DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters of Smallville, nor am I in any way affiliated with the show or with Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

NOTE: Set in the seventh season, sometime before "Traveler".

"Wow! Is this awesome or what," Jimmy exclaimed to his companions as he stepped into the foyer of McKenzie Manor and surveyed his surroundings.

He set down his and Chloe's bags, while next to him, Chloe balled up the newspaper she had been using as an umbrella and wrung out her watered down hair. Bringing up the rear was an unhappy Lois, who held Clark's familiar red jacket over her head, and an even unhappier Clark, who was completely drenched and had been forced to carry both his and Lois's luggage inside.

Dropping the bags, Clark glared angrily at Lois, who stared right back. By the way they held each others' gaze, Chloe half-expected them to be bickering telepathically.

The pair's discontent with each other had started even before the drive up, and had only gotten worse as the day progressed.

Earlier that day...

When it had been discovered that the four of them had each received an invitation, they had unanimously decided to carpool for the weekend, with Clark appointed the reluctant driver after having been volunteered by Lois. So, when Friday afternoon arrived, Clark supersped through the rest of his chores and finished packing, before kissing Lana goodbye and driving to the Talon to pick up Chloe and Lois.

After honking the horn a few times, he went inside to investigate, only to find Chloe, apparently changed out of her work clothes, casually reading today's newspaper and sipping a mug of tea, and Lois nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Lois," he inquired of his friend, glancing frantically around the apartment. Chloe merely pointed at the bathroom door, just as Lois emerged, garbed only in a towel.

"Lo-is!" He approached her, but the honey-haired beauty took no notice. "Why aren't you ready yet?"

"Relax, Smallville," she replied. "I'm already packed. I just had to take a shower 'cause this story I was chasing led to a very sticky dead end. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to finish getting ready."

Grabbing a change of clothes, Lois shot him a look and headed back into the bathroom, while Clark spun around and exchanged an exasperated look with Chloe, who shrugged innocently in response. Within minutes, however, Lois emerged again, this time fully-clothed, and quickly pulled on her socks and shoes.

Piling into Clark's pickup, the trio headed to Metropolis, where they found Jimmy waiting outside his apartment building. After Clark helped Jimmy pile his bags into the truck bed with the others', they were on their way. That is, until Lois insisted on stopping to use the restroom.

"Why didn't you go before we left Smallville," Clark asked her, exasperated, as he pulled into a gas station.

"Because I didn't have to go then," was her simple reply as she and Chloe hopped out of the vehicle and headed inside. Clark rolled his eyes skyward, before trying to make small talk with Jimmy. Moments later, the girls returned, their arms laden with plastic bags full of snacks and sodas.

"Did you guys clean them out of junk food," Clark asked, as the girls climbed back in.

Shooting him a sarcastic smile, Lois settled into the front seat beside Clark, before taking a soda out of one of the bags and thrusting it into Clark's hands. When he saw that it was his favorite, he smiled and thanked her for remembering.

"No problem," she replied, returning the smile while putting on her seat belt.

After taking a sip of his soda and setting it in one of the cupholders, he buckled his own seat belt and shifted gears, then the four companions found themselves back on the road.

As they continued to make their way to McKenzie Manor, Lois noticed dark clouds forming on the horizon, and turned on the radio to check out the weather forecast. After the announcer confirmed her suspicions for impending rain, she surfed around until she found a radio station she could stand.

I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night...

Lois started singing along to the Bonnie Tyler hit that was playing, earning a glare from Clark, who promptly flipped it over to a country station that happened to be in the middle of a Kenny Chesney song.

"'She thinks my tractor's sexy'?" Lois asked, stifling a laugh. "Look, whatever you and Lana do behind closed doors is your business," which earned her another glare.

She leaned over and changed the station back, then after about two seconds, Clark changed it once again. From there, it escalated into a war over the radio, until Chloe, having had enough, finally suggested they ride in silence.

"Fine by me," they replied simultaneously. Clark glanced over at Lois, then returned his eyes to the road and sighed, shaking his head slightly.

However, after a minute or two of staring out the window, Lois took a map out of the glove box and posed the question, "Smallville, are you sure we're on the right road?"

"Yes, Lois," Clark answered, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. "I checked the map before I went to pick up you and Chloe, then Jimmy and I double-checked while we were stopped at the gas station."

She studied the map for a moment, before, "Oh. Well, in that case, I think our exit's coming up."

As they approached their exit a minute later, Clark signaled to get over, and Lois practically jumped out of her seat.

"Smallville, what are you doing?! Don't take this exit!"

"Lois, it's the exit we need," he argued, but did as he was told. "Great, now we missed our exit."

While Lois explained that he should take the exit after the next one, and insisted that he could trust her navigation, Clark argued that her route would force them to double back.

"Um, guys?" Chloe pointed out a sign directing them to Wichita, which was in another direction than McKenzie Manor.

"Great, Lois. Thanks to your directions, we're now lost."

"We're not lost," Lois retorted. "We're just in a different direction than we should be. Besides, I'm not the one that got us all turned around."

"Lois, how could you possibly think this is my fault?"

"Because, Smallville, you're the one driving, and you didn't take that exit like I told you."

As they continued to bicker, Chloe leaned back and sighed, having given up trying to get them to stop.

Jimmy leaned over and muttered his two cents, "Did we miss a wedding, 'cause these two are fighting like an old married couple." Chloe simply nodded in agreement.

Clark eventually got them back on track, just as it started to rain. By the time they reached McKenzie Manor, it was cats and dogs.

...

Now, the four friends stood in the foyer, each of them trying to shake off the outside weather.

"Good evening." A thin, drawn man in a Jeeves-esque outfit greeted them, seeming to have appeared out of thin air. "Ms. Sullivan, Mr Olsen. Ms. Lane, Mr. Kent."

He bowed to each of them as he said their names, and added, "You're just in time. All the other guests have arrived, but if you'll just follow me, you can get settled in."

He directed them to a grand staircase on their left, and led them upstairs to their rooms. As he showed them Jimmy and Chloe's adjoining rooms, he informed them that they were expected to be dressed and downstairs for dinner in half an hour, and explained that they would find their costumes hanging in an armoire in each of their rooms.

Beckoning for Lois and Clark to follow, he led them to their rooms, which were also adjoining, a fact Lois found unacceptable.

"Uh, I don't mean to seem ungrateful or anything, but is there any possible way he and I can get rooms that are, well, not adjoining?"

The butler merely stared at her, before heading back downstairs.

"Oh...kay. I'll take that as a no," Lois muttered to herself.

He stopped long enough to add, "If you need anything, just ring the bell."

As soon as he left, Lois turned to Clark and told him, "All I can say, Smallville, is if you need anything...knock first. We don't want a repeat of when you walked in on me while I was in the shower."

Instead of arguing, Clark sighed and quietly predicted, "This is going to be a long weekend."