[Oh, and Michael, these chapters are way shorter than anything else I've ever written so 10 chapters here is like 5 or less in most other things I've written so take that into consideration too. /me forgot to put that in the FDK thread but doesn't wanna go back...]

Lois was suddenly very aware that she was sitting next to Clark on the very small loveseat and that her hand was resting in his. He'd grown a bit emotional as he'd talked about finding his ship, seeing it for the first time, and she'd almost unconsciously reached out for him. His fingers had curled around hers and she was in no hurry to move it. Let Dan think what he would.

She felt his eyes on their hands and Clark squeezed lightly before moving away.

Lois felt tears begin to well up in her eyes but she swallowed them back until she felt Clark's arm come to rest on the seat behind her, his thumb brushing against her shoulder. She glanced up at him gratefully and he smiled back, leaning over to whisper to her. "Think that'll help him move on?"

"And you didn't try to see if he was alive?" he verified.

Lois glared at him. "You know how hard it is to get down there. No, we didn't try to make sure he was still alive."