'Fiery the angels fell.
Deep thunder rolled about their shores…
Burning with the fires of Orc.'

Two weeks later.

Copies of every newspaper from the Daily Star to the Gotham Gazette littered the makeshift desk. A solitary light bulb shone down on the newsprints, illuminating the flecks of dust that filled the damp air.

Every paper was open on the same story. The dates read back two months. The heading of the political section of the Daily Planet read 'Ross Elected as Kansas Congressman.'

Scattered amongst the various the articles of press lay blue-prints, shipping bills, flight receipts and a year book, which was open on a page displaying a year photo. One of the occupants of the photo had had a red ring scrawled around his head, and a letter opener implied in his chest.

Beside him were scribbled the words, 'truth and justice for all'.

Chloe lugged her bags through the arrival's lounge. They seemed to get heavier every time she made the journey home to Smallville.

She stopped for a moment to take off her sunglasses and look around her. Everywhere she looked people where dragging suitcases to and for, parents were trying to keep their children under wraps, and late passengers were rushing to the nearest exit.

It's good to be back, she smiled. Sydney made a great home, but nothing could quite compare to Smallville. This was her beginning, her foundation. It was here she'd made her best of friends, here she'd discovered the woman she really was, it was here that her inspirational roots lay. Nothing could compare to that.

She started moving again towards the exit, catching a glimpse of herself in a highly polished window. Smallville mightn't have changed much but Chloe Sullivan certainly had. Her once pale skin was now a healthy tan and her short bob now came down to her shoulders. She smiled at the confidant young woman smiling back at her and continued to walk, only to be stopped after a couple of paces.

"Miss. Sullivan, could I please have your autograph?"

Chloe looked down at the eager face of the young girl who had just walked up to her. She couldn't have been older than six. In her hand she offered Chloe a Barbie-pink pencil and a paperback copy of her first book, 'Tales From Nowheresville: Welcome to the Wall of Weird.'

"Sure." Chloe answered as she knelt down so she was level with her young fan. "What's your name?" Chloe said sweetly, taking the book from the child.

"Bethany. Bethany Prior." The little girl answered with a beaming smile.

"Well, Bethany, did you like the book?" Chloe gently closed the paperback and handed it back to the child.

"Yep." Bethany answered with an enthusiastic nod. "My favourite's Melanie because she's the smartest. And I liked that Charles took her to the dance at the end, even if the big scary monster came and spoiled it. Are they going to be together now? Because I hope they do because I don't like Louise because she cries too much and she shouldn't be with Charles."

"Really?" Chloe was fighting back a fit of laughter. She loved her younger fans; they were always so blatantly honest. "Well, I'll tell you a secret." She leaned in close and put her hand over her mouth so only she and Bethany could hear. "Charles doesn't end up with Louise."

"Really." The young girl's eyes lit up. "Then does he stay with Melanie?"

"No," Chloe answered, perhaps a bit too solemnly. "Can you keep a another secret?"

The little girl nodded ecstatically.

"Well, he wants to end up with Lizzie."

"Who's that?"

"Melanie's cousin." Chloe explained. "But you'll have to wait for book five before that happens. Okay?"

"Okay." Bethany smiled and than skipped off back to her parents.

"Don't ask me where Melanie ends up." Chloe sighed to herself, as she picked up her bags and continued to walk.

A dark figure walked into the room, crossing straight over to the rundown desk. He started sifting through the various contents. His eyes were puffy and red from lack of sleep. He had been masterminding this for almost two months and now the time of action was nigh. He looked at the year photo, the tag line read, 'Freshman Year 2001.' A wicked grin flashed across his sharp features. He lightly traced over some of the members of the photo with his fingers. On the back of his hands, he bore two identical scares, one for each hand. It looked as though something had pierced right through the flesh.

He dropped the yearbook back down on the desk and lifted up a small piece of tissue paper. He handled it carefully, this was the most important piece of equipment he had. He read it over and over until, finally, he placed it delicately back on the table.

He turned from the desk and left the room. Around his neck, he wore a crucifix, on his back he wore a red and yellow football jacket.

"Mmm!" Pete exclaimed as he wondered into the kitchen. "That smells delicious. What you cooking?"

"Roast duck in sour cherry sauce." Lana said proudly, as she poured red wine into the sauce. "Chloe sent me a message to say she'd just arrived and I figured, after a ten hour flight she'll probably want something more than just salad and fries."

"Well, don't try and impress her too much." Pete joked as he wrapped his arms around Lana's waist. "We'll never get rid of her."

"That's my maid of honour you're talking about." Lana retorted in mock annoyance, but she was cut short as Pete spun her around to kiss her passionately.

After a while she pulled back, still smiling. "Well, that was certainly unexpected." She laughed. "But not unpleasant. We'll have to put that off too until Chlo's gone."

"Why, Chloe's a big girl and after all, she's only here to see our wedding." Pete pointed out.

"Yes, but I don't think she'd be too happy if we were at it all the time. Now go and pick your daughter up from your father's. And give Clark and Lois a call, make sure they had a safe flight." She called over her shoulder as Pete made his way down the hall.

"Lana," He called back. "This is Clark and Lois we're talking about. Do you really think they're going to have anything but a safe flight?"

The figure closed the door behind him and turned to walk down the desolate hallway. No paintings graced the stark, white walls. No images of false idols, no temptations of desire. They were pure, and kept those who walked down them pure. Pure, good, honest, virtuous.

No corruptionists here, only purity. No conflict, only orthodoxy. No pain, only deliverance.

"New York to Kansas in just under two hours. Oh, the joy and wonder of the low fares airline." Lois exclaimed. "Or at least it would have been under two hours if someone hadn't made us miss our flight!" She spun round and glared at Clark, who was currently sitting on one of the many uniformed departure lounge chairs.

"There's only so many times I can say sorry." He glared back, the ferocity of his stare by no means obscured by his designer glasses.

"And yet, somehow, I never get tired of hearing it." She retorted. Clark let out an exaggerated sigh and went back to the Daily Planet crossword. Fifteen across, opinionated, eight letters… Lois Lane.

Lois continued to stand with her hands in her pockets, rocking on the balls of her feet. Being stuck in an unbearably hot, chaotic airport was not her idea of fun. Instinctively she began looking around for anything newsworthy. Unfortunately, though, frustrated executives and bored children hardly counted as breaking news. Disillusioned, she flung herself down on the empty chair next to her partner, leaning over obtrusively to look at the puzzle.

"Inclined." She said pointedly.

"What?" Clark sighed.

"Fifteen across, inclined, as in, opinionated." She slipped back down onto her own chair. "And you put a Z instead of an S in Lois."

"Oh," A faint blush crept across Clark's strong features. "You weren't meant to see that." He tried to explain.

"Smallville, you should know by now, I see everything." She mocked.

Clark smiled. You want to bet on that?

"Soliloquy." Lois suddenly piped up.

"Huh?"

"Seven down, a long speech in which a character expresses his thoughts out loud on stage." She explained. "A soliloquy."

"How would I ever have coped without you?" Clark laughed as he filled in the final missing letters.

"To cope or not to cope-that is the question." Lois sighed as she watched Clark's hands intently. God, he has beautiful hands. No, snap out of it. She gave herself a mental slap across the face. Not this time.

"Whether t'is nobler in mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or take arms against a sea of troubles." She finished.

"I thought you hated Hamlet." Clark teased openly.

"I do." She answered passionately. "Bloody insufferable males who can never get a thing done. And, speaking of insufferable males, you still haven't told me what was holding you up."

A North Korean cargo ship was sinking off the coast of Japan. "Celina phoned." He lied dully.

"Oh, Duckface rang." Lois' voice rang with sarcasm. "Well, that makes is all perfectly acceptable then. Yes, we're now three hours late, but that doesn't matter because Duckface rang."

"I'm guessing that executive stress ball Perry got you for Christmas isn't working then." Clark inquired, seemingly innocently. He was really just eager to get Lois' mind off Duckface, that way lay madness.

"Well, it kind of didn't help that I threw it at Jimmy." She admitted. "It's worrying when your boss starts giving you items of stress relief."

"That's why Jimmy had that black eye." Clark said as the realization suddenly dawned on him. Lois nodded. "Huh, told me he got it down in the Slums."

"Well, he told Cat he got it while rescuing a puppy from a bunch of junkies, so I think you got off pretty lightly." She laughed.

"Poor old Jimmy, he never catches a break." Clark shook his head as while Lois continued to chuckle.

Then, suddenly, at the back of his mind Clark heard something, no louder than a gnat, but just as persistent. He leapt up quickly.

"I need coffee." He said while turning to face Lois. "You need coffee?"

"Nah, I'm good thanks Smallville." She smiled back.

"Right, I'll be back." He said quickly, then headed off, in the opposite direction to the coffee shop, a fact Lois duly noted. Bloody Duckface. She sighed while picking up the discarded paper.

The figure walked into a dark booth. "Forgive me Father for I have sinned."

"Please, tell me my child." A benevolent voice answered. "What troubles your soul."

"I have, entertained, impure thoughts about a woman." The figure replied. "About the woman integral to our plans. I just couldn't help it. I saw her photo, I used to know her, and then suddenly…" He broke down in a sob, unable to continue.

"John, John." The priest soothed from behind the screen. "You were right to tell me of this, you have always been such an obedient disciple, and for that the Higher Powers will soon reward you. But I'm afraid we cannot let this go unpunished. You have allowed the Devil into your heart, we must beat him out. Do you understand?"

"Yes," John exclaimed. "I shall of course resign myself. The Devil shall no longer hold dominion over me." He picked himself up and walked out of the booth. The priest came out of the other side to great him. He took John by the hand and smiled warmly at him.

"You really are one of our best pupils John, do not let this set back dishearten you. Our plan will soon be complete. Our word will soon by law. We shall wipe the filth from this land and start afresh. Now, doesn't that sound wonderful?"

"Yes Father." John smiled, then walked away to meet his redemption.

"Just carry on down this road till you get to the lights." Chloe instructed the cab driver. "Then take a right."

She leant back in her seat and smiled as a wave of memories washed over her. There really was no place like home.

"Not really the kind of place I'd choose to take a vacation myself." The cab driver called back, trying to make conversation. "Still, each to his own."

Chloe sat up suddenly, realizing she was being spoken too. "Oh, no." She laughed. "Not a vacation. It's my friends' wedding. They're holding it at the chapel." She explained.

"Ah yes, Ross' wedding. Geeze, how'd a geek like that land a babe like Lana?" The cab driver whistled.

"I did say my friends' wedding. As in plural." Chloe said with annoyance. She leant back into her chair and gazed out of the window. As far as she was concerned, the conversation was now over.

"Hey, calm down Sweetcheeks, there's plenty of me to go around."

"Do you have to be so obnoxious?" She replied angrily. The driver's only answer was a mischievous grin. Yeah, well, if my cousin were here she'd wipe that smile right off your face. Chloe amused herself with a mental image of just what exactly Lois would do to this smarmy taxi driver. Certainly, it wouldn't be pretty.

It would be good to see Lois again. It had been almost a year since to two cousins had met up. She wondered at how much her older relative had changed in that time.

"Chloe Sullivan." The cab driver suddenly exclaimed.

"Huh?"

"Chloe Sullivan. I've been trying to put a name to that face since you got in. You used to be the editor for the Torch." He said in his gruff voice.

Chloe's face suddenly lit up. Maybe this wouldn't be such a tedious journey after all. "That's right. You read the Torch?"

"Read it? I loved it. A great laugh. Greg Harrison, I used to play full-back for the school team." The cabbie said proudly.

Yeah, and look where it got you. "Really? You know, I think I remember." Chloe fibbed.

"Yeah, I was the best. My and the guys loved your stories, we'd read them after a win. Meteor Freaks, ha! Wherever did you get that idea from?" He blurted out a huge laugh.

"It was all true." Chloe frowned. This was why she'd given up journalism. At the time people were not willing to except her views as fact, it was easier to pass them off as fiction, hence why she had become a writer.

"Yeah, well, I guess you're right actually. I mean, when you think about it, all these Meta humans that have sudden popped up, some of whom aren't even human. And all these super-villain freaks. The whole worlds turned into some sort of Hollywood blockbuster. Still, just strange to think that Smallville might have something to do with it."

Not as strange as you might think. Chloe smiled as she turned back to the window.

"Smallville, will you stop fidgeting!" Lois screamed, earning a very dirty look from a passing airhostess.

Clark smiled a wicked grin. Winding Lois up was the only thing that was making this agonizingly slow flight bearable. It was also the only thing that was keeping him sane. Being in such close proximity to her was like a drug, enticing, dangerous, enticingly dangerous.

Her low cut top certainly wasn't helping matters either, especially as the hot air was making her skin glisten. He caught himself staring and quickly looked away, just before Lois noticed his line of sight.

"God, it's hot." She complained.

"Feels fine to me." Clark answered truthfully.

"That's because you're by the window."

"How is that going to make any difference in a plane?" He pointed out.

"I don't know." Lois admitted in a defeated manner. "It just does."

"How about a game?" Clark said enthusiastically, trying to lift both their boredoms.

"Do I look ten?" Lois snapped, fanning herself with the safety manual.

"Come on, it'll be fun." Clark teased. "I spy with my little eye something being with…P."

Lois looked around her. "People." She sighed. Clark nodded. "Fine, I spy with my little eye something also being with P."

"Plane." Clark guessed. This time Lois nodded. "Good." Clark added. "I spy…"

They both sat in silence, trying to think of something they could see other than people and planes.

"Well," Lois said after a while. "This is riveting."

"Have you got a better idea?" Clark questioned.

"Yes actually I have. Name Santa's reindeer." She challenged.

Clark couldn't help but laugh. Lois beamed with confidence, a confidence that she seemed to impart on other people too. It was hard to be close to her and not feel good.

"Fine. Dasher, Dancer." He started, goaded on by her warm smile. "Pracer, Vixen. Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen."

"Yay." Lois cheered in mock celebration. "Now do one for me."

"Okay." Clark thought. "The seven dwarfs."

"Easy." Lois beamed. "There's Grumpy, Dopey, Doc, er, Happy, Slappy." She counted them down on her fingers. "Er."

"I thought you said it was easy." Clark mocked.

"It is." Lois protested. "Er… Junkie and Horny." She finished triumphantly.

"Sleepy, Sneezy and Bashful." He corrected.

"Close enough." Lois jeered. "Okay, you're stuck on a desert island, you've saved three CDs, three books and three films. What are they?"

"Have we really resorted to this?" Clark sighed. Lois nodded, again.

"Right, three CDs… R.E.M.'s In Time, Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head and Joan Osborne's Relish. You?"

"Hum," Lois thought for a moment. "Don McLean American Pie, Nerina Pallot Fires and…er…Razorlight's Up All Night."

"Who?"

"They're this British band." She explained.

"Ah."

"And all they know is how to put down. When you're there their your friends but then when you're not around, they say, oh she is changed, you know what they mean. Well they're mean, they're just jealous because they'll never do the things that they wish that they could do so well…" Lois sang.

"This is going to be a long flight." Clark muttered.

"Yep." Lois said gleefully and continued to sing. She loved winding Clark up; it was the only thing that was making this flight bearable.

Nine braids of leather whipped into his skin, dicing through his flesh. They withdrew, only to fly back, this time with even more force. He swallowed an ear-piercing shriek. Pain is good. Pain is the purifier. He told himself, as the cat-o-nine-tails sliced into his flesh once more. Pain is good…

"Chloe!" Lana ran down the porch path and embraced her friend in a loving hug, which Chloe gladly returned. "It's so great to see you."

"You too." Chloe beamed. "You look great."

"Oh, thanks." Lana blushed. "You look good too."

"Yeah, well, as good as you can look after an eight hour flight." Chloe laughed. "Oh, hi Pete." She called as Pete walked down the porch path to greet her.

"Hey, Chlo." Pete smiled as he kissed her on the cheek, and then took his rightful place next to Lana, with his arm around her waist. "Good flight?"

"Can't complain." Chloe shrugged. "Where's my favourite God Daughter?"

"She's inside." Lana grinned. "And I think she wants her favourite author to read her a goodnight story."

"Well, we best not keep her waiting." Pete said as he picked up Chloe's bags. "You hungry Chloe?"

"You know, actually I am." She admitted as they made their way to the house. "You know what I could go for right now, salad and fries. Mmm." She exclaimed as she and Pete entered the house. Lana just stood in disbelieve. Damn it. She thought.

"Left my apartment for Metropolis Airport at three o'clock." Lois yawned. "Arrived in Kansas nine hours later."

"I told you, you should have slept on the plane." Clark pointed out.

"Well, it was a bit hard to sleep when that old man kept walking past me… With his hands in his pockets, and a grin on his face…" Lois shuddered. Clark just laughed. "Yeah, well, see if I laugh when pervey old women start stalking you."

"I'm sorry." Clark said earnestly. "I tell you what, in an hour or so you can sleep as much as you like. Deal."

"Okay." Lois yawned again.

"Come on Sleepy." Clark joked. "We need to get you into a taxi."

"Okay, Dopey." Lois said, fighting to keep her eyes open. "Lead the way."

She hooked her arm through Clark's, rested her head on his shoulder and allowed him to drag her to the taxi depot. Clark smiled at the drowsy little body leaning on his own, relatively larger frame. It was good to be back.

A/N: Just a couple of points. First off, I know that in the DC Universe Pete and Lana don't get married until after the Doomsday fiasco, and that they don't have a girl called Laura but a boy called Clark Peter Ross, (no points for originality.)

I also know that in the SV Universe Metropolis is in Kansa, but to be perfectly honest I don't give a monkey's. As far as I'm concerned, I'm taking some of the best elements from the DCU as well as the SVU and adding some of my own.

I hope you like the end result; I call it, 'the Zooniverse.'

Disclaimer: I own an Elven blade, a Lightsaber and a 'S-Shield' ring, but apart from that, I own nothing.