Chapter Seven

"Mr. Kent?" asked Lana as she slowly entered the Kent house. "Mrs. Kent?"

She looked around the corner and heard someone drop their silverware onto a plate. She looked at the dining room table, and thought she saw a blur of movement in the corner of the room. The Kents spun around, stunned, to see Lana enter the room. They both looked kind of shifty and Martha glanced up the stairs quickly.

"Is everything alright?" Lana asked.

"Um, everything's fine," said Martha.

"I wanted to talk to you guys about—" Lana started, but Martha sensed something and interrupted her.

"The Talon," Martha said. Lana looked at her, confused, but didn't press her.

"Actually, I was going to talk about the baby," said Lana.

Clark shifted a little where he was at the top of the stairs. Baby? Clark thought, confused. What baby?

"Uh, the baby you found at the Talon," said Jonathan, getting Martha's undercurrent.

Oh, thought Clark. Clark didn't hear Lana speak for a while.

"No, I was…" Lana started, but his mom interrupted her, whispering.

"Look, Lana, can we not talk about that right now?" Martha asked. "It's so sad that the baby was found all alone."

"Um…okay," said Lana. "Well, I don't really have anything else to talk about. I'll see you guys later…much later."

With that, Lana exited the house and left. Clark peered around the corner to check, then came down the stairs.

"What was that all about?" asked Clark.

"Um, Lana's not feeling well," said Martha. Jonathan nodded rapidly in agreement.

"Okay," said Clark as he continued down the stairs, but turned and ran back up them when he saw Lana come through the door again.

"By the way," said Lana, "where's all Clark's stuff that the Salvation Army was going to come pick up? I thought they told you to set it out in front of the barn?"

"Oh," said Jonathan. "They rescheduled it to tomorrow."

Clark knew that wasn't the truth at all. They had called the Salvation Army saying that there had been a fire at the barn, and all of those things had been burned. I mean, what were they going to say? That their son had come back to life because his Kryptonian father restored his alien powers to him, and he used his super strength to claw his way out of his own grave? The response to that would obviously be: "That's ridiculous" or "You're crazy." So, the only other option was lying.

"Oh, alright," said Lana, reassured that nothing was wrong. "Well, I'll see you later."

Clark came back downstairs and settled at the dining room table to resume his breakfast. He looked at his parents, and said, "Well, this is gonna be harder than we thought."

"It would be so much easier to just tell people," said Martha. Clark gave her a look, and she corrected herself: "I don't mean everyone; just Lana and Lois and Lex…the people who come by here so often."

"It's just till the end of this week, Mom," said Clark. "Can you hang on till then? I'm sure I'll be alright in six days."

"Okay, sweetie," said Martha as she fretted around doing chores. Jonathan put his arm around Clark.

"You wanna give me a hand with the fence today?" asked Jonathan. Clark looked up at his dad and sighed.

"Have to get used to powers again sometime," answered Clark. He got up and supersped upstairs, then was downstairs again in two seconds, all ready to go. "Let's go."

Jonathan and Martha exchanged a smile as Clark walked out the door. Jonathan then turned and headed after him.

Lana drove into town and headed for the Talon. Chloe and Pete were meeting her there for a day out.

"Hey, guys," said Lana when Pete and Chloe entered the Talon.

"Hey, Lana," said Pete. He hugged her, and Chloe did the same. They all sat down and Lana noticed that they were both smiling.

"What's going on?" asked Lana. Pete and Chloe exchanged a glance, and looked back at Lana.

"Nothing," said Chloe. They went back to business, and Lana gave Chloe a look.

"Remember what I talked to you about?" asked Lana.

"Uh…" said Chloe, thinking back. Did she tell Pete about the baby? Chloe thought. "Yeah, Lana."

"What am I gonna do about it?" Lana said with a sly glance at Pete, and Chloe got the message.

"Uh, you'll just take it day by day," said Chloe. "Your friends will help you, and the Kents will definitely help. You'll get through this."

"I suppose you're right," said Lana. There was a pause.

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Pete.

"Nothing," answered Lana.

Clark tossed another hay bale into the loft as he thought about Lana. It had been a week since he had come back from the dead—boy, did that sound weird—and he hadn't told anyone else he was back. He thought about if it was time to tell Lana. He was so distracted that he ended up throwing a hay bale through the barn wall.

"Clark," said Martha. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just…" Clark began, trailing off.

"Lana," Martha finished. Clark nodded as he sat down on the stairs. Martha sat down next to him. "Clark, maybe you should tell her."

"I don't know," said Clark.

Martha and Clark sat there for a minute. "Clark, do you love Lana?"

Clark looked at his mother and smiled. "More than anything."

"Then you have to do the right thing…before we end up with more holes in the barn wall."

Clark and Martha shared a laugh. "Thanks, Mom."

He got up, and headed for the driveway just as Jonathan entered the barn.

"Hey, Clark," he said. "Where are you headed?"

"The Talon," Clark answered, and Jonathan looked at him.

"Good luck, son," he said. Clark went out to the truck, and drove off for town.

Clark pulled up to the curb some distance away from the Talon, and turned off the truck. He sat there for a minute, and looked at all the people on the sidewalk. He knew some of these people, and most of them knew him from his funeral and the story in the paper. He opened the door and got out. What he met were stares. As he walked towards the Talon, people stopped and gawked at him. He was uncomfortable with the amount of staring; it was as if someone had just announced he was from another planet.

Clark ignored the stares and whispers. He reached the Talon door, and stopped. He took a deep breath and readied himself for what he was about to do. He pushed open the door and walked inside. The place was crowded; most of the people he recognized. Some of them looked up at him and stopped. Everyone else noticed and looked up to see what was happening. The entire Talon went silent as they turned to stare at Clark.

Clark stood there, gazing at Lana. She was at the counter with Chloe, Pete and Lois. Since Lois was behind the counter, she was the first to see Clark. Her jaw dropped as she stared at him. Lana noticed the silence and turned around as Chloe and Pete both smiled at each other. Lana's eyes stopped on Clark, and she gasped in disbelief. She stared into his eyes, not sure about what she was seeing.

"Chloe…" she said.

"Yes, Lana," said Chloe, smiling. "It really is him."

Lana's face broke into a smile. "Clark…" She ran towards Clark, and he opened his arms as she jumped into them. She wrapped her arms around his neck as Clark picked her up in his arms. She closed her eyes as tears fell down her cheeks. Clark held her tightly as they embraced. Lana moved her head in front of Clark's, and they stared into each other's eyes. They slowly drew closer together, and kissed tenderly. Clark was reuniting with his true love, and Lana was putting the worst three months of her life behind her.

Clark drove up to the farmhouse as his parents came out the front door. Clark smiled at Lana as he turned off the truck. They both got out as Jonathan and Martha came towards them.

"How are you, Lana?" asked Martha.

Lana looked at Clark and smiled. Clark put his arm around her. "I'm good now."

"We're glad everything worked out," said Jonathan.

"I just have one question," said Lana as Clark headed to the barn.

"Sure," said Martha.

"When I stopped by earlier this week, Clark was back, wasn't he?" asked Lana. "That's why you stopped me talking about the baby."

"Yes," said Martha. "I didn't think Clark should find out like that. But we won't tell him anything; you can when you're ready."

"Thank you," said Lana, and she caught up with Clark.

"What was that about?" asked Clark.

"Oh, nothing," said Lana. "Your mom needed to know something about the Talon."

"So…" said Clark as they entered the barn. "I thought we should talk."

"Yeah," said Lana. They walked up the stairs into Clark's loft. Clark ushered her to the couch, and sat down next to her. They sat in silence for a minute, staring at each other. They could both feel three months of passion in their hearts, brimming to the surface. Clark slowly raised his hand, and stroked the hair out of Lana's face. He then cupped his hand on her cheek as Lana placed her hand over his. Clark brought his face close to hers, and their lips brushed. They kissed tenderly as Lana placed her hand on Clark's shoulder. Clark moved his hand from her cheek to the back of her neck. He placed his other hand on the small of her back as their kisses grew more passionate. After a minute or two, they finally broke apart. They stared into each other's eyes as they smiled. Then, Lana turned around and drew closer to Clark. He wrapped his arm around her as she placed her head on his chest.

"So," said Lana, breaking the ice. "How did you come back?"

"Well," said Clark, having already thought this out, "the cemetery where I was buried was hit during the last meteor shower. They thought they had cleared out all the meteor rocks, but there was still some near my grave. After two months, there had been enough rain that the rocks fell onto my coffin, and brought me back to life. I had to crawl my way out of my grave."

"Oh, Clark…" said Lana as she placed her hand over his.

"The first place I went was here," said Clark. "I ran into Pete, then Chloe. She actually got through to me. I was kind of a wreck. I mean, imagine waking up in a coffin and when you finally get out, the first thing you see is your own tombstone."

"That must've been rough," said Lana.

"The first thing I wanted to do was come see you."

Lana turned and looked at him. "Really?"

"Yeah. But I wasn't ready; I was still really shaken up. Chloe brought me into the house to see my parents. I told everyone not to tell anyone I was back yet. I needed time to adjust. This morning…I couldn't take it anymore; I had to come see you."

"I'm glad you did," said Lana. They kissed again as Martha came into the loft.

"I just wanted to let you two know that lunch is ready," she said.

"Thanks, Mrs. Kent," said Lana. Martha left as Cark helped Lana up. She winced a little.

"Are you alright?" Clark asked anxiously.

"Yeah, I'm just a little sore," Lana told him. The truth was she was starting to feel the pains of pregnancy. She was tired all the time, her ankles were swelling and her back ached. And this was besides the morning sickness she'd had for the past month and a half. "You know, my back and shoulders ache."

"Well, maybe I can do something about that later," Clark told her as he put an arm around her. Lana smiled as they walked together towards the house.

Clark rolled over in his sleep, frowning. He was having another nightmare. The same one he'd been having every night since his return. And it was the same every night: it was always jumbled and out of sequence.

"Gabriel, which silo did you activate?" Clark shouted at Gabriel as Chloe stood there.

The bullet shot out of the gun and penetrated Clark's lung.

"I knew this day would come," Lana told him in the hospital.

"You're wrong, Clark!" Gabriel shouted as a heart monitor flat lined. The doctors shocked Clark as he saw Gabriel take out a gun and pull the trigger.

"You'd always be running around trying to save the day," said Lana.

"I know you have your reasons for doing this, but killing everyone's not the answer," said Clark.

"It's the only answer," said Gabriel as he shot Clark. Clark lay on the ground as Gabriel stood over him and laughed.

"Clark, I have to tell you something," said Lana. Clark was suddenly standing in a brightly lit room. He was standing in front of a coffin. Lana was standing next to the open part. Clark came around and saw himself in the casket; this was the visitation.

"I never got to before you…" Lana began, mumbling. "I understand it's a bit of a shock, but I have to tell you. A months ago, we…uh…A week ago, I went to the doctor because I'd been having dizzy spells. He told me I was pregnant."

Clark's brow wrinkled in confusion.

"I wanted to tell you that…I will always remember you when I look at our baby," Lana said, eyes welling up. "I love you, Clark."

She brought a hand up to her mouth, and kissed it. She then placed that hand on top of Clark's hand. Lana walked away as Clark walked over to his casket. He stared for several seconds before his corpse sat up suddenly and wrapped his hands around Clark's neck.

Clark suddenly jolted awake in his coffin.

"Help me!" Clark yelled as he pounded on the lid. "Help me! Please!"

Clark's eyes snapped open as he sat up in bed. Grateful that his head had not hit the lid of the coffin, he glanced around his room. Once he was assured that he was really awake, he got out of bed and headed downstairs. Clark sat at the kitchen island, drinking some water as footsteps sounded on the stairs. Jonathan walked down the stairs and saw Clark.

"Hey," he said as he got some orange juice out of the fridge. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep," said Clark.

"Me either," said Jonathan. "Bad dreams?"

"More than you know," muttered Clark. "I've been having nightmares ever since I came back…about…"

"Your death," Jonathan filled in.

"It's the same one every night," Clark explained. "Gabriel shoots me, Lana talks to me at the hospital, the doctors trying to bring me back with the defibrillator, and then I wake up in the coffin."

Jonathan was silent as Clark reflected.

"But tonight…" said Clark, "right before I woke up in the coffin, I found myself at the visitation."

Jonathan came a little closer.

"Lana was saying goodbye," Clark told him as his voice cracked. "She said that she was pregnant…that she wanted to tell me that…our baby will always remind her of me."

Jonathan shifted on his feet. "Wow…uh…do you have any idea what it means?"

"No, it doesn't make any sense," said Clark. "Why would I dream about stuff that really happened, and then this just gets thrown in there?"

"Uh…I'm not sure, Clark," said Jonathan. "Why don't you—"

They were interrupted as a flashbulb went off in the window. Clark and Jonathan spun to see a reporter in the window, getting ready for another picture. Clark got out of his chair to take care of it when he felt his father's hand on his chest.

"Clark, I'll take care of this," said Jonathan. "We don't want to risk anything."

Clark nodded as Jonathan went out onto the porch. The reporter snapped one last picture of Clark before Jonathan grabbed him, and threw him down the porch stairs.

"Get off my property before I call the sheriff!" Clark heard Jonathan yell. The reporter ran down the driveway as Jonathan came back into the house, and locked the door.

"What was that about?" asked Clark.

"Well, you were dead for two months and then came back to life," said Jonathan. "I'm surprised they didn't show up sooner."

"What's going on?" asked Martha as she came down the stairs. "I heard shouting."

"A reporter," Clark answered. "He was trying to get a peek at the undead kid."

"Oh, no," said Martha. "What were you doing up anyway?"

"Just bad dreams," Clark answered.

"Well, they're gonna really be showing up later today," said Jonathan.

"That's great," said Clark. "It's not like I did anything to bring me back. It just happened; why can't they accept that?"

"Well, papers like the Inquisitor will do anything to get a story," said Martha.

"So, just watch your powers, Clark," said Jonathan. "Don't give them anything."

Clark nodded as his parents went upstairs. An inaudible creak sounded on the porch, and Clark turned his hearing on. A reporter was sneaking around on the porch. Clark walked through the living room and opened the front door.

"Can I help you?" Clark asked the man standing there.

"Uh…" the man muttered, caught off guard. "I was wondering if I could get a statement."

"You want a statement?" Clark asked.

"Yeah," said the reporter as he got more eager.

"Get lost," Clark replied as he closed the door. He closed the shade on the window as the man's face fell. Clark went around and closed all the blinds on the windows. He went back upstairs and fell asleep.

Lana drove down the road towards the Kent farm. She pulled in and saw reporters standing at the fence. They snapped her picture a dozen times as she drove by. She made her way down the driveway, but the reporters would not step foot onto the property. She parked the car and got out, making her way up the porch. She knocked on the door, and walked in.

"Hey, Lana," said Martha. "How're you?"

"Great," said Lana, looking around. Jonathan was in the dining room, but Clark wasn't there.

"How's the baby?" Martha inquired in a hushed tone.

"Fine," said Lana, smiling. "Where's Clark?"

"He's still sleeping," said Martha. "We had a midnight visit from some photographers."

"Yeah, I heard," said Lana as she showed Martha the newspaper she had brought in. On the front page was a picture of Jonathan and Clark at the kitchen island. The headline read: BACK FROM THE DEAD!

"Oh, no," said Martha.

"What is it?" asked Jonathan as he came over.

Martha showed him the front page.

"And I ran into your posse out front," Lana told them.

Jonathan walked over to the window and looked at the reporters. "Oh, great."

"Lana, why don't you go wake Clark up?" Martha told her.

Lana went up the stairs and made her way to Clark's room. She opened the door to see Clark asleep under the covers.

He looks so peaceful when he sleeps, Lana thought as she stood in the doorway, smiling. There's nothing weighing him down like usual.

She walked over to him and sat down next to him. She brushed some hair out of his face, and placed a hand on his chest.

"Clark…" Lana whispered. Clark stirred a little as Lana stroked his head. He opened his eyes and looked up at her. She smiled at him. "Hey, sleepyhead."

Clark smiled. "Hey, what're you doing here so early?"

"Well…we have a problem."

"Problem?" asked Clark as he sat up.

"I heard you had some trouble with some reporters last night."

"You did? Where?"

"The Daily Planet," Lana said. Clark looked confused. "Come on."

"So, why was Clark up last night?" Martha asked, looking at the paper.

"Well, he's been having nightmares about his death ever since he came back," Jonathan told her. "And last night, he dreamed that Lana had told him about the baby at his visitation."

"Oh, my gosh," said Martha. "How could he remember that? He was dead."

"I don't know," said Jonathan. Clark and Lana came down the stairs.

"Lana said something about the Daily Planet," said Clark. "What is it?"

"Well, your midnight escapade made the morning paper," said Martha. She handed him the newspaper.

"Oh, no," said Clark. He looked at Lana. "Like we didn't go through enough of this with Perry White."

"Well, we're just gonna have to be careful, Clark," said Jonathan.

"About what?" asked Lana.

"Just, uh, you know, in general," said Martha.

"Well, I'm headed to the Talon to meet up with the gang," said Lana. "Wanna come, Clark?"

"Yeah, I think I can fight off the reporters for one day," said Clark. He went upstairs to get ready. In two minutes, he was back downstairs in a t-shirt and jacket. Clark held the kitchen door open for Lana as they left. They walked down the porch steps as the reporters went nuts at the sight of Clark.

"Hey, Lana, I need to get something from the barn real quick," said Clark.

"Okay," said Lana. Clark walked into the barn, and got a lead box out of his loft. He opened it slowly to ensure that it was inside. Sure enough, the second he opened the lid, he felt a blinding pain throughout his core. He immediately closed the lid on the meteor rock and put the box in his pocket. He came out of the barn as Lana climbed into the driver's seat. He got into the passenger's seat as Lana started the car.

"What did you get?" asked Lana.

"Oh, some paperwork for Chloe," said Clark. He looked away quickly as Lana looked at him.

Lana didn't press it any further. She could tell Clark wasn't being honest with her, but he'd been through an ordeal lately. He'd tell her when she was ready. Lana turned the car around and headed out of the driveway. They passed the reporters as they got into their vans. They were almost to town when Lana looked into her rearview mirror. Lana could see the news vans in her rearview mirror.

"Looks like we got company," said Lana. Clark turned his head around to look out the back window.

"Something's not right," muttered Clark.

"Why?"

"They're slowing down," said Clark. "You ever heard of a reporter backing off a story?"

He turned around in his seat and stared intently out the windshield. Lana looked at him as his eyes went wide.

"Lana, look out!" he yelled.

Lana spun her head around, and saw a tree falling across the road. She slammed on her brakes.