Justice League: The Heir of Hecate

Hunted

Clark woke just before sunrise. It was a habit he'd had since he was a kid. Growing up on the farm in Smallville armed him with a lot of habits that had carried over into adulthood. Rising out of bed, he began the morning routine. He showered, shaved and brushed his teeth while the morning news played on the tv in the living room. The weather was just being reported on when his phone rang.

"Good morning, mom," he said with a smile on his voice. Morning calls from Martha Kent were a pretty regular thing before his death at Doomsday's hands. But ever since he'd been resurrected they were a necessity.

"I'll never ever take hearing you call me that for granted again," Martha sighed into the phone.

Clark grinned at the joy in his mother's voice. After so much loss and pain, just knowing that the burden had been lifted ever so slightly was something he felt a deep and profound gratitude for. They would always mourn Jonathan Kent, but as long as they had each other it was a little more endurable.

"What are you going to do with your day?" Martha asked. Chickens clucked in the background and Clark could close his eyes and imagine he was on the farm with her.

"Well, I'm off today so I thought I'd take it easy. Maybe make a little trip down to Smallville to visit the woman in my life."

Martha giggled at her son's humor. "Honey, if I'm the woman in your life then you're doing life wrong."

Clark let out a light chuckle.

"I mean it, Clark. Don't you ever get lonely? What about that Lois girl? She's always seemed so nice."

"Lois and I are friends, mom," Clark gently reminded her. "Nothing more."

"I know, I know. You always say that. But you know she thinks you hung the moon, Clark. Maybe some of the stars too."

Clark felt a pang of guilt ricochet throughout him. When he'd first met Lois, he'd given her the wrong impression, leading her to think there could be something between them. He'd spent so much time afraid of hurting her that he'd inadvertently made things worse. It wasn't until just before Lex Luther orchestrated the battle between him and Batman that he'd finally found the courage to tell Lois the truth- that he didn't feel the same way she did. Then Doomsday attacked and he laid his life down to save the world from the creature.

When he'd been brought back to life by what would eventually become the Justice League, Lois had been there. In fact. It had been her presence that had calmed the initially disoriented and aggressive Superman. He'd attacked the others and had even come close to killing Batman when the voice of a friend drew him back to himself. Recognizing Lois, he'd felt a fog start to lift, taking the confused anger with it. Knowing he needed safe surroundings that could bring him some measure of peace, he'd left the city behind, taking Lois with him to Smallville.

"I know this isn't ever going to be anything more than a friendship, Clark," Lois said as they stood in the cornfield just outside of his childhood home. "But I'm happy to have that. And so happy you're alive again."

Clark turned to her and smiled sadly. "They brought me back part of the way. But it was you who helped the rest of me find a way back. I'll always be grateful."

Lois wiped her tears and smiled up at him. "You're a special man, Clark Kent. And I know you'll find a man just like you some day."

Clark stared down at her in amazement.

"What? You think I didn't kind of figure it out? Only the guy who thinks glasses are enough of a disguise," she laughed. "Besides- I'm the best investigative reporter on the planet. Right?"