Wesley set down a book on the scrolls, just as Fred walked in.
"Hear anything from Angel yet?"
"Yes, and now I'm not so sure we're on the right track."
Fred sat down next to him.
"You don't think Lois's child could be the one from the scrolls? What did Angel say?"
"Not much, but he did intimate that he's onto something. A different path than we're on."
"I don't understand." Fred said.. She the looked over as Spike sauntered in.
"We've got trouble." he announced.
"Is it Lois?" Fred asked. Wesley sat up.
"No, she's asleep from what I can tell. First of all, Chloe's father's here and it looks as if he's giving her a hard time." Spike confirmed.
Fred frowned.
"I guess it's a good thing her and Lois are in separate rooms then. But that was to be expected. I mean I'm sorry, but Chloe's pregnancy appears to be normal, so I guess a rational person would also think that she's lying about not knowing how this happened."
"But her pregnancy is not normal, not really." Wesley said quietly. "Connor is the product of two vampires. Surely, something in Chloe's child will reflect that."
"And," Spike continued, "that Luthor ponce is trying to weasel his way into the Lane family."
Both Wesley and Fred looked confused.
"What are you talking about, Spike?" Wesley asked impatiently.
"I'm saying I overheard Luthor offering to marry Lois. I also heard her father say that he was making Lois turn her baby over to this firm."
"Oh my God!" Fred cried out. "What's the matter with him?"
"Well, Fred, we haven't been able to give the man much good or accurate news. He's scared. He's scared for his daughter." Wesley said.
"Yeah, well, if Luthor gets his way, he'll be this kid's Daddy. And I can bloody well tell you he's not doing this because he's a stand up guy." Spike said darkly. "When he found out that Lois's kid had powers, you could see his eyes just light up."
Fred swallowed. Everyone knew about Luthorcorp, and it's research department. They had many government contracts and held the patents on thousands of inventions and formulas. Fred wondered if Lois's child would be his child, or another invention.
"I get the feeling," Wesley said, "just from the talk I had with Angel, that he knows who the father of Lois's baby is."
"Handprint guy?" Spike asked. Fred swatted him!
"Yes. He's the key to all of this. Once we know who he is, we'll find out if our theory about Lois and the So'Dath scrolls, will hold up."
Lois awoke and tried to sit up. The pain was gone. But the dream that she had had, that still seemed very real.
"Easy now." Lex said, helping her back down onto her pillow. Lois stared at him if he was crazy. What was he doing here?
"Lex Luthor? What's going on?"
"Nothing. I was concerned and I flew here to find out how you are."
"Why?"
Lex smiled gently at her.
"I can't be concerned about a friend?"
Lois sat up.
"Lex, uh, what are you doing here?" she repeated. She wasn't in the mood to go into the fact that they weren't friends, nor had she really ever said more than two words to him and when she did, it was through her father.
"Well, as you know, your father and I have conducted business before and when I heard about you, I was on the first plane here."
Lois and Lex stared at one another. Lois then broke off eye contact and looked over at Chloe's empty bed.
"Where is Chloe?"
Lex glanced over as well.
"She's been moved to another room."
"Why?"
"Well, I think the doctors felt you and this baby needed to be monitored closely." Lex said soothingly, reaching out to touch her stomach. Lois whipped his hand off of her!
"Okay, Lex, I don't mean to be rude, but something just reeks here. Why would you care anything about me, or this baby, beyond the perfunctory, 'get well soon'? Does my father know you're here?"
The doors opened, and Spike walked in. Lex sighed and stood up from his chair. Lois Lane was a smart young woman. In an odd way, he found that challenging, the idea that putting a wedding ring on her finger would not be as simple as 123.
But the General did seem a bit mollified by the idea of Lois becoming Mrs. Lex Luthor, and the baby having a father. Lex looked at Lois's stomach. A son with abilities. There would be nothing Luthorcorp would not be able to accomplish, if he had a powerful secret weapon under his belt....under his roof and with his last name.
"Hi, Spike." Lois said, glad for the interruption. Lex was creeping her out, especially with the way he was looking at her. It wasn't that he wasn't good looking, but Lois was a realist. The man had never looked her way twice, ever. And her being pregnant, couldn't be making her look suddenly desirable. Something else was up.
Lex turned and offered his hand to shake to Spike.
"Spike, interesting name....interesting hair."
"Yeah....what the bleedin' hell happened to yours?" Spike asked crudely, eyeing Luthor's shiny head and ignoring Luthor's proffered hand.
"Do you work here?" Lex asked pointedly. Lois could feel the testosterone about to run wild and decided to put an end to this.
"Uh, yes, he does, Lex. Listen, thanks for coming by and it was nice seeing you. I need to talk to Spike now."
But Lex was looking Spike up and down. He then pointed at him.
"Have I met or seen you someplace else before?"
"You haven't." Spike said flatly. What the hell was wrong with this ponce? Lois had tried to give him the gentle bum's rush, but Luthor apparently couldn't, or wouldn't, take a hint.
"Lex, I really need to talk to Spike." Lois said a bit more forcefully. Lex looked at her. Their courtship couldn't be rushed, yet, it really did need to be, unfortunately. This baby was growing at a rapid rate, and the General preferred that Lois be married before the birth.
But he did have an idea on that. One that he run by the General. He smiled at Lois.
"Lois, get some rest. I'll be right outside with your father."
Lois just nodded. Why wasn't that a comforting thought? Spike and Lex eyeballed one another, before Lex left the room. Spike then turned to Lois.
"I'm glad you got rid of that Nancy boy. Did he upset you much, pet?"
Lois smiled up at him. Pet. He called her pet.
"No, it's just weird having him here. He's someone I barely speak to and I woke up to find him hovering over me like a concerned lover or something."
Spike said nothing about what he suspected and sat down in the chair Lex had vacated.
"Well why don't you forget about him now? Did you have a nice rest?"
Lois shook her head.
"No. Is Chloe gone because you all are afraid that she'll get worse or something, if she's in the same room as me?"
"No, it's nothing like that. Besides did you want to be in the same room with her when she saw her father?"
"Uh, no. I guess you're right."
Spike peered at her. Lois looked a bit peaked.
"You didn't get any rest at all, did you? Did Luthor do something?"
"No, no. Nothing like that. Spike, I have had weird dreams before, but this one....it just seemed so real."
"Well tell me a bit about it."
Lois swallowed.
"I was in some other land or on another planet. God, this sounds so crazy, but like I said before, it was also just so real. A woman was giving me a tour."
"A tour?" Spike repeated. Lois nodded.
"A tour. She said she wanted me to see where my son came from."
"Your son? So you're thinking boy?"
"I haven't been 'thinking' anything really. This woman, her name was Lara.....Lady Lara."
"Oh, so you were at court or something?"
"No, I mean, I guess there was something sort of royal about it. She said that the 'House of El' was my son's birthright. Oh God, and to make things worse, you should've seen the get up she was wearing! It was like a black bodysuit....you know, a bodysuit like what Olympic speedskaters wear, only black....and there was some kind cloaks over them. I mean fashion wise, it really sucked. I'm not even sure what color hair the woman had."
"Lois....maybe this has to do with the baby?" Spike suggested, in an attempt to comfort her. But his eyes searched her surroundings, the nightstand and such, for any illegal drugs.
"Of course it has to with this baby! Everything that's happened has to do with him....or her. I have a wild imagination but not that wild....or cold. That's what it was, the woman, this Lara, was cold. She was telling me how things were going to be, as if I had no choice in the matter."
The doors opened and Fred hurried in. She smiled at Lois.
"How are you feeling?"
"I've been better"
"Spike, Wesley and Gunn need to see you. It's kind of important."
"Okay, give me just a few more seconds."
Fred nodded but really didn't want to. She liked Spike, really she did, but personally, she didn't think it was a good idea for him to be spending so much time with Lois.
Fred stood some distance away. She needed to examine Lois again to see if the baby had grown any in just the last hour. Spike looked at Lois again. She lowered her voice as she told him one last piece of interesting information.
"Lady Lara....she said that I was having Kal-El's child."
"Kal-El? Meaning his last name is El? Maybe he is royalty."
"On what planet, Spike?! Why would I have such a vivid and strange dream? Why would my baby be dreaming about this kind of stuff? And who the hell is Kal-El? I don't know him....but maybe he goes to school with me. I mean that's where this had to have happened, right?"
Spike touched her hand.
"It was just a dream, luv. Fred here is going to make sure you're comfortable and then I'll be back in a bit."
Lois nodded as Spike let go of her hand. He walked over to Fred.
"What's going on?"
"Security has found some sort of ship on the roof."
"Ship? As in an outerspace kind of ship?"
"Yeah....God this just keeps getting weirder and weirder! A couple of men from Security tried to lift it and bring it inside. The ship emitted some kind of ray and disintegrated them."
"Bloody hell! What's the plan?"
Fred shook her head.
"I don't know. Like I said, Wesley and Gunn are in Angel's office now, trying to figure that one out. They need your help."
Clark and Angel arrived at Dr. Swann's laboratory. It was a private building, and Clark was more than a bit surprised, when he turned around to find Angel still standing outside.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I can't come in. Dr. Swann has to invite me in."
"What?!"
"Vampires can't just walk into buildings and houses without being invited in."
"You were in my barn." Clark noted.
Angel stared at him. That's right! Somehow, he never thought about it.
"And you were in the school."
"Yeah but schools are different altogether. Your university has a sign inviting all in that seek knowledge. That's okay. I don't think barns count." Angel answered.
"Oh. Well I'll go and get Dr. Swann. I mean he's in a wheelchair though...."
"All he has to say is that he invites 'Angel' in, and it will be fine." Angel said, as his cellphone rang. Clark stood by as he answered it. Angel looked at him.
"Go, Clark! I'll be along in a sec."
Clark turned and headed towards Dr. Swann's lab. He found him looking at some charts. He looked up when he saw Clark.
"Clark, I'm glad you're back. The ship, I was able to track the ship again."
"Yeah, I've seen it. It showed back up in my barn before flying off to God knows where!
"It's in Los Angeles."
Clark felt himself go cold.
"Los Angeles? Why?"
"It's on top of the Wolfram & Hart building. I don't know, it just seems to be waiting...."
"Lois....the woman that I slept with, she's pregnant. She's pregnant, what does that mean?"
Dr. Swann looked stunned.
"Dr. Swan? What does it mean? Look, I have the head of Wolfram & Hart outside....."
"What?!"
"Yes, he's a vampire...."
"I know who, and what, he is and he's going to stay outside! I'm not inviting him in and you should stay away from him!"
"Angel is complicated. But he's not all bad. Lois is at his building now, while her father and others try to figure out what has happened to her. He knows things that might be able to help! Dr. Swann....."
"Fine. I will invite him in. But...."
"But what?"
"Clark, that ship hasn't even been a blip on my radar screen in years. The fact that this young woman is pregnant with your child, and its emergence, is not an accident."
Clark stared at him.
"What are you saying? That the ship wants my child? That doesn't make any sense....wants it for what? Where would it take him....or her?"
"I don't know for sure, but I'm thinking that the 'where' , would be wherever you were, those months you were missing, two years ago. Do you remember what happened during that time?"
Clark sank into a chair. He shook his head.
"Just bits and pieces. I have to get to Lois. I have to hide her from the ship....from my real father or whoever this is that's after our child."
"That would mean telling her the truth." Dr. Swann said gently.
"I don't know what I'm going to do about that. I just know I have to be there." Clark answered. Dr. Swann pursed his lips.
"Fine. And I invite Angel in."
Fred ran to Chloe's room. Ned Sullivan, General Lane and Lex Luthor were standing there, talking right by it. Ned looked panicked.
"What is it? Is it something with my daughter? Oh God! I know I upset her when I spoke to her like that...."
Fred touched his arm.
"There's nothing you can do about that now. Let me just get in there, okay?" Fred said, hurrying into the room. One of her assistants came up to her. Chloe was asleep.
"What is it?" Fred asked. The assistant looked worried.
"I think there is something you need to see."
Fred followed the assistant over to the sleeping Chloe. She gently pulled up the young woman's gown. Fred backed away.
Chloe had an 'S' on her stomach. An 'S' in a circle, just like in the So'Dath Scrolls. Chloe, was going to be the mother of the powerful slayer, not Lois.