Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow: Full Circle

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow: Full Circle

PROLOGUE

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow: Full Circle

A/N: Post-Aqua, so forget everything else you know. J/K. Important stuff to know is that Lois still lives with the Kents, and Jonathan is still alive. This idea was birthed back then, so the story really doesn't follow the current Smallville continuity.

As an FYI, one of the main plot ideas in this story was influenced by a story I read on lcfanfic-com a while ago. I can't remember the title of author at this time, but I will keep looking and let you know when I find it. In the meantime, that is a wonderful place to find some great reading fodder.

Edited: Found the fanfic in question. It is In a Better Place, by CC Aiken. Wonderful fic, and great inspiration (thanks to Nan from Zoom's board for the help identifying it). This fic can be found at the LnC boards located at www.Lcficmbs.com.

Chloe stopped her car in front of the Kent farm and jumped out. Rolling her eyes at the sight of Lois's SUV parked next to the barn, she jogged up the porch stairs. She and Lois were supposed to meet for a movie, but Lois hadn't shown up, and she wasn't answering her phone.

She jumped slightly as the inner door flung open right as she was about to knock. Clark's mom peered at her through the screen and sighed. Chloe frowned as she reached to pull open the door.

"Mrs. Kent? Is everything okay?" Chloe could tell from the worried look on the older woman's face that it wasn't.

"Hi, Chloe," Martha replied distractedly. "I thought you might have been Clark."

"Clark?" Chloe glanced around the kitchen warily. "I haven't seen him… is Lois here?"

As Clark's mother turned to answer her, Jonathan Kent entered the kitchen from the den and slammed the portable phone down on its headset.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed, with muscles tensing in his jaw.

Chloe's eyes widened. Something was definitely up.

"Um… hi Mr. Kent," Chloe greeted uneasily.

He must not have noticed her before because he spun around in surprise at her voice.

"Chloe," Jonathan said, his voice rising slightly as if he was both surprised and relieved to see her. "Did Clark say anything to you about taking a trip?"

Chloe's eyebrows rose. "No," she answered thoughtfully. "I… uh, he didn't say anything to me. Did he tell Lois…?"

Martha shook her head. "She's gone too."

Chloe's head tilted to the side as she looked between Clark's parents. "Gone? But her car…" she protested, using her thumb to point behind her, outside.

"Maybe they took a walk or something…" Chloe's voice faltered. From the looks on their faces, the Kents weren't buying the took-a-walk theory. "How long have they been gone?"

"A day and a half," Martha replied softly.

"A day and a half?" Now Chloe was catching on to the worried tension. She had thought it was strange that Lois hadn't called her after work yesterday. It was very odd for Lois to have gone somewhere without her car…

Chloe pulled out her phone and began dialing.

"Chl…" Martha began, raising a hand.

Chloe heard the echoing ring and turned her attention to the cell phone that was on the counter near the coffee pot. It was Lois's phone.

"Oh." Chloe stated, flipping her phone shut to end the call. Lois didn't have her car or her phone. That was even stranger.

Chloe tried to put everything in perspective. There had been other times when Clark had disappeared from his home without telling his parents. Having since learned what had spurned that strange behavior, she knew Clark's parents were justified in their worry.

"Have you called the police?"

Jonathan nodded. He gestured toward the phone. "At least, we've tried calling them. They said to call back when it's been a total of 48 hours."

"I thought it was 24…" Chloe stuttered, confused.

Jonathan looked at her with sympathy. He knew she must be worried about her cousin. He sighed. "Turns out, its 24 hours from when the usual routine changes."

As Chloe sat speechless, Martha continued with the explanation. As she talked, she kept herself busy wiping off the spotless counter. "We figured that something was up when neither of them showed up for breakfast yesterday. Clark wasn't out doing his chores and Lois wasn't in her room…"

Chloe internally released a small smile, hoping that this whole thing was being blown out of proportion. This was her cousin after all. Lois Lane not coming home one night was not a strange occurrence… at least it hadn't been before she moved to Smallville.

"The sheriff feels that Clark's history of taking off belies the need for an APB… and with Lois and he both being over 18…" Jonathan added.

Chloe nodded awkwardly. She had been guilty of thinking the same about Clark's disappearances earlier. She wondered how to justify Lois being gone for a few days without taking her cell phone or her car… She couldn't.