Chapter 5(Lois POV)

"Lois!"

Chloe's scream cut through the field of corn that I had enveloped myself in, halting my inflamed steps.

"Lois!"

At Chloe's second scream I turned and started running, the corn whipping at my face.

I burst the field to see Chloe and her husband knelt over Clark. Bart said something to the effect of 'I'm gonna go get Lantern', and he disappeared from sight with a whoosh. It seemed an attraction towards 'unique' men ran in the family.

"Chloe, what's wrong?"

She glanced back up at me, then back at Clark.

"I don't know. I just told him to go talk to and he collapsed."

I frowned and trotted over to them and knelt beside Clark.

"I'm going to call Martha and Jonathan and tell them we're gonna be a few minutes late."

She got up, walked over to her SUV, and pulled out her cell.

I turned my attention back to Clark.

The truth was, this boy had captivated me from the beginning. I was fascinated that someone so naïve, someone so innocent could be unscarred by a world like today's.

But then again, with all I had recently learned about him, maybe I was wrong. Maybe he just hid his pain…like me.

I could see how Chloe had loved him. I could fall in love with him. Easily. Maybe I already had.

But I still couldn't see myself married to him. Yet, again, here I was. Married and pregnant.

Oh joy.

The sun glinted off something Clark's left hand.

His wedding ring.

I bent to examine it, but as soon as my hand touched his, what I was seeing changed.

Completely.

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I was in a courtyard. A very familiar courtyard. It looked a lot like…no it was one of Met U's courtyards. In fact, it was the one where I'd eaten lunch almost everyday.

And though I couldn't hear it (again), it was bustling with activity; with students eating lunch, doing homework, talking, and cramming for the mid-terms they didn't know they had until five minutes ago. But there wasn't anyone I recognized anywhere.

It had become a daily ritual for me to quiz myself at lunch to see how many people I could distinguish from one day to the next, and for the whole month I had been there, towards the end of it, I could identify seven eighths of the people that stepped into that courtyard.

But I couldn't today, and I didn't think that a month or so would erase that.

So maybe this was another vision where Clark and I saw ourselves in the future? Again, though?

I hoped to God we wouldn't have to see another ghastly make-out session. That had been disgusting, and their lips hadn't even touched. Besides, my stomach was already queasy, and with the added sickness that it had caused earlier, I didn't think I would not be able to throw up.

Two figures emerged from the building in front me, backpacks slung over their shoulders – Chloe and Clark. They looked younger, maybe a year or two so than this morning.

All of a sudden, the sound snapped on, startling me. The courtyard had a volume level of a dull roar.

My attention was brought back to Clark and Chloe, and about five seconds after they had exited the building, my Clark came bursting out behind them.

Wait…since when was he mine?

I shook my head clear of those unsettling thoughts, just as Clark approached me.

"Hey."

"Hey," I said. "How come you came out over there? And where's my counterpart?"

Clark shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know the answer to the first one, but you're over there." He pointed just over my shoulder.

I had turned when Clark (the other one) and Chloe stepped two steps in front of me, blocking my view from myself.

"He's bothering her again, Chloe." Clark's voice was territorial. Wonderful.

Chloe sighed. "He's not bothering her, Clark. He's her boyfriend."

"He's bothering her."

Chloe groaned out of defeat. "Clark, when will you ever get it through you thick head that she likes him, and that's why she's dating him?"

"Yeah, well, she should like me."

"Clark, we've talked about this. You've never made a move! Even if she does like you, she's going to have it in her head that you don't," Chloe said, without a hint of jealousy in her voice.

Clark ignored Chloe and shouldered past her, leaving the blonde to stare after him in defeat as he walked towards his Lois and her boyfriend.

When Clark moved enough for me to see, my eyes laid on my older version sitting at the exact table I sat at to eat my lunch every day when I still attended here. Her focus was on a notebook, with her scrawling a word every now and then. She would pause to glance up every so often at the man sitting next to her long enough for her to nod before looking back to her notebook again.

I frowned. I was interested in this guy? Granted, I had no clue what he was like, but he had nothing on my Clark's looks, let alone the older one's.

……

Wait…why was I comparing anyone with Clark?

Seeing that my Clark had moved up by himself (boy, this was getting confusing) I followed, trying desperately to forget my disturbing thoughts.

I drew even with my Clark (again, how was me he mine!) just in time to hear the other Clark's start of one very tense conversation.

"Hi Lois," Clark said, his voice almost to a growl.

Lois looked up, startled, but upon realizing who it was, she smiled.

"Hey, Clark. I haven't seen you or Chlo' in a while."

"Yeah, that's a little odd for best friends, don't you think?"

Lois frowned and put down her pen. "Clark, what's wrong?"

He glanced at the guy standing near Lois then back to her before replying.

"Chloe and I feel a little neglected since you've been with Tod all this time."

Behind me Chloe groaned and I heard her mutter something to the effect of 'No, don't you dare drag me into this.'

My grin in response to Chloe's remark died as Tod spoke.

"Well, that's a given."

Clark tensed and turned to him.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Tod flashed him a grin, and raised his voice as if Clark were hard of hearing. As if.

"I said, 'well, that's – "

"I heard what you said!" Clark snapped.

Tod nodded as if understanding something for the first time.

"So you didn't understand?"

"I understood what you said," Clark growled. "But what I don't understand is what gave you the right to say it!"

Tod moved over to Lois and put his arm around her shoulders' Clark's tensed up, his fists clenched, and his head fell downward in an effort to contain his anger.

"I have the right because I'm her boyfriend. I've become more important than you."

I glanced at my Clark to see that his position was similar to that of his counterparts'.

I frowned. Why would he care that deeply about what kind of boyfriend I had? Resigning myself to ask him once what had come out of this 'blast from the past', I forced my attention back to the ground zero of global tension just in time to hear Tod speak again.

"So, Clark, now that I know my place, and you know yours, whaddya say we call a truce?"

When no response came from Clark, Tod got up from his place by Lois and walked over to him.

"Hey, Clark," he said, his hand clasping Clark's shoulder, "how about that truce, huh?"

Clark's reply was so soft that it barely reached my ears.

"Don't touch me, Bryce."

Tod laughed. "Oh, are we reverting to last names now, Kent? Hate me that much, do you?"

But instead of taking his hand off of Clark's shoulder he just gripped it tighter and leaned his face closer to Clark's.

"Make no mistake, Kent. I am stronger than you, smarter than you, and much, much more important than you."

Apparently that was the last straw. Clark reacted so fast that all I saw was Tod leaning into Clark's face, grinning, and then Clark holding Tod up in the air by his collar.

"You think you're more important that me, Bryce? Well you're wrong! I am more important than your puny peanut-sized brain will ever be able to comprehend!"

By this time, the courtyard was emptying faster than a school out for summer, no stupid eager to get in trouble to be around when a fight occurred.

Clark drew his fist back in an attempt to punch Tod (one that would have probably killed him) when the object of their fight appeared by his side.

"Clark, put him down."

He glanced at Lois before looking back at Tod again.

"Why should I?"

"You could kill him."

"So?"

"It's wrong, Clark."

"I know that, but right now I don't really care."

"Then you're no better than he is."

His head turned slowly toward Lois.

"What would you care?"

She stepped closer to him, placing her hand on his bicep.

"You're my best friend, Clark. I will always care."

He looked to Tod, then Lois, and then back to Tod again before fully setting him down.

He must have expected for Lois to go see if Bryce was ok, because as soon as Tod's feet touched the ground, Clark stepped back.

But even as Tod crumpled to the ground in a dead faint, Lois ignored him.

"Clark – "

"No, Lois, I need to ask you something."

"Wh – "

"What has Superman ever done for you?" Who in the hell was Superman?

Lois stared blankly at him.

"I mean, really, what has Superman, or Clark Kent for that matter, ever done for you?"

Lois gaped at him, her mouth opening and closing something similar to a fish.

His shoulder's slumped ever farther if that was even possible.

"You see? I've never done anything for you. I don't deserve you friendship, let alone anything else."

He stepped up to Lois and cupped her head in his hands.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

His lips touched her forehead before he became a momentary blur, whisking himself away to God knows where.

Lois had tears in her eyes as she looked in the direction that he had run off in.

"Clark…"

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A half an hour later I was sitting in my counterpart's car, my finger's tapping impatiently on my thigh.

I had to hand it to the girl, though. She hadn't even cried after Clark had left, when I probably would have, but that would only be due to my extremely over charged hormonal state.

Aw, who was I kidding? But my Clark had run after his older self, so when I turned to talk to him after his older self ran off…well, let's say I felt a little abandoned.

But anyway, it was really the exact opposite of my current state. She had, after he had woken up, told Tod not to come around anymore and apologized to Chloe for 'being such an ass the last month'. Then she had gotten in her care with the intention of finding Clark.

So far, she hadn't looked anywhere.

In the month that I had left Metropolis, (or six years, depending on how you wanted to look at it) I didn't think that it was possible that I could forget the contrast between city and small town traffic.

It seems Smallville had grown on me. In more ways than one.

Lois had finally flicked on her turn signal, and she guided the car left into an apartment complex parking lot.

I thought she would get out right away, but all she did was grab her cell phone out of her purse and dialed a number, not even bothering to put it to her ear.

Her attention switched from her phone to a window in the complex on the second floor.

And sure enough, five seconds later, a figure appeared by the window, picked up his own phone before ending the call and placing it down again on the table it had been previously sitting on.

Ah, the wonders of cell phone caller ID. It seemed I got smarter every day.

The woman beside me smiled, pocketed her phone and exited the car.

She walked to the door, opened it, and turned to her right, taking the flight of stairs, rather than the elevator.

A door we passed (I was following her) was open, and I glanced quickly inside.

"Clark?"

The seventeen year old Clark Kent looked up toward the door.

"Lois! How'd you get here?"

I jerked my head toward the hall.

"'I' just walked by. We drove in her car. How'd you get here?"

Clark shrugged. "I just felt myself follow him."

There was a momentary lull in the conversation until Smallville asked, "Why do you think you older version walked by the door? You'd think if they were best friends she's know where his apartment was."

I shrugged. "Maybe she needed time to collect her thoughts."

"Yeah, well, it appears she's done," he said, nodding towards the door.

At that point all conversation ceased and our attention was turned towards the other people in the room.

"We need to talk," Lois said to her Clark, who was looking out the window.

"Lois."

"So I'm told."

"I thought I made it clear I didn't want to talk to you."

"You did."

"Then why are you here?"

"To answer your question."

"What question?"

"The one you asked out of desperation, and I quote: 'What has Superman, or Clark Kent for that matter done for you?'"

"Oh."

"Clark, in a world so easily embraced by cynicism, despair, and greed, Superman has taught me that humankind is still capable of greatness."

When Clark didn't respond, she sighed and continued.

"I want to explain my actions over the past month. The reason I dated Tod is because he reminded me, under all that arrogance and false superiority, of someone I loved. Love, actually. And whenever I was around Tod, I felt loved by that person, even when I believed he really didn't love me. But after today, I changed my mind. I thought that he wouldn't go to the trouble of sacrificing his whole education of he didn't love me."

"And who was it?" Clark's voice was the definition of anguish.

Lois chuckled. "God, Clark, if you can't figure that out, then you don't deserve the Masters in Journalism you're working towards."

Clark slowly turned to her; you could literally see him sorting all the blocks in the right places.

"It's me?"

Lois grinned. "Which brings me to the second part of your question. 'What has Clark Kent done for you?'"

He stepped closer to her and loosely wrapped his arms around her waist.

"And what has he done for you?"

She inched her face up closer to his, so that they were only a breath apart.

"Clark Kent has taught me that it is ok to love."

He grinned and hesitantly lowered his lips to hers, stopping only long enough to look into her eyes for permission.

Their kiss wasn't anything like this morning's. It was pure, raw, and bled month's worth of unresolved sexual tension.

I heard Lois whimper in his mouth just before he jerked his head back from hers, throwing his head towards the window.

"What, Clark?"

"Sirens."

Lois sighed. "Go, we can continue this another time."

He looked hesitantly between the window and her.

"Go," she softly repeated.

The last thing I remembered was Clark spinning into some material made of blue, red, and yellow, before everything faded to white.

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I woke up to a flannel shirt. Nice to know Smallville and I weren't naked again.

I raised my head to see that Clark and I were in the loft. I turned my head towards Smallville in time to see his eyes flutter open.

"Where are we?"

"Your loft."

"Oh, hey, you guys are up."

We turned to see Chloe walking up the stairs, followed by two men dressed in red and green suits.

One of the men flipped off his mask/hood and I was surprised to see it was Bart.

He jerked his thumb towards the taller man behind him. "This is Hal Jordan, a.k.a. Green Lantern."

Hal waved a hello before Chloe butted in.

"We thought it would be best if you guys didn't show up at the hospital again, so we transported you here."

I nodded before replying in a round-about sort of way. "I have a question."

"Ok, shoot."

"What in the hell is Superman?"

Chloe grinned.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun."

A/N: Well, I think that chapter sucked, but maybe you don't think so.

But if you guys would take the time to review it, that'd be awesome.