A Summer in Love
Chapter Thirty-Five:
Lois groaned, loudly and quite miserably, her eyes slowly peeling open, as she felt Clark tossing and turning next to her.
It was driving her absolutely insane!
He had been doing this for over twenty minutes now. At first, she had attempted ignoring him, but it seemed that, that wasn't going to be a possibility, and ever fiber within her being wanted to berate him for interrupting her beauty sleep.
But, before she could even move one muscle, he was screaming, loudly, next to her, "I have to help them! I have to help them! I have to help them!"
All thoughts of reprimanding him went out the window, at the sound of his voice, which was filled with pain—with regret—with remorse. She quickly shot out of her position in bed, turned her entire body towards him, resting on her knees, and watched as he seemed to be having some kind of nightmare. He was tossing his head from side to side, frantically, his body was practically trembling, and sweat was cascading down his forehead, as he repeated the same thing over and over again.
She placed her hands on his bare chest, and shook him, softly. "Clark!"
It didn't wake him, actually it seemed to only make him move his body more frantically than it was before.
She tried again, and shook him a little harder this time. "Clark! Wake up!"
He didn't.
That was concerning, she thought before gripping his shoulders in her hands, her nails digging into his flesh, and shook him as hard as she could manage. "Clark! Baby! Clark! Wake up!"
His eyes snapped open, at the feel of her nails digging into his skin and the sound of her frantic voice. He quickly sat up, and locked his confused eyes with her concerned ones. "What? What is it? What's wrong?"
She frowned at him. "What's wrong? You were just screaming in your sleep. I should be asking you that question."
That was new, he thought.
Over the past three weeks, he had been having the same exact dream every single night, the one where he was trapped in darkness, unable to reach the voices that desperately wanted his help. It always started and ended the same, but he had never spoken while dreaming, which could only mean one thing…whatever these dreams meant—whatever was happening him was only getting worse.
Much, much worse.
"What was I saying?"
"You kept repeating, I have to help them, over and over again. What were you dreaming about?"
That was a question he was positive that he wasn't ready to answer yet, hell, he didn't even understand why this was happening to him, and quite honestly, he really didn't want to worry her. "I, um, I don't know. It was nothing."
She quirked a brow at him. "Nothing huh? You were just screaming in your sleep, and I'm supposed to believe that it was nothing."
Figures that she wouldn't let this go that easily, he thought before sighing, heavily, and running a hand down his face. "I-I don't know, Lo, it was just a dream, and I don't even remember what it was about."
"You don't?"
"No, I don't. Come on, just go back to sleep."
He really, really hated lying to her, but he couldn't tell her anything until he figured this out himself. He laid back down on the bed, pulling her with him, and made himself comfortable before wrapping his arms around her body, his head resting on her shoulder.
Lois watched as he closed his eyes, softly, and fell back asleep almost instantaneously, but her, on the other hand, wasn't tired anymore, actually she was wide awake now.
He had just lied to her.
He knew exactly what that dream was about.
She had seen it lingering in his eyes, but for some unknown reason, he felt the need to lie to her about it, and that worried her…immensely.
It wasn't like they told each other absolutely everything, especially about their dreams, but this, this seemed like something he didn't want her to know about, and that did more than worry her…it concerned her.
It was quite obvious that something was bothering him, hell, she's noticed that he hasn't exactly been himself the past couple of weeks. At first, she had believed that it was just restlessness, especially with everything that's been going on as of late, but now, she was certain that it was something much, much more than that.
But what could it be?
One part of her wanted to wake his ass up right this second, and demand answers out of him, but deep inside she knew that, that would get her absolutely nowhere. He would brush it off, exactly like he just had, and that meant that whatever was going on with him scared him to the point he truly believed that he couldn't tell her about it.
It was a lot like those first few weeks they had been together.
She had known that he was keeping something from her, and she had respected his decision not to tell her about it, but this was different—different because she wasn't sure if she would be able to just forget this ever happened.
Something was bothering him, that much was blatantly obvious, and she wanted to help him, like she had done several times in the past, but she didn't know how to accomplish that when he wouldn't tell her what was going on with him.
One way or another, she would get him to open up to her, no matter how long it took, and then she would help him with whatever has been distracting him for weeks now.
Chloe slowly walked down the stairs of her house, in desperate need for some refreshing coffee, especially since she had, had a late night last night. After another long day of being tormented by this week's meteor infected, she had spent the rest of the night attempting to dig up information on Lex, wanting to figure out what he wanted with Lois, and what he knew about Murphy, but of course, she had gotten absolutely nowhere.
She wasn't sure what she should do next.
She wanted to figure out what his end game was, and she also wanted to protect her cousin from whatever he was planning, but how the hell was she supposed to do that when she had absolutely no idea what was really going on.
It's not like she could watch the man's every movement.
He was calculating, that she had learned over the few years she had known him, and he was really, really good at covering his tracks.
All thoughts of Lex immediately left her mind, as she heard two voices echoing from the living room, and was completely and utterly surprised, at who she saw sitting on the couch with her father.
It was someone she never, ever thought she would see in her house again, especially since he hadn't been here in well over ten years.
"U-Uncle Sam?"
He stopped talking, at the sound of his niece' voice, and smiled, slightly up at her. "Chloe. It's good to see you. Your father here was telling me everything I've missed, and I've got to say, you've grown up so much. What happened to the spunky little girl who used to cause havoc with that daughter of mine?"
She chuckled, slightly. "Well, it's been quite a long time since those days, but I still cause as much havoc as I did before."
"I'm sure you do."
Gabe smiled at her. "Especially, now that her favorite cousin is living here."
Which brought her to the question…why was her father here?
"Not that I'm not happy you're here, but um, what are you doing here exactly?"
The smile fell from his face, and he glanced at her father, uneasily, which didn't go unnoticed by her, making her feel a little anxious at what was going on. "I'm looking for my daughter. There's something I need to discuss with her." He glanced at her, knowingly. "Do you know where she is?"
"Oh. Yeah. She's at her boy—" She stopped mid-sentence, realizing what she was about to reveal to her uncle, a man who didn't take it kindly when his daughter had boyfriends, and quickly attempted correcting herself. "Um, she's at a friend's house."
Sam chuckled, at her slip and apparent nervousness. It figures that she would be with him. He had, had a feeling that she might be, but he wanted to check here first, besides he needed to talk to both Gabe and Chloe about what was going on, especially since they were just as involved in this as his daughter was.
"She's with Clark, right?"
Her eyes widened to the size of saucers, and her mouth dropped open, in complete shock. "Y-you know?"
"Yes. I've known about him for quite a while, actually, that was one of the many reasons I sent her here in the first place."
That was surprising, she thought before holding up her hands in front of her. "Wait a minute. Are you telling me that you knew before sending her to Smallville that Clark, the man she loves, lived here?"
He nodded.
"Did you know that he was the man she spent three months with before sending her here?"
He nodded again.
This was just getting better and better, she thought.
At first, she had been confused at the fact that he even knew about Clark, then she had been irritated because he knew her best friend had lived here, and now she was just pissed off. He had known for over one year, that his daughter and her best friend had spent three months together—that they fell in love with each other—that they missed each other, and he did nothing about it. He just allowed them to believe that they would never, ever see each other again.
How the hell could he do something like that?
One part of her wanted to yell—scream—berate the man for all the heartache he could have stopped, but refrained the anger she was currently feeling because she knew without a doubt that Lois would do all of those things on her own, and he would deserve every second of her wrath.
She changed the subject. "Um, well, she's at the farmhouse. I can take you there if you want…"
"No. That's okay. I know where it is."
"Of course, you do." She mumbled under her breath, knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to hear her. "It might not be any of my business, but um, what is all of this about? I mean, what are you doing in Smallville?"
"I've been stationed at the base in town. I wasn't supposed to be here for another two months, but something came up, which is the reason I'm here now, and why I need to speak to my daughter immediately."
"What's going on?"
Her father looked at her, uneasily. "Um, honey, I think you're going to want to sit down."
This couldn't be good, she thought, especially since the worried expressions that crossed their faces earlier returned, and it was beginning to frighten her, slightly.
She slowly sat down next to her father, and glanced between the two of them. "What's going on?"
"It's about Murphy."
All the color drained from her face, and her hands began to tremble. "M-Murphy? What about him?"
He sighed, heavily. "Roughly about three weeks ago, I was alerted that someone had hacked into the military mainframe, and stolen a copy of the file I had on Murphy."
This couldn't be happening right now.
Who would want that man's file? Who would want anything to do with that man? Who could possibly be digging up information about him? Did this have anything to deal with Lois' past? Did someone want to harm her cousin in some way?
Her eyes widened, as realization dawned on her almost instantaneously, and she knew exactly who had stolen that file. It was the man who had caused her cousin trouble from the moment she stepped into this town—the man who seemed to know about things he shouldn't know—the man who they were currently investigating.
Lex.
"That son of a bitch!"
Sam and Gabe frowned at her, and spoke, simultaneously, "What?"
She glanced between the two of them, noticing their confused expressions, and quickly stood up. "I know who stole that file, actually both Lois and I know the person who did this."
Her father stared at her, like she wasn't making any sense. "Honey, how could you possibly know?"
"That's not important."
Sam walked closer to her. "Chloe, it is important. How could you possibly know about this? I only found out two weeks ago…"
"Look, I'm not entirely surprised by this news, and neither will Lois. This isn't the first time Murphy has come up since she moved here."
"What are you talking about?"
"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that we know who did this, and we can finally figure out what he's planning to do with that information."
Sam placed his hands on her shoulders, gently. "Chloe, I need you to tell me who this man is right now."
She shook her head from side to side. "I can't do that. We'll explain everything later, but right now, we need to get Lois, and tell her what's going on." She didn't wait for either of them to respond, and quickly walked out of her house, knowing that her uncle Sam would follow her.
It was all beginning to make perfect sense.
Lex was behind everything.
He knew Murphy' name because he had, had someone get that information for him, and for weeks had been baiting her—threatening her for unknown reasons.
Why the hell was he doing this? What did he want with that information? What was his endgame to all of this? But, more importantly, what did he want with Lois?
She didn't know, but she was going to figure it out before he did something rash—before he did anything to harm her cousin.
She had been hurt enough over the years, and there was no way in hell she was letting that happen again.
Lois laughed, good-heartedly, as she ran full-force out of the barn, attempting to get away from her boyfriend, who was currently chasing her due to her endless teasing.
They had been in the loft, bantering back and forth about nonsense like they usually did, and she couldn't stop herself from annoying the living shit out of him, which of course, was the reason why she was attempting to escape from him.
Like that would do her any good, she thought, knowing that he could easily catch her with his damn super speed.
Clark kept a good distance in-between them, as he chased after her, enjoying every little second of their little game, especially since he knew that she loved it just as much as he did, but that all changed once he realized where she was headed.
The house.
Oh, no you don't, he thought, as he picked up his speed to catch up with her, only using a tad bit of his super speed.
This happened every single time they did this. She would play their little game for a little while before running towards the house, where his parents would stop them from horsing around, and of course, they always took her side, even though they knew very well that she was usually the one who started their little battle in the first place.
Once he caught up to her, he wrapped his arms around her waist, and lifted her off the ground, relishing in the fact that he had once again beat her at her own damn game.
She kicked her legs, frantically, and squirmed her body in every which direction, attempting to escape from his grasp, but it was useless. "Put me down!"
"Never!" He tightened his arms around her, and nuzzled her neck, nipping at her skin there, making her giggle, uncontrollably.
"Clark freaking Kent! Put me down right this second!"
"Okay," he relented, but instead of putting her on the ground, he quickly flipped her around, so she was facing him, and wrapped her legs around his waist before resting his hands on her lower back.
She blinked several times, at the sudden change of scenery, and glared at him once she realized what he had just done. "That is not what I had in mind."
He brushed his nose against hers. "I know, but I kind of prefer you this way."
"Why? Because you have me right where you want me?"
"Exactly."
She pouted, attempting to look forlorn. "Please put me down."
"Never gonna happen, Lo."
"I hate you!"
"No, you don't. You love me."
She smirked, mischievously. "Oh really? If that's true than prove it."
And, that's exactly what he did.
He pressed his lips against hers, possessively and demandingly, as one of his hands curled into her soft blonde hair, and the other one gripped her waist, his fingers grazing across her soft skin. She moaned against his lips, her tongue prodding his lips to open up to her, and pressed her entire body against his, her fingers tangling themselves in his hair, as their tongues intertwined together.
"Lois?"
Lois' entire body froze, at the familiar sound of her father's voice, and quickly pulled away from him before staring at her father with a befuddled expression.
What the hell was he doing here?
"Daddy?"
Clark about lost his marbles, at the word that fell from his girlfriend' lips, and practically dropped her onto the ground, feeling extremely nervous, as he stared at the man, who he never, ever thought he would meet—the man who had caused them so, so many problems in the past.
Sam, who had watched their entire encounter, slowly walked towards them with a slight smile lingering on his face. "Hello, Lois." He glanced over at his daughter' boyfriend, who was staring at him wide-eyed, as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, nervously, and couldn't help chuckling at the boy' behavior. "No need to be nervous, son."
He just nodded, not entirely sure what to say to this man.
He stuck out his hand, "You must be Clark. It's nice to finally put a face to the name."
He tentatively shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you too, sir."
Lois narrowed her eyes at her father, feeling completely and utterly confused by what was happening. "How the hell do you know his name? How did you even know where I was? And, what the hell are you doing here?"
"I can answer that."
Lois and Clark looked over her father' head towards the new voice, noticing Chloe walking towards them with a small smile gracing her lips, which only confused them more than they already were. "Chloe, what are you doing here?"
"I was just surprised as you were when I found uncle Sam sitting in my living room, but we need to talk to you about something."
"You brought him here?"
She nodded, which rewarded her with a fierce glare from her cousin.
Sam just chuckled at his daughter. "Yes, she brought me here, but I was headed here anyways. There's something important I need to discuss with you.
"Okay, but that still doesn't answer the question on how you know Clark' name…"
"I've known about him before you returned from Washington."
Both of their mouths dropped open, in shock.
"H-how is that even possible? I never even mentioned anything to you or anyone for that matter. The only people that knew were Wes and…" She trailed off, realizing the other person who had seen them together, and wanted to strangle the man more than she had over one year ago. "Uncle Jeff told you, didn't he?"
"Yes."
Clark couldn't believe what he was hearing. This man—a man he hoped to never see, had known the entire time they were separated who he was, where he lived, and did absolutely nothing about it. He knew how much his daughter loved and missed him, but did nothing to relieve her pain.
It shouldn't surprise him, he thought, since he was the number one reason for most of their heartbreak within those three months, especially the two times she had left him, and the fact that he was here now only made him feel very, very uneasy.
Lois was feeling anything but thrilled at this moment.
She glared, heatedly at her father, as everything he had revealed angered her more than anything ever has before. For over one year, he had known about Clark—had known about their summer together—had known that she loved him—had known that she missed him, but did nothing about it, instead he had her living in misery, all because she had run away from base.
What the hell was wrong with him? Why the hell would he do something like that? Why would he allow her to believe that she was never going to see the one person she desperately wanted in her life?
"You knew! This whole damn time you knew! You could tell that I was hurting—that I was in pain—that I was heartbroken, and you did nothing! Did you think I deserved it because I disobeyed your damn orders? Was sending me here your way of making up for letting me live in misery for over one year? Why the hell didn't you tell me?"
Clark wrapped his arm around her shoulders, attempting to calm her down, but knew it was useless, especially when it came to her father.
He had a feeling that she would be angry, actually, she was more than angry right now, she was livid, and he knew he deserved it, but right now he had more pressing things on his mind than his own daughter berating him for his actions.
"Lo, you can be pissed at me all you want. I know I deserve it, but I have other pressing matters to discuss with you at this time."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"I need you to come with me."
She took a step back from him, unconsciously grabbing Clark' hand, and squeezed, like he was her life support, which he was at this very moment in time. "No."
"What?"
"I'm not going anywhere with you. Not until I get the answers I want."
This is getting us absolutely nowhere, Chloe thought.
As much as she enjoyed watching Lois reprimand her father for everything he had done, there were more important things to discuss, and they couldn't do it here, not in front of Clark or the Kent'. This was a family matter.
She stepped forward, staring directly into her cousin' eyes. "Lois, we need you to come with us right now."
She glared at her. "Why are you siding with him?"
"I'm not." She took a deep breath. "Look, I can't explain right now, but you need to come with us."
She clung onto Clark's hand, feeling relieved when he squeezed her hand, reassuringly, and took another step back away from them. "No. I'm not leaving."
Sam sighed, heavily. "Lois Joanne Lane! That's enough! You will be leaving with me right this second! Is that understood, young lady?"
She glared at him, defiantly, but her expression quickly changed to concern once she noticed the worried expression plastered on her cousin' face, and the one of pure fear on her father'. It was something she hadn't seen for a very, very long time, and knew without a doubt that whatever he wanted to discuss with her was important.
What the hell was going on?
Clark felt her hand loosen its grip on his own, and turned towards her, knowing exactly what she was going to say to him. "No. Lois, don't. Please, don't do this to me again."
She reached up, resting her hand on the side of his face. "It's going to be okay, Clark."
He pleaded with his eyes for her not to leave him, as fear of what he wanted to talk to her about was going to inevitably tear her away from him again consumed him, but knew that she was going to leave with them anyways. "No. Please, don't do this to me."
She forced down her tears, at the expression of pure dread that was lingering on his handsome face, and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him. She whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, baby. I'll be back later. I promise, I won't let him take me away from you."
He pulled away from her, slightly, and stared into her beautiful eyes, only seeing truth and honesty staring back at him. "Promise me you'll come back to me."
"I promise."
He rested his forehead against hers. "Okay."
They shared a soft, sweet, and passionate kiss before she walked away with her father and cousin, wondering what the hell was going on.
Clark watched her leave, his heart pounding, frantically inside his chest, as a feeling of pure fear creeped deep inside of him.
She had promised him that she would be coming back to him, and he really, really wanted to believe that, but he couldn't help feeling like the only reason her father was here was to take her away from him again. He had caused them so much heartbreak in those three months they spent together, even in the time they were separated he had caused them pain, and had done absolutely nothing to ease their broken hearts.
So, what was stopping him from tearing them apart again?
His thoughts were interrupted by his father' voice. "Clark."
He turned towards the house, noticing his parent' standing on the porch with sympathetic expressions resting on their faces, and knew that they had watched the entire scene unfold in front of their eyes. He slowly walked towards them, not even attempting to hide what he was feeling inside.
It wouldn't matter anyways, he thought, they always knew what was going through his head, especially when it came to the woman he loved.
Martha smiled at him, reassuringly. "She'll be back, honey."
He trained his eyes on the loose gravel on the ground. "I want to believe that…"
Jonathon clamped his hand down on his shoulder. "Clark, look at me."
He did.
"Do you remember what I told you that first night you came back to us?"
He nodded.
"That's still relevant today. You two belong together. Everyone who loves you and cares about you knows that. You both knew it from the first moment you met, and you still know that she's the one for you—your soulmate. She'll come back to you. She always has, and she always will."
A smile formed on his face, at his father' words, but it quickly faded into a frown. "I know that. She knows that, but he has already torn us apart not only once but twice so, what's stopping him from doing it again?"
A sigh escaped from Martha before she stepped closer to her son. "Did he say that's what he was intending on doing?"
"No. All he said was that he needed to talk to her about something."
"Then you have no need to worry. It's going to be okay, Clark, she'll be back, besides I think we all know that, that girl would fight her father tooth and nail just to stay with you."
"Yeah. Your probably right."
As much as he wanted to believe what his parents were telling him—what Lois had told him and promised him, he couldn't help feeling like everything around him was falling apart. Firstly, the dreams he was having only made him wonder how much time he really had with the people he loved and cared about, and now the idea of Lois' father forcing her to leave him wouldn't leave his mind. He didn't like this feeling, not in the slightest, but he would believe in her—he would trust that she would be coming back to him.
He just hoped it wasn't to say goodbye.
Lois, Chloe and Sam walked through the yards of the base towards her father' new office. On their way here, they had informed her that he was being stationed here in approximately two months, and that due to particular circumstances he had to come earlier, but of course, neither of them would enlighten her on the reasons why they had dragged her from Clark, who was probably wondering if she was ever coming back or not.
God, she really hated doing this to him, but she had a feeling that this little meeting had absolutely nothing to do with her relationship with him or concerning whether her father was intending on tearing them apart again.
It was something that concerned both her and Chloe, but what could it possibly be?
All of a sudden, she stopped dead in her tracks, as she heard a familiar voice, echoing from behind her. "LOIS!"
She quickly swirled around only to see none other than her best friend running towards her, and grinned from ear to ear before running towards her. "CASSIE!"
They collided into each other's arms, and hugged, tightly, laughing, loudly, as they swung each other around in circles. "I've missed you so much!"
"I've missed you too!" She pulled away from her, and glanced down at her still flat stomach. "And, how is my little niece or nephew doing?"
"Oh, you know, giving mommy morning sickness and cravings that I can't possibly afford.
She turned around, at the sound of her best friend's booming voice, and smirked at him. "Are you complaining? I thought that this is what you wanted, Mr. all I can talk about is having a family."
"Shut up," he said before pulling her into a hug. "I've missed you, Lo, I felt like I haven't seen you in years."
"It's felt like that, hasn't it?"
He looked over her shoulder, and grinned, widely when he saw Chloe freaking Sullivan. "My, my, my, you look completely different from what I remember."
She chuckled at him. "Well, it has been a few years since we last saw each other. I see you haven't changed a bit."
He glared at her, playfully. "Now that's not very nice."
"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah."
"Get your butt over here, Sullivan." He quickly entrapped her in one of his famously known bear hugs.
Chloe pulled away from him, and smiled, tenderly at Cassie. "You're looking more beautiful than ever."
She grinned at her. "Thank you. It's all because this one got me pregnant."
He snickered at her, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Don't pretend like you didn't want this as much as I did."
She simply shrugged her shoulders, a small smile lingering on her face, and glanced over at her best friend. "It's really good to see you again. Too bad it's under these circumstances."
Lois glared at her cousin. "Circumstances everyone has yet to tell me about."
Wes frowned. "You don't know yet?"
"Nope. My father literally arrived at Clark' house, and dragged me here."
He grinned at her. She had told them all about reuniting with him—about how she hasn't felt happier than she has been in these past couple of months, and he couldn't more excited for his best friend. "How is Clark by the way?"
"Probably sitting in his loft, brooding, wondering if I'm ever going to come back to him."
"Why would he be doing that?"
"It's complicated," she muttered. It wasn't what she really wanted to talk about at this very moment, actually, she'd rather think about anything other than the state she had left her boyfriend in.
Wes watched her facial expression change, dramatically, and knew exactly what was probably going through that man's head. "No, it's not. Your father showed up at the farm, ordering you to leave with him, and all that did was remind him of what happened in Washington. Now, he's wondering if the same exact thing is happening again."
"You would be right."
"Well, he won't have to worry for too much longer because soon you'll be back with him, and everything will be alright."
"Yeah. As soon as I figure out why the hell I was dragged here in the first place."
Sam, who had watched the entire reunion between friends, stepped forward. "Well, you don't have to wait much longer. Come on, let's go to my office."
Several minutes later, they were all sitting in his office, in complete silence, and Lois was becoming more and more unnerved as the seconds passed, especially at the way every single one of them were staring at her with worried expressions plastered across their faces.
"Okay. Does anyone want to tell me what the hell is going on?"
It was silent for a few more seconds before her father, rested his hands on the desk, gathering everyone' attention. "Lois, the reason I'm here two months before I'm supposed to be is because about three weeks ago I was informed that there was a breach of security in the mainframe."
She stared at him, wide-eyed, and felt even more confused than she did before. "How does something like that happen? And what does it have to do with me?"
Wes turned towards her. "It wasn't anything we expected to happen, but they didn't steal any government files, Lois, they stole a personal one."
"Which one?"
Her father looked her straight in the eyes. "Murphy's."
All the color drained from her face, as she felt her heart beat rapidly inside her chest, and she glanced at every single person in the room, hoping—praying that it wasn't true, but knew from the expressions on their faces that it was the truth.
She quickly stood up, feeling completely and utterly overwhelmed, and started pacing back and forth. "How the hell did this happen?"
"We don't know, Lo."
"Who would be digging up information about him?"
Chloe slowly stood up, and walked over to her. "I think you know, Lois."
She stared at her with a befuddled expression before it finally clicked, and everything that has been happening since she moved to this small town started making complete sense. "That son of a bitch!"
"We have both been wondering how he knew his name, and now we know that it's because he had someone steal that file for him."
"But why? What the hell does he want from me? What is his purpose in all of this?"
Sam, Wes and Cassie spoke, simultaneously, "Who?"
They both glanced at them, also speaking, simultaneously, "Lex Luthor."
Sam shook his head, vehemently. "No. He wouldn't do that. Chloe, he helped protect you when his father attempted killing you. Why would he want to do this to you, Lo?"
"I've been asking myself that same exact question for months now."
"No. You're wrong. It's just not possible."
"It's true, uncle Sam, he's been practically harassing her since the second she stepped into this town."
"What has he done?"
Lois chuckled, but there was absolutely no humor laced in her voice. "Oh, you know, only throwing threats at me every chance he gets, and about two weeks ago he revealed that he knew more about Murphy than he should know."
Wes slowly stood up. "What would he want information about Murphy for?"
"I have no idea."
"Has he said anything that could clue us in on what he's planning to do with this information."
Chloe and Lois glanced at each other before breaking into a fit of laughter, and once they calmed down, Chloe looked directly at Cassie. "Lex Luthor reveal his evil plan? That's hilarious. No. He hasn't done anything other than cause havoc in our lives for the past several weeks."
Sam slowly stood up. "We need to figure out what his agenda is because there is no way I'm allowing what happened five years ago happen again."
Lois shook her head at him, knowing he was feeling remorse for what happened, but she could care less about that right now. "That's not going to happen. Murphy is gone, and no one knows where he is."
Complete and utter silence filled the room.
She locked eyes with her father, who had this expression of pure regret lingering on his face. "No one knows where he is, right?"
He took a deep breath before revealing the one piece of information that he knew would send her off the deep end. "Lois, that file contained information of where we stashed him. Lex knows he's in Greenland somewhere, but he doesn't know exactly where…"
At hearing that Lex possessed the possible whereabouts of the man, who had caused not only her, but her family so, so much pain, she could feel the room beginning to spin in circles around her, and she was starting to feel very, very lightheaded and dizzy.
Wes quickly stepped directly behind her once he noticed her stumbling, slightly, in her stance, and quickly wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her against his chest. "It's okay, Lois. It's going to be okay."
The feel of her best friend' arms wrapped around her comforted her, slightly, and it helped her refocus her foggy vision, but it didn't stop the fear that was seeping deep inside of her body. "I'm okay. I'm fine."
Except she wasn't okay, actually she was feeling the complete opposite of that particular emotion.
You will not freak out. You will not freak out. You will not freak out.
She repeated this manta in her head over and over again, as she sat down in a chair, attempting to calm herself down, but it didn't seem to be working since question after question kept rummaging through her mind.
Did Lex know exactly where Murphy was? Was that the information he wanted? Has he already found him? Was he intending on using Murphy to get whatever the hell he wanted out of her? Has Murphy already been rescued from that disgusting and horrid town? Was he headed towards this small town as this very second? Was he already here?
And, now she was officially freaking out.
Her entire body trembled, frantically.
Her Heart beat rapidly inside her chest.
Her breathing became harsher and harsher.
Hot, burning tears filled her eyes before cascading down her cheeks like a waterfall.
Chloe immediately rushed to her cousin' side, her hands gripping her shoulders, tightly. "Lois! Lois! You need to calm down!"
"I-I can't calm down."
"Yes. Yes, you can. Come on, Lo, you can do it. Just breathe, Lois, just breathe."
She slowly breathed in and out several times, at her cousin' reassuring words, and managed to calm herself down.
"Lo? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She looked straight into her father's eyes, who was staring at her with concern. "D-do-do-is he still there?"
He lowered his head, his eyes focusing on the papers spread out across his desk. "I don't know, Lo, that's not something I can find out very easily. When I sent him there, I didn't put together a team to watch his every movement, I didn't because I never thought he would escape, and as far as we know he hasn't."
She glared, heatedly at him. "Well, General, you better fucking figure out a way to find out because I've finally reached a point in my life where I'm happy. I have a boyfriend who loves me more than anything—I have two people who care and love me like I was their own daughter—I have everything I've ever wanted, and I can't lose that—I can't lose my family again."
That stung, pretty badly, but he knew that it was mostly his fault that she didn't see him as a major part of her family anymore. He had turned his back on her not only once but twice, and it was when she needed him the most, all because he didn't want to lose his best soldier.
He should have believed in her.
He should have trusted her.
He should have known that she was telling the truth, but he hadn't, he had believed Murphy over his own daughter, and that was one of the many reasons she had completely disregarded him. "I promise you, Lo, I'm going to do whatever it takes to stop Murphy from getting to you and from Lex harming you in any way."
Chloe glared at her uncle. "And how do you expect to do that? You literally just informed everyone that Lex has the means to get Murphy out of the hell hole you placed him in over five years ago. How the hell do you expect to stop something like him escaping or Lex hurting her from happening?"
Lois tuned everything around her out. All the voices. All the noises. It all vanished from her until all she could hear was the sound of her own beating heart and her never-ending thoughts.
There was a way to figure this out, she thought before quickly standing up, interrupting their current conversation, one she was paying absolutely no attention to. "I'm going to find out what Lex knows—what he plans on doing, and I'm going to find out right now."
Chloe quickly chased after her, as she rushed to the door, and pulled her back, turning her around towards her. "No. Lois, we've been over this. You can't just confront him."
She stared into her green eyes. "What should we do then?"
"We need to go about this calmly and logically."
"She's right, Lo, we need to think up an affirmative plan before we act on anything."
She glanced over at her father. "What do you suggest we do?"
"This is what we're going to do…"
Clark was in the loft, sitting on the couch with his head lowered, and his eyes closed, as he brooded, miserably. It had been hours since he last saw Lois, and that seeping fear he had felt earlier had become so, so much more worse, as time passed by so incredibly slowly.
It wasn't that he didn't believe her when she told him that she would be back, because he did, but it was the fact that she was with her father at this very moment, and he was the only reason they had been torn apart in the first place.
He groaned, loudly, as he fell back against the couch, and stared up at the wood ceiling wishing—hoping—praying that she would walk up those stairs, if only to reassure him that she wasn't going anywhere—that she would stay with him forever and for always, just like they had always promised each other.
Thirty minutes later, Sam, Lois, Chloe, Cassie, and Wes pulled up to the Kent farm, and walked towards the farmhouse. After hours of discussing what they should do about Lex, Chloe and Lois had managed to convince everyone to come back to the farm with them, that way they could all get to know the family that they had come to love and cherish, besides they all wanted some kind of normalcy after the day they had just had.
Martha, who was currently preparing dinner, looked out the kitchen window when she overheard several voices lingering from outside, and grinned when she noticed every single one of them migrating towards the house.
"Jonathon. We have some guests."
He slowly stood up from his position on the couch, and walked towards the kitchen, "Is it Lois?"
She nodded, "And then some."
That confused him, at least until a hoard of people walked into his house.
Lois grinned, sheepishly at them. "Um, I hope you don't mind, but I brought a few guests back with me."
Martha walked towards everyone with a huge smile plastered across her face. "Of course, we don't mind. You're lucky I always make enough dinner, or we might have had a little problem."
The smile fell from her face, at what the woman she saw as her mother was implicating, and she really, really didn't want them to stay for dinner, at least not her father since that could become awkward incredibly fast. "Oh, you don't have to do that. I'm sure they're all tired, and probably don't want to stay for dinner."
Sam stepped forward, smiling at the two people who had been an important part of his daughter' life. "If the woman is offering, I'm not going to refuse, besides I'd love to get to know the family my little Lo has talked so much about."
Figures, she thought to herself, quite miserably.
Martha grinned pointedly at Lois, knowing exactly what was going through that mind of hers. "Then it's settled. You're all staying for dinner."
Jonathon chuckled, softly, at the forlorn expression spread out across the face of the woman he saw as his daughter, and decided to change the subject for her sake. "Well, Lois, are you going to introduce us, or are we supposed to guess who everyone is supposed to be."
"Right. Well, Jonathon, Martha, um, this is my father, Sam Lane." She pointed towards her two best friends. "And that's Cassie Jones and Wes Keenan, my two closest friends."
Martha smiled at all of them. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you. How about you all make yourselves comfortable in the living room with Jonathon while I finish dinner. It's almost done."
They all nodded before making their way towards the living room, but Lois stopped Jonathon before he could walk any further by grabbing his arm, and pulling him aside, away from everyone else' ears. "Um, where's Clark?"
He smiled down at her. "He's in the loft."
"How long has he been up there?"
"Ever since you left."
"Great." She dropped her head, and sighed, heavily. "He has probably been brooding all day long."
"Yeah. We tried convincing him that everything was going to be okay, and that you were going to come back…"
"But, he didn't believe you." She finished his sentence. "God, what have I done?"
He rested his hand on her shoulder, making her look up at him. "It's not your fault, sweetheart. You didn't know this was happening today, and I think the fact that this has happened before might have terrified him, slightly."
She nodded at him before walking out of the house, and towards the barn, where she was positive she wouldn't like what she witnessed.
When she got to the top of the loft stairs, she was definitely surprised by what she saw. It was not what she had been expecting. Clark, her adorable boyfriend, was half sitting half lying on the couch, and it was quite obvious that he was passed out, especially since he was making those cute little noises he makes when he's sleeping.
She suckled, softly, at the picture he painted, as she walked over to him, and sat down next to him before gingerly running her fingers down the side of his face. "Clark. Baby. Clark, wake up."
At the feel of someone touching his skin—at the sound of someone speaking softly to him, he fluttered his eyes open, slowly focusing on the beautiful long blonde hair, and the beautiful hazel eyes staring down at him. He quickly snapped his eyes open, fully, as he realized who was sitting with him, and quickly wrapped her in his embrace, pulling her into his chest, tightly.
"Lois, baby, your back."
She hugged him back, just as tightly. "I promised you I would be back."
He held onto her tighter, not wanting to let her go yet, and breathed in her sweet scent. "I know, but I, but I—"
"But, you didn't believe me," she interrupted him, knowing exactly what he was going to say.
He quickly pulled away from her, and stared deeply into her eyes. "No. That wasn't it. I, um, I just couldn't help thinking that what happened in Washington was going to happen again. I was terrified that you were going to come back to tell me goodbye…"
She rested her forehead against his, and curled herself into his lap, knowing that he needed her close to him right now. "I'm not here to say goodbye to you. I'll never, ever say those words to you again."
He wrapped his arms tighter around her body, and fell back against the couch, pulling her with him. "Lois. Please, please don't ever leave me."
"That's never going to happen."
"I have spent all day wondering what was going on—wondering if that moment we shared this morning was going to be our last—wondering if you were going to leave me again, and I realized that I can't ever lose you. I felt so scared—so afraid, and I never, ever want to feel that way again."
"Clark, baby, I know we both still have fears of being ripped away from each other, and I know that, that fear is only there because of what happened to us before, but it's something that can never, ever happen."
"Promise?"
"I promise, baby, I promise that I will be with you forever and for always. You never have to worry about that happening because there won't be one single day where we aren't with each other. I'll make sure of that."
"Good," he muttered with a grin on his face before pressing his lips against hers softly, sweetly and passionately.
Several minutes later, Lois soon realized that he had other intentions besides a full-blown make out session between them, and quickly pulled away from him before his hands could travel any further. "Clark, we can't. Both or our parents are inside the house, and you know the rules."
"I don't care. I just want this. You. I need you, Lois."
She shook her head from side to side at him. "Clark Kent, I swear to god, if we get caught I'm blaming this all on you."
"I'll gladly take that blame." He molded his lips back against hers, picking up where he had left off seconds ago, and intended to show the woman he loved how much she really meant to him.
Steve Wilkinson and Murphy walked through the many, many corridors of the large mansion, and Murphy was completely and utterly amazed by everything he was seeing, especially since for the past five years all he ever saw was disgusting, dirt and rat-filled streets.
They stopped at the double wooden doors to the main library, and knocked twice before entering the room.
Lex looked up from his desk, and grinned from ear to ear, at the two men standing in front of him before quickly standing up. "I assume that you would be Murphy."
"You would be correct."
He glanced at his right-hand man. "That will be all, Wilkinson."
The man nodded and left the room.
Murphy glanced around the room. "This is quite the place you have here."
"Yeah. It's been in my family for several years, actually it was shipped overseas brick by brick. I'm Lex Luthor by the way."
He stared him straight in the eyes, coldly. "Look, I could give to shits about your family history or about your damn name. I want to know why you rescued me. I want to know what you want from me exactly, and I want to know when I can see the one person I have waited five years to see again."
"Down to business then." They both sat down at the exact same time, and stared at each other, suspiciously. "I know you probably have a lot of questions, but I'm going to make it really simple for you. The only reason you are sitting here right now is because I need something from you."
"Yeah. Yeah. That's what your bodyguard told me. You want information about Lois, and if I'm to get what I so desperately want then I have to help you achieve whatever it is you're after."
This man was definitely a character, he thought.
"So, you understand the terms of our arrangement?"
"I understand. What do you want to know?"
He grinned, devilishly, and leaned forward in his seat. "I want to know everything that happened before you were shipped off to that god forsaken island."
He glared, fiercely, as memories of everything that had happened that has led him to this particular point in his life came rushing back to him. "You mean, when that stupid little bitch and her pathetic little cousin double crossed me."
"Are you implying that you didn't deserve everything that has happened to you?"
He laughed, menacingly. "Of course, I deserved it. I'm no saint, and I'm sure you aren't either, but that doesn't mean her, and her little family don't deserve what I have been waiting a hellish long five years to execute."
"You'll get your revenge, but first I need some vital information about Miss Lane, and once I have planned out and received what I want from her, you can do whatever you please with her."
"So, basically, you want something to manipulate her with to get the information your searching for, and once you have what you want, I can end the life of the beautiful, feisty woman who ruined my entire life?"
"Precisely."
He leaned back in his chair, folding his hands across his stomach, and smirked at the man. "What would you like to know first?"
"How about you just start from the beginning."
I decided to post this today, since for the next week or so I'm going to be really busy with family gatherings and holiday preparations. This chapter is basically the set up for the next two chapters, which happens to be the last two chapters of this section of the story. That's when things are going to get really interesting, especially since that part of the story was perfectly planned out before I even started writing this story.
I hoped you enjoyed chapter thirty-five!