Chapter 4 - Misunderstandings

Lois knocked on the door to the Doctor's office. "Come in," came the clipped reply. She opened the door and stepped into exactly what she had expected; an office/lab in disarray. It wasn't a true lab but Dr Fries obviously still had some experiments going in his room.

"Dr Fries, I'm Lois Lane from the Daily Planet. Can I talk to you about Dr Donovan?" she asked immediately.

"I'm sorry, I'm incredibly busy, time sensitive experiment, you'll have to come back this afternoon," he said quite bluntly.

"But Dr Donovan is ..." she didn't get chance to complete her sentence.

"Yes, yes. I'll talk to you about Dabney later but please, leave now."

Lois knew she would get nothing out of the Doctor now so she left. On the way back out she took a wrong turn immediately and found herself passing the office next door. "Dr Dabney Donovan," she read out. Glancing around she noticed a clear corridor and so reached for the handle.

The eccentric Dr D had left his office open, how nice.

Lois entered and immediately realised that the mess in here was not an eccentric mess. Someone had been through this office looking for ... who knows what. Lois sighed. The chance she would find anything of interest in this mess was none. Just at that point she heard a noise though the wall. Looking at the wall she realised it was the office she had just come from. A strange whooshing boom came though the thin wall then she heard confused, muffled screaming. Lois set off at a run back to Dr Fries' lab.

She burst through the door in time to see a bright yellow light engulfing the room. She shielded her eyes and then tried to open them again when she heard a scream once more, but the light was too bright. The scream faded along with the light and then she finally managed to look round the office again. There was no-one here.

Lois repeated herself again to the police. "It was like that when I went opened the door to Dr Donovan's office."

"Miss Lane, you are sure you didn't look through anything in that office?" asked the officer.

"Yes, I was too stunned to touch anything and knew I would never be able to find anything of use anyway." Lois was trying to convince that police that it was not her who had burgled Dr D's office.

"So, just to clarify the important points then, Miss Lane." Lois was getting incredibly irritated by the way the officer kept saying Miss Lane as if it was an insult. "You say that Dr Donovan has gone missing and now Dr Fries is also missing. You also claim to have seen Dr Fries being kidnapped."

"No, I didn't SEE it because the light was too blinding, but I heard it and I know he was in that office and then he was gone. I told you I also heard screaming. And how come you don't already know about Dr Donovan?"

"It seems that the hospital staff who informed you he was missing had not actually taken it seriously. They still expected him to turn up and so they had not reported it."

"Well, I'm really not happy about these coincidences," Lois stated. She stood up, put her bag over her shoulder and continued. "And if that is all, officer, then I need to get back to work."

Ollie was happy to step off the train at Metropolis station. He felt like he was home. Walking passed the reflective windows of the train as he exited the platform he studied his reflection. He had found some very plain clothes in the two minutes he allowed himself at his Star City apartment and had spent the whole trip with a baseball cap covering his head and sunglasses over his eyes. He jogged as quickly as he could down the streets of Metropolis and found his heart beating faster as he got closer to Watchtower. It's just from the running, that's all, he thought. But he knew that was not true. He had not contacted Chloe for nearly 48 hours. He had no idea what had happened after his capture. Was she next on their list? Were the Kandorians still around? Had Clark disappeared with them to another place? As he went up the elevator the beating of his heart sounded in his ears like a loud drum.

Opening the double doors with trepidation he scanned the room as quickly as he could. There, she was there.

"Chloe," he breathed out.

Her head whipped round.

"Ollie," she shouted, wide eyed.

She ran to him and in moments they were in each other's arms.

"What happened, where have you been? Oh, Ollie, I've been out of my mind."

"Hey Chloe, chill, nothing to worry about." Oliver found his defences going up and casual humour coming out of his mouth rather than the words he really wanted to say.

Chloe pulled out of his arms. "Um, yeah, I was just concerned, especially when you said they were not Kandorians." She put on a professional front. "So, who was it and do we have a new big, bad and ugly to worry about?"

"I'm not sure. I only caught a small glimpse of them. They were dressed in some weird armour. I was held captive, unconscious, for about a day and then rescued by some strange guy named Scott who seems to understand Artoo-Detoo language."

"Well, I'm glad you're here but why the sound of silence?"

"I was dressed as Green Arrow but Scott seemed to know I was Oliver Queen. He somehow took me to Star City as 'home'. I didn't want to contact anyone as Oliver Queen. Then I remembered the Kandorians cutting off our satellite. I didn't know how well the new satellite was working so I couldn't risk contacting Watchtower. I've been travelling Hobo style."

Chloe glanced at Oliver's outfit and smirked. "I can see." Looking back up into his eyes she saw him smiling back at her. "I ... I," she stammered for a moment, "I better call back the troops now you've returned."

Lois tapped away at her keyboard spelling out all the facts of the missing scientists, along with the obscure connection to Tess' missing body. This will make a great investigation and I have enough info now to print a teaser. Her stomach growled and she realised what time it was.

"OK, this baby is finished," she said referring to the teaser article. "Let's get you to copy and then find some Chow."

Lois was back at her desk within five minutes; a large muffin and cappuccino in hand. Placing them next to her keyboard she set about expanding her investigation. Her eyes darted back and forth as she read countless missing persons records. After an hour she pushed back from her desk and rubbed her eyes. Her pad had the names of two more scientists who had gone missing in the last week. First thing in the morning, I'll check them out, she thought.

Opening her drawer to put her paperwork away she noticed the package from Perry. She slowly pulled out the tickets and looked at them. Clark had told her to go. Had he meant it? She had thought he was just hiding something at the time. How true that had turned out to be but then he had yet to come see her since then. The only logical conclusion was that he truly meant it. He thought she should pursue her career.

Clark walked down the stairs to the basement with a spring in his step. Ollie was safe, back at Watchtower. OK, time to get onto some in-depth investigation. I feel like a real challenge.

He reached the bottom step and turned. His heart missed a beat and he stood stock still. She was there swinging in her chair. Lois. It had been two days since he last saw her. His heart started pumping again as normal, but then it speeded up in response to his nervousness once he saw what she was holding.

She's actually considering it. Well, of course she is, you told her to, you bumbling farm boy. He took a deep breath and stepped forwards.

"So, when do you leave?" he asked in a serious voice.

Lois swivelled round in her chair a gigantic smile on her face. She must be looking forward to the challenge of Africa with that smile he thought and his own half smile dropped.

"Clark!" she said and jumped out of her chair. Seeing his stony and serious expression she felt her smile of joy fade. She glanced away then looked back up at him trying to be serious. "I haven't given my answer yet. Perry has been out of contact range." She made it sound like her answer was already yes but that she just couldn't tell Perry at the moment. Searching Clark's face for any reaction she found it difficult to interpret the look in his eyes.

She's actually going. Clark, you idiot, you told her to go and she is. He tried to hide the pain in his heart. She obviously didn't want to start up the relationship again despite her impassioned words in the barn two days ago. Her career really was important. Or maybe she realised that she truly wanted the Blur but knew that was just a dream and so needed to leave.

"You'll keep in touch, won't you?" he said in a light-hearted, friendly manner, letting Lois know that he understood they were now in the 'friends' category rather than any other.

Lois felt all her dreams crash at that point. She thought her heart had broken two days ago when Clark had refused to explain everything to her. She had questioned her judgment of his character, she had felt betrayed. But now, when she understood his reluctance in that conversation, when she was ready to forgive him that hidden side, he quite clearly didn't want anything more than simple friendship.

"Sure Smallville. I'll send you a card for your birthday." Bitterly, she hoped the lack of interest she was now showing would hurt him back. How could he keep half of himself hidden for so long, only to then reveal it to her and then reject her?

Those last words were all the proof Clark needed. She truly had broken their relationship. He sat down at his desk and turned on his computer. He desperately hoped for an e-mail or message which would distract him.

Lois sat down and turned back to her computer. The words on her screen swam in front of her eyes so she turned to her notepad. Does that say Dr Crane or Dr Crang? Lois realised that she was unable to read her notepad either.

Standing up to quickly her chair went flying over. "Well, I'm done for the day," she coolly commented over the desk. "See you around, Smallville."

Clark watched her climb up every step of the stairs, his heart beating in time with her footsteps. When she was out of sight he continued to stare at the top step as if he could hold her there. But nothing could hold Lois Lane. She was a whirlwind ... a free spirit ... Clark sighed ... a wonder.