Okay, this is part 13 and rumors are that this usually is a frustrating part. I tried to make this a part you've all been waiting for, to break the spell that has been casted on part 13. Unfortunately I wasn't powerful enough and so this will be what part 13 always was. A slightly frustrating one. I hope you'll manage to enjoy it nonetheless.
Thanks to my wonderful beta-reader LaraMoon. I've never seen you make so many comments on one of my stories like on the very last part that I sent you. I'm starting to doubt that I'm still the author. 
From Part 12: For a moment there was silence between Angela and Lois. Both waited for the other to say something. Lois needed time for the news to settle down. This story was hardly believable and she wondered what Clark might have done to make such a powerful enemy.
“Thanks, Angela. I can’t tell you how much learning this meant to me. I’ll call you soon. Bye.”
“Good bye, Lois.” Angela replied and hung up.
Serendipitous Infinity
Part 13 Clark returned to his desk, glad that the rescue had been successful. It had been another bad car accident, but fortunately nobody had died. It had taken him a little longer than he had expected and Clark hoped that Lois wouldn’t be too mad at him. He really shouldn’t leave without even trying to give her one of his rather lame excuses.
He expected to be yelled at; he wouldn’t have been surprised by a pout. However, he hadn’t bargained for the tornado that hit him. She was suddenly there; speaking so fast that even super-hearing didn’t allow him to understand a word. All he noticed was her agitation and he was pretty sure that she had mentioned Smallville once or twice.
“Lois,” he tried to stop her, but she kept on babbling. “Lois!” he repeated, a little louder. She looked at him, with her adorable brown eyes.
“What?” Lois asked, irritated.
“I didn’t understand a word, Lois. Can you please slow this down a bit?” Clark pleaded, smiling broadly.
Lois bit her lip, aware that she had said too much. She could only wish that it had really been to fast for Clark to understand her. The first part was relatively harmless. She had been telling him that there was more evidence leading to Smallville. He had already offered her to take her with them to his hometown for New Year’s. She was only explaining her reasons for changing her mind.
The other part had been one of the infamous pitfalls she kept stumbling in ever since she had met Clark. Lois couldn’t believe that she had really told him about her unauthorized investigation concerning his trouble with Child Services. She couldn’t just throw all the things in his face that she had found out. After all she *had* been betraying his trust, regardless of the result. She had to explain this more carefully, making sure he understood that it hadn’t been like this.
Lois started telling Clark about Smallville. In the process she learned that “robur viridis” was Latin and meant “green force” in English. Knowing this wasn’t really helpful, though. Neither of them had any idea what “green force” could mean or why a group of geologists would use it. Or were they really a group of geologists? Henry Meadows had known the expression and so had a few people around the Smithsonian Institute. Some of them wanted to go to Smallville and Hugh Danes, the director, was on his way to Wichita, Kansas. It couldn’t be just coincidence, could it?
The first thing was easy to agree on. Clark didn’t exactly put up a fight to stay alone with Becca on their trip. He just nodded and told her that they would be happy to take her with them. And the fact that Perry would even let them leave before New Year’s Eve had him pretty excited. Lois wasn’t sure how to discuss the second issue with him. She took his hand and led him towards the conference room, feeling beads of sweat running down her forehead. Partially because she was afraid of the conversation to come and partially because his warmth was radiating through her and threatened to enflame her.
“Lois, what is this about?” Clark gasped in surprise as he tried to keep up with her pace.
“Just come with me,” Lois muttered under her breath. She didn’t want people to start wondering why she was dragging Clark towards the conference room. She silently prayed for him to keep quiet, for she knew that they would be sure to attract everybody’s attention if this didn’t look like a professional talk between partners. Much to Lois’ relief, Clark had caught the hint and was simply following her now. Together they entered the conference room and Lois closed the door behind herself.
“Can you please tell me why you are so conspiratorial, out of the blue?” Clark wanted to know, eying her as if he was afraid that she might have lost her mind. Or was he afraid that she was preparing her next attack on him? Lois blushed at the thought. Kissing him wasn’t on her mind right now; she felt far too uncomfortable with what she was going to tell him.
“Um, Clark, I have been thinking of how to help you with that Child Services problem,” Lois said, carefully, and watched him to see his reaction. Clark’s face remained rather stoic, he just raised an eyebrow, which Lois took as a sign to continue. “I… I’ve called a friend. She was a source for one of my stories, I trust her completely. She will never speak of our conversation.” Lois hurried to explain. In the meantime Clark had raised his second eyebrow, obviously wavering over whether he should be curious or angry.
“You called someone without asking me?” he stated, hoarsely. His tone was revealing his anger; Lois could clearly hear it, though Clark did his best to suppress it. She wasn’t sure if it was the kind of anger he was going to overcome, or if it would finally lead to explosion. However, Lois was relieved that he hadn’t heard all this in her earlier explanation, as she had tried to tell him the great news without checking the water level before she jumped. She could count herself lucky that Clark didn’t know everything already, because she was afraid that even Superman might not come in time to save her from a furious Clark Kent.
“You wouldn’t have agreed, Clark,” Lois replied, somewhat dryly.
“You’re right, I wouldn’t,” Clark said, annoyingly calm.
It made Lois even more nervous than she already was. Maybe he was a volcano. There basically were two types; one erupted right away, flooding the land around it with lava. It looked dangerous, but was really the more foreseeable one. The other stayed calm until shaken by a powerful explosion. Lois was afraid that Clark might be one of those; Clark “Mt. St. Helens” Kent.
“It’s not the Child Services who are after you, Clark. It’s someone else, but she’s a powerful enemy. Her name’s Margaret Donovan.” Lois looked at him, waiting for him to say something. He stared at her with a blank expression. She wasn’t sure if he even saw her, it was more like he was deeply lost in thought. Then suddenly, he emerged from wherever he had been and shot her an intense glance.
“I don’t know this woman,” he said, without any hint of doubt in his voice. Clark was obviously certain.
“Maybe you know her under another name. Before she married Mr. Donovan, her name was Margaret Finnegan.”
“The dragon!” Clark gasped. “I should have known! But how?”
“She’s one of the richest women in the USA. She knows a lot of people and I’m fairly sure that her money and her connections open a lot of usually closed door. You must have done something to really, really upset her, Clark,” Lois answered.
“But how is that supposed to help us, Lois?” Clark asked. “I mean, that is not going to change my situation.” Clark looked a little defeated. He most definitely wasn’t at the verge of exploding. Lois had managed to avoid this trap.
“We could talk to her, Clark, convince her that you a good guy,” she replied, trying to sound confident, which she wasn’t. Clark had made a powerful enemy that wouldn’t be easy to defeat. And she still didn’t know why exactly the woman had become his foe. “Tell me why she hates you,” Lois pleaded softly. Somehow she felt that knowing this would provide her with the right solution. But Clark only shook his head.
“No,” he said, his face flushed. “I… I can’t.” His voice was barely more than a whisper. And then he suddenly turned around, storming out of the conference room before Lois could even try to hold him back.
* * *
Hours later, Lois was sitting in her hotel room. She sighed. She had done it again! It was unbelievable, but she had managed to offend the man who had offered her a place to stay. How could she have done such a thing? Clark had run out on her and she had hardly seen him for the rest of the day. He had mostly been somewhere outside the office, meeting sources or whatever. Lois had the strong feeling that he had only returned when absolutely necessary. He had hardly spoken to her; hadn’t even looked at her. Or so she thought.
She was mistaken, for Clark had looked over to her every other minute whenever he was in the newsroom, except that he had been quick enough to turn away right in time. For people watching them, it had looked like a strange choreography, as one of them always looked up when the other turned away. When Clark had been off to save people or attend meetings, he had listened for her heartbeat as long she had been close enough for him to hear.
Lois hadn’t known what to say or how to apologize. She hadn’t done anything wrong, actually. She knew that everything Angela had told her could help Clark to keep Becca. She had hoped that Clark would thank her, embrace her and hold her tightly. In fact, she had been longing for another kiss. But that wasn’t important anymore. He had taken it badly. Lois sighed again, feeling tears burning in her eyes. She didn’t want to cry. She had wanted to help Clark. He should go to hell for not being more grateful! She didn’t need him; she had managed to live without him for years.
Lois looked over to her window, hoping that Superman might float in front of it, ready to comfort her. But at the same time, she was afraid that she would actually see him there. She didn’t want him to see her tears. Lois sank down onto her bed, staring at the ceiling, blankly. She didn’t want to think about tomorrow or their assignment in Smallville. Since Perry had agreed, he would make Lois and Clark go no matter what they thought of it. Smallville would be a nightmare. Lois didn’t want to spend an undetermined amount of time in the middle of nowhere, without a single friend and with a little girl that might be able to kill with her eyes.
Lois’ thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. She groaned. Superman didn’t knock on the door but on the window. As for all the other living people around, she didn’t want to see them. She heard the knock again, this time sounding a bit more urgent. Lois winced and decided to get up. The day couldn’t get worse, so what was the point in not opening up?
She strolled over the few steps that separated her from the doorknob. A moment later, her mouth gaped open as she saw Clark standing in front of her. His face had a deep shade of red and he looked uncomfortable. Right next to him was Becca, looking just as uneasy as Clark, but lacking the blush.
“Hi Lois,” he said somewhat hoarsely. “I thought you might need help getting your stuff to my place.” He blushed even more. “I… I think I forgot to say thank you, Lois, “he muttered.
“Clark, what was this about? Why have you refused to talk to me the whole day through?” Lois asked angrily. What was he hiding? She wanted to trust him, but whenever she felt that possible, he pulled away.
“Let’s say you touched a sensitive spot, Lois. I’ve still got problems speaking about Lily’s death,” he replied, looking down to his feet instead of facing her.
“This was not about my betraying your trust?” Lois whispered, surprised. He shook his head.
“It wasn’t,” he stated and Lois believed it. But he wasn’t really answering her questions. However, Lois had the strong feeling that he wouldn’t do that this evening. He looked up, meeting her gaze. His expression was apologetic and he was obviously waiting for her to say something, to send him away or invite him in.
“I… I don’t know, Clark…” Lois mumbled, wondering what it actually was that she didn’t know.
“I was confused, Lois. What you told me had me thinking about a lot of things. I wasn’t purposefully avoiding you. So, do you want me to help you check out of the hotel, or would you rather stay here?” he asked. “I thought we should get you moved in, before we head to Smallville. Perry wants us to go there right away. I booked three flights for tomorrow. If you still want to come, that is.”
“I guess, I have to…” Lois said uneasily. “Perry can be very convincing. I… I mean, it would be nice to go. And I would like to come to your place…”
“Lois, are you mad at me?” Clark asked.
“Perhaps a little bit,” she replied with a shrug. “Not really.”
“Can you give me a chance to make up for my stupid behavior this morning?” Clark pleaded, smiling at her almost shyly. Lois nodded weakly. She noticed with embarrassment what even Clark’s small smile did to her. She had to get that out of her mind.
* * *
“It’s nothing special, but this is our home,” Martha said with a broad smile as she gestured towards the comfortable kitchen and living room. “It’s nice to have you here, Lois. Oh, is it okay if I call you Lois?”
“Of course Mrs. Kent,” Lois replied and looked around self-consciously. Being in a place that she didn’t know always made her nervous, no matter how nice the people she met there were. “Thanks for inviting me, but I don’t want to disturb you. I can sleep in the hotel in town.”
“Call me Martha,” Clark’s mother said and chuckled. “We enjoy having guests and I’m looking forward to having another woman around. Becca is a strong girl, but sometimes it’s not enough to overpower my two men.”
“You and Becca are more than enough,” Jonathan objected. “Son, I think the two of us will have to live with the fact that we’re not going to have any rights whatsoever for the rest of the year,” he stated dryly and came over to shake hands with Lois and hug Clark and Becca.
“I guess so,” Clark muttered and smiled. “Lois and I will have to do some investigation while we’re here. I already told you about the things we found back in Metropolis. We think that the series of arsons that happened over the last month is somehow connected to a group of people who want to come to Smallville.”
“All right, son. Find out everything you can about them. I’m sure you two can stop them,” Jonathan said confidently.
“But not tonight,” Martha stated and took Lois’ hand. “Come on, dear, I’m going to show you your room. It’s Clark’s actually but he’ll gladly sleep on the sofa.”
A few moments later, Martha and Lois were gone. Clark, Jonathan and Becca stayed in the living room, slightly perplexed by the new situation. Usually it was Martha and Becca who left the room, telling each other everything that happened in the past days. Jonathan would have told Clark about the farm and what was going on in Smallville. For a while nobody said a word, though Clark could tell that Lois had made his father rather curious. He had told his parents about her, but they had been a bit astonished when he had asked them if he could bring Lois along.
It was Becca who broke the silence. She started a little chat with her grandfather, telling him about her week and how she had spent an evening with Lois. Clark decided to leave the two alone and went out of the living room towards the kitchen. On the way, he met with his mother, who shot him a knowing glance. She smiled mischievously.
“Oh, she sure is pretty, Clark.” Martha said somewhat reproachful, because he hadn’t bothered to mention that. “And she’s a nice woman, too. No wonder you’re in love with her.”
“Mom!” Clark protested.
“Oh, come on. Do you really think you can fool me? I’ve seen that look in your eyes when you think that no one is watching you. It’s way too obvious,” she chuckled. “And I think she feels the same way about you.”
“I don’t think so,” Clark replied almost sadly. “But it doesn’t matter anyway; there is no future for Lois and me.”
Martha studied her son’s face carefully. “Becca will understand, Clark. I’m sure she will. She’s a clever little girl and she wants her daddy to be happy. You know, I was always proud of you because you took responsibility for her. But that doesn’t mean that you aren’t allowed to fall in love with a woman.”
Clark looked down at his feet. His mother’s confidence concerning Lois’ feelings for him gave him butterflies. It was a strange feeling that even flying wasn’t able to give him. He wanted to sweep Lois up into his arms and kiss her senseless. He wanted to go with her for a long walk, telling her about everything that mattered to him. He wanted to share his life with her; she was someone he wanted to take flying. She made him nervous and happy. He felt safe with her, but at the same time she was more dangerous to him than anything could ever be.
“Talk to Becca,” Martha interrupted his thoughts softly. “And tell Lois how you feel about her. You will see that everything will just fall into place.”
“When you say it, it sounds so easy, Mom.” Clark sighed. “But I don’t think I really have the heart to tell Becca.”
“You can’t expect her to accept this easily. Of course she will cry and fight. She will tell you that she hates you and that she would rather run off than to share you with Lois. She will need time, Clark. But in the end she will see that accepting Lois is best for both of you.”
to be continued...
