Title: Packing Conversation
Author: Nadia Mack
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: I Own Nothing. Spoilers for Season 7, Beware!
Author's Notes: The third installment from my series. I couldn't help myself. Perhaps I'm making up for lost time. Oh, and David, putting "The End" at the end of the update helps me decide where I should continue or leave it as it is.

Lois dreamed of sleep.

She tossed and turned and despite the lack of caffeine in her system, a peaceful slumber wasn't in the cards.

She thought that moving out of the Talon and away from Chloe would help her better sleep at night, but all it seemed to do is fill her with even more thoughts.

The sound of thunder proved an additional annoyance. Leaving her bed, she headed downstairs to the living room when she realized she wasn't alone. Lifting an empty vase from a nearby table, she slowly crept her way down the wire balustrade of her central carriage stairway.

When she reached her clean line sofa, she let out a huff when she realized who it was, picked up a throw pillow and slapped the intruder with a great big thud.

"Hey!"

She eyed her unwanted guest dangerously and the reaction she received was comical at best.

"Its 2am in the morning," Lois said, largely annoyed. "What are you doing here and how did you get in?"

Her guest gave her a pathetic imitation of a helpless puppy-dog expression that had no doubt come from her equally annoying cousin.

"Don't send me home," Kara pleaded.

She couldn't turn her away even if she wanted to. Tired enough not to roll her eyes, she turned for the kitchen and began the process of making coffee. If she wasn't going to sleep, she sure as hell wasn't going to suffer staying awake.

"What's your preference?"

The relieved look on Kara's face was almost enough to alleviate her errant thoughts.

"French roast," but she ignored her.

"Folgers black it is."

While the coffee was brewing, Kara moved to sit on the bar counter the sat right in front of the kitchen island.

"This is a nice place. Better than the farm."

"Yeah," Lois wholeheartedly agreed but a part of her will always have a soft spot for the farm home that took her in when she had no direction in life. "When the General realized that I was actually doing something with my life, he had this place renovated enough so I could live in it. It turned out better than I expected. Have you seen my wine cooler, I'm absolutely in love with it."

"They taste funny."

"I swear, that's one weird family trait you and Smallville got. Neither of you enjoy drinking at all. You do realize you're stepping on thousands of years of cultural enjoyment?" she sighed and placed a hand sadly on the shoulder of the young woman. "I pity you."

Kara laughed. "You're really cool, Lois. Thanks for not kicking me out."

She waved it off. "No problem, but don't think I'm giving up my bed for you." Lois gestured to a closet on the other end of the room. "There are clean sheets and extra pillows over there if you need it." She looked over and saw that the coffee was finished brewing. "So, what are you doing here or do I even have to ask?"

Not having to explain, Kara went straight to the point. "I know Clark's just looking after me, but I feel like he coddles me too much. I'm suffocating, Lois. Please tell him to stop."

Lois sympathized with her greatly but no matter how much she wants to help assert Kara's independence, because she is by no means a child, it wasn't her place. All she could do is be there for her when she needs some space away from her overbearing cousin who acts more like an overbearing brother.

"Have you tried talking to him? Conversation minus the shouting can go a long way to understanding each other. Believe me, I know."

"Yeah, but we end up arguing anyway."

She smiled at the image of Kara and Clark arguing. After all his drama with Lana Lang and Lex Luthor, it feels almost like a relief that he was arguing about something that was different arguing about.

"He just cares," Lois said simply.

"I know that, I do, but he just hovers all the time and that alone is a great feat because he can't hover," Kara exclaimed lost in her own little world.

Lois took her words oddly, not understanding what exactly she meant by that.

"Well, you can't solve it by staying here every time you two have a disagreement." Then a light bulb suddenly turned on. "How did you get here so fast?"

Kara gulped at the question and Lois immediately knew she'd been caught. "I… I sort of…" Kara tried to explain but Lois only gave her a reproachful look.

"You can't be hitching a ride or borrowing your cousin's truck every time you two have a problem. I have a younger sister, remember. If I were him, I'd be having colorful words for you."

Kara laughed but it was clear to her that she didn't do it to make fun of the situation. "Couldn't I just live with you?"

Lois's jaw dropped open. "I… don't think that's a good idea." It was almost irrational, but she felt an overwhelming thrill at knowing that there was somebody in the world who wanted her help, pure and simple and no designs involved.

Kara pouted. "Why not?"

"You're Clark's family, not mine." Lois realized the words might've harmed Kara more than she meant to. "That's not what I… look at me," she said, taking her hands. She felt it shaking. "He's new at this, and it looks like you are, too. But you need to meet him half way. Even if he was too hard headed to listen, at least you know you put it out there. If he doesn't consider your feelings, then the fault is on him, not you."

Kara's eyes held a sadness that even in their moments of revelation Lois could never truly understand. She knew that she had a troubling past, but she also knew that Kara was a good girl and that she didn't mean any harm. A lot of times, she felt Kara was a young girl experiencing the joy of teenhood for the first time than that of a 19 year-old preparing for her adult life.

She took to wearing vintage clothing, many that actually came from the hours they spent shopping. Kara liked listening to grunge rock, some heavy metal and for goodness sakes, 90s pop music. When she saw an IPod on television one day, Lois caught the look of excitement across her face and then the crushing inevitability that she couldn't have it right away… it really felt like to Lois that she was experiencing all this for the first time.

Her first gift to Kara was a 2GB IPod and look of pure appreciation on her face was enough thanks than anything she ever needed from a person.

Kara was really special, like her cousin.

"I wish I was more like you."

Lois's face looked aghast at her words. "Ack. You wouldn't want to be me, take my word for it please. I'm allergic to dogs. Can't stand uncomfortable silences. I'm constantly talking. I can't sleep unless I'm on the right side of the bed and I have an uncanny ability of getting kicked out of school. No, being me is a definite bad idea."

Kara burst out laughing, the sadness in her eyes earlier replaced with joy and Lois couldn't help but point out reality.

"See what I mean, I'm a hopeless cause. You remain you, let me handle myself," Lois added with a giant nod of her head.

"Clark said that it wasn't your fault that you got kicked out."

Lois didn't budge from what she said. "Doesn't change that fact that I got booted." She looked proud saying it, too.

"Yes," Kara finally agreed. "Thousands of years of cultural drinking tradition will no doubt never lead you astray."

"Oooh, you're learning."

Kara smiled.

At this moment, Lois pulled out a pack of cards from one of the counter drawers and led Kara to the living room. "Come on, let's play a game while you and I are still wide awake. We might as well not get bored in the process."

"Bullshit!" Kara hoped ecstatically.

"Maybe I shouldn't have taught you this game so soon, I've created a monster. I can't imagine what Clark is thinking if he knew what I was teaching you," Lois teased.

"He'd probably give me a long lecture about the cruelties of the use of derogatory words."

"He's your cousin," Lois thanked the Gods he wasn't hers. "So how was your trip to D.C.?" She shuffled the cards. "You're not giving Mrs. Kent any problems, are you? Just remember, say 'no' to Clark anytime, but to Martha Kent it's not possible."

Kara laughed and picked up all the cards Lois placed on her side. "Even though I don't see her that much, Mrs. Kent has been really great." Kara dropped two cards. "Two aces."

"That woman is a saint," Lois said without hesitation. "Three jacks."

"Four tens."

"Bullshit!" Lois said followed by a click of her tongue. Kara's loud sigh was indicative enough to know that her cards were a fake.

"How do you keep doing that?"

She dutifully ignored her. "Three Kings."

"Bull…shit!" Kara jumped but Lois just sent her a wry grin and pushed the three cards to her direction. "Hey! I was wrong?" She stared at the cards for a second and sighed and then grumbled something unintelligble, at least, that's what Lois thought.

"You give yourself away too early."

Kara raised her eyebrows in consternation. "What do you mean?"

"You tap your fingers when you're bluffing. It's like poker; it's all about body language."

"Oh," Kara kind of understood. "I don't know poker."

Lois shook her head. "There's so much to teach you about the ways of the world, my young padawan."

"What's a padawan?"

"Star Wars."

"A space battle?"

"No, a movie."

"About stars?"

Lois almost slapped herself. "Luke Skywalker. Lightsabers?" she made a swooshing laser sound while she imitated a swordsman in thin air. "Darth Vader? Oh, you've got to be kidding me. It's like, ingrained in popular culture."

Kara stared at her blankly. "So what does that have to do with a padawan?"

Lois let out a chuckle she tried not to turn it into a big laugh. "It's a term used in the movie Star Wars to describe pupils from an Order called the Jedi." She gave Kara a pitiful look. "We'll stop by Blockbuster sometime and watch it together."

Kara beamed at which Lois thought was another sure-fire way to avoid being in Smallville. Poor Clark, she thought. He certainly has his hands full with this one.

"It's your turn."

"Oh right," Kara said. "Two queens."

"Two aces."

This went on for about an hour, and the girls were having a great time until her phone rang.

"Oh no, please don't answer it," Kara said, her fear at the possibility of having to go back to the farm obvious.

"It's okay, I'll tell him its okay for you to spend the night."

"But–"

"No buts," Lois said assuring her. "Smallville will see my way, just you watch." She clicked the phone on and placed it to her ear. "This better be life-threatening if you're calling me this early."

Clark began to randomly fire words at her that could make even the most attentive person faint. When she turned to look at Kara, she was huddled in the corner of her couch, her knees to her chest as she played with her cards and avoiding eye contact at all costs. Her heart went out to her.

"Smallville, she's fine. Yes, she's with me, where do you think she was? Yes, I invited her. No, you're not coming over here. Go back to sleep, Smallville. Call me again before noon tomorrow and I'll make sure that Elmer has a slow agonizing end in a toilet bowl," she warned before clicking the phone off. "There, see."

The phone rang again and this time, Lois rolled her eyes.

"What now?" she answered but then she turned squeamish. "Hi, daddy. What a coincidence. I was just talking to Clark and then you called. It's almost 3:30, what are you doing still up? Ah, yeah, Lucy. No, I haven't heard from her. Just send it to me and I'll see what I can do from here. Okay, daddy. Bye."

"Your dad?"

"Yup, that would be the General."

"Why do you call him that?"

"What, the General?" Lois thought about it for a moment and then answered. "I guess because that's what everybody refers him. And maybe because it's impersonal, like, if he's just a General, I can get away with things. If I thought of him as my dad, then I'd feel even guiltier for not listening to him."

"I don't get it."

Perhaps she'd go easy with the explanations. "It's a nickname, simple as that. An extended form of affection, I guess you can say."

Kara's eyes suddenly flashed as if she realized something of great importance. "Like what you call Clark 'Smallville,' because you have great affection for him."

"Yes," then Lois realized what she just agreed to. "NO!"

Kara's eyes narrowed in confusion. "But you just said–"

"That's different," Lois interrupted. "He's like… a cousin."

Kara frowned. "But he's not your cousin."

"Thank you for pointing that out," Lois replied dryly. "I swear, sometimes I think you're from another planet."

Kara stiffened but caught herself from reacting any further. "Right," she chuckled. "But why do you call him Smallville, then? I mean, his name is Clark. Why can't you call him just Clark?"

"It's… our thing."

"I'm confused," Kara yawned.

Noticing the signals, she stood up. "Do you want to get some sleep now?"

"I think so."

Lois sighed in relief at the sight of her falling asleep and not pursuing the line of questioning. "All right. I'll take care of these later," she said pointing to their cups of empty coffee mugs. "Goodnight, Kara."

"'Night."

Lois watched as the young woman quickly fell into a deep sleep. Softly reaching into a closet, she took out a blanket and laid it on top of her before leaving behind last minute pearls of wisdom even if she didn't hear her.

"Clark's a good man," she said in a whisper. "One day you'll look back on this and thank him for caring."

On a rooftop across the street, as the rain poured heavily down against him, a pair of blue eyes watched Lois's retreating form with equal thanks and admiration.

The End