"Lana's Return"

I had so much fun writing my first Smallville fanfic, "Smallville: The Finale" that I wanted to write another one. PLEASE read and review. Oh, and I'm 110% CLOIS!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

…..

CHAPTER 1 - THE PREDICAMENT

Lois felt herself waking up. She couldn't remember when or where she fell asleep, but she knew one thing: she had a splitting headache. She went to raise her hand to her head, but something was restricting her arm from moving freely. She opened her eyes slowly. Panic immediately sent her heart racing when she looked at the scene before her. She was lying in a bed inside of a free-standing jail cell. The jail cell which contained her seemed to be inside of a very large warehouse. The bars of the jail cell were all glowing an eerie green color. Her hands were handcuffed to the headboard of the bed on which she lay. And the handcuffs were glowing an eerie green color. "Oh my God," she whispered to herself as she sat up a little straighter and fear rose inside of her. "It's Kryptonite."

48 HOURS EARLIER

Lois and Clark hustled into the Daily Planet on a regular Monday morning. They had just celebrated 6 months together as husband and wife, and were loving every minute of it. They made no secret to anyone about their relationship and marriage. Though Clark "geeked it up" well at work, it was easy for any woman to see what Lois saw in him - his charm, his heart, his genuine concern for others around him. Clark and Lois worked so well together - not just in reporting, but she helped cover for him at work when he needed to duck out quickly and perform a Superman duty, and always provided him with a soft place to fall when he had a hard day out as Superman and just needed some loving arms and reassurance that what he did really mattered; Clark helped soften Lois from her Mad Dog Lane exterior to Lois Lane Kent - a woman who could allow herself to be very vulnerable and warm-hearted.

"Lane, Kent, glad I caught you," Perry said as they entered the bull pen.

"What's up, Perry?" Lois asked.

"The Planet has hired a new photographer," Perry said. "His name is Zac Easton, and he's highly skilled and highly sought after. The only reason we were able to snatch him up on such short notice is because his last place of employment shut down unexpectedly, so their loss is our gain. He'll be shadowing you two quite a bit as you cover the clean-up from yesterday's tornadoes." As if on cue, a man with piercing blue eyes and dirty blonde hair who stood about Clark's height and build walked up. Lois noticed many of her female colleagues doing a double-take on him.

"Zac, right on time," Perry said. "I'd like for you to meet one of our finest junior reporting teams. This is Lois Lane and Clark Kent."

"Hi, um, nice - nice to meet you, Zac," Clark said pushing his glasses up on his nose and then shaking the man's hand.

"Welcome to the Planet," Lois said warmly while extending her hand out to him as well.

"Thank you," Zac said. "It's nice to meet you both."

"Perry, maybe between the tornado coverage we're providing, and now getting some of Zac's pictures to go along with it, Clark and I will no longer be introduced as your junior reporting team, but senior reporting team?" Lois suggested.

"Give me a one-of-a-kind, GREAT story with great shots, and that sounds like something we can discuss," Perry said as he left the trio.

"So, uh, Zac, Lois, you ready to head out?" Clark asked.

"You heard Perry," Lois said. "A great story with some great photos, and that private office upstairs is ours, Smallville."

"Smallville?" Zac asked, his eyebrows raised.

"It's kind of a nickname that Lois gave me several years ago," Clark said sheepishly. "I grew up in Smallville. On a farm. She used to tease me that I was nothing but a farm boy from Smallville."

"Yeah," Lois said with a grin. "But then I got to know him. And I got to know the people of Smallville. And it all grew on me. So what started out as a semi-insult has turned into a term of endearment."

"Term of endearment?" Zac asked. "You two are an item?"

"Item might be too loose a term," Clark said, holding up his left hand to show his wedding ring. "She's my wife."

"And don't you forget it," Lois said, giving a small wink and a flirty grin to her husband before turning her attention to her desk to retrieve her tape recorder, notepad, and a pen. "Enough chit chat. Let's get this show on the road."

As they were heading outside to hail a cab, Clark heard someone calling his name. "Clark! Lois!" He turned his head in the direction of the voice.

"Lana?" he asked in utter disbelief.

"Lana," Lois said in a guarded tone.