At the Daily Planet, the usual bustle of reporters and photographers were surrounding the TV, watching for more updates on the earthquake in San Francisco. Lois hurried to join them and listened in.

"Although the quake is now over, lasting approximately 30 seconds, the damage is still causing havoc in some parts..." The screen flicked over to live footage of homes in half along one street and completely destroyed on the other side, with a large crack in the middle of the main road. Women were crying with their husbands or sons holding onto them, unsure whether their relatives were even alive; it made Lois quiver. "And yet, due to some unknown anomaly, many lives have been saved due to freak gusts of wind, hotspots occurring in strange places, namely inside structures where they seem to have welded back together. It's very strange, wouldn't you say Bob..." Lois tuned out as they began their unneeded analysis on a situation they couldn't help.

"Lois!" One of her colleagues, and probable admirers, shouted to her across the room, and walked over to her. Lois wasn't a fan of this guy, Rick, who wore tweed – worse than plaid – had elbow patches, slicked back greasy hair and a moustache you only see in pirate movies. But usually he wasn't a bad source of information, she could usually get anything out of him, which was useful in the newspaper business. "Crazy, isn't it? Apparently it just came out of nowhere, no readings or anything."

"Yeah, it is..." Lois nodded, more engaged in her own thought process than Rick's small talk. "Do you know if Tess is sending anyone over for post-earthquake coverage?"

Rick shook his head. "Not that I know of, I think the San Fran branch are on it, if their building stands. Besides, she'd only send the Floor 1 reporters, this is a much bigger story than the basement." He guffawed.

"Right." Lois replied dryly; if there was one thing she hated, it was people who underestimated her. That and people who disappeared in the middle of what was supposed to be a real conversation. But that was for another time. "Rick, what about these random occurrences? People's lives being saved by freak gusts of wind? Doesn't seem likely."

"Well, actually, there's a theory that the Red-Blue Blur might be involved." Rick hushed his voice, as if his existence was a big secret, or taboo, in an international newspaper company; never mind that they'd published stories about him.

Lois smiled. "And whose theory is that? Unless it's a photo, you can't catch him on video camera." Rick smiled self-satisfactorily, as if he knew something she didn't. "What have you got?"

"Well, gee, I don't know Lois," He smiled slyly. "How about we discuss it over dinner?"

It took every inch of self-control to avoid the up-chuck reflex she was feeling. "How about you tell me and I won't tell Tammy, your wife, that you're a slimy gross little man and convince her she could do better?"

Rick considered this for a moment, then gave up. "Fine. Follow me." She followed him into his office, a tiny little cubicle that for all intents and purposes should have been a janitor's closet. He leaned over his computer and double clicked on a folder. A video started playing of the early footage of the earthquake in high-def and in slow-motion. Lois waited, she thought she knew what they were waiting for. "As you know the earthquake was 30 seconds long, now this school bus," He pointed to the screen, she'd seen this footage earlier. The bus hung of the Golden Gate Bridge. "Is half on and half off..."

"Yeah..." Lois nodded, waiting for him to continue, but he didn't. Instead he stared intently at the screen, so she did the same.

"There!" He yelled.

"There, what?" Lois asked, unimpressed. She saw nothing other than the bus being swung back onto the bridge.

"The Red-Blue Blur!" Rick explained. He rewound the footage and slowed it even more, frame by frame. This time Lois did see something, a blur of colours, she thought it could have been a colourful bird or something, and she would have thought that, were it not for her belief in the crazy things that could happen, having seen most of it first-hand. Lois inched closer to the screen, as Rick froze the image. "See! To the untrained eye, no one would think anything of it, but to us, who've seen this guy in action... it's him." He nodded, conclusively.

"Is there any more footage of him in other places round the city?" Lois asked.

"Well, this is the first video I've looked at, I'd have to check." Rick answered. "I've been recording the news feed."

Lois nodded. "Great, can you have it sent to my computer. I want to look at this." Rick looked like he was about to argue, but Lois smiled convincingly, "Be a team player, Rick, remember there's no 'I' in team, and maybe I'll take you to the top with me." His ego couldn't refuse that, so he agreed as she left his cubicle.

While that was sending, Lois had an errand to run. Visiting Chloe, eh? Why don't I believe him?

Lois walked through the doors of the Talon, feeling only semi-confident that going behind Clark's back to ask his best friend whether he was lying was a good thing. Lois took a deep breath and began to climb the stairs to her cousin's and her new husband's apartment; Lois knew that this wasn't the best way to start off a relationship, but she'd been through enough liars that right now, even Clark was beginning to look suspicious. Lois always thought she knew the good guys from the bad, but she'd been proven wrong on more than one occasion; she knew Clark was a good one, a really good one, but in her gut, he'd lied to her earlier, and her gut was often smarter than her heart or head.

"Lois?" Lois spun round on the stairs, almost falling and losing a heel. Behind the counter she saw the one person she wanted to see least.

"Hi Lana." Lois smiled. She weighed her options between running up the stairs as quickly as possible, or doing the awkward thing and descend the stairs and start a conversation. She chose the latter, much to her annoyance. "I thought you left." Lana replied with a blank look, and Lois checked herself. "I mean, hi, how are you?"

Lana smiled. "It's ok Lois, Chloe told me." Lois remained silent, feeling incredibly awkward. "About you and Clark."

"Oh..." Lois walked down the stairs, hanging onto the banister. "That."

"Really, I'm happy for you two." Lana smiled, Lois knew she could hide a lie well behind a smile, she just never knew how well. Lois could see the hesitation behind Lana's sentence. She looked to the cloth in her hand and then back to Lois from behind the counter. "It ended a long time ago, it's just that neither of us wanted to admit it."

Lois smiled sympathetically. She really didn't want to ask, and she knew she shouldn't, but in that moment, Lois realised that Lana was the perfect person to help her understand Clark. She'd been with him on and off for seven years, there must have been a reason that had such a rocky relationship, and she was beginning to think it was more Clark's fault than hers. "Lana, I know we've never been close, and I don't know how to ask you this..."

Lana waited expectantly for her request. Lois looked incredibly uncomfortable, and shifted from side to side. "It's just that, you were with Clark for so long, and he has this thing... you must have noticed..." Lois inhaled sharply. "Clark just disappeared earlier, something about a dentist, and I think he lied to me about being in Metropolis, but how else could he have super-sped through the traffic from Smallville, and..." Lois looked up to face a lost Lana. "And I'm rambling," She smiled, completely embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I should go."

She turned to leave quickly and with as little more embarrassment as possible; what was she thinking, asking Lana about her newly ex-boyfriend who is now dating her best friend's cousin.

Lana, on the other hand, panicked. Lana had had this conversation with herself so many times before she found out his secret; she hoped Lois would have taken a little longer before coining on to Clark's alter ego, but as far as she could tell, Lois hadn't uncovered it yet, and wouldn't if she had anything to say about it. "Lois."

Lois turned slowly this time, feeling uncertain. Lana walked towards her this time, supposedly confidently. "I know what you mean. When I was with Clark, there was nothing more annoying for me than for Clark to disappear every time we were about to have a conversation."

Lois smiled, relieved. "So it's not just me..." She then looked puzzled. "Any theories on why he does it? He doesn't seem like the non-committing type."

Lana nodded her head side to side. "Lois, I know what you're thinking, but if there's one thing Clark Kent is not, it's a liar. And whatever the reason for him running away from time to time, it never had anything to do with us. If there's one thing I've learnt, it's that there are some things he needs to do that we might never understand."

Lois looked suddenly dejected. "Lana, how did you handle it? I mean his disappearing all the time, almost in a flash, and not getting an explanation? I couldn't handle that, I'm too... I'm the type of person that needs to know things. Is that so bad?"

Lana smiled, shaking her head. "No, I completely understand. It hurt me too, that he couldn't trust me with the truth, still can't..." Lana lied, faking a look of remorse. "But Lois, everything I went through with Clark, all the lies and secrets, disappearances, I don't regret it, because for everything I went through with him, it's all totally worth it. There will never be a man more deserving of your love than Clark Kent."

Lois looked at her, hoping for a look of sarcasm or falsity. There was none. She was telling the truth, and that's what Lois feared. Lois always knew that Smallville was different from all the rest, but to hear Lana saying that for all the heartbreak she went through, and the heartbreak Lois would probably go through with the same guy, that Clark was worth it anyway, that scared Lois.

Lois nodded, uncertainly. "I want him to be that guy," Lois smiled, feeling her guard come down around her. "But I need him to be the guy I can count on too."

Lana took her hand. "He is, always has been. There is nothing more important to Clark than his friends, and he would do anything to protect them. Trust me." Lana said it so forcefully, that she had to believe her, it was like she had the inside track which led her to believe what she said with every fibre of her being.

"Thanks Lana. And I'm sorry, I know this must have been..." Lois nodded, she didn't have to say it. She backed away to the door, and turned again to face Lana. "Don't be a stranger, ok?"

Lana smiled and nodded and watched as Lois left. It didn't matter what she said, Lana couldn't stay, wouldn't stay. Everything she'd been doing for the last 7 months had come to nothing, it was all for Clark and now he had Lois in his life. She couldn't hang around and watch that, all she could do was accept and move on. Besides, she knew Lois was the type of woman that could handle Clark's secret, but if he wasn't careful, she would figure it out long before he would tell her, if ever – it took him 6 years before Lana found out. It seemed like with Lois was going to be more like 6 days.

Hey, thanks for the reviews - sorry it's been such a while for the update, but I'm working on another chapter as we speak, it's very eventful. =)
Stay tuned.

Feral XXX