Chapter 10

Kent Farm

Clark and Kara landed in front of his old house. Clark looked back at it and took a moment to relish the memories he had in it. The last time he saw it was in rubble since Lex attacked it. "You fixed it."

Kara smiled at him, "Of course. This will always be your home Kal-El. I was just preserving it for you until you came to your senses and came back."

Clark sighed, "I don't know if I'm staying for good Kara."

Kara stopped in her tracks, "What do you mean? You're back. You can't honestly tell me there's no reason for you to stay."

Clark winced and shook his head, "It's not that simple..." He remembered saying those words to Lois, "You saw her. I saw how she felt about me... all that pain, and hate. I can tell she doesn't want me in her life again. I've never seen that in Lois before and I'm the reason for it... I guess I never realized how much it affected her..."

Kara blinked, "Yes you did Clark. Why else would you ask Jor-El to take away those painful memories of you. And it's as simple as sliced bread Clark. You have all the more reason to fight for her. Fight to win her back. She might be reluctant to let you in. But if you leave again that'll just make it easier to hate you more. Hating someone is easier than forgiveness. And you also have your son. You can't leave Christopher again. You've missed enough."

"See that's the thing Kara. I haven't missed him..." Kara blinked in shock at his confession, Clark tried to explain, "I don't mean it in that way... you think I've kept my distance for four straight years but I was there. I have been watching Chris grow up. I never stopped. I have been there for him from a distance. It's a Kryptonian thing. I have always been connected to him, and I've been watching him from Kandor. I would never just leave him like that and never look back. I love him. He's a part of me. I've watched him grow."

Kara walked up to Clark, and looked him straight in the eyes, "Kal-El how long has it been since you held your son?" Clark hesitated at the question, Kara continued, "You may be connected to him in a Kryptonian way. But you also have a human side. Something I don't fully have. He needs a father at his presence physically. You've been watching him through a screen, listening to his heartbeat, his laugh from a distance. But I'm sure that was never enough for you."

Kara walked away, into the house and Clark followed. She led him upstairs to his room, which was exactly the same as it was four years ago, "Kara... you didn't change a thing when you fixed our house."

Kara smiled, "Like I said. I knew you would come back to us."

Clark looked around his room, it wasn't exactly the same. Lois' stuff had been removed. It was only his. "You don't know how much pain she was really feeling did you?"

Kara looked down, "No, I didn't. I'm sorry you had to endure that."

Clark huffed, "It's okay. I needed to hear that. I needed to see for myself what I had done. I broke her. The strongest woman I know. The woman I love. She hates me. I swear if she had my powers, her eyes would shoot fire at me."

Kara gulped, "Give it some time Kal-El. Come on, I'll make you a cup of tea." Clark nodded and turned away from his room which he once shared with his wife.

Chris couldn't sleep that night. He laid still in his bed, with eyes wide open, not twitching one bit. He couldn't go to sleep. He could hear his mother's sniffling in her room. She had been crying for almost 3 hours. Bruce had brought her back home, but told Chris she was tired and she needed some rest. Chris hadn't spoken to Lois all day. His aunt Diana had taken him out to distract him from his mother's disappearance. He could hear her heartbeat, which usually helped him sleep, but her sniffling clouded the sound of her heartbeat. Chris rolled out of his bed and jumped out, slowly walking out his door. He carefully tried not to make a noise as he approached Lois' room. He pushed the door slightly open. Her room was dark, but he could still make his way to her bed. He crawled into bed as Lois jumped up slightly. She held out her arm for him to cuddle against her chest. Lois wrapped her arm around him and hugged him tightly. Chris kept his eyes open staring at his mother. Lois was breathing hard, and he felt a teardrop down his face. Chris then shut his eyes and snuggled against his mother. "I missed you momma."

He felt Lois' breath on him, as she sobbed at the sound of his voice, "I missed you too baby." She whispered, kissing his forehead, and with that, they both fell asleep together.

It was late at night and Chloe was still at Watchtower. She was looking into space, playing with her necklace when she heard a pair of familiar heels walking towards her. Chloe kept a serious face when she turned to Zatanna, who simply smiled. Chloe took a deep breath, "You need to undo whatever you did to me!"

Zatanna raised her eyebrow, "I guess you got the full ride on how and empathy works. Did you get to read Lois?"

Chloe nodded, "It wasn't fun. Why did you do this?"

Zatanna sighed, "Lois is a tough woman. She may be stronger emotionally than any of us. And she's an expert on hiding her true feelings from everyone. When I walked in on you two fighting over Clark, I can tell you couldn't really see her side of things. Mainly because all these years she seemed like she was fine." Zatanna walked closer to Chloe and said quietly, "I just helped you see she wasn't fine Chloe. When you spoke to her, it was clear that you understood more about Clark's side because you've been there as well, sacrificing yourself for the ones you love. You never really saw her side clearly. Her side where she was the one left behind."

Chloe sighed, "It was.. a lot of not fine feelings. It was a lot to take I... I thought she had moved on from it all. I thought she had accepted it. I guess even after four years you don't really just forget the ones who hurt you. Especially if it's someone you love. I thought she let it all out before.. I was majorly wrong about that."

Zatanna nodded, "I helped you see the light. How did it feel being an empath."

Chloe scowled, "It sucks Zatanna. I get what you tried to you but I need to be just Chloe. I need to be able to control my own emotions again. Take it away."

Zatanna stared back at her for a moment, "Okay. Just so you know Chloe, I did this so you can understand Lois. Especially now since Clark is back." Chloe looked up at her and nodded. With the snap of her fingers, she said some incantations and took away Chloe's empath powers.

Chloe took a deep breath, Zatanna kept her eyes focused on her as she spoke, "How do you feel?"

Chloe smiled back at her, "Like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Thank you."

Zatanna nodded and smiled back at Chloe, "Anytime." It was that moment when Oliver walked in.

"You ready to go Chlo?.." Oliver turned to acknowledge Zatanna, "Zatanna... I guess you finally undid your spells." He kept a stern face on her.

Chloe chuckled, "Oliver it's okay. If I hadn't felt what Lois really felt, she would've never gotten to show Clark just how much he affected her."

Oliver nodded, "Even if that's so, you shouldn't have put her through that. You know how many times your spells have gone wrong?"

Zatanna rolled her eyes, "Something told me this spell would go right Ollie. I reversed the spell so keep your Armani pants on." She walked out of Watchtower as Chloe and Oliver stared back at her.

Oliver turned to Chloe, holding her in his arms, "You okay?"

Chloe nodded, sighing, "I am, more than okay, but at the same time, not okay at all. I'm worried about Lois. I hope she's gonna be okay."

Oliver nodded, "Whatever happens, she knows that we'll be here for her." He kissed her forehead as she closed the computers at Watchtower and called it a night.