Chapter 5

Chloe was just opening her mouth, either to apologize or ask more questions, when Clark and Kal both clapped their hands over their ears, screamed, and fell to their knees, their eyes closed in pain.

"CLARK!" They all shouted as they rushed toward a version of Clark. Pete and Chloe, being closer to the younger version, ran to him. While Jonathan and Martha grabbed the older Clark. Kal stopped screaming in pain almost immediately, seemingly able to keep the pain in. Clark, however, couldn't. The pain lasted for only a few seconds but to everyone in the kitchen, it felt longer.

Once the shrill ringing stopped, Clark and Kal both removed their hands, not that covering their ears did any good anyway.

"That noise," Clark panted as he struggled to his feet. "It was the same noise I heard right before you appeared."

Kal's breathing was labored also, as he allowed Jonathan and Martha to pull him up. "The Book of Rao made that noise before it sent me and Zod here." His eyes widened before he broke free from his parents and rushed out the house.

"Wait!" Jonathan shouted, tearing after him along with everyone else. Kal was standing in the yard, staring at the same place he and Zod had appeared.

Where a new person now lay.

The newcomer was obviously a woman. She was facing away from them, so they couldn't see her face. She had long, dark brown hair, and was almost soaked to the bone.

Kal was frozen. He knew that hair. He knew that body.

Lois.

What was she doing here? How did she get here?

"Who's that?" Pete asked, pointing at the woman. A useless gesture since they all knew who he was referring to.

"I don't know." Clark said, looking at his future self suspiciously. "Do you know who she is?"

Kal swallowed. "Yes." He whispered, then slowly made his way over to Lois' prone body.

Martha grabbed his arm. "What if she's dangerous?"

Kal smiled slightly. "I trust her with my life."

Martha's eyes widened in shock at the sincerity ringing through his voice and released his arm.

Kal made his way over to the woman's front and crouched down by her head. Gently, he brushed the hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear so he could look at her. Her breathing was normal and there didn't seem to be a scratch on her. The time travel must have taken a lot out of her and rendered her unconscious. Carefully, he slipped his arms under her and lifted her up. Holding her to his chest protectively, her face tucked in his neck, he looked at his parents who were staring at him and Lois with confusion.

"She needs to rest. I'm going to put her in my room. I'll answer your questions later, once she wakes up." His voice left no room for argument as he determinedly stalked toward the house, careful not to jostle Lois too much.

Once he was gone Chloe broke the silence. "That woman… she looked really familiar." She was frowning as she desperately tried to figure out how she knows the mysterious woman.

"It wasn't Lana." Pete said. "I know that much. But I didn't recognize her. Clark?"

Clark was staring at the house in puzzlement. "I've never seen her before."

"Obviously she's from the same future Kal is." Jonathan stated, almost tripping over Kal's name.

"Man, this is so messed up." Pete said, rubbing his head. "The future? Seriously?"

"Tell me about it." Clark mumbled.

Chloe smiled. "I think it's pretty cool! Just think about it! We could learn all sorts of things about the future. Don't you want to know what your life is like seven years from now?"

"Chloe," Jonathan said, sternly, "Kal isn't going to tell us about the future. Who knows what could happen if he shares too much? We need to find a way for him to get home without completely changing the future."

Chloe looked like she wanted to argue for a moment before dropping her shoulders in defeat. "I guess you're right. I just want to know if I'm a reporter for the Daily Planet or not."

Clark grasped her shoulder. "I'm sure you are. You're a fantastic reporter. The Daily Planet would be stupid if they didn't hire you."

Chloe gave him a small smile. "Thanks Clark."

"So, what do we do while we wait for our mystery guest to wake up?" Pete asked.

"We could watch a movie?" Clark suggested.

"Movie sounds good." Jonathan agreed, smiling at his son. "I have a few chores I need to do but then I think I'll join you guys. I haven't sat down and watched a movie for a while."

Martha smiled as well. "I'll bake some brownies. I prefer something sweet when watching movies over popcorn any day."

Clark laughed. "And you wonder where my sweet-tooth came from?"

She slapped his arm playfully. "You may get that from me, but you got your manners from your father."

Jonathan laughed as he headed to the barn while the others headed to the house.

~o0o~

Kal could feel Lois was starting to wake.

After placing her in his younger self's bed, he pulled the desk chair over and sat by her side the entire time, not wanting to leave her. Occasionally he would run his hands gently through her, now completely dry, hair. He listened to her heartbeat, its steady beat soothing him like no other sound could.

He knew it had been over an hour since she had appeared, the clock on his nightstand telling him as much. He picked up a change in her heartbeat and breathing and knew she was waking up.

Sure enough, her eyes fluttered as she fought to regain consciousness. With a loud gasp, she shot upwards, her eyes wide as she tried to gather her bearings.

"Easy," Clark cautioned, grasping her shoulder and gently pushing her back down. "Take it slow. You've been unconscious for over an hour."

Her eyes snapped toward him. "Clark?"

He smiled. "Yeah, it's me Lois."

She lunged forward again, this time throwing her arms around his neck as she hugged him as tight as she could. "You're okay?"

Clark chuckled as he hugged her back. "Am I okay? Why wouldn't I be okay?"

She released him from her death grip and stared at him seriously. "Because I know you went to fight that man. Zod?"

Clark froze, his smile slipping off his face. "What?"

Lois bit her lip. "I know Clark. I know you're The Blur."

His eyes widened. "How?"

She gave him a small smile. "Only Clark Kent kisses like that."

He blushed. Running a hand through his hair he found he couldn't look at her eyes any longer. "I wanted to tell you. For so long I wanted to tell you. I technically have told you before, but something happened, and your memory was erased. I never wanted to lie to you. I hated it. But I had to protect you. You would have been in danger had you known."

"Clark," Lois grasped his chin and forced him to look at her. "No offense, but that is the biggest load of bull I've ever heard." She smiled.

He blinked. "What?"

"Not knowing was keeping me safe?" She rolled her eyes. "Puh-lease, Smallville. I put myself in danger everyday just for a run-of-the-mill story. Why would knowing your secret change that? It probably would have kept me safer if you had just told me the truth. After all," she gave him a long look, "if you had told me the truth about you being the Blur, I never would have believed that Zod guy, or whatever, was him. He never would have gotten that close to me."

Clark looked like he might cry. "I know, and I'm so sorry. Zod knew how much I care for you and used you to get to me. You don't have to worry about him anymore though, he's gone."

She nodded, a steely glint in her eyes. "Good. Now, why am I in your room?"

Clark stroked her hair. "I know this is going to be hard to believe, but we are currently in the past."

She blinked. "What?"

"Seven years in the past, actually." He nodded.

"Um, how?"

"That disk you took?" He asked her, waiting for her to nod in remembrance. "It's called the Book of Rao. I was fighting Zod and accidently touched it and it transported us here. I don't know how you got here though." He frowned, not understanding.

Lois bit her lip. "I do." He raised an eyebrow. "I was worried about you, so I tracked your phone to that building. I saw lights on the roof and knew that was where you were, so I went there. I saw the disk and for some reason, touched it. Next thing I know I'm here."

Clark nodded. "Okay, that makes sense."

"Clark, do you have any idea how to get us back?" Lois asked, worried.

He sighed. "I have one idea, but it is going to require changing my past."

"Oh," she bit her lip, "I'm guessing that was something you wanted to avoid?"

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I've changed my past before, Lois. I reversed time to stop Lana from dying. It worked but because Lana lived, someone else had to die." He looked at Lois, tears in his eyes. "My dad paid the price."

Lois gasped and immediately pulled him into a hug. "It wasn't your fault. You had no way of knowing that was going to happen."

"I was warned. I was told there was going to be consequences for changing my past, but I didn't listen." Clark cried. "I was so convinced that I loved Lana that I ignored everything telling me it was a horrible idea. If I could do it all over again…"

"Maybe you can." Lois whispered, rubbing soothing circles on his back. "Maybe we can find out how to change things for the better. We are already changing the past just by being here, so why not go big or go home?"

Clark gave a breathy chuckle. "We'll see. I have to talk to Jor-El first."

Lois nodded. "Of course." She paused. "Um, who's Jor-El?"

Clark gave a genuine laugh as he pulled away. "Okay, I have a lot to tell you."