Connor and Angel stood on the stairs, as Chloe helped Clark up, while Lois took Lana's necklace from Kyle.
"That's mine!" the little boy yelled. He didn't like this woman. He could tell his mommy didn't like her either.
Lois ignored him and looked the trinket over. Had Clark had that attack just now, because he was distraught over Lana? Or was it something else? Something physical?
Clark felt better, but not as well as he would've felt, if Lana's necklace was out of this house and away from his son! Yet, Kyle looked completely unaffected. Was it possible that Kryptonite did not hurt him at all? Maybe because of Lois?
He had to know for sure.
"Lois, it's okay. Let him have the necklace." Clark said. Chloe raised a brow.
"Clark, Kyle can't have it. It's Lana's. I always meant to return it to her, but just never got around to it. I couldn't give it away."
"Just let him hold it, that's all." Clark said, getting his strength back. But Lois was still holding it, looking it over. It looked like a cheap piece of glass to her.
Angel and Connor could see the necklace too, from their vantage point. Angel backed up the stairs.
"That's that rock!" he hissed. "The one that turned me back into Angelus! Where did it come from?"
A re-emergence of Angelus, was the last thing this party needed. Connor shook his head.
"I don't know. But did you see the way it affected Clark?"
Angel's eyes moved from the necklace, to Clark Kent. He had a sudden flash of memory. When he had attacked that college class and Connor and Kent showed up. He had been wearing a ring with that same kind of rock in it. When he had went up against Clark Kent there, the guy practically passed out, before he could lay a hand on him. It was odd, now that Angel thought back, because he could sense that Clark had great power, but was not using if for some reason. Connor had even alluded to it.
That and he had broken a fang on Kent's neck. Angel looked at Connor.
"Remember when I told you that I broke a fang on his neck? Remember?" he asked Connor. Connor looked from his father, to Clark. Kyle had knocked over a fence, showing an incredible amount of strength that no human had. The same kind of strength he had glimpsed in Clark, back in Smallville.
"So, what do you think that emblem that appeared on the floor meant?" Connor whispered.
"I don't know. But I think for Faith and Kyle's sakes, we have to go back to the beginning."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning Wolfram & Hart. Dan Gordon arranged Kyle's adoption through them. I'll go back there tonight and look over some files. Maybe there will be some answers there."
"Answers like what? Like that Kyle is related to Clark? That Clark could possibly be one of his real parents? Then who's his mother? And how do we tell Faith any of this?"
"I don't know. But Connor, you said yourself that Clark's appearance here is out of the blue. I watched him with Kyle tonight. Maybe he's the reason he's here."
"Faith isn't going to let Kyle go. She isn't just going to give him back." Connor said. Angel shook his head.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We don't know anything for sure. Let's just let things rest for the night....and keep that damned rock the hell away from me!"
Connor and Angel went back up the stairs, while Clark asked Lois, AGAIN, to give the rock back to Kyle.
"Clark, he's a boy! He doesn't need a necklace." Lois sniffed.
"Just let him hold it." Clark said tiredly. God! The mother of his child was just as much a child as their son!
"Fine! There you go, kid! Goodnight!" Lois said, handing over the necklace, which was promptly snatched from her hand. Lois headed upstairs, while Kyle looked it over. Clark watched him, while Chloe watched Clark watch Kyle. What the heck was going on here? Was she missing something?
Nothing. Kyle didn't look sick or anything. Chloe walked over to him and gently took the necklace from him.
"Kyle, this belongs to someone and I have to give it back. Your mother's jacket is over there, okay?"
"Okay!" he chirped and ran over to a chair in the corner. He grabbed his mother's jacket and ran to the door.
"Don't run, Kyle! Goodnight!" Chloe called out to him.
"Goodnight!" Kyle called out. He smiled at Clark.
"Goodnight!"
"Goodnight, Kyle." was all Clark could manage, as he suddenly felt a lump in his throat. It wasn't right that his son was going home to someone else's house.
Chloe put the necklace away and then, waved a hand in front of Clark's face. He was still staring at the now closed front door.
"Clark? Clark?"
Clark blinked, then focused on her.
"I'm sorry."
"Clark, I think we should talk about Lana. The reaction you had to seeing her necklace again... obviously you still have some very powerful feelings for her. Maybe you should tell her how you feel."
Clark kissed her on the cheek, just as Angel and Connor walked down the stairs. Connor felt like growling! Clark Kent, for the short time he knew him back in Smallville, had always questioned his feelings for Chloe, as if Kent didn't believe his love for Chloe was sincere. Connor had always found that galling, especially coming from someone who had broken his wife's heart, too many times to count.
Chloe looked up first.
"Angel? You're heading out?"
"Uh, yeah. Early start tomorrow. Cordy is fast asleep." Angel said, his gaze moving from Chloe, to Clark. He held out his hand.
"It was nice seeing you again, Clark."
"Likewise." Clark said, returning the handshake. Angel could feel that Kent's grip was firm, in an almost painful way.
"I'll walk you out." Connor said. They moved to the door. Angel opened it, then, peered back at Clark and Chloe.
"I'll let you know the minute I find out anything." he whispered to his son.
"And then?"
"Connor, if Kyle is Clark's son, then chances are he was stolen. You know what that means."
"It means that Faith gets her heart broken."
"Yes....but it also means doing the right thing."
"Faith is so alone right now. Kyle is all she has."
"Faith is a survivor. She'll get through it. But let's find out if our suspicions are correct, before we decide that all is lost here. Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Connor said, closing the door after him. He then turned back to Chloe and Clark, only to find Chloe standing there.
"Where's Clark?"
"Oh, he decided to go to bed. You know, with the exception of Lana's necklace, I think the night went well, don't you?"
"You would!"
"Oh come on! Lois and Faith didn't get into a fight. The kids had a good time. Angel and you even got in a little whispering time."
Connor didn't answer that. He knew that was a dig at how secretive he and Angel had looked just now. He reached for her.
"You know that I don't mean to keep things from you. But I will tell you, that something is going on with Faith. Something that may make it imperative that we find out who Kyle's real parents are."
Chloe backed away a little.
"What? What does that mean? Is it possible that Faith could lose Kyle?"
"Let's hope not." Connor answered.
Two hours later, Clark came back from a trip to the bathroom. He could see that Lois's light was still on. He padded over to her door and knocked softly.
"Come in!" she called out. Clark opened the door and found Lois sitting up in bed, reading a copy of the 'Bay Mirror' newspaper. She was wearing a pink sleep tank with matching bottoms.
Lois looked up. Clark was wearing black pajama bottoms and nothing else. That dream she always had of him came to mind, and she put aside the paper and got up.
"Excuse me. I just have to get a drink of water. Make yourself at home." she said padding by him. Clark frowned, thinking it odd. But he cleared away some space on her bed and sat on it. He picked up the paper and began skimming it. His eyes fell upon an advice column called 'Ask Phoebe'.
Clark was in the middle of reading something about a woman who couldn't get her boyfriend to pop the question, after 6 years, when Lois returned, with a glass of water. She eyed him, sipped more, then closed the door. Lois then walked over to the other side of the bed and sat down, setting the glass on a table.
"Well, what brings you to my room in the middle of the night?"
"It's not really the middle of the night. It's almost midnight." Clark corrected her.
"Yes, well let's not quibble about that. Why are you here?"
"Maybe I wanted to continue our conversation from before."
Lois pretended to think.
"Oh, you mean the nosy interrogation I was going through, before you passed out at seeing Lana's necklace?"
"I didn't pass out."
"Well what was that? I mean it was practically a seizure!"
If anyone, had told Clark, that the mother of his child would be Lois Lane, he would laughed in their face. Then he would've yelled at them, then he would laughed in their face again.
"That was not a seizure....look, can we get back to the medication?"
"No. It's none of your business, Clark. I'm fine and I'd appreciate it if you didn't spread it all around that I'm on meds, okay?"
Clark realized that maybe this was not the tactic to take with her. On some level, Lois had no understanding as to why he was so curious. The only relationship she remembers having with him, was through Chloe really.
"Fine. No one will hear it from me. So....tell me about this job you start tomorrow?"
"Why?"
Now Clark was exasperated!
"Maybe I just want to know what's going on with you. It's called 'catching up'."
"You know what's been going on with me." she answered in a calm voice. "I've been depressed for the past two years and trying to hide it. Look, I get that you care, I just don't want to talk about it. I'm here to start a new life. And yet I don't know why I need one."
Clark reached for her hand. Lois stared down at it.
"Let me pose a hypothetical situation to you: what if you were depressed because....oh....let's say you had had a baby back in Smallville...."
"HA!" Lois snorted, taking her hand from his. "Yeah, that's very hypothetical!"
But Clark reached for her hand again, puzzling Lois.
"Yes it is. But let me just finish laying out the scenario, okay?"
"Okay, it's your scenario."
"Anyway, you had a baby and it was....I don't know....stolen from you for whatever reason and your memory was erased. Meaning you didn't remember being pregnant or giving birth. Maybe that could account for it?"
Lois pulled her hand from his.
"You're here in town to pitch a screenplay or something, right? Because what you just told me would only happen in a movie or something and NO, I am not depressed over anything like that."
"But you wouldn't know it, Lois. You wouldn't know it because of some spell or something."
Despite the incredulity of such a situation, Lois found herself intrigued.
"Okay, okay. Let's just say that something like that happened. Not that I believe it did, but let's just say I go along with your line of thinking. Who would the father of this baby be?"
Clark shrugged.
"Someone that you turned to during a crisis or a vulnerable moment."
"And this man took advantage of me?"
Clark coughed! He had been wearing that red Kryptonite ring!
"I don't think he believes that, no."
"So you don't have a name for this father to be?"
"Not a specific one, no." Clark lied.
"Well....a spell in Smallville....and that was a weird town. Yeah, I could see something happening like that to some poor girl. Not me, though. But....."
Suddenly, she stared at Clark.
"Oh God!"
"What?" Clark asked, wondering if he had jogged her memory some. She was giving him the strangest look.
"What is it Lois? Did you remember anything?"
"About what?" she asked, shaking her head slightly.
"About why you've been depressed?"
Lois waved a hand impatiently.
"Forget me, Clark. I'm sorry. I should've realized what you were trying to tell me."
Now Clark was totally confused!
"What I was trying to tell you?" he repeated.
Now Lois was the one that reached for his hand.
"This is why you're here, isn't it? This happened to you and some girl, didn't it? Lana?"
"Uh, no Lois...."
But Lois could feel she was onto something! Was it Lana? God! She was set to marry Lex and her and Clark had a secret lovechild somewhere! What a great first story that would make for the Bay Mirror!
But could she do that to Clark? Or even Lana? Publicize their heartbreak?
No. But she could help them. God, his whole reaction to the necklace tonight....it all made sense now!
"No, Lois, nothing like that happened to Lana or I. Lana and I just grew apart. I wish her all of the happiness in the world with Lex. I guess I'd better let you get some sleep. Goodnight." he said, pulling her hand from his.
"Goodnight, Clark." Lois answered, watching him leave her room. Clark was lying. Why would he tell her such a convoluted story, if it wasn't true? It's not like Clark was some sort of creative writer or something. He had been speaking from experience just now.
Lois set aside her paper. She would help Clark. He was here to find his missing child. Maybe he already had, and just didn't want to get Lana's hopes up by telling her....
Lois reached for her lamp and turned it off. Suddenly she felt better, happier. She had a purpose now. She would find Clark and Lana's lovechild and reunite them.
Angel looked through the Kyle Gordon's adoption file. Nothing. Nada.
Kyle's mother was a crack addict that had died of an overdose. Kyle's father was unknown. Why would Clark Kent have slept with a crack addict?
There was nothing here that linked Kyle to Clark or anyone else. Angel was about to put the file back, when he realized he couldn't. Something was blocking it. Angel reached in and found a security tape. One that was dated two years ago. It read 'Lobby Outside of Angel's Office'. Angel frowned. What the hell had went on outside of his office, that was worth keeping on tape, much less in this file cabinet?