Chapter 3.

Lois leapt off the couch, excited that she would get to see a spaceship for real. This story was about to get some real traction. The article pretty much wrote itself but with real evidence of a spaceship, it positively screamed Pulitzer in her opinion. This was the stuff that careers were made of.

"Lemme see it! Lemme see it!" she squealed. Gone was the tough chick veneer, replaced by the unquenchable effervescence of a giddy young girl.

"Lois, we used to hide it out on the farm, but it's not here anymore," Clark explained slowly, amused by her obvious excitement.

Said excitement immediately turned into a frown of disappointment, but she coached her features back to inquisitive reporter mode just as quickly. If she couldn't see the spaceship, Clark would at least tell her a little bit about it.

"What happened?"

"It's kinda hard to explain, and maybe it's a story for another time, but my ship just sort of disappeared," said Clark.

What with everything she had learned today, a disappearing spaceship did not even remotely register as a shock. Accepting the far-fetched was now just par for the course. She was already doing what people in tinfoil hats spend years trying to do - communicating with a being from outer space - so why not just go with the flow.

"OK, just the basics then."

Clark stood back up and walked over to the window, looking at the rainy sky outside once more. His mind was replaying events of the day when he first learned of his alien origins from his adopted father.

"When mom and dad found me, dad managed to get my ship onto the truck. He said I lifted the truck back onto its wheels and then picked up my ship, placing it on the truck bed. He covered it up with some old tarp so as not to arouse suspicion. You can imagine what they were thinking when they saw me do that. Here's this little boy wandering alone in the middle of a meteor shower, and he has the strength of ten men. I was too young to remember, but dad said he went out in the middle of the night with one of the horses, hauling the ship over to the storm cellar beside the pasture. He hid my ship down there under the tarp, and I didn't even know about it until I was a freshman at Smallville High."

Lois was surprised. "You didn't know you were an alien until you were 14?"

"I always knew I was different, and my parents had never hidden the fact that I was adopted, but it was still a shock to learn something like that. At the time, I was really upset but I know that my parents were only trying to protect me. They wanted me to have as normal a life as possible and they worked really hard to make sure I would have every opportunity to get a good education. They knew that if it got out that I had all these abilities and that I was an intergalactic traveller, the government would want to send me to some lab to be experimented on."

"So you had to grow up having to hide this big part of yourself, before you could even understand what it was."

"Yeah. At first, I thought my abilities were down to being meteor-infected. Growing up in Smallville, you always heard about people developing strange abilities after exposure to meteor rock. I thought I was one of them. Chloe used to call them meteor freaks and she researched into them for years. You remember her Wall of Weird. I would have been Exhibit A if she'd found out the truth about me sooner."

Lois chuckled. "I know Chloe is into the strange and paranormal but I think she would have accepted you because you were one of her best friends."

"I realise that now, Lois. When I finally told her about me, she'd known something was up for months beforehand but she never said anything. Maybe she was waiting for me to tell her when I thought the time was right."

That little snippet took Lois back to a conversation with Chloe, back when Lois was still at Met U. Chloe had made some cryptic statement about secrets. It was clear to Lois even then that it had something to do with Clark but she never pushed because she believed it wasn't something for her to know unless Clark wanted her to. As nosy as she generally was, she would never pry into someone's private life like that. This was one of the fundamental differences between her and Linda Lake, for one thing.

Clark carried on. "I guess the biggest worry for me was that I wouldn't be accepted for who I am if people learned about what I am. They might not trust me and they'll think I've been lying to them. Chloe accepted me straight away and for that I'll always be grateful. Our friendship has only got stronger but it's come at a price. Chloe became a sort-of sidekick and she spent so long helping me that she couldn't focus on her career at the Planet. I can't tell you how many times she had a great story in the palm of her hand but had to toss it aside because it might put me in the spotlight."

Lois had often wondered why Chloe seemed to lack gumption considering she was working where she had always wanted to be. She could never put her finger on why, but Chloe never appeared to show the hunger to chase down a great story, and goodness knows there had been plenty of opportunities. Metropolis was a magnet for trouble. To anyone watching the two cousins working, they would see Lois buzzing about chasing leads, arguing her case to the editor and putting in the long hours. To watch Chloe would be like watching an intern doing much more menial tasks like filing.

"Chloe was protecting you, Clark," said Lois. "She would have done the same for me because that is who she is. She is prepared to sacrifice her own happiness to protect her friends and family."

"Yes, but I should never have put her in that position. She lost her journalistic mojo, and I feel guilty about that because for as long as I've known Chloe, she's always wanted to be a hotshot investigative reporter. It's also the reason why she and Jimmy broke up that time. She couldn't tell him why she kept running off whenever I needed her, and he always thought her feelings for me were deeper than they were for him. I don't blame Jimmy for feeling insecure because looking at it from his perspective, how else could he have seen it?"

That was a bit of a jolt for Lois considering her cousin and Jimmy had tied the knot so recently. Jimmy's love for Chloe was obviously deep enough to enable them to ride out the bumps in the road. Once Chloe had been found, she had contacted Lois in Star City. Besides the evident relief at hearing her cousin's voice, Lois knew she no longer needed to maintain her role by Jimmy's hospital bedside. She had fulfilled her duty and now Chloe could take over, helping to nurse Jimmy back to health. He was bound to perk up once Chloe was there. And yet, Lois did not feel ready to confront her own issues by returning to Metropolis immediately. She offered to remain in Star City for a little while longer - amid much good-natured grumbling from Jimmy - and to her surprise, Chloe did not put up much resistance. She must have been helping Clark track down the monster that had caused carnage at the wedding. As a married woman, was Chloe still putting Jimmy second?

Clark observed Lois taking in everything he was telling her. He knew that part of her was formulating how to tell his story, but as before, there was something in her demeanour that told him she was also figuring out her role in his life moving forward. He wasn't sure how to verbalise it, but it was a sense that she would look to help him cope with everything he would be facing once his identity and origins were in the public eye. And she could do it without having to make the sacrifices Chloe had because she simply would not allow her life to be put on hold. Lois was only now learning the truth about the man she considered to be her best friend, yet she already had a handle on how it affected him. That was a startling revelation for him. For so long, Clark had relied on his parents to help him deal with the ramifications of his unique gifts. Moving into adulthood, he couldn't continue to rely on his mother, and he no longer had his father to offer guidance. Could Lois, in her own weird way, be the person in his life to help him cope with and share the burden? What had seemed far-fetched if not nigh-on impossible not so long ago now looked perfectly reasonable. Could Lois be exactly what he had needed for so long?

The momentary silence was broken when Lois' stomach rumbled loudly. She raised her hand to her mouth as a reflex action, clearly taken by surprise. She was hoping Clark hadn't heard it but judging by how suddenly he'd raised his head, he couldn't have missed it.

"Sounds like somebody's hungry," he said, pointing out the obvious.

"You heard that?" Ask a silly question.

"Yep. I didn't need my super-hearing to pick that up. Shall we stop and get something to eat? It's about lunchtime anyway."

Lois stretched her arms out on the couch. She'd only had a light breakfast consisting of black coffee hours ago on her flight back from Star City. She was acutely aware that she hadn't eaten anything since, and in all the excitement she had forgotten her regular mid-morning coffee double. She was flagging and her stomach growled in protest once more.

"Yeah, I could use something. I'm really craving a burrito for some reason. One with all the works. Hey, you know what? El Gordo's do a great burrito..."

Clark grinned. "Lois, I can tell when you're asking me something without actually asking it. You want me to speed off to Metropolis, don't you?"

Lois had to laugh. He really did have her sussed. "A little bit!"

"OK, I tell you what. Why don't you head on over to the house and I'll bring us back some great burritos."

"Sounds like a plan," Lois nodded in agreement before making her way down the stairs.

Once they were out of the barn and back in the rain, Lois had an impish grin on her face. Clark narrowed his eyes, knowing that she was cooking something up.

"What?" he asked cautiously, drawing out the word.

"Nothing!" she answered evasively. "Just know that I'll be timing you."

Clark shook his head and before she knew it, he had disappeared before her very eyes. She felt the little gust of wind he'd left in his wake, and stepped back from the small spray of muddy water it had kicked up.

"Huh," she chuckled to herself. "A girl could get used to this."

As she headed on into the house, it really struck her looking around just how normal everything was. What was unusual - in her eyes - was the extraordinary strength of the Kent family unit. Humble almost to a fault, yet incredibly warm and generous, Lois could only marvel at how Mr and Mrs Kent had taken on the responsibility of raising a child who wasn't theirs. More than that, they had taught Clark all the very best that humanity could offer, nurturing him carefully to enable him to embrace it fully yet never taking away from him the essence of his Kryptonian heritage. If a being from another planet was capable of showing such warmth, compassion and understanding, why was it that humans so often went out of their way to demonstrate the opposite?

Taking time to look at the various framed photos around the hall and in the living room, it dawned on Lois that there were no photos showing Lana. She was certain there had been at least one or two the last time she had been in the house. Rightly or wrongly, Clark had tried so hard to maintain a relationship with the girl he had fallen in love with from a ridiculously young age. He needed only to observe his own parents to see how true love and companionship could reward the soul, and maybe wanting the same for himself had left him with the tunnel vision that saw Lana as the be-all and end-all. After all, having loved her for so long, could he really give his heart to anybody else?

Clark was a genuine hero, and yet he wanted above all to be in a loving relationship - to have someone to come home to. His sense of duty might take him away from his loved ones from time to time, but he would always come back because he wanted to. Maybe he needed it to help him deal with the fact that so many people, whether or not they were aware of it, needed him.

As Lois glanced over at the photo on the china cabinet, the one depicting Clark decked out in his trademark red jacket, blue t-shirt and jeans beside a smiling Jonathan and Martha Kent, she had an epiphany. Clark's calling as the Red-Blue Blur ticked all the boxes for the typical weekend warrior who would have no time for somebody like her, and yet his approach to it was almost the complete opposite of all the others, and not just because of his extra-terrestrial origins. Her own feelings about him upon learning of his higher calling were also the complete opposite of her usual feelings when faced with such a scenario. Could Clark really need her, as Oliver had hinted at? This was all very different to anything she had felt before.

Lois was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of tiny feet softly treading the wooden floors of the house. She turned towards the kitchen to see Shelby sitting there on his haunches, staring with his head cocked to one side as if questioning her. Try as she might, she would always succumb to talking to the dog, even when pretending to be annoyed and even though she was awaiting the inevitable sneezing fits. If she didn't know any better, Shelby had figured out the best way to get her attention was by not actively seeking it. Her own curiosity and need to fill the silence would take care of the rest.

"I bet you know the whole story, don't you Shel? Smallville made you promise to keep it a secret no doubt."

At that, Shelby straightened his head, licking his lips before laying on the puppy dog eyes. He'd turned them up to eleven, pleading with her to go easy on him for colluding with Clark and not letting the cat out of the bag, so to speak.

Lois smirked. "I swear, I don't know if he gets it from you or you get it from him, but I find it really hard to stay mad when you look at me that way. So cut it out!"

Shelby's life would be changing too once Clark's story went public.

"You're gonna have all the bitches falling at your feet. Quite literally, huh?"

Shelby let out a gentle snort. If he could talk, that would be him saying "Meh!"

"Oh yeah?" she replied, enjoying this little chat with her four-legged friend. "You might feel differently when you're decked out in the red and blue."

Shelby seemed to understand her point and lowered his head accordingly. He did not want to be dressed up and paraded.

"I thought so, Shel. I'm glad to see your loyalty to Smallville doesn't extend to a love of plaid. There are limits."

Lois made her way into the living room and plopped down onto the couch, reaching for the remote control and turning on the television. The news channels were running with some boring story about politics that she held little interest in.

"The news world is gonna get a real shake-up tomorrow if we can get Tess to run our story."

It was almost 30 minutes before the door to the kitchen opened and Clark strolled in carrying their takeout. Lois was sitting on the couch still flicking through channels while Shelby had nestled on the floor by her feet, just chilling out. She had evidently been making notes and putting together the bones of her article.

"About time you showed up!" Lois grumbled good-naturedly. "I was giving some serious thought to actually making something myself." She did her best to ignore the pained whine coming from her canine companion at that little remark. The dog was too wise for his own good.

Clark put the bags of food on the kitchen counter, and Lois noticed they weren't the brown paper bags El Gordo used. The restaurant was one of her favourite places to eat in Metropolis and she'd ordered from them often enough to know they used brown paper bags for their takeouts and doggy bags.

"I was kinda expecting you to be back in a flash. What happened, did you hit traffic?" snarked Lois.

"There was a line!" Clark defended himself in equally good humour. Then raising his eyebrows mischievously, he added, "Oh, and there was this thing in Oklahoma."

"Okla-?" Lois' own eyebrows rose. "Where did you go?"

"Oaxaca in Mexico," he announced proudly. "When you said you wanted a burrito, I knew just the place. I went there with a friend once."

"You went to Mexico for some authentic Mexican," she exclaimed, nodding in understanding. Raising her eyes up to Clark's, she didn't hide the same tell-tale glint he'd seen just before he'd headed off on his errand. "Well I know where to send you if I want Chinese or Italian!"

The two of them sat on the couch and ate their lunch, with Clark eventually acquiescing to Shelby's pitiful begging for a small scrap of burrito. It was hard to tell if the dog liked the spicy pork and chicken because he didn't ask for any more, but he didn't look like he thought he'd made a big mistake either, like he had that one time when loudly grovelling for the scraps from some buffalo wings Clark and Lois had munched on a few months ago. Maybe Shelby liked a bit of fire in his belly from time to time. It was no steak with mashed potato and gravy, his favourite, but it would do.

"You know," said Lois as she switched off the television, "you might not have a spaceship anymore but I'm pretty sure that thing in the woods was a real spaceship. I found it in one of LuthorCorp's facilities out in Granville but something knocked me out when I got close. It was a force field wasn't it?"

Clark wasn't going to mention Kara's role in that incident but he was ready to proceed with caution if the conversation headed in that direction. After all, Lois was present with him in the Phantom Zone and she had seen Kara there. If Lois were to raise that topic, Clark decided he would answer truthfully. So far her reactions had been immensely positive so maybe she would accept why he'd purposely mislead her. This conversation was off the record in any case.

"You're right. It was a spaceship and it belonged to Kara. She genuinely is my cousin. I'll tell you about her story another time, but yes, that was her ship we found in the woods."

"What happened to it? I never tracked down where it was taken after Granville."

"Like my ship, it disappeared."

"I see," said Lois, narrowing her eyes as though sizing up whether or not Clark was being truthful. "OK, so if Kara is from the same planet as you, does she have the same powers as you?"

"Like I said, maybe Kara's story needs to be kept separate from mine. We still don't know how people will react when they find out about me."

"That nightmarish trip I told you about. Was that all in my head or did it actually happen? It felt so real. She was there too. Something about a mystical portal to another dimension."

Clark sighed. "That was real, Lois."

"Really?"

"Yes. The blue crystal was activated when it was in my possession, and it was meant to send me alone to the Phantom Zone," he explained carefully. This was a tricky subject because Lois had been put in danger.

"I'm sorry Clark. I know it's not relevant to the story but I need to know exactly what happened."

"OK," he began. "When I picked up that crystal, I accidentally activated the key that transports Kryptonians to the Phantom Zone. Because you tried to intervene, you were swept along too. The Phantom Zone is a sort of prison built by my father to house the worst criminals from Krypton. It's supposed to be a fate worse than death because each prisoner is at constant risk of being attacked by others, and because time stands still. The Phantom Zone is a plain of existence rather than a physical place like a planet. You were scared, and you had every right to be. The Phantom Zone is no place for a human."

Lois remembered how terrified she'd felt when she believed they were trapped in this hostile environment. It was more desolate than anywhere on Earth, and she'd been consumed by a feeling of impending doom. It was Clark's calm reassurance that had stopped her from completely losing her mind, and it was the first time she realised that Clark made her feel safe. As much as she liked to claim she could take care of herself, Clark's reassurance was most welcome.

"I still don't know what happened. I remember Kara sending me through this portal but after that, my mind's a blank. What really happened to me?" Lois asked.

Clark stood up and wandered over to the window, taking a moment to peer out at the cloudy sky. It was situations like he was about to explain that caused him endless anxious nights because people around him were put in greater danger.

"Those exiled in the Phantom Zone are constantly looking to get out if one of the portals are opened. If we're not careful, these wraiths can escape and take possession of another body. Kara was reluctant to open the portal knowing what could happen, but I convinced her that no matter what happens, we had to make sure you made it back home. When Kryptonians are sent there, they don't have any powers so Kara and I were just as vulnerable as you were. The difference is that we knew what to do there. Unfortunately, one of these wraiths made it through the portal and possessed you after you got through. For a while there, you had Kryptonian powers too."

"Wow!" she breathed. "I didn't...you know, do anything did I?"

"Do you want the long version or just the cliff notes?" asked Clark wearily. Lois' almost imperceptible shrug of the shoulders indicated that she wanted him to merely fill in the blanks in her memory instead of a play-by-play.

"The phantom that possessed you is named Faora. She is the wife of a Kryptonian warlord named Zod, who was once good friends with my father. When I ran into you at the hospital, as Faora you told me about your son and how he would destroy the world. The creature that attacked us at the wedding is Faora and Zod's son - Doomsday. I've been trying to track Doomsday since then but so far, apart from a possible attack at the Ace of Clubs, there has been no sighting of Doomsday. I'm sorry you got pulled into this whole mess but the upside is that I got to find out first hand exactly what I'm going up against."

"So the attack in the barn wasn't just a random occurrence. This Doomsday was seeking you out. So why kidnap Chloe then? And what happened to this Faora phantom?"

"Lois, this is more complicated and I would prefer to address it when Chloe is here. After what happened to Jimmy, I think he has a right to know too. As for Faora, Kara and I banished her to the Phantom Zone using another crystal once we'd returned through the portal. We would have needed our powers to deal with her."

"OK," replied Lois, realising it was best not to push too much too soon. There was also the small matter of remaining focussed on the real reason for the article - thwarting Linda Lake.

"Why do I get the feeling I've heard the name Zod before?" she mused out loud.

"Zod's spirit escaped the Phantom Zone a couple of years ago. He made his way to Smallville and managed to possess Lex. Dark Thursday? All Zod's doing. He banished me to the Phantom Zone when I tried to intervene. By the time I figured out how to activate the portal, Zod had already caused all the chaos and destruction.

"It's funny, but the aftermath of Dark Thursday had Lex and I on the same page for the first time in years. When I made it back, Zod and I faced off and I used a crystal to banish his spirit once more, freeing Lex. He had no idea what had happened or even about my involvement. He knew nothing about my Kryptonian side, but knowing he'd been possessed and was behind all that destruction left him feeling guilty. That's why he donated so many millions to help rebuild the infrastructure, and why I spent so much time helping with the relief effort."

He chuckled and shook his head, still looking out of the window.

"My time in the Phantom Zone without my powers may have left me vulnerable in other ways too. When I returned, I didn't have full use of my powers for several weeks, and working so hard on helping with the rebuilding effort took its toll on me physically. It's why I got sick and developed the cold that led to me sneezing the barn door halfway across the state!"

Just like that, Lois was taken back to their discussion in the supply room. She knew there was so much more to learn but she also had a sense of things coming full circle. So many of the terrible things that had happened in the time since she'd first arrived in Smallville were connected to Clark and his secret, and yet he was not responsible for the fact that they happened. No wonder he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders so often. She smiled brightly.

"You know, I think we've got the basis of the story. I've learned about your origins, about what it was like for you growing up, the problems you've continued to deal with, the impact on those close to you, and also why you've chosen to be the hero the city needs. You're right, we do need to save some of the really juicy stuff for another time."

"Juicy stuff?"

"Smallville, you may or may not have noticed that I haven't asked a single question about your weaknesses. Even if I knew, there is no way I would tell the readers about it. You've had to make a really tough call here in going public, and the last thing you need is an army turning up at your door. Knowing your weaknesses puts others in control."

She scooped together all her notes and stood up. Clark stared at her, mesmerized not only at how well she had taken all this, but at how she was trying to protect him at every turn. He now understood why his father had chosen her to run his election campaign despite her lack of experience. Put simply, she got him.

"Before we head back to the office, I have a few chores I want to get out of the way. If you want, I can drop you off at your apartment so you can change into some dry clothes, and I'll swing by after an hour. How does that sound?" offered Clark.

Lois agreed. "Normally I would say no to that suggestion but you need to call your mom, and I know we can be back at the Planet in a second, so alright."

Within moments, she was being cradled in Clark's arms as they whooshed their way over to a quiet corner of the alley behind the Talon. Whereas the feeling before had been one of disorientation and astonishment, it was now a feeling of exhilaration.

"Man that is such a rush!" she gushed as Clark gently placed her back on terra firma. She went inside to freshen up and grab a quick coffee, and Clark dashed back to the farm. There were no farm chores to take care of. Instead, he spent a bit of time on his laptop drafting a personal letter before emailing it to his work account, and he also called his mom in Washington to explain what was about to happen. Martha couldn't mask her sense of trepidation but she understood the reasons why Clark had taken this decision. He was an adult now and had learned that his decisions had consequences, so it was his decision to make.