Chapter Thirty Seven
Clark was pacing his living room, his cell phone pressed tightly to his ear as he listened to Lois' voicemail kick for the fifth time in a row. Why wasn't she answering?
He was on edge, he didn't know where she was and if she was okay. He'd been more than a little reluctant to let her go to Oliver's place when she'd called him earlier but he could hardly tell her why if he wanted to keep what had happened to himself.
As much as he wanted to tell Lois his secret, he didn't want her to know that Oliver had basically messed with her mind. That would only upset her and that was the last thing he wanted. But knowing what Oliver had done last time he was with her, Clark was anxious, expecting something else to go wrong.
He'd told her not to go, that he wanted to spend the evening with her, but she'd responded by telling him that clearly something was wrong with Ollie. He seemed anxious and whatever he wanted to tell her was obviously urgent. Clark eventually had relented, she was after all, still his friend. Even though Oliver didn't deserve her friendship, or his.
But it left him more determined to tell her the truth even though he had no idea how to even broach the subject. He couldn't exactly walk up to her and say 'Guess what, I'm the Red-Blue-Blur' could he? He needed an opening of some sort.
He stopped in the middle of the living room as his vision started to blur, replaced with a different image. A dark alley, a camera flashing, her lips against his. He was dressed as the Green Arrow and he had Lois in his arms, and he was kissing her.
He smiled to himself as he remembered the feel of her mouth, her lips so warm and soft. That had been their first kiss, he realised. He heard Serena's voice in his head, almost a whisper. 'Trust your instincts' she said.
His instincts were telling him one thing right now. He wanted Lois back, the way he'd had her in his bed a few nights ago. No barriers, no secrets between them. Just love.
He was about to dial her number again when he heard someone in trouble and as much as he wanted to find Lois, he had a job to do. No, not a job, a responsibility. Lois would have to wait for a little while. He quickly changed into his red and blue and sped out the door.
Lois paid for her coffee and left the café. She'd needed a few minutes to herself before she returned to the farm. To try and make sense of what Oliver had told her.
He'd erased some of her memories.
She couldn't believe he would ever do something like that to her of all people, but he had. And it hurt. But more than that, it confused her so badly. Because she had no idea what it was that she'd forgotten.
Now she knew that there was something, and it had to be something pretty big for Oliver to do what he'd done, she didn't know how to get Clark to tell her. Should she just ask him? Or wait and see if it came out on its own. It was a little hard to grasp that Smallville would even have a secret from her.
She'd made it back to The Daily Planet's parking lot before she realised that she didn't have her car with her. Damn, Clark was supposed to pick her up earlier. Now what?
She took out her cell phone to call him when she heard two voices behind her, raising the hairs on the back of her neck.
"Hey there pretty lady. You shouldn't be out here on your own you know," One sneered at her while the other circled her like she was prey. Obviously they'd never met an army brat before and she silently thanked her dad for forcing her to take all those combat lessons when she was a kid.
"Oh I think I can handle it." she replied, with a little more confidence than she was feeling. She might be able to take care of herself but she wasn't stupid. She was outnumbered and frankly, overpowered. These two were big.
The one who was circling her stopped in front of her and smiled sweetly. "Well just in case, how about we walk you home. The city's a dangerous place at night and you shouldn't be out alone."
Lois could've almost believed that voice, so sweet and innocent, but those eyes. They were so cold and full of lust.
"Like I said, I think I can handle it." She started walking, if for no other reason than to get away from them, and wasn't surprised when she felt one of them grab her arm.
She didn't give him a chance to speak, she spun around and punched him straight in the jaw and while he was disoriented, she dropped low and swung her foot out, knocking his out from under him. He landed on his back, the air escaping his lungs as his buddy rushed forward to grab her from behind.
"That's not very nice legs, we were only offering to help." he drawled in her ear, squeezing the breath out of her with his strong arms.
She kicked and struggled and only managed to bruise his legs with her heels but his grip didn't loosen and as the other one got up and they started dragging her into a nearby alley, she was running out of options.
"Get your hands off me!" she yelled.
"Aw you didn't say please." He laughed and dropped her to the ground, pushing her a little so that she fell all the way. The concrete was cold and wet as her cheek met with it and she knew she was going to have a nice bruise there tomorrow.
Then before she could even say anything else, there was a huge blast of wind and both guys disappeared right before her very eyes.
"What the…?" She stood up, dazed and looked around. They were gone. It had to have been the Blur, he'd saved her. She found herself smiling despite the pain in her cheek and the shaking in her hands.
"Miss Lane." His voice caught her off guard and she jumped as she turned around to face him. He was standing in the shadows, his face hidden from view.
"How do you know my name?" she asked, frowning. His voice was very familiar, deep, gruff, but…she felt like she'd heard it before..
Clark stood in the shadows, willing his heart to slow down a little. When he'd heard her, he'd been scared, then when he'd seen her…his anger had reached a level he hadn't known it could.
Someone was trying to hurt her, and probably would have if he hadn't turned up. He knew Lois could take care of herself, but sometimes even she found herself in a situation she couldn't fight her way out of.
Today it had been two thugs with very bad intentions, tomorrow it could be someone trying to find out his true identity. He wouldn't be able to live with it if she got hurt because of that. He couldn't take that risk, could he?
He stayed silent, trying to sort his thoughts out, but Lois was edging closer.
"You saved me, I want to thank you."
She held out her hand, meaning to shake his, and on impulse he took it.
As soon as he made contact with her, another vision popped into his head. The Phantom Zone. Lois so afraid, yet so brave. She'd been cast into a world that she should never even know existed, and she hadn't lost her head once. He'd been so proud of her that day. As well as scared out of his mind.
Then the scene shifted and he found himself staring at his cousin, in the barn.
"All I ever wanted was to keep Lois away from my secret." He heard himself say. "But yesterday that nearly got her killed." "You want your cousin's two cents? Lois can handle it, she's tough…strong. You wouldn't have let her get so close if you didn't think so too."
Lois had been in more danger not knowing his secret back then. Maybe if she knew about him now, she wouldn't go looking for trouble. If he kept lying to her, she would only go out and put herself in danger by looking for the Blur. If she knew the truth, he could protect her better.
But above all that, was the one reason he knew he had to tell her. She was the one. His love, his life, his...soul mate. He wasn't sure how he knew that, he just…knew.
Without another thought, he grabbed her hand tighter and pulled her into the shadows with him. He heard her quick, shocked intake of breath before lowering his head and capturing her mouth in a sweet, tender kiss.
Her hands froze on his chest, as if deciding whether or not to push him away but eventually they relaxed and he felt her fingers wind into his hair. The way she always did when he kissed her.
And then suddenly…she was kissing him back. He wasn't sure whether he should be relieved or not, but at that moment, he couldn't care. He deepened the kiss, tilting his head, wrapping his arms all the way around her. This was what he wanted.
Cupping her face between both hands, he slowly pulled back and waited.
She took a deep breath, ran her tongue over her lips and slowly, opened her eyes.
Even in the shadows, the eyes that stared back at her were so clear to see. And very, very familiar.
Her brain was trying frantically to catch up with what just happened but it was stuck somewhere between shock and recognition.
Slowly she reached up and placed both hands on his face, just as his was on hers. Her fingertips traced his features, his eyes, his lips, and as his breath started to speed up, she saw the vulnerability in that gaze.
A slow smile crept up her face, and the implications of what had just happened, hit her all at once.
"Oh God…Smallville!"