Chapter 20

The next month passed quickly for Lois and Clark, between work, Blur duties and lovemaking the time flew by in a blissful haze for them. They spent their work week in the city in Lois's apartment and weekends on the farm to relax. Though they considered the apartment to be where they lived full time, neither was ready to let the farm go.

Lois woke up and stretched her arm out and frowned when her hand came up empty. It was too early for Clark to be up so be must be at his 'other' job. She rolled onto her back and suddenly felt a bout of nausea overwhelm her. She staggered to her feet and made her way unsteadily to the bathroom. Just as she made it to the toilet her stomach heaved and she emptied its contents. When she was done she slid from her knees onto her behind and rested against the wall. She wiped at her sweaty forehead and sighed afraid too much movement would cause her to have another round of vomiting. What in the world? She thought to herself. She didn't feel achy like she had the flu, could she have eaten something bad? She thought back to the day before and didn't remember eating anything questionable. And then it hit her like a bolt of lightning. Could it be, could it be morning sickness? Lois felt a surge of anticipation; joy and fear all run through her at once.

She wasn't sure what to do, should she call for Clark, no she needed to get a test first. She wanted to be sure before telling him. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand that she could see from her position on the floor it was only 3:30 in the morning. She remembered the 24 hour market down the block had home pregnancy tests. She got to her feet gingerly, satisfied she wasn't going to lose her stomach again. She went into the bedroom and threw on clothes. She knew Clark would not be happy about her wandering the city at this time of night but she couldn't wait. She let herself out and walked out into the brisk weather. Christmas was weeks away and Lois couldn't believe how fast the year had passed.

The streets were quiet as she made her way down the sidewalk, a few taxis made their way past her but she was almost to the store. She glanced up atop the tall buildings and wondered where her husband was. They had begun to discuss him showing more of himself to the world and Lois had even suggested a new costume to Clark's dismay. Even Bruce was agreeing with her. It was one thing for the mysterious Blur to speed in and out of saves but people needed a face to their savior, to their hope. She entered the store and smiled to the older man behind the counter. She made her way back into the pharmacy section and saw the display of pregnancy tests. Her heart leaped at the sight of them and her stomach turned not in nausea this time, but excitement.

She read through the different boxes trying to determine if one test was more accurate than another when she heard the bells tinkle above the door as someone entered the store. She didn't pay much attention until she heard someone shouting.

"Get on the damn, floor! I will shoot you!" Lois gasped and peeked around the corner and saw two men in ski masks with guns pointed at the shopkeeper. One wore a green mask the other ,yellow. Lois couldn't help roll her eyes. Clark was going to kill her for this one. She was about to pull out her phone when one of the guy in green noticed her.

"You! Don't move, get over here." He pointed his gun at her. Lois raised her hands slowly showing she was unarmed and of no threat. "Get over here on the ground. Who else is in here?" he shouted at the shopkeeper.

"No one" the man stuttered "Just us."

"Front door is locked I flipped the closed sign so we shouldn't be bothered." Yellow mask said. He looked at Lois and she could see him sneer. "In fact I think we have enough time to have some fun." He grabbed
Lois by the arm before she had a chance to even get to the floor.

Green mask chuckled. "Make it quick would you, I want a turn."

Lois felt chills run down her spine they were talking about raping her. She knew her background in self-defense would help her but there were two of them, they had guns and both looked like they outweighed her by 100 pounds.

"Don't touch me" she hissed trying to pull away. If these bastards thought she would go without a fight they were crazy.

"She's feisty." Yellow said laughing. "I like it when they struggle, I like it when they scream." He said squeezing her arm painfully but Lois refused to show that it hurt.

"Only a pathetic piece of **** would have to rape a woman," Lois spat out hatefully, "What, your mommy didn't love you so the only way you can compensate is to prey on women half your size? I bet in a fight with a real man you would crumble like a little *****."

The slap nearly took her off her feet but she was expecting it. She wanted to get the idiot to lose his composure maybe enough to gain leverage on him. She felt the blood in her mouth as his hand tore her lip.

"You *****." He hissed, grabbing her by the hair and yanking her head back forcefully. "I'm going to make you pay so badly." He said dragging her towards the backroom.

"Leave some for me, I mean it." Green yelled after them.

"How come when a woman doesn't want to let some douche bag rape her she's the *****, when you are the pathetic piece of crap who has to force sex, can't get any on your own?" She said as he pushed her into the isolated room.

He slammed the gun upside her head and Lois saw stars before she could react she felt him tackle her to the floor. They hit the concrete and the air rushed out of her lungs, she felt woozy but knew she couldn't pass out, no she had to fight him every step. He slammed her head against the ground and she felt herself losing the fight. She felt her t-shirt rip and he was groping at her chest.

"This is going to be so good, you'll see." His breath was hot on her face and she heard him unzip his pants. He had her hands pinned above her head with one hand while the other pushed his pants down.

"No" she said trying to knee him but his weight was holding her down. He pressed his mouth hard against hers and he pushed his tongue into her mouth. Lois bit him and he reeled back and punched her in the face. The world was going blurry and she realized he was undoing and pulling her pants down. She arched her neck and opened up her mouth and screamed on the top of her lungs, "HELP!"

Meanwhile Green mask was emptying the cash drawers and keeping an eye on the man on the floor, when his partner took the woman in the back the shopkeeper had tried to play hero and save her, he had gotten a swift hit with the butt of his gun. The old man had gone down like a sack of potatoes. He was humming to himself wondering how long his partner would take before he got a taste of the woman when suddenly the glass front door shattered into a thousand pieces. He only saw a flash of red and blue before he was hurled across the room hitting the wall and getting knocked out immediately.

Clark looked around and saw an old man on the ground. The man looked at him bleeding from a head wound.

"The back room, hurry he's going to rape her." He wheezed before passing out.

Clark's eyes flashed red as he sped into the back room shattering the door as he went through it. When he entered the room he found a man on top of Lois his pants were down and he was pulling Lois's down her legs. Lois was struggling but he could see she was bleeding and losing the battle. The rage that went through him compared to nothing he had ever felt before. He let out a primal roar and was across the room grabbing the guy by the back of the neck and ripping him away from Lois. He slammed the guy against the wall face first so the guy couldn't see his face. Clark for a moment thought about shooting fire right into the back of the man's skull ending him right then and there but a sound distracted him. It was a sob, he turned and saw Lois frantically pulling her pants up. She was crying and her shaking hands were making the task hard for her. Never taking his eyes off of her he tossed the man across the room and the thunk he made as he hit the opposite wall assured Clark the man was unconscious.

He went to his knees in front of Lois. "Honey are you ok?"he asked gently. The rage was still racing through his blood and all he wanted to do was tear the man who hurt his wife into tiny pieces but he pushed the rage down to deal with Lois, he didn't want to scare her.

Lois cried out and launched herself into his arms. He grabbed her and held her tight pulling her into his lap. He stroked her hair and whispered gentle words to her as she cried into his chest. After a few minutes Lois felt her composure come back to her. She sat up in his lap and wiped at her eyes. She looked up into the compassionate eyes of her husband and her lower lip trembled at the feeling of knowing she was safe. "I knew you would come. I screamed as loud as I could."

Clark nodded and gently wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "I knew something was wrong before you screamed, your heartbeat was way out of control and you weren't at home I was heading this direction when I heard you scream." Clark said softly. Lois could see the rage still boiling in the depths of his beautiful eyes. She had never seen that in him, she had thought he was going to kill the man. She glanced in the direction that Clark had tossed him, he might have with the force of his throw.

"He's alive" Clark said as if reading her mind. Lois just nodded. Clark paused for a moment and then spoke.

"Just say it Lois, give me the word and I'll make sure he never hurts anyone again."

Lois looked at Clark her eyes widening. Clark was asking for her permission to kill the man. She sighed after a moment. "As much as I want to live in a world where he doesn't exist I think both of us know we would never recover if I allowed you to kill him. He's not a risk anymore, it would be cold blooded murder."

Clark nodded feeling a bit disappointed but mostly relieved at her decision. He didn't want to ever take a life but at this moment with the rage flowing through him if Lois had given him the ok he would have seriously considered doing it.

"You need to go." Lois said suddenly. "I need to call the police and you need to be gone before they get here." Clark could hear the sirens already coming, him smashing the front door had probably brought some kind of attention to the store. He stood up holding Lois close to him. He wanted to stay with her but knew she needed to stay here to speak to the police when they arrived. His adrenaline was still running and he felt like he was going to leap out of his own skin. "Clark the cameras." Lois said suddenly. Clark looked up and looked at the trajectory. He went to the monitors and ran the digital recording. He watched up to the point where he entered the room and erased the content and then stopped them from filming anymore. He left everything else so the police would evidence of what the man had tried to do to Lois.

He heard the police approach the front of the store. He looked at Lois with regret. "I have to go, but I will go home, call me and I will come down here as if I wasn't ever here." He said touching her lip gently where she had been hit. Her cheek was bruised and her eye was swelling. "What the hell happened Lois, how did you end up here, when I left you were sound asleep?"He asked in confusion.

Lois remembered why she had come to the store in the first place. It hadn't been that long ago maybe 20 minutes from when she walked into the store but felt like ages. "Can we talk about it later?" she asked.

"Of course." Clark said not wanting to push her. He pulled her close and kissed her gently careful of her split lip. "The police are here, you are safe now."

Lois smiled. "I was safe the minute you came for me." She stroked his cheek. "Go now." She said. I'll be calling you in a few minutes."

Clark stared at her for a moment his eyes intense. He nodded and then with a whoosh he was gone. Lois walked out of the backroom just as the police entered the store. She lifted her hands to show she was unarmed. The shopkeeper was coming to and one officer went to check on him and the other came to speak to her. He introduced himself as Officer Spencer.

"Ma'am can you tell me what happened here? We got a report of a disturbance."

"Uh yeah, the shop was robbed by two men, one is in the back room and I don't know where the other is." She looked around and heard a groan. "Over there." She pointed. Two other officers entered hearing the call on the radio and stopping to see if assistance was needed. They went to check on the robbers. "It was just the shopkeeper and myself in the store when they came in with guns. They were going to rob the place and locked the doors and flipped the open sign to closed. Then the guy in the back room was going to rape me." She choked on the words. "They both were planning to. I'm not sure how the shopkeeper got hurt I was in the back. We struggled and he was getting the upper hand on me when there was a whoosh and he was ripped off of me and tossed across the room. I didn't see much except for a red and blue blur."

"You're saying the Blur saved you?" Officer Spencer asked. Reports of this unknown savior was spreading across the city but the officer had never met anyone who had actually been saved by the anonymous savior.

"It's true." The shop keeper weakly called out. "He came in and threw that guy like a rag doll. He stopped and I told him to save her in the back room that she was going to be raped."

"You saw him, you saw his face?" Spencer's partner asked almost excited.

The shopkeeper shook his head and Lois felt the relief rush through her. "No I had blood in my eyes I just saw his shape. And then he took off for the back. I think that's when I passed out."

"Did you see him?" the excited officer asked her.

Lois shook her head, "No I didn't just a flash of colors. He saved me." She said softly.

"We will need you to make a statement downtown." Officer Spencer said. He looked at the shopkeeper,

"These cameras work?" When the man nodded the officer signaled to the other. "We will need the footage, getting these guys on tape robbing the place will make the DA happy." Lois startled when she heard a noise from the backroom one of the late arriving officers had her attacker handcuffed and his mask off and he was leading him out. Yellow Mask was stumbling and probably needed medical attention from Clark's toss but the officer didn't seem real concerned with the man's comfort. The bastard looked up at Lois and he grinned.

"Sorry baby, the Blur didn't kill me I'm still alive." He said with a chuckle as if that would scare her.

"I'm glad he didn't." she said matter of fact. "I want you to go to prison, cause there you will learn a little something about rape. Don't drop the soap you piece of crap." She heard Officer Spenser choke on a laugh at her words. The robber paled considerably and was quiet when led out of the store while the other officer hauled out Green Mask.

"You should go to the hospital you've been banged up pretty good." The officer said. Lois was going to argue but then realized Clark was going to probably make her go anyway. "Is there someone you need to call?"

"My husband." Lois said. "He doesn't even know I'm gone. I needed something and I figured I could be out and back before he even woke up. We live about a block away."

"Why don't you give him a call he can meet us here and go in the ambulance with you. The bus is on the way, why don't you sit down."

Lois pulled out her cellphone and dialed the apartment. Clark answered right away. "In case for some reason it's ever questioned there is proof that I called home to reach you." She said with a chuckle she kept her voice down so the police wouldn't hear her. "Can you come down here?"

"I'm leaving now." Clark said.

"Don't forget to look like you just woke up." She reminded him. She hung up.

"He's on his way" she told the officer, "He's confused but on his way."

Clark was dressed in his pajamas waiting for the phone to ring, he had an ear open listening to Lois making sure she was ok, he could hear the police and knew she was safe. He hadn't gone straight home after leaving her. He had raced across the globe to the farthest reaches of the North Pole where he stood and let out a scream of rage that shook the foundation on which he stood. He had never felt the rage and pain that he felt as images of that man on top of Lois only seconds away from raping her assailed his mind. He knew this was part of his Kryptonian side, the warrior ready to go to battle, willing to tear anyone apart who got in his way. He had almost killed a man tonight. He needed to get the rage out before seeing Lois again, he didn't want her seeing that darkness in him. She had experienced enough darkness for one night. He ran out of the apartment and down the street at a normal human pace. He wanted to speed to her side but there was too much commotion going on and he didn't want anyone to see him use his super speed.

He got to the store and was stopped at the door by a police officer. "My wife is in there, she just called me."
He said trying to sound panicked. The officer let him in and he saw her, he called her name and she threw herself into his arms. Even though she had just seen him the need to be back in his arms was so strong.

"Are you ok?" he looked at her face and felt his heart break as her beautiful right eye was swelling shut.

"Can we get some ice or something." He called out to the officer.

"Take whatever you need," the shopkeeper called. Clark led Lois to the frozen food section and grabbed a bag of frozen peas, "This is going to sting but it will help with the swelling. He ripped part of his shirt to
wrap around the frozen food and pressed it gently to her eye. She hissed as the cold burned her skin but after she adjusted to the cold her eye did start to feel better.

"What is going on Lois?" Clark asked. "How did you end up here? And you are going to the hospital, no arguing."

"I needed something and I couldn't wait until morning. And yes I'm going to the hospital, the ambulance should be here any second."

"What could you have possibly needed at this time of night Lois? Clark asked. "Why didn't you call me to pick it up for you?"

"That's complicated." Lois said and Clark's mouth dropped.

"Complicated?" he practically shouted, "Complicated is leaving you safe and sound in bed asleep to find you in the back room of a convenient store fighting off a rapist!" he hissed the last words so the police wouldn't hear.

"Don't yell at me." Lois snarled. "I've been through hell tonight Smallville and I don't need flack from you."

Clark stared at her for a moment and he closed his eyes and shook his head. When he opened them she saw amusement. "It was only a matter of time before we would snark at each other and you would bust out the Smallville."

Lois smiled a little, they really had gone a long time without an argument it wasn't natural for them. "Well fighting is kind of our thing, it was just a matter of time before we got back into it."

"I didn't mean to yell, I just, I can't explain how scared I was when I realized the pounding heartbeat in my head was yours." Clark said and Lois snuggled into his embrace.

"I was scared too." She said. "I'm tough, I kick ass and take names on a daily basis but I couldn't fight him off Clark it was horrible." She said. He stroked her back.

"He will never hurt you or any other woman again, I swear it to you." Clark said kissing the top of her head.

"Seriously Lois what was so important that you couldn't wait for morning?"

"Promise not to yell at me?" Lois said and Clark tensed.

"What happened here tonight isn't your fault, you know that don't you Lois. I'm full of bluster you know that. I don't want you to think my anger is in anyway directed at you." He said stroking her back lovingly.

"I know, and I know I didn't deserve what he tried to do to me. I had every right to be in this store when I was." She said her voice hardening as her own anger began to rise. "I don't care what it takes I will make sure he never gets out of prison and hurts another woman." She promised.

"There's my girl." He placed a gentle kiss on her temple.

"Want to know what I came for?" she asked after a few minutes of being comforted.

"Sure." He said and Lois took his hand and led him down a few aisles. "This" she said pointing to the shelf.

"I woke up and threw up but didn't feel sick. I had to know Clark. I had to know if I was pregnant."

Clark stared at the pregnancy tests in stunned silence.

"Ambulance is here" Officer Spencer announced. Lois took Clark's hand as he seemed frozen in his spot.

"Come on Smallville," she teased "Let's go to the hospital and see if they can run a true test."

Clark just nodded and dumbly followed Lois. The paramedics loaded Lois on a stretcher chiding her gently for even being up and walking around before they got there but Lois just waved their concerns off. "I needed to move around." She knew if she sat still the ramifications of the night would hit her full force and she wasn't ready for that. She knew in her head that she had almost been raped but it hadn't really sunk in yet and she didn't want it to because she was dreading the feelings of helplessness and vulnerability that would overwhelm her when it did sink in. She lay on the stretcher as they buckled her in and Clark crawled into the back of the ambulance with her. She looked at the paramedic writing down her vitals. "I think I might be pregnant but I don't know." He nodded and made a notation on the chart to run a pregnancy test on her when they got to the hospital. Lois just wanted to focus on that for right now. One thing at a time and she smiled as Clark took her hand and squeezed it gently. For right now all Lois wanted to focus on was the comfort of her husband and the possibility that she carried his child.