Chapter 7

Oliver returns to his office at Luthorcorp after a trip to the Metropolis Museum where he was inspecting ahead of a gala opening he was organising for a new Egyptian exhibition. Interesting trip during which he found that the Amulet of Isis is missing from its display and that it apparently carried a terrible curse. Once upon a time he would have dismissed that as superstitious nonsense but his eyes have been opened up to the impossible a lot over these last few years.

"You know I'm starting to get worried about these frequent appearances. It's like you want to spend more time with me than your actual girlfriend," he says to the room.

"Was that a joke? It was hard to tell," Clark dead-pans.

Oliver turns round with a smirk. "So, what brings you to darken my doorstep this morning?"

"I think I need to tell Lois the truth."

"Which one?"

"About Mia. About me being a father."

"That's officially the biggest news I've heard all day. Why now?"

"Because I keep fobbing her off with excuses why I'm busy and can't spend time with her and I realise I can't keep doing that before I drive her away."

"So, you really do want to be with her?"

"Yes. Because I saw the future, recently."

"Okay, now that's officially the biggest news I've heard all day. You know you sound crazy when you talk like that right?"

Clark gives Oliver a look. "After all we've seen and what I've told you that's your 'too crazy' line?"

"Slow day."

Clark's not sure that reply makes sense. Whatever. "In the future Lois already knew about me, what I didn't see is how I told her or when. My instincts have always been to keep my secret, but then I see 5 minutes of the future that seems too good to be true, and ..."

"Wait, wait, wait," the blond billionaire stops his friend. "I thought we were just talking about telling her you're a father. Not the you're from another planet secret."

"Well, I've been thinking about that one too but I didn't…"

"Want to drop too much on her at once?" Ollie finishes.

Clark shrugs helplessly.

"Did you come over here hoping that I would try to talk you out of telling her?" Ollie asks in a sudden revelation.

"It crossed my mind," Clark admits.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but I say go for it. On both counts. Coming out was the best thing I ever did, I can finally be myself around here and it turns out people actually like the real me."

"A handsome, charismatic billionaire. Can't imagine why," Clark retorts sarcastically. Though to be fair, public opinion has seemed a bit more evenly split on vigilantes this last little while. Which is a good thing.

"Look at this," Ollie leads Clark over to a table covered in gifts he has received from the public. He picks up a cereal box with a cartoon Green Arrow on it and a note attached which he reads aloud. "'For breakfast after a long night of keeping us safe.' It's the sweetest thing. Oh, and my new favourite cereal. And they sent spoons," he says, sounding like a child at Christmas.

"If I remember correctly, you coming out to Lois did not have a happy ending. You told Lois the truth and she dumped you," Clark recalls.

"Uh, we broke up, alright," he concedes. "Look, Lois and I were never really meant to be together. Clark, she loves you…" he chuckles, "that makes you a lucky man. Take it from me; living without love is not really living it's just sort of…existing. The question you have to ask yourself is; what are you willing to risk for love?"

"It's more complex than that. She loves the Blur."

"Which is you."

"She doesn't know that so how can she love me and him at the same time?"

"I think you're overcomplicating things, Clark."

"I'm not sure I am," the tall alien argues.

"Didn't you just tell me you were together in the future?" the blond archer reminds his friend.

"That is definitely more complex because I think…I'm not sure…but I think the future I saw is the version Mia comes from. The one where I never know she exists."

"How does that work?"

"I have no idea but I think I'm correct. In that case Oliver, no matter how great that future looks, I can't be that man I met. I can't not be Mia's father now that I know."

"You're making it sound like it's an either or situation Clark. That you can have that future with Lois or you can be Mia's father but somehow can't have both."

"What if I can't?" Clark asks the honest, earnest question he has been dreading to answer.

"Oh boy," Ollie murmurs as he runs his hand through his blond hair. Clark is clearly tying himself in knots. "Clark, I can't tell you what to do here because you must decide what it is you want and only you can make that decision."

"The only thing I can say with absolute certainty, Oliver is that I want Mia in my life. I can't turn my back on my child."

"If Lois truly loves you, and I'm certain she does, then she'll understand that, Clark. She'll realise that being with you comes with a daughter in tow and she'll accept that."

"What if she doesn't? What if she can't?" Clark asks, expressing his inner fears.

Oliver sighs. "Didn't you tell me you were trying to put your doubts to rest and move forward?"

"My body may be virtually invulnerable Oliver but my heart is just as fragile as yours," Clark says in a moment of utter and complete honesty.

"You said it at the start, Clark. If you don't explain your absences you're likely to drive her away. Is that what you want?"

"No."

"Then you know what you have to do."

"I have to tell her."

The Daily Planet…

Of course, Clark saying he's going to tell Lois and actually working up the nerve to do so are two entirely different things. When he first tries at work they end up trying to speak over each other and then Cat arrives, pushing her desk against his and Lois'.

Even someone as dense as him can tell that Lois and Cat really don't like each other and the sniping at each other is also a big clue. Seeing that Cat isn't going to leave them alone he tells Lois to meet him up on the roof in 5 minutes.

Five minutes later Clark stands behind the door and takes a deep breath. This may not be the best place to tell her but it seems like the only chance he is going to get today. What with her covering the Gala at the museum tonight.

He opens the roof entrance door and is stunned by Lois' appearance. She had been wearing a jacket down in the press room and it was covering up a gorgeous Egyptian themed dress that shows off her figure. "Wow. You look beautiful. Did you get that necklace for the gala?" he asks since it really stands out. "It's so Egyptian."

"I must locate the treasures of Isis," she says in a rather imperious tone.

Clark frowns a little in confusion. "You mean the article that Cat's working on?" he asks about Cat mentioning she was working on a story about a missing amulet from the new museum exhibit. A story she tried to rope him into. Luckily, he avoided that pitfall.

"Where is this Cat now?"

"She's probably on her way to the Luthorcorp loading dock…and I know that it goes against every bone in your body not to chase down a lead, Lois but there is something that's more important that you need to know. I wanted to tell you this before. I just didn't know how but if you and I are going to move forward you need to know this. It explains why I'm been blowing you off a lot lately…and I'm doing this all wrong," he laments as he is clearly rambling.

"You said this knowledge was of great importance to me," Lois says.

Clark nods and summons up the nerve. "You see I, uh, recently discovered something. And I swear I didn't know this until a few weeks ago. I discovered that I have a daughter."

There. He's said it. Now he waits for the response.

"That is of no importance to me," Lois coldly dismisses it.

Clark is stunned. "No importance?" he asks, flabbergasted at that. How can she be so dismissive of the fact he just told her he has a child? "Lois?" he queries her continued silence. In fact, she's been acting weird since he got here. Still ignoring him he shouts, "Lois!"

"This vessel might have once been called "Lois" but now it serves "Isis," she declares before she takes to the air and flies away, leaving an utterly shocked Clark standing there like an idiot. Of all the times he needs to fly now would be one of them but unfortunately that ability still eludes him.

Watchtower…

"I'm seriously starting to think I'm the one who's cursed instead of Lois," Clark is complaining to the only person he could turn to for help; Oliver. He is currently trying to find Carter Hall(aka Hawkman) since the man has been reincarnated over and over since the time of Isis, he might know how to stop her.

"How's that?" Ollie queries.

"Trust me. Almost every moment where I try to tell one of my secrets has something go wrong."

"Ok," Ollie mutters, thinking Clark's exaggerating.

The computerised voice responds to Clark's attempts to find with "Carter Hall is offline. Attempt failed. Carter Hall is offline, attempt failed."

"Just typical you know? Just when we need a lesson on how to De-Isis Lois, professor Hawkhead takes a sabbatical," Oliver complains and he is as worried over his ex as Clark is.

"Oliver, we need help," Clark decides because they are in way over their heads here.

"Your daughter?" Ollie guesses.

"I already phoned and asked her before you got here. She doesn't know anything about this. She's not and I quote 'a walking encyclopaedia on the past…or the present…or the future'."

"Spunky…but unhelpful," Ollie remarks.

"It's not that surprising, Oliver. I didn't raise her did I. She wouldn't know anything that happened in my life."

Ok, Ollie can definitely hear the guilt in Clark's voice when he says that. "Still two of you would be handy in a situation like this."

"I can always phone her back if we need her but that's irrelevant if we can't find Lois."

"True but if Mia is staying Clark and if she's going to be flying around doing heroics we may want to put her on the system. Just a suggestion for later, after we find Lois."

Clark looks at Oliver curiously, wondering the reasoning behind that suggestion. Then again if Mia is staying and she's going to continue using her abilities…think on it later. Find Lois first. "There is one other person we can call," he raises. "Tess."

Oliver looks at Clark like he's lost his mind. "Did you hit your head? A: Tess Mercer can't be trusted. B: She can't do what Chloe did. No one can take Chloe's place," he argues as his pain of loss comes shining through.

"I miss Chloe as much as you do, Oliver," Clark says in a gentle voice. "But if we don't ask Tess for help then I hope you brushed up on your Egyptian history."

Oliver turns to a stack of book sitting on a table off to the side. "Courtesy of a once lovely, now livid museum curator. I cancelled tonight's gala. Adrianna was not thrilled to hear that news. I told her a friend had unexpectedly flown in," he explains what he did after Clark phoned him about what happened to Lois.

"Please tell me these books are going to explain what happened to Lois," Clark says as he zips over and begins to speed read them.

"Whoa, whoa," Ollie tries to get him to slow down. "The Isis myth isn't just about some Goddess; it's about what people are willing to risk for love."

"I had my lecture on love for the day, Oliver, remember," he says, referencing their talk earlier.

"Fair enough," Ollie concedes before continuing to explain what he understands about this situation. "Her husband, Osiris, was killed by his brother, Sade, out of jealousy. I guess being an only child does have some perks," the archer quips which earns him an eye-roll from his friend. "Anyway," he continues, "Egyptians believe that a person's soul remained in their heart, so when Sade dismembered Osiris's body and scattered all the pieces…"

"He wanted to make sure that his soul never found peace," Clark gets.

"Exactly…but the mighty Isis tried to resurrect Osiris. So, she recovered his body, piece by piece, but she was never able to find the burial jar containing his heart. And to make sure that she never did, Sade trapped her spirit in an amulet."

"Now that she's back, she's going to finish what she started. If we can find that jar then she'll find us," Clark comes up with a plan.

Oliver can see Clark isn't quite grasping how serious a situation they are potentially facing. "Oh Clark, because of his lost soul, Osiris was doomed to rule the underworld for all eternity. If Isis succeeds in resurrecting him, his kingdom will also rise. She will literally unleash hell on Earth."

"So, a typical Tuesday then," Clark quips with morbid humour.

"That's a sad reflection on our lives," Ollie has to say.

Clark said nothing in reply as he zipped away from the Watchtower. He's currently heading for the loading dock he mentioned earlier to Isis to try and find the burial jar with Osiris' heart which they can then use to lure Isis into a trap. Only when he gets there he finds Cat about to take a picture of 'Lois' breaking in. Putting protecting Lois first he grabs Cat and drops her off far away.

The only problem with that plan is that in the several seconds it takes him it is all Isis needs to grab the jar and disappear.

Come on! Seriously?!

Clark does his best to try and find her but nothing. Now that Plan A is a total bust, he decides to reunite with Oliver so they can come up with a new plan. As he walks into Oliver's office at Luthorcorp he hears Tess's voice.

"You don't have to throw me out Oliver, I'm just trying to protect Clark."

Clark walks in. "Protect me from what?" he asks, wondering just what the hell is going on.

"Apparently the third wheel of your bullpen bust, thinks that Lois is the Blur," Oliver informs him.

Clark mentally swears. "Why is it you insisted on partnering her with me again?" he asks Tess sine she is his boss.

"I had my reasons," Tess replies. "And stop making that face Oliver," she tells him off without even needing to see his face. She just knows him. "But to ease your worries I erased all the security footage of Lois crumpling a metal door with her hand, and throwing a security guard across a warehouse. Cat saw what she saw, but at least now she can't prove it."

"Thanks for the backup," Clark says gratefully. "But we have another problem, Lois found Osiris's heart, and now I can't find her."

Ollie comes up with, perhaps, their last chance to stop Isis. "Well, she still does have one more layover before our non-stop to hell, she has to reunite the heart…"

"With the body to make Osiris whole," Tess finishes for him.

Ollie sighs and looks at Tess annoyed that she interrupted him. "There's a sarcophagus at the exhibit, it's rumoured to hold an ancient priest of the underworld, now I'm thinking…"

"That high priest is actually Osiris," Tess interrupts again.

This time Ollie stares at the redhead intensely but she shows no reaction. "You stole my thunder there, Tess," he complains.

"Look every one of those crates has a name of the museum on it, if Isis saw that, she'll know where the artefacts are headed," Clark points out.

"Then it's only a matter of time before we become permanent residents of the underworld and we have no idea how to get this Egyptian genie back in her bottle," Ollie lays out the stark facts of the rather dire situation they are now facing.

"You don't but I might," Tess speaks up as she sits herself down in Ollie's chair.

The blond archer shakes his head at her. "Sure, yeah just go ahead make yourself at home," he rattles off sarcastically before moving to stop her. "But please do it somewhere else. Off the laptop," he snipes at her as he closes said laptop on his desk.

"You don't trust me still, Oliver, I get it, but you need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture," the redhead argues with her ex.

"Yeah, like the one that you're trying to paint yourself into? Our team, we protect secrets, we don't keep them from one another. I'm not sure you know the difference," Ollie lays out his main problem with her.

"Lex kept a record of all of Luthorcorp's active excavation sites, unfortunately he also deleted it. However, nothing in cyberspace is totally lost. So, it might take me a little bit of time with your low-tech laptop here, but I think that I can reconstruct the files," Tess explains how she can help if they'll just let her.

"Time is not a luxury we have. Please hurry," Clark requests as he heads for the door.

"Where you going?" Ollie asks.

"Try to prevent the end of the world," is the answer before the alien hero vanishes in a gust of wind.

"God, you'd think he would have learnt the merits of teamwork by now," Ollie grumbles.

"Isn't much of a 'team' in your 'teamwork' at the moment is there, Ollie?" Tess points out as she opens up the laptop and gets to work.

"Don't make good points when I don't like you."

"I'm just saying…"

"Well don't. Ok. I know things haven't been the same…"

"Without Chloe."

Ollie shakes his head. "Not the time. Keep working. I'm going to get us some help."

"Who?"

Ollie doesn't answer and gets his cell phone. Let's just hope she's at the farm.

Back at the Metropolis Museum Clark finds the possessed Lois grieving over the fact Osiris' body isn't there in the sarcophagus. "You can't bring him back. It's over," he declares.

Isis sniffles. "It cannot be over. It is eternal," she argues, unwilling to accept the loss of her love.

"Even if his body was there, you can't risk hell on Earth, not just for love," he argues.

"Then you do not know love," she proclaims.

"I do. The woman I love is the vessel you took over and I want her back."

"You would not risk the world for her?"

"Not for such a selfish reason."

"Then do not pretend what you feel is love. For thousands of years my heart beat only for one man. What you know of these things is but the wisdom of a child. Osiris was cut into a thousand pieces, he was doomed to the underworld, my spirit was ripped from my flesh and blood and I have waited lifetimes for him. All of what we suffered was worth what little time we had together and I would bear any cost to be reunited with him even for a moment," the Goddess explains how she feels. It's intensity to her.

It's not that Clark is unsympathetic but he cannot accept risking the world for any reason. Not even love. "Your memory will have to be enough."

"Have you given this woman your heart?"

Clark hesitates to answer because he's never told her how he feels.

"You hesitate to answer," Isis notices.

"She knows how I feel," he says, more out of belief than fact.

"But you hold yourself back from her, hmm?" she queries, peering deeply into him or so it seems. Then a memory strikes the Goddess. "What was it you said to me up on the roof earlier this day? That you have a child but it is not with this vessel, is it?"

Clark remains silent.

Isis takes that as confirmation, a tiny smile forming as she sees a vulnerability in the man before her. She strides towards him and Clark moves away, the two circling each other. "I see now. You do not know true love nor can you give it to this woman. You can never give this vessel your entire heart for a part of it will always belong to the mother of your child."

"I don't love…we have a child. It wasn't a commitment."

"Ah so young. So foolish. There will always be a connection to this other woman. It is forged in flesh and blood. Do you think this vessel will accept that, hmm? Will she accept only ever having part of you? You cannot understand me for you cannot risk your heart completely for this vessel. However, I can," she says with renewed determination and then in an instant she rushes forward and shoves Clark hard, sending him flying. He lands atop the sarcophagus and suddenly magical, golden ropes appear to hold him down tight.

Clark groans as he strains against his magical bonds. "Isis, I know how much you love Osiris but you cannot sacrifice two lives, let alone the world, just to see him again."

"True love is worth any sacrifice," she declares with absolute certainty. "And if I cannot restore him to his original body…well yours will just have to suffice," she says coldly.

Light floods over his body and Clark groans in pain as the ropes bind him tighter. As Isis begins the ceremony to sacrifice him to Osiris, he can only mutter, "I hate magic."

Things aren't looking too good for Clark until the sound of something being smashed on the ground distracts Isis before she can complete the ceremony.

"There's gotta be an easier way for a girl to get a date in this town."

Clark has never been more grateful for Oliver's impeccable timing as the Green Arrow arrives on the scene.

"Your heart is brave, but I can see it belongs to a lonely soul. A warrior with a vacant heart. You try to fill it but the harder you try, the emptier it becomes," Isis easily manages to analyse Oliver's heart.

"Yeah, well I may be lonely, but I'm still going to kick your Egyptian ass," Ollie says, trying to brush off just how close to the mark she struck.

"If you truly meant to harm me you would've done so by now. But you do not wish to hurt this body," the Goddess rightly deduces.

"Childhood hang-ups. I was taught never hurt a girl. Her on the other hand…" he points up at the circular oculus in the roof.

Isis frowns as a whooshing sound announces the arrival of the 'Maiden of Might'.

Mia lands on the floor, face to face with the possessed Lois. "I, on the other hand, don't like your vessel. Not even a little," she says as she backhands Isis across the room.

"Insolent little demi-Goddess!" Isis sneers as she gets back to her feet and throws a ball of golden energy at Mia which strikes the half-Kryptonian dead in the chest sending her flying back.

Mia groans a little as she gets back to her feet. "Ok, magical golden energy balls hurt. That's a first," she mutters.

"Your lessons in pain are only just beginning, wench!" Isis promises as she grabs Mia and throws her across the room, breaking more stuff. She leaps over to stand over Mia and forms another ball of energy in her hand but before she can release it, she is sent flying backwards by a blast of red energy.

Mia rises to her feet, her hands glowing with red energy. "You're not the only one who can throw bolts of energy around, dreg."

Isis stands up, sneering. "Your heart is hollow with loss, child. I can sense it."

"Can you sense the slagging you are about to receive?" Mia asks back.

"You shall not stop me," Isis declares as the two resume shooting energy blasts at each other.

Meanwhile, Oliver has made his way over to where Clark is tied down. "Didn't know she could shoot energy blasts," he remarks in regards to Mia.

"Me neither," Clark says earning him a peculiar look from the blond archer. "Get me out of here," he requests.

Oliver tries to see what he can do to these magical bindings. "By the way I…Tess found the answer in Lex's files. Sunlight through the amulet. That's what'll trap her again."

An idea strikes Clark as the golden glow of the ropes fades away and he finally manages to break free. "I'll hold her. You get the amulet off her," he tells Ollie.

Ollie nods in agreement, readying an arrow.

Clark watches his daughter and his possessed (sorta) girlfriend continue to tussle and waits until Isis is distracted before he zips in and grabs her arms from behind. "Now Oliver!" he yells.

Ollie's trusty aim doesn't let him down as he shoots the amulet off of Lois' neck, sending it into the air.

"Mia! Blast it!" Clark yells, making a guess as to what sort of energy it is as she fires.

In an instant a red beam leaves Mia's fist and strikes the amulet which glows with light, pulling Isis' spirit out of Lois and reimprisoning it within. Lois goes limp in his arms.

Oliver picks up the amulet. "I'll put this somewhere where the sun will never shine upon it again," he vows.

Lois begins to stir.

"Lois?" Clark queries in concern.

"Clark? Did we take a behind the scenes tour of the museum?" she asks.

"Not exactly," Mia speaks up which interrupts anything else Lois was about to say that may have involved her confessing her love for the farmboy and with that the future shifts again.

Author's Note: And the slow changes to the future continue with Mia interrupting the moment Lois tells Clark she loves him. Also changing the conversation between Clark and Isis to her auguring that Clark's heart is divided. It's not made exactly clear just how strong or powerful Isis truly is while possessing Lois' body but I figured I would make her strong enough to match Mia in a fight which was also a good opportunity to show that instead of heat vision she can project energy blasts from her hands which is in-line with the comic's version of Cir-El. Thanks to everyone who has written reviews.