A/N: I absolutely adore feedback! Thank you for following this story. Please feel free to nag if you want to. '-0-' means a time progression. Here is our next installment, and as they say... the plot thickens...

Ch 6 – Realization


Lois struggled to open her eyes but gave up when the efforts sent shockwaves through her skull. Every part of her body hurt as she slowly took inventory of her limbs. Pain told her that everything was still attached- not what she expected after jumping off of a building. She was just going to rest for a few more minutes.

-0-

A little while later, at least she thought it was little while later; someone decided to move her around. Why the heck would they do that – couldn't they see she was sleeping? If she had the energy, she would tell them off. Call them something like a toad's kneecap… do toad's have knees? They must. They jump, right? She drifted back to sleep with that thought.

-0-

More movement jolted her out of fuzzy dreams. Now they were putting something in her mouth… or taking it out. Just hurry up, please. Finally, they were done. Lois decided to rest a little longer.

-0-

Sometime later, the urge to use the bathroom hit her. This time, her eyelids responded when she sent the command to open. Her surroundings were foreign.

A bright room.

A sense of dread filled her. She had been in this type of room before. She hated this type of room.

Her arm felt heavy, like it was strapped down. Glancing down, she saw that it was exactly as she feared. Tubes. Tubes meant needles. Needles meant hospitals. Turning slightly, because her neck was stiff, she saw flowers on a table. There were a couple of different sets of them. No lilies, though. Lilies were her favorite, because they reminded her of her mother. Her father hated them… because of the same reason.

No, lilies were beautiful. Hospitals, on the other hand, were horrible places… where little girls watched their mothers become frail. Mothers who go to hospitals don't come home.

Her bladder reminded her of her original purpose, and she started to attempt to move the cover she was under. Nope, another tube, she grimaced, realizing that she was connected to a catheter. How embarrassing could this get?

When she was finished, she closed her eyes again. Maybe if she slept, the nightmare would end.


"… More creative. That's what I should have been. More creative. I'm sure there was a different way to get out of there."

Lois frowned at the words. Without opening her eyes, she countered. "Less bossy."

Her voice was scratchy and low, but he heard it.

Clark turned around in surprise. "Lois?"

She cleared her throat and tried again, fighting off a coughing spasm. "You got bossy. If you had asked… ehm… for my opinion… ehm…. Down the steps. Not up." She worked one eye open, then the other.

He was looking at her shell shocked, unsure of what to say next. He'd been talking to her for a while, when she was asleep. Now that she was awake, he wasn't sure of what to say. The increased activity of her monitors drew a nurse to her room. Clark slipped out of the room quietly, but could see that her eyes followed him as he moved out of the door.

The doctors had said she'd been in and out of consciousness for the past few days, mumbling a few words here and there. He figured that he'd better call Chloe. She'd been planning on heading over after finishing at The Torch anyway.

It had been almost a week since they crashed landed on the roof of The Daily Planet. He knew immediately that something was wrong when Lois didn't open her eyes. He'd taken her straight to the Metropolis General ER. Strangely enough, no one was distracted by a man carrying an unconscious woman down the street. He didn't think he'd ever get used to the big city.

After dropping her off, he'd sped home. He'd left information on how to reach her father at the Fort in her purse for the nurses to find, knowing that it wouldn't be a good thing for them to be tied to one another, or to the LutherCorp break-in. She'd been stable enough to be transferred the next day, so her father had arranged transport to Smallville Medical.

She had slight swelling on her brain from the concussion, but it hadn't been too serious. The doctors had decided to keep her heavily medicated and unconscious. They had said something to the effect of letting the body heal itself.

He'd been busy with other things as well. He'd told his parents about the incident at the prison, but not anyone else. Who would believe that the real Lex Luthor was behind bars while his father, Lionel, had taken residence in his son's body and left the country? He'd gone to see Lex as soon as possible, trying to understand what had happened.

Apparently Lionel's old cellmate had mysteriously died on the day of the body switch. Both Clark and Lex were sure that he had been part of Lionel's scheme, and had become 'expendable'. The man had died in the recreation field while Lionel was at visiting hours, so there was nothing to tie him to the crime. The guards weren't too motivated to keep investigating the death of a criminal, so they let it go.

Lex had given Clark the books and papers he'd found in the cell. They were covered with symbols from the Kawatche caves. After days of going through the stuff, Clark realized that the black stone that he blew up must have been Kryptonite. He had no idea how to get more of it.

Clark headed home. The piece of Black Kryptonite that his mother had obtained was destroyed when he battled Kal-El. Obviously the composition of the rock was less dense than all of the other forms of Kryptonite he'd been in contact with. There was another issue. Even if he could get another piece, he didn't have a clue as to where Lionel had taken Lex's body.


While being poked and prodded, Lois learned about her injuries. She found it strange that no one knew that it was Clark that had taken her to the ER. When they asked her about what happened, she shrugged and claimed not to remember. Who would believe that she had jumped off of the top of Metropolis' tallest building?

Chloe would be the hardest person to keep in the dark. Lois had never been on the receiving side of the firing squad before.

"I'm so glad you're awake," Chloe sighed, dropping her bag in the visitor's chair and moving to stand next to Lois' bed.

Lois grabbed her cousin's hand and smiled. "Me too."

"Your doctor's weren't sure when you'd wake up…What happened?"

Lois shrugged and pressed the button to raise her bed to a sitting position.

Chloe narrowed her eyes and watched her cousin carefully. "There was a break-in at LuthorCorp the same night you got hurt."

Lois looked appropriately shocked. "What did they report?"

"Nothing, actually. Which is strange- don't you think? I mean, there was no damage reported or anything. They came out the next day and said that it was a faulty alarm."

Lois was relieved. "Well, maybe that's all it was."

Chloe smirked. Lois was good… but so was she. "Hmm," she nodded. She pulled the chair next to the bed, and sat down.

"I'm almost sorry I introduced you to journalism," Chloe remarked. She had created a monster. "Did you find anything out?"

Lois laughed and shook her head. "No… but I'm not finished!"

There was a dangerous twinkle in her eye.


Clark entered the room and frowned. It was hard to reconcile the fact that the person in this body was actually Lex Luthor. He supposed it didn't matter who it looked like, though. It was Lex.

"I was afraid you weren't going to come back after what you said last time," Lex said, smiling.

Clark's expression remained neutral. "You lied to me about investigating my family."

"People investigate my family all the time, Clark. I'm sorry that you felt betrayed by that." Lex sighed. They had gone through this conversation the last time Clark came by.

"You went through the trouble of showing me the remains of your car so that I would believe that it was over. I just have a hard time understanding that."

"There are some questions that you have to find answers to. I didn't even know about that floor for a long time. Somehow my father was able to get into my files. You know that he had me bugged. I think he wanted to see what my interest was in you, to somehow get to me."

Clark thought back to the pictures he'd seen posted on the walls when he was at LuthorCorp. "And what exactly is that interest?"

"Friendship."

Clark narrowed his eyes. "I don't think I can easily believe that. Not this time."

Lex crossed his arms over his chest and leaned away from the table. The visiting room at the prison was stark and uncomfortable. Around them, other inmates met with family members and lawyers at metal tables.

"If that's the way you feel, why did you come back?"

Clark sighed. "I may not like some of the things you've done, but you don't deserve to be behind bars. Your father does. I'm the only person who knows who you really are."

The irony of the statement caused Lex to smile. "So, what did you find out about those books? And what did my father's cellmate have to do with those caves?"

"I don't know. I haven't gotten too much to go on yet, but I have an idea of where to get more information."

"From The Foundation?"

Clark was taken aback. Lex knew a lot more than he'd thought. The muscles in his jaw tensed as he gritted his teeth, and rose from the chair.

Lex shook his head. He could see the wheels in Clark's head turning. "Look, I know you're angry, but I don't have time to play around. I found out that my dad really was dying. It's liver disease, and it's pretty far advanced. I don't want to die in this body. I have to get out of here… and I know that you can help me."

They stared at one another for a while, each trying to gage what the other was thinking.

"I'll see what I can do," Clark said, turning to leave. He didn't see the slight sneer that briefly crossed Lex's face.

"I should warn you," he called, as Clark walked. "Dr. Swann is no longer there."

Clark's step faltered slightly, but he recovered quickly and continued without looking back.


It took a few days for Clark to return to the hospital to see Lois. From what Chloe was telling him, she still hadn't let anyone know that he had been with her in Metropolis before the accident. He decided to see what she remembered, hoping that it wasn't anything substantial.

Lois motioned for him to come in when he knocked on the door to her hospital room.

"You know, dying gives a person some clarity."

"You didn't die, Lois."

"No, but I came close. Gravity and Terminal Velocity mixed together leave you with a pretty bad hangover." She paused and glared at him. "And you tried to kill me."

"Lois, I did not try to kill you! What are you talking about?" Clark wondered if she was still on heavy medication.

"You tried to kill me," she repeated, in a flat voice. "What suicidal binge made you think you could fly?"

Clark sighed and slumped into the visitor's chair.

"No, don't answer that. I think I know."

Clark's brow furrowed. She couldn't really know.

Lois smirked at his look. "Clarity, I told you," she quipped, as if it explained everything.

"One thing about being unconscious – you have plenty of time to think. I started to put it all together. All the stuff Chloe used to tell me about this town and the things I've seen."

Lois watched him curiously as she continued. "You're incredibly strong… although you try not to be. You seem to have an explosive personality, and you're fast… really fast. That was you on the other side of the roof, wasn't it?"

She didn't wait for an answer. "And, to top it off, you had the crazy idea that you could fly. Each of those things by themselves isn't strange for this town… From what I know, the meteor rock zombies never really last that long. Except with you. You would think that with all the things that happen here in Weirdsville, you would have heard something about you - but your family is as tight-lipped as Templar Knights, know what I mean?"

Clark shifted in the chair. He knew that he should leave. Listening to her probably would only make her think she was onto something, but a part of him needed to confirm that she was wrong. He remained silent.

"I landed on you. That part I remember. Yet, I'm the one who ends up channeling Rip Van Wrinkle, while you don't even have a scratch. Not to mention that no one seems to have any idea that you were in Metropolis that night. So, I'm trying to figure out what happened… and I think it has something to do with your biological parents…"

Startled, Clark was a little late schooling his features. He needed to discuss this with his folks.

"Hi Daddy," Lois sighed, her attention shifting to the door.

Clark jumped to his feet, mumbling a greeting to the general. He quickly looked away from the stern look he received in return.

"Clark, please excuse us. I'd like to have a word with Lois," General Lane commanded, frowning.

Clark nodded and stepped out of the room.


tbc