Chapter Forty Eight

"Lois, what's wrong?" Chloe asked as Lois burst into Watchtower. She took a minute to catch her breath and then rushed over to her cousin.

"Clark's missing. He's in trouble Chlo,"

"What? How…?" Then it dawned on her. "It was a trap after all. I knew it. I told him not to go."

"This is Kara we're talking about Chloe, he couldn't not go. I get that. But I have to find him."

Chloe narrowed her eyes. "Speaking of which, how did you get out of the Fortress? I thought Clark took you up there yesterday."

"He did. Jor-El sent me back." Lois replied, anxious to get the search for Clark started. But as she watched Chloe tapping away, she knew that she was already on the case.

"Willingly?" Chloe asked, glancing over at her.

"No, but I didn't give him much of a choice. Clark's hurt, he needs me."

Chloe nodded and turned back to her screen. "Got him. Oh…" Her face fell as she read the screen.

Feeling like she would explode if Chloe didn't say something soon, Lois grabbed her arm and shook her slightly.

"Chloe, where is he?"


"Oliver, are you sure about this?" Jimmy whispered as he followed Oliver into the Luthor mansion.

"Trust me Jimmy, those guards are out. And will be for a while. Come on."

They walked into the main study, where Lex had spent most of his time in the past and while Jimmy started rifling through files, Oliver tried to hack into his computer. Which, of course, was harder than it appeared. Lex had a million layers of security.

But he had to do something. For over two weeks now, Kara had been gone and each day the pain in his chest got worse. He needed to find her.

"Anything?" he asked Jimmy.

"Not yet, I'm looking don't worry."

Oliver's reply was cut off by his cell phone ringing. It was the ring tone that only signalled when it was Watchtower calling him.

"Chloe, please tell me you have something." he said as soon as he answered.

"Ollie, Clark's in trouble, he needs your help."

"What do you mean he's in trouble?" he asked, stopping his search to focus on the conversation.

"Lois got a call from Toby, claiming that he knew where Kara was. Clark went to find out if he was telling the truth but it was a trap."

"What?" His anger bubbled to the surface. "Why didn't you call me?"

"Because Clark told me not to. You can get angry later Oliver, we don't have time for it right now." Chloe said in a firm tone that she'd never used on him before. It surprised him into silence for a few seconds and she took advantage of it.

"Listen, he thought he was doing the right thing. He didn't want to say anything until he was sure. And now he's hurt and he needs your help. Lois needs you."

"Lois, what's…?"

"She went after him. I tried to hold her back but she wouldn't listen. Please Ollie, I'm sending you the location now, help him."

"I'm on my way Chloe." He hung up and looked at Jimmy, who'd been listening intently.

"We have to go. Now."


Lois squinted into the darkness by the river where Clark had last been. She couldn't see anything. She wished she'd had the foresight to bring a flashlight with her. But she had no time to worry about that now, she had to keep her wits about her. Lex's men could still be here.

She walked up the steps and onto the porch of the dark, empty house that Chloe had given her the address for. But something felt wrong. It felt as if she were being pulled in another direction. Going with her instincts, Lois walked towards the docks and stopped.

The water was as black as the sky above her, allowing her to see absolutely nothing. But a chilling feeling in her gut was telling her that Clark was down there. She wondered how deep the river actually went.

"Lois stop!" Oliver's voice rang out behind her and she turned to see him and Jimmy standing there. He reached out a hand and gave her a pleading look as if she were about to jump to her own demise.

"Come away from there."

"No, he's in there Ollie. I'm sure of it." she replied, defiantly. She turned back to the water, was about to jump in when Oliver grabbed her arm.

"You're not going in there. I won't let you."

She snatched her arm free. "The hell you won't, that's my husband down there!"

He grabbed her by the shoulders, roughly, and forced her to face him. "Lois, you can't go in there. I'll go. I have some night vision goggles in the trunk of my car." He cupped her cheek and looked into her eyes. "I'll find him Lois."

Tears burned her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She had to be strong. "Please, hurry." she whispered.

He nodded and dashed off to his car, then returned, having shed his jacket, and without another word, he dived right in.

She felt rather than saw Jimmy appear next to her, because she couldn't take her eyes off the water. But when he slipped his hand through hers and squeezed, she was grateful that he was there with her.

"He'll be okay Lois."

"He's been down there a long time Jimmy, with Kryptonite. I don't know if…" she trailed off, the thought too ugly to bear.

"He's Clark. He'll be okay." Jimmy said again, emphasising his words.

Then her heart leapt into her throat as Oliver resurfaced. But he was alone. "He's down there!" he yelled.

"What? Well, why didn't you get him?"

"Because I can't get to him, he's trapped." Oliver swam to the edge and hoisted himself up onto the dock. "Jimmy, go to my car, get me anything you can that can break a sealed lock."

"Oh God." Lois murmured, feeling a little faint.

Jimmy quickly dashed off, leaving a panting Oliver standing with Lois. "Why was he out here by himself, Lois? Why didn't he call me?"

Lois saw the pain evident in his gaze. "He was trying to protect you Ollie. He didn't want to get your hopes up if it turned out to be nothing. And he was right."

"As noble as that is, I had a right to know."

Lois nodded and folded her arms to keep herself warm in the chilling wind of the night. "I know. But you've been through so much already."

Jimmy reappeared before he could reply, handing him a small case. "Thanks Jim, stay with her."

He dived back in and all Lois could do…was wait.


Kara woke that evening feeling drained, exhausted and hungry. It was dark in the room, no lights on anywhere and it was scary. "Helen?"

Silence was all that answered her. "Helen, are you okay?"

Fearing the worst, Kara tried to move, but found her arms had been tied to the bed again. What the…?

The door opened, sending a shaft of light down the stairs, but she couldn't see who was coming until they were standing over her. Her gut clenched as she stared up into a blank face, carefully controlled into an expressionless mask.

"Helen?"

"I'm sorry Kara, but it has to be this way."

"What are you talking about? What's going on?"

"He's too strong. I have no choice, I have to help him."

"You're not taking my babies." Kara spat angrily.

"It's not like we have much say in the matter. Lex always gets what he wants in the end. And if he doesn't? Well, let's just say that it will end badly. For all of us." Helen replied, and as she turned to leave, Kara thought she saw a tear in her eye. But she was sure she was imagining it. Though she hoped not.

Because if what she'd feared all along was true, then Helen had played them all. And she had done it perfectly. All of a sudden the walls she'd been so defiant in keeping up, came crashing down and with them came a flood of tears. She was terrified, running out of time, and now she was truly all alone.

"Please, Ollie, Clark, find me." she whispered into the dark.


Lois stood by the river's edge, on the dock, pacing and pacing. She just couldn't stand still. Every part of her was aching to dive into that water and rescue her husband. But Oliver was right, it was too dangerous, she didn't even know where to look. He had the equipment to get the job done right.

"Are you okay?" Jimmy asked. She glanced over at him, but didn't respond. "Right, sorry, stupid question."

"No it's okay Jimmy. I just…" she trailed off and shook her head.

"Lois, Jimmy!" Oliver shouted as he broke the water's shiny surface. Lois' heart went into overdrive as she saw a dark head emerge in his arms.

Without thinking, she dived into the water and swam over to them, helping Oliver get to shore.

"Oh my God," Lois cried, tears finally pooling enough to blur her vision as she bent over an unconscious Clark at the water's edge. His face was all bloody from the repeated blows he had apparently received, he had a cut lip, cut cheeks, and a black eye that was swollen badly.

It broke Lois' heart to see him like this. Her super strong husband, now weak as a kitten. It almost killed her.

She smoothed his wet hair away from his face and put her ear to his mouth. "He's breathing, but barely." Then she felt his face, his torso, his arms. "He's freezing Ollie. We gotta get him outta here."

Oliver nodded and moved around to his other side. But before anyone moved, Clark groaned a little.

"Clark? I'm here, you're okay. We're gonna get you home. You're safe now. I love you." She leaned down and kissed his ice cold lips and almost cried at how freezing he really was. He was starting to turn blue.

"What the hell did they do to him?" she asked as Oliver and Jimmy picked him up, put each of his arms around their shoulders and started walking back to the car.

"I don't know but he was locked inside a metal box. It had an air pocket in it so I guess that's why he didn't drown but it would've been like a fridge down there."

"Was there Kryptonite?"

"Yeah, but not as much as I thought it would've taken to keep him down for long."

"Let's just get him back to our house, we can deal with the how's and why's there."

She climbed into the back seat of Oliver's car and held Clark carefully as they laid him across her knees. Cradling his face in her hands, Lois started to cry again.

"It's okay honey, I'm here." she whispered. She'd never said that to him before, but right now, it felt right. Lois wasn't one for the mushy romantic names, but she had this overwhelming need to make sure that he knew he was with her. That she was the one holding him, and that he was now safe.

As Oliver drove off at a speed she was sure would break some limit, she felt the anger at what had been done to her husband seep in. Lex was going to pay for this, she would see to it.

To Be Continued...