Chapter 66

One look at his face and Lois knew he was upset. After he had talked a few minutes with his mom, she finally managed to lure him out the door and into the barn for a talk to find out just what was up with him.

"Okay, let's have it," she ordered him as soon as she had him in the loft, the one place she knew he felt the most comfortable opening up to her. Somewhere inside, the feeling that it was her reaction to that stupid word was the cause of this mood of his weighed heavy with her.

"It was nothing." He stood with his back to her, looking out the loft window. "A train derailment in New Mexico."

"How many?"

"How many what?" Clark asked, puzzled, turning to look back at her,

"You're down. I assumed there were …deaths…That isn't it?"

"Oh, no. No, it was fine." He turned back to the window. "Some broken bones, but no, no deaths. I got everyone to the hospital in time…It was just…since I was so close…I went to see Dax-Ur's family."

"Dax-Ur?" There was no response. "Okay…so?" She watched him closely as he gripped the sill in front of him. "So?" She drew out the word so he'd take the hint. Talk about pulling teeth! Sometimes words are a lot harder to get from someone than teeth could ever be!

"They're fine." He turned and flashed her a small smile before turning his back on her again. "Apparently they didn't even know Oliver's men were ever there."

"You went as Superman?"

"Oh no. I…She had seen me before, so I went as Clark. I told her I was an old friend of his and just wanted to pay my respects. We talked for a bit." He looked down at his own hands. "She has no idea…he never told her of his origins, what he gave up for her. Can you believe that? I can't even imagine it. I fought against telling you for so long, and now I can't imagine your not knowing."

"I'm glad you told me."

"And I found out that Max …you know, Dax-Ur's son?" He turned to her again, this time leaning against the window sill and allowing himself to watch her reaction. "He's from her first marriage."

It took Lois a few seconds to understand all that this meant to Clark. "Okay. So he wasn't the kid's biological father. It means nothing, you know."

"I know. I just kind of hoped that…It just seems that every new thing I find out is against us."

"No, it's not." She moved closer and put her arms around his waist. He responded by placing his hands on her shoulders. "Clark, it looks like anything between you and me is going to be entering new territory, that's all." Lois nodded and smiled as if that settled the matter.

"Dr. Kline said 'trial and error.' Lois, do you not get that the error part of that means I hurt you? So, no. Not an option, not until we know I can't hurt you."

"But I'm willing to—"

"No. And that is final." He looked away from her and straightened his arms, in effect, pushing her away from him. "Look, I know what this means. I do. I understand. I know…It's a big part of a relationship. It's a big part of the relationship I wanted to have with you. But tonight…I'm just not sure that you're looking at it the way I am. All these tests…they seemed worth it when we were working toward—" He stopped when he saw the fierceness on her face. "Lois, without—"

"Clark, look at me!"

Grabbing his chin and turning his head back to her, she still couldn't make him do it for his eyes were still closed. "Look at me!"

He reluctantly opened his eyes, looked skywards, and finally looked down into her eyes.

"Thank you. Now listen to me. Yes, it is a big and important part of life, but it's not the only part or the most important. That's the part where we just like being around each other, day in, day out, for all the boring stuff, like talking, sharing a pizza, making jokes about my bad spelling—"

He tilted his head to the right slightly. "Or making up words?"

She smiled. "Right. Somebody's got to point those out to me. The truth is, Smallville, there's not one human being on this planet or maybe even a few billion others that I would just forego that big important part of life for just to get those other parts, but, darn it, there's this one Kryptonian fellow… he is worth it."

He gave her a faint smile. "A Kryptonian, huh? There's not too many of those around."

"I know." Her eyes went round in exaggeration. "That's why I have to grab one when I can. Besides, I like what I'm seeing in those papers about all this weird blood of mine and that 'durability' angle." She socked him in the shoulder and they both looked at her hand before their eyes locked together." Lois smiled. "I think it looks promising. Come on, I'll show you."

He didn't budge, but grabbed at her hand. "Lois…about what I said earlier. You know… that word we haven't really talked about yet? I really…"

"Oh yeah. That word. You really know how to pick your moments, Smallville. You sort of caught me off guard there tonight. But…next time you mention it, I promise I will listen very closely. Fair enough?"

He nodded and said seriously. "Next time? You'll listen? It was scary enough the first time. How do you know I'm going to go there again?"

"Clark, any man who would be brave enough to actually marry me better not be too afraid of asking me." She turned and made for the stairs. "Come on!"

She was so sure he would follow her, she never saw his hesitation or caught what he mumbled before he moved from the window.

"I'm not afraid of asking. I'm afraid of the answer."

********

Martha Kent still sat poring over the papers covering the table. "There you two are! I was just about to call it a night. These figures have my head swimming. I just don't have the background to understand it all."

"Don't worry about it, mom. I plan on asking Dr. Hamilton all about this stuff anyway," Clark looked pointedly at Lois, "when I return it all tomorrow with Lois' apology." He noticed her open her mouth to object and continued, "He's really the only one who's going to know all the answers."

"Well, ask him about this one in particular." Martha handed him one page of printed lab values and rough notes. "This is apparently about exactly what you both are trying to find out. It's a summary of all their theories about Lois' reproductive organs—"

"My what?" Lois spun around to look at Clark's mom.

"—complete with notes from her gynecologist's charts," Martha finished."

"My what?" Lois snatched the paper out of Martha Kent's hands angrily. "They have no right…What makes them think they can…"

"Lois," Clark looked over her shoulder at the page, "you signed a bunch of papers. I've been about to scream whenever Dr. Kline mentioned HIPPA laws, so I'm sure you probably gave them the right or they wouldn't have looked into it."

"It?" Her voice rose an octave. "It?"

"Sorry. What do you want me to call…it" He smiled. "Oh, I get it. You don't like anyone talking about that bodily function if it's yours, but mine's fair game! Let's have a look, shall we?" he said playfully as he slipped the paper from her fingers and stared at it intently for a few seconds.

"Hey! I'm not the alien here." Lois grabbed quickly at the edge of the paper and immediately yelped. "Ouch!" Lois looked down at her forefinger as a sliver of red blood appeared in a line across her fingertip.

"Oh," said Martha, looking up to see what had happened, "a paper cut. Don't you just hate those? Such a little thing, and they hurt like they're so much more."

Clark's and Lois' eyes were glued to the small drops of blood for several long seconds as they both held their breaths. Their eyes finally met and they breathed out in one united sigh.

"I wouldn't know," Clark said softly, "I've never had one."

********

Author's notes: Sorry for the long delay, guys, in getting this chapter posted. My computer got attacked by a stupid virus and I've been fighting it for a few days. Hopefully, the next chapter won't take so long. Thanks for all the comments! Solgis – hopefully I know where I'm going with the story. I do have some ideas. It probably could have been broken up into several, but I just decided to go with one long story and shove a lot of ideas into that one. Some people like the science; some don't, but like I said before, I may be the only one that can really delve into some of this, so I thought I'd try. Ily 18 – More Martha just for you! She really should go back to Washinton soon! LOL! WaffleNinja – short ones are okay too! Thanks for any review you give! Chewbie – let's hope I can keep making them real. PrincessBella15 – I'm not sure about the telepathy. There are a few odd powers of Superman in different incarnations that got a little silly – i.e. the super-ventriloquism in the comics in the 60's. But I do intend him to become powerful enough to push around planets. That's my Superman! CLoisHarley – and after I taunted you with having several good chapters to post while you were gone, I let you down. So sad. Oh well. I do think I have prepared the way …almost…for the good one that's been written for weeks. (insert evil laugh here)