My second fanfic of Smallville, and my first fanfic (attempt) in english. Nothing on SV belongs to me so don't sue me. This fic is a little bit AU but not too far away from the essential plot of Smallville. Hope you like it...and have mercy! Reviews are enlightening so please, tell me what you think.

Text thoughts, POV's and notes.

** Fanfic title, or a change of scene **

** CRUSADE **

It's late and I'm still on the road, although I don't know where I'm supposed to go. Chloe mentioned a Clark Kent...this guy at the other side of the phone line is getting on my nerves...

"K-E-N-T...it's a farm, do you hear me?" the guy answers positively but he's not helping me...and I don`t have a clue...yes...I'm lost...

"Do you have the address?" he says he's going to communicate me with someone else...great!

"hmm...hmm...listen!...the last super genius told me to take this road, now I'm completely lost!" he's asking if there is a signal that can help me to know where the hell I am...

"Well...I see cornfields...owww!" this horrible sound in my cell phone almost makes me deaf. - that's great!- now I'm seriously looking at the cigarette that is so close to me...I can´t let this situation take control over me, so...I'm not going to smoke again...even if my willpower is so weak right now...

"If you smoke that, you'll spend the rest of the night hating you...do you hear me?" yes...I'm talking to myself...lame...I know...the cigarette is now between my fingers, and I'm having my doubts...instead, I begin to search on my purse for some nicotine substitute...a freakin' lightning impacts in the middle of the road and almost kills me! I took a little detour and my car is now in the middle of a darn cornfield...a second lightning impacts in front of me, and a strange energy wave hits the car...I'm starting to think that weird things happen in this town...there's a man lying on the grass...in the same spot of the impact.

"Oh, my god!" I'm getting closer to give him some help...he gets up, and sees everywhere like he was lost. He's confused.

"Are you ok? what's your name?"

"I don't know..." he answered me...and I think that's practically impossible because...if I'm right he's been struck by the lightning and...besides...he's naked.

"I need to take you to a hospital..."

"I'm fine..."

"You've been struck by a lightning, you're naked and you don't even know what is your name...you have a fairly good definition of being fine..." wow!..he turns slowly and faces me...he is COMPLETELY naked...

"Ahhh...look at his face..." yeah, yeah, ok...I didn't see his face...I mean...well...that was a hell of a view...

"I have a blanket on my truck...just stay there, ok?"

"Wait...who are you?"

"Lois...Lois Lane..." Now that he's covered with the red blanket, alive and safe inside the car, I'm still looking at the road...he watches me, then the road, then the sky, and again his gaze is back at me. I, Lois Lane have to confess this is the first time that a man's gaze is making me nervous...We arrive to the hospital, and I'm trying to hide and run...ohh...the male nurse is giving me a speech...I have to take care of my amnesiac naked boy...I made a frown because it seems like he doesn't like the blanket and he just throws it to the floor while he's watching intently a wood sculpture...and I remark...he's TOTALLY naked...the nurse gives him some hospital clothes and we go to the exam room...this is the first time I saw Clark Kent.

Lois admired the view of her new office, from her comfy chair...the office was in the highest floors of the Daily Planet. The view was wonderful...who knew that Lois Lane was going to accomplish such a thing? Perry White entered the room and congratulated the brunette. She thanked him and watched him go in a hurry. Her gaze went back to the tall buildings in Metropolis' limits. She sighed, pleased with herself...but...the truth was that she felt so incomplete...she seemed to have it all, and she didn't have it...how ironic.

"You're my role model, Lane..." Jimmy spoke with a smile on his lips and gave her a shy hug...She smiled too. Jimmy tried to play the matchmaker between them...and he wasn't successful. Nothing could compete against Lana Lang...yes...4 years without seeing him.

"Sweet talker as always...thanks Olsen." Jimmy shrugged and directed his gaze to his camera.

"Well...you better take the lead, because we have a big one." she frowned and understood...a new story...

"Come on...Jenny Blake can do the job this time." he rolled his eyes. She gave him a faint smile.

"There's no one better than you to do the dirty job, Lane." she took her coat and purse, and followed him to the exit. Jimmy gave her a yellow folder containing the basic information about the case.

"Okay...Metropolis...sights of hmmm...strange marks on a few buildings' roofs." Lois read half the texts that Jimmy handed her while they walked in the crowded streets. She stopped when she read the name 'Oliver Queen' between the whole paragraph.

"What's Oliver got to do with all this, Jimmy?" Jimmy stopped and pointed Oliver Queen's apartment under the clock tower. Lois looked toward the place pointed by Olsen...Oliver Queen didn't live in Metropolis anymore.

"Some people found a weird mark on that building's rooftop...in the terrace." she frowned again and re-read the information.

"And I suppose those are the hot news."

"Yes...the whole place is uninhabited and there's no humanly possible way to do a mark of that kind, or with that size in the floor." apparently, Jimmy Olsen had been in the scene.

"Explain Olsen, 'cause I can see that you did your very own research..."

"The mark seems to be burned inside the cement's block, like if it had been burned from the inside." Lois' interest peaked up when she heard that about the discovery, and thought it could be a very good front page. They entered the building showing their ID's, and in the terrace Jimmy took some pictures of the weird symbol, while Lois started to walk in circles around the drawing, thinking about the way the symbol was made, and the grade of perfection in the pattern. Jimmy went for some batteries for his camera. Lois was alone and she knelt and touched the mark. A sudden burning feeling in her lower back made her cry out and then a bright light wrapped her.

She woke up with the burning sensation, and feeling the cold freezing every part of her body...she was in an unknown place...lots of snow and she connected the dots. She wasn't in Metropolis anymore...She walked for who knows how long, until she found a strange ice structure. She felt an energy field forming around to protect her when it seemed that the cold would leave her unconscious. The place was beautiful... like the time that the plane carrying her and Ms. Kent was...no, Lois...just...leave those memories in the past!

"Lois Lane..." the man's strong voice echoed off the walls of this strange formation. Lois gave a little cry of fright, and stood in a fight position, to avoid any unpleasant surprises...

"Where are you...? Who are you...?" She turned and looked around hoping that someone would appear.

"Are you Lois Lane?" This time the voice asked. She felt scared.

"Yes, I am Lois Lane...Who are you? Where am I?" Lois shouted louder, feeling that her questions were being ignored.

"Welcome to the Fortress of Solitude. My name is Jor-el." the tone of voice of 'Jor-el' was a little less intimidating, and she spoke.

"Jor-el, right? Ehmm...Jor-El...Where am I exactly and what am I doing here?" she asked louder waiting for the voice to answer again, but it took too long to respond.

"The present needs to be changed so that your future is not at risk, Lois Lane." it goes without saying that she felt even more fear when he said the word future.

"Hmm...my future feels ok. I don't see why should I change the present." her voice was raspy, as a result of having to raise her voice to whatever she was talking, for it to hear her clearly.

"Your future is by Kal-el's side and you must fulfill your destiny." she raised an eyebrow, and almost let out a loud laugh. Whoever was this guy, he should be suffering from a severe case of psychosis, or he was crazy.

"Yeah...Kal-el...of course...I understand." she smiled wryly as she prepared to leave that place.

"He needs you, Lois Lane." she saw a panel made of crystals that seemed to be shining. She stared a long time. Weird was the right word...

"You'll see, 'Jor-el'...I don't know you...I don't know what I'm doing here, and...I don't have the pleasure of knowing 'Kal-el'..." at the mention of that name, she made a funny gesture with her fingers doing quotation marks with them in the air.

"You know him better than anyone...you are his soul mate." Lois again raised an eyebrow. Maybe someone had brainwashed her and she couldn't recall anyone by that name or...the guy was completely crazy.

"Ok...let's see...maybe I haven't explained myself very good...I told you that I don't know anyone with that name, and about my marital status...I'm single...zero...no compromise...soltera...no boyfriend...okay?"

"The symbol of the house of El lies in you, only Kal-el's soul mate can hold this distinction." Lois nodded slightly as she smiled ironically. Yep, the guy was crazy...but she couldn't dismiss the theory that he could also be drugged.

"The symbol...of course...well...emm...if I help you to 'keep the order of the universe and restore the future', will you take me back where I belong?" she waited patiently as she unconsciously rubbed her lower back, the pain had increased with the cold and was unbearable.
"I will." the sharp voice echoed in the pillars of ice. Lois looked around trying to see if there was a secret room where this guy was hiding.

"Then tell me. Who is Kal-el? What do you want me to do?" she began to despair when she didn't see signs of life in the place.

"Kal-el is my son...he came to earth in the first meteor shower in Smallville. On this planet he's known as Clark Kent." Lois' eyes opened in surprise...Clark Kent...Clark Kent was the last person who she wanted to see again in her life!

"I-I think there must...there must be a little confusion here. Clark Kent, I mean...Smallville...are you telling me that he is not from this planet?"

"Indeed, Lois Lane...Kal-el is the last survivor of our planet, Krypton." Lois let out a small giggle, which then became an open laugh. She stopped to re-state the obvious...

"Clark Kent is an alien!" her voice echoed.

"We prefer the term 'intergalactic traveler'." And on a wall made of glass began to appear images of the arrival of Kal-el to earth and then what seemed more disturbing: there actually appeared images of Kal-el's adolescent stage and semi-adult life. Yes...that was Clark Kent indeed...

"Well...whatever. What do I have to do?" the change in the atmosphere was frightening...the snowstorm had stopped, and only small white flakes were visible on the outskirts of the ice fortress.

"Lois Lane?" now a female voice called her name...did she need to be there, answering silly questions...?

"Yes...I already said that I am Lois Lane." she said a little irritated. A laugh echoed...a laugh...?

"You are strong, you are beautiful...my child must love you very much." Lois raised an eyebrow, and she looked around searching for hidden cameras...this seemed like a bad joke.

"Your...your son? Who are you?" Lois shouted into the air. Long silence.

"I'm Lara...Kal-el's mother." something very strange was happening here, because, well, she knew Clark's parents, and their names were Martha and Jonathan...

"His mother...well...Ms. Lara...errr...How do I explain?" Lois clasped her hands and played with them nervously, wondering how subtly she needed to tell them they were wrong.

"Cla...Kal-el and me...we are just...I mean...we took separate paths." the silence was unbearable.

"That can not be...Kal-el was destined to be with you. What happened?" Lois didn't know that answer to that question. In a few seconds, Lara's question had broken the high wall of Lane pride...how could she answer that?...with the truth?...I let him go because he loved another, and sacrificed myself so Lana could find the cure for the 'strange disease' that didn't allow her to get closer than 6 feet from Clark...

"I don't know...and I still don't understand why I'm here, and what do you want me to do." the male voice regained control of the conversation.

"We need you to go back to him...give him your support...at the moment he believes he is right...the truth is that he's lost and his human feelings have been diverted...he must accept his fate...and you have to become his soul mate, Lois Lane." the ceremonial dialogue of Jor-El did nothing but scare her even more...it is assumed that it was true that we make our own destiny...and now this guy appeared and he said what she had to do with hers.

"No...I can't do that. Cla...Kal-el is mature enough to realize his mistakes by himself...He doesn't need anyone's help." Lois snapped into the air and started to walk somewhat annoyed by the assumption that he and she were...and they weren't because it had happened that way...Lara's worried voice asking her to stay, stopped Lois.

"I ask you to help Kal-el...please...Lois Lane..." and if they continued, her name would wear out soon...

"Just...I just want to go home. I can't help as you ask me. We are talking about someone else's life and in no way...!" the voice of Jor-El telling her to listen carefully, kept Lois quiet. That voice was frightening...

"If you accept to help us, you'll return to your home. If you don't, you'll perish in this place..." Was he threatening her? But who the hell he thought he was to...? Lara's voice was heard again in a tone of warning to Jor-el.

"Jor-el...that's not helping her to decide." Lois sighed deeply when she heard Lara.

"What do you decide...will you fulfill your destiny?" she sighed heavily. Dying of hypothermia...at who knows how many kms. of Metropolis was not a good option to rest in peace...

"...Alright..." her answer was curt and cutting. Lois had made progress in her life, and well...now she had to return to that sad part of her past and confront the person who had hurt her...to help him, no less!

"Listen carefully. You need to return to him to remove the bond that ties him to Lana Lang...she does not belong to Kal-el's fate and is keeping him from it. He denies his origins and is even willing to leave his kryptonian legacy to be with her." having said that Jor-el, Lois felt a chill on her back. She had not heard the name of Lana Lang in a while.

"I can't do anything to stop him from loving her, Jor-el...that's impossible!" The cold was present again, and she could feel the force field weakening by trying to protect her from the extreme weather.

"You had in your hands the power to change Kal-el's feelings and you did not do it. You must think of a way to finish what you left unfinished...you have to get her away from him at all costs, Lois Lane!" And he was still using her name repeatedly.

"Wow!...I get it, I get it...calm down!"

"Then we must assume that you'll do it?" Lara's voice sounded somewhat animated. Lois sighed and with a huge sore throat, coupled with the low back pain, decided to do what was asked. I just want to go back...

"So be it, Lois Lane." She felt the burning sensation in her lower back again, and once more the white light enveloped her.

"Lois!...Lois, wake up!" Jimmy was holding her in his arms. He was scared...he had found her unconscious over the mark on the floor, and she didn't seem to react. A deep sigh suddenly alerted him that she was already aware.

"What...happened?" She slowly sat up and remembered everything that had happened. The burning in her lower came back again, causing her to release a moan. Jimmy put her arm over his shoulders and helped her to enter Oliver Queen's old apartment...with difficulty he got her to sit in a chair that remained in the room. Lois asked what was had happened or why she had fainted. Olsen told her he didn't know. Jimmy called Chloe and told her that he was going to take Lois to her apartment.

** BROOME STREET # 55 ... METROPOLIS **

Steam fogged the mirror glass...45 minutes later; Lois was still enjoying a refreshing marathon shower. She tried with all her might to erase from her mind all that had happened during her period of fainting...it was in vain...the relentless voice of Jor-el ordering what she had to do mortified her so much. She didn't believe that in some distant future she would have to go back to Smallville...or worse...come face to face with Clark Kent...to the person who left without looking back. Even AC and Oliver had been cruel with her...but Clark Kent...Clark Kent took the first place. She shook her head and placed her hand on the wall while the hot water kept traveling down her body. Minutes later she came out a little calmer, accepting that in one form or another she would have to return to Smallville, she covered herself with her favorite towel...entered her room and started to dress...she was putting a red tank top with her back reflecting in the mirror, when she noticed a mark, like a tattoo on her lower back. This was the place that hurt...she arched her back a little for more visibility...she touched there and felt no trace in her skin...the mark seemed to be engraved inside. She recalled the words of Jor-El...the symbol of the house of El lies in you...Kal-el's soul mate is the only one that can hold this distinction. She sighed giving courage herself to ask a few vacation days to Perry, so she could "fulfill her destiny". To her mind came the idea of doing nothing, but then the fear that Jor-el would take revenge against her, made her forget that, as soon as she thought about it.

** KENT FARM ... SMALLVILLE, KANSAS **

He was in the barn...his small fortress of solitude. He took in his hands the diary she gave him. He noted the initials CK, and inside it, remained the pictures where he was at her side. They were taken a weekend at Smallville's fair, Lois and Clark were together and both appeared smiling...he ran his fingers on her face in the picture.

"Lois..." 4 years without seeing her. He took his time to remember how they had met, and each of the moments they spent together...but months after Chloe's wedding, things had taken an abrupt change. He didn't like to remember how they had got away from each other...nor what he had done to lose her. Lana's voice broke his thoughts.

"Clark...dinner is ready...hurry!" He quickly had to hide the photos in the diary, and as soon as she got there, she gave him a soft but quick kiss on the lips. After the reminder of Lois, Lana's kiss tasted bitter...too much. He looked at Lana with some disappointment.

"I'm coming, Lana." The response was devoid of emotion, and Lana remained unchanged even though she knew exactly what he had been doing...she had struggled for years to be the perfect girlfriend after knowing Clark's secret, but that didn't seem to be enough. This was not the first time he was looking at the pictures where he and Lois appeared together...unfortunately there had been many times and she did not bother to keep track...there were too many to remember them all.

"Don't take too long." she smiled discouraged. It was clear that he needed some time alone...the memory of Lois Lane was still fresh on her boyfriend's mind, and that's just got to Lana...she saw that no matter how much she tried...she could never compete with Lois.

* AUTHOR'S NOTES *

This fic has no precise location (mostly season 8). The symbol/mark/tattoo of the 'house of El' is the 'S' in Superman's chest as we know it and here I refer to the symbol in it's original Kryptonian writing (is the scar on Clark's chest when he 'self-exiles' to Metropolis, while using the red kryptonite ring, in Season 3).