"The meal was nice, but you need something more to communicate your interest in her. A gift," Lara said to him.

Was he really getting dating advice? "Excuse me?"

"Are you going to pretend with me that you don't see her as an unwelcome intruder anymore?"

She was looking at him with tender eyes. She may not have been his mother in the strictest sense of the word, but she was the one who's raised him, and she knew him too well.

"No," he admitted. "What could I possibly give her?"

"Women are the same whatever planet they're on. They want something that shows you've been paying attention to their interests, something heartfelt. But what that ends up being is up to you. It wouldn't be the same if I suggested it to you."

He frowned at her as she left him to think about it. What could he gift to Lois? The frown turned into a smile as he thought about her: brave, caring, curious, intelligent. The perfect gift hit him.

Full of excitement, he super-sped to where she was sitting toasty be the fire as there was a particularly strong cold snap. "I'll never get used to you appearing out of nowhere," she said, but her smile said otherwise.

"I want to show you something. Close your eyes."

She looked at him just a moment before closing her eyes and proving that she had come to trust him over the past few days.

He took her hands, doing his best to ignore the thrill and warm sensation that shot through him as he did. He never would have guessed that she could have elicited such a reaction in him. Did love always sneak up on you like this?

He guided her through the room and hallways. "Don't peek," he warned when he thought he saw her eyelashes flutter.

"Wouldn't dream of it," she said with a guilty grin though she had shut them tight again.

"How long are you going to keep me in suspense?" she asked after they'd come to a standstill.

He'd brought her into the middle of the room, but he'd gotten distracted for a moment by her beauty. He chuckled. "You can open them."

The look of wonder on her face was worth the argument he'd have to face later from Jor-El when he learned he'd allowed her to be in the room with all the knowledge of Krypton.

"Anything you want to know about the world I was born in is here. You just have to place it there, and it will project holographic images. The words will even be in your native language. You can study all the crystals if you like. Do you like it?"

"I love it."

"Then you can come in here anytime you please with or without me."

"Thank you," she said, looking in his eyes as she said it. She knew at this moment that he had decided to put his trust in her. "The content in them won't leave this room either in my pockets or by reveal, not without your permission. I promise."

It hadn't come easily, but he really did have faith in her despite her profession. Maybe the rest of the world was everything he had been taught, but she wasn't.

"It's all so amazing. Information and technology that hasn't even been dreamed of on our planet. If my editor only knew I was sitting on a story like this," she said with a smile.

He smiled too. He realized for the first time in a long time he was happy. It brought him happiness to bring her pleasure. "Meet me tonight. I have another surprise."

sss

"And then he took the key, leaving me without a way to get back," Sam was explaining. He hadn't left any details out. "It sounds ridiculous even to my own ears, but that's the way it happened. I need to rescue my daughter. It's hard to say what the beast has done to her. And more than that, we need to protect the world from this alien threat."

"I believe you," Lex said.

He was the first. It almost took Sam by surprise. Lex had listened to the whole story without interruption, and now he came out from behind his desk. "It confirms what I've suspected for a while. Why do you think I sent you the message that there could be alien activity in Smallville? There's often a good deal of truth wrapped up in legends."

"Yes. The only trouble is even as high up the ladder as I am, I can't get the military to act."

"No worries there. My company manufactures the latest in high-tech weaponry. We don't need an army just a handful of my guards in these armored suits and you might as well have an army at your disposal. It's only a matter of knowing where the cave led to."

"Antarctica. The pinpointing can easily be done on a military satellite when you know what you're looking for. With your defense and my access to the images, the alien will never know what hit him."