Lois awoke to find her surroundings quite different from the last time she was awake. That and Clark Kent was asleep in a chair next to her bed!
Lois eyed him, then looked around. There was a small lamp on, and she recognized her surroundings as the Kent guest bedroom. What the hell?!
Lois automatically felt her stomach. God, she was bigger than ever! She sighed, then stretched as far as she could, to nudge Clark.
"Hey!" she whispered. "You hoo, Smallville!"
Clark came awake instantly and focused in on Lois. He looked at the clock beside her bed. It was two in the morning.
"Lois, you're awake."
"What am I doing here? Where is my father?"
Clark leaned forward.
"You need rest. Why don't you go back to sleep?"
Lois gave him a look as if he had lost his mind!
"Clark, what am I doing here?" she repeated. "And why are you sitting in here? What's going on? My father brought me here?"
There was a quick knock on the door. Jonathan stuck his head in. He smiled at Lois.
"I didn't realize you were awake, Lois."
"I didn't realize I was on your farm, Mr. Kent. Clark here was getting ready to tell me what's going on."
Jonathan looked at Clark.
"Uh, Clark. Lana is downstairs."
Clark looked at his watch.
"It's the middle of the night."
"Yeah, well, there's a problem." Jonathan said in a no nonsense tone of voice.
Clark stood up.
"I'll be right out, Dad." he said. Jonathan nodded and closed the door. Clark then looked at Lois, who was staring at him intently. He stared back at her. He found himself wondering how Lois felt about the baby? Clark also realized that there was a part of him that was scared to tell Lois that he was the father. Would Lois be revolted to know that they had been together? Or would she be indifferent....or maybe happy? Or even proud to be having his child?
"You'd better get downstairs then. Is Chloe here too?" Lois asked, pulling back the covers. Her stomach was so big, that the gown she had been given by Wolfram & Hart was stretched. Clark could see a little of the 'S' on her stomach, peeking out.
Clark sat down on the bed next to Lois. He then reached for her hand.
"I did this on my own, Lois. I brought you here. When I find out what Lana wants, then I'm coming back up here and we're going to have a talk about this baby."
Lois squinted at him.
"How did you even know that I was pregnant? Oh yeah, I'm as big as this house we're in. And why should 'we' have a talk about anything?"
"Lois...."
"You're creeping me out, Smallville."
"And you're getting on my nerves, Lois. Look, just stay in bed and relax. I will explain everything when I get back up here, okay?"
Lois said nothing and watched until he left the room. Once the door closed, Lois reached for the phone that was sitting on the nightstand. She was going to call the operator and ask her to connect her with the Wolfram & Hart offices in L.A.. She didn't know what was going on here with the Kent's, but she didn't want them involved with her alien baby problems. They had their own concerns and....and she was kind of embarrassed to be this big, especially in front of Clark, though she couldn't think why.
"Clark, we had a fight! A terrible one!" Lana almost cried. Clark raised a brow. Martha cleared her throat.
"Uh, honey, Lana and I were talking for a bit before you came down. Lana is 'remembering' something from the other day."
Clark glanced at his mother, then looked at Lana.
"You're remembering?"
Jonathan stepped forward.
"Son, I've been 'remembering' some things too, if you know what I mean."
It suddenly hit Clark, that the spell that Connor had cast, was wearing off. His mother still looked as if she were confused and he knew that Lois was.
"Okay.....Lana we....."
"You were mean, Clark! I've seen you like that, maybe twice before, but you were really cruel! And......and people were dying....there was someone killing.....oh my God! Your professor! The one that you left here with earlier, he was the killer!"
Lana was beginning to get hysterical and Clark pulled her into an embrace. Martha turned to her husband.
"What do you mean, you're beginning to remember? Remember what?"
Jonathan pulled her out of Clark and Lana's hearing.
"We went to a town meeting the other day."
Martha frowned at him.
"No we didn't."
"Yes, we did, Martha. You, me and Lana."
"Lana? Why were we with her?"
"She was already here, I think. Chloe was too. That part is fuzzy."
"Wait a minute, Jonathan! I mean, first Clark tells us that he has gotten Lois pregnant because of the red Kryptonite, and then Lana comes over remembering things that never happened and...."
"Honey, I think they did happen. I remember that Lana came with us to the town meeting because she was mad at Clark. Chloe was in the house, I think."
"Is Clark the father of Chloe's baby too then?" Martha asked, more confused and horrified by the moment.
"No, Martha! You heard him, some kid named Connor is the father of her child."
Martha suddenly caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Lois was standing on the stairs. Lana saw her too, as she still stood in Clark's embrace.
"Lois? Clark, what is Lois doing here?"
Clark let go of her and turned to stare at Lois.
"Lois, you were supposed to stay upstairs."
"Yes, Lois, let me help you back into bed." Martha said, moving towards her. But Lois gave her a hard look.
"I heard you." she said. Martha began to back away. Jonathan started to say something. Clark moved closer to the stairs. He eyed his parents.
"What is she talking about?"
"What is the DOING here, Clark?" Lana asked, feeling more and more frantic. That professor, who wasn't really a professor, had been out in the barn with Clark and her! Clark had left with him! Why?! And Lois....Lois was supposed to be in L.A......
Lana turned away from the scene. Lois had been here before....something was coming back to her. Was Lois the reason she had been fighting with Clark before? Were these memories that were coming back to her, even real?
"Heard what?" Clark asked, uncomfortable with the look Lois was giving him. Jonathan coughed.
"We were discussing the 'situation'."
Clark still didn't understand. Lois came all the way down the stairs.
"Let me spell it out for you, Smallville! I just heard your parents discussing how YOU are the father of my baby! They said something else I couldn't hear, but I got the gist of it! God! This all makes sense now! Why you brought me here!"
"WHAT?!!!!" Lana screamed, giving Clark a filthy look. Clark was in a sense, physically trapped between the two young woman. Jonathan stepped forward.
"Clark, we can't keep hiding this. I think we should all sit down and you tell the girls here, what you told us."
Clark looked at Lana.
"Lana, please, sit down. I'll tell you what I know."
Lana just shook her head and slowly sat down.
Clark then looked at Lois.
"Lois? Please...."
"Is that what I said when you raped me?"
"Lois, it was not like that! I swear it!"
"Then why can't I remember it? Or anything, now that I think about it, past the other day, when I woke up in my dorm room, covered with this rash?! Did you give this to me too?"
"Lois let's just sit down. This can't be good for the baby." Martha tried to cajole her. But Lois shook her head.
"No thanks, Mrs. Kent! I called my father. He's sending some men here to pick me up and take me to the local base. I'll have all I need then to deliver this...."
Lois suddenly stopped talking and gave Clark a different kind of look.
"Why is this baby growing so fast? And....." Lois couldn't say anymore. She thought back to the dreams she had had about Krypton and this Kal-El person. Well she now knew that Kal-El wasn't the father of her baby, but Clark Kent was! He had to have drugged her or something! Had she made up this alien nonsense, as some sort of coping mechanism?
No. Something was not right with this child. And.....she could still see through things.....like she could see through the walls of the house, that cars were coming up the road to the house.
Clark was just an ordinary guy. There had to be some kind of mistake.
Clark moved towards her, just as Lana put her face in her hands and began to cry. He glanced back at her regretfully, before looking at Lois again.
"There was a spell cast, to make us all forget. Only, some of us are regaining our memories. I did." he lied. "I am the father of this child, Lois. And there are reasons why what you're going through doesn't seem natural. But you have to give me a chance to explain."
"A spell? So the spell made us lose are inhibitions and have sex?"
Lana stopped crying and stood up. She wiped her face.
"No, Lois. Having a girlfriend with 'locked ankles' did it. You said that to me, Clark."
"Clark!" Jonathan yelled. "Did you really say that to Lana?"
"Dad, I had been infected too, remember?" he reminded him between gritted teeth. He didn't need his own parents ganging up on him too. He began to realize that maybe, just maybe, this 'spell story' could explain everything, even the baby's abilities, while keeping his secret at the same time. God knows he couldn't really tell them about the red Kryptonite.
"Yes, it was the spell that made us lose our inhibitions, Lois. It was the spell that made me act so cruelly towards you, Lana."
"And this baby? This baby is....it's because of the spell?" Lois asked, a bit mollified.
"If I said it was, would that make the whole idea of us, less repulsive?" Clark blurted out. Lana looked at him with surprise. Jonathan and Martha looked at one another. Their son was really stepping in it now!
Lois took a deep breath, surprised by his tone and words.
"I don't find you repulsive, Clark, okay? And I'm sorry for not being more tactful...."
"Which is always."
"But," Lois continued, "I really don't have time for your hurt feelings right now! I'm getting bigger by the second here!"
Clark turned towards the door. The cars were now right up by the house. He turned back to Lois and walked over to her, grabbing her shoulders.
"Lois, what are you planning on doing with our child?"
Lana began to glare at the both of them. She didn't appreciate Clark's attitude! He was almost acting as if....as if he really wanted this child! Obviously, Lois would be giving it up for adoption or something, and then they could all forget this whole terrible experience.
"I don't know, Clark, I have to have it first!" Lois snapped. "And I still don't understand how a spell made Chloe and I have sex with men we barely know, while everybody else is hunky dory! Now I'm leaving so move out of my way!"
"Chloe didn't have sex with someone she 'barely knew'.....look, just stay and let's talk this out..."
"Move, Clark!"
There was a knock on the door. Lois looked at the door, then Clark.
"I'll call you or something, okay?"
"You're not leaving." Clark said coolly. Jonathan and Martha looked at one another again. They were both thinking the same thing. Surely their son wasn't planning on using his strength to subdue Lois, was he? And if he did, no one in the room could stop him.
"What do you plan to do about it?" Lois asked, as she began to move around him. God! She still had so many unanswered questions, the main one being, even if they were all under some kind of 'spell', was there an underlying attraction between herself and Clark, that they had acted on?
Clark still held her by the shoulders, when Lois pushed him away from her....hard....very, very, hard.
The men that General Lane had sent, were more than a bit shocked, when Clark Kent came crashing through the house and slid off of the porch! The men peered inside, as Lois looked at her hands. Ooops!
Jonathan and Martha went running after Clark, while Lana stared at Lois, slackjawed. Lana then hurried after the Kent's, as the men, and the Kent's, helped Clark up. Lana stared at her boyfriend. He was just thrown through a house, and now he was getting up and dusting himself off?
Lois waddled over to the hole in the house and watched Clark as well. It was the spell. Maybe her baby was normal, and this spell, that Clark kept referring to, was what was making everything go haywire. Maybe it was the spell that caused Clark to survive that little trip through the wall.
"You should be dead...or at least hurt." One of the military men said, eyeing Clark. Lois stepped through the hole, as Lana hugged Clark. She didn't care how he had survived it. He was okay, that's what counted.
"Guys, I didn't bring any luggage, so I'm ready to go." Lois announced.
"We'll take you home then." the other military man said.
"You're taking her back to the dorms?" Jonathan asked. He, Clark and Martha looked at one another, while Lana began to glare at Lois. Things were beginning to come back at a faster rate now. Clark had been hiding Lois on this farm for some other reason. He had hidden her here and not told her. Lana now wondered if it had been more than just a spell that had caused Lois to become pregnant.
Lana's mind went back to that day in the shower, when she saw Lois's body. No, it was the spell. What else could account for those strange rashes on her?
"No, to your home....your new home." the first man said. Lois and Clark looked at one another.
"Uh, I live in the dorms here in Smallville." Lois told them.
"Mr. Luthor doesn't want his new wife, living in the dorms."
"WHAT?! Clark and Lois exclaimed in unison. Lana felt a small pang of relief. Jonathan Kent, however, really didn't like the sound of this! Specifically the Lex part!
"I.....I.....I am not married. As a matter of fact, I'm not married to anyone, specifically Lex Luthor!" Lois stammered.
But Clark remembered how he had found Lois. She had been drugged and in a helicopter with Lex. God.....
"Why didn't you tell us that you married Lex?" Lana asked. Lois glared at her.
"I didn't!"
"So you're telling us that you don't remember the ceremony?" Lana asked. Lois gave her a look like she wanted to beat her ass!
"There was no 'ceremony'! Ask me that same question again, and see if you don't get some of what Clark got!"
Clark stepped in.
"Okay, okay! There's no need to be nasty here, we can work this out. There's a mistake. When I brought Lois here, she was sedated. She couldn't have been awake....."
Clark suddenly looked at his parents. Martha still looked confused. But Jonathan didn't.
"Somehow, I wouldn't put it past Lex to marry someone while they were in a coma, much less sedated." Jonathan said.
"Why?! Why would Lex do this to me? No, my father would've never allowed this! This is a mistake and I'm not going anywhere!" Lois insisted, turning to go back into the house.
But the two men grabbed both of her arms! Just as Lois was about to shake them off, and Clark was about to step in, the ship flew out of the barn!
Jonathan saw it first. He grabbed Martha and Lana, then threw them to the ground!
"What is that?!" Lana screamed. Lois broke away from the men and Clark jumped back, as the ship fired two rays, disintegrating General Lane's men. The ship hovered in the air for a moment, as Clark and Lois stared up at it. Then, it turned and flew back into the barn.
Lois fainted. Somewhere from inside the farmhouse, the phone rang.
Angel hung up. There was no answer at the Kent farm and now he was more than just apprehensive, he was unnerved.
Dr. Swann and Wesley poured through journals and books, as Swann told Wesley all about Clark. Wesley shook his head and looked at Angel.
"We need to go to Smallville, Angel. It's the only way to protect this child from whatever fate is awaiting it."
"Yeah, I'm also concerned about this whole Lex/Lois marriage thing. He's up to no good. And where is Connor? I haven't been able to find him." Angel asked.
"I haven't seen him." Wesley admitted. Spike walked in.
"Word is that your boy made some kind of deal with the Senior Partners. Something that will set things straight. He's up with his girlfriend now."
"And you know this how?" Angel asked skeptically. Connor had agreed to wait before asking for any kind of spell reversals. He wouldn't just go ahead and make a deal like that.
"Harmony and I, despite our tortured history together, are still close."
"Is that right?" Angel asked sarcastically.
"Yeah, that's right, Angel. Harmony just has to get the Senior Partners to agree to a few terms, and then all of this will be over."
"Damnit! What the hell was Connor thinking?! What's 'over' for Connor and Chloe, might not be for Lois and Clark!"
"Clark? Who's that?" Spike asked, looking around.
"The father of Lois's child." Wesley volunteered.
Spike stared at the three of them, before he burst out laughing! Wesley sighed.
"Something funny, Spike?"
"Yeah! Poor Lois! So this Clark is the handprint guy? Bloody hell, she would've been better off with that El guy being the father than some ponce named 'Clark'!"
Dr. Swann stared at Spike.
"El guy?"
"Yeah.....Lois had some kind of dream where she was told the father was from the 'House of El'. Now she at least knows it's not some alien. It's some Nancy boy named Clark!"
Dr. Swann looked at Angel and Wesley.
"The ship....I suspect the ship has been projecting holographic images into Ms. Lane's brain."
"What the hell is going on?" Spike asked, concerned. Something he had just told them seemed to concern everyone in this room.
Connor sat by a sleeping Chloe's side, just as Harmony walked in. Connor did a double take.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"The Senior Partners....the spell reversal?"
"Oh yeah. Actually, Connor, some of the partners are on vacation."
"What?"
"Yeah that and you know, those spells don't take all of the time. I mean look at you. You should have no memories of Angel at all. But you do. And now there's been word that people in Smallville are beginning to remember your father's 'visit' there."
Connor stood up.
"So there's a chance that Chloe may begin to remember?"
"Oh yeah! Definitely!"
"Then there's no need for our 'deal' to go through? I can just wait this out?"
"Oh yeah! You know, I kind of thought that spell reversal idea was a bad idea. I mean those kind of things can get messy."
"Okay....well, I'm going to just stay here with her then." Connor said, looking back at the sleeping Chloe. He brushed a tendril of hair away from her forehead. Harmony turned and walked out of the room. Once in the hallway, she smirked and walked over to one of the medical technicians.
"Where is Mr. Sullivan?"
"Off with General Lane and Mr. Luthor."
"Good. The minute lover boy in there leaves her side, I want you to take Ms. Sullivan to our special holding facility."
"For how long?"
"Until that child is born." Harmony said pleasantly. What she had not told Connor, was that the Senior Partners were tired of the ungrateful father/son team of Angel and Connor. And the child of the So' Dath prophecies, would be a wonderful compensation for all of their 'generosity'. So yes, while their original deal, for Connor to take his father's place as head of Wolfram & Hart was null and void, the Partners had come up with a new deal, without Connor's knowledge, to satiate them.