Chp 18 - Submerge



-- Industrial District, Metropolis – September 2010 (Later that night) --

"Do boats get assigned parking spaces?" Lois asked, scanning the dock area. "Maybe we can get a hold of a log book or something."

"Does anything look familiar?" Clark asked.

"Not really. There was a transport barge over here, and I'm pretty sure they used the crane to get the crates off the ship. I'm guessing there was a semi involved… I remember one of the guys saying something about trucks."

Lois leaned against a wall and sighed. "It probably would help if I weren't trying to remember something from almost two years ago.

Clark thought he heard a muffled sound and shifted his head to listen.

"Lois!" he shouted, stepping toward her and reaching out to pull her to the side at the same time.

"Wha-" Lois started as Clark took hold of her shoulders.

Seconds later flecks of concrete hit the ground as a bullet buried itself in the wall next to her- where her head had just been.

"Oh. Okay." Lois swallowed and her eyes focused on the hole in Clark's jacket where the bullet had grazed him. After releasing a breath, she met his gaze. "What are you still doing here?"

Clark frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Why are you still standing here? Go get him! You know- Speedy Gonzales and all that?"

"Lois, you just got shot at! I'm not going to go chasing after…"

"He's getting away!" Lois shook his hands off her arms and stepped away from the wall. "I should have been the one with the turbo booster power. What's the point of having supercharged genes if you don't use them when you should!"

Clark turned to face her. "There could be someone else waiting around to finish the job, Lois!"

"Well, is there?"

Clark's eyes squinted as he turned to scan the area. "No. Everything's clear."

"Because you stalled and let them get away!" Lois accused, pointing a finger at him.

"Lois," Clark interrupted. He noticed that the finger she pointed at him was shaking.

She ignored him and kept mumbling under her breath.

"Lois, look at me." Clark grabbed her arms and turned her to him. "Just hold on for a second."

"Damn Feds," Lois commented, her head swiveling as she tried to inspect every shadow she could see. "I knew this would happen as soon as they started looking into this stuff. They might as well have put a spotlight on me… or broadcasted my position by GPS."

"Lois!" Clark finally drew her gaze. "What is it?"

Lois sighed. "That's the first time I've been shot at and not hit."

"Tony," Clark remembered, his eyes moving to the ear that had been the site of injury.

"Tony," she affirmed. "And others."

"Others?" Clark stepped back quickly and began looking at all of the places where skin was exposed. "Where? When?"

"Nothing serious… I, um, have a variety of Keflar clothing items in my closet."

Clark was about to ask for further detail when he noticed that her trembling hadn't lessened.

"Well, maybe your luck is changing," he offered.

"Maybe." She granted him a grim smile in reply. "I think I've had enough I Spy for the night." She reached to massage the bridge of her nose. "I just want to go home."

Clark nodded. "I have an idea. Let's go to the farm for the weekend. We can take a break, spend some time with Cole…"

"No." Lois shook her head and pointed to the hole in the wall. "This means that I am being watched. I can't take the chance that they would follow me to Cole."

"I can get us out of here without drawing too much attention. Speedy Gonzales, remember?"

"I know that you can disappear at the drop of a hat, but have you ever tried that act with a passenger?" When he shook his head, she continued. "These aren't really the best circumstances for experimenting, you know. People watching me means that people are watching you, too. We have to be careful that no one sees anything we don't want them too."

Clark grudgingly acknowledged that she had a point. "You're right. We'll stay."

"No. I want you to go."

"Lois, I'm not leaving you while someone is…"

"I need you to go and check on my baby for me, Clark. If you say he's okay, I'll know for sure that he is."

Clark frowned. "I don't know, we could…"

"Please."

They stood silently looking at one another for a moment before Clark relented. The soft plea had done him in.

"Okay. I'll go, but only after I know you are safely at home."


Lois turned to face Clark as she stepped into the apartment. She began gesturing with her hands, using two fingers to point to her eyes, than his, than the room.

"What is it?"

Lois glared at him and pointed to his eyes again. "Nothing," she said lightly, contradicting the words with her expression. "It's been a long day, I think I'm going to go jump in the shower."

Clark's brow creased. He figured that there was something he was missing. Lois shook her head and grabbed his arm to pull him with her into the bathroom. She turned the sink faucet on and reached to switch on the water in the tub.

When she finished, she shut the door and pulled Clark to sit next to her on the side of the bathtub.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I wanted you to check for bugs… surveillance. My guess is that the FBI put out an order to have me tapped, and that alerted our friendly neighborhood sniper."

Clark nodded, and left the bathroom. He returned a couple of minutes later.

"I've got your towel," he announced, as he pushed the door closed behind him. "You were right. There are listening devices in the phone, the kitchen, under the coffee table in the living room, and in your closet. I'm certain that they weren't there this morning."

Lois looked at the ceiling and rolled her eyes. "My closet? What did they expect to get from my closet?"

"Should we remove them?"

"No," she answered. "I don't want them to know that we know, yet. We'll talk to them first thing Monday morning. In the meantime, looks like we'll be taking a lot of showers."

"I don't mind," Clark said, giving her a sly smile.

There was a glint in her eye as she remembered how he had reacted to sharing bathroom space years earlier when she lived on the farm. She quickly schooled her features and swallowed the reply that had been on her lips. "Call my cell when you get to the farm. You've got the number, right?"

She turned off the running water and left the room.

Clark smiled as she disappeared around the corner. "Yeah, I've got your number," he mumbled under his breath.


Lois heard the buzz of her phone against the kitchen counter and raced to grab it. She had put the phone on silent so that 'the ears' wouldn't be alerted to her phone calls.

She slipped out onto her terrace and slid the door shut behind her.

"Hey, how is everything?" she asked once she'd flipped the phone open.

"Everything's fine out here. I scanned the house and barn, and didn't find anything, so either they aren't planning to bug the farm, or they haven't gotten around to it yet."

Lois sighed in relief. "We'll make sure they don't get the chance." She leaned against the concrete railing. She heard crying in the background. "Is that Cole?"

"Uh, yeah," Clark answered. "We have a little problem."

"What! Is he okay?"

"No, he's fine… it's just… when he saw me come in, he was looking for you and got a little upset that you didn't come, too. I'm having a hard time getting him to go to bed."

"How long has he been going like that?" Lois hated hearing the sound of her baby crying.

"Since I got here – about an hour. Wonder where he gets this stubborn streak from."

"Watch it, Kent."

"I was hoping you could try talking to him. It might help calm him down."

"Okay, put him on."

Lois grimaced as the sound of crying intensified as the phone was brought closer to the source. She heard Clark's voice call out when the crying was the loudest. "He's there, Lois."

"Cole," she called softly. "Hey, baby."

"Mommeee," he whined, and continued crying.

"Cole, what's the matter? Huh?"

"I want Mommmeee."

"Hey," she soothed. "Calm down sweetie. Mommy's right here." Cole wasn't impressed with her statement and wailed in reply. Lois pulled the phone away from her ear and winced.

"Okay, I know. How about we sing a song. Do you want Mommy to sing, Cole?"

Lois heard his cries falter and took that for a yes.

"All right, baby. We can sing, but I need you to calm down a little bit. Can you do that for me?" She heard him whimper and smiled.

"You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off of you. You'd be like heaven to touch. I want to hold you so much. At long last love has arrived, and I thank God I'm alive. You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you. I love you baby, and if it's quite all right, I need you baby, to warm the lonely, night…"


"That was great," Clark whispered into the phone as he laid the sleeping child into the crib. "I didn't know you could sing."

"That wasn't for your ears, O Master Eavesdropper," Lois snarked back.

Clark laughed and stepped out of the room. "Hey, your audience fell asleep. I figured it was only polite to make sure someone gave you a compliment."

"That was a compliment?"

"I was getting to it." Clark smiled and headed down the stairs.

"Well, I'm sorry I interrupted. Go ahead."

"I think I'll save it for when I see you tomorrow."

Clark's parents were sitting at the kitchen table talking when he walked into the room smiling into the phone. They glanced at one another and continued to watch him carry out his conversation.

"Whatever, Smallville. There's no reason to rush back…"

"Actually there is. You see, the woman that I love…"

"Don't start, Kent."

"All right! There's just one thing I want to say," Clark said, continuing quickly so she wouldn't have a chance to deter him. "I love you."

Clark smiled as the phone clicked in reply. Looking up, he noticed his parents for the first time. "She hung up on me," he explained sheepishly.

"And you're laughing about that?" Martha asked.

Jonathan reached to rub his jaw in an attempt to cover the grin that was crossing his face. "Did you just say that you loved her?"

Clark shrugged and went to pour himself a glass of lemonade. "I'm getting under her skin."

Because heaven knew she was getting under his.



tbc