Almost Lovers (Chapter Twenty-Two)

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Thanks again to AV for her beta efforts. It's been such a help.

Chapter 22

Lois tried not to yawn as Perry made his big speech. Between a rather shady “party planning committee” meeting with Linda, Martha, and Victor and a rather late night with Clark, Sunday had not been a day of rest.

She’d woke up and stumbled to her door past midnight to find Clark rubbing his eyes and apologizing and telling her he’d just see her tomorrow. Apparently, Perry kept them late with massive edits. She probably should have sent him home, but no. She just had to pull him in and right to her bed, where they barely slept. That was kind of the problem with having the freedom to sleep together. Every time they were in the same three foot radius, it seemed like a waste of time not to be closer.

“…and, we can’t forget to thank The Metropolis Star,” Perry said, raising his cup of coffee among several laughing “boos.” “Now, now, they really helped us out here, firing their only good reporter and making it much easier for us to snap her up.” He handed Cat her name plate. “Cat Grant. Gossip.”

Lois tried not to be annoyed that Perry was making a big speech at all. He didn’t make this much of a fuss when she was hired or when she and Clark broke Met Vista, which was a much larger investigation. Then again, he was in on that one. Maybe Perry just loved surprises.

She supposed she couldn’t be too annoyed. Clark had been moved from his corner to be grouped with her, keeping Investigative together. She wouldn’t be stuck with Cat as a desk mate as she had with Rachel, with Cat being a good twenty feet away at Clark’s old desk.

She pasted on a smile as Cat sauntered over to her and Clark, both leaning against their desks.

“Gossip,” Cat sighed.

“I know.” Clark shook his head. “I’m sorry. I know you wanted something more.”

“Are you kidding?” Cat laughed. “It’s gossip for The Daily Planet. I feel right at home. I think I’ll stick around a while.”

Oh, good!

Cat leaned in and ruffled Clark’s hair. “Just really wanted to thank you for helping me get in.” She straightened and nodded at Lois before moving away. “Louise.”

“She’s just teasing,” Clark said, smoothing his hair and fixing his glasses. “I’m sure she knows your name.”

“Well, here we are.” Jimmy stepped between them, tossing an arm around Clark. “Can you believe this guy? Vacation, he says.” He nudged Lois. “And you never said a word, either.”

“Well, I didn’t know.” Lois said. At first.

“Oh, sure.” Jimmy snorted. “You guys can pull that on Perry, but this is me you’re talking to. Gossip may have confirmed it, but I pretty much already…”

“Olsen!”

“Yeah. Right there, Chief. Sorry. Coffee run.”

Lois stared after him with narrowed eyes. “What is he talking about?”

Clark shook his head, staring after Jimmy as well. “I don’t know. I guess he thought you were in on it.”

“Does he not know me by now? If I were in on it, I’d be sharing a byline.” She turned fully to Clark. “Not that I needed to be. You two did a... an amazing job."

Clark gave her a small smile. "How much is it costing you to say that?"

"Nothing! God! If I say it's amazing, I mean it. You helped cart most of Intergang off to jail, not to mention the super side of it all," she finished on a whisper, leaning closer. "Considering you moonlight as the world's most famous superhero, you have an insurmountable inferiority complex."

He shrugged and smiled. "Maybe it stems from growing up in the shadow of a great reporter."

She tried to think of something -- anything -- to say to that, but couldn’t. It was so ridiculously, genuinely sweet, it made her want to drag him into some dark corner and kiss his face off.

"But I know it's galling you just a little that you weren't in on it."

"Maybe a little," she conceded, some of that urge dissipating since he just had to make her admit it. She grimaced in Cat's driection, who was surrounded by most of the men on the floor. Not surprising, considering her choice of office wear. That wasn’t what was bothering her. It was Perry. He was listening to something Cat was saying… but staring hard at them. “Gossip may have confirmed it,” she mumbled, remembering what Jimmy had said. He hadn’t been talking about general gossip. He’d been talking about Cat! She whirled on Clark. “You told Cat? About us?”

“I didn’t…” Clark stopped. “Wait. I might have said something. But not everything.”

“Clark,” she groaned, “the woman’s name is basically gossip!” Now, she saw it. Everyone in the office had been looking at them all morning and she’d been too exhausted to think it was anything more than Clark’s story. Cat had certainly been a busy girl on her first day. 

“I swear, I didn’t. I mean, we were talking about… general dating and all and she assumed…” He stood straighter. “But I told her it was definitely not you.”

“With your stellar lying ability,” Lois muttered, “that probably told her it definitely was me.”

Perry approached them, but stopped just short. “Lane, Kent, my office,” he said before moving away.

Clark let out a shaky breath. “So… It’s fine. We can deny it and… say maybe Cat got her signals…”

“Oh, why bother?” Lois sighed, slowly following Perry. “If everyone knows, thanks to you, by the way, we might as well be all… coupled out in the open.” Though she might miss the sneaking around. She’d be lying if she said it didn’t add a little extra something to…

“Coupled, huh?” He fell into slow steps beside her.

“I just meant…”

“For someone who doesn’t like to overthink and define things, that’s kind of a definition, so…”

“Can we just get this over with?”

Of course, it wasn’t as easy as all that. Perry seemed to be in the mood for speeches today, pacing behind his desk, holding a hand up whenever anyone, mostly Clark, tried to get a word in.

“…and a violation of Planet policy, which clearly states that any relationship should be immediately disclosed to human resources as soon…”

“It really wasn’t like…” Lois grabbed Clark’s arm and cut him off with a look. You didn’t interrupt Perry White in the middle of a diatribe. You let him get it out. Did Clark not know this by now?

“But I guess the two of you are above rules. Should have known after Met Vista. But the most glaring offense is…” Perry stopped and sat down, staring at them.

Lois squeezed Clark’s arm just a little harder. Not enough to hurt. This was Clark, after all. But he had to stop jumping in with defenses if he ever wanted this to end. Perry was almost done. She could tell.

“Why wouldn’t you tell me? I’m the one who paired you two up in the first place. I probably created this,” he gestured vaguely to the two of them, “situation. Sneaking around like this… Why wouldn’t you be honest with me from the start?”

Clark piped up. Of course. “I was technically on vacation when…”

Lois cut in. “We’re sorry, Perry,” she said, knowing that he needed to hear it. Clark had to stop making himself right about this. This had started in Met Vista, after all. And whether they called it dating then, they had been sneaking around. “When this whole thing started, we just… We weren’t sure how to deal with it or whether there was a relationship to disclose.”

“There just better be,” Perry said in a low voice, eyes on Clark.

Lois almost laughed, wondering if it would be better or worse if Perry knew she was the hold-out. “But we will file the necessary forms now and…” She took a deep breath. “This will not negatively affect our investigative work.”

Perry frowned at that. “It just better not.”

“It won’t,” Clark put in, standing. “I swear. In fact, when we were undercover, we…”

Lois poked him. Perry didn’t need a timeline. “We work well together on several levels. I don’t think you’ll regret your work in,” she tossed Clark what she hoped came off as an adoring smile, “putting us together.” That might get Perry… right in the softer side. “I guess you saw something we didn’t,” she said, hammering it in.

Perry did smile, then. It was barely noticeable to the naked eye, but it was there. “Well, I might have a nose for more than a good story.” Perry stood as well. “But no funny business at work,” he said, ushering them to the door. “This is not the greatest paper in the state for nothing. We have a certain professional image to keep…” He trailed off, staring into the bullpen.

Lois followed his gaze to Cat, who was bending to pick up a pen, to the delight of several onlookers, especially Steve Lombard. She turned to Perry. “You were saying?”

Perry shook his head, scowling. “Might have to talk to her about the dress code.”

“Please do,” Lois muttered as he moved toward Cat. She grabbed a fistful of Clark’s sleeve and pulled him to the supply closet.

“What…” 

She prodded him in and closed the door. “So that happened.”

He chuckled. “You know, Perry just said no funny business at…”

“This isn’t funny business. Everyone knows," she groaned.

“I’m fine with it.” Clark shrugged. “I think we should tell everyone. My mom and… Well, everyone.”

“Everyone?” She paced in the small space. “This is just… I kind of thought we’d have more time. Now, we have to file paperwork and…”

“You were just totally calm about this.”

“Well, you have to be calm in front of Perry. He can smell fear. Anyway, he was right. We did sneak around. Maybe we didn’t plan it, but it happened.”

“And now this happened.” He caught her arm and stopped her pacing. “I know you don’t like to think about the long haul, but… You said before that we might as well be out in the open. Maybe we can tell everyone and my mom at the party. It’s our sixth date, anyw…”

“Could we maybe stop counting dates now?” She had to smile. “I get the feeling you think we should… tell your mom.”

He smiled, too. “Well, she might like to hear it. That’s all.”

“I don’t know. She’s been pretty cagey about the whole thing.” She dropped her smile. “But Linda…”

Clark pulled her in, rubbing her arms. “Linda will be too distracted by the victory to be upset about anything.”

She huffed out a laugh. “I think she’ll win, too.”

“I know it. In fact, I’m going to help make sure of it.”

“Really?”

“I’ll just say Bart had an idea and… we might have a few errands this afternoon.”

So Bart was doing his part. Good. Clark needed to be kept away as long as possible. “I’ll be showing up early myself,” she said, trying to keep her tone light. “Just helping decorate.” Wire for sound and video, like you do.

Clark’s hands moved down to hers. “Maybe, when I get there, we can make an official…”

The door flew open, then. They jumped apart. 

“You guys better be careful,” Jimmy said on a laugh. “Supply closet’s no place to make out. Take it from me. Copy room’s better. More of an excuse to stay in longer. Also it locks.”

“We were just talking,” Clark started. But Jimmy closed the door. He rolled his eyes. “Great. Now everyone thinks…”

Lois stopped him, gripping his tie and pulling him down. “Since they’re already thinking it…” She kissed him, fitting her lips lightly to his until he joined in rather enthusiastically. Just for a few minutes, just to stop thinking about tonight, stop worrying. He wouldn’t be happy about it. He’d try to stop her if he knew. He’ll likely be angry once he does. So she’d take these carefree moments where she could.

**************

“Take these inside,” Linda barked at one of her interns, handing him a box of party hats, then turned to Lois and Victor. “Am I the only one who remembers there’s an actual party to plan, besides all this?” She gestured with annoyance to the wires Victor was trying to hide.

“This is just as important,” Victor pointed out.

“I don’t get it.” She turned to Lois. “Why can’t you just confront her without all the surveillance?”

“So Victor can hear. I doubt Lana’s going to be honest with virtual strangers in the room.” It would just be her and Martha, who’d done her part, calling Lana and telling her it was so important that she come.

“Knowing Lana, I doubt she’ll be honest, either way,” Linda mumbled, digging through her box of streamers. “I’ve got just red and white, here. Where the hell is the blue?” She moved off. “Christmas is over! People, we need blue! Do I have to do everything around here?”

Lois shook her head and plugged in a space heater. There had to be some comfort, even in an interrogation space. She had been contemplating telling Linda about Clark alone, before the party. “But if she’s this snappy now…”

“What?”

She stopped, realizing she’d spoken aloud. “Nothing. I'm tired.”

“Fine.”

She stared at Victor, thinking he’d be as good a guinea pig as anyone, being more discreet than the rest. "Just so you know," she took a deep breath, “Clark and I are… kind of together.”

“Yeah? And?”

She stood, dusting herself off. “And? What do you mean by that?”

Victor shrugged. “I don’t know. We all figured you two had been sneaking around all along.”

“We weren’t…” She stopped herself, knowing they technically had. “So all of you just assumed…”

“Hey, don’t get mad at me. I wasn’t the one making bets on it.”

“Bets?”

“Just little ones,” he said, getting back to work. “It’s mostly Bart and Diana. And not just on you two. They have a whole book by now. Baby pools. Length of Clark's speeches. They both think Martha’s going to win, but they’re torn on just how much credit Linda takes. Almost done. This should go right to the monitors.” 

She wanted to hear more about these bets, but Martha came up the loft’s stairs, sighing, “I just don’t know about this color.”

“I think it looks amazing.” Lois moved to her, eyeing the bright blue skirt and jacket. “Especially with your red hair.”

“You mean my mostly gray hair.”

“Please. You have a few measly streaks.” She pulled some over Martha’s shoulder. “They almost done decorating in the house?”

“Just about. Caterers are setting up. Linda shouldn’t have gone to all this…”

“Of course she should have,” Lois cut in. “Besides, she loves bossing everyone around. And winning.”

“You all need to stop saying that.”

“Haven’t you heard? You’re a shoo in.”

“Yes, I heard and heard and… heard some more,” Martha chuckled. “After an entire day with Linda, I can’t help but…” She trailed off, staring over Lois’ shoulder. “Oh, no.”

“What?” Lois turned, looking out the barn’s wide window. Lana was walking up the packed dirt drive in an oversized hat and sunglasses.

Martha’s brow was furrowed. “She’s early.”

Lois turned to Victor, who only nodded and closed up his tool box. “It’s fine. We’re set.” Lois moved down the steps.

Martha followed. “Now, remember, we’re not going to bombard her. Just very gently sit her down and… lightly intervene.”

“Well, let’s not be too light. We don’t want her cozy enough to keep lying.”

Victor moved past them, head down as he headed for the house, as Martha waved at Lana. “Lana! In here!”

“Oh, hi. You know, I just… decided to walk a little.” Lana suddenly smiled as she approached. “It’s such a nice day and all.”

“Really?” Lois said glumly. “It’s freezing. Where’s your rental car?” Was it crazy that she was dying to watch Lana squirm?

“Not yet,” Martha hissed, nudging her. “I like a brisk walk on days like this, too,” she said loudly and cheerily.

“Well, you know, in case you were wondering why I… I just parked further away. That’s all.”

“We weren’t wondering, Sweetie.” Martha took her arm, pulling her gently but firmly into the barn. “In fact, that’s just what we needed to talk to you about. Why don’t you come up and have a seat?”

Lana looked confused, but she followed. “Has the party… not started?”

****************

“Looks like the party’s started,” Clark said, touching down in the field beside John, staring at all the cars. “Must be half the town there.”

“Along with all your friends,” John said, not moving.

“Not all. Diana’s still in Washington. But she should be showing up later. I figure we should wait till the party winds down, then stay behind for a little impromptu meeting. Come on.”

John just stood there. “I’m still not sure of this. I’ve never been part of a group and to have them meet me by saving me…”

“That’s what they do,” Clark said, annoyed, checking his watch. “How many times do I have to tell you? You didn’t mess up by not handling things alone. You messed up by not admitting you couldn’t handle things alone. No one should have to…”

“Yes. No man is an island. There’s no ‘I’ in team. You seem to have a strange affinity for platitudes.”

Clark stared at his watch, smiling a little. “That’s probably just something I picked up from another father of mine. Anyway, stop being so nervous.”

“I’m not.” John said stiffly, finally moving toward the house through the snow.

“These are good guys, besides being pretty damned competent.” He knew waiting on Happy Harbor was most of the reason they were staying in Metropolis, but they always went above and beyond helping him. They even helped his mother. Bart had the idea of he and Clark speeding around and putting up flyers in the more out-of-the-way parts of Smallville, hoping to get the best possible turn-out of voters and party goers. Considering how many cars he saw, his mother was a lock to win, otherwise Councilman Gallen's bigger, fancier house would be the one that was packed.

Linda seemed to have the party covered as Bart seemed to insist Clark relax and let her handle it. He didn’t relax. He went to get Jones instead, hoping the party might help John relax and just meet the gang socially.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of with these guys. They’re all pretty laid back and well-adjusted and…”

“I will destroy you!” That’s all he heard before a snowball hit him right in the face. He would have heard it coming if he weren’t so distracted.

He saw AC jump down from the porch and run toward them. “Sorry, Bro. I thought you were Bart. Where the hell did he go? If he cheated…”

Bart ran in from behind them. “I did not. I ran at completely normal speeds. No powers were...”

“Dude! Not in front of… company.” AC turned to John. “Hey. Friend of Clark’s? From… work?”

“Relax,” Bart scoffed. “He’s one of us.”

AC smiled. “So you’re the other alien. Cool.”

"Yes. Other alien," John said stiffly.

Bart tossed a snowball up and caught it. “Yeah. We totally saved his bacon. You guys want in? Snow's just getting sticky.”

“I’m good, thanks.” Clark brushed the snow off his coat... and face.

John smirked. “Well-adjusted, huh?”

“We’re just going to join the party,” Clark said, ignoring him. “I’d better wash up.”

He started for the house, but Bart stepped in front of him. “Where?”

Clark stepped around him. “I was thinking the bathroom.”

Bart was still dogging him. “Why don’t you wash up in the kitchen?”

“Because maybe I want to do more than wash up.”

“Well, hell! We’re men, aren’t we? Isn’t peeing outdoors one of the few privileges? And hey! There’s fresh snow out there! I know I’m going to leave my signature. How about…”

He stopped. “What are you hiding?”

“Pffft! Nothing. Jeez. We can make a contest out of it. I bet I can do an entire Bartholomew. Any takers?”

He pushed past Bart, feeling kind of stupid. This whole day he’d been reflecting on how giving and helpful Bart was. He didn’t stop to think Bart had an agenda. He’d been keeping him away this whole time. 

But from what? 

He moved through the crowd, trying to get past the neighbors and well-wishers. It wasn’t that he wasn’t glad to see Ben Hubbard or Ellen Pritchard or even Pammie and Mike Sharp. It was that he needed to get upstairs. Whatever Bart was hiding was upstairs.

He rather doubted it was in the bathroom, though he checked there anyway, as well as in his mother’s room which, apart from two of Linda’s interns making out, looked like it usually did. He cleared his throat loudly, politely looking away as they rushed past. Then he saw it. Several wires coming from the hallway outlet and disappearing under his old room’s door. He could only think of one person who needed more electricity than one room could provide.

He tried the door. Locked, of course. He looked through it, then rapped on it hard. “Open up, Victor. You, too, Oliver.”

“Uh… Just a second.”

He rolled his eyes. “For what? You’ve got an entire Best Buy in there. It’s not like you can hide it.”

Oliver opened the door. “Okay, before you start, we were going to tell you as soon as it was over. Just give them some time before you go barreling in there.”

“Give who time? And where? What the hell is…” His words dried up as he caught sight of the monitors. It was Lana… and Lois… and his mother?

“Just sit down,” Victor said impatiently, gesturing to his old bed. “They’re getting close.”

“Close to what?”

“The truth. More or less. You can never tell with that girl.”

“Don’t I deserve to?” Lana was saying, teary-eyed and pacing up and down. “All this time spent in hiding…”

“But that was a choice you made,” he heard his mother say. “And not necessarily one you needed to make.”

“Yes, I did. I…”

“What the hell is this?”

Victor sighed. “Listen, you’ve had other stuff going on, so we’ve kept this away from you. But Lana needs to come clean about what she’s been doing.”

“What has she been…”

“She’s trying to get Lex committed. We basically saw her at it. Kind of a side-bonus of monitoring Lex,” Victor finished on a mumble.

“You’ve been monitoring Lex!”

“Calm down! It was just in case. The guy’s gone nuts, anyway. I’ve been telling Lois he should be put away, anyhow, but she wanted to…”

“This is insane!” He shook his head and backed out.

“Clark, don’t…”

****************

It seemed to be going… okay. Between Lois’ bad cop and Martha’s good cop, Lana was finally telling some truths. Just not all of them. In fact, she seemed to answer every question with a question. Definitely a hostile suspect.

“You can’t deny it, Lana,” Lois said tiredly. “I’ve seen everything.”

“Well, why were you watching?”

Another petulant question. “Because once I saw you taking a bus wearing medical scrubs, I had to know what gives.”

“Is it a crime to have a job? To ride the bus?”

“Lana, stop avoiding the question,” Martha sighed.

“She’s hammering me with so many, I barely know which one to answer. I don’t see how this is any of your business,” Lana said, then more gently, to Martha, “Mrs. Kent, it’s true. I’m out of money and… I’m just working my way up to having… some normalcy. Belle Reve has good benefits and…”

“And access to Lex Luthor,” Lois finished, tired of dancing around it. “Lana, I saw you at his place with Doctor Carson.” She also bugged him, but she didn’t think Lana needed to know that. She hadn’t even told Victor that part. It didn’t yield much, anyway. 

She was silent for a long time. “I needed to make sure,” she said softly, looking down. “I just… I wanted to be sure he wouldn’t know me. That it was safe.”

Finally. Something. “And that’s why you worked with Grady, too.”

Lana looked up sharply. “I never… I didn’t…”

“Lana,” Martha started, “Lois looked up your employment history at Belle Reve. You worked with Lex’s doctor before. Why can’t you just admit it? I sympathize, Honey. I really do. You were probably just afraid.”

Lana let out a long breath. “I was afraid. I wanted to be sure he wouldn’t come after me.”

Lois kind of wished Martha had held back some of that good-copping. She almost liked Lana better sputtering and stuttering. It seemed more like truth. “Did you convince Grady to do it?”

“Do what?” Lana’s eyes were wide and unblinking, almost too much so.

“Erase Lex’s memories,” Lois clarified.

“I thought Lex lost his memories due to post-traumatic…”

“No, he didn’t,” Lois cut in impatiently. “Kevin Grady was not a valid psychologist. He was a meteor freak who erases memories.” And Lana knew that. She had to have.

“Oh, my… Really?”

Lois groaned and stood. She didn’t have time to sit through more play-acting. “And what about the money?” she said, trying a new tack. 

“What about it?”

“You don’t seem to have any.”

“Is that a crime?”

“Is that your answer to everything? Of course not. But Lex has plenty.”

“What are you trying to…”

“I’m trying to say that I won’t be surprised if Lex getting committed comes with your official coming-out party and control of his assets and company…”

“Lois,” Martha started.

“No. I’m done beating about the bush. It’s freezing in here.” She turned to Lana. “Do you or do you not plan to come back to life when Lex is away.”

Lana stood. “I hadn’t thought that far…”

“Yes, you have! You’re talking to Martha about big fundraisers like... the grand dame of Smallville. Can you honestly tell me Lana Luthor is not going to come back to life?”

“Don’t I deserve to?” Lana yelled, finally showing some emotion that could be construed as real, pacing. “All this time spent in hiding…”

“But that was a choice you made,” Martha said, still gently. “And not necessarily one you needed to make.”

“Yes, I did. I had no other choice! He slapped me!”

“I know all about that. I also know about your plan to let him take the fall for your nonexistent murder. Clark may have been on board at the time, but I don’t think a slap should come with the death penalty, so…”

“What the hell are you two doing?”

“Speak of the devil,” Lois groaned as Clark bounded up the steps. “You know what? Fine! Take her side again.”

“Again?”

“Yes. Again. I read all about it. Everything she does is just fine by you. She can stalk Lex and collude with his doctors and pretend to be rich and work at Belle Reve and…”

“Clark, she’s been treating me like a criminal!”

Clark turned to Lana. “You work at Belle Reve?”

“Only just… see, it’s…”

He put his hands up. “I need a second. Come here.” He pulled Lois away. “Okay, what’s happening here?”

“Just a little girl talk,” she said, crossing her arms. 

“Don’t joke. You’ve got my mother in on this… interrogation?”

Martha moved to them whispering. “I prefer to think of this as more of an intervention. I know it looks strange, but it's for the best.”

“Well, do you also know Victor’s turned my childhood bedroom into some kind of war room?” he hissed. “He’s monitoring this whole thing with Oliver up there.”

“Well, of course, Sweetie,” his mother whispered. “They couldn’t be in here, obviously.”

His eyes widened. “How long have you two been planning this?”

“Just since yesterday. When Lois told me about her investigation…”

“You’ve been investigating Lana?” he hissed at Lois.

“Somebody needed to.”

“How long?”

“I don’t know. Since Christmas.”

“Since Christmas! And you went on about me keeping the Moxie’s situation…”

“I tried, Clark. I tried to let things go, but she kept lying. She left me no choice. Once I found out she was trying to get Lex committed, I knew we had to confront her.”

“And you didn’t tell me any of this?”

“You would have excused her and explained her behavior away like you always do. There's something off with her and you refuse to see it. It's just Lana: good, Lex: bad. Nothing in between.”

“You know, I’m still here,” she heard Lana say. 

Lois whirled on her. “Then you tell him! Go on!”

“Why do you have to make it sound so horrible? I have the right to insure my own safety and future and…”

“And if it’s all so innocent, then why have you been hiding?”

“Because it’s not your affair!”

“What about Clark and Martha? They’ve known you all your life. Tell them it’s none of their business!”

Lana turned pleading eyes to Clark. “Just listen…”

She was good. Lois had to hand it to her. When Lana laid out all of her little derring-dos, they sounded less underhanded. Reasonable, even.

“… and I just want my life back,” Lana finished tearfully. “Clark, Mrs. Kent… I don’t want to spend another year alone, away from everything I care about. You two are the closest thing to family I have,” she swiped at her eyes. “I care about you. I care about this town. I just… I want my life back.”

There was silence. Lois was not sure how to fill it. Lana had basically confirmed everything she’d accused her of. She was right – right about everything. So why did this feel so wrong?

Clark stood, silently gesturing to Lois. She stood and followed him to a corner. “Victor says they’ve been running surveillance on Lex.”

Lois nodded. “For some time now.”

“They seem to think he should be committed.”

“Yes, but…”

“I don’t understand you two,” Lana said from the other side of the loft. “Why won’t you just let me have this?”

“It’s not about that,” Clark said tiredly, turning to her. “It’s about right and wrong.”

“An obviously insane man gets the help he needs,” she said loudly. “I get to stop hiding away in Florida. What is wrong about any of that?” She turned to Lois. “I know I lied. I know I snuck around. But I did it so things get put right. This is right,” she said, her voice pleading.

Clark glanced at Lois. “Do you agree that Lex should be put away?”

Lois moved back the table and leaned heavily on it. “He certainly seemed unstable.” 

She felt his hand on her back. “Then maybe we should just let this happen.”

She glanced at Martha, who gave her a sad smile. “I don’t know. Maybe we should.”

Lana let out a long sigh. “You’ll see, Mrs. Kent. I’m going to do so many amazing things for this town. When you win…”

“Okay.” Martha put up a hand. “Everything else aside, please stop jinxing it. I haven’t won anything.”

“I think you have, Mom.” Clark moved to the wide window. “If the cheering in the house is anything to go by.”

“I don’t hear anything.”

“But I do.” He turned from the window with a smile. “And here comes Linda.”

Linda was running to the barn. “We won! Martha!” 

“For goodness sake.” Martha ran down the steps. “Linda, you should not be running around in the cold. Think of the baby!”

“Please! The baby’s thrilled, too,” Linda panted. “They called from town hall.” She stopped to catch her breath. “Still a hundred left to count… But we won by two hundred already, so…”

“We won,” Martha finished, squealing just a little.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Put away the rotten tomatoes. The story’s not over yet.