~*~

...four…

~*~

It was still dark, and an eerie silence had settled over the house when Lois was pulled from sleep. The rain had stopped.

She rubbed her eyes, blinking as she tried to focus in the gloom.

It was emptiness that woke her.

An emptiness in the bed beside her.

She could see why. Clark was standing by the bedroom window, staring out into the night. Staring at nothing, and everything.

"Clark," she whispered, "Honey? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Lois," he said, without turning around, "Go back to sleep."

"You're not fine," she contradicted him, "I can tell. Come on… come back to bed."

"In a minute."

Lois sat up, propping herself against the pillows, and watched him. The lines of his body were rigid, and fused with tension. He was standing completely still, like a statue, and it frightened her.

And, as always when she was uncomfortable, or scared, she tried to lighten the mood.

"This wasn't how I pictured the night of our engagement to play out," she said, "There's less sweating, for one thing."

"I'm sorry," said Clark.

Lois bit her lip. Rebuking him for apologising – yet again – would not be appropriate in the circumstances.

"Talk to me, Clark," she almost begged, "Please! When you put this ring on my finger, you made us partners. Let me help you."

"I don't need help, Lois," he said, finally turning around, though now his face was cast in shifting shadows, "I'm just… I dunno, I guess I'm trying to figure out what I'm feeling."

"Let me take a swing at it," she suggested, "When you saw Lex tonight, when you realised he was really alive, you felt… relieved? Happy?"

Clark chuckled. He stepped to the edge of the bed, and then sank down onto it.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"Because I know you," said Lois.

"It's crazy," said Clark, "Lex did such… terrible things. He caused so much pain. He killed people, tortured them – he tried to kill me! So why was there a part of me that was so glad to see him again?"

"Because you were friends… once," said Lois, "And you're not a person who gives that gift lightly."

"We were best friends," said Clark, "When you came to Smallville, things had already changed between us. In the beginning it was… different. It felt like we were a team. It felt like… like we'd both make an impact on the world, and we'd do it together."

"Well, maybe this is a second chance," said Lois, "Maybe this time you can do it right."

"I thought you didn't trust him," said Clark.

"I don't," said Lois, "Not as far as I can spit him. But those are my issues. And whether I trust him or not, it doesn't matter. If he's right about Doomsday, and he ends up saving you… I'll be grateful to him for the rest of my life."

Clark smiled. Lois leaned forward, cupping her hand to the back of his head, she planted a soft kiss on his brow.

"Come back to bed," she whispered, again.

~*~*~*~*~

The LuthorCorp Geo-Thermal Facility, once ringed by electrified fencing, and boasting tall concrete structures that punctured the Metropolis skyline, had all but collapsed. A temporary chain-link fence now provided minimal security, and the only reason the city's street kids hadn't converted into a skate park yet was it's location (some two miles past the motorway), and it's mystique in the annals of Metropolis history.

This is where The Blur had buried The Beast.

Maybe a couple of die-hards would venture near it on a dare from their friends, but they'd always be careful not to get too close. Their memories of the bloodbath were still too fresh.

Clark, garbed in his black trench coat, dark jeans and t-shirt that bore the silver symbol of his house, stood on a pile of rubble, gazing disapprovingly at the gaping hole in the ground. He didn't need his X-Ray vision to confirm that someone had dug their way down to Doomsday, but he did a quick sweep anyway.

Nothing.

Clark clenched his jaw and his fists.

How could anyone be so stupid? So irresponsible?

Doomsday had been responsible for the deaths of hundreds, and now someone had opened the door to his geological prison.

Clark heard him coming a long way off. He didn't move until Lex had climbed up the chopped ground to stand beside him. In their coats, they looked like mourners at a funeral.

"You believe me now?" asked Lex, eventually.

"About the fact that he's not here, yes. Everything else…?" Clark shrugged.

Lex smiled, and shook his head, "We have to find this thing, Clark."

"I'm aware of that," said Clark, "Just not so sure how we go about it."

"We go talk to Tess."

"We?"

"I think seeing me might throw her off her stride a little."

"It might at that," Clark admitted, "So let's go."

Clark turned, and started picking his way back down the blasted slope. Lex followed.

"I like the new outfit," said Lex, "What did you do? Raid my closet when I was gone?"