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Midnight approached Smallville and the moon bathed the fields in silver, making the Kent farmhouse look strangely ominous in the darkness.
Clark lay asleep in his bed, his breathing shallow but steady. The kryptonite poisoning was still affecting him, but the scars had now faded from his face and hands, leaving him slightly sweaty and exhausted. He lay recovering on top of his blankets in the room where he had grown up, looking more vulnerable than the world would believe possible. Lois stood beside him, now that Martha and Jonathan had turned in, knowing their son was home and safe.
The moon cast a gentle glow across his face, highlighting the beads of sweat on his brow and casting dark shadows beneath his eyes. Without the strength that usually radiated from him, he looked fragile and younger somehow- more like the farm boy from Kansas than the Metropolis hero. Lois checked her phone once more for any new messages from Jimmy, but seeing that her notifications were empty, she put it away and looked down at Clark again. She folded her arms tightly across herself, ignoring the nervous knot in her stomach.
Even though she knew he was out of it, she ever so slowly lowered herself onto the edge of the bed, nudging the edge of his cape aside so she didn’t sit on it, and rested her hand on his chest.
“I know you want to save those other prisoners, it’s what you do,” she said softly. “But now it’s my turn to save you. I won’t be here when you wake up. I’m going back to Metropolis to stop Lex. I’ll even drag Perry into this; I don’t care how impossible it seems."
The tears gathering in her eyes finally spilt free, and she wiped them away quickly. At the foot of the bed, Krypto raised his head. The dog hadn’t left Clark’s side since they had landed at the farm, and was lying stretched across the blanket at Clark’s boots, with his front paws resting protectively against them as if guarding his friend from anything that might threaten him again. Lois glanced at him and managed a small smile before looking back at Clark.
“I promise,” she whispered. “I’m going to get you out of this.”
Her hand rose to the top of his uniform, and she ran her fingers across the material. As she did, she gazed at his peaceful face and caressed his neck, relieved that it was starting to feel a little warmer than it had been when they had put him to bed. Lois then leaned down and pressed a long, tender kiss to his cheek, lingering there with her eyes closed. She leaned back, finally and stood up, leaving the room as quietly as she had entered it. She paused as she walked through the doorway and glanced back at the bed where Krypto was watching her from, and a tiny whine rose into his throat.
“Look after him, okay?” She said softly.
Krypto rested his face on Clark’s shin, exhaling sadly through his nose, and Lois sniffed, giving him one last affectionate smile before closing the door. The room fell silent after she left, and Clark slept undisturbed, watched over by his faithful companion at the foot of the bed, while on the lawn outside the farmhouse, Lois got back on board Fantastic’s ship and launched, plotting a route back to the city and the Daily Planet.