Chapter 2

Address in hand Clark departs Oliver's apartment. When he came here for it, he had determined to confront Andrea over Mia but now that he has it in hand...his resolve is wavering a little. What does he say?

Also, though he may not look it, he's really angry. He's been a father for over 4 years and it was kept from him.

Did Oliver know? Maybe he should have asked.

Did Chloe know? Well, he can't ask her currently.

The anger inside him resolidifies. He wants to see his daughter dammit. Right now.

He prepares to run west when a high-pitched tone almost splits his skull in two.

"Kal-El!" the demanding tone of his father echoes in his brain.

Dammit. Not now.

"You must come to the Fortress, Kal-El. Immediately."

Clark briefly wonders if his father was this inconvenient in his timing when he was alive. Reluctantly he decides he better see what this is about. If only to stop the skull splitting sound in his head.

Fortress of Solitude...

A short time later Clark appears within the giant crystal structure. "Why did you call me, Jor-El?" he asks.

"There was a temporal anomaly detected earlier today."

"I am aware. We have a visitor from the future. I'm dealing with it."

"They need to return to their own time frame immediately before the Darkness finds them."

Clark frowns. "Darkness? What darkness?"

"A terrible dark force has come to Earth Kal-El. Even now as we speak it is spreading like a disease, corrupting all that it touches."

"You're only mentioning this now?!"

"If I had told you sooner you would have sought it out. This is a battle you are not ready for."

"You've said that before. Many times and yet I always succeed," Clark argues, irritated that even now Jor-El seems to have no faith in him.

"You will not succeed against this, Kal-El. The darkness can see inside you. Your thoughts and feelings. It can find that one morsel of doubt that is in even the purest person and use it to possess them. If it manages to possess you it would then wield the greatest weapon this planet has ever seen."

"You think I doubt myself?"

"You are plagued with doubts, my son. I have tried all these years to help you eliminate them but I need not remind you of all the times you refused to obey me."

Clark rolls his eyes. He's really tired of having to go over his choices again and again. Maybe they weren't perfect but neither is he. Neither is anyone. "I can handle anything," he insists.

"A hollow boast of one trying to mask their insecurities," the bodiless voice retorts.

"Out of curiosity do you enjoy demeaning me?"

"I speak only the truth Kal-El. If you see that as an insult then it only demonstrates you have not yet matured enough to accept the truths of yourself."

"Why do I bother?" Clark grumbles.

"The Darkness must be stopped and you must be made ready for it. I will train you but first this visitor from the future, you must send them back before the Darkness finds them. For if it does it will gain the knowledge of future events from them."

Clark can see how that would be bad but he's not certain he wants Mia to leave just yet. He chooses not to respond to Jor-El and just departs in silence.

Smallville...

Arriving back home Clark finds Mia has dozed off on the couch, using her cape as a blanket. Clark smiles softly at the sight. Jor-El may have told him to send her back but he doesn't want to disturb her. What harm could it be to leave it to the morning and allow her to get a night's sleep.

He gently lifts her up, being careful not to wake her and carries her up to his parents' old room, lays her down and pulls the covers over her.

Clark watches her briefly curl herself up in the blankets and in her repose, she looks even younger than she is. He feels something stir in his heart. A feeling of protectiveness. He may not have done any actual tests to confirm she is his daughter but inside he feels that she is. That somehow, he just knows she is of his blood.

Though he really should make sure first. Plus, he still has to go see Andrea but now, thanks to Jor-El, he has most definitely lost the conviction to do it tonight. Tomorrow. He'll do it tomorrow.

Or at least that's what he is telling himself tonight.

When Mia woke up, she, at first, panicked at the unfamiliar surroundings. It took her a few moments to recall where she was. She was in the past...with her father. The one she had never met before.

She can easily imagine a whole list of people who would be furious at her if they knew she was here but she had to do it. For reasons her father wanted to know but she had just enough sense not to reveal to him.

She runs a hand through her short hair. There are also so many good reasons she shouldn't have done this but again she had pushed through against every single one of them and now she was finally here with the father she had so longed to meet.

"Morning."

Mia looks up and cannot stop the smile that forms at seeing her dad. "Buenos días, Papá."

Clark can't help but look at her slightly peculiarly. He's not fluent in Spanish by any means but he knows enough to know that she just called him 'dad'.

"Did I say something wrong?" Mia asks, concern and worry starting to form.

"No," Clark replies hastily. "Not at all," he assures her. "But...uh...just be warned I only know a little Spanish."

Mia floats herself out of bed and places her feet gently on the floor. "Got it. Stick to English."

Clark so tries not to feel envy at how easily she controls her flying abilities. Something he still can't do himself. "So how are you this morning?"

The sound of her stomach rumbling answers that question. She slightly flushes with embarrassment.

Clark grins amused. "Hungry. I thought so. I've got breakfast on."

"Schway!" Mia remarks chirpily.

"Schway?"

"You don't use that word in this time?"

Clark shakes his head.

"Um...let me think. That's...cool? I think I remember that word from when I was a kid."

"Ah. Now I've with you."

Yes, he is. Just like Mia always dreamed of ever since she was a little girl.

Clark watches in amusement as the brunette woman eats with gusto at the kitchen table.

Mia stops when she catches his expression. "What?"

"No. Nothing. Just glad you're enjoying it. I may not be up to my mother...your grandmother now I think about it but I guess my cooking is passable from your reaction."

"It's good. Really," she says.

"I'll take your word for it."

"Where is abuela?" Mia's curiosity gets the better of her.

"Washington. She's a Senator."

"Yes. Oh, right, yes. I should know that," she says gently slapping herself in the forehead. "We learned about Senator Kent in school."

"Really?" Clark asks, intrigued by the prospect his mother is someone of note enough to be taught in school.

"Yes," Mia says, wincing slightly. "I probably shouldn't have mentioned that though, should I?"

Clark sighs. "Mia. We're going to have this issue for as long as you don't tell me the reason you're here, in this time."

"I told you. I wanted to meet you."

"And I believe you but don't treat me as stupid, please. I know there's more than you're telling me."

Mia wrings her hands under her father's intense stare. What can she say?

She gets saved by Clark's phone ringing. "Cat?" he queries at the partner that was foisted upon him after Lois left. "Yes, I know I'm not in the office yet. It's still early...where was I yesterday? Looking for the flying woman...no, I've not found her yet but I'm following some leads and I think I'm really close…" he says, giving his daughter a knowing wink and a smirk.

Mia has to clamp a hand over her mouth to stop the laugh from escaping.

"I had nothing to do with Lois replacing you yesterday on the assignment. It was just as much a surprise to me. I thought she was still in Africa...I can't see how she has it in for you, Cat. She's never met you as far as I know...uh huh...sure...look I will be in later as soon as I follow up these leads, ok? Ok. Bye."

Why does Clark have this sinking feeling that he's about to be caught in between Lois and Cat and whatever it is that had the blonde reporter so annoyed right there?

"Who's Cat?" Mia finds herself asking.

"My partner. Cat Grant."

"Oh, I see. Wait. The Cat Grant?"

"The Cat Grant?" he asks back, confused by her tone.

"She's a big media mogul in my time. Owns her own media conglomerate. CatCo."

Clark just stares at his daughter. Admittedly he's only known Cat a short time so he doesn't exactly know what she's capable of. Apparently, a lot. "I need to get into work. I'm just...you going to be ok?"

"Quién? Me? Por supuesto, Papá," she assures him she'll be fine.

"Did you bring clothes with you?" he wonders because she can't stay in that costume.

Mia nods and points at a backpack in the corner.

Clark sighs. "I'm sorry that I need to go. I promise we'll spend time together later," he says and yes, you may be noticing that he isn't sending her back to the future. He's just not ready to do it yet. Not when he has questions, he wants answers to first. Unfortunately, he also has a job to get to. Will his life ever be simple? Probably not.

Mia watches her father blur away and lets out a breath. Yes, she will be ok. That was the truth and it's the truth because she is long used to being alone. Why she is used to being alone...well that would be one of the reasons she's back in this time period. She just needs to win her father's trust and gain his help and then...everything will be better.

By the end of the day Clark's wondering why he even bothered going to work because his mind was not on his work. It was on Mia. The adult version and the 4-year-old he's never seen.

As well as putting off sending the adult Mia back to her time he's somehow found himself not rushing off to Coast City and why isn't he rushing off?

He should be.

He should be beating down (not literally) the door to see his daughter and confront Andrea over keeping it a secret from him.

But he isn't because…

He can't even give you a why beyond Mia's appearance has forced him to recall that night and all the mixture of feelings he was experiencing that even now are almost overwhelming and he doesn't know how to deal with them.

Also, another thing he has failed to do today; have a serious talk with Lois about, well, them. Their relationship. She disappears off to Africa, no explanation. Comes back; no explanation. He only briefly saw her today and only half-listened to her rants over Godfrey and how she was going to take the 'slimeball' (at least that is what he thinks she said) down.

If his mother was here Clark is sure she would be telling him off for procrastinating on all these issues.

Later tonight. He'll go to Coast City later tonight. Just let him check up on Mia first and while he is walking into the house, he checks up on Lois by phoning her and frowns when it goes straight through to her voicemail. He leaves a brief message.

"Papá?"

"Mia," he replies finding her parked out on his couch, out of her costume now and in normal clothes. "What are you watching?" he asks in reference to the television.

The young woman shrugs. "This. That. Not those God-awful anti-vigilante ads. I can't believe how bad they treat you in this time," she says, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"It's different in yours?"

"Well...there's always some dreg who need their asses slagged that rip on you but generally, yeah."

That's good to know, Clark guesses. Makes it feel like all this isn't in vain. He looks at his daughter. He supposes he should have that talk with her about her going back to her own time. "Mia. We need to talk."

"About?" the young woman asks cautiously.

Clark sits himself down on the couch next to her and locks his hands together on his knee. "You. You being in this time. You going home."

"You don't want me here?" she asks, pain clearly written in her expression at what she thinks is her father's rejection of her.

"That's...it's not about what I want, Mia. Time travel is dangerous. I know. I've done it. It can have severe consequences. Unless you can give me a reason why you need to stay here then I'm sorry, travelling through time just to meet me really isn't a good enough explanation."

Mia is caught. She isn't ready to reveal the truth yet. What can she say? She finds herself under her father's penetrating gaze. At that moment fate intervenes when her father's phone receives a message.

Clark sighs and instead of finishing this conversation he finds himself checking his phone. As he reads the message he starts to frown. It's from Oliver asking him whether he's heard from Lois.

Clark replies no and then frowns more as Oliver points out last he spoke to her she was trying to get dirt on Godfrey and now she's not answering.

Clark dials Lois' number again and again it goes straight to the voicemail.

Goddammit.

She's in trouble again.

How does he know that one may ask?

Because it's Lois. Seriously she needs to change her middle name to 'Trouble Magnet'.

"What's wrong?"

Clark guesses his expression gave it away. "My partner at work has gone missing. I need to go find her and make sure she's alright," he replies.

"Can I help?" Mia wonders with genuine innocent earnest.

"I'm not sure," Clark errs.

"Come on Papá," she pleads with him.

Good Lord, is she pouting? Is this what all children try and pull on their parents? Clark's tempted to say yes but his cautious side wins out. After all Mia really shouldn't be here. So, he turns down her offer of help and zips away before she has a chance to attempt to change his mind.

Course what Clark is about to learn is another lesson of being a parent. Your children never listen to you.

Metropolis…

More precisely the Watchtower as its surveillance technology is exactly what Clark needs to track Lois down.

"This place is schway. What is it?"

Clark guesses he should have known as he turns round to find Mia hovering there. He gets an annoyed look on his face. "Did you listen to a word I said?"

"Of course, I did. I just figured you were worried about my safety which really isn't necessary. If you had given me a chance to explain I would have pointed out that I'm basically as invulnerable as you are."

"That isn't exactly why...oh forget it," Clark stumbles over his words before giving up. She's here. Might as well just live with it.

Mia shrugs as she touches down on the floor. "So, what is this place?" she asks, looking around.

"We call it the Watchtower."

"Whoa. Really?!" she exclaims in surprise.

"Really, what?"

"Well, the Watchtower is still a thing in my time. It just looks a lot different. I guess this is the 1.0 version."

"I guess so," is all Clark can say in reply.

Mia walks to her father's side and she tries to figure out the antiquated (to her) technology. "So, what was with the ground conveyance on the way over? Why not just fly?" she wonders.

Clark rubs the back of his neck and lets out a nervous cough. "I sorta...can't."

"Can't what?" she asks, puzzled.

"Fly. I can't fly."

Mia's mouth literally hangs open. "You gotta be fragging kidding me?! You're joking right?"

Clark shakes his head.

"But...but what do you mean you can't fly?!" she cries in shock. "It's like the number 1 thing you're known for!" she almost shouts, looking at her father as if she doesn't know him at all. Well, she doesn't beyond what everyone else knows about him.

"This isn't the time or place for this conversation," Clark decides, mostly because he's embarrassed.

"But...it's so easy!" Mia whines. "I've been flying since I was...well I started floating in my sleep when I was like 15. I think I had got the basics down by the time I was 17."

Great. Outdone by his own daughter. Clark's day just keeps getting better and better. "We're not talking about this. I need to find Lois," he says sternly, clamping down on his emotions as he turns back to the computers.

Mia frowns at the coldness her father is now giving off. Has she upset him? Now she feels bad on the inside. She doesn't want her father mad at her. Right now all she is getting is his stiff back. "So, when you say Lois, do you mean Lois Lane?"

Clark turns his head round to look at the brunette Latino. "You know her?"

"Not really. I only met her once. I got the impression she didn't like me."

"Why not?"

"Mind reading is not one of my abilities."

Clark briefly wonders if there is more than what she is saying before turning back to the mission. He needs to find Lois.

"So can I help?" Mia asks.

"Lois was investigating Gordon Godfrey. We need to find him."

"Can do," she assures him with more confidence than she should really have as she gets to work. "Frag. This guy is everywhere isn't he," she comments how he is just all over the media.

Clark sighs, slightly defeated sounding almost at his inability to stop the witch-hunt. "Yeah."

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That. In the broadcast. There's another voice underneath. Below human hearing."

Clark listens and that is when he hears it. A voice with a much darker tone speaking. It sounds almost inhuman.

"So, this Godfrey is something beyond human?" Mia proposes as an explanation.

"If he is then Lois is in even more danger than I thought she was," Clark says turning back to the computer he was working on. "I'm looking through security camera footage from all over Metropolis," he explains before he pauses it. "There she is!" he says with some relief in his tone.

Mia peers over her father's shoulder and sees the brunette woman posing as Godfrey's limo driver. "Where'd they go?"

"I can track Lois' cell phone from here...got it!"

"Vamos!" Mia cries, rushing off.

"Note to self, learn Spanish," Clark mutters to himself before he chases after her.

"Slag! Is this what I think it is?!" Mia asks as she and Clark enter the club.

Or to be more precise enter the Sex Club.

"I'm trying not to think about it," Clark says in response.

Mia shudders. "Gonna need a lotta therapy after this."

"As long as I'm not paying for it," he says in jest.

"Some father you are," she jokes back in the same manner.

Father and daughter share an almost identical grin before returning to the task at hand.

"Right. X-ray vision," he proposes to look for Lois.

"I don't have that," Mia informs him.

"No?"

The half-Kryptonian shakes her head. "In fact, I don't have any of your visual abilities."

"Well, your mother did once say she was as blind as a bat."

"So, I can blame Mamá. Good to know."

Wasn't what Clark was meaning...or was it?

Never mind. His eyes flash electric blue as he activates his x-ray vision and scans the club. There she is. Tied up and gagged in a chamber that Clark can make an educated guess as to what it is used for. "This way," he says to her as they make their way through the crowd and into the back of the club.

"I knew she would bring one of you to me but two is a bonus."

Clark and Mia spins round in the hallway they are in to find the nearly bald man standing there.

"We're here for Lois," Clark states, the farmboy persona slipping away and the powerful superhero emerging.

"That's too bad. We were just getting started, me and her," Godfrey says with a smirk.

"What have you done with her?" Clark demands to know, trying not to let his anger get out of check.

Me nothing. It was her idealism and blind faith in the vigilante she loves that has gotten her in way over her head."

Lois loves him? Or his alter ego at least. Clark mentally shakes himself. Not the time. "Let her go," he orders.

"Lois has served her purpose. She brought you to me."

"Look twip, just hand her over and you get to keep your bones mostly intact," Mia threatens.

Godfrey's eyes fixate upon her. "Interesting. You are out of place somehow young one. Where do you come from?"

Before she can respond Clark steps in front of her. "Like she said, let Lois go," he says sternly.

Godfrey's gaze turns back to the young hero. "Are you sure you can win against me? I know the doubt you feel in your heart." He scoffs. "You so called heroes are false gods, all of you, and when people stop believing in you; you'll shatter like glass."

"I don't want to go through you but I will if you force me."

"I can see it, underneath all of that bravado you're afraid you'll never be the hero you want to be. You wish you could kill me. I'm not the only one, am I? I can see that. You felt this way before, your heart is racing, you're at war with yourself, the turmoil is overwhelming."

It is freaking Clark out just how it seems Godfrey knows exactly how he feels.

"There is darkness in you and great power, I think we'll go far together you and I."

"I will never help you," Clark insists.

"You won't have a choice," the man says as his eyes go black and emerging from him comes a dark, black fog with red lightning within and a screeching sound.

Clark finds himself frozen, unable to move as the darkness advances upon him but just before it reaches him Mia zips in-between.

"NO!" the young woman roars as she brings her wrists crossing together in front of her. There is an enormous surge of static golden energy that emerges that begins to burn away at the darkness.

It screams in pain and defiance before fleeing. Godfrey falls to the ground.

Mia turns to her father. Are you alright?" she asks in concern.

"It was like he could see inside me," Clark says, his voice distant before his eyes fall upon Mia's arms. There on her wrists are two golden bracers, still glowing red slightly before they transform into the blue wrists guards of her costume.

"What?" he inquires.

"Oh. They were a gift. She said they would protect me from darkness and that it was the very least she could do for the daughter of her best friend."

"Who?"

"You know. Wonder. Woman." Mia notices her father's blank stare. "You don't know who I'm talking about do you?"

"No."

Mia groans. "Great. Give away the future Mia. You go girl," she chastises herself, muttering in Spanish. "Let's just go with she's someone you clearly haven't met yet," she says directly to her father.

Before Clark can query further he hears Lois groan from up ahead. "Um, it's better Lois doesn't see you. I haven't come up with a story for you yet," he says.

Mia nods. "I'll see you back on the farm," she says before zipping away in a whoosh of air.

Clark turns back to saving his sorta girlfriend while trying not to think about what just happened too much. Though he is guessing that that was the darkness Jor-El warned him about. He enters the room where Lois is and removes her gag.

"Not one word, Smallville. I swear to God," Lois warns him over making a comment over her predicament.

That actually elicits a small smile from the Kryptonian as he frees her.

"How did you find me?" she asks, panting a little.

"You weren't answering your phone. I got worried and I have my ways, Lois. I am a reporter after all."

"Uh huh. Let's blow this bondage ball."

Clark follows her out. "So how did you end up in there? Forget the safe word?" he teases.

"Smallville if you ever want to have children you better get off this track asap. I'm warning ya."

"Ok fine. Then let's talk about what the hell were you thinking?!"

Lois rolls her eyes. "I'm not discussing that right now, ok. I need to exert my dominance and expose that sick, little deviant. I'll see you at the Planet tomorrow," she states, broaching no debate as she strides off leaving a frowning Clark behind as he watches Lois just walk off...again.

At least she's not leaving the country this time...he hopes not anyway.

Oh terrific. Now he can add doubts over his relationship to whatever ones that smoke cloud elicited within him. What a night.

Author's Note: Sorry I've been awhile getting back to this. Obviously need to make a few small changes to the episode without Kara being in it. Small point that occurred to me when going back over the episode; Clark and Kara enter the club and split up to look for Lois. I mean why? They have x-ray vision and superhearing. It's dumb. Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews.