Smallville 1. Love

Love

Clark got out of the truck and helped Evelyn out. She was wearing a simple purple shirt and blue jeans with some work boots. Her tanned skin, brown eyes, and raven black hair yelled that she wasn't Clark's. It was true, though, she wasn't his. Clark and Lana had adopted her from the Philippines when she was only two.

"Daddy, I'm scared." Evelyn whimpered as she grabbed her daddy's hand.

"Don't' be, You'll do great." Clark assured her as they walked to Smallville Elementary.

"But it's going to be Second Grade! I'm not ready!" Evelyn continued.

"Evelyn, I know that you can do it." Clark told her firmly.

"Okay," Evelyn finally decided to believe Clark. "How come Mommy didn't come?"

Clark paused. What was he going to tell her? That Lana got mad last night and left them, _again_? "Mommy's very busy right now, but she wants you to do your best."

Evelyn didn't believe him. She woke up last night and heard them yelling. Then she heard the front door slam shut. Evelyn hated it when they would fight. She acted like she did believe Clark, just to appease him.

They stopped at the front entrance. Kids were running up the steps, trying to get inside before the tardy bell rang. Proud parents were holding their kindergartens hand as they walked inside. "Do you want me to come with you?" Clark asked looking into her eyes.

"No, you have to go to work. Remember?"

Clark smiled at her brave attitude. He bent down and hugged Evelyn. "Be a good girl and don't make your new teacher mad. Make Daddy proud."

Evelyn hugged him back. "Yes, sir." she gave him a kiss on the cheek and he kissed her forehead. "I love you!" she said as she began walking inside.

Clark stood up and watched her go. It seemed like so long ago they had just gotten her. "I love you too, bud." he turned around and began walking to his truck.

Evelyn walked into room 2C, her new classroom for the year. This year she was having Mrs. Thompson. Everyone said that she was a really mean teacher. Ella, Evelyn's friend, said that her brothers had her as their teacher and they said that if you weren't listening to her, she would bite off one of your fingers.

Evelyn saw Ella sitting down at a round table. "Evelyn, come sit over here!" Ella called out.

Evelyn smiled, glad that her friend was in the same class as her. She took a seat next to her at the table and looked at the other chair that held no occupant.

All of the new second graders were talking and laughing with each other. But some of them were quiet and anxiously awaiting the arrival of the dreaded Mrs. Thompson.

A little girl wearing a red shirt and blue converse came in. She looked uneasy and tried to find an empty chair next to no one. Unable to find one, she took the only other available seat. The one at Evelyn and Ella's table. She sat down and began playing with her hands. She looked very nervous to Evelyn. "Hi, I'm Evelyn. What's your name?"

"Love." the girl said bashfully.

"Love? That's a weird name." Ella said, not taking Love's feelings into consideration.

Love became upset and looked away.

"Ella, don't be mean." Evelyn chastised. "Ella didn't mean that."

Love smiled. "Okay."

"Where are you from?" Evelyn asked wanting to get to know this new girl.

"Metropolis. Me and my mommy moved here." Love told her.

At the door stood an elderly lady. She was wearing nice dress slacks and a flowery shirt. Her gray hair showed how much wisdom she held inside. She looked just about ready to retire. "Sorry I'm late. I'm your teacher, Mrs. Thompson." she spoke loudly to the class.

All the children in the class immediately quieted and paid close attention to Mrs. Thompson. They didn't want to lose any of their fingers.

Mrs. Thompson walked to the desk and laid down her bag with all of her teacher resources. "Today is the very first day of school and I know that many of you might be very nervous. So I want to get to know each and every one of you."

"I think my brothers were lying," Ella whispered to Evelyn. "Maybe Mrs. Thompson isn't mean at all."

Evelyn nodded. "I think so too."

Clark began loading up some vegetables into the truck bed. Today was the farmers market and right now, they needed all the money they could get.

Clark saw a familiar maroon car pull up. The car parked and the door opened. Lana stepped out. "Good morning, Clark." Lana said curtly. Her pink sweater and city boots declared that she had no place at the farm.

"Lana." Clark said shortly. He returned to loading the vegetables.

"Where's Evelyn?" Lana asked as she walked up to Clark. She leaned up against the truck.

"At school. I just got back from dropping her off."

"And you didn't even wait to see if I was going to come back? I wanted to make sure that she was dressed appropriately and not wearing any of those work boots."

"I wasn't going to wait for you, Lana. You were the one that decided to leave last night. If you would've thought about Evelyn first, then we wouldn't be here having this discussion." Clark stopped and was now looking into Lana's eyes.

"I had an extremely good reason to leave, Clark."

"Let me guess. Was it all my fault? What did I do this time? Did I forget to polish your hundred dollar shoes? Or was it the dry cleaning that I forgot?" Clark said with evident sarcasm

"I left because of the way you have been treating me! You have been giving meno respect! I've done so many things for you and you treat me like dirt!"

"If anything, I've been the one to be treated like dirt." Clark said quietly, but menacingly nonetheless

"How could I treat you like dirt when I love you?" Lana asked. She made her hazel eyes big and round, exactly the way that Clark had once fallen in love with, but could no longer stand.

"I have to go." Clark said. He walked around her and got inside the truck. "I'll see you when I get back." Clark said from the rolled down window.

Evelyn was walking down the school steps with Ella at one side and Love on her other side. "Mrs. Thompson was _not_ mean at all." Evelyn said.

"Nope. She was very nice. I'm going to tell my mommy that Jake and Phil lied to me." Ella said. "Oh look! There she is! Bye Evelyn. Bye Love." Ella said as she began running to her mom. They linked hands and began walking away.

Evelyn looked at the crowd. She didn't see Clark anywhere. "Do you see your mommy?" she asked Love.

"No, but my mommy's always late. Once, she picked me up when it was four." Love told her.

"Wow. My daddy picks me up most of the time. Sometimes, if my mommy isn't working, she'll pick me up. But they aren't that late." Evelyn and Love sat down on the steps. Already, the school yard was cleared of most of the kids and it was only three ten.

The two girls sat in silence until Evelyn decided to finally ask the question that had been on her mind all day. "Do you have a daddy, Love?"

"Yeah, but I never see him. Mommy says that he loves me very much and he would give anything to see me. She said that she named me Love because it reminded her of my daddy."

"Oh, okay. Do you love your daddy even though you never see him?"

"Yeah. I think that he was a really good person and that he liked to help people. What about you? Do you love your daddy?"

"Yes! My daddy is the best daddy in the world!" Evelyn told her proudly.

"What about your mommy?" Love asked with an innocent smile.

Evelyn thought a moment. Did she really love her mommy? Sometimes it seemed as if Lana didn't love her. What if the reason why Lana would always leave was because of her? "I think so…" Evelyn said unsure if that was the right answer.

"Evelyn!"

Evelyn looked up and saw Clark walking towards them. "Daddy!" Evelyn exclaimed. She got up and began running to him.

Clark smiled and picked up his bundle of joy. "Hey, bud. Sorry I'm late."

"That's okay." Evelyn jumped out of his arms. "I want you to meet my new friend." Evelyn grabbed Clark's hand and began dragging him towards Love. "Daddy, this is Love. Love this is my daddy."

"It's very nice to meet you, Love. You have a very pretty and interesting name." Clark told her with a sincere smile. He looked at Love's blue eyes and her auburn hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. She reminded him of someone, he just couldn't remember who.

Love became very shy and blushed at his compliment. "Thank you."

Clark turned to Evelyn, "You ready to go?"

"Yeah." Clark and Evelyn began walking hand in hand. Evelyn turned around one last time. "Bye Love!" she yelled to her.

Love smiled and waved at Evelyn. She sat there and pulled out her spiral to begin doodling. If she would've kept looking at Clark and Evelyn, she would've noticed the glance that Clark gave her as he tried to figure out who she reminded him of.


	2. Family

So in my first chapter, i had put a disclaimer and an a/n. I also put a space between the change in scenes. But...i forgot to save it. I felt so silly when i put it up. So i'm going to put my disclaimer and a short a/n. sorry :P

Disclaimer: I own nothing concerning Smallville, DC Comics, CW, anything else that i might mention is not mine. But i wish it was!

Family

"Evelyn, you still have chores to do." Clark told her as she ran upstairs to her room.

Evelyn stopped at the top. "I know, Daddy. I was going to put my backpack away." she said with a grin.

Clark knew that wasn't the real reason why. She was going to go upstairs so she could read something. "If you hurry, you can come with me tonight."

Evelyn's smile grew. She knew exactly what they were going to do tonight. They were going to go out to eat! "I'm going as fast as I can!" she called out from her room. Evelyn came running back down and went outside to do her farm chores.

Lana came out of their room. "Where did Evelyn go?" she decided to skip the hello's

"I told her to go do her chores." Clark sat at the table. He pulled out his laptop and began typing out a new article. After it had become evident that Clark's job of a farmer wasn't going to be enough to provide for his family, he began sending some articles to Perry White, the editor of The Daily Planet. For every story that was published, Perry would send him a check in the mail. Perry had offered Clark opportunities to go back to the Planet, but he couldn't. There were just too many things there that would remind him of her.

"Where were you planning on taking her out tonight?" Lana asked. She was standing at the edge of the table.

"To eat. If you haven't noticed, every time she starts a new school year, I take her out to eat."

Lana nodded. "Clark, I'm sorry about earlier today. I was just so frustrated and I snapped at you. I didn't mean a word I said." Lana made it seem as if it was taking a whole lot to admit her fault.

Clark just nodded his head and continued with his article.

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

"Like what? I have nothing to say." Clark continued looking at his computer.

Lana scoffed. "Typical Clark. You always think that you're better than everyone else. You don't have to apologize to anyone, but everyone has to apologize to you." her voice was filled with anger.

"I'm not going to put up with this today, Lana. It's you who always picks the fights." Clark couldn't believe that she came to him to apologize and instead starts another fight.

Lana was fuming. She stormed out of the house and drove away.

Clark placed his head in his hands and began rubbing his forehead. Life had become so difficult after Evelyn had been adopted. They had tried to make everything seem like it was okay, but it wasn't. The fights were becoming more frequent. Clark hated fighting with Lana because he knew that it was taking its toll on Evelyn. She could hear them most of the time when they would fight. Sometimes when Clark would lay in bed or on the couch, he would turn on his hearing, just to check up on things. Most of the time he would hear Evelyn crying softly.

Clark wanted their situation to change so much. Maybe Lana would begin loving him again and he would love her too, but maybe they weren't meant to be. Divorce was now becoming a sad reality.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Evelyn rode in the front seat with her daddy. "Where are we going to eat this time?" Evelyn asked eagerly as she looked out the window at the passing corn stalks.

"We are going to eat at Nana's house." Clark didn't take his eyes off the road, but he still smiled.

"Nana's!" Evelyn exclaimed. She loved her nana with all her heart, but for some reason, she only got to see her once every year. But this year was going to be different. This was going to be her second time visiting her. "Is Aunt Chloe and Uncle Jimmy going to be there?"

"I think so. And maybe even Aunt Kara."

Evelyn's toothy smile shined. She hardly ever got to see this side of the family. She only got to see Grandma Nell and honestly, she was very boring and couldn't bake cookies like Nana. "Where does Nana live?" Evelyn had never been to her house before. Whenever Clark would take her to visit Nana, it would always be at a restaurant.

"Up in Metropolis. We're almost there, okay."

"Okay." Evelyn let a moment of silence pass then spoke up again, "Did you know that Love and her mommy moved here from Metropolis?"

"Really? Do you know her mommy's name?"

"No."

"What about her daddy?"

"No, and Love doesn't know either. She says that she's never meet him, but she knows that he loves her."

Clark was amazed at Evelyn's answer. He knew she would never say that unless it was true. How could Love care for someone she had never meet?

Clark pulled up into a driveway. "We're here." he said as he got out.

Evelyn hopped out after him and ran up the porch steps. She rang the doorbell more than enough times and began waiting impatiently. The door finally opened and an elderly woman opened the door. Her once red hair was now touched with strands of silver, but her face still held the wisdom that she always had. "Nana!" Evelyn exclaimed as she hugged her.

"Oh my goodness! You have grown so much, Evelyn!" she said as she hugged her back.

"Hey, Mom." Clark greeted her as he hugged her too.

"Clark," Martha hugged him tight, "It's so good to see you." Martha moved aside from the doorway. "Come in."

Clark and Evelyn came in. They saw Chloe and Jimmy sitting together on the couch. And Chloe looked very big!

"Hi Aunt Chloe, hi Uncle Jimmy." Evelyn said as she gave them each a hug. "Aunt Chloe…you look fat." Evelyn told her with great concern.

Chloe laughed at her bluntness. "No, I'm not fat. I'm pregnant." Chloe said with a smile that matched her eyes.

"Wow, Chloe. Pretty soon, your just going to start popping babies out if you keep going at the rate you're going." Clark said with a grin.

"I'll ignore that comment." Chloe said with mock authority. "It's great seeing you." Chloe said as she gave Clark a hug.

"You too."

"Hey, C.K." Jimmy said. He offered his hand for a handshake.

Clark took it and shook it. "Hey Jimmy. I hope you're taking good care of her."

"Sure am." Jimmy said with a smile directed towards Chloe. It was one of those secret smiles that only two people would know the secret. It was a smile that a husband and a wife would give each other. It was a smile that Evelyn had never seen on Clark's face when he was around Lana.

"Aunt Chloe, where's Julie and Joanne?" Evelyn asked. Julie and Joanne were Jimmy's and Chloe's girls. Joanne was the oldest and Julie was the youngest, but sometimes they would switch roles and Julie would act like the oldest and Joanne would act like the youngest.

"Mom!! Julie broke my doll!" yelled a girl coming down the stairs. Her curly blonde hair was falling just a little past her shoulders. She looked exactly like her mom. The only thing about her that sort of resembled Jimmy was her hair.

"There's Joanne. Joanne, do you remember Evelyn?" Chloe asked her eldest daughter.

Joanne looked at Evelyn for a moment, "Yeah. Come on Evelyn. Let's go play." Joanne said while taking Evelyn's hand and dragging her upstairs.

"Is Kara going to come?" Clark asked as he took a seat at the table.

Chloe, Jimmy, and Martha joined him. "She said that she was going to be a little late, but she was bringing some people with her." Chloe told him.

"Did she say who?"

"No. We just have to wait and find out."

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Martha got up and answered the door. She walked back into the dining room with Kara, Oliver, Bart, and Dinah. "Hey Clark" Kara said nonchalant.

"Uh, hey Kara," Clark said a little awkwardly. "Hey guys." Clark got up and gave each of them a handshake.

"Dude, it's been way too long!" Bart exclaimed.

"I have to agree with Bart." Oliver said. "What's been going on?"

"Nothing really. Just living in Smallville. Trying my best to get by." Clark answered with a nervous smile. He felt really uncomfortable discussing his private life with them.

"'Trying to get by?' When has that phrase ever been in Clark Kent's vocabulary?" Dinah said.

"Since seven years ago." Clark told her.

Everyone became silent. They all knew what had happened seven years ago. "We're all really sorry about what happened that day, Clark. We really are." Kara said.

"But that doesn't really change anything, does it?" Clark said with a grim smile.

Another silence followed, this one worse than the previous. "Well, who's ready for some pot roast?" Martha asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"I know I am. Mrs. Kent, I am always ready for your cooking." Bart said as he grabbed himself a plate and began serving himself.

Jimmy called down the girls. Chloe served her kids and Clark served his kid. Everyone was seated at the table with a plate in front of them full of food. They began eating, relishing in the wondrous cooking of Martha Kent.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clark stood outside on the front porch watching the night sky. He heard the door open and close. Someone was now standing beside him. "What happened to you, Clark?" Oliver asked.

Clark sighed. "I saw beyond the fantasy world I was living in."

"Then which do you think is better. The world your living in now, or the one you used to."

Clark didn't answer him, but he knew what the right answer was.

"Are you really happy with your life?"

"I haven't been for a while Oliver. I tried to make things go back, but they can't. Not without her. This world wasn't meant to go on without Lois Lane."

"But it has been. It's been going on from the moment she…left. It's you who can't continue. The same night of that explosion was the last time anyone caught a glimpse of the red and blue blur. Your miserable Clark and everyone can see it."

"The fighting's getting worse. Lana's leaving more often. It would be better if we just ended it. But Evelyn needs a mom. We adopted her so that she could have a better life. Sometimes I wonder if Evelyn would have a better family if we didn't adopt her."

"Clark, Evelyn couldn't have a better dad. And maybe she might've been able to have a better mom, but you make up for the lack of one. That's how good you are."

Clark sighed. "Why did you come here, Oliver?"

"To help my friend get back up on his feet. And because who can resist Mrs. Kent's cooking?" Oliver said with a smile

Clark chuckled. He looked at his watch. It was late. "I have to get Evelyn into bed. It's still a school night." Clark walked inside the house.

When he walked inside, he could hear the theme music for Gone With The Wind. On the TV screen was the beautiful cursive words 'The End.' Kara, Bart, and Dinah were all on one seat with a bowl of popcorn. Martha and Chloe were sitting on another couch. In between Chloe's legs, Jimmy sat on the floor with Joanne and Julie on both sides. Evelyn was curled up in a ball alone on another couch. Her eyes were closed and her chest was steadily rising and falling.

"No matter how many times I watch this movie, it never gets boring." Martha gushed.

Clark smiled. "I've got to leave, Mom."

Martha stood up and gave him a hug. "Please be careful. I love you so much, sweetie, and I am always proud of you. Call whenever you get a chance."

Clark went down a small hug line, hugging Chloe, Joanne, Julie, Kara, Dinah, and shaking Jimmy's and Bart's hand. He gently shook Evelyn, waking her from her sleep. "Hey, bud. It's time to go home."

Evelyn looked at Clark a moment and then nodded her head. She hugged everyone good-bye and walked out of the house to Clark's truck. Clark followed her outside.

Oliver hadn't left the front porch. Before Clark was about to walk to his truck, he turned to Oliver. "Thanks Oliver." Clark didn't have to explain why he was thanking him. It was known between them.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Evelyn was looking out the window at all the blurry sights. She was thinking about their time at Nana's house. Most of the time she was upstairs with Joanne and Julie, but when she came downstairs, she saw something that she hadn't seen in a long time. Clark seemed to be happier than usual. She knew that at home he tried his best to seem happy so that she wouldn't get sad. But he couldn't. Evelyn could always see it in his eyes that he was sad. Even at Nana's house, he didn't look really happy. It was as if something or someone was missing.

Evelyn looked away from the passing images and looked at Clark, "Daddy?" Evelyn wanted to make sure he was paying attention before she spoke her mind.

"Hmm?" Clark answered without taking his eyes off the road.

"Are those people there that came with Aunt Kara the rest of my family?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Why?"

Clark hesitated. Why was Evelyn asking these questions? "Because family is made up of people who really love you and those people at Nana's house really love you even though they aren't related to you."

"So Mommy isn't part of my family?"

Clark couldn't believe her question. Where did she come up with these things? "Uh, don't worry about that right now. Go to sleep, okay?"

"Yes sir." Evelyn could tell he was avoiding the question, but she obeyed him. She leaned her head against the window and slowly began falling asleep.

Clark watched her fall asleep. Why did Evelyn have to be a part of this mess that he made?

A/N: I like reviews! Thank you to all the people that reviewed. I like positive ones and ones that critique my writing. So do me a favor and review!

Plus, i'm going to Mexico for a mission trip sunday through saturday. We get to help out some orphanages! You might get an update in like two weeks maybe.


	3. Nightmares

Nightmares

Clark set down the plate of eggs and bacon where Evelyn would usually sit. "Evelyn, it's time to get up. You're going to be late for school." Clark yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

Clark poured himself a cup of coffee and began sipping it. He grabbed the latest edition of The Daily Planet and began reading from it. He saw an article that Jimmy had taken a picture of. It was a press conference of the Mayor. He was introducing his new crime fighting policy. Maybe this policy would finally do some good, but Clark doubted it. He knew that Metropolis needed something more.

Evelyn still hadn't come down yet. "Evelyn, if you're not down here by-" Clark was interrupted by Evelyn screaming. He ran up the stairs to her room.

Clark didn't see her on her bed, but he could still hear her screaming. He checked under her bed. There she was, curled up in a ball clutching her doll, her face wet with tears. He gently pulled her out and cradled her in his arms. "Shh, it's okay. Daddy's here."

Evelyn stopped screaming, but she was still crying. She opened her eyes and looked at Clark. "Daddy?" she wasn't sure it was him or if she was still in her dream land.

"Hey bud."

Evelyn hugged him even tighter. "I had a nightmare." she exclaimed.

"It helps if you talk about the nightmare. They're not that scary afterwards." Clark told her comfortingly

Evelyn looked back up. "I was in a big dark room with no windows or doors. I heard someone telling me that you were going to be too late. He sounded really scary. And then you came in out of nowhere. You told me it was going to be okay. But then there was a really loud bang and you started bleeding from your stomach. You started coughing and then you spat out blood," Evelyn paused. Several tears were still coming down. She really didn't want to finish telling the nightmare, but Clark said it would help. "Then there was another loud bang and your head started bleeding. You fell. I started pushing you, but you wouldn't move. I asked you to wake up, but you didn't. You were dead." Evelyn finished in a sob.

Clark held her close. "I am not going to die on you Evelyn. Never will that happen."

Evelyn continued crying in her daddy's arms. She wanted to believe him so badly, but the dream seemed so real. She was so scared that it was actually going to happen.

"You better start getting ready. You're going to be late."

Evelyn got up and dried her wet face with her sleeve. "Yes sir."

Clark got up and walked out.

Evelyn walked to her dresser and looked at the only picture there. It was of her, Lana, and Clark. She was only three but all three of them were smiling. It seemed like a picture of the perfect family. But Evelyn could see the anger and sadness in Lana and Clark's eyes. It wouldn't be that obvious to anybody else, but it was obvious to her.

Evelyn opened a drawer. She pushed aside all the socks that were in it and pulled out another picture. It was one with Clark and another lady that Evelyn had never seen. They were hugging each other tightly and both had smiles on their faces. It was the same kind of smile that Evelyn would see on Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Chloe whenever they would look at each other.

Evelyn looked closely at the lady. She was very pretty, prettier than Lana. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. Her hazel eyes said that she loved getting into trouble and her lips had a mischievous smirk on them along with the smile. It also seemed like she was glowing a bit.

Evelyn put the two pictures side-by-side. The one with Clark and the other lady seemed to be the happiest. A long sigh escaped from Evelyn's throat. She wished that the lady in the picture was her mommy instead of Lana.

* * *

Evelyn walked inside her classroom and took a seat next to Ella. "Morning, Ella." she said to her friend.

"Hi, Evelyn." Ella replied.

Evelyn looked around the classroom. Mrs. Thompson wasn't there yet and neither was Love. "Do you know where Love is?"

"No. I don't think she's here yet,"

Mr. Shaw, the principal of Smallville Elementary, walked inside the class. Behind him was a younger woman. The woman had black hair that was pulled up into a loose bun. She was wearing a nice blouse with dress slacks. Behind her thick black glasses, Evelyn could see her pretty brown eyes.

Once the woman was inside, Love came in and scurried to her seat with Ella and Evelyn.

"All right kids, settle down. I need you to listen to me." Mr. Shaw stood in front of the chalkboard looking at the class. He waited about five seconds before he had everyone's attention. "Mrs. Thompson isn't going to be able to be your teacher for a few months. She became very sick yesterday after school."

"Does she have chicken-pox?" asked a boy from the back of the class.

"No, she has something worse than chicken-pox. You're going to have a substitute teacher, Ms. Kidance." Mr. Shaw indicated to the woman next to him. "Please behave yourselves." Mr. Shaw said. Saying all he needed to say, he left the room. There was still that troublemaker in his office that needed to be taken care of.

"Okay, so as Mr. Shaw has told you all, I'm Ms. Kidance." She wrote her name on the chalkboard. She turned back to the class. " This is my first time being a sub, so if you can, please go easy on me."

Ms. Kidance seemed to be very nervous to Evelyn. She watched her carefully. Why did she seem very familiar? It was as if Evelyn had seen her from somewhere, but she couldn't remember. The fist image that came up when she thought of Ms. Kidance was that lady with Clark in the picture she kept hidden in her sock drawer.

Ms. Kidance began calling the attendance roll for the office. "Ella James?"

"Here." Ella raised her hand

"Evelyn Ken…" Ms. Kidance stopped and stared at the name on the attendance sheet. She cleared her throat. "Evelyn Kent?"

Evelyn raised her hand. "Here."

Ms. Kidance looked at her as if trying to see something. She continued on.

"How come Ms. Kidance couldn't pronounce your last name?" Ella asked. "I thought it was really easy to say."

"I don't know." Evelyn said as she watched Ms. Kidance thoughtfully. "Maybe she thought she saw something else.

* * *

Evelyn and Ella stood in the lunch line waiting to see if the cafeteria food would be poisoning. Today was hamburgers with either french fries or tater tots. It wasn't as bad as spaghetti or casserole day. They grabbed their trays and started looking for a table. Evelyn spotted Love sitting alone. "Let's sit with Love." Evelyn told Ella

The two girls began walking to Love's table and sat down. "What do you have for lunch?" Ella asked Love.

Love looked up at them, then back down at her lunch bag. "I don't know, but I really hope it's just a sandwich."

Ella thought her reply was weird. "Why would you want a sandwich. Wouldn't you want something better?"

"Yeah, but my mommy can't cook anything. Once she boiled bread by accident."

Evelyn and Ella looked at her in shock. It was beyond them how someone could boil bread. "My mommy can cook good food, but she always leaves me and my daddy with no food." Evelyn said.

Ms. Kidance started walking toward them. She stopped at their table. "How're you doing, Lovely? Are you fine?"

"Yeah, Mommy. I'm fine."

Ella and Evelyn looked on. They guessed Ms. Kidance was Love's mom.

Ms. Kidance looked at Evelyn and Ella. "Are these your friends?" she asked Love.

Love nodded.

Ms. Kidance smiled. "I'm so glad you two made friends with Love. She has such a hard time making friends."

Love's face turned a deep red. Ms. Kidance looked back at Love and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. "Be a good girl. I don't want to hear about any incidents." Ms. Kidance told her sternly.

"Yes ma'am." Love said.

Ms. Kidance seemed satisfied and continued on her way.

"So that's your mom?" Ella asked. She wanted to be completely sure.

Love nodded. "Yeah."

"Does she always act like that?" Ella continued. "It looked like she was really worried about you."

Love grimaced. "It's because I keep having a really bad dream."

"What was it about?" Evelyn questioned.

Love looked at both of them. "There's this bald man and he's dressed up in a white suit with a black glove on one of his hands. Next to him is this other man that's always wearing red or blue. They're talking to each other, but I can't hear a word that they say. The man in the white suit pulls out a gun and shoots the other man. That's when I always wake up." Love began pulling out whatever was in her lunch bag.

"Wow," Ella said. "That sounds like a really scary dream"

"Yeah," Evelyn agreed while pondering on it, "It does."

* * *

Clark leaned against the school fence. He was waiting for Evelyn to come out of school already. The doors opened and a mass of kids came running out. They were finally able to breathe in the sweet air of freedom. Clark looked for Evelyn. He found her waving bye to Ella. He walked towards her, "Hey bud. How did school go?"

"Fine." Evelyn said. They started walking to the parked truck. "Mrs. Thompson got sick and now we have a substitute."

"Is Mrs. Thompson okay?"

"I don't know. Mr. Shaw said that she wasn't going to be able to teach for a few months."

Clark got in the truck with Evelyn. "That's terrible. Who's your substitute?"

"Her name is Ms. Kidance." Evelyn remembered that she looked like the lady in Clark's pictures. "Do you know who she is?"

Clark searched his head. "No, that name doesn't sound familiar. Why?"

"Oh, I was just wondering." Evelyn began riffling through her backpack and showing Clark what she did in school today.

* * *

_"Don't do it Clark!" she yelled at him. Her face was covered in tears. "You're needed more than I am!"_

_"But I can't lose you." his voice was breaking and tears were coming down. "I love you, Lois."_

_"I love you too, Smallville." she told him with a sad smile._

_An explosion engulfed them. Clark couldn't feel anything. "Lois!"_

* * *

Clark shot up in bed covered in a cold sweat. He was breathing heavily. He looked over to the other side of the bed. Lana wasn't there and neither was Lois. "It was just a bad dream." he said trying to convince himself.

Clark got up and began walking downstairs. He saw Evelyn sitting at the bar eating a bowl of cereal. He knew it was three or four in the morning. "Evelyn, what are you doing up. You're supposed to be in bed."

Evelyn looked up from her bowl with guilty eyes. "I woke up and I was really hungry! I came downstairs to find something to eat."

Clark moaned. He had forgotten to give Evelyn dinner. He had been so busy trying to finish all the farm chores, pay the bills, and turn in an article to Perry. With Lana gone, the load would seem doubled. "I'm so sorry I forgot to make dinner tonight!"

"It's okay. You were busy with all of your work and Mommy wasn't here to give me anything. I did have a sandwich before I went to bed." Evelyn said, proud that she was able to make one.

Clark pulled up a stool and sat down next to her. He started rubbing his forehead.

"How come you're up?" Evelyn asked.

"I, uh, I had a nightmare too." Clark didn't look at Evelyn, instead he looked straight ahead.

"Well, you told me that it would always help whenever you would talk about the nightmare."

"Not this time Evelyn."

"Why not? You said that it would always work?"

"It just won't work."

"Please." Evelyn pleaded. She really wanted to be able to help her daddy at least once and it seemed as if she finally had the chance.

Clark turned and looked at Evelyn's big brown eyes. She really wanted to help him get over the nightmare. He looked to the wall in front of him. "I was in a big green room that was hurting me. There was a window and I looked out. In front of the other side was Lo…my best friend. She was tied down in a chair and she was crying. I tried to get to her, but I couldn't." Clark shut his eyes at the painful memory. Why was he telling this to Evelyn? Oh yeah, because he couldn't resist those puppy dog eyes she always gave him. "There was a big explosion and she was gone. I couldn't save her." Clark finished with a sniffle.

Evelyn looked at Clark with worried eyes. He seemed so sad when he was talking about the dream. It even looked as if he wanted to cry. Evelyn climbed into his lap and sat there hugging him. It was the only comfort she knew how to provide. "I think that it was just a really bad dream. It's never going to come true." Evelyn declared.

Clark sighed. If only what she said was true, then things would be so different right now. He smiled, though, at the thought that Evelyn was really trying to make him happy again. "Thanks bud."

* * *

a/n: thanks you guys for all the positive feedback. Chihuahua was amazing, the kids at the orphanage really stole my heart. well, tell me what you think and Merry Christmas!! :D


	4. Acquaintances

Acquaintances

Clark closed the screen door. He had just finished feeding the horses and it was time for his lunch. Evelyn was still in school and he had no idea where Lana might be.

He opened the fridge and looked at the few contents. A half a bottle of milk, three eggs, grape jelly, and expired butter. Today, he had to go to the store. Clark wasn't going to order out anymore. Partly because Evelyn needed healthier food and also because they were running low on money again.

Clark sighed as he shut the fridge. He wasn't _that_ hungry. He could last another few hours.

The front door opened and the clacking of high-heels could be heard. Clark could hear the rustling of paper bags. He turned and saw Lana. She was carrying several grocery bags. They were all filled with the groceries that they needed.

Clark got up from his seat. "Let me help you." he grabbed several of the heavier bags and carried them with ease to the kitchen counter. He began taking out the contents and putting them away.

Lana plopped down on a stool. "Thank you, Clark." she said with a heavy sigh.

"So what made you come back?" Clark asked. Usually when Lana would take off, it would be at least a month before she finally decided to come back. And when she would come back, she'd never come loaded with groceries. Instead, she'd come back with five hundred dollar shoes or a three hundred dollar purse. Lana's shopping sprees were the reason they were going into debt.

"I stayed with Nell. While I was there, I did a lot of thinking." Lana said. She started making herself some tea. "You were right, Clark. I have been causing a lot of problems here, lately."

Clark grunted his agreement.

"I wanted to sincerely apologize. I haven't been the kind of person I would be proud of. And definitely not the kind of person you would be proud of."

Clark looked at Lana. She seemed really sincere this time. "Have you noticed how much it hurts Evelyn when you leave? How much it hurts me?"

Lana looked ashamed. "Yes, I noticed. But I had to leave. I started feeling suffocated. There were so many things that I never go the chance to do. So many dreams that I gave up."

"I never asked you to give up your dreams."

"But I did because I love you, Clark. I would do anything for you."

"That's what scares me." Clark turned back to the counter and poured himself some coffee.

Lana didn't say anything for a few breaths. All the words that were said were still sinking in. "I'm going to do better, Clark." Lana said. "I promise."

Clark didn't know how long Lana would try and keep her promise, but he didn't think it would last more than two months.

* * *

Ms. Kidance was at the chalkboard explaining how to subtract using borrowing. Ella was paying very close attention. She wasn't all that good in math and she wanted to get a good grade on the worksheet Ms. Kidance had handed them. Love was doodling on the worksheet. She had already finished the entire page without listening to Ms. Kidance. Apparently, she already knew what to do. Evelyn sat quietly at her desk observing Ella and Love. She was paying half attention to Ms. Kidance. Math was just too boring. Why couldn't they go on to something more exciting like reading or writing?

The loud-speaker turned on. "Ms. Kidance?" asked the secretary.

"Yes?" Ms. Kidance set down the chalk and looked to the intercom.

"There's a man here who says that he has something urgent to tell you."

"Then send him down." Ms. Kidance turned to the class. "Okay, I think I explained it enough. Go ahead and start working on those problems that I gave you. If you need any help just skip the problem and work on the next one. If you finish early, you can read a book, or you can talk quietly." There were several quiet exclaims of glee.

Ella sighed in frustration as she looked down at the complicated problems. She didn't get it at all.

"Do you need help?" Love asked Ella.

Ella looked surprised at Love's offer. "Okay."

Evelyn looked down at her worksheet. She was bored immediately. Instead, she took interest with Ms. Kidance.

Ms. Kidance was becoming very nervous. She would sit at her desk trying to grade some papers. The pen in her hand was bouncing in a simple rhythm up and down. There was a knock at the door and Ms. Kidance slightly jumped. She got up to answer the door. She opened it to a man with dark hair in a black suit.

Love looked up and recognized the man. She smiled the biggest smile Evelyn had so far seen on her face, even though Love could smile bigger.

"Margaret." he said.

"It's Ms. Kidance in front of the class and could we talk outside? I don't want the kids to get distracted."

The man looked around at the children. "All right."

"Michael, if anyone starts misbehaving, I want you to tell me when I come back." Ms. Kidance told one of the students. She and the man left the room.

Ms. Kidance closed the door. "What are you doing here, Bruce?"

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here? Do you know how dangerous this could be? You could blow your cover!"

"Don't worry, Bruce. I won't blow it this time.

"I just want you to be careful, Margaret" Bruce told her with genuine concern.

Ms. Kidance looked down. "I'll be fine, Bruce. Don't worry."

"Have you come in contact with him?"

"Bruce…" Margaret whined. She really didn't want to talk about it right now.

"Just answer the question please."

"No…" Margaret prolonged the answer.

"Why am I starting to get a dreadful feeling?"

Ms. Kidance rolled her eyes. "It's nothing terrible. I'm just being his daughter's substitute." she mumbled.

Bruce's eyes widened. "What?!"

"You weren't loud enough, Bruce. I don't think the class upstairs heard you!" she hissed.

Bruce rolled his eyes. He would do that at least ten times when he was with Margaret. "I'm going to need to talk to her."

"Who?"

"His kid."

Margaret stood there in silence. "Why? She has no idea who I am and I doubt he told her anything."

"Margaret, we need to be sure. Remember what happened last time?"

Margaret huffed. "Fine." she opened the door to the classroom. "Evelyn, could I speak to you outside, please?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Evelyn to Ms. Kidance. Evelyn stood up slowly. She really hoped that she wasn't in trouble. She didn't do anything wrong, at least nothing that she could remember.

Evelyn walked out into the hallway. Ms. Kidance closed the door. "Evelyn, this is Bruce Wayne. He would like to ask you some questions." Ms. Kidance said in her most reassuring voice.

Evelyn looked from Ms. Kidance to Bruce. He seemed so…dark, but good. "Hello, Mr. Wayne." Evelyn greeted politely. Clark had taught her to call each grown-up that she met by their last name unless they said otherwise.

Bruce smiled. "Hello, Evelyn. I'm just going to ask you a few questions. You're not in trouble."

Evelyn breathed out in deep relief.

Bruce chuckled as Evelyn started relaxing. "Do you know your dad's name?"

Evelyn nodded, but didn't say anything.

Bruce waited. "Can you tell me?"

Evelyn shook her head. "Nope. Daddy always tells me not to tell anyone anything."

"Don't worry, Evelyn. I don't think your daddy would mind if you told Bruce."

Evelyn weighed her options. "His name is Clark Kent."

Margaret suppressed a smile. It had been so long since anyone had ever spoken that name in front of her.

"Has he ever talked about anyone called Lois Lane?"

Evelyn thought a bit. That name seemed very familiar. "No…" Evelyn noticed Bruce's face relax and Ms. Kidance's face tighten. She wasn't done explaining though. "But I found some newspapers that he kept that are written by him and Lois Lane. I think that they were best friends, but something really bad happened to her." Evelyn looked back at forth at the adults. Bruce looked like he was contemplating something and Ms. Kidance looked like she wanted to cry out of happiness. "Am I supposed to know who she is?"

"Uh, no. It's okay." Ms. Kidance said. She opened the door. "You can get back to work."

Evelyn walked back in. She went to her table and sat down. Love had finished helping Ella with the problems. "Why did Ms. Kidance want to talk with you?" Ella asked

"They were asking me some questions. Some guy called Bruce Wayne was there too. He was the one asking the questions."

"I knew it was him!" Love said with a grin.

Evelyn and Ella looked at Love. "You know him?" Evelyn asked.

Love nodded. "Of course. I've known him since like forever. Last year, he told me he was going to help me find my daddy."

"Did you find him?"

"No, not yet. But we're still looking."

Evelyn couldn't understand Love. She was always so shy and quiet, but she seemed so full of hope.

* * *

Clark pushed in a nail with his thumb into the wooden post. One of the cattle had rammed into the gate and had created a hole. Now, Clark was stuck fixing it.

"Clark Kent." someone said behind him.

Clark turned around. He was met with a man in a suit. They were almost the same height, but Clark was taller by a few inches. "And you are?"

"Bruce Wayne." he stuck his hand out for a handshake.

Clark looked down at the offered hand. "What does the owner of Wayne Industries want with a farmer from Smallville?" Clark ignored Bruce's hand.

Bruce smirked. "It seems that you're familiar with a couple of billionaires. Oliver Queen and Lex Luthor. Why does my presence seem to phase you?"

"Because I learned a long time ago not to trust anybody, especially billionaires. What do you want?"

"You don't seem to have trouble trusting Oliver Queen. He speaks of you often. He says that you were a great man once. A symbol of hope, he said. You could always see the good in people, even when there was none." Bruce looked at him closely. "Seems I've missed the old Clark."

"Look, whatever it is you want, I'm not interested. So please, do me a favor and leave."

Bruce snorted. "Your daughter has better manners than you." Bruce turned around and started leaving.

"Evelyn?" Clark asked. Why was this man so interested in him and his family.

Bruce faced Clark. "Yes Evelyn, unless you have another daughter that I don't know about."

"Leave her alone. I don't care who you are, if you even think about hurting her, I swear, I will hunt you down and make sure that you suffer." Clark said through his clenched teeth

Bruce smiled. "Seems like you still have a spark left in you. I'm sure you're familiar with Oliver's other friends: Dinah Lance, Victor Stone, Arthur Curry, Bart Allen, Kara Kent. Oh wait, you're cousins with Ms. Kara aren't you? I believe biologically?"

Clark stood there not wanting to say anything. "Yes, I know all of them."

Bruce nodded. "Good. There going to need you're help Clark. Sooner than you think." Bruce turned around and started walking. "Nice making your acquaintance, Clark." Bruce said as he continued walking away.

Clark was left in a stunned silence. Who the heck was this Bruce Wayne and where in the world did he come from?

* * *

Evelyn hopped inside the truck. Clark waited for her to buckle up before he started driving off. "How was school today?"

"Fine. Some guy called Bruce Wayne came to school today. He asked me if I knew who Lois Lane was."

Clark almost drove off the road. "Why did he ask that?"

"I don't know. Love said that he's a really nice man and that he's helping her find her daddy."

Clark looked to the road. "Did anything else happen?"

Evelyn looked from Clark to her back-pack. "Uh, Ms. Kidance gave me a note. She said that I had to give it to you."

Clark moaned. "What did you do, Evelyn?"

Evelyn opened her back-pack and pulled out the note. She handed it to Clark.

Clark took it from her and held it in one hand while steering with the other. 'Mr. Kent,' the note started. The handwriting reminded him of Lois'. Sloppy, but brilliant. 'I would like to meet with you sometime this week to discuss one of Evelyn's assignments. Anytime after school would be fine with me. Ms. Kidance'

Clark looked back to the road. It seemed like Evelyn wasn't in any kind of trouble, but he was still worried. He hoped it didn't have anything to do with the problems at home.

* * *

a/n: i had a little touble getting this chapter out. it seemed good in my head, but once i got it out on paper, eh. oh well. tell me if it's good or bad. and thank you for all the reviews and thank you to d-scarlet. i didn't know if i should have put that in the summary, but now i know. :D


	5. Trouble

Trouble

Clark walked down the hallway of Smallville Elementary. It was almost four and the building was mostly empty. He's see the occasional group of kids or a teacher walking. Lana had taken Evelyn with her to go grocery shopping. Clark was sort of glad Lana was back. He just wished that she would either leave for good or stay forever. This back and forth she was doing wasn't good for Evelyn.

As Clark was looking for room 2C, he started to recall some of the things that went on when he and Pete used to roam around the same halls. Pete would always be causing some kind of chaos while Clark would sit back and laugh. He smiled as he remembered one particular time when Pete put superglue on a teachers drawer. The teacher would never use that drawer, but the same day Pete put superglue on it, the teacher decided to open it up. Pete got in so much trouble, but the look on the man's face was priceless. Clark would still crack up when he remembered it.

Clark's happy attitude dissipated when he remembered why he was up here in the first place. Evelyn had gotten into some kind of trouble. Evelyn was mostly a good kid, but sometimes she would say something to a teacher that would be totally disrespectful.

Clark finally found room 2C. He took a peek in through the window. He saw Love sprawled out on the floor reading a book. No one was behind the desk. Clark knocked twice before he opened the door. "Hello? Ms. Kidance?"

Love looked up from her book. "Hi, Mr. Kent. Ms. Kidance went to the restroom real quick. She said that if you came, that you could look around if you wanted to."

"Okay, thanks Love."

Love nodded and went back to her book.

Clark did a quick look over of the room. It looked like any other second grade classroom. He walked to a round table that was more or less in the center of the class. There were three name tags: Ella, Love, and Evelyn.

"Mr. Kent, could I ask you a question?"

Clark looked at Love. She was getting up and was heading towards him. "Sure. What's on your mind?"

"I don't know why, but you seem really different to me."

"Really?" Clark's heart couldn't help but sped up. Whenever someone told him that, the consequences were never good. "Why do you think that?"

"I don't know." Love stood inches away from Clark. She reached up for Clark's face and laid her hand on his cheek. Love closed her eyes tightly, blocking the outside noises.

The door opened and Love jumped back in surprise.

"Love, what're you doing?"

Clark stood up. "Uh, you must be Ms. Kidance."

Ms. Kidance looked away from Love and at Clark. "Yes. What was Love doing?" she looked back down at Love in concern.

"Nothing, she just…was…" Clark couldn't explain what she was doing because he didn't understand it either.

Love tugged at Ms. Kidance's sleeve. Ms. Kidance bent down closer and Love began whispering to her.

Clark really didn't want to eavesdrop, but he wanted to know. Besides he had a right, didn't he?

"I heard someone telling me to touch him. If I touched him then everything would be all right." Love said.

"Who told you that?" Ms. Kidance asked.

Love shrugged her shoulders.

Clark continued looking like he had no idea what was going on. Ms. Kidance stood up. "I'm sorry about that Mr. Kent."

Clark smiled. She looked very uncomfortable. "Don't worry. Call me Clark, though."

Ms. Kidance smiled. "In that case, you can call me Margaret."

Love looked up at the two adults. Margaret was smiling so big. Love had never seen her smile like that. And Clark was smiling really big too. Evelyn said that her dad would never show his teeth when he smiled. Right now, he was showing them off.

"Did Evelyn do something wrong?" Clark asked ready to get the meeting over with.

"No, Evelyn is one of my brightest students," Margaret began walking towards her desk. Clark followed her and took a seat. Margaret pulled out a manila folder. "This is actually about a small project that I had the class do." Margaret handed Clark a sheet of paper.

Clark looked at it. He knew it was Evelyn's handwriting. She wrote very carefully and made sure that it was nice and neat.

"I asked the class to think up of several sentences that described something or someone in their life. They would get a thesaurus and replace their original adjectives with a more descriptive one. One of Evelyn's sentences made me worry."

Clark read each of her sentences. He found the one Margaret was talking about. 'My mommy always leaves me and my daddy. I think that she is an impostor.' Clark groaned inwardly. He didn't know Evelyn thought that about Lana.

"Honestly, I don't see the point in a child seeing going to mental therapy, but she needs to talk to someone. Either you or your wife, someone."

"My wife and I, Lana, we've been arguing a lot lately," Clark didn't know what it was, but something in Margaret's demeanor made Clark want to tell her everything. Even the things that he would never tell Chloe or Oliver. "I know that marriage vows are completely sacred, but I don't think that either of us thought it through when we got married. The problems are becoming too much. I haven't told Lana yet, but I'm thinking about filing for a divorce."

Margaret sat there, soaking in each word that he said. "Well, Clark, I'm not exactly an expert at marriage. Just look at Love for example." Margaret grimaced slightly, "But one thing I have learned is when you are with the wrong person, things will keep happening and those things will keep getting worse. Either way, you should still talk with Evelyn."

Clark's phone began vibrating. "Excuse me for a sec." Clark flipped his phone open. "Hello?"

"Is this Clark Kent?" "Yes, this he." Clark got up from his seat and began walking around.

"We've just admitted you wife and daughter to Smallville Medical Center."

"What? What happened? Are they all right?"

"They were in a car accident. I think it would be best if you came up here for more information."

"I'm on my way." Clark flipped the phone shut.

Margaret took one look at him and knew something was wrong. "Clark, what happened?"

"I'm sorry, but I have to go right now." Clark made his way for the door.

"Wait, what's going on?" Margaret stood in his way.

Clark sighed. He looked at Love. She was deep in her book. "Lana and Evelyn were in an accident." he said quietly.

Margaret gasped. "Are they going to be okay?"

"I don't know. But I have to leave right now. I need to be with them."

Margaret moved aside. Clark began walking out. "Please tell me when everything's okay." she called out before Clark was out of ear-shot.

Love put her book down. "What happened?"

Margaret looked down at her. "Nothing. But you are the most unbelievable child!"

"What? What did I do?"

Margaret huffed. "We'll talk when we get home. Now get your things together. We're about to leave."

* * *

Clark arrived at the hospital in less than five minutes. He went straight for the information desk. "Where's Lana and Evelyn Kent's room?"

The secretary typed something into the computer. "Lana Kent is in surgery right now and Evelyn Kent is in room 473."

Clark thanked him and walked to Evelyn's room. It was incredible how well Clark knew the hospital. It was practically his second home. That's how much trouble he brought to the people he cared about.

Clark found the room. He looked inside through the window. Evelyn had a machine monitoring her heart. A fluid was slowly dripping its way into her blood system through an IV. She had a large cut on her forehead. There were so many scratches and bruises on her arms.

"Mr. Kent?"

Clark turned around and face Dr. Jennings, their family doctor. "Dr. Jennings. Is Evelyn going to be okay?"

"She should be fine." replied the aged doctor. His glasses slid down his nose as he looked at his clipboard. "She has a broken arm, but other than that she's perfectly fine. We want to keep her overnight though, just to be sure."

"And what about Lana?"

Dr. Jennings sighed. He hated being the bearer of bad news. "When the car hit them, Lana received most of the impact. When she was admitted, there was a large flesh wound. She's in surgery right now to be sure that none of her main arteries were damaged."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"I'm giving her a fifty-fifty chance."

Clark didn't speak. Fifty-fifty? He might not be in love with Lana or love her at all for that matter, but he still didn't want any harm to come to her. "Do you know what happened?"

"The woman driving the other vehicle said before she crashed into them, she saw Lana slump over. I think Lana might've passed out. It's most likely one of the side-effects of her abortion."

"Abortion?"

"Oh, I assumed she told you." Dr. Jennings said awkwardly. He cursed himself for sticking his foot in his mouth.

"No, I didn't even think it was possible for us to have children."

"I'm really sorry, Clark." Dr. Jennings put a supportive hand on Clark's shoulder. He walked away, ready to deal with another patient.

Clark couldn't believe it. How could Lana have an abortion? He had always known that she was scared of getting pregnant. They didn't know how her body would react to a pregnancy with an alien. But just because she did get pregnant didn't mean she had to get an abortion. For so long, Clark had wanted a child of his own. Someone to carry on his Kryptonian heritage. And how did Lana get the abortion? Wouldn't the baby have some of Clark's abilities? Could it be killed like a normal baby? What if it looked completely different from a normal baby? Would the doctors start asking questions that Clark didn't need?

Clark pushed all of those thoughts out of his mind. Right now, he needed to be sure that Evelyn was okay. He opened the door and walked in. The constant beeping of the machine was comforting to Clark. It meant that Evelyn's heart was still beating. Clark sat down in a chair that was by Evelyn's bedside. He grabbed her hand and began rubbing it with his thumb. "I'm so sorry, bud. I should've been there. I should've stopped the accident from happening." A small tear rolled down his face

Evelyn slowly turned her head and opened her eyes. She smiled weakly. "Hi, Daddy." she said softly.

Clark smiled too. A few more tears came down. "Hey, bud."

Evelyn's smile left her face. "Why are you crying?"

'Because Lana had an abortion. Because Lois isn't here to tell me off.' "Because my little bud was in an accident."

Evelyn turned her head back to the ceiling. "It hurt, Daddy. I felt the car hit us. And then Mommy closed her eyes and leaned her head against the window. It looked like she was going to take a nap."

More tears came down Clark's face. They were now steadily flowing. "I'm so sorry Evelyn."

Evelyn looked back at Clark. "But you didn't do anything."

Evelyn was right. Clark didn't do anything when he could've done something. But not anymore. He wasn't going to let that happen anymore. He was going to pull his hands out of his pockets and do something. Clark attempted a smile. "I've got to go, bud. You need to get some rest."

Evelyn nodded. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep easily.

Clark brushed away the hair over her forehead. He planted a gentle kiss on her forehead. He go up to leave. Clark looked back at her before he left. She didn't know that her daddy had become a coward. He was going to change that now. He was going to change it for Evelyn and only Evelyn. He wasn't going to try and prove anything to anyone.

* * *

Two young ladies were walking down a dim lit street in Metropolis. "Oh come on, Becky. You have to admit he was hot."

Becky blushed. "Okay, so he was sort of cute. But unlike you, Jenny, I am not going to go out on a date with some random stranger."

"He's not a random stranger! He's the cashier at the Stop-n-Go that you always see." Jenny gushed. "Just think about it a moment. You and him, together, forever. Aw, you would have the cutest babies with blue-green eyes and dirty blonde hair!"

"Jenny!"

"Give me your purses!"

Becky and Jenny stopped dead in their tracks. They were staring down a gun barrel. The man holding the gun had a bandana covering the bottom part of his face. He must've been part of a gang in Metropolis.

"Just put away the gun. We'll give you the purses, but please put away the gun." Becky said. She was trying to reason with the man, but her voice was very shaky. It showed how scared she was.

"Give me the purses now!" the man stuck the gun in Becky's face.

Becky and Jenny quickly handed the man their purses. He grabbed them and looked down at Jenny's left hand. "Give me that ring!" he demanded.

Jenny looked where he was looking. It was her engagement ring. "No, I will not give it to you." Jenny said firmly.

"Give me it, or I blow out both of your brains!"

"Jenny, just give the nice man your ring." Becky said not taking her eyes away from the man.

"But, Becky-" Jenny started arguing.

Becky interrupted her. "Jenny this isn't the time or place to argue. Do it now!"

As Jenny was slowly sliding off her ring, the two ladies heard a gust of wind and saw a flash of red and blue. The next thing they see was the man who was mugging them unconscious and tied to a pole. Their purses were on the floor next to them.

They looked at each other in amazement. "He's back." Jenny said quietly, but with a smile that yelled out her excitement

* * *

Margaret flipped through the phone book trying to find a decent place to order out from. "Okay, Lovely. What do you want to eat for dinner tonight?"

Love didn't take her eyes away from the TV. "Can we have some burritos?"

Margaret looked for a Mexican take-out. There was none. Margaret thought that after more than ten years, Smallville would have a decent Mexican restaurant. "Sorry Lovely. Smallville doesn't have any Mexican restaurants."

Margaret heard Love groan in disappointment. "Then what do they have?"

"How about some chicken."

"I guess." Love said.

Margaret dialed the number and ordered their dinner. She hung up the phone once she was done and walked into the Living Room. She sat down on the couch next to Love. "Put the news on."

Love didn't argue as she changed the channel. Love actually enjoyed watching the news. She liked hearing about the things that were going on in the world around her.

"…several muggings along with a bank robbery and two car accidents have been stopped thanks to the infamous red and blue blur. Apparently, after a seven year hiatus, the red and blue blur has decided enough is enough. He seems to have come back to clean up the streets of Metropolis."

The TV frame went to a small interview of two ladies named Jenny Enriquez and Becky Hwang.

Margaret was stunned into silence. He had finally come back. "Love, turn off the TV and go do your homework."

"But I don't have any." Love argued.

"Then go and read a book."

"But I want to watch TV." Love pleaded.

"Love, do it now."

"Yes, ma'am." Love said as she stomped her way to her room.

Margaret waited for the door to shut before she moved. Once she heard the click of the knob, she got up and went to her phone. She dialed a number that she had memorized over the years. She waited for three rings.

"Bruce Wayne." said the man on the other line.

"Bruce! I need to talk with you!" Margaret practically yelled.

"First, you don't have to yell. Second, I'm kind of busy. Can't you call a different friend?"

"Bruce, don't you dare start with me. Remember last time we argued about this?"

"Don't remind me. That really busted my pride."

"So can I talk to you?"

"No."

"Bruce!"

"Margaret, I'm really busy right now. Can't you wait until later?"

"What's more important than me, Bruce?"

"Well, Mr. Freeze has threatened the mayor again."

Margaret didn't say anything. "Fine. If I can't talk to you then I'm going to call her."

"Margaret, don't you dare."

"Why not Bruce? What harm could there be in calling Chloe?"

"You'd be putting her in danger!"

"Trust me. Chloe has a bunch of people backing her up. If he so much as laid a finger on her, they'd have his head in less than a second. Please, Bruce. I haven't been able to contact anyone since it happened."

Margaret could hear Bruce sighing heavily into the phone. She knew she was getting to him. "Fine, Margaret. But if I hear that she's gotten into some kind of trouble, don't stop me from telling you 'I told you so.'"

"You're the greatest, Bruce!" Margaret exclaimed before hanging up.

Margaret couldn't keep the smile from her face as she dialed the numbers she hadn't dialed in such a long time.

"Hello, this is Chloe Olsen."

"Chloe? You won't believe who this is." Margaret gushed into the phone.

* * *

a/n: sorry i haven't updated in a while. i had to write this thing like three times. the stupid computer kept on deleting it and then i lost my cd that it was on. well, here it is, finally. tell me what you think and thank you for the reviews. it encourages me very much.


	6. Arrivals

Arrivals

Clark opened the front door of the house and walked in. He took off his red jacket and hung it on the coat hanger. He walked to the Living Room and plopped down on the couch. It felt so good to be out there again, helping those who needed help.

Clark turned on the TV. He scanned through the channels. All the news stations were doing reports on the red and blue blur. Clark really didn't want to hear anything about it. He didn't want to get full of himself. As he was about to shut the contraption off, a different news report caught his eye. Someone called Mr. Freeze was threatening the mayor of Gotham. Clark didn't know how that would all turn out. He was sure though, that the Batman would be able to stop him.

Clark let a smile slip loose. The phone began ringing its shrill tone. Clark got up and answered it. "Hello?"

"Clark! You finally did it! You have no idea how excited we are."

Clark grinned. "Hello to you too, Chloe."

"Right, sorry. It's just I'm so excited. I didn't think that you would ever come back."

"It felt good being out there again."

"Well, would you like to share what changed your mind?"

Clark looked at a picture that was hanging on the refrigerator. It was him with Evelyn. She had just turned five and was proudly showing off a pair of her very own work boots Clark had given to her. "Evelyn and Lana were in a car accident. If I would've been paying attention, I could've stopped it. It was time for me to get a move on."

"Oh my gosh. Are they all right?" Chloe asked.

"Evelyn broke her arm, but she's fine. When I left the hospital, Lana was in surgery. Dr. Jennings gave her a fifty-fifty chance."

Chloe didn't know what to say. "I'm so sorry, Clark. I had no idea."

"It wasn't your fault, Chloe."

An awkward silence fell between them. Chloe's phone began beeping, breaking the silence. "Hang on, Clark. Someone's on the other line. I'll get rid of them."

Clark heard the line go silent as Chloe put him on hold.

"Hello, this is Chloe Olsen."

"Chloe? You won't believe who this is."

Chloe listened to the person carefully. "Uh, who is this?"

"It's me, cuz. It's Lois."

Chloe couldn't speak. Lois? She was dead. Wasn't she? "Lois?"

"It's really me, Chloe."

"What kind of sick prank is this?!" Chloe yelled into the phone.

"But-"

"No! I don't care who you say you are! I never want you to call this number ever again!" Chloe held her tears at bay.

Chloe ignored the person's protest as she hung up the phone angrily. How could someone play such a horrible joke like that? Chloe went back on the same line as Clark. "Sorry about that Clark. It was a wrong number."

Clark could tell something was wrong. "Chloe, what's wrong. Did something happen?"

Chloe scoffed. "Just some stupid kid playing a prank."

"Are you sure? It doesn't sound like that."

"I'm fine Clark. It's…" Chloe went silent

"Chloe? You still there?"

"Crap! Clark, I've got to go."

"Chloe? What's…" Clark heard the dial tone come on. Chloe had just hung up on him.

Chloe pulled up the call log. She prayed that the number was still there. She found it and quickly redialed it. She waited for one ring before the person answered it. "Hello?"

"Lois!"

"Oh, thank goodness, Chloe! You sounded so upset!"

"Well what do you think?! How would you react when you're supposedly dead cousin calls you?"

Lois laughed. "You have no idea how much I've missed you, Chlo."

"I've missed you too! How are you alive? I saw the body myself."

"I wish I could tell you, but I can't. The less you know, the better."

"Does Clark know?"

Lois sighed wistfully. "I wish he did."

"Where are you? Can I visit you?" Chloe was so eager to see her. She wanted to be sure it really was Lois.

"Actually I'm in Smallville."

"Smallville?" Chloe laughed out. "Seriously, Lo. Where are you?" "Smallville, Kansas." Lois replied in an even tone.

Chloe let a small silence slip by. "Oh my gosh, you're serious aren't you?"

"I sure am."

"How could you not have told Clark if you're living in Smallville?!" Chloe yelled.

"Easy, Chloe. You're going to make me deaf."

"Answer the question Lois."

"I can't tell him for the same reason I can't give you any details."

"You know just as well as I do that Clark can take care of himself."

"The situation is a lot more complicated than you think, Chloe."

Chloe huffed. "Fine, but could I at least visit you?"

Lois considered this. "I would love that. Just don't tell Jimmy about it. Tell him you're going to visit Clark. Oh and you have to call me Margaret Kidance."

"Okay? You're going to have to explain the name later. But, I don't think that Jimmy would believe me.."

"Why not? I'm sure that he'd understand if you went to visit Clark. Or does he still think that you're head over heels for the flannel king?"

"No, he knows that I don't love Clark that way. A lot of things have changed since you died, or left. Wow, this is weird."

Lois chuckled. "Well, think of something because I'm really excited about seeing you again."

Chloe smiled. "Okay. Are you going to be busy tomorrow?."

"Nope, I don't have work Saturday's." Lois quickly gave Chloe her new address. "All right, Chloe. I've got to go. I need to start preparing for your return."

"Okay. See you later Lois."

"Bye."

Chloe hung up the phone and began crying.

Jimmy opened the door to their bedroom and saw Chloe crying on the bed. "Chloe? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Jimmy sat down next to her and pulled her into his arms.

"Because I'm so happy." Chloe said between sobs.

Jimmy sighed. He really hated it when Chloe was hormonal.

* * *

Clark looked down both ends of the hallway in the hospital before he continued on his way. It was after midnight and visiting hours were over. Clark didn't care if he was breaking hospital rules, he needed to see Evelyn.

Clark opened the door to her room and closed it when he entered. Evelyn was sleeping peacefully on her bed. The problems of the world didn't bring concern to her at the moment.

He sat down on the seat by her bedside. Clark watched her sleep, her chest steadily rising up and down. He envied how easily she slept. He hadn't had a good rest in so long. Every night, he was plagued with dreams of Lois. Some of the dreams he wished he could live in them forever while others he wanted to forget completely. Clark rested his head on an empty spot of Evelyn's bed. Maybe sleeping next to his little bud would bring some kind of ease. He doubted it though, considering where they were. But he tried it nonetheless.

* * *

Chloe walked up the steps to the house Lois had told her to go to. It was late morning when she got in to Smallville. She paid a quick visit to her dad in the nursing home before she came over here. Chloe had left her girls with Jimmy. They needed some father-daughter time together anyways.

Chloe tried to calm her wild heart. She was scared that when the door was answered, it wasn't Lois. That the call really had been some kind of cruel prank. Chloe pulled herself together and rang the doorbell.

The door opened and Chloe saw a little girl about Evelyn's age. "Hello, um I'm looking for-"

"Chloe!" exclaimed a woman that Chloe didn't recognize. "Wow, please tell me that's just a bun in the oven." Margaret said looking at Chloe's stomach

Chloe smiled. "Baby number three." Chloe hugged her. "You've changed so much, Margaret." Chloe really meant it. The black hair, thick glasses, brown eyes?

"Yeah, I decided I had enough of wearing contacts." Margaret said.

The little girl cleared her throat. Margaret and Chloe looked down at her. "Oh right. Chloe, this is Love, my daughter."

Chloe looked at her surprised. "Wow, your daughter?"

"I'll explain it later." Margaret looked down at Love. "Love, this is my…friend from a long time ago."

Love smiled bashfully.

"Want to go to the Talon? Get some coffee? I really need some caffeine right now." Margaret said.

"Same old…Margaret." Chloe tested the name out.

"Go get your shoes on. We're going to go eat." Margaret told Love.

Love smiled in relief. She ran down the hall to get some shoes on her feet.

"So, I'm really confused." Chloe said once Love was gone.

"Don't worry, Chlo. I'll explain some things later. But not in front of Love. She can't hear some of the things I need to tell you."

"I'm sure you'll find a way. You always do."

"Okay, Mommy. I'm ready." Love appeared next to Margaret and was looking up at her.

* * *

Clark looked in the room through the window. Lana was sleeping on the bed in a hospital gown. Her head was bandaged up. She looked terrible.

"We've run some tests," Dr. Jennings started, "The damage wasn't as bad as we had expected. But during the surgery we did have to take a piece of metal out of her. It had punctured her abdomen. She should be all right, though."

"How much can the insurance cover?" Clark asked.

"Only half of it."

Clark grimaced. How was he going to come up with the money to pay for the hospital bill? "Thanks Dr. Jennings."

Dr. Jennings smiled in support then walked away.

Clark sighed. He opened the door and walked in. He stood at the foot of her bed watching her sleep. How could this have happened? "Lana?"

Lana slowly opened her eyes. She moaned softly. "Clark."

"It's amazing how much a near-death experience can affect you." Clark sauntered closer to Lana.

"Yeah." Lana smiled bitterly. "What did the doctors say?"

"You're going to be all right."

Lana breathed easier knowing she still wasn't going to die yet.

Clark let a silence pass. "I heard about the abortion." he said plainly.

Lana swallowed. "I'm sorry, Clark. I'm just not ready to have a baby yet." Lana tried to see how Clark would take that lie.

"I'm not going to ask you about, yet. But there is something we need to talk about right now."

Lana waited for him to continue.

"I've been thinking about our marriage for a while now. Maybe we were in over our heads. I was still feeling the loss of Lois, you had that horrible break-up with Lex." That name felt bitter on Clark's tongue, but he had to get it out. "We were the rebound for each other. What if those feelings that we did have, really weren't feelings at all. Or maybe they were feelings, but they were supposed to be directed towards someone else. We haven't been happy together in such a long time. Evelyn knows it." Clark sighed. Clark knew these next words were going to be so hard to get out. "I'm filing for a divorce tomorrow." There he said it. He waited for Lana to respond.

"Okay." Lana said simply.

"I wish we could've worked it out. But you know as well as I do that we were not meant for each other."

Lana nodded her agreement.

"I'm going to get Evelyn out. I might be back later." Clark said. He stepped out of the room and began walking down the long hallway. He felt as if a huge burden had been taken off his shoulders.

* * *

Margaret, Chloe and Love were walking out of the Talon. Margaret and Chloe each held half a cup of coffee and Love was munching on a cookie.

Love stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and looked both ways. A huge grin covered her face. "Mommy, look! There's Evelyn and Clark!"

Margaret looked where Love was looking. She paled a little.

Chloe turned and looked at them, but turned and looked back at Margaret. "Margaret? Are you feeling okay? You don't look good."

"Chloe, he cannot see me with you." Margaret started walking in the opposite direction.

But it was too late. "Evelyn! Clark!" Love took off running in their direction.

"Hi, Love!" Evelyn said as she waved her good arm.

Love stopped. "Why's your arm in a cast?"

"Because I broke it."

The explanation was good enough for Love. "Hi, Clark!" Love said as she careened her head back to look at him.

"Hello, Love. What are you doing here?"

"Me, my mommy and some lady named Chloe came here to eat." Love explained.

"Chloe?" Clark looked up and saw Chloe and Margaret in a deep discussion. It looked like they were disagreeing about something.

Margaret winced and Chloe turned around. "Clark, hey. What's going on?"

Clark didn't have the words to say anything. "What are you-"

"Aunt Chloe!" Evelyn exclaimed and hugged her.

Chloe smiled as she returned the hug. "Hey, Evelyn. Are you feeling okay? Your dad told me what happened."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Look what I have now." Evelyn proudly showed off her cast. Evelyn didn't wait for Chloe to comment. She turned back to Love and they went into their own little conversation.

Margaret slowly began making her way to Clark and Chloe. "Clark, what a surprise. What are you doing here?"

"I was going to get some stuff from the Talon. I didn't know you and Chloe knew each other."

"Yeah, we used to go to school together back in elementary. We haven't seen each other since." Margaret lied easily.

"Uh, yeah. And I just barely found out last night that she was living here in Smallville. Can you believe it Clark? It's a small world isn't it." Chloe said.

"Yeah. Well, I better get going. Evelyn needs to take some medicine in a few minutes. I'll talk to you later, Chloe."

"See you, Clark." Chloe replied.

"Come on, bud. We've got to go." Clark said.

"Daddy, can Love come over for a little bit?"

"I don't know. She has to ask her mom." Clark said turning to look at Margaret.

Love walked up to Margaret. "Please, Mommy?" she asked with a pleading look.

"I don't know, Lovely." Margaret said totally rejecting her puppy-dog look.

"Uh, could I talk with you a moment, Margaret?" Chloe said as she began dragging Margaret away.

Margaret looked at Chloe confused, "What, Chloe?"

"Didn't you say that you wanted to talk alone without Love?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Why don't you let her go with Clark. You know as well as I do that he'll take good care of her."

"It's complicated, Chloe."

"How?"

"It just is!"

"Come on, Margaret. Please?"

Margaret looked at Chloe. She huffed out. "Fine."

Chloe smiled big. The two ladies began walking back

"Okay, Love, you can go with Evelyn."

The two girls squealed in delight. "Thank you!" Love exclaimed.

"But remember the rules." Margaret warned.

"Yes, ma'am"

Margaret looked at Clark. "Thank you, Clark. If uh, anything happens, just call me."

"Don't worry, Margaret. I think I can handle her." Clark smiled.

"Bye, Lovely."

"Bye, Mommy."

"See you later, guys." Chloe said as she began walking away with Margaret.

Clark smiled as he watched them leave. It was amazing how much they looked alike. "Come on, girls. I have to go inside really quick."

Evelyn and Love followed Clark dutifully.

* * *

Chloe and Margaret walked inside the house laughing. Chloe had just told her the story of Julie dumping flour and honey on Jimmy.

"I wish I could've seen that, Chlo." Margaret gushed.

"Yeah, it was pretty funny." Chloe looked around the empty house. "Now, could you explain some things to me?"

"Hang on." Margaret walked to the living room and pulled out a CD. She put it into the stereo and began turning the volume up. She motioned for Chloe to follow her into her bedroom.

Chloe followed and Margaret closed the door behind them. Margaret closed the blinds and the curtains. "Okay, Margaret. What's up with all this secrecy?"

Margaret plopped down next to Chloe on the bed. "I can't have anyone listening in to our conversation."

Chloe looked at her suspiciously. "Can I call you Lois?"

"Yeah."

Chloe smiled and hugged her fiercely. "You have no idea how much we've missed you!" Chloe said.

Lois hugged her back. "I missed you too, cuz!" Lois let go of her. "So, what do you want me to explain?"

"First, what's behind the story of Love?"

Lois sighed. "Bruce is going to be so upset with me." She muttered. "Love is…well, she's Clark's"

Chloe's mouth hung open. "What? Does he know?"

"No, of course not."

"How come you haven't told him anything?" "For the same reason that I can't tell you everything." Lois shot back.

"Fine. What else can you explain to me?"

"Well, I'm a sub for Smallville Elementary."

"Really? What class?"

"Second grade. 2C to be exact."

"2C? Isn't that Evelyn's class?"

"Yeah."

Chloe moaned. She hated it that Lois couldn't tell Clark anything. Besides, there weren't a lot of things that Clark couldn't handle. "Is that all you can say?"

"Pretty much."

Chloe frowned.

Lois didn't like seeing her upset so she started another subject. "How about you explain to me what's been going on in Clark's life? And how in the world did he end up with Lana?"

Chloe winced "You heard about that already?"

"Actually, Clark told me." Lois said. "It was so hard not to yell at that stupid farm boy."

Chloe smiled slightly. "After that explosion, Clark fell apart. He stopped saving people. John told him that he had to fulfill his destiny no matter what happened. It seemed like Clark actually listened to him because he went to the fortress for a week. When he came back though, he was completely changed. He hardly spoke and would never smile. Kara went to the fortress to see what had happened. It was a mess. Clark…he had destroyed it."

Lois gasped. "How could he do that? I thought that he had come to terms with his heritage and everything." Lois said.

"He did, but your supposed death really affected him in a way that none of us could've known." Chloe sighed. "After that, he slowly started slipping away form us. He went into this deep depression. No one could get through to him. Then the infamous Lana Lang stepped back into the picture. She somehow helped Clark sort of get over your death. He never really did though. They started dating again and a year later, they were engaged. They got married about three months later. Clark took over the farm and Lana became the owner of the Talon again. They adopted Evelyn from the Philippines when she was about two and a half. Evelyn hadn't even been in their family for a year before the problems started coming. Clark and Lana would have these huge arguments. Lana didn't want Clark to take Evelyn to see his side of the family. She would take off a lot of times and just leave them alone."

Chloe looked at Lois. She seemed to be on the verge of tears. Lois didn't want her Smallville to be in any kind of problems. "He's been so lost without you, Lois." Chloe whispered.

"I didn't want to do it, believe me Chloe." Lois said in the same volume.

Chloe was about to say something, but her face suddenly went very white.

Lois noticed the change in her. "Chlo? Is everything all right?"

Chloe looked at Lois. "My water broke."

* * *

"Okay, girls. What do you want for lunch?" Clark asked as he peeked his head into the refrigerator.

"I'll eat anything so long as it's good." Love said.

"Can we just have some sandwiches?" Evelyn asked. She didn't really have an appetite after she was released from the hospital.

"All right. I'll call you when there ready." Clark said.

Evelyn and Love smiled. They walked out the door. Clark watched them through the window. It looked like they were about to start a race. Clark didn't know how fair it would be considering Evelyn had her cast weighing her down more.

Clark looked down at the tomatoes he was cutting. He liked having more than one kid at the farm. He had grown up pretty lonely and he knew Evelyn was growing up lonely too. But at least she didn't have the restraints of having to cover up any powers.

"Daddy!" Evelyn yelled as she ran into the house.

Clark dropped what he was doing and turned all of his attention to Evelyn. "Evelyn, what's wrong?"

Evelyn was really close to crying. "Me and Love were going to start racing. We started running and Love was running really fast. She kept going faster and then she disappeared!" Evelyn was crying by the time she finished.

"What?" Clark exclaimed as he started walking out the door. He stood on the porch and didn't see anyone. "Love!" Clark waited for a response. "Love!!" he yelled a little louder. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Clark tried his best not to panic. Evelyn really didn't need to see him worrying right now.

"Evelyn, go inside and get Aunt Chloe on the phone. Tell her that I really need to talk to her." Clark ordered Evelyn.

Evelyn nodded her head and ran inside. Clark made sure she was inside and not looking out any windows before he sped off. Clark listened for anything that could mean Love was nearby. Right now he was just running in any random direction, the countryside blurring past him. He saw a figure that was running in front of him at a good speed. Clark pushed himself to go faster. From the crying, he knew it was Love. He came up behind her and scooped her up in his arms. He began slowing down until they came to a complete stop. They were at the state border of Minnesota.

Love was crying into Clark's shirt. "I'm sorry!" she said earnestly. "I didn't mean too! I didn't know that I was going to do that!"

"Shh, it's okay. You're fine and no one is blaming you." Clark said.

Love's crying slowly turned into sniffles. Clark set her down when she was done crying and she looked around. "Where are we?" she asked when she didn't see any sign of civilization except for a road.

"Well, we're pretty far from Kansas." Clark said as he ruffled his hair. How in the world was he going to get out of this one? Clark grabbed Love's hand. "Come on. Let's go find a gas station."

* * *

Evelyn impatiently held the phone as she waited for someone to pick up. She was surprised when she heard Ms. Kidance on the other line. "Hello?"

"Ms. Kidance? Is Chloe there?"

"Chloe's a little busy." Ms. Kidance sounded very nervous.

"What's going on?" Evelyn asked.

"Chloe's about to have her baby right now." Ms. Kidance rushed.

Evelyn didn't believe it. Aunt Chloe was going to have her baby right now? Whoa.

"Did you need something?"

"Uh, Love kind of disappeared." Evelyn said.

"What?!" came Ms. Kidance reply.

"We were running and she just disappeared. My daddy's looking for her right now." Evelyn was really trying hard not to cry.

"Evelyn, I want you to put your daddy on the phone right now." Ms. Kidance demanded.

"Okay." Evelyn set the phone on the table and went back outside to look for Clark. "Daddy?" she yelled as she walked into the barn. He wasn't there. Evelyn's little heart began beating faster. She walked out into the fields, "Daddy?!" she yelled louder. He wasn't answering. Evelyn began running around looking for Clark, but he was no where.

Evelyn ran back into the house. "I can't find my daddy!" she cried into the phone.

Ms. Kidance's heart dropped. He was going to find out. He can't find out. Bruce was going to be so angry! "Okay. Evelyn, I need you to calm down. I'm sure your daddy is fine. Just stay there until I get there."

"Okay." Evelyn said.

"I'll be there in a few minutes." Ms. Kidance hung up the phone.

Chloe saw the uneasy look on her face. "Margaret, what's wrong?"

"It's Love. I think she can run really fast. I'm really sorry, Chlo, but I've got to go to the farm really quick. Evelyn's freaking out. Clark left her at the farm by herself."

"Don't worry, Margaret. I'm only a few centimeters dilated. Besides, Jimmy's on his way."

"I'll be back soon."

* * *

Love was perched on Clark's shoulders. After fifteen minutes of walking, she started complaining her feet were hurting. Clark picked her up and carried her effortlessly. "Clark?" Love started.

"Yes?"

"How did you catch me?" Love asked.

"How did you run so fast?" Clark answered her with another question.

Love didn't say anything. "If I tell you my secret, will you tell me yours?"

"I don't know if I can do that, Love. We all have secrets and my secret is really big and sometimes can be very dangerous."

"Does Evelyn know about your secret?"

"No." Clark set her down. He could see a gas station in the distance. "Let's hurry before your mom starts worrying."

Clark and Love picked up the pace. They reached the gas station and they both walked through the doors. Clark walked up to the man behind the cashier counter. "Excuse me, do you know of any bus stations or train stations nearby?

The man looked at Clark with a bored expression. "The nearest one is in town."

"How far away is that?"

"About and hour away."

Clark ran his fingers through his hair. He was definitely in deep trouble right now. "Thanks." Clark grabbed Love by her hand and walked back out to the deserted parking lot. Clark bent down and got eye-level with Love. "I'm going to have to do something very important, Love. But you have to promise me not to tell anyone. Not even you mom or Evelyn."

Love nodded her head in response.

"All right. Get on my back." Clark turned around and Love began climbing back up.

"Where are we going?"

"Home. Hang on tight." Clark said before he took off in a blur

* * *

Margaret pulled up into the Kent Farm. A wave of tears threatened to break loose, but Margaret kept her cool. She walked out of the car and into the farmhouse. "Evelyn? Are you here?"

Margaret heard feet pattering down the steps. Evelyn's face lit up when she saw that it was Margaret. "Ms. Kidance! You came!" Evelyn ran to her and hugged her legs.

Margaret rubbed her back gently. "Of course I'd come. But I'm going to have to take you with me."

"Where are we going?"

"To the hospital. You are going to be able your Aunt Chloe's baby." Margaret told her with a charming smile.

* * *

Clark stopped once they were in the farm driveway. He carefully let Love down.

Love looked up at him in awe. Clark was trying to find fear in the little girl's eyes, but he didn't find any. "Whoa! That was really cool! Can we do it again?"

"No, it's only in case of an emergency." Clark told her sternly. "How in the world were you able to run so fast?"

Love just shrugged her shoulders.

Clark sighed. Love Kidance was certainly a mystery he didn't expect. He walked to the house. He needed to let Evelyn know that he was back.

Clark could hear Love following close behind him. They walked through the screen door, but didn't find anyone. "Evelyn?" he called out. There was no response.

Clark walked around to the kitchen island. There was a note on the counter. 'Clark, I took Evelyn with me. She called Chloe and she sounded very upset. We're at Smallville Medical Center right now. Margaret'

Clark's heart dropped. Why were they in the hospital. Did something happen to Chloe? He turned to Love. "Come on, we're going to the hospital."

"Can we run?"

"No, I'm taking my truck."

Love began pouting. She really liked running.

* * *

"Come on, Chloe. You have to push!" the doctor told her.

Chloe yelled out in pain. "This baby isn't coming until Jimmy gets here!" Chloe yelled at him.

Margaret winced as Chloe tightened her hold on her hand. "Chloe, I don't think Jimmy's going to make it."

"Don't you dare say that!" Chloe yelled in pain again.

"Chloe, the baby isn't going to wait. We have to do this now!" the doctor exclaimed.

Margaret looked out the window. Evelyn was sitting there swinging her legs.

"Push, Chloe! Push!"

Chloe finally gave in and began pushing. She pushed and pushed. "Breathe Chloe. Do those breathing exercises I'm sure you learned." Margaret encouraged.

Chloe began breathing as she was taught, before she began pushing all over again. Finally, everyone in the room could hear a baby's cry. The doctor cut the umbilical cord and cleaned the baby's nose. "It's a boy!" the doctor said holding the pink baby up. He handed him to a nurse so he could be cleaned up.

"Doctor! Something's wrong!" Chloe yelled.

The doctor took a look and saw what was wrong. "Chloe, I'm going to need you to push again."

"What?!" Chloe yelled at him.

"Push Chloe!'

Chloe pushed as hard as she could. She stopped to breathe before she pushed again. The same cycle went on for an agonizing five minutes. At last, another baby's cry could be heard. "It's another boy!" the doctor called out.

Chloe let her head fall back in relief. She didn't feel anymore baby's. She was done! She began crying happy tears. Margaret looked down at her. "You did it, Chloe. Oh, they are such beautiful boys!"

The nurse handed Chloe the babies and Chloe cooed at them. Margaret looked out the window. She saw Clark holding Love's hand. He looked so happy. Margaret's heart skipped a beat when she saw him and Love together. It was a mystery that no one mistook him as her father. Well, he really was, but he didn't know that. Margaret smiled at him and he smiled back.

* * *

He stepped of the private jet and into the sunlight. He squinted at the bright rays. Why did it always have to be so sunny and happy here? He hated it. He walked down the steps to the ground and began walking. His loyal secretary was there waiting for him. "Does anyone know?" he asked in a voice that meant business.

She smiled at him and shook her head. "Nobody knows of your arrival, sir."

"Good." The people he'd been watching for the past several years had finally made the first mistake. It was time for him to move in and take advantage of that mistake. Of course he had to make sure that she was okay. He couldn't continue this plan if his sidekick was in the hospital.

* * *

a/n: this was a pretty long chapter, but there were so many things i needed to cover. thanks for all the positive feedback! it's really encouraging. tell me if i start rushing things or i veer off too much. Reviews are welcome!!


	7. Names

Names

Clark walked in with Evelyn. Evelyn was about to jump on the bed, but Clark stopped her. He said that it wouldn't be a very good idea. Love lingered behind. Chloe seemed nice enough, but she still felt out of place. Clark saw her hanging back and he gently nudged her forward with Evelyn.

Margaret tried to quell her excitement. If only things could be simple.

Chloe looked at Clark and smiled. "Guess you were right about me popping them out." she said softly.

Clark chuckled. "At least they look like their dad." he said in a playful voice.

Chloe mocked a gasp and Margaret leaned over and punched his arm. "Don't be rude Sma…uh, smart mouth."

Clark looked at her and smiled. Margaret smiled back. Chloe knew they couldn't be looking at each other like that, at least not yet. She cleared her throat.

"What are you going to name them, Aunt Chloe?" Evelyn asked.

"I don't know. I'm waiting for Jimmy. We weren't expecting twins."

"Didn't the doctors know?" Margaret asked.

"No, I guess they just didn't detect the other baby." Chloe answered.

"Can I hold one?" Clark asked, eagerly.

Chloe nodded and handed one of them to him. Clark looked down at the little miracle he was holding. He was so beautiful. Clark thought about any children he might have. For some reason, he pictured a girl that looked exactly like Love.

Margaret sighed wistfully. Clark had never experienced holding a baby of his own, not even with Evelyn. She probably already knew how to walk by the time she was adopted.

The door opened. "I came as soon as I heard." Jimmy said. He planted a kiss on Chloe's forehead. He looked down at the baby in Chloe's arms. "Chlo, he's so beautiful!"

"Just like his brother."

Jimmy looked confused. "Congratulations, Jimmy. You've got twins." Clark said with a smirk as he put the other baby in Jimmy's arms.

Jimmy's face was a mixture of happiness and dread. If they were as bad as the girls, they would have a pretty rough time.

"Where are the girls?" Chloe asked.

"Oh, I left them with Martha." Jimmy took notice of Margaret's and Love's presence. "Uh, who are you?"

"I'm Margaret Kidance. Me and Chloe go way back. And the other little girl is my daughter, Love Kidance."

Jimmy nodded. He was a bit disoriented with Chloe having twins. "So what are we going name them?"

"I don't know. I was waiting for you."

Jimmy looked at the one he was holding. "Is this one the oldest?"

"Yeah, by a few minutes." Margaret said.

"Are you sure it was only a few minutes? It seemed like an entire lifetime." Chloe said.

Jimmy laughed. "Okay, so we are going to call this one…Charles Gabe Olsen."

Chloe smiled radiantly. "That's a wonderful name. But what about this one?"

Jimmy shrugged. "Anybody have any suggestions?"

The room was silent. "Kal-el" Love said suddenly.

Clark and Chloe paled. Margaret tried to play it off as coolly as possible. "Where did you hear that name?" she asked with a forced smile.

Love shrugged. "The same guy whispered it to me." she said innocently.

"That's an interesting name." Jimmy said.

"Yeah, but he doesn't look like a Kal-el." Chloe said quickly. "How about Christopher? Christopher James Olsen."

Jimmy bent down and kissed Chloe on the lips. "That's a great name."

Clark smiled. "Come on, bud. Let's leave them alone for a little bit." Clark and Evelyn walked out.

Margaret watched their retreating forms. "I guess I'll leave you two alone, too." Margaret said. She grabbed Love's hand and they exited. Margaret saw Clark and Evelyn leaving. "Hey, Clark." Margaret called out.

Clark turned around and let Margaret catch up with them.

"I just wanted to thank you for taking care of Love for a little bit."

"Sure. It was no problem."

"But, Evelyn called and said that Love had disappeared. What happened?"

"Oh, Love just stared wandering around the farm. She sort of got lost. But she was fine." Clark lied.

"Oh, okay. I just wanted to be sure."

"Bye Margaret. Bye Love."

"Bye Clark!" Love waved her hand excitedly.

Margaret had never seen Love so confident like this around another man. She wasn't even like this around Bruce.

"Bye, Ms. Kidance. Bye, Love." Evelyn yelled over her shoulder as they walked out the door.

* * *

Clark walked in the front door and Evelyn rushed in after him. "Evelyn, go shower. It's already time for bed." Clark said. It was about nine. They had an eventful day.

"Can I ask you a question, though?" Evelyn asked at the foot of the stairs.

"Sure. What do you want to know."

"Was I as little as Aunt Chloe's babies?"

"How about we talk about that later. Now go shower, bud."

"How come you always call me bud?"

Clark looked at her. He walked over to her and sat on the bottom step. Evelyn took a seat next to him. "When I first got to hold you in my arms, I knew that you were going to be so beautiful when you grew up. I thought about a baby flower and how pretty it looks before it blooms. The actual name for a baby flower is bud. So, you are my pretty bud. One day, you'll become my beautiful flower."

"Oh, okay."

Clark decided now would be a good time to tell her about him and Lana. "Evelyn, I have something very important to tell you."

Evelyn looked at him wondering what it could be.

"Your mom and I are getting a divorce."

Evelyn sat there unresponsive. Clark took it as a sign that she wasn't dealing with it well. "Are you okay?"

"When are you going to get a divorce?"

"I'm going to do it tomorrow, but it takes a few months for it to be official."

Evelyn nodded and looked at the floor.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"You and Mommy don't love each other. I knew it was going to happen soon." Evelyn replied matter-of-factly

Once again, Evelyn's insight surprised Clark. "Go shower, now. It's past your bedtime."

"Yes, sir." Evelyn began walking up the stairs.

Clark put his head in his hands. Today had been such a weird day.

* * *

The door quietly squeaked open. Lana turned her head to see who had come in. She recognized the familiar red jacket. "Clark, what are you doing here?"

Clark took a seat. "We need to talk about the abortion."

Lana sighed. "I'm sorry, Clark. It's my body and I can do what I please."

"Couldn't you have told me about it first?" Clark's face showed his pain.

"No, because I knew that you wouldn't let me go through with it. Clark, the doctors told me it was a high risk pregnancy. They actually recommended an abortion."

"You _killed_ an unborn child, my unborn child. How could you do it?"

"I didn't want to give birth to a half-breed, Clark! It's already bad enough that I'm married to an alien. I did _not_ want to have and alien child."

"Why did we marry each other in the first place?" Clark got up from the chair. "I have to go back. I can't leave Evelyn by herself for too long." Clark left without another word.

Lana rested her head on her pillow. The door opened a minute after Clark left. She looked up. Her face lit up when she recognized him, but the smile faded. "You can't be here. You know how suspicious this will look."

"I had to make sure you're okay." he planted a small kiss on her forehead. He sat by her bedside. "You are okay, right?"

"Of course. Stupid Kent wasn't paying attention, though."

"Did he find out about the abortion, yet?"

"Yes. He's already confronted me about it, we just got through talking about it."

"Good. Anything else I should know about?"

"There's one other thing."

He could tell whatever it was, it was bothering Lana. "What is it?"

"He's filling for a divorce tomorrow. I'm pretty sure that he's going to go through with it."

He leaned back in the chair and thought a moment. "Okay. No matter what happens, you have to get custody of the kid. I'll get you the best divorce lawyer, but you need to have the kid."

"But why? I thought the kid was only so that Clark would stay married with me."

"But since he's not staying with you, we need to take her away from him. Don't worry about it. Just know that the main plan will not change." He got up to leave.

"I love you." Lana said before he left.

He turned back around. "I love you too, Lana."

* * *

Margaret and Love drove in silence. The radio was on, but it was very low. "So did anything interesting happen when you were with Evelyn?"

"No, not really." Love said staring straight ahead.

"Are you sure?'

"Yeah."

"Where did you hear that name, Kal-el?"

"I told you. It was the same man that told me to touch Clark's face."

"Do you know this man's name?"

"Nope, but he keeps telling me that he's going to help me find my father. But first I have to help Kal-el."

Margaret didn't like the uneasy feeling she was getting. "Do you even know how this man looks like?"

"Nope. He says that he's almost like a ghost, but not really."

"I don't want you talking to him anymore."

"But why? He said that he was going to help me."

"But that doesn't always mean that the person is good."

"He told me that you'd be worried about him giving me all this information."

Margaret was stunned. He said that? She didn't even know who he was.

"But he said that you shouldn't because once he's done helping me, you are going to be very happy."

"Next time you hear him, ask him what his name is."

Love didn't respond for a few minutes. "He said that you already know his name Lois Lane."

Margaret tried to steady her hands. It couldn't be. Was it really Jor-el?

"Who's Lois Lane?"

"Nobody." Margaret said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

* * *

Clark woke up the next morning feeling semi-refreshed. It didn't matter if he had gotten a good rest. He could still function properly. It was Sunday morning. Sometimes, they would go to church, but it just didn't seem right if they showed up at church incomplete. Maybe when everything was done they would go back.

Clark grabbed the Daily Planet newspaper that was delivered to them every morning. He opened it up to see what was going on. Clark could hear Evelyn coming down the stairs. Her hair was a disaster. Sleep was still in her eyes. It had been chilly this morning so she wore some slippers on her feet.

Clark smiled. "Good morning, bud."

Evelyn faintly smiled. She remembered why he was calling her bud. "Morning, Daddy."

"How's your arm?" he asked putting down the newspaper.

Evelyn winced a little. "It hurts."

Clark got up and grabbed some of the pain killers. He crushed two and let it dissolve in water. He handed her the cup. "Drink some of this."

She drank it and grimaced at the awful taste. She could tell it had a lot of medicine in it.

Clark smiled sadly and went back to reading the newspaper. He saw the article that he had written in the decline of Small Towns. He skipped over it and read the next one.

"Daddy?"

"Hmm?" Clark didn't put down the newspaper.

"Can you tell me if I was little when I was a baby now?"

Clark sighed as he set aside the newspaper. He didn't know if she could handle it. But maybe he was doubting her. She seemed to be very understanding of the divorce. "We never saw you when you were born. We got you when you were two years old."

Evelyn tried to understand what he was saying, but couldn't. "Was I born older?"

"No, we adopted you. Stay here for a second." Clark went upstairs to get something. He came back down with two things. A map and a blanket. He opened the map and showed her a country with a whole bunch of islands. "You were born in Jgsaro, Antique, Philippines. Whoever your parents were left you at an orphanage. The couple that ran the orphanage found you wrapped up in this blanket." Clark handed Evelyn the blanket.

Evelyn took it. It was a soft pink with little hearts in various places. On one of the corners she could see something sewn on. "What's this?" she asked showing it to Clark.

Clark smiled. "That's the name your birth parents gave you. Evelyn Dalisay."

Evelyn smelled the blanket. Clark saw a spark of recognition on her face. "I remember this smell." Evelyn said faintly.

Clark smiled. "I remember when we first saw you. You were waddling around and you were carrying that blanket behind you. The workers told us that you carried it everywhere."

Evelyn looked at him weird. "So does that mean your not my real daddy?"

Clark could see her upper lip quivering. "No, Evelyn. You just have two daddy's. Whoever your real dad was, let me raise you and become your other dad."

Evelyn furrowed her brows as she tried to understand what he was saying. "Do you still love me?"

"Of course I do!" Clark grabbed her and pulled him into his arms. He cradled her, letting her feel the safety of being in his arms. "I don't care if you're adopted or not, I still love so very much."

Evelyn nodded into his chest. She looked up into his deep blue eyes. "Am I the only one that's ever been adopted?"

"No. Did you know that your Nana adopted me too."

Evelyn's brown eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah. I always kind of knew I was different and when my parents told me, I wasn't that surprised."

"Did you come from somewhere as far away as the Philippines?"

Clark grinned, "I actually came from somewhere further away. If I told people where I came from, they probably wouldn't believe me."

Evelyn looked at her daddy in amazement. "Wow, I bet that was cool."

"Sometimes it was, but sometimes it wasn't." Clark gently set her back in her chair. "Hurry up and eat. I've got some errands to run and I can't leave you here alone."

"Could you drop me off at Love's house?"

Clark looked at her. She stuck her bottom lip out and made her eyes big and watery. Not even someone super could resist that look. "I'll call her mom and see if you can."

Evelyn let out a short burst of excitement. She quickly gobbled down all of her food, ready for more adventures with Love.

* * *

Evelyn jumped out of the truck and began ringing the doorbell to no end. Clark shook his head and he walked up behind her. Love opened the door and her mom was not far behind. "Evelyn!" Love exclaimed. "I want to show you my room!" she dragged Evelyn inside and they ran to Love's room.

Margaret and Clark were left alone at the door. "I know that this was sort of last minute, but thank you for watching Evelyn for me."

"No problem, Clark. Just so long as she acts like my cooking's good, then I'm fine with having her over. Besides, you watched Love for me yesterday." Margaret looked down the hall to make sure Love or Evelyn wasn't anywhere nearby. "Have you talked to her?"

"Yeah. I told her that we were getting a divorce." Clark said softly.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out." Margaret made her words sound sincere.

Clark shrugged. "Sometimes, it just doesn't work out. When I told Evelyn, she actually took it very well. It's like she knew that it was coming."

"That's how kids are. They surprise you ever day."

"Yeah, I had a little surprise with Love yesterday." Clark said.

Margaret gulped. "Really? Wha…what happened?"

Clark looked up at Margaret. He tried to find the woman behind those glasses. He thought that she would look better with hazel eyes and no glasses. "Nothing, just kids being kids. I'll call when I'm about to pick her up."

"Okay. Evelyn! Come say goodbye!" Margaret called out.

Evelyn and Love came running out of the room. Evelyn ran into Clark's legs. "Bye, Daddy!"

"I'll see you later, bud. Behave yourself."

"I will."

Clark smiled at her before he walked back to the truck.

* * *

Clark walked into the hospital room. Jimmy was holding Chloe's hand and they were talking with each other.

Chloe looked up and saw Clark. "Clark, hey."

"Hey, Chloe, Jimmy."

"C.K.! Didn't think I'd see you so many times this year." Jimmy joked.

Clark smiled. "I didn't think so either. Could I talk with Chloe alone for a minute?"

"Sure." Jimmy kissed Chloe and walked out. He knew that Clark would always go to Chloe with his problems. And he had been having a lot of them for a while.

"What's up?" Chloe asked.

Clark took a seat and leaned back. "I'm getting a divorce today."

Chloe raised her eyebrows. "Wow, excuse me for my sudden burst of happiness."

"It's okay. It was a pretty miserable relationship."

"Have you told Evelyn?"

"Yeah. She seems okay with it."

"So why do I sense that there's something more?"

Clark sighed. "Yesterday when Love came over, she and Evelyn began running. Then, Love just took off, running practically as fast as me."

"What did you do?" Chloe said keeping calm.

"I had to run after her. We ended up in Minnesota." Clark sighed. "And yesterday with the whole 'Kal-el' thing. What was that? Where did she hear that name?"

Chloe honestly didn't know what to say. "So what are you getting at?"

"I don't know. Maybe she's infected." Clark tried to reason with the strange things that happened around Love. "Or maybe something happened to her around the caves and Jor-el might've accidentally slipped some information loose inside of her."

"From what I remember of Jor-el, he doesn't do anything by accident."

Clark ran his fingers through his hair. "There has to be a reasonable explanation."

"Don't worry about it, Clark. I'll look up some stuff on her." Chloe said, trying to calm him down. But she knew exactly what was going on with Love.

"Thanks, Chloe."

"No problem."

Clark smiled and began walking to the door.

"Clark, wait."

Clark turned around and waited for her to continue.

"How's Lana doing?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen her today."

"Well, do you think we can start coming back over? Your mom really misses the farm and she misses you and Evelyn too."

Clark smiled. "Yeah. I guess you can come over now."

* * *

Margaret pulled out the microwaveable dinner dishes and placed one in front of Love and Evelyn. Love savored the food she put in her mouth. Evelyn merely grabbed a forkful and ate it. The girls ate in silence.

The shrill ringing interrupted their quiet lunch. "I'll get it." Love said as she hopped off the chair to answer the phone.

"Can I ask you a question, Evelyn?"

"Okay."

"Remember when I had you write those sentences describing something or someone."

Evelyn nodded her head.

"Why did you say your mom was a liar?"

"Because she is." Evelyn said it as if it were obvious.

"What did she do?"

"Well, when she was talking on the phone once, I overheard her. She was saying that Clark, my daddy, wasn't ready yet. When she hung up the phone my daddy came in. He asked who she was talking to. She said that she was talking with Nell, my other grandma."

"Are you sure that she wasn't talking with Nell?"

"Yeah. Before she hung up she called the person Alex."

"Alex?"

Evelyn nodded.

"Mommy, it's for you. It's Bruce." Love said entering the kitchen with the phone in her hand.

Margaret grabbed the phone. She went into another room to talk. "Hello?" Margaret answered as she shut the door to her room.

"I'm pulling you out of Smallville, Margaret." Bruce answered.

"What? Why? I haven't done anything wrong!"

"Margaret, a gas station worker in Minnesota said that he saw Love with Clark yesterday. How do you think they got there."

Margaret couldn't think of any lie.

"As I said before, I'm taking you out of Smallville."

"But Love has already made two good friends here. And she seems really happy. I don't want to move again."

"I'm sorry Margaret. Not until that man is either dead or behind bars can you live in one place."

"But I think I have a pretty good idea where he is."

Bruce didn't respond for a moment. "You do?"

"Well, maybe not the exact location, but I think I know what he might be up to."

"And how do you know this?"

"Evelyn told me that she overheard Lana talking with someone named Alex."

"Do you think it's him?"

"It's a big possibility."

Bruce sighed as he considered the options. "If you don't find anything remotely incriminating soon, I'm making you relocate."

"Thank you so much, Bruce!"

"Yeah whatever. But try and avoid as much contact with him as possible."

"Don't worry. I haven't even seen him yet." Margaret lied.

"I don't know if I believe that, but for right now, I will. I've got to go."

"Okay, Bruce. Talk to you later." Margaret pushed the end button on the phone. Margaret fell back on her bed and smiled. Her heart was bursting with joy. If she kept things away from Bruce, then she might finally get her real life back.

* * *

Alex was laying on a lumpy bed in a run-down motel. His visit with Lana had lifted his spirits slightly, but not enough. His secretary, Beth, was listening in on a conversation. Hopefully, this one would be helpful.

Beth took off the oversized headphones and looked at Alex. "I've intercepted a phone call."

"What did they say?" Alex sat up and waited intently.

"He's giving her more time."

Alex attempted smiling, but it came out as an evil grin. "Good. Everything's going according to plan then." He laid back again. He was going to finish what he had started with Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

* * *

a/n: i hope you like this chapter. i actually finished it right after i posted the previous one. clark is going to find out about something really soon. just be patient my dear readers :)


	8. Anniversaries

Anniversaries

Two weeks had come and gone without any trouble. Clark continued making small appearances as the red and blue blur. Chloe had been released from the hospital and she went back to Metropolis with her two new arrivals. Lana had been released also and she had gathered her things from the farm and moved them to the apartment in the Talon. Martha had come over last weekend when she heard that they were allowed back. As terrible as a divorce was, Clark's family and friends couldn't help but be happy. Clark and Lana already had a court date that would legalize their divorce. It was about three weeks away. Right now, the judge was still trying to figure out who got custody of Evelyn. It seemed like he was in favor of Clark, though.

Today was a very special day. Today, October 1st, was Evelyn's birthday. But along with that, it was the anniversary of Lois' death. While Clark had to be happy for Evelyn, he couldn't stop the forlorn look that would always appear on his face. "Evelyn! Breakfast is ready!" Clark yelled up the stairs.

Evelyn ran down the stairs. "Guess what today is, Daddy!"

"Uh, Christmas?"

Evelyn laughed. "Don't be silly! It's my birthday."

Clark smiled. "I know, bud." Clark gave her a small kiss on her head. "Happy birthday."

Evelyn smiled up at him. Today she was eight years old. She already felt like she could do a lot more things. "Do I still have to go to school today?"

"Yes, you're not getting out of it."

"But isn't it illegal to go to school on your birthday?"

"Maybe in Evelyn Kent's world, but not on Earth. Hurry and eat."

Evelyn frowned. "Can I have a sleep-over Friday?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe. If you behave yourself."

Evelyn grinned and began digging in.

Clark decided he should tell her what was going to happen today. "I've got to go to Metropolis later today after school. You're mom is going to come and watch you."

Evelyn's happy attitude left. "Can't Nana or Aunt Chloe watch me? Maybe even Ms. Kidance will let me come over!"

"I'm sorry, bud, but she wants to spend time with you on your birthday."

Evelyn sighed heavily. "Okay, I guess."

Clark knew Evelyn really didn't like spending time with Lana, but she was starting to make such an effort to be a part of Evelyn's life. Even with this divorce, she still wanted to be involved in her life. It worried him though that she would try and take her away from him. But he knew that it would never happen. No one would leave Evelyn with Lana for more than a day. Lana was just too irresponsible.

* * *

Evelyn, Ella, and Love all shared a huge chocolate chip cookie that Martha had baked for Evelyn. It was only part of her birthday present. They were in the cafeteria waiting to go outside. It seemed like they wouldn't get a chance though. It was raining heavily outside.

"My daddy said that if I behaved this whole week that I could have a sleep-over. And if I do, then I'm going to invite you two."

Both of the girls smiled. "I've only been to a sleep-over once." Ella said. "And it was really boring." she said as she scrunched up her nose.

"I haven't." Love added.

"Do you think that you can come?"

"If I ask my mommy, then I'm pretty sure that I can go." Ella said.

"I don't know if I can go. My mommy doesn't really like it when I go to other people's houses." Love said.

"Why not?" Ella asked.

"I don't know. She thinks that something bad is going to happen to me."

"Then you have to convince her to let you come. It'll be lots of fun!" Evelyn said.

"Yeah, we can have pillow fights and stay up until twelve!" Ella added.

"I'll ask her tonight." Love finally said.

* * *

From up in the loft, Evelyn saw Lana's car pull into the driveway. Lana opened an umbrella and walked into the house. Evelyn didn't want to stay here with Lana. She wanted to go where Clark was going. Evelyn looked outside at the pouring rain. Maybe if she grabbed two or three blankets and wore a really big coat…

Evelyn smiled as the idea came to her. It was the most brilliant thing she had ever thought of.

* * *

"Evelyn's in the loft right now taking a nap. You know how to reach me, right?" Clark asked Lana as he put on a coat.

"Of course, Clark. I was married to you, remember?"

"Right, sorry. It's just that I'm really nervous. I don't know why."

"Everything will be fine, Clark. Don't worry."

Clark sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. I'll be back around eleven." Clark said as he walked out the door. He ran in the rain to get to his truck.

Lana looked out the window. He pulled out of the driveway and left her alone with Evelyn. Lana kicked off her heels and went to the sofa. Her favorite TV show was on. Evelyn would most likely stay asleep for another hour.

* * *

Victor looked out of the balcony on Oliver's loft. Everything seemed so peaceful right now. But inside, it was chaotic. All of the team memebers were scrambling around, trying to figure out what was wrong. All the computers that they used were going nuts. The screens would flash 'copying all documents' and once the copying was done it would change messages and say 'deleting all files.' This was bad, this was very bad. All of their information was being leaked out somewhere.

"Victor! What the heck are you doing out here?!" Oliver yelled at him.

Victor jumped. "Uh, I was just clearing my head."

"Well get inside! We need your computer brain to try and find out where all the information is being sent."

Victor sighed. He had already figured it out five minutes after everything went wrong. "I already know."

"Then why haven't you said anything!"

"Because of where it's being sent." Victor replied calmly. "It's all going to our hometowns and Smallville."

* * *

Clark arrived at his destination. He got out of the truck. He took a casual peek at the truck bed. There were several blankets that were getting soaked. He shrugged it off. Clark could put them to wash when he got home.

The flower bouquet he held in his hands were made mostly of daisies and daffodils, Lois' favorite flowers. Clark sat down on the wet grass. He didn't care if he got his pants dirty.

Clark fingered the engraving on the tombstone 'LOIS LANE: Beloved Daughter, Beloved Sister, Beloved Cousin, Beloved Friend.'

Clark fought the tears that were in his eyes. "Hey, Lois." his voice cracked. "I…I miss you so much, Lo." a tear fell down his cheek, but he mistook it as the rain. "It was all my fault. I was supposed to save you. I…can't keep going." Clark sobbed out.

He didn't take notice of the lady that had pulled up. She stepped out of her car with and umbrella. "Clark?"

Clark didn't look up. He was too broken to care. She ran to him and hugged him. Clark cried in her shoulder. "I miss her. I miss her so much." he cried. He didn't care who saw him crying.

"I miss her too, Clark."

Clark pulled back and looked at the newcomer. It was Lucy. "Lucy? What're you doing here?" he asked with mixed joy and confusion.

"I couldn't stay away any longer. I found out about six years ago. I felt really awful for not even calling, or attending the funeral." Lucy said looking at the tombstone of her sister.

"We tried contacting you, but, um…you were moving from place to place so fast."

"It's okay, Clark." Lucy said, hearing the guilt in his voice.

They sat in a small silence before Clark broke it. "I was going to take her out that night. We were going to her favorite café to eat. It was our one year anniversary." Clark's words hitched in his throat. "I was going to propose to her." Fresh tears began falling again.

Lucy pulled Clark into her arms and they both began crying.

"I never should've let her go after that story. I kept telling her…it was too dangerous!" Clark sobbed.

"Clark, you know as well as I do that Lois would've gone after it even more if someone told her to stay away."

"But I was supposed to save her Lucy. I didn't." Clark closed his eyes.

Lucy didn't know how to deal with Clark when he was doing these guilt-trips. Only Lois really knew how to get through to him. But she was going to change the subject. She was going to tell him her and Lois' secret. "Clark, I need you to look at me."

Clark looked up. He could see Lois in her younger sister. But it still wasn't the real thing. It wasn't what he longed for.

Lucy looked into those deep blue pools of his. "Lois loved you so much, you know that, right?"

Clark nodded. It was the only thing that he could do right now.

"Lois told me something very important that she made me swear never to tell you about."

Clark started to worry. "What was it?"

Lucy closed her eyes and breathed in deeply before she continued. "She was going to tell you the same night that you were going to propose. She called me on the phone." Lucy said with a small smile. She looked at Clark. It was killing him that Lucy wouldn't say what it was already. "Lois was pregnant." Lucy finally said.

Clark didn't respond. His mouth opened slightly. Pregnant? Lois had been pregnant? He tried to fight off the tears that were coming, but they came prepared for a battle. Each one fell down his face in a never ending rain. He wanted so badly for it to be true, but it terrified him if it were true. If it were true, that meant he could've had a child with her. Forget Lana, Lois was the one he truly wanted. But if Lois had been pregnant, that meant the baby was dead along with Lois. He didn't want that. Lana had already done that to him, he didn't need Lois to do the same thing, even if she never intended to.

Lucy didn't think he was taking it well. "Clark, are you okay?"

Clark looked up at her. The tears were still pouring. "Pregnant? Lois was…pregnant?"

"I'm so sorry, Clark." Lucy said crying herself.

They hugged each other, feeling the comfort. Neither knew how long they had been sitting there hugging, but it was long enough that it had stopped raining. Now just a huge gray cloud loomed over them.

Clark felt his phone vibrating. He pulled away from Lucy and answered. "Hello?" he hoped that his voice didn't betray his feelings.

"Clark! I'm so sorry. I was doing what you said…I didn't know…I've looked everywhere…I can't…" Lana sounded as if she was in big trouble. Clark could tell she was crying.

"Calm down. What happened?"

"I laid down on the couch and I fell asleep by accident. When I woke up to get Evelyn from the loft, she wasn't there. I can't find her anywhere, Clark!"

"You fell asleep?! How could you? You knew that you had to watch Evelyn!"

"I'm sorry, but I had taken some medication. I forgot that one of the side affects was drowsiness."

"You 'forgot?' Lana, you are so unbelievable!"

"Clark, I-"

"Have you called the police?"

"No. But-"

"How long has she been missing?"

"About an hour and a half."

Clark groaned in frustration. "Keep looking for her." he ordered in a cold voice.

"Clark, please-"

Clark hung up before she could finish. He looked at Lucy. She had a curious look. "Is everything all right?"

"No, my daughter's missing." Clark said.

Lucy had a look of betrayal on her face as he said daughter. "Clark, you-"

"I'll tell you about it later, Lucy. But right now, I really need to find her." Clark said trying to stay calm.

Clark closed his eyes and listened for her heartbeat. He found it immediately. It sounded so close, but how? He walked towards the truck. Her heartbeat was getting louder. He looked down at the blankets in the truck bed. They were moving. Clark lifted them and found Evelyn curled up in a ball looking at him. Her clothes were soaked and she was shivering. She looked terrified when Clark had discovered her hiding place.

Clark felt so many emotions come at one time, but two were bigger than the rest: relief and anger. "Evelyn Kent!!" he yelled at her. "What the heck were you thinking!?! Why in the world did you even leave the house?!"

Evelyn nor Lucy had ever seen Clark this upset. Lucy quickly walked towards him and laid a hand on Clark's arm. "Clark, calm down. Look, you're scaring her." Lucy told him calmly.

Clark only heard the last words Lucy said. 'You're scaring her.' Clark forced himself to take calm breaths. "Get in the truck." he told Evelyn with the same coldness that he had used on Lana.

Evelyn didn't question Clark. She hopped out of the truck bed and quickly went inside the cab.

Clark turned and looked at Lucy. "I'm sorry, Lucy. I have to go."

"Don't worry about it, Clark."

Clark smiled faintly. "I'll call you later. I know you want an explanation of things."

Lucy crossed her arms. "How could you tell?" she asked teasingly.

Clark gave her a hug before he got in the truck. He turned over the engine and drove off without a word to Evelyn.

* * *

Evelyn would steal an occasional glance at Clark. She'd never seen him so angry before. Even when he and Lana would get into a huge fight, there still seemed to be a gentleness in his face. No matter how hard Evelyn tried, she couldn't find that same gentleness. Evelyn hated being in trouble with Clark, even more so now that he wasn't saying anything. "Daddy?"

"Hush." Clark replied without taking his eyes off the road.

Evelyn gulped down her tears. She sniffled. "I'm sorry." she whispered, not expecting him to hear.

Clark closed his eyes for a moment after he heard her words. Maybe he was being too hard on her. She knew better, though. "Evelyn, why did you sneak off like that?"

Evelyn was surprised to hear him talking to her. "Because I didn't want to stay with Mommy."

"Why?'

Evelyn shrugged her shoulders and began looking at the passing corn stalks.

Why did Evelyn have to do this to him now? "I didn't mean to yell at you the way I did. It's just, I got really worried about you when I heard that your mom couldn't find you."

Evelyn looked back at Clark. "I wanted to spend time with you."

Clark viewed her earnest face then turned back to the road.

Evelyn sighed. She really wanted to know why Clark had gone to a cemetery. And who the heck was Lois? A lot of people seemed to know her, but every time her name would be mentioned, everyone would grow silent. "Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"Who's Lois?"

Clark smiled sadly. "She was my best friend."

That was the most that Evelyn had ever gotten out of anyone. "But I thought Aunt Chloe was your best friend." Evelyn knew Chloe wasn't really Clark's sister, she just always called her Aunt.

"Chloe's still a really good friend to me, but Lois was a lot more precious to me."

Evelyn thought about his words. "Where is she?"

"She died. Eight years ago today."

Evelyn furrowed her brows. "She died on my birthday?"

Clark nodded.

"That's why you're always sad…"

Clark didn't want to talk about it anymore. He turned up the volume on the radio.

Evelyn could see that he was trying to hide the tears that were coming down. Evelyn didn't like it that he was so sad. It seemed as if he loved this Lois person. Maybe if things were different, Lois could've been her mom. Evelyn thought to the picture in her sock drawer. Maybe that's how Lois would look like.

* * *

Clark carried Evelyn in his arms inside the house. She had fallen asleep on the ride home. Lana had left after he had told her he found Evelyn. He was so upset with Lana. How could she have not been watching her. Did she even go up in the loft to make sure that she _was_ still there?

The stairs creaked softly as Clark's weight was placed on them for a few moments. He opened the door to Evelyn's room and laid her down. She was still shivering from her damp clothes. He was going to have to get her cast replaced. Clark sat her up. Evelyn's eyes fluttered open. "Change into your pajamas, bud. You can take a shower in the morning."

Evelyn nodded sleepily. She felt the bed lift up a little after he got off. "Daddy?"

Clark turned around. "Yeah?"

"Can I still have a sleep over?"

Clark chuckled. "I'll think about it. Go to sleep."

"I love you."

"Love you too, bud." Clark closed the door.

Evelyn was eight years old. Lois was gone for eight years. At least he had something today that could sort of keep his spirits high.

* * *

a/n: so tell me...do you like it? am i rushing things because i tend to do that. i just really want to start writing all the action and i forget about the whole story line part. oh and i'm going to chorpus with my family for a bit so you might not get an update until thrusday or something.


	9. Dates

Dates

Kara opened the door to her small apartment. It wasn't anything big or fancy, it was just enough to be in a least once a week. She set down her purse and walked over to the refrigerator. From the corner of her eye, she noticed an unopened envelope that laid on her countertop. Kara closed the refrigerator door and grabbed the envelope. She opened it with her finger and pulled out a card.

'Ms. Kara Kent, you are cordially invited to a small cocktail party next Thursday held by Bruce Wayne. It will be at Wayne Manor at eight in the evening.'

Kara had only heard about Bruce Wayne occasionally in the business news. She had never meet him or seen him for that matter. What could he want with her?

* * *

A week after Evelyn's birthday, Clark was walking up the hallway of Smallville Elementary. It was Thursday and Ella and Love were going to spend the night since they didn't have school Friday. He was walking to 2C, ready to pick up the three girls.

The door was open and he saw Evelyn, Love, and Ella gathered around Ms. Kidance. She was telling them a very interesting story. Clark leaned by the doorframe and listened in for a moment. "…the princess was so sad that she had to leave her prince, but she had too. If she didn't, then the wicked wizard would come and take away the prince."

"Did the princess ever go back to her prince?" Ella asked.

Ms. Kidance smiled knowingly. "Yes, she did. But the prince never knew she came back. Because when she came back, she came as a beggar."

"Did the prince recognize her?"

"Was he mean to her because she was a beggar?"

"No, the prince didn't recognize her, but he was so nice to her. Honestly, the prince knew deep down that it was the princess, but he was still so sad that she left that he didn't recognize her."

"Did they live happily ever after?" Love asked

Ms. Kidance grimaced slightly. "Not yet, but they will." Ms. Kidance looked up and saw Clark. "I think your ride's here."

They turned around and looked at Clark. "Aw, but we don't want to go!" complained Ella.

"Yeah, we want to hear what happened to the princess." Evelyn added.

Clark walked in. "You were telling an interesting story."

"Why thank you, Mr. Kent." Margaret said with a smirk. "I do my best to keep them entertained while you were being late."

Clark chuckled. "There was an emergency at the farm." Actually, he saved a few people from a burning building. Clark hoped that she wouldn't smell smoke on him.

"Isn't there always?" she asked with her eyebrow slightly raised a smirk on her face.

Evelyn, Love, and Ella were watching the adults intently. They could see that there was something there. Ella whispered into Evelyn's and Love's ear. The two girls grinned.

Evelyn got up and pulled at Clark. "I've got to tell you something."

"What is it?" Clark asked.

"I've got to whisper it to you." she said with urgency.

Clark, amused with this, bent down. She whispered her message and Clark's eyes widen in shock. He stood up straight again. "Evelyn! I can't do that!"

"Why not? Ella and Love think you should! And so do I."

"What should he do, Evelyn?" Margaret asked, her curiosity piqued.

"He should-"

Clark quickly covered her mouth with his hand. "Uh, nothing. They think I should take them to Edge City."

Margaret crossed her arms. "Okay, if you don't tell me, I'll get it out of one of the girls'" Margaret said with a mischievous grin.

Clark lowered his head as Ella told Ms. Kidance what Clark should do. "We all think that Mr. Clark should take you out on a date." she said.

Margaret looked at her in surprise. She looked back at Clark. He had released his hand from Evelyn's mouth and was now turning red. Evelyn looked up at him in victory. She looked back to Ella and Love. "You girls' really think that I should go out on a date with Mr. Clark?" Margaret enjoyed prolonging Clark's misery.

"Yes!" they shouted simultaneously.

Margaret smiled at their quick answers. She looked at Clark. "So what do you say Mr. Kent? You up for a date?"

Clark looked at the girls eager faces. He didn't want to disappoint them. "Okay. Tomorrow at five. I'll pick you up. Wear something nice."

Margaret was a bit surprised at how quickly he answered. "All right then, see you tomorrow."

Clark smiled genuinely. "Until tomorrow."

"Bye Mommy." Love said as she hugged her legs.

"Bye Lovely. If anything happens, be sure to call me."

"I think that Clark can handle me." Love said with a knowing glance directed towards Clark.

* * *

Bart tugged at the tie that he had put on. He was at the front door of Wayne Manor and was waiting for someone to answer the door. A few days ago, he had gotten a mysterious invitation to Wayne Manor. It was the first time that Bart had ever heard of Bruce Wayne. Why was he inviting him to a cocktail party?

The door opened and an elderly man stood at the doorway. "You must be Bart Allen. I'm Alfred," the man said in a British accent. "Master Bruce has been waiting for you."

Bart looked at him a bit weird. "Uh, yeah. Look, I have no idea who this Bruce Wayne is or why he even invited me to a cocktail party. I had to get all dressed up for some dude I've never even heard of."

Alfred smiled kindly, "Don't worry. Master Bruce will explain everything in a minute." he stepped aside and let Bart come in.

Bart couldn't help but look around at all the amazing things. And they were just in the foyer. Bart looked back to Alfred and saw him turning around a corner. Bart quickly took off after him. He really didn't need to get lost in a place like this. They walked in silence as Bart continued admiring Bruce's collection of various things. A small part of him wondered how much all this stuff cost.

Alfred stopped at a door and opened it for Bart. "Master Bruce will be here in a moment."

"Uh, thanks?" Bart walked into the room uncertainly. Inside was a long conference table with several leather chairs that Bart loved spinning around in. But the other people there was what surprised him the most. Kara, Oliver, Dinah, A.C., and Victor. Even John Jones was there. There were only two other people that he didn't recognize. A young kid sitting at the table playing a video game and a red-headed girl sitting next to him looking extremely bored.

Bart walked over to the familiar gang. "Hey, guys. Do any of you know what's going on?"

They looked up at him. They weren't all that surprised that he was here. It became obvious that this was a coincidental meeting. "Hello Bart. You know you're late." Olive said.

"Well, excuse me. I got hungry on the way over." Bart said.

"Aw, and you didn't invite me?" Kara asked flirtatiously.

Bart tried to keep his blushing to a minimum. Only Kara was able to make him blush like an idiot.

The doors swung open and a man entered. "So everyone's here." he said as he took a seat at the table.

"Bruce Wayne." Oliver said curtly. "What's this about?" Oliver couldn't help his tone. They were almost enemies in the corporate world.

"I would like everyone to have a seat please." Bruce said.

They all choose a seat and waited for Bruce to continue. "Most of you are familiar with each other. I'd like to introduce to you Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson."

The two kids smiled politely and turned their attention back to Bruce. "I know that many of you have certain…abilities that allow you to do your jobs."

"I guess we all have to have certain abilities to be able to do our jobs." Dinah said.

"I'm not talking about your civilian jobs." Bruce said with a knowing glint in his eyes. "I know everything about you and the things that you can do. I also know about this little team that you formed."

Oliver, being the leader, spoke up. "What do you want from us, Wayne?" he asked in a no nonsense tone.

"Please, Oliver, it's Bruce." Bruce eyed them all carefully. "I want to assure you that I'll keep your secrets no matter what. In fact, the three of us have secrets of our own."

"Oh yeah, and what's that?" A.C. questioned.

"I'm the Batman. Barbara and Dick are my sidekicks." Bruce said in a simple tone.

"Excuse me," Barbara spoke for the first time. "We are _not _sidekicks! We're hero's aide. We are equal."

"Yeah! I don't like the word 'sidekick'." Dick agreed.

Bruce ignored their comments.

"Do you really expect us to believe you?" Kara said.

"Only if it's as believable that two of you are aliens."

Kara's face showed a touch of white, but John remained cool. "Don't worry," John told them reassuringly. "Bruce Wayne is a good friend and a great ally."

Bruce nodded his thank you of John's comment. "I know you're wondering what's going on right now. Well, I've been researching all of you for the past few years, preparing for something big. I'm sure that all of you are familiar with Clark Kent."

"What does he have to do with this?" Bart asked.

"He's at the center of it all. Lex is still alive and I think that he's either in Smallville or Metropolis."

* * *

Evelyn, Love, and Ella were laying down in a row in that same order on the floor. It was about eleven at night and Clark had told them to go to bed an hour ago. "Do you think that your daddy will really like my mommy?" Love asked.

"I don't know." Evelyn said.

"I think that they already both like each other, but they're keeping it a secret." Ella said.

"But why would they keep something like that a secret?" Love questioned

Neither girl responded. They laid in silence for a moment or two. "I've never seen my daddy this happy before." Evelyn said.

"Yeah, I've never seen my mommy this happy either."

"I think it's because they're meant for each other."

Evelyn and Love turned to look at Ella. "Do you really think that they're meant for each other?"

Ella nodded her head passionately. "My mommy always tells me that when a girl and a guy are picking on each other a lot, that means that they really like each other. Mr. Clark and Ms. Kidance do that a lot." Ella explained her reasoning.

Evelyn and Love looked at each other in excitement. "We could be sisters!" Evelyn exclaimed.

* * *

Clark was about to yell out of frustration. He could not find anything decent to wear. Every time he'd pick something out that he thought was good, the three girls sitting on his bed behind him would make faces and tell him to look for something else. He had gone through eight outfits and none of them had been approved by any of them.

"Daddy, do you have anything that's not red or blue?" Evelyn asked

"What's wrong with red and blue?" Love asked. She just so happened to be wearing her red converse and a blue shirt.

"Thank you Love for agreeing with me." Clark said with his head in the back of the closet.

"Love, do you know what your mommy likes?" Ella asked. She got up and stood in front of the closet next to Clark.

"I know that she likes plaid. She has a plaid shirt stuffed in the back of her closet."

Clark thought that was strange. "So what if I wear one of my plaid shirts with some jeans."

They scrunched up their faces. "You told Ms. Kidance that she had to dress up nice. So do you." Evelyn stated.

Ella was reaching up in the closet for something. She grabbed the hanger and pulled it out. It was a very nice suit with a simple white button up shirt underneath. "How about this one?" Ella said as she showed it to Clark.

Clark didn't like it. It was the same one he wore at Chloe's wedding and the same one he wore to Lois' funeral. Clark pried it from her hands. "How about something else." he began putting it away.

"But Clark, that was a really good suit!" Love complained.

"Yeah, that was the only good thing that you pulled out of the closet." Evelyn agreed.

"I just can't wear that one." Clark told them softly.

Evelyn saw a familiar sadness creep into his eyes. It was the same kind of sadness he got when he was probably thinking about Lois. "I think that one will be perfect." Evelyn stated.

Clark pulled it out again and looked at it carefully. "Okay. I'll wear it." Clark said. He ushered out the three squealing girls. He quickly changed and began looking at himself in the mirror. He remembered wearing the suit. It was pouring rain during the entire funeral. Oliver and his team showed up, the General, Chloe, Martha, even Perry White showed up. He hated that day.

Clark walked out of the room when he heard someone knocking n the door. By the time he was down stairs, Evelyn had already answered it. It was Chloe.

"Aunt Chloe, this is my friend Ella." Evelyn said.

"Hello Ella, it's very nice to meet you." Chloe said as she greeted Ella.

Love looked at Chloe, not sure of what she should do.

"Hey, Chloe." Clark said as he walked into the living room where they were gathered.

Chloe looked up at him. She saw that he was wearing that particular suit. "Wow, Clark. Is this date going to be big?"

Clark smiled. "I just want to look nice."

"And who's the lucky girl?"

"Margaret Kidance."

Chloe gulped. She couldn't believe Lois would do that! "Uh, as in Love's mom?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Oh, I'm just wondering."

"I'll be back before eight, promise." Clark said as he grabbed his keys. He scooped Evelyn up and gave her a hug and a kiss before he left.

* * *

Clark opened the door for Margaret. They walked into the small Italian café in Metropolis. "Wow, Clark. I didn't know you had such good taste." Margaret said as she raised her eyebrows. She pushed up her glasses as she looked up at the painted ceiling.

"I would always come to eat here with a friend a while back." Clark said as he tried to keep the sadness to a minimum.

A waiter seated them and they ordered their drinks. The waiter left them to look for a food selection. "So how's the divorce going?" Margaret asked not liking the silence that was between them.

"It's going to be made legal tomorrow and the judge is going to decide who gets custody of Evelyn. Right now, it seems like I'm going to have her."

"It's going to be hard being a single parent." Margaret said softly.

"That's why I have my family to help me out." Clark looked at her brown eyes hidden behind her glasses. She wore her black hair down tonight and she had small chandelier earrings. Her dark red dress perfectly accentuated her curvy figure. The only thing that was out of place were her glasses. "Take off your glasses." Clark said.

Margaret looked at him in surprise. "What? But I can't see without them."

"Come on, Margaret. I bet that you'd look beautiful without them."

"I'd rather be able to see than look beautiful."

"Why don't you get contacts?"

"I don't know. I've had them before, but I had such a hard time with them."

"Or is it because you don't want anyone to notice you? Because I'm positive that a lot of people will try to look at you closely without those big glasses."

Margaret narrowed her eyes. "I just don't want contacts."

Clark knew that there was something more to the story than she let on. "Okay, I'll drop it." Clark held his hands up in surrender. "Do you have any tips on how to raise a girl that's eight years old?" he said changing the subject.

"Well, you have to be patient and understanding. Plus, if a boy likes her, you don't have to pull out the shotgun. There are some decent boys out there."

Clark chuckled deeply. "Evelyn tells me that Love hasn't meet her dad, but she still loves him as if he were in her life. What happened to him?"

Margaret really didn't want to tell him. She might give away too much information. "He was an amazing man. He loved me so much and if I had told him I was pregnant, he wouldn't have let me go." Margaret said looking down at the napkin in front of her. "I, uh, had to go. It was one of those 'if you love them set them free' kind of things."

"I guess neither of us have much luck in the romance department." Clark said with a small smile.

Margaret smiled back at him. Maybe this evening wouldn't be so bad.

They had their food brought to them and they talked and laughed the entire time. It was almost like they were old friends. It was a few minutes before closing time and already the place was almost empty. The lights dimmed and a soft song began playing. Clark listened to the song. It was a soft jazz song laced with passion. Clark stood up. "May I have this dance?"

Margaret looked at him as if he were crazy. "Now? There's not even a dance floor." she hissed.

"Come on, Margaret. You won't be sorry." Clark pleaded.

Margaret looked into his baby blue eyes. How could she resist that? She stood up with a huff and they began dancing. She laced her fingers into his hand and she laid the other on his back. Margaret as Lois had almost forgotten what it was like to be held like this by Clark. She rested her head on his chest, quickly remembering where it fit in the curves of his chest. Clark placed his chin on the top of her head. He began humming along with the music, their bodies swaying in time. They heard and felt the passion of the song and the danced with it.

"You know everyone's watching us." Margaret whispered. She looked around at all the waiters and waitresses.

"I don't see anyone." Clark said. He had his eyes closed.

Margaret smiled. "I haven't done something like this in a while."

"Neither have I."

Margaret moved her head and looked up at Clark. Him and his beautiful eyes, they could melt any girl, even an army brat. They continued swaying, never taking their eyes off of each other. Clark slowly moved his head closer to hers. Margaret knew what he wanted. A kiss. She wanted one so badly too. She leaned in, their mouths centimeters apart. He waited for her to make the first move. He was still hesitant. Margaret continued leaning her head in closer expecting Clark's lips to come crashing in with hers. But they never did. Like the gentleman he was, he wanted it to be her decision to kiss him. Something kept her from going all the way in though. Her mind sent out warning flares, stop signs, but her heart was giving her a green light. She continued leaning in, but then someone came to mind. Bruce Wayne. He would be furious if he found out. He wouldn't care if she was close to finding Lex, he would pull her out of there immediately. Margaret pulled back. "I'm sorry, Clark."

Clark was broken out of the spell. His eyes displayed his understanding, but also a hint of sadness. "I'll take you home now."

* * *

Evelyn hopped from one foot to the other. She was very uncomfortable and itchy in her dress that Clark made her wear. He said that she had to look nice today. "Daddy, I've got to pee!" Evelyn exclaimed,

Clark looked down at her. "Can't you hold it? It's almost time to go inside."

Evelyn shook her head. "I really have to go."

Clark sighed. "All right. Do you need me to go with you?"

"Nope. I can go by myself."

"Hurry up then and don't talk to strangers."

"Yes sir." Evelyn ran off to the bathroom. She smiled after she had finally relieved herself. She washed her hands and wiped them dry on her skirt. Now there were two wet handprints on it. Evelyn pushed the door open and began walking back to Clark.

A man that she didn't recognize suddenly placed his gloved hand over her mouth and pushed her into an empty closet. It happened so fast for Evelyn. The man turned on the light and pulled out a syringe. He had hair on his head, but it looked fake. "Hey! Let me go!" Evelyn yelled at the man. He was blocking the door.

"Sorry, kid. I've got to make sure everything goes according to plan." He filled the syringe with a green fluid.

Evelyn saw him making his way towards her. "Get away from me!" she screamed.

But the man had stuck the needle into the back of her neck. "I want you to act like you love Lana with all of your heart until you leave the courtroom."

Evelyn's brown eyes turned a green color for a second. She walked out of the closet. Clark saw her coming out of there. "Evelyn, what were you doing in a closet?" Clark asked her as he grabbed her hand.

Evelyn yanked her hands away from him. "I want to go with Mommy."

Clark was surprised at Evelyn's request. "You can see her later." Clark led her to the courtroom.

Evelyn sat down in a seat next to Clark. The judge came in and he began the process. "All right," he started. "Let's get this over with, I had to skip my lunch and I'm in a pretty bad mood." Judge Bennett looked over some files that he had. "Okay, Evelyn Kent." he looked up and saw Evelyn fidgeting in her chair. "Your parents are getting a divorce. You're okay with that?"

Evelyn nodded her head.

Judge Bennett continued. "Since you can only be in one place, only one of your parents can have you. Who would you like to live with?"

"I want to go with my mommy." Evelyn said. It almost sounded as if she was whining.

Clark looked at her in surprise. He knew that she didn't want to. She had told him earlier in the kitchen that she still wanted to live on the farm with him.

The judge rifled through the files. "Mr. Kent, you seem to have been involved in a lot of police investigations." he looked through them some more. "And Ms. Lang, this isn't your first divorce." he sighed as he contemplated what choice would be best for Evelyn. Honestly, he didn't like either of them, but one was going to have to get Evelyn. "Okay." Judge Bennett signaled he had come to a conclusion. "Ms. Lang, you get custody of Evelyn. Mr. Kent, you have visitation rights every second weekend of every month."

Clark's jaw dropped. They were handing her over to Lana? She had lost Evelyn just last week! Evelyn got up and ran to Lana. She hugged her legs and sighed contentedly. Something was definitely wrong. Evelyn would never do that.

"Come on, sweetie. Let's go home." Lana said with a sickly sweet smile.

Evelyn readily grabbed her hand and walked with her. Clark felt the pain of his only child being ripped from him. He walked out after them dejectedly.

Evelyn felt confused as she exited the courtroom. Wasn't she just in the closet with a weird man? And why was she holding Lana's hand? She yanked her hand out of her grasp and began running to Clark.

Clark saw her coming and he bent down and picked her up in his arms. "Daddy, what happened? Why was I going with Mommy?"

Clark fought the urge to cry. "Because, you're going to live with Mommy now."

Evelyn looked at him in confusion. "But I don't want to! I want to stay with you!" she hugged him even more and little tears came down her face.

"I know, bud. Don't worry, though. We'll still see each other."

"But I want to live with you!"

Lana came and interrupted them. "Come on, Evelyn. We have to go. We'll pick up your stuff from the farm later."

"NO! I want to live with Daddy!" Evelyn screamed.

"Evelyn, please do not act like this in public." Lana said, her voice slightly raised. She looked around at the securtiy guards. Evelyn was causing a scene.

As much as it pained him, Clark set Evelyn down. "Listen to your mom, bud. Be a good girl."

"But I don't want to stay with her." Evelyn mumbled.

"You're going to have to. I'll see if I can get things sorted out."

Evelyn wrapped her arms around Clark's neck. She never wanted to let go. But Lana began pulling her. "Evelyn, if you don't come with me right now, you're going to be in big trouble."

Clark pulled her arms off of him and made her go with Lana. Evelyn cried the entire way as Lana pulled her away. She looked back and saw her daddy standing in the middle of the hallway. He looked so sad. She knew that he was going to be even more sad.

Clark watched the only good thing in his life walk away. He had to fix it. Something wasn't right about the way Evelyn was acting in the courtroom. It was as if someone was controlling her. He would have to call Oliver about it.

* * *

a/n: you got the update a day earlier! woo! anyways...i really loved writing this chapter. it was just so fun for me. do leave comments/reviews. i like hearing all of your feedback. :D


	10. Calls

Calls

Clark walked into the farm house. He was waiting for the familiar brush of Evelyn running past him, but not this time. Lana had taken her. Clark trudged up the stairs, his heart was weighing him down. He opened the door to his bedroom and sat there with the phone in his hand. He desperately longed to talk to someone, but who? Everyone who could think of were either busy or they wouldn't understand. Everyone except for her.

Clark dialed the number that he had begun to memorize. The familiar voice answered. "Hello?"

Clark froze. What the heck was he thinking calling her? She was probably busy. "Hellooo? Is anyone there?" came her persistent voice.

"Uh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call you, Margaret." Clark muttered into the phone. He was about to hang up, but her voice stopped him.

"Clark? Hey what's going on? How did it go at court?"

Clark closed his eyes and swallowed. "Lana has custody. I get visitation every second week of the month."

Margaret was stunned. "What?! Are you serious? Did the judge take a bribe? No sane person would leave Evelyn with her forever."

"Well, she has custody now."

"What did Evelyn say?"

"In the courtroom, she said that she wanted to live with Lana, but when we came out, it was like she completely forgot what had happened inside. She came running to me and said she didn't want to stay with Lana."

"What did you do?"

"I had to let her go. There were several security guards right there and Lana was already making a scene by yelling at her for crying."

Clark head Margaret scoff. "How could they not tell that Evelyn didn't want to stay with Lana?"

"I don't know." Clark said.

"No matter what happens though, I do not want you to go moping around everywhere. You need to get her back."

"But how? They used my record as an excuse."

"But you don't even have a criminal record! You just put the criminals in jail."

Clark paused. He and Margaret were still getting to know each other. How could she know something like that? Clark just brushed it under the rug.

Margaret seemed to notice her slip up and she grew very quiet. "There has to be someway to get her back. I know a few people who could try." Margaret finally said, trying to cover up.

"Thanks Margaret. I just feel like there's something about this whole thing that I'm missing…"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Evelyn was acting out of character." Clark heard a beeping on his line. "Margaret, could you hang on for a second?"

"Sure."

Clark put her on hold and answered the waiting call. "Hello?"

"Clark! Thank goodness I found you!" Oliver said. He sounded out of breath and was whispering.

"Oliver? What's wrong? Where are you?"

"Nothings wrong, well, at least not yet. We're in a sort of meeting right now, but I had to slip away to make sure some things were okay."

"Like what?" Clark was beginning to get suspicious.

"Has anyone come to your place in the last week? Like, I don't know, the police or maybe some reporters?"

"No…Oliver what's going on?"

"I'll explain things later. But if you see a reporter, stay away from them."

"Oliver!"

"And be careful Clark. I found out something really bad."

"What is it?"

"Just be careful. Talk to you later." Oliver hung up the phone before Clark could get another word in.

Clark didn't like the way Oliver was acting. Something big was definitely up and he was going to find out soon.

Clark went ahead and got back on the same line as Margaret. "Hey, sorry about that. It was…uh, business."

"Business? What do you do, Kent? Try and single-handedly bring down corporate monsters?" Margaret said with a familiar playfulness in her voice.

Clark chuckled. Her voice sounded so familiar over the phone. "I just can't shake away the feeling that I know you somehow." Clark said as he tried to figure out why he felt that way.

He heard Margaret laugh nervously into the phone. "Well, of course you know me. I am your kid's teacher."

"No. It's something else."

"I can assure you that we have never met anywhere else." Margaret needed to change the subject fast. "I don't mean to be nosy, but what actually caused you to get a divorce."

Clark sighed. "I found out that Lana had an abortion."

Margaret had to remind herself to breathe. She wanted to yell at him for even considering having a child with that witch! But she calmed herself. "An abortion?" she said keeping her voice steady.

"Yeah. She didn't…" Clark heard the other line beeping again. "I've got another call. Hang on." Clark switched lines. "Hello?"

"Clark, I've been very patient. I have waited a week for you to call me back, but you never have!"

Clark winced as Lucy yelled into the phone. "Hey, Lucy. I've been really busy lately."

"Obviously." Lucy said. Clark pictured her rolling her eyes at this moment. "I want an explanation now."

Clark really didn't want to do this right now. "Can I talk to you later?"

"No. I bet that you have been putting this off. We are going to do it _now_."

Clark groaned. Fine. If they we're going to do this right now, then she was going to get the short version. "I married Lana. We adopted Evelyn from the Philippines. We've been arguing. Our divorce was finalized today and Lana now has custody of her." Clark said in one breath.

Lucy didn't say anything for a few heartbeats. "What?! How could you do that?!"

"I don't know, Lucy. I've got to go already, okay."

"Fine. I'll talk to you later Clark."

"Bye." Clark ended the phone call and began changing back to Margaret's line. But he stopped as he began remembering something. He hadn't slept with Lana in almost a year. It was impossible for the child to be his. She had cheated on him. But he didn't really care about that. The baby wasn't his. She never killed his child!

"Clark, are you still there?" Margaret asked. She could hear him breathing over the phone, but he wouldn't say anything.

Clark quickly replied. "Lana never aborted my child! It wasn't even my child! It was someone else's!" he exclaimed.

Margaret smiled. "That is the greatest thing I have heard in a while!" Margaret shared his enthusiasm.

"I can't believe that I believed it was mine." Clark said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I can't see you having a kid with her anyways. You should be with someone, I don't know, more wild."

Clark smiled. But his smile faded as he thought about the facts. Why did Lana tell him it was his? She obviously didn't want any part in giving birth to a child of his. Something was going on. "Margaret, I've got to go."

"Okay. I'll talk with you later, Clark."

"Thanks for listening."

"No problem."

They said their good byes and hung up. Clark still felt as if he should know who Margaret was.

* * *

Oliver looked at his closed phone. He had just gotten off with Clark. Oliver desperately wanted to tell Clark what he had found out. It just wasn't fair to him to keep believing what he was believing.

Oliver turned around and looked at the large computer screen. One side had a large profile picture of Lois. On the other side, it had another profile picture of her, except she had black hair, brown eyes and glasses. Underneath the picture it had the name 'Margaret Kidance.'

* * *

It was Monday morning and Evelyn was late for school. Lana had completely forgotten about it. She dropped her off at nine thirty. School had started at eight. Evelyn slowly turned the door handle to 2C. She opened it. Everyone in the classroom turned their eyes to Evelyn. Ms. Kidance was at the chalk board.

Evelyn quickly walked over to her and whispered her excuse. Ms. Kidance nodded her understanding and continued writing on the chalkboard. Evelyn sat down at the table with Ella and Love. They both turned their heads to her when she sat down.

"Why were you late?" Ella whispered.

"My mommy forgot to wake up early."

"I thought you lived with your daddy?" Love said.

Evelyn sighed sadly. "The people at court said that I had to live with my mommy."

"But you don't even like her." Ella responded.

Evelyn just shrugged her shoulders. She really didn't want to talk about it. Every time she would even think about it, she'd get upset and wanted to start crying.

* * *

Clark wiped his brow as he put down the pitchfork. He wasn't sweating or anything, it just helped keep up the appearance of being human. He had been up all night trying to understand what may have cause the judge to give custody rights to Lana. There was nothing that he could find wrong with Judge Bennett except for the fact that he was always grumpy. He didn't call Oliver back, though. It seemed like that was a good place to pick up again.

Clark sat down on a bale of hay and pulled out his cell. He dialed Oliver's phone and waited four rings. "Oliver, this is Clark."

"Clark, hey." Oliver sounded very nervous. "Uh, what do you need?"

"Something happened at court Saturday."

"Oh yeah." Oliver's tone lightened. "How did that go?"

"Lana has custody."

"Wait, say that again?"

"It was weird. Evelyn kept saying that she wanted to stay with Lana the entire time we were in the courtroom, but once we exited, she ran to me and said she wanted to stay with me. She didn't remember anything that had happened in the court room."

"Hmm, that is weird."

"I think that something might have happened to her. Somebody influenced her or maybe she was drugged."

"Was this change all of a sudden?"

"Yeah."

"Try and give me a blood sample. I think I may know what it is, but I want to be sure."

"Okay. I'll give it to you as soon as I can."

"All right."

"Thanks Oliver."

"Sure no problem."

Clark hung up. He stayed seated on the hay. The barn felt even emptier without Evelyn with him.

* * *

Evelyn, Ella, and Love were sitting on the blacktop during recess. They had gathered several rocks that could mark the cement and they began drawing pictures. The entire time, Ella and Love were trying to make Evelyn smile.

Brian, the biggest fifth grader in the school, walked up to them. He was the meanest kid in school. Even some of the sixth graders were afraid of him. "Hey, you're in my spot."

The three girls looked up at him confused. "No we're not. This spot is for everyone." Love said. Ella and Evelyn looked at Love in shock. Did she want to get beaten up?

"You better move before I pound some sense into you!" Brian said as he made his hands into fists.

Ella slowly crept away and ran inside, but Evelyn was frozen into place. Love continued to appear unfazed. "We aren't going to move." she said. Love stood up and crossed her arms.

Brian narrowed his eyes and looked down at Evelyn. "Guess what Evelyn?"

Evelyn gulped.

"I said guess what?!" Brian said more forcibly.

"What?" Evelyn said in a small shaky voice.

"No one in the Philippines likes you! That's why they had to get someone from Kansas to adopt you. And no one would do it except for a stupid farmer!"

"My daddy isn't a stupid farmer!" Evelyn yelled as she stood up alongside Love.

"Yes he is! And you're a stupid foreigner!"

That was it for Love. "Stop saying mean things!"

"And what if I don't want to?"

"Then you'll be very sorry."

Brian growled. He lifted his fist and punched Love in the face. Evelyn screamed and so did Brian. He began nursing his fist and he looked at Love in fear. Love didn't even flinch when his fist connected with her face. She smirked down at him. "I told you that you'd be sorry."

"What are you? Some kind of freak?" Brian asked in his pain.

Love's smirk faded. Her hand was wrapped around Brian's throat in a flash. She began to slowly raise him above the ground, choking him little by little. "I am_ not_ a freak. You're the freak. You keep picking on people that are smaller than you! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!"

"Martha Love Ken…iddance! You had better drop that boy now!"

Evelyn and Love turned their attention to the doors. Ms. Kidance was there looking furious and Ella was standing behind her looking a bit guilty.

Love began breathing in short breaths and immediately dropped Brian. Love ran to Ms. Kidance and hugged her. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! He was being mean to us! You always told me to stand up for myself!" Love was already crying.

Evelyn ran to them. "It wasn't her fault, Ms. Kidance. Brain was being mean to us. He even punched Love!"

Ms. Kidance looked at Love then to Brian. "I'm sorry, Love, but you're going to have to go to the principles office." Ms. Kidance pulled her arms off of her and she began walking to Brian to make sure he was all right.

* * *

Clark sat at the table trying to figure out how he was going to come up with all the money for the bills. Now, he understood why his parents were so worried.

The shrill ringing of the phone interrupted his thoughts. Clark got up to answer it. "Kent household."

"Clark, it's Margaret."

Clark looked at the clock on the wall. "Hey, Margaret. Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"Yeah, but there's sort of been a problem here…"

"What happened? Is everyone okay?"

"Sort of. Love got into a fight. The school's giving her home-suspension for four days."

"Is she all right?"

"Yeah, she'll live. But since there's not going to be anyone home, I was wondering if you could watch her for me."

"Sure. But why won't the school give her in-school suspension?"

"I don't know. These people don't know how to run a system properly." Margaret grumbled into the phone.

"Am I going to need to pick her up right now?"

"Yes. Clark, I'm really sorry. I didn't know who else to call."

"Don't worry, Margaret. It's perfectly fine."

"Thank you so much, Clark."

"I'll be there in a minute." Clark said. He hung up the phone. And grabbed his keys. He stopped at the doorway. If he was going to be going to the school, he could have the chance to get a small sample of Evelyn's blood.

* * *

Clark walked into the office. Margaret was talking with the secretary and Love was sitting down in one of the chairs looking at her feet in complete shame. Clark walked up behind Margaret.

Margaret felt his presence and turned around. "Thank goodness you finally made it." she breathed out.

"I came as soon as I could. Is everyone all right?"

Margaret looked around and pulled him out of the office into the hallway. She looked up and down to make sure no one was listening in. "Love seriously injured the boy. From what I heard from Evelyn and Ella, it was Brian that started it. Love was just standing up to him."

"Is Evelyn all right?"

"Yeah, she's just a little freaked out."

"How did Love do it? Wouldn't this boy have to be bigger than her?"

"Uh, I guess it was just a lot of adrenaline. Don't tell me that you haven't had rushes like those."

Clark offered an empty half-smile. "I've got a favor to ask you."

Margaret looked at him with inquisitive eyes.

"I need a blood sample from Evelyn."

Margaret raised her left eyebrow. "Why? Do you think she's taking drugs?" she said with a chuckle.

Clark smirked at her smart response. "No, I just need it. I have this friend that's going to check it out for me."

"All right. I'll give it to you when I come pick up Love."

"Thanks."

Margaret smiled back at him. Why did lying to him have to be so difficult?

* * *

Clark walked inside the house with Love trailing behind him. She seemed really glum the entire way home and it didn't look like she was going to improve. "Love, sit down." Clark said as he pulled out one of the stools.

Love sat down obediently and Clark took the spot next to her. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Not really."

"Well, you're going to have to tell me eventually."

Love looked up at him then looked back to the table. "Brian came up to me and Evelyn and Ella and told us to move because we were in his spot. I told him no. He got mad and then he called Evelyn a stupid foreigner and he call you a stupid farmer. I got really mad at him and told him to leave us alone. He punched me, but something happened to his hand when he punched me. He called me a freak and I got really angry so I grabbed his neck and lifted him up. Then my mommy came out and that's when I got in trouble."

"Wait, Brian _punched_ you?" Clark couldn't see any sign of injury on her face.

"Yeah, but it didn't hurt. It just tickled a little." Love said it as if it was a commonly known fact.

Clark looked at her closely. Her hazel eyes, black hair. It was just all too familiar for him. "Well, you are still going to get punished here and with your mom. First punishment, you are going to learn how to muck a stall."

* * *

Love sat on the couch watching the news while Clark sat next to her, but worked on his laptop. "Clark?"

"Hmm?" Clark tried to make himself pay attention to what she was sure to say next.

"How come I was able to do those things?"

"What things?" Clark saved his work and began to really pay attention to Love.

"When I started running really fast and when I was able to pick up Brian with just one hand. And how come he didn't leave a small bruise on my face when he hit me?"

Clark ran his fingers through his hair. "Well, Love, a lot of people can do extraordinary things."

"Like you and me?"

"Uh, yeah, like me and you."

"So does that make us freaks? Because that's what Brian called me."

"No, no of course not! It does not make you, me, or anyone else a freak. We're just different. Like Evelyn is a Filipino and you're an American."

Love's eyes became big and watery. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure." Clark said. He pulled Love into a hug. "Don't let anyone call you a freak."

They heard someone clearing their throat from behind them. They both looked and saw Margaret. Love smiled at her, but didn't make a move to get up from the couch. But Clark did. "Hey, Margaret."

"Hey, Clark. The screen door was open so I just thought that it might be okay to come in."

"Of course. You're always welcome to just walk in."

"You ready to go, Lovely?" Margaret asked Love.

"Not really." Love said making herself more comfortable on the couch.

Clark chuckled as Margaret sighed. "Well, we are going to be leaving whether you want to or not." Margaret said sternly.

Clark heard Love muttering her complaints under her breath. He smiled. Love walked over to them. "Okay, let's go."

"Go wait in the car. I have to talk with Clark."

Love frowned but obediently listened to her mom. She didn't want to get into anymore trouble.

Margaret looked out the window to make sure Love was walking to the care. "I got Evelyn's blood sample." she pulled out a vial from her purse filled with the red liquid. "Is she all right?"

"She should be. Thank you so much."

"Yeah, you owe me big time."

"Well, I think we're even since I'm watching Love while you work."

Margaret offered him a smirk. "Whatever lets you sleep at night." she turned around and started walking to the door.

"Margaret, wait." Clark said before she could leave.

Margaret turned around. Clark grabbed her arms and pulled her away from the door. Margaret wanted to melt in his arms. He didn't understand how much his touch was killing her. "What's wrong?" Margaret asked as she swallowed down her boiling emotions.

"It's about Love."

Margaret furrowed her brows. "Is she okay? Did something happen?"

"Has Chloe told you about her theory of the meteor rocks here in Smallville?"

"She mentioned it. Why?"

"I think something may have happened to Love to make her be able to pick up Brian like that. Maybe she was infected."

Margaret looked at Clark stunned. "Infected?" Margaret tried to play dumb. "But she can't be infected."

"Look, it's okay if she's…infected. She's still a normal kid."

"I guess she is isn't she?" Margaret looked out the window and saw Love sitting in the front seat impatiently waiting for Margaret.

Clark was a little surprised at how good she had taken it. "You're okay with that?"

"Of course. She's my girl, and I would never reject anyone just because they're different. They're still the same person. Their powers just make them even better."

Clark thought about what she said. Only one other person had told him that and it had been Lois. It was amazing how much Margaret reminded him of Lois. "You're right."

They stood there in the kitchen stuck in a trance. It was interrupted by the car horn. Margaret jumped slightly and Clark stood back a little. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Count on it farm boy." Margaret said as she exited.

Clark shook his head and laughed. He laughed his heart out.

* * *

Oliver paced around his loft at Metropolis. Clark had called five minutes earlier and said that he had the blood sample and that he was on his way. Clark should've been there within two minutes. He heard the elevator coming up. Clark stepped off of it.

"Clark. What took you so long?" Oliver asked as he walked towards him.

"There was almost a deadly car accident. I had to stop it really quick."

Oliver nodded in understanding. He had been so happy that Clark finally decided to rejoin the force, but he wanted to know what had changed his mind. He knew that part of the reason was because Evelyn got hurt, but he believed that there was something more. "So do you have the blood?"

Clark pulled out the vial from his pocket. "Here." he tossed it to Oliver.

Oliver examined it for a minute before he put it away.

Clark lingered a bit longer. Oliver knew that he wanted something else. "Was there anything else I could help you with?"

"Yeah. What's going on, Oliver? Why are you warning me to watch my back?"

Oliver sighed. He knew Bruce would be furious if he found out that he had told Clark. "Along with some computer problems we've been having, I found something that I wasn't supposed to."

"What is it?"

"You have to promise me not to get upset."

"What's going on?"

"Our computers were hacked into. All of the information that we had was copied and deleted. They went to our hometowns including Smallville."

Clark looked at him incredulously, "Everything. Even about…"

"Even about you and Kara."

Clark scoffed. "Are you serious?"

"I wish I wasn't."

"Oliver, do you know how dangerous that information could be!"

"Yes, Clark. I do know. But nothing seems to have happened, yet."

Clark eyed Oliver. "How long has it been since the information leak?"

Oliver grimaced and looked away from Clark. "About a week."

"A week! And no one told me?!"

"Nothing has happened, Clark. Besides, Victor and Chloe are already trying to get it back."

"Oliver, you are unbelievable! I trusted you with all of that information!" "It wasn't my fault, Clark! We'll get it back!"

Clark clenched his teeth. "For your sake, I hope so." Clark turned and began walking out.

Oliver sighed as the elevator carrying Clark went down. At least he didn't tell him about Lex and Lois.

* * *

Beth opened the door to their room. She hated the putrid smell that always filled her nostrils when she walked in. Alex was sitting at the small desk the motel provided. He had his laptop open and was looking intently at the screen. "Is everything all right Alex?"

He looked up at her and smiled. "You can call me Lex now."

Beth smiled back at him. Her mother had always warned her to stay away from bad men, but Lex was just so wonderful and bad. She couldn't help her feelings. But Lex didn't return any of them. He only had eyes for Lana Lang. From what she heard, every man who had come across Lana fell madly in love with her. "Well, Lex, is everything going according to plan?"

Lex looked back to the computer. "It's going rather smoothly. With Oliver and his friends preoccupied with their information leak, it's as if they're on a wild goose chase."

Beth looked at him puzzled. "You mean, they didn't have an actual computer leak?"

"No, of course not." he said as he grinned sinisterly.

* * *

a/n: so, after this chapter, things start going downhill for the poor characters. next chapter is when clark finally starts making connections. i know it's taking him forever, but that's how men are. ;D thank you guys so much for the reviews. i just love reading them all. continue posting reviews for me to enjoy and i'll post chapters for you to enjoy.


	11. Discoveries

Discoveries

Clark rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Someone was pounding on his door and they didn't sound too happy. Well, neither was he. It was almost three in the morning! Clark opened the door. "Chloe? What are you doing here?"

"Clark, you haven't called since Friday. I know something's up." Chloe said as she stormed inside.

Clark closed the door behind her. "Nothing is going on, Chloe. Besides, it's only Monday or very early Tuesday, whichever you'd prefer. And what are you doing here so late? Do you know what time it is?"

"Yes, Clark it's two forty-eight. Clark, you're mom is really worried about you. You haven't called her in a week. And then she finds out that Lana has legal custody of Evelyn?"

Clark sat down on the couch. "You heard about that."

"From Oliver." Chloe sat down next to him. "Clark, is everything okay?"

Clark sighed. "No. It isn't. Lois' gone, Evelyn's gone. Nothing is going the way it's supposed to."

"What about Margaret?"

Clark looked at Chloe thoughtfully. "I don't know. I have these weird feelings inside of me whenever I'm around her. And for some reason, it feels as if I should know her. She reminds me so much of…" Clark turned away and began playing with his hands.

"Reminds you of who, Clark?"

"She reminds me of Lois."

Chloe gulped. She was so going to have to get on to Lois for acting so like…Lois. She needed to be Margaret right now.

"It's been eight years, Chloe. Eight long and hard years." Clark said softly, thinking back on all the time that passed.

Chloe grimaced. "You've never talk about it. Maybe now's the right time."

Clark began playing with his fingers. "She was trying to expose more dirt on LexCorp." Clark spat out the name like some vile drink. "I told her it was too dangerous. Too many people died from trying to expose the same thing. She said that's why she had an alien for a boyfriend. To keep her from too much trouble. She never thought that it would happen. The same day, I get this mysterious phone call. Whoever it was, they said that they had Lois and they were going to kill her if I didn't show up. I ran as fast as I could to the warehouse. I walked in and it was made entirely of kryptonite. Lois was in the middle tied to a chair. She was yelling at me to get out of there. I couldn't leave. I couldn't leave her there to die." Clark closed his eyes as several tears fell.

"It hurt so much, Chloe. The kryptonite and knowing that I couldn't get to Lois. Lex was there. I don't know how, but he found out about the kryptonite. He said that we had crossed him too many times and we were going to pay dearly for it. He pulled out a bomb and timed it to go off in a minute. He left the warehouse as quickly as he could. But someone tried mugging him outside the warehouse. I heard the gunshots and Lex's body fall to the ground. I crawled closer to Lois, the entire time she was yelling at me to get out. I didn't, though. I refused to listen to her. I heard the explosion and I felt it. I guess I blacked out. When I woke up, I was in Oliver's loft. They didn't find any of Lois' remains." The tears from his face were flowing freely. He had never told anyone what had happened. After he finished relaying the story to Chloe, it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of him. Like he could finally breathe after being under water for so long.

Chloe pulled Clark into a hug and they both cried. Chloe wanted to tell Clark so badly that Lois was alive. That she was really Margaret Kidance, but Lois told her not to do that. There were still too many things that had to be resolved. But she hated seeing her friend like this. Sure, there was a good reason for keeping this secret, but at what cost? Clark's heart going numb?

* * *

Oliver looked in through a window and saw Clark reading the Daily Planet, a half-empty cup of coffee was on the table. He began knocking on the door. Clark got up and answered the door. Oliver held up a folder. "I have some news."

"Is it good or bad?" Clark stepped aside to let him in.

Oliver frowned. "I guess it depends on how you look at it." Oliver laid the folder down and opened it. "Evelyn's results came back."

"Was she drugged?"

"Remember that time at that 33.1 facility at Black Creek?"

"How could I forget? You almost killed me." Clark replied grimly.

Oliver grimaced, "Yeah, well, it wasn't my fault. It was that spinal fluid from Moira mixed with some kryptonite."

"What about it?" Clark asked with a blank look

"Come on, Clark! Connect the pieces!" Oliver said. It was beyond Oliver how much Clark really used his brain after Lois had died. "Someone put that same drug into Evelyn and apparently made her really love Lana."

The understanding finally dawned on Clark. "I have to tell the judge."

"You might want to find something a little better than Evelyn was brainwashed. You know how unbelievable that sounds."

Clark grimaced. "You're right."

"Well, I was glad that I could be of assistance. I've got to go now. The team really needs me."

"Is everything all right?" Clark asked. "I mean when you called me a couple nights ago, you sounded scared. Was there something else besides that information leak?"

Oliver paused. What was he supposed to tell him. "Let's just say that I found something out that I wish I never knew." Oliver walked to the door. "Watch your back, Kent." He opened the door and was about to walk out, but there was someone else at the door. He narrowed his eyes. "Margaret Kidance."

Margaret tried her best to seem confused. "Um, I'm sorry. Have we met before?" Margaret felt Love push her way inside. She made herself comfortable on the couch.

Clark looked in on the conversation, apparently interested.

"Oh no. According to your files and records we haven't met, but I know exactly who you are."

Margaret gulped. She looked uneasily at Clark, to Love, and back at Oliver. "Look, I don't know who the heck you think you are, but you have no business poking around in my records."

"Oh right. _Margaret_ doesn't know me. Well, I guess I better introduce myself to _Margaret_then. Margaret Kidance, I'm Oliver Queen. Clark Kent here is my best friend, but sometimes he seems so distant that he's practically an alien. Oh, and on top of being the owner of Queen Industries, I'm the Green Arrow."

"Oliver!" Clark said as he grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"She hasn't told you yet has she, Clark?" Oliver said looking at Margaret. Margaret suddenly found a very interesting splotch on the kitchen floor. "Margaret Kidance isn't who she says she is Clark." Oliver said. With one final disgusted look at Margaret, Oliver left.

Margaret looked back up at a stunned Clark. "Clark, I have no idea who that man was. You have to believe me."

Clark looked at her, now very cautious. "Me and Oliver may have our differences, but he's always right when he tells me to be careful around someone." Clark's suspicion was evident in his voice.

"Clark, I really wish I could explain some things, but right now, I have to go. I'm going to be late for work."

Clark sighed as he watched her leave. "Margaret,"

Margaret turned around. "Yes?"

"Say hi to Evelyn for me. Please."

Margaret smiled. "Of course."

* * *

Love sat in the loft looking through a book that Clark had laying on the chest. She had no idea what it was talking about, she was just flipping through the pages. But a common idea was about some guy called Namaan and another one called Sageth. Love closed the book. It was becoming too boring for her. Love got up and began looking around the room. Normally she wouldn't look into other people's stuff. She respected their privacy if they respected hers, but she was just so curious right now. She wanted to find out everything she could about Clark Kent.

Love opened one of the drawers in the desk and pulled out a shoe box. She took off the lid and found several newspaper articles from the Daily Planet. They were all by Lois Lane and Clark Kent. She dug through the box some more and found a picture. It was Clark with a woman that looked eerily like Margaret. Love studied the picture for a moment before placing it back in the box and put the lid back on. She looked deeper in the drawer and found a big box that was made of some kind of metal. She couldn't tell what kind. Love's curiosity got the better of her and she grabbed the box. She carried it to the couch and began looking at it. It was very smooth and there were no kind decorations on it. Love undid the latch, but she left the top alone. That man in her head told her not to open it.

'How come I can't open it?' Love asked him.

'It will bring you great pain, little one.' he replied in his all-knowing voice.

'I don't think it will.'

'You are just as stubborn as both your mother and grandmother. Do not open it.'

'But I really want to.' Love whined.

'If you open it, you will suffer great consequences.'

Love considered his words. 'Didn't you hear that I was suspended? I'm already suffering great consequences.' came her smart reply.

Love's hand hovered over the lid before she gained the courage to finally lift it and open it. There was a green rock inside and it began glowing. Love grabbed her stomach. It was hurting so badly. It was as if someone had lit a match inside of her. She fell to the ground in pain. She wanted to scream and yell, but nothing would come out, just weak groans of pain. When she fell, the box fell alongside her and the rock rolled right next to her, almost touching her cheek. Hot tears burned Love's face as the pain intensified. Love didn't want to, but her eyes closed and she gave in to the black abyss.

* * *

Clark walked into the entrance of the barn. Love was still up there and it had been nearly two hours. He was starting to get worried. "Love? Are you still up here?" he called out.

There was no answer. Clark frowned and he began climbing the steps leading to the loft. "I know you're up here, Love." Clark said. He reached the top and found Love laying on the floor unconscious. "Love!" Clark began rushing towards her, but he began feeling sick. He looked around and found a huge chunk of kryptonite lying beside Love.

Clark grabbed the handrail to steady himself from the dizziness that always came with the wrenching pain. "Love, you got to get up." Clark said as loud as he could.

Love was non-responsive. Clark really didn't want to get near the kryptonite, but that's where Love was and she wasn't looking very good. Her skin had turned a sickly pale green color. It almost looked as if she was made of wax. Clark knew that whatever was wrong, it was going to kill her if he didn't do anything. Clark slowly made his way towards her, each step more agonizing than the last. He had gotten within five feet of her and he finally collapsed on the ground. His body yelled at him for continuing to near the deadly meteor rock, but he would not let Love die.

Through the pain, Clark pushed his body closer to Love and closer to the kryptonite. It pained him so much, the burning inside his body, the feeling of his throat closing up not allowing him to breathe. He reached out and grabbed the kryptonite, yelling in pain as he felt his hand beginning to bleed. He looked around quickly. Blackness began creeping up on him. He refused to give in though. He saw the lead box that could hold the kryptonite and grabbed it. He clenched his teeth as the pain continued growing. He placed the rock inside of it and had just enough strength to shut the lid.

Clark laid on his back, finally able to breathe again. He inhaled deeply, thankful that no one had seen him. He looked to his hand. The wound from gripping the kryptonite had been healed, but blood was still there. He got up and wiped it away on his jeans.

Clark remembered about Love. She was still laying on the floor, but she was looking a little better. Clark carefully lifted her up. He sat on the couch and held her in his arms. He wiped away the sweat that covered her face. He checked her for any injuries, but didn't find any. "Come on, Love. Wake up." he said softly.

Love began stirring in his arms. She opened her eyes slowly, squinting at the bright sunlight. She saw Clark looking down at her. He looked so worried. Love still didn't feel all that good, but she was feeling better. "Clark?'

Clark breathed, not realizing he had been holding his breath. "Thank goodness you're okay. What happened? Are you okay?'

Love nodded and sat up in his lap. "I don't know what happened. I was looking around and then I found that box. I don't know why, but I opened it. When I opened it, I started feeling really sick. My tummy felt as if somebody put it on fire." Love looked over at Clark. "I got really scared."

Clark was getting confused. Was Love saying that it was the rock that was making her sick? Only Kryptonians would get that way around kryptonite. It was impossible for her to get sick around it. Or was it? "Love, did the rock start glowing when you opened it?'

Love thought a moment. Her thoughts were still so scattered. "Yeah, but I thought that rocks don't glow."

Clark looked down at the box. "They're not supposed to." he said partly to himself.

Love looked from the box to Clark. "Am I different?"

Clark snapped his head back to Love. "No, you're just really special." Clark got up. "Come on. Let's go back inside."

Love got up and began walking down the steps. Clark lingered behind a little. He saw that his box with all of his hidden treasures was out. He walked over to it and lifted the lid. The first thing he saw was the picture of him and Lois. They were at the county fair and Chloe really wanted to take a picture of them together. Right before the camera flashed, Clark snuck in a kiss on her cheek. When the picture came out. It showed him kissing her cheek and a shocked expression on Lois' face. He smiled at the memory.

"Clark, what's for lunch? I'm hungry." Love said from the bottom of the stairs.

Clark looked at the picture and then to Love. The wheels in his head began turning. "Love, could you come back up here?"

Clark heard Love's footsteps up the stairs. She reached the top and waited for him to speak his mind.

Clark held up the picture of Lois next to Love. That's why Love looked so familiar. She was the spitting image of Lois Lane. Her auburn hair, the way her lips lifted into a mischievous smirk, even the little rise at the tip of her nose. But what terrified and mystified him at the same time were her eyes. Her eyes were exactly the same as his. The same hue, the same compassion and goodness hidden behind the same fears and shyness. Clark's heart beat began rapidly increasing as he began believing the improbable. "Love, have you met any of your family?"

Love looked at Clark weird. She didn't understand why he would be asking her that. "Yes, why?"

"Who was it?"

"It was my grandpa. Mommy says that we weren't supposed to meet him, but it happened by accident. I think that's why we moved to Smallville."

"Do you know his name?" Clark's voice was laced with urgency.

Love thought hard. "No…but he said that he was a general."

Clark stepped back a little. Could Love be his kid? It was impossible though, right? Lois was dead. He had seen it himself. "Let's go back inside." Clark mumbled still in shock. He kept looking at Love trying to figure out if it could be true. "Your mom's on her way."

* * *

Margaret walked inside the house. She saw Clark and Love sitting at the dinning table talking. Love was laughing so much. Margaret had never seen her laugh that much. "What's so funny you guys?" Margaret asked as she walked towards them.

Clark looked up with a big smile on his face. Margaret could see him watching her closely, examining every little detail of her face. It was unnerving for her. She smiled nervously and looked away. "Did you behave yourself, Lovely?"

Love nodded her head. "Do you know what happened?!" Love said as she jumped off the chair and ran to her mother.

"What happened?" Margaret asked. She saw Clark from the corner of her eye get up and stand awfully close to her.

"I found a picture of Clark and some lady that looked exactly like you and then I found this weird green rock. It made me feel really sick, but then Clark put it away and I got all better." Love said all in one breath.

Margaret tried to keep the surprise from her face. "Lovely, rocks can't make you sick." Margaret said, trying to keep her mask from slipping.

"But this one did." Love said, willing her mom to believe her tale.

"Love, why don't you let me and your mommy talk. You can wait for her outside." Clark said.

Love frowned, but did what he said. She walked outside and sat down on the porch swing, putting it to good use.

Clark stood there, watching every slight movement Margaret would take. Margaret hated the feeling of him watching her. "Thanks again, Clark. You really have no idea how much this means to me that you watch Love."

"Yeah, having her here makes me feel a little better with Evelyn gone." Clark said.

"Well, I'm going to go. I'll bring Love by in the morning. Same time tomorrow." Margaret began walking out.

"Wait!" Clark ran up to her and stopped her from leaving. He stared into her eyes. He saw it now. Clark could faintly see the hazel hidden behind the brown. "It's really you isn't it?"

Margaret made her expression confused. "Um, yes it's me. Margaret Kidance. Remember?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Clark's eyes were filled with a pain that he tried to hide.

No matter how hard he tried, though, Margaret could see it clearly. As much as it pained her to continue on like this, it was the only way. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Clark."

"You never died in that explosion."

"Clark, you're really starting to scare me now. The most danger I've ever been in is when I passed a red light coming here. I have to go now."

Clark's voice came out full of pain. "Please, don't leave me again, Lois."

Margaret could feel her eyes welling up with tears as she looked at his desperate expression. "I'm sorry, Clark. I'm not Lois. I'm just Margaret Kidance." Margaret said with a sad smile. She walked out, turning her head only once to see a single tear falling down Clark's face.

* * *

a/n: this chapter was shorter than expected so i'm going to update really soon. maybe friday or even tomorrow. i was so surprised at all the reviews that came in for the previous chapter. i'm really glad that you guys like my story. :D continue reviewing! oh and something really big will happen in the next chapter.


	12. Chaos

Chaos

Lex tried to keep himself calm and situated, but he was just so excited. Today was the day he would finally be able to move. All the pieces were set, except for one little detail.

He looked up as he heard the doorknob beginning to turn. Beth came in with Lana trailing behind her. Lex got off the bed immediately and ran to Lana. He greeted her with a passionate kiss and Lana returned it. Beth looked away as her dreams were being shattered.

"Oh, Lex. I can't take that little brat anymore!" Lana complained as she plopped down on the chair.

Lex sat on the arm rest to comfort his love. "Don't worry Lana. You won't have to deal with Evelyn anymore after today. You can turn her over to me."

Lana smiled at Lex's gracious offer. "So my dear Alexander, what do you have in store for the trouble makers?"

Lex smiled maliciously. "A lot. We are going to have fun with them."

* * *

Clark emptied the skillet full of eggs onto two plates. From one of the plates, he put a little bit of scrambled eggs on a piece of toast along with some ham and a tiny touch of cheese. After Love had told him that Margaret's cooking was grotesque, Clark decided he would give them a real breakfast.

The familiar sound of laughter and running steps filled Clark's ears as he completed the breakfast. He rinsed his hands and went to the door to open it. Margaret had a smile on her face that matched Love's

"Hi, Clark!" Love said.

Clark smiled back. "Hello, Love. Are you hungry?"

Love nodded her head.

"There's some breakfast for you in the kitchen."

Love ran into the kitchen to eat her breakfast. That left Clark and Margaret alone, which Margaret felt really weird.

Clark grabbed the sandwich that was wrapped in a paper towel. "I made you a breakfast sandwich. I doubt that you ate anything this morning except for some coffee."

Margaret took the sandwich from him. "Thank you, Clark." Margaret said with a gracious smile. "I'll be back to pick her up later." Margaret said, not knowing what else to say.

"Margaret, I wanted to apologize about yesterday. I had no right to be making assumptions like that." Clark said.

Margaret inhaled deeply. "I know, Clark. Whoever this Lois was, she obviously left some pretty deep scars." Margaret hated what she was saying.

"It wasn't her fault." Clark defended in a gentle voice.

"Well, she had absolutely no reason to leave you. You, Clark, are a good and honorable man and I would be lucky to end up with someone like you." Margaret said. Hidden tears laid in her eyes, waiting for her to give them permission to fall.

Clark nodded. "I'll see you later."

Margaret smiled faintly as she quickly left the house.

* * *

Evelyn sat with Ella at the lunch table. The entire time they had been at school, Evelyn hadn't said a word. Ella tried to start up a conversation, but it just wouldn't work. On top of that, Love was still suspended and that made Evelyn feel even worse. "Did you get to watch TV last night?" Ella asked, seeing as that was the last possible conversation she hadn't tried yet.

Evelyn shook her head.

Ella furrowed her eyebrows. "Why not?"

"My mommy wouldn't let me. She made me go to bed." Evelyn said sadly.

"Well, the weather man said that it was going to get very cold and that it might even snow!"

Evelyn's face lightened up a little bit. It was rare that it would snow in November. "Snow? Really?"

Ella nodded. "Maybe we won't have to go to school!"

Evelyn looked down at her tray of half-finished food, "But then I would have to stay inside with my mommy." she said sadly.

Ella groaned inwardly. Was there nothing that could be done to cheer Evelyn up?

* * *

Margaret began walking out the front doors to the school. It was four thirty and all of her students were gone. It was time for her to pick up Love. She walked out and a gust of cold wind almost swept her off her feet. She shivered and began walking down the steps. Margaret took notice of Evelyn sitting down with a thin sweater wrapped around her. She was shivering from the cold also. "Evelyn! What are you doing out here?" Margaret asked as she took a seat next to her.

Evelyn looked up. "I'm waiting for my mommy to come and pick me up." Evelyn said through her chattering teeth.

"How come you don't wait inside?"

"Because she said that I needed to stay outside so that she didn't have to get out of the car when she picked me up."

Margaret frowned. "Come on, let's go inside. You're going to get sick if you wait out here longer." Margaret led Evelyn inside. They sat down on a bench that was next to the entrance.

Evelyn was still shivering, so Margaret wrapped her arms around her, trying to warm her up. Evelyn looked up at Margaret with a thankful smile. Margaret still couldn't believe that the judge would leave Evelyn with someone like Lana.

* * *

Evelyn had fallen asleep. Her head was leaning against Margaret. Margaret had her laptop pulled out and she was researching some things. Margaret looked down at the time in the corner of the computer screen. It was five thirty. Outside, the sun was already setting. Margaret turned off her laptop. She gently shook Evelyn awake.

Evelyn looked up at Margaret. Margaret smiled. "You're mom's still not here, so I'm going to take you home."

"With my daddy?"

Margaret nodded.

Evelyn smiled and she quickly got up and put her sweater back on. Margaret put her laptop in the case and she grabbed Evelyn's hand. When they walked out the doors, they were met with someone they did not want to run into. "Mommy," Evelyn said sounding a bit guilty.

"Evelyn, I told you to wait outside for me!" Lana told her with a raised voice.

"Um, excuse me, but Evelyn was practically freezing outside. You really don't believe that she would wait out there for you?" Margaret said.

"You have no part in this conversation." Lana said with cold eyes.

"Look, lady. I wasn't the one who forgot to pick up my kid." Margaret said in a fierce tone.

Evelyn looked on as the adults prepared themselves for a war of words. She was terrified.

"Of course. Because you don't have to pick up your kid. She's with Clark right now, isn't she?"

Margaret narrowed her eyes. "At least I know that she's being well taken care of." Margaret moved closer to Lana. "I don't know how you did it, but you do _not_ deserve custody of Evelyn." Margaret said in a menacing whisper.

Lana scoffed. "How about you discuss custody rights after you get the guts to tell Clark your little secret."

Margaret clenched her jaw. Lana smiled. "You coward. You won't do it will you? Well, then. Maybe I should."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Oh there's a lot of things that I would do. I know of a certain something that could seriously harm him." Lana said in a mock innocent voice. "Maybe even kill him if he's exposed for too long."

"You wouldn't do it."

Lana raised her eyebrows. "And if I did who would stop me? You?" Lana grinned. "You won't even tell him the truth."

Evelyn continued listening in. The two ladies seemed to be oblivious of her presence. Why were they talking about killing someone. Neither of them would kill anyone, right? "Mommy, I want to go home." Evelyn said in a soft voice, hoping that she wouldn't get in trouble for speaking.

Lana turned to Evelyn as if she just realized that she existed. "Evelyn, just shut up for a moment." Lana said harshly.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Margaret exclaimed.

"Why shouldn't I? She needs to learn how to respect her elders."

"I'm taking her with me. She needs to be with a more stable person." Margaret said as she grabbed Evelyn's hand. They began walking away, but Lana's voice stopped them.

"You're not stable at all. I know how many times you've had to move because your real identity was almost discovered. One time it actually was discovered by your dad. You won't take her, Lois."

Margaret turned around and faced Lana. She honestly didn't know what to say. Lana scoffed at Margaret's lack of words. She took Evelyn away from Margaret. Lana stood close to Margaret and whispered words that only she would hear. "I'm going to kill him, Lois. And if you even think about warning him in any kind of way, I'll kill both Love and Evelyn."

Margaret's breath caught in her throat. She had no way of knowing if Lana would go through with her threat. But it seemed like she would.

* * *

Clark was in the barn trying to figure out what was wrong with the tractor, again. At least every week, the stupid machine would manage to break down. Love was sitting on a bale of hay reading a book.

Clark wiped his greasy hands and looked at his watch. It was five forty-five and Margaret hadn't even called, yet. Clark looked over at Love. She was really enjoying her book. "Are you hungry, Love?"

Love looked up from behind the pages. She thought a moment then nodded her head.

"Let's go inside. I'll make you some diner." Clark helped Love off the hay and they walked to the entrance of the barn. Clark heard a motor stop and a car door open and close. He heard footsteps running to the barn.

"Daddy!" Clark looked at the entrance and saw Evelyn running towards him at full speed.

Clark broke into a wide smile. "Evelyn!" he bent down and scooped her up in his arms. Clark hugged her tightly, never wanting to let her go.

"Daddy, I don't want to go back with Mommy." Evelyn cried into his shirt. "I want to live with you."

Clark heard a scoff. He looked up and saw Lana there. She was hiding something behind her back. "Lana." Clark said coldly. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just thought that I'd let Evelyn see her daddy one last time." Lana said as she began advancing.

Clark had a really bad feeling. He gently pushed Evelyn and Love behind him, just in case Lana decided to do anything crazy. "What are you talking about Lana?"

Lana looked down at Love's scared little face that was peeking out from behind Clark. She looked back to him. "It's amazing how much she looks like you."

"Leave them alone." Clark growled.

"Or what Clark? What will you do? Kill me? We all know that you won't kill anyone. You won't even hit a girl!" Lana spat out. She saw Clark's compassion as his greatest weakness. And she was definitely going to use it.

"Leave Lana. You're not welcome here any more."

Lana rolled her eyes. "Does it look like I want to be here? No, I just want revenge."

Clark didn't understand what Lana meant by 'revenge.'

"All I ever wanted, Clark, was to have a happy life with Lex. But you and Lois wouldn't let me. No, you two had to try and expose his secrets. Because of that, we had to separate. He said it was too dangerous to be with him at that moment. But not anymore. He'll finally be able to get rid of both you and Lois Lane." Lana revealed what she was hiding. It was a lead box with, of course, green kryptonite.

Clark tried to keep standing as Lana neared him. He heard Love fall to the ground with a thump. His breathing was becoming labored with every breath. He could feel his insides boiling.

"Daddy, what's wrong with Love?" Clark could barely hear Evelyn's voice over all the buzzing in his ears.

"Evelyn, I need you to run as fast as you can." Clark said, unsuccessfully hiding his pain.

"Daddy, what's going on?"

"Just do it, please bud." Clark clenched his teeth and swallowed hard.

Lana came near him with a slow, agonizing pace. Clark couldn't take it any longer. He fell to the ground, yelling out in pain.

"Daddy! What's wrong!" Evelyn sceamed.

Clark looked up at Evelyn, his vision blurring. "Evelyn…" he said in a short breath. "Run."

Evelyn looked from Clark to Love to Lana. Love was unconscious and Lana didn't realize she was even there. Evelyn looked back to Clark's pained expression. Anger flared inside of her. Evelyn took off running in the opposite direction. She was going to go get help.

Lana bent down with the rock and leaned down to whisper in Clark's ear. "I have no idea how you couldn't have seen it."

"Please…don't do…it." Clark groaned out.

Lana chuckled. "You don't even know what I'm going to do." Lana pulled out the meteor rock. She raised it above her head and brought it crashing down into Clark's chest. Clark didn't see it happen. They only thing that he was aware of was an intense pain coursing through his body, the starting point in his chest. He was out, not knowing anything else.

Lana left the kryptonite in Clark's stomach, knowing that Lois wouldn't be far behind. Lana looked around for a moment. Evelyn was no where to be seen. She had listened to Clark. She ran. Lana was going to have to catch her once again. Lana lifted up Love's limp body and carried her into the car. She placed kryptonite handcuffs on her that were sure to keep her unconscious.

* * *

Evelyn ran all the way down the driveway before she heard a car behind her. She looked and saw Lana behind the steering wheel. Evelyn stopped a moment and began running again.

Lana had stopped the car and gotten out. She ran to Evelyn and quickly caught up with her. Evelyn screamed and struggled against Lana's firm grip, but she couldn't get loose. She was stuck in Lana's arms.

* * *

Margaret looked at the clock in the car nervously. It was six. Margaret prayed that Lana hadn't gone through with her threats and that Clark and Love were still alive. She pulled up into the driveway. None of the lights were on. Margaret's heart fell to her stomach. She got out of the car. Some lights were on in the barn. Margaret made her way to the barn. The sight that greeted her made Margaret furious, scared, and hopeless. Clark was lying on the ground with a shard of kryptonite jutting out from his stomach. Margaret ran to them, tears flowing down her face. "Clark! Oh my gosh! Please wake up!" Margaret pleaded as she brushed aside Clark's hair and wiped his sweaty forehead. She looked at the kryptonite. Margaret wrapped her fingers around it and slowly began pulling it out. As she did, Clark would moan and his face would distort into pain. It was out, finally. Much more than half of it was covered in both Clark's blood. Margaret quickly placed it back into the lead box that lay discarded beside them.

Clark still wasn't getting any better. His face seemed to begin returning to its normal color, but he wouldn't wake up.

"Please be all right." Margaret said softly as tears continued their descent. As much as it pained Margaret, she got up and walked into the house. She grabbed the phone and dialed a number. She waited three rings. "Mrs.-"

"Clark! Why haven't you been calling me? I know that you're very busy, but a call wouldn't hurt now and then. I'm on my way over right now. It'll take me about five minutes to get there, but-"

"Mrs. Kent, this isn't Clark." Margaret said cutting her off.

"Who is this?"

"I'll explain everything when you get here, but Clark…" Margaret tried to keep her voice steady. "Clark's been hurt and he won't get any better."

Martha gasped a little. "What happened?"

"I can't explain it. Just please hurry and get here as fast as you can." Margaret said. She hung up the phone before Martha could ask any more questions. She ran up the stairs to the bathroom and grabbed several wet and dry towels. She went back to the barn and began trying to clean their wounds. Clark's wound looked like it still had traces of kryptonite in it.

Margaret pulled out her cell. She had to call him. He needed to know that Lex was already moving. It was much sooner than they had expected. He certainly had caught them off guard. "Bruce, I know you're going to be upset, but it wasn't my fault." Margaret said, trying to keep her voice from shaking too much.

"Margaret? What happened?" Bruce could tell that something was wrong.

"Clark…. Lana had a kryptonite shard…" Margaret choked on her tears. "He's not getting any better, Bruce!"

"Okay, stay calm. I'll be there as soon as I can." Bruce hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Dick asked as he took a bite from a banana.

"Margaret. I've got to go right now." Bruce said as he rushed out of the mansion.

* * *

Martha had barely turned off her car before she was already out and running inside the house. "Hello?" she called out. There were no lights on. Martha spun around when she heard the screen door open.

"Mrs. Kent!" Margaret exclaimed when she saw the older woman. Margaret decided that hugs should be given after they knew Clark would be okay.

Martha instantly knew that she should know this younger lady. "Who are you?"

"I can explain everything later. We have to help them, though!" Margaret grabbed Martha's hand and began dragging her to the barn.

Martha didn't need to be led after she saw the sight of her only son lying on the barn floor practically bleeding to his death. There were so many towels beside him that were covered in his blood. Martha ran to him. "Oh my baby!" she held his pale face in her hands. It was so cold. "What happened?" Martha asked in urgency.

"I don't know! I came in here to pick up Love and then I just saw him on the floor with kryptonite sticking out of his stomach and I don't know where Love is. I pulled out the kryptonite and put it back in the lead box! Why won't he get better?!" Margaret knew that she had revealed so much information, but she didn't care. Clark was hurt.

Martha looked up at her in confusion. But she knew that right now, there were more important matters at hand. "We have to take them inside." Martha said as she tried calming herself down.

Margret nodded. Margaret helped Martha get Clark inside. Margaret held him under his armpits while Martha held his legs. They struggled and almost dropped Clark once, but they made it.

Martha examined Clark's wound. She could see a tiny piece of kryptonite still lodged inside of him. "Quick! Get me some pliers!" Martha ordered.

Margaret listened and found some instantly. She handed them to Martha. Martha closed her eyes for a moment before she drove the pliers inside of Clark, trying to get rid of the remaining kryptonite.

Clark's eyes opened and he yelled out in pure agony. Margaret was by his side. She grabbed his hand. "Don't worry, Clark. We're getting it out. You're going to be fine." Margaret didn't know who she was trying to convince. Clark, Martha, or herself.

Martha pulled out the offending rock. It was barely and inch long, but it had caused so much pain to him. She threw it outside a window.

Margaret felt Clark's hand slowly regain its warmth. She smiled, knowing that he was going to get better. She helped Martha clean the rest of the blood off of his stomach. The wound was already gone, the only trace was a white scar with a tinge of green on the sides.

"What now?" Margaret asked Martha.

"How about you explain to me what's going on." Martha said with a raised eyebrow. "And how do you know about the kryptonite?"

Margaret grimaced. "I guess there's no point in lying anymore." Margaret stood up. She took off her glasses and set them on the counter. She pulled at the front of her hair, showing that it was merely a wig. Auburn hair fell down to her shoulders. Margaret pulled out the brown contacts and showed her trued hazel eyes. If it were in any situation, Margaret would've laughed at Martha's stunned reaction. "Hey, Mrs. Kent. It's me, Lois."

* * *

After Martha had gotten over the shock, the two of them sat at the dining table sharing two cups of coffee. Martha continued looking at Lois in disbelief. It was almost as if she was expecting Lois to vanish suddenly. "What happened, Lois?" Martha asked.

Lois looked down into the coffee. "I honestly don't know. I guess the same day as the explosion, I really was taken. I woke up in this containment room. There was a small cot and a TV. This video kept playing over and over again. It was of Clark and some lady that looked exactly like me. Then there was an explosion and then the screen would turn into static." Lois looked up to the older woman. "I was so scared, Mrs. Kent. I had no idea if Clark was alive or not. I didn't know where I was. And I was pregnant!"

"So Love is your daughter?"

Lois nodded. "She behaves exactly like him." she said with a small smile.

Martha gasped a little. Tears filled up her eyes. She pushed them down though. She could cry after everything was explained. "What happened after that?"

"I don't know how long I was in that place. I would get two meals everyday I guess. I think it was a little more than a month. Then, one day, I hear all these alarms going off outside. The door opened and two guards came rushing in. They were about to shoot me. This guy came in wearing a costume complete with a cape and mask." Lois said with a fond smile. "He knocked out the two guards and took me out of that place." Next thing I know I'm waking up at Bruce Wayne's. He told me that the Batman had saved me and left me in Bruce's care. Bruce was so helpful. He knew that when Lex found out that I had escaped, he was going to look for me. He gave me a new identity, Margaret Kidance. I stayed with Bruce until Love was born and then I left. We moved around from place to place, looking for clues as to where was. Before we moved here, we were in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Lucky for us, that's were my dad was stationed at that time. He found out and Bruce made us move. I decided to move to Smallville. I didn't tell Bruce anything, though. I became the 2nd grade substitute for 2C. Evelyn and Love's class. Things just started going downhill after I met Clark again."

"Does he know about you?"

"He confronted me about it yesterday, but I denied it."

"Oh, Lois." Martha could see that Lois wanted to cry so bad. She pulled Lois into a hug and Lois let it all out.

"I didn't want to lie to him!" Lois said in between sobs. "It hurt so much not being able to tell him that he has a beautiful seven year old girl."

Martha rubbed her back comfortingly. "It's okay, Lois." Martha whispered soothingly.

Lois looked up to Martha. "Did you know her name's Martha Love Kent?"

Martha smiled and tears sprung to her eyes. "That's a wonderful name."

They both began laughing for no reason, in spit of the tears pouring down their faces.

The door opened suddenly, causing them both to jump. Bruce was standing in the doorway looking from Clark to Martha and Lois.

Bruce shot Lois an accusatory glance and he rushed over to Clark. "How long have they been like this?"

"I don't know." Lois answered. She got up and walked over to where Bruce was. "It has to have been at least thirty minutes since we pulled the kryptonite out of Clark."

Bruce nodded. He got up and went outside to get something. He came back in with a lamp in his hand. He turned it on and shined it on Clark. The lamp was something Bruce had made after Love was born. It was almost an exact replica of the sun's rays.

Martha got up and looked in on the scene in wonder. It was as if the lamp was acting like the sun and healing their wounds completely. Clark sat up immediately, his eyes wide and he was breathing as if he just ran ten miles and it was affecting him. He looked around as if expecting someone to pop out of nowhere and attack him. He saw Bruce there and looked at him uneasily.

"Clark!" Martha exclaimed. She bent down and pulled him into a hug.

Clark hugged her back, still confused. "Mom, what are you doing here?"

Martha held his face in her hands and laughed at the craziness of having Clark as a son. "I'm just so glad that you're all right." Happy tears slid down her face.

Clark looked up and saw Lois standing there. He stood up and just stared at her, not saying anything and not knowing what to do.

Lois resisted the urge to rush into his arms and hug him to death if that was even possible. But she could only get one thing out. "Hey, Smallville."

"Lois?" Clark didn't believe it. She had told him yesterday that she was Margaret. Now she was Lois?

"As much as I hate breaking this up, I need to speak with Lois." Bruce said.

Clark spun around. "You knew?!"

Bruce shrugged. "What can I say?" he motioned for Lois to join him outside where they would talk.

Lois followed, not wanting to, but knowing she had to. They stepped out onto the porch. "So what did you need to tell me?"

"What in the world happened?" Bruce said.

Lois could tell that Bruce was boiling over with anger, but he was doing a really good job at hiding it. "I don't know."

Bruce groaned. "Great. You don't know what happened and you compromised your identity."

"Bruce, I think my identity was already compromised before any of this happened. I think that Lex is moving sooner than we thought."

Bruce sighed. "Whatever, Lois. I've got to get back. I'm going to have to come up with a plan." Bruce started walking down the porch steps towards his car. "Tell Clark I'll see him later." Bruce said before he ducked into his tiny car and sped off.

Lois sighed. Now she had to deal with Clark. Lois sauntered back in. Martha was at the stove, insisting that Clark sit down and have some tea.

"Mom, I'm fine." Clark said as he pushed away the cup Martha had set in front of him.

"Clark Kent, I don't care if you can fly to Jupiter and back, you are going to sit down and drink that tea." Martha said sternly.

Clark rolled his eyes. Martha caught it. "You do not roll your eyes at me, young man."

Lois tried to suppress the giggles coming in her throat. She thought it was so hilarious the way Martha was getting on to Clark. It was like he was fifteen again. But Lois calmed herself down. She knew that once she came into view, there would be chaos. Lois took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen. Clark was drinking the tea and Lois couldn't keep the smirk off her face.

Martha knew that Lois and Clark would need to talk alone. "I'm going to go put those towels to wash." Martha said making up her excuse. She walked out, leaving Clark and Lois alone.

Clark didn't even take look at her. Lois didn't know if it was because he was angry, upset, or disappointed. Either way, the choices were all bad. Lois took a seat across from him. "So…how are you feeling?"

"Better." Clark said. He finally looked at her. Once he did, he regretted it. Tears sprung to his eyes, but he forced them away.

"Clark, I'm so sorry. I wish that I could've told you. There were so many times that I wanted to, but I knew that it wouldn't be the right choice."

"Margaret, Lois, whoever! You lied to my face. You saw how much I was hurting and yet you kept lying!"

"Don't you dare start with me, Smallville. How many times have you lied to me before you told me all about your heritage?!" Their voices were rising at a steady pace.

"I did it because I had to protect people! You know exactly how dangerous my secret is!" Clark said as he stood up.

Lois stood up also "I kept this a secret too because I knew that it could hurt people!"

"Well, why didn't you tell me then?! We could've figured out something!"

"And then you get killed?! Clark, if I would've told you, then that kryptonite would've come a lot sooner! Lex would've made sure of that!"

Clark stopped for a moment. "Lex is alive?"

Lois nodded her head. "Clark, I didn't tell you because I know that you would've tried an be the hero. You would get yourself hurt." Lois completely ignored the tears coming down.

Clark saw her crying and pulled her into a fierce hug. Lois cried into his chest and Clark let a few tears fall down too. Lois loved being in his arms once again and Clark loved holding her. "Wait," Clark said. He let go of Lois and looked at her. "Lucy told me that you were pregnant. Is Love…?"

Lois smiled and nodded.

Clark thought a moment. "Wait, where's Love and Evelyn?"

Lois' heart dropped. "They weren't here."

Clark closed his eyes. "Lana has them and I'm sure that she's with Lex."

* * *

a/n: oh i feel so horrible!! i left you people with a cliffie!! oh well. ;D i'll try and update real soon.


	13. Shiver

Shiver

Evelyn woke up in a dingy and dirty room. There was some light coming in, but Evelyn couldn't tell from where. There were no windows and no doors, just four black walls with tiny bits of green glowing stuff. Evelyn rubbed her head. It felt as if someone had hit her really hard. She didn't remember much. She remembered being in the barn. Love passed out and Clark had told her to run. She ran, but Lana caught up with her. Lana threw her into the car. Evelyn saw Love handcuffed in the backseat and she looked really sick, like nothing she had seen before. The first five minutes of that car ride Evelyn was screaming, kicking, yelling, and causing the biggest fuss that she could. Lana got fed up with it and hit her really hard on the head. That's when Evelyn woke up in that room.

Evelyn looked around. She found Love in a far corner of the room curled up in a ball. Evelyn ran towards her and bent down. "Love? Are you okay?" Evelyn asked

Love's eyes didn't open, but it looked like they were moving under her eyelids. She still had those handcuffs on with some glowing green stuff.

Evelyn touched Love, but retracted her hand immediately. Her skin felt as if it was on fire. Evelyn stood up and walked to the middle of the room. "Hello?" she called out, not really expecting someone to reply. "Is anyone there?"

Just as she had predicted, there was no answer. Evelyn tried to keep her lip from quivering too much. She went back to the corner Love was in and sat down next to her. Evelyn pulled her legs up and hugged them as she cried softly. She had no idea where she was, why Love wouldn't wake up, and she didn't know what had happened to her daddy.

* * *

Lois looked up at Clark with a scared expression. "What?" Lois left his embrace and pacing. "What if they're hiding? Are you sure they're not hiding? Maybe they heard the car and they hid in a closet." Lois continued rambling trying to calm herself down. How could she have been so stupid! She completely forgot about Love and Evelyn.

"Lois, calm down. We'll find them. Don't worry." Clark's heart had to be beating as fast as Lois', if not faster but he was trying his best to appear calm. "I'm going to go see if I can find them." Clark said as he walked towards the door. He could've sped off, but it felt weird doing it in front of Lois. He knew it was Lois, but he had become used to her being Margaret.

"You're just going to leave me here?!" Lois yelled at him.

"Yes. If Lex did this, then he knows that you're still alive and he's going to try and find you if he hasn't already." Clark said.

"Clark, you are not going to go looking for them by yourself! I'm going to help!"

"No, Lois. You can't. Stay here." Clark said forcefully.

"Why?!"

"Because I can't loose you again!" Clark finally yelled back.

A silence fell over the two of them. Clark kicked himself for admitting it out loud to her. Lois felt ashamed of the way she was acting. She shouldn't have been so harsh with him. "Please, Lois. Just stay here."

Lois nodded, keeping her tears inside. "Go find them, Smallville."

"I'll answer the phone if it's you." Clark had a trace of a smile, but left before it could fully grow.

Lois plopped down on the couch. She heard Martha's steps coming down. "Where did Clark go?" she asked as she took a seat next to Lois.

"He went to look for Evelyn and Love."

"What? They're missing?"

"Yes, and it's killing me just sitting around doing nothing! I have to help in some way! Love's my daughter, too! And Evelyn is the most darling child I've ever met! I don't want any harm coming to them."

"And Clark told you to stay here." Martha really didn't need confirmation.

"Mrs. Kent, I have to help. Please don't tell him."

Martha smiled. "So long as you call me Martha again."

Lois smiled her gratitude and hugged the older woman. She ran out of the house and got into her car. If there was one person other than Bruce and Clark, that could find Love and Evelyn, it'd be Oliver.

* * *

Clark ran around Metropolis but didn't find any sign of Evelyn, Love, Lana, or even Lex. He had his hearing focused on their heartbeats, but he couldn't hear anything. He prayed that it wasn't because he was too late. Maybe he was just out of range or something. He would find them though.

Clark stopped a second in an empty alley to get his thoughts in order. He had scanned every block of Metropolis with nothing to show except for the fact that his stomach was very sore where Lana had stabbed him. Clark was about to start running again when he remembered something. There was talk going around in Smallville that there were several moving trucks stopping at the Luthor mansion and it looked like they were moving equipment in there.

Of course! It had to be there! That's the only place that would make sense. Taking a deep breath, Clark ran back towards Smallville to the Luthor Mansion to get Evelyn and Love back.

* * *

Lois impatiently tapped her foot in the metal cage she was in. It was slowly going up to the top floor, where Oliver was. Lois had bypassed all the security on the first three levels and after that, she didn't need to worry about being stopped and forced to turn around.

Lois felt the jerk of the lift come to a stop. She was there. Lois took a deep breath and opened the elevator. His loft was a complete disaster. Chloe was at the computers typing away furiously. Kara and Dinah were running around stopping to look at some papers, then going to another desk to compare it with something else. Oliver was outside on the phone. He looked upset and was yelling into the phone.

Nobody had noticed Lois come in. Lois was about to clear her throat or do _something_ to get their attention, but Oliver did it for her. He came back inside after having hung up the phone. He spotted her immediately and stopped in his tracks. "Well if it isn't _you_. What are you doing here?" he couldn't keep the coldness from his voice.

Everyone in the room turned and looked at Lois. They either dropped the papers in their hands or dropped their jaws. Chloe was the only one that reacted differently, having already seen her as Lois.

"Lois?" Kara couldn't believe her eyes.

Lois offered them a small smile. "Hey."

Kara and Dinah wrapped her in a hug immediately. "Oh my gosh! It's really you!" Dinah exclaimed.

"Yes it is, but-"

"What are you doing here?" Oliver asked again.

"Oliver, she's been gone and all you can say is what are you doing here?" Dinah said to Oliver. She couldn't believe that Oliver would treat her like this.

"Why don't you ask her what she's been doing this entire time."

"Oliver, please. This is not the right time for this." Lois said trying to keep herself from yelling at him.

"When is the right time Lois? When you finish making Clark hurt so much? When you break your family's heart?"

"When we find Evelyn and Love!" Lois finally yelled at him.

"Whoa, Evelyn and Love are missing?" Chloe said getting up from the computer.

"Who's Love?" Kara asked.

"Clark's illegitimate child." Oliver answered.

"Oliver, what the heck is the matter with you! All you can think about is how much I've been hurting people with my disappearance!" Lois yelled at him. "Evelyn and Love are missing! _Both_ of Clark's children! And you want to battle it out right here and now?!" a few tears fell down her face

Oliver clenched his jaws. He put aside his pride. "How long have they been missing?"

"Since six." Lois said in a more calmer tone even though her insides were flipping around. "We think that Lex has them."

"You know that Lex is alive?" Dinah said.

"Yes. And if we don't do something fast, they are going to be…" Lois couldn't bear finishing that sentence. She broke down completely into tears.

Chloe moved to her cousin and began holding her as they both sank to the ground. "We'll find them Lois. Don't worry."

"Where do you think he took them?" Oliver asked going to the computer. Dinah sat at the one opposite of him

"I don't know." Lois said between sobs. "Clark went out looking for them."

"Well that's just great." Oliver mumbled under his breath. Kara caught it and sent him a death stare. Oliver just shrugged his shoulders at her.

"Is there anything else that you can tell us?"

Lois just shook her head.

Chloe pulled her into a hug again. She knew that Lois tried so hard not to cry in front of people. But Chloe couldn't blame her, if one of her girls or her new twin babies were ever taken away from her, she would die.

* * *

Evelyn was shivering in her sleep. Not only from the cold, but from the fear of her dream. She was having that same dream that she had so many months ago. The one where Clark was shot, only this time it seemed so real. It just kept playing itself over and over in her mind. "Daddy!" she yelled out as she sat up straight, her eyes full of horror. Evelyn looked around and remembered where she was.

Love was awake, but still looked awful. The handcuffs had been taken off of her hands. She squinted at Evelyn. "Why are you yelling?" she asked in a weak voice.

Evelyn took deep breaths to calm herself down. "I had a bad dream."

Love just grimaced.

"Are you okay?" Evelyn asked. She scooted closer to Love. Partly to warm Love up and also to warm herself up.

"I don't know. I feel really sick. And that rock won't stop glowing and it's making me nervous"

Evelyn looked across the room to what Love was eyeing. As Love had said, there was a green rock across from them and it was glowing.

Love sighed, but it came out as a cough. "I'm scared Evelyn."

"So am I."

The two girls sat close together, huddled up. They didn't speak for a few moments. Love looked over at Evelyn and saw that she was wearing something that wasn't very warm. She looked down at her own thick sweater and felt guilty. "Do you want my jacket?" Love offered.

Evelyn looked to the jacket and then to Love. The offer was so tempting, but Love needed it. She would catch a cold if she didn't have it on. "No, I'm fine."

"Are you cold?"

Evelyn shook her head.

"Yes you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Just say yes!"

"No! I am not cold!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Both girls turned their backs and were looking at separate walls. Their anger didn't last long though. At the same time they turned back around and faced each other. "Okay, I am cold. But you need the jacket or else you're going to catch a cold." Evelyn said.

"Well then, we can share." Love said with a smile.

Evelyn smiled back. Love unzipped the jacket and she made sure that they were sharing equal halves.

* * *

Clark stopped close to the mansion, but far enough so the security wouldn't see him. He used his x-ray vision to find the two small children that he was looking for. He found several security guards along with Lex and Lana inside. He knew that he was in the right place. He wasn't able to find Love or Evelyn which worried him. He listened for their heartbeats, but didn't hear anything. He refused to believe that the worse had happened. He did spot several rooms, though, that were lined with lead. Maybe they were being held in there and that was why he couldn't hear them.

Clark sped into the mansion, completely ignoring the security guards and the snow that was slowly beginning to fall. He didn't know which room held them and he didn't doubt that if he choose the wrong room, it would be filled with kryptonite. But he had to choose one, even if it would prove to be the most stupidest thing that he would ever do.

* * *

Kara flew back into the balcony. Lois, Chloe, Dinah, and Oliver were all crowded two different computers, looking for any hints. Kara knew that she was going to disappoint them. She walked in and Lois immediately looked up, her face full of hope.

"Did you find anything?"

Kara looked to each waiting face. "No."

Lois swallowed hard and nodded her head. She refused to cry anymore. Crying wasn't going to do any good. Sure, she could still worry, it was natural for a mother to worry, but she was not going to cry.

"Did any of you find something?" Kara asked as she made her way towards the computers.

"Nope. Nothing." Dinah said.

Lois thought a moment. "What were you working on before I came in?"

"We were just trying to figure out a computer problem that we had." Oliver said, trying to dismiss the subject as quickly as possible.

"What was it?" Lois pressed.

Oliver looked at her with an exasperated look. "Do you have to know?"

Dinah nudged him in the ribs, letting him know that he should tell her. Oliver looked up at Dinah, then rolled his eyes. "We had an information leak and we're trying to figure out where it originated from. After that, maybe we could get all of our information back."

"Let me try something." Lois said, making Oliver get out of his seat. Lois began typing away at the computer, opening up windows that seemed random to them, but perfectly organized to Lois. "I've learned a new computer trick or two from my time with Bruce." Lois said with a smirk as she continued typing. She finally stopped and a single window appeared. It said one thing. 'Smallville, Kansas.'

"Smallville? Why would it start from there?" Chloe asked.

"I know exactly why." Lois said, a rage like no other burning deep within her. "Lex Luthor."

* * *

Evelyn was awake. Love had leaned her head against her shoulder and seemed to be in a semi-peaceful sleep. Evelyn wanted so badly to fall asleep, but she couldn't. First, her arm that she had broken was hurting. Sure, it was healed, but the doctor had told her to take special care of it during the winter because that's when it would start hurting. For once, the doctor was telling her the truth. Secondly, she really wanted to know if Clark was all right. She didn't know how long they had been in that room, but it seemed like such a long time already. Evelyn sighed as she rested her head against the wall. She slowly began closing her eyes, but opened them wide when she heard the door open.

Evelyn's body stiffened. The man standing at the doorway was the same man that had pushed her inside of that supply closet at the court house, except this time he didn't have a wig on. His shiny bald head gleamed in the light from the hallway. Behind him, Lana stood dutifully.

Love felt Evelyn's body stiffen and she woke up. Love had enough courage to speak up. "Who are you?"

"I'm an old friend of your parents." the man began sauntering towards him and Lana stayed at the doorway. With every step that he took, Love began feeling worse and she had to lean part of her body weight on Evelyn just to keep herself sitting up.

"Well, I think that you're a mean, old, bald, bad man!" Evelyn said with spite.

He just chuckled. "Oh you children are so naïve. Have your parents told you nothing? I'm not _just_ a mean, old, bald, bad man, I'm Lex Luthor. The worst person in the world." he said it as if it was something to be proud of.

"Let us go." Love pleaded with him.

Lex took a special interest in Love. "Hmm, so it is true. You really are his daughter."

Love didn't let any emotions, except for pain, show on her face.

"You're going to be very helpful in my whole plan for revenge." Lex whispered to Love.

Love groaned quietly as Lex bent down close to her. Evelyn noticed a ring on his finger. It had a big green rock in the middle and it was glowing, just like the one in the corner. Maybe that's what was making Love sick. Evelyn didn't like the idea of this 'Lex' person making Love feel sick. With all of her force, Evelyn kicked him right in between his legs.

Lex doubled over and began howling in pain of being kicked there. "That's what you get for trying to hurt Love!" Evelyn said with another kick.

"Evelyn, stop it right now!" Lana said.

Evelyn turned around and saw Lana pointing a gun at her. Evelyn froze up. She had never seen a gun except for the one hanging in the house. It had belonged to Clark's grandfather, but it had stopped working a long time ago. Evelyn knew for certain that the gun Lana held was working perfectly fine. Evelyn backed away slowly and sat back in the corner with Love. She had passed out again. "You're not my mommy any more, Lana." Evelyn said with such hate.

Lana just glared at her as she helped Lex to his feet. Before they left the room, Lex turned around. "Just for that, you're going to make your daddy pay dearly for it. And I know that he is going to be here any second."

Evelyn's heart caught in her throat. What was this man going to do to Clark? Evelyn settled herself back in the corner trying to stop thinking about worse case scenarios.

* * *

Clark paused at the first room that was lined in lead. He could just burst inside, but he knew better. Lex could have it filled with kryptonite instead and Clark would end up being useless. He grabbed the handle and turned it, breaking the lock on the door. Just as Clark had predicted, there was kryptonite everywhere. Clark almost buckled over in his pain, but he managed to get the door shut. He breathed in deeply. Maybe the next room wouldn't be so bad, but he had no idea of telling. It was all a matter of chance.

He sped to the next room and opened it. The chances of him finding Love and Evelyn in that room were very slim, but there they were, huddled in a far corner. Evelyn's head popped up when she heard the door open. She smiled when she saw that it was Clark. "Daddy!" She got up and ran to him leaving Love still in the corner.

Clark caught her and held her close. He thought that he had lost her.

Love stirred when her head had hit the wall from Evelyn getting up abruptly. She looked up and saw Clark. She smiled and began getting up, but as soon as she stood up, he legs failed her and she fell. Clark set Evelyn down and hurried to Love's side. It was a big mistake though. He could feel the presence of kryptonite near. He looked around and saw it just five feet away from him.

Evelyn, who had already made her way back to Love, looked back at Clark and saw him on the floor in great pain. "Daddy, what's-"

A loud crash interrupted Evelyn and there was a large glass wall that separated them completely. Evelyn looked terrified as she looked though the window at Clark. "Daddy!" she yelled as she began pounding her little fists on the wall.

But Clark couldn't hear her. The glass was so thick, it muted her scared little voice. He saw the tears coming down her face and the confused look on Love's face. He longed to help them, but the kryptonite was so near to him it stripped him of all his powers. It was slowly killing him every second he laid there. Clark crawled his way towards the glass were Evelyn was and he laid his hand on the glass. Evelyn placed her hand on the glass, covering Clark's hand. She cried as she watched her daddy's hand slowly slip off the glass as he lost consciousness.

Evelyn got up and helped Love to the glass wall. They sat in the corner next to Clark, the glass still keeping them separated.

* * *

Lex sat in an overstuffed chair in the library watching the video tapes monitoring the mansion. He paid special attention the video that recorded what was going on in the room for his captives. Clark had finally joined them. Three down, one to go.

* * *

Lois shut her phone with more force than needed. She wanted to yell, but she thought better of it.

"Did he answer?" Chloe asked. She took a seat next to her on the sofa.

"No. Before he took off, he said that he would pick up if it was me calling, just in case I had some information." Lois replied

"Maybe he just can't hear it." Dinah said.

"No, he can hear it." Kara said.

Oliver was sitting at the computer. He had pulled up a blueprint of the Luthor Mansion. "Can Clark see through lead?"

"No, why?" Chloe said. She got up to see what he had found.

"There's like five or six rooms in Luthor Mansion that are made of lead. Lex would go somewhere totally unpredictable, somewhere we wouldn't expect."

"Somewhere that's too obvious to even consider."

"Luthor Mansion."

Lois grabbed her car keys. "I'm going to find him." she said.

"Whoa, you can't go by yourself. You have no idea what he might have up his sleeve." Oliver said as he blocked her way.

"Oliver, I'm going whether you want me to or not. Besides, I can take care of myself."

"Oh yeah, that's why we thought that you were dead for eight years."

"I am not going to argue with you about this!"

"Guys, calm down." Kara said as she stood in between them.

"Oliver, how about you watch from a distance. We don't know if Lex will react violently knowing that Lois brought back up." Dinah suggested.

Lois didn't like the idea, but she knew that they would never let her go by herself. "Fine, but you go in your own car. And if you even think about causing any kind of trouble while we're there, I'll kill you off myself."

Oliver smirked, knowing that Lois was just all talk. "Sure, Lois. Let's hurry."

* * *

Before Lois had gone inside, Oliver gave her a little remote. It had a single button on it. He told her to press it in case he needed to move in. Now, as she was walking down the hallways of Luthor Mansion, she didn't think that it was such a bad idea to bring Ollie along. It was nice knowing that you had back-up.

Lois turned a corner and she looked down the hallway. It was a maze to her and she knew that she had already gotten lost after being in there for only five minutes. She pulled out the mini-sized blueprint that Chloe had given her and tried to find her location. Her hands were trembling with fear and anxiety. One false move, and a life could be taken instantly.

Something was pressed against her back and Lois jumped. She held her hands up even though they were itching to reach into her pocket and pull out the remote.

"Ms. Lane. You look wonderful after being declared dead for eight years."

Lois shivered at the sound of his voice. It brought back so many foul memories. She turned around and faced him. "Lex Luthor. Same old bald head. I thought that after eight years you would finally get the sense to buy a wig."

Lex pushed the gun closer towards her. "I don't think it's wise for you to be making remarks like that."

"If you don't think it's wise, then it must be the exact opposite."

"We could argue like this back and forth to no end, but that wouldn't satisfy the need that either of us has, will it?"

"I guess not." Lois said. It was so hard not to show how terrified she was.

Lex smiled and pushed her in front of him, the gun always trained on her. He led her through a series of halls that Lois couldn't remember. He finally stopped at a door and opened it.

Lois nearly collapsed at the sight she saw. Evelyn, Love and Clark were in there, but they were separated by a glass wall. Love and Clark looked horrible and Evelyn seemed to have managed to fall into a restless sleep. Lois spun around and face Lex. She didn't care if he had a gun pointed at her. "What did you do to them?!"

"Just having a little fun with them." Lex said innocently.

Lois was so close to punching Lex's smug face, but she didn't. It would be too dangerous. "I swear, if you even hurt them again, I'll…"

"You'll what? You're already in the same position that they're in. Face it Lois. You are helpless." Lex pronounced every syllable hoping that Lois heard each word. "No one knows you're here and no one can save you." With more force than necessary, Lex pushed Lois in the room and slammed the door shut.

Lois ran to Clark, being the only person that she could reach. "Clark? Clark can you hear me?" she asked as she took his face into her hands.

There was no response from him. She looked down at his shirt and saw fresh blood. His wound that had healed had somehow opened up again. Lois looked over at Evelyn and Love. Love looked half-alive and Evelyn was stirring from her sleep. "Ms. Kidance?" Evelyn asked, not believing what she saw.

Lois saw Evelyn's lips moving, but couldn't hear anything. "It's going to be okay, Evelyn. Don't worry."

Evelyn couldn't hear what she was saying. She just nodded her head.

Lois looked around the room. In the corner, she saw a video camera recording her movements. She turned her back to it and pulled out the remote. She pushed the button, hoping that it would work.

* * *

Oliver stood a hundred yards away from the mansion. He was dressed in full Green Arrow outfit. He regretted not making changes to make it warmer on cold nights like this one. The snow continued falling around him, oblivious to his existence. Oliver heard a beeping. He pulled out his GPS. The beeping was coming from the remote he'd given Lois. She had pressed the button. He cursed under his breath, knowing that it could only mean that Lois had once again gotten into something she couldn't get out of.

Oliver knew he wasn't going to be able to do this on his own. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "I'm going to need your help."

* * *

a/n: here is the next chapter. i hope it lived up to your expectations. but i was wondering if, after i finish this, would you readers like a sequel. i have the ending planned out, but i could add to it to make it a sequel, but i don't know if that would be killing it. i wouldn't want to do that. please tell me if i should do one or not and write your thoughts about the latest chapter.


	14. Hide

Hide

Evelyn had tried going to sleep, but she kept having horrible nightmares. When she would open her eyes, she'd realize that she was living in one. Evelyn felt cold again. She looked at Love. Love had unintentionally taken the entire jacket. She looked to Ms. Kidance and Clark. Clark was passed out and Ms. Kidance was wiping his forehead with a wet cloth along with applying pressure to his open wound.

Evelyn wished that she could talk with them, but that glass wouldn't let her hear anything. She breathed out heavily through her mouth. She could faintly see her breath. It was that cold. Evelyn thought a moment, then an idea came to her.

With a small smile on her face, she tapped on the window, hoping Ms. Kidance could hear that at least. Ms. Kidance's head perked up when she heard the tapping. Evelyn's smile grew slightly as she breathed onto the glass. Before the fogged area could fade away, she wrote a message with her finger. 'Is my daddy okay?'

Ms. Kidance was amazed by her brilliance, even though Evelyn's message was written backwards to her point of view. Ms. Kidance followed Evelyn's lead and she wrote back, making sure the message wouldn't appear backwards to Evelyn. 'He'll be fine. Don't worry about him.'

'What about Love?'

Ms. Kidance read the message five times. She knew and understood what it said, but what was she supposed to tell her? She had no idea if Love would be all right and it was killing her not being able to know. She wrote a replying message. 'I don't know.'

Evelyn wrote again. 'I'm scared.'

'It's okay to be scared. I'm scared too.'

Evelyn looked up at Ms. Kidance with wide little eyes. If she looked closely, she could see the same fear that she had inside. Despite the fact that Evelyn wanted to be strong for all of then, a single tear rolled down her cheek, leaving a wet trail down her face. Evelyn curled herself into a tight ball and sat next to Love. Maybe the nightmares in her sleep wouldn't be as bad as the nightmare in her reality.

* * *

Oliver looked at watch for the fifteenth time. He had called both of them nearly five minutes ago and neither of them had shown. He heard a sudden gust of wind behind him. He turned around. There was Bart, dressed in his Flash costume.

"What's the emergency?" Bart asked.

"I'll explain everything after he shows up." Oliver said, looking at his watch again.

"Who are we waiting on?"

"Batman." Oliver said it as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

* * *

It wasn't even a full minute before Evelyn opened her eyes again. Trying to go to sleep was just too hard. How could she sleep when Clark and Love were really sick. She looked through the glass. Clark's eyes were slightly opened, but it looked like he was in great pain. Ms. Kidance was talking to him and he just nodded at what she said. Evelyn tapped on the glass. Clark and Ms. Kidance both turned their heads. As Evelyn had done before she wrote on the glass. 'What's wrong Daddy?'

Lois read the simple message to Clark. Clark closed his eyes in hopes of blocking both the physical and emotional pain. It was futile. "Tell her I'm fine and that we're going to get out of here really soon." he said in his weak voice.

"You haven't explained to her about your abilities have you?" Lois asked after she finished writing.

"No," Clark replied. "I wanted to protect her."

Lois looked at Evelyn. She was so scared. It broke Lois' heart seeing her like that. "She's terrified, Clark."

Clark slowly turned his head to look at his bud. She was shivering without realizing it. He wanted nothing but to break that glass and wrap his arms around her, repeating to her that he was never going to let anything bad happen to her.

The door opened, letting light flood into the room. Lex stood at the doorway with two of his faithful lap dogs standing behind him. "Good. You're finally awake. Lana told me throwing Lois in here with you would wake you up." Lex said addressing Clark.

Clark made an effort to sit up against the wall, much to Lois' dismay. "Let them go, Lex. They have nothing to do with this."

"But that's where you're all wrong. Each one of them has a special part in my plan for revenge." Lex's lips curled into a disgusting smile.

Lois stood up in front of Clark, partially trying to protect him from Lex. "What do you want?"

Lex sighed. He walked closer towards them. With each step Lex took, Lois took an equal step backwards until she was against the wall. Lex stopped. He looked through the other side of the glass. Evelyn was staring at him with pure hatred. He could laugh at her if he felt like it. "Lois, Lois, Lois. If only you hadn't escaped that little prison that I created for you, we wouldn't be here right now."

Evelyn could see the adults talking and she really wanted to be a part of it. Not to talk with them, but to hit Lex as hard as she could.

"What is he talking about, Lois?" Clark asked.

Lois didn't know how to explain it to him because she didn't understand herself. "I don't know."

"Oh come on, Lois. You can't be that stupid! Who do you think put you in that room, the tape playing over and over again, making you wonder if Clark was still alive?"

Lois clenched her fists. "It was you! You son of a…"

"Be careful with your language Miss Lane. Wouldn't want one of the girls to hear you swear. I might have to make you put a dollar in the swear jar."

"Let us go." Lois said with a determination in her voice.

Lex smiled. "Okay." he pulled out a remote and pressed a button. The glass wall was lifted. Love had been leaning against it and when it was lifted up, she fell to the ground, giving her a rude awakening. Evelyn got up and immediately ran for her daddy's arms. Lois swooped in and picked up Love in her arms. She sat down next to Clark.

"Mommy?" Love asked, unsure if she was in her dream land still.

"It's me, Lovely. It's Mommy." Lois said as tear filled her eyes.

"It hurts Mommy." Love groaned out.

Lois choked on her tears.

Evelyn looked up at Clark. "Come on, Daddy. We've got to leave now." Evelyn said.

Clark gave her an empty smile. "Don't worry, bud. We'll leave soon enough."

"But don't you want to leave now? Isn't he going to let us go?"

If Clark wasn't in so much pain, he'd run out of that room with Evelyn, Lois, and Love. He just held Evelyn closer to him, never wanting to let go.

Lex watched them as they made sure their children were fine. He felt a slight tinge of envy. He could've had that if he hadn't drugged Lana into getting an abortion of his child. But he pushed those thoughts away. He did it for the greater good. Sometimes there were sacrifices that had to be made. "Looks like the picture of the perfect family." Lex said with hate.

"You're a big stupid baldy!" Evelyn yelled at him.

"Seems like you're the feisty one." Lex said as he bent down closer to her eye level.

"Leave her alone, Lex." Clark said. He would've stood up if he could.

Lex grinned like the Cheshire cat. "Don't worry, Clark. I'm not going to do anything to her. I'm going to have my men take her from you. Relieve your stress a little.

Clark tightened his grip on her more. "No."

Lex stood up straight and signaled for his men to move in. They started coming towards Clark. Lois intervened. "Stop! Don't you dare touch her!" she said. Lois had let go of Love and was now standing in front of the men.

"Thank you Lois for getting up. I was planning on having you join Evelyn. Keep the humans separated from the aliens."

Lois looked at Lex then back to the men. She realized her mistake with a sudden horror. The two men began advancing towards her. She fought them off as best as she could, but not even her self-defense training could help her fight away two men that were both twice her size.

"Lois!" Clark exclaimed. He set down Evelyn and he stood up. His body still felt the kryptonite, but his mind ignored it.

Lex saw him moving and he pulled out a nice chunk of the meteor rock. He threw it at Clark, hitting him square in the head. It left a cut on his forehead, allowing some pieces of the rock to chip off and embed themselves inside the cut. Clark yelled out as he dropped to the ground, fighting to keep consciousness.

Lois kicked against the strong arms that were wrapped around her. "Clark!" she yelled as the man began dragging her away.

Lex chuckled at Lois' valiant efforts. "Get the kid."

The other man bent down and easily lifted Evelyn into his arms. "Let me go! Let me go!" Evelyn yelled over and over again. She didn't like him holding her and she wanted to be set down at that moment.

Lex walked over to her. "You better behave yourself. You don't want your daddy or your friend to get hurt, do you?"

Evelyn looked at him, not sure if he mean what he was saying. Either way, though, she stopped fighting.

"That's a good girl. Maybe if you're still good, I might consider making you a Luthor."

Evelyn didn't understand what he meant by making her a Luthor, but Evelyn doubted that she would enjoy it. The man carried her out taking her to a new room that she would be stuck in with Lois.

Poor Love watched the events unfold, not knowing if she was dreaming or not. She saw Lex look at her once before he left the room, closing the door once again. She tried to keep her eyes open, but they were hurting so much. They finally closed and she was engulfed in a never-ending darkness.

* * *

Evelyn didn't know how long the man had been carrying her, but it was taking way too long for her liking. "Are we there yet?"

Ralph, the man holding her, looked at her as if she was crazy for asking that question. "Shut up." he said.

Evelyn frowned. "But that doesn't answer my question. Are we there yet?" she asked with more persistence.

"I said shut up." Ralph emphasized on the 'shut up' part.

"Answer my question!" Evelyn yelled

"No! Now shut up!" Ralph yelled back in the same volume.

"Not until you answer my question!"

"I said to shut up already!"

"AHHHH!!!" Evelyn yelled at the top of her lungs.

Ralph practically dropped her and was close to covering his ears. Instead, he covered her mouth with his hand, but she continued screaming. He walked up the steps of some stairs. "Please be quiet!"

Evelyn stopped yelling, appreciating the fact that he said please.

Ralph removed his hand and began continued up the stairs. "So…" Evelyn started. "Are we there yet?"

Ralph rolled his eyes. He really didn't want to start this again so he just answered her question. "Yes."

Evelyn tried thinking of something to make Ralph drop her. She turned her face to him and spat in it.

Ralph held his tongue as he was about to start cussing her out. He just calmly brought one hand up and wiped the spit off of his face. "Do not spit on me again!" he ordered.

Evelyn frowned, disappointed that her plan didn't work. She thought harder. She remembered that before Lana had picked her up from school, she took a large drink of water from the water fountain. As embarrassing as it was, Evelyn ignored her natural instinct to wait for a bathroom.

Ralph didn't quite realize what Evelyn had done until he felt something wet on his hand. He brought his hand up to his nose and sniffed it. A look of pure horror covered his face and he dropped Evelyn to the ground. Evelyn wasted no time in jumping on the banister and sliding all the way down to the bottom. Ralph was swearing under his breath while wiping his hands on his pants. He stopped and looked around. Evelyn was at the bottom of the stairs running down the hallway. "Hey! Come back here!" Ralph took off running after her.

Evelyn didn't take the time to look behind her to see how close Ralph was. She had learned that only wasted time. Evelyn just ran as fast as she could, knowing that Ralph would eventually slow down. All grown-ups did. She turned a corner and opened and slammed the first door, hopping that he would think she went in that room. Running a little softer, Evelyn turned into another hallway and quietly opened the second door. She stepped in the room and shut the door behind her, making sure that she didn't make any noise.

Evelyn had no idea what room she had just hid herself in. She turned on the light switch on the side of the wall and looked around. It was full of boxes filled with stuff. She supposed it was the storage room for whatever Lex had to store. She looked for a good hiding place, but the only thing that seemed available was hiding behind the boxes. Evelyn thought that would be a little too obvious so she started opening the boxes, looking for one that was empty. She found on that was in the far left corner of the room. It was on the floor and was big enough for her. She might have to curl her legs up a little, but it was worth it. She ran to the light switch and flicked it off and carefully maneuvered her way back to the box. She easily slipped inside of it and brought the top back down, leaving enough space for air to continue circulating. It was a tighter fit than she had supposed, but at least their was heating in this room.

* * *

Lois was unceremoniously dropped inside of some room that seemed completely random to her. The man that had been carrying her quickly exited, locking the door behind him. Lois began pounding on the door. "Hey! Let me out of here!" she yelled.

No one heard her pleas and if they did, they completely ignored them. Lois yelled, letting out her frustration as she sank to the floor. Crying wasn't going to get her anywhere. Throwing herself a pity party…well, that was Clark's area of expertise. Finding a way out of impossible situations _without_ Clark's help, was something that she had become used to.

Lois stood up and began walking around the entire room, examining every little detail. It was a simple room painted a dark orange. There was black carpet, but nothing else. Absolutely no traces of furniture. She jiggled the door knob a little hoping against hope that maybe the lock had been broken. She had no such luck. Lois sat back down and leaned her head against the wall. She was beginning to worry about Evelyn. She had heard her screaming and then the man that had carried her had yelled also. Even though it seemed impossible, Lois hoped that Evelyn had somehow managed a way to escape.

A long sigh escaped her lips. The only thing that she could do now was wait.

* * *

Lex was walking down a hallway, ready to enter his study and watch his captives await their doom. Ralph started walking in the opposite direction as him. When Ralph saw Lex, he tensed up. He still hadn't found Evelyn yet. Lex noticed this. "Ralph, what's wrong?" Lex asked as he stood in his way.

Ralph looked at him, terrified of the consequences of his actions. "Uh, nothing Mr. Luthor. Just patrolling your halls."

Lex raised a suspicious brown. "You're supposed to be standing guard outside the room holding Lois and Evelyn."

"Uh…" Ralph began sweating terribly.

"Ralph, I need the truth. What did you do?"

Ralph looked away from Lex. "Evelyn managed to get away." he mumbled.

Lex didn't flare up in anger. He remained calm and composed. Ralph would've preferred it if he had yelled in his face. A calm Lex was much worse. "Have you found her yet?"

"No, but-"

"Then what are you doing just standing around! Find her before she ruins everything!" Lex exploded.

Ralph nodded and quickly left his presence. Lex rubbed his bald head out of habit. It always seemed to calm him down, even when he was a young kid. But right now, it wasn't helping relieve any of his stress. At least he knew for certain that Clark, Love, and Lois were still in his clutches. What damage could an average eight-year-old child do?

* * *

Love slowly opened her eyes, her whole body screaming against her doing so. She had no idea how long she had been asleep. She had the weirdest dream, though. But what was scary was how real it was. At least she knew that it wasn't real. Evelyn was still here with them and so was her mom. Love looked around the room but didn't see Evelyn or Lois. She only saw Clark with a deep cut on his head. "Clark?" she croaked out.

Clark didn't hear her. He was totally unaware of the world surrounding him.

"Clark." Love said with a little more force. Once again, Clark didn't respond. Love inched her way closer to him. She really needed human contact and it looked like Clark could partially offer it, even if he was unconscious. Love curled up into a ball and buried herself into Clark's chest. Love breathed deeply. She felt safe there, like nothing could touch her. It was a sensation that she had never felt. For the first time that night, she was able to fall asleep peacefully.

Without even realizing Love had cuddled herself against him, Clark wrapped an arm around her. It was almost as if he was trying to hide her from the danger that was up ahead.

* * *

Thirty minutes. They had been waiting for him to show up for thirty minutes and nothing. He hadn't shown his face! Oliver was pacing in the snow, ignoring the biting feeling his legs and feet had. Bart had sat laid down on the ground and was looking up at the stars. Bart had the right mind to provide some kind of insulation in his outfit for cold times like these. "Arrow, I am bored. What are we doing just waiting around? Can't we go on without him?"

"That would be impossible."

Oliver and Bart turned around and saw Bruce as Batman emerging from the shadows. Oliver crossed his arms, not impressed by his entrance. "What took you so long? Do you know how much time we've wasted waiting for you?" Oliver demanded.

"You wouldn't have had to have waited for me in the first place if you had stopped Lois from going to Lex." Bruce shot back.

"Oh, so now it's my fault?"

"Guys, guys, chill." Bart said stepping between them. "What's going on?"

Oliver looked at Bruce then to Bart. "Lex has Clark, Lois, Evelyn, and Love." Oliver said. He pulled out his GPS and looked at the blinking red dot. "This is where Lois is in the mansion and there's a pretty good chance that's where everyone else is."

Bruce looked at Oliver. "I have to say, I'm impressed."

"Thought of everything."

Bart rolled his eyes. "Come on, guys. Focus! What's the plan?"

"Okay, we're going to go in there through the back entrance, the entrance that's furthest away from Lois." Oliver said as he pointed to where he was talking about.

"But wouldn't we want to go in through the closest entrance?" Bart asked.

"Not in this case. Lex knows that there could be someone out looking for Clark and Lois. The least security that he would have would be at the back entrance. The entrance that he wouldn't expect anyone to take." Bruce explained.

"Bart, you're going to sped off and get rid of any guards that we really don't need. By that time, we'll already be at the room. Meet us there." Oliver said as he put away the GPS.

"That's it?" Bart asked confused at how simple it was.

"Yeah and from there, we'll just wing it."

Bart raised his brows in question, even though they couldn't tell. "If you say so."

"Let's do this." said Bruce as he got up and began lurking in the shadows, looking for the best place to get in through the back.

* * *

Beth watched the security tapes in the study while Lana was lounging on a couch reading a book. It made her so angry at how uncaring Lana was of the situation. She was supposed to be out there helping Lex. Lana didn't deserve Lex.

Beth looked over at Lana. The open book rested on her stomach as she slept calmly. Beth narrowed her eyes. She was sick of being a third-wheel. Even when Lex wasn't around Lana, he would pay no attention to her. If he wasn't going to pay any attention to her, then she was going to try and get that attention one way or another.

A tape of Evelyn running down the hallway and entering a room showed up. Beth pushed the rewind button and pushed play again. Beth knew which room Evelyn was hiding in. Beth was about to go into the room to get Evelyn, hoping to catch Lex's eye, but she thought of something better. She had the disc ejected and she snapped it in half, ruining the disc. She hid the ruined disc underneath the couch.

The door opened and Lex came in. Beth stood up immediately. "Lex. How's everything?"

Lex didn't look at her first. His eyes wandered to Lana. He smiled. Lex finally looked at Beth. "Have you checked the security tapes?" he asked. He walked over to the screens.

"Yes, nothing unusual has shown up."

Lex frowned. "Keep an eye out then. Evelyn managed to escape and she's out there roaming the halls right now."

Beth nodded and Lex left the room. Beth grabbed a gun out of the desk and she took a blanket off of the sofa. She walked out into the hallway to the room Evelyn was hiding in. This stunt was definitely going to get Lex's attention.

* * *

a/n: sorry about the wait guys. i kept finding little things that would need to be changed and then i'd end up re-writing the whole thing. i'm still thinking about the sequal thing, trying to get the right idea. don't know when the next chapter will be up, but it won't be too long of a wait. enjoy!


	15. Run

Run

Clark opened his eyes. His head began swimming in pain. He winced as he grabbed his head. He felt something sticky on it. He pulled his hand back and looked at what covered his fingertips. Blood. Love had fallen asleep next to him. He didn't want her to be any part of this.

Clark watched Love sleep. It was amazing how much he loved her even though he had barely been told that she was his child. Maybe that father-daughter connection had always been there. Either way, he wasn't going to let any harm come to her.

Love stirred. "Clark?" she tried sitting up like Clark.

"I'm here." Clark knew that she didn't know that he was her dad, but he longed for the day when she would call him daddy.

"Where's Mommy and Evelyn?"

"I don't know." Clark was about to rub his forehead again, but remembered the gash. He thought better of it.

The door opened. It was Lex again, but this time he was alone and he brought a chair with him. "How are you feeling Clark?"

Clark slowly stood up even though his muscles protested with each flex and his head screamed in pain. "Like I could fly to the moon and back." Clark replied sarcastically.

Lex smirked. "I bet you're wondering how I did it all." Lex said as he set the chair down and sat on it.

"It crossed my mind at least once."

"It's was really easy actually. It all started when Lois began poking her nose into places it didn't belong."

Clark tensed up. He didn't like where this conversation was going.

"I called one of my men to act like a 'source.' He called her, claiming that he had some dirt on my company."

"It doesn't take that much digging to find stuff."

"Would you quit interrupting my story, Kent? I want to hurry up and finish with this so I can deal with some other things." Lex clasped his. "Anyways, I had her kidnapped. We put her in this special room with a TV that played a single scene over and over again. You being blown up." Lex began chuckling. "It was pretty pathetic actually. The first day, she cried nonstop. It drove me nuts."

"What did you do to her Lex?"

"I made her think that you were dead. And then of course, I made you think that she was dead."

Clark thought back to that day. The warehouse, everything inside of it. Wasn't it all real? Or was it some delusion?

Lex laughed at his incomprehension. "You still haven't figured it out, yet have you? For an alien I thought that you'd be pretty smart at this kind of things." Lex let Clark think a few moments longer before he couldn't take it anymore. "I cloned her Clark! That Lois that was exploded in the warehouse was a clone! It wasn't as good as destroying the original copy, but it still made me feel warm inside."

"You sick…"

Lex laughed harder. "And that shot that you heard outside. That man never killed me. It was all just a hoax."

Clark's head began swimming with all of this new information. None of it had been real? It was all fake. Clark lunged at him, ignoring the pain that he felt from the kryptonite. He grabbed at the unsuspecting Lex and held his throat, slowly squeezing all the air out of it.

"If you kill me, you won't ever get out of this prison and you along with your pathetic little family will die. My men have orders to kill each of them if I don't come out of this room. Then, after you're done grieving, they'll kill you."

Clark clenched his jaw. He didn't see any other way out of this one. He let go of Lex's neck and Lex fell to the ground.

Lex rubbed at his neck, enjoying the air that was once again filling his lungs. It was going to be bruised in the morning. Lex got up and with all the dignity he could muster, he left the room.

* * *

Evelyn opened her eyes. She couldn't see anything, not even if her hand was inches away from her face. She tried to calm her heart. What was she doing here? Why couldn't she just run outside and get help? First off, it was cold, it might've even started snowing. Secondly, she didn't even know how to get out of there. What if while she was looking for an exit, Lex or Lana or one of their goons found her and brought her back?

That's how Evelyn spent her time in the box. Arguing with herself. Coming up with questions and answering them. She was so scared, having to stay in that box for who knows how long. What if she had to stay there forever? She quickly dismissed that thought. Someone would find her. She was sure of it.

The door opened and the light was turned on. Someone was looking through the boxes. Evelyn held her breath. Whoever it was, they were definitely going to find her. She heard the footsteps coming closer to her, stopping occasionally to push aside some boxes or open one.

Evelyn did _not_ want to be found. It was going to be horrible if she did. As far as she knew, she was the only one that might be able to have a chance at getting out of this place. When she did, she'd most definitely bring help.

The person walking stopped a few inches away from Evelyn's box. Evelyn squinted her eyes as light filled the dark box. Her heart dropped. She'd been discovered.

"Are you Evelyn?'

Evelyn looked up at the woman that had found her. She hadn't expected any women to be working with Lex. But Lana had been working with him, so she guessed it wasn't that far of a stretch. Evelyn didn't reply, she just eyed her steely.

"I'm not going to hurt you, okay? I'm going to help you."

"Why should I trust you?"

She frowned. "There really isn't any reason to trust me. You've just got to hope that I really am telling the truth."

Evelyn considered her options. This lady seemed nice enough. Even if she wasn't telling the truth, Evelyn would rather be taken by her instead of one of those other big guys. "Okay."

The lady smiled and she was about to bend down and pick up Evelyn, but the door opened again. She quickly placed the blanket she had in her arms over Evelyn and closed the box once more.

"Beth? What're you doing here?" It was Marcus, the same man that had taken Lois to the separate room.

"I was looking for Evelyn. I heard that she escaped."

"Yeah, stupid Ralph let her get away." Marcus began looking through the boxes.

"They're all empty. I've already checked them."

Marcus cast her a look and Beth said no more. Marcus looked through a few more before he was satisfied. "Guess you're right. I'm going to go check another room." Marcus said as he left the room.

Beth breathed easier when Marcus had left. She opened the box. Evelyn was giving her an evil look. "You were going to take me to Lex again, weren't you!"

"No! Of course not. I really do want to help you and your family."

"Then why did you say that you were looking for me?"

"Just come with me and you actually might have a good chance at leaving this place."

"And what if I don't want to go with you anymore?"

"Then you'll just stay here until one of Lex's men or Lex himself finds you." Beth countered quickly.

Evelyn huffed. "Fine."

Beth gave her a supportive smile, trying to show her that she made the right decision. She reached in and grabbed Evelyn with the blanket. Beth smelled something that didn't smell right. "Did you pee on yourself?"

Evelyn smiled bashfully. "That was the only way that man would let go of me."

Beth shuddered, but continued holding Evelyn. She wrapped the blanket around her, making her look like a bundle.

"No matter what happens, do not make any kind of noise." Beth told Evelyn sternly before they left the room.

* * *

Lois woke up with a jolt. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, she was just so exhausted. She got up and began walking around the room. How did they get in this mess? Oh that was right. She didn't tell Clark a thing. She kept it all hidden from him. If only she had been truthful with him from the start then things would be so different right now.

Lois was about to slump down on the floor again, but something inside of her gave her new resolve. She didn't know what it was, but maybe it was the thought of Clark. The thought of how happy Clark would've been if she had told him everything under different circumstances. Lois began pacing around the room, thinking with all that she had. She needed a plan, at least the beginning of a plan and then she could make it up as she went.

Lex liked keeping them on the edge, she remembered. Maybe he'd be coming to the room to tell her something about Love, Clark, or Evelyn. Lois let a small smile loose. She stood right at the doorway, not doing anything, just standing there. When Lex would come, she'd be ready.

* * *

Flash, Green Arrow, and Batman were all hiding behind a bush watching the security guards. There were more of them then they had expected, but definitely not more than they could handle. They were super heroes for goodness sakes!

"What are we waiting for?" Bart asked. "Let's take them out and get our friends."

"Don't be so eager, Flash. Something's going on. This is definitely heightened security." Oliver said as he looked through some infra-red binoculars.

"Has she changed locations?" Bruce asked.

Oliver looked at the GPS. "Nope. Except for moving around in the room she's in." Oliver watched the red blip for a little bit longer. "Wait…"

Bruce and Bart waited for Oliver to say what he was going to say.

"She's moving."

"We move in now." Bruce said simply.

* * *

Lois had waited at the door for five minutes and her feet were really starting to hurt. If she was walking around, they wouldn't be hurting, but standing in one spot was killing them a slow and torturous death. She knew that her idea might not be true, but it was the only thing that she had. It was the only thing that she could really do.

She shifted her weight from her left foot to her right foot. This was really becoming pointless. She was going to sit down again, but she heard something outside in the hallway. She stood up straight, waiting for the door to open again.

Much to Lois' glee, the door opened with only Lex at the doorway. For the second time that night, Lex was kicked between the legs, this time much harder. Lex collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain. Lois took off running hoping to find some kind of exit. She knew that she didn't have much time before someone found her.

* * *

Lex stormed into the study outraged. He knew that he should've brought along two body guards! He mentally kicked himself for not doing so.

Lana sat up noticing Lex's tense posture. "Lex, is everything all right?"

"No, it isn't! They're ruining everything!" Lex said as he went over and looked at the screens. "Have you noticed anything unusual?"

"No, I've been asleep."

Lex was visibly upset by her answer. He looked around. "Where's Beth?" he demanded more than asking.

Lana looked around. She barely took notice of it. "I don't know. She must've left."

Lex narrowed his eyes. After what Marcus had told him about Beth in the storage room, Lex's trust in her was slowly beginning to wane. He sighed as he tried putting together the puzzle pieces. Things had proved to be more complicated than he had hoped for. Maybe he did move too soon. But none of that mattered. Lex knew that all four of them were still in the mansion. That was good enough for him right now. He turned to Lana. "If you see Lois running around in the halls, tell me where she is immediately." Lex said as he left the room.

* * *

Oliver and Bruce were creeping around the halls. Thanks to some high tech bat gear, they had all twenty security guards outside unconscious and handcuffed. They had sent Bart off to check every room and get rid of any kind of security personal that might be roaming around.

Oliver had his cross bow loaded and Bruce kept his hands close to his utility belt. They had to be prepared for any kind of surprise attack.

They heard a clacking down the hallway ahead of them. It sounded more like high-heels instead of dress shoes. Oliver thought it might be Lana. They had found out that she was in on the conspiracy also. They began walking closer to the clacking, but still not making a noise. They were finally only inches away from her, and she still hadn't noticed them sneaking up behind her. "Turn around." Oliver said with his crossbow trained on her.

The woman turned around slowly, still clutching onto the bundle of blankets tightly.

"Who are you?" Bruce asked.

"Beth. But I'm not one of the bad guys. I want to help."

"What makes you think that we're going to trust you."

"Because I can take you to them."

The men in their costumes considered their options. "What about Evelyn?" Oliver asked.

Beth pulled the blankets off. "She's right here."

Evelyn squinted when the blankets were pulled off. She looked at the two men and her eyes widened. "It's Batman and Green Arrow!" she all but yelled.

The three grown-ups quickly told her to keep her voice down. She apologized, but was still very excited. Batman and Green Arrow had shown up to save them!

"Evelyn, we're going to find your family. Don't worry." Oliver bent down to pick her up, but Evelyn stopped him.

"I can walk."

Oliver looked at her weird. "Are you sure?"

Evelyn nodded her head.

They started walking quickly, following the red dot. Bruce didn't like the idea of Evelyn coming with them. He thought the she should've been taken outside to wait for them. But this wasn't the time to argue about it.

* * *

Clark looked at the blank wall in front of him. His arm was draped protectively over Love who was curled up in his lap and sleeping. He had no idea how to get out of here. With the small pieces of kryptonite embedded into the wall, his powers were stripped. He was slowly dying in here and so was Love. But the kryptonite seemed to be affecting her more. Her breathing was very shallow and she was getting paler by the minute.

The door opened and Lex came in again but this time with two men. "Here. Put these on the girl." Lex said as he handed on of the bigger men some handcuffs.

The man took them and walked towards them.

"You're not touching her." Clark said as he stood up, carefully placing Love on the floor.

Lex scoffed. "We're taking her whether you want us to or not, Clark."

The man came near him. Clark could feel extra kryptonite added. The handcuffs were lined with refined kryptonite. But Clark held his ground. The man chuckled at Clark. He punched him in the gut with the handcuffs and Clark bent forward, crying out in his pain. He fell to the floor, but tried with all his remaining power to get up.

Love opened her eyes slightly when she heard Clark yelling. "Clark?" he voice was barely audible.

Clark looked at her. The kryptonite had affected her so much that she didn't know what was up. The man placed the handcuffs on her and she began whimpering, hot tears burning her cheeks. The man picked up Love and threw her over his shoulder.

"Put her down." Clark said.

"Don't worry, Clark. We'll be back soon enough. I don't know if Love will be joining us again though." Lex said.

"NO!!" Clark yelled out in agony as they left him in the dark room completely alone.

* * *

Lois ran down some stairs hoping to get to the first floor. If she got to the first floor, then she had a good chance at getting out. "Stop where you are, Lois."

Lois looked up and saw Lana blocking her path. She held a gun. If it was shot, Lois would be killed instantly. "Well, if it isn't the pretty pink fairy princess." Lois said in a mocking tone. She knew that she was in no position to be making comments like that, but she did anyways.

"Turn around and go back to your room and nobody will get hurt." Lana replied in a no-nonsense tone.

"What makes you think that I'm going to listen to you?"

"Because if you don't, I'll kill her."

Lois turned around to find the third voice. It was Lex and he held a gun to Love's temple. Love looked so dazed, she probably didn't know what was going on. Lois' heart dropped. "Leave her alone."

"Then let Lana take you back to the room peacefully and Love will live for a few more hours."

"How do I know that I can trust you?"

"You don't. I guess it wouldn't matter though. Before this night ends, Martha Love Kent will be dead."

"Nobody's dying tonight." said a low menacing voice.

The three adults turned around and saw Batman, Green Arrow, Evelyn, and Beth. It was Batman that had spoken.

"Beth?" Lex asked. He thought his eyes might be playing a trick on him.

"I can't do this anymore Lex. I followed you for so long, hoping that maybe you could notice me for once instead of always looking at Lana."

"What is she talking about, Lex?" Lana asked, slowly lowering the gun.

"I have no idea!" Lex said trying to defend himself.

"How about you three can argue about this when you all share your prison cell." Oliver said.

Lex remembered them there and pulled out another gun. He pointed it at Oliver all the while keeping the other one pressed against Love's forehead. "I will shoot either one of the guns."

"And you will miss." Lois said, her cocky attitude returned once she knew that she had back-up.

"Shut up!" Lex yelled at her.

"Are you losing your edge Lex?" Lois taunted.

Evelyn was really getting impatient with the grown-ups argument. She slowly snuck out of Bruce's grip on her shoulder and began creeping around to the other side of Lex. She was going to try and pull the gun away from Love's head. She knew it was crazy, but nobody else was doing anything.

"Put the guns down, Lex." Batman said, not taking notice of Evelyn.

Lana raised her gun again and pointed it to Batman. "How about you stop trying to negotiate with us?"

Evelyn was getting really close. She was surprised that no one had noticed her. "Love." she whispered, trying to get her to wake up.

Love turned her head slowly, each little movement causing her pain. She furrowed her eyebrows. "What are you doing here?"

Lois heard Love speaking and looked straight at her. She saw what Evelyn was trying to do, but so did Lana. Lana raised her gun and aimed it at Evelyn.

Beth saw her moving and she pulled her gun out and aimed it at Lana. Two gunshots sounded, a twang of an arrow could be heard, a gush of wind quickly followed with a scream from a little girl.

* * *

a/n: ahh!! who got shot? was it evelyn or love that screamed? and what about clark? hehe all those questions will be answered soon. as always read and review, give me your thoughts and i will post another chapter. but sorry this was so late in coming. i know that many of you have been clois deprived. maybe this will lift your spirits some...


	16. Wounds

Wounds

Evelyn didn't stop screaming until she felt a hand cover her mouth. "Could you please stop screaming?"

Evelyn looked up and saw Flash. She looked around her and saw snow covering the ground. Behind her was Luthor mansion. She remembered what she saw. Lex let go of Love and they both crumpled to the ground. Lois moved into the path of the bullet Lana had fired and she fell to her knees. Lana looked down at her stomach in shock. There was blood everywhere. Evelyn tried to take deep breaths. "We have to go back inside!"

"Are you crazy?! I was only able to get you out. Besides, you're going to have to stay out here when I go back in."

"No! You're going to take me!"

"Evelyn, it's too dangerous. You have to stay out here and wait."

"Please. My daddy's in there and I can take you to him."

Bart had no idea where Clark was, but Evelyn did. He would have to take her with him. But everyone would get so upset with him if they found out that she got out of the mansion only to be brought back inside. He was going to have to trust his instincts on this one. "Get on my back and hold on tight."

* * *

Oliver and Bruce wasted no time in checking who was alive. Lex and Lana barely had a pulse and Love's was very weak. They knew Lois was fine because she was still conscious. She had a bullet in her right arm. "Is Love okay?" Lois asked as she tried standing up.

Bruce checked her over quickly. "She's fine. Nothing a little sunshine won't be able to cure."

"All the blood?"

"It's not hers." Bruce looked to the arrow that had pierced Lex's chest. "Must've been from Lex."

"But she had blood on her before the big blow-out." Oliver pointed out.

Lois froze. It couldn't be. She reused to believe it. "What if it's Clark's?"

Both men turned to face her. They hadn't really taken that into consideration. "He'll be fine Lois. Don't worry." Oliver told her comfortingly.

"Either way, we need to find him now." Bruce stated the obvious.

"Do we just leave them here?" Oliver asked.

Bruce looked at the unconscious Lex and Lana. It didn't seem like they were going to be waking up any time soon. And Beth was kneeling on the floor, crying. It didn't look like she'd be trying to escape either. "We'll call the police for them after we get Clark. I don't think that they'll be going anywhere."

Oliver picked up Love and Lois leaned against Bruce. "Do you know where the room is?" Bruce asked Lois.

Lois nodded, completely ignoring the searing pain running up and down her arm.

* * *

Marcus limped along the hallway. He didn't know what happened. There was this red blur that came towards themand the next thing he knew, everyone was knocked out. Whoever or whatever had done it, they didn't have enough force to knock Marcus out completely. He had only been out for a few minutes.

Marcus pulled out a gun. Lex had told them to kill everyone if things were going way off track. It had finally come to it. Marcus didn't know where Lois, Love, or Evelyn were, but he did know where Clark was. Marcus filled the clip with green bullets and continued on his way.

* * *

Clark was lost. Everything inside of him was hurting. He felt both emotional and physical pain. Never had he thought it was possible to hurt so much. He had no idea where Evelyn and Love were or if they were even alive. And Lois...he had just found her again, but only to have her ripped away from him again.

A light filled the room. Clark squinted his eyes, looking to the doorway. The same man that had taken Lois was now standing there alone. Clark didn't have any energy to even say anything to him. Marcus pulled out the gun and aimed it at Clark. "Time to die."

"Daddy!" Clark looked behind Marcus and saw Evelyn. The gun shot sounded and it hit Clark in the stomach.

"NO!! Daddy!!" Evelyn screamed. She ran to Clark and began hugging him.

Bart appeared next to her. He took out Marcus, making sure this time that he really was out. Bart turned his attention to Clark and Evelyn.

"Don't die, Daddy." Evelyn pleaded. Tears were pouring down her face and she didn't care who saw them.

Clark looked up at her and smiled. He coughed and blood came out. He lifted his hand and touched Evelyn's cheek. "My pretty little bud." he closed his eyes and his hand fell away from her face.

"Daddy? Daddy, wake up. We came to rescue you." Evelyn said.

Bart gulped down his tears. "Evelyn, it's too late. I'm so sorry."

"Bart?"

Bart turned around and saw Bruce, Oliver, Lois, and Love. Oliver laid Love down in the hallway, he knew better than to bring her into a room with kryptonite.

"Bart, what's going on?" Bruce asked. He couldn't see Clark's body.

"We weren't...I wasn't...it was too late." Bart looked down.

"What do you mean too late?" Lois demanded. Bruce was the only thing keeping her from pounding Bart.

"This guy came before we did...he had kryptonite bullets."

Lois sank to the floor. That was all she needed to hear to know it was over. "No..." she mumbled. Lois had suffered from too much blood loss. She passed out on the floor.

"We have to get him out of here." Oliver started walking towards them.

Bart nodded and they grabbed Clark's arms and legs.

"What are you doing? Leave him alone!" Evelyn yelled at them.

"Evelyn, it's going to be fine. We're going to help your daddy." Oliver told her.

"He needs to wake up. I don't want to be alone." Evelyn looked up at them. Tears filled her brown eyes.

"Why don't you help us take him out of this room?"Bart suggested.

Evelyn nodded and she grabbed Clark's hand. It was so cold. His hands were always so warm whenever she would hold them. Why were they cold now?

They laid him on his back out in the hallway. Evelyn didn't want to believe that Clark was dead. He was her daddy for crying out loud! He wasn't allowed to die!

Bruce looked at Evelyn. She looked so lost with Clark gone. He pulled Oliver and Bart aside. "There has to be something that we can do. You two have known Clark longer than I have. Isn't there something that can be done?"

Bart didn't know what to say, but Oliver did. "We can call in his cousin to take him to the sun."

Bruce looked back to Evelyn and Lois, then to Love. She'd never really get to know her true dad. He turned back to Oliver. "Do it."

* * *

Kara was standing outside on the balcony, watching the snow fall steadily in Metropolis against the morning sun, peeking it's first rays over the horizon. Her and Dinah were in Oliver's watchtower. They sent Chloe home a few hours ago. She needed to be with her family. They promised her that they would call as soon as anything was heard. Kara sighed. That was it, though. They hadn't heard anything from anyone since Oliver left with Lois.

Kara sauntered over to the couch and plopped herself down. She leaned her head back and groaned. "What's taking them so long?"

Dinah looked up from the computer screen. "They're fine Kara. They're probably just really busy." Dinah turned her attention back to the computer.

"I know. It's just that I'm so worried. And I feel as if there's nothing that I can do."

"Trust me, Kara. I feel the same way. I am so worried about Oliver right now. Being on this computer is the only thing that's keeping me from going nuts. But I leaned a long time ago that no matter how useless I feel, there's always something that I can do that would help them."

Kara sighed. "I just wished that it would be so much easier."

Dinah chuckled softly at Kara's impatience. She was one of the youngest on the team and she had a lot to learn about patience.

Kara's head shot up. Dinah looked at her strangely. "Is everything okay?"

"They're calling me." Kara got up and flew away with a sonic boom.

"Well, at least you found something to do." Dinah said to an empty room.

* * *

"How long until she gets here?" Bart asked impatiently.

"I'm here already."

They turned around and saw Kara. "What's wrong?" she asked.

The men stepped aside and let Kara see for herself.

"Clark?" Kara took a few cautious step, then stopped. "Please tell me I'm not seeing what I'm seeing."

"We think that if you take him to the sun, he'll be healed from all the wounds." Oliver said. "And you're the only one that would be able to do it without getting hurt."

Kara nodded and bent down to pick up Clark.

"Aunt Kara?" Evelyn barely noticed her.

Kara smiled through the tears she held back. "Hey, Evelyn. I'm going to take your dad to a place where he'll get better."

"Can I go?" Evelyn had hope written all over her face.

"Not this time, sweetie." Kara picked up Clark and flew away.

Evelyn watched her leave with Clark. Her tears never stopped falling, they only got quieter.

* * *

Lois opened her eyes. She was lying on a bed with her back propped up. She moved her hand to her head. She had a blistering headache. She turned to see Love curled up beside Bruce. They were both asleep. She looked on the other side and saw Evelyn sitting up, looking out the window. It looked as if she had been crying so much and yet she still could cry more. Lois tried to sit up, but a sharp pain went through her arm. She took a sharp breath.

It wok up Bruce. "Lois! You're awake!"

Love opened her eyes and smiled. "Mommy!" she was about to jump on the bed, but Bruce held her back.

"Where am I?"

"Smallville Medical Center. We brought you here as soon as we could."

"Are you okay, Love?"

Love nodded her head.

Lois shot Bruce a questioning look. "We had her outside in the sun for a while. She got better really quick."

Lois was so grateful that Love was okay. She smiled when she saw that Love was fallen asleep again. "What about Clark?"

Bruce looked over at Evelyn, then back to Lois. "We don't know."

"So he's not..."

"Like I said, we don't know anything yet. We're waiting for any kind of word from Kara."

"Is she okay?" Lois asked about Evelyn.

Bruce sighed. "She hasn't said anything since Kara left to take Clark to the sun." he said in a hushed voice. "If she isn't looking out of a window, she'll start hyperventilating."

Lois could only imagine her pain. Clark was the only family that she really had. Sure there was Martha, and Chloe, even Kara, but Evelyn didn't know them that well still. She had only seen them so many times in her life. "Where's Oliver and Bart?"

"Oliver's explaining to the doctor's how you came back from the dead and Bart's making sure that the police arrest Lex, Lana, and Beth."

Lois nodded, glad that they were going to get what they deserved. Sure, Beth may have only been influenced by her love for Lex, but that still didn't excuse herself. Maybe she would get off easier than Lex or Lana.

"You should get some rest." Bruce told her.

Lois frowned. "It's going to be hard, having been through so much action."

Bruce smiled minutely. "I guess you're right."

* * *

A few hours later, the doctors released Lois from the hospital. They had given her prescription pain killers that would most definitely be helpful. Bruce and Bart had to leave. The police needed their help in getting things organized at the Luthor Mansion.

Evelyn still hadn't said anything. She had started sneezing a lot. They tried giving her medicine, but she refused any. Her eyes were glued to the window. Love would try and get her to play, but Evelyn ignored her. It was late noon and Evelyn hadn't eaten anything either. They were on their way to a restaurant, but first, they were going to pick up Martha. She really needed to know what had happened.

"Mommy, how come Evelyn won't talk to me?" Love whispered in the car. Lois and Love were sitting in the backseat and Evelyn was in the front with Oliver driving.

"She got really scared about all the things that happened. She's still scared that the same things are going to happen again." Lois explained.

"But they took Lex to jail. He won't be able to hurt anyone anymore."

Lois knew that Love was very naive. But Evelyn wasn't. She had seen what could happen. That's what separated them. Even though both Evelyn and Love had been on the other side of the fence, Love didn't really remember much. All she remembered was that where they were hurt her and she didn't want to go back. But Evelyn had remembered every second.

"We're here." Oliver announced as he parked the car.

Evelyn opened the door and ran out to the barn.

Lois sighed. She knew that Evelyn needed some time by herself. Lois was going to get her a jacket though. Bruce and Oliver knew better than to bring two little girls into the hospital with blood all over their clothes. They had them change into clean clothes first. But like men, they forgot to give her a jacket. Lois walked inside the house. She left Love inside with Oliver. "Mrs. Kent?" Lois called out.

There were footsteps coming down the stairs. "Lois?"

Lois smiled and the older woman came running towards her and pulled her into a hug, but she was cautious not to hurt her arm that was in a sling. "What happened? Are you all right? Where's Clark? Are the girl's fine?"

Lois winced slightly. "That's actually what we wanted to talk to you about. We were going out to eat and wanted to invite you."

Martha smiled. "Let me get my coat and purse."

"Oh and we need to get Evelyn a coat also. Oliver forgot to get her one when he brought her some clothes."

Martha went upstairs and came back down with a coat for her and Evelyn and her purse. Lois took the coat from Martha and went outside in the barn to find Evelyn. "Evelyn? Where are you?" Lois didn't hear anything and after all that happened, she couldn't help her rapidly beating heart. "Evelyn? Tell me where you are."

Nothing. Lois didn't hear anything. But then she heard a flurry of sneezes that didn't seem to stop. Lois briskly walked to the sneezes and found Evelyn curled up in a corner looking at the floor intently. "Evelyn! What are you doing there? Put this coat on."

Evelyn wiped her runny nose on her sleeve and she coughed some. She slipped on the coat that Lois handed her. "That's Daddy's blood, isn't it?"

Lois finally turned to see what Evelyn had been looking at. A big dark stain on the ground. It wasn't even completely dry. "Evelyn, you're dad is going to be fine." Lois said looking into her brown eyes.

Evelyn whimpered. "Then why won't he come back and pick me up. He's supposed to tell me that everything is going to be all right." Evelyn sneezed several times.

Lois knew that she shouldn't be sneezing that often. She touched her forehead. It was burning up. "Come on, you're coming inside." Lois picked up Evelyn.

Evelyn didn't protest. She felt so tired. Her eyes didn't leave the blood stain though, not until it was completely out of view. Evelyn shut her eyes, but several tears were able to escape.

Martha saw Lois coming in holding Evelyn. "Is she okay?"

Lois shook her head. "She's burning up. I think she caught something. She wasn't wearing a sweater the entire time." Lois set Evelyn down on the bar.

Martha touched her forehead. Like Lois said, she was burning up. "She's in no condition to go out anywhere. She needs to stay in bed." Martha said. She may not have had a sick child on her hands often, but she knew what to do if it ever happened. "I'll stay here. You can go ahead and go."

Lois sighed. "Are you sure, Mrs. Kent?"

Martha nodded. "I'm sure. Why don't you just get take out. You could be back sooner."

Lois nodded. "We'll be back soon." she walked out and went back into the car and told Oliver and Love what was going to happen. They drove off.

"Evelyn, I want you to go upstairs and get in bed." Martha told the scared girl.

Evelyn furrowed her brows then looked out the window. She nodded and went upstairs. Constantly stopping to look out a window and also to sneeze.

Martha shook her head. Evelyn was definitely sick with something. Maybe it was just a cold, but they had better not take their chances. Considering the sudden cold snap, it was very possible that Evelyn could catch something much worse. Martha grabbed a wet cloth, some medicine, and a thermometer. She walked upstairs to Evelyn's room. Evelyn had already made herself comfortable on her bed. She was staring outside the window. Martha pulled out a chair and sat beside Evelyn. "Open your mouth."

Evelyn opened her mouth, but kept her eyes on the window.

Martha waited a few moments before taking the thermometer out of her mouth. She was at 100.5. Martha poured some of the sticky medicine into a measuring cup. "Drink this and you, young lady, are going to stay in bed. I'll bring some chicken soup up for you, but try and go to sleep."

Evelyn nodded and watched her leave. Once the door was closed, Evelyn turned onto her side and looked out the window. She curled herself tightly into a ball. She wished that Kara would come back with Clark already.

* * *

Kara set her feet down on the ground. Clark stood next to her. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yes, Kara. I told you that I feel as good as new."

Kara frowned. It was going to be really hard to believe him.

Clark ignored her look and turned to see the farm house. He smiled, having been told by Kara that his family was okay. He ran inside with Kara right behind him. "Hello?"

"Clark?" Martha came out of the living room.

When Martha was certain that it was Clark, she ran to him and hugged him tightly. "Clark, you have no idea how worried I was!"

"Where's everyone else?" Clark looked around the house expectantly.

"They're-" Martha stopped when they all heard Evelyn screaming.

Clark didn't waste any time running up to her room.

* * *

Evelyn hadn't meant to fall asleep. Every time she would even close her eyes she would see blood everywhere. But somehow, her eyes had slid shut without her even realizing it. She could hear Lex laughing inside of her head. He kept taunting her telling her that her daddy was dead, that he was never going to come back for her. He had left her all alone. Evelyn saw him being shot over and over again. It became too much. Evelyn started yelling, screaming out of pure terror.

* * *

Clark threw open the door and saw Evelyn tossing violently on her bed while screaming. He quickly ran to her and pulled her into his arms. She struggled against him. pushing him, punching with her small fists, even kicking. "Evelyn, it's okay! It's me! It's Daddy."

* * *

Evelyn felt strong arms being wrapped around her. She looked up at the face and saw Lex's distorted face. "No! Leave me alone!" Evelyn yelled.

Lex's mouth began moving, but it wasn't his voice. It sounded exactly like Clark's. "Evelyn, it's okay! It's me! It's Daddy."

Evelyn opened her eyes. She saw Clark. "Daddy!" she wrapped her arms around him and showed no sign of letting go any time soon. She sneezed a couple of times in his chest.

Clark smiled as he held onto her tightly. He thought that he had lost her. "My pretty little bud." he whispered.

* * *

Love was the first one to run through the doors to the Kent house. "We're back!" she proudly announced.

Lois and Oliver came in with several bags full of food. "Love, don't yell." Lois chastised.

Love looked back at her apologetically. "Sorry."

Kara and Martha came in the kitchen. "Oh, that food smells good!"

"Kara!" Lois exclaimed. "Where's Clark? Is he okay?"

Kara grinned. She grabbed a to-go box out of a bag and she nodded her head. "He's upstairs in Evelyn's room."

Lois ran up the stairs as fast as she could without hurting her arm. Love and Oliver were right behind her. She carefully eased the closed door open. Clark was sitting on the chair and his head was leaning forward. Evelyn was lying on the bed with all the blankets on top of her. Lois wanted to rush into his arms and kiss his lips off, but he was asleep. Lois understood that he must be tired.

But Love didn't seem to get the same message. "Clark!" she ran up to him and leaped into his arms.

Clark opened his eyes just in time to catch Love. "Whoa, easy there." Clark chuckled.

Evelyn began moaning. She opened her eyes. Love had woken her up, too.

Clark got up, still holding Love. "Hey, go back to sleep." he said as he brushed away some of the hair that had fallen onto her sweaty forehead.

"Are you going to leave?" Evelyn asked.

"No, I'm never going to leave again."

Evelyn smiled and she went back to sleep.

Clark motioned for them to leave the room. He closed the door and turned to his friends.

"Clark, man. You have no idea how worried we were!" Oliver said as he patted his back. "I'm just glad you're doing better."

Clark smiled. "So am I."

"But that doesn't give you an excuse to try that same stunt again, Smallville." Lois said with a little attitude.

"Lois..." Clark said her name as if he would never be able to say it again.

"Smallville." Lois said, playfully mocking his tone of voice. She couldn't contain her smile, though.

Oliver watched as intense gazes were traded between them. Love could sense it also.

Lois rubbed her good hand against her jeans before she all but pounced on Clark and attacked his lips, completely forgetting about Love, who was still being carried in his arms. Clark shared the same passion as they kissed, making up for all the years that they were forced apart.

Oliver began snickering in the background and he started downstairs leaving them alone, but Love quickly showed how she felt about their kissing. "Eww!!"

Lois and Clark broke apart with a short kiss and looked at Love. They both began laughing.

"What happened to your arm?" Clark asked when he noticed Lois' arm in a sling.

"What? This? Oh nothing, really. Just a little scratch." Lois shrugged it away.

"Lois..." Clark said in a warning tone. He would only use it whenever he needed the whole truth from someone. He always seemed to use it a lot whenever he was around Lois.

"Okay, so I was shot. But I'm fine!"

"Lois!"

"Smallville!"

"If you guys are done kissing and making up, can you come down to eat already?" Kara yelled from downstairs.

Clark chuckled as he shook his head. He set Love down. "Let's go eat, then."

* * *

a/n: i wasn't really going to put any kissing in this chapter, but of course smallville's latest and greatest episode made me mad! so i put my own clois kissing in. hope this eases some of the pain requiem left. :D leave your thoughts for me to read. you have no idea how much i appreciate them. oh and there might be only two more chapters left for this story


	17. Whole

Whole

A week had passed. Love was sent back to school, Lois was "let go" from her teaching job at the school, Evelyn had caught a bad case of the flu and had to stay home from school for the entire week, and Clark was happy. Everything was practically perfect, except Evelyn and Love wanted answers. Lois and Clark agreed not to say anything until Evelyn was better.

Love was in Evelyn's room and they were both sitting on her bed. There were pillows and blankets spread out all over the room. Evelyn hadn't been able to sleep unless Clark was in the same room as her. Lois was feeling lonely in her house, so she packed up some stuff and moved in temporarily with Clark. Love enjoyed it so much. It was like a prolonged sleepover.

"So what do you want to do?" Love asked.

Evelyn grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. "I don't know. I really want to go outside and play." Evelyn looked wistfully out the window. Miraculously, the snow had stayed the entire week. But Evelyn hadn't been allowed to play outside. All the adults told her that she was too sick. Evelyn would huff at them whenever they told her that.

Love looked outside with her. She had been able to play outside a lot. Clark would join her most of the time and sometimes even Lois would join them much to Clark's protest. He thought that she would make her arm worse, but she never did. They would laugh and play and would just have a good time. Evelyn would always be sitting by the window watching them play. Sometimes she would open the window and they would throw snowballs up to her. "Maybe if you ask your daddy again, he'll let you go outside?"

"I don't know..." Evelyn knew how stubborn Clark could be.

"What if I asked him? Ella says that whenever you ask your friends mom or dad to do something, they'll do it most of the time."

"Really?" Evelyn asked her eyes filling with hope. She sneezed a few times. "Then go ask him!"

Love nodded and she leapt of the bed and ran down the stairs. "Clark? Clark, I've got to ask you a question."

Clark was sitting at the table with Lois. It looked like they were discussing something very important, but Love didn't seem to notice. "Can it wait, Lovely?" Lois asked.

"I guess." Love started walking upstairs dejectedly.

"Love, could you tell Evelyn to come downstairs? We have something important to tell you guys." Clark said.

Love nodded and went to complete the small mission Clark had given her. She opened the door. Evelyn was cleaning her nose again with a tissue. She tossed it into the overflowing trash can. "Your daddy said that they have something important to tell us."

Evelyn slipped some socks on and she followed Love down stairs. Evelyn smiled. "What did you want to tell us?"

Lois and Clark exchanged a look before turning back to the girls. "Sit down."

Evelyn and Love sat next to each other across from Lois and Clark. They noticed that Lois and Clark were holding each others hands.

"We know that there are some things that you've been wondering about and really wanted some answers to." Lois started.

"So, we're going to explain some of them. At least the ones that we can explain right now."

Both girls looked back and forth at the two adults. They didn't know what to expect. "First, my name isn't Margaret Kidance." Lois said. "It's Lois Lane."

They waited for any kind of response. "But...didn't you go to the cemetery to see Lois Lane?" Evelyn asked. "Isn't Lois Lane supposed to be dead?" Evelyn asked.

"We thought she was dead, but Bruce Wayne saved her and we didn't know." Clark explained.

"So what's my last name?" Love asked.

"Kent." Lois said.

"Lane." Clark said.

Clark and Lois looked at each other. "I told the doctors her name is Martha Love Kent." Lois explained.

Clark couldn't keep the goofy grin off his face. "Really?"

"Yes really."

Their faces neared each other, completely oblivious to the pair of young eyes that were watching them.

"Are we done?" Evelyn asked, interrupting their little moment.

"Uh, no, not yet." Clark nervously rubbed his hands on his jeans. "Love, you know how you never meet your real dad?"

Love nodded, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Well..." Clark exchanged a nervous look with Lois.

Lois rolled her eyes. Why wouldn't Clark just say it already. "Clark is your real dad."

Love's face was that of overwhelming joy. Evelyn's face was happy, but there was also a hint of confusion.

"Clark's my daddy?" Love couldn't believe it.

Lois looked at Clark lovingly. "He sure is."

Love got up and hugged Clark tightly. She placed a kiss on his cheek. "I love you, Daddy."

Clark had happy tears in his eyes as he hugged his little girl back.

Evelyn smiled. She was happy that Love had found her dad, but it was kind of weird that Clark was Love's dad. That still made him her dad, though, right?

"So I could run really fast because you can run really fast?" Love asked as she broke away from the hug.

"Um..." Clark had forgotten to explain that to Lois.

"You can run really fast?" Lois asked Love. Clark could hear in her tone that he was about to get chewed out. Maybe having Evelyn and Love here would calm her down some.

"Yeah, I ran all the way to Minnesota!"

Lois raised her eyebrows and looked expectantly to Clark.

"I can explain."

"You better Smallville."

"But nobody can run all the way to Minnesota." Evelyn interjected.

They all stopped and turned to her. "Actually Evelyn, me and Love can run to Minnesota. We could run farther away if we wanted to."

Evelyn didn't understand what Clark was trying to tell her.

"Evelyn, I'm not like other people. I have special powers."

Evelyn furrowed her eyebrows. "Lana told me that people who had special powers were mean and only wanted to kill other people."

"Lana was wrong. I would _never_ kill someone. And I am not mean." Clark was a little hurt that Evelyn had said that, but it wasn't her fault. Lana had embedded into her mind that people with abilities were dangerous.

"So, you'd never become bad?"

"Never."

Evelyn smiled. She knew that Clark was telling the truth. Her smiled faltered when she remembered something. "What about Lex and Lana. Are they going to be in jail?"

"Yes, they're going to be living in jail for the rest of their lives."

Evelyn knew that she should be happy and she was, but it still felt weird. The woman that she used to call mommy was in jail for trying to kill all of them. It kind of made Evelyn sad.

"Is there anything else?" Lois asked.

"Yes! Let me go get something!" Evelyn ran up the stairs, leaving Clark, Lois, and Love in suspense. Evelyn came back downstairs holding a picture. She handed it to Clark and Lois. "Is that you with my daddy?"

"Where did you get this?" Clark asked her.

Evelyn cowered away. "In your box that you keep up in the loft."

Lois chuckled. "Yes, Evelyn. That is me."

Evelyn smiled. Maybe Lois could be her new mommy. Clark was already Love's daddy so it wouldn't be too hard to change that. "Can I play outside now?"

"Yeah! Pretty please!" Love pleaded along with Evelyn.

Clark checked Evelyn's forehead. It was a healthy warm. "Are you still sneezing?"

"Yes, but I really want to play outside. Please?" Evelyn knew what would make Clark give in. Her big brown eyes.

Clark took one look at them and didn't have to think twice about his choice. "All right, but you need to wear a coat, gloves, hat, and a scarf."

Evelyn was already scampering up the steps. "Yes sir!"

"I can play too?" Love asked.

"Put on a coat."

"But it's not even that cold for me!"

"Love...listen to your mom." Clark told her sternly.

"Yes sir." Love grabbed her coat from the coat hanger. "Are you and Mommy going to come out and play with us?"

"Yes-"

"But, first I have to talk with your mom." Clark interrupted.

"Okay." Love ran outside and Evelyn was downstairs and out the door soon after. It was just Lois and Clark alone.

"Okay, Smallville. What did you want to tell me? I would rather be outside playing with two wonderful girls right now."

"Really? You don't want to talk with me?" Clark said with a pout on his face.

Lois laughed. "Hurry up, Smallville."

"I want to talk about us."

Lois looked into Clark's eyes. "What about 'us'?"

"What do we do? Should we start all over again, or just pick up where we left off?" Clark held her hand in his.

Lois didn't know what to say. She wanted a relationship with Clark, but there had been so many things that had happened between them. Clark had married Lana, Lois had supposedly 'died.' She didn't know if they could pick up where they had left off. It had been so long ago. "Has it been too long to pick up where we left off?" Lois didn't look at him while she asked her question.

Clark lifted her chin and made her look at him. "I love you Lois Lane. I have always loved you and if anything, I love you more than I did eight years ago."

Lois smiled. That was good enough for her. "Then let's pick up where we stopped."

Clark grinned back. That was the answer he was hoping for. "Then I have something very important to ask you." Clark got off the chair and knelt down on one knee. He pulled out a velvet box and held it in his hand.

Lois heart skipped a beat. She couldn't believe it. Was he really going to ask her to marry him? She couldn't control the smile coming to her face.

Clark opened the box revealing a pair of earrings. Lois' smile soon faded as she showed her disappointment. "Lois, will you accept these earrings?"

Lois had to admit that the earrings were beautiful. They were silver with a small diamond in the middle. Surrounding the diamond were several small sapphires, her favorite jewel. But she really would've preferred it if the earrings had been a ring to go on her left hand. "Sure, Smallville. They're really nice." Lois forced a smile as she took the velvet box and examined them.

Clark smiled. "Good. Oh, and before I forget…" Clark pulled something out of pocket and held it up for Lois to see. "Lois Lane, will you marry me?"

Lois looked down at the simple, but beautiful diamond ring that Clark held in his hands. She smiled as happy tears came to her eyes. She covered her mouth from the surprise.

Clark was getting nervous at her lack of words. "I was going to do it eight years ago, but I kind of thought that you had died…I've been carrying it around with me ever since. Lois, I don't want to live another moment without you-"

Lois put a finger on his lips. "You don't have to convince me to be your wife, Clark. I would've done it anyways."

Clark's face broke into a wide grin. "Really?"

Lois laughed. "Yes, really."

Clark placed the ring on the right finger. It fit perfectly and it made her even more stunning. "I love you, Lois Lane."

"And I love you too, Smallville."

Clark leaned in for a passionate kiss, but all he got was a peck from Lois as she pulled away quickly. "Now I'm going to go outside and enjoy the snow."

* * *

Love lay awake that same night, looking up at the ceiling. That voice in her head wouldn't let her go to sleep.

'Love, you have to wake your father.' he told her.

'But he's sleeping right now.' Love argued.

'He will not mind if you wake him.'

Love moaned out as she lifted her head to look at Clark. They had all moved to Clark's room. All four of them had somehow managed to fall asleep on the same bed. Love climbed over Lois and got off the bed. She walked to the other side of the bed and began shaking Clark's shoulder.

Clark woke up and looked at Love. "What are you doing up?" his voice was full of sleep.

"I couldn't go to sleep. The man won't let me."

Clark's mind finally woke up. "What man?" Clark tensed up as he looked around the room.

"The one in my head. He said that I needed to wake you up."

Clark didn't understand what Love was saying. "Love, what's the man telling you now?"

Love listened for a moment. "He said that you have to rebuild the fortress." Love thought a moment. "What is he talking about?"

Clark couldn't believe it. Was Jor-el really trying to communicate to him through Love? "Did he say what his name was?"

"His name is Jor-el."

Clark had to get Jor-el out of Love. He looked at the clock. It was one in the morning. He turned his gaze to Evelyn and Lois. They were sleeping peacefully. Clark couldn't help but smile when he saw the engagement ring on Lois' left hand. "Go get your jacket on. We're going out somewhere."

Love looked at Clark weird. She had no idea where they were going to go at this time of night. "Okay, Daddy."

Clark still couldn't get over the idea of Love calling him daddy. It made him want to jump. He got up and pulled out a notepad and pen. He wrote Lois a note, just in case they weren't back by the time she woke up. He just hoped the she wouldn't be mad at him if she did wake up.

Clark changed into some daytime clothes and grabbed one of his red jackets. He put it one and went downstairs. Love was sitting at the bar with her jacket on. She had a cup full of milk in front of her. "Where are we going, Daddy?"

"We're going to somewhere special." Clark told her as he fingered the silver disk in his hand.

Love followed Clark into a cave. She looked around at all the wall paintings. Clark had told her that a Native American Indian tribe drew these pictures a long time ago. They walked into a separate room. Inside was a table. Clark made sure that Love was near him. He picked her up and held her close and he slipped the silver disk into the table.

Love wasn't really expecting anything big to happen, but something big did happen. They went through a blue portal. Love held on tightly to Clark. She wasn't afraid, though, because Clark was right there with her. She knew that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her. The portal seemed to drop them off inside of a crystal castle, but it was so dark. "Where are we?" Love asked. Her voice made an echo, even though she spoke softly.

Clark looked around. He hadn't been there in such a long time. "We're at the fortress." Clark bent down and held Love by her shoulders. "Is Jor-el saying anything?"

Love furrowed her eyebrows. "He said that I have to stand at the center of the fortress."

Clark didn't know if that was going to be a good idea. "Are you sure he said that?"

Love nodded. "He said that you shouldn't be worried. That everything is going to be all right."

Clark grabbed Love's hand and led her to the middle of the fortress. She stood up on a raised platform and waited. Suddenly, a light emitted from Love. She yelped from the shock. Clark tried running in there to grab her, but it was as if there was a force field that surrounded her. Clark had no idea if he had done the right thing.

The light stopped shining and the force field went down. Around them, the fortress returned to a blue-white color. Love fell to the ground and Clark rushed to her side. He held her in his arms. "Love, are you okay?"

Love opened her eyes. "Yeah."

"Thank you, Kal-el."

Clark looked up. It was Jor-el. The fortress had been restored.

"Hey, did you hear him!" Love exclaimed.

Clark looked down at Love and chuckled. "Yeah, I sure did." Clark picked her up. "Let's get home before your mom and Evelyn wake up."

* * *

A week later, Lois had been reintroduced to the world and gotten her job back at the Daily Planet. Clark continued doing free-lancing for the Daily Planet, but Perry had become even more persistent in offering him a job. Evelyn and Love continued going to school and had become more than friends, they were sisters now, arguments and all. Lex and Lana had been sent to jail for life with no chance of parole or bail while Beth had only been sent for twenty years with a chance of parole. Three months passed and Clark and Lois had finally been wed. They enjoyed a three day honey moon while Evelyn and Love stayed with Chloe and Jimmy. Everything was going perfectly. Clark continued making appearances as the red-blue blur, but something was missing.

One year later, Clark was sitting with Bruce eating lunch. Clark was picking at the turkey that Alfred had made. Bruce watched him closely. He finally said something. "All right, Clark. What's going on? I know that you think Alfred's food is the best right after your mom's cooking. Why are you not eating?"

"I've got a lot on my mind."

"Like…"

"I feel as if there is so much that I could do for people, but I can't. I'm not ready or trained."

"And what would it take for you to be ready?"

"Going to train with Jor-el, but who knows how long that could take. I could be gone for years."

Bruce understood what his friend was going through. "Clark, do you remember when I told you that Oliver and his team would need your help?"

"Yeah. I still don't understand what you were talking about. Nothing has happened to where they need my help."

"Clark, they need a lot of help. Sometimes there's a crisis in some other country, and they can't reach it. They need some more help. You help them a lot in Metropolis, but you have so much potential."

Clark sighed. He knew what had to be done. "Thanks, Bruce." Clark got up and started walking out.

"Where are you going?"

"To talk with my father."

* * *

Clark stood in the fortress. He was nervous and scared. "Father?" he called out.

"Yes, my son?" Jor-el's voice came.

"If I were to start my training, how long would it take?"

"It would all depend on you. It could several months up to several years."

"If I begin my training, would I be allowed to visit my family?"

Jor-el didn't answer for a few moments. "Only on special occasions."

Clark didn't want to be separated from his family, but this had to be done. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he knew that he could've done more. "Then I will begin my training Father, by evening tomorrow."

* * *

Clark came home and Lois was at the stove with Evelyn and Love sitting at the bar doing their homework. "Hi Daddy!" Evelyn and Love both said. They were both in the third grade now and nine years old.

Clark kissed both of them on the top of their heads. "Hello bud, Lovely."

"Do I get a kiss?" Lois asked playfully.

Clark smiled as he gave her a sweet kiss on the lips. "Hey, Lois."

"Hey Smallville."

Clark inhaled and scrunched up his nose. He looked at what Lois was stirring in the pan she had on the stove. "What is that?"

"It's dinner." Lois told him proudly.

"Oh, okay. Uh, it smells…great!" Clark lied. He took a seat next to the girls. He started scribbling something on a piece of paper. He passed it to Evelyn and Love. They read it and nodded their heads with gratitude.

Lois saw what they had done and stole the note from them. She read what it said out loud. "Want some take-out?" Lois looked at the three of them. They all looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Lois chuckled. "I already called the pizza place. They're coming with two pizzas."

"Good. Your cooking isn't very good Mommy." Evelyn said. After she had learned that Lois and Clark were going to get married, she began calling Lois mommy. It felt weird at first, but after a month, she realized that Lois had to be the best mom on the planet.

"Well neither is your cooking, Evelyn." Lois replied.

"That's cause I _can't_ cook! I have no one to learn from."

"And I don't think that she should learn from you." Love added.

Clark laughed. He was so happy. He didn't want to leave his family, but he knew that later on in the years, he was going to grow unhappy. Not being able to help people to the fullest was going to ruin him.

Lois looked at Clark and noticed that something was wrong. "Smallville, are you all right?"

Clark looked at Lois. "Everything's perfect." Clark got up and hugged her from behind as she washed the pan that had the ruined dinner. "But we need to talk later." he whispered in her ear.

Lois smiled as she resisted the urge to rub her flat stomach. "We sure do."

* * *

The delivery man came and dropped off their pizza and they enjoyed a family meal, talking and laughing about their day. Love and Evelyn, who now shared rooms, were already upstairs in bed asleep. Clark and Lois were sitting on the couch. Clark had turned on the fire with his heat vision.

"Smallville, do you really have to turn it on right now?" Lois whined.

"But I like the fire." Clark said.

"Fine, but you owe me."

Clark smiled as he began rubbing her back. Lois sighed contentedly and rested her head on his shoulder. "Have I told you I love you today?" Clark asked.

"Let's see…twice in the morning, once over the phone, five times when you brought me a sandwich at the Daily Planet, a text message before you came home…" Lois placed her finger on her chin as if thinking hard. "But I don't think it was enough…"

Clark kissed her forehead. "Then I love you."

Lois smiled. "We need to talk, though."

Clark sighed. He didn't want this moment to end. "Yes, we do."

"You first, then."

"What? Why don't you go first?"

"Because, my news is probably going to be so much bigger than yours."

Clark decided it would have to be like taking off a band-aid. Do it as quickly as possible and it won't hurt as much. "I'm going to start my training, and I'll have to leave."

Lois lifted her head from his shoulder. "What?"

"I'm sorry, Lois, but if I don't do this, I'll feel so ashamed. I know that I could do so much more. If I don't, it could be the end of me."

"How long are you going to be gone?"

"It could be months or years."

Lois nodded, trying to keep her tears down.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Lois wiped away some of the tears that had escaped from her eyes. "It's just…you'll be gone for so long."

"Jor-el said that I could come back on special occasions. I could come for birthdays, our anniversary."

"Would you be able to make for the delivery day?"

Clark looked at her, not understanding what she meant. He saw her hand go to her stomach. He looked up at her, realization finally dawning. "We're having a baby?!"

"Well, I'll be the one doing all the work…"

Clark picked her up and hugged her as he spun her around once. "This is amazing!"

Lois laughed. "Don't be so noisy, Smallville. You'll wake up Evelyn and Love."

Clark set her down and kissed her, showing her exactly how much he loved her. "Lois, I don't want to go." he whispered.

"Clark, you have to. You said yourself that you'd be miserable if you didn't."

"I don't want to leave you to raise another child without me by your side, helping you through the hard times."

"Clark, this is something that you have to do. I'm all right with it. It's going to be hard, but I always knew this day was going to come."

"Really? I never even hinted at the idea of training with Jor-el."

"Call it woman's intuition." Lois smiled. "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow. The earlier I go, the better."

Lois nodded. "We better make the most of our time together then." she started fiddling with his buttons on his shirt, threatening to take them off, but never doing so.

"Well then, Mrs. Kent, we had better go to our room." Clark swooped her up in his arms and carried her to their room.

* * *

"Mommy, Evelyn keeps drinking the milk out of the bottle!" Love complained.

"Evelyn, why do you do that? You know you're supposed to get a cup." Lois said as she placed a cup in front of Evelyn.

Evelyn wiped the remains of her milk moustache. "But Daddy always drinks it like that."

"But it's not right and your daddy knows that."

"Okay." Evelyn said as she poured some milk into the cup Lois had given her.

The door opened and Clark walked in. He looked at Lois. "I talked with Ben, he said that he would help out with the farm as much as he could, send some of his extra hands over to do some work."

"Okay. Are you leaving right now?"

Clark nodded. "I went and said bye to my mom, and Chloe and Jimmy. Kara knows where I'm going and so does the rest of the team. I called Bruce and let him know also. He said to call him anytime you need something."

"Okay." Lois wiped at her watery eyes.

"We're are you going, Daddy?" Evelyn asked. She couldn't help the fear that was in her voice.

Clark looked at Evelyn and Love. He was going really going to hate saying good bye to his family. "I'm going away for a while."

"For a week?" Love asked.

"No. I'm going for a very long time."

Evelyn wasn't liking where this was going. "You're leaving us?" But he had told that he wasn't ever going to leave.

"But I'm coming back, as soon as I can."

"When are you going to come back?" Love asked.

Clark looked to Lois. She grabbed his hand and offered her support. "For sure, in nine months."

"That's a real long time…" Love mumbled.

"I love you two so much. I will always be thinking about each of you."

Evelyn got up and ran into Clark's arms. Love followed after her. Clark bent down so he could really hug them tightly. Evelyn was crying. She didn't want Clark to leave. But he was, and it seemed like there was nothing that she could do. "I love you, Daddy." Evelyn said.

"I love you too." Love added.

"I love you, bud. I love you, Lovely." Clark kissed them both on the cheek.

They hugged for a little bit longer before Clark finally let them go. He stood up. "Good bye girls. Be good for your mom."

They nodded as they wiped away their tears.

Clark grabbed Lois' hand and pulled her outside. Once outside, Lois kissed Clark with kisses full of passion.

Neither knew how long they had been kissing when they finally pulled apart. Clark closed his eyes as he placed his forehead against Lois'. "I love you so much, Lois."

"I love you too, Clark."

"I'm going to miss all three of you so much." Clark said. He placed his hand on Lois' stomach. "And I'm going to miss him too."

Lois laughed through her tears. "What makes you think that it's a boy?"

"Because I want him to be a boy." Clark said.

They kissed one last time. "I'll see you later, Smallville."

"I love you."

They looked into each other's eyes, not knowing when they would see each other again. Clark turned around and sped away to the caves. He went through the portal and arrived at the fortress. "I'm here, father. I'm ready."

"I understand that this was a hard decision, Kal-el, but it was the right one. I will make sure that you're family will be safe while you train. I will try and make your training as short as possible. Let us begin…"

To Be Continued…

* * *

a/n: i have made my decision and i am going to have a sequel! it will be up within two weeks. i might post a one-shot that will have nothing to do with this story. i'm also working on another story and i've already posted some stuff for it on DI. it's called Separation Grows Dull. oh, and i still can't figure out a main villian for the sequel. if you have any ideas, please pm me! i would like to thank you all for taking the time to read my story and for all the nice reviews. for one last time (at least for this story) please read and review. thank you!


End file.

Smallville, Angst, Drama