The drone of the radio and the late hour were lulling him into a trance. For the past week, Clark had been pushing himself to help anyone and everyone who needed it. Ever since he had decided to step back into the world of the living, he knew that he had some catching up to do. While he hadn't stopped patrolling the past few weeks, he had certainly put a lot of his heroics on hold in order to continue his training. Then there was still the threat of Zod and the Kandorians, who still seemed to have vanished into thin air. But above all else, the knowledge that his father was alive had left him a mess.
He wrestled with his options every single day and seemed to land at a completely different decision at the end of each one. There were so many possibilities and outcomes that it made his brain hurt, but thankfully, he had Lois to bounce his ideas off of. In retrospect, he had been an idiot to even attempt to hide it from her, both because she would have eventually found out and because she was good at giving him advice. She never told him what to do, instead opting to agree with some points he'd make, while also pointing out the flaws in others. Regardless if he decided to meet him or not, he had at least come to the decision to try and find him, though his efforts had proven to be futile. Like the rest of the Kandorians, Jor-El seemed to have disappeared, so he turned most of his focus to getting settled in back at work.
When he had appeared back at the Planet last week, Tess was more than happy to have him back. He knew that she knew he was the Blur, so he wasn't shocked that she wanted to keep a close eye on him. But Lois had pointed out that her surveillance on them was inevitable, so they might as well keep her under close watch too. While his reemployment at the Planet was necessary for keeping Tess close and for trying to reintegrate himself back into the human world, he couldn't deny that his reasons were selfish, too.
After he had saved Lois from John Corben, he had laid awake that night for hours replaying the kiss in his mind and thinking about what it meant. His first instinct had been to deny it. Yes, she had kissed him, but she had also just been thrown across the room like a sack of potatoes and knocked unconscious. For all he knew, she had been dreaming or hallucinating when she kissed him. She was vulnerable and injured and he just happened to be there.
But the more he thought about it, the more he came to the conclusion that it was more than that. All of the pieces were slowly coming together and that kiss had been just what he needed to see the truth. Something had changed within him when she left. Something had changed when she came back. And he knew now that it wasn't just one-sided. The way she interacted with him now was completely different than how she treated him in the past. The way she looked at him now was like he hung the moon. The way she talked to him held a softness and vulnerability that he'd never been privileged enough to hear. The way she touched him… well, that had certainly changed. She had always punched him in the arm or bulldozed right over him, but the way she leapt into his arms in the Fortress and when he returned to the Planet was nothing short of perfection.
Then there were their near kisses in the barn and in the kitchen. She was keeping herself at a distance and he wasn't entirely sure why, but he knew now that it had to do with whatever happened between her and his future self. His mind had already run wild with the possibilities and the images that he had conjured up had been enough to force him to the Fortress to cool down. Whether she ever admitted the truth or not, he knew that there was a new layer to their relationship and it was one that he wanted to explore desperately. But he wouldn't push her. Simply having her in his life right now was enough and he feared that if he pushed her before she was ready, she'd leave him. And that was not an option.
"...along the Israeli-Syrian border. Initial reports claim Israeli jet fighters bombed a guerrilla base, killing 49 soldiers and 13 civilians. Damage to the base is said to be heavy, and the Israeli jets are reported to have made it back to their headquarters safely."
The sounds of the radio seeped back into his mind as his thoughts drifted away from Lois. But right on cue, the woman captivating most of his daily thoughts and nightly dreams entered the bullpen. She moved easily through the doorway, head down as she scanned the papers in her hands before depositing them on Molly's desk without a single glance up. As she made her way over to her desk, he immediately cut the radio off and exited out of the multiple tabs he had open. While he couldn't pull up Tess's research directly at work without fear of her spying on him, it didn't mean that he couldn't scour the internet for articles about strange symbols and the possibility of aliens on Earth. That was something Tess would expect, at least.
As he bent down to grab his phone, he felt Lois's presence standing in front of him. Raising his eyes over the ledge of his desk, he found her staring at him with a raised eyebrow and a quizzical smile on her lips.
"You can put away the pepper spray, Smallville. It's only me," she said with a laugh and shook her head. The long chocolate tresses swayed slightly and he caught the scent of her shampoo. She rarely wore her hair down at work and when she did, all he could think about was how it would feel to run his hand through it. Realizing that she was staring at him now, he swallowed and tried to concentrate on what she had just said to him.
"I wasn't hiding," he mumbled. Her smile only grew and she rolled her eyes playfully as she took a seat in front of him. He expected her to log in to her computer and start working, but he was surprised to find that she continued to stare at him. Ever since she had kissed him, he found that she had been doing that a lot. While they hadn't specifically talked about the kiss, he felt that their short conversation about what may or may not have happened between her and his future self had smoothed things out between them. Well, at least on her end. She was much more relaxed around him now, unphased and unembarrassed about how much she looked at him or how she tended to find any excuse to touch him. But for him, it was driving him insane.
She told him she needed time and that was fine. He was going to give her all the time in the world to do whatever she needed to do if it meant that eventually, he could be with her like he wanted to. But in the meantime, he was going crazy about now being able to do anything about it. It was like they were together in every aspect except the physical one and while he knew that wasn't the only thing that mattered… it still mattered enough. Glancing at her again, he found she'd rested her chin on folded hands and her eyes narrowed as his flickered from her gaze back to his own computer screen.
"Well, looks like another thrilling Friday night... just you and me flying the red eye on this paper airplane," she said, her smile returning once again. "Almost like you never left the cockpit."
"Well, it's nice to have my copilot here," he replied, earning him another dazzling Lois Lane smile. If she kept doing that, he swore he was going to speed them both into the copy room and have his way with her. The shameless flirting between them had certainly been ramped up a couple of notches since that night in the kitchen and he wasn't sure how long he was going to be able to hold out. Thankfully, the appearance of a large black duffle bag on her desk turned his thoughts away from ravaging her on top of the copy machine.
"What's with the bag?" he asked.
"All-nighter survival kit," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, then unzipped it and began removing a litany of items. "Comfort food, comfort footwear, and comfort music. Chicken soup for my soul."
Before her laid a massive bag of popcorn, a pair of vibrant neon green and hot pink slippers, and a mix CD with a cover that reminded him an awful lot of the one she made him while under the influence of Red Kryptonite. Doing his absolute best not to let his mind run rampant with the memories of that particular encounter, he cleared his throat and tried to focus on anything else.
"Looks like you're ready for anything this evening," he said, instantly regretting his word choice as her eyes shot to his, burning with a fire he had seen frequently over the past week. He didn't mean for it to come off so flirtatious, but he couldn't help himself. It seemed like no matter he said or did lately, it always came off like he wanted her. Which he did. Desperately. He just didn't mean to make it so obvious.
"Pretty much," she said. He breathed a sigh of relief that she had let him off easy, but he should have known it would be short-lived. "I just want to be prepared in case a certain blurry butt-kicker needed anything tonight. You know, it's been over a week since he's called me for help on anything. Kinda makes a girl wonder if he's forgotten about me."
The guilt set in immediately. Ever since his throw down with John Corben, Clark had made it a priority to protect Lois from anything Blur-related. He had kept her up-to-date with Tess's research on the Kandorians, but that was mainly because they hadn't gotten anything concrete and he knew Lois wouldn't just jet off to the middle of nowhere without something substantial to go off of. But when it came to his regular day-to-day saves, he kept her at an arm's length.
All week, she had asked him if he needed help with anything and each time she had asked, he had said that there was nothing to help with. He tried to explain that most of his saves were regular run-of-the-mill emergencies that weren't worthy of a Lois Lane article, but of course, she had told him that it wasn't his decision what was newsworthy and what wasn't. She had done her best to try and guilt trip him, but his need for her safety was stronger. He couldn't risk losing her, even if it meant she was upset with him.
"I don't think anyone could forget you, Lois," he said, watching as her eyes softened slightly. "He's probably just trying to keep you safe."
"Well, as flattered as I am that our boy in black wants to protect me, he should know that he can't keep me locked up in a tower. I'm no one's Rapunzel," she said pointedly. The look in her eyes told him that their conversation was far from over, but an alert on her computer thankfully broke their conversation before an argument could ensue. "Okay, get your engines going. Looks like there's a major fire on East Brunswick."
"You know, if we're gonna be here all night, I'll get some coffee," he said, raising his voice an octave. At Lois's direction, he had begun to develop a list of excuses for him to leave work. They ranged from quick coffee breaks to surgeries that took days to recover from. She had wisely informed him that his disappearing act was only going to work for so long before people started putting two and two together, so he might as well get ahead of the game now.
"That's what I love about you, Smallville," she said and he felt his pulse begin to race. "I say 'fire,' you say 'food.' I'll take mine black."
As soon as she looked down, he blurred out of the bullpen, blew the fire out, and returned to their desks with two fresh cups of coffee all in under a couple seconds. Holding the steaming cup out in front of her, she feigned surprised and graciously accepted the cardboard cup.
"Wow, that was quick. Thanks, speedy," she said with a wink, eliciting a broad smile from him. She took a sip and the low moan that escaped her lips made him shift his stance as he felt his pants begin to tighten. She had no idea what she was doing to him.
"No problem," he managed to squeak out, coughing in an attempt to cover his reaction. She frowned at him, but didn't comment until her computer beeped again.
"Wow. Looks like the fire just got put out by the Blur," she said, her voice laced with false astonishment as her eyes sparkled at him. "Here you and I are just having a coffee, while he's out squelching five-alarm fires in three seconds flat."
"Two seconds," he quickly replied, watching as her smile grew and she shook her head at him. "Not that anyone's counting."
"Right," she deadpanned, her smile growing wider as she let out a little chuckle and shook her head. His face flushed with embarrassment at his subconscious need to brag, but he couldn't help it. Now that she not only knew his secret, but also expressed feelings for him, he wanted to show off a little. Or maybe a lot. Either way, he wanted her to know everything he was capable of.
He opened his mouth to tell her about what had happened with the fire, but an alert on her computer screen caught his attention. He leaned in towards the screen, pressing his palms against the desk and brushing her arm as he did so. He could see perfectly well from where he was standing and they both knew it, but her short intake of breath and fluttering heartbeat told him that she probably wasn't thinking about it right now.
"There's a high-speed motorcycle chase out near the bypass," he said. Any and all thoughts of riling her up left his mind immediately as he stood up straight, along with the woman beside him.
"Well, at least somebody's getting a little action tonight," she said. His mind was preoccupied with stopping the madman who was speeding down the streets of Metropolis, but he appreciated the flirtatious banter back. As he stared at her, he found that he didn't need to say anything at all for her to understand. "Go. Let me know if you need anything?"
"I will."
Seconds after he sped away, he came to a stop in the middle of an abandoned backroad on the west side of the bypass and found himself face-to-face with a bright red Ducati speeding towards him, which showed no signs of slowing down. Taking in his surroundings, he tried to think of the best way to stop the rider without seriously injuring him. His eyes landed on a flatbed tractor trailer off to the side of the road and a lightbulb came on. Speeding behind the fence, Clark shoved the vehicle out into the middle of the road.
The sound of screeching tires was followed by an engine cutting off rather than a crash, which was a win in his book. As he stalked towards the driver, who was already removing his helmet, his steps faltered as he came face to face with a disheveled blonde that he hadn't seen in weeks.
"Oliver."
The blonde billionaire swung his leg over the seat of his bike and stood up, giving Clark a chance to really take in his appearance. He had a deep tan, no doubt from his trip to Belize that had been plastered all over the newspapers, but that was the only thing about him that looked healthy. His hair was matted, dark circles reigned under his bloodshot eyes, and it seemed like he was in desperate need of a shower. He knew Jimmy's death had hit him hard, but he hadn't seen the physical evidence of it until now. Regardless, it wasn't an excuse for how he was acting.
"Is this your idea of fun now that you've hung up your bow?" he asked as the man walked up to him.
"Should have known it was you... Clark Kent, the king of buzz kill," he said bitterly. "You and your pet rock put on a hell of a barbecue. But I had my money on Doomsday, so..."
"You can try to play it off as a joke, but I know that the loss of Jimmy affected us both," Clark said. He expected this from him. Oliver wasn't known for dealing with his emotions very well and whenever something traumatic happened, he lashed out and dove into a bottle of booze.
"Well, I guess God's got a sick sense of humor," he said, then had the audacity to look apologetic. "Oh, I'm sorry. Shouldn't be taking your name in vain."
Heat rose in his cheeks at the barb. He wasn't a god and he certainly didn't want to be worshipped, but he also didn't think he had ever given that impression to anyone. It was the last thing he wanted and half of the reason why he kept his identity a secret. The only reason he could give for Oliver's attack was that he was still angry Clark hadn't listened to him about Davis, so now he was making it about his powers.
"What, you need to hear me say it? I should have listened to you. I should have gotten rid of Davis instead of believing in him," he admitted, but Oliver only rolled his eyes and turned around, completely uninterested in his side of the story.
"It's a little late," he said, throwing his legs back over his motorcycle and sitting down. Glancing over his shoulder, he looked down the street, presumably in search of the police that had lost him just minutes ago.
"I'm trying to make up for what happened, not add myself to the casualty list," he said in an attempt to get him to see reason. But it seemed that Oliver was either incapable of it or simply didn't want to.
"Yeah, well, I can't get my thrills leaping tall buildings or outrunning speeding bullets. We mere mortals... we have to rely on a tweaked-out Ducati and the road," he said. Clark frowned again at the insinuation that he was a god. He didn't ask to be different and he certainly never tried to rub it in his face. He thought they had crossed that road years ago after they first met, but it was obvious now that underneath his anger, he still harbored a lot of jealousy over his abilities.
"You know that you're meant for more than this. This isn't you," he said, trying to appeal to his heroic nature. Green Arrow had virtually disappeared after Doomsday, along with all other vigilante activity. Bart, Victor, AC, and Dinah had gone radio silent and there hadn't been a blip from anyone of them in the news. Before Lois returned, he hadn't even noticed, but ever since he stepped back into the light as Clark Kent, he noticed how alone he truly was on the hero front.
"Who are you, huh? W-what's all this?" he asked, gesturing to his chest. "What's the 'S' stand for? What is that, 'superstar'?"
"It gives people hope," he said, gritting his teeth. He knew logically why he was acting this way, but that didn't mean he wasn't getting under his skin. Revving his engine, Oliver threw another glance over his shoulder before looking back at him.
"I'll tell you what, Clark. Why don't you, uh, go ahead and plaster your symbol of superiority all over the city so people can worship you like some kind of modern Jesus," he said, arching his hand towards the skyline. "That's what you want, right? That's why you're here... here to save us?"
If Oliver wasn't going to let it go, then fine. He could wallow and sulk in the rut that he kept digging, but Clark wasn't going to give into his provocations and make another mistake.
"You need help," he simply said. For a moment, something along the lines of acknowledgement reflected in the brown eyes staring back at him, but it was gone so quickly, he wondered if he imagined it or not.
"Yeah, well, maybe. But I hate to break it to you... not everybody believes in the second coming."
Without another word, Oliver put his helmet back on just as a set of blaring sirens went off. Behind them, a police car was headed towards them. Before he could even try and stop him, Clark saw the red Ducati flying past the cop and into the night. As the officer skidded to a halt and began chasing after him, Clark could only pray that something was able to keep Oliver from teetering off the ledge he was standing on.
The next day at work, he was practically useless. Every time he went to look at his computer screen, he found himself rereading the same sentence over and over again. When he wasn't looking at his computer, he was looking at Lois. The first time she caught him looking at her, she asked if there was something on her face. The second time it happened, she asked if he was x-raying her. The third time it happened, she threw a paperclip at his forehead. By the fourth, she'd had enough.
"That's it," she said and leapt up from her desk. It took him a moment to register her movement, but as soon as he did, she was yanking him by the wrist out of the bullpen and down the hallway. Two turns later, she was slamming the copy room door behind them and pushing him into an old desk chair.
"What's going on?"
As she stood before him, arms crossed and hazel eyes burning holes in him, he gave her question some consideration. He couldn't exactly tell her the main thing on his mind without scaring her away, since she was the subject of most of his thoughts these days. She knew that he had been struggling with what to do about Jor-El's clone and that their lack of progress on finding Zod had been frustrating him, but he also knew he couldn't use either of those as an excuse because she'd know immediately that he was lying. So really, the only thing he could do was tell her the truth.
"It's about Oliver," he finally admitted. It was evident by her complete change in body language that she hadn't been expecting that to come out of his mouth.
"What about him? Is he okay?" she asked. The concern in her voice stirred some dangerous and selfish feelings in his gut that he tried and failed to swat away. He knew that she still cared for him, despite their break up, but he was worried about how deep her feelings for him ran.
"Yeah, he's fine, he's just… he's given up being Green Arrow."
Lois simply blinked at him. Then, without preamble, she turned around, locked the door, and perched herself on the edge of the desk across from him. He couldn't help but momentarily stare at her long, tan legs that dangled in front of him, accompanied by a thousand indecent thoughts about her and the locked room they were currently occupying, but he propelled them out of his mind quickly.
"Every time I've asked you about Ollie, you've avoided the subject like it's anthrax. Now you're telling me he's given up being a hero? I'm going to need a little background here, Clark."
So he told her everything. From hiding the truth about Lionel's involvement with his parents' murder, to his obsession and success with killing Lex, to their disagreement about Davis… he told her everything. Her feelings were written plainly all over her face as he explained and he knew that he had some blame to shoulder, but he had come to terms with that long ago. If he had listened to Oliver, Jimmy would still be alive. That was a truth he'd have to live with until the day he died, but it didn't mean it was going to stop him from trying to right his wrongs.
After he finished explaining what had happened between them, he told her about last night. Until then, he truly didn't know where he had been or what he had been up to, aside from what he saw in the tabloids. When he had returned to the Planet last night, he had given her a half-truth about the incident, telling her it was just a drunk idiot who was looking for a thrill. It hadn't been a lie per say, but it also hadn't been the truth. When he finally told her all of the details, he could tell instantly that he had struck a nerve.
"Why did you lie to me?" she asked. The hurt in her voice was evident and his stomach plummeted. He hated to hurt her; it was the last thing he wanted to do, but he couldn't help it. The little green monster that lived within him was one reason, but her safety was another, especially with how he felt about her now
"I didn't exactly—" he began, planning on trying to get off with a technicality, but one look from her effectively shut his mouth. "I don't know. I didn't want to believe it myself and saying it out loud…"
"Made it real? I get it, Clark. But you don't have to deal with everything by yourself anymore, okay?" she said. All he could do was nod. "And need I remind you: I'm a big girl. I can handle it. I did time travel to the future and outsmart a killer Krypto-copycat, after all."
"I know you are, Lois. I'm sorry," he said. He felt like he had been saying that to her a lot recently and evidently, so did she.
"Don't be sorry, Smallville. Just be honest," she said. While she didn't look angry at him, she didn't look pleased either. Lois was never one for sitting on the sidelines and he knew that trying to keep her from the action would only blow up in his face at the end. But if the choice was between an angry Lois Lane and a dead one, he knew which option he was choosing every single time. She opened her mouth to say something else, presumably to chastise him some more, but thankfully, a commotion outside saved him.
The bullpen was always bustling, but from the sounds of it, something major had just happened. As they exited the copy room, everyone seemed to be on their feet and talking to one another.
"Did you see what happened?"
"She's always uptight over everything, no wonder she passed out."
"I bet she had some sort of psychotic break."
"I wonder what happened to her."
From the brief snippets of the many conversations he could focus on, it seemed like one of their female co-workers had evidently fallen unconscious. Before he could even begin to guess who it was, Lois had taken matters into her own hands.
"Jeff! What the hell is going on?" Lois asked, pulling the frazzled intern from the conversation he was in. Clark felt sorry for the guy, he really did. He was either looking at Lois with puppy dog eyes or he looked scared half to death of her. Right now, it was a combination of the two.
"It's Miss Mercer. An ambulance just came and picked her up. Apparently, someone found her unresponsive in her office. I heard the paramedics says something about the possibility of a panic attack or low blood sugar. That's all I know, Miss Lane, I swear," he said with a nervous stutter. Immediately, Lois put him to work at finding out who found her and what exactly had happened, then shooed him away before he could ask any questions.
"What do you think, Smallville? Think Cruella's conscious finally got too much for it and it took her out?" she asked. Part of him knew she was joking, but the question was a good one. What the hell had happened?
"It doesn't make sense. Tess is not the nervous-breakdown type. I also can't imagine it's something as menial as low blood sugar. She seems to be pretty cognizant of her health," he mused, eliciting a funny look from the woman beside him.
"Been keeping track of her fitness regimen, have you?" she asked. If he didn't know any better, he'd have said that there was a hint of jealousy to her tone, but that was ridiculous. Tess not only was responsible for freeing Zod and the Kandorians, but she was also close to the Luthors. To top it all off, she was his boss. The thought of Lois thinking he could possibly have feelings for her was ridiculous. Right?
"You know what I mean," he said, to which Lois just shrugged and made a beeline towards their desks to grab her jacket.
"Regardless, I think you're right. I think it'd take a lot more than a low glucose level to take Tess Mercer out on a stretcher," she said and turned towards him. "You up for a little hospital visit?"
"As long as it doesn't end with you occupying one of the rooms," he said, earning him an eye roll and a punch on the arm before she started walking towards the elevators.
"One of these days, Smallville… you, me, and a chunk of Blue K. Then we'll see who's waking up in a hospital bed," she said. Laughing, he shook his head at her threat. One, because he knew she was serious, and two, because he knew it'd never happen. As the doors closed in front of them, he immediately picked her up and she yelped, causing his grin to stretch even further.
"Just because you're Speedy Gonzalez doesn't mean you need to man handle me without warning," she grumbled. Whether it was because she had riled him up so intensely last night with her innuendos or because her close proximity was making it hard for him to think, he didn't know, but he couldn't stop the next thing that came out of his mouth.
"Just tell me you don't like it and I'll stop."
It was if all of the air in the small space had been sucked out, especially when he heard her breath catch. Her hazel eyes burned into his and when she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, his knees nearly gave out. They were both playing with fire and he wondered how long it would be before one of them got burned. Thankfully, the ding of the elevator broke the moment and before she could respond, he told her to hold on and sped away as soon as the doors opened.
When they arrived at the hospital, they quickly found their way to Tess's hospital room, with Lois posing as her sister, much to her chagrin. When they reached her room, Tess was turned away from them, seemingly asleep as her heart monitor beeped steadily on.
"Tess," Lois seethed. Ever since Clark told her the Tess knew about his origins and had blamed him for Davis's downfall, she had been on an extraordinary rampage against the woman. Any time her name was brought up, she had at least three insults queued up and ready to fire. While he didn't think it was a very good idea to be so openly hostile towards her, part of him couldn't feel a little satisfied with the lengths she was going to protect and defend him.
"Come on, Lois. At least wait until she's awake to get your comment," he said, but she was already moving towards her.
"I don't want a comment from Little Miss Lying, Cheating, and Scheming. She wouldn't know the truth if it bit her in the ass," she said as she moved to the foot of her bed and picked up the clipboard with her diagnostics. "Why are you defending her anyhow?"
"I'm not defending her, I just…" Clark started, but he trailed off as he heard the doctors on the other side of the hallway talking. Tuning in his hearing, he caught the tail end of their conversation.
"Dr. Coats, maybe it's psychological. We could go with a thorazine drip."
"No, the delusions are most likely caused by the virus. But we can't identify it, and she's not responding to antivirus. I want her isolated. I'm sending all samples to the disease control lab."
Well, that proved their theory to be true. If the doctors were right, she had contracted some sort of virus that was causing her to hallucinate. Not only that, but the virus was unidentifiable. Something in his gut told him that whatever she had picked up wasn't something that anyone at a regular hospital was going to be able to identify.
"Lois, I just heard—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Lois was flying across the room so fast that even he didn't have time to catch her.
"Lois!" he yelled, making a move towards her crumpled figure, but movement from the bed on the other side of the room halted his steps. Tess was now sitting up, but it wasn't a Tess he recognized. Her skin was almost translucent, showcasing a litany of purplish veins beneath her skin. Her green eyes were now jet black coupled with a pair of matching maroon rings around them. Blood trailed from the sides of her mouth and when she opened it, it was as if all of her teeth had rotted away to a decaying, dark mess. But it was the scream that came out of that mouth that forced him to move. Pinning her down against the bed, he noticed how strong she was and he had to use a significant amount of his strength to hold her there.
"Tess? Tess! It's me, Clark!" he yelled in an attempt to get through to her, but it was in vain. "Doctor! Help! Please do something!"
A man appeared next to Clark and stood there obviously shocked at the situation, but Clark didn't have time for that. Neither did Tess. Or Lois. He yelled at him again to do something, which thankfully shook the doctor out of his stupor. He pulled out a syringe and sunk it straight into her neck. Her ghoulish screams ceased immediately, turning to soft cries, and as the sedative took over, he couldn't help but notice the fear in her eyes before they closed. Tess was still in there—that, he was sure of.
As soon as he was sure she was unconscious, he turned his attention back to Lois, who was slowly getting to her feet. Immediately, he was by her side and helping her stand. He gripped her arm gently as she held on to him and caught her breath, her eyes never leaving Tess as she did.
"Lois, are you okay?" he asked. There was a slight cut on her forehead, but she looked to be alright otherwise. For a moment, he thought about x-raying her, but he figured she'd be in a lot more pain if she had fractured or broken something.
"I've thrown down with Tess before, but not quite like that," she breathed, still trying to catch her breath. Finally, her gaze left Tess and met his own. "Whatever's wrong with her… it's not normal."
"I was thinking exactly the same thing. After what happened to John… it's not a stretch that Zod's behind this too," he said. He had absolutely no evidence to back it up, but it would be one big coincidence if the Kandorians weren't behind this zombie-inducing virus, especially after seeing the lab that Tess and Stuart stumbled upon.
"I heard the doctors say that it's some sort of virus that causes hallucinations. They don't know what it is, so they're sending samples to Disease Control Agency," he said. Lois nodded, looked over his shoulder, and then back at him.
"Alright, here's the plan: do your speedy thing, steal those samples, and get them to Emil and Chloe. I'd bet my whole bank account that they'll be able to figure out what's going on before anyone else does," she said and he nodded in agreement.
"I was thinking just the same thing. You wait here, I'll grab them, and then we can head to Watchtower," he said and turned on his heel to leave, but the hand still on his arm was tugging him back before he could go.
"I'm gonna head back to the Planet and see if anyone interacted with her today before she passed out. Maybe someone slipped her something in her morning Cheerios. Either way, I'll do more good there than just waiting around while my cousin and the doctor try to crack the case."
While he didn't want her to go, he knew that he had no reason to stop her, especially because she was right. She wouldn't be any use to any of them at Watchtower and if someone had seen something at the Planet, Lois would have the best luck in finding it out.
"Okay, go. But be careful, okay?" he said. Instead of an eye roll like he expected, she gave him a short, uncharacteristic hug.
"You, too. I'll call you if I find anything," she said, already retreating towards the door. He nodded at her and she flashed him a quick smile before disappearing down the hallway. Something churned in his gut as he watched her walk away, but he didn't have time to lament on it. Right now, he had a job to do.