate." He confirmed quietly.
Martha slipped her arm around his waist and hugged him one armed "The boy grew up honey, and separated or not, you once again loved Lois. Lana didn't believe it was ever going to happen, so she never took that possibility into consideration." She looked at J'onn and he nodded in agreement.
"Yes."
Clark rubbed his hands hard over his face and nodded "I really fell for one hell of a great girl when I was kid, didn't I?"
Smallville looked at his twin in sympathy "Clark don't take all the laurels on yourself; Lana went back when we were one person and just a kid at that. That's why you're the part she got and I'm not. But just remember before all of this happened, we were one man, and as that man we told her goodbye, right after we told her that we'd always love Lois."
Clark blew out a deep breath and nodded. J'onn turned to Smallville and began hesitantly "I have more to share but I fear it will make you very angry."
His lips lifted in a small smile of mockery "I don't know if it's possible to be any angrier than I already am J'onn, so go ahead."
The Martian looked at him silently for a moment before nodding "You mentioned that last month, the night before Lois was to return, and her younger-self was to go back to her own time, that you all noticed your memories had been altered?"
Smallville nodded "Yeah, Chloe realised she had gaps in her memory about the whole day, and then mom and I realised it too. We didn't tell Jo; younger Lois, since she was going to return to her own time, I didn't see the need to scare her for no reason. Lana didn't come to the farm that day, and when Chloe called her, she said that she'd felt sick. At the time we didn't know who was responsible, but obviously she did it, right?" He asked rhetorically with a sigh.
J'onn bobbed his head slightly then looked at both men "Yes it was she who did it, but you were wrong. Lana had been at the farm that day." When they all looked at him curiously he sighed "My friends, this will make you very angry, are you sure that you wish to know?"
They nodded firmly, Chloe and Martha looked at each other, bracing themselves for what was going to be said.
"Lana has all the memories of the life she lived before she changed the past. When she went back in time that day, she told her younger-self everything. When she returned to her own time, she didn't have long before her life was going to be changed, so she did several things. One of them was to do a spell which would pass all of her memories to her younger-self as she grew up. She wanted to ensure that she didn't make the same mistakes again. However, when she married Clark, she didn't think that she would need magic anymore, so let the magic go, but kept the memories of her life." He turned to Clark and told him quietly "Her memories are as clear in her mind, as the dreams you have experienced are in yours." Clark's lips tightened, he nodded shortly but he didn't reply.
"Another thing she did before her life was changed was to wake Lois up from her 'coma', that is why in the first timeline Lois woke up after 5 days, in this time she woke up after 5 days, but last month she woke up on the sixth day. Lana wasn't going to wake her up at first, but changed her mind because of you."
They all nodded silently, their mouths twisted cynically while waiting for the boom to fall. J'onn paused to sip his water and sighed "On the night before your fiancé was to return, Lana used magic on you and Jo. She ensured that Jo had a very uneasy night's sleep, and further encouraged her to seek you out in the morning to talk." They all waited expectantly, he nodded and continued "On you however, she ensured you had a very heavy sleep, and wouldn't wake up until the following morning; she also...she also gave you the illusion that the body you felt lying beside you was your fiancé, and then she joined you."
"What'd you mean she joined me?" Smallville asked quietly but all heard the anger he couldn't suppress.
"She went to the barn where you were sleeping, took off her clothes and slipped into bed with you."
"WHAT!"
"She believed that you loved her, but had convinced yourself you didn't because she'd hurt you by marrying Lex. As this was the first time in years that you'd referred to your teenage feelings, she thought you were trying to reach out to her in the only way you could, by referring to the past. She thought while your fiancé wasn't there, your mind wasn't being clouded by Lois' influence, and as such you were ready to face the truth." As both men's mouths tightened, he shook his head sadly "She knew that you would be angry when you woke up, but honestly believed that eventually you'd accept it was her that you'd always loved. She wanted to prove to you that she wasn't ashamed of her feelings, she had no pride where you were concerned, she loved you and if that meant throwing it out in the open for you to see then it was worth it. As I said before, she knew you would be angry but..." He broke off and sighed heavily "...but she only wished to make you face the truth."
"The truth." Smallville asked sarcastically "She wanted to make me face the truth, and figured that crawling into bed with me while my fiancé wasn't there would do the trick."
"Yes." J'onn nodded unhappily, and looked at each man addressing them in turn "Clark...Smallville, she really did believe that you loved her, she honestly believed that Lois was keeping you apart. The next morning when you woke up you were very angry. She told you most everything that she'd been hiding for so long and then went home. That day she waited for you to arrive and..."
Smallville held up his hand "Wait, back up. You said that she gave Jo an uneasy night's sleep, and put the thought in head to seek me out the next morning to talk; thereby ensuring that Jo would see me in bed with Lana?" J'onn nodded minutely "Son of a bitch!" He pushed away from the table and paced around the room "Jo did see us, that's why she wrote the note to Lois."
"What note honey."
"The one I told you about mom, I found it the day Lo and I came here the weekend before Christmas, when she got the flu remember?" He rubbed the back of his neck and leant against the sink "Jo wrote that note because she must have seen me with Lana. Lois thought she'd written it because Jo figured out that Lana was in love with me, and although it didn't make sense, I let it go because I was just relieved that Lois didn't believe I'd cheated on her. But Jo's note to Lois was explicit and to the point; she pretty much called me a lying, cheating bastard and I'm being polite when I say that."
"Lois believed you sweetie, just remember that Clark." Martha put in softly.
"I know mom, but I hate thinking that because of Lana's actions, Jo left believing that I'd cheated on her older-self."
Seeing the wretchedness on both men's faces, Chloe spoke up "Maybe she didn't. At first ok, she must have thought you were and that's why she wrote it, but you found the note in the loft. If Jo had wanted Lois to find that note, she would have saved it on her computer, just as she'd done with the letter but she didn't." She rubbed Clark's back with one hand and reached over to pick up Smallville's hand "You must have talked about it, and in the end, I'd say she gave that note to you as a sign of trust and her belief in you, regardless of the anything else she'd seen."
The men looked at each other and nodded imperceptibly, but seeing the hurt and pique in their eyes Chloe tried to soothe their agitation a little more "Lois doesn't trust easily Clark you know that, and as she'd only just come from the Clark and Lana crap-fest in 2007, the one person she would have wanted to protect was Joanne. She would have wanted to ensure that her older-self wasn't hurt by you; so if you had the note and she didn't leave another for Joanne with the same message then despite what Lana did, Jo believed you."
Martha nodded firmly, and standing up she stepped over, hugged Smallville hard, turned and hugged Clark in his seat, then clasped a free hand of each man. She looked at both her boys, and pushed down her own anger; determined to focus on her sons and not her mother's heart "Chloe's right sweeties; whether Jo had come to accept your relationship with her older self or not, whether she'd come to like you or not wouldn't have made any difference; she would have wanted to protect Joanne at all costs. She must have given that note to you, and she would only have done that, if she believed you weren't fooling around behind her older self's back."
Both men nodded, tugged their hands free, scrubbed them hard over their faces and with a heavy sigh Smallville re-took his seat. He looked at J'onn and Dianna saw the compassion on their faces and shook his head "Ok, well I know that no matter what Lana said to me I would have told her that I loved Lois, and I'm guessing she took our memories of that day so I wouldn't remember what she did?"
J'onn nodded in confirmation "Yes, you went to see her, told her that you didn't love her, and further told her that she was no longer welcome in your life. She knew that you would have discussed it with your mom, and Chloe, and as she didn't want to lose you completely; in the end she took everyone's memory so no one would remember it."
The men nodded, exchanged eye contact once again and like their mom, pushed it aside so they could concentrate on the rest of what J'onn had to share.
"At first Lana believed you, she was devastated and desolate when you left, but eventually she convinced herself that your mom, Chloe and Jo had badgered you with guilt, until you talked yourself in believing you still loved Lois." The men shook their heads in resignation.
He looked at the two men and smiled sadly "You told Lana that if she really loved you, she would be happy to see you happy, even if it was with Lois. Your words gave her no peace and in the end she brought Lois back to prove to herself that she wasn't selfish; but later regretted it. She believes you belong with her, this is not wishful thinking, hoping or dreaming; she believes it utterly. She believes that Lois had stolen you from her, and that you only turned to Lois because she had hurt you by marrying Lex; that is why she used magic to go back in time and change the past."
The men both sighed, Smallville scrubbed his hands over his face; Clark rubbed his over his thigh and looked at his friend "J'onn, are you trying to make us feel sorry for her?"
"No my friends, I'm just trying to make you understand. When you were younger, you felt for Lana as she now does for you." When their mouths opened he held up a hand "Yes, I know you were kids and she is not, but the belief you had that she was the one was so strong in you, that if anyone had tried to tell you different, you wouldn't have believed it, correct?"
They looked at each other and sighed once again, and this time it was Smallville who spoke "Correct."
"That is how she feels now." They nodded in understanding, he continued "Please do not misunderstand me, I'm not condoning what she did, just trying to explain her reasons." They nodded once again.
J'onn cleared his throat softly, looked at all of them in turn before his eyes settled on the men once again "That wasn't the first time that she took someone's memory."
"What other time J'onn, what else did she do that she was trying to hide?" Clark asked calmly, but before his friend could answer went on sarcastically "No don't tell me, let me guess. I decided to leave her, and she took that decision away from me, altering my memory so that'd I stay with her, no matter how bloody miserable I was?"
"No, not your memory Clark; Lois'." J'onn corrected quietly.
The men sat up straight, the women blew out deep breaths wondering what was coming next.
"She has twice played with Lois' mind. One occasion was a few days after you and Lois became engaged. You, Lois and Chloe came here that weekend to celebrate with your mom." Both men nodded "The next day Lois went to see Lana and confronted her. She told her that she was aware of her love for you, but had only realised the previous night that Lana not only hated her, but felt malice towards her as well." Everyone shifted uncomfortably, J'onn nodded in return "Yes, although for Lana this happened in another lifetime so to speak, she has kept the memories of her 'other life' sharp. As such I can read her very easily; conversations, how she felt, things she did, it is almost in technicolour. The day she and Lois had words, how she was feeling wasn't...pleasant."
J'onn sighed wearily "The two ladies spoke for a while, at first Lana denied her feelings but Lois was remorseless, and eventually she admitted that it was true." He paused to sip his water, ignoring the impatience on everyone's face "Lois told Lana that she wasn't welcome in your lives, and that she was going to tell you everything. However, in the end she agreed to let Lana tell you how she felt. Lana was convinced that Lois had bamboozled you, stolen you from her, and this is what Lois was going to allow her to tell you." When the men's lips twisted, J'onn nodded "Yes, it is ironic considering it is Lana who has stolen all of your lives. Anyway, although Lana agreed, she knew that you weren't ready to face the truth, so on the way back to the farm, she took Lois' memory of what she'd seen the previous night, of their conversation that day, and was very careful to hide her feelings after that."
"So Lois did see it, after finding Jo's letter she'd wondered why she hadn't seen the truth like Jo had done, but she had; Lana had just taken it from her." Smallville summarised neatly.
J'onn inclined his head in agreement "Yes."
"J'onn you said she's played twice with Lois' mind, when was the second time?" Chloe asked quietly.
He looked at them all in turn "One thing you need to know is that Lana doesn't remember magic, she has a book on magic that her older self left her, but she doesn't know how to utilise it."
"So it wasn't her who hurt Lois this morning." Martha asked quietly, and felt bad for assuming it had been, but at J'onn's next words, she shook her head in pity.
"It was, but it was just an experiment; when she married Clark, she promised herself to never use magic on him, which is why she let the magic go. Although Smallville is not her husband, she won't use magic on him either; but Lois is another matter." When they looked at each other alarmed, he inclined his head gently "If anything was to go wrong, she preferred it happen to Lois, and that is why she tried the spell earlier." He opened his mouth to continue but was forestalled by Clark.
"An experiment, she didn't know what the consequences would be, but she decided to do an experiment?"
"Yes, she didn't intend to harm Lois unduly..." When all their mouths opened he held up his hand "Lana wanted to make Lois feel sick, but she had no idea that Lois would be driving at the time, and she really didn't intend it to be as severe as it was." They nodded but the look of anger didn't falter from anyone's face.
"And why did she kill Lois last month?" Smallville asked quietly.
J'onn pressed his lips together "It was also an experiment; she wanted to see if she could do it. It was the Lois in the past she wanted gone; Lana thought if she could get rid of Lois when she was young, then when she was older, Lois wouldn't be able to seduce you away from her."
Chloe ground her teeth and asked harshly "And why did she bring her back?"
"Because even though she didn't want to admit it, she could see that Clark was upset at Lois' passing. She believed that eventually she could get him on the rebound, but she didn't want that. She wanted his love without Lois' memory always being in the background."
Smallville raked his hands through his hair and tugged hard "After it was all over, I was sitting beside Lo just looking at her, grateful that she was alive, and Lana...Lana actually came over and hugged me, told me to call her if I needed her."
Martha closed her eyes and shook her head; this was just getting all too much.
"The day she came to talk to her younger-self, she visited Lois in the hospital." J'onn's voice dropped quietly into the room. Chloe paled, the men's eyes widened, and Martha sat still as a stone.
"As she had lived it all before, she knew what was going to happen that day. She drove to the farm, and watched when you and her younger-self went into the barn to talk, and afterwards sat in her car and cried. Seeing the love you had for her, she believed that all she was doing was correcting a right that had gone wrong. She was stopping herself from marrying Lex." He turned to Chloe and touched her arm briefly "When you spoke to her that day, saw her, she was scared. You had clearly recognised her even though she was older, and all she wanted was to get away quickly. After she calmed down, she went to the hospital, slipped into Lois' room and spoke to her."
"What'd she say?" Smallville asked calmly.
"Basically she told Lois that she was taking you back, and she wanted Lois to see how happy she was going to make you." J'onn replied simply.
"And that's all?" Chloe asked doubtful.
"No, but it will afford you no cheer to know what she said. Lois was unconscious and you have told me that she never remembered anything, so just be thankful that she did not." J'onn replied, but wouldn't repeat the one sided conversation to them.
Nodding reluctantly and feeling somewhat relieved not to know what Lana had said to his fiancé, Smallville let out a deep breath "Ok, J'onn, so getting back to the point, when was the second time that Lana played with Lois' mind?"
After sighing deeply, J'onn coughed delicately, looked at both men, then turned to one and addressed him directly "Smallville I know that you are tempted to tell Lois the truth, but I advise you not; the outcome won't be in your favour my friend."
"Why?" He asked calmly; feeling his heart pound harder at the grave tone.
Clark shifted in his seat but his attention was on high alert as well.
"I mentioned when older Lana went back to her time that she did a couple of spells..." they all nodded, he nodded in return "Even though she didn't believe that you really loved Lois, she did believe that Lois loved you. It was only last night when she saw the picture in your wallet, that she realised Lois had loved you dearly, before that she didn't believe that Lois had loved you with her whole heart; and as such how she felt about you was...insignificant. However, she was scared that Lois would remember her life, and her feelings for you, and one day try to steal you from her again; so to prevent that from happening she used magic."
Smallville and Clark each suppressed the rage they felt building at Lana's callousness towards their fiancé.
"What'd she do?" Clark asked shortly.
"She did a spell so that Lois wouldn't remember her love for you. When Lois dreams, it is of Superman and Kal; you're Kryptonian side." Smallville nodded slowly in agreement "Well as Clark wasn't going to be Superman, Lana didn't focus on that, which is why I believe Lois still clings to you in that way. However, Lana wanted to ensure that Lois wouldn't remember her love for you, and if the spell she used worked, then no matter what you say now, Lois won't accept that you are the man she has been dreaming about." Both Clark's opened their mouths but John held up his hand "Yes, you can show her your powers, proving you are him, but Lana used the name Clark specifically. She didn't use Kal-el or Superman, just Clark."
"But Lois still dreams of me, of our life, she heard me calling out to her; she believed I was Kal last night..." He stopped at the compassionate look on J'onn's face.
"Yes, she believed you were Kal, but Lois never recognised that you were him. In her dreams she only sees Superman and Kal; unlike Clark's dreams which are complete, Lois' are fragmented and jumbled."
Smallville shook his head firmly in rebuttal "Last night Lois and I sat in the kitchen after I spent some time with her outside. When she was picked up my hand to comfort me, I swear it was like she was mesmerised by our joint hands. Then she looked at me and stared; I thought for sure she was going to recognise that I was Kal."
J'onn didn't say anything just smiled sympathetically.
Smallville swallowed hard and closed his eyes in understanding "She didn't know it was me; she thought that she was still dreaming; didn't she?" He opened his eyes and nodded minutely "Her love for Clark is gone; that's what you're saying isn't it J'onn." He asked a small voice.
His friend nodded minutely "Yes, I believe so." He paused at the misery on both men's faces "Lois won't be able to reconcile you to Kal, because Lana used a combination of a forget and an anti-love spell. Putting together what I have ascertained from Lois' memories, and Lana's intentions, I believe her spell worked. If it has then nothing you say in this timeline will bring the love Lois had for Clark back."
"But I am Kal." Smallville put in desperately.
"Not to Lois." He replied quietly. "I am truly sorry my friends."
"You said earlier that Lois wasn't sure if her dream last night was real or not, so you could be wrong." Smallville replied softly.
J'onn nodded "Yes, I am not omnipotent so I could be wrong, but if you decide to tell Lois the truth, please be aware that it is not her fault if she cannot accept that you are the man she has been dreaming off."
Smallville felt the tears gather in his eyes and looked away from the sympathy on everyone's face. Clark did likewise, but neither could hide the devastation they felt at this last news, and neither could stop the tears from filling their eyes and sliding silently down their cheeks.
Dianna and J'onn nodded their heads and retreated to the lounge room; Chloe looked at Martha and felt the same shattering sadness in her own heart that she saw in the older woman's eyes. She got up, retrieved the tissues and handed them silently to the men.
After several minutes she began quietly "Guys..." They swallowed hard and kept their eyes on the table top "This isn't permanent, we've got J'onn and Dianna here, and with their help we're going to fix this. J'onn has read Lana pretty easily so far, easily enough that he's gotten all this information." Their eyes swung to her and hope began to bloom once again "J'onn said that Lana didn't keep the memories of magic, which means she's not powerful anymore..." When their mouths opened she held up a hand quickly "Yes, she hurt Lois earlier, but that was an experiment to find out if she could still do magic. We just have to get that damned book away so she can't try anything else, and in the meantime J'onn will keep tapping into her mind until he's found the spell that she did, and then we can reverse it all."
They both nodded quietly and let out hitching breaths.
Martha looked at her sons and smiled tearfully "We're going to win this, I promise sweeties; we're going to win, ok?"
They nodded once again and smiled slightly.
Chloe got up, gave them both a hug and stepped over to the lounge room to call the visitors back. They returned and took their seats once again "J'onn you can keep tapping into Lana's mind until she focuses on the spell she did right?'
He nodded firmly "Yes, and I will do so. I think you should know because Lana feels that she failed with Lois earlier, she is not intending to try anything more. She is only now focused on finding a way to merge the men back together, and hoping they do not know that she was responsible." He paused and looked at each in turn "If it had worked she was intending to try a spell which would encourage Lois to marry Oliver quickly, but since it didn't, she is no longer willing to try."
"So we're safe on that score."
"Yes my friends you are." J'onn replied with a slight smile "Lana knows how she did the initial spell and how to reverse it, but as she's not considering that possibility at the moment, she's not thinking about it."
"Ok but I'd still feel better if we can get the book away from her, then even if she changes her mind and decides to try again, she won't be able to." Chloe stopped and sighed "But if we take the book she'll know we're onto her."
Martha smiled confidently "If we can get the book without her knowing about it, then my sons can write out a lot of rubbish, and we'll replace the real thing with a fake."
J'onn smiled in return "The book is in her bedroom closet, all you have to do is keep Lana busy long enough for it to be retrieved and copied."
"No problem." Turning to the younger woman Martha smiled "Chloe, all us girls are going shopping for a couple of hours; what'd you think?"
"I love shopping." Chloe grinned in reply.
The men grinned but when Chloe began to speak, Smallville quickly held up his hand "They're heading towards the house, mom and Chloe can you please mention shopping now. Clark and I will dump all the stuff in the field, and as soon as you're gone, he'll get the book and we'll get started."
"Ok sweetie, J'onn, Dianna, you'll have to disappear for a few minutes because Lana will come inside to grab her purse, but we'll be out of your hair quickly." They nodded, Martha stepped towards the door but stopped long enough to call out "Don't forget your lunch." And hearing their answering chuckles, made her way to the back door with Chloe, while the men headed to the front.