~ღ~
He could hear it in the tone of her voice. The concern about him, the danger he could be in. Rick found he could never be mad at her for it...no matter how over protective or worrisome she became. Stacey loved him despite the fact that he was a freak. She had been there through so much of it that she knew how it affected him.
Years before, when his life had changed from the meteor rock, she had never left him. They had been high school sweethearts and Stacey had been the very reason he never ended up killing himself.
It had been the help of the Isis foundation though,that had put him on a path of using his ability for good. To think there was a benefit to his ability, had really improved things, and it benefited others, something that meant even more to him.
Rick was relieved when he could hear the change in her voice, that she wasn't upset, as they continued to talk. He'd rather come to a happy home, even if it meant the dog got his dinner.
"Says the man who, after seeing the latest in the zombie trilogy, had a baseball bat under his bed."
"Zombie or robber...it would work." He quipped while glancing at his watch,wishing he could get this done and be home.
"Hmmph..." He had to smile at her reaction; she never did appreciate a good zombie movie.
The docks was admittedly not his favorite place - it smelled, not everyone was the kind of company he felt safe to hang out with, and perhaps as Stacey had implied, he had seen way too many movies.
That, however, didn't change the fact that he saw a figure move quickly between the large storage containers lined and stacked at the one end of the docks.
"Hey!"
The other thing he hated was the way light failed to reach between the cargo containers, casting funny shadows. There it was again, a movement. He found himself chasing after it. Thinking through, he knew it wasn't the smartest move.
"Just stop! Hey," A part of him was wondering if it was a kid, freaking out, not wanting to get caught. It wouldn't be the first time.
Coming around to where he knew he'd seen the figure go, he found...nothing. Sighing, he decided to head back to the open, so his contact could find him. As he made his way around another container, he saw 'it'.
'It' was the only description that came to mind.
A cloaked figure stood with a shriveled arm held out towards him. For the space of ten seconds,they were both still - neither moved. Then Rick blinked and like the tales of banshees, it came at him, screaming.
It wasn't the scream of anger, but of hunger. Despite that fact, it was already too late; Rick turned to run, but its deformed hand reached out.
A sharp pain ran through him, like he was on fire. Screaming, he found himself pulled back by the neck, then released. It was too late however; something was wrong - he could feel it to his core.
He scrambled up, trying again to move away. He could hear Stacey worried on the phone.
"Oh!...please,oh god!.. please!.. please don't... it hurts...Stacey, it hurts, Stacey!" He managed to get out in between breaths, glancing around, knowing it was coming back for him. He could feel it, like it was inside him.
He couldn't move quick enough - his chest felt heavy, his stomach continually threatened to come up his throat. His legs wanted to give out.
"Rick baby...what's going on? Did you get hurt?..Rick!"
Her voice cried back to him. It was ultimately what kept him going, as he tried to escape the inevitable, to get back to his Stacey.
Looking over his shoulder as he continued to stumble, he thought he saw it again; it felt unreal, how the thing had flown at him - fast and screeching, causing every nerve to revolt.
"It touched me ...oh God,it touched me... just like in the movies... call 911 ...I can't breathe!"And he couldn't, not without great effort. Gasping, he slid down the side of a container. Phone clutched in his hand, he couldn't focus to bring it to his ear, but he could hear her anyway. Calling out to him, letting him know she was there.
The world started to spin wildly and he found himself crawling, trying to get away from the pressure inside of him. It grew and grew, consuming and shredding him.
He hadn't gotten far,before he saw it again. Everything came back into focus and all he could see was that thing, glowing a funny grey. .. its cloak moving to an unknown wind, though whatever was within the black of the hood remained obscured. The only visible flesh was that arm, the one that had grabbed him.
It moved closer slowly and spoke, "You... I feel your power... your bond is mine!"
Even before it dived on him, before it began to rip at his flesh, Rick had begun to scream. Desperately trying to live, while watching his blood spill and a strange glow leave his body, to flow up into the thing hovering above him.
It didn't take long for the human to die, for his essence to fill it up. It felt good, something to hold it over while it worked to get the Kryptonian's love back. Though if unable to achieve this goal, it was still strong - the power it had already taken pulsated throughout itself.
Leaving the carcass behind, the soul splitter refocused its attention, searching for more bonds. It was close to taking the last necessary step to having a completely corporeal form; it just needed a little more. Something especially strong, there had to be someone like the one it just devoured, filled with abnormal energy and a love or hate bond to enrich it.
Oh, there trapped inside enclosed walls,were angry hateful men, a few who's blood were marked, freaks among the humans. These were what it needed.
With its targets acquired, it shifted to just outside this prison. Drawing on its weakening connection with the Kryptonian, it found a place to sleep.
Despite the urgency it felt and the recent feeding, it was still changing. The change left it at times tired in a way it never had been before.
It could be patient - it would sleep hidden, unseen and waiting. Then when the moment came, it would fill the prison and feed. Hate... hate and rage felt just as good as love and happiness.
~ ღ ~
He found the door he was looking for; he could hear not only Chloe crying, but Oliver speaking softly behind it, murmuring comforting words. Just before he pushed the door open, he realized how different it was. It looked like the door to the farm house, but Kryptonian symbols were painted in blood around the edge, and in the middle of the window was a name plate, with 'Lois Lane' inscribed on it; it looked like the Daily Planet office signs.
A sense of trepidation flooded inside him, his hand hesitated, he wasn't sure he wanted to go in. A part of him knew what he would find-maybe it was because one of the symbols was the sign for death.
The door creaked, increasing the sense of doom. The room was blaring white, causing his eyes to ache, but once they focused he saw a bed, a single bed with a figure laid out upon it as if asleep.
Oliver had his arm around Chloe,who was holding a small wrapped bundle. Clark wasn't sure what it was as their backs were turned. They were dressed in black and Chloe had a dark mourning veil pulled over her head. Oliver continued to whisper words to her and though Clark knew they were meant to comfort, he could not make them out.
Stepping closer, he recognized the dress on the figure - it was the one Lois had worn the night of their first anniversary. It had always been a favorite - backless, deep violet in color, long in length but split up the sides, almost all the way up her legs. The first time he had seen her in it, his breath had been taken away.
As he came up to the bed, he ran his hand up her leg. He knew it was Lois...his Lois. But he stopped as he realized she was cold, all her warmth was gone; her skin was the color of ash. Eyes wide, he started to step back, not wanting to see her face.
But as he turned, he came face to face with Chloe. She looked at him, or more accurately through him as If he wasn't there, then back down to the bundle in her arms.
"I am so sorry...so sorry we couldn't save you..." she sobbed.
Clark then realized with horror that she was holding a child, a baby in her arms. Like Lois, the child was the color of ash. Oliver carefully took the baby from her and moved towards Lois. Clark stepped aside and was then forced to look at her.
She was laid partially on her side, face set as if she was asleep, though he knew she wasn't. Her arms were positioned perfectly to take the baby Oliver placed beside her.
"It is time to let them go...all of them." Oliver softly said, brushing a strand of Lois' hair away from her face, before taking a corner of the blanket wrapped around the baby, covering its face. "We couldn't save them."
Clark shook his head, this couldn't be...
"No...NO!" He moved to try and wake Lois,but instead found himself standing in an empty street.
He yelled out, "Looois!"
There was no answer, her name simply echoed off the buildings and onwards. It was too much; taking to the air, he flew high over the city and all he found was more empty streets.
Then in the distance, he saw the farm and a figure. Landing, he realized it was the creeper, the thing slowly consuming him.
Enraged, Clark demanded, "What have you done!"
"I took them all when you fell."
Clark bolted up so fast, he slipped off the side of the bed; weakly he pulled himself back up, laying back down, shaking.
It had been so real that he found he couldn't get the image of Lois and the baby out of his mind. He rolled on to his side to watch her sleep now, tuning his hearing to hear heart beat. Still missing the way before all this started, when he had been able to not only hear her heartbeat always in the background, but had been able to feel it too. Now he had to focus. It was wrong...just as the dream had been.
Taking a deep breath, he ran his hand over her stomach, wanting there to be a baby, not believing there was. He knew the dream meant something, a sense of danger, just like before the second meteor shower. Sighing, his eyes began to water despite himself; he was trying not to worry.
"Lois...no matter what that dream means...or doesn't, I'll protect you. I won't let him have you...I'll..."
He was interrupted from these thoughts by the opening of the door. Chloe tentatively poked her head in, her expression softened at the sight of him.
"Clark...you okay?"She asked softly, coming around to sit near his side of the bed.
Sitting up, he nodded before rubbing his hands over his face. "What is it, Chloe?"
"I thought I heard you yell out..."Her eyes searched his face.
"I probably did...had a nightmare." He took a deep breath, "Tired of resting...tired of waiting..."
"Well I think we'll be getting closer to ending this soon. Unfortunately, I've traced new victims..."
Chloe's eyes glanced to Lois. Clark didn't need a further hint, he pulled himself out of the bed and they both walked over to the other side of the room, next to the bathroom.
"What now?"Clark asked in a hushed tone.
"A family - Rick and Stacey Evans. He was found dead at the Metropolis docks yesterday, ripped to shreds. His wife, as well, at their home. The children are in comas."
Clark frowned, "You sure it was the creeper?"
"Yes!" Chloe gave an affirmative nod before sighing, "I knew Rick, Clark...I worked with him briefly. He was a meteor freak, had been since the second meteor shower. I helped him and Stacey sort out how to deal with his gifts. He was a good man and now he is dead!"
It wasn't hard to see that she was far more upset then she was letting on. He put his hands on her shoulders, "I'm sorry..."
"Its fine, but it tells me one thing Clark."
"It's attacking those with powers."
"Yes, it lost its hold on you and Lois and if John's right, it's still trying to change."
Clark sighed, "I don't think it lost its hold...not completely."
Chloe looked at him alarmed, "Do you still feel it? Or is Lois..."
Shaking his head, he sighed, running his hand through his hair. Chloe didn't miss the tremor in his hand or the way he clenched his jaw. She couldn't help but wonder if it was more than a nightmare that had made him call out. It was worrying what he meant by it not losing its hold.
"Chloe...I think the fact it's taking so much time to feel...normal...again is a sign in itself that I am not free."Chloe couldn't deny that; it had occurred to her, to them all.
"I believe Lois however, is free and it's why I am improving." Clark glanced at his wife as he said it, taking in how beautiful she was when peacefully sleeping. But then that thought reminded him of the dream and he involuntarily shuddered.
"Hey!"
He looked back at Chloe, eyebrow raised.
"What aren't you telling me?"
"Nothing...I just need to get this thing out of our lives, Chloe. I can't keep sitting here waiting...yet..." He leaned his arm against the wall. "I am not ready...I don't even know how to fight it."
"I have an idea." She held up a hand before she added, "I have some things to work out, then I'll let you know. In the meantime, Clark, just please, please get the rest you need and that includes not staying cooped up in here. As sweet as it is to stay with her, you need fresh air and a change of atmosphere."
"Yeah," he didn't sound convinced. "You will tell me soon Chloe...this plan of yours?" It wasn't really a question.
She smiled, "Of course. I am just crossing my t's and doting my i's before I can tell you. I don't want to suggest it before I know it has a real chance."
Clark nodded.
Chloe headed for the door, getting the feeling he wasn't in the mood for her company. "Oh, if you don't leave this room for a bit this evening, I'll come pull you out."She threw at him before departing.
Despite himself, he smiled and headed back for the bed, crawling in next to her. Suddenly he felt very tired, so much on his shoulders. He had to fight this; break away and save them all. He hoped whatever plan Chloe had, would work and that his dream meant nothing.
Exhaustion claimed him as he put his arm over her and closed his eyes. As far as he was concerned, the best cure for his troubling thoughts and ailing heart was Lois.
~ ღ ~
Stopping just inside the door way, Bruce watched her as she read with glasses on, the papers before her. From the scowl on her face and the color of the folder, he knew exactly what she was reading and why she was unhappy.
"Despite what you may think Lana, it is an improvement."
She looked up, slipping her glasses off and leaned back in the chair. "Is it? All I am seeing is very little change." She looked defeated.
Bruce sat in the opposite chair and tilted his head to the side. "I know, but the results show a decline over all. Which means we are getting somewhere."
She raised a brow at him and shook her head, "Until I have another attack. Then what?And right now that would be the worst thing possible!"
"Why, because he is here? It changes nothing."
"Bruce, it changes everything! He is far from being at his strongest, and one attack and I could bring him down. If what you and Chloe have said about this Soul Splitter is true, then we can't afford to take chances,not even for a small incident to happen to him."
She shifted in her seat at the way he was looking at her; it drove her crazy that Bruce wouldn't give her an inch when it came to Clark, but then he knew all of the garbage... every bit of darkness she couldn't bear to another soul.
He was really one of the few people she could tell things to and could handle them looking at her; he never did so with pity or disdain. He gave comfort when it was really needed, otherwise always pushed her. It was ultimately why she stayed -she knew where she stood with him.
"I told him you were here, and I gave him the general idea of why you were here to begin with."
"You mentioned the treatments?"
"Yes!"
"Bruce why? Don't you understand, it just..."
Bruce stood and held up the folder, "This. Lana, this has no bearing at all right now. The episodes have been more and more infrequent, so you can't hide behind that. If you don't want to face him, then don't, but you and I both know that you can't move forward till you do. You said you wanted to give him that chance. Then do it. "
Lana pushed out of her chair, heading for the door. "I wish it was that easy!"
"It is."
"Is it, Bruce? If it was, then why haven't you called her? How many days have gone by?"
He growled back, "We are not talking about my love life here."
"Nor were we mine!"
"We are, if you include the good Doctor. How long you going to leave him hanging?"
Lana snatched the folder back, somewhat faster than humanly possible, "You know Bruce,there is a reason why they call you cold." Her glare and tone could have taken down lesser men. "Taking the form of a bat it suits you...gives off the right heartless feel!"Then she stormed out.
Bruce shook his head, more amused than upset. Her moods and insults didn't bother him; it wasn't the first time nor would be the last.
He knew he was often rough on her, but he also knew how she now viewed herself and didn't want to be treated. Lana despised feeling like she was made of china. Bruce figured,after the complex soap that had been the triangle of Clark, Lana and Lex, it wasn't surprising she felt that way. It also explained Clark's reaction to finding out she was here.
Bruce was beginning to wonder if he had bit off more than he could chew,having the cast of the Smallville soap residing under his roof. A part of him wondered what Lois' reaction would be and what remarks she'd have for him.
"Master Bruce,"Alfred's soft voice spoke from the door way.
Looking up, Bruce stretched, hoping the older man was bringing him news of some dilemma...anything to excuse him from playing host.
"Yes, Alfred?"
"Ms Chloe told me to tell you that..."he cleared his throat, voice taking on a barely noticeable difference as he mimicked Chloe, " There has been a new development that you should see, so get your behind down here and take a look, and no you can not disturb Clark."
"I take it she is in one of those moods?"
"She and Mr. Queen both."
Bruce stood and followed Alfred out, "Yes, how could I forget about him. I trust you made them comfortable?"
"As much as they would allow.I do believe that Mr. Queen took offense to the room you chose."
A slight smile perked at the corners of Bruce's mouth. It was no secret amongst the others that Oliver and himself could barely be in the same room without being in a verbal sparring match. Not that at times it was much better with Clark, but he actually liked him. Oliver? Not so much.
"Did he now? Alright, then. While I check with Chloe, check on the Kent's. Oh, and notify Doctor Dubois - I think Miss Lang could do with a check up."
Alfred's only response was to raise a brow,before moving off.
~ ღ ~
Clark wanted to join her in the place, but couldn't; his thoughts focused on the baby from the vision. Wishing more than anything that it meant she was pregnant, but the likelihood of that was slim. And if she was, then didn't that make the dream more real? It seemed he couldn't win.
Careful not to interfere with her monitors and saline line, he pulled her close, putting his face into her hair. Remembering the day they had found out that being natural parents was likely to never be an option.
~ 8 months before ~
"How long have you been watching me?" He had crawled into bed after she had gone to sleep, having spent most of the night on the other side of the planet as Superman.
"Oh, an hour or so."
"Why?"he asked softly, avoiding the elephant in the room for the moment.
Lois reached out and rested her hand on the side of his face. "I don't get to see you sleep often. Usually, the only time I get you here for very long is after we..." she stopped. Mentioning sex wasn't usually a problem for her, it was his thing to get bashful at times. ".. then we both tend to be exhausted."She finished, withdrawing her hand.
He wanted to take the sadness from her eyes, but he was unsure of what to say.
"Lois," he began knowing he had to try. "Do you want to talk about it?"
She turned to stare at the ceiling. "There is nothing left to say. I didn't think...I'd be the problem...I mean, Kryptonian and human do not have the highest chances, but..."
"Lois its not your fault,"he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Fighting tears, she shook her head, "No it isn't, but it doesn't change anything Clark!"
Sitting up, he took her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. "Your right Lois, it doesn't change anything. It doesn't change how I love you or that you make me happy. When we are ready, we can adopt. We've discussed this before - you were happy with the idea, to give a child a home the way my parents gave me one."
Lois nodded, closing her eyes. She couldn't speak, not with the hurt so fresh. To be told that the odds of her ever getting pregnant were low had been the biggest blow she could have imagined.
Not caring if she fought him, Clark pulled her into his arms. She didn't fight it, but the moment his hand began to rub her back, offering comfort, she broke down.
"I wanted to..." She sobbed into his shoulder, "I wanted to...give you a child of our own...our baby..." She pulled back to look him in the eyes. "I thought one day...one day we could really try...and..."
Seeing her so upset caused his chest to ache. He cupped her face and wiped a tear away with his thumb. "Lois, listen to me. I wanted that too, but nothing...nothing will ever change how much YOU mean to me. A baby, from us or otherwise, is a bonus. You are what I need...all I need. Please, I know it doesn't help how you feel now," he swallowed, wishing he could find better words, "but please know that when your ready to be a mother, we'll find a child to love, Lois! You know that - we'll love the baby as our own. No question."
She stared into his eyes, soaking up every word. Wondering, as she often did, how he did it - always knew the right thing to say.
"I know,"she said, touching her forehead to his. It still hurt, they both knew it would for a long time. But she knew if he was there being "Smallville", the man that always found the silver lining, she knew she could handle this.
"I love you," He whispered.
"I love you too."
"Always and forever."
Lois smiled; it wasn't a smile of happiness, but of knowing she was loved. He cupped her face and tenderly kissed her lips.
"Clark.," she spoke against his, pleadingly, "Please, make it all go away!"She needed him, needed to know that he would always want her.
He kissed her again, repositioning himself, pulling her all the way into his lap.
She lifted her arms as he swept of her night gown, his hands brushing at all the right spots. Her fingers dug into his back, pressing him to her in the way she knew he liked, not having to worry about hurting him. He kissed her again, only this time it wasn't tender, but passionate and demanding, answering her need.
Continue on to part two..
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