Chapter 3
Lois walked out of the bathroom to find the room empty. Frowning, she walked around the small wet spots on the carpet and towards to the other room. Going through the separating door, she noticed Chloe unpacking some of her things, mainly her toothbrush and toothpaste. "What are you doing?" She asked.
"What?" Chloe asked in confusion
"Aren't you staying in the other room with me while Smallville and Jimmy take this one?"
Chloe smiled slyly. "No, Jimmy and I are taking this room. You and Clark get that one." She pointed. When her cousin's eyebrows went to the roof, she chuckled.
"You can't be serious?" Lois exclaimed. She wouldn't sleep in the same room as Clark, even if there were two beds.
"What's wrong Lois? There are two beds in each room. There shouldn't be a problem."
Lois knew her cousin's logic was precisely accurate, but she had other reasons for not being in the same room as the recently suave farm boy. "Still, I don't want to be in the same room with him."
Chloe frowned and rested her hands on her hips. "Why Lois, is there something I should know about?" She was having fun with her cousin; she knew exactly why Lois didn't want to stay in the same room as Clark.
Not wanting to open a whole new can of worms, Lois ignored the question and went over to sit on the bed where Chloe was unpacking. "Where is Smallville?" She asked, flipping on the television and sitting back down with the remote in her hand.
"He had to go out for a minute." Chloe replied, not really comfortable with lying to her cousin.
"Where, the lobby?" Lois didn't take her eyes off the screen.
"No, he heard there was some people stuck just down the road and went to help." It wasn't a bad lie, but she knew Lois wouldn't buy it.
"Go figure." Lois laughed.
Almost dropping a shirt onto the floor, Chloe shook her head a second later. "What?" She asked, placing the shirt neatly on bed.
"Nothing." Lois responded, putting her hand up to deflect the question. Her cousin wasn't going to give up though, and she knew it.
"Come on Lois, you know me better than that. You wouldn't say something like that unless you subconsciously want to get something off your chest."
Turning on the end of the bed, she tucked a leg under herself as she turned the volume down on the TV. "Where's Jimmy?" She asked, looking back behind her.
"He went to get some ice from the lobby." Her eyes closed just a little as she scrutinized her cousin. "Why?" She asked.
Nervously looking form one place to the next, she answered. "What I'm about to say stays between us. Got that?""
Nodding, Chloe sat down on the bed with Lois. "Go ahead." She urged, seeing that her cousin was hesitant, and dare she think it, scared.
Lois didn't know where to begin, but she had to get it off her chest. It was eating away at her mind, each day another piece of her conscious getting consumed by it. "Clark." She said finally, but really she was just beginning.
"What about Clark?" Chloe asked, trying to hide her grin. She was doing a poor job, but Lois didn't seem to have the strength to look at her.
Too ashamed to look at her own flesh and blood, she enveloped her fingers together in an almost praying gesture. "Smallville has me all confused."
"Confused about what?"
Groaning, she finally let more slip out her mouth. "Valentines Day, it's all so confusing, yet-." She growled in frustration as she sunk her head in her now upraised hands. "I don't know." She said finally, giving up trying to explain. She could barely comprehend it all herself.
"Is there something that you're not telling me?" Chloe asked suddenly. "You don't remember it all do you?" Her tone of voice was laden with worry.
"No, I still can't recall a damn thing." Lois replied in anger. "It's what I found out in the barn afterwards is what's eating me."
"The Whitesnake CD?" Chloe asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yes." Lois answered, falling onto the rest of the bed as she flopped backwards. Staring at the ceiling, she groaned again as she extended her arms behind her head and stretched. "Did I ever tell you what that CD means?"
Intrigued to say the least, Chloe turned to her right just a little as she rested a hand on the mattress to keep herself upright. "No. Care to explain it to me?"
"Whitesnake has always been a guilty pleasure of mine, especially their ballads." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second. "To me they represent what true love is, the lyrics, the rhythm, the guitar, and the songs as a whole." Her eyes went pleadingly to her cousin as she tried, but ultimately failed, to smile.
"I see." Chloe responded, looking from her cousin to the window by the door. As her eyes went back to Lois, she said. "So what you're saying is that you must have truly been in love with Clark to have made him a mix CD of power ballads?"
"Yes." Lois replied weakly, her voice unable to go above a certain decibel.
"You were both drugged Lois."
"I know." She answered back, but she wasn't convinced that was the only reason. "It's just; I keep getting the feeling as if there was something more to it."
"What do you mean?" Chloe asked with a soft voice. She would have to tread lightly with her questions. Lois wasn't one to open up often, and possibly making fun of her could shut her up completely.
"That's the thing; I don't know what it means. Ever since that day in the loft I've spent all my time trying to figure it out. It sucks Chloe, it really sucks. It haunts me every hour I'm awake, and in my dreams, oh god, my dreams." She exclaimed in desperation.
Chloe could feel the pain radiating off her, and she did what she could to console her, but she also knew it was a good time to get to the root of it. "Do you think that those feelings that you had when you were drugged are still there?"
"What do you mean?" It was Lois's turn to ask a question.
Being delicate about it, she said. "What I mean is do you think that those feelings of lust, love, or whatever you wish to call it, were there even before the drug to hold?" Lois's eyes went wide at her suggestion. Her mouth opened to respond, but it shut suddenly. Chloe continued. "I think maybe you've been hiding from the real ones, but as soon as you laid eyes on Clark after putting on the lipstick, it just brought them to the forefront. Now they're still there, having been finally released."
Lois groaned in agony as she turned over on her stomach sunk her face into the blankets of the bed.
"Lois?" Chloe asked quietly, trying to be as supportive as possible. "Lois?" She asked again as she had gotten no response.
Her mind was reeling, unable to fit the pieces together. Chloe's suggestions were eating away at her. She couldn't place them, and they kept her swirling in a whirlpool of frustration and agony. "God!" She exclaimed loudly. "I don't know, maybe." She said in frustration.
Chloe couldn't help but smile. Lois was a complicated woman, and she knew that her cousin hated to be confused. "It's okay Lois." She said, rubbing her back for support.
"No, it's not alright." Lois replied quickly, turning back over and closing her eyes again. "I don't know what to do and it sucks."
"Maybe you should talk to him about it?" Chloe offered.
Lois's eyes went wider than cup saucers as she almost smacked her cousin for suggesting it. Her heart was heavy though, and she was sure she wouldn't have been able to do so. "That's the dumbest thing you have ever said Chloe."
"It was just a simple suggestion."
"I know, but it was still a stupid one." Lois said, almost laughing at herself.
All Chloe could do was give her a weak smile. "I'm sure we'll figure this all out in due time."
"I hope so for your sake and mine. I don't know if I can take a whole week at a ski resort with him, let alone one night in the same hotel room as him."
"Like I said before Lois, there are two beds in there. I don't think that it's that uncomfortable." Chloe knew why she resisted letting Lois stay in the same room as her. She was being selfish. She wanted to be in the same room with Jimmy. She eventually gave in though, knowing that Lois would be more comfortable in the same room with her. "Fine, get your bags and bring them in here. I'll break the news to Jimmy."
"Thanks." Lois said cheerfully, getting up off the bed and going into the other room. She bumped into the Jimmy as he came towards the adjoining room doors. "Sorry." She said, moving past him a second later.
With a frown, he looked at Lois for a second and then walked into the room where Chloe was. "What's up with her?" He asked, seeing his girlfriend lying back on a bed. He set the plastic box of ice on top of the TV. "Is there something wrong?" He asked, walking over as she sat up at his presence.
Chloe shook her head. "Not really, but Lois is going to be staying in here with me tonight. You and Clark are going to have to play roommates for tonight."
His frown deepened as he sat down beside her. "Care to tell me why?"
"No, but let's just say it's a problem that I should have foreseen before we decided to ask friends to come along with us."
"What?" He asked, still confused.
"Lois and Clark." Chloe said with a sigh, lying back down on the bed.
"Oh." Jimmy said simply. He understood instantly. He watched the door as Lois came in with her luggage and set it beside the other bed.
"Sorry Jimmy." She began. "Chloe and I are having a girl's night; you're going to have to bunk up with Smallville." She paused and pushed aside the curtain to look at the empty parking lot. "That's if he comes back."
"Huh?" Jimmy said in confusion. "Where did he go?"
-
The wipers were on full blast as the blinding snow distorted his vision. He could have probably done better without the vehicle, but he didn't want to raise too much suspicion if he in fact needed to save people. The cries that came from the distance were faint, almost being drowned out by the wind and the noise of the truck. He pushed through heavy drifts as he moved farther down the road, closer to the interstate once again. It looked as if a snow plow had gotten onto the road, but it didn't help much. The speed of the wind filled in the road within seconds of its passing.
It was getting warm inside the vehicle, and he was about remove the balaclava, but he suddenly had to slam on the brakes as he almost hit a snow plow in front of him. The snow had been coming down so hard that he hadn't seen it. "Damn!" He cursed to himself as he drove the vehicle beside the parked snow plow. There was a barrier blocking the on ramp. He grunted as he opened the door, turning the engine off and slipping the keys into his jean pockets. Walking around the vehicle, he hopped up onto the step of the truck. The driver rolled down the window.
"Yeah?" The driver screamed over the wind.
"What's going on?" Clark yelled, just barely able to hear his own voice over the snow and wind.
"There are people trapped on the interstate." He paused as he closed his eyes to fight back the pain of the wind. "I and few others were told to wait here until we got the go ahead to try and clean it so that we could get the people out of the snow."
"There's no one else behind you." Clark replied.
The burly driver grumbled. "Damn. I knew they'd have trouble."
"How soon are you going to try and clear the road? I could come along and give you a hand." He suggested, holding onto the bar that rested just above the air filter.
"The police said it would be about fifteen or twenty minutes before we get the go ahead."
Clark could barely hear him, the man's voice getting drowned out by the increasing intensity of the storm. Fifteen minutes would be too long. Making up his mind, he looked to the on ramp and then back to the driver. "If I come back with anybody, keep them warm by sticking them in my vehicle." He said, handing the keys to the man.
"Why? What are you going to do?"
Clark smiled through his mask just a little. "I'm going out on the interstate to find those people who are trapped."
"Are you crazy?" The driver asked, taking the keys from him.
"Maybe." Clark said, still grinning as he hopped down of the truck and went towards the barrier.
"You're crazy!" The driver said again as he stuck his head out the window and yelled at the young man for the last time. "Everybody wants to be a hero." He said to himself as brought his head back in and rolled up the window.
Clark walked around the barrier and looked back. The truck was invisible in the blinding torrent of the storm, its engine the only way he could tell that it was close. Focusing himself back to the task at hand, he zipped up his jacket even tighter. The snow was knee high, but he fought through it without much effort, the snow moving aside with each one of his powerful strides. He stopped walking and attuned his hearing. He fought to pinpoint the heartbeats, but the wind was making it difficult. Faintly, he could hear two beats, both fast. The people were scared, and he needed desperately to get to them. The problem was that he couldn't tell how far away they were.
Determination set in as he trudged forward. The idea of using his speed came to him instantly, but he couldn't tell how far away the people were, and he didn't want to risk running by them. So onward he walked, his large boots pushing the snow out of the way as the wind stung his eyes. Putting up an arm to block the wind and snow, he focused on the two people and found that their heart beats were getting louder and louder. He was correct; the wind was muffling his ability to hear. The sound of them got even louder, until he could see the bumper of a vehicle. The rest of it was completely engulfed in snow, covered from bumper to bumper. He thought about grabbing it and pulling it out of the huge drift, but something else came to mind.
With a deep inhale, he gathered the air and the snow about him into his lungs, suddenly releasing it in a large plume of white. The wind from his mouth rushed forward, blowing the snow off the car violently. He watched as the snow around it billowed up into the air, creating a tornado of sorts before it was carried away in the ever present wind. There was a nothing but pavement surrounding the vehicle, not a single flake touching the car. That changed a second later though, as the wind started to fill up the bare pavement again. Quickly, he walked forward against the wind and opened the passenger door. Holding the door open, he was greeted with a pair of bright blue eyes. A young girl, maybe no more than ten years of age sat staring at him. He smiled at her shocked expression as he peered over to the driver's seat. An older woman, possibly the young girls mother sat staring at him. She had the same colored hair, but her eyes were deep set brown. "Let's get you out of here." He said, taking the seat belt off the young girl.
"Hey." The mother said suddenly. "How do I know we can trust you?"
His head snapped up at her question. He used logic to persuade her. "Either you do or you die." His words seemed to hit home as the woman's eyes widened. She nodded at him and opened the door. He put his focus back on the young girl as he lifted her out of the seat and out into the cold biting wind. The two of them had their winter hats and their mittens on, prepared to wait out the storm to be rescued.
The small girl cried out as the wind hit her exposed face. He closed the door to the vehicle and walked to the back, where the mother was fighting against the wind as she struggled to get to him. The snow was deep, but he knew he could get them back to his vehicle. "Follow me!" He shouted over the wind. The woman nodded and did her coat up to her neck. Turning the young girl in his arms into his chest, he let the woman grab one of the strings on his coat. It was a rubber string, one that tightened the bottom of the coat so that snow wouldn't creep up should he fall down.
The young girl at his chest was shaking, hypothermia setting in. The car had been cold, evident that the snow had plugged the air intake on the engine. He turned his head to the woman behind him once he was sure the girl in his arms was comfortable. "Don't let go." He said. When she nodded, her hand over her face to protect it from the wind, he slowing began to move forward, using his breath to clear the road in front of him. If others were to come by, they wouldn't see the path he had created; the snow would refill it in mere minutes.
Onwards they walked, his breath continuing to clean a small path so that walking was easier. He had no trouble getting through the snow, but he couldn't very well carry the woman behind him too. She was still holding on tight to the string of his coat as he continued to walk forward. His eyes drifted down the girl in his arms. She had her face buried in his chest, not willing to let the wind hit her face. He smiled to himself as the wind sent another large gust into them. The grip on his coat slipped, but he turned around quickly and grabbed her arm before she was blown over. "Tighter." He said. It was the only thing he could tell her. She nodded and grabbed a hold of it again. Letting go of her arm, he turned back and continued forward, realizing just how hard it would have been if there had been a family of four, or six even.
After nearly five minutes, he could see the outline of the snow plow. He cut off his breath and walked around the barrier with girl still in his arms. The driver of the truck hopped out instantly and came towards him. Handing the young girl over to the burly driver, he turned and helped the older woman around the barrier, his grip on her arm firm. With her in stride with him, he helped her up and into the snow plow.
Sitting beside her daughter, she looked out the open door and said. "Thank you."
Clark simply smiled and closed the door. Walking around to the other side, he hopped back up on the step and looked at the driver. "How long before the other trucks get here?" He asked.
"Five minutes." The man said. "How the hell did you find those two?" He asked. "And how the hell did you do it?" His questions came out quickly.
"That's not important." He said, waving the question aside. "Is there an ambulance on the way?"
The driver nodded. "It's should be here in ten minutes. Why?"
Clark looked up over the window and peered at the young girl whose mother was holding her tightly. "She has hypothermia and she needs medical care soon." When the man didn't respond, he continued. "Thanks." He said, moving down from the truck. He was about to walk away when the drive yelled at him.
"Hey!"
"Yeah?" Clark asked, turning back around.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"Where do you think?" Clark answered, smiling again as he made his way back to the barrier. He was feeling good about himself as he hopped over it and vanished into the white wind again.
The man turned to the two people in his cab and asked. "Who is that?"
The woman beside him tore her eyes off the vanishing figure of the man who had just save them and answered. "I don't know, but he saved our lives."
"He-he's amazing." The young girl said through chattering teeth, her voice just above a whisper as she clung to her mother for warmth.
His hearing picked up on one more faint beating, its beat slower and more evenly paced. Speeding to the first car, he watched as the snow shot away from him as if he was a snow plow. The instant he reached the car where he had found the mother and daughter, he slowed to a normal pace and began to blow a path in front of himself as he moved farther down the interstate. He couldn't tell where the median was, or where the shoulder was, but he continued forward through the snow and wind. He didn't think it could get any worse, but he realized that he must have gotten above the tree line when a sudden gust almost blew him over. Setting himself straight, he took the opportunity to find the heartbeat again. It was much louder, signaling how close it was.
After about a minute of blowing and walking, he found a small crossover SUV buried in snow. There was someone inside, still moving and alive as he walked closer. His vision picked up on long dark brown hair as he focused his eyes. Shielding them from the wind with his right arm, he got up to it and knocked on the back window. The woman inside turned around in her seat. Her eyes went wide as she saw him standing there, looking right at her. With his hands, he signaled her to come towards him. She hesitated, probably somewhat frightened from his mask. He gave her a smile, trying to convince her. "Come on." He yelled, hoping she could here him. Brushing away the snow from the window, he got a better look at her as she came towards him. The doors of the vehicle were snowed in, only the back window the way to get out. The woman was roughly his age, bundled up in a thick coat and mittens.
She tried desperately to break the window, kicking at it with all her might. Clark motioned for her to move back, and she did. He lifted his hand drove his fist through the window. Glass shattered and flew everywhere, but missed the woman as she protected her face from the flying debris. "Come on." He said loudly, extending his hand in so that she could grab it. He could see her falter in her movement towards him as her eyes went wide. She had seen his hand, completely unaffected by the shattered glass.
"Wha-?" She asked in mute surprise.
"It doesn't matter." He screamed through the wind. She hesitated for another second, but she eventually came towards him. Grabbing his hand, she allowed him to haul her through the shattered rear window and out into the cold. "Do you have a hat?" He asked, turning her so that she was protected form the wind. When she shook her head, he smiled glumly and lifted her up like a groom would a bride on their way to the bedroom.
"What are you doing?" She asked, looking at him with wide eyes.
"Just hide your face." He said, not bothering with her question. She was about to talk back, but she did as he suggested as he turned back towards the road. A muffled cry escaped her as he began to move forward. He could see her peeking out from under the crook of his arm, and he realized he couldn't use his breath. Sighing, he trudged through the drifting snow, his boots pushing away mounds and mounds of white. The wind began to lessen as he was sure they were getting below the trees, but he couldn't be sure.
It took longer than he thought it would to get back to the first car. He hadn't quite realized that he in fact had almost walked a mile. The woman in his arms put her head into the crook of his arm even more as a sudden gust of wind threatened to blow him over. As usual though, he held firm and continued to stride forward. The snow had completely covered in his previous track, no signs that anyone had ever passed by. He shook his head at the intensity of the blizzard. He had never seen anything quite like it before. Kansas tended to be dry during the winter, acting much like a rain shadow to the Rocky Mountains to the west. The worst weather they received at home was spring and summer tornadoes. Once in a while a blizzard would come through, but usually the snow fell casually, without ferocious winds.
The more he walked, the more he realized the storm wasn't going to let up. Only able to see maybe five feet in front of him, he felt the ground slope, signaling the on ramp. He sighed a little as he continued forward, hoping that the ambulance was there.
-
Paramedics fretted over the young girl, her eyes heavy and lazy as she fought to stay conscious. Her mother was at her side, holding her hand as the attendants draped warm blankets over the young girl. They had arrived not five minutes earlier, but he wasn't concerned about her, he knew she would be okay. No, he was concerned about the young man who had disappeared to save more lives. In a way he was incredibly surprised by the man's actions, but for some reason it all seemed right. There had been something about the young man, confidence or maybe a strong will, he couldn't be sure, but it put the man up high on the totem poll of humanity.
Gordon, a simple man from the nearest town, a snow plow driver during the winter, and construction foreman during the other three seasons, continued to watch as the paramedics tended to the young girl. Suddenly, her eyes went wide, and he thought something was going wrong, that maybe she was going into shock. It took a second before he realized she wasn't in trouble, she was in fact looking behind him. To his amazement, as he turned around, he watched a dark silhouette emerge from the blinding white. Towards him the figure strode, his steps slow and methodical as he came nearer. In his arms was a woman, conscious by the looks of it, her head snuggled into the crook of his arm. The man hopped the barrier in one stride, even with the woman in his arms.
"You're back?" He said in amazement. "I was told the weather was worse the farther you go."
"It was." The man said, setting the woman down on the ground.
Gordon helped the young woman to the ambulance to get checked out. She seemed fine though, maybe a little frostbitten on the ears. Leaving her with a paramedic, he turned around.
"My keys please." The young man said, extending his hand.
Gordon didn't know what to do. He wanted to talk some more to the young man, but there was something that told him he should let him go. Reaching into his pockets, he took the keys out and handed them over.
"Thanks."
"No problem." He replied, watching the young man enter the SUV, his balaclava still on. It surprised him that the man didn't remove his mask to reveal himself, to show them what the face of a hero looked like. As the vehicle began to move, turning around, he stood watching it. The black vehicle disappeared into the blizzard again, going back from whence it came.
"Who was that?" The young woman, who the man had brought through the storm not two minutes ago, asked.
"I don't know." Gordon replied. Something about the air and the snow told him what he had just witnessed was more profound than he could ever imagine. "I wish I did though." He said a second later, finishing his train of thought.
"I know who he is." The young girl from inside the ambulance said.
With the young woman, he walked back to the back of the ambulance and said. "What did you say?" He asked softly. He wasn't sure if he had heard her right.
"I said I know who he is." She replied with a wide little smile.
"Really?" The young woman asked, staring at the small child.
"Yep."
When the little girl didn't say anything more, he asked. "Who is he?"
Her smile got even wider as she grinned wildly through her rosy cheeks. "He was a man."
He frowned at her. "We know that, what else?"
She giggled just a little. "And he was super."