"Can you stop, please? I'm fine! Honestly, go...go! Clark, I will push you out of that door..." Annie said while he looked at her sceptically.
"You wouldn't dare."
"I will if you don't stop fussing around me like some mother hen!" Annie said while crossing her arms over the loose jumper she was wearing. The week in hospital had passed, her concussion was pretty much gone, though it was still lingering. She was discharged and despite Rebecca's wishes, Annie went to the farm...even with its minor state of construction. Annie had simply said something along the lines of: "That's where Clark is, and I want to be there." Rebecca hadn't even contradicted that, the hopeless romantic kicked in and she commenced letting out a lot of: "Aw's", and, "Oh that's so cute," and other such things.
Annie had been discharged with a supply of painkillers for her ribs, and other injuries. She'd just taken a few and was more than settled on the sofa in the living room. Propped up with cushions and pillows, as a throw cover was over her legs. She had no intentions whatsoever in moving. In fact, she could feel the painkillers kicking in, which meant that she was about to sleep for the next couple of hours. She honestly spent most of her days since leaving the hospital sleeping. This was the first time she'd moved from his bedroom to downstairs. She was getting slight cabin fever shut away upstairs. So, with help being carried down the stairs by Clark, she had relocated to the living room.
He naturally wasn't too fond of this idea considering between himself and Martha they were taking down the temporary boarding which was covering the hole in the wall, and today supplies had arrived to fix it. He didn't quite like the thought of building work going on around her while she was still in a state of healing; not that Annie seemed to care. If she stayed upstairs any longer, she was going to go mad. The living room was in a state of normalcy, it had been tidied up and anything which was destroyed and broken was thrown out. It seemed a little empty seeing as how one of the sofas was thrown out having been littered with shrapnel which had embedded itself into the cushions.
Clark looked down at her as she narrowed her eyes up at him, "Fine."
"Fine." Annie repeated with a slow nod as she tried to keep looking serious only to laugh. "Seriously, you need to help Martha. I'm fine, I feel like I'm going to sleep for a bit. But if I need you, I'll shout, okay?" Annie said while watching as he crouched down in front of the sofa. "Go," she pointed over the back of the sofa with her thumb. "I'm still going to be here. I'm not going anywhere." She reached out and ran a hand through his hair before keeping her hand against his face. He smiled slowly and eventually nodded, leaning forwards he kissed her gently before kissing her on the forehead and standing up to leave. Annie listened to his retreating footsteps with a sigh. Huddling more into the pillows which surrounded her she shut her eyes and simply drifted off to sleep, the painkillers she was given were quite heavy duty.
It was much later that she woke up, the lingering sleep got promptly yawned away as she hoisted herself awkwardly up. Through her sleep, she had seemingly managed to lay down, laying down flat on her ribs hurt and there was a rather painful pull around her midsection as she moved to right her position. Slowly placing her feet on the floor, she sat upright for a moment and waited for the room to stop swaying slightly. She had moments still where things weren't as stable as they seemed.
Though she knew from experience that it was just the last of the concussion leaving her. She took a few moments to stare endlessly at her socks before coming back to reality. Getting lost in the scribbly pattern was not what she was intending to do. No, she was intending to go walkies; though she knew full well this was likely to kick start Clark's worry, again. It was sweet, she couldn't even lie, she found it incredibly adorable how much he worried. He hadn't seen her the last time she had a concussion really. He had stormed off and left her alone for a week. He never saw the after effects, Annie had been ill this time, she had moments of sickness, almost fainting, the memory loss was lingering ever so slightly but most things had been remembered.
He just didn't know how to help her...Annie got it, he could stop Zod from killing nearly everything on the face of the planet, but when it came to an injury, he didn't know what to do for her. So, his little mother hen mode kicked in, and though she did find it cute, she also found it annoying. Trailing a hand along the wall, Annie slowly managed to walk out of the living room. She peeked around the door and listened, by sounds of it the work on the other section of the house had stopped and they were taking a break. She could minutely hear talking from the porch, so she made her way slowly and steadily forwards. Pushing open the screen door, she shuffled forwards, and of course as if on cue, there Clark was trying to stop her.
"Seriously!" Annie laughed while he stopped her walking by putting his hands on her shoulders. She placed hers on his waist to steady herself, she may have started to sway slightly in her upright position.
"You said if you needed me you'd call, what do you think you're doing?" Clark asked while firmly looking down at her worriedly.
"Getting fresh air..."
"And you didn't think to ask for help?"
"My legs work fine, it's just the rest of me...my balance especially, but I'm good! I didn't fall over, did I?"
"You almost did," Clark pointed out with a frown as he slowly turned and helped her towards one of the porch steps. Holding onto the banister, Annie managed to ease herself down, she smiled at Martha when she eventually sat beside her.
"How's it going?"
"Not too bad, how're you feeling?" Martha asked casually, behind them Clark just looked from one to the other with a slightly incredulous look. They were acting so normal. He seemed to be the only one having a moment of pause over this. Considering she almost fell over, Annie was clearly not stable enough to get up and walk about without some sort of help. Yet his mother didn't seem to compute this and the two sat casually talking about what paint could be used on the outside of the house, and what furniture could replace that which was damaged.
Martha stood up and moved inside though when the phone started to ring, Clark walked over and took her spot. "Can you stop looking at me like that? I'm not going to shatter like glass, Clark. Seriously, I was much the same when I last had a concussion. My mum literally had to practically carry me about and help me with every little thing. This time...though yes, I am a little worse, I'm seemingly recovering quicker. Okay, I probably should've called for you...but I didn't want to distract you from your work." Annie said while looking at her cast and frowning slowly. "Want to sign my cast?" She grinned childishly as she looked at him.
"Promise me if you need something you will actually ask for help?" Clark asked while putting an arm around her shoulders gently. He couldn't disagree or comment against her words, yet he could only press the offer of help and for her to take him up on it, if she needed it.
"Fine! I will!" Annie whined and rested her head against his shoulder. She shut her eyes and enjoyed the silence, and the gentle warm breeze which was travelling through. "Clark?"
"Hm?"
"When you're finished here, and I get the all clear from the hospital, what are we going to do?" Annie asked, sounding a little concerned. She couldn't pin where her concern was coming from, she just felt it. As far as she could see, the house was basically all done; Annie, though discharged from the hospital, still had to go back for checkups, once these had finished she didn't know what to do.
"Look for somewhere to live?" Clark offered while leaning away from her and watching as she looked highly thoughtful over this.
"But most of Metropolis is destroyed..." Annie said sadly not really wishing to think of all those who were hurt and killed. Clark's easy disposition did shift to one of tense sadness, he didn't want to dwell on it either, but it was an obvious note to point out. "You need a job!" Annie exclaimed happily deciding to change the topic, they could think of an apartment later.
"So, do you."
"I've not been fired...technically...although, I don't think I could go back. Not without Doctor Hamilton...has there been any word of a memorial for him and Hardy and the others yet?" Annie asked looking at him with hopeful eyes, if anyone could catch wind of any news, it would be him.
Clark frowned and shook his head. "I think sources are being spent on trying to get the city back under stability, once that's done I think there's going to be shared memorial service for everyone." He paused, "They can't do the service while the city is like it is..."
Annie twiddled her fingers and frowned, "Can we go?"
"Of course," he leaned down and into her line of sight. He smiled gently, "I would not have thought otherwise, or even thought of not attending. You lost a dear friend, and a close colleague...you need to go to say goodbye, Annie, and I wouldn't stop you from doing that." He paused, "As soon as we are able to find out when it is, we'll travel down." Annie nodded numbly at this, "Even maybe look for places to possibly live? We might as well do both, counter the sad with the good, equal balance and all that."
"Still need money for you," Annie said while looking at him smugly. "You need a job."
"About that..." Clark shifted awkwardly and ran a hand through his hair before scratching the back of his neck. Annie turned slightly on the step and looked at him curiously. Clark thought over possible ways of wording his next sentence, either way he knew Annie would say something, because she did often have a comment to share.
"You've got one already?" She questioned sceptically. Though she doubted that hugely. When and how he managed that she didn't know. How would he have been able to find a job when saving the world? His priorities had been a little larger than finding a steady job to pay bills, rent, and even a deposit.
"No, but I've been thinking." Clark paused to see her look curious over that sentence. "I think I know what I want to do."
"Oh?"
"Yeah..."
"Clark just come out with it. You avoiding telling me really isn't filling me with much confidence." Annie said while leaning forwards and resting forearms against her knees.
"I'm going into journalism." Clark said as simply as possible as he watched Annie's eyes snap open, she turned quickly and looked at him, only she evidently moved a little too fast and she squeezed her eyes shut again. With a groan, she held onto her head and breathed deeply for a few moments while he gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Annie!"
"Sorry...what? But...how? How did you come to this decision?" Annie's eyes opened as she looked at him.
He smiled lightly, "It sort of makes sense, don't you think? Where else am I likely to keep up to date on the happenings of the world?"
"Ever heard of instant news updates on your phone?" Annie commented with a roll of her eyes.
Clark smiled, placing a hand under her chin, he turned her face so she was looking at him. "I have to admit, you're dealing with this better than I thought."
Annie smiled, her expression softened and she scooted up the step to be closer to him. Putting a hand on his knee she placed her other hand against his chest; he moved his hand around to rest against the side of her neck, his fingers brushed against the soft chestnut locks which landed against his skin. "I didn't make it a secret...true, I don't like reporters; but I can't tell you what to do with your life. You want to go into journalism? Okay, that's fine, go...go and become the lone reporter I can tolerate, you might actually manage to sway me to liking the media and stop being so harsh on them." Annie said while Clark couldn't help but slowly smile widely over that. He probably had better luck getting a pig to fly than to convert her to liking reporters; he might add that to the list along with changing her mind about football and baseball teams... "You're right though, it seems like the ideal job for you. Not only are you insanely clever, and I'm more than certain you'll succeed with whatever it is you're given to write; but also, you can keep up to date with everything. Do it. I think you'd make a good journalist, you know?"
"Why do you say that?" Clark asked curiously where this came from he didn't know.
Annie laughed quietly and shuffled even closer until she could nudge her head to rest under his and wrapped her arms around his middle. "You're a very easy person to like and get along with. It's pretty hard to be angry with you, and you have a way with words...you'll be brilliant, I know you will!" Annie said determinedly and gave a slow nod against his chest. "Man...if you were one of the ones who had been stuck with interviewing me I would've confessed everything to you..."
"I don't think Doctor Hamilton would've liked that." Clark said carefully, seeing how she'd react to mentioning his name, she tensed slightly but nodded slowly.
"Yeah...he'd have so given me a lecture..." Annie shut her eyes and sighed fondly over memories of lectures he had given her in the past. Especially when it came to polar bears. "I'll miss him."
He rested his chin on top of her head and looked around, "I know. But, you have only fond memories of him, right? So, in a way, you won't ever forget him and he won't ever be gone." He paused and ran a hand through her hair, "Why don't you return?"
"Because I don't want to work for the government anymore. Especially considering they'll be keeping tabs on you, and are likely to probably think of preventions against you in case you decided to go rogue. My reasons for leaving are the same as the ones I said to you when I reappeared here." Annie said while thinking over it for a moment. "I'll think of something..."
"I hear LexCorp is looking for staff. They're helping fund most of the rebuild for the city, but they're opening a new Research and Development branch, apparently."
"Wayne Enterprises is always looking for people too." Annie mused. "They have a pretty good technology department, and they have, or did have, a branch in Metropolis's down town area" Annie said while thinking over it for a moment. "I can't really apply for anything yet, I need this damn cast off. Can't go back to work handicapped, can I?" Annie questioned while Clark gave a slow shrug. "Hey?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you see the broken bone?" Annie looked up at him curiously.
"Why?" Clark didn't quite like the sound of where this could be going.
"Can you see how healed it is?" Annie asked while looking the cast over and then at him. Clark thought over the question while she looked at him patiently.
"But you don't like the eye thing." He pointed out with a smirk, Annie laughed and shook her head gently.
"I don't mind it if it actually comes across something wrong. Seems I'm not bleeding out, I'd quite like to know how my arm is healing." Annie said while pointing out the other time his vision had come in handy when injured.
----
Edited: 14/Jan/2017
Reedited: 1/April/2021