Chp 13 – Fled
-- Congo - June 2009 --
Her lungs were going to explode. She knew it.
Something about the humidity changed the way her lungs usually reacted to a jog. And, well, this was a bit more than a jog. Lois was running… full out running. For her life.
And unlike during her early morning jogs, she needed to be quiet. Deathly quiet, because she was being hunted.
The thing was, running through a jungle was anything but quiet. There were trees to dodge, branches hanging and scratching, twigs snapping underfoot… and to add to the irony, the animals chose those moments to stop making noise.
Thanks to The General's insane orienteering courses, she recognized that the increased presence of bugs meant that water was near.
When she arrived at the riverbed, Lois gazed at the muddy water and swallowed. She had no doubt about what animals called this place home. Stories about the African Congo started coming to the forefront of her mind. Crocodile stories.
She reached to wipe the sweat from her face and saw that her hand came back bloody from the scratches that she'd gotten from running through the trees. Glancing back to the line of trees she knew she didn't have much time.
Driven to action by a strong dose of panic and fear, she stepped into the water panting softly. A splash from across the river drew her attention just in time to see the thick scales of a crocodile submerge under the surface.
She'd never make across alive, and they knew it.
Pulling off her sweatshirt, she scrunched it into a ball and threw it as far as she could. She watched as powerful jaws snapped shut around it as soon as the garment hit the water.
Taking a small step backwards, Lois knelt down in the thick mud and used it to cover her face. Once she had done that, she lay down and rolled in it, coating her tee shirt and pants with mud. Standing, she used her hands to slough off the excess sludge and stepped back on the bank, heading back toward the jungle she had just exited.
The mud would cut her scent and help fend off insects. Hopefully the remnants of her clothing would convince the hunters that she'd battled Mr. Crocodile... and lost.
She walked backwards; careful to step in her previous footprints, and to shifted all of her weight on the balls of her feet so the trackers wouldn't know she'd backtracked.
Once back inside the tree line, she paused, listening for a moment, before moving further into the brush.
She found an animal den and bent to remove the branches and leaves that covered the entrance. It was small and dark, but it would have to do.
Sitting, she slid into the hole feet first, praying that no one was home. The hole was so tight that she couldn't move in any direction, as earth was packed solidly around her on all sides. Rock and a hard place, she mentally jeered.
There are no bears on this side of the world, Lois told herself. She couldn't remember if that was true or not. She was having a hard time thinking straight. She needed to calm herself down. They would be able to find her just from how loud her heart was beating.
Pulling loose branches and leaves to recover the opening, Lois found herself panicking from the loss of light. Closing her eyes she thought about back to when she was eight and starting judo lessons.
'Breathing is the most important lesson,' her teacher had told her. 'That's why we do it first. If you cannot take control of your reactions to your opponent, even those as small as your air intake, he will win every time.'
Right then, Lois was very aware of her reactions. She was scared to death.
-- Smallville – August 2010 --
Lois opened her eyes. In the darkness, she was momentarily disoriented.
She slid an arm to her side, fully expecting to come in contact with a wall of dirt. When she realized that she had a handful of comforter instead, relief spread through her body.
It was the dream again. That's all.
Cold sweat trickled down her spine. The effect of the dream was always the same.It made her relive a nightmare.
Blinking, she realized that she was in her old room at the Kent farm. Amazing the kind of comfort you could draw from a familiar ceiling.
"Hey."
Lois jumped at the voice and scrambled across the bed, holding the covers to her chest as she pressed her back against the wall.
Clark was sitting in a chair near the door. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I saw that you were awake."
Lois's heart felt like a jackhammer had been let loose inside her chest. She slowly inhaled and held her breath, trying to slow its pounding. Additional beads of icy sweat followed winding trails down her neck and torso.
When she didn't respond, Clark assumed that she was still upset about his outburst. "Listen… Lois, I'm really sorry about earlier. I guess I was just a little shocked to see you standing on the porch like that. Okay, a lot shocked."
She was still silently looking at him.
"It's just… I have been looking for you for five months and I couldn't find anything. There was no trace of you anywhere." Clark sighed heavily. "I was emotional. I overacted, and I'm really sorry. When you fainted, I brought you up here. Mom said you were probably exhausted."
And he'd been sitting in that chair since then. Watching her chest rise and fall with every breath. He had been unable to believe that she was really there.
She still hadn't said anything.
"Do you feel okay?" Clark asked, his voice soft and full of concern.
Lois, having successfully avoided a heart attack nodded and slid to the edge of the bed. Clark stood when she did.
"I'm just going to go to the bathroom," she whispered, quickly stepping past him and leaving the room.
Lois leaned over the sink and splashed her face with water. With her hand, she tried to untangle the mess that her hair had become. Frowning at her expression in the mirror, she didn't wonder why Cole hadn't been thrilled to see her. Hell, he'd been with the Kents for half his life. He probably didn't even know who she was.
She noticed a pair of sweats sitting on the closed lid of the toilet. A set of towels, a toothbrush, a comb, and a brush were arranged next to the clothes. Shaking her head, Lois choked back tears. She was grateful for the thoughtfulness of Clark's mother.
God bless Martha Kent, she thought, reaching to turn on the shower.
Clark sat on the stairs listening to sound of the water spraying in the bathroom. Now that Lois was back, he was reluctant to allow her to get too far away. It was probably unnecessary to follow her around, especially since she hadn't even left the house, but he felt helpless to do otherwise.
From the way she had responded when she woke up, he figured that she had been having a bad dream. What was strange was how still she had gotten. Somehow, a dream that would have made her thrash out would have been more comforting. He wondered exactly what she been through.
Clark mentally slapped himself for his angry attack on her when she'd first arrived. He just hadn't been able to control himself. What he'd really wanted to do was to reach out and grab her. But he hadn't.
What a welcome home, he thought.
He realized that the water had stopped and the bathroom door was opening. Silently, he crept down a few steps so she wouldn't catch him stalking her.
The sweats must have been Jonathan's or Clark's because she had to roll the legs so they wouldn't drag on the floor. Her hair was still damp, even though she had rubbed it vigorously with the towel. There was no way she was going to turn on a hair dryer at this time of night.
Stepping out into the hall, Lois noticed the small balloon-shaped night-light that was positioned outside of Clark's old room. She slowly moved in that direction.
Standing in the doorway of the room, Lois took a moment to look around the room. Everything inside caused her heart to twist. The toys. The little bear that sat on the vacant twin bed. The little baseball hats that hung on the far wall.
But mostly, the thing that drew her attention was the crib and its silent occupant.
Lois quietly moved closer and peered down at the sleeping child.
"He's a lot bigger than when I last saw him," Lois whispered. She had felt Clark's presence at the door behind her.
The last time she'd seen Cole, he had been her baby. Now he was almost too big to sleep in the crib. He'd grown up. Without her.
Having been discovered, Clark stepped into the room and walked to the crib.
"And his hair has gotten so dark," she said, reaching down to softly stroke Cole's damp locks.
"Yeah, the blonde hair kind of threw us all off for a while," Clark said with a grin.
"I bet it did." Lois smirked and looked at him for a moment before turning back to the sleeping child. "When I was a baby, my hair was blonde for almost a year. His lasted longer though. I kept wondering when it was going to change." She sighed. "And I missed it."
Clark understood that Lois was feeling sadness over more than hair color. "He's got your eyes."
"Lucky kid," she teased.
Covering her impending tears, Lois stepped back from the crib and looked around the room.
"I guess the attic room is yours now," she said. "I'm sorry for putting you out… again."
Clark was grateful for the sight of the smile that Lois gave him as she faced him, even though he knew she was having a hard time. "It's not a problem." He pointed to the twin bed. "I'll just sleep down here with Cole."
A pained expression crossed Lois's face, and she turned back to the crib.
"Or you could stay down here, if you want."
Lois shook her head. "No, I wouldn't want him to wake up and get scared at having a stranger in his room."
"Lois, he just needs a little time to come around. Mom has been showing him your pictures since he got here. I think the tension in the room scared him- and that was my fault. I'm sorry. He's always been sensitive to stuff like that."
Lois didn't reply. She was affected by the fact that Clark knew more about her baby than she did.
"He knows who you are. He just needs to put it all together."
Lois wasn't so sure about that. Knowing her face from pictures was not the same. Not the same at all.
Clark released the latch on the front of the crib to lower the railing.
"What are you doing?" Lois whispered. "Don't wake him up!"
Clark leaned into the crib and picked Cole up.
"Don't worry. Once he's reached this point, he wouldn't wake up if the cows stampeded," Clark replied. "I thought you might want to hold him."
After being handed to her, Cole snuggled into her embrace. Lois was immediately ambushed with memories of holding him when he was younger. She was overcome with the unique smell of baby freshness and soap. Her eyes closed as she held him close for a few minutes.
"Put him back, Clark."
Hearing the catch in her throat, Clark did as he was asked. As soon as he had replaced the railing to its upright position, he heard Lois choke back a sob.
Leading her to the other side of the room, Clark looked on with concern. "Lois?"
"I thought if I came to see him… to see that he was okay… it would be easier to leave again," she said, haltingly. "But it's not. It's even harder now. At least last time I didn't know I was leaving him."
Confused, Clark pulled Lois into the hallway. "What do mean, leave again? You just got here. You don't have to leave!"
"I can't stay, Clark. If I do, Cole will be in danger. He's better off here with your parents. And with you."
Clark didn't know what to say. It was obvious that Lois felt strongly about what she was saying. And that she was still in some kind of trouble. He just didn't know what it was yet.
Clark knew that it wasn't the time for arguments. He took a step closer and wrapped his arms around her, tightening his hold when she returned the embrace.
Clark led Lois to the bed in the attic room and watched as she crawled under the covers and rolled to face away from him.
He pulled the chair he had been sitting in earlier to the side of the bed and sat down. She was obviously exhausted, buthe still was unable to leave her side. He planned to stay there all night if she didn't object.
"Lois, I'm ready to listen, whenever you want to tell me what happened. No more overreactions, I promise."
She was silent for so long that he thought that she'd fallen asleep. When she started speaking, her voice was low and clear.
tbc
