Sorry that it's been so long for me to update. First my muse went on strike, and then I went on vacation. But I'm back and here's the next chapter.

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own any of the original Superman characters, unfortunatly. I do however own Kianna and any other original characters that worm their way out of my brain and onto my computer.

"I can't stand him!" Lois threw open the door to their home, exasperated because of Perry White.

Richard trailed in behind her with an amused smile on his face. It wasn't the first time that Lois had said that. His uncle certainly had a way with making his fiance explode. This time, he had shoved an article into her hands that would take her out of the city and into what she considered hillbilly country. Montana. Apparently, this crazy lunatic or something was out there killing horses.

"I mean, why would I want to go into the heart of hillbilly country because some crazy is out there spreading horseguts?" She slammed her work folder on her desk and marched into her room to pack.

Lois Lane was a city girl, through and through. The thought of having to travel to Montana for a week sent shudders through her entire system. Other than the story, what would she have to do out there? Ride horses? She didn't think so. Lois Lane wasn't about to get on some smelly beasty and go tromping through the woods to be eaten alive by bugs.

Yanking open her drawers, she began tossing out what she thought she would need for the Montana weather. It was getting to be late autumn, which meant she would need to bring warm clothes. As the amount of clothes in her dresser grew less, the mountain of clothes piled into her suitcase grew larger. Once her frustration had petered out, she turned and saw what she had done. With a roll of her eyes and a heaving sigh, she went to actually sorting out what she needed and what she didn't. After about half an hour later, she was all packed and ready to leave the next morning.

"Lois?" Richard peeked his head through the door. He saw her on the bed, apparently she had just flopped down after she had packed and decided to wallow.

At his voice, she turned her face into her pillow and mumbled out, "Go away."

He walked into the room and sat on the bed. Placing his hand on her back in a comforting gesture, he spoke, "I know you don't want to do this, but, you know you've got to. You might as well get it over and done with."

Lois turned back over and looked up at him. "I know, I just really don't want to go out there. And we need to figure out what to do with Jason. Perry is sending you out to Seattle, so who's going to watch him? I really don't trust any babysitters with him. He's too fragile."

Richard knew where this was going, and to save her the greif of an argument, he just suggested, "Why don't you bring him with you. I'm sure the fresh air would do him some good."

Her lips turned upward in a smile, "I don't know what I did to deserve you, Richard." She sat up and leaned into his shoulder. "Besides, I'm sure Clark would be delighted to spend some time with Jason."

Yes, she was going to Montana with none other than Smallville himself. Perry had figured that they worked well as a team, so he was sending them both out. She just hoped that the mad horse killer didn't meet up with Clark somewhere along the way. Knowing Clark, he would probably fall over in a dead faint. Amused at the thought, a grin formed on her face.

"I'm sure." The hint of resentment in Richard's voice startled Lois out of her amusement. He had been a little sore ever since he had learned about Jason's 'article.'

"Richard-"

"No. Forget it." He stood up abruptly, but then turned to her before stalking out of the room. "Lois, he treats him like his own son."

Like his own son. The words echoed in her brain. It couldn't be. Clark just had a way with children, that all. Right? There's no possible way...

Lois tried to push those thoughts from her head and catch some rest. But even in sleep, lurking suspicions crept through her mind.

SSSSSSSSSSSS

Lois looked down at her watch. 11:32. Where is he? Their plane boarded at 11:40, and Clark had yet to arrive at the gate. In agitation, she ran a hand through her hair. Why couldn't he just be on time? It was bad enough that she was being shipped of to Montana, but to be stuck at the gate, wondering if her partner was even goning to make it just topped it all off.

She glanced down at Jason. He was looking around excitedly, taking in the sights and sounds of all the different people navagating the Metropolis Airport. After a while, a smile soon broke out on her face. It was hard to stay angry when your son was having such a good time.

Fairly soon, he began tugging on her skirt and pointing. "Mommy! Look! It's Mister Clark!"

Lois let her gaze travel in the direction her son was pointing, and sure enough, Clark was akwardly pushing his way through the crowds.

His eyes caught hers and he raised his arm to wave. Unfortunately, by doing so he managed to knock the hat off of an unsuspecting person's head. Shock ran across his face and he bent down to pick it back up. With an apologetic smile, he gave it back and then closed the distance between himself and Lois.

"Sorry I was late, Lois I-" the look Lois was giving him was one that said be quiet or I will gut you.

She stood there with her arms crossed, foot tapping. "Where were you? You have five minutes before we board that plane, and I want a full explination."

Clark stood there, fidgeting. "Well, gee Lois, I-I lost track of the time. And by the time I got on the highway, it was jam packed with cars." He hated lying to her, but he couldn't just go and say, Oh, I'm sorry Lois. You see, there was an earthquake in California and I had to go save some people. By the way, I'm Superman. No, he didn't think that an explination like that would go over well with Lois.

Her cold stare faded into one that was more weary than angry. "Alright, then, just- try to be on time on the flight back."

Just then, a voice announced over the speaker that their flight was boarding.

Lois reached down and grabbed Jason's hand. "Well, here we go."

"Mommy, can I have a window seat? Please?" Jason's question brought a smile to Lois' face.

"Of course, honey, you can have a window seat."

To express his happiness, Jason let out an excited squeal and wrapped his arms around his mother's legs in a hug.

"Rows six through one."

She looked over to Clark and announced, "Well, that's us." With that she unravled her son from her legs and led him into the plane. As they came up to their seats, Lois checked her ticket once more, just to make sure that it was the right row. Seeing that it was, she ushered Jason into the window seat and buckled him in. Once she was positive that Jason was all set, she sat down herself and shoved her purse under the seat in front of her. She looked up just in time to see Clark hit his head on the way into the plane.

She shook her head, trust Clark to do that. Once he had crammed his briefcase into the overhead compartment, Clark plopped down into his seat and buckled himself in.

"Are you okay, Clark?" Lois asked him, glancing at his forehead.

Clark gave her a grin, "Gee, Lois, I'm okay. You'd be surprised how many time's I've hit my head on something."

His reassurance only enticed a laugh out of the other reporter's throat. "Oh, I can imagine, Clark. You're too tall for your own good."

Clark's cheeks flushed red at this and he turned his head away from her. He was saved from further embarassment by the television screens that came down to give the mandatory lesson in flight safety.

"Thank you for flying Amarican Airlines..." Lois had heard this so many times that she just tuned it out. When she looked over at Clark, he seemed to be engrossed by the small screen. A glance to her right told her that her son was too.

When the video began to start over, voiced in Spanish, Jason tugged her arm and pointed out, "Mommy, the people on the video are talking funny."

Lois offered a smile to her son, "No, Jason. They just talk in a different way than we do."

Her son looked confused for a moment, "Why's that?"

Lois struggled for an answer. "Well, Jason, you see- People from other places have their own way of talking and, um-" She was saved from having to continue by the pilot announcing that they were about to take off. When Jaosn heard this, his face was glued to the window, all questions about languages forgotten.

As the plan roared down the runway, Lois tried to relax. She closed her eyes and sat back in her chair, but as they slowly left the ground her hand went to grip the arm rest, only to find herself gripping Clark's hand. She left it there, not caring. She just wanted the takeoff to be over.

Clark started at the touch of her hand on his. But looking over at Lois, he saw that she still wan't quite comfortable with planes after all that had happened to her. When she didn't move her hand, he decided to just let it sit there. It wasn't like it was painful or anything, though he was sure that if he were anyone else there would be bruises on his hand. Once the plane finally leveled out, Lois slowly loosend her grip and then removed her hand.

"Sorry about that Clark. I just don't like planes right now, that's all." Lois looked up at him with an apologetic smile.

"Aw gee, Lois, that's alright. I uh- don't really like planes myself." And that wasn't a lie. He didn't like planes, he prefered to fly under his own power.

Jason watched all of this with a goofy grin plastered on his face. "I like planes, Mister Clark!" he piped up. He loved the way it made him feel on top of the world, and besides, Daddy always took him up on the plane at home.

Clark gave the child a grin of his own. "I'm sure you do Jason."

"Daddy takes me in his plane a lot. And we can fly forever!" The young boy was overly excited to tell someone other than his mom or dad about his adventures in the sky.

Clark offered the child a look of surprise, "Forever? That's a really long time, Jason."

Lois sat, watching the two exchange words across her. Clark seemed to have the right thing to say for everything that Jason hurled at him. It was amazing, really, watching the Clark she knew melt away into this easy going man who was apparently extremely good with children.

Like his own son. Once again, Richard's words came back to haunt her mind, and once again, Lois dismissed the possibility as an impossibility. She just couldn't see Clark as Superman. Superman as Clark.There was just no way that the two could be the same person.

Lois found herself nodding off until she was abruptly awakened by Clark gently shaking her, telling her that they were about to land.

All that went through her mind was Oh God, not again. As the plane began it's decent, she felt as though her stomach had been left up above her head. Once again her hand went to the armrest, and this time Clark's hand wasn't there. A little part of her had wanted that tiny piece of human contact, just to offer a little comfort. But she dealt with the landing and once they were safely off the plane she had to resist the urge to bend down and kiss the ground.

With a steadying breath she took a look at her surroundings, but that breath soon gave way to a weary sigh.

Finally, I have reached my destination. The middle of nowhere.

A/N: Well, there it is. Please let me know how you like it, reviews are wonderful. hint hint