Author's Notes: I found the idea interesting to put Lois and Clark in a normal setting when I put her through the accident. For years, Clark worries over the people he loved because he brought unnecessary danger to their lives. He wished to be normal. Well, normal also has to deal with war, famine, love, loss, disease, accidents, etc. It's a possibility that could happen but not something we overly think about in our daily lives. I wanted to explore that and I hope you all didn't mind.
Chapter 10 - Rise
Metropolis, Daily Planet
Clark stood atop the Daily Planet building holding the wedding rings in his hand. He got scared, not knowing how to face her when she woke up. Will she hate him? Worst of all, will she leave him?
Clark didn't know or if he can even contemplate the notion.
To him, the past month… it's been amazing and it further enforced why he loves her.
He closed his eyes remembering the first time they met.
"Are you okay? What's your name?"
"I don't know"
"I need to get you to a hospital"
"I am fine"
"You've just been hit by lightning. You're stark naked and you don't even remember your own name. You have a fairly loose definition of 'fine'"
Then he remembered the first time they admitted to being friends.
"You're amazing, Smallville. You always look for the best in people even when they walk all over you"
"I guess that explains why we're friends"
Lois looked suspicious, but amused. "Oh we're friends now?"
"Well, I won't tell anyone if you don't"
Then the sudden departure and how much they've both grown since last seeing each other in Smallville until they met again, right here at the Daily Planet.
"Hi Lois," he greets meekly.
Lois quickly turned her attention to Perry White. "What's this all about, chief?"
"Lane, I want you to meet your new partner"
"Tell me you're kidding"
She was beautiful and so strong and unyielding in her convictions.
When she knows something is right, or that she believes it is right, she fought him about it because even if he knew it was wrong, she'll stick to it until the end and he loves her more because of it.
Her passion for life and justice is what attracted him to her.
But it was also the little things… a gesture or a look, a comment or a critique that made him fall head over heels in love with her.
She's everything and more.
Smallville General Recovery Room
Her body was frail, practically fragile. She tried to sit up by Martha refused to let her move an inch. Jonathan was there too, talking to her about everyday things. How the tracker didn't run properly this morning to the list of groceries Martha is going to buy later tonight.
It was their voices she woke up to.
"Really, Mrs. Kent, you don't have to do that. That's what the hospital staff is for"
Martha smiled warmly but refused to lose out. "I want to"
"Mr. Kent, talk to your wife," she softly chided Martha's husband, who sat vigil in a chair with a grin on his face. A smile that was amazingly similar to Clark's.
"Impossible, Lois. If I do that, she wouldn't be my wife," he says proudly.
Lois smiled despite the position she's in. They were always very kind and protective of her, but they still very much respected her space. She looked away and out her room window and wondered where Clark was.
"He's been gone for a while," she says out loud. Jonathan and Martha throw each other worried glances. Lois looks to them. "Is there something wrong?"
Martha gave her one of her motherly looks and takes a seat close to her side.
"Oh, that doesn't look good," Lois observed fearfully.
"We don't know where he is, he left suddenly. He got a little scared"
Lois scrunched her nose. Does he feel responsible for this? That's ridiculous, she thought. "It wasn't his fault"
"It's hard to convince that to a boy who bears the safety of the whole world on his shoulders," Martha softly reminded her, pushing some loose strands of hair behind her ear. "And yours"
When Lois was in the operating room, Clark told his parents everything that has happened between him and Lois for the past couple of months. He told her everything about himself. His arrival to Earth. The meteors affect on people and him. The abilities. His heritage. Everything. Lois was still adjusting to the newfound openness.
"It still doesn't make it his fault"
"Give him time, sweetie. He'll be here"
"I should've just asked him," the recovering young woman suddenly confessed much to the confusion of both Mr. and Mrs. Kent.
"Asked him what, Lois?" Martha asks.
"I…" she faltered a bit before taking the plunge. "I was going to ask him if he wanted to marry me."
Martha and Jonathan gasped. Not in surprise but happiness.
"OH…" Martha embraced her carefully and lovingly.
Jonathan joined the two but taking a position on Lois's other side. "Why didn't you?" he asked curiously, taking a hold of her one hand as Martha held onto the other.
She shrugged. "I guess I was trying to find the right time, we've only really been dating a month. I didn't want to add any pressure, or I don't know. I can't figure out any reason anymore why I shouldn't have just asked him instead of letting it occupy my mind all week"
Martha shook her head, amused. "You and my son have a lot more in common than you realize." She held Lois's hand a tighter. "What happened on that road wasn't' your fault either"
"You're suppose to say that," she protested. "You're like… supermom!"
Jonathan burst out in small laughter and Martha almost had the urge to roll her eyes at him. She looks back at Lois's beautiful hazel eyes.
"You are!" Lois confirmed even further.
"Sweetie," Martha began softly. "Accidents happen. That's what this is. An accident. Clark will come home to you; you're all he ever talks about whenever we see him. He loves you and he will come back"
Lois nods. It's hard to not believe in Martha Kent.
Thirty minutes later, they leave to run a few errands and Lois makes a decision and calls the only other person who may know how to find him.
Metropolis, Daily Planet (Three Hours Later)
"You're a hard man to track, Mr. Kent"
Clark turned around and comes face to face with Bruce Wayne.
"What are you doing here?"
Bruce hopped on the ledge and looked down on the city. "Looking for you, believe it or not." One step over another, he walks it naturally and without fear. Clark stares at him skeptically.
"Why?"
"A mutual friend of ours is worried about you"
Mutual friend? Clark's eyes go wide.
"Lois," he whispers.
Bruce simply nodded his reply.
"She called you?"
"To find you," Bruce answers.
Clark turns away, his hand combing through his messed up hair. He wore the golden ring on his left ring finger.
"I see she finally proposed to you"
Clark spun back around.
"What?"
Bruce points to his bare ring finger, visually indicating to Clark what he was referring to. Clark looked down on his hand.
"Oh." He twirled the ring around his finger, fastly becoming a habit. He shook his head awkwardly. "I didn't know she was going to"
Bruce is surprised, but he didn't show it much.
Clark continued. "We were driving to Smallville when it happened. I kept asking her what was wrong, and she didn't really give me a direct answer."
Bruce knew all too well what he was getting at. "You didn't cause the accident, Clark and she knows that. It never crossed her mind"
"It doesn't make me feel any better"
"Traumatic events rarely do"
"You speak from experience"
"Unfortunately," Bruce sadly admits. "And at this very moment, another accident is happening out there, are you going to blame yourself for that too?"
"I don't want a lecture," Clark says in an aggravated tone.
"Good. Cuz I don't want to give it." There's a pause. Both men strong in their own beliefs. Bruce speaks out again. "Lois loves you Clark, there's no question about it. Either you fear for the rest of your life or hope for the best and live in happiness. You can have that with her, and the first step to doing that is getting yourself off this building and back next to Lois's side."
"What are you, my advocated?" Clark quipped, surprised that Bruce was helping him.
"Maybe I'm just a friend"
"I'm afraid of losing her," Clark finally admits, not just out loud but to himself.
"And I'm afraid of failure. There. That's something else we have in common"
Clark nodded his mind a little clearer. Before he leaves, he asks Bruce a question.
"How'd you find me?"
Bruce didn't answer, he simply smirked. Clark shakes his head and twists the knob. Another question popped in his head and he spun back around, but when he did, Bruce was already gone.
With the coast clear and an appreciative sigh, Clark flies out of there.
Smallville General
Clark arrived back in Smallville a few seconds after leaving Metropolis. It was a little past five in the afternoon when he arrived to her room. As he suspected, she's sleeping peacefully. The room looks a lot more accommodating than the ICU have been.
He walked in slowly and softly so he didn't wake her.
Sitting by her as he did the first night, he begins talking while she continues to sleep.
"I love you," he professed. "I don't think I can ever stop telling you that"
"Don't ever let me stop you," he heard her say. Clark smiled as Lois's eyes open. She looks at him with a big smile. "I love you too," she added.
"Hey," he uttered softly, leaning forward on the bed. Clark couldn't take his eyes off her. "You had me worried"
"Hmm…" she loved the feel of his hands on her skin. "That makes two of us"
"How do you feel?"
"Better, now that you're here"
Clark cupped her face and leaned further in order to kiss her. A kiss full of love, hope and dreams.
Lois gently placed her hand above his when she feels something familiar.
"You found it," she says in quiet shock. "You're wearing it too," she added with more surprise.
Clark chuckled. "When I saw it, I had to have it on. I don't think I can ever part with it anymore than I can be apart from you"
"Then I think we're gonna have a problem"
He frowned. "Why?"
"What would millions of adoring Superman fans think when they learn that he's officially off the market?"
Clark grinned.
"That's going to be a problem," he says playfully.
"Yes it is. What do you suggest we do?" Lois asks, equally playful.
"I think." He gives her a kiss. "We should." And another kiss. "Elope." He kissed her again.
Lois raised her eyebrows. "I take that as a 'yes' to my 'intended' proposal?"
"What do you think?"
"I can think of a few things," she implies, tracing her fingers down the buttons of his shirt. "Can I show you?"
He glared at her, even though he didn't want to. "Honey"
"Yeah"
"You're still in recovery"
"So?"
"Lois"
She sighed. "Okay, okay. You take away my fun, Smallville." Clark smiled and joined himself in bed with her and once he did so, he took the other ring out and placed it on her finger. Perfect fit, just like his own. She beamed at him.
"Promise me it'll always be like this"
Clark kisses her forehead. "I don't have to promise you, Lois. I'll show you"
The End
Author's End Notes: Flashback sequences from the actual Smallville Season 4 episode was taken from Zoomway's reviews. The resolution was pretty direct considering that both Lois and Clark had the support of Clark's parents and Bruce Wayne.
