Chapter 4

A Little More Action Please

How long had he been up here he wondered; one hour or five hours? Judging by the setting sun he guessed closer to five. He had been sat in his barn since returning from the fortress, brooding and attempting to unravel the tangled ropes that were his thoughts. As soon as he returned he had come across a very relieved Martha Kent who made him tell her everything straight away, but not before giving him an enormous hug. She had been on her way to pick up Lois from the hospital which gave Clark time alone to think. Lana was alive! He couldn't believe it. He tried to fathom the mystery of what had happened and could only assume that Lana had set the whole thing up to free herself from Lex. But where did Clark fit into all this? Was he part of her plan? One thing kept echoing in Clark's head. "She is not your destiny Kal-El." Jor-El had told him.

He had not said anything else, not that Clark shouldn't try and find her or that he shouldn't get romantically involved with any human, just that she wasn't his destiny. Despite not being able to identify an ulterior motive in Jor-El's words Clark couldn't help but disagree. The problem was he didn't know where to start looking for Lana, or whether it was right to go and see her even if he did know. He was snapped out of his pensive state as he heard footsteps coming towards the loft.

"You coming down for supper Smallville or are you gonna stay up here and eat hay?" Lois said jokingly and Clark noticed the bandage she had around her ribs. He knew she was trying to be nice, after all she still thought Lana was dead and she knew how much Lana meant to Clark.

"I think I'm ok up here," Clark said looking at the floor then up to Lois, "How's Chloe doing?" he asked.

"Still sleeping," Lois replied. "The doctors say she should wake up any day now. That's one hell of a meteor power she's got there." Clark could see the worry in Lois's eyes about her cousin and it wasn't very often Lois Lane showed emotion.

"How are you feeling?" he asked caringly.

Lois glanced at the bandage around her ribs and smiled slightly. "I'm pushing through the pain, that's what Lanes do." She said, and then her facial expression went more serious. "But I've got to admit Clark, I've been going over what happened in my head and it doesn't really make sense. What was going on down in the caves?"

Clark became suddenly nervous, he knew Lois was going to ask questions but had been too distracted to think about it. So he fell back into his default stance; lie.

"I don't know," he said. "One minute I was in the caves talking to you and the next minute I got tackled by that other me. I still don't know how it happened I'm just glad you were there to help me out." Clark was lying, he knew it and she knew it. His story definitely strained credulity but she thought now was not the best time to push it given the circumstances. Lois thought it was probably time to leave him alone and she turned around to leave. As she reached the stairs she turned around, "Look, I know Chloe's always in Metropolis but if you ever want to talk Smallville, about anything, I'm here. Life's too short to be spent alone." Before Clark could say anything she was already down the stairs.

That's such an odd gesture coming from Lois he thought, appreciating that behind their bickering and banter there was a solid friendship. Although he couldn't help but think to himself that Chloe being in Metropolis all the time wasn't a problem given his superspeed. Taking it easy he could be in Metropolis in less than 5 minutes. Metropolis he thought his brain accelerating, Lana's aunt Nell lived out in Metropolis! Surely if she had to run somewhere it would be there, after all her aunt Nell had been her only family since her parents were killed. If there was a chance she could be there he was going to find out, despite Jor-El's words. Without a second thought he got up and shot off towards Metropolis.

Clark banged on the apartment door.

No answer.

He knocked again.

No answer.

Either no one was in or someone thought it wasn't safe to answer the door. He knocked once more this time saying, "Lana?"

Silence.

Dejectedly Clark turned around to leave when he heard something. A single footfall. Using his super hearing he listened more closely, honing in on the person that made the sound. He located a heart beet. "Lana it's me, Clark." he said once more and the heartbeat quickened.

That was all he needed to force the door open as his eyes darted around the room. There she was; Lana Lang, stood in the middle of the room, her beautiful face stained by tears. Neither one could help it as they ran towards each other. Clark picked her up in his arms and they kissed with a fierce passion, their arms wrapped around each other, refusing to let go.

Lex had been to survey the damage at Reeves Dam. His father was right; the facility had been completely destroyed and the wraith he was chasing had escaped. His scientists were killed, his potential host army was gone and everything was presumed lost or destroyed. In addition he was currently the prime suspect in a murder investigation and was facing life in prison. It appeared that Lex's back was certainly against the wall now. His father in particular had now written off Lex as a threat and that's how Lex liked it. If only his father knew what he knew. Looking down at what he held in his hands and then up to his vault, Lex smiled.

It wasn't over, it hadn't even begun.

AN: Please review! IF YOU'RE NOT A FAN OF CLANA, DON'T GIVE UP YET. HAPPINESS DOESNT LAST IN SMALLVILLE ; )