The next morning, after breakfast, Clark and Lois drove out to the Irig farm. At Clark's insistence, they took a dirt path that wove between Wayne's wheat and corn fields until they reached a forested area about a hundred yards from Irig's barn that was able to conceal their presence and their car.
"Lois are you sure about this?" Clark asked, following her into the thicket, "We never came up with an actual plan."
"Oh Clark," She rolled her eyes, "I have a plan… and as soon as I figure it out I'll let you know."
Clark barely suppressed a groan before Lois got excited, "Okay, here's the plan, we don't know exactly what it is they are doing. So, we'll just watch from here until we see them doing whatever it is." She smiled over at him, "We probably should have brought something to eat."
"Great plan," Clark snarked.
The pair slowly moved through the thick trees until they found their vantage point, but there didn't seem to be anything to be seen from where they were. By unspoken agreement, they decided to move until they had a better view inside one of the side windows of the barn. Unfortunately, before they could find their new hide away, they were ambushed by Trask's men who manhandled them into the barn.
Lois was dragged off into the barn and could hear Trask and Clark arguing as she was zip tied to a chair in what must have been a tack room at one point. She heard a scuffle followed by several car doors slamming and the sound of engines starting off and driving down the dirt and gravel path leaving her a lone in the dim, silent barn.
She didn't know how long she had been sitting there before the EPA rep came in and began to pack up her files. Lois knew she couldn't pass up the chance to sway the woman to her side, it wasn't until she pointed out that, if Trask succeeded in what he was trying to do, the woman would be charged as an accessory to Trask's crimes, that the woman finally relented and released her. As the woman cut Lois loose, she explained that Trask was here looking for a rock that he believed could hurt or even kill Superman, but she didn't know if it even existed. As it turned out, the woman only took the job to pay for her daughter's medical bills.
Lois found herself sympathetic toward the woman as she knew she would do anything, even something bordering on the shady side of legality if it meant protecting or supporting Lucy. She told the woman she would do what she could to get her the assistance she needed and exchanged cards with the woman she now knew was named Wendy Sherman. Before running back to the car, she asked to use the phone. Wendy pointed her toward the base of operations for the dig. Dialing the operator, she asked to be patched through to the Smallville Sherriff's department.
It took some convincing, as the dispatcher clearly didn't believe her, but when she insisted on talking directly to Rachel, the dispatcher huffed and put her through. Rachel told her that Jimmy had witnessed Lois and Clark's captures and had sought her out, and that they were on their way to the Irig farm to see what could be done there. Lois told her not to bother but to get to Jonathan and Martha's as she had reason to believe they were in danger.
Once she hung up, she ran to the car, thanking every deity she could think of that Clark had reverted to his small-town ways and left the keys in the ignition when they'd started their recon just a few hours before. Taking the short cut they'd taken earlier that day through Mr. Irig's fields, she headed back toward the Kent's farm. She could smell the distinct scent of gas and singed wood when she pulled up to the shed where all the Bureau 39 trucks were gathered. She saw Clark chuck a rock with green crystals into the fishing pond that sat on the property where it shattered into a million pieces after striking a rock in the middle of the pond.
Trask must had said something to Clark because the younger man got to his feet as quickly as his weakened state would allow and pulled the man to the ground. The two men wrestled and threw punches, each getting in solid hits as they continued to fight. She gasped as the men's fight led them down the pier and into the water. Lois held her breath until Clark emerged from the water, the front of Trask's shirt bunched in his hand, he backed the older man against a rock, free arm cocked back in preparation to strike. It was clear that Trask had said something taunting to Clark, only to be shoved back against the rock as Clark waded out of the water.
Lois saw Trask pull a pistol and aim it at Clark, and cried out a warning, fearing it was too late when she heard the retort of a gun going off. When Trask's lifeless body sunk into the pond, she nearly collapsed, her legs weak as she stumbled over to Clark who was drenched from head to toe, wrapping her arms tightly around him, clinging to him as if he was her reason for living. The look of relief on his face as he pulled her in just as tight made her heart swell. They both hesitated as if waiting for the other to lean in for a kiss before both leaning into rest their foreheads against one another before Lois nuzzled her head into his neck, choking back thankful sobs that he was alright.
While Clark and Lois stood wrapped up in each other, Rachel had her deputies round up the rest of Trask's men while she and Jimmy made quick work of releasing the Kent's and Mr. Irig from their bonds. Rachel called in for EMTs to take Mr. Irig to the hospital to be checked over for injuries and have his fingers set.
"Clark!" Martha cried out, running to her son who wrapped an arm around her, his other never losing it's hold on his partner.
"I'm okay, Mom," He assured her, "We're okay, Rachel took care of him." He nodded toward the lake were a couple deputies were collecting Trask's body from the lake so that the coroner, who'd just arrived, could take it away.
"I'm so sorry, Son," Jonathan squeezed his son's shoulder.
"It's okay," Clark sighed, "It comes with the job. Unfortunately for me, doing my job well means that there are going to be people out there who want to see me fail or worse."
"Luckily, he has me to help keep him safe," Lois lifted her head from Clark's shoulder to smile at the older couple, "Or at least keep him out of too much trouble."
"I'm sorry, you keep me out of trouble?" Clark lifted an eyebrow as he looked down at her, "I think you have that backwords, Mad Dog."
Lois scoffed, "Who told you that nickname," She looked over her shoulder to where Jimmy stood, talking with a female deputy about his age, "JIMMY!" She growled and stocked off toward the younger man.
Jimmy paled and excused himself, ducking behind a truck so Lois could yell at him in relative privacy for revealing the nickname that had circulated the newsroom since before he started at the Planet.
"Soon as the harvest is done, Wayne and I are going to do a full excavation of his property," Jonathan advised his son, "He's gonna get some of his nephews in and we'll scour the fields as best we can to get every last piece of that rock so that no one can ever use it against you again."
"Thanks, Dad," Clark nodded as he saw Lois returning, a sheepish Jimmy on her heels. "Mom, Dad, let me introduce one of the best photographers the Planet has, Jimmy Olson."
"It's nice to meet you, Jimmy," Martha smiled at the young man, extending her had to shake his.
"The pleasure's all mine, Ma'am," Jimmy nodded and turned to Jonathan, "Sir."
"None of that Sir and Ma'am stuff," Jonathan shook his head, "We're not formal around her, you can call us Jonathan and Martha, or if you must, mister and missus Kent."
"Yes, sir, erm, I mean Jonathan," Jimmy nodded.
"Jimmy, would you like to stay for dinner?" Martha offered, "Or we can all go back to town to enjoy the last day of the harvest festival… Once Clark and Lois get cleaned up, of course."
"Dinner would be great, Martha, thank you," The young man smiled appreciatively. "You wouldn't happen to know a good hotel around her to stay at, would you?"
"You're not staying in a hotel, son," Jonathan shook his head, "You're staying with us. You'll have to sleep on the couch since Lois is up in Clark's room."
Jimmy looked at his friends in wide eyed shock, "Oh really? Does Lucy know?"
"It's not like that, Jimmy," Lois rolled her eyes, "I'm in Clark's room, alone. Wait, if I'm up in Clark's old room and Jimmy is on the couch, where will you sleep, Clark?"
"I have a loft in the barn I can stay in," Clark shrugged, "Dad and I set it up when I was in high school, it was just a place for me to get some solitude when I needed a bit of time to myself. I have a bed up there that I'd sleep in from time to time when we had a horse about to foal or the night was mild enough. I can crash there tonight, it's no big deal."
"If you say so," Lois shrugged.
"If anyone cares about my say so," Martha interjected, "I'm seeing two young people who need to get showered and changed so we can get going."
"Okay, Mom," Clark chuckled.
"I'll drive the car around, so you don't get the interior wet," Lois advised, "And I'll see you over at the house."
"I'm going to ask the sheriff drive me back to where I parked to get my rental and my bags." Jimmy informed them before heading back to where Rachel stood directing a local towing company as to which vehicles needed removed from the Kent's property.
"We'll walk back to the house with Clark," Martha advised, "We'll see you all over there soon."
The group all disbursed, going their predetermined ways. By the time Lois had gotten into the car and driven back out to the main road and around to the Kent's farmhouse, the Kents had already arrived. Martha was in the living room placing a fresh set of folded sheets, a blanket, and pillow on the end of the couch when Lois walked in.
"Hi Hunny," The older woman smiled at her, "Clark's upstairs in the shower, he should be out in a minute so you can get some of the day off of you,
"Thanks, Martha," Lois nodded, "I'm going to head up to my room and find something to change into, that way I'm ready to go when Clark gets out."
"Sounds good, Dear," Martha nodded, "We plan to leave in about an hour."
"Alright," Lois nodded and headed back up to the room she was using. When she'd bought her dress the other day, she'd picked up few other things to help her blend in with the town folks. She found the maroon swing dress in the closet where she'd hung it up and tossed it on the bed. It had a fitted bodice and short sleeves with a loose skirt that fell down to just above her knees. She grabbed the light denim jacket she'd acquired and laid it out next to the dress before making sure she had her boots, socks, and under garments ready to go since she had heard the shower turn off as she was putting together her clothes for the evening.
She heard the door to the bathroom open followed shortly by a quick rap on the door, "I'm done in there, if you need to use the bathroom," Came Clark's warm voice from the other side of the door.
"Okay, thanks," She called back and gathered her things to head into the bathroom. A half hour later, she was showered, dressed, and had her hair and makeup done. Ducking into 'her' room, she grabbed her purse and slipped on her boots before heading down the stairs.
"No one is going to mistake you for a city girl in that get up," Clark teased, a small smile on his face.
"Thank you," She smiled and did a quick spin, "A good reporter should always be able to blend seamlessly into her… or his… surroundings."
"Well, you definitely do," Clark nodded, "You look great. Mom and Dad already left since they are still working the festival, at least until after the dinner rush has passed a bit. They took Jimmy with them so he could get some pictures of the Corn Festival. I'm not exactly sure if it's just an excuse to photograph the Corn Court, or if he's hoping to sell the pictures to the Smallville Sentinel."
"Considering Jimmy's loyalty to Perry, I'm more inclined to suspect the pretty girl angle," Lois snickered.
"Yeah, you're probably right," Clark admitted heading toward the front door, "You ready to go?"
"We probably should go save Jimmy from himself," Lois smiled, following Clark out the door and to the car. To her surprise, he went to the passenger side door and had held it open for her, "You know I can get my own doors."
"I know," He shrugged, "But just because you can doesn't mean, I can't."
Lois eyed him curiously before sliding into the car and waiting for him to shut the door before she buckled her seat belt and waited for him to get behind the wheel. Soon they were traveling down the lane back toward the main road into town from the farm.
The last night of the Corn Festival had drawn nearly all the town as well as fans of the festival from surrounding communities. It didn't take long to locate Jimmy, he was over at the Corn Court's booth taking pictures and interviewing the queen and her court.
"Maybe he's looking to sell a story to the Sentinel after all," Clark observed.
"I'll believe it when I read it with my own eyes," Lois rolled her eyes, "Is you dad manning the grill again? I could really go for some more of his chicken."
"He is, and I could use some good chicken myself." Clark agreed, "Maybe he'll have some grilled corn left, too."
The pair began to head toward the middle of the town square where the Jonathan and a few other members of the local Grange stood over their grills, serving as folks came along. As they made their way over, someone bumped into Lois, causing her to lose her footing, only to catch herself by grabbing onto Clark's arm. Even after she was steady on her feet, she had not inclination to let go of his arm. Thankfully neither Jonathan nor Martha said anything when they saw the pair approach, Lois' arm through Clarks as they walked. Although, they did share a knowing look before going back to serve the Corn Festival patrons, including their son and the woman he was not-so-secretly in love with.
A few days later the three of them sat in the newsroom as Perry read Lois' article. "I've been in the newspaper game for over three decades and I've never read anything like this!" He enthused, "Did you ever get a look at whatever it was Trask was after?"
"No," Lois shook her head and looked back at the men behind her, "Did either of you see it?"
"Nope, sorry Lois," Jimmy sighed.
"Not a thing," Clark shrugged, "It was Trask, maybe he wanted to find something so badly that he actually convinced himself it was real."
"Either way, this article would sound a whole lot better if you gave this stuff a name," Perry advised, "You got 15 minutes to figure it out before we go to press."
The Lois and Jimmy threw around a few ideas before Clark spoke up, "Well supposedly, it came to Earth as part of a meteorite when Superman arrived, and he's from Krypton, so maybe something like… Krypton-ite?"
"'Kryptonite," Lois played with the word in her mouth before smiling, "I like it, just give me a few minutes," She turned to her computer and hit a few keys before printing of her copy and calling for Jimmy to run the article to Perry for approval before they went to print for the morning edition. Once Jimmy had ran off to the chief's office and Clark reclaimed his seat at his desk, Lois watched him wondering if she should confront him or give him a little time to tell her himself about his other identity.
The decision was made for her a few moments later when she noticed the subtle change in Clark's posture. His head tilted just ever so slighy in a way that unless they knew to watch for it, no one would notice. Clark seemed to stare into space for less than a moment before giving one of his typical lame excuses and abruptly leaving. Lois gathered her jacket and briefcase with a sigh, knowing she would have to wait to get him to admit the truth about his alter ego.
