She heard the sound of sparking equipment above her. The feel of a cold hard floor beneath, the assaulting smell of burnt plastic and flesh along with highly ionized air. For just a second, Tess thought she was back in watchtower with him leering over her, “Come on Tess..tell me where it is and this will all be over..more quickly.” His smooth suave voice holding just the right mixture of menace and sexual overtones.
“No..” She blurted out , eyes snapping open. She was in Watchtower, the place was in disarray, Lois was there too, she could see her laying not more then a few feet away. Other then these similarities the differences stood out glaringly, Watchtower had changed quite a bit in the last few years, not to mention the sinking in of reality of what had happened cleared the momentary terror. Clark Luthor was not there, it had been a memory mingling with the haze of returning consciousness. A cruel joke.
Only the cruel joke wasn't over, it had simply altered.
Her right side, from her arm to her leg, felt bruised and made it a little hard at first to pull herself into a sitting position. A familiar and friendly voice spoke up calming her nerves, bringing with it firm arms, helping her the rest of the way to her feet.
“Are you severely injured?” Tess looked up and into the concerned eyes of her favorite Martian.
She shook her head which sent a wave of nausea through her, “I don't believe so, not anything that can't wait.”
He nodded, and once he was sure she could stand without his support, he moved over to check on Lois and Ronnie who laid not more then a few feet away. He glanced over at Tess who was checking over Lana. The small brunette was slumped up against a wall branded with a large scorch mark to the right of her.
They exchanged a look of concern, John spoke first, “Ronnie should wake momentarily, Lois ..” He touched her forehead again and shook his head, “ I am not certain..” He trailed off.
Tess frowned and added concerning Lana, “ She's alive, pulse and breathing stable. I don't think it hit her straight on. “ She gingerly touched Lana's side where the fabric was slightly melded into burnt flesh. Despite the shock she knew the woman’s system must have taken, the burn in itself, wasn't going to kill her. The second skin had more then likely saved her life.
It could have been considered cruel irony, that the very suit that had allowed Lana to save them twice, had been the very reason she was severely injured and alive. When the crack of booming thunder exploded quite literally out side watchtower, they all had looked up almost as one in shock from seeing Clark and the creeper disappear on the screen, to find glass raining down on them from the doomed ceiling above. Lana had reacted with speed to push Tess and Ronnie out of the way, preventing them from injury. John had been standing closer to Lois, shielding her from the falling shards.
Communication had shut down but not the surveillance system or satellite feed. The ever improving Watchtower computer had already begun to track and monitor the sudden change just out side the building and surrounding Metropolis.
To say Lois was upset would have been an understatement, none of the others were particularly thrilled by what they were seeing. Though seeing was wasn't accurate. Tess could barely track the movement and neither could the feeds with the speed in use, as well the teleportation. The Soul Splitters mode of transportation was not only virtually instantaneous but violent as well. Causing hiccups in the feed and a battle with establishing stable communication with the rest of the team.
“Has it grown?” Lana spoke up almost as soon as they had started watching the terrifying display of aerobatic wrestling.
Lois, who had been biting on the tip of a finger, whispered, “Yes..” Not even a second after the word was spoken, did the feed with the view of the Daily Planet flicker and Clark and the creeper appear in their endless grapple. They barely missed the rotating golden planet before disappearing again. Though from that particular position it had been obvious the creeper was now bigger then Clark himself.
Tess kept half her attention on this observation and the other half on the information streaming in front of her as she finally secured communication. It had taken almost three minutes to do so, way to long.
She didn't wait for pleasantries, not with what she was now able to hear coming from the rest of the team, “They're in Metropolis!! Practically appeared just above watchtower, interrupted communications, I'm trying to track them but they are moving fast...”
“There is panic in the streets,” she continued pausing to take in what she was seeing. The weather had not only changed and become severe but something seemed to have shifted between Clark and the creeper, they had stopped moving, hovering not that far from Watchtower itself.
“Superman and it have stopped moving..” She found herself continuing watching, silently confused, “the creeper has grown, its changed..”
And it was then in that moment the irony of Lana second skin came into play along with the visual horror. Clark jerked back violently just as the Soul splitter dived for the city, it vanished, electrical tendrils arched out on all sides from where it had been, one hitting Clark himself as several others zapped straight into Watchtower.
“... Oh My God!” The exclamation exploded out of her, not just from what she was seeing but the way it made her feel, the sight of the Soul Splitter even from the distant satellite view left her feeling unsettled.
She barely got the words out before everything around exploded into chaos. She was only marginally aware of Lois grabbing her head as Lana was grazed by a bolt, inexplicably attracted to the suit she wore, saving the others who would have been its victims.
Now in the aftermath, she watched John lift up, first Lana and then Lois, bringing her to one of the beds, Ronnie following groggily behind. Deciding to leave the injured to his care, Tess turned back to the computers and monitors which for the most part continued to spark violently.
The storm that carried on outside and with increasing violence, boomed around them, still inflicting the tower with its rage. It wasn't really safe there but it didn't sound like it was safe anywhere in metropolis.
Frustrated, she tried to get communications back up but there was nothing except a high pitch static that screamed over the system, forcing her to cut it off. What was going on?
The sickening feeling inside her grew at the loud cry that erupted from the balcony. Tess turned to look up, worried, not even registering the power outage or the generator that kicked on a moment later. The voices of John and Ronnie, the sobs and sounds coming from Lois made one thing clear.
Whatever was happening..it was getting worse!
Dragged down. The sensation of sinking with claws gripped around ankles, tearing at flesh. Only they weren't, it was the soul being shredded. She could feel him, the essence of who Clark was being consumed.
Clark...
Reality around had slipped away, replaced by a painful nightmare, a hell shared by two souls. Lois had no awareness of grabbing her head and crying out, or falling unconscious as Watchtower sustained damage. She knew only the connection with the man she loved, and the demon responsible for so much suffering.
Grasping on to him. She tried to protect him, save him from being lost.
Fight Clark.. I believe in you!
Lois sent him love, flowing outward, hoping it would be enough. That he could hear her somehow, know she was there.
Perception of time was not available in this darkness they shared. Eternity and an instant felt the same, but Lois also felt something change, Clark moved. She could feel all that she had poured out to him sent back to her.
Pulsing out with love in the beat that linked their souls. He heard her, he would fight.
It was at the point her own torment would begin in full. Suffocated in Clark's emotions 'it' lashed out at her. The scream she let loose from inside erupted outward into a deep cry, a sob of anguish.
The only thing she could be grateful for, even in that state, was the awareness that Clarks own condition, the red k infused in his veins, had pushed the creeper away from him, preventing Clark from knowing the true extent of her suffering. He had to be able to focus, not be distracted by her.
In the few minutes since her suffering began she descended into a madness. Memories, emotions, and perceptions both her own, Clarks and at times others, filled her. A painful agony in knowing that others were now beginning to suffer as she was. An agony that went down to her soul as it devoured her.
Why it did not do so quickly? Why it prolonged her death was a thought her mind could not focus on but it allowed her to still feel the connection with him..however fleeting.
Unaware of her continuing cries or how she thrashed in response to being drained, Lois Lane-Kent sent her heart, all that she was, the core of her being, to the one man she trusted with it completely.
Ronnie had never felt anything like it, nor heard cries like the ones coming from her friend. She had been a nurse at a hospice and nothing there could compare to the sound of suffering or the emotions she was sharing. She knew it wasn't just Lois' own but others from around Metropolis.
One by one the Soul Splitter was grabbing, staking claim to bonds and draining people slowly. It hurt. Ronnie thought that if she could give a physical description to it would be that of having ones bones pulled out slowly while burning alive.
If she had only been trying to save herself she would have given up, so great was the pain. But the desire to help her friends, and all the victims currently sharing in the wretchedly slow agonizing demise, was far greater then her wish to be free of the turmoil to spare herself.
Ronnie never even had a chance to resist being pulled in. Once Lois became caught up in the darkness Ronnie felt herself being dragged along with.
Lois..
There was no response though she could feel her. Lois was trapped and all Ronnie could do was give her her strength. If Lois had it then perhaps Clark would too and they could all be saved. There was no guarantee, no promise, that they would not suffer till death claimed them and it would all be for naught.
Lois..
John called out for her. He was the only one who could now. Ronnie had fallen into the darkness with Lois. Tess could only help by holding green kryptonite close, hoping it would have some effect.
Bart repeated Clark's words. Normally he would have felt awkward at relaying such a message, but the experience he had along with the look on Clark's face fueled him. The words spilled out of him more even and calm then he felt.
Lois responded after a minute. Unexpectedly, he felt her urge him, telling him to go help Clark. At the mental argument he started to respond with, that he would not leave her, Lois pushed at him.
Clark needs you.. go..
Then the brief contact he had with her was gone. Pulling back, John didn't hesitate, he knew what needed to be done.
“Cathy.. take deep breaths.” Perry softly ordered through a pain-filled voice, holding on to the distraught woman who normally didn't seem to let anything phase her. Now though, like so many, she seemed inconsolable. Even terribly ill.
Any other day the news being made right outside his window would have been top priority, he'd have been pissed with having loads of reporters all ignoring it. But this wasn't just any day.. this was pandemonium. He could hear cries erupting from outside his office, along with the constant booming that shook the panes of his office windows so hard he was afraid they'd break. None of that included the terrifying display of fireworks and violence that flashed over the city.
Of course, he couldn't see all of it but at one point, before Cathy seemed to have lost her mind, they had stood together in shock as Superman and some unknown foe almost collided with the Daily Planet. Later, he'd learn they barely missed the globe but from where he was, the view he had was alarming enough.
It had started as nothing more then a crackle of thunder and a flash of light that gave Cathy pause as she delivered some of Clark Kent's articles to him. She had stood mouth hanging open mid sentence. Perry followed her gaze and found himself equally mesmerized with horror as the simple storm became more,and the hero, who had been missing for thirteen days ,was in what appeared to be in an embrace of death.
Now, as he held his sobbing assistant, he felt non of the initial excitement that comes from seeing a story explode on ones own doorstep. Instead he was scared, frightened and there was a pain inside him that was growing steadily.
Perry white was afraid that in a matter of minutes he'd be no better then his assistant, who whimpered occasionally, mostly lifeless in his arms.
What was going on? Where they under attack from something? That thing Superman battled?
Despite the increasing agony inside, Perry gently laid Cathy on the floor. “Shhh.. sweetheart..” he practically croaked. Crawling across the floor to his desk, he leaned against it for a moment breathing against the pain, ignoring the emotional torrent going through him.
Focused as much as he could be, Perry opened his bottom desk drawers. His eyes flickering to the forbidden bottle, but they settled on the camcorder that had shared in several adventures and mishaps. Pulling it out, he turned toward the vibrating window. If he was going to die, he'd die a reporter. Evidence of the story on film that would hopefully survive. A legacy..
A small part of him retain the hope Superman gave, that even though it seemed grim, it would all work for the better. And the planet would have its story..
“You don't think he..” Dinah's voice was a stressed whispered. They stood as a group at the far end of the warehouses. Emil and Victor had been set up with what could only be described as a contraption. Victor connected to a computer with a laser mounted over a small crystal in the familiar shape of the Kryptonian pentagon with the House of El symbol in red.
No one immediately replied as they stared up at the sky trying to spot him despite the storm in the distance. From where they stood, it almost had the feel of a nuclear explosion right in the city itself.
When it had become clear they had lost any and all communication with Watchtower, Chloe focused on getting whatever she could on the condition of Metropolis via Wayne enterprises satellite. The rest of them debated momentarily, going to Metropolis wasn't a possibility, even if wasn't for the travel time involved, a good 20 minutes at the least, they would likely be useless.
Instead it had been decided to head over to where Emil, Victor, and Zatanna had set up base. Zatanna had played guard dog while Emil and Victor waited for Clark to get the creeper into position. They had been on the other side of the warehouses, close enough to get back up or be backup, far enough away to hopefully not be noticed in the thick of it till they were needed.
“There isn't anyway of knowing.”
“We sit tight. Wait.. its only been maybe six/eight minutes.. He has to get it in position!” Bruce took turns glancing between the sky and the contraption Victor sat hooked up too.
A portable doorway to an empty phantom Zone, ready and waiting. Victor connected to the system allowed them an interface that could react at a word or a thought with no worries of interference. Emil monitored it all while the crystal glimmered at the heart of it. All they needed was some sign of Clark and the Soul Splitter and they would trigger a chain reaction that would hopefully free the world of soul eating menace.
“Come on Clark.” Oliver repeated over and over under his breath. The sound of the generator that powered it all was the only sound other then their own hearts that pounded with anticipation. With each minute that passed they grew more worried, were they now left to battle this thing on their own? Was their friend and colleague gone?
He flew up searching for more sun to gain enough strength, on his own he wasn't at his strongest and the red K that still surged in his veins was tempered by the knowledge of suffering and death around him.
The people of Metropolis, his wife, anyone else if he died before defeating 'it'. The weight of the little capsule that contained the fury of death, clenched between his teeth, was another reason all the chaotic urges and thoughts were kept in check.
She had been right. Of course she was, after all Lois knew him better then anyone. He could handle this, he would feel no shame.
Breaking out above the storm, Clark closes his eye as he drifted upward but the relief from the sun was short lived. There isn't time for this..
Opening his eyes, not even a second later, he turned down ward and looked around, taking in the sight of the tempest slowly expanding below and hearing the cries of people. Terror and something more …
Swallowing Clark, held back again the thoughts of who he couldn't save and how he knew she was suffering. It would be over soon, he had to do this right. Question was how did he get it away from the city?
He never needed to question further. Clark was taken back by the presence of a friend that followed him out of the darkness.
“John!” Clark voiced loudly, even at their height above the storm the noise of wind and lightening was almost deafening. He was equally alarmed , relieved and unhappy to see him.
“Kal'El, I have come to help. ” John had no need to raise his voice knowing Clark could clearly hear him.
“You can't be here, You'll expose yourself..they'll need you, she'll need you!”
“She is why I am here. Your wife sent me. And with this!” John held up a lead lined bag Clark knew contained green Kryptonite.
Why? Why had she? He didn't need to finish the thought. Lois who knew his weakness, understood the plan and the fact the creeper was also kryptonite sensitive. They shared the same weaknesses even if not in the exact same way.
The plan was formed in a moment. In Johns hands the lethal green rock could be a weapon, diversion, a way to get the Soul splitter away from his city, his wife. End this.
John watched his face in the seconds Clarks mind turned, and then his eyes focused with clarity on his martian friend. There was no way he could know Clark had changed a detail, an important one. It didn't matter, how he would help, would regardless, be the same.
“I'll go first, push it out, follow and keep it back.” Clark ordered. John nodded, waiting.
Too much time had gone by even if it was barely a few minutes. A lot could happen in that time.
With all the strength he had, Clark took off at sonic speed straight int the heart of the storm, where he could feel it consuming.
The storm demanded attention even at the speed he was moving. He marveled at the pain he actually felt from it, how it tore at his suit, caused his nerves to scream. Focused though, he ignored it all, slamming straight into the soul splitter. It felt like hitting a brink wall, but there was no time to register the pain as 'it' reacted to being forcefully shoved right out of its own self created retreat.
They spun out, continuing to move at a speed to fast for the average human to endure. Clark pushed it off as they slowed, not that far from where the battle had first begun at the warehouses. Flying up and away Clark was not surprised as it moved to go after him, screaming with hunger and rage. He could sense its frustration at once again being interrupted by the very food source that it needed the most.
The Soul Splitter had no intention of letting the Kryptonian ruin all that it had accomplished, he had made consuming him hard, giving it a metaphysical stomach cramp. It would win. Despite this delay, it would take the man into itself even if it meant persisting through infliction, it would have this world. There would be no limits.
It did not succeed at reveling in this thought process or catching its prey as suddenly it felt a completely different sort of pain. The physical aspect of itself reacted first to the boiling inside of it. Stopping, it turned and found the source. Held not far from it, in the hands of another, one neither human or Kryptonian, was a green glowing rock. It had felt this before but never like this. It could not be held back, it had to succeed.
It moved towards John only to scream, twist, thrash in a gray swirling mass, as even the element that resided in the metaphysical reacted to the green kryptonite. John knew what Clark needed, moving closer forcing it down nearer the ground. The creeper reacted violently, unable to process, unable to resist against the forced retreat.
Clark watched making sure to block it from going anywhere but down. Once it was no more then a 100ft from the ground did he signal for John to stop, knowing the Justice league team below were now aware of them and waiting.
It was time to free himself of its hold on him, so he could send it away.
There was no way he could warn them of what was about to take place, it had to be sudden, even if it wasn't for the fact they'd have tried to talk him out of it. He hated himself in that second for the torment he was about to put Lois through. Knowing she'd forgive him wasn't enough. Knowing that his death would save them wasn't either.. but there was simply no choice.
As John stopped, Clark dove down towards it from behind, grabbing on in spite of the fury it unleashed. All who were watching thought he'd break the black capsule on it, or shove it, broken, inside of the creeper. Not one expected for Clark to bite down, crushing the shell, releasing what could only be described as psychedelic whirlwind. A scene only imagined in a trippy nightmare.
Clark hooked himself around the Soul Splitter like a vice while it seemed to separate into multiple versions of it selves, each one reacting violently. Spitting and turning, falling and flying. Around and around in circles a dozen babbling voices, a dozen screams.
Once upon a time, he would have been subjected to the same reaction. Time and experience and love had helped him to accept his kryptonian side. There was no longer two separate aspects of himself, Clark and Kal, but one coin with two sides. United in thought and belief, united in love and hope.
Instead the black Kryptonite pulled the Soul Splitter from him. The seed, the link it had with him was now being broken for good. And what it had taken from him ..not the energy but the pieces of his own soul were being returned. It was painful, it was torture and he knew very likely could lead to his death.
Far more importantly, it meant freeing her from a terrible fate and stripping the creeper of its newly gained power. Jor-El had said it would not react well, that unlike Clark its nature was divided many times over. It would not be able to sustain its recent changes, it would become fragile, easier to control.
Lost in the midst of light, power and torment, Clark held on. His own body feeling each and every bit of the what it felt, feeling as if he would also be torn apart as it left him and he left it. Separation of being.
Consciousness fled, thought ceased but he held on. Trust in those that fought for Justice allowed him this, hope that she would be alright, and that maybe so would he.
It screeched, fought to keep its hold on the city, on her and on the kryptonian. It could not.. each effort was met with resistance. It's nature splintered, torn apart. The individual aspects that had once been many were now once again so. Combined into amalgamation of horror, need, and darkness they had gone for power the sole united thought, but now separated once more they were lost in chaos, panicked, angry, fearful.
One by one a dozen hooded phantoms flew in a cyclone. Leaving Clark alone to fall away to the earth.
“CLARK!!” The cry reverberated off the walls of the tower. Ronnie echoed Lois' call, though lost in the same nightmare she laid still, the one thing Tess and Bart could be thankful for.
One moment they been waiting, hoping John could lend the help needed, that all would end soon. The storm outside had yet to cease its pounding and Lois along with it had cried out, shook, needing them to hold her down.
Like so many across Metropolis, they felt the slow burning agony, a sensation of something clawing from the inside. They could not escape it, they could only hold out.
Then it had changed. In an instant, Lois had thrown them off her with enough force to knock them off their feet, by sheer luck it wasn't off the balcony. Pulling herself back up, Tess hadn't expected the sight before her eyes.
Lois surrounded by a strange light.
For a second her body seemed to be pulled in multiple directions at once before it settled to merely shake at hyper speed, glowing with various colours of rolling energy.
The pain inside of both Tess and Bart expanded to an intensity that neither could help but fall to the floor. Their own cries mingling with Lois' scream that filled the Watch Tower.
Victor tracked the movement even before any of the others had even noticed it. With just a slight thought he sent the necessary single activating the crystal that began to glow and pulse.
“10” He intoned out loud. Counting down with a space of ten seconds between each spoken number.
Bruce glanced at Victor, the crystal and then back to the skies. Where were they? He didn't have to wonder long.
“9”
Stopping not that far in the distance above them, the Creeper was forced down by John and Clark.
“8”
Six pairs of eyes watched riveted as Clark dove for the Soul Splitter. Five reacted with alarm as Clark and the creeper began to vibrate.
“7”
Then increased agitation as it split apart into a dozen separate versions of its self. Swirling around in a chaotic cyclone.
“6”
“5, step back, power build up imminent.”
Emil watched the dial. The others took a step back to be behind the machine with Emil. Superman fell out of the twister.
“4”
His body hitting the ground could be felt from where they stood. Nothing could be done to help him.. not when it was about to open up.
“3”
Oliver took his eyes off the sky, waiting for his friend to stand. When he didn't he turned to meet the stare of Bruce.
“2”
Worry reflected between them. Emil pointed, just below the cyclone a crack began to form to fill the sky with a bright blue light.
“1”
The light, the crack began to pull, the strength of it tugging at things more then a 100ft away laying on the ground. Walls, windows, bodies all felt it.
The screeching of the Soul Splitters various selves being sucked in and flooding light of the portal forced the members of the Justice League to cover their ears and turn away.
It ended within a span of 30 seconds.. then silenced stretched out. The storm above Metropolis had faded with the portal closing. There was a soft rain and the sort of quiet that left only the sound of beating hearts to pound mercilessly in chests and ears.
Awareness returned slowly like walking through mud as thick as molasses. He ached. He was tired, and a small part of him didn't want to return. He had dreamnt of long brown hair and soft skin, a beautiful face, a voice that sounded like heaven whispering words of comfort. He wanted to rest there always.
“Clark?” An anxious voice softly inquired. It wasn't the voice of comfort. But it was one of a friend.
Despite this desire to stay, he let himself drift back into a world of light and intense sound. There was a definite sense of déjà vu. He had done this before.
Unclenching his jaw, he grounded out in a voice thick with worry. “Lois..”
“Shh.. she is fine, sleeping.”
Clark felt a hand slip into his own, fingers squeeze. Chloe continued, “It seems you both are competing for the title of sleeping beauty.” Eyes would not open yet, though he didn't need see to know she was relieved, able to joke.
“What.. What happened?” Finally they fluttered and the light grew stronger but it did not hurt. It took only a second to get his focus and find her face.
Chloe smiled at him before answering, “You did it!.. Its' gone Clark..” There was so much relief in her voice it made him ache. He really hadn't expected to survive . To swallow black K and live!? How was it even possible?
As if drawn by an unknown power, he turned his head fully to the side and found her. Laying on another of the beds in watchtower only three feet away, she looked peaceful. At ease, just a sleep. Even the colour of her skin was better then the last time he had seen her. A great weight lifted off him. It was done.
Trying to sit up, he groaned with frustration from the weakness that spread through him. Chloe put a hand to his chest. “Clark, wait.. give it a few okay? You just went through the proverbial exorcism and trip to hell all in one go. ”
“I need her..”
“I know. Hold..” Chloe undid the brake on Lois' bed, and slid it closer, so she was now within arms reach. Moving around to now stand on the other side of him she watched as he picked up her cousins hand. The tender way his fingers slipped between Lois' caused tears to form in her eyes.
Swallowing, Chloe took his other hand and squeezed again. “She'll be fine. Only sleeping now, she needs it, you both do. Ronnie said it was like you both had slipped away. It wasn't the darkness but ..” She shook her head causing her blond curls to bounce, unable to explain it any more then the redheaded nurse had been able to.
Clark continued to stay quiet, just enjoying the feel of her hand in his, the sight of her. After several minutes he finally turned to look back at Chloe, taking in the damage he could see of the watchtower as he did so.
Chloe could see the questions in his eyes, “It was worse then this.. I imagine by tonight clean up will be finished. Oliver and Bruce have been full steam ahead since you were brought here.”
“The storm?”
“Yes.. Metropolis is in a bit of a state. Once you're back on your feet, I am sure the residents could do with the Man of Steel clean up. Not surprisingly, people are still in shock. The storm last night brought a lot of questions and left a lot of injured. ”
“Dead?..” the question came out cracked with guilt. It didn't matter how many years he had been doing this, would be doing it, he could not escape the emotion.
“Clark.. “ Chloe wasn't new to this with him, “None of us would be here if you hadn't faced it. There was no way of knowing how it was going to react, where it would go, or how it would respond. You saved a city, Clark. There were a few deaths but you saved so many..and at a huge risk to yourself, Emil says its going to be a few days before you're a hundred percent.” She didn't state the obvious, how they were lucky they hadn't lost him.
If only it was that easy to shake off the ones that didn't make it. To simply be glad he was alive. Before he had a chance to dwell in the thought he heard his name come out in a breathy whisper.
Unsure where he found the strength from, Clark pulled himself up and leaned over his wife. “Lois..I'm here.”
It took a moment before her eyes fluttered open and found his. The smile that spread across her face took his breath away, “You did good champ..” she whispered.
Clark laughed softly, “Yeah.. but only because you were with me.”
Lois sighed and gave a slight shake of her head, “No.. “
“Yes..” Clark brought her hand up to his lips, “I know you were there, Lois, I felt you with me. I don't think I could have done it, found the strength without you. You are my strength.”
A tear slipped from her eye from his words. Feeling heavy and drained it was the only response she could give. But the relief of seeing him there and knowing it was over flooded through, and she wanted to express how proud of him she was.
Despite the signals her brain sent to her body to sit up, to hold him, she found she couldn't move. Simply far to drained. She accepted the alternative of lifting her hand and touching his face.
“Smallville.. you had all you need in that heart of yours. You always have.”
Bending down he responded with a kiss, “I love you, Lois.. Always..”
“I love you too, Clark, forever..”
Continue to Part 3..
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