Chapter 31
The alarm on the clock by the bedside rang loudly, awakening her from her restful slumber. She didn't remember setting it, but then again, she wasn't the only one in the bed. Turning over slowly, she found herself in the bed all alone, no Smallville beside her. "Clark?" she asked loudly as she sat up quickly. The sun was already up and the clock read ten in the morning.
Throwing the covers off herself, she crawled off the bed and quickly darted to the door. She flung it open, only to find nothing. It didn't even look as if anyone was up yet. Her mind began to run a mile a minute as she hastily jumped to stupid conclusions. Normally she wouldn't have been so paranoid, but with recent events and an alien menace out for the man she loved, she had every right to be overly concerned.
She scurried across the main room and knocked on Jimmy and Chloe's door. Without waiting for a response, she pushed it open only to find a dark lit room and two bodies lying under the sheets.
"Lois?" Chloe asked as she peeked her head above the sheets.
"Have you seen Clark?"
"No, why?"
"Never mind," she replied and shut the door. Walking to the middle of the room, she ran her hand through her messy hair as panic began to set in. What if Brainiac had taken him? She pushed away the assumptions as much as she could as she walked to the balcony door and slid it aside. She stepped delicately on the stone, the cold brisk morning air almost causing her to retract her foot. Managing to get all the way out, she noticed the ski hill was completely empty, the lifts not running and not a soul to be seen.
Everything was quiet. Her feet were freezing, but the lack of noise had her captivated, her eyes scanning off into the distance for anything. It took a minute and instead of seeing something, she heard it. Voices, were speaking above her. One of them sounded faintly familiar to Clark's and she quickly went back inside and into their bedroom.
Slipping on her boots, she threw her jacket around her shoulders and slipped out the door and into the hallway. It took only a second to reach the stairs, vaulting up them two steps at a time, her heart beating furiously. As she opened the door, the sun's brilliance almost knocked her off her feet and made her desperately cover her eyes. The door hadn't even been closed; she had just simply needed to push on it.
As her eyes began to adjust to the sudden intrusion of light, she could hear the voices, now much more clear. It took only a few more seconds before she took her hand away from her eyes and she looked to where the voices were coming from. The sun was still playing tricks on her eyes, unable to let her make out just who was standing near the edge of the roof. There were three figures and she covered her eyes again as she squinted.
"Clark?" she asked as she finally neared them. When the nearest figure turned, her heartbeat slowed down as the familiar face split wide into a grin. It took a few more seconds, but her eyes adjusted the best they could and she got a good look at him. "Why in the world are you in fatigues, Smallville."
When he smiled even wider and didn't say anything, her vision drifted to the figure turning around beside him. In an instant she could have sworn the sun was playing with her, but as she blinked a few times, he didn't disappear. "Dad?"
"Lois," Sam replied in a fatherly tone, stepping forward and giving her an awkward hug.
Almost too shocked to respond, her jaw hanging open and her eyes wider than golf balls, she managed to wrap her arms around him. A hug from her father? That either meant something was wrong, or she was delirious, but when he pulled back and looked at her, she could have sworn she saw a smile on his face.
"Dad, what the…I-I. What the hell?"
Sam's grin suddenly disappeared as he held her at arms length. He quickly drops his hands from her and nodded his head in Clark's direction. "It seems you and Mr. Kent have some explaining to do, but at the moment I'm helping keep this nation safe."
Her eyes, believe it or not, went wider than before. She managed to look over her father's shoulder to stare at a smiling Clark Kent. "You went to my father?" she asked.
"Well," he responded with a shrug. "I was having trouble coming up with a plan, and then I realized that to get everyone out of here, it would beyond both J'onn's and my abilities."
Lois frowned and she looked over her father's other shoulder, only to see J'onn standing stoically with his hands held behind his back. He was wearing fatigues as well, but his face was rigid and unresponsive.
"Clark here has filled me in on what is happening," Sam said quickly, grabbing his daughter's attention again.
"And?" she replied.
"And what?"
"Did he tell you everything?" she asked, looking back and forth between the two.
Clark spoke this time. "As a matter of fact I did."
"And?" she asked again, this time staring directly at her father.
"Oh, Clark here is an alien?" When his daughter nodded, he smiled a little. "Well, I'll admit that I didn't believe the boy, and not to mention he woke me up in the middle of the night, but the look in his eyes told me he wasn't lying."
"You threatened to burn him?" Lois asked as she looked back to Clark.
He grinned sheepishly and shrugged again. "I may not know the general as well as you do, but I do know for a fact that it would take something a little more than word of mouth to convince him."
Sam backed up and stood between Clark and J'onn and slapped the young man's back. "You can guess how surprised I was to find Mr. Kent standing at my barracks door, and when I first saw him, I had thought something was wrong and maybe that you had been hurt. When the words National Security were the first few out his lips, I was quite surprised."
"What did you tell him exactly, Smallville?" She quickly zipped up her coat as the brisk cold air whipped through her flannel pajamas.
"That's not really important at the moment," Sam replied with a wave of his hand, dismissing her. "The important thing is that he told me everything and that I'm here." When his daughter frowned, he walked forward and put his hands on her shoulders. "I didn't simply come here because there is a potential threat on this country; I came here to make sure you would be okay."
She frowned even deeper and said. "I can take care of myself, and not too mention there are two near invincible men standing behind you."
"I know, Lo, but still. I'm you're father and it's my duty to protect you until you are one day married. His eyes drifted from his daughter and his head turned back around.
Clark almost choked on his own air as the General smiled at him. It wasn't a second later he could see the heat rising up in Lois's cheeks as he exchanged awkward glances with both her and her father. "I, sir, I-."
"Dad!" Lois admonished with a loud voice. "Don't go doing that. We're just dating."
"Just dating? From what I here you're quite enthralled with the young man." Her mouth hung agape as she looked over his shoulder again.
"I don't know what Smallville's told you, but we haven't discussed anything about marriage. Hell, we've only be dating for a couple of days."
"I know, he's explained that to me, but he also said he loved you, so I just wanted to make sure."
"What?" she asked hurriedly, her eyes darting back to her father.
"Well, do you love him?" He grinned.
"What has gotten into you?" she asked with a worried look, her eyes traveling his features for any sign of psychosis. "You're not my father," she said with a soft but mocking voice.
"Answer the question soldier," he demanded with a strong voice.
She could see right through him, but she played along. "Yes, I love him." Her eyes traveled to Clark again, who was seemingly getting more amused by the second. Even J'onn's lips were cracking a smile. "Sir," she added finally, her gaze back on her father.
"Good, then that's settled."
Lois placed two fingers to her forehead. "Why are you acting so happy?"
"My daughter is in love." When she frowned again, he elaborated. "I know I've treated your sister and you like soldiers since your were young, but never doubt that I don't want what's best for you. It is obvious Clark here makes you happy, and in turn that makes me glad. I only want to see you happy Lo."
Her mouth once again hung open as she gawked. Such words had never come out her father's mouth.
"How was that?" Sam asked as he turned to look at Clark.
"Just fine, Sir."
"Wait, you had Clark tell you what to say?" she asked as she tried to hide the tears forming in her eyes. The weight of her fathers words were getting to her. Clark was certainly making her soft.
"Yes. Mr. Kent had a hand in it."
"And I can see he's making even my father soft." She smirked as Clark stood a little straighter, his mocking smile filling him with pride.
"Well, to tell you the truth, there's something incredibly embarrassing about having an alien telling me how to speak nicely to my own daughter."
Lois let out a small laugh and walked over to Clark, kissing him suddenly and surprising him.
"Lois," Clark said softly, pushing her away and looking to her father with guilty eyes.
"Oh come on Smallville, he doesn't frighten me."
"He sure as hell scares me," Clark whispered.
"Wuss." She kissed him again, but quicker and without putting her hands on his arms. Turning around to look at her father, she asked. "What's with the get up? I understand the fatigues with you, but what about these two?" She hiked her thumbs in the direction of J'onn and Clark, each one of them on either side of her.
Having been silent for several minutes, J'onn replied. "It was my idea. If Brainiac was to show up at any minute, it would be best if he weren't able to recognize myself or Kal-El. This way we blend in."
Nodding, Lois turned from them and looked to the mountain and then to the town behind her. "Everyone has been evacuated?"
Sam stepped up beside her at the edge of the ledge and put his hands behind his back. "Everything has been taken care of."
"Where are all the helicopters, the jets, the tanks?"
"This is not technically a military operation, Lo. This is a covert mission that the public does not know about."
Lois looked over to her father slyly. "And how in the world did you mange that? What about the media and all the curious patrons that were woken up and ushered away?"
Sam's eyes suddenly got very hard, his posture stiffening as he looked to the town and cleared his throat. "The President has been made aware of this from me, personally. We have the area cut off from all media, and we have even managed to scramble and satellites that might want to position themselves overhead."
"How did you manage that?"
"That's classified."
She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her coat. "What about the people?"
"The Martian has taken care of that."
"What, is he simply wiping their minds?"
"No," J'onn replied, stepping up beside her. "I have had my share of that already this morning. I had a little trouble finding Candice's friends. Half of them were in strangers beds. The human race confuses me sometimes."
"Ha!" Sam laughed suddenly. "The virility of young woman will get the best of them."
"Dad!" Lois said with wide eyes, her mouth open in shock once again.
"What?" he asked with a smug grin.
Lois simply shook her head and closed her eyes.
"I can't help it, Lo. You're boyfriend, his Martian friend and I have been talking for hours, and for some reason they have a weird sense of humor. This whole situation must be taken seriously, but things are a little different when I finally find out who the aliens on this earth are."
She chuckled softly until she ran his words back over in her mind. "What you do mean when you finally found out?"
"We've known for many years that there is intelligence outside of this world. We've known that there are beings among us, but we've been unable to ascertain who they were."
It was unbelievable. She simply couldn't believe it. "The government knows that we are not alone in the Universe?"
Sam frowned at his daughter. "I just said so didn't I?"
"Sorry, I'm just trying to fully comprehend what you just said."
Laughing, the General nodded in understanding. "I know just how you feel. Knowing that other intelligences exist is one thing, but the fact that I had met one without even knowing it; that was a shocker." He looked back over his shoulder and could see Clark mimicking his pose and staring at him. "Your mother knows doesn't she?"
"Of course, sir," he replied with a straight face.
"Well, then I'll have to speak to her and ask her how she and your father managed to keep it a secret for so long." He looked back to his eldest daughter and smiled. "How long have you known?"
"Me?" Lois asked in shock. She was still affected by all that had happened overnight while she had been sleeping. "Oh, just a few days."
"A few days?" Sam, asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yes, he decided to tell me after I found out he kissed another woman." Her father's eyes went round and his jaw rigid. She was sure he was about to turn around and charge Clark. By the sound of Clark's throat, he thought the same thing. But she managed to put a hand on her father's arm to calm him.
"Our relationship is more complicated than this Brainiac we're dealing with. I promise, once this is all over, we'll sit down and I'll tell you everything you need to know."
"I'm sure you will," General Lane said coldly, his eyes never leaving Clark. The young man gulped again and tried desperately to avoid his gaze. "Remember Kent, if I found out you did anything to hurt my little Lo, I'll drag you to Smallville myself and throw you into a grave full of Kryptonite." His lips were now wide in a grin, causing the young man to visibly relax.
"You told him about you weakness?" Lois asked suddenly.
Clark walked up to them and nodded. "I had to. I wasn't simply going to ask for his help and not tell him everything. That's dishonest, Lois."
She managed not to laugh at his usual moral high ground. Sometimes his integrity was hilarious, especially when it came over him without any hint of doubt in his voice. "I think those fatigues fit you perfectly, Smallville. It seems my father and you have the same ability to go serious at the most unusual time."
"We could use a man of your talents in the army," Sam said suddenly.
"I'm sorry sir, but I.-"
"Yes, something about your destiny and so on. You've told me more than a few times."
Clark pursed his lips and lifted one corner of his mouth in a thankful manner.
"Kal-El is meant for greater things," J'onn interrupted.
"Better watch yourself," Lois added quickly, "my father believes joining the army is the greatest thing you can do."
"True," Sam replied.
"Then why didn't you insist that she join?" Clark asked.
Nodding, the General looked to his daughter and replied with a warm smile. "I raised her like a soldier; I don't think she deserved to have to be put through the ranks. Plus, I wanted something more for both her and her sister."
Again Lois almost did a double take, her father's words shocking her to the core. "Dad, what's with all the sentiment? I know I don't get scared easily, thanks to you, but at the moment I'm slipping a bit."
"From what both John and Clark have told me, we are up against something formidable, and the young man has made me realize that I've been a little hard on you and Lucy in the past."
"Whoa, hold on a minute there. Smallville made you open up?"
"What can I say; your boyfriend has good head on his shoulders. Plus, after hearing everything they told me, life seems much more fragile than it used to."
Lois managed to keep her mouth shut this time, her eyes stuck on her father's face. "Then what about the nation? People are going to question why there is a gap of nothing here. What's will you do if everything gets out of control? The whole world and all citizens will be hysterical when they find out aliens do exist."
"We're not revealing ourselves," Clarks said suddenly.
"That's not what I meant Smallville."
"No, what she's saying Mr. Kent is that the world will be a much different place should all this information become known." The General looked back out to the vacant town in front of him. The part of the town that was at the base of the mountain had been evacuated, each person taken to the heart of the city.
"The plan is not to let any of this get out into the public, right?" Clark asked.
"That's the plan son, but sometimes there are other forces at work. We have a contingency plan for something like this, should the worst happen."
Lois shook her head again. "What else is the government hiding from the public?"
"Only what they need to," J'onn interrupted. "You are a product of a military upbringing Miss Lane. The average citizen of this world is not as strong as you are. I've been inside enough of their minds to know that mass hysteria would be the least of our worries."
"You are all starting sound like you've been in the military for years."
"They'd make good soldiers," Sam said quickly, smiling at the same time.
With her arms still wrapped around herself, Lois turned around and looked at the mountain. "What about the President, does he know about Clark and John?"
Sam took a deep breath and said. "All he knows is that what I'm doing is for the security of our country. He trusts me, and I know he understands that I do not wish to jeopardize either of them."
"I had no idea you and the President were so close." She laughed.
"We're not, but this is the military, Lo. Without trust this country is nothing."
"I guess." She kicked a bit of snow with her boot. "Smallville?"
"Yeah?" he asked as he walked away from the General and J'onn. Finally getting to Lois a few feet away from the rest of them, he walked in front of her. "What?"
She hit him in the shoulder as hard as she could, only to wince in pain and retract her hand. "Idiot!"
"What?" he asked in shock, his hand going out to take hers. She relented, but he forced her to accept his touch, her will crumbling beneath his fingers.
"I can't believe you went to my father without asking me."
Clark's eyes were wide as he fought back. "You were sleeping. I didn't want to wake you and I-."
"You what? You thought you could simply go to my father without telling me?" She continued to let him rub her hand. As his warm touch gently caressed her cold fingers, she felt her anger begin to dissipate.
"I'm sorry, but I knew it had to be done. And the quicker I did it, the better."
She shook her head and smiled. "Why is it I can never stay mad at you?" she asked, finally looking from the roof and back up to him. He was grinning like a mad man.
"Oh, I don't know."
His sarcasm made her laugh, her anger now completely gone. "How much did you tell my father?"
"Everything."
"Wow, I'm surprised at you Smallville."
"Why?" he asked with a raised right eyebrow.
"You've spent your whole life trying to hide who you really are, yet of late you seem to be slipping up and telling people left and right."
Clark grinned broadly and dropped her hands from his. "I know, but I also know that sometimes I have to take a chance and trust people." He quickly walked closer, cutting the distance between them considerably.
"What about my dad? What have you done to him?"
"I opened up his eyes."
"I'd say!" she said with a laugh. "You have him speaking to me as if he was a normal father."
"I know you had a hard upbringing Lois, but I think the combination of me saying a few things to him and this whole situation has put things into perspective for him. He loves you more than life itself. It's hard for him to express himself. Don't forget, I was much the same way before I met you."
"Stubborn," she replied simply, nodding her head.
"That's right, and we both have that trait. You more than me, but when I'm around you it comes out more pronounced. Your father sees a lot of himself and your mother in you, and I think it makes him feel bad that he raised you the way he did."
"When did you become so perceptive?" she asked with wide eyes.
"Ever since I had a telepath for a friend." He grinned smugly.
"J'onn read his mind? I can't believe that you'd have him do that."
"You're father asked him to, to make sure J'onn was who he said he was. It wasn't his fault that your father happened to be thinking of you." When Lois shook her head again, he lifted her chin. "What?"
"So many strange things have happened in the past few days, and there is a danger coming that could kill us all, and yet all I can think about is how you managed to get the General to speak to me like a father."
Clark shrugged and said. "What can I say? I'm miracle worker."
Lois slapped him playfully on the chest, but before she could remove her hand, he pulled her into a kiss. She pulled back smiling like an idiot, her eyes twinkling in the morning sun. "Now, when is Brainiac going to get here?"
"Can't rightly say. It could show up at any minute, so we jut have to ready for when it does."
"Understandable, but what are you going to do once it makes itself known?"
"Confront it I guess."
"Confront it?" Lois asked loudly. "What was all this about a plan? You're just going to walk blindly into all this?"
"No."
"So, the General is only here to oversee things?"
Clark nodded and replied. "He's here to keep the public safe, and to keep the cameras off our back. This confrontation is between Brainiac, me, and J'onn. You're father has our back should things get out of control."
"Well," Lois said with a smirk, "we are in Colorado, and there certainly isn't a lack of military personal should the need come."
"What are you talking about?" He asked with a frown.
"Norad."
"Oh. Sort of forgot about that." When she rolled her eyes, he fought for his innocence. "I didn't grow up in the army."
"No, but you certainly play the part well," she said with a grin, fingering a sleeve of his clothes."
"Really?"
"Yes, now stop gawking over yourself. I'm beginning to think you're getting full of yourself."
Clark leaned down and in, kissing her quickly. "That's your fault, you're rubbing off."
She was about to swat him again for good measure, but her father's voice from behind tore her attention away for the strapping young man in uniform in front of her.
"Lo, can I see my niece or do you and young Mr. Kent here want to spend all day on this rooftop, freezing yourself to death?"
"Sorry, sir, we'll take you to our rooms." She quickly grabbed Clark's hand and walked towards the door to the stairs.
"I will stay behind and keep an eye out," J'onn said, without turning to any of them.
"How can you be so sure Brainiac is just going to pop up in front of all of you instead of killing us all in an instant?" Lois asked as she stopped at the door.
J'onn answered her question. "Like I said before, it needs to confront Clark first, and if he isn't alone at any time, it will have to present itself in the open. If Kal-El should stray from us, and say into the woods, Brainiac would do so then. In this hotel, I expect the confrontation to take place openly on the ski hill. It is not a stupid being, Brainiac will weigh its options before is does anything, and because of that, its predictable, much like a human. We are leaving it little options, so as long as Kal-El is here on the rooftop, or in the hotel and we are the only others here, it will show itself in front of us all."
Sam nodded as he held the door open for his daughter and Clark. "I don't pretend to know much about this foe, but I trust J'onn's judgment."
Lois nodded and walked down the stairs, Clark only a few steps behind.
Sam followed them down the stairs and into the hallway, his black boots making no sounds on the carpeted floor. "So, what's this I hear of my niece having a new man in her life?" Clark opened the door and led them through the bedroom and into the main room.
"No," Lois said pointedly as she turned and faced her father, walking backwards to Chloe and Jimmy's bedroom.
"What?" Sam asked with a frown.
"No! Don't you even dare! She may be family, but Jimmy isn't as big as Clark."
"What?" Clark asked with a weird frown as he turned his head around to the two of them, his knuckles stopping scant inches from tapping the door.