Author: Raconteur27
Email: raconteur27@yahoo.com
Rated: PG
This is an Elseworld Story and can be seen as a sacrilegious attack on the Canon of Superman. Since 1938, pretty much only four things about Superman have been constant:
1. One of his identities was Superman – superhuman being from Krypton
2. His other identity was Clark Kent – mild mannered son of Kansas farmers
3. Clark Kent gets himself in a complicated love triangle with Lois Lane and his alter ego
4. They both worked as reporters for the Daily Planet, the Greatest Newspaper in the World
Well, I threw number four out the window. This story is an examination of what would happen if in an alternate universe if circumstances had led both Clark Kent and Lois Lane to choose a profession other than investigative journalism. For those immediately skeptical of such a bizarre break from continuity, I ask that you merely give the story a chance; my goal in writing this was to create a ‘Lois’ and a ‘Clark’ that are recognizable, despite changes in circumstance. Most of the supporting characters from the show do make appearances in this story and many familiar elements will make themselves known, despite the changes in circumstances. I am forever in the debt of Erin Klingler, who edited this monstrosity, and all of the readers on Zoom’s boards who nagged, er gently encouraged me to finish this story. Any and all comments welcome.
************
The elevator chimed and the pair dressed in identical white lab coats stepped out. The gentleman was an older fellow, tall and slender, balding, but still an attractive man. The young brunette that walked briskly beside him, taking quick steps to keep up with his long stride was petite but somehow had a take charge kind of air about her. Even to the most casual of observers it was clear that she was a force to be reckoned with. Orderlies and interns quickly stepped aside to allow the pair to pass. The gentleman politely nodded his ‘hellos’ but his young companion was too involved in the conversation to even notice what was going on around her. She gesticulated grandly to punctuate her phrases as she explained with eloquence befitting a master at the art of word craft, her latest cases to the older man who frowned and grunted his responses at the appropriate times. She sighed as she caught her breath at the end of her oration and waited for his opinion. He paused for a moment, formulating his response, a thoughtful expression upon his face. He cleared his throat and began to speak, “Well, I’m not certain, but it seems to…”
His response was interrupted by an announcement over the hospital’s PA system, “Paging Dr. Lane, Dr. Lane report to ED admittance.”
As though their movements had been synchronized, the pair turned and ran toward the West Wing and the Emergency Department’s admittance desk. Breathlessly, they spoke at once to the startled orderly behind the admittance desk.
“Dr. Lane, here.”
Slightly bemused at the sight before him, Chris Lin, the admittance orderly, looked at the pair in front of him, recognizing the older gentleman before him he stated, “Sorry for the confusion, sir.” Chris looked at the young woman standing beside the older gentleman. “The page was for you, Dr. Lane. They’ve got incoming in seven.”
“I’m not going to be able to get prepped fast enough. Where’s Myers? He’s the cardiothoracic surgeon on call in the ER today.”
“Emergency triple bypass in OR 3, both cardiology teams are on it.”
“What about the third?”
“Scrapped, not enough docs to cover it.”
“Who else did you page?”
“Sanders, he’s prepped and waiting, two of the new residents are with him.”
“Sanders is a Gastroenterologist for Christ’s sake! Well then what are we wasting time here for?” she asked to no one in particular as she took off toward the prep room.
“Right, well, good luck, Princess, we still on for lunch?”
“Of course,” she shouted over her shoulder. “Thanks Daddy.”
********
“Well, Doctor, this is the Emergency Department.” A middle aged woman in a standard issue lab coat explained to the young gentleman who was walking half a pace behind her, as they walked through the chaotic lobby, doctors, nurses, interns and paramedics running in all different directions. “I know it’s not the Amazon River basin, but at times you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”
His lips parted in a wide grin, flashing his perfect white teeth. ‘Gorgeous young doctor with a beautiful smile,’ she thought. Too bad she was married.
“Dr. Davis to the nurse’s station. Paging Dr. Davis.”
Dr. Davis sighed. It had been a long day already and it was only ten in the morning. She excused herself and promised the handsome young man that she would return shortly.
Mere moments after Dr. Davis’s departure, he heard the sounds of an approaching ambulance. Over the din and hum of the Emergency Department, he heard the voices of the paramedics. His face fell instantly as he heard what they were saying. Incoming code blue and both cardiology teams were on a triple bypass elsewhere. He rushed into prep and changed out of his labcoat, slacks, and dress shirt ensemble for the more appropriate set of scrubs. He washed his hands and headed into the room where the orderlies and paramedics had taken the patient.
“On three, ready, one…two…three.” Five pairs of hands gently moved the patient from the gurney onto the exam table. He assessed the situation quickly, and stated in a calm voice that carried over the clatter and noise that pervaded the room, “keep him on the O2, let’s get an ECG in here and hook up the leads, and get him intubated.” Several faces turned toward the source of the unknown voice, the puzzled looks on their faces caused him to add “stat!” to his command. He worked his way toward the patient as the young residents and nurses quickly assembled the necessary equipment and began hooking up tubes and wires to the patient. “All right, what have we got?” he asked the paramedic who was silently moving aside, allowing the doctors to do their job.
“Uh, thirty five year old Caucasian male, no prior known medical conditions, no allergies, collapsed at work,” the young paramedic responded.
“Uh, doctor?” he heard a female voice call.
“What? What have you got?” he asked.
“BP is 72 over 50 and falling, pulse is faint and irregular, 40 maybe 42.”
“We’re losing him!”
A loud, long beep was emitted from the ECG monitor.
“He’s flatlined!”
“Get the crash cart!” he heard a young man yell.
“No!” He cried out. “We can’t defibrillate, look at the ECG readings, failure’s due to asystole, not V-fib, get me four milligrams of epi stat!” A large syringe was placed in his outstretched hand. He tapped the syringe, sending the tiny bubbles to the top and pressed in the plunger, squirting a bit of the clear liquid into the air, he took a deep breath and stuck the needle into the man’s bare chest. He pushed the plunger in all the way, and removed the needle. The man’s muscles contracted violently as his whole body was gripped in spasms. A long moment later the long loud beep of the ECG was replaced by a steady beeping.
“We got a pulse!”
“We have normal sinus rhythm!” someone exclaimed.
Just then the door swung open and he saw a petite young woman wearing a lab coat over her matching green MetroGen scrubs enter the room. She quickly snapped on a pair of gloves as her eyes swept across the exam room in a quick survey. She moved toward the patient, the nurses and interns stepped aside to give her space. She stood right next to him, barely acknowledging his presence. “Sanders,” she said, looking toward one of the men, who nodded in response, but said nothing. “Okay what have we got?” she asked.
“Asystolic 35 year old Caucasian male, no known allergies, no previous medical problems, no history of high blood pressure. He went flatline at 1007, revived with four milligrams of epinephrine at 1008,” he explained quickly.
“What are his allergies?”
“Like I said, none”
“Can’t be, unless he OD’d, and I doubt that.” She nodded toward the thin patient on the exam table whose wire rim glasses, oxford shirt and dark tie screamed ‘yuppie,’ “this guy went into anaphylactic shock. Where was he when he collapsed?”
“At work,” someone offered.
“Well, where does he work?”
Someone grabbed the admittance info that the medics had left behind. “Says here he works at Genzyme.”
“Genzyme! Get his blood tested, send the samples and results to my lab. If he was working with something dangerous, we need to know. We’re not out of the woods with him yet; his blood chemistry will be way off, let’s get a sodium bicarbonate drip with 6 ccs of Lidocaine. Move him to the ICU and let me know immediately when the lab results return, keep me informed of any changes in his condition,” she commanded to the staff in the room who quickly went about following her instructions.
She removed the green surgical cap from her head and shook out her chestnut brown hair. He felt his own heart stop and wondered idly where the epinephrine was when he needed it. He couldn’t remember ever seeing anyone as beautiful as her, he mentally shook himself but couldn’t take his eyes off her. Dr. Lane, however, must have had much stronger self-control. She brushed past him without giving any evidence that she realized that he was there. She made her way to the door when it swung open yet again.
Dr. Davis walked in and let out a sigh of relief when she saw him, “there you are, admitting told me I could find out in here. I’m sorry about this, though Dr. Sanders told me you handled it like a pro.”
“Well…” he began not sure what to say.
“Dr. Lane!” Dr. Davis exclaimed upon noticing the young doctor.
“Dr. Davis,” she replied.
“I didn’t know you were scheduled in the ED today.”
“I wasn’t, when your third cardiology team was scrapped because the ED was short staffed, the efficiency and more importantly, the safety, of this hospital were severely compromised!”
Ignoring Dr. Lane’s enraged diatribe, Dr. Davis continued. “Dr. Lane, I’d like you to meet the new Immunologist on staff at MetroGen.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said looking past him and not even directly at him.
He removed the surgical cap from his head and pulled off the gloves. He tried to formulate a witty, yet warm and polite response but didn’t have the opportunity. He opened his mouth to speak and she had already turned back toward Dr. Davis and began talking as if he weren’t even there.
“How is it that in the biggest hospital in the biggest city in the United States we are so short staffed in the Emergency Department that the new Immunologist ends up leading an emergency team trying to resuscitate a patient whose gone into asystolic cardiac arrest? Aren’t there standards on these things? You’re just lucky that he didn’t kill the guy!”
He tried to defend himself, to state that he actually was an internist and that he knew how to read an ECG, heck even an intern could do that, that he was here on an emergency medicine fellowship and that he had dealt with patients in cardiac arrest before, but he had been effectively shut out of the conversation.
“As I was saying,” Dr. Davis continued, apparently having failed to hear any of the myriad things Dr. Lane had said. “Dr. Lane, this is Dr. Kent.”
He smiled nervously. She responded with a nod and a curt smile. “Excuse me,” she said, feigning politeness before turning on her heel and walking out of the room.
********
“I get the feeling she doesn’t like me very much,” Dr. Kent said with a smile that belied his true feelings.
“Don’t pay any attention to Dr. Lane. Lord knows I wouldn’t put up with her if she wasn’t the best damn chief resident I’ve ever seen.”
“Wait, are you telling me that that’s Dr. Lane, the cardiothoracic surgeon?”
“Mm hmm,” Dr. Davis replied with a nod. “Do you know Dr. Lane?”
“Well, I know of her. I read about a Dr. Lane in the Daily Planet and how she and a Dr. Sam Lane, I figured that was her husband, were working on the technology for a new, more effective replacement for the pacemaker, some sort of ‘smart sinoatrial node’ chip, but I guess I figured she’d be older.”
“Well, you’ve got all of that right except the ‘older’ part, of course, and the part about a husband. Sam Lane is her father.”
Clark Kent was secretly pleased to hear that, but attempted to keep his expression neutral. “So does she always storm into the Emergency Department and decry the incompetence of the entire staff?”
“No, only on days that end in ‘y’ I’m afraid. But I can understand where Dr. Lane is coming from, well some of the time anyway. Dr. Lane is an incredible surgeon and is completely dedicated to her work and her patients, but she has little patience for anyone who is going to make her life more difficult, including the hospital’s administration. The ED is short staffed, and the hospital’s board of directors is bemoaning the losses that MetroGen’s Emergency Department suffered last year.”
“But that’s not uncommon. I thought Emergency Departments generally lost money.”
“That’s true, they do. But because of cutbacks at Our Lady of Mercy, Beth Israel and Metro U., we’ve been picking up the slack in recent years. That’s been hurting the bottom line and the board isn’t happy about it. When the board isn’t happy, I can’t do my job right. The ED situation was one of the main reasons we hired you Dr. Kent. It’s not everyday that you can pick up an Immunologist whose also an internist and whose worked in worse conditions than those found in your typical Emergency Department.”
“Guess not,” he replied noncommittally.
“And don’t worry about Dr. Lane. There is hardly a person whose started working here since Dr. Lane’s residency that hasn’t annoyed, angered, or offended the woman their first day on the job. She’ll get over it. Come on, I’ll show you to the Immunology labs.”
Clark left the ED with Dr. Davis and headed toward the East Wing. He didn’t know why, but for some reason he knew that he was going to like Metropolis.
********
Clark Kent walked the short distance to his new apartment on Metropolis’s Upper East Side. He took the stairs to his fifth floor one bedroom apartment and unlocked the door. He entered his as yet undecorated flat and side stepped around neatly labeled cardboard boxes that littered the hardwood floor. He kicked off his shoes and quickly discarded the tie. He flipped through the mail, amazed at how quickly the junk mail had accrued despite the fact that he had been in Metropolis for only a week. He made his way to where the phone sat upon the floor for lack of anything else to put it on, and picked up the handset. He dialed a familiar number, thankful that Metropolis was an hour ahead of Kansas, time zone wise, which meant that his parents would still be up.
“Hello?”
“Hi Mom,” he replied
“Clark!” she exclaimed. “Jonathan! It’s Clark!”
“Hello, son.” He heard his father’s deep voice.
“Hi Dad.”
“How’s Metropolis?”
“It’s fine, Dad. I saw my new lab down at MetroGen today, it’s much bigger than the facilities in Manaus.”
“That’s wonderful! But how’s the city, Clark? How do you like it? Have you met any interesting people?” His mother’s questions came at him at a mile a minute. He smiled as he thought about how excited she sounded.
“The city is well…it’s big, and it’s loud and exciting. It’s different, I can tell you that much.”
“I don’t know how you can tolerate it, Clark.” His father sounded somewhat less pleased than his mother.
“Come now, Jonathan!”
“I’m just worried Martha, that’s all, city folks are different. Fast-talking, always out to make a quick buck. Clark you take care of yourself son.”
“Don’t worry, Dad. I’m fine.”
“I know you’ve always been able to take care of yourself, but you’ve never been able to help yourself when others are in trouble.”
“Dad, I’m a doctor, it kinda goes with the territory.”
“I know son and I proud of you for always doing everything you can to help others. And I know that your heart is always in the right place, but I can’t say the same is true for everyone else. What if someone finds out about you? What if you’re discovered? Clark you know what’s going to happen. They’re going to lock you up…”
“And dissect me like a frog. I know, Dad, I know.”
“Jonathan, my goodness, what has gotten into you? I’m sure Clark is being extremely careful. Clark, don’t pay any attention to your father, now tell me, what are the people like?”
“Well, there’s Dr. Davis, she’s the hospital’s chief of staff.”
“Really, she?”
“Yeah, you’d like her Mom, really nice, but definitely a no nonsense kind of lady.”
“That’s wonderful Sweetie, what about the lab?”
“Oh, the rest of the Immunologists are nice enough. Weird guys, though. I guess they don’t get out much.”
“Well, they’ve probably been stuck in the lab since college, Son.”
“I know, Dad, and that’s why I’m glad I took some time off before coming back to the states to work.”
“I don’t think you can consider two tours of duty with the Doctors Without Borders time off, Clark.”
“Yeah, but that’s different, Mom. Anyway, as much as I loved it, I think its time for me to settle down. There isn’t anything in the world like knowing that you made a difference, that you saved a life, or that you helped a sick or injured child, but there’s only so long a guy can live out of a backpack. I guess that’s kind of selfish of me.”
“Of course not, Clark. You’re entitled to a life!”
“Yeah, but so are the people I was helping. They didn’t deserve to be in the situations that they were in. The difference is that I was able to walk away.”
“Clark, son, you can’t beat yourself up about that. Besides, your work is important. You are still helping people.”
“I know, Dad, but thanks, I guess I need to hear that from time to time.”
“So what about the rest of your day, did anything exciting happen?” Martha asked, trying to lighten the mood.
“Actually, yeah. There was a cardiac in the ED when Dr. Davis was giving me a tour. They were short staffed, so I helped out, it was great to be able to help someone again. I think the guy’s going to be okay, but the weird thing is that they couldn’t figure out what caused the cardiac arrest. It looked like anaphylactic shock to me, and the cardiothoracic surgeon agreed, but the guy wasn’t allergic to anything. Anyway, the surgeon seemed to be convinced that the guy was exposed to something at the biomedical company he works for. I don’t know, it’s possible, I wasn’t really thinking about it at the time. I guess I was too busy being insulted to notice.”
“He insulted you?” Jonathan asked, aghast.
“Not he, Dad, she. And sort of, I guess. It’s kind of complicated. Apparently she was really mad about the ED being short staffed. She yelled at the chief of staff and I guess I caught some of the deflected shrapnel right in the keister. She wasn’t impressed by the Immunologist who apparently thought he was a heart surgeon.”
“Did you tell her that you’re an internist?”
“I didn’t get a chance, Dad. You wouldn’t believe this woman. She’s arrogant and bossy and controlling and from the way she chewed out the chief of staff, fearless, and brilliant and absolutely beautiful.” He heard his father chuckle on the other end. “Anyway, it looks like whether she likes it or not, we’ll be working together. She does rounds in the ED a few days a week and since I’ll be a back up doctor on call, thanks to the lack of personnel, we’re bound to run into one another.”
“Well I’m sure she’ll come around when she realizes what a charmer my boy is.”
“Mom,” Clark whined. He was certain that he could hear his mother smiling on the other end. “In any event, I’ll be home for dinner on Thursday.”
“Six o’clock, don’t be late!”
“I won’t mom. I won’t keep you any longer. Goodnight Mom, goodnight Dad, I love you guys.”
“Goodnight, Sweetie, I love you.”
“Love you, too, Son. Goodnight.”
Clark replaced the handset on the cradle and sighed. It had certainly been an interesting day. He rummaged through his belongings for a short while, thinking of good places for his keepsakes and knickknacks in his new apartment. He found a book he had been meaning to read and spent a few hours thumbing through it. Eventually, he decided it was time to retire for the evening. He changed, set the alarm and brushed his teeth. He found a blanket among the ‘bedroom things’ in his boxes and for lack of a better mattress, floated himself on a cushion of air. Hovering a comfortable three feet above the ground, he fell asleep.
He didn’t stay asleep for long. Every so often he was woken by the sounds of sirens. Having lived in the country for most of his life, he wasn’t used to the sounds of the city. The wailing sirens and roaring traffic at all hours of the night were nothing like the sounds of crickets and grasshoppers at night. The time he had spent on tour in regions of the world decimated by war were a different experience entirely. He almost never slept at night then, always volunteering to lead the graveyard shift because the sounds were too much to bear. The only way he got through those nights was by keeping his mind occupied on other things. He would take his sleeping shift in the mornings, the bustle of refugee camps coming to life paled in comparison to the sounds of mortar shells. His day would begin in the afternoon, when he made his first rounds at the makeshift hospital and would continue until the predawn hours, when the sky was just starting to grow lighter and when the shellings stopped. There were so many mornings when he would lie awake, cursing the fighting, agonizing over the fact that in an instant, he could destroy all the weapons, capture all of the belligerents, tie them to chairs and force them to sit and * talk * out there problems instead of injuring and killing innocent people in their fights to prove who was better than whom and who should rule over whom.
Frustrated and not even tired any more, he changed into dark clothing and opened his fifth story window. He flew out; thinking a few laps around the Earth would calm him down and help take his mind off of the sounds of the city.
Not far away, Dr. Lois Lane sat in front of her computer screen, in the study of her townhouse on Metropolis’s exclusive Elmwood Drive. The room was dark except for the light from her monitor and that provided by a dim desk lamp. She pored over the figures from the latest series of tests. She removed her reading glasses as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. The trials with the chimpanzees were going according to predictions. While the actual experimenting was her father’s department, he was the mastermind behind the sinoatrial regulatory processor; she did a great deal of the data analysis. Her proposal for the Board of Directors at Metropolis Medical Center, the consortium of labs, hospitals, med. schools, and research institutes that was funding the project, would be due in another week, but she was unconcerned. There was no doubt in her mind that she would receive the needed funding for the project to continue. Experimentation had proven that the device was highly successful and within a few short years, the device would be ready for FDA consideration and later the human trial period. The project would potentially bring Dr. Lane and her father wealth and prestige beyond even the most egocentric surgeon’s wildest dreams, but more importantly, it would provide a safer, more natural and permanent solution to many different heart conditions. The device would not only run permanently, fed by the same electrical impulses that the sinoatrial node received by surrounding nerves, but would also vary heart rate more effectively than the old pacemakers, allowing the heart to speed up or slow down as needed in accordance with level of activity. The sinoatrial regulatory processor would catapult Dr. Lane to the forefront of her profession, but mostly, it would make the lives of so many easier.
No, the data analysis was not what was concerning her this evening. What was on Dr. Lane’s mind were the events of that afternoon. The Chief of Staff deserved to be on the receiving end of her wrath, she decided. Not directly of course, but as a representative of the administration of the hospital, she needed to hear about the awful truth, that the incompetence of the administration was causing major problems in the functioning of the hospital’s most vital divisions. Lois wasn’t suffering from a guilty conscience because of her outburst toward Dr. Davis, not in the least. She had in fact, done the good doctor a favor. She had a tremendous amount of respect for Dr. Davis, but if she just simply went about her work as though nothing was wrong despite all of the unbelievable decisions of the administration, nothing would ever be done to fix the problems. She had to admit that her comments toward the new Immunologist, what was his name again, oh yes, Kent, were a bit excessive; the poor guy was just trying to help, but what would some bespectacled lab geek know about the ins and outs of the Emergency Department? They were all just lucky that nothing catastrophic had resulted from his involvement. MetroGen was the finest hospital in all of Metropolis, all of New Troy for that matter. The fact that the ED in such a hospital would be so short staffed as to have a Gastroenterologist and an Immunologist leading a team of interns, first year residents and nurses in treating a cardiac arrest patient, would have been laughable had it not been so damn irresponsible of hospital.
Ignoring the nagging thought in the back of her mind that the hospital was going to hell in a handbasket and would no doubt take out many innocent victims along the way, she ran the regression lines on the data, ran the data against the control group, and determined a much better than adequate value of statistical difference. Satisfied, she documented and saved her results as further evidence of the viability of the project and the expected benefits of the experiments. Quite pleased, she leaned back in her chair and stretched lazily, Daddy would be so happy to hear about the latest results. Perhaps the additional funds that would come from the hospital’s oh so generous benefactors after the introduction of the new sinoatrial regulatory processor that would make all of them filthy rich, could be used to hire actual doctors to staff the ED, then again, probably not.
She stared at the monitor for a long minute. She wasn’t tired, but any more of this data analysis and she might have bored herself to death. She got up and poured herself another cup of coffee from the pot she brewed forty-five minutes earlier. If she realized how bitter, cold and thick it was, she didn’t let on. Needing some sort of a diversion she reached for her car keys. The roads would be quiet and a few hours with just her, the Jeep, and miles of empty asphalt would be wonderfully relaxing.
It had begun rain sometime that evening. The roads glistened under the glow of the street lamps. It wasn’t raining hard enough to obstruct her vision, and the falling of the raindrops and the steady rhythm of the windshield wipers were relaxing. She set out onto Elmwood and hooked a left onto Quincy Street. She merged onto Troy Ave., usually the busiest street in the downtown area, but tonight only a few random cars dotted the street. She found herself humming along to the Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady on the jazz station to which the radio dial was set. She drove aimlessly along the familiar streets, toward the waterfront and a stretch of coastal highway on which she loved to drive. She decided somewhere along the way to drive up toward Mt. Truman, to the bluff high above Metropolis where you could see the entire city, which at night, looked like a sea of lights. She expertly navigated the windy roads up the steep hills in her Jeep.
Rounding a curve, she heard the unmistakable sound of a truck’s horn, the squeal of tires, and a loud collision followed by the shattering of glass. She slowed down as approached the scene. Fifty yards from the accident site, she pulled the Jeep over onto the shoulder, grabbed her cell phone and the heavily augmented first aid kit out of the back and set out at a full sprint toward the scene of twisted metal and broken glass.
********
Clark flew high over the eastern seaboard, heading back toward Metropolis after flying around the globe. It had been a relaxing flight over all of his favorite places, and oddly enough, even the storm that had settled in over the east coast which was now getting him all wet, wasn’t enough to bother him. He cleared the mountain ranges just south of Metropolis and gazed out toward the sea of lights before him. He expertly navigated his way through the cloud layer, remaining hidden from sight and in areas too rough to allow him to be picked up by radar.
Flying over a popular nightlife area, he heard the unmistakable sound of a woman in danger, screaming, as well as the curses of an enraged man followed by the sounds of a physical confrontation. He slowed down as he approached the scene. A hundred yards away from the source of the sound, he touched down in an empty alleyway, unseen. He ran toward the spot where the man now held the woman at knifepoint, hoping that if he made his presence known, the attacker would run away. Men who preyed upon women were notorious cowards, so perhaps the thought of having to deal with someone his own size would send the creep running.
********
“Somebody help me!” A male voice cried out. She pushed herself to run faster, her heart was thundering in her ears. “It’s all right, I’m a doctor!” she yelled out. It was only a few more yards to the overturned car that sat on the shoulder of the road.
“Thank God.” Came the reply. She kneeled beside the overturned car, whose drive was trapped against the steering column and the collapsed roof of the car. She pulled out her cell phone, intending to call for help and wait on moving the victims, to prevent further aggravation of their injuries. Instead her cell phone display pronounced that she had ‘no service’ in the area. Frustrated, she turned back to the driver of the car. She asked him if he could feel his arms and legs and checked for any visible injury to his neck before deciding to proceed. Lois took off her sweatshirt and wrapped it around her hand as she knocked away the remnants of the broken glass of the passenger window and unlocked and opened the door from the inside. She measured the length of the man’s neck using the good ol’ finger width method and removed a suitable C collar from the duffel bag she was carrying. She got the collar onto the man without too much difficulty and without moving him any more than necessary. She started working her way around to the passenger side when a tall, slender man in a baseball cap, tee shirt and jeans emerged from the jackknifed truck that was blocking the entire road.
“Jesus, lady, I don’t know what happened. I tried to slow down on that curve and when I downshifted, the gears just locked up, I couldn’t stop the truck…”
“Don’t worry about that now,” she said calmly. “I’m a doctor, and I need to get these people to a hospital” she said, looking back toward the unconscious woman in the passenger seat, “but I’m going to need your help.”
“Right, Doc, whatever you say.”
“Get on your radio, call for help, let them know where we are and that we need an a couple of ambulances, got it?”
“Right,” he said as he ran back to his truck.
She went back to the task of tending to the woman in the car. She managed to get the door open, when she noticed that the woman was bleeding heavily. Placing life before limb, she proceeded to cut away at the seat belt. “Hey Mack!” she yelled out to the truck driver.
“Name’s Greg,” he replied.
“Well get over here, Greg and give me a hand!” she yelled back.
He ran over to the passenger side, where Lois directed him to remove the woman from the car.
“Christ, she’s bleeding like crazy!”
“I know, lie her on the ground, be very careful.” Her directions were calm and clear.
He nodded slowly and did as he was told. She brought out the duffel bag, put on a pair of plastic gloves and removed a pair of scissors. She cut away at the woman’s bloody blouse, and proceeded to wipe the dirt out of the wound with a sterile pad. Her ribs were badly injured, most likely broken, she mused. Lois placed sterile adhesive strips across the wound, helping to bring the broken skin together to control the bleeding, she then covered the wound with a large sterile dressing. She wrapped medical tape around the dressing and turned to Greg, “put your hand right here on the bandage,” she instructed him. “Place firm but gentle pressure, all right? We need to control the bleeding.”
He nodded vigorously and did exactly what she said. She placed another C collar around the woman’s neck and covered her up as best as possible, fearing the possible onset of shock and hypothermia. She checked over the victim once more to assure herself that there was nothing else she could do at the moment before returning to the drive who was still strapped in the car. “Just relax sir,” she said as he tried to lift his head. “We’re going to get you and your wife out of here, but your going to have to be patient. EMS is on its way. We have to wait until they arrive in order to move you safely. Just sit tight, okay?”
“Is she all right? Is my wife all right?”
“She’ll be fine, but you need to relax, don’t try to move.” Her tone was firm; yet reassuring.
A few long minutes later, the sounds of sirens could be heard coming from the base of the hill. The ambulances arrived shortly and Lois identified herself to the paramedics and quickly coordinated their actions. Both patients were placed upon backboards and onto gurneys and given saline drips. She warned them that the driver most likely suffered a concussion and that there was a good chance both would exhibit symptoms of shock.
The paramedics loaded up the patients and informed Dr. Lane that they would be headed for Our Lady of Mercy’s Emergency Department. Lois told Greg to get in the Jeep and they took off right behind the ambulances. As soon as they were back in service range, Lois hit the speed dial button for MetroGen’s ED admittance desk and told the orderly to give a heads up to Our Lady of Mercy’s ED to let them know she was following the ambulances in.
********
Clark heard a muffled scream come from the woman. She was on the ground now, her attacker straddling her, his hand over her mouth, the other holding a knife against her throat. He turned sharply when he saw Clark approach.
“Get the hell outta here!” the attacker yelled at the darkly clad man running toward him. Clark ran as quickly as he dared. The attacker shoved the woman roughly aside, and stood to face Clark. He drew his knife and swung wildly at Clark. Clark could smell the alcohol on the attacker’s breath. The drunken would be rapist lost his balance as his blade connected with nothing except the air. Overcompensating badly for his lunge, he teetered perilously, allowing Clark to grab his arm and twist it behind his back. The attacker yelped as Clark forced him to the ground, using his belt to tie the thug’s hands behind his back.
He held his captive roughly by the collar as he dug his cell phone out. He dialed 911 and gave his location to the police. He then removed the belt from around the waist of the now cursing attacker and used it to bind his feet as well. Convinced that he was sufficiently incapacitated, Clark turned his attention to the young woman who had stumbled to her knees. She cowered as he approached.
“No, it’s all right,” he said, holding his hands where she could see them. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He stretched out one hand toward her and she merely stared at it. She scowled at him, trying to prove that she wasn’t afraid, but her heart was racing and her breaths were quick and shallow. “I’m a doctor,” he said. “It’s all right, no one’s going to hurt you.” He dropped down to his knees beside her. He unzipped the fleece jacket he’d been wearing and offered it to her. She wrapped it tightly around her shoulders, the rain was coming down harder now and she was shivering. Suddenly, she shuddered as she burst into tears. Her breaths came in ragged sobs. He placed a hesitant hand upon her shoulder and when she didn’t flinch away from him, he gathered her in a protective embrace and waited for the police to arrive.
A few long minutes passed before the emergency services arrived. Two cops gathered the bound suspect from where he lay upon the asphalt and a female officer approached Clark and the young girl. Clark looked up at the officer, his movements causing the girl to bury her head in his shoulder. He picked her up and carried her to the waiting squad car that would take her to Metro U County Hospital. When he tried to place her in the back of the car she refused to let go of him. “Do you want me to go with you?” he asked softly. She nodded but said nothing. He looked up at the female officer and explained to her quietly “my name is Clark Kent, I’m a doctor at MetroGen, and I caught that scumbag trying to rape her,” his voice became even softer at those last few words, keeping the conversation too soft for the girl to hear any of it. “Is it all right if I ride along with her to Metro U?”
The police officer nodded and told Clark that he’d have to give a statement at the police precinct. He quickly agreed and got in the police car next to the young girl who immediately buried her head against his shoulder and began weeping softly.
A very tired Clark Kent returned home from the police precinct around five that morning. He shut off the alarm clock and fell asleep floating above the floor in his bedroom after one of the longest nights he could remember.
********
Lois carefully navigated the streets of Metropolis, tailing the ambulances from a safe distance. She paced the medics into the ED and quickly chased off an orderly who didn’t recognize her, by showing him her credentials. She assisted Mercy’s beleaguered ED staff before collapsing in the waiting room. It was then that she remembered Greg, the truck driver. He was sitting, with an uneasy look on his face, in the waiting area.
“They’ll be fine,” she reassured him. “But we’re going to have to go into Police Headquarters to give our statements, its just standard procedure, nothing to worry about, and then the cops’ll drop you off wherever you need to go.”
He nodded silently, absorbing the information. They were met a few minutes later by an officer who asked Lois and
Greg to follow him to the Police precinct. After answering a bunch of seemingly endless questions at the police headquarters, an irritable and exhausted Lois Lane drove home around five that morning. Her Jeep was in serious need of a detailing, but was none the worse for wear. She dropped her keys on the counter, shut off her alarm clock and crawled into bed after one of the longest nights she could remember.
********
Clark woke around eleven that morning. He drifted back down toward the ground and stretched as he shook the cobwebs out of his mind. He showered, shaved, and dressed at a leisurely pace and sat down to a breakfast, er brunch, of French Toast and a fresh pot of coffee. He wasn’t on call in the ED until tonight and he figured that he could head over to the lab later in the evening. He set out for the corner convenience store to pick up a copy of the Daily Planet Afternoon Edition and to help familiarize himself with his new neighborhood. His apartment had become available for move in only the day before yesterday and he hadn’t had the opportunity to explore his new environment except for the most cursory of examinations. He returned home and spread the entire paper out in front of him, a simple task considering the fact that his apartment was empty sans the cardboard boxes, which gave him plenty of room. He read each and every section of the paper cover to cover at something close to a normal human’s speed. He could have finished the paper in mere seconds, but where would be the fun in that?
He read an article on how the weather had wreaked havoc on traffic, causing multiple injury accidents including one up near Mt. Truman that could potentially have turned tragic had it not been for a passing ER doctor from Metropolis who was luckily there to save the day. He smiled and wondered which of his colleagues had spent his or her evening out saving the day. His amusement was, however, short-lived. A headline on the third page of the City Section immediately caught his eye. He could no longer focus his attention on the preceding article and skipped ahead to the unexpected headline:
Good Samaritan Captures Serial Rapist
Hero Comes to A Young Woman’s Aid and Nabs Escaped Sex Offender
By Tom Mitchell
He blanched at the headline and quickly read the story to see if the facts matched up to the event of the previous evening. While the police reports were vague, only the bad guy’s name was included, and Clark himself was only referred to as a ‘heroic doctor,’ there was no doubt in Clark’s mind that the article was about what had happened when he was out flying last night. His first reaction was to blush at the unwanted attention. That embarrassment was quickly replaced by another emotion; not only did he not want the attention, it could potentially be dangerous. His name may have been omitted in this story, but the police knew who he was, and the next time, he could very well end up in the paper. The last thing he wanted was an excessive amount of undue attention. He would never be able to maintain his secret if every little thing he did ended up in the paper. And he certainly couldn’t stop helping. If he were in a situation where he could help someone he would just do it; it was instinctive. In a city the size of Metropolis there would be no shortage of people in need of help either.
He sighed as he contemplated this particularly vexing dilemma. Several minutes of ruminating over the issue caused only further frustration so he decided to find something else to occupy his mind. Furniture shopping. That was it. It was nice, safe, boring, and would keep him occupied for at least several hours with completely mundane tasks such as choosing a mattress. He grabbed his coat, the late fall air was getting quite cold and it wouldn’t do for him to be walking about in just his current khakis and polo shirt ensemble, locked up and headed out for a completely non-threatening, non-hostile, non-life-and-death afternoon of comparing fabric swatches and choosing patterns, maybe he should swing by the farm and pick up his mom…
********
Lois awoke around noon that day. She rolled over and fumbled with the clock on the nightstand, squinting at it as her eyes slowly came into focus. Her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton. She stumbled out of bed and into a nice hot shower. Under the steady stream of hot water she worked all of the knots out of her muscles, her body losing some of the soreness that had developed over the last twenty-four hours. She shut off the water and slipped into a heavy terry cloth bathrobe. She towel dried her hair and dressed in casual clothing. She wasn’t scheduled to do rounds in the ED until the night shift and she had the rest of the day blocked off anyway. She had cut back her patient load over the last few months as laboratory tests took up more and more of her time. She went downstairs and prepared a cup of coffee and a bowl of granola for herself. She grabbed both the Morning and Afternoon Editions of the Daily Planet; she had both delivered as a rule, and thumbed through them over breakfast. ‘War, famine, disease, violence, pollution, politics, crime, didn’t the world get tired of trying to destroy itself?’ She wondered idly. Of course, not, because if it did, the newspaper would be a flyer and there would be nothing for the reporters to write about. With no exciting news people would get bored, and start more trouble. It was a negative feedback loop. She skimmed over the City Section, noticing the article on the weather-related accidents:
Rain Causes Major Traffic Backups, Multiple Injury Accidents
Weather Proves to Be More than Just an Annoyance
By Trisha McCarthy
The article elicited a half smile from her. She noticed the line about “the Metropolitan doctor whose emergency situation heroics prevented near tragedy on Mt. Truman. ‘Come on, Perry, is there really nothing else to write about?’ She wondered. She paid little attention to the exaggerated explanation of her mid night antics and continued munching silently on her granola. That, that was kid stuff, if that was all it took to get into the Daily Planet she wondered what would happen when her processor became the new standard in cardiology. No, she took that back, she didn’t wonder, she knew. The processor would make Lois a pioneer in cardiology research. She’d be skyrocketed to the top of her field and would become renowned as a great mind in her area of expertise. The fame and prestige were a nice thing to think about, but she would trade any and all of it for more funding to continue her research. There were so many areas of cardiology in which she could make a substantial contribution if she just had the financial backing to do so. She wasn’t about to allow a stingy hospital to prevent her from completing her research when she had the power to make such an impact.
But fame, prestige and the respect of her colleagues that she’d been fighting so hard for, could all wait. Today, Lois was going to clean out the office. A few hours of brainless, stress free, organizing and filing as well as doing a little rough editing on the presentation, would be a welcomed change of pace, almost like a day off really, not that she ever took any of those.
She finished reading the paper. The only article to draw a real reaction from her was one about a local doctor turned crime fighter who caught a serial rapist and rescued some poor girl. She laughed as she thought about any of her colleagues out playing hero in the middle of the night. She couldn’t picture any of the ED guys doing that, and the lab boys, not even close. Which reminded her that she hadn’t been to her own lab in several days. Perhaps she’d call her father and see if he was up for a visit…
********
Clark Kent arrived at MetroGen around six that evening, after a relaxing, if somewhat boring, afternoon shopping for furniture. His mother was fantastic company and a wonderful help, and the two had accomplished a surprising amount. He whistled tunelessly as he made his way to the immunology labs. He heard a familiar voice coming from one of the offices, he paused for a moment. It couldn’t be. It was. Some twist of fate, he hadn’t determined if it was good or bad yet but most likely both, had led to the placement of her office a mere thirty feet from his laboratory. He suddenly felt nervous and ill at ease. He mentally chided himself. If he were going to work in such close proximity to Dr. Lane he would have to learn to hold his own in her presence. It wouldn’t do to suddenly turn into a simpering puddle of goo in her presence, not that she thought much of him as it was. Ignoring Dr. Lane’s voice, she was apparently talking to a man whose voice was wholly unfamiliar to Clark, he continued the short walk to his own lab.
Inside the Immunology labs, Dr. Geoff Adams, a fellow Immunologist was hunched over a computer, poring over data on a spreadsheet. “How’s it going, Kent?” he called without looking up from the monitor as Clark entered the room.
“Fine, Geoff, how are you?”
“Not bad, the preliminaries are in on the latest round of testing and outlook looks promising.”
“That’s fantastic,” Clark replied.
“Yeah, this should be enough to convince the suits upstairs to continue funding.”
“Well, good luck with it.”
“Thanks man.”
Clark turned to his own research. His main duty as an Immunologist at MetroGen was to help lead testing on a new, aggressive therapy for immune system disorders responsible for Diabetes mellitus type 1. MetroGen was leading the way with testing the new therapy and clinical trials were set to begin within a month and there was still a great deal of data to be gathered and analyzed on the participants in the trials. He organized the data analysis for the lab techs and then ordered lab work on a potential donor for a kidney transplant, and calculated the dosages for the immunosuppressant drugs for a bone marrow transplant recipient. He sent the paper work out and checked his watch; he’d be on in the ED in thirty minutes.
“Hey Kent!”
“Yeah?” Clark replied.
“What time are you on in the ED?”
“Half an hour.”
“Come on, let’s get a cup of coffee. Have you been to the cafeteria yet?”
“Haven’t had a chance.”
“Yeah, figures they’d leave that out on the tour. Well, you aren’t missing much, but the stale coffee in there is at least hot and it beats the sludge they’ve got in this place any day.”
The cafeteria was much the same as the one in the hospital in Kansas where Clark had completed his residency; same lousy food, same old coffee, probably the exact same old coffee. He nursed a cup while Geoff explained to him the finer points of MetroGen that the administration had conveniently forgotten to tell Clark about.
“This can’t be right! Tell them to run it again!”
His head snapped up as he heard her voice echoing loudly through the cafeteria. Her outburst had drawn not only his attention but also that of half the doctors in the large room. She tossed a stack of papers at a hapless young lab tech who was running to keep up with her. The papers hit him squarely in the chest and the entire stack fluttered to the ground. He scrambled to pick them up as she walked away. “Right away Dr. Lane!” he called out, but she continued walking.
“And there goes the greatest hazard of them all,” Geoff proclaimed.
“Huh?” Clark replied.
“Lane, of course.” Geoff noticed the puzzled expression on Clark’s face. “Don’t tell me you got a thing for her, man. Sure, who wouldn’t fantasize about a beautiful dominating woman like that, but believe me, Kent, stay away from her, she is nothing but trouble.”
“Shot you down, huh?”
“Repeatedly, my friend,” Geoff stated with a grin. “She is one arrogant, bossy, self righteous, well, you know. She doesn’t have the time of day for lab geeks like us. Too busy off saving the world while single handedly pissing off everyone in the hospital at the same time.”
********
Lois Lane stormed through the West Wing of MetroGen, another stack of papers in hand. The results didn’t make any sense. This was the lab’s fault. It had to be. The data was completely ridiculous, a rhinovirus, of all things! She couldn’t believe it. She flung the door the ED locker room wide open, preparing to slam the door behind her, instead, she ran right into what felt like a brick wall clad in green scrubs.
“Dammit!” she yelled as she dropped the papers she was carrying.
“I’m so sorry!” the brick wall responded. He kneeled down to pick up the papers for her. She didn’t even notice who he was until he looked up at her to hand her the papers.
“Kent!” she cried out as if he were her long lost best friend.
“Dr. Lane?” he replied, perplexed. Unsure what brought on this sudden happiness to see him.
She placed a hand on his arm, and he felt his temperature rise. “Dr. Kent, just the man I’ve been looking for!” she declared.
“You’ve been looking for me, Dr. Lane?” he asked, incredulous. He managed to sound convincingly cool and collected.
“Of course! You’re an Immunologist, you figure this out!” she said as she placed the stack of papers in his hands. “Thanks,” she said in his general direction before turning on her heel and exiting the room.
“You’re welcome,” he said to the empty locker room. He looked down at the test results in his hands, thoroughly confused.
He ran out of the locker room. “I don’t understand,” he shouted to her retreating figure.
She paused for a moment and looked at him, making it perfectly clear that he was expected to drop everything and catch up with her if he wanted any answers.
“This is just a result from a blood test. What am I supposed to figure out?”
“Does the name of the patient mean anything to you?”
He looked at the name, Blake, Michael R., “Should it?”
She turned and continued walking down the hall, “he’s your cardiac arrest from yesterday.”
He jogged a few paces to catch up with her, “and?”
“And, what do you notice about the results?”
“Nothing.”
“Precisely!”
“What?”
She continued walking, “the lab tests are clean. No known allergens, no drugs, nothing. We ran a series of skin tests on him this morning and nothing, couldn’t find a damn thing this guy’s allergic to and yet somehow he ended up in the Emergency Department yesterday morning, flatlining with asystolic cardiac arrest after going into anaphylactic shock, while according to the lab results, this guy has nothing but a common cold, can you explain that one, Doctor?”
He kept pace with her as he looked over the hematological, microbiological and biochemical test results. The guy definitely showed symptoms of a hypersensitive allergic reaction, but there were no allergens in his bloodstream and the skin tests showed no known allergies. “No, frankly I can’t, but I can order a more thorough screening be done on the blood sample if you just send it to the Immunology lab.”
She stopped suddenly, “fine, I’ll send it up there now.”
“Don’t bother, it’ll keep ’til morning.” He continued walking.
“What?”
“There’s no one in the lab right now and you and I are both due in the ED in about two minutes. The blood test can wait ’til morning, I promise it’ll be the first thing I do when I get in.”
She let out an exasperated sigh and ran to catch up to Clark who simply continued walking toward the Emergency Department, paying his companion and her frenetic outbursts little mind. “This man may have been exposed to dangerous substances down at that germ factory, do you know what kind of defense department contracts those guys have?”
“No but I’m sure you’ll explain it to me.”
“Listen Kent, this may be some colossal joke to you, I don’t know, cutting edge Immunologist humor or something, but Genzyme has been in the business of manufacturing more and more efficient lethal viruses for decades. They are in the business of finding the most nasty, painful and effective ways of killing as many people as possible while doing minimal collateral damage to surrounding buildings.”
“Dr. Lane, the government sort of gave up on the idea of chlorine and anthrax as offensive weapons a few decades ago. I’m sure Genzyme isn’t full of crackpot little scientists developing the most exciting ways to kill all six billion people on the planet and I’m not quite ready to rule out other possibilities such as the slight chance that someone in the lab screwed up the tests and the results failed to show the fact that the guy has a hypersensitive allergy to peanuts and someone in the cafeteria at work that day decided to eat a peanut butter sandwich too close to him.”
“You would believe that sort of thing.”
He stopped walking abruptly, “I beg your pardon? You don’t know me, Dr. Lane, how would you know what I would and would not believe?”
“Well, you’re the trusting type. If the government tells you no more biochem weapons, you’d believe them. You would ignore the evidence that shows that while we aren’t lobbing mustard gas over the trenches at the German forces on the Western Front anymore, we still develop dangerous biochem agents for ‘research purposes’ and that under the Biochem Weapons Convention, Genzyme is a legally contracted firm able to conduct biochem research for the United States Military. If that man in the ICU was exposed to something at Genzyme that caused him to almost be killed, I’m going to find out, and I will do it with our without your help, Doctor.” She continued walking down the hallway, leaving him behind. He simply stood there for a moment and watched her retreating form. He shook his head, not sure what to make of the conversation she had just dragged him through. He didn’t have time for this. Making sure no one was watching, he zipped back to the locker room and left the test results there, he ran back to the ED just in time to hear the sirens of an incoming ambulance.
His head tilted to the side as he picked up the voices of the Paramedics above the din and hum of the bustling Emergency Department. Gunshot wound to the abdomen. No matter how many of these he saw, they never became less frightening. He was never able to develop that jaded exterior that ED doctors so often get to protect themselves from the horrors that they dealt with. Perhaps that was why it surprised everyone so much when he made it as long as he had working in emergency medicine.
He ran to meet the medics and helped deliver the patient to OR 5. He started shouting orders for two units of O negative as the nurses and residents worked feverishly around him. More doctors and other personnel burst through the OR doors as he set to work on the patient. He had no trouble finding the bullet, but their primary concern was to stop the bleeding first.
********
After a long night in the ED, Clark just wanted to go home and go to bed. He decided not to risk being seen and walked home instead of flying. Once inside his apartment he changed out of his clothes and into a pair of shorts and settled upon his ‘air mattress’ for a few hours of sleep. His eyelids were heavy and he fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.
The sound of thunder woke him suddenly. He caught himself six inches above the ground, and floated back upward. Funny, it wasn’t raining outside. He shook his head and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The sky was pitch black and cloudless, the sound couldn’t possibly have been thunder. He got up and looked out of his window; he saw smoke rising from a subway entrance not far from his apartment. He listened but could hear no sirens yet, if anyone was down there, there was no way emergency services would get there in time to help. He threw on a black sweater and dark jeans, took off his glasses and launched himself out of his window, flying straight toward the subway tunnel. People were going to see him, no doubt, he just hoped no one would recognize him.
He flew into the smoke filled subway, the thick dark plumes forcing him to use his X ray vision to navigate. He visually swept the tunnel and initially, saw no one. But his uneasiness did not abate and was suddenly reinforced by the sounds of people’s voices: cries for help. He X rayed the tunnel again and found three men trapped in a maintenance shaft in the tunnel. The door seemed to have been blasted shut. He saw the cause of the explosion; the electrical transformer must have overloaded and started a fire in the shaft. He didn’t have much time.
He flew into the tunnel and ripped the door from its hinges. While the flames didn’t bother him, he knew the heat in the maintenance tunnel was intense. He would have to get the men out of there now. He found them easily, and quickly picked up the most seriously injured man. He flew him out of the tunnel as quickly as he could without causing further damage and then returned for the other two men. One was unconscious but didn’t appear to be too seriously injured, just suffering from slight burns and moderate smoke inhalation, the other man was still conscious. He grabbed both of them and flew them out of the tunnel. Outside the subway entrance, he heard the sounds of ambulances approaching.
He panicked for an instant, ‘calm down, Kent,’ he thought to himself. He took a deep breath and assessed the situation. He didn’t want to leave the men here, but he couldn’t risk being found at the second emergency in as many evenings. He waited with them for as long as he could. None of the men had injuries that emergency services would be unable to handle, they would be fine, he told himself. He waited until the ambulances were only a block away before darting off into the shadows. He watched from a distance as fire fighters and paramedics took control of the situation. He overheard that the men would be taken to MetroGen. Relieved, he told himself that he would be able to make sure that they were okay when he went in to work. On second thought, he decided that he better keep his distance from the burn unit. It was unlikely that any of them would be able to identify him, but he didn’t want to take the chance if he could avoid it.
He walked home, it was starting to get light out and his dark clothing would no longer provide the necessary camouflage to make flying a possibility. Deciding it would be pointless to go back to sleep, he showered, got dressed, ate breakfast and headed into the lab a few hours early.
A few eager young grad students were already busy at work when he got in. He was amazed by their dedication despite the mundane nature of the work. Within half an hour of his arrival at the lab, a blood sample along with a note arrived at his desk. ‘Didn’t that woman ever sleep?’ he wondered. He read the note:
Dr. Kent,
Here is the Blake blood sample. Let me know what you find out ASAP.
Dr. Lane
He ran a thorough battery of tests on the blood sample; he checked everything he could think of. The results were returned within a few hours. He read the analysis and was puzzled by the results. He wasn’t sure if he had found something the initial tests had missed, but he did notice something that troubled him. He picked up the phone on his desk and called Dr. Irving, a geneticist in the hospital.
********
Lois spent a less than comfortable evening on a cot in the ED locker room. A cardiac came in at the end of her shift and kept her in the ED longer than expected after the patient was stabilized. Feeling herself to be in no condition to drive, she opted instead to crash in the locker room. She woke up a few hours later, still tired and sore, but at least in a conscious enough state to drive herself home. She went to her office and had the blood work sent to Dr. Kent. She had a consultation that evening with a patient who was scheduled for a balloon angioplasty the following week, but she needed to get a few more hours of sleep before coming back to the hospital. She drove home and went to bed after the second consecutive sleepless night.
She returned to her office that afternoon and immediately poured herself a cup of coffee. She checked her voice mail and discovered a message from a very anxious sounding Dr. Kent. She bolted from her chair, planting the coffee cup on her desk. The sudden movement caused some of the cup’s contents to slosh out onto her hand and onto scattered papers on her desk.
“Dammit!” she hissed. She wiped dry the now brown pieces of paper and tried to wipe the hot offending liquid off her hand. She abandoned the java stained mess after a few moments and ran the short distance to the Immunology labs. In typical Dr. Lane fashion, she burst through the laboratory doors, causing everyone in the lab to look up toward the disturbance. She covered the distance to Dr. Kent’s desk, where he and an older man whom she recognized as Dr. Irving, were situated, in quick strides. “What have you got?” she asked.
“For one thing, Blake didn’t have a cold,” Dr. Kent said. He handed her a copy of the test results.
“Pardon?”
“The rhinovirus in his bloodstream was dead,” Dr. Irving chimed in.
“Which means?”
“Well, any number of things really, but Dr. Kent and I both believe that the rhinovirus in Mr. Blake’s bloodstream was there as a result of a gene therapy experiment. The rhinovirus is one of several types used for gene therapy and it’s possible that Mr. Blake was accidentally exposed to it at work. Genzyme is on the cutting edge of genetic science and research and they do extensive testing with gene therapy at their Metropolis lab.”
“So his blood was clean except for exceptionally high levels of histamines and Immunoglobin E, indicative of a severe allergic reaction, and a dead cold virus. Where does this leave us?”
“We haven’t ruled the rhinovirus out as a cause for the allergic reaction. The virus’s DNA and surface proteins had been seriously altered, we have to test it further, but it is possible that there is something about the virus that triggered the reaction,” Dr. Kent replied. “Has Blake mentioned anything about what he was doing at work that day?”
“No, the guy apparently doesn’t remember a thing. He woke up in the ICU and had no recollection of anything that happened that day.” She started flipping through the pages when she felt his hand upon her wrist.
“What is it?”
He turned her wrist and looked at the large red splotch on the back of her hand. “You burned your hand,” he said, getting out of his chair.
“It’s nothing,” she said as she pulled her arm away.
Ignoring her comment, Clark walked to the sink and wet a clean cloth. He rung the excess cold water out of it and moved to place it against her hand.
“I said it’s nothing,” she said irritably.
He took her hand in his and with the other, gently placed the cloth against the burn. She flinched slightly and he pretended not to notice. “Just hold it there for a few minutes.” He smiled warmly. He realized that he was still holding her hand with both of his and reluctantly let go.
“Thank you,” she mumbled.
“We can get the test results back tomorrow evening,” Clark said, changing the subject. “Then we’ll know how to proceed.”
“Good,” she replied. “Thank you, Dr. Kent, Dr. Irving,” she said graciously.
“Of course, Dr. Lane,” Dr. Irving replied with a warm yet somehow detached manner so common among doctors. Clark only smiled in response. She turned and walked out of the lab, not creating the same disturbance that she had upon entering the room, nevertheless, her exit caused a certain change in the room, as if the energy level suddenly dropped. Something almost tangible disappeared in her absence. Clark wasn’t sure what it was, but he knew that he missed it. He realized that the look upon his face probably mirrored that of a lovesick teenager, and he did his best to replace his expression with a more serious one. Dr. Irving excused himself, a tiny smile playing upon the corners of his mouth, and promised to have the test results back the following evening.
He settled in to do some of his own research when a loud crashing sound pierced the air. He clapped his hands over his sensitive ears and realized that no one else seemed to hear whatever it was that was making that sound. He exited the lab, and ran out of the hospital trying to locate the source of the sound. It was coming from the financial district. It was the middle of rush hour and it would take fire crews an eternity to get there.
He sighed and wondered what was going on in this crazy city as he took off, risking a mid day flight as he headed toward downtown. He identified the cause of the sound as having been an accident on a construction site on a new skyscraper. He touched down in a dark alley whose only occupants were thankfully too drunk to notice him. He had had no time to change clothes but he took off his glasses and stuck them in his pocket anyway; they got in the way whenever he tried to use his heat or X ray vision and he didn’t want to have to deal with them. He took off running toward the site.
The scaffolding at the site had collapsed and construction workers were rushing away from the unstable structure. He ran past dozens of men toward the center of the site. Under the collapsed scaffolding, trapped under a pile of steel pipes were two men. Their pitiful cries were a testament to the fact that they were still conscious and undoubtedly in a great deal of pain. He moved cautiously to remove the heavy pipes that were crushing the two victims, aware of the fact that removing a heavy object that had pinned a person to the ground too quickly or incorrectly could cause even further damage.
He carried away the last of the pipes and bent down to X-ray the two men’s injuries. A hand reached up to him and Clark took it. He looked at the man’s face and said, “it’ll be all right,” with a confidence he wished he actually felt. They had both suffered broken ribs as well as some internal bleeding. One of the men had a large gash across his torso, which Clark cauterized with his heat vision to slow the bleeding. Having nothing else to cover the wound with, he removed his shirt and placed it over the wound, he placed the man’s hand over the shirt and instructed him to hold it there.
He glanced from side to side; emergency services would be unable to get in here, it was too dangerous. He had not choice but to move the men. Gently he removed them, one at a time from underneath the collapsed structure and moved them to a clearing on the edge of the site. Two of the uninjured construction workers came running toward him. He instructed one of the men to help hold the shirt against the injured man’s wounds and told the other to flag down the paramedics. He gave the instructions quickly and the men followed without hesitation. At the sound of the approaching ambulances and fire trucks, he made a hasty exit.
He ran toward another alley to make another impromptu take off. He looked down at his current state of undress and decided that a trip home was in order. He didn’t feel like trying to explain to his colleagues why he was wearing only his slacks and an undershirt.
After a few hours at the lab he decided to call it a night. He walked home again; he’d flown too much in the last twenty-four hours and was incredibly lucky that he hadn’t been seen yet. By the grace of God, nothing else happened that evening that required his attention. He managed a quiet evening alone with his research after setting up his new mattress, which had finally arrived. Yep, that was him, Clark Kent, mild mannered ordinary guy spending an average night at home. He finished his latest data analysis and got ready for bed, he wasn’t scheduled to make rounds in the ED that morning but he promised to remain on call in case things became overwhelming in the Emergency Department, a not too rare occurrence these days at MetroGen. He hadn’t figured out what he was going to do about all of these emergencies and how he could best go about helping but he had the feeling that everything was going to be all right. He went to bed content and sure of the fact that everything was right with the world.
Eight hours after deciding that his world was finally coming together, it fell apart.
He stepped outside to pick up the first copy of The Daily Planet to be delivered to his new home and nearly fainted when he read the headline.
Mystery Savior Comes to the Rescue
Unknown Hero Described as ‘An Angel’ by Those He Saved
By Allison Hastings
He read the article in utter disbelief. This was it. He’d have to pack up and leave Metropolis. Just when things were starting to go right. Just when he found someplace where he thought he could belong. Just when he found what he’d been looking for. Just when he found her. Her. He felt like he’d been hit in between the eyes with a two by four for the second time this morning as he realized why he wanted to stay here. He wanted to be in Metropolis to be near her. The moment he realized that was also the moment when he realized that he would have to leave.
Depressed, he slowly got ready for work. Skipping breakfast and coffee, he walked to work with his head down, a giant chip on his shoulder and a forlorn expression on his face. Not one minute after arriving in the lab, he heard her voice.
“Kent!” she yelled from the doorway.
“Yeah?” he replied unenthusiastically, still sifting through papers on his desk.
“Brett Hoffman and Walcowitz both called in sick. You’re on in the ED in thirty minutes.”
“Thanks,” he mumbled, not bothering to look up.
“You okay, Kent? You’re not going to die on me, are you?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he replied unconvincingly, but she didn’t press the issue. She entered the lab and walked to his desk when it became apparent that he wasn’t going to acknowledge her presence unless he was forced to. He feigned utter fascination with his mail to avoid eye contact.
“Did you see the Daily Planet this morning?”
‘Oh God, no, please anything but this!’ he thought. “Huh?” he replied as if he didn’t understand what she was talking about.
“Oh, well, you wouldn’t believe the headline, some nonsense about an angel flying around rescuing people. Yeah, take a look for yourself” she said as she leaned over to drop a copy of the paper on his desk. Her arm brushed his shoulder in the process. He felt a surge of electricity across his skin where she had come in contact with him.
“I mean, since when were the near death experiences of half conscious people front page material? Ugh, you’d think this was the Metropolis Star or something. Honestly, a flying man who goes about rescuing people and then disappearing before they could even thank him, who comes up with this stuff? Anyway, I guess I’ll see you down in the ED,” she patted his shoulder and he felt ever muscle in his body tense. He sighed heavily after she left the room. What on Earth was he going to do?
She left his lab and headed toward the Emergency department. Kent was acting oddly this morning. He had been extremely quiet, practically rude, in fact, and the way he tensed up when she touched him, he’d been like a piece of steel. Kent looked like a pretty solid guy, even with the glasses and lab coat, and yesterday when she ran into him she could tell that he had a better build than the average lab geek, but he was positively on edge this morning, he was certainly worked up about something.
She made her rounds in the ED that morning but somehow missed him entirely. She was in surgery that afternoon, so she didn’t see him for the rest of the day and he wasn’t in his office when the lab results returned that evening. She told herself that her desire to see Dr. Kent was due entirely to her need to discuss the test results, but when her father asked her what was wrong at dinner that evening and she snapped at him, she couldn’t deny that Dr. Kent’s sudden nervousness and his apparent need to avoid her had put her in a foul mood. She took the lab results home with her along with the proposal, which was now due in five days.
He escaped the day unscathed and retreated back home after his tour in the ED was done. He had just arrived at his apartment when he heard the sounds of a car accident. He at first tried to ignore it. He couldn’t keep taking these risks, but a split second later that he changed into the dark clothing again ditched the glasses and flew out the window. As much as he feared exposure, he couldn’t sit by and do nothing while people were hurting. He flew toward the source of the sound, a darkened intersection not far from MetroGen.
He landed unnoticed under the cover of darkness and ran toward the tangled heaps of metal and glass. Two cars had been involved in a head on collision and now he was hard pressed to identify either one of them as an actual automobile. He could smell the gasoline even before he landed. He applied a judicious amount of super cooled breath to the spilled fuel. The drivers of both cars were severely injured. He would not have risked moving either of them had the threat of a fire from the spilled fuel not been paramount in his mind. He was forced to rip one of the doors off the frame in order to remove one of the victims. The driver moaned as Clark lifted her out of the car. He set her down on the sidewalk, and returned for the other driver. He had an easier time removing the man from his car and placed him alongside the woman. He surveyed their injuries and determined it would not be wise to move them any more than necessary. He heard sirens in the distance and ducked into the shadows to wait for the paramedics to arrive. He couldn’t help but get the feeling of déjà vu as he watched emergency crews arrive on the scene to take care of the situation. Once satisfied that everything that could have been done was done, he returned home. Feeling like his life was spinning out of control, he went to bed. He was going to visit his parents the next evening. They would know what to do. He just had to make it ’til then.
And then the phone rang.
He didn’t want to answer it. He let it ring until the machine picked it up.
Hi, you’ve reached Clark Kent, I’m not able to take your call right now, so please leave me a message. If it’s urgent, please page me at 555-0617, thanks and have a great day…beep
“Kent,” it was her. “Cute message, anyway, the lab analysis came back this afternoon, by the way, where were you today? In any event, you should see this, give me a call whenever you get in, and don’t wait ’til tomorrow, call whenever…”
He tried to ignore it but couldn’t, “Dr. Lane?”
“Oh, Dr. Kent, you’re home, great! I mean, the lab results came back…”
“I heard.”
“Oh, right, well, it turns out you and Dr. Irving were right. The rhinovirus, it caused the allergic reaction. Some of its surface proteins were altered and apparently they triggered the immune response.”
“So how are we going to proceed from here?”
“Well, we’ll have to call the police, work related injuries and illnesses have to be documented and filed, blah, blah, blah, and they’ll proceed with an investigation. But…”
“But?”
“But, chances are the police will discover nothing, call it a simple accident, declare the case closed and we’ll never know what really happened.”
“Why do I not like where this conversation is going?”
“However,” she said, pretending not to have heard him. “I have an in at the Daily Planet. I’ll tell him what’s going and we’ll see if we can’t blow the lid off of this operation.”
Clark groaned, “can we discuss this in the morning, at work?” he pleaded.
“Certainly, of course. Are you all right, Dr. Kent?”
“I’m fine.”
“Are you sure, because you don’t sound well, I mean, you sound a little ill…”
“I’m fine, really, but thanks for asking.” The corners of his mouth twitched upward in a tiny smile. He was pleasantly surprised by her sudden concern.
“Good night, Dr. Kent.”
“Good night, Dr. Lane.”
********
The next morning found Clark Kent staring at yet another Daily Planet headline.
Metropolis’s Angel Saves the Day Once Again
Unknown Hero Pulls Victims from Car Accident, Prevents Potentially Fatal Explosion
By Mark Atwater
He shook his head and wondered what on Earth he was going to do. Thankful that he was free from the ED today and could hole himself up in the lab, he showered, dressed and shaved and left for work. He entered the lab and let out a sigh of relief when he noticed that Geoff was the only other person there. Perhaps he would make it through the next couple of hours all right, then he could fly home and he and his folks could straighten the whole terrible mess out.
“How’s it going, Kent?” Geoff called out, still glued to his computer, he picked up the donut on his desk and took another bite.
“Fine, Geoff, and you?” Clark responded politely.
“Awright,” Geoff mumbled as he swallowed the last bite. “There’re donuts on the counter if you want any.” He nodded in the general direction of a pink box filled with the high fat, low nutrition breakfast of champions.
“Thanks,” Clark replied as he selected one of the cake ones with frosting and sprinkles. He proceeded to pour himself a cup of the lab’s own bitter brew and sat down at his desk.
“Hey did you see the paper this morning?” Geoff said without bothering to look away from the monitor.
Clark nearly spit out a mouthful of coffee at the unexpected remark. He managed to swallow and cleared his throat.
“Be careful, that stuff’ll make you choke. Anyhow, that headline was an absolute trip. Guardian angels flying around rescuing people, what a riot. And the best part is, it’s got all these religious leaders out claiming that the end is near or that the prophesies are all coming true or some stuff like that, you should check it out, it’ll give you a good laugh.”
“Right, thanks,” managed to choke out. He took a deep breath, and tried to focus on his work. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Geoff had given up on the Planet’s headline and was once again entering data into a program on his computer. Looking around Clark confirmed his suspicion that Geoff was in his own little world, going over his work with such focus Clark wondered if the man would have noticed had the lab blown up. Clark entered the data from the last round of experiments into the spreadsheet, typing as quickly as the keyboard and processor would allow. He sped through the reports, checked on his samples and finally sat back down to go over the lab results that Dr. Lane would no doubt interrogate him about later today.
********
Dr. Lane arrived at her office early that morning. She and Dr. Richardson had a consultation with a young couple at nine. The couple’s young son suffered from a severe congenital ventricular septal defect, and while she wasn’t working in pediatric cardiology, she had been honored when Dr. Richardson, a highly respected pediatric cardiologist asked her to work with him. While surgery to correct the condition had become safer and more commonplace, she knew that the parents were going to be frightened and nervous and that she was going to have to explain what was going on as best as she could to a scared little boy. Consultations with adults were one thing, trying to explain something like this to a child was something else entirely.
Dr. Richardson did most of the talking in the consultation. The parents asked questions and he answered them, providing them with reassurances and explaining to them what to tell their son about what was going on. The surgery was scheduled for next Thursday, and little David would be admitted the day before. The appointment lasted for about two hours. Dr. Lane left the meeting glad that she would be able to help these people, but wishing that she could do something to lessen their fears. She didn’t know what it was like to have a child that was so ill, but she could imagine. She mentally shook herself and turned her thoughts to figuring out what exactly had happened to Mr. Blake down at Genzyme.
She called the police officer she was to contact and told them that she was faxing in the results of the lab test for their records. An investigator was assigned to the case. She then faxed the information on to Genzyme and informed them of the cause of Mr. Blake’s sudden condition. The executive she talked to seemed eager to cooperate and expressed concern about Mr. Blake’s condition. She assured him that he would be fine and informed him that the police would begin investigating the matter. She had heard that Danny Carter was working at Genzyme and contemplated the idea of calling him, but then decided against it. It had been so long, would he even be willing to talk to her?
She sat down at her desk to figure out what she should do next when she noticed the copy of the day’s paper on her desk. She looked at the headline and rolled her eyes. What was going on? Had the city suddenly lost its collective brains? Were people actually buying this nonsense about angels and mysterious strangers in the night who rescue people? This wasn’t Gotham City for crying out loud; no crazed men dressed as bats running through the night fighting evil here. Until now anyway. And whoever was behind this was being deified by the public and the press, it was absolutely ridiculous.
A faint rumbling sound reminded her that it was well past lunchtime by now and she had had nothing to eat all day. The thought of cafeteria food caused her stomach to perform another somersault so she called her father to see if he was free for lunch. Unfortunately, he wasn’t. She drummed her knuckles on the wooden surface of the desk wondering who else she could call. A half smile crept upon her lips. She rose from her desk and left her office.
“Kent,” she called from his doorway.
“Huh?” he looked up from the papers at the sound of his name being called.
“Come on, let’s get something to eat,” she replied nonchalantly as if they had been eating lunch together every day for years.
He tried to form a coherent response but the shock of her asking to join him for something other than work was too great, his second response mirrored his first, “huh?”
“It’s after one, and you haven’t had lunch yet, have you?”
“Well, no I guess not…”
“Then let’s go,” she replied impatiently. “You do eat, right?”
“What?” He was startled by her question, but regained his composure. “Oh, yeah, of course, sure. Uh, where are we going?” he asked as he stood and grabbed his jacket.
“Out.”
********
They visited a small café not too far from MetroGen that was frequented by many of the hospital’s doctors and staff members. Lois noticed immediately that while Dr. Kent wasn’t jumping up and down with exuberance today, he seemed at least a bit more upbeat than he did yesterday. When small talk about their research projects waned, Lois chanced to bring up the subject of Mr. Blake.
“I called the police department and Genzyme this morning,” she said casually.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, an investigation into the lab is being started, Genzyme is apparently going to cooperate fully.”
“That’s good.”
“I’m not so sure.”
“How did I know you were going to say that?” he asked rhetorically.
“Anyway,” she glared at him, but only briefly. “I want to call my Uncle Perry down at the Daily Planet, let him know what’s going on.”
“Perry, is that your ‘contact’ at the Daily Planet?”
“Yeah, he’s the editor down there, he was always trying to get me to become a journalist, I don’t know, I guess I was just drawn to med. school more than to journalism school.”
“Wait, are you telling me that Perry White, Editor in Chief of the world famous Daily Planet, is your uncle?” he asked incredulously.
“Well, sort of, he’s my godfather actually. Anyway, I thought I’d let him know what was going on, if the government really is trying to find new ways to kill people with the common cold, we have to stop them, and Uncle Perry is the best person I know to help us do that.”
“Wait just a second. We don’t know this for sure, for all we know, what happened to Blake could really have been an accident.”
“Yeah, sure, tell it to the Tuskegee experiment victims, Kent.”
He made no attempted at a response and instead concentrated on his sandwich.
“So it’s settled, I’m calling Perry, and don’t worry, he’s not going to run this without proof. Uncle Perry has better sense than that, well most of the time anyway, I don’t know what he’s thinking with this whole ‘Angel of Metropolis’ nonsense, but that’s beside the point.” She was so wrapped up with what she was saying that she didn’t notice how Dr. Kent’s face fell in the middle of her babbling or the pallor of his expression.
She had obviously noticed the headline in the paper. ‘Well duh, Kent!’ he thought to himself. How could anyone not notice? At least she didn’t believe it, perhaps other people were just as skeptical as she was, he hoped. He acquiesced to her plans and they finished lunch in peace.
He responded to a voicemail from Dr. Irving when he returned to the lab. They had taken another blood sample from Blake; this one turned up completely clean, thankfully. The entire remaining sample from the initial blood test had been transferred to a more secure biohazard lab where extensive testing could be performed on the virus particles. He passed the information off to Dr. Lane’s voicemail service; she was apparently out of her office and tried to focus on his own work outside of the Blake business. The rest of the day dragged by slowly. He couldn’t help but look at his watch every so often, waiting for the time to pass. Fed up with his own inability to get anything done, he left work early and took off for Kansas.
********
“Oh, Clark!” Martha exclaimed as her son walked into the farmhouse, two solid hours early. His arrival that afternoon was not unexpected however. She was surprised he hadn’t called or dropped by earlier. Jonathan walked into the entryway after hearing his wife call out their son’s name from the kitchen. After Martha released Clark from a comforting hug Jonathan placed a hand on his son’s shoulder reassuringly. “Good to see you, Son,” he said, hiding the fact that his heart ached for his boy.
“Come on, let’s get you something to eat,” Martha said, ushering him toward the kitchen table.
“I’m not really hungry, Mom,” he replied.
“Nonsense,” she said as she placed a slice of apple pie and a glass of buttermilk in front of her son. They sat in silence as Clark picked at his food. After several long minutes, Jonathan spoke, “we saw the paper, son. What can we do to help?’
“I don’t know, Dad,” Clark replied, frustrated. “Things have just gotten way too complicated. I want to help people, but I certainly don’t want all of this attention. It’s all over the news, everyone keeps talking about it like it’s the Second Coming or something.” He got out of his chair and began pacing. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Well, at least people are appreciating your help, Clark.” His mother tried to find some good in the situation and encouraged her son. “All of the press coverage has been positive.”
“Yeah, I know, I was so afraid of being shunned if people knew what I could do, and I’m glad that it isn’t the case, but I don’t want to be deified either.”
“But at least they don’t know it’s you,” his father chimed in. “No one’s been able to identify you.”
“Thankfully, no. I’ve tried to disguise myself, I’ve been wearing dark clothing and I leave the glasses at home and for the most part not too many people have seen me except those who are so injured that they wouldn’t be able to identify me.”
“Maybe you need a mask, Son.”
“I don’t know dad, all black and a mask? I don’t want to scare people; I’m not Batman. I just want to help.”
“You’re probably right, if you don’t wear a mask no one will think you’re hiding anything. If you keep your face covered, you’ll look like your trying to keep people from knowing who you are.”
“But isn’t that the point?”
“Yes and no, Clark,” his father continued. “You don’t want people to know who you are, but you don’t want them to know you’re hiding anything, either. That way, they won’t get suspicious, well anymore suspicious, of the guy who flies around rescuing people.”
“I guess you’re right,” he said, sitting back down. The no glasses and dark clothing are going to have to do for now, at least until we come up with a better disguise. I’ll just have to try to avoid situations where a lot of people are going to see me doing something unusual, but knowing my luck, we all know how that will work out.”
“Clark.” His mother placed her hand on top of his. “You’re father and I want you to know that we’ll be here for you, no matter what, and we’ll do anything we can to help.”
“I know, Mom,” he said. “Thanks.”
“Now, you just relax, while your father and I start dinner. Come on Jonathan.”
“Oh, right, coming Martha,” he called to his wife who was already making her way to the kitchen. He rose from the table and followed Martha to the kitchen. There would be no use trying to talk about what had just transpired with Clark in the house, or even in the state for that matter, but it might do some good to give the boy some time to think by himself.
After dinner, Clark flew back to Metropolis. He felt better, mostly he felt like he actually had a shot at pulling this off. The plan was simple, keep doing exactly what he was doing, avoid large crowds, don’t sticking around longer than necessary and wait until a better idea smacked him upside the head. He didn’t think about the possibilities of being exposed before said idea was kind enough to make itself known, he in fact, tried to avoid thinking about such things.
The next few days passed uneventfully. His research was coming along nicely, he was getting to know his coworkers better and had started to develop fast friendships with his colleagues. He was quickly learning how to avoid detection when he was out helping and his ability to discern true emergencies from those problems that the city’s emergency services could deal with was improving. He even felt the first stirrings of a friendship developing with Dr. Lane, sure they were still on rather formal terms, but he had managed an entire week without really upsetting the good doctor, more than most at MetroGen could boast.
He spent Sunday, his day off, working around his new apartment as well as picking up things for his place. It was funny; he was thirty years old and had never really lived alone before. He moved out when he went to college and after seven years of living with roommates through his undergrad and med. school days, he rented a small apartment with two friends while he completed his residency at Wichita County General, he then spent nearly two years travelling the planet working in refugee camps, rural villages, and war zones. For the first time in his life, Clark Kent had an apartment of his own, and was in desperate need of things to make it a home. A man could only eat off paper cups and plates sitting on the floor in his living room for so long. His furniture wasn’t going to be delivered for another few weeks, but rest of the household things he took care of that day.
Monday morning he picked up the paper relieved to find that his exploits of the previous evening had not made the front page and were in fact buried deep inside the City Section. Apparently the ‘Angel of Metropolis’ was no longer big news, or perhaps the Daily Planet simply tired of running stories each day that read exactly like the previous day’s headlines: mystery hero saves people runs away before anyone can identify him or thank him.
He went to work extremely happy that day. His happiness even cancelled out his nervousness about the meeting with admin scheduled for that afternoon. He delivered the preliminary data on his research to the hospital’s administration, Dr. Lane had actually wished him luck before the meeting! He wasn’t positive, but he felt like it went fairly well. He spoke to an Inspector Henderson from Metro PD that afternoon. The detective was working on the Blake case and stopped by the hospital to ask Clark a few questions. Henderson struck Clark as an honest and trustworthy person. He informed Clark of the progress he’d made on the case and promised to keep Dr. Kent informed of the goings on of the investigation. He thanked Clark for his help before excusing himself to return to the investigation. Things had turned themselves around for Clark Kent over the course of those few days. He managed to get his problems under control and was incredibly happy with the life he was building here in Metropolis.
********
Lois Lane woke up bursting with enthusiasm Monday morning. She read the Daily Planet over coffee and couldn’t help but notice the lack of a headline about the so-called ‘Angel of Metropolis’ perhaps the city had begun to regrow a collective brain. She reviewed her notes briefly, but she knew exactly what she was going to say today. It was with an air of confidence about her that she entered her meeting with the administration that morning. She convincingly described the nature of her work and the incredible progress that had been made in the last quarter. No one could have predicted results as good as the ones she had provided. Renewed funding at the requested amounts was most certainly a guarantee. Upon running into Dr. Kent she told him that she hoped his meeting would go over as well as hers had. He congratulated her and she graciously accepted his kind words. Her plans to celebrate her success were temporarily postponed by the arrival of the investigator on the Blake case. Henderson was a mildly irritating fellow but he was sharper than most cops and seemed like a straight up guy so Lois tolerated his questions with an exceptional amount of patience, for her, anyway. After what seemed like an endless question and answer session, Henderson left and Lois called her father to invite him out to dinner. It had been a big day for their little project and she was buying.
Tuesday passed in an utter blur. She had that balloon angioplasty in the morning, followed by a meeting with her father to discuss the next round of testing before darting off to spend an afternoon on call in the ED; she ended up pulling an extra shift thanks to the chronic shortage of doctors, and returned home weary and exhausted. She didn’t see Dr. Kent that day and didn’t have a chance to ask him how his meeting had gone. ‘Oh well,’ she thought as she stifled a yawn. She would most certainly see him tomorrow and could ask him then. Sleepily, she prepared for bed and fell into a deep sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
She arrived at work Wednesday in a decidedly good mood. She took the liberty of getting into the office a tad late that morning, after pulling double duty in the ED the night before; she indulged herself with an extra hour of sleep before coming into work.
“There’s an Inspector Henderson here to see you, Doctor,” Anna, the receptionist informed her as soon as she entered her office.
“Thank you, Anna,” Dr. Lane replied. She wondered what news the detective could have so soon. She entered her private office where Inspector Henderson was waiting for her. He rose from his seat as she entered the room.
“Good morning, Inspector,” she greeted him politely.
“Dr. Lane,” he replied.
“I hope you haven’t been waiting too long,” she said as she dropped her things on her desk and moved aside the new mail.
“No, it’s quite all right, your receptionist told me you were in the Emergency Room all night.”
She nodded, “now tell me, Inspector, what brings you back here so soon?”
“Well, I’m here to let you know that we’ve declared the Blake case closed.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“We talked to Blake and he told us that he was in fact working with genetically engineered viruses in a level two biohazard lab. He said that it was his own incautious behavior that resulted in his exposure to the virus.”
“That’s impossible. I talked to Blake on Wednesday, he had absolutely no recollection whatsoever of the events that transpired that morning. He couldn’t have told you what happened to him before he collapsed because he had no memory of it!”
“Genzyme has decided to pay for all of Mr. Blake’s medical bills,” he continued. “They’ve cooperated fully with our investigation and with OSHA inspectors. All of Genzyme’s labs are up to code and they exceed most safety standards, even still, they plan to review their precautions in light of the Blake case. Blake himself is not pressing charges against his employers.”
“This is ridiculous!” she shouted. “Forgive me for saying so, but can’t you see that they’re pulling the proverbial wool over your eyes, Inspector?”
“Dr. Lane, believe me, I appreciate your concern about this case.”
“I don’t think you do, Inspector, a man nearly died because of what he was exposed to at his place of work. What he was exposed to is a highly dangerous virus that if introduced into the atmosphere, could kill half the population of this city so fast that no one would know what hit them.”
“What he was exposed to, Dr. Lane, was a mistake. Genzyme was not trying to create a biological weapon to attack Metropolis or any other city in the world. The experiment that Mr. Blake was working on involved gene therapy for Cystic Fibrosis, not an attempt to bring about Armageddon. It happens that the virus he was working with was significantly altered, by mistake, and that is why it caused Mr. Blake to go into anaphylactic shock when exposed to it. Since then…”
“You can’t possibly believe that!” she cried. “That virus was designed to do nothing but kill! It did not have the proper genes to correct CF and you know it! No trained scientist would be able to mistake that virus for a legitimate attempt at a gene therapy experiment!”
“Since then,” the Inspector continued his voice significantly louder as he spoke above Dr. Lane. “Genzyme has destroyed the entire batch of the virus they were working on, setting their research back months at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars to them, to prevent such an accident from occurring again. This company has done everything we’ve asked of them and more.”
“Fine, Inspector. I understand, you’re just doing your job.” She practically dismissed the inspector.
“Why thank you, Dr. Lane,” he replied. The hint of sarcasm in his voice was easily detected. He stood up and left her office. ‘Man, that woman can be a royal pain,’ he thought. At least, in her own warped way, she only wanted to make sure that justice was done. He cringed at the thought of working against Dr. Lane, instead of supposedly working with her.
She let out an exasperated sigh as soon as he left her office. That man could be such a nuisance she thought. How could he fall for such a lame explanation? She was most certainly not convinced by Genzyme’s new nice guy attitude. She picked up the phone and viciously jabbed a familiar sequence of buttons.
“Perry White, here,” a gruff voice responded after the second ring.
“Uncle Perry.”
“Lois, how are you? I haven’t seen you in ages, Darlin'”
“I know, Uncle Perry, we’ll have lunch together sometime, but that’s not what I’m calling about.”
“I figured as much,” he said with a laugh.
“Inspector Henderson came by here today, they closed the Blake case.”
“I know. My contact at Metro PD told me the same thing.”
“So what are we going to do?”
“I’m afraid there isn’t anything we can do, Honey,” he replied. Perry White was the only man on the planet who could get away with using such terms of endearment with Dr. Lane.
“But Perry, there’s more to this case than what the cops know. There’s something here, and I’m sure you’ll find a story in it. Come on, you’ve got to help me out, you help me prove that Genzyme knowingly endangered lives in order to create these horrid weapons, I’ll help you get the story, it’s a win win situation.”
“Lois, there is nothing I would like more than to help you out, I swear on the King’s grave, but I just can’t do that. I cannot afford to place my investigative journalists on a case where we’ve got nothing but a little bit of circumstantial evidence and our only chances of proving our case are slim and none. I can’t publish without hard facts and we don’t have any. I believe you, Lois, really I do, and I trust your instincts, but you are going up against a powerful adversary. If you’re wrong, it’ll ruin you, and you’ll be taking this paper down with you. And even if you’re right, you’ve got to be able to prove it. Their word is as good as yours, and without proof you’ve got nothing except a good excuse for Genzyme’s legal sharks to take a bite out of you and the Daily Planet.”
“Perry, if we don’t do anything, Genzyme’s going to get away with this and they’ll keep doing it until they do kill someone, and then I can’t even guarantee it’ll just be one scientist in a lab. What if this had gotten out into the air? Then what?”
“Lois, Darlin’ I’d like to tell you that as a reporter I fight the good fight, that I use my position to right wrongs and battle injustice, but sometimes you have to know when to back down. You can’t always pick on the bully if you want to live to fight the fights you can honestly win.”
“If that’s what you believe Perry, then you’re not the man I thought you were.”
“Now hold on a minute, Lois…Lois?” The line went dead.
She slammed the phone down. She wanted to scream out loud. She settled instead for pounding her fist on her desk and immediately regretted it. There was a soft knocking at her door.
“What is it?” she barked.
“Dr. Lane?” a young lab tech asked, timidly.
“Yeah?” she replied with no attempt to hide her disdain.
“Doctor, this came for you, it’s from Admin,” he said warily as he crossed the office to hand her the envelope.
“Thanks,” she mumbled as she took the envelope. The lab tech nodded and made a hasty retreat. She examined the substantial parcel. It was the administration’s decision on the research budget for the upcoming quarter. She tore into it quickly and tossed aside the information on last quarters profits and results and other such issues with which she wasn’t overly concerned. She finally found the Metropolis Medical Center board’s decision regarding the project. ‘Well, at least something good will come of today,’ she thought to herself as she began to peruse the document. Wait, this couldn’t be right. The numbers didn’t add up correctly. She checked again and pulled out a calculator from her desk drawer to recheck her math; her math was fine, it was the numbers that were wrong. This couldn’t be. The budget apportioned to the project was fully twenty per cent less than the budget she had outlined in her proposal. She had calculated that budget perfectly; there was no way that she could deal with a twenty per cent reduction. There had to be some kind of mistake. She picked up her phone and punched the button for Dr. Davis’s office.
“Dr. Davis’s office,” the pleasant voice of a receptionist responded after the third ring.
“Yes this is Dr. Lane, I need to speak with Dr. Davis.”
“I’m sorry, Dr. Davis is busy at the moment, Dr. Lane, may I take a message.”
“No. This is urgent. Please put me through to Dr. Davis.” Lois’s words were terse and almost threatening.
“Right away, Dr. Lane”
“Dr. Davis.”
“Dr. Davis, it’s Dr. Lane.”
“Dr. Lane, I’m a tad bit busy right now, if I could just call…”
“I’m sorry Doctor, this can’t wait,” Lois interrupted. “There seems to have been some sort of error in the budget allocation for the research project.
“There’s no mistake, Dr. Lane. The medical center was forced to make cuts, I’m afraid that that’s the best we can do.”
“But it is a full seventeen and a half per cent reduction from last quarter, I cannot run my lab on anything less than what I had last quarter.”
“Well, you’re going to have to find a way Dr. Lane, because the medical center cannot afford it. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have cut your funding, but you know who runs the medical center and this hospital and I’m afraid that it is neither you nor I Dr. Lane and we’re both going to have to get used to that. Now I’m sorry, but I really must be getting back to that meeting. Goodbye Dr. Lane.”
Lois slammed the phone down as hard as she could. She raised her hand up but lowered it just as quickly, her fist could not tolerate another encounter with the hard surface of her desk. She grabbed her purse and stormed out of the office. Much later, she found herself in the cafeteria, nursing a cup of what passed for coffee. She saw Dr. Kent enter the cafeteria and immediately put her head down; maybe he wouldn’t notice her. Of course, he did. ‘Great,’ she thought. ‘He’ll probably want to talk.” He walked over to her table with a similar cup of coffee in hand.
“I saw the budget for the quarter,” he said softly. “I’m really sorry.”
“Yeah, well it happens,” she said.
“Listen, if there’s any way I can help, you know if you need lab space or anything like that, please, let me know.”
“Oh sure, Kent. Get all magnanimous on me.” She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth, but having no intention of apologizing, she had no choice but to continue. “I mean it is the honorable thing to do. When the pie gets divided between more people its typical for the big winner to offer a little to whoever got gypped.”
“Dr. Lane, I’m sorry if your project suffered because of the new budget but I’m not going to apologize about being hired or my own research. It is not my fault that your funding was reduced. Now if you’ll excuse me.” He stood up, a mirthless expression upon his face, and walked away from the table.
She placed her head in her hands and let out a long, labored sigh. When had things started to go so impossibly wrong? Why was it that when everything was just starting to go so right, something would happen to foul it all up? True, that incident with Kent right there was her own fault, but considering how the world seemed like it had a personal vendetta against her and how she’d spent all morning just trying to survive, she wasn’t about to apologize for her behavior. She got up from the table and tossed out her cup of now cold coffee. She left the cafeteria and stalked out into the hallway.
Intending to return to the lab, she instead found herself near the children’s ward of the ICU. She had heard the voices of David’s parents and Dr. Richardson as she was walking by. She paused without really knowing why and listened as they completed the admittance procedures. He started going over with them the last minute explanations of what would happen the following day. She stayed out of sight and looked around the different rooms in the ward, finally finding David in one of the playrooms. He was a dark haired little boy with big brown eyes dressed in yellow Pokemon pajamas. He was sitting at a child’s table, coloring with a worn out red crayon. She sat down in a chair beside him. It was small and uncomfortable but unfortunately it was the only thing available.
“Hi David,” she said softly.
He continued to color and asked without looking up, “why am I sick?”
Somehow children always knew the questions that had no easy answers and managed to ask them. She never was very good at this. She looked around the room as if the appropriate response would somehow materialize and finally settled on the truth. “I don’t know Sweetie, I don’t know,” she replied.
He continued coloring but asked, “am I going to get better?”
“Oh yes, you’re going to be fine,” she said with a smile, thankfully a question she could answer. “We may not know why you’re sick David, but we do know how to make you better.”
“Is it going to hurt?” he asked his tiny voice wavering. He was now scribbling on the paper pressing down hard on the hapless crayon.
She sighed as she fumbled again for the right thing to say. Being in a hospital was scary enough, especially when you were too little to really understand what is going on; she didn’t want to frighten him anymore, but she wasn’t going to lie to him. She strung her response together carefully, “no, it won’t hurt. Dr. Richardson and I are going to give you some medicine tomorrow morning. It’ll make you sleepy and when you wake up, it’ll all be over. It’s going to feel funny for a little while. You’re going to have to stay in bed and you won’t be able to do much for a few weeks, but after that, you’ll get to run around and play.”
“Just like the other kids?”
“Just like the other kids.”
He turned the paper ninety degrees and continued coloring. “I’m scared,” he said.
“That’s okay. It’s okay to be scared, everybody gets scared sometimes.”
“Even you?”
“Even me.”
“But you’re a grownup, grownups aren’t ‘sposed to get scared.”
“Sure they are,” she said with a slight smile. “Even us grownups get scared sometimes.”
“So what do you do when you get scared?”
‘Well usually I handle it all wrong, get angry, hurt other people,’ she couldn’t say that, so she thought about what she *should* have done when she was scared, but did she even know what that was? “Well,” she started. “Sometimes…sometimes it’s easier to be brave when you have someone to be brave with you.”
“Like a friend?”
“Mm hmm.” She nodded slowly.
“Will you be brave with me tomorrow, Dr. Lane?” he looked up at her for the first time since she entered the room. His eyes were wide with hope.
“Of course, David. Tomorrow we’ll be brave together.”
She stayed with David just a little while longer. Dr. Lane left the hospital that afternoon in a considerably better mood. The solemn little boy who was trying so hard to be brave had truly lifted her spirits and forced her to reexamine her own problems. She arrived at the hospital an hour earlier than necessary so that she could stop by and see David and his parents before the operation. She entered his room and saw the tiny boy lying on the large hospital bed, an IV needle in his left hand. His parents were standing beside his bed, his mother holding his free hand in both of hers. He had a serious expression on his face, but smiled slightly when he saw her.
“How are you feeling, David?” she asked.
“I’m okay, Dr. Lane,” he said slowly.
“The nurse is going to come give you the medicine soon. It’ll help you go to sleep and when you wake up, you’ll be back in this room and your mommy and daddy will be here. You’ll feel dizzy when you wake up and it’ll be hard to talk, but you’re going to get better, David.”
“Are you going to be here, too?”
“I’ll be with you the whole time, David.”
“Thank you, Dr. Lane.”
She smiled warmly at him, “you’re welcome, David.”
She left quietly to change and scrub for the operation. The operation went even better than expected. The surgical team led by Dr. Richardson and Dr. Lane did a superb job of repairing David’s septum. Dr. Lane was there with David’s parents when he woke up that evening. She and Dr. Richardson had informed the young couple of the success of the operation and relieved, the four of them waited together for the anesthesia to wear off. The little boy fell back asleep shortly after waking and slept through the night. His parents weren’t allowed to spend the evening in the ICU, but stayed in the hospital waiting area overnight.
********
Clark didn’t see Dr. Lane at all that Thursday, or the next morning for that matter. He found out around noon on Friday that she’d been in surgery most of the previous day. He looked for her Friday afternoon but she wasn’t in her office. He left a message on her voicemail. He couldn’t deny that he was angry, but he was more concerned about Dr. Lane. He didn’t want to leave things the way they were after their argument Wednesday afternoon, and as much as he disliked her insinuations that the reductions in her budget were his fault, he was worried about her. He got Inspector Henderson’s message the previous evening and was sure that the outcome of the Blake case wasn’t helping matters at all.
Frustrated, he sat in the lab that evening, getting very little accomplished. He got up and left, heading toward the cafeteria. The so-called coffee in the lab was becoming too much even for his iron stomach. He was walking past the children’s wing of the ICU when he heard a familiar voice. He couldn’t help but tune into what she was saying.
“You did very well, yesterday, David.”
He found himself following the sound of her voice, stopping outside one of the private rooms. The door was left slightly ajar and through it he could see Dr. Lane sitting beside a small boy who was dwarfed by the large hospital bed upon which he was lying, hooked up to the ECG and a saline drip. She gently stroked the boy’s dark hair. “You were very brave,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Thank you for being brave with me, Dr. Lane,” the boy whispered quietly, even with his superhearing, Clark had to strain to hear him.
“Shhh,” Dr. Lane whispered. “Get some sleep, David. I’ll see you in the morning.
Clark mentally shook himself and realized that he had been eavesdropping. He practically had to pick his jaw up off of the ground. ‘Was this the same Dr. Lane who had exploded at him and half of the staff on a near hourly basis?
Was this the same beautiful and stubborn crusading woman who would take out anyone in her path in order to right the wrongs, fight evil, and be the best damn surgeon at MetroGen? Yes, it was the same woman,’ he thought. ‘Same passion, same indomitable spirit, he’d just never seen this side of her before.’ He wondered if many ever had. He quietly retreated from the ICU. They could talk later.
********
He somehow ended up with double duty in the ED on Sunday, working the morning and evening shifts. He had dashed out a few times for emergencies, staying only as long as absolutely necessary for fear that he would be needed again in the Emergency Department. He had made the front page again on Friday, but not because of a particular rescue, instead two Planet writers had called him to step forward so that the city could thank him properly. He simply shook his head at the article, ‘not likely guys’ he thought to himself. After his evening shift, he crashed in the small lounge adjacent to the locker room on one of the cots. Not the most comfortable place to sleep, but it would due for a while. He didn’t feel like walking home yet and so decided he could take a little nap. He had just begun to drift off into the land of Nod when he heard the door open. Someone entered the room and he immediately heard the soft sounds of weeping. He opened one eye slightly and what he saw broke his heart.
He sat up swiftly. She started at the sound of him rising. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize anyone was in here.” She wiped at her eyes and reached for the doorknob.
“No,” he called out. She froze upon hearing his words. “It’s all right.” He stood up and walked over to her. “It’s all right,” he repeated.
“Dr. Kent?” she whispered.
“Yes, it’s me,” he replied quietly.
In the darkened room he could see her posture stiffen. She reached again for the door, her hand trembling as he grasped the cold metal knob.
“Dr. Lane? What’s wrong? Please, tell me what’s wrong.”
She shook her head, “I can’t,” she whispered.
He placed a hand on her shoulder. He felt her flinch beneath his gentle touch. She shuddered as a ragged sob escaped her trembling lips. His arms were instantly around her, holding her close. The sounds of her crying subsided as she buried her face against his shoulder. She nearly collapsed to the ground, but he slid his arms around her waist, supporting her weight. With one arm around her waist, he coaxed her into walking with him to the cot where he helped her to sit down. As soon as she did, she buried her face in his shoulder again and he encircled her again in a protective embrace. After a few minutes, the sobs abated. Her breathing was slower and more relaxed. She lifted her head to look up at him. The expression on her face tugged at his heart. Her big brown eyes were red from crying. They shone with a layer of unshed tears. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Don’t be,” he replied softly. She bit her lip and placed her head on his shoulder. He could feel how tense her body was. Taking an enormous chance, he rubbed his hand up and down her back, hoping that a gentle touch would help her relax. He felt her body stiffen at first, but her rigid posture soon gave way to his soothing ministrations. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked softly.
“No, I can’t. I…I can’t do this,” she replied, her voice breaking.
“It’s all right,” he whispered softly. Silence reigned between them for several long minutes.
“I couldn’t…I couldn’t save him…” she gasped. “They brought a boy into the ED, he’d been playing basketball and his heart just stopped. I couldn’t save him.” He hugged her tighter against his body.
“It never gets any easier, does it?” she whispered. “Losing a patient, a child. Having to look his parents in the eyes and tell them he’s gone. I don’t know why, but it never gets any easier.” The last sentence came out in a rushed sob as her body shuddered again.
“Because it shouldn’t,” he said softly. “Because you care. And no, it doesn’t. Because once it stops hurting, once you no longer feel anything for these people, then you have no business being a doctor. I watched innocent people die everyday, in senseless wars, innocent children, and it never got any easier.” He felt his voice waver and took a moment to steady himself. “No matter how many times I saw it, it never got any easier to tell parents that their children were gone. It never got any easier to look into a mother’s eyes and see what real loss was, or to see a father break down and weep when you told him there was nothing you could do to save his child.” He allowed her to tuck her head under his chin and held her close to his chest, his hand cradling the back of her head. His eyes shone with unshed tears.
She spoke softly, “when I was a third year med. student we started making rounds at Metro U. County Hospital with a brilliant cardiologist named Dr. Mansfield, he was the toughest professor at Metro U. and I worked so hard all term to have the highest grades in his class. One day when we were making rounds with Dr. Mansfield they brought a little girl into the ED. She’d been in a car accident, and they did everything they could for her, but she died that day in the Emergency Department.” Her voice was low and thick with emotion. “I still remember seeing them wheel her in, and then hearing the ECG flatline from the hallway. I remember when the doctor went out to tell her parents; I can still hear her mother crying. The next thing I knew, I was sitting there, in the hallway, crying. Dr. Mansfield came up to me and told me this was exactly why the female psyche was all wrong for medicine. He said that if a doctor couldn’t distance himself from the pain, then he would become a victim of his emotions and innocent people would suffer because of his own stupidity. He said that empathy in medicine was a poison. He told me I’d never amount to anything as a doctor and said that if I didn’t want to get others hurt in the process, I’d find another profession.”
Clark stifled a gasp, “that’s horrible,” he whispered, shocked at the unimaginable words of a cold and arrogant man that had obviously affected Dr. Lane terribly. “But you have to know that it’s not true. You are an incredible doctor.”
“Am I really, though?” She looked at him like a person who no longer even knew who she was any more.
“How can you ask that? Of course you are. You approach your work with such passion, and you’re fearless. You are a wonderful doctor because you care.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Don’t be, please,” he replied softly.
“No, I’ve been so cruel to you ever since you started here. What kind of person am I? No, don’t answer that. I’m a terrible person, and you’ve been so kind to me, I don’t even know why. I don’t deserve your sympathy.”
“Shhh,” he whispered. “You are not a terrible person. You’ve had a bad couple of days, that’s all. You are a brilliant and dedicated doctor and in the time that I’ve known you, you’ve set out to right just about every wrong known to man or God, and I admire you for that.”
She stared up at him with those big brown eyes that made his heart do a somersault. “Clark, thank you,” she whispered. His eyes grew wide. She’d called him Clark, not Dr. Kent or just plain ‘Kent,’ but Clark. She’d never done that before and the moment was not lost on him. He looked down at her face, the exhaustion clear in her expression. Her eyelids were heavy and began to droop. Her eyelids finally lost the battle with gravity and she was soon asleep. He tried to get up so that she could lie down on the cot, but she wouldn’t release her grip on him. She wouldn’t be able to sleep comfortably sitting up like this. Sighing heavily, he managed to reposition himself so that both of them were lying on the cot. She cuddled up to him with her head upon his chest. He wrapped his arm around her in a protective embrace and held her while she slept.
He watched her sleep for hours. He had heard sirens twice during the night, but couldn’t bear to leave her like that. Thankfully both had been situations that emergency services were capable of handling.
“Clark?” she inquired softly.
“Hmm?” he replied, surprised that she was awake; it was almost morning.
“Thank you, for everything. I know that I’ve given you the impression that I believed the opposite, but you really are a wonderful doctor, and the hospital is lucky to have you.” She didn’t say what she really meant; that she was lucky to have him as a friend.
“Coming from you, that means a lot, Dr. Lane.”
“Clark?”
“Yeah?”
“Call me Lois, I think we’re on a first name basis by now.”
He smiled in the darkness, unable to remember a time when he felt better than he did at that moment. He wanted to stay there with her forever, but he knew that it was not possible. The overnight shift would be ending soon and the morning doctors and interns would be in to take their place. Many other members of the staff would be there shortly as well, if they weren’t in their labs and offices already. As comfortable as he was, and as happy as he was with his newfound closeness with Lois, he’d rather not entertain the thought of any of their colleagues entering the lounge and finding the two of them together on the cot.
“Lois?”
“Mmm?” she looked up at him sleepily, suddenly he had trouble remembering all of the good reasons why they shouldn’t just stay there forever.
“It’s getting late, or early, anyway, we’d better get going.”
“You’re right,” she replied. He hoped that she would have argued with him, even just a little, because then he would have been able to give in. Instead, she got up and slowly stretched. He stood up as well and gathered up his labcoat. He held the door open for her and she realized for the first time that he’d been doing that since she met him. They exited the lounge and walked into the hallway where Geoff and two of the other young Immunologists, Andy Phillips and Steve Rosen were passing by. The three doctors stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the two leave the lounge.
“Let me give you a ride home, Clark, after what you did for me, it’s the least I can do.” She had a look of sincere appreciation on her face.
“Thanks, Lois,” Clark replied with a sleepy grin.
The two continued on their way down the hall, oblivious to the three doctors.
“Clark?” Dr. Rosen asked with arched eyebrows.
“Lois?” Dr. Phillips inquired with a smirk.
“I didn’t know she even knew his first name,” Geoff remarked.
“I didn’t know she even had a first name,” Dr. Phillips replied.
“I wonder what he did for her?” Dr. Rosen asked idly.
“Don’t you wish you knew?” Geoff laughed as he clapped his friend on the back. The three collectively shook their heads and continued walking down the hall.
********
The ride to his apartment was far too short. She pulled the Jeep up right in front of his building and put it in park.
“Well,” she said.
“Well,” he replied.
“I want to thank you, Clark. For everything. I’ve never told anyone the things I told you last night. I’m sorry, I guess I dumped my problems onto you.”
“No, you didn’t.” He smiled reassuringly. “I promise, I won’t tell anyone anything you told me.”
“I know, Clark. I know you wouldn’t.” They settled into a moment of awkward silence. “I’ll be heading back in around nine thirty, would you like me to pick you up on the way?” she asked.
“No, it’s all right, but thanks,” he replied. He saw the disappointment flash across her eyes, “I have a few things I need to do around the apartment, I wasn’t planning on going in until a bit later, but how about I meet you for lunch?”
She didn’t try to hide the smile that his comment elicited, “I’d like that,” she replied.
********
Clark went into the lab around ten thirty that morning. He planned on prepping the very last samples for the preliminary round of testing for the diabetes research project. A few lab techs would be in that afternoon to run the tests.
Geoff leapt down from his seat atop the counter as Clark entered the lab, “Kent!” Clark stepped back abruptly, not used to the forceful welcome. Andy shot Geoff a vicious glare and Geoff backed off immediately.
“Hi guys,” Clark replied warily, unsure what exactly was going on.
“Rough night?” Steve inquired as he tried to suppress a smile.
“It was a little rough in the ED, I guess,” Clark replied as he poured himself a cup of ‘coffee.’ He was uncomfortably aware of how his colleagues seemed to be hovering around him this morning. “Nothing unusual I suppose.”
“Right,” Geoff replied, a little too loud. “Of course, nothing unusual.”
“Right,” Clark replied slowly. He set his coffee down at his desk after taking one swig of the less than appealing brew. He worked his way across the lab, prepping the samples. “Don’t you guys have work to do?” he asked of the trio, all of whom had continued to watch him.
“Oh, yeah, work, right.” Steve replied, surprised by the question. “Yeah, we’ve uh, got…stuff, to do. So, come on, let’s go do…stuff.” The three shuffled away and made themselves look occupied. Clark simply shook his head. ‘They really must get out even less than I thought,’ he mused to himself. He went about his work without any interruptions finally finishing about two hours later. He looked up at the clock and sighed nervously. After hesitating for a moment, he grabbed up his jacket and headed out of the lab. He walked the short distance to her office, ‘here goes nothing,’ he thought. ‘I’ve got no reason to be nervous. We’re just two friends, going out for lunch together. I’ve gone out to lunch with friends before, no big deal, right? Yeah right.’ He opened the door and walked into the reception area.
“Hello, Anna,” he greeted the receptionist warmly with a smile.
“Good afternoon, Dr. Kent,” she replied, burning with envy. She wasn’t sure why Dr. Kent was here to visit Dr. Lane, but that didn’t matter, she still wanted desperately to trade places with her. It didn’t take an extremely perceptive eye to notice the way Dr. Kent would steal glances at Dr. Lane. She wondered idly if her boss even noticed the way the gorgeous doctor looked at her, or how much all the other women in the hospital wished Dr. Kent would look at them like that. She picked up the phone and punched the button for Dr. Lane’s desk phone.
“Dr. Lane, Dr. Kent is here to see you.”
“Thank you Anna, I’ll be right out.” Dr. Lane soon emerged from her office.
“Hello, Lois.” He smiled and she found herself blushing inexplicably.
“Hi, Clark,” she replied with a nervous smile. “Anna, I’ll be back around two, if Dr. Hoffman calls, please tell him to leave a message on my voicemail.”
“Of course, Doctor,”
“Thank you, Anna,” she called as she exited through the door Clark was holding open for her. Lois suggested an Italian restaurant downtown and he readily agreed. They made the ten minute trip in her Jeep and despite the lunchtime crowd, a table was soon made available for Dr. Lane and her colleague.
“I’m impressed,” he said after they were shown to the best table in the restaurant.
“Don’t be,” she replied with a grin. “It’s my father who has the real reputation here, I just get the best table because its considered a personal favor to Dr. Sam Lane.”
“I guess you get along really well with your father,” he said.
The waiter came by to take their orders before she could respond. As soon as he left she replied, “Yeah, my dad’s great. He made a big impact on my life and my decision to go into medicine I guess. What about you, what made you want to become a doctor?”
“When I was ten, my folks were in a car accident,” he began, he saw her smile disappear. “I was running out to meet them and I saw a big truck coming down the hill, the brakes were out I guess, the truck didn’t stop. The whole thing looked like it was in slow motion, and I saw it coming and I ran toward them, but there was nothing I could do. When I got to my parents’ pickup truck, I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do. I just did the first thing that came to mind. I ran. I ran into town to Dr. Winthrop’s house. I was so panicked, but somehow I managed to explain to him what had happened. The next thing I knew, he was calling to his wife to call the hospital and then he grabbed up his bag and ran to his car. I tried to go with him, but he told me to stay at the house. As soon as he left, I ran back home, I took a short cut and got there just in time to see him get out of his car. I’ll never forget how he ran to the pickup, a determined look on his face. He saved my parents’ lives. I guess I knew then that that was what I wanted to do. I wanted to help people the way Dr. Winthrop did. He just raced in and saved the day. I wanted people to be able to count on me the way they counted on him.”
“Wow, so I guess that’s why you choose to work in the ED, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess so. I joined a Lifeflight program while I was a resident. I volunteered on Lifeflight operations two weekends a month while I was at Wichita County General. There’s no feeling quite like it, flying down and coming to the rescue. I did my internal med residency there and the first year of my immunology residency there, but finished my clinical research in Manaus in the Amazon River basin with Dr. Tuck. We had a little clinic there, after that I travelled around a lot, just kind of going where I thought I could be most helpful. A few months ago, my tour in Sierra Leone was cut short, and I guess I decided I wanted to try working in the States for a while. I hadn’t been back since leaving for Brazil, and I thought it’d be a nice change of pace, you know, working in a hospital like a regular doctor,” he smiled wistfully.
“So you don’t plan on staying in Metropolis for good?” she asked, trying to hide her disappointment.
“I didn’t plan on it, but now, I think I just might stick around. What about you? I’m assuming you’re a permanent fixture in Metropolis.”
“Well, I didn’t grow up here, but I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon. My parents are both natives of Metropolis but they were both in the Service. They worked in an Army hospital in Saigon in the early sixties. That’s where they met Perry. He was a correspondent fresh out of Journalism School for the Daily Planet. He was wounded one day, covering a story I guess, and they brought him in with the soldiers into the Army hospital. He was injured pretty badly and was lucky that they got him there in time. Daddy was one of the doctors on call; he operated on Perry, saved his life. He found out that Perry was working for the Daily Planet and was from Metropolis, I guess they talked quite a bit and became good friends. My parents kept in touch with Perry no matter where they were. I was born on a base in Germany and my parents called Perry to ask him to be my Godfather. We travelled around a bit, moving to wherever Daddy was stationed. We moved to Iceland when I was six. Lucy, my sister, was born there. When I was eleven, we moved to Metropolis. My dad received a permanent station at Fort Truman as a staff surgeon.”
“It must have been rough moving around so much when you were a kid,” Clark mused.
“It was, I guess. We bounced around a lot, but I also saw half the world and I’m glad that I had the opportunity. The experience made me even more aware of how much I love Metropolis. Metropolis is my home.”
“I want to ask you something, you’d don’t have to answer if you don’t want to of course, but I was just wondering why you choose to work in the ED.”
“The ED in MetroGen is so understaffed. They need another surgeon on staff as it is.”
“Forgive me for being presumptuous, but somehow I can’t really believe that you work in the ED just to ‘take one for the team.'”
“You’re right, you caught me. I work in the ED because I love the hours.”
He smiled at her joke. “No, I’m serious,” he replied. “In fact I’ve got my own hypothesis.”
“Care to share your scientific theory, Doctor?”
“Gladly, Doctor. I think that you and I are not as different as you might think. I think you work in the ED because it’s where you can make the most difference. I mean, when you save a life in there, you know the answer to two questions most people spend their whole lives trying to figure out…”
“What job provides you with the most stress and the worst cafeteria food all in one?”
“No,” he chuckled, but turned noticeably more serious. “Why you’re here, on this planet, and what you can do to help people.”
“I see,” she said slowly. “So tell me, Doctor, how has this hypothesis held up under testing.”
“Repeated testing has confirmed the hypothesis, Doctor, in fact I think its about time to declare the hypothesis to be a fact.”
“Oh really?”
“Mm hmm,” their eyes met, Lois felt herself begin to blush under Clark’s gaze. He looked away, afraid that he’d made her uncomfortable. He nearly jumped out of his chair when he felt her casually place a gentle hand on top of his, he felt a surge of electricity course through his body, and wondered if she felt it, too. “So what about you? You’ve heard my life’s story, now I want the goods on Clark Kent,” she grinned hoping to break the tension.
“Well, I’m afraid its not much,” he confessed. “Pretty average childhood in small town Kansas. My parents are farmers and had Dr. Winthrop’s oldest daughter not taken his place as the town’s general practitioner, I’d probably still be there. Unfortunately, small towns rarely need too many doctors.”
“Unfortunately?”
“Or fortunately, I suppose, I guess it depends on how you look at it,” he looked up and noticed that her eyes were on him, she looked away as they made eye contact, it was now his turn to blush. “It’s getting kind of late,” he said, ending the awkward silence. “We should probably get going.”
“I guess so,” she replied.
After a spirited debate, Clark insisted on paying the check. They drove back to the hospital and Clark walked Lois back to her office. He expected to say goodbye to her in the hallway and walk the several paces to his own lab, but when she opened the door and walked into the office, nodding to imply that he should follow her, he did. She walked straight into her own office, stopping only to say hello to Anna. He did the same and followed her, a few steps behind. She closed the door after he walked through.
“I just wanted to say thank you, Clark, for being such a good friend.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Lois.”
She closed the distance between them and hugged him tightly. He hoped that she couldn’t hear how quickly his heart was beating, like a jackhammer in his chest. He hugged back, savoring the ability to hold her, even if it was just a friendly hug. They both held on a little longer than necessary. When she finally pulled away from him she looked up at him and made eye contact. This time neither one turned away. She stood on her toes and gently kissed him on the cheek. He wanted nothing more at that moment than to take her in his arms, to hold her and kiss her and never let he go, but instead he withdrew reluctantly.
“Goodbye, Clark,” she whispered.
“Goodbye, Lois,” he replied.
He walked back to his lab with a sappy grin on his face. He wasn’t sure if his feet actually touched the ground on the way back.
Clark stopped dead in his tracks outside the lab door. “Man, can you believe that!” He recognized Geoff’s voice.
“No way, I saw it and I still don’t believe it!” Andy exclaimed.
“Why not? Good for Kent, right? He gets with Lane and it’s a victory for lab geeks everywhere.” Steve’s words brought Clark’s blood to a boil. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
“Yeah right, assuming Lane doesn’t rip out our boy’s heart and eat it raw.” Geoff’s caustic statement caused Clark to reach immediately for the doorknob. He rushed into the lab, catching his three coworkers off guard.
“How ya doin’, Kent?” Geoff asked nonchalantly.
“Listen,” Clark said, his innate politeness having taken a detour out the window. “I don’t know what you guys think is going on, I don’t want to know what you guys think is going on. Dr. Lane is a friend and a colleague, that’s it. And I don’t want to hear you making these insinuations to try and destroy Dr. Lane’s reputation ever again. Got it?”
“Look, Clark, we didn’t mean anything…”
“Do you understand me, Geoff? I’m telling you, in no uncertain terms that whatever you three think is going on, isn’t. I’m not about to let you turn either Dr. Lane or myself into the hot topic in the gossip circles and ruin both of us.”
“Clark, we’re sorry…” Steve began.
“It’s fine, just don’t ever think another vulgar, malicious, or rude thought about Dr. Lane ever again.” Clark strode angrily to his desk, took care of some administrative paperwork for the research project and left as soon as he finished. He could do everything else from home and he needed to get away from the lab and the three stooges for a little while. He feared for their safety if he stuck around that afternoon.
********
Lois sat down at her desk, trying to take in all that had happened in the last twenty four hours. How did he do it? How did he manage to figure her out so quickly? She had spent her life mastering the art of distancing, of keeping people out, of letting them know about her only what she wanted them to know. It was silly and unnecessary she told herself, but that didn’t matter. It was what she did because it was what she had always done. As a child, growing up, she had learned quickly what happened when you formed strong emotional attachments to people. Moving from place to place, bouncing from one country to another every six months or a year had taught her to keep people from getting too close. True, the Lanes had settled permanently in Metropolis when she was eleven, and she’d had a fairly happy childhood, especially after that, but that habit, the habit of keeping everyone at arms’ length, of letting them know her on only the most superficial level, was never broken. She was smart, and pretty, and athletic, and nice enough; she had friends, but none of them really knew her. She never really connected with many people outside her family. She was Daddy’s girl, with Uncle Perry coming in at a close second for her affection, but other than them, there were few people she could really talk to.
As hard as it was for others to know Lois, it was usually so easy for her to know them. For all the world knew, Lois was oblivious to everything that went on around her that didn’t directly concern her, but in fact, Lois had the kind of perception that one could only develop by being an outsider. She was able to read people quickly, easily, and fairly accurately. She based a great deal on first impressions, and while her opinions about people changed after more and more exchanges with them, her attitude often didn’t. She kept people guessing, about her, and about what she thought about others. She was generally cold, aloof, and distant because it was the easiest way to keep people from really knowing her; a coping mechanism she clung to for no other reason other than she always had. It was an art she had mastered and it always worked.
Except with him. He was an enigma. He was so much more than what he appeared; a polite Kansas farmboy turned doctor, and he managed something that no one else had before. He managed to catch a glimpse of what lay within the cold, hard exterior, and she had no idea how. Why had she let her guard down? She felt scared, vulnerable. His words today touched a chord deep inside her. She was confused by how well he seemed to know her, how easily he got past the ‘Mad Dog’ exterior. He told her things about herself that she had refused to admit, even to herself. What was it that gave him such insight? What made him enough of an outsider to be able to see through her? He was friendly, polite, and so good looking, surely he must have been very popular, but then why did he spend the last three and a half years of his life wandering the planet? And when he came back to the U.S., why did he decide to work a thousand miles away from the place where he grew up? What made him come to Metropolis, a place so different than rural Kansas, and now, what was it that made him want to stay? What made him believe that this was it, that this was the place where he belonged? She shook her head, trying to clear out thoughts about Clark Kent so that she could focus on her work.
It didn’t happen. Every few minutes, her mind drifted back to him. How had he managed to earn her friendship and trust so quickly, because she did trust him. She trusted him the way she trusted very few people. He had seen her at her lowest point. He had seen her when she was most vulnerable, but instead of attacking when she was weak, he was there to provide comfort. And he had. She felt safe when she was with him. She couldn’t think of anything more dangerous than that.
She looked at her watch; it was nearly three. She sighed as she finally pushed Clark Kent to the back of her mind. She had several appointments this afternoon and couldn’t allow her mind to wander toward him when she was supposed to be focusing on the problems of her patients.
When the third consultation ended at a quarter after five, she decided to leave for the day and stop by her father’s lab. She entered the laboratory where her father was busy at his computer. He looked up at the sound of her walking in and shouted enthusiastically, “Princess!”
“Hi, Daddy,” she replied with a grin. She crossed the lab to give her father a hug.
“Well, you’re in a good mood today,” he chuckled.
“How’s the testing going?” she inquired.
“Sasha here, was suffering from irregular sinus rhythm,” he explained as he took the hand of a small chimpanzee and led her out of her habitat. “We implanted the Sinoatrial regulatory processor three weeks ago and she’s never been better,” he beamed as the friendly primate swung herself into Dr. Lane’s arms. Sasha threw her arms around Dr. Lane’s neck and gave the doctor a great big hug as well as a kiss on the cheek. “Why thank you, Sasha,” he laughed.
“Has she been suffering from any side effects?”
“No, nothing other than those usually following a cardiac surgery. We’ve been hooking her up to the ECG every day, and her heart’s beating as steady as a metronome. Blood tests have shown that her blood is more oxygenated thanks to more efficient pumping due to normal sinus rhythm. Sasha’s healthier now than she’s ever been in her life. Starting next week we’re going to begin monitoring her heart rate with different levels of exercise to see how this here chip of ours does on a real test drive.” He placed Sasha back on the ground and led her by the hand, back to her habitat.
“Here, let me show you the numbers,” he said as he led the way to his desk. He opened the spreadsheet on the data from the recent tests and allowed Lois to scroll through it.
“This looks fantastic,” she said when she finished scrutinizing the data.
“In all of my years as a doctor I’ve never had research test results look this promising.”
She caught a glimpse of the balance sheets strewn across his desk, mainly with budget projections listed in red numbers. He had clearly been calculating the costs of the next quarter and his estimates were not too different than hers. “If only we could get the money we needed from the hospital.”
“We’ll manage, somehow Princess. We need about a hundred thousand more, minimum, to complete the quarter’s testing. I’ll take out a loan from the bank, mortgage the house if I have to…”
“Daddy, you can’t!”
“Sweetheart, I know this project is as important to you as it is to me, I also know that you’ve been thinking the same thing.”
“Daddy, that’s different…”
“Besides, you shouldn’t be too worried about it. With results like these, we should be able to get additional independent funding by taking on another partner. Luthor Industries is apparently very interested in our little project.”
“Just promise me you’ll talk to me before doing anything, Daddy.”
“Of course, Princess. We’re a team, we’re in this together.”
“Thanks, Daddy. We’ll I’d better get going.”
“All right, you take care, Sweetheart, oh and your mother wanted me to ask you to come to dinner tomorrow night.”
“I’ve got rounds in the ED tomorrow night, can we make it lunch, tomorrow?”
“Sounds good to me, I’ll see if your mother’s free and I’ll give you a call later tonight.”
“Great, I’ll call Lucy,” she replied. “Bye Daddy.”
“Bye Princess.”
She went home, threw on some sweats, broke out Lethal Weapons I, II, and III as well as a tub of chocolate ice cream and sat down to enjoy an evening of relaxing after what had been a stressful few days.
********
Clark spent the afternoon entering data into his laptop. After several boring hours of analysis, he looked forward to a quiet night at home. Perhaps he’d throw on a movie and order a pizza. His evening plans were not to be. As soon as he found the number of a local pizza parlor that delivered, he heard the sounds of fire engines. He darted to his window and zoomed in on what appeared to be a raging fire at a large apartment complex on the South Side. He changed hurriedly and dove out the window, flying toward the sounds of the sirens.
He arrived ahead of the fire crews to find several tall buildings in a single apartment complex engulfed in flames. Thick black smoke billowed into the air. Under the cover of the smoke, he rushed passed the fleeing residents into the nearest building. He X rayed through the dark plumes and found that there were still several people trapped inside the building. He raced toward them and pulled them from danger as quickly as possible. Three of the victims were unconscious so he wasn’t afraid that they would see him or notice him flying them out of the building. The other four were still conscious, but the dark smoke that filled the building afforded him some protection, besides, their safety was more important than whether or not he was seen, even if he did prefer to work incognito. He had finished bringing the last person to safety when he saw the first of the engines approach. He X-rayed the victims, they were all suffering from smoke inhalation, and moderate burns, but they would live. He didn’t want to leave them there, waiting for the emergency crews, but he had little choice. There could still be people trapped inside the other building.
He rushed into the second building, scanning it with his X ray vision and listening for any heartbeats or faint cries for help. He found three people huddled closely together on the seventh floor of the building and flew quickly toward them. He burst through the door of the apartment and found a man, a woman and a young girl trapped in a corner of the living room by a wall of flames. He saw the looks of pure terror in their eyes. He took a deep breath and blew out the flames, crossing the room in quick strides to help the family. The woman sat cradling the young girl to her chest, completely unaware of his presence. The man, however, looked up at him in a look of both awe and disbelief. Clark stretched his hand out toward the man. “Let me help you,” he said calmly. The man reached back slowly and took Clark’s hand, then looked immediately at his wife and daughter. The woman looked up and saw Clark for the first time, her mouth opened but she was unable to say anything. Clark helped the man slowly to his feet and then turned to his wife. He helped the woman to stand up, her daughter still in her arms. Clark then placed one hand around the woman’s waist and the other around the man’s. He gently lifted them off the ground, at which time the man gasped audibly.
“It’ll be all right,” Clark said, though he was pretty sure that his passengers were too preoccupied to hear what he was saying. He flew them down to the first floor lobby, an area relatively free from any danger, and placed them gently on their feet, instructing them to exit the building and head toward the fire trucks. The man nodded and led his wife and daughter out of the building. The frightened family ran out of the building to the waiting fire fighters. Clark quickly swept the rest of the building.
Finding no one else inside, he made his departure and headed for home. He landed near his apartment and walked inside. He peeled off his singed clothing, determining that most of it couldn’t be salvaged and depositing it in the trash. He then took a long shower, trying to get rid of the stench of smoke. Hungry and exhausted, he made himself a sandwich, ate quickly and went to bed.
********
Lois woke up around eight that morning, having shut off the alarm and slept in since she wasn’t planning on going to the office until after lunch with her parents. She stretched lazily and shuffled off to the bathroom to take a long, relaxing shower. She dressed, fixed herself a bagel and some coffee for breakfast and settled onto the sofa to watch the news. She turned on LNN just in time to catch a clip about a fire that had raged through an apartment complex on the South Side. The reporter on the scene was interviewing a resident of the complex about his harrowing experience.
“So tell me, sir, how did you and your family escape from the blaze that had you trapped in your apartment,” the reporter asked as she shoved the microphone she was holding into the face of the man.
“You won’t believe this, I hardly believe it myself, but it was him. It was the angel. He burst into the apartment, put the fire out, I’m not really sure how, picked up me, my wife and our little baby girl and get this, he flew…”
“Did you say flew, sir?”
“That’s right, he flew, with all three of us down to the lobby of the building. He dropped us of there and then just disappeared.”
The reporter then turned back to the camera and spoke into the microphone, “Mr. Patrick here is only one of about a dozen eye witnesses who claim that it was the Angel, that’s right the famous new ‘Angel of Metropolis’ who rescued them. No one knows who or what this Angel is. Is he really a messenger from God? A being from another planet? A ghost? No one is quite sure. All we have are sketchy reports of this ‘Angel.’ Eyewitnesses have come forward to describe their savior as a tall, dark haired, light skinned man who looks about thirty years of age. Reports vary, but the Angel has apparently performed many miracles similar to those described by Mr. Patrick. Whoever the Angel is, the residents of this apartment complex are grateful to him. This is Lindsey Jamison, reporting live from the Garden Terrace Apartments, back to you, Mark.”
The screen now showed the sober looking news anchor who thanked the reporter and continued on about potential corruption in the city council. Lois sighed and turned the television off. ‘The whole world must be going mad,’ she thought to herself. She walked out to her driveway and picked up the copy of the Daily Planet. She opened it up and as expected, plastered across the front page was a story about the so-called ‘Angel.’ She skimmed over it as she walked back into the house and found more of the same stuff as had been incorporated into the LNN report. She dropped the paper on the kitchen table with an audible thud. ‘What was Perry thinking?’ Perry. She grimaced. She had been so rude to Uncle Perry last week. True, she’d been incredibly upset, but he didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of one of her famous tirades. She looked at her watch. It was almost nine thirty and she was meeting her parents at Sandrine’s at one. She grabbed her purse and her keys, hopped in the Jeep and drove off.
********
Clark shook his head slowly as he watched the news that morning. The paper was spread out before him. He would need a better disguise if he wanted to continue helping. Not quite sure what to do, he showered, dressed, ate breakfast, and headed to work. Promising himself that he would deal with the situation later on, he shoved the issue to the back of his mind as he prepared himself for another day in the lab with his three loquacious colleagues.
********
“Is this a newsroom or the tea room at the Metropolis Hills Country Club people?!” Perry White’s voice boomed across the bullpen floor. “Let’s get back to work, folks, we’ve got a paper to print here!” He retreated back into his office like a grumpy bear as the staff scrambled around the room frantically. It was just another day, like any other at the Daily Planet. Several reporters waited impatiently by the elevators, checking their watches, looking at their notes, photographers examining their cameras. The soft ping that announced the elevator’s arrival was followed by the opening of the door. Immediately, the reporters rushed to enter the elevator, then stepped back as someone unexpectedly emerged from within. The crowd parted momentarily to allow Dr. Lane to pass before pushing and shoving their way into the elevator and hurrying off to their individual destinations.
“Dr. Lane!” an enthusiastic young man shouted across the newsroom.
“Jimmy!” she yelled back, a large grin on her face. “I haven’t seen you in ages!”
“It’s good to see you again, Dr. Lane.” He smiled as he bounded across the room to greet her.
“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Lois?” she asked as she pulled the young man into a friendly hug.
“Do you want me to get Perry and let him know you’re here?”
“That’d be great, Jimmy, thanks.”
Jimmy ran off to Perry’s office, knocked once and entered immediately. Perry emerged a moment later, his stern expression disappearing as soon as he saw Lois. “Lois!”
“Uncle Perry!” She ran toward her godfather and accepted a hug from him. “I’m so sorry, Uncle Perry,” she whispered.
“None of that now,” he replied gruffly. “It’s forgotten. Come on, I haven’t seen you in ages, Darlin’.” He ushered her into his office. “So how did you get here so fast?” he asked as they moved toward the couch to sit.
“Pardon?”
“I called your office not ten minutes ago, they said you weren’t in yet.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that you’d called.”
“So you don’t know then?”
“Know what?”
“About Genzyme.”
“Genzyme?” she asked incredulously.
“Yeah, I got a call last night from an anonymous source telling me that there was something to the Genzyme case. He told me that there was something odd going on down there and said I needn’t look any further than Mr. Blake. So this morning, when I got in, I gave our friends at Genzyme a ring. I talked to the head of the gene therapy research division, asked him about Blake, and he no idea who I was talking about at first.”
“But Blake’s been working at Genzyme for eight years, ever since he received his doctorate in Biochem from Metro U.”
“Exactly.”
“What?”
“Well, after a little encouragement, it seems the guy got over his spontaneous bout of amnesia because he suddenly remembered who Blake was. Anyway, I got a little suspicious and had Jimmy do a little digging.”
“Jimmy?”
“I know the kid looks like a copy boy, but he sure knows his way around a computer. Darned contraptions are just fancy typewriters to me, but you should see what he found.” He rose from his place on the couch and walked to the door. “Jimmy!” he yelled into the newsroom.
“Yeah chief?” Came the reply.
“Get in here, and bring those files you found!”
“You got it!”
Jimmy came bounding into Perry’s office. “Show Lois what you found on Blake this morning.”
Jimmy proudly produced his research. “Well, I checked up on Genzyme’s payroll accounts, Blake only showed up ten months ago…”
“Is that legal?” Lois inquired.
“Well…” Jimmy began. “Anyway, we had Blake listed as having worked there for eight years, kinda longer than ten months, so I started checking out government employees in Metropolis named Michael Blake. I started local, then state, then federal. I got an eighty six year old librarian and a thirteen year old page at the state senate. In other words, nothing.” She raised her eyebrows, silently wondering where this was going. He proceeded, “then I tried military personnel, and bingo.” He handed her the files he had been holding.
“Major Michael Robert Blake, United States Army,” she read off of the file.
“That’s right. Graduated from West Point in 1983, went on to get his doctorate in Biochemistry, stationed at Ft. Truman since 1994 as a biochem expert,” Jimmy beamed.
“So where are you going from here?”
“Well, I’ve put Myerson on the investigation, Jimmy will be helping him out,” Perry said, nodding toward the young man. “But we won’t be able to verify a lot of the scientific stuff…”
“I’ll do anything I can to help.”
“Thanks, Lois.”
“Thank me when we nab these guys, Uncle Perry.”
He grinned at her confidence and enthusiasm. “Will do, Darlin’, will do.”
“I need a photographer!” someone in the newsroom yelled.
“Gotta go Chief, good to see you again, Lois!” Jimmy yelled as he dashed out of the office.
“Bye Jimmy!” she called after him.
“He’s starting to grow up, isn’t he?” she asked.
“He sure is,” Perry replied. “He’ll make a fine reporter someday, don’t tell him I said that, though.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, Uncle Perry.” She smiled.
“He just needs to find his niche and with the right guidance, well, there’s no telling how far he’ll go. Say did I ever tell you about how Elvis really met the Colonel?” Perry continued on with one of his million Elvis stories. Lois listened with rapt attention as usual. They laughed and talked for nearly an hour before Lois said her goodbyes and left the newsroom.
********
She arrived at Sandrine’s a few minutes before one to find Lucy already waiting.
“Hey Sis!” Lucy called out to her older sister. Lois joined her sister at the table.
“Lucy! How are you? How’s school?” The siblings hugged.
“It’s fine. Couple more months and I’ll have my Master’s degree.”
“I know! I’m so proud of you Luce.”
“So, fill me in!” Lucy exclaimed.
“On what?”
“On everything, I haven’t seen you in months, you’d think we lived more than five miles apart!”
“I know, I’m sorry, I’ve just been really busy at work.”
“Are you seeing anyone?”
Lois sighed, “no, Luce, I’m not seeing anyone.”
“Come on, Lois how long has it been since you broke up with Craig? Two years? You were practically an intern back then for crying out loud!”
“I was in my specialized residency, thank you. Has it really been that long?”
Lucy simply nodded.
“Anyway, I’ve been too busy with my work, the ED, and the research project. Which is going really well by the way, except for the funding issue, but I’d rather not get into that.”
“Lois, come on. I know you’re work is important, but you gotta take some time for yourself, get a life, Sis, you have to know some cute doctors down at that hospital.”
Lois suppressed a thought before it could fully invade her mind. “I’m sure I could introduce you to some if you’re interested.”
“Sorry, I’m a one man kind of girl.”
“Oh, and who’s the lucky guy?”
“His name is Scott. He’s a doctoral student at Metro U. Six two, brown hair, gorgeous green eyes, and a body to die for.”
“Well, I’m glad that you’ve got your priorities straight when it comes to men.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Lucy stuck her tongue out at Lois. “He’s a great guy, Lois. Even you would like him.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that you’ve got extremely discriminating taste, and you’ve hated every boyfriend I’ve ever had.”
“It means you think I’m too picky, and too harsh in judging people.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Oh but you thought it. You can’t fool me.”
“Anyhow, he’s in his second year as a grad student studying environmental economics. He’s positively brilliant, Lois and the nicest guy I’ve ever met. I mean genuinely nice.”
“How long have you been seeing him?”
“Four months.”
Lois raised her eyebrows. Four months was practically a record for her kid sister.
“Don’t act so surprised. I think I’ve found a keeper with this one.” Lucy’s expression became distant and dreamy.
“I hope so,” Lois replied sincerely.
“Lois! Lucy!” The two sisters turned at the sound of their mother’s voice. They both rose from their seats to greet their parents. They exchanged hugs and kisses and sat down together as the waiter brought them additional menus.
“So Lois, Sweetie, how have you been?” her mother inquired.
“Fine, Mother. I’ve been very busy at the hospital though.”
“Tell me about it, the women’s center has had me going non stop for the last three weeks!”
“How’s it coming along, Mom?” Lucy asked.
“The last director made an absolute mess of the whole thing. It’s a good thing I’ve retired and have the time to go ahead and fix everything! Tell me, Lucy, how’s Scott doing?”
“He’s fine, Mom, oh and he wanted me to thank you for having him over for dinner last week.”
“You’ve met Scott?” Lois asked.
“Well of course. Perfect gentleman, so polite. What about you, Lois, have you met a handsome young doctor at that hospital yet?” Ellen asked as she reached for Sam’s hand.
“Mother…”
“Well, you can’t blame me for wanting my daughters to be happy…”
“I know, but I am happy, Mother.”
“You work too much, Lois.”
Lois sighed, “my work’s important, Mother, you know that.”
“I know, Sweetie. I know how much it means to you and your father of course, but you have to make some time for yourself. Have a little fun, I spent six years of my life as an Army nurse, three of those during a war, and I think I relaxed more than you do,” Ellen replied with a smile. “I’m sorry if I’m being pushy, but I just don’t want you to miss out on all the other wonderful things in life because of your work.”
“I know, Mother.”
The waiter arrived to take their orders. They caught up on each others’ lives over lunch before Ellen darted off to return to the women’s center. Her new position as the center’s director had been keeping her quite busy. After lunch Lois, Lucy, and Sam said goodbye and headed back to the hospital, the University and the lab.
********
Clark didn’t see Lois that morning in the hospital. He had worked quietly around his three coworkers who were diligently trying to avoid him. He made that relatively easy for them. Every so often he found himself tilting his head toward Dr. Lane’s office, trying to tune in to find her voice. Each time he did, he mentally shook himself. It was spying and it was wrong. Besides, she hadn’t been in all day. As the day progressed, he found that his mood was getting darker and darker. He had barely acknowledged Steve, Andy, and Geoff when they told him they were off to the cafeteria and asked if he wanted anything. He worked himself into a fairly rotten mood brooding over what he was going to do about this whole midnight rescue business.
A knocking at the door interrupted his sulking, annoyed at the disturbance, he was quite content in his foul mood, he yelled out “come in!”
“Clark?”
“Lois!” His grim expression was instantly replaced with a smile. He had been so busy being upset that he didn’t realize that she had arrived.
“I was wondering if you wanted to go get a cup of coffee. I know the stuff in the lab isn’t particularly good…”
“It’s sludge,” Clark replied, still smiling. “I mean, that sounds great.” He stood up from his desk and joined Lois. The walked toward the cafeteria but as they approached it, Clark began to hear something. He stopped dead in his tracks and tuned in.
“They went out to lunch yesterday, they must have been gone for two hours. When they got back, they went into her office and closed the door. Next thing I know, Dr. Kent is walking out with the biggest grin on his face I’d ever seen,” it was Anna. He frowned and continued to listen.
“That dog!”
“Friend and Colleague my eye!” The sounds of his coworkers’ voices were unmistakable. He clenched his teeth as he thought about what he would do to those three when he got the opportunity.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, puzzled by Clark’s odd behavior.
“Huh, oh nothing. It’s just that, why don’t we go out and get some real coffee?” he explained as he gently steered her away from the cafeteria.
“Okay, sure,” she replied, still a bit confused.
They settled on a coffeehouse just around the corner from the hospital. It was getting dark out, but they weren’t going too far, so they decided to walk. They braved the chilly autumn air as they covered the short distance to the coffeehouse. They ordered and found a table in the bustling café.
“You won’t believe it,” she began excitedly.
“What? What is it?”
“Remember Mr. Blake?”
“Of course.”
“An anonymous source called Uncle Perry and told him that there was something fishy going on at Genzyme. It turns out Blake is really an Army Biochem expert.”
“What?”
“That’s right, Blake isn’t really just a lab geek, it turns out he’s a biochem weapons specialist down at Ft. Truman, there’s no way that this is a coincidence…”
Clark’s head snapped up suddenly. He frowned as his eyes darted from one side to the other.
“What? What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I’m sorry, I have to go.”
“Clark?”
“I’m sorry, Lois, I can’t explain, I just… I have to go,” he said as he stood and dashed out of the coffeehouse. She sat, silently, trying to figure out what had just happened.
It was the sounds of gunfire, coming from Hob’s Bay. He ran into the hospital and rushed into the locker room, which was thankfully empty. He grabbed the dark sweater he kept in there and took off. He landed not far from the area where the shots originated from and made the rest of the way on foot. He saw a man lying on the street, bleeding heavily. Whoever had shot him was long gone. He X-rayed the wound; he would have to get the man to the hospital immediately. Without thinking, he took off, carrying the wounded man toward MetroGen.
********
Lois set out on the short walk back to the hospital, still trying to figure out why Clark was behaving so strangely. What had happened? Had she said something to him to make him uncomfortable? She couldn’t think of anything. She heard an odd noise overhead and looked up. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was a man, carrying another man, flying through the air. The man landed with his passenger in a darkened corner, not far from the hospital. She ran toward them, in utter disbelief. The man emerged from the shadows, this time walking, still carrying the other man. As she got closer, she could tell the second man was injured, badly. Without thinking, she crossed the distance between them. She called out “I’m a doctor!” The mysterious flying man froze. She looked up at his face for the first time and gasped.
“You…you’re…you’re the…the…” She tried to form a coherent sentence and failed.
He stared back at her, his expression a mixture of confusion and panic, but mostly shock.
********
“Clark?” her question came out in a gasp.
“Lois, I don’t have time to explain, please you have to help me,” he said, nodding to the man he still held in his arms.
She shook her head, trying to snap out of the daze. Lois went into instinctive emergency mode. “Right, of course” she replied quickly as she turned and dashed toward the ambulance bay by the ED. Clark visually swept the area, satisfied that there was no one else around, he followed a few paces behind, floating a few inches off of the street. He waited right outside the hospital while she brought around a gurney. He placed the injured and unconscious man on the gurney, she quickly rolled the gurney into the Emergency Department doors. Once inside nurses, doctors and interns ran to her side and assisted her. In the confusion, Clark made his way to the locker room, quickly changed into scrubs and darted back to the ED.
“Get me two units of O negative and a saline drip, stat!” He heard Lois yell as he ran toward the ED.
“Let’s get him intubated and hooked up to some O2 people!” someone else yelled.
He joined the other doctors in their task to stop the bleeding. Clark already knew that the bullet had passed right through the man’s chest, but the man was in danger of suffering from a collapsed lung. They worked quickly to control the bleeding and after several long minutes, stabilized the patient. The patient was then transferred to the ICU and the questions about where he came from and what had happened began.
“Who is this guy?”
“Dr. Lane, you brought the patient in, where was he?”
“Where did the ambulance go?”
“Why weren’t we notified that we had a gunshot wound incoming?”
The chief resident and the other doctors in the ED fired off the questions at Lois. Clark cringed. This was it. It was over. His hopes of ever having a normal life were dashed. “Dr. Kent and I were walking back to the hospital when this man just came out of nowhere carrying the guy. We brought out the gurney and loaded the patient on it, the guy who brought him in must have disappeared in the confusion,” Lois replied smoothly. “I have no idea who the patient is, where he came from, or why he ended up with a gunshot wound outside MetroGen.”
Clark relaxed suddenly and let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding in.
“We’ll list him as a John Doe for now, then,” the chief resident replied and walked off toward admittance.
“I don’t know how to thank you, Lois…” Clark began.
She silently grabbed his arm and literally dragged the most powerful being on Earth down a vacant hallway. “You can start by telling me what on Earth is going on!” she hissed.
He glanced nervously from side to side, feeling incredibly naked and vulnerable. He was afraid, not really of Lois telling anyone, she had already had her chance and had instead protected him and his secret, but was terrified, instead, of being so exposed to a woman who despite not knowing, already held incredible power over him. He didn’t want to think about what his life would be like if he lost her friendship and the possibility of something more because of this, if she were to shun him because of what he was. Clark felt as though he would absolutely die if she turned away from him. “Can we please talk about this somewhere else, somewhere more private? I promise I’ll tell you everything.”
“Everything?”
“Everything,” he sighed.
“Come on,” she said as she removed her car keys and began walking briskly down the hallway.
“Where are we going?” he asked as he jogged a few paces to catch up with her.
“My house. I have to be on in the ED at eight; that gives you two hours to tell me everything.”
Neither one uttered a single word all the way to Lois’s townhouse. Clark watched as she deftly maneuvered the Jeep through Metropolis’s infamous rush hour traffic. She seemed surprisingly calm, thoughtful, and introspective. He wasn’t sure, but he had the feeling that this was not a good thing. After twenty minutes of pure, unadulterated silence, Lois pulled the Jeep into the driveway, put it into park, killed the ignition and set the emergency brake. She exited the car swiftly and he could do nothing save to follow her lead.
Clark walked a few paces behind her as she proceeded to unlock the front door and enter the house. She flipped on the lights and he caught his first glimpse at how Lois Lane lived. The house was tastefully decorated and clean, spotless in fact. Clark couldn’t help but feel uneasy. It was too clean, almost sterile. There was nothing inviting about it. It was obvious that it was where she went at the end of the day, but he wouldn’t so much as call it a home. It lacked warmth and any hint of personality, as if she didn’t care much about it other than to insure that it was in accordance with the proper image of what the home of a well respected surgeon should look like.
She dropped her keys on the kitchen table and threw her jacket on one of the chairs. “All right,” she exclaimed as she spun around on her heel, catching him completely off guard. “So it’s you, I mean, you’re him, you’re the ‘Angel’ that everyone keeps talking about, right?”
“I…I guess so,” he stammered.
“What do you mean, you guess so, nevermind, I’ll take that as a yes. And you didn’t tell me? What am I saying of course you didn’t tell me. Every time you got yourself into the paper for rescuing someone I kept telling you how ridiculous the whole thing was. I can’t believe it; I was talking to the ‘Angel’ and telling him that he was a hallucination and a fairy tale. Maybe I’m hallucinating; yes that’s it. I’m hallucinating; you’re not really a flying man, you’re just good ol’ Clark. I’m just dreaming all of this, that’s right it’s a dream, that’s all.”
“It’s not a dream, Lois. And I’m actually kind of glad that you didn’t believe in the Angel.”
“You are?”
“Of course. If this weren’t me, if this weren’t happening to me, if it weren’t my life, I certainly wouldn’t believe it.”
So if you are the ‘Angel’ what exactly are you? Are you really an angel?” she asked as she walked around him, looking at his back. “Are there some wings back here that I failed to notice?”
“No, no I’m not really an angel,” he said.
“Then what are you?” She saw the pained look on his face and wished that she had phrased the question more tactfully.
“I don’t know exactly. My parents think I was some sort of scientific experiment, either by the Soviets or by the Americans, I don’t know, I always kind of thought I might not even be from Earth at all.”
“You mean like an alien?”
“Yeah, I mean it might explain all the weird things…”
“Weird things? You mean like the flying?”
“Yeah, well the flying is part of it…”
“There’s more?”
“You should probably sit…” he began as she made her way to the sofa and promptly sat, placing her hands on her temples. “…Down for this.”
“Well, I can fly,” he began as he lifted himself a foot off of the ground. “But you already knew that. I’m very strong, not sure how strong exactly, anyway, I haven’t had a cut or a scratch or anything like that since I was twelve, I never get sick, my vision, hearing, and sense of smell are much stronger than normal, I can see through things…” he noticed her stiffen and fold her arms across her chest. “Oh please, no, I would never do that, you have to believe me,” she looked at him thoughtfully and her body position relaxed ever so slightly. “I can heat things with my eyes, cool things with my breath, I don’t need to eat or drink anything, I’m impervious to all but the most extreme degrees of hot and cold, I can hold my breath for about twenty minutes, and,” he said with a sigh. “I know all the words to all four verses of the Star Spangled Banner.” His mouth turned upward in a lopsided smile as he hoped the joke would relieve some of the tension in the atmosphere.
She smiled despite herself at his attempt at humor. She took a deep breath as though she were going to say something, but didn’t. Silence reigned for a long moment between them. Perhaps it was her training as a surgeon, her experiences in the Emergency Department, her years of work in research medicine, or even a combination of all three, but for some reason, Lois Lane was taking this surprisingly well. ‘Be rational, be reasonable, and don’t panic,’ she repeated the mantra to herself. Finally, she spoke, “you mentioned your parents, they’re…they’re not like you?”
He moved awkwardly to sit on the opposite end of the couch, “no, no my parents are perfectly normal, I guess. They found me in some sort of spaceship when I was a baby and they kept me. You see they couldn’t have children…and when they found me as a baby, I guess they didn’t spend too much time worrying about where I came from. They named me and raised me like I was their own natural born son.”
“They didn’t notice all the flying, and well, other stuff?”
He tried to suppress a laugh, “no, no I didn’t start doing any of that stuff until I was much older. Until I was about twelve or so, I was just a normal little boy.”
“And after that?”
“I started developing these powers and I was terrified. I didn’t know what to do, so I decided to hide them, pretend that I was normal, like all the other kids.”
“Oh Clark, that must have been so hard for you.” She placed a hand on his knee and he almost jumped. She knew, and she was still willing to talk to him, to touch him? He felt a gnawing pain deep inside his chest just disappear.
“It wasn’t so bad, I always had my folks to talk to.”
“Well I want you to know that you can talk to me now. I promise I won’t tell anyone about you.”
“I know, Lois. Thank you.” He took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. She felt a surge of electricity pass through her when he touched her. She fought the feeling. Clark was sitting on her couch, giving her the most shocking news of her life and all she could think about was how attractive he was and how she felt when he touched her, even when the contact was brief and casual. She mentally shook herself. This was Clark, her friend; she couldn’t take advantage of the situation when all he really wanted was her friendship and support. She became aware of the fact that Clark was still holding her hand. Their eyes met briefly and both looked away quickly. He released her hand and she fidgeted for a moment before deciding to place her hands in her lap.
There was another awkward pause in the conversation. “I’m sorry, I’ve been a terrible hostess,” Lois said after a long moment, she stood up swiftly from her place on the couch. “What can I get you to drink? You never got to drink that coffee you ordered, can I get you a cup?”
“If it’s not too much trouble. Can I be of any help?” He began to rise from the couch.
“No! I mean, it’s not necessary, really, please, make yourself at home.”
He reluctantly sat back down on the couch, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. She hadn’t screamed or run away, surely those were good signs, but he still hadn’t determined whether or not it had gone well. She was obviously still uncomfortable with the matter, though trying valiantly for his sake not to appear ill at ease. He stood slowly and began pacing in her living room. He looked over at the mantle above the fireplace at the neat row of picture frames. There was one of Lois and another woman, who looked remarkably like Lois, only younger. ‘That must be Lucy,’ he mused. There was another picture of an older couple, a tall handsome serious looking man he was holding his arm out for the pretty, petite woman at his side, who had her arm laced through his, her hand at the crook of his elbow in a very formal pose. They both wore detached smiles. The two were dressed elegantly, obviously for some important charity event or award dinner. There was another picture of a younger couple, which Clark realized must have been a photograph of Dr. and Mrs. Lane taken years ago, probably before Lois was born. The young doctor’s serious expression was replaced in this photo with a casual and easy grin. He had his arm around Mrs. Lane. The expression on her face made it quite clear to Clark where Lois got her dazzling smile from. Not that he’d seen it often enough, but when she did smile at him, he felt his heart stop.
He noticed that there were no pictures of boyfriends or other would be suitors among the photos. He smiled despite himself then shook his head. It didn’t matter whether or not she was available; she wasn’t interested in him except as a friend. Besides, she knew the truth about him; he was relieved that she was still willing to continue their friendship after receiving that news.
She paced back and forth in the kitchen quickly, thinking silently. ‘So that’s what he meant by ‘flying down to the rescue’ ‘ she thought with a wry grin. ‘All right, my coworker, colleague, friend, and the most gorgeous man I’ve ever met is really some kind of superhuman being. What exactly does that mean? It means I’m falling for an alien. No, no it doesn’t because I’m not falling for him. Clark is my friend. Friend. Friend. There we go, now that that’s settled…the next question is, can I handle it? Well, what are my options? A, deal with it. B, don’t. No, no that doesn’t work at all. I can’t not deal with it. What would that mean, giving poor Clark the ol’ heave ho? Just because he’s different? Am I really that shallow? After all he’s done for me, would I seriously bag him just because of what he is, even if I don’t really know what exactly he is? No, no question about it. Clark is the nicest, sweetest, most gentle man, alien, human, person!–person, that’s it, whatever he is or isn’t he’s still a person–I’ve ever met. And for some strange reason, he seems to wannt to be my friend, maybe more? No, definitely not. If he wanted more, I’d know it. He’s had plenty of opportunities. He wants, needs, my friendship, that’s all. Besides, he’s the most powerful being in the world, not to mention being sweet and polite and devastatingly handsome, he could have any woman he wanted. So it’s settled, be Clark’s friend. Be there for him.
‘So what does that mean? Who is Clark? What do I know about him? Well, he’s sweet, and caring, handsome, and smart, funny, and handsome. He goes around saving people in his spare time, or maybe the lab job is the hobby, no he told me all about how he became a doctor, he really is an Immunologist, of course, the flying around in the dark is the hobby. Or maybe it’s not; maybe he doesn’t see a difference. He just wants to help however he can. Is that all? Is that all he uses the powers for? If he wanted to, surely he could rule the whole world. So why doesn’t he?’ Frustrated, she stopped pacing and started looking for everything she needed to brew a pot of coffee. She set about making the coffee, trying to remember how he liked it, oh yes, whole milk, three sugars. She didn’t have any whole milk, she hoped skim would be all right. Her mind wandered back to her initial questions as she waited for the coffee to brew. ‘So what does he really want?’ she asked herself. She had no idea. ‘Why does he only go about flying at night, without his glasses, I wonder why he even wears those, in dark clothing? He obviously doesn’t want anyone to know its him. He seems like a very private person. The poor guy would be hounded incessantly if people knew what he’s capable of doing. But surely someone will eventually recognize him.’ Lois poured the coffee into two cups and added the milk and sugar. ‘I can’t believe he told me all of this,’ she mused. ‘Well, he didn’t really have much of a choice, I did catch him in the act. God he must be so scared. I hope he knows that he can trust me. I’d never do anything to hurt him.’
“Here you go,” she said as she handed him a cup of fresh coffee. She watched in amusement as he practically gulped the first sip, unconcerned by how hot it was.
“It’s great, thank you,” he said as he sat back down on the end of the couch. She sat down, not on the opposite end, but instead much closer to him. He felt his pulse quicken at the nearness of her body. She positively invaded all of his senses, the very nearness of her was exquisite torture. Knowing that she was comfortable with him, comfortable enough to be this close to him despite everything she knew gave him a feeling of total exhilaration.
“So you’ve been, you know, flying around Metropolis at night, just trying to help, is that right?” she asked before taking her first sip of coffee.
“I haven’t exactly been looking for trouble,” he began. “I just, I can’t just do nothing while people are in trouble. I have all these…these gifts, there must be some way for me to use them, but I don’t want everyone to know that it’s Clark Kent flying around helping people either.”
“You wouldn’t have any privacy.”
“Exactly!” he replied, grateful for her understanding. “But instead, people think I’m some sort of angel or something, I don’t want that either. I don’t want any of the fame or attention, I just want to be able to help.”
“Maybe you need a better disguise,” she suggested.
“You mean like a mask?”
“No, like a whole other personality, a secret identity or something.”
He grinned, “so people wouldn’t think it was Clark Kent who was out saving people, because it wouldn’t *be * me. It would be some other guy.”
“You could use a flashier name than Some Other Guy, but yeah, that’s what I was getting at.”
“So how exactly do I become Some Other Guy? Won’t people recognize me?”
“Not with a good outfit, something flashy, something that gets people’s attention.”
“Hmm…” he frowned thoughtfully.
“I don’t know how much help I can be in designing it though…” she trailed off.
A grin spread across his face. “What are your plans for this weekend?” he asked.
“Pardon?” she asked, a puzzled look on her face.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” He grinned sheepishly. “I don’t want to pressure you, but I was hoping that you’d be willing to help me with this whole secret identity thing. I’m going to need my parents’ help as well, so we’d have to fly out to Kansas, I’d like to go this weekend.”
“Fly out to Kansas this weekend?” she asked slowly. “Well, I guess we could talk to a travel agent see if we could get tickets…” she wondered aloud.
Embarrassed, he began, “that wasn’t exactly what I had in mind…”
“Oh, oh! You meant fly as in.” She made a gesture with her hand.
“Yeah, as in.” He repeated the gesture. “Fly.”
“Oh…wow…and it’s well, safe?”
“Well, I don’t usually carry passengers, but it’s totally safe.”
“Wow,” she repeated breathlessly.
“You don’t have to, if you don’t want to, of course…”
“No! I mean, I’d love to,” she continued slowly. “I want to go,” the image of Clark holding her in his arms as he flew drifted through her mind and she stuffed the thought back into her subconscious. She couldn’t afford to entertain such thoughts when it came to him.
He smiled, relieved that he hadn’t scared her away. He was asking a great deal, and he knew it, but he truly wanted, needed her help. “Thank you, Lois,” he said softly.
She smiled despite her initial reservations. She trusted him. She didn’t really know why, but she knew that she did. Moreover, he had trusted her with the biggest secret anyone had ever had. He was letting her into his life and she found herself being inexplicably drawn in. Her ‘don’t get too close’ mentality was momentarily forgotten. The normal bells and sirens that would have been going off in her mind right about now were oddly silent. Perhaps they were simply being drowned out by the voice inside her head demanding that she help this decent, kind man, that she be the kind of friend he needed and deserved, the kind of friend he had proven to be. “I uh, have rounds in the ED Friday morning until noon, but I’m off for the weekend after that,” she said hesitantly.
He grinned, “that’s great, is it all right if I pick you up Friday afternoon, then?”
She merely nodded.
A sigh of relief escaped his lips. “Thank you so much, Lois.” His arms, as if of their own volition, reached out to her as he pulled her into a warm embrace. His heart positively soared when she reciprocated the gesture. It felt so good to share this secret with her, to have her know about him, and to know that she still wanted to be around him despite everything she knew about him. He tried to convince himself that this was all he needed, that he could be positively content with just her friendship, but he wanted oh so much more. He wanted to tell her the truth; that he was falling in love with her, that he had been since the moment he met her, but he knew that it wouldn’t be fair. He had no right to ask any more of her, and no matter what he felt deep down inside, he knew that he would have to make do with a strictly platonic friendship, because even that was more than he could have hoped for.
She was surprised by his sudden movement but did not find the experience to be at all unpleasant, quite the opposite in fact. She placed her arms around him hesitantly at first, amazed at how solid he felt and how good it felt to hold him and be held by him. ‘Get a grip, Lane!’ She tried valiantly to push the less than pure and innocent thoughts of Clark out of her mind. She had only known Clark for three weeks and already he’d done a number on her defenses. He’d more than just earned her friendship and her trust; he’d positively invaded her thoughts. She was always so in control, able to check her emotions, but now she found herself slowly losing her self-control. She couldn’t keep her walls up when she was around him. ‘Come on, girl,’ she thought to herself. ‘I know this is wrong, I know that I can’t have a relationship with him, can’t risk losing my friendship with him over something so silly. No matter how badly I want something more than this, this is the only way I can truly hold on to him.’ Her mind racing with thoughts of ways to hold onto him, she reluctantly let go of him and withdrew from the embrace.
Their eyes met. “I’d better get going…” She tried to firm up her voice, but didn’t sound as confident and convincing as she’d hoped.
“Yeah…I guess so,” he replied.
“Can I give you a ride, somewhere?” She saw the hint of amusement in his eyes. “Oh, right,” she said, repeating her earlier hand gesture. He simply nodded.
He stood up first and extended a hand to her, not sure if the tough and independent minded Lois Lane would accept the offer of assistance. She did. He helped her to her feet and with extreme reluctance, let go of her hand. She grabbed up her jacket and her keys and they walked silently down the driveway toward her Jeep. It was completely dark out now; the only light visible was that of a waning moon and the bright yellow streetlights.
He walked with her all the way to her car door. ‘Such a gentleman,’ she thought to herself. “Well,” she began. “Goodbye, Clark.”
“Goodbye, Lois,” he replied softy with a faint smile. She didn’t make any move toward opening the car door and he realized that she probably wanted to see him take off. His eyes darted from side to side as he visually swept the area, ensuring that they were alone. Satisfied that there was no one watching he hovered a few feet above the ground. He paused for a moment, just looking at her, gauging her reaction, the expression on her face, before disappearing in a blur accompanied by a whooshing sound and a short gust of wind.
“Wow,” she whispered breathlessly, aware that her jaw was now on the ground. She closed her mouth but did not move for a moment, just staring at the place where he was standing not one minute ago. She had heard everything he’d said, but it was only now beginning to sink in.
********
He purposely overshot his target, zipping over the city of Metropolis, and was soon flying over the Ocean. He cruised at a comfortable altitude of 25,000 feet, too low for any transatlantic air traffic, but too high to be spotted by any sailing vessels below. He hoped to avoid regular air traffic routes anyway. He wasn’t yet sure if he registered on radar maps when flying and was in no particular hurry to find out. He let the cold ocean air whip past him as he flew a haphazard course over the seemingly endless miles of water. Her finding out about him was sitting heavily on his mind. ‘This is a good thing,’ he told himself. ‘She knows about me, and she isn’t repulsed, and she doesn’t seem to be afraid, and she genuinely wants to help me.’ Yet he was still uneasy about her reaction. She was almost too calm. Perhaps the enormity of the discovery had not fully dawned on her. If that was the case, was it fair for him to hold her to her commitment to help him? What if the more she thought about it, the less comfortable she was with it? She was a highly trained surgeon with experience in the most shocking and stressful of conditions, maybe she had gone into crisis mode when she received the news. Maybe when she had the time to really reflect on her new found knowledge she wouldn’t be quite so comfortable with it. He tried to put himself in her shoes, to think about how he’d react to such shocking news. When he had started developing his powers, when it became clear to him how different he was, he’d been afraid at first. He became preoccupied with figuring out just how different. He looked just like an ordinary human being, so why could he do such incredible things? What made him fly? What made him invulnerable? What made his senses so acute?
He searched and searched for the answers. The ones he found were at once comforting and confusing. He learned in med. school everything he could about the human body and how it worked. At a cursory glance, his body apparently worked the same way. A routine physical would lead one to believe that Clark Kent was fully human, so long as no one tried to draw blood, but while he seemed to have all the organs and ‘parts’ of a human male, on that microscopic level, he knew he was different. He could only draw tissue samples by scraping the inside of his cheek with a toothpick, and even that was a challenge, and while on the cellular level, his anatomy was close to human, he knew that it wasn’t. There were fundamental differences between his cells and those of a ‘normal person.’ There were fundamental differences between him and human beings. On the outside, he seemed to be like other people, but deep down inside, at the very core of who he was, he was not like anyone else.
Lois would most certainly have questions; at least now he had some of the answers, even though she might not like what she heard. How would she react to finding out just how different he was? How his differences weren’t superficial but were in fact, basic. Clark wondered for about the millionth time how he could be so different on such an axiomatic level, but appear to be like everyone else. What accident of fate had created him? What had blessed him with the ability to blend in almost perfectly while cursing him with the knowledge that he never would be able to really fit in?
He thought about what it would be like to have someone else in on the secret. He had never really considered it before. When he first started developing his powers when he was just twelve years old, he had decided to keep them to himself. The only other people who knew about him were his parents. The three of them had guarded the secret carefully, afraid of what would happen to Clark if anyone ever found out. He had trained himself to hide who he was and what he could do, but even that training was only so successful at tempering his innate need to help others. Lois had discovered the secret because he hadn’t been careful enough in protecting it and he was beginning to wonder why that was. Was he hoping on some subconscious level that she’d find out about him? Is that why he had been so careless? It didn’t really matter now anyhow. She knew. It was going to take a while to get used to someone else knowing about him. He knew somehow, that his secret was safe with her. She wasn’t going to go telling the whole world about him. He’d seen the genuine concern in her eyes, she’d given him her word, and he trusted her. He trusted her in a way that he trusted few other people.
After a long, winding flight, he turned back toward Metropolis and headed home. He decided that it was time to call his parents.
********
Lois drove to work on autopilot. Her mind was racing. Seeing him take off like that had forced her to really confront the enormity of his revelation. Clark, her friend, her colleague, her…whatever, could fly. She was thunderstruck. She couldn’t even begin to fathom how or why; it was hard enough to simply acknowledge that the man she was working with, the mild mannered Dr. Clark Kent, gorgeous lab geek with a heart of gold, could fly. She didn’t know why seeing him take off was so surprising, she’d seen him land outside the hospital with the patient that they brought into the ED, but somehow this was different. It must have been the tense situation before. When she saw the wounded man he was carrying, she immediately switched into emergency doctor mode. She must have sublimated her shock and amazement to the task at hand, helping the patient. But this time, seeing him just take off into the air and fly away, it was something else entirely. This time she had a chance to really think about what she was seeing, and even though they had just finished talking about flying together to Kansas, somehow, it didn’t really come together until she saw him fly away.
She parked her Jeep in the doctors’ parking lot and entered the ED, preparing herself for the long evening ahead. She had so many things to ask him, but for now, she needed to focus on work.
********
“Jonathan, it’s Clark on the phone!”
Jonathan picked up the cordless extension. “Hi, Son. How’s work?”
“Hi Dad, it’s fine thanks, but it’s not why I’m calling.”
Jonathan smiled slightly, “so what’s up?”
“Well, I wanted to tell both you and Mom this together, so here goes. You remember me mentioning Dr. Lane?”
“The surgeon who insulted you, right?”
“Right Dad, well sort of. Lois and I are on better terms now.”
“Lois?” his mother asked, her curiosity piqued.
“Yeah, Mom, she and I are friends. She’s a wonderful person, when you get to know her.”
“Well, if she’s a friend of my boy’s then I’d love to get to know her.”
“Well, then this is good news. You’re going to have the chance a bit sooner than you expected, Mom. Lois knows.”
“Knows what, Son?”
“She knows Dad. She knows everything, about me.”
“You mean?”
“Uh huh.”
“But how, Clark?”
“She saw me landing outside the hospital Mom, there was nothing I could do. We were having coffee across the street from the hospital. I heard gunshots and left to try and help. There was a man who’d been shot in the chest. He would have died if I didn’t get him to the hospital fast enough. Lois saw me land with him outside the ED.”
“So what did you do?”
“She took it surprisingly well, Dad. I know that she isn’t going to tell anyone, and she even gave me an idea of how I can disguise myself better.”
“That’s great, Clark, but are you sure that you can trust Lois?”
“I’m positive, Dad.”
“And if you trust her, so do we,” his mother said.
“So you guys aren’t upset about Lois finding out?”
“Why should we be upset?” Martha asked.
“Well, it’s your secret too, if it were to ever get out, it might affect you even more than it would affect me.”
“We trust your judgement, Son. If you tell us that Lois can be trusted, then we believe you. Besides, you did what you had to do, that man needed your help and you can’t regret what you did, even if it did lead to Lois finding out. What’s done is done.”
“I guess you’re right, Dad.”
“So tell us about your plan,” Martha said, trying to get Clark’s mind off of wondering if he could have handled the situation better.
“Lois said that I could use a secret identity. You know, pretend to be someone else when I’m rescuing people. Create a whole different persona so that when I go out to help, it won’t *be * Clark Kent, it’ll be someone else. But I need your help with it. I’d like to bring Lois out to the farm this weekend, if that’s all right. We can work on it then.”
“Of course it’s all right, Sweetie. Lois probably has a lot of questions as well. It might help her understand why this secret is so important to keep if she comes out to the farm.”
“I didn’t even think of that, Mom, but as usual, you’re right.”
“So when should we expect you?” Martha asked.
“Around dinner time on Friday.”
“All right, six o’clock, sharp. Don’t be late!”
“We won’t be Mom, I promise.”
“I love you, Sweetie.”
“We love you, Son.”
“Love you too, Mom, Dad, good night.”
He hung up the phone, feeling a little more at ease. Surely this weekend the four of them would sort everything out. Besides, he liked the idea of Lois being able to meet his parents and see where he grew up. He also decided that he did in fact like the idea of her knowing about him. It would take a little while to adjust, but it would be nice to have another person around whom he could just be himself.
********
Lois slept in Wednesday morning after her long night in the ED. She stopped by the lab before heading into the office. Most of her day was spent in appointments with a half dozen patients. She went to her tae kwon do class that evening in severe need of, what did Clark call it, oh yeah, decompressing. She had been faintly amused and somewhat skeptical when he offered her a cup of oolong tea that afternoon. After rushing around for hours, Lois had stopped by his lab to see if he wanted to get a cup of coffee. Instead, he practically ushered her into a chair and made her a cup of tea. He claimed that he was already getting tired of stuff the hospital referred to as ‘coffee’ and handed her a cup of the pale, steaming liquid, promising that it would help her relax. She would have normally bristled at the slightest hint of someone trying to take care of her, but with Clark, somehow it was different. He wasn’t treating her like a five year old or playing mother hen and trying to tell her that he knew what was best, instead he was just trying to be a good friend. There was something in his tone and his mannerisms that made his actions sincere and made it clear that he was truly concerned and wasn’t simply patronizing her. Clark had impeccable bedside manner and yet he chose to waste his talents in the lab, when he could have done just about anything he wanted in medicine. She shook her head to free herself of the thought. Placing ‘Clark’ and ‘bed’ in the same thought was definitely treading on dangerous ground.
She put in several hours of rigorous exercise at the martial arts studio then drove home and prepared a hot bath. After a long, relaxing soak, she made herself a cup of the tea that Clark had given her. Begrudgingly she admitted that it really did work wonders. She turned on the television to LNN and saw a story about the latest exploits of the ‘Angel of Metropolis.’ An anchor was talking to the survivors of a boating accident. The luckless trio had been sailing out of Hob’s bay when their boat began taking on water quickly. The small ship capsized and bad weather hampered rescue efforts. Each of the men reported being ‘plucked from the waters by an unknown figure, whom they couldn’t see clearly, and being gently deposited along the beach.’ Each of the three took their turn on camera thanking their unknown savior. She smiled as she thought about him. That was Clark, her Clark, well not *hers * exactly, but it was Clark nonetheless, out there helping people. He really was an incredible person. The more she got to know him, the more firmly she believed this. She marveled yet again at the mere fact that this man had let her into his world. He’d shared something with her that no one else, except his parents, knew; and he wanted her to be a part of it. He wanted her help protecting that secret. She decided that even if friendship was all that she could have with him, just being his friend was an honor and a privilege. She went to bed that night happy and content.
Lois was interrupted at work Thursday morning by a phone call. She frowned slightly as she leaned over her desk to answer it. She had asked not to be disturbed this morning unless it was urgent.
“Hello?” she inquired slightly annoyed.
“Dr. Lane, Mr. White is holding on the line, shall I put him through?”
“Yes of course, Anna, thank you.”
“Very well, Doctor, one moment.”
“Hello?” Lois asked again.
“Lois?”
“Uncle Perry! How are you?”
“Fine Darlin’ thanks, and yourself?”
“I’m fine, Uncle Perry. I know this isn’t a social call, so tell me what’s up.”
“You sure can read your ol’ Uncle Perry. I’m calling about the Genzyme business. Myerson’s hit a brick wall. He can’t make heads or tails of this scientific mumbo jumbo and Ft. Truman won’t release any information on Major Blake. His records have been classified. Judas priests Darlin, I tell you we’re getting a smokescreen of the third degree here.”
“All right, Uncle Perry, don’t worry about it. Have Myerson gather everything he can on the case by Monday morning then send all of it over to my office. I’ll look them over and see what I can figure out; I’m sure Dr. Kent will help us out as well.”
“Dr. Kent, do I know him?”
“I don’t think so Uncle Perry. He’s the new Immunologist at MetroGen; I took the original samples to him to analyze.”
“All right then, well I’ll let you get back to your work. Thanks again, Lois, this story’s sure to bag the Planet a Kerth.”
“Kerth?”
“Yeah, it’s a journalism prize, you know…well nevermind. I’ll talk to you later, Honey.”
“Bye Uncle Perry.”
She hung up the phone and continued with her work on the research project. She promised her father that she’d have the figures done before the week’s end and with any luck, she’d finish early that afternoon. She was just doing the final calculations when the phone rang again. She picked it up.
“Dr. Lane, your sister’s on line three.”
“Thanks Anna,” she said before pushing the appropriate button.
“Hey Luce.”
“Hi Sis, what’s up?”
“Just finishing up work, how ’bout you?”
“Done with classes for the day, you wanna go to Natale’s and get a cup of coffee?”
Lois wasn’t sure why Lucy was so eager to see her. It wasn’t that the two sisters didn’t get along, they did, they just never saw much of each other. Two visits in the same week was practically unprecedented. She wasn’t too concerned though, if something was wrong, she’d know. Lucy sounded fine, so she simply agreed, “sounds good, meet me there in an hour.”
“Bye Sis.”
“Bye Luce.”
Lois finished up her work and swung by her father’s lab to drop off the data before driving to the coffeehouse. The place Lucy had chosen was a fairly trendy little café that served better than decent coffee and was usually packed on weekends when the live entertainment drew large crowds. On this Thursday afternoon, however, the establishment was rather quiet. She found Lucy quickly and they ordered and found their way to one of several comfortable couches with their beverages.
“So what’s up?” Lois asked.
“I think he’s The One,” Lucy said matter of factly as she took a sip of her mocha.
Lois nearly choked on her latte. “What?”
“You know? Scott?”
“And you think he’s…well that he’s…”
“The One.”
“Oh, wow, Luce. How can you be so sure?”
“I love him, Lois. And yes, I remember saying that about half the guys I’ve ever dated; including some of the slimeballs, but this is different. I can’t even begin to explain to you how different it is.”
‘But how does he feel about you?”
“I know he loves me, Lois. I don’t know how to describe it, but I just know. I’m more certain of it than anything.”
“But Lucy, you’re too young to be making definite plans…”
“I’ll be twenty three next month, Sis. That’s not *that * young. Relax, Sis.”
“I don’t know if I can, Luce. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I know, Lois, but I’m not a baby anymore. I’m capable of living my own life and deciding what I want. And what I want is Scott. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, Sis. It just feels so *right. * And I know you think I’m crazy and I know this doesn’t make any sense to you, Dr. Lane, queen of reason and logic, no romance left in the world, I just wish you could understand how I feel.”
“Lucy…”
“I just wish you’d open up a little, Lois. You’re a terrific person, come on, you have to be, you’re my sister.” Lucy’s comment elicited a grin from her older sister. Lucy’s impish smile disappeared as she continued. “The right guy is out there, Lois, but you refuse to even believe it.”
“Lucy, you know how busy I am, I don’t have time for a relationship right now.”
“This is exactly what I mean Lois, if you knew how I felt, you’d understand that there are more important things in life than being the world’s greatest surgeon. I don’t mean to be a nag, I just want you to be happy. I want you to find a super guy. Someone you deserve.”
Lois discounted Lucy’s words. Sure her sister had nothing but good intentions, but it just wasn’t an option for Lois. There were more important things in her life than men. She had decided long ago that her work came first and that having a family was something she was willing to forgo in the pursuit of her career. She was Dr. Lois Lane, dedicated surgeon and researcher, that came first. Everything else was a distant second. ‘What about Clark?’ a tiny voice in her head asked. She shook herself, mentally. ‘What about him?’ Clark was a friend, she decided. That was all, it was enough because it had to be. Being friends with Clark was all she could ever allow herself.
“Lucy, I do appreciate your concern, but it just isn’t the right time. I know I don’t show it very well, but I am happy for you. I hope things work out with Scott, because he does sound like a great guy. I know it’s early, but I have morning rounds in the ED, I should probably go.”
“Yeah, I guess so. But Lois?” Lois looked up from collecting her belongings. “Don’t be a stranger, Sis. I love you.”
“Love you, too, Luce.” The sisters hugged and Lois departed, heading for home.
********
Friday morning could not have passed more slowly for Clark. He had spent the entire preceding two days in the lab, finishing all of his work so that he could justify leaving Friday afternoon and not coming back in until Monday. He stared up at the clock on the wall for about the millionth time. It was a quarter ’til twelve. Lois would be off in forty-five minutes. Perhaps he could take her out to lunch. He frowned slightly at the clock, wishing for time to pass more quickly. The phone in the lab rang and he gave up his mind games with the clock to answer it. It was a member of the board of directors calling to go over the budget allocation again. He got himself tied up with administrative nonsense for over an hour. He looked at his watch again; it was almost one. Lois had probably already left the hospital to go home. After a frustrating and seemingly pointless exercise in dealing with red tape, the budget issue was resolved, although he still wasn’t sure what the initial problem had been. He was just tying up the last of the loose ends before leaving when he heard a knock at the door. ‘This had better be good’ he thought to himself. He reached for his glasses, hesitating before pulling them down. If it was someone from administration he decided he’d just fly out the window and pretend that he’d already left for the day. He X-rayed the door and was pleasantly surprised by what or more appropriately who he saw on the other side. “Coming!” he yelled out. He saw that her hands were full and realized she’d probably need help with the door. He opened it and immediately unburdened Lois of the containers she was carrying.
“Thanks Clark,” Lois said as she closed the door behind her. I thought I’d pick up some take out, I hope you haven’t had lunch already.”
“No, this looks great, thank you,” he said as he carried the little cartons of Chinese food into the office that was attached to the lab. She followed him into the office and began organizing the cartons as he searched for paper plates and plastic forks. They enjoyed a casual and relaxed lunch talking and laughing about nothing of import. For the third time in half an hour, Lois rubbed absently at the back of her neck. Clark frowned as she did. She was obviously in some degree of discomfort.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, trying not to sound over protective and overly concerned.
“Oh, nothing, I guess I just slept in an awkward position, that’s all.” She winced as she stretched.
“Here, let me,” he said as he got out of his chair and walked behind her. She felt a pair of strong hands on her shoulders. She closed her eyes as he began kneading gently, applying just the right amount of pressure.
********
Geoff walked into the lab and headed straight for his computer. He heard what he assumed was Kent on the phone in the office and decided not to disturb his colleague. He wasn’t exactly on Clark’s good side at the moment and chose to act with the better part of valor. He heard laughter coming from the office. Puzzled, he walked closer to the door. There were two distinct voices. One was Kent’s the other was higher, feminine. It wasn’t…it was. Geoff grinned to himself. ‘That dog!’ He knew that he should leave, that it would be the honorable thing to do, but he didn’t really care. This was far too interesting. He leaned closer to the door, trying to make out what they were saying.
“Mmm…Clark, that feels so good.” He heard Dr. Lane murmur breathlessly. ‘Why Kent, you dog, you!’ Geoff thought to himself. He shook his head and slipped out of the lab. He knew that getting caught out here would be trouble and decided to leave while he still had a chance.
********
She felt a strange warmth at the base of her neck. It was surprisingly pleasant. “How, how are you doing that?” she asked.
“Uh…heat vision,” he admitted guiltily. “I’m sorry, I won’t do it if it bothers you.”
“No, not at all, please don’t stop,” she replied. Relieved, he continued.
“Heat vision, huh?”
“Mmm hmm,” he replied absently.
“You could really come in handy, Clark.”
He was glad that her back was to him and that she couldn’t see him blush. He didn’t know what had possessed him to use his powers so casually in front of her, but was more surprised by how she responded to it.
“Mmm…” she sighed happily as the tension in her neck and shoulders dissolved. Did he realize the effect that he was having on her? She felt so relaxed and so excited at once. So safe and in danger at the same time. She didn’t know what he was doing to create such feelings inside her and she didn’t care. All she knew was that she didn’t want him to stop. His hands fanned out over her shoulder blades as his fingers set to work on her upper back. Her body tingled and she felt like she was on fire everywhere that he touched her. If her body responded this way to a simple shoulder rub, she wondered what it would be like to kiss him. ‘If he kisses as well as he gives massages, I’ll be in a whole lot of trouble,’ she thought dreamily. She tried to shake the thought. It was out of the question. It didn’t matter what Clark Kent kissed like because she wasn’t going to kiss him. “Oooh,” she breathed, as he reached a tender spot. His hands ceased their gentle ministrations immediately.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized quickly.
“No,” she said softly. “It didn’t hurt, actually, it feels really good.”
Feeling her muscles relax under his touch once again, he continued to work on the knot of muscles along her spine. She was so tight; her muscles so tense, but he noticed her body relaxing just slightly as he continued. He knew that he shouldn’t be taking any pleasure out of this other than the satisfaction of making a friend feel better but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t help but feel secretly pleased about the way she responded to his touch, the fact she allowed him this simple contact and the fact that she seemed to be enjoying it as well.
“Thank you, Clark,” she said as she stretched. She felt infinitely better.
“Of course, that’s what friends are for,” he replied cheerfully.
They sat quietly for a moment, neither one sure what to say. “I should probably head home,” Lois said, ending the long moment of silence. “To pack, and everything…” She stood up, amazed at how good her body felt despite the long morning which had been preceded by an uncomfortable and sleepless night.
“Yeah, I guess so,” he said wistfully, he stood up to show her out. “I’ll pick you up around six, if that’s all right.”
“Sounds great, Clark, thanks again for the massage.”
“My pleasure, Lois.” Her eyes grew wide and she couldn’t quite hide her somewhat startled expression. He quickly wiped the sappy grin off of his face and added, “thanks again for lunch.”
“Of course, Clark.” She smiled timidly, somewhat embarrassed by his own nervousness. “I’ll see you at six.”
“Right, six o’clock.” He held the door open for her. “Bye, Lois.”
“Goodbye, Clark.”
********
Clark arrived at Lois’s townhouse at six o’clock exactly. He dressed in all black, just like he’d instructed her to do. He knocked softly on the door.
Lois ran to open the door. She knew who was on the other side, but out of habit, looked through the peephole anyway. He was right on time. ‘God he looks good in black, even through this stupid peephole!’ she thought to herself. She undid all of the locks on the door and swung it open. He may have looked good through the tiny glass bubble that distorted everything, but standing there, not two feet in front of her, with no barriers between them, he looked incredible. She exhaled slowly, “hi, Clark,” she said casually.
“Hi Lois,” he replied with a smile. She was wearing dark jeans and a simple dark sweater but to him she looked absolutely breathtaking. She stood to the side and invited him in. He noticed a small suitcase by the door. Apparently she was all ready, and there was no point in delaying. He could have flown himself to Kansas in just a few minutes, but carrying a passenger, he’d have to slow down considerably. “I should probably fly your bag out first.” He nodded over to her luggage. “It’ll be easier that way. I’ll be back in just a few minutes.”
“All right.” She smiled warmly at him, still amazed by what was about to happen. He picked up her suitcase effortlessly and walked to the door.
“Well, I guess I’m off.” He grinned. He walked out the door and glanced from side to side, satisfied that the coast was clear, he took off into the evening sky. He flew straight up and was soon out of sight.
She locked the door behind her and stood outside, watching and waiting, still wrestling with the idea of Clark flying. She wondered idly how long it would be until he got back. She didn’t wait long; he was back within five minutes. “Wow, that was fast,” she said breathlessly as he landed.
“Yeah, our flight won’t be quite as quick.” He grinned. “I can’t fly that fast while carrying a passenger.”
Lois smiled, secretly pleased that their first flight together wouldn’t be over too quickly. Now that she’d seen him fly, she was thrilled by the idea of going with him.
“Um, I don’t want to do anything that would make you uncomfortable, but this will be easiest if I carry you.”
“Okay…” she said slowly, she had wondered how exactly they were going to go about this. She knew how she felt about Clark, and she thought she knew how he felt about her, and that certainly didn’t make this any less awkward.
“May I?”
“Sure, yeah, of course.”
He moved closer to her and placed one arm behind her back and the other behind her knees. He lifted her up gently and effortlessly. Even though it wasn’t really necessary, he held her securely against his chest. He took off slowly and her arms went around his neck almost immediately. He didn’t mind that she held onto him so tightly, but he could tell that she was nervous. He flew slowly at first and she soon relaxed her grip, seemingly more comfortable with the situation. He hoped that she trusted him, that she knew that he’d never let anything happen to her. He flew faster as they chased the now setting sun. He considered slowing down more, and extending the flight. He tried to tell himself it was because he wanted her to have the chance to enjoy the flight and the passing scenery but he deep down, he just wanted to be able to hold her like this as long as possible. He sighed softly, hoping that she wouldn’t notice. He didn’t have time to slow down anymore. His mother was expecting them at six and since Kansas was an hour behind Metropolis, they’d get there right on schedule.
Lois had never felt anything that even remotely compared to flying with Clark. Once she’d gotten over that initial moment of fear and had actually opened her eyes, she saw the world passing by beneath them; she felt the wind rushing past them as they flew westward. Once the initial shock passed, she loosened her grip on Clark slightly. She remembered him saying that he was practically impervious but was unsure whether or not her clinging to him so tightly made him uncomfortable. Her arms remained wrapped around his neck however, as she held onto him, keeping them close together. She could feel the rise and fall of his powerful chest as he breathed. She closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of his cologne. She felt certain emotions stir deep inside her, emotions that only Clark had ever evoked. She recognized that feeling of being scared and excited all at once, completely safe and yet somehow in danger. She felt a total exhilaration that she wanted to hold onto forever. She decided quite simply that she loved flying with him. She heard him sigh slightly as he began to descend. She wanted the flight to last forever, but it was obvious that they were getting closer to their final destination. She looked out at the acres and acres of wide-open fields in front of her. The sun was just beginning to set on the horizon and the Kansas sky was a mix of bright oranges and reds, much like the autumn leaves of the trees that lined the peripheries of the wheat fields.
He began to descend slowly, judging his approach. They floated down to Earth, landing softly in a field behind the farmhouse. He lowered her gently to her feet, he meant to remove his hands from her hips, but just like her arms that were still wrapped around his neck, his hands didn’t move. They remained that way for a moment before he realized what he was doing. His hands dropped immediately and looked away. He felt her arms withdraw from around his neck, and his body wanted to protest. Instead he said simply, “shall we?”
She smiled and nodded and walked with him toward the farmhouse.
As they approached the farmhouse, Lois noticed the screen door open and a petite figure step out onto the porch.
The small, blonde woman spotted the pair and quickly made her way toward them. She quickly gathered her much larger son in a motherly hug and welcomed him home.
Clark stepped back slightly and introduced them, “Mom, this is Lois,”
Clark’s mother then turned to Lois with a slight smile and said warmly, “It’s good to finally meet you, Dr. Lane.” She extended a hand to Lois, which Lois accepted.
“Lois will be just fine, Mrs. Kent.”
“Please call me, Martha.” She turned toward the house and called out, “Jonathan, they’re here!” She turned back to Lois and said, “Clark’s told us so much about you. He said you were pretty, but he didn’t do you justice, my dear,” Her eyes twinkled, full of life, and she smiled the tell tale smile of someone privy to secret information no one else knew.
Lois blushed at the compliment. She was grateful to hear a deep voice call out Clark’s name. She looked up and saw Clark’s father walking over toward them. Clark’s father was a solid looking man with a kind face, just like Clark’s mother, he wore glasses, but other than that neither bore any particular resemblance to Clark, and why should they? Clark had told her that he was a foundling. Clark’s father walked with a slight, almost imperceptible limp. Lois wondered whether it was a result of the accident Clark’s parents had been in when he was just a child. She watched as the older man gave his son a warm hug.
“Hello, Son,” he said, a hint of laughter in his voice as he clapped Clark on the back.
“It’s good to see you, Dad,” Clark said with a smile. “Dad, this is Lois Lane. Lois, this is my father, Jonathan Kent.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Dr. Lane,” Jonathan said as he politely extended his hand. His words, while common, struck Lois as being completely genuine.
“It’s so good to meet you, Mr. Kent, and please I insist that you call me Lois.” She smiled, realizing that what she took to be Clark’s ‘charm’ was in fact the simple kindness and polite manners that he had obviously learned from his parents.
“Call me Jonathan, Lois,” he smiled the same knowing smile that Martha had given her. “Well, what are we all waiting around out here for?” he asked with a laugh. “Dinner’s all set, let’s go eat.” The four made there way to the house and Lois enjoyed her first home cooked meal in ages.
“Dinner was wonderful, thank you so much,” Lois said as she stood to clear the table.
“Don’t you dare touch those dishes, Lois!” Martha teased her. “Leave them there, the boys will clean up tonight.”
“Oh no, I…” Lois began to protest.
“No, Lois, really, please, Dad and I’ll get them,” Clark said with a smile as he began clearing the dishes.
Lois followed Martha to the living room while Clark and Jonathan washed the dishes. “I want to thank you, Lois,” Martha said as she sat down upon the couch.
Puzzled, Lois asked, “thank me? Thank me for what?”
“For being such a good friend to my son,” Martha replied; patting the couch, indicating that Lois should sit. She did. Martha continued. “I know this must be confusing for you, but you should know how much it means to Clark to have someone else he can talk to. He values your friendship a great deal.”
“I’m the one who should be thanking him, Martha. Clark is the best friend I’ve ever had. He really is a special person, and I hope that he knows that he can talk to me about anything.”
Martha beamed, her eyes full of a mother’s pride. “I’m so glad to hear you say that,” she began. “When Clark started to develop his powers, he was afraid. He didn’t want to be different so he tried to pretend that he wasn’t. He couldn’t hide things from us, and he stopped trying pretty quickly, but with everyone else, he always had to hide who he was and what he could do. He never had the chance to just be himself. It was difficult for all of us, Clark didn’t understand what was happening to him and Jonathan and I had to fumble and try to explain that it was okay to be different while at the same time, agonizing over how we could protect our boy. He is the most selfless soul I know, has the kindest and most gentle heart, and watching him grow up alone, afraid of having close friends because of the fear of having others find out about him, broke my heart. Having someone else he can talk to, someone he can be himself around, is so important to him.”
Lois bit her lip as she thought about Clark as a little boy, scared and confused about what was happening to him. She thanked God that he had such wonderful parents to help him through.
“You know, in thirty years, you’re the first woman I’ve ever been able to really talk to about my boy.” Martha smiled as she reached for Lois’s hand. Lois gently squeezed the older woman’s hand, and offered her a reassuring smile.
“So what have you two been talking about?” Clark asked cheerfully as he and Jonathan entered the room.
“Oh, Martha was just telling me what an adorable baby you were, Clark.” Lois grinned conspiratorially at Martha.
“Mom.” Clark began to blush.
“Let me go get those baby pictures I was telling you about.” Martha stood and as she did, Lois noticed the mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
“Mom, no,” Clark whined again.
“Sorry Clark, I promised.” Martha left to go find the photographs. She returned a few moments later carrying several albums. Upon seeing her, Clark merely shook his head. The elder Kents spent the remainder of the evening thoroughly embarrassing their beloved son with baby pictures and stories of his childhood.
Lois listened intently to the sweet, silly and often poignant tales of Clark’s childhood. She ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at his baby pictures, which she thought were adorable but that he protested were utterly indecent. She couldn’t suppress her laughter at Jonathan’s recounting of Clark’s unfortunate run in with the rooster when he was just six years old. She listened to Martha describe how Clark was always volunteering to do chores and how he would baby-sit the neighbor’s children and learned all about Clark, the boy next door, who grew up in small town middle America, raised on football and apple pie, straight ‘A’s and boy scouting. She felt tears pricking at her eyes when Clark broke his self imposed silence on the embarrassment-fest to tried to explain what it was like to be well liked but to never really fit in. Lois wanted to tell him so much that she understood, that she could relate to how he felt, but she wasn’t sure if he’d believe her. His lopsided smile tugged at her heart.
After a long moment of silence, Jonathan stood from his chair and stretched. “Well, kids, it’s been a long day and I’m beat. I think I’m going to turn in.”
“I think I’m about ready to go to bed as well, dear,” Martha added. “Lois, let me show you to Clark’s room so you can get settled. Clark can sleep on the couch tonight. Unless of course you two are…” Lois was speechless. Martha knew that there was nothing going on between her and Clark. Where would she get such an idea? Then Lois took the time to notice the mischievous expression on Martha’s face. She was surprised to be on the receiving end of the older woman’s sharp sense of humor, her momentary shock was replaced by amusement, she was glad that Martha felt comfortable enough to poke fun at her. Lois heard Clark gasp; apparently he wasn’t expecting his mother’s comments and hadn’t realized that she was making a joke at the pair’s expense.
“No Mom, the couch is fine, really…” he began. He looked at Lois, his eyes pleading her not to be angry with him or his parents. She smiled knowingly at him and he realized that he’d been had yet again this evening. He shook his head. He’d learned an important lesson that evening; there was no more dangerous combination in the world than Lois Lane and his mother.
Lois followed Martha upstairs to Clark’s bedroom. The room pretty much mirrored her expectations. She surmised that it most likely hadn’t changed much since he finished high school and moved out. Martha set some towels down on the size full bed. The rest of the furniture: the bookcase, dresser and desk were made of the same pine as the bed’s headboard. Posters, pennants and trophies from accomplishments both athletic and academic were carefully displayed on the walls and shelves. The room was kept as neat as a pin, and Lois was fairly sure that the room’s current condition was simply the continuation of a trend and that Clark had probably been this neat as a boy.
“Here are some towels,” Martha said, patting the folded towels she had placed on the bed. “The bathroom is the next door in the hall, just to the left, if you need anything, just ask, please.”
“Thank you, Martha.”
“It’s so good to have you here, Lois. We’re all very glad that you came.” Martha gave Lois a hug, which the younger woman received warmly.
“Good night, Martha.”
“Good night, dear,” Martha whispered as she left and closed the door behind her.
Lois changed, washed up and brushed her teeth. She had just returned to the bedroom when she heard a soft knocking on the door. “Come in,” she said softly.
The door opened a crack and she heard Clark whisper, “Lois?”
“It’s all right Clark, come on in.”
He walked in wearing a pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt sans the glasses. “I just wanted to say goodnight,” he said softly.
She smiled and walked over to him. “Goodnight, Clark. Sorry for all the grief your mother and I put you through tonight.”
“I should have known you two would team up against me.” He smiled.
She wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug that she hoped would convey all of her support and caring for this incredible man. She felt his arms slip around her.
“Goodnight, Lois” he whispered.
“Goodnight, Clark,” she replied.
********
Lois woke early the following morning feeling relaxed and well rested. She couldn’t remember ever having a better night’s sleep. She stretched and padded to the bathroom and took a shower. She dressed and headed downstairs, eagerly anticipating the day ahead. She entered the kitchen where Martha was already preparing breakfast.
“Good morning, Martha,”
“Good morning, Lois. Did you sleep well?”
“Mmm hmm.” Lois smiled.
“The boys are doing the morning chores and breakfast is almost ready. When they come back we can discuss your plans for a secret identity while we eat.”
“Great. What can I do to help?” Lois asked, looking around the kitchen.
“Everything’s almost ready, but If you could set the table, dear, that would be great.”
“Of course,” Lois replied as she went about the kitchen finding everything needed while trying to stay out of Martha’s way. Not long after the task was accomplished, Jonathan and Clark entered the house, obviously in good spirits.
They sat down to a big country breakfast and Lois described her idea of creating a flashy public persona for Clark’s alter ego. Martha and Jonathan listened quietly, nodding their understanding and approval of the plan. After breakfast, Martha and Lois elected to go into town and buy the necessary materials to create Clark’s new alter ego. They returned a few hours later with countless bolts of colorful material and a whole lot of Spandex.
********
“Let’s see this one, Clark.”
“I don’t know, Mom,” Clark’s voice replied from within the bathroom.
“Come on, Clark,” Lois yelled back.
He shuffled slowly out of the bathroom, dressed in the latest attempt at an adequate disguise. He looked up, clearly not a fan of the yellow and green Spandex suit.
Lois studied him carefully before shaking her head slowly. She frowned thoughtfully, successfully hiding fact that she was thoroughly enjoying the process. On previous occasions she had hypothesized that Clark probably had a great body, he even looked great in a labcoat, but Spandex was something else entirely. It certainly didn’t leave much to the imagination. “Not quite right,” she said evenly.
“Nope.” Martha shook her head.
Clark sighed, pleased that they agreed with his assessment, but not too thrilled with the idea of having to prolong the process. There was one suit still waiting to be tried, if it didn’t work, he’d have to wait until Lois and his mother concocted something else entirely. He frowned at the orange and blue suit. Who would have thought coming up with a secret identity would be so difficult? He had already tried on a half dozen of these things. The gray one wasn’t so bad, except he felt like Zorro with that mask on and the red one with the goofy hat with wings made him look like a SirSpeedy delivery boy on steroids. The only remote possibility was a black suit with blue trim that Lois had liked but that they’d decided might be a little too dark for what he was going for. He tried on the suit and it was summarily rejected by all. Lois and Martha returned to the material they purchased. His eyes grew wide and his jaw nearly hit the ground when he saw Lois musing over a bolt of leopard print cloth.
He opened and closed his mouth several times before regaining the ability to speak, “no, no, no way!” he exclaimed.
Lois smiled innocently at him and replaced the offending material.
“What about this one?” Martha asked, holding up the blue Spandex that Clark himself had been considering.
“It could work,” Clark replied neutrally.
Lois looked it over more carefully, “I like it.” A suit was made out of the Spandex and Clark waited for them to finish with it so that he could try it on.
“It needs something else,” Lois mused.
“Mmm hmm.” Martha frowned at the suit. “He could use some briefs to wear over it.”
“Over it?” Clark asked incredulously.
“Well it’s going to be pretty tight,” Lois said in a deceivingly detached voice.
Clark’s face turned bright red as his mother and Lois continued discussing the matter as though he weren’t there.
“No one will recognize you in it that’s for sure,” Lois added.
“They certainly won’t be looking at your face.”
“Mom!” Clark complained, mortified.
“Well they don’t call ’em tights for nothing, Clark,” Martha laughed.
Embarrassed beyond description, Clark waited silently while the two decided on the proper color and material for the briefs. They finally settled on red and added a yellow belt for good measure.
“What about a cape?” Lois asked while Martha was admiring her handiwork.
“A cape?” Clark whined.
“Oh I think it will look wonderful when you’re flying, Honey,” his mother pointed out.
Clark accepted defeated and left to try on the costume while his mother settled in to design a cape for him. He was surprised by how much he liked this one. He still wasn’t a fan of the Spandex, but it would cut down on wind resistance and he had to admit, this was the best looking suit they’d come up with so far.
He exited the bathroom and placed his hands on his hips, expecting to be scrutinized by Lois and his mother. He knew that they only wanted to help him but he couldn’t help but feel objectified by their comments. Lois looked at him thoughtfully and then smiled and nodded. “It looks good,” she said. “It looks really good.”
He was relieved to have her approval. His mother concurred with Lois’s opinion. Realizing what was missing, Lois left to get the boots and dye that they had bought. Martha handed Clark a bright red cape and instructed him to put it on, he went back into the bathroom to add the cape, which was designed to attach inside the suit. Lois returned with the boots just as Martha left to get more red thread. Lois sat patiently waiting for Martha to return.
“Mom, the fastenings aren’t strong enough to hold the…” Clark emerged from the bathroom, naked from the waist up, the suit had been unzipped and the top part pulled down to his waist so that he could try to attach the cape, which he now held in his right hand. He froze as he realized that it was Lois in the room and not his mother. He shouldn’t have been so embarrassed, it wasn’t as though the suit hid much, but he noticed the way Lois looked at him, even though it was only for the briefest moment.
Lois nearly gasped when Clark entered the room, his chest bare. She knew that he was well built but even having seen him in the Spandex she never would have imagined that he would look so absolutely perfect. His pecs were well defined, his shoulders strong and broad, his arms chiseled, his stomach, the very definition of washboard abs. She looked away quickly, training her gaze on the floor as though the carpet was the most fascinating thing she’d ever seen. “Your mom just went to get some more thread. Is there a problem with the cape?”
“Uh, yeah, it’s too heavy for the hooks,” he said, keenly aware of the fact that she was uncomfortable.
She was determined to behave herself. This was Clark, her best friend; she shouldn’t be ogling him she thought. She frowned thoughtfully, “maybe if we wrap it around your shoulders instead…” She closed the distance between them and took the cape he held out for her. ‘Strictly professional,’ she thought to herself, ‘like Gray’s Anatomy, don’t think of it as Clark,’ although this time, it really didn’t help that she could name each and every muscle that rippled every time he moved. Somehow, even words like trapezius sounded sexy when they referred to Clark. She walked behind him and held the cape up against his muscular back and broad shoulders. “Hold this,” she said, reaching over his shoulder to give him the two ends of the cape. She managed to find away to secure the cape around his shoulders and under his arms so that it was him bearing the cape’s weight, not the suit.
“How does that feel?” she asked.
“Fine,” he replied grinning. He pulled the top half of the suit back on; she held the cape up so it wouldn’t get caught inside the suit.
Lois felt a twinge of disappointment at his covering himself up again, but quickly quashed the feeling. It was terrible of her to think of poor Clark like that. She and Martha had already extracted their pound of flesh from him this weekend with their constant attempts to embarrass him and he was taking it with such grace, as was his nature. She zipped up the back of the suit for him just as Martha returned with the thread.
Martha smiled at her handiwork. “So how do you like it?”
“It’s fine,” Clark replied.
“Hmm…” Lois mused, her brow furrowed as though she were deep in thought.
Martha moved to stand beside her as they inspected Clark. Clark stood with his hands on his hips, wondering how much more of this he’d have to endure. “It’s missing something,” Martha said finally.
“Exactly,” Lois said. “It needs something,” she made a confusing hand gesture. “Something more.”
Clark sighed.
“Wait!” Martha exclaimed. “I know just the thing!” She bustled off and quickly returned with a large manila envelope. She carefully removed a bright yellow and red emblem that looked like an S in a shield from within. She held it up against the blue Spandex of the suit on Clark’s chest.
“That’s perfect!” Lois grinned.
Clark was just relieved that they were getting closer and closer to being done with all of this. “Thank goodness. I don’t think I could tolerate any more of this.” He turned to walk back into the bathroom.
“Hold on, Buster,” Lois called out to him.
He stopped and turned around, raising his eyebrows, his patience with the whole process was beginning to wear thin, “yeah?” he responded halfheartedly.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she challenged him.
“To change.”
“Uh uh.”
“Pardon?”
“We’re not done yet, Kent. You need a name.”
“A name?”
“Yeah, I didn’t think you actually wanted to settle for Some Other Guy.”
“Why not? It works with the ‘S'” he pointed out.
“Lois is right, Honey, what are people going to call you?” Martha replied.
He shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know,” he replied.
“Let’s see…” Lois mused. “Something that starts with an ‘S'” It had to be something catchy, something that inspired confidence, something that made a statement. What name could possibly summarize everything this wonderful man was? Everything he strove to be? All the goodness that was inside him? Spandexman! No, wait, Sexyman! She stifled a giggle. ‘Come on, girl, get serious!’ Lois thought to herself. She felt her mind drifting back toward dangerous territory. She tried to put away the growing attraction she felt toward Clark, but somehow, she couldn’t. ‘It’s just not the right time in my life for a relationship,’ the thought led her back to the conversation she’d had with Lucy the other day. ‘What was it that Luce had said? Oh yes, she wanted me to meet a super guy. But she didn’t know that I *had* met a super guy, but that it’ll never work out. Wait, that’s it *Super* no, not Superguy…’ “Superman!” Lois exclaimed.
“Superman?” Clark asked incredulously. “Isn’t that a tad bit self serving?”
“It’s better than The Angel, or Some Other Guy, isn’t it?” Lois pointed out.
“I guess so.”
“Trust me, it’ll grow on you.” She patted his arm.
Clark sighed and acquiesced. He went into the bathroom to change out of the suit so that his mother could make the final alterations. He changed into a pair of jeans and a denim shirt and exited the bathroom glad that they had arrived at a plausible resolution to his problem of wanting to help but keep his private life.
The making of the suit had taken up most of the day. They finished shortly before Jonathan returned from working around the farm. Clark had sped through many of the chores that morning, but certain things couldn’t be done at super speed. Clark had helped tremendously, allowing Jonathan to finish considerably earlier than usual. No one was much in the mood for cooking that evening so they decided to go into town for dinner. Lois teased Clark about the nightlife of downtown Smallville on a Saturday night, but ended up enjoying the evening immensely. Coming to Smallville with Clark gave her a chance to see and understand why Clark was the wonderful person that he was. She realized that Clark was incredible not because of what he was, there was nothing extraterrestrial or scientifically advanced about his gentle nature, his kindness, patience, and willingness to help. Clark was extraordinary in his fundamental humanness. Clark embodied the best of very human qualities and now she knew why. He had a loving home and wonderful parents who had raised him to be the best man Lois had ever met.
They returned to the farm later that evening after a wonderful yet exhausting day. “I think it’s time for us to turn in,” Jonathan said almost as soon as they had returned. “Clark, your mother and I are going to church in the morning, but you two feel free to sleep in.”
“Actually, I’d like to go, if that’s all right with you,” Lois interjected. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been to church and she figured that everything in her life was going so well that it was time to give the Almighty due credit.
“Of course, Lois. We’d love for you to come with us.”
“All right then, we’re all going together,” Clark grinned.
The following morning the four ate breakfast together before heading out to church. Lois couldn’t help but feel welcomed in Smallville’s lively little congregation. She felt at peace there, despite always having her doubts about organized religion. Despite all the things in her life that were as yet, unsettled, she felt a kind of contentedness that was entirely new. Perhaps it was the relaxed atmosphere of Smallville or the welcoming Kent family, or even Clark’s own disarming nature, whatever it was, something about being here made her believe fundamentally that everything was going to work out just right, even if she didn’t know exactly what that meant.
That afternoon, after lunch, Clark had invited her to go for a walk and she gladly accepted. They strolled aimlessly around the farm, the neighboring fields, and meadows as Clark pointed out the landmarks of his childhood. The late autumn wind was quite chilly, but she didn’t seem to mind it much at all. She was perfectly happy walking with Clark despite the weather.
“My dad taught me to fish in that stream.” Clark nodded toward the creek that meandered slowly across the wood.
A muffled sound came from Lois’s jacket pocket. Clark looked at her, puzzled and she shrugged as she pulled her cell phone out of the jacket’s large pockets.
“Lois Lane,” she spoke into the phone. Clark refrained from eavesdropping but could do little to help overhearing her half of the conversation.
“Uncle Perry! I’m fine…are you at work? Uncle Perry it’s Sunday for crying out loud. Does Aunt Alice know you’re there?” A faint smile played at the corners of her mouth. “No, I’m out of town right now…tomorrow, why? Perry, what’s wrong?” Her smile disappeared, “Oh my God…Perry, tell me, please…no, no, no…” The last words came out in a sob. Her legs gave out underneath her and she nearly fell to the ground. He was instantly there, his arms around her, holding her body against his. He lowered them both to the ground and held her tightly. He had no idea what was wrong, what it was that Perry had said that had upset her so much, but she was trembling silently in his arms. He held her tighter, wishing that he could take the pain away for her.
She remained silent, shaking uncontrollably. She buried her face against his shoulder. He whispered nonsense soothingly to her. He picked her up effortlessly and carried her back to the house. His heart was breaking. She was in pain and he didn’t know what to do to take it away.
He glanced around quickly, it was twilight and the field was deserted. Assured that there was no one nearby, he took off and flew the remaining distance to the house. She felt cold as she curled up silently in his embrace. He landed on the porch and carried her into the house, calling out to his mother.
Martha came running at the panicked tone in Clark’s voice. She saw Lois in Clark’s arms. The young woman didn’t stir as she clung to Clark’s shoulder.
“Go get some blankets, Mom,” Clark said as he carried Lois to the couch. Martha nodded and ran off to do as Clark instructed.
Clark set Lois down on the couch and lowered his glasses to warm her up with a judicious amount of heat vision. He enfolded her in his embrace, hoping his presence would provide her with warmth and security. He was relieved when she looked up at him, her eyes focusing on him in a silent expression of gratitude. The fear that she was going into posttraumatic shock began to subside. He tuned in his hearing and listened to her breathing and her pulse. Her breaths were still quick and shallow, her heart was pounding, but both had begun to slow.
Martha returned with a large quilt. Clark wrapped it around Lois and continued to hold her tightly. “Mom, could you fix some herbal tea, no caffeine?”
“Right,” Martha said as she headed for the kitchen. She had no idea what was wrong, but knew that it was best to do as Clark asked now, and ask the questions later. Martha returned several minutes later with the tea in hand.
Clark took the cup from her and helpped Lois hold it. He coaxed her into taking a sip and she obeyed silently. She sat quietly for several minutes, holding the cup in both hands. Clark’s arm was around her the entire time, offering her support. “Lois, talk to me, please,” he pleaded softly. Her hands began shaking and he took the cup from her hands and placed it on the table.
“It was Perry,” she said finally. This much Clark already knew, but he remained silent, allowing her to proceed. “There’s been another accident at Genzyme, this one was fatal.” Clark grimaced, was she blaming herself? She had done everything in her power to stop Genzyme’s cavalier practices, but did she blame herself anyway? “A doctor died,” she continued. “I knew him…he…he was a friend.” A single tear rolled down her cheek unnoticed. Clark hugged her tightly, knowing that there were no words he could say to make the situation better. He had seen enough grief in his career to know that he couldn’t hope to improve things through comforting words, all he could do was offer his unconditional friendship and support.
After several long minutes, Clark called for his mother again. Martha entered the room, a concerned look on her face. “Mom, I know we were planning on staying for dinner, but I think it would be best if I got Lois home and to bed,” he said softly. Clark hoped that the quiet and familiar surroundings would make it easier for Lois to rest.
“I think you’re right, Honey,” Martha said quietly as she placed a hand on her son’s shoulder. Martha exited the room and returned with Lois’s keys. She handed them to Clark.
“Lois?” he asked tentatively. “I’m going to take you home so you can get some rest, okay?” Lois nodded passively at him. He picked her up, still wrapped up in the quilt, and turned to his mother. “Thanks for everything, Mom,” he said. “Tell Dad, ‘bye’ for us, I’ll call you later,”
“Goodbye,” Martha said, lowering her voice she continued, “take good care of her.”
“I will, Mom.” He walked out the door with Lois securely in his arms. He took off slowly and flew toward Metropolis.
********
He unlocked the door and carried her into the house. He walked slowly up the stairs, carrying her up to her bedroom, hoping that she would forgive him this intrusion on her privacy. He set her down gently on her feet and, with a hand on the small of her back, led her to the bed so that she could sit. “I’m going to go make you some tea,” he said. “I’ll be right downstairs if you need anything.” He turned to walk out of the room.
“Clark,” she said softly, her voice barely audible.
He stopped at the sound of her calling his name. She sounded so vulnerable. He turned around.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He smiled a sad smile and nodded before exiting the room and closing the door softly behind him.
********
Her whole body trembling, she stood up, surprised that her legs didn’t collapse immediately underneath her. She walked slowly to the bathroom, stripping off the layers of clothing. With shaking hands she turned on the faucets in the shower. She ran the water as hot as her body could possibly tolerate and took a long shower, allowing the sheets of water to cascade over her. The water beat heavily on her tired and aching muscles. Over and over again, she mentally berated herself. She couldn’t believe he was dead. She could have prevented it, she could have stopped Genzyme, she could have done more. But she hadn’t. She hadn’t pressed the issue and now, he was dead. Genzyme had obviously pressed onward with their project. Damn them for not caring. Damn them for killing him. But she didn’t let all of the blame fall on them. She damned herself for not stopping it, for not fighting harder to shut down the project, for not yelling louder when no one would listen. She pounded an angry fist against the tile wall of the shower. The pain radiated through her hand but she didn’t care. Eventually, it just became a dull ache. Her mind turned in circles, accomplishing nothing.
Finally, she reached out and shut the water off. She stepped out of the shower into the steam filled bathroom and put on a thick robe. She dried her hair with a towel and ran a brush through it, not overly concerned with how she looked at that moment. She dressed in some warm sweats and sat upon the bed, staring blankly at nothing at all.
A few moments later, she heard a soft knocking at the door. “Come in, Clark,” she said. The door opened and he walked in carrying a tray with a cup of tea and a bowl of soup. He placed the tray on the nightstand and handed her the cup of tea, which she took gratefully. He coaxed her into eating some of the soup despite her protests that she wasn’t hungry. He waited patiently and removed the tray when she was done. He took the dishes downstairs and washed them before returning upstairs to say goodnight.
She slipped under the covers and tried to settle herself. He knocked softly on the door and she bade him enter. He walked toward her slowly. “I just wanted to say goodnight,” he began. “I’ll stay right downstairs if you need anything.”
She reached a hand out to him, which he accepted. He began stroking her knuckles with his thumb. She drew strength from the contact. “Thank you, Clark, but you don’t have to stay,” she said unconvincingly, all the while hating the idea of him leaving her here alone.
“I’m not going anywhere, Lois,” he replied. “I’ll sleep on the couch downstairs, call if you need anything at all.”
She squeezed his hand in silent thanks and he reached out with his free hand to caress her cheek. He kissed her forehead and whispered, “goodnight, Lois.”
“Goodnight, Clark,” she said softly as he withdrew from contact. He turned off the lights and closed the door behind himself.
He gathered some blankets and made up the couch. He stretched out across it but could not sleep. Instead he lay awake, tuning in to the sounds of her breathing and her heart beat. After an indeterminate amount of time, their steady rhythms lulled him to sleep.
“No, no, no!” He snapped up instantly at the sounds of her cries. He literally flew up the stairs to her bedroom door. He felt a passing moment of guilt about the idea of barging into her bedroom, but the sounds of her cries moved him to act. He knocked on the door and without waiting for a reply, opened it. “Lois?” he called softly. He felt his chest constrict at the sight of her. She was thrashing about in her sleep, and she was crying. He was at her side immediately. He reached out and touched her arm lightly and felt an almost physical pain in his chest when she recoiled from his touch. “Lois,” he whispered again. She woke with a near violent start. He saw the pure panic in her eyes and gathered her in his arms. A thin film of perspiration covered her skin and her heart was thundering in her chest.
“Clark,” she murmured against his chest.
“It’s all right, I’m here,” he said. He rocked her gently in his arms.
She clung to him as though she were drowning. Her breaths came in ragged sobs. He wanted to offer her more, give her whatever she needed to make the hurt go away, but he didn’t know what that was. Sitting there, with her crying in his arms, unable to do anything about it, he felt powerless. The tension slowly drained from her body as her breathing returned to normal. “Oh, Clark,” she whispered.
“Shhh, it’s okay,” he said, tilting up her chin so that he was looking into her deep brown eyes. After several long minutes of silence, he spoke, “let me warm you up some milk, it’ll help you sleep.”
She nodded silently and followed him downstairs. She sat down at the kitchen table and just watched him as he moved around the kitchen in his tee shirt and boxer shorts, heating up a mug of milk. He set the cup in front of her and she took it gratefully with both hands. “Thank you,” she murmured softly. He sat down next to her as she sipped the drink slowly.
Lois lowered the mug back to the table and spoke in a deceptively even tone of voice; “His name was Danny Carter.” Clark didn’t need to ask whom she was referring to. “He and I, we…we were in Metro U’s six year program together. He was my best friend. We met the first week of freshman year in chem. He was sweet, really shy and overprotective. I don’t know how he put up with me.” She smiled briefly.
“And then, something happened. It was the end of our second year, we had just finished our MCATs and we went out to celebrate. That was the first and only time I ever got drunk. Anyway, this guy started hitting on me, he was enormous and completely wasted, he wouldn’t leave me alone. I got scared, and suddenly, Danny was there. I don’t remember what happened exactly, but he made the jerk leave me alone, and then he offered to walk me home. We got back to my room and I was a total wreck. I wasn’t in control, one thing led to another, and well, he and I, well, we, you know. We were each other’s first.” She said with a mirthless smile. “It was wrong and it was stupid, we were both drunk and didn’t know what we were doing and after it happened, we never talked about it again. But things were never the same. We drifted apart. I haven’t talked to him since we graduated from med. school.” She looked down at the contents of the mug, avoiding his eyes, fearing Clark’s judgement. Instead, she felt Clark’s hand on top of hers, his touch conveying compassion, warmth, and support, but no judgement.
“I’ve never told anyone this before,” she said as a tear made its way slowly down her cheek.
He hesitated before reaching up to brush it away. No wonder her heart was breaking. It didn’t matter that time and indiscretion had driven the two friends apart, Lois had lost a dear friend, a former lover, and someone she obviously cared a great deal for. Had she ever trusted since then? Was this why she kept people out? Was she still so afraid of being hurt? He ached to tell her that she could trust him, that he would never hurt her. He longed to make things better. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, his fingers stroking absent designs on the back of her hand. The words were inadequate, but he didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t sure she would accept his offer of comfort now. She had trusted before and had been hurt by the experience, he wasn’t even sure that she wanted him there.
She got up to take the cup to the sink but he took it from her hands and rinsed it himself. She stood in the kitchen, waiting for him. He finished and the two walked up the stairs. He intended to say goodnight to her at her bedroom door and head back down to try to sleep on the couch.
He waited by her door, making no movements toward entering. “Clark,” she whispered, her eyes pleading with him. “Stay, please.”
His heart melted at the sight of her. Of course he would stay. He would do anything she asked of him when she looked at him that way. There was nothing he was prepared to deny her. He merely nodded.
He pulled back the tangled up covers as she lay down on the bed. He lay down next to her, pulling up the blankets to cover her. She snuggled up next to him. Her head pillowed on his chest. He covered her protectively with a strong arm. It felt so right to hold her like this. He only wished that he had the right to do it all of the time, and not just when she was in need of his comfort. He tried to control his breathing and his pulse, he was suddenly angry with his body for the way it reacted to her; how her mere presence seemed to make all of his senses infinitely more acute.
She allowed herself to be enfolded in his embrace, and placed her head upon his broad chest. She felt the rise and fall of his powerful body with each breath and listened to the steady rhythm of his heart beating under her.
“Goodnight, Lois,” he whispered, she could feel the words rumbling softly in his chest.
“Goodnight, Clark,” she murmured softly against him. For the second time in a month, Lois fell asleep in Clark’s arms. She sought the comfort that he offered, the protection he was prepared to give, and she found them in his embrace.
********
Clark lay awake for hours, watching her sleep. He held her small body close to his. Letting his senses be overwhelmed by the scent of her skin and the soft sounds of her breathing. He ran a hand soothingly up and down her back, marveling at how this fierce little woman had taken command of his heart and soul. She inspired him. She made him want to try and be the hero she wanted him to be.
He took pleasure in simply studying her. His eyes traced the contours of her face, emblazoning into his memory exactly how she looked sleeping in his arms. She looked so peaceful. Her features were somehow softer now. She looked innocent, vulnerable. He felt an instinctive need to shelter her, protect her from the world. He thought about the scenes of the previous day and his heart ached. He realized at that moment that he would gladly die to prevent her from ever coming to any harm. But while he was ready to give his life for her, what he wanted, what he secretly yearned for was to share his life with her. He wanted to hold her forever, to touch her and kiss her, to tell her that he loved her, but knowing this was not possible, contented himself to holding her close him while she slept. Eventually, he allowed himself to drift off to sleep.
********
Lois woke that morning to find that the alarm had been shut off. Clark was still holding her, his arm draped over her body, his hand cradling her head to his chest. Even in sleep, he held her so gently, so carefully.
She fought the mental image of that morning ten years ago, but was unable to rid herself of the memories. She had woken up dizzy and with a terrible headache, surprised to find herself naked in bed, she looked around the room, strewn with clothing. She saw Danny, he was sitting in a chair in the far corner of the room, clad only in boxer shorts, his head was in his hands. She sat up, covering herself with the bed sheet. He looked up at the sound of cotton rustling against skin. She could tell that he’d been crying. He began to shake his head. “I’m so sorry,” he choked on the words. The memories of the events of the preceding evening hit her with tremendous force. She sat dumbly for a moment before finally beginning to move.
He jumped up from his chair and cried out, “no, please.”
She didn’t know what to do. She froze. “I know you can never forgive me, but I swear, I didn’t mean to take advantage of you. I hate myself for what I did to you and I’m so sorry,” he gasped as he backed toward the door. He nearly tripped over something and bent down to pick up his jeans off the floor. He opened the door behind him and ran out, never looking back.
She heard the sound of a single drop fall and hit the bed sheet. She looked down at the darkened circle on the fabric she was clutching to her body for a moment, trying to figure out where it came from. The lonely drop of moisture was followed by a second and a third and she realized that she was crying. She dressed haphazardly and ran after him, but he was gone.
She called him that day, and the next day and the next, leaving messages when he refused to answer, trying to convince him that they were both to blame, that he hadn’t forced himself on her, but he never called her back. She didn’t see him much at all for the months that followed. She would catch glimpses of him during that time. He seemed like a nervous wreck. So much time passed before he was ever able to bring himself to even talk to her. Their conversations were strained and frustrating. She knew that he blamed himself, that he thought that he’d violated her horribly. She felt her best friend slipping away so quickly. She was losing him and she was unable to stop it, all because of one night of stupidity and indiscretion. She came to realize quickly that her presence caused him pain. Unwilling to put him through that, she became distant and they drifted apart even faster. The more she had tried to save their friendship, the more she pushed him away.
He was the first person outside her family that she’d ever let see who she really was. She took the chance and played the game of trust with him, and she lost. But it wasn’t him that she couldn’t trust, it was herself. She had destroyed their friendship. She could remember now what had then been so clouded in her mind. She wasn’t sure if it had been the fear or the alcohol, but it was probably a mix of both that had caused her to see something that wasn’t there. He was simply doing what he’d always done; he was being a good friend. He walked her home and was preparing to bid her goodnight. He hugged her, but it was she who kissed him. She was the one who seduced him. She still didn’t know why. Whatever it was in that fleeting moment that caused her to act on her baser instincts had cost her a dear friend. She had hurt him, and somehow deceived him into believing it was he who was at fault.
She felt a sudden panic and fear rise up in her throat. As much as she had welcomed Clark’s protection the night before, she now felt an incredible need to escape from it. She felt claustrophobic and began to squirm, needing to put some distance between them.
Clark woke to find Lois stirring uncomfortably in his arms and immediately relaxed his embrace, allowing her exit. He pretended to sleep as she slipped out of the bed and dashed to the bathroom. He heard the shower turn on and shook his head. God why was he doing everything wrong? He felt incredibly guilty. He’d obviously done something to make her extremely uncomfortable but he didn’t even know what.
********
She stepped into the shower. Leaning against the cool tile wall, she allowed her body to slide down to the shower floor. She sat under the hot stream of water, the nightmares of the previous evening replaying over and over in her mind. She was in the ED, and the medics came running in with a patient on a gurney. She looked down and it was Danny. She tried to save him, but couldn’t. She let him die. She looked down at the lifeless body on the table and it changed. It wasn’t Danny anymore, it was Clark. It was Clark who lay motionless in front of her. Clark whose life she failed to save. Clark who she had lost. She started crying and screaming and that was when he ran into the room. When she woke up and saw him there, felt his hand upon her shoulder, she was so relieved. He was alive! Her relief was quickly replaced by guilt. Was she therefore happy that it had been Danny and not Clark? She had banished the thought, unable to deal with it.
Last night she had fallen asleep in Clark’s arms and she had taken no small pleasure in the feeling. She wanted to touch him, to hold him and be held by him and she hated herself for it. She had destroyed one friendship by giving in to the desires of her treacherous body; she wasn’t prepared to do it again.
********
Clark got up a few minutes after she went into the bathroom. He figured he would find someway to make himself of use and then leave as soon as he made sure that she ate. He knew that his presence was making her uncomfortable, but he was worried about her. He picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number.
“Dr. Lane’s office,” a pleasant voice on the other end answered.
“Anna, this is Dr. Kent, Dr. Lane isn’t feeling well this morning. Please reschedule her appointments,” he knew how it would sound to Anna. He hated the idea that he himself was feeding the gossip mill, but there were other things on his mind.
“Of course, Dr. Kent.”
“Thank you, Anna,” he hung up the phone. Lois would probably be angry with him for butting in, but he knew that she was in no condition to go to work, no matter how much she protested to the contrary.
No sooner had he put down the phone then it began to ring again. “Hello,” he answered warily.
“Hello?” a surprised voice replied gruffly. “May I speak to Lois Lane, please?”
“Dr. Lane is unable to come to the phone right now, may I take a message?” Clark replied, unsure whether he was crossing the boundaries on her private life, but fearing that he was at least getting pretty close.
“Who is this?” the voice on the other end demanded.
“Uh, Clark Kent, sir,” he replied.
“Kent, huh? As in Dr. Kent, the Immunologist at MetroGen?”
“That’s right,” Clark replied slowly, wondering if he should somehow know the man on the other end.
“My name’s Perry White, Dr. Kent. Lois has told me about you. I take it you’re aware of what happened to Dr. Carter?”
“Yes Mr. White, I am,” Clark replied softly.
“I need you to give Lois the following message, Dr. Kent.”
“Of course, Mr. White.”
********
She stood up stiffly and washed slowly. She shut the water off and wrapped herself in her bathrobe. She walked into the bedroom and found that the bed had been made. Clark was nowhere to be seen. She began to panic, but as she ran toward the stairs, she heard the sounds of him making breakfast in the kitchen. She sighed, relieved, and returned to her bedroom to get dressed.
She walked slowly downstairs. The smell of breakfast was enticing and she realized that she was quite hungry. She found him in the kitchen, making omelets. He had put his khakis on over his boxer shorts and was wearing the same blue cotton shirt he’d been wearing the previous day, though it was still unbuttoned. He slid the omelet out of the pan and onto the plate and carried the two identical plates to the already set table.
“Morning,” he said softly. She thought she heard a twinge of hope in his voice.
“Morning,” she replied. “This looks wonderful, Clark. Thank you.”
He shrugged diffidently and held out her chair for her. She sat down and he took the seat next to her. They ate in silence. Eventually, he found the courage to speak; “Perry White called while you were in the shower. He wanted me to give you this,” he said as he handed her a note.
She opened the folded piece of paper. Written on it was the information about Danny’s memorial service. It was going to be held that afternoon. She folded the slip of paper back up. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“Would you like me to go with you?” he asked.
“No, but thank you, I need to do this on my own, Clark.”
He nodded his understanding. “I called Anna. I told her you wouldn’t be going in today.” He expected her to be angry with him for his presumptuousness so he readied himself to accept her wrath and to try to convince her of his reasoning. Instead she merely nodded and offered no resistance.
After a long moment of uneasy silence, he spoke; “I should probably get going…” He stood up.
“I guess so,” she replied wistfully.
“Are you going to be okay?” His voice betrayed more emotion than he planned.
She nodded.
“If you need anything, to talk, or whatever, just call.”
“I will,” she whispered.
He carried his plate to the sink and washed the dishes. She stood waiting for him. He finished and turned to look at her. Their eyes met and she crossed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around his waist and placing her head against his chest. He hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head.
“Thank you for everything, Clark,” she whispered.
“Of course,” he replied. “Goodbye, Lois.”
“Goodbye, Clark.”
********
She spotted Perry outside the church. He made eye contact and walked quickly toward her. “Honey, I’m so sorry,” he said. “I know Danny was a friend of yours.”
“Uncle Perry, what are you doing here?” she asked.
“I don’t want to have to tell you this now, but I’m afraid you might be in danger, Lois. I lied to you. I told you my source at Genzyme was anonymous. That wasn’t true. It was Danny. He called me. He knew that they didn’t end those experiments. He wanted to stop them. I promised that I’d help him, protect him from the company. I don’t think his death was an accident, Lois. I want you to stay as far away from this as possible.”
She looked up at him, frozen in disbelief. “Why couldn’t you tell me?” she choked out.
“I was trying to protect him, Lois. I didn’t want to let anyone know, Darlin’. I’m sorry.”
She let Perry embrace her, but inside she was raging. Danny had been murdered. He’d been killed in an investigation that she had instigated. If only she had worked faster, or been more careful. Oh why did he have to go and get himself killed? She didn’t care what Perry said. She was going to find whoever was responsible for Danny’s death. She was going to bring them down. She swore to herself that his murderers would not go free.
People began moving past them into the church. Lois and Perry absently followed them inside.
She sat at the back of the church with Perry beside her, half listening to the eulogies presented by the preacher. Was it only yesterday that she had gone to church with Clark and his parents? Was it only yesterday when things had seemed so right? When everything seemed to be coming into place? She looked down at open Bible in her hands. She turned to the Psalms that had been taught in Sunday School lessons that seemed long forgotten but were now somehow returning to her memory from the recesses of her subconscious.
‘I will say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go
mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As with the breaking of my bones, my enemies reproach me, while they
say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”‘
‘Good question,’ she thought, mirthlessly.
“Heavenly Father we commend to Thee Thy faithful servant, Daniel, a man who dedicated himself to easing the pain of others. Keep him beside you in the kingdom of Heaven…”
She tuned out the words. Images of Danny swirled in her mind. She closed her eyes as she grimaced, trying to exorcise the thoughts that possessed her. Why did he have to die? What crime had he committed? Where was the meaning in his death? She didn’t try to pretend that all things happened for a reason. She didn’t believe in fate and she could find no sense in Danny’s murder. She thought about all the things that would be denied to him, all the things he would never have. Her thoughts turned selfish. She thought about all the things that she had lost in him. All the things she should have told him and now would never have the chance. By the timbre of the preacher’s voice, Lois could tell that the service was coming to an end. Her mind tuned in to his last few words.
‘These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having
seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.’
The words provided her no comfort. What good was faith? What reason had she or anyone else to believe that there was still goodness, that there was still justice in the world? What reason was there to believe that ‘everything would be all right’? She stared forward blankly.
The service ended and Lois got up to leave. She made her way slowly to the church doors when she felt a hand on her arm.
“Lois?” a soft voice whispered.
She turned around. It was Mrs. Carter. Her eyes were red and puffy; the trail of tears still visible. Lois bit her lip and nodded. “It’s me,” she whispered, barely audible.
“I knew it was you,” Danny’s mother continued with a sad smile. “I knew you would come.”
“I, I needed to say goodbye,” Lois stumbled on the words.
“He missed you so much, you know,” Mrs. Carter said. “He came home that summer, he was so sad. He told me that he’d done something terrible to you, he wouldn’t say what. I gave him all of your messages, but he told me he didn’t want your forgiveness.” Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. “He said he couldn’t ask that of you, that he didn’t deserve it.”
Lois reached out and took the older woman’s hand. “There’s nothing to forgive,” she said. “I…we, we hurt each other, we were both to blame. I just wish I could tell him how sorry I am, and that I never held him responsible. There are so many things I needed to say to him, so many things I needed to set right.”
“I’m sure he knows, and that he understands, Lois. Thank you.” She squeezed Lois’s hand.
“I hope so,” Lois replied softly. She hugged Mrs. Carter, a woman she had once known well, but whom she hadn’t seen in nearly a decade.
Lois said her goodbyes and headed to her car. She sat numbly behind the wheel of the Jeep for several long minutes. Her body shuddered as she let out a ragged sigh. She turned the key in the ignition and put the car in drive. She drove aimlessly, not sure where she was going.
********
Clark flew home to change and went straight to work. He went directly into the lab and to his desk. He had a preliminary lab report to write up for the board of directors and he got it out of the way as quickly as possible. At noon, his colleagues left the lab for lunch. He politely declined when asked if he wanted anything and turned back to his work. With the lab deserted, he used a judicious amount of super speed to finish the tests for the day. He left work around two that afternoon. The following day would be a busy one. He was scheduled to oversee a cornea transplant that morning and had rounds in the ED that afternoon.
He started for home and then decided to fly to Smallville. His parents would no doubt be worried about Lois and since it was just as easy to fly as it would be to call, he took off. He flew slower than usual, trying to work out the feelings he’d been ignoring since that morning. Last night he’d been so relieved when Lois accepted his support but this morning, she reacted so differently. Though he pretended to be asleep, he caught a glimpse of her as she retreated away from him. Was that fear he had seen in her eyes? Was she afraid of him? It was a possibility that he didn’t want to have to entertain, but as was his nature, he obsessed over it. What had he done? Why had she accepted his presence, invited it in fact, the night before, only to recoil at his touch the following morning?
He landed outside the farmhouse and bounded up the stairs to the porch. He opened the door and called to his parents, announcing his presence.
At the sound of Clark’s voice, Martha hurried from the kitchen to meet him. She knew her son better than anyone. The fact that Clark was worried was evident in the tone of his voice. Jonathan followed not far behind her. The two had just sat down to lunch when Clark arrived.
“Hello, Son,” Jonathan’s tone was welcoming, yet it expressed the father’s understanding that all was not all right.
“Hi Dad,” Clark replied halfheartedly.
Martha moved to Clark’s side and ushered him to the kitchen table where she coaxed him to sit down.
Jonathan got up from the table and retreated into the kitchen. He returned some minutes later with one of his special sandwiches and placed it in front of Clark. Clark took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. He normally inhaled his dad’s sandwiches, he always had ever since he was a kid, and even though he tried to imitate his dad’s creations, Clark’s finished products never seemed to taste quite as good. He swallowed despite having no appetite whatsoever and placed the sandwich back on the plate.
“Clark, how’s Lois, is she all right?”
“I don’t know, Mom,” Clark replied. “I’m sorry I didn’t call last night. My mind was elsewhere.”
“Of course, it was Honey, there’s no need to apologize,” Martha placed a hand on top of Clark’s.
“Yesterday, when we were out walking, her Uncle Perry called. One of Lois’s friends had just died in an accident at the biochemical company he worked for. She was upset, angry with herself…”
“Angry with herself?” Jonathan echoed.
“Yeah, Dad. They were very close once, but it seems they had a falling out years ago and hadn’t spoken to each other since. I think she blamed herself for that. Also, her friend died in an accident at Genzyme, the same company Lois blamed for the cardiac that came in the day I started working at MetroGen. There was an investigation, but nothing came out of it, I think Lois faults herself for not stopping this accident. She was so upset, and I didn’t know what to do. I think I only made things worse.”
“Oh Clark, I know that isn’t true. I’m sure Lois is grateful for your support, but you have to realize how difficult this is for her. She needs time to heal and she needs your help, be a friend to her, Clark.” Martha’s reassurances and advice fell on still doubting ears.
“But Mom, you didn’t see her, you didn’t see the look on her face this morning when she woke up.” Now he’d done it. Clark saw the briefest hint of curiosity flash across his mother’s face and he realized that he would now have to explain more than he’d been planning to. What was it about his parents that caused him to bare his soul without even realizing it?
“I took her home last night and didn’t want to leave her alone so I slept on her couch. I woke up in the middle of the night to hear her crying in her sleep. She was having nightmares. I ran up to see what was wrong. She woke up; I couldn’t believe how scared she looked. Whatever she was dreaming about terrified her.” He didn’t tell his parents what Lois had told him after she woke. That was something private that she confided in him, and while he told his parents just about everything, this was her secret, not his.
He lowered his voice slightly as he continued: “she asked me to stay, she didn’t want to be alone. So I did, and I thought everything was fine, she didn’t have anymore nightmares. But when she woke up this morning, she was practically fighting to get away from me. I must have done something to her, but I don’t know what. She looked terrified, I think she was afraid of me, she thought I was still asleep, but I saw the look on her face.” He looked down and his shoulders drooped, “she got up and ran out of the room. I didn’t know what to do, what to say.”
Martha stood up and gathered her son in a warm embrace. “Talk to her, Clark,” she said softly. “Don’t push her away, Honey, I know her friendship means so much to you, and you have to know that she cares about you.”
“I guess so, Mom.” If only it were as easy as she had made it sound. He wanted to talk to Lois, to really talk to her, but he didn’t know how to approach the subject. He wasn’t even sure he could. Things had been awkward that morning, he wasn’t sure she wanted to talk to him. Absently, he picked up the sandwich and continued eating. After he finished, he collected all of the things he and Lois had left behind yesterday in his hurry to take her home. He gathered up her belongings as well as the suit, said his thank yous and goodbyes to his parents, and returned to Metropolis.
********
Lois rode down Olympic Avenue on autopilot. The radio was turned off and she drove in utter silence, hardly aware of what was going on around her. As if by its own volition, her car drove into the central parking lot of the Metro U. campus. She parked in the visitor parking area, locked the Jeep and proceeded to wander through the main quad. It was cold and there were few people standing around. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms absently as she walked around the familiar campus. She remembered her first few years here in a sort of Technicolor dream that contrasted sharply with the harsh, steely gray world that surrounded her on this mid November afternoon. She moved slowly down the walkway toward the fountain at the center of the main quad. The fountain had been turned off some weeks ago with the approach of the cold weather. She sat down on the fountain’s edge and looked out at the empty lawn criss-crossed with footpaths that stretched out in front of her. The quad was unusually quiet. She looked down at her watch. Classes would be ending at the top of the hour, which was only a few minutes away. At that time, students would come pouring out of the buildings and the lawn would be flooded by a sea of people rushing off to classes and labs. But for the moment, the quad was silent. The wind rattled through the naked branches of the trees above her and she shivered.
She stared out blankly, remembering the last time she sat at this fountain with him. It was mid May and they were studying for their last examination of the year. The quad was full of other students, either indulging in the glorious weather while they studied or forgoing their studies entirely and opting for a game of Frisbee instead. She sat with him at the edge of the fountain, which bubbled happily on the hot day, their organic chemistry books and notebooks piled in front of them. They quizzed each other on chemical reactions for an exam that was only days away. She remembered being so intently focused on the books that it took her a while to recognize the fact that he seemed to be on another planet entirely.
“Earth to Danny,” she teased him.
“Huh, oh sorry.” He shook his head, apparently clearing his mind.
“The products of the reaction?” she prompted him.
He stared hard for a moment before carefully reciting the products from the reactants.
She smiled at him and was rewarded with a grin. His eyes had a way of lighting up when he smiled. He quickly turned back to the textbook in search of another example. They drilled each other for the entire afternoon. That had been merely days before it had happened, before their friendship was destroyed forever. Only days earlier they had had such a wonderful friendship. He had been so easy to talk to, so trusting and so honest, she could have told him anything. It was only days later that she had broken that trust and destroyed that relationship over something so entirely meaningless. She had been disgusted with herself then; she could sense that burning feeling of unease settling into the pit of her stomach once again.
The sudden ringing of the bell in the clock tower woke her from her bittersweet reverie. People began streaming out of the buildings around the quad and the silence was shattered. She rose from her seat at the fountain’s edge and was soon lost in a mass of people moving together like a single being, across the campus. She found her way back to her car and drove away from Metro U.
She drove down the familiar streets downtown, watching almost listlessly as the city passed her. She shook her head and let out one last ragged sigh before straightening up behind the wheel of the Jeep. Her posture was ramrod straight, the look on her face determined. She had no right to feel sorry for herself. Wallowing in her self induced misery would accomplish nothing. Danny was murdered she reminded herself. It didn’t matter that Perry was only considering the possibility of foul play, there was no doubt in her mind. The people who had killed him were still out there and now it was clear that whatever they were hiding, whatever Danny had found out, was something for which they were willing to kill. She owed it to him to stop them. She darted quickly into the left turn lane at the first traffic light she approached and pulled a U-turn, praying he would be there.
********
He flew high above the cloud cover on his way back to Metropolis. He descended a bit as he approached the city’s skyline, enjoying the ability to view the city he now called home from high above. He started to drift toward the general direction of his apartment when the sounds of sirens wailing over the usual din and hum of traffic reached his sensitive ears. He followed the sound closely toward the West River District where he saw the tell tale bright orange glow and thick black smoke of a structural fire on the horizon. He increased speed as he headed toward the fire. Mere blocks away he remembered that he wasn’t wearing the suit but was instead carrying it with his other luggage. Determining quickly that it wouldn’t do for Clark Kent, MD to come flying to the rescue, he landed on the roof of an abandoned warehouse. He entered the building via roof access wherein he changed quickly and hid his possessions before darting off in a blue and red streak toward the fire.
********
The irony of her current situation was not lost on Lois. Ten years ago she’d lost her best friend because she couldn’t trust her own feelings. Now, she was in need of the help of the one man around whom she couldn’t trust herself to solve that friend’s murder. This time would be different, she told herself. This time she wasn’t prepared to jeopardize that friendship for anything. She would simply have to learn to check her emotions when it came to him. Lois parked her Jeep in front of his apartment complex. She rushed up the stairs. Winded, she knocked assertively on the door and waited. And waited. She frowned. Clearly he wasn’t home. She ran back down the several flights of stairs, too impatient to wait for the elevator, and got back into the Jeep. She wondered if he was still in the lab and decided that it couldn’t hurt to try the hospital. She pulled away from the curb and drove the few blocks to MetroGen.
She found his lab to be deserted. Not even those three goons he worked with were around. Her eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed, a thoughtful frown upon her countenance. She walked the few paces to her own office and entered unannounced. Anna had her back to the reception area, clearly talking on the phone.
“…get this, I get a call from him this morning telling me Dr. Lane won’t be in today…that’s right, he called, not her…said she wasn’t feeling well…I know, can you believe that?…anyway, guess where he was calling from…her house!…I’m totally serious…look, her number came up on the caller ID box, I swear, he was calling in at like eight this morning from her house…”
Lois’s thoughtful expression soon became an angered glare. The tiny muscles in her jaw twitched as she stared at her receptionist who was obviously still oblivious to her presence.
“…I’m not kidding you…and I was talking to Dr. Adams…guess what time Dr. Kent came in to work this morning…ten o’clock, so like I said, I was talking to Dr. Adams, and he didn’t know which was more surprising, that Dr. Kent apparently wore Dr. Lane out, or that Dr. Kent lived to make it to work at all today…”
Lois had never before understood the true desire to murder; to want to utterly destroy someone with one’s bare hands. At that moment, it took all of her already waning patience to keep from throwing her receptionist out of the office. Her previously delicate mental balance was just about completely shot. This was exactly the kind of thing she could not deal with at the moment. She took a deep breath and refrained from yelling at the errant young woman at the top of her lungs. She cleared her throat in an obvious attempt to get Anna to shut up and turn around.
Startled, Anna spun around in her chair. Her face fell as she saw Dr. Lane standing in the doorway. Dr. Lane’s expression was completely blank as she stared at her receptionist. “gotta go, call you back later…” Anna said quickly as she dropped the phone on the cradle. “Dr. Lane…” she began, flustered and searching for what to say.
“Anna, is Dr. Kent in today?” Lois asked in a deceptively calm tone of voice.
“Uh…I haven’t seen him in the last few hours…” Anna trailed off, wondering how long Dr. Lane had been in the room and how much she’d heard. ‘Oh God,’ she thought to herself. She couldn’t afford to get fired.
Lois nodded curtly. As she tried to formulate the best possible way to deal with her loquacious and wayward secretary that wouldn’t result in getting herself charged with homicide, she caught a glimpse of a flash of blue on the television screen in the corner of the waiting area. She turned to the TV to see a news report on a fire raging in West River. A very familiar figure darted back and forth in the background as a shocked reporter gave an almost incoherent commentary on what was going on. Wordlessly, Lois turned and walked swiftly out of the room, Anna would have to be dealt with later. Once in the hall, she broke out into a full sprint toward the Jeep.
She navigated through the city streets toward West River. She didn’t know what she hoped to accomplish by going. Emergency services would most likely have the situation under control, but she couldn’t bring herself to stay away. She wanted to be there, to see him. She thought faintly that she might provide some sliver of emotional support for him; be a cheerleader for his big debut. Tires squealing, she brought the Jeep to a full stop in front of a police barricade. She killed the engine and bolted from the car.
“Hey lady, you can’t park that car here!” a uniformed officer yelled after her retreating figure, he began running after her, but the sizeable lead she had on him as well as the fact that he was not in what one would call outstanding physical condition allowed her to remain out of his reach.
“I’m a doctor!” she yelled in response, sprinting away from the officer who had now stopped to catch his breath. This was not the first time Lois had assisted at an accident or emergency site and she knew that her status as a doctor usually meant that emergency services wouldn’t hassle her. The winded officer made no more attempts at chasing her down.
Free from the pursuer, she made her way toward the burning building. She flashed her MetroGen ID to several emergency workers and made her way to where the paramedics had parked several ambulances alongside the fire engines. As she jogged toward the medics she noticed huge throngs of people crowding around the police barricades on either side of the building. Reporters and their cameramen had flocked to the scene and were reporting live the amazing sight before them. Police officers had been called in to control the crowds. Lois made her way past a large group of employees of the building who had been evacuated and were now waiting, some in shock, others in hysterics, as the building was consumed with flames. She pushed her way passed several stunned emergency services personnel who were so caught up in the unbelievable events unfolding around them that they were neglecting their jobs. Through the confusion she caught her first glimpse of Clark in action. She paused for a moment and watched as he talked to the fire chief. He wore a serious expression on his face and nodded briefly as he listened to the fire chief’s instructions. She then saw him move in a colorful blur as he swiftly flew up to the top floor of the building. Lois had to shake herself to break the spell. Refocusing on the task at hand, she called out to the paramedics who were treating several victims for smoke inhalation.
The paramedics, like everyone else, seemed to be working in a daze. Periodically, one or two of them would stop and stare at the seemingly magical figure in the blue and red suit that flew around them. “Hey!” she cried out, holding up her ID. “You can watch him fly around later, right now we’ve got people to treat,” she said in a declarative tone of voice that seemed to shake the medics out of their trances. Focused once again, the medic teams were running like well-oiled machines. Several burn victims were loaded up into ambulances that were directed to MetroGen’s ICU Burn Unit. Despite the fact that Our Lady of Mercy was the nearest hospital, MetroGen was the only hospital in the city with an extensive burn unit. The ambulances started to move, sirens wailing, but attempting to leave the site proved extremely difficult. The ambulances crawled toward the barricades. Since the police cordoned off the entire area there was no way out that wouldn’t force the ambulances toward a swarm of onlookers. The lead ambulance made it to the barricade where nervous police officers were trying to keep the throng of spectators back. Lois handed over care of a man who was suffering from smoke inhalation to one of the medics and started to run toward the barricade where the ambulances were now stalled. Her feet protested the constant running in heels, but she ignored them. She ran toward the most senior looking officer at the barricade, who himself, couldn’t have been older than twenty five. “Get a police escort and get these ambulances out of here now!” she yelled.
“Hey lady, what are you…” the officer started
“Listen pal, don’t you ‘hey lady’ me,” Lois growled as she showed him her MetroGen ID. “I’ve got three critical burn victims in these ambulances who need to get to the hospital immediately, so don’t think, don’t ask, just do it now!”
“Right, doctor, I’m sorry,” the young officer said as he scrambled for his radio and called for an escort.
She nodded curtly and turned back to where the paramedics were treating the other victims. She looked up for a moment as Clark flew out of an open third story window of the building, carrying a still figure in his arms. Lois watched, stunned for a moment she looked right into his eyes and felt as though she could see into his soul. There was so much compassion behind his stoic expression. She yelled out to the medics to bring out a stretcher. Two paramedics responded quickly to her command and wheeled a gurney out to meet the flying hero and the victim he carried so gingerly. Lois ran with them, she saw Clark try to mask his surprised expression at seeing her here.
“We’ve got to get her to MetroGen immediately!” he yelled over the sounds of the fire still burning. He looked over his shoulder, “there are still people in there.”
“Go!” she yelled to him. “I’ll get her to the hospital, just go. They need you!”
He nodded quickly and flew back into the burning building, where the intense flames and the collapse of the major stairwell had made it impossible for the firefighters to reach those still trapped in one section of the building. He flew in quickly and began bringing out the last of the trapped people.
Lois got in the back of the ambulance along with the burn victim Clark had brought out. By now, police officers on motorcycles had arrived to escort the ambulances out of the three-ring circus that had grown around the building and to the hospitals. The ambulance pulled up to the curb at the emergency bay at MetroGen where orderlies met the paramedics to rush the woman to the Burn Unit. MetroGen’s Burn Unit was one of the few emergency units that survived the huge cutbacks relatively unscathed thanks to outside funding. It remained one of the pinnacle burn units in the country. Lois knew the woman was in the best possible hands and that there was little else she could do at the hospital. Remembering that her Jeep was still parked illegally at the site of the fire, she hailed a taxi and returned to West River.
The taxi came to a halt yards away from her where her Jeep was parked. She paid the driver and got out, relieved that somehow, her car was neither ticketed nor towed. Her relief turned to a slight twinge of disappointment when she realized that Clark was gone. The last of the reporters were getting quotes as technical crews packed up their cameras and equipment. Fire crews remained with the thankless task of putting out the last of the flames and dousing the final hotspots to prevent recurring flare-ups. After a cursory survey of the scene, Lois got in the Jeep and sped off.
********
Clark flew into the fifth story window to his apartment. He’d left it unlocked and slightly opened to allow for an easy return. He had retrieved his clothes and Lois’s luggage from the warehouse before flying home and now deposited the items on the kitchen table, which had arrived only a few days ago. The last bits and pieces of assorted furniture had finally been delivered and his apartment was starting to look more like a home.
He stripped off the suit and stepped under the stream of water in the shower. He scrubbed the smell of smoke out of his skin as best as he could. He changed into clothing appropriate for lounging around at home and flopped down on the couch. He stared blankly for a moment at the TV screen even though the set wasn’t on. Restless, he got up and began pacing on the ceiling, an activity he was prone to during fits of nervousness. He thought about the fire that he’d just returned from. The feeling of being able to help was exhilarating, but he wasn’t sure if he was being more of a help or a hindrance to emergency services. His presence had drawn a veritable media circus as well as throngs of onlookers. He had distracted rescue teams from their jobs and he wondered if things would have turned out better without his presence. He tried to shake the thought. There were people in that building that he had rescued that the firefighters had been unable to reach. No one had died in the fire, he’d done a quick fly by over MetroGen and checked on the burn victims, several of them were in critical condition but all were expected to survive. He shouldn’t have been so surprised by the attention, but even though it had been expected, given the past hoopla over the Angel of Metropolis, he still wasn’t ready for it when it hit him full force. He had managed to escape the press and had said little to anyone about who he was or why he was there. He knew that at some point he’d have to address the people that he wanted to help, but the idea of introducing himself as ‘Superman’ still made him uncomfortable. When prompted, he simply stated that he was ‘a friend’ and left it at that.
He floated back down from the ceiling and sat on the couch again; his pacing had done little to relax him. ‘What was she doing there?’ he asked himself for the hundredth time since seeing her at the site, but he was no closer this time than he had been the first, at formulating an answer. He sighed and stared up at the ceiling for a long moment, brooding. He turned his head to the side and looked hard at the phone sitting on the end table. He picked it up and began dialing; he hung up before he finished. He sighed, picked up the phone again and dialed. He waited and waited while the phone rang. He waited patiently until it was quite obvious that no one was going to pick up. He replaced the phone on the cradle and sat, doing nothing once again. A knocking at the door roused him from his trance-like state. He pulled his glasses down the bridge of his nose and he felt his heart beat just a little bit faster when he saw who was on the other side. He crossed the room in several long strides and opened the door.
********
She knocked loudly on the door and waited. He had to be home, where else would he be? She decided that was a stupid question. Clark could go wherever he wanted whenever he wanted. That didn’t matter at the moment, all she wanted was for him to be there, at that very instant. She didn’t even know what she was going to say to him. Before she had time to figure it out the door opened.
“Lois,” he said almost breathlessly. “Please, come in,” he said with a look of concern on his face as he stepped aside to allow her to pass. “Is everything all right?” he asked when she didn’t say anything.
“Yeah, I suppose so.” She tried to clear her mind. She avoided looking directly at him, finding the sight of him in shorts and a sleeveless sweatshirt to be far too distracting.
Without even thinking, he placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her into the living room. He felt her body stiffen slightly at his touch, and wished immediately that he hadn’t done it. He loathed the idea of making her uncomfortable but found it difficult to give up those simple privileges of friendship that he had acquired over the last month. He wondered if he should retreat and apologize but thought that would probably make the situation even more awkward so he simply walked with her the short distance and gestured that she should have a seat on the couch. “Can I get you something to drink?” he asked.
“No, thank you,” she replied.
He sat down on the couch, not completely on the opposite end from her, but not as close to her as he would have sat only two days ago, either.
“I talked to Dr. McCarthy about the burn victim you brought out of the building,” Lois began. “She says that she’ll be all right.”
“Thank you,” he replied quietly. After a long moment of silence he spoke again. “So, what were you doing at the fire today?” he asked lamely.
She laughed nervously and looked up to avoid eye contact. “I was looking for you, and then I saw you on TV,” she began. “I wanted to talk to you, but when I saw that you were out, well you know,” she said, repeating the flying hand gesture that she used when referring to Clark doing something unusual. “I wanted to be there, to make sure everything was all right, I guess.”
He was surprised and confused by her words. Was this the same woman who had recoiled from him that same morning? Was she worried about him? Could she possibly care that much for him? He didn’t dare to dream it. He fought the urge to reach out and take her hand. Clark refused to take the opening she’d offered to turn the conversation to him and what he’d done that afternoon. Knowing that there was something eating away at her, he gently prodded her to continue. “So what did you want to talk to me about?” he asked in a soft voice.
She let out a ragged sigh, “I found out today that Danny was murdered, Clark.”
Clark inhaled sharply, not sure what to say.
“Perry was at the funeral. The Daily Planet was looking into the Genzyme case, Perry was tipped off by an anonymous source and so he had one of his reporters start looking into it.”
“I don’t understand, how do you know Danny was murdered?” Clark asked gently.
“Danny was the so-called anonymous source, Clark. Perry knew all along but didn’t tell anyone. He was trying to protect Danny, but they got to him anyway. They killed him because of what he knew, Clark.”
“My God.” Clark shook his head in disbelief, he could sense the anger welling up inside Lois. He could see her entire body tense to the point of shaking. “Are you sure, Lois? Are you sure it was murder?”
“How can you think it was anything else, Clark?” she snapped at him, and instantly regretted it. She took a moment to regain her emotional balance. “I’m sorry,” she said in an even tone. “Clark, an innocent man is dead because he planned on exposing his employer’s deep dark secret. I need to know what that secret is, Clark. I need to know who killed Danny and why and I need your help.”
“What do you plan to do?” he asked, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.
“Break into Genzyme.”
“What?”
“I’m going to break into Genzyme, Clark. That’s the only way we’re going to find out what’s going on. But I can’t do it alone.”
“Lois, do you realize what you’re asking me to help you do? These people are dangerous. If they really killed Danny, do you think they’ll spare you?” He winced, not intending for his words to come out so harshly.
She bristled slightly in defiance. “All I know is, that these people have killed before, Clark and they’re going to do it again if they aren’t stopped.”
“If I don’t go with you, you’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you?” he asked slowly. She shrugged and then nodded casually. “And since I don’t want you to do that…”
“So you’ll do it?” she asked, her eyes pleading with him.
“What choice do I have?” he asked rhetorically.
At Lois’s behest, Clark acquiesced to breaking into Genzyme late the following evening. She left in a whirl of activity only moments after convincing him, saying that she had things she needed to do before then. She instructed him to meet her at her house at midnight, stating that it would be late enough then for them to perform their not quite legal activities.
********
Lois left Clark’s apartment and called Perry as soon as she got into the Jeep. She hit the speed dial button and waited while the phone range.
“Perry White,” the familiar voice on the other end answered gruffly.
“Uncle Perry, I need your help,” Lois stated flatly.
“Lois, Honey, what’s wrong?”
“I need to know everything you know about Danny’s death.”
“Lois, I thought I told you to stay away from this,” he whispered.
“You know I can’t do that. You have to help me, Uncle Perry.”
“Lois,” Perry warned.
“Look, I know you don’t want me to get hurt, but…”
“These people will stop at nothing to protect their secret, Lois,” he said definitively.
“That’s exactly why I need to do this. I’m not going to let them get away with Danny’s murder. I won’t let them kill again, I owe him that much,” her voice wavered. “Perry, please.”
“I’m afraid I don’t have much information I can pass on.” His tone softened considerably.
“What happened to the reporter you had on the investigation?” she asked, puzzled.
“Myerson?”
“Yeah.”
“I took him off, took all my reporters off their long term investigations and stuck ’em all on this Angel of Metropolis story. I can’t afford to let the Star scoop us on this one. I’ve got people just running around the city hoping this guy shows up.” She could imagine him throwing his arms up in frustration.
“I might be able to get the ‘Planet’ an exclusive interview with this guy…”
“What?! Great shades of Elvis Darlin’ are you pulling your old Uncle Perry’s leg?”
“Absolutely not, Uncle Perry.”
“How in tarnation can you pull that off?”
“I was at the fire this afternoon. I talked to him. I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try.”
“I’ll send Jimmy over with what we have.”
“Thanks, Uncle Perry.”
“Be careful, Lois, please. Don’t do anything foolhardy. If you find anything, go to the police. Don’t try to deal with this yourself.”
“Uncle Perry, you know me.”
“That is exactly what I’m afraid of.”
********
The next day proved to be a busy one. After a successful transplant surgery that took up the entire morning and afternoon, Clark spent the early evening in the ED. Three broken bones reset, five sets of stitches, two elderly patients with flu symptoms and one unhappy toddler with an ear infection later, Clark’s shift in the Emergency Department ended and he left for home. He glanced down at his watch. He had about four hours. It was dark out now and it certainly wouldn’t hurt to check out the Genzyme building once before they broke in. He shook his head, ‘how did I let her talk me into felony breaking and entering?’ he thought to himself, even though he was quite aware of the answer; Lois Lane would have been able to talk him into just about anything when she looked at him the way she had this evening. Staring out his bedroom window, he decided that this was most certainly not a job for Superman so instead opted for the dark clothing before he floated out the window and slipped into the dark evening sky.
From high above, he zoomed in on the building, carefully noting the security systems and the positions of the guards, as well as the areas of the building that would most likely hold the kind of information they were looking for. He made a mental map of the edifice as he put to memory the finer details of the building.
Clark flew home and changed into the Suit. He decided now would be a good time to fly around the city, get acclimated to the idea of flying patrols. Superman flew circle patterns over Metropolis, swooping down from time to time as he was needed. People were stunned by his presence. He assisted more than just one wide-eyed and speechless citizen in situations ranging from fender benders to muggings. People gathered in disbelief to watch the blue clad figure descend from above to offer assistance without any expectation of thanks. The reactions he received were varied; some fainted, others became hysterical, some called him an Angel and a Godsend, others assumed that they’d had too much to drink and were hallucinating. Even the most cynical and hard bitten of Metropolitans was at least mildly surprised and impressed by the flying man in tights.
To his own shock, he’d been shot at, repeatedly, that evening. The first time, he’d flinched, expecting the bullet to hurt. Instead it bounced innocuously off of his chest, but unfortunately ricocheted into the windshield of a nearby parked car. It hadn’t hurt at all. He hadn’t received a cut or even a bruise since the age of twelve, but he wasn’t aware of the fact that he was apparently bullet proof. No one had ever tried to shoot him before. He found quickly that not only was he impervious to gunshot wounds, but was also able to catch bullets, a much safer way to diffuse the situation than allowing them to bounce off him. He found new uses for his powers that evening, from righting an overturned semi to heating a firearm with his heat vision to force a criminal to drop it. He had used his powers before, but always surreptitiously, never so openly. He’d never allowed himself to fully test his abilities and was only now starting to understand just how useful his gifts could be. But through it all, the foremost thing on his mind was the reactions he received from people. He hoped the notoriety and shock would wear off quickly. He hoped that with a little time, people would get used to him and the feeling of being exposed every time he used his powers openly would subside. Until then, the situation was still a bit awkward, so he tried to keep all of his interactions with people polite but brief.
********
Lois left the office early the following afternoon. She drove out of the city and into the suburbs. She checked and double-checked the address as she pulled the Jeep up to the curb alongside a well kept two-story house in a quiet neighborhood. She put the Jeep in park and killed the ignition. She took a deep breath before getting out of the car. Lois walked with trepidation up the stone walkway to the front door and rang the bell.
“Lois!” Mrs. Carter exclaimed at her unexpected visitor. “Come in, Sweetie, come in,” she held the door open and Lois complied. “Hello, Mrs. Carter,” she said softly.
“I, I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon,” Mrs. Carter said in a hushed tone.
“I wish I were here under better circumstances, Mrs. Carter.”
“Call me Beth, Sweetie.”
Lois nodded and swallowed hard as she followed Beth into the living room. She saw on the mantle on the fireplace and on the walls, pictures of Danny and his older sister, Nicole. Sitting on the coffee table were several others, including a framed photograph of Lois and Danny together. Beth sat down on the couch and picked up the frame. “He put these pictures away that summer,” she said absently. Lois sat down next to her on the couch. She recognized the photograph. She had a copy of it herself. It was a picture taken of the two of them at one of Danny’s meets. His hair was still wet and he wore a ‘Property of Metro U. Swimming tee shirt. He had his arm around her shoulders as they both grinned at the camera. “He didn’t want to remember, he said it hurt too much. I shouldn’t have let him forget. You know he only smiled like that when he was with you? You were the best friend he ever had.”
Lois bit her lip and fought the tears. “Mrs. Carter, Beth,” she corrected herself as she reached for the older woman’s hand. “I know how much this must hurt, and I wish I didn’t have to ask you, but I need to know if Danny ever told you about his work.”
“What? His work? No, he never said much about it, why?” Beth shook her head, confused.
“Beth, I have reason to believe that Danny’s death wasn’t an accident.”
“What?” Beth gasped; she dropped Lois’s hand, stunned.
“Genzyme, the company Danny was working for, they’ve been working on several biochem contracts from the military. Last month a researcher was brought into MetroGen after suffering a severe reaction to something he was exposed to at the lab. It turns out that researcher was really a military officer who worked in genetic engineering. An investigation was launched into Genzyme but nothing was turned up.
“A little over a week ago, Danny called my Uncle Perry down at the Daily Planet. He said there was something dangerous going on at Genzyme, but he never had the chance to tell Perry what that was. I think someone at Genzyme found out what Danny knew and I think it cost him his life.”
“No,” Beth shook her head. “No,” she whispered again. “They told us…they told us Danny had an allergic reaction to some drug he was working with. They said he was allergic to antibiotics, we didn’t know he was allergic to anything, but they said it was allergies…”
“I know,” Lois said quietly. “They told me the same thing. They told me Danny suffered a hypersensitive Type I allergy to Ampicillin–that he went into anaphylactic shock.”
“Who would want to kill my boy?” Beth shook her head in disbelief, a lone tear rolled down her face.
“Danny was trying to do the right thing, Beth. He was trying to keep anyone else from ever getting hurt again.”
“Did you know about this? Did you know what Genzyme was doing?” Beth’s tone was suddenly accusatory.
Lois inhaled sharply. Her own silence bore witness against her.
“And you did nothing? You let those monsters kill my baby?”
“I tried to stop them. I didn’t know that Danny knew. I didn’t know that he went to Perry. I tried to stop Genzyme, but I couldn’t, not before they killed Danny. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Lois was crying freely now.
“Why would anyone want to do this?” Beth asked in between sobs. “Danny never harmed anyone.”
Lois bit her lip and buried her own hurt. “No he didn’t. And he didn’t deserve to die like that, either. Please help me, Beth. I need to find out what Danny knew. I need to find out so I can stop these people before they hurt anyone else. Please, Beth, help me.”
“I’m sorry, Lois. I had no right to blame you. I know this isn’t your fault. I know that if you could have stopped them before, if you could have saved Danny, you would have. I’m sorry, Lois, this is all just so hard.”
“I know, Beth, I know,” Lois said softly. Wondering if Mrs. Carter was right. Did she really do everything in her power to stop Genzyme? Could she have prevented Danny’s death?
“I don’t know anything about Danny’s work, Lois, all I can give you is this,” Beth said as she pulled something out of the pocket of her jeans. She took Lois’s hand and pressed it against her palm, she closed Lois’s fingers around it. “I know he kept some files from work at home. Genzyme will probably want his computer and his equipment back, but they haven’t called about it yet.”
Lois fingered the keys that Beth had handed to her, “thank you,” she whispered.
“No, Lois, thank you,” Beth replied, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
********
Lois spent the entire evening in Danny’s apartment. Walking into his apartment, seeing his belongings packed up in boxes almost let lose another flood of tears. There was so little left that could possibly give any sort of identification of the resident of the apartment. Much of the furniture had not yet been moved, but cardboard boxes were strewn about the apartment and it seemed as though all of his personal items had been haphazardly tossed into them. She felt like an intruder, like she was violating something sacred by rifling through his possessions. She finally found several boxes full of paperwork as well as a laptop computer and a handful of diskettes that had been set aside. She set about immediately copying all of the files on his computer onto the Zip Disks she’d brought with her. She didn’t have time now, but would have to later sit down and go through all the work related files. She then set to work on the papers. She sorted and stacked whatever she could, noticing that most of the files actually belonged to Genzyme and that the company would no doubt come looking for them. She put the papers back into the boxes and began hauling them to the Jeep. She delivered everything to a local CopyMax with the instructions to make three copies of everything. She returned to the apartment to continue searching for anything that would be helpful in proving the case against Genzyme. Her sense of honor protested at the idea of continuing in the violation of a dead man’s privacy, but she persisted stubbornly, sifting through boxes of photographs and diplomas, knick knacks and clothes, books, and CDs.
Eventually, her conscience gave up its protestations and she simply worked without thinking, opening boxes sorting through their contents, setting aside potentially useful things, replacing personal affects and moving on. She opened one of the last remaining boxes and found what appeared to be the contents of his desk drawers. She sifted through the bank statements and old tax papers littered about and pulled out of the box an old, well-worn hard cover copy of Gravity and Grace. She remembered always seeing that book on the shelf in his room. On countless occasions she would find him reading from it on the steps of the library or sitting on a patch of grass in the main quad. She flipped through the pages, passages had been underlined, page corners turned down, and notations were scattered through the pages. She brushed her fingers across the pages, over the margins where the dark ink of his pen had soaked into the paper, making the neat, angular letters of his perfect block printing. She started to put the book back in the box and stopped herself. She looked down at the worn cover and the rough, rounded and split corners and set the book aside. She sifted through the rest of the contents of the box and came across a leather-bound book with the initials DC inscribed in gold lettering on the bottom left corner. She started to open it and hesitated before going ahead. She exhaled slowly as she realized that it was a journal that he had started keeping in college. She knew that she shouldn’t read it, that she had no right, but she couldn’t help but think that by not reading it, she would somehow let all the thoughts that he’d gathered there die with him. She tried to shake it off as some sort of sick and morbid fascination and was utterly disgusted with herself, but was compelled to continue anyway.
She read through his earliest entries, including the one he wrote the day he met her. She couldn’t help but smile at his retelling of the accounts. She read through pages and pages, gaining new insight into a friend she’d lost so long ago. His words brought the memories back to life; she saw his thoughts, his hopes, his fears. Every so often, she found herself thinking, ‘so that’s what you meant!’ or ‘that’s not how it happened!’ She smiled at his self-deprecating humor and was astonished by his insight. Happier memories mixed with the more recent and painful ones in a bittersweet confusion of emotions. The words of a friend now gone touched her heart. What went unspoken in life was revealed so freely from beyond, as if he were there, talking to her, telling her all the things he failed to say so long ago.
“…Sometimes I wonder if I’m cut out for all of this. I think I want to go into medicine, but how do I know for sure that that’s what I’m supposed to do? The idea is almost terrifying. The thought of people placing their lives in my hands is more than just a bit scary. I want to do the right thing. I want to help people. I want to make a difference with my life, not just make money, but what if this isn’t the right way? I wish I believed the way Lois does. I’ve never known anyone like Lois. She’s fearless and stubborn. She refuses to back down and won’t be intimidated. We’re complete opposites, she and I. But somehow, she’s the best friend I’ve ever had. She won’t accept anything at face value, she has to question everything, challenge the whole world. She knows exactly what she wants and she goes after it. It wouldn’t even matter what she decided to do with her life; Lois would make the world a better place just because she’s in it…”
She was thunderstruck by his words. Did he really think that of her? She didn’t know what to think. Wrapped up with that glowing evaluation of her was a great deal of self-doubt. ‘How could you ever question yourself like that, Danny? You are…were a wonderful doctor. And you made a difference, in the lives of all the people you touched. You made a difference in my life.’ She hoped that he could hear her thoughts–that he understood. With some difficulty, she continued reading.
April 5th 1987
“I realized something today–something I’ve known deep down inside for months now I suppose. I’m in love with Lois. I love everything about her. I lovve how she makes me feel like I mean something to her. But I love Lois the way you can love the sun or the stars. She’s unattainable and I love her still. It doesn’t matter that she could never return my love, would never think of me the same way, I love her anyway. Maybe it’s the fact that she is unattainable that draws me to her. Lois isn’t perfect, no one is, but she has awoken in me a feeling like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. She makes me feel alive in a way I can’t begin to describe.”
She shook her head, why hadn’t she realized? Why hadn’t she known?
May 20th 1987
“My hand is shaking as I write this. I don’t know, I can’t seem to make it stop. Writing this all down seems like yet another gross violation, a reaffirmation of the sick crime that I’ve committed, but I don’t know what else to do. I’m a wreck.”
She snapped the journal shut. She didn’t know if she could read this, if she could handle having to experience his pain at retelling the events. She stared for a long moment at the book in her hands before opening it again and continuing.
“I can’t think of many things worse than what I did in the early hours of this morning. I hurt someone so important to me I can scarcely believe it. The pain I’ve caused her is making me physically ill. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have given into the desires of my wretched flesh at the price of friendship? How could I have messed things up so terribly? I took advantage of her. She wasn’t herself, she was scared and had too much to drink and had no way of defending herself against me. I had no right to do what I did. I violated her. I violated her trust. It doesn’t matter that I was drunk, a condition from which I still seem to be feeling the nauseating after-effects, I should have been in control.
“As some kind of sick and perverted penance, the images remain so clear in my mind. Despite my drunken stupor, I remember every damned moment. As much as I want to, I can’t bring myself to hate the physical act. I can’t hate the way she felt in my arms, or how it felt when she kissed me. I guess this makes me the worst kind of monster there is.
‘A hurtful act is the transference to others of the degradation which we bear ourselves. That is why we are inclined to commit such acts as a way of deliverance…all crime is a transference of the evil in him who acts to him who undergoes the result of the action.’ What other kinds of horrors must I be capable of if I can put my physical desires above the feelings of the only person I’ve ever loved? I look at myself and I am afraid. ‘On every occasion, whatever we do, we do evil, and an intolerable evil. We must ask that all the evil we do may fall solely and directly on us.’ But mine hasn’t. I woke up this morning and knew that the evil I committed was against another. What malice must there be in my heart to allow me to do such wrong against someone I care so much about? I woke up to find her in my arms in a false embrace. Last night she sought my protection and instead, I betrayed her in the quest to quench so visceral a thirst.
“I slid out of her bed, a place I had no right to be. In the early hours before the dawn I watched her sleep. Like a demon guarding over the sleep of an angel, the irony of my transgression was not lost upon me. I felt some strange compulsion to apologize, as if any words spoken could take away the pain I caused. She woke up, a look of hurt and confusion on her face. I could see the pain in her eyes. Her eyes penetrated to the depths of my soul to see, no doubt, the innocence stolen and friendship betrayed. She began to sit up and I begged her not to. I couldn’t even begin to deal with any physical reminders of what I had done to her. To see her again like that, the way I saw her last night, when I forced myself upon her, would have killed me right then and there. Perhaps it would have been for the best. I didn’t deserve mercy and I know now that I don’t deserve forgiveness. Forgiveness is something so often given to the undeserving, but I can’t even ask. I have no right.”
She held the book with trembling hands, her whole body shaking with sobs that she tried to control. She had never before understood the depth and weight of his pain. How could she have? She was compelled to read onward. She had to know that things got better for him. She needed the reassurance; she needed to know that that one night hadn’t destroyed the rest of his life.
October 16th 1987
“I feel like my heart isn’t in what I’m doing anymore. I go through the motions, but why? I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to do something with my life, but how can I expect others to trust me when I don’t trust myself. I saw Lois today, just briefly, walking out of physics. I don’t think she saw me. I’ve tried so hard to avoid her all these months. I don’t think I’d be able to handle seeing her, seeing the look of hatred that must flash across her eyes every time she sees me. How much she must despise me for not only what I did to her but also because I wouldn’t let her save our friendship. I wouldn’t accept her forgiveness and I pushed her away because it hurt too much to be around her. It hurt too much to know that I had caused her pain–that I couldn’t trust myself with her and that I could never ask her to trust me.”
She swallowed hard around the large mass that was forming in her throat, making it difficult to breathe, as she read on through the chronicles of the last ten years of his life. The anguish in his accounts was tempered as the weeks turned to months and the months to years, it disappeared for times, only to flare up again every so often.
Though it was difficult, she pushed forward. Her heart ached when she thought of all the hurt he experienced and never shared. It hurt to think about everything he went through and how he wouldn’t let her be there. Why was he so stubborn? Why couldn’t he listen to her? Why couldn’t he understand that she didn’t need to forgive him, she wasn’t offering forgiveness because there was nothing to forgive. His crimes had been no greater than her own and yet he denied her her fair share of the blame. Why did he have to blame himself like this?
The last few pages were written only a short while ago. She read them over carefully, focusing on his words as he bared his soul in a complicated confession to his journal.
Nov. 17th 1996
“I stumbled upon information at work that I shouldn’t know about. The researchers in the lab were swamped so I took my own samples in for analysis. While in the lab, I came across information on one of the computers about a research project that for all intents and purposes, doesn’t exist. It’s a project for which the only purpose is to destroy. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at.
“Years ago, I naively decided upon a career in medicine. Since then, it would suffice to say that my youthful idealism has been tempered. I no longer believe in that perfect and pure good that I strove for. Noble intentions have since been checked by baser human qualities, but even in my own imperfection, even I cannot turn away from this. This project the company is working on goes well into the realm of illegality, but moreover, it is an attempt at destruction. No good could ever come of this. I cannot say that I am stunned by this. I’m well aware of the evil that human beings are capable of. But it did shock me into action. I don’t know if this is the opportunity that I’ve been waiting for: the chance to redeem myself, and even if it is, redeem myself in whose eyes? All I know is, I cannot allow the world to continue revolving around me as if I played no part in what was going on.
“‘If you do not fight it–if you look, just
Look, steadily,
Upon it,
There comes
A moment when you cannot do it,
If it is evil;
If good, a moment
When you cannot
Not.'”
A sob escaped her lips as she closed the journal. Her eyes turned upward as though they were searching for answers. A single tear made it’s way down the contours of her cheek. She finally noticed the darkness in the room and realized that it was getting late.
She rubbed roughly at her eyes with the heel of her hand before grabbing up the journal and the book. She packed the rest of the papers back into the box and exited the apartment. She picked up the now completed copies and returned the originals. She locked the apartment door behind her and said a final, silent goodbye.
As was becoming customary, Lois drove home on autopilot. She was an emotional wreck once again. She thought, with a humorless laugh, that she’d probably cried more times this last month than she’d had in the previous twenty nine years of her life. She parked the Jeep in the driveway and unlocked her front door. Once inside the house, Lois practically collapsed onto the couch. Her eyes hurt from the strain of reading in the dark and her body protested against the idea of late night antics and B&E. She glanced at her watch and squinted to bring the hands into focus. Clark would be there in less than an hour. It wasn’t enough time to take a nap so she settled for a hot shower and a cup of coffee instead.
Clark arrived promptly at twelve. Lois was rather impressed by the amount of black clothing his wardrobe must have contained. “Are you ready to go?” he asked, a serious expression on his face.
She merely nodded. An awkward moment passed before he closed the distance between them. Mechanically, he lifted her off her feet effortlessly. Her posture was rigid; she held her body stiffly as he gathered her against his chest. Her discomfort was not lost upon him. He barely refrained from wincing at her reaction to his touch. Instead he drifted slowly upward. Concealed by the inky, starless night’s sky, they flew toward the Genzyme building.
********
They walked quietly down the darkened corridors. Clark maintained his vigilance as he listened for possible approaching security guards. Clark began to head toward the office of the Chief of Genetic Engineering Projects when he noticed Lois wasn’t following him anymore. His eyes darted back and forth frantically in the dimly lit hallway. He located her quickly near the stairwell and was by her side in an instant. “Where are you going?” he whispered softly.
“The executive offices,” she hissed, as though the answer were obvious.
“We should start with the Genetic Engineering department,” he replied. “That’s where Blake worked, it’s the department Danny worked in also, whatever we need should be there.”
“Do you always think small scale, Kent?” she said acerbically. “This isn’t the work of some jerk water third rate lab tech, whatever is going on, I bet it goes all the way to the top floor,” she jerked her head upwards.
Slightly stung by her retort, he merely sighed quietly. “All right, where do you think we should begin?”
“The Project Chief’s office, whatever Genzyme and the military are up to, the Project’s Chief would have to know about it,” she opened the door to the stairwell and began to ascend. Shaking his head, Clark could do nothing but follow.
He walked several paces behind her as they climbed the stairs. When they reached the fifteenth and final floor, she stopped in front of the doorway, breathing heavily from the exertion. She looked at the keypad next to the door and waited for him. Without saying a word, he began punching in random combinations of numbers at super speed until the little red light turned green and the door unlocked. He reached for the doorknob and held it open for her, making sure to visually sweep the hall before she entered.
She watched as he pulled his glasses down the bridge of his nose and looked from side to side. When he nodded, she proceeded through the door and he followed a few steps behind. He quickly caught up and passed her, clearly trying to shield her from whatever dangers lurked on the executive floor of the building. They found the Project Chief’s office and Clark began examining the doorknob, looking for the easiest way to unlock the door without perceptibly damaging the lock. Lois pushed in front of him silently and pulled several slender pieces of metal out of her jacket pocket.
“What are you doing?” he hissed.
“Picking the lock,” she replied calmly.
“Where’d you learn to pick locks?”
“Jimmy showed me how last night.”
“Jimmy?”
“Yeah, long story,” she replied quickly.
“So now you’re a master lock pick?” he whispered incredulously.
“Don’t look so surprised, Kent. I’m a surgeon, remember? We’re good with our hands,” if she realized the subtle innuendo of her statement she pretended not to. Lois turned back to the lock and within a few minutes of wiggling and manipulating the tiny metal fragments, had it open. She turned the knob triumphantly and entered the office with Clark in tow.
It was his turn now to show off his prowess as a prowler as he pulled his glasses down the bridge of his nose and swept the office. Lois booted up the computer on the desk and waited through the start up process.
“Got it!” he whispered as he pulled open a drawer in the filing cabinet and produced several thick folders. She looked up from the monitor where a display box was requesting a password. “Switch,” she muttered softly and he traded places with her, handing her the folders as he sat down in front of the keyboard.
She quickly warmed up the office’s copy machine and began to photocopy every incriminating piece of evidence she could find. She heard Clark popping disks in and out of the computer’s drive over the hum of the copier, as he transferred files. She was putting the last of the files back in the drawer when she felt a sudden breeze. The file cabinet shut softly and a strong pair of arms wrapped themselves around her body. Before she could gasp, a hand covered her mouth. The next thing she knew, she was looking straight at the carpet from twelve feet above the ground.
“Are you okay?” he whispered, almost inaudibly, his hand still over her mouth. He felt her nod and removed his hand. Her body was frozen in a rigid posture as he held her tightly. He could hear her heart thundering in her chest, could smell the faint scent of fear on her skin as her body temperature rose. The footsteps in the hall echoed loudly now. He looked down as a security guard shined his flashlight into the office’s window. The beam of light danced upon the carpet for several moments before disappearing once again. The footsteps receded and after a long minute, the hall was quiet once again. He floated them back down slowly to the ground. He’d been careless. He’d been so wrapped up in what he was doing that he hadn’t heard the guard until it was almost too late.
“We have what we need,” he said softly. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” He quickly replaced all the originals and returned the office to its previous condition. They slipped out to the stairwell and disappeared into the night via the roof access. They were both silent as Clark flew Lois home.
********
He said his goodbyes and left to change into the Suit and fly another patrol around the city. The papers had been full of photos and eyewitness accounts and mainly speculation about the ‘Strange Visitor to Metropolis.’ He grinned a humorless grin as he wondered how much longer he’d go one dodging the media.
He wasn’t too particularly focused on patrolling that evening. Nor were his thoughts on the illegal escapades of the previous hours, not really anyway. He was thinking about Lois again. ‘Why is she so difficult to read?’ he wondered not for the first time. ‘Why does she seem relaxed with me one moment and then so uncomfortable the next? What could I possibly be doing to bring on this reaction?’ He didn’t have any answers and so, simply resolved again to avoid doing anything that would make things awkward. He only wished that he knew what that meant.
********
She dropped the files in the entryway beside the boxes of things she had retrieved from Danny’s apartment. She locked up and proceeded immediately upstairs where she promptly went to bed.
Her dreams were not peaceful that night.
She dreamt of that night once again, only this time, in more vivid detail than she had ever before remembered. She remembered stumbling awkwardly into bed with him, clumsily disrobing each other. She remembered waking up, her whole body stiff and her head pounding to see him sitting in the dimly light corner of the room. She watched as her mind replayed the events, she saw him stumble to his feet, and everything began to change. Instead of seeing Danny’s slender, muscular frame, she was looking at Clark’s larger, more powerful one. It wasn’t Danny looking at her, it was Clark. It was Clark who was running away from her. It Clark whom she was losing. She ran after him, but she couldn’t catch him, he ran away from her. Suddenly, she was in the hospital, in a cold steel gray room. His lifeless body sprawled out in front of her. She gasped in horror. Her own screams woke her.
“Lois!” She heard a ‘whoosh’ followed by a soft ‘thud’ and the calling of her name. She sat up, startled, and shivered.
He closed the window that he’d opened in his haste to enter. He backed away sheepishly. Realizing that she was not in mortal peril, he felt embarrassed by having barged in so brazenly.
“Clark?” her voice cracked.
“I’m here,” he whispered, still standing in the shadows, allowing her the opportunity to cover up if she needed to.
“Why…what are you doing here?”
“I…I heard you cry out. I’m sorry, I thought you were in trouble.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine, thank you,” the words came out more tersely than she’d intended. If she could have seen his expression in the darkness, she would have seen his face fall.
“I’ll go now,” he said softly as he turned away from her, looking down at the carpet. He opened the window and flew out before she could say anything. She got up and walked to the window, staring out into the still dark sky. ‘What’s wrong with me?’ she thought angrily. She shivered as a cold wind cut through the room. ‘How come no matter what I do, I push him away?’
********
Lois stifled a yawn as she washed the last of the antibacterial soap from her hands and forearms under the stream of almost unbearably hot water. A nurse handed her a towel, with which she blotted away the excess moisture before the latex gloves were pulled on. She backed through the door into the OR. She shook herself awake. It was 7:30 am and she had a bypass to perform.
********
Clark woke the next morning to find more pictures of his alter ego splashed across the front page of the Daily Planet in a colorful spread.
Metropolis’s Blue Angel Saves the Day Once Again
The City’s Flying Savior Seen Performing Nearly a Dozen Superfeats Yesterday Alone
By Allison Hastings
He read the article, realizing that his novelty had not even begun to wear off in the least. ‘It’ll take time,’ he reminded himself, knowing full well that this was only half of it. As long as he avoided the press, his elusiveness alone would be noteworthy. But truth be told, he didn’t know who to trust. Who could he rely on to tell his story fairly, to refrain from making up sensationalistic things? Until he knew, he was better off remaining silent than fanning the flames of the media frenzy. At least, that’s how he saw it.
He shook his head and wandered off into the bathroom to shower and dress for work. As many problems as he was having with his alter ego, they paled in comparison to his worries about his private life, well as long as he defined his private life as his friendship with Lois Lane and his desire to have something more with her.
********
After a grueling but extremely successful procedure, Lois showered and changed in the locker room. She had several appointments remaining for the day before the several hours of lab time that she’d pencilled into her schedule.
“Good morning, Mrs. O’Neil,” she said as she entered her office.
“Good morning, Dr. Lane,” the older woman replied crisply and politely. During a long conversation with her mother the previous morning, after promising for the seventh time to not be late Thursday, Lois brought up the subject of her receptionist. Lois knew for a fact that she couldn’t keep Anna around, but for some reason didn’t want to fire the young woman, who, up until a few days ago, had been a conscientious and congenial employee. She gratefully accepted her mother’s suggestion of switching receptionists. Mrs. Lane had no doubt in her ability to bring the errant young woman into line, and so asked her own receptionist to switch offices and work for her daughter. So Lois’s talkative young secretary now found herself in a position having to keep up with a ‘Tornado Lane’ who could put Lois to shame and Lois’s new receptionist had proved so far to be a prim and proper, no nonsense, kind of woman.
When she had finished her appointments for the afternoon, Lois left for the lab. She spent several hours going over data analysis with her father, who once again brought up the subject of outside funding.
“Mr. Luthor, himself called today,” he said casually.
“Luthor called? Here?!”
“Mmm hmm,” Sam replied without looking up from the computer screen.
“I know we’re running low on funds, Daddy, but I don’t know if I want to sign on to work for Luthor Industries.”
“It’d be like trying to serve two masters, wouldn’t it?” her father replied.
Lois was surprised at how well he had read her. She merely nodded. She was afraid of working for a huge conglomerate like Luthor Industries, was uneasy with the idea of commercializing her work in order to serve Mr. Luthor’s profit margins. She told herself that that was the way the world worked, that there was no separating medical research from the business world and she’d have to get used to it, but she still didn’t like the idea.
“Do you mind holding off, at least for a while longer?” she asked her father tentatively.
“Of course not, Princess.”
“Thanks Daddy,” she hugged her father, relieved that the project would remain under their control and not some huge commercial lab’s, but aware that the money problems continued to loom on the horizon.
Lois went home, exhausted, that evening and settled in front of the large boxes of information she’d gathered. She removed the journal and the book from the top of the pile of things she’d gathered from Danny’s home and put them away in a desk drawer. She spent long hours that night reading over pages and pages of reports on the virus that Genzyme was engineering. An angry knot settled into the pit of her stomach. The reports gave cold, calculated, detailed accounts of the destructive powers of the virus. At the end of each report, the following sentences were tacked on arrogantly: “Agent yields nearly statistically complete elimination of principle target. Agent causes zero damage to surrounding edifices and infrastructural framework. Estimated costs from collateral damage: zero.”
She knew firsthand, how delicate human life was, how fragile it was, and how easy to destroy. Every battle against Death she undertook had a personal dimension. She had a difficult time detaching herself from the fight, and each time she lost, each time Death claimed another victory, it robbed her of a little piece of herself; a little bit of her faith was stolen, a little bit of her hope was lost. The intimate, ever-present relationship with Death had changed her profoundly. Time turned fresh wounds into old, hardened scars, but their presence was always felt in the faint echoes of old emotions. She struggled to reconcile the knowledge that Death was the natural culmination of life with her own personal mission to fight Death whenever possible–to cheat it, to aid life in the battle for its own continuation. She was personally terrified by the darkened abyss Death ppresented and wondered how anyone could so coldly and detachedly work for the sake of plunging life into that void. One had to fight Death and lose many times before understanding its evil–before recognizing its awesome weight. Clearly the men who had worked for this cause did not understand that burden.
********
Clark flew what was becoming a routine nightly patrol over the skies of Metropolis. He’d ducked out of the lab nearly a dozen times that day to assist with emergencies and stop crimes. He was thankful that he hadn’t been in the Emergency Department that day, but realized that the issue would no doubt present itself in the near future. Tomorrow was Thanksgiving, and while he had the afternoon and evening off, as one of the new guys, he’d landed the morning shift in the ED. Only a promise to work Christmas Eve saved him from an entire day at the hospital.
He foiled a convenience store robbery and broke up a fight between members of rival gangs before drifting toward Metropolis’s Upper East Side. He hovered outside her bedroom window, listening to the soft steady sound of her breathing while she slept.
“…no, Clark, Clark! No!” she cried out in her sleep. Pain gripped his heart as his breath caught in his throat. He heard her sit up, breathing hard. She got out of bed and he heard the sounds of footsteps retreating followed by the closing of a door and the sound of running water. His heart breaking, he flew home.
********
After another restless night, Lois woke the next morning and continued to read through the files they had gathered. The muddled up and confused images of the previous night’s dreams continued to replay in her mind. She tried to free herself of the thoughts. The dreams were just silly, she told herself, though they certainly didn’t feel that way. She tried to calm the irrational fear that Clark was going to be next. It didn’t make any sense, she told herself. Clark was, as far as she could tell, invulnerable. Nothing could hurt him. But she knew somewhere deep down inside that just because he couldn’t be physically hurt, didn’t mean that he couldn’t be taken away from her.
She worked through the morning until the last possible moment before leaving for her parents’ home. She tried to push thoughts of Danny and Clark out of her mind as she prepared for Thanksgiving dinner with her parents, Lucy and Scott, Perry and Alice, and their two sons.
Despite her growing exhaustion, she made it through the evening with her family. For the first time in ages, she spent several hours with her father and Uncle Perry and the issue of work of any sort was never touched upon. She tried to relax and enjoy herself but the tension was never far beneath the surface. After dessert, everyone pitched in to clean up. Lois ended up rinsing the dishes while Scott loaded them into the dishwasher. The young man seemed almost nervous in Lois’s presence, as though he was desperately trying to avoid earning the scorn and contempt of Lucy’s beloved older sister. Lois had decided earlier in the evening that she liked Scott. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy and was deemed by Lois to be good enough for her kid sister, an honor rarely bestowed upon any of Lucy’s beaus by her discriminating older sister. Despite having already earned her approval, Scott was clearly unaware of Lois’s opinion of him.
She had watched the way he interacted with her parents and her godparents. She observed his polite, easy manner and it was clear to her that he was not acting at all. But mainly, she noticed the way he would steal glances at Lucy every time he thought no one was looking. The first time she’d noticed it she was startled by the sheer amount of emotion in his expression. The look in his eyes, though tempered by their public setting, spoke volumes. Lois felt incredibly uncomfortable and it took her a moment to figure out why. She realized that she felt like a voyeur, peering in on a moment that was clearly meant only for two people. Lois felt the tiniest tinge of envy, before deciding completely that she was thrilled for her kid sister and wished her all the happiness in the world. She turned away and tried to tune back into her Uncle Perry’s latest Elvis story. For the remainder of the evening she tried to divert her attention from the two, though she couldn’t help but notice how much they managed to communicate silently–how much emotion passed between them through simple looks and the briefest of touches.
Later that evening, Lois said her goodbyes to everyone, exchanging hugs and kisses with her parents, Lucy, Perry, Alice, Jerry and Larry. Scott extended his hand to her formally, and she accepted his offered handshake and said quietly to him, “take care of my sister.” A startled expression flashed across his face before he stammered his response. “I will,” he replied, his words sincere. Lois and Lucy shared a knowing look before the older sister departed.
********
Clark spent a hectic morning in the ED. Twice he had to escape to perform rescues, both times moving as quickly as possible to prevent any notice of a significant absence. He had to ignore several minor calls, learning to prioritize his duties while on call. His responsibilities managed to occupy his mind all morning, preventing him from dwelling on the thoughts of last night, the thoughts of Lois waking in the middle of the night, terrified, the thought of himself as somehow being the cause of that terror. He had other things to think about that morning, although that didn’t prevent him from obsessing over last night on his flight home to Kansas.
He tried to banish the thoughts as he made his approach to the farmhouse. He wanted to have a simple, relaxing evening spent with his family without anything to complicate it. He pasted a grin on his face and pretended to be thrilled. He made sure to keep up the appearance of being happy all night for his parents’ sake.
He managed to keep the conversation light and upbeat and used every opportunity to ask his parent’s about their lives, keeping the conversation focused on them. He flew home later that night, his arms laden down with leftovers. ‘That went well,’ he decided as he flew over the plains as he headed east toward Metropolis.
********
Martha and Jonathan looked up at the night’s sky from the porch as their son disappeared into the heavens on his way back to Metropolis.
“He didn’t talk to her,” Martha said flatly.
“Nope,” Jonathan replied.
“I can’t believe how thick headed he can be.”
“The boy sure is stubborn sometimes,” Jonathan remarked.
“He gets that from you,” Martha shook her head.
Jonathan smiled as he placed his arm around his wife. The two walked back into the farmhouse, wondering when their boy would learn.
********
Lois went into the office the next morning to pick up stacks of files that Clark had left for her. He had taken a thick pile of papers with him which were now neatly stacked in a cardboard box in her office. On top of the pile was a brief summary of what he’d discovered. His findings matched hers for the most part, though she found his particular insights to be quite helpful. Between the two of them, they’d already covered most of the files. There was no doubt in Lois’s mind what Genzyme was guilty of, but she was determined to make sure that no one responsible escaped justice. She clung fiercely to the hope of exposing the people who were ultimately responsible, those who had ordered the creation of the virus, not just those who were immediately involved.
She took the files home and began going over the remainder of the evidence. She finally got to the files she’d downloaded off of Danny’s computer. She pored over disk after disk of his files, finding nothing. After hours of searching, she came across a file titled ‘RV 127.64’ that seemed unrelated to anything else Danny was working on. She opened the document, which was really a carbon copy of an email message. She read through the message, unable to believe what she was seeing. Startled, she checked the times and dates in the message, thanking whoever was listening, that she had found this in time. She grabbed her cell phone and searched for Inspector Henderson’s phone number. She called but was unable to reach the Inspector. She left a message with the officer who answered the phone to contact Henderson immediately. Lois then faxed a copy of the email message to police headquarters. She left a similar message for Perry as she searched for her car keys. She then dialed Clark’s number on her way to the Jeep. She pulled out of the driveway, the phone still ringing. “Come on, Clark, answer!” she muttered under her breath. She left a message on his machine at home and then tried his voicemail.
“Clark, it’s Lois, meet me at Ft. Truman as soon as you get this message. It’s urgent,” she hung up the phone and maneuvered deftly through the streets, going as fast as she dared. It was almost one o’clock now. She didn’t have much time.
She parked the Jeep at the base of the hill and walked the rest of the way to the military complex. Her father had worked at Ft. Truman for over ten years and she knew the base as well as she knew any location. As a child, she’d always had a certain penchant for adventure and had learned all the different ways on and off the base, which now became extremely useful. She made her way to the biochemical labs at the base, making sure to remain inconspicuous. She leaned against the corner of the facade, watching from a safe distance and protected from view by the way the building’s corners jutted out. She bent down on one knee, too nervous to sit comfortably and still in a position from which she could quickly get up and run. It was just past one thirty now. In less than half an hour, a transfer would be made. Escorted Genzyme researchers, bearing ‘the agent’ would arrive to turn over the preliminary results of their project to military officials at the base. This was the only opportunity to nab those behind the creation of ‘the agent.’ The majority of the evidence Lois and Clark had gathered had been obtained illegally and while it further proved the guilt of the military and Genzyme in creating a biochemical weapons agent against federal regulations, it would be inadmissible in court. The information she’d found on Danny’s hard drive, was however, gathered in a completely legal manner, even though it had cost a man his life.
Lois shivered against a cold wind as she watched and waited for the cavalry to arrive, so to speak. She had left very clear, very specific instructions for Henderson. All she could do now was keep an eye out and wait patiently.
At two o’clock exactly, a plain white van pulled up outside the loading bay at the biochem labs, where five men in fatigues were waiting. Three men in generic white lab coats as well as two in military fatigues exited the van. One of the men in the lab coats opened the back of the van and removed a small, nondescript cooler. He handed the cooler to one of the men who had been waiting. Words were exchanged but she was too far away to hear what was being said.
The man now holding the cooler gave orders to the other men surrounding him who quickly dispersed. She couldn’t make out the insignia on his collar and wasn’t able to determine his rank, but he was clearly in charge. She began to back away stealthily to avoid making any sounds and drawing attention toward her. She would have to find some place to hide out while she waited for the police to arrive, which should be any minute now, she thought irritably. She turned suddenly at the sound of a car pulling up behind her. Too late. Three soldiers hopped out of the HUMVEE and approached her.
“What are you doing back here?” the first man asked suspiciously. She recognized his chevrons to be those of a staff sergeant.
“What’s going on back there?” someone called from behind her. She heard footsteps approaching.
“We found this woman hiding back here, sir,” the staff sergeant said as he seized Lois by the arm. The other two men behind him saluted smartly. The sergeant spun her around and she recognized the man behind her as the one who had been carrying the cooler. She looked him straight in the eye, unwilling to show any fear. She realized instantly that she knew the man, but refused to grant him any form of acknowledgement.
His eyes narrowed as he glared at her. ‘Did he just wink?’ she wondered to herself. “Keats, McCulloch!” he barked. “Why don’t we escort our guest here to the hospitality suite downstairs.” She was now certain that he recognized her as well. Two of the goons in fatigues grabbed her roughly and began to drag her toward the loading bay. She put up a resistance, but mainly as an effort to try to draw the attention of anyone who may have be nearby, to what was being done to her. She was surrounded by the thugs and escape at this point in time was not practicable.
The loading bay opened into a large storage space. Her two muscle bound escorts led her toward a metal door. One of them opened the door, which led to a darkened staircase and began to push Lois roughly, toward it. She struggled with her captors but to little avail. One of them shoved her from behind and she went tumbling down the cold, hard metal stairs. She hit the ground with a loud thud and bit her lip to keep from crying out in pain. She tasted the warm coppery trickle of blood in her mouth. She wiped at her lip and drew her hand back to see a red smear across it. She shook her head and immediately regretted it as the room began to spin. Lois took a deep breath and felt an excruciating pain in her rib cage. She gently touched her side, unaware whether the ribs were broken, or merely bruised. Either way, they hurt like hell. She exhaled very slowly and tried to stand. Again, bad idea. She cried out in pain as she attempted to put weight on her ankle and it protested vehemently, giving out and allowing her to collapse back to the floor. She eased off her shoe and looked at her swollen, puffy ankle. The region around the talus was already beginning to bruise. She tried to move her ankle slightly and was rewarded by a sharp stabbing pain that shot through her leg. She had no doubt sprained the anterior tibiofibular ligament and could well have broken her ankle during the fall. Putting any weight on her right leg was out of the question. She dragged herself toward the corner of the dimly lit room and sat back against the wall
After an indeterminate amount of time passed, the door at the top of the staircase opened, allowing in a stream of offending light which blinded Lois. She squinted as she raised her hand to shield her eyes, accustomed to the darkness, from the painful brightness. A figure, obscured by the back lighting, stood in the doorway. He descended slowly, his heavy boots thudding on each individual metal step. The door shut loudly behind him.
********
Clark flew above Metropolis, heading toward a massive car wreck on the interstate. The area surrounding the fourteen car pile up was so congested that there was no place for him to even land safely. He was forced to touch down further away from the accident and gently work his way through the crowds and the backed up cars to the location of the wreck. He began immediately clearing out the blockage. Lifting cars out of the way and floating them over to the shoulder when there was no other way to create the necessary opening to get to the injured.
********
He stood in front of her, no doubt expecting that his looming figure would instill fear in the heart of his captive. Lois made no attempts to hide from him. She sat perfectly still as he towered above her. He turned away from her and pulled a metal chair out of a darkened corner of the room and placed it in a clear space on the floor directly in front of her. He reached down roughly and snatched her wrist, dragging her to her feet. She tried stubbornly, but could not keep from crying out. He pushed her into the chair, into which she practically collapsed, her body screaming out against the continued onslaught.
“I knew I recognized you, Miss Lane,” he said calmly as he paced back and forth in front of her. “How could I ever forget the precocious daughter of my former commanding officer? Tell me, how is the Colonel?”
“Go to hell,” Lois spat.
He delivered a vicious backhanded slap to Lois’s face. The side of her head stung as everything around her faded into a funny shade of gray. She blinked several times as the world began to come back into painful focus.
“Really, Miss Lane, there is no need to get vulgar,” he taunted her. “Now tell me, Miss Lane, what were you doing here?”
“Visiting Sergeant Shultz and Col. Klink,” she retorted.
“Wrong answer!” He slapped her again, this time her head hit the back of the chair and she fought to maintain consciousness. She willed the room to stop spinning and after a long while, it complied. “I know that you’ve been investigating Genzyme, I know what you think is going on here Miss Lane and let me just say that you are deluding yourself. You have such a pathetic, skewed vision of reality Miss Lane. You could never understand my work, the sacrifices made by people like me in the name of the freedom you use to turn around and stab your country in the back. Your misguided vigilantism is going to prove to be a dangerous habit Miss Lane. You should have minded your own business.”
“What about you Capt. Fitzgerald?” she clearly saw the silver oak leaf on his collar but chose to address him by the rank he’d held when he’d served under her father’s command. “You took the same oath my father did! You took the same oath I did, the same oath Danny Carter took. You swore to do no harm you son of a…” another backhand cut her off mid sentence.
********
Clark flew back home and straight to the kitchen. He pressed the replay button on the answering machine before turning to the refrigerator. He tuned in to the urgent sound of Lois’s voice on the recording. The Tupperware container of leftovers fell from his hands and bounced on the floor, it’s contents splattering across the kitchen, as he flew back out the open window.
He raced toward the army base at full speed. He felt the knot in his stomach grow larger when he saw Lois’s silver Jeep parked several hundred yards away from the base. He scanned the base frantically, locating Inspector Henderson and a half dozen members of Metropolis’s Finest gathered in front of the MP building.
“Listen, I need access to the biochem labs immediately, this is official police business,” Henderson barked at the unyielding officer bearing the black Military Police armband.
“I’m sorry sir, but on this base, the Military Police have jurisdiction and I am not about to allow you and your men to carry out a possible breach of national security.”
“I have a federally issued warrant right here,” Henderson growled as he shoved the folded up document at the officer’s chest. “That demands your cooperation with this investigation fully. General Jackson was told to expect us and has been asked for his cooperation. If you won’t help me, let me speak to the General, now.”
Clark landed beside a startled Inspector Henderson.
“It’s…it’s you,” Henderson stammered as he gaped at the blue clad hero.
“Please, Inspector, I need your help. Have you seen Dr. Lane?” while his voice was calm and even, Clark’s eyes betrayed the fear in his heart.
********
Lois felt the blood running down her face. It stung her eyes, when she tried to open them. Her head was throbbing and she knew she couldn’t take much more of this. “You killed Danny Carter. How many other people are you going to kill to play out your sick little fantasy?”
“As many as it takes, Miss Lane. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure to look suitably somber when I visit your father to pay my condolences to him after the loss of his beloved daughter in a tragic car wreck.”
She prepared herself for the impending attack but nothing happened. She heard the echoes of retreating footsteps and the sound of a door somewhere closing. How had she gotten into this mess? Where was Perry? Where were Henderson and MPD? “Clark, where are you?” she whispered, the words escaping in a sob.
********
Clark raced to the biochem buildings, visually sweeping the area; he was dismayed to find most of the walls had been lined with lead, no doubt to deal with radiation. He searched frantically for her. His ears pricked up, was that? Could it be? His heart leapt in his throat.
********
A thunderous sound reverberated through the room as the wall came crashing down. A stream of bright light burst into the room and she turned away from it as best as she could.
“Lois?” he sobbed as he saw her sitting listlessly in the chair. A stream of blood originating at her scalp line trickled down her face, which was already turning black and blue. Her right eye was swollen shut and her bottom lip was split open. She moaned slightly and he realized that she was conscious. He was beside her in an instant as he moved to gently gather her in his arms. He held her as though she were made of glass. Despite her injuries, she clung tightly to him.
“Clark?” she whispered against his chest. She felt a sharp pain in her side but ignored it. She needed to know he was there, she needed to be held by him.
“It’s okay, I’m here,” his voice was thick with emotions he tried to bury.
“You came for me,” her voice was small and weak as she murmured against his body.
His breath caught in a ragged sigh. “Of course I did.” He heard the sounds of Henderson’s men approaching in the background and he gently carried Lois out of the room.
Clark reappeared outside with Lois in his arms. Henderson took one look at Dr. Lane and ordered his men into the building. Metropolis’s finest descended upon the labs and seized the evidence and detained for questioning everyone inside.
Clark took off and forced himself to fly slowly toward MetroGen. He landed outside the ambulance bay and carried her into the Emergency Department. A startled resident ran to meet him with a gurney and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw that the hero was carrying one of their own. It was as if time froze in the ED and all eyes were upon the larger than life hero and the small figure he cradled in his arms.
“Somebody help me!” he pleaded and the hypnotic trance was broken. One of the residents brought the gurney to him and he gently laid Lois on it. She was quickly wheeled away from him. In the confusion, he stood in the hallway, and watched her disappear. He ran out the double doors away from the hospital and returned quickly as Clark Kent.
He ran back through the double doors, unbuttoning and rolling up his sleeves as he went. He could hear his heart pounding. He ran into the examining area and searched for her. Clark found her quickly and ran into the exam room where Brett Hoffman and an intern named Erin were tending to Lois. A nurse moved quickly in the background.
Clark could see the tension in Brett’s face. He was a year younger than Lois and had been working with her in the ED ever since his residency. Like most of the staff in the Emergency Department, he was used to seeing Lois as someone who was always in control. The commanding Lois Lane that he knew bore little resemblance to the fragile woman lying before him, the victim of a savage beating.
Brett took a deep breath and pulled an examining light out of his coat pocket and gently looked into Lois’s eyes. He was careful to avoid touching the sensitive area around her right eye that was bruised and raw, any more than necessary. Lois whimpered slightly and he jerked back. He exhaled and began trying to talk the situation out. “Okay, patient is apparently concussive so let’s order a scan,” he said to the nurse who hurried out of the room. He turned to Erin and to Clark, who was now standing beside him; his eyes shifting from left to right as he searched for what to do.
The doors to the exam room burst open and an out of breath orderly exclaimed, “We’ve got an incoming Code Green and we need one of you in OR four, stat!”
Clark looked at his colleague. Brett had known Lois for years and he could hardly be expected to be rational and level headed in this situation, though Clark wasn’t certain he could trust himself either. The two men looked each other in the eye for a long moment. It came down to Clark’s unwillingness to leave Lois alone. “Go,” he said firmly. I’ll take care of Lois, just go.” Brett nodded vigorously and raced out of the exam room with the orderly.
He reached a hand out to touch Lois’s temple in a feather light caress. He pushed her hair back slightly and looked at the ugly gash.
“Clark?’ Lois whimpered, struggling to stay conscious.
“It’s okay, I’m here,” he said softly. He looked up at Erin, “We’re going to need some stitches,” she nodded and turned to retrieve the needle and the Lidocaine. “First,” he said, and Erin immediately turned back toward him. “We have to determine the extent of her other injuries,” he placed his hand gently under Lois’s back. She protested feebly. “I’m sorry,” he whispered as he gently slid his hand under her over coat. “Help me with this,” he said. Erin proceeded to push the large heavy coat away from Lois’s shoulders and slipped her arms out of the garment, the coat fell back onto the table in a puddle. Clark eased Lois back down to the examining table. His fingers trembling, he reached for the buttons of her blouse. He struggled with the top button for a long moment and clenched his fists in frustration. He couldn’t do this.
“Dr. Kent?” Erin’s voice intruded on his thoughts. He looked up at her and noticed the pair of scissors she held in her hands. He stepped back and allowed her to cut away the gray silk blouse, which now bore rust colored spots of dried blood.
Lois shivered slightly and he noticed the gooseflesh on her creamy skin. He felt as though he were sinning against her somehow, seeing her like this, completely vulnerable, wearing nothing from the waist up save her bra. He’d quickly gotten over any sense of squeamishness at seeing people in various states of undress in medical examinations, but this was different, this was Lois. As awkward and uncomfortable as it felt, he placed her health and safety above his own embarrassment and her modesty and focused his attention on the greenish bruise which covered a large area of the left side of her torso. He lowered his glasses slightly down the bridge of his nose and cringed with an almost physical pain. He placed his hand over Lois’s side, his fingers weren’t quite touching her, but he was close enough to feel the warmth rising off of her skin. “These ribs are cracked,” he pronounced. He saw the puzzled look on Erin’s face, “trust me,” he added and she didn’t question his diagnosis. ‘Forgive me,’ he thought as he swept over the rest of her body as quickly as possible to look for other injuries.
********
Hours later, Clark stood outside the door to her private room, watching her sleep. He felt emotionally and even physically drained. He marveled at how small and delicate she looked now, lying in the middle of that large hospital bed. Her mother and father sat beside her bed. He had seen the tears in Ellen Lane’s eyes when she saw her little girl, bloodied and bruised. Clark’s own fears had been tempered by the results of the scan. Lois had suffered a concussion, but no permanent brain damage and while the sight of each and every one of her injuries made him want to cry, he knew it could have been much worse.
His heart ached when he thought about what she’d been put through. His pain mixed with white-hot anger toward the people who had done this to her and guilt over not having been there to stop it. In that first hour after he’d treated her and she’d been moved out of the ED, he thought about what would have happened if hadn’t gotten her message, if he hadn’t been there in time. The thought of losing her made him physically ill and it took all the strength he had at that moment to keep from breaking down.
He tried to avoid eavesdropping on the Lanes’ conversation, but couldn’t help but tune in the moment he heard Lois’s voice. She spoke in the faintest of whispers and he strained to make out the words.
“Dr. Kent?” he heard her father’s baritone calling to him from within the room. He sighed and walked slowly into the dimly lit room. Lois looked up at him. Her right eye was nearly swollen shut and was partially obscured by the bandage over the four stitches he’d had to place under her eyebrow to close the cut. Her face was a mottled black and blue and her bottom lip was swollen. A bandage similar to the one over her eyebrow covered the seven stitches on her forehead, just below the hairline. She whispered his name and he felt like he wanted to die.
He looked up at her parents who were walking toward him. “I assume you need to talk with Lois, we’ll be in the waiting area, Dr. Kent,” Dr. Lane placed his arm around his wife and nodded at the younger man.
Clark cleared his throat, “Thank you, sir, and please, call me Clark.”
Sam Lane extended his hand to the solemn young doctor. “Thank you for taking care of our little girl, Clark,” he said quietly. Clark accepted the older man’s proffered hand and merely nodded. The Lanes slipped quietly out of the room, leaving Lois alone with Clark. Clark sat down in the vacant chair beside her bed, his clipboard in his lap. They remained silent for a long moment, neither knowing what to say. Her eyes met his in a penetrating gaze and he looked away.
“How are you feeling?” he asked quietly, avoiding eye contact.
“Like I fell down a flight of stairs and got beat up,” she said with a smile. He smiled ruefully, and she continued. “I’m all right,” she said. “Although I think it’s the Vicadin talking right now, I’m not sure how much of this I’ll remember tomorrow.”
They settled back into an awkward silence, “Clark?” she asked.
“Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
He shook his head, “what?”
“Thank you, Clark, for saving me.”
“I…I should have been there sooner. I should have known something was wrong…”
“Clark, listen to me, you saved my life.”
He looked away, unable to accept her gratitude. He took a deep breath and tried to regain his equilibrium. “Admitting needs me to ask you a few questions,” he said formally.
She nodded, fully aware of the standard procedure, but no less cognizant of the fact that he was trying to put emotional distance between then. “Okay,” she said softly.
He looked down at the standard admitting questionnaire, augmented by a dozen additional questions asked of all patients suffering from head trauma. He read over the questions silently and his breath caught in his throat. He couldn’t ask Lois these things. He couldn’t pry so brazenly into her private life, demanding to know the most intimate details of her life and he shouldn’t have been asked to. He was her friend not her doctor. He looked up at the ceiling as if searching for divine guidance and his gaze turned back to the floor. “Excuse me,” he mumbled and walked swiftly into the hallway. He stopped the first female nurse he saw and handed her the clipboard.
********
The following morning, Lois’s parents and Lucy arrived at the hospital early to sign her out and take her home. She would have normally protested being ushered out of the hospital in a wheelchair, but considering the fact that her right leg was in a cast and her sense of balance had been completely shot, she was an uncharacteristically silent and cooperative patient.
Despite her assurances that she would be fine, her mother and father both skipped work that morning to stay with her. Lois, for the most part, slept through the morning. The painkillers completely wiped her out. She remembered only bits and pieces of what happened yesterday, relying in part on the accounts of others to fill in the gaps. She remembered going to Ft. Truman and being found by Fitzgerald’s goons. She remembered being thrown down a flight of stairs and assumed that was how she sustained most of her injuries, but what happened after that wasn’t entirely clear. She remembered Fitzgerald interrogating her and faintly recalled him striking her, repeatedly. She remembered calling for Clark and then his sudden appearance, after that, it all blurred together. She remembered talking to her parents last night but didn’t recall anything that had been said. She remembered Clark coming in to see her. He was upset about something, she couldn’t remember if they’d had an argument, but she clearly remembered seeing how unhappy and how uncomfortable he was.
Uncle Perry and Aunt Alice stopped by later that morning to see how she was doing and Lois spoke briefly with them. Perry informed her that Henderson and the MPD had captured Fitzgerald and his men and that the virus had been recovered. Genzyme was under a full investigation and thanks to her, Danny’s murderers had been caught. She prodded Perry about the exclusive and he admitted that the Planet had scooped everyone, including LNN on the story. Despite her best efforts, Lois began to doze off and Perry and Alice excused themselves.
She woke that afternoon to find her sister and her mother bustling cheerfully about the room. The pair aided Lois in changing her bandages.
“I’m not hungry,” Lois protested.
“Come on, Sis, you haven’t had a thing to eat all day,” Lucy chastised her older sister as she placed a tray with a bowl of soup and a glass of juice on the nightstand. Lucy proved to be just as stubborn as Lois and simply waited until Lois acquiesced to eating something. She sat beside Lois’s bed watching her big sister eat, occasionally patronizing Lois in an attempt to raise her older sister’s spirits.
Lois tried to stay awake to have a proper conversation with Lucy, but the moment Lucy saw the faintest traces of pain on Lois’s expression, she demanded that she take her medicine and get some rest. Unwilling to contest the issue, Lois agreed passively and drifted back into a peaceful sleep.
Lois woke late that evening and called weakly for her mother. Ellen Lane bustled into the room in full nurse mode and helped her daughter to the bathroom. With her crutches under her arms and her mother’s added support, Lois made it across the bedroom to the master bath. She assured her mother that she’d be fine on her own.
Lois stared at her reflection in the mirror and groaned. She looked as bad as she felt. She steadied herself on her crutches and hobbled painfully out of the bathroom. Her mother was just returning to the bedroom and closed the door to the hallway behind her.
“Lois, Clark is here,” Ellen said as she moved to her daughter’s side to steady her. She helpped Lois back into bed. Ellen fussed with the pillows as Lois shifted despite the nagging pain in her side, to make herself comfortable sitting up right.
“Could you send him up, please, Mother?”
“Of course, Sweetie,” Ellen replied as she briefly placed a hand on top of Lois’s.
Ellen disappeared into the hall and a moment later Lois heard a knock at the door. “Come on in, Clark,” she called.
The door open slowly and Clark entered the room, a vase holding a dozen yellow roses in hand. “Hi, Lois,” he said softly as he crossed the room to stand beside her bed.
“Oh, Clark, they’re beautiful,” she whispered. He placed the vase on her nightstand and sat down in the chair that had been drawn up to her bedside. She reached out a hand to him. He took her hand in his, stroking it gently with his thumb.
He cleared his throat nervously. “How are you?” he asked quietly. He held her small hand in between his two larger ones. He felt so awful after last night. He had almost lost her forever yesterday, but instead of being there for her when she needed him, he was all consumed by his own guilt.
“I’m getting by,” she said with a slight smile.
“I’m so sorry for the way I acted yesterday,” he said, shaking his head.
She squeezed his hand, “hush,” she whispered. She saw the guilt and pain on his face silently begged him to let go of the feelings that were tearing him apart. “You saved my life, yesterday, Clark, and you did nothing wrong, please believe me.”
He nodded numbly without the strength to protest. His eyes met hers and he realized how intensely she was looking at him, as though she were studying his soul. He reached out a hesitant hand to gently brush an errant lock of hair away from her face.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he said quietly.
She knew that if he could have traded places with her, if he could have taken all the pain onto himself, he would have. She knew that he would have gladly born the burden, and knowing that had made the pain so much easier to bear. She only wished she knew how to explain that to him.
He drew her hand up to his lips and held it there for a moment. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to be surrounded by her sweet scent and the wonderful feeling of her skin under his lips.
She looked up at him, a thousand different emotions running through her mind. She couldn’t even describe the feelings that he was awakening in her. Lois felt tears prick at her eyes. He sighed and smiled a sad smile as he gazed down at her. She stifled a yawn and blinked hard.
“Try to get some rest,” he whispered, his voice rumbling low in his throat. She smiled as she closed her eyes. She expected him to leave, but he didn’t. He continued holding her hand. She reveled in the contact.
He sat beside her, watching as she settled into a deep and peaceful sleep. He resigned himself to only watch her a little while longer. She was an enigma to him. She made him feel things he’d never felt before, aroused in him emotions he didn’t even know he was capable of experiencing. One minute, she made him feel like the most important person in her world, the next she would look at him or even dream about him and he’d see such incredible fear in her eyes. He didn’t know if she wanted him to stay or if she was afraid of him. God what had he done to her? Why did she call out his name with such terror in her voice? He had no idea what he’d done, and it was the not knowing that was killing him. His mother was right. They needed to have a long talk, but not now. Not when she already felt so vulnerable and defenseless.
He had taken an awful chance tonight, touching her the way he did, allowing himself to indulge in her presence and her touch. He was lucky she didn’t recoil from him. He was so confused. Was he imagining it, or did she feel it, too, that energy that surged through him whenever they touched? It was she who reached for him this evening; she initiated it and certainly didn’t seem to be repulsed by his almost brazen behavior. He longed to believe that she enjoyed it as much as he had, that she longed to touch him and be touched by him just as much as he longed to touch her and be touched by her. But he couldn’t honestly believe that. He remembered the other night, the way she clung to him in her sleep, the way she buried her face against his chest and allowed herself to be enfolded in his arms, and how the following morning she ran from him. God, it didn’t make any sense.
The thoughts flew in circle patterns through his mind until he was completely dizzy and had what he guessed was the beginning of a headache. He closed his eyes for a moment. He just needed a second to collect his thoughts.
********
Ellen knocked softly on the door and waited for a moment. Puzzled when there was no response, she pushed it open a crack. “Lois?” she called softly. “Clark?” She peered into the room. The sight in front of her brought a slight smile to her lips. Clark had fallen asleep sitting beside Lois. She walked quietly closer toward them and noticed that he was holding her hand, their fingers interlaced. She raised a hand to her lips. They both looked so peaceful that she didn’t dare wake them. She quietly gathered the quilt from the foot of Lois’s bed and covered Clark with it. Lois had explained to Ellen that Clark was a friend, but obviously, the young man meant a great deal to her little girl. She retreated quietly, turning off the lights and silently closing the door behind her.
********
Lois opened her eyes slowly to find that it was still dark outside. Her eyes adjusting to the lack of light, she was able to make out the shadowy silhouette at her bedside. As the fog lifted from her mind, she realized that it was him. He had come to visit her that evening and was still there. By the sound of his breathing, she could tell he was asleep. She could just barely make out the pattern of the quilt that covered his sleeping form. It was the quilt that had been at the foot of Clark’s bed in his parents’ farmhouse and it was the same one that he had wrapped her up in when he flew her back from Kansas. She had forgotten to return it to him and had left it folded at the foot of her bed. It was an old quilt, but obviously well cared for, he had probably had it his entire life. Morning’s first light began to filter in through the windows. She could now make out the features of his face; he was still wearing his glasses. She noticed the slight rise and fall of his chest with his every breath.
What she felt for him, what she felt for this incredible man, was more than just physical attraction, she decided, and it wasn’t just platonic friendship either. What she felt was something more. She couldn’t define it, but she had never experienced anything like it before. She had never felt like this about Craig or anyone else before for that matter. She decided that waking up to see him every morning would not be bad at all. As much as she wanted to contemplate having something more with Clark, the voice inside her head that reminded her constantly of what happened with Danny refused to leave her alone. ‘This is different!’ she thought angrily to herself, but was it? She may not have been a naïve, inebriated college kid this time, but what was at stake was once again friendship and it was a friendship she was not about to sacrifice. She was so confused. Lois groaned in frustration as she realized a trip to the little girls’ room was becoming necessary. She noticed Clark begin to stir. He shook his head slightly and opened his eyes. She watched him survey the somewhat unfamiliar surroundings before his gaze settled upon her. They made eye contact and she smiled.
“Good morning, Clark.”
“Morning,” he replied as he dragged a hand through his hair. “What time is it?” he mumbled almost incoherently. He looked at the clock on the nightstand, startled. “It’s past seven in the morning!” he exclaimed, shaking his head. “I guess I must have fallen asleep.”
Lois dragged herself upright into a sitting position and began to push back the covers.
“Don’t get up,” he said as he stood up. “What do you need? I’ll get it for you.”
“Actually, Clark, I need to get up,” she said with a lopsided smile.
He looked at her for a moment before the meaning of her words dawned on him. “Oh, oh right.”
“Could you help me up please?”
He looked around for a moment. “I think your mother is still downstairs, do you want me to go get her?”
“No, it’s all right, Clark. I’ll be fine, I could just use a little help getting to my feet,” she smiled to hide the grimace of pain from shifting around too much. “If you could just grab my crutches,” she pointed at the crutches leaning against the wall and he brought them to her. He pulled back the covers and gingerly helped her up. She steadied herself on the crutches and hobbled the short distance to the bathroom.
Clark helped Lois back to bed and excused himself to go start breakfast. He walked quietly down the stairs to find that Ellen Lane was already bustling about the kitchen.
“Good morning, Clark,” she said cheerfully upon seeing him enter the kitchen.
“Good morning, Mrs. Lane,” he replied, feeling rather awkward. Having fallen asleep in Lois’s room the night before, Clark could imagine what Ellen Lane must have thought his relationship with her daughter was.
“None of this ‘Mrs. Lane’ business. Please Clark, Ellen will be just fine,” she said matter of factly. “You’re up rather early this morning, is Lois awake?”
“Uh, she was awake, but I’m not sure if she’s gone back to sleep,” he replied.
“Good, there’s plenty of food here for both of you. Why don’t you take her some breakfast and I’ll be up in a little while to say goodbye. Sam will be here by eight thirty, but if you have to leave for work don’t worry about waiting around for him.”
Clark barely had the chance to nod before Ellen was handing him a tray loaded with food, mostly soft things like oatmeal that wouldn’t be difficult for Lois to eat. Ellen hurried around the kitchen, putting meals that she’d obviously spent half the night preparing in Tupperware containers and putting them in the freezer. Clark made his way upstairs with the tray. At Lois’s door, he balanced the tray on one hand and knocked softly. He heard her bid him enter and he opened the door. “Breakfast is served,” he said grandly as he placed the tray on the nightstand.
“That was quick,” she replied.
“Yeah, well, I think your mother was up the entire night cooking.”
She craned her neck to survey the contents of the tray. “Looks good, you didn’t by any chance see the paper downstairs, did you?” she asked innocently.
“Uh uh, no way,” he shook his head sternly. “Not with that concussion, you shouldn’t be trying to read anything for at least the next five days.”
“That’s why you’re going to read it to me,” she replied matter of factly.
Clark shrugged and nodded, finding no fault in her logic. He retrieved the morning’s Daily Planet from downstairs and returned to the chair by her bedside. He settled in and began reading her the top stories while she ate her breakfast. He came to a story on the front page under the fold and skipped over it. Turning the page and folding the paper, he began reading aloud.
“Go back,” she said between mouthfuls of oatmeal.
“What?”
“You skipped a story on the front page, go back,” she said.
“I did not,” he stammered.
“Yes you did. Don’t think I didn’t notice you cough and shuffle the paper around, now what’s on the front page that you don’t want me to know about?”
“It’s nothing,” he said defensively. He couldn’t believe how easily she saw through him.
“Then read it, please.”
He sighed and turned back to the front page. “Metro PD credits ‘The Angel’ with Stopping Deadly Virus Production,” he read. She said nothing and he continued with the sub headline. “Identity of MetroGen doctor who was seriously injured after discovering illegal genetic engineering project withheld.” He read on about the case with which he was intimately familiar and read further of the pleas by the Metro PD and the Mayor’s office for ‘The Angel’ to come forward and talk with city officials. He reached the end of the article and waited for her judgement.
“They’re still calling you ‘The Angel’?” she asked finally.
“Yeah, well, I haven’t been talking to the press or police or anything,” he rubbed absently at the back of his neck. “I don’t know what to say, or to whom, I just…I don’t know who I can trust.”
“Do you trust me, Clark?” she asked.
“Of course I do,” he replied. “You know that.”
“Then I know just the person who can help you. Come back here today at four o’clock sharp…”
“Four o’clock?”
“Yeah, any later and Perry won’t be able to get it into tomorrow’s morning edition.”
“Perry? The morning edition?”
“Mmm hmm, Uncle Perry is going to help us introduce Superman to Metropolis. Come in the suit and wait outside my window.”
He shook his head and grinned while she concocted her plan for the afternoon out loud. How was it that she was always able to find the answers to his problems so easily?
********
Perry sat behind his desk ruminating over an editing board of the proposed front page for tomorrow’s morning edition. He made some adjustments with a thick red pen, covering the board with arrows, crossing out things and circling others. He dropped the board back onto his desk and stared at it thoughtfully. The ringing of the phone on his desk interrupted his brooding.
“Perry White here,” he barked.
“Uncle Perry.”
“Lois! How are you, Darlin’?”
“I’m fine, Uncle Perry. Can you be at my house at four o’clock today?”
“Four o’clock? What’s going on, Lois? Is everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine, Uncle Perry, but believe me, you don’t want to miss this.”
“All right then. I’ll see you at four.”
“Don’t be late.”
“I won’t, Darlin’.”
“Bye, Uncle Perry”
“Bye, Lois.”
Perry hung up the phone. Confound it that girl could be cryptic when she wanted to be.
********
Perry pulled up in Lois’s driveway a few minutes before four o’clock. He rang the doorbell and Lucy let him into the house. Her books were spread out across the kitchen table, clearly she was working on her final project for her Masters, which was due in a few short weeks. Perry made his way upstairs and knocked on Lois’s door.
“Come in, Uncle Perry!” her voice called out from within the room.
Perry entered cautiously. Lois was sitting upright in bed, her face still bruised and covered in bandages, but some of the swelling had started to recede. Everything seemed all right. “How are you, Honey?” he asked. He crossed the room to sit in the chair pulled up beside her bed.
“All things considered, I’m doing all right, Uncle Perry, and you?”
“Just fine.”
“How’s Aunt Alice, and the boys?”
“They’re all fine,” Perry replied. “The boys wanted me to tell you that they ah, wish you a speedy recovery.”
Lois merely nodded and they were both quiet for a moment.
“So, ah, you going to tell me what this is all about?” Perry drawled.
“Actually, I asked you over here to meet a friend of mine. He should be here any moment.” As if on cue, Clark descended from above the house where he’d been waiting and floated next to Lois’s window. He tapped softly on the glass. “Dr. Lane?” he inquired.
“It’s open,” she replied nonchalantly, as if it were an everyday ordinary occurrence to have a man fly into one’s bedroom through a window.
Perry watched, thunderstruck, as the imposing figure in the blue and red suit floated through the window and into the room, a bouquet of lilies in hand. He touched down gently on the carpet.
Lois looked first at Clark and then at the flowers and once again at Clark’s face to see the mischievous smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
“I’m sorry I didn’t stop by earlier to see how you were doing, these are for you,” he extended the bouquet to her and she accepted them with a softly spoken ‘thank you’.
Lois turned back to Perry, whose jaw was resting somewhere near the floor. “Uncle Perry,” she began. “I’d like you to meet Superman.” She turned back to Clark who was standing on the opposite side of her bed. “Superman, this is my Uncle, Perry White.”
Superman’s sober expression changed to a polite but detached smile as he walked over to greet Perry and extended to him his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. White,” he said.
“Great shades of Elvis! I ah, well, I mean, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Superman!” Perry exclaimed as he shook the superhero’s hand vigorously.
Perry accepted the superhero’s request to have Dr. Lane present for the interview and so Superman pulled up another chair as Perry prepared himself to fire off questions. He could scarcely believe that he was actually talking to the now famous ‘Angel’ that had taken up residence in his fair city. A million questions swirled through his mind and he struggled to organize them.
“So, Superman,” Perry began finally, after they had both settled in. “Where do your powers come from?”
“I don’t know,” Clark replied with a shrug.
“Huh,” Perry grunted. “Well, have you always had them?”
Superman bit his bottom lip, brooding over his answer. He didn’t want to explain too much about himself, not that he knew the answers to all of the questions Perry was going to ask anyway. “They developed over time,” he said slowly.
“What about the flying? How do you do that?”
Clark stared thoughtfully into space, “I don’t know, really. Flying, for me, is just like walking, I don’t really have to think about it. I just do it.”
“All right, then. Eye witness accounts include statements that you can catch bullets, heat things with your eyes, and bend steel in your bare hands, is all of this true?”
Clark shrugged, “yeah. I mean, I have had to do all of those things.”
“So you’re saying your practically indestructible then?”
“Let’s just say I haven’t run into anything yet that can hurt me.”
“How long have you been here?”
“I came to Metropolis a few months ago.”
“Why Metropolis?”
“I thought I could make the biggest difference here. This is a wonderful city, and there are a lot of opportunities for me to use my powers for good here.”
Perry nodded as he scribbled something down. “Where are you from? Are you from Earth? Are you really an angel? An alien?”
“Slow down, Mr. White,” Superman replied with a smile. “I’m not an angel, or anything like that, I assure you. As to where I’m from, I’d rather not say,” what was he supposed to say, Smallville, Kansas? How was he to explain that one?
Perry frowned. “Well, can you tell me why you’re here, then?”
“I’m here…to help.”
“Help whom?”
“Whoever needs me, people in trouble. I have all of these…abilities that I can use to do some good. So that’s why I’m here, to do whatever I can.”
“If you’re ah, here to help, why have you remained hidden for so long? And why all the dark clothing and shadows at first? Why the switch to the ah, new suit?” Perry asked as he surveyed the superhero critically. He noticed Superman’s faintly bemused expression and continued, “not that there’s anything wrong with the suit, it’s a great uniform…”
“Well I didn’t want to scare people away,” that was a half-truth at least, Clark told himself. “But when it became clear to me that I could do more good out in the open than I could while remaining hidden, I decided it was time to let people know that I was here,” he shot Lois a quick glance that expressed his gratitude and his understanding of the truth; that she had helped him realize the need to don the suit. “I figured the suit would make me visible, let people know who I am and that I’m here to help.”
Perry laughed, “well it certainly does make you more noticeable.” His expression sobered considerably. “Some people have criticized you as a lawless vigilante, claiming that you’re failure to work in conjunction with law enforcement and your ah, unorthodox arrest tactics violate suspect Miranda rights, what would you say to these folks?”
Superman exhaled slowly, “I’m not here to take the law into my own hands, but if I do see a crime being committed, I feel personally obligated to stop it. I’d be more than willing to work with the police to coordinate my activities with them if they are amenable to the idea, but I don’t have any plans to stop helping.”
Perry digested Superman’s comments and chewed his lip thoughtfully, “are there any more like you?” he asked with a grin.
“Not on this planet,” Clark knew. He had checked.
Perry wrapped up the interview with several questions about the Genzyme case and thanked the hero, shaking his hand vigorously again. He thanked Lois for the exclusive, amazed at how she’d been able to deliver. Before excusing himself to return to the newsroom. It had been years since he’d had a byline at the Planet and he had the decade’s biggest story to write up.
********
Clark let out a sigh of relief.
“That went well,” Lois said cheerfully.
“Yeah, I owe you one,” Clark grinned.
“Mmm, considering you saved my life, I think it’s okay to say that we’re even.”
********
Clark and the Lanes worked out a schedule for the next few days to ensure that someone was always with Lois. Despite her protestations that she wasn’t an infant, it was quite clear that for all intents and purposes, Lois had been rendered practically immobile for about a week. The broken ankle and ribs made moving around difficult and she was unable to hide that fact from the three resident medical experts. It was decided that Ellen would spend the nights at Lois’s home and that Clark would arrive early in the mornings until Sam could be there. Lucy would take Sam’s place in the afternoons after her classes so that Sam could spend a few hours each evening in the lab. Clark would return again in the evenings after work and before Ellen arrived.
They settled into a steady routine as Lois made slow but real progress. Clark relished in being able to spend his mornings with Lois. He would bring her breakfast each day when she awoke and would sit by her bedside, reading her the paper. Each morning he would change the bandages on her face, taking delicate care not to hurt her. The wounds slowly healed and the bruises began to fade away. ‘The stitches would have to come out soon,’ he thought to himself. He would return again in the evenings and they would talk, often about Superman’s exploits but also about work and other things. Several times in the evenings, Clark had to leave her briefly to go be Superman. She could now recognize the distant look on his face that signaled that he was hearing something. The look was usually followed by one of frustration and confusion. Each time he tried to explain what was wrong, but each time she cut him off, pleading with him to go, telling him that she would be fine and that she wouldn’t go anywhere or do anything ambitious until he returned. With a pained look on his face, he would stand up and spin into the suit, taking her breath away. Then he would be gone. He returned to her as quickly as possible and truth be told, he was never gone for longer than twenty minutes. He reserved his evening patrols until after Ellen Lane arrived, and when he was with Lois, would only leave for real emergencies that he thought emergency services wouldn’t be able to handle.
Wednesday evening, the following week, the Lanes gathered at Lois’s house to celebrate Lucy’s twenty third birthday. Clark had met Lois’s younger sister at the hospital the night Lois was injured and had seen and talked with her on several occasions since, but was quite surprised when Ellen insisted that he come to the intimate family gathering. That Wednesday evening, Clark, who had spent the afternoon with Lois, greeted the Lanes when they arrived at Lois’s house. Sam and Ellen made their way to the kitchen to get everything ready, Lucy and Scott would arrive in an hour, and as was her style, Ellen took charge, insisting that there was nothing Clark needed to do to help. He retreated upstairs to see if Lois was ready. From the sound of running water, he could tell that she was still in the shower. She was becoming increasingly more mobile and with the aide of a plastic bag over her cast and a chair placed in the shower, she was able to bathe without Lucy or her mother’s assistance.
Clark waited outside her bedroom. He heard her shut the water off and figured that she would be out soon and if she needed anything, she would call. He waited patiently for her outside her door; she still needed help maneuvering up and down stairs.
A sharp ‘thud’ startled Clark. He heard Lois cry out. She was calling his name. He rushed into the bedroom. At the bathroom door he knocked. “Lois?” he called urgently. “Lois, are you all right?” When she didn’t respond he opened the door. He saw Lois on the ground; her face screwed up in a tight grimace, her crutches had dropped beside her. She was covered only by a towel wrapped around her body. He bent down immediately and scooped her up gingerly into his arms.
“I slipped,” she whispered, still gripped by pain. She clutched her hand at her left side.
Clark placed her gently on the bed and put a careful hand over hers. He touched his other hand to the stem of his glasses and met her gaze. “Is it all right if I…” he motioned at lowering the glasses down the bridge of his nose and she nodded. She withdrew her hand from her side and he stared hard over the rims of his glasses at the ribs that had just begun to heal. He sighed, relieved. “They didn’t re-break,” he said.
Lois exhaled slowly, relieved as well. The pain began to subside and she became acutely aware of how exposed and how vulnerable she was. Save for one skimpy towel she was completely naked in front of a man who held such incredible power over her heart. But Clark didn’t make her feel vulnerable. He made her feel protected and even given her state of undress, showed such concern for her privacy. And she trusted him. She trusted him not to hurt her, not to take advantage of her.
Clark retrieved the forgotten crutches from the bathroom and leaned them against the nightstand. “Are you going to be all right getting dressed?” he asked. “Do you want me to get Ellen?”
She placed a hand at the top of the towel to steady it as she pulled herself into a half-sitting position. “No, Clark, I’ll be fine. And thank you,” she smiled at him, hoping that her expression conveyed the gratitude she felt in her heart.
Clark simply nodded and left the room.
A short while later, Lois emerged, hobbling rather painfully, on the crutches. Clark stood beside her and with one arm steadied her, supporting most of her weight and with the other took away the crutches. “You had a pretty nasty fall back there,” he said softly. “I don’t think trying to get down stairs with these things,” he nodded at the offending crutches in his hand. “Would be the best idea at the moment.” He leaned the crutches against the wall.
“And I guess you have a better idea?” she raised an eyebrow at him, aware of the fact that she was flirting shamelessly with him. With his body so close to hers, she found it difficult to maintain her better judgement.
“Does this qualify?” he asked as he picked her up, holding her gently but securely in his arms. Whatever reaction Clark was expecting was not the one that he got. He was startled when she placed her head against his shoulder and placed her hand upon his chest. He carried her slowly down the stairs, sitting her down on the couch in the living room while he returned upstairs to retrieve her crutches. He returned and they walked together the short distance to the dining room where Ellen insisted that Lois sit down and relax, declaring that she had everything under control and that the two of them should just sit and wait, Lucy and Scott would be there soon.
Dinner reinforced in Clark’s mind many of the things that he had noticed about the Lanes over the last week. Both Ellen and Lucy shared Lois’s independent streak and her spiritedness. Sam proved to be a pillar of good-natured patience but with a sharp sense of humor. Clark felt incredibly welcomed with the Lanes, but any time conversation turned into a friendly debate, he quickly found himself outnumbered and out gunned. The Lane women all stuck together and he could tell that even when Sam and Scott agreed with him, they stood by their women. Most issues were resolved when Clark quickly and cheerfully admitted defeat. After a long and pleasant dinner, Lucy and Scott said their goodbyes and headed out for the evening. Clark remained a short while longer, talking with Lois and her parents. Eventually he too said his goodbyes and thanked the Lanes for dinner. Ellen shepherded Lois off to bed and then settled down on the couch beside her husband. Sam put his arm around his wife and they sat together silently.
********
A man in a large leather chair sat looking out the picture window of his office. He could see all of Metropolis from this height. A light snow fell over the city. It was growing dark out. He pulled a small cell phone out from within his jacket and punched a single button.
“What do you have to report?” he asked irritably. He listened to the voice on the other end. Whatever was being said certainly did nothing to mollify him. “And the losses from the Genzyme fiasco?” he frowned and listened once again. “Total, eh?…Can anything be traced back to us?…So Fitzgerald is set to take the fall?… Any chance that he’ll talk? Good…now tell me the whole week hasn’t been a total loss, what of the independent projects we’ve been attempting to acquire?…Really?…Now that is interesting, indeed.” A small, insidious smile played upon the corners of his mouth as he raised a cigar to his lips.
********
On Monday, Clark arrived at Lois’s house before work to pick her up and drive her to MetroGen; it was time for the stitches to come out. Lois handed over the keys to the Jeep without much protest; Clark was one of about four people she would allow to touch her prized automobile, but she still wasn’t happy about the idea of being chauffeured everywhere for the next month.
The weeks passed and Lois continued to make steady progress. When she was no longer exhibiting any signs of post concussion syndrome, she began doing data analysis at home and was soon spending time in the lab. She slowly returned to work at MetroGen, spending a few hours each day in the office, seeing patients, even though her surgery schedule had to be completely reworked; even now that she was more mobile, she couldn’t stand for the long periods required for surgery. Her rounds in the ED had been divided up among the rest of the cardiology staff in the department. The recovery period was frustrating. Lois hated being treated like she was fragile and made of glass, but she knew that she still wasn’t able to return to her normal workload. Her ankle couldn’t take the pressure of a full day’s work yet. It had been three weeks since it happened and her injuries continued to interfere with almost every aspect of her life. ‘As soon as I get out of this thing, and into an air cast, it’ll get better,’ she thought. She had another week before the cast came off. She figured she could last that long.
Even though she was far more independent now, Clark still came by every morning to pick her up and take her to work, and each day around noon, he would drive her home. It would be a while before she could drive again. As much as she hated being dependent on anyone, she was happy to be able to spend so much time with Clark. Although he worried constantly about how she was feeling, he never made her feel like an invalid.
It was a Tuesday morning, after the first real snow of the season. Clark arrived to pick Lois up as usual. He drove slowly through the snow, the roads were slippery, but he maneuvered the Jeep expertly. He parked the Jeep in the doctors’ lot and went around to the passenger side to help Lois out. They walked slowly toward the hospital entrance; their conversation interrupted by the revving of an engine and the squeal of vulcanized rubber on asphalt as a brand new Porsche came to a screeching halt in the lot. They both turned to look at a doctor of about thirty exit the automobile and stride confidently toward the entrance, an arrogant smirk upon his face. Clark didn’t recognize the man, but noticed as his expression changed upon seeing the pair. He now wore a look of concern that Clark was sure was practiced, as he picked up his pace, his eyes focused on Lois.
“Oh God, Lois, I heard all about what that monster did to you,” he began. He placed a hand upon her shoulder and stared right into her eyes. “Are you all right?”
Clark saw Lois turn away from the man’s gaze. “I’m fine, Craig,” she replied.
Craig shifted his position to effectively cut Clark off, failing to notice his presence entirely. “Well, you know, if you need anything, I’m always here,” he placed a hand on Lois’s cheek and leaned forward and kissed the corner of her mouth.
Lois was caught completely off guard, and on her crutches was rendered almost helpless to retreat as it was. Craig pulled away from her and smiled before turning toward the entrance and walking through the automatic double doors, leaving in his wake a startled Lois Lane and a seething Clark Kent.
With clenched teeth and tightened fists, Clark slowly counted to ten. He didn’t know Craig and he didn’t like Craig. Whoever he was, he was arrogant and rude and although whom Lois did or did not associate with was none of his business, he couldn’t help but feel both jealousy and outrage at the way Craig had kissed Lois. What was it that gave him that right? It was a privilege for which Clark had yearned. ‘Why him and not me?’ he asked angrily. Though he had to admit that Lois had done nothing to welcome the kiss and she seemed startled by it.
They walked silently the remainder of the way to Lois’s office. Clark returned several hours later to drive her home. Nothing was said on the way back to the Jeep.
As Clark turned to pull out of the parking lot, Lois broke the silence. “I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce you to Craig…”
“He didn’t give you much of a chance,” Clark laughed humorlessly.
“That…that was Craig Kensington. He…he’s an anesthesiologist here. We went out, years ago.”
“I guess you guys must still be pretty close,” Clark frowned as he pulled up to a red light. He was testing her, seeing if she would take the bait.
“No, no not really,” she replied, avoiding Clark’s intense, scrutinizing gaze. “We haven’t really talked much since we broke up. That was two years ago.”
“Is he always that friendly?” Clark asked.
“Craig is just, well, Craig,” she replied cryptically. Clark snorted in response. Lois had never seen Clark behave like this. ‘Was he jealous?’ “Craig is just used to getting what he wants, I guess,” she winced inwardly, realizing how Clark would most likely interpret her comments.
‘What was that supposed to mean?’ he thought angrily. ‘Was he used to getting what he wanted from Lois?’
“He means well,” she saw the burning look in Clark’s eyes. Wrong word choice. “But he’s too self absorbed. He never seems to notice how what he says or does affects other people.”
Clark didn’t respond and turned his attention back to the road. The light had turned green and he crossed the intersection.
“He asked me to marry him.”
“What?” Clark turned to look at Lois and nearly swerved into the next lane, almost hitting another car. He turned the wheel back and straightened the car out. “Sorry,” he mumbled, trying to focus on the road, trying not to let his emotions control his responses.
“I couldn’t say yes. I didn’t love him. I don’t think he loved me either. He probably just thought it was the right thing to do. We’d been seeing each other for over three years. I was from the right kind of family, with the right career and the right connections and I guess he had just always assumed…but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t marry someone I didn’t love. I don’t think he ever understood my choice. I know that I made the right decision, I’m sure of it now.”
Clark’s anger disappeared. He marveled at how she confided so completely in him. ‘You have to know that I would love you,’ he thought. ‘That I *do* love you, more than anything.’ He ached to tell her, but said nothing. He turned onto her street and pulled the Jeep into the drive. He helped her out of the car and into her house, following her just a step behind as she hopped up the stairs on the crutches. He opened her bedroom door for her.
“I’m sorry, Clark,” she whispered as she crossed the threshold
“What?”
“I’ve managed to burden you with all of my problems. I don’t know how you put up with me,” her voice was small, she spoke softly.
He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked deep into her eyes. “Lois, you could never be a burden, and I’m the one who acted like a jerk, I should be the one apologizing.”
“No, Clark. You know that isn’t true. You’re the kindest, most selfless person I’ve ever met.” Her liquid brown eyes met his in an intense gaze and he could see that she meant every word she said.
He reached out a tentative hand to gently caress her cheek. She closed her eyes and tilted her head, leaning into the contact. She tilted her chin upward to look into his eyes. What she saw in them stunned her. The depth of his emotions was written clearly on his face. He leaned closer to her, his hand tilting her chin up slightly as she moved closer to him. Their lips were only inches apart. She could feel his warm breath and wanted desperately to crush her lips against his, to taste him. He closed the distance between them. Her heart pounded in anticipation. She could almost feel his lips against hers.
She turned away. He pulled back, renewing the physical distance between them in response to the emotional distance she had constructed. She looked down, unable to face him. He tried to hide the hurt and confusion in his expression.
“Lois, I’m sorry, I had no right…”
“No Clark, please,” she pleaded. “You don’t understand, I…I can’t.”
“What? What is it, Lois? You can tell me, please, you can tell me anything,” he placed a hand on her arm. He was begging her not to shut him out.
“I’m afraid, Clark,” their eyes locked. She could she the change in his expression as the words spilled from her lips. She saw the pain flash across his face. He began to back away from her.
Clark felt his chest constrict and he couldn’t breathe. It was true. She was afraid of him. The nightmares, the time when she had run from his embrace, her own words confirmed his own greatest fears. She couldn’t accept him, not in that way, not in that role. How could he expect any different, though? He was a freak. He wasn’t even human. She had accepted him as a friend but asking any more of her had been wrong. But although he understood, her rejection of him hurt terribly. He stumbled backwards, needing to put even more distance between them. He didn’t know what to say to her. He needed to get away from there.
“Clark, wait, please…” she pleaded with him.
“I’m sorry, Lois,” he shook his head and continued backing toward the window. He nearly stumbled over the chair in his path. He looked back at the open window behind him, and in an instant was gone.
“Clark!” she cried out after him, but he couldn’t go back.
********
Lois watched as he stumbled backward, muttering apologies as he fled. He found the welcoming exit and disappeared, never looking back. She felt her stomach tie itself in a knot as a horrible sense of déjà vu struck her like a Mack truck. ‘Great job, Lane,’ the little voice inside her mind taunted her. ‘You didn’t even have to sleep with this one to drive him away.’ She stared at the empty space that Clark had occupied only moments ago. She wiped the heel of her hand savagely at her eyes. She was sick and tired of crying. Lois limped to the bed, dropping the crutches and collapsing onto the mattress. She curled up in a ball, after what seemed like eternity, though it was really only a few minutes, sleep took pity on Lois, and she drifted off.
********
Clark careened through the gray winter sky. He hadn’t bothered to change into the suit, depending upon the cloud cover to give him the requisite camouflage. Somewhere over the Atlantic he changed directions and flew straight up. He stopped around the ionosphere, where the molecules of air were spread thinly in a fuzzy layer that separated Earth from space. He looked outward to the darkened nether-regions, speckled with tiny pinpoints of light and he cried out in frustration. His voice died on impact with the absolute nothingness of space and all was silent. He drifted aimlessly for long minutes, with nothing but his own tortured thoughts to keep him company. Just when he thought he’d found somewhere that he could belong. Just when he thought he’d found a place where he could make a home, he was reminded of the fact that he didn’t fit in, that he couldn’t belong.
“Why?” he shouted at the infinite blackness that stretched in front of him. Why couldn’t he just be normal? Why couldn’t he be like everyone else? Why was he forever cursed to be an outsider? Fate had played a cruel joke on him, he decided. He was the most powerful being in the world, and yet the only things he wanted were the only things he could never have. Adored and revered as Superman, the incorruptible, stoical symbol of good, and respected as Dr. Clark Kent, son of Kansas farmers, he could never truly be loved and accepted for what he really was: not quite human.
He still had his parents. They loved him, they accepted him. But even the unconditional love of his mother and father wasn’t enough to fill the void in his life. They couldn’t erase the need to belong. He laughed humorlessly as he wondered which part of his life was the bigger lie – Clark Kent or Superman. At least as Superman he admitted openly that he wasn’t normal. He didn’t feel like he was trying to infiltrate a group of which he could never be a part. He was an outsider, but that was okay. People knew and they accepted it. And even though the hero in the blue and red suit, the serious, somber champion of truth and justice, the demigod that lived a life free of human wants and desires, was not who he was, he couldn’t deny the fact that as Clark Kent, he also pretended to be something he wasn’t. He pretended to be like everyone else: just an average, everyday, ordinary man. Being Clark Kent didn’t feel like an act. He’d been raised as Clark, his values, thoughts, hopes, and dreams all products of his upbringing, but he still used his identity to deceive people. And when someone finally saw through his deception, it was at once the most thrilling and terrifying thing in the world. Lois had discovered the truth about him, she had seen through the illusion, the façade that he wore, and for the first time in his life, he had someone else to confide in. He could be himself with her. He could be honest with her–about almost everything. There was one thing that should have stayed hidden. He had tried to bury his feelings for her, buut with no success. He couldn’t hide the way he felt and he had crossed the line. She had offered her friendship, and he’d greedily tried to twist it into something more. He felt an almost incapacitating ache in his gut. He tried to remember the last time he’d felt physical pain. ‘This is probably what it feels like to get kicked in the stomach,’ he thought.
Knowing that he frightened her made him ill. But he couldn’t blame her. How could she not fear him? He may have looked human but he certainly wasn’t. Even if she could somehow accept the fact that he wasn’t human, how could she help but be afraid that he would hurt her? She had witnessed him crush steel as though it were Styrofoam. She had every right to be terrified of him. He had never physically hurt anyone before, but even if all that was holding her back was a fear of his strength, he still couldn’t offer her many reassurances. He wasn’t even sure he could make love to a woman. He had had girlfriends before, but it had never been an issue. He refused to separate sex from love and he had never felt strongly enough about a woman to give himself completely to her. He had often wondered idly if he was even capable of love. Lois had destroyed every one of his doubts on that subject. He loved her completely.
He spun into the suit. His mind was flying in circles and he was accomplishing nothing. The least he could do was patrol while mentally berating himself. He took off for Metropolis, the earth shattering sonic boom that was normally left in his wake died quietly as the sound waves rippled against the thinly spread molecules and into the vacuum of space.
********
He sat beside a roaring fire in an oversized armchair, his feet propped up on an Ottoman, a glass of a rich Merlot in one hand, the evening Daily Planet in the other. He tossed the paper into the flames and the pages were quickly consumed in the conflagration. Black ashes rose into the flue as the smell of burning newsprint filled the room.
“Superman saves the day again!” he mocked. “City has new favorite son!”
“Sir, if I may…”
“Thanks to this…this Superman,” he said contemptuously. “All biochemical projects with Ft. Truman have now been frozen. Have you any idea how much this is going to set back LexLabs this year?” he continued without waiting for a response. “And do you know what the salt in the wound is, Nigel? Do you know what the ultimate indignity is? This freak in tights who has paraded onto the scene has given every single exclusive to the Daily Planet and I’m now reading about my own companies and their woes in the Daily Planet while ratings for my own news networks are at an all time low. But enough of this, I cannot allow these minor details to divert my attention from more pressing matters. What of the development plans for Lex Harbor?”
“Sir,” the cultured voice of an educated Englishman began. “We have not been able to secure the requisite property in West River.”
“I’m sorry, Nigel, but I believe you just said that you failed to buy out the real estate? Please tell me that I’m mistaken.”
“No, sir, you are not. The remaining tenants proved rather unyielding in their positions.”
“Impossible! Those people should be terrified by now. Intensify the arson campaign.”
“We already attempted that, sir.”
“Then escalate street crime, more overt threats of violence, anything!”
“We’ve tried all of those things. Superman increased his patrols in West River. Thanks to his efforts, there is currently a shortage of mindless thugs in Metropolis willing to continue the attacks on the region. As a result, crime rates have dropped precipitously; even crime rings in West River not under our control are no longer functioning. The Metros, sir, are all but defunct. Consequently, we have succeeded in buying out no more property owners. Several of those who had agreed to sell but had not signed contracts rescinded their agreements. Three transactions have been halted in escrow.”
“Enough!” he stood from his chair and swirled the wine in the goblet before turning and dashing the glass against the fireplace. The glass shattered and the fire hissed as wine dripped down the stone wall of the fireplace and into the flames. “This Superman has made himself into more than just a simple nuisance,” his dark expression was replaced by a thoughtful and pensive frown. “He will no doubt prove a worthy adversary, but we maintain one advantage over him Nigel; we have identified this foe, we know the threats he poses to us. Mine are as yet concealed from him. And so, I must continue to disguise my intentions, for to take him on openly without a better understanding of the enemy would be suicide.” Lex Luthor’s lips curled into a feral grin.
“What are you planning, sir?”
“Why to match his own disgusting goodness with my own of course, Nigel. ‘But then I sigh; and, with a piece of scripture, Tell them that God bids us do good for evil: And thus I clothe my naked villainy with old odd ends stolen out of holy writ; And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.'”
“Very good, sir,” Nigel smiled a cold and cunning smile.
********
The next morning, a public ‘thank you’ on behalf of all the citizens of Metropolis to Superman was included in every major newspaper, courtesy of Lex Luthor. LNN also ran spots with the famed billionaire issuing a personal thank you to the Man of Steel for his efforts. Luthor also used the opportunity to declare his intent to donate sums totaling over seven million dollars to the children’s wards of the major hospitals of Metropolis. He issued a personal invitation to Superman to a formal reception for the check presentations, and expressed his deep desire that the super hero attend.
Metropolis’s finest caterers and event planners were called on behalf of Luthor Enterprises and informed that they had forty eight hours to prepare for the event. Invitations were hand delivered by ten that morning. Lex smiled as he looked out the window at the cold and dreary morning from the comfort of his office.
********
Clark hovered over Lois’s home early that morning. He wasn’t spying, exactly, but he had realized the night before that he couldn’t effectively avoid Lois. As independent as she was, she was still unable to get to work without help. He was relieved when Lucy Lane arrived around eight that morning. He had run from Lois like an invertebrate, but his guilt was somewhat tempered by the fact that she hadn’t been completely stranded by his desertion. He lingered overhead for a moment before flying back to the hospital. He had firmly decided to ignore all calls for help that could be dealt with by emergency services while he was on call in the ED, but those few random times when he’d been torn from the hospital for a few moments just so that he could defuse the worst of a situation were starting to catch up to him. Absence was not an option for an Emergency Department doctor. When absolutely necessary, he would duck out for a moment to help before racing back. But when things in the ED were bad, he would sometimes hear cries that he would have otherwise answered and would have to ignore them. It was the most difficult thing to do. He felt as though he were playing God, deciding whom to help and whose cries he just couldn’t answer, but he repeated the mantra that all doctors in Emergency Departments learned, ‘I’m doing the best that I can and that is all I can ask of myself. I can’t save everyone.’
Luckily, the growth and success of his research project had allowed him to dedicate most of his working hours to the lab, where he could come and go as he pleased. He spent only a few shifts a week in the ED now and usually managed to get assigned to the quieter hours, which was possible when one volunteered for the half shifts from four in the morning until eight a.m., the shifts no one else wanted.
He gave up his station above Lois’s home and flew back to the hospital.
********
“Ready to go, Lois?” Lucy asked.
Lois dumped out the remains of a cup of coffee, rinsed the mug and left it in the sink. She walked to where Lucy was waiting, by the door. She waved off Lucy’s proffered arm as she navigated the icy walkway to Lucy’s car.
“How much longer on those things?” her younger sister inquired.
“The cast comes off tomorrow,” Lois replied. “I get to move up to an air cast then.” Lucy unlocked the doors and the two women got into the car. Lois tried to steer the conversation to what was going on in Lucy’s life.
Lucy pulled up her car in the doctor’s lot, near the entrance to the hospital. “So what happened between you and Clark?” she asked matter of factly.
“What? Nothing. What makes you think something happened?” Lois babbled nervously.
“Come on, Sis. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that he’s crazy about you, and he’s been following you around practically like a puppy dog these last few weeks, it’s positively adorable how he’s been taking care of you. Then this morning, you call, needing a ride to work. I figured Clark had been driving you in. ”
“That’s ridiculous, Lucy. Clark does not follow me around. If you must know, he was busy this morning,” Lois lied unconvincingly.
“Fine, Sis, deny it all you want, but you’re not fooling anyone, not even Mom and Dad. By the way, they absolutely adore Clark. They think he’s wonderful, and I called Dad this morning after you called to let him know I was driving you to work and that I’d be late for breakfast and he wanted to know what you’d done to scare poor Clark away.”
“Oh, so now they’re on his side, huh?” Lois fumed, she realized a moment too late what she had just said.
“So you did have a fight with Clark!” Lucy suppressed a smile, as much of an accomplishment as it was to trick Lois like that; she had no desire to hold it over her sister’s head.
“What? No, well, it wasn’t a fight exactly…”
Lucy’s expression became more serious. She placed a reassuring hand on her older sister’s shoulder. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I’m here if you want to talk about it, Sis.”
“Thanks, Lucy, I appreciate it. I can’t talk about it, not yet anyway.”
Lucy nodded her understanding and got out to help Lois exit the car. Lois insisted she would be fine getting to the office and shooed her sister off. Lois walked through the halls, recently decorated for the holiday season, to her office. Mrs. O’Neil bid her a good morning and handed her a stack of mail as well as messages. Lois carried the stack to her desk and sat to flip through it. Amidst the magazines, journals, and statements was a small envelope with a gold foil stamped LL where the return address should have been. She turned the envelope over and opened it. It was an invitation.
Dear Dr. Lane,
Mr. Lex Luthor requests the honor of your presence at his penthouse home at seven o’clock in the evening on the 20th of December, 1996 for a special reception and check presentation ceremony for his donations to the children’s wards at Metropolis General Hospital, Our Lady of Mercy Hospital and Metropolis University Hospital.
Underneath the neat script was a handwritten message:
Dr. Lane,
I do hope that you can make it. I have heard wonderful things about your work and I am truly looking forward to meeting you.
Lex Luthor
Lois shook her head. She didn’t remember hearing about any donation from Luthor to the hospital. She checked the date on her calendar. The 20th was this Friday; that was only two days away. She picked up the crutches and walked into the reception area.
“Mrs. O’Neil?”
“Yes, Dr. Lane?” Mrs. O’Neil inquired.
“Yes, could you tell me when this arrived?” Lois asked, holding up the little envelope.
“It was hand delivered by a courier this morning.”
“Thank you,” Lois turned and headed back into her office. She returned to her desk and concentrated on her work. She had several patients to see and needed to review their files.
Sam Lane arrived at Lois’s office early that afternoon to drive Lois home. Lois managed to keep the topic of conversation focussed on the invitations that both had received for Lex Luthor’s reception, to avoid discussing why Clark wasn’t the one driving her home today. She hadn’t seen him at work at all today, but that was due mostly to the fact that she holed herself up in her office for the entire time she was there.
She checked the messages on her machine. Her lawyer had called. Apparently they needed her to give a deposition for the Genzyme case. He told her to expect a call in January from the DA’s office, but urged her to contact him before that so that they could talk. She sighed; she wanted to put the whole business with Genzyme behind her, but Lois knew that her testimony would be vital to ensuring that those responsible were brought to justice.
She spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with the latest developments with the research project, but she couldn’t help but think about what had happened the previous day between her and Clark. She was so confused. Lois still wasn’t sure how she had managed to drive him away so quickly. She must have misjudged his intentions; she must have seen something that wasn’t there. She had thought that she understood Clark, and that she knew what it was that he wanted, but had become so confused over the last few weeks. She had been sure that friendship was all he wanted, up until a few weeks ago anyway, suddenly, she was almost as convinced that there could have been something else, something more between them. Maybe she had overestimated the strength of his feelings, but that still didn’t explain what had happened. What had scared him off so quickly? He didn’t even wait around long enough to hear what she was trying to say. Was he afraid of what she was going to tell him? What did he think she was going to say? She shook her head, unable to make any sense of the situation. Lois looked at her watch; it was just after six. She picked up the phone.
“Hello?’
“Lucy?”
“What’s up, Sis?”
“Is that offer to talk still on the table?”
“Of course it is. I just dropped off my thesis at the binders, why don’t I pick you up and we can talk over a cup of coffee, sound good?”
“Yeah, Luce, thanks.”
“No problem, Sis. I’ll be over in a little while.”
Lois hung up the phone, already feeling better. She obviously couldn’t tell Lucy everything, but she needed to talk to someone and she knew that her sister would listen and do everything she could to help.”
Lucy drove them to Natale’s where they ordered the usual and sat at their regular sofa. “So what happened?” Lucy asked quietly.
Lois sipped her coffee thoughtfully. “I don’t know, Luce. The last few weeks Clark and I have gotten closer. I care about Clark, he’s my best friend, but I wanted something more than just friendship with him. Up until a few weeks ago, I was sure that friendship was what Clark wanted. But lately, I just didn’t know. The way he acted around me, I couldn’t help but think that there could be something more between us, but he was so reluctant, so I figured I was wrong. And then yesterday, well, we ran into Craig outside the hospital. Craig kinda acted like a jerk and it upset Clark. I’d never seen him act jealous before that. He was so tense on the way home. He took me home, and we almost kissed…”
“But you couldn’t do it, could you?”
“How did you…”
“Because I know you, Lois. And because I know how much you care about Clark.”
“It doesn’t make any sense, does it?” Lois shook her head.
“No, it makes perfect sense, Lois. You’re afraid of what will happen if you let Clark get close to you. You’re afraid of getting hurt.”
“I guess I am afraid of letting Clark in, but not for that reason, I’m not afraid of him hurting me.”
“Then what is it, Sis?”
“I’m afraid of hurting Clark.”
“Lois, I hardly think that you’d intentionally do anything to hurt Clark…”
“I don’t know if I can explain it, Luce.”
“Can you try?”
“What? Yeah I guess so. It’s just that, with everything that’s happened lately, with Danny’s murder, and all, I’ve been having these nightmares, and in them, I keep confusing Danny with Clark and I’m so afraid that what happened with Danny will happen to Clark…”
Lucy shook her head, thoroughly puzzled. “You’re afraid that Clark is going to die and that somehow, you’re going to be to blame? I don’t understand, Sis.”
“No, no it’s nothing like that, Lucy. Well not really, anyway.” She sighed. “You were too young at the time so I never told you why Danny and I had that falling out in college.” She proceeded to tell Lucy what happened that had destroyed their friendship.
Lucy listened quietly as her sister told the story. Finally, she spoke. “Lois, it doesn’t sound to me like you hit Danny over the head with a club and dragged him to bed. You can’t take all the blame for what happened, you were both responsible and you both made a mistake. You can’t use that as an excuse for shutting people out of your life forever.”
“I know Lucy, I mean, I guess you’re right, even still, I don’t know if I can undo what happened yesterday.”
“Why? What was so terrible about yesterday?”
“When I couldn’t kiss Clark, he asked me what was wrong, he looked so hurt, Lucy. I tried to tell him, but the moment I started to explain, he started apologizing and he just ran away. I don’t know what I could have said to him to make him react like that.”
“Well what did you say?”
“I was trying to tell him that I was afraid, but he wouldn’t let me say anything else.”
“Do you have any idea what he could have thought that you meant?”
“I don’t know, Luce, I don’t know.”
“You have to talk to him, Lois. You care about him too much to just let him go like this, and don’t try to deny it, either,” Lucy gave her sister a knowing smile. “And whether or not you want to believe it, Clark is crazy about you, I think everyone in Metropolis has realized that except you, Sis.”
********
Clark busied himself with his Superman duties as much as possible. Things had quieted down in West River, but he still managed to find ways to help whenever possible. He took every opportunity to remind the criminal elements in Metropolis that he was watching. Being Superman had involved more ‘crime fighting’ than Clark had initially expected. He had planned on limiting himself to what he knew, helping people with medical emergencies, but he quickly realized that there was so much he could do to protect people from crime as well.
Since Lex Luthor’s public messages to Superman, Clark found himself with the one thing that he already had too much of, press attention. He hadn’t been able to avoid the media for long and eventually decided to accept Luthor’s invitation to the reception. If the city’s most well known philanthropist wanted his help for a good cause, why shouldn’t he help? He realized that his involvement with Luthor’s donation would encourage others to contribute to Luthor’s cause and he knew better than almost anyone that the children’s wards in the hospitals of Metropolis could use the money.
********
The rest of the week passed and Lois didn’t see Clark except on television and on the front page of the Daily Planet. She had heard that he was planning to attend the reception tonight. She wanted to tell him how proud she was of him and everything he was doing for Metropolis, but they hadn’t spoken in days. He never seemed to be around. She stopped by his office this morning and had apparently ‘just missed him.’
She was busy getting dressed for the reception. Her father would be by to pick her up in an hour. She was relieved that the reception called for business attire as opposed to formal wear. She would have felt absolutely ridiculous in a formal dress with her air cast. Instead, she opted for a pantsuit and the only pair of acceptable shoes that she owned that would go over the air cast. She finished getting ready and walked slowly down the stairs, holding onto the banister. She was glad to finally be rid of the crutches.
She sat down to watch the news, knowing it would be a bad idea. She saw a clip of Superman’s latest rescues, and she wondered what he was doing right now. Was he flying his patrols? Was he at home? Was he getting ready for the big evening? Surely he had to know what a big deal tonight was, how much attention would be drawn to the cause because of his association with it. She heard the doorbell ring. Daddy was here. She sighed as she turned off the television and got up to answer the door.
********
“Dr. Lane!” both Lois and her father looked up as someone called out across the grand reception room of the Lex Corp building.
“Dr. Peterson!” Sam Lane replied as he recognized the man moving through the crowd toward them. Her father and his colleague soon took their leave of Lois as they discussed something to which she was paying no particular attention. She surveyed the room, a bored look on her face. She watched as a man descended the staircase that led to the top floor penthouse of the building. Everyone he passed stopped whatever he or she was doing or saying to turn and greet him politely. She recognized him immediately as the host of this particular get-together. She was surprised to see him walk straight toward her and was caught completely off guard when he greeted her.
“Dr. Lane, I’m so very glad you could make it,” he smiled.
“I’m happy to be here, Mr. Luthor, yours is a wonderful cause,” she replied.
“Isn’t it though?” he smiled again, but she looked instead at his eyes. His gaze, scrutinizing and unwavering, was directed toward her. She felt uncomfortable under his questioning stare. “Dr. Lane,” he began. “I understand you’ve been having some funding problems with your project. I’ve read all about your work and must say that I’m intrigued by what you and your father have accomplished. It’s no less than sheer brilliance, Lois, may I call you Lois?” she nodded. “I believe I am in a position to ensure that you and your father will be able to continue your work unhindered and unencumbered by financial concerns. I would very much like to speak with you about a possible partnership…”
“Mr. Luthor…”
“Lex, please,” he favored her with another of his charming grins.
“Lex,” she repeated. “That is a very generous offer, but I’m afraid that I will have to discuss it further with my father. He and I are a team and it would be wrong of me to offer you any premature assurances without consulting him.”
“Of course, I completely understand, Lois, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, believe me. I respect and admire your father’s work. He is a man with a vision, and this is ultimately a decision for the two of you, I just thought that I’d offer to you this potential option.”
“Thank you, Lex.”
He nodded graciously. “Would it be all right if I called you?” he wore a cunning, crafty expression.
“Certainly,” she replied with a knowing smile of her own. She wasn’t sure what he was implying, but was not about to let Lex Luthor get the upper hand. “I believe you have the number of the lab.” She paused for a moment but he gave no reaction. “It has been very nice meeting you, Lex.”
He took her hand in both of his and raised it to his lips, “believe me, the pleasure was all mine.” He smiled like a man who had just played a trick on the entire world as he receded into the crowd.
Lois had to repress a shiver as he walked away. Her first encounter with Lex Luthor had lasted about five minutes and she had already deduced that he was a very charming man…and that she could trust him about as far as she could throw him.
Moments after Lex’s departure Lois heard someone call out “Superman!” from across the room. All eyes turned toward the large windows as the blue and red clad hero alighted upon the balcony. Superman opened the large French doors and entered. The crowds around him parted like the Red Sea had for a particular determined prophet. The conversations in the room subsided into softly spoken murmurs as he strode purposefully across the room.
“Superman!” Lex called out. “So good of you to come!” the billionaire extended his hand to the Man of Steel. “Ladies and gentlemen, Superman!”
The room burst into applause. Clark shook Lex Luthor’s proffered hand. All eyes were on him and he couldn’t think of a thing to say. The room suddenly became silent. He cleared his throat. “Good evening ladies and gentlemen,” he began. “I’m very happy to be here tonight to help Mr. Luthor with his wonderful cause. I encourage all of you to follow Mr. Luthor’s example and support the hospitals of Metropolis that serve our city and care for our children.” The crowd burst into another round of applause. Clark surveyed the room. Amidst the large crowd he found her, clapping politely, with a wane smile upon her lips, wearing an almost wistful expression. He decided to act upon the better part of valor and made his way to the exit. It would do no good for people to wonder what Superman was standing around gazing at all evening. Mr. Luthor intercepted him and thanked him again for coming. Clark reiterated that he was happy to help in any way he could and expressed his own thanks for what the city’s greatest philanthropist was doing. He made his way back to the balcony and lifted off slowly before rocketing across the cold winter night’s sky.
Clark tried to clear his mind as he flew his patrols that night, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Lois. The criminals of Metropolis no doubt noticed that night that Superman was in a particularly rotten mood. On several occasions, he simply grabbed suspects in the act and dumped them in front of the nearest police officers. It was almost dawn when he finished patrolling. He went home, turned the ringer off his phone and went straight to bed. It was his day off and he wanted to sleep. He had finished his Christmas shopping long ago so a low-key day was reasonable option, so long as the more shady and nefarious denizens of Metropolis didn’t interfere with his plans.
********
Lois took advantage of the weekend to finish the Christmas shopping she had put off to the last minute. She fought the crowds in Metropolis’s malls all day Saturday and most of Sunday as well. She returned to her house Sunday afternoon and noticed the blinking red light on her answering machine. She checked the messages and was surprised to hear Dr. Davis’s voice.
“Dr. Lane, this is Dr. Davis, I’m calling because Dr. Richardson will no longer be able to attend the Cardiology seminar series in Auckland next week. I understand that this is short notice, but the hospital wants you to take Dr. Richardson’s place. You leave Thursday evening and the conference will last two weeks. It’s all expenses paid of course and this is considered a paid business trip on behalf of the hospital. I’m sure you know how important this conference is Dr. Lane, if you have any questions, feel free to call me. You have my number.”
“Who is that woman kidding?” Lois spat angrily. This Thursday? That was the day after Christmas. She didn’t have time for this. She couldn’t just skip out for two weeks to go to some conference. Who held conferences this time of year anyway? She had laughed months ago when she heard about this. Some bright fellow must have decided that a conference over New Year’s would be a fantastic idea. Lois had been relieved when it appeared as though Dr. Richardson would be attending, ensuring that MetroGen would be properly represented and absolving her of any duties to the whole silly affair. This would set Lois’s research back even further and her father had already had to do too much of the work as of late. Still fuming, Lois found her notes and retreated to the study.
Monday was spent in the lab and reworking her schedule. Her appointment book had already been dragged through the wringer several times as it was. Tuesday was Christmas Eve and Lois decided to put in a half day at work although she hadn’t been planning on it earlier.
********
“This is completely unacceptable!” a stack of hapless papers was flung against the far wall, individual sheets fluttered to the ground. “The closure of the Ft. Truman lab must be part of the alien’s plan. He obviously wishes to render us defenseless to his invading hordes.”
“Sir?” a young man in a neat military uniform attempted to get his commanding officer’s attention.
“What is it?!”
“We do have some good news, sir. We have made a positive match with a sighting and craft recovery from somewhere in Kansas,” the young man looked through the folder in his hand. “Here it is, Smallville, Kansas, 1966. The craft recovered has an emblem on it that matches Superman’s S shield.”
“Get on with it, Lieutenant! We know all of this already!”
“Sorry sir. Alongside the craft that was recovered in October of that year were several unidentified meteorites. They were sent in for analysis and our scientists have been working with them ever since. We hypothesize that these meteorites, which produce ultra low frequency radiation, could be poisonous to the alien. Prolonged exposure could in fact, prove fatal.”
“Why wasn’t I informed of these developments?!”
“Well, sir, the theory is still just that, a theory. But it is a strong one, and it is the best chance we have against the alien at this time.”
“Are you prepared to test this hypothesis of yours, Lieutenant?”
“Sir, we’re in the process of perfecting a delivery system for the agent. We’ve managed to suspend it as an aerosol, we believe it will be most effective in that medium.”
“So how much longer?”
“Sir, with the closure of Ft. Truman, we’ll be set back at least a few months.”
“Unacceptable, Lieutenant!”
“Sir, we don’t have a delivery system for the aerosol.”
“Surely the United States Military is capable of delivering a poisonous gas to a single target, Lieutenant.”
“Sir, the current delivery system for such an agent is privately patented and would need to be modified for this particular aerosol.”
“Who holds the patent?”
“Lex Labs, sir.”
“Then set up a meeting with Mr. Luthor for me for tomorrow, Lieutenant.”
“Sir?”
“What is it?”
“Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, sir, Mr. Luthor may not be amenable to meeting tomorrow.”
“I don’t care what tomorrow is, Lieutenant. Are you telling me that you would sacrifice our planet to some alien race in order to drink egg nog and sing inane Christmas carols, Lieutenant?”
“No, sir.”
“Then get the hell out of here.”
The Lieutenant saluted crisply and exited the office. Colonel Jason Trask took his seat behind his desk. His eyes narrowed as he thought about the so called Superman and the invading race he represented. ‘I’m not about to let you colonize this planet with your ‘advanced race.’ We won’t prove so easy to conquer my arrogant friend,’ Trask thought to himself.
********
Clark spent Monday in the lab and made several appearances at local charities. Thankfully the holiday season had resulted in fewer serious crimes this year, leaving Clark only petty thefts to deal with among his more enjoyable responsibilities. Though he hadn’t fully anticipated them, his activities in the suit not directly related to emergencies were among the best parts of his second job. He got a kick out of pulling a sled laden down with toys to the Metropolis children’s home and his visit to the children in Metropolis’s hospitals had not only brightened their spirits, but his as well.
********
“Mr. Luthor?”
“What is it?” Lex asked, irritated as he punched the intercom button on his phone. He’d asked not to be interrupted today.
“There is a Col. Trask here to see you, sir.”
“I’ve no appointments scheduled for today.” Luthor responded curtly.
“I know, sir, but he claims that it is a matter of national security and he is being rather persistent.”
“Send him in, then,” Lex responded, mildly intrigued.
A stern looking middle aged man made his way into Luthor’s office. Lex stood from his desk, silently sizing up his visitor. “Col. Trask, is it?”
“Yes, Mr. Luthor, that is correct.”
“Have a seat please, Col. Trask,” Lex gestured to one of the chairs across from his desk. “What can I do for you Colonel?”
“I know about your involvement with Genzyme, Mr. Luthor.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I know about your contracts with the United States Military, both the legitimate ones and those under the table.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lex replied flatly.
“There’s no reason to deny it, Mr. Luthor, I’m not here to threaten you.”
“Really?” Lex replied cynically. “Well it certainly does appear otherwise, I’m afraid.”
“I’m here to make a proposition to you, Mr. Luthor, one I’m convinced you cannot reject. I know how much the alien’s meddling cost you in the Genzyme affair.”
“By ‘alien’ I assume you are referring to Superman.”
“Yes, if that is what the arrogant menace wishes to refer to himself as, so be it. You are not alone in your opinion that the alien is a threat to our society. He is a danger to our very way of life, Mr. Luthor. As the front man for an invading race, he’s here no doubt, to earn our trust before his kind arrives like a plague of locusts to descend upon our planet and colonize it. He must be stopped.”
“Let’s just say that I agree with you, that this, Superman, needs to be eliminated, how exactly do you propose to do it?” Luthor’s eyes narrowed as he leaned over his desk to stare Trask straight in the eye. Trask didn’t flinch.
“With this,” Trask held up a small closed glass vial containing a fine powder, which glowed a sickly green.
“And what is that?” Luthor asked incredulously.
“It is a radioactive substance, completely innocuous to humans that is believed to be the only thing that can kill the alien.”
“What proof do you have?”
“We have no concrete proof, but we can link this meteorite with the alien’s arrival on earth and almost thirty years of testing has given us the necessary data to conclude that this substance could be potentially fatal to the alien given prolonged exposure.”
“So if you can kill the alien, what do you need me for?”
“The delivery system Mr. Luthor. The one Lex Labs designed for the US Army years ago. We need a modified aerosol delivery system to ensure the most potent exposure.”
“Col. Trask, obviously, you are a man with considerable power. You have access to information that is highly classified. Surely you could have simply broken into the patent office and stolen the plans.”
“There is a time and place for overt uses of power and influence, Mr. Luthor, and there are times when a low profile and prudence best serve men.”
“Truly wise counsel, Col. Trask. Let me just say that I am intrigued by your offer. I will be in touch, Col. Trask,” with that, Lex stood to escort his visitor out of his office.
********
Christmas Eve, Clark found himself in the ED again. He had managed to pull another less than choice shift, but because the city had been relatively crime free that evening, it wasn’t a terrible thing. He called his parents and told them to expect him in the morning instead of that night.
The ED was relatively quiet that afternoon. Clark arrived at four, ready for his ten hour shift. He changed into his scrubs and washed. The ED, along with the rest of the hospital had been decorated for the holidays, though the usually busy and tense atmosphere had made the differences go unnoticed. The stillness of the afternoon was shattered when paramedics called in the arrival of multiple victims of a car accident, three of whom in critical condition. Doctors and nurses began scrambling to prepare the operating rooms. A man with the most serious injuries was rushed toward OR 3. Clark, Brett Hoffman, and several interns flanked the gurney as they wheeled him to the operating room.
“…authorities are attempting to contact Superman in a desperate plea for assistance…” a female voice from a TV in a distant waiting room suddenly caught his attention. It was a subway wreck, and a bad one, in downtown Washington. His heart sank. Dozens of people would die if he didn’t go, but what about the man right here, who was depending on the ED staff to save his life. Clark couldn’t leave. His eyes darted back and forth as he tried to figure out what to do.
********
Lois was walking out of the hospital when she heard the Code Green. She rushed back into the ED as fast as she could. She wasn’t on call, but she knew that she could be of some help. She entered to see Clark and Brett as well as several others moving a man on a gurney toward OR 3. She noticed immediately that something wasn’t right. Clark’s head was tilted slightly to the side and he had a familiar, distant expression on his face. She realized that he was hearing something. She watched as his eyes widened in horror. Whatever it was, it must have been awful. She started after them as fast as she could move. She entered the OR to see Clark nervously trying to focus on the task at hand.
“Get me two units of O negative, stat!”
“On three everyone, ready, one, two, three,” several pairs of hands gently and efficiently moved the victim to the table.
“Kent!” Lois yelled as she pushed her way through the double doors.
Clark’s head snapped up. She could see the look of unease on his face.
“You messed up the admitting forms for your last patient, admitting needs to know the correct blood type, now!”
Clark gave her a puzzled look for a moment. “Just go!” she growled, though her eyes were silently pleading with him. “I’ll cover you, just hurry up!” Lois pushed off her lab coat as she spoke.
Their eyes met and Clark understood what she meant. She was giving him an excuse to leave. He didn’t know how she knew, but he was grateful. He nodded and rushed out of the OR, thanking Providence for allowing Lois to pass by at that time and realize that something was wrong.
“All right, people, let’s move!” he heard Lois bark from within the operating room as he ducked away to change.
********
“Nigel.”
“Yes, Mr. Luthor?”
“Inform the project’s chief at Lex Labs that they have a new top priority project that they will begin work on immediately. Pull up the specs on the aerosol delivery system we developed for the military and find out everything you can on a Colonel Trask, United States Army.”
“Very well, sir.”
Nigel silently slipped out of his employer’s office. Lex spun around in his chair to face the large window looking out over the city. Snowflakes swirled and danced on a slight wind as they descended to the city streets. Lex swirled his Brandy Alexander in its highball glass as he took another puff from a Cuban cigar. He waved the cigar through the cloud of gray smoke. “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…” he sang, a wide grin stretched across his face.
********
Lois’s ankle was throbbing but she simply took a couple of aspirin and ignored it. Whatever had torn Clark from the ED must have been terrible. He had been gone for hours. During a lull, she had called her father to apologize for not being there when he arrived to pick her up that afternoon. Her half day at the office was turning into a marathon in the ED. She worked late into the night, completing Clark’s shift. In all the confusion that was the Emergency Department, no one stopped to wonder where Dr. Kent had gone. It was past two in the morning when Lois called a cab and left for home, completely worn out.
********
Martha bustled around the kitchen, preparing Christmas dinner. Her mood slightly more somber than it normally was on Christmas morning, disappointed that Clark hadn’t made it the preceding evening for church services but far more concerned with how her son was doing. It was barely light out but she’d been up for hours getting everything ready. She had watched him on the news, horrified by the extent of the tragedy. Superman had left the scene of the accident hours ago and she knew it would only be a short while before her boy arrived. She knew Clark would be taking it hard, but that he would pretend everything was okay for their sake. Leave it to her stubborn, pig headed son to try to hide his pain from his parents. He should have known better by now. He couldn’t fool them, and yet he continued to try.
********
Clark flew against the gray backdrop of the pre dawn sky as he headed home. He wanted to take a long, hot shower and just fall into bed. The subway wreck had been terrible, but it could have been far worse. There would have been scores more casualties had he not arrived when he did. He sent up another silent prayer of thanks for the diversion that had allowed him to leave the ED and arrive in time. He tried, with little success, not to think about those who had died, but instead about those who he’d been able to help. All of those people were still alive because Lois had somehow recognized that all was not well and she had intervened to allow him to go. In a very real way, all of those people were alive because of Lois. Because she had come to his rescue that day, because she had encouraged him to become Superman, because she had believed in him.
He realized that he didn’t want to live his life without her in it. Even if he could never be more than her friend, he needed to have that much. He would gladly fill any role in her life that she offered him, but he needed her friendship, her support, her help. He didn’t know if he could be Superman without her.
He had to talk to her. He had to make things right again. He just hoped that she would listen to him. The sun would be up soon and it was Christmas. His parents would be expecting him in a few hours. Tomorrow, tomorrow he would talk to her.
********
Lois spent another holiday with her extended family. Uncle Mike, Uncle Perry, Aunt Alice, Jerry and Larry all gathered at Lois’s parents’ home. Lucy was there, though Scott was spending the holidays with his parents in San Francisco. Everyone was happily enjoying the holiday and the home was full of laughter and good cheer, but Lois couldn’t shake a particularly annoying feeling. She couldn’t help but think about the present, still sitting at home. The one she had wrapped up weeks ago. The one that was still waiting to be delivered. She wondered about Clark: how he was doing, what he was thinking. He was probably spending Christmas with his parents. She had heard about the subway accident, about how terrible it was. She hoped that he was all right. ‘Why, Clark? Why won’t you talk to me?’ She sighed as she carried the yams to the dining room table. Uncle Mike followed immediately behind her, carrying the turkey that he’d spent all day preparing. The Lanes and Whites formed a train, ferrying things from the kitchen to the dining room and setting the table in a well-orchestrated collaborative effort. Lois tried to bury thoughts of Clark and plastered a smile on her face, hoping that she could absorb the holiday cheer through diffusion, and if not, that no one would notice that she wasn’t having a great time.
********
Clark landed softly in the snow and trudged the rest of the way to the farmhouse porch. He knocked softly on the door with his free hand; his other arm laden down with presents. He grinned broadly as his mother opened the door and welcomed him inside. Clark and his parents exchanged hugs and ‘Merry Christmases’ before all three entered the family room. Jonathan had had to cut down the tree this year without Clark but it stood undecorated by the fireplace, the ornaments still neatly laid out in their boxes around the base of the tree. The three spent the morning decorating the tree and placing the beautifully wrapped packages under it.
Clark was uncharacteristically quiet. He smiled and acted as though he were enjoying himself, yet it was clear to his parents that he was a thousand miles away. After dinner, they sat around the table silently. Martha placed a concerned hand on top of Clark’s larger one. “Honey, you know you don’t have to pretend that everything is okay.”
“We don’t mean to butt in, Son, but if you want to talk what happened yesterday, we’re here.”
“Yesterday? Oh, the train wreck. It’s not that, well it is, but not exactly…I’m sorry, Dad, I know I’m not making any sense. I’ve screwed things up terribly,” he said with an exasperated sigh. He went on to tell his parents all about what had happened the week before, and what had happened the day before in the ED and finally, about the subway wreck itself.
Clark sighed. “I’ve made a mess of everything. Lois and I haven’t talked in a week, and yesterday, I almost didn’t get there in time to help. I don’t know how to do this. How to balance work with Superman. It’s no problem when I’m in the lab, but in the ED, how do I choose who to help and whose calls I can’t answer? I feel like I’m playing God.”
“Oh Clark, Honey, you aren’t being fair to yourself or to Lois. You’re doing the best that you can, no one can ask any more than that, not even you. Besides, it doesn’t seem to me as though you have to figure this out alone.”
“You mean Lois, right?” Clark asked. Martha simply nodded. “But after all the stupid things that I’ve done, I don’t even know if she’ll speak to me, and I can’t honestly blame her.”
“Clark, give Lois some credit, son. She’s a smart lady, she’ll understand.” Jonathan replied.
“I know she is, Dad, but how can I put her in that position, knowing how she feels about me?”
“And just how is that, Clark?” Martha demanded.
“She’s afraid of me, Mom, I told you that. Considering what she knows about me, I’m only surprised that she was willing to be my friend, but now I’ve completely destroyed that.”
“Clark, the Lois I know most certainly isn’t afraid of you, or repulsed by you, or any other silly thought that could possibly be going through that head of yours. She cares about you, Clark.”
“Mom, she came right out and said that she was afraid…”
“Did she say of what?”
“Huh?”
“Did you ask her what she was afraid of?”
“No, but I didn’t have to.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, what else could she be afraid of?”
“Well, a lot of things Clark, but which one, I don’t know because you didn’t ask her!”
Clark groaned, trying to win an argument with his mother was impossible.
“Clark, you’re mother’s right. You’re not being fair to either of you. You two need to sort this out, and she’s given you the perfect opportunity to do it. This time you need to really listen to what Lois is saying and not assume things.”
“I know, Dad, I know,” he didn’t share in his parents’ optimism, but he knew that he needed to talk to Lois. No matter how she felt about him, he needed to tell her how much he appreciated what she’d done for him and to apologize for everything. He prayed that he’d be able to regain her friendship.
********
The rhythmic sound of the windshield wipers pushing away the falling snowflakes threatened to put Lois into a trance. She reached for the radio and turned on the CD player. The melancholy sounds of Chu Berry’s tenor sax solo from “I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You” filled the Jeep. Her mind drifted from one thought to the next on the long drive, the inclement weather extending the trip home from her parents’ home. The roads were dark and completely deserted. She finally pulled into her driveway and killed the ignition. She went inside and fixed herself a hot cup of coffee as she finished packing, her mood quickly turning from one of mild depression to one of anger and frustration. She absolutely no desire to attend this stupid conference. Frustrated, she went to bed, but the unnecessary caffeine and the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking about Clark kept her awake for many long hours.
********
Clark went to work the next morning for an early shift in the ED. He couldn’t stop thinking about Lois and what he would say to her. He had rehearsed his speech dozens of times, but was still worried about botching it. At noon, when his shift in the ED ended, he changed out of his scrubs, and went to her office. One look told him she wasn’t there. He checked the cafeteria and the ED, but couldn’t find her. Finally, he went to Dr. Davis’s office.
“Dr. Kent, what can I do for you?” Dr. Davis asked him warmly as she walked out of her office and into the reception area where he was waiting.
“Actually, I was wondering if Dr. Lane was in today?”
“I’m afraid she isn’t, Dr. Kent. She’ll be in Auckland at a conference until January 10th.”
Clark tried to mask his disappointment. The tenth of January seemed like an eternity from now and he needed to talk to her. “Thank you, Dr. Davis,” he replied with a wane smile as he excused himself from her office.
Clark returned to his own office and his work. His coworkers gave him an unusually wide berth this day as he entered the lab. Barely acknowledging their presence, he made his way to his desk. His eyes focused on a curious package that sat upon the wooden surface of his desk. It was wrapped in gold paper and there was no card with it. Intrigued, he picked the box up and carefully removed the paper. He opened the box and pulled back the tissue paper to find an old well-worn book. He lifted it out of the box gingerly and realized why it looked so familiar. It was the book he had found on the shelf in Lois’s study. He opened the cover of the book and found a note inside. He removed the small piece of paper and unfolded it.
Dear Clark,
Sometimes all we need to regain our faith is the knowledge that someone else believes as
strongly as we do.
Lois
12-25-96
He remembered the conversation they had had several weeks ago. He was helping her rearrange the upstairs study in her house when he noticed the book on the shelf. He’d been surprised to find a volume of the poems of the Persian mystic Rumi among Lois’s collection.
“Where did you get this?” he asked, intrigued. He opened the book, from right to left, as traditional Farsi was read, and noticed that the book was printed in both the original language and in English.
“My father accepted a year long teaching position at a military hospital on a base in Iran when I was ten.”
“Hmm,” he nodded.
“What?” she smiled, trying to figure out what he was thinking.
“Oh, it’s just that I never figured you to be the type to read the love poetry of a 13th century Persian mystic, that’s all.”
“Well, there’s a lot you don’t know about me, Clark,” she raised an eyebrow and smiled knowingly.
“Oh yeah?”
“Mmm hmm.”
“Do you speak the language?” he asked, in perfect Farsi.
“A little,” she replied without missing a beat. “Where’d you learn Farsi?”
“Pakistan.” He replied. “My first station with the Doctors Without Borders was in an Afghanistani refugee camp,” he switched back to English.
“Oh,” she replied.
“So do you believe it?”
“Believe what?”
“This,” he said, tapping the book lightly. “Do you believe in what Rumi wrote?”
She remained silent for a moment, thinking. “I don’t know, really. I guess it’s nice knowing that there are people who believe that strongly. It gives me a little hope,” she smiled wanly.
He remembered being caught off guard by her response, surprised at how candid Lois was being, how she was constantly amazing him. On several occasions she had offered him a glimpse at just a few of the facets of her personality that she managed to hide from the world at large. He opened the book to a page that had been marked with a gold leaf book dart and began to read.
Love rests on no foundation.
It is an endless ocean,
With no beginning or end.
Imagine,
A suspended ocean,
Riding on a cushion of ancient secrets.
All souls have drowned in it,
And now dwell there.
One drop of that ocean is hope,
And the rest is fear.
He smiled wryly at the appropriate words penned by a mystic poet seven hundred years earlier. Time had done nothing to lessen the impact of the words. The feeling that had settled in Clark’s gut had been one part hope and a thousand parts pure, unadulterated terror. Now all he felt was a burning need to talk to Lois, to tell her how he felt, no matter how frightened he was.
********
Lois wiped at her brow for the fifth time in as many minutes. It was the middle of a blazing hot summer in New Zealand and the sheer number of bodies crammed into the seminar room was making the heat intolerable. She tuned back into the presentation being made by one of her colleagues but soon lost interest and tuned back out. The neatly presented handout of charts and graphs had been turned into a make shift fan that she was now using to try to cool herself. The presenter changed slides and a hundred pairs of hands began flipping through the pages of the handouts, to keep up with the diagrams. For a brief moment, the sounds of papers being shuffled and sorted drowned out the voice of the speaker. After a grueling marathon flight, Lois had put up with the two days of innocuous but often times rather dull entertainment that was being provided, though she had escaped for a few hours on Sunday and played a round of golf. Lois had finally rid herself of the bulky air cast and was instead now wearing a much lighter brace. She wasted no time in resuming a favorite pastime. She took out a considerable amount of pent up hostility on a bucket of balls at the driving range, averaging a good twenty yards longer than usual, though the frustration didn’t have as beneficial an effect on her game over all. Her game was hampered by a nasty slice that plagued her for almost all eighteen holes. She never sliced. Lois had perfect technique. Finally catching something of a break, she sank a putt for par on the eighteenth hole and snatched the ball from the hole. She was still frustrated and still angry, but at least now she was thinking about how she wanted to dump the golf clubs into a water hazard instead of wondering how she’d managed to drive Clark away.
It was now nearing the end of the first substantive day of the conference and Lois was already restless. She wasn’t sure how she would manage to survive the next week and a half at this rate. The speaker had grown silent and the room burst into applause. Lois began clapping along with her colleagues. People began to rise from their seats and small crowds began to form as doctors discussed amongst each other the merits of the speaker’s address and the fascinating insight he’d provided. Lois moved through the throng of people, trying desperately to reach the wondrous sight before her, the exit. She squeezed past a group that was inconsiderately blocking the aisle and finally reached the doors. She exited into the wonderfully air-conditioned lobby and headed for the elevators and sanctuary. She jabbed the button for the seventeenth floor and leaned back against the elevator wall. She closed her eyes and drank in the cool, calm silence. The elevator pinged softly and the doors opened. She stepped off and made her way to her room, fumbling for her keys. She finally got the door open and entered the room taking off her shoes as she made her way inside. Her jacket soon found itself on the floor next to the discarded heels as she walked into the bathroom to fetch a bottle of aspirin. She gulped down a couple of the small white tablets with a long sip of cold water and then promptly collapsed on the bed. Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve and after the lecture series, a party was being thrown in the hotel ballroom. She had to find some reasonable excuse for not being there. Lois really didn’t want to be there. She had work to be doing and research she needed to get back to. She hated New Zealand.
********
The next few days passed without significant incident for Clark. He left work early on New Year’s Eve to begin his patrols. He knew that it would be a long and busy night. After working both Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, he managed to gain a needed respite from the ED that evening, though he was hardly taking the night off. He flew his regular patrols but his assistance was needed at far more traffic accidents and parties that had gone out of control than was usual. The holiday kept people out much later than usual and Superman was forced to patrol until morning. Clark went home and immediately to bed, hoping to catch a few hours of sleep before all the bowl games got underway.
********
“Luthor here.”
“Mr. Luthor, it’s Alex Chen, Lex Labs.”
“Go ahead, Dr. Chen,” Lex looked up from the reports he was reading as he responded into the speakerphone on his desk.
“Mr. Luthor, we’ve completed the modifications per your request to the aerosol delivery system. Col. Trask was in today with the sample. We will begin testing tomorrow, sir. All in all, we expect the system to be fully operational within five days.”
Lex turned back to his paperwork. “Very well, Dr. Chen. Keep me updated.”
“Yes sir.”
Luthor disconnected the line. He paused for a beat, then punched a button on the speakerphone.
“Yes, sir?”
“Nigel, have the jet ready, tell the pilot to set a flight plan for Arusha.”
“Ah, the Serengeti.”
“Indeed, Nigel, I’m suddenly in the mood for some big game hunting.”
“Very good, sir.”
Lex turned off the intercom, stood and walked over to a large display mantle on one side of his office. He removed from the mounting on the wall a large, antique bull elephant gun and raised it as though he were going to fire. “Big game, indeed.”
********
“Are there any messages for room 1710?”
“Just one second,” the clerk behind the desk drawled as he smiled politely. “Yes, Dr. Lane, one, in fact. A call from a Mr. Kent around noon today.”
“Oh, uh, thank you,” she replied, completely startled. ‘Clark had called?’ She looked at her watch and frowned. It was almost eight at night in Auckland, which meant she had to wait at least a few hours before calling Clark. Her mind began to race as she wondered why he was calling. Was everything all right? Was he finally going to talk to her? She willed time to pass by more quickly put the stubborn hands on the face of her watch refused to move any faster. Lois went up to her room and took out her laptop, hoping that work would take her mind off Clark. She was far too distracted to get anything done. After half an hour of futile attempts at work, she closed the laptop and turned on the television instead. She flipped through the stations, settling finally on the BBC. The lead in story was on the war in the Balkans, followed by a story about some scandal involving the Japanese Prime Minister and a story on the meeting of the G 7 nations. Lois watched with less than rapt attention, until a very familiar and colorful figure appeared on the screen. The view switched from a close up shot of Superman to one of the hero landing a small passenger jet, carrying it as though it were weightless. The next shot was of a press conference, Superman standing in front of a bank of microphones while flashbulbs popped all around him. She picked up the remote and turned off the television. Watching Clark on TV certainly didn’t do anything to improve her current state of mind. She looked at the clock again. It was barely five in the morning his time. She groaned and flopped down on the bed. She lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling, listening to the languidly slow ticking of the clock.
********
“Wha?”
THUD!
Clark shook his head, but the ringing continued. He looked over and realized it was the phone. Checking to make sure his crash landing hadn’t damaged the bed, he reached over and picked up the receiver.
“Hello?” he inquired, groggily.
“Clark?”
“Lois?!” his heart began thudding in his chest.
“I’m sorry to wake you, Clark…”
“No! No, it’s all right, really.”
“Good, because I really need to talk to you.”
He tried to calm himself down but could still hear his heart pounding in his ears like a jackhammer. “I guess you got my message, then?”
“Yeah, yeah I did.”
“I wanted to thank you.”
“Thank me?”
“For the book.”
“Oh.”
“It’s wonderful, really. I love it.”
“Oh, you’re ah, welcome.”
Silence reigned for a beat. “Also, I wanted to thank you for what you did for me last week.”
“Last week?”
“Yeah, in the ED. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there.”
“Oh, that,” she mulled over his words. “Don’t worry about it.” Was he just calling to say ‘thank you?’ God, she was so confused.
“No, I mean, you don’t understand how much your help means to me,” he swallowed hard. “I don’t think I could do any of this, I don’t think I could be this, without you.”
Wow. How was she supposed to respond to that? She opened her mouth to reply but couldn’t form the words.
“Lois? You there?”
“Yeah, I… I’m here, sorry. I just, I just don’t know what to say, I guess.”
They were both silent for a long moment.
“Clark?”
“Yeah?”
“I miss you,” her voice was small, unsteady.
“I miss you, too. God, Lois, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe all the stupid things I did. I don’t want to lose your friendship, Lois. I can’t even tell you what it would do to me.”
She wondered briefly which of the two of them was more miserable. “You haven’t, Clark. I’m still here. Clark?”
“Yeah?”
“Please don’t shut me out any more, because I don’t think I could take it.”
He could hear the strain in her voice. “Never,” he whispered. “There are so many things I need to say to you, so many things we need to talk about…”
“We’ll talk, but not now. When I come home next week, we’ll talk.” She was bursting with all the things she needed to say to him, but she wanted to be there, with him, when she did.
Clark felt a twinge of disappointment, but he let it go. He wanted to protest and tell her that he could be in New Zealand in a few minutes, but she sounded tired, and it was getting light out now. He would have to go into the ED in a short while and he didn’t want to rush this conversation. He wanted time and if they had to wait, so be it. “Okay,” he replied simply. “Good night, Lois.”
“Good night, Clark.”
********
“Hey, Kent!”
“Hi, Brett,” Clark replied as his colleague grabbed a pair of clipboards from behind the admitting desk and looked up at the white board grid of patients.
“We got an eighteen month old with a fever, won’t eat, and ten year old with a dislocated shoulder that needs resetting, which one do you want?”
“Gimme the ten year old,” Clark replied. Brett handed him one of the two clipboards. The two doctors in identical scrubs and lab coats strode down the corridor.
After his third patient of the morning, Clark ducked out of the ED to help emergency crews bring several car accident victims to MetroGen. He delivered the most critically injured on gurneys to the waiting residents before darting away to change and return to the ED. He saw two cases of the flu and was just finishing the last of six sutures on a teenage girl’s arm when his hearing kicked in. It was a bank robbery downtown. He tuned it out for the meantime, and finished the stitches; he then handed over care of his patient to Matt Brody, one of the residents and Erin, who was shadowing him that day, and ducked out. He spun changed before propelling himself into the air and heading toward the New Troy Mercantile Bank.
He landed several feet in front of the two masked and gun wielding suspects as they ran out of the bank. They noticed him too late. The first collided with the man of steel and fell squarely on his back. His cohort, trailing a few steps behind, tripped over his hapless mate and joined him in a pile on the ground. Superman crushed both of their weapons and hoisted the bumbling perpetrators into the air. Within moments, the wails of police sirens filled the neighboring streets as black and whites surrounded the bank. Superman turned over the two bank robbers to a pair of officers who proceeded to cuff the suspects.
“Thanks, Superman,” one of the policemen offered his thanks to the resident superhero.
“Any time, officer,” Superman replied politely.
“You idiot, I told you this was a stupid idea,” the first gunman spat.
“Shut up,” the second robber replied. “Ow, that hurts!” he griped as the cuffs were tightened on his wrists.
“You have the right to remain silent…”
“Who are you telling to shut up, you damn fool!”
“Anything you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law…” the irritation was clear in the officer’s voice.
“Look, Einstein, did you have a better plan?”
“You have the right to an attorney…” the officers began to drag the two loquacious suspects to the squad car.
Clark merely shook his head. He had wasted enough time with these two, he looked upward and was instantly airborne and on his way back to MetroGen. He landed in an alley half a block from the hospital and changed back into his scrubs. He jogged back toward the ED entrance and met an ambulance and the medics bringing in an eight year old boy suffering from an episodic seizure.
********
Clark collapsed into a chair in the lounge. He’d used his break time for Superman duties and it had been a busy morning in the ED. He brought his coffee cup to his lips to take a long, relaxing sip when the sound of the intercom interrupted him.
“Dr. Kent, please report to admitting, Dr. Kent to admitting.”
He groaned and put the mug back on the table. He walked briskly out of the lounge and down the corridor to admitting.
“Dr. Kent, line two.”
“Thanks, Chris,” Clark replied as he took the proffered telephone receiver. He jabbed the flashing button. “Clark Kent.”
“Dr. Kent, Perry White here. I couldn’t get hold of Lois, and I know that you were working with her on the Genzyme case and I thought that the two of you ought to know this, this isn’t public information yet, but the DA will be taking over the Genzyme case himself. It’ll be announced in a press conference this afternoon, but I got the advance on it. It seems that the judge threw out some of the state’s evidence on a blasted technicality and Royce is taking over the case because it’s an election year and his office can’t afford to lose these cases.”
“You’re kidding me,” Clark replied.
“I wish I was, Dr. Kent, but I’m as serious as a heart attack.”
“What did they throw out? Does the state still have a case?”
“I don’t know the details, but the DA won’t be taking any chances with this one. Great shades of Elvis, I’d give my eye teeth to know who’s responsible for this colossal screw up.”
“You and me both, Mr. White,” Clark replied, his jaw set on edge.”
“Anyway, could you pass the information onto Lois, Dr. Kent? I’ve been trying to reach her cell phone, but I haven’t been having any luck.”
“Of course, Mr. White.” Clark hung up the phone, visibly upset.
********
“‘Lo?” Lois mumbled into the phone, bleary eyed, she turned the alarm clock to look at the display. She squinted to make out the red numbers; it was just past three in the morning.
“Dr. Lane? I’m sorry to wake you…”
“Mrs. O’Neil?”
“Dr. Lane, there are some men here from the Department of Justice,”
“What?”
“The DA’s office is demanding that you turn over all of Dr. Carter’s personal files.”
“But I already relinquished his laptop, they have everything they need right there,” Lois sat up in bed.
“Their asking you to turn over all of the paperwork and personal items you removed from his apartment,” Mrs. O’Neil replied in an even tone of voice, though Lois could detect the hint of annoyance, obviously her receptionist was also displeased with the DA’s office.
Lois thought about the personal information that was in those files, Danny’s journal…Through clenched teeth, she spoke. “Could you put them on the line, please Mrs. O’Neil?”
“Certainly, Dr. Lane.”
“Hello?” she heard a deep, gruff voice on the other end.
“Yes, this is Dr. Lane, I’d like to know why exactly you feel the need to pilfer through the private property of a dead man,” she said in a deceptively calm tone of voice.
“Dr. Lane, I assure you, that it is our intention to bring to justice the people who killed Dr. Carter.”
“Don’t give me that, everything you need is on that laptop, there’s nothing else in Dr. Carter’s personal belongings that is of any concern to this investigation.”
“The District Attorney’s office will determine that, Dr. Lane. Now I have a court order to seize that paper work and I intend to carry through with the order, Dr. Lane.”
“Well, then we’re at an impasse then, aren’t we? Even if I wanted to help you, I’m not in Metropolis to aid you in your investigation.”
“Dr. Lane, you are required by law to assist us with this investigation and relinquish those files effective immediately.”
“Fine then, give me twenty four hours,” Lois replied icily.
“Very well, Dr. Lane.” The line went dead. Lois hung up the phone and began dialing again.
“Clark Kent.”
“Clark, it’s Lois, I need your help.”
“Lois, what’s wrong?”
“It’s the Genzyme case,”
“So you’ve heard about Royce, then?”
“What about Royce?”
“He’s taken over the case himself.”
“No wonder…”
“What?”
“The DA’s office is demanding all of Danny’s paper work.”
“I thought you gave them everything related to the case already.”
“I did. Now they want his personal letters, his research, his journal.”
“What?”
“They want all of his personal belongings.” There was no response on the other end. “Clark?”
“Sorry, it just seems so wrong. I mean, he was murdered trying to do the right thing and now, they’re turning his whole life into state’s evidence, it just seems like a gross invasion of privacy.”
“I know,” she replied. “Oh God, Clark!”
“What? What is it?”
“The files, remember? The ones we, you know…”
“Yeah?”
“Their all together with Danny’s things in my apartment, if they find those…”
“Okay, let’s just think for a moment…did the DA’s office demand any of your papers?”
“No,” she replied.
“Then there’s nothing wrong with us destroying those documents.”
“Clark!”
“I know, I don’t like even thinking about it either, but I don’t see any other way. Look, we don’t need the evidence that we found, the stuff from Dr. Carter’s files will be more than enough, and no one knows that we have those documents.” His conscience railed against his decision to destroy the evidence of the breaking and entering that he and Lois had committed, but the alternative was even more unthinkable. If they allowed those documents to be found, they could both be arrested and there was no telling what would become of the legitimate evidence from Danny’s files.
“You’re right, Clark,” she acquiesced.
“Then it’s settled, I’ll destroy the files that we found, and then hand everything of Danny’s over to the DA’s office.”
“They want it by tomorrow, so you’ll have to get my spare key from the office and take care of it tonight.”
“Okay,” he replied.
“I’ll call Mrs. O’Neil and have her find it for you,” she said. “Clark?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you sure you can do this?” she knew how much Clark’s ethics were a part of him and how much he was giving up to help her. He was compromising his own beliefs, and all because of her.
“Lois, we have to. I’m not about to let Dr. Carter’s murderers go free, not to mention Fitzgerald, after what he did to you…”
“Clark, I…thank you,” she said simply.
“It’s going to be all right, Lois,” he replied, hoping that he sounded convincing, wishing that he could convince himself.
********
“What do you mean the case is going to trial?!” Luthor paced angrily between the rows of posh, leather chairs. “I don’t care if you do think you can get them off, you’re being paid to negotiate a plea bargain, Bender, not take this damn case to trial! The problem, Mr. Bender, is simple. This overzealous DA is not about to lose this case and the longer it drags out, the more likely that that idiot client of yours will talk. I cannot have that. Listen to me closely, Bender, if I, or any of my holdings even come into question because of your idiotic, pompous, reckless behavior, you will not have the opportunity to regret it!” Luthor slammed the phone down and returned to his seat. “Nigel!”
Lex’s manservant appeared. “Yes sir?”
“How much longer before we reach Metropolis?”
“The pilot has informed me that we shall arrive within an hour, sir.”
“Have a car meet us at the airfield, and get Bender and the other lawyers into the office immediately.”
“Very good, sir.”
With his elbows propped up on the armrests, Lex steepled his fingers. He closed his eyes, the strained look on his face disappeared and all was eerily calm.
********
Clark unlocked the door and entered Lois’s house. He quickly found the boxes she had stored everything in and began sorting through the papers, removing everything that he and Lois had discovered on their midnight sojourn into Genzyme’s offices. In a few brief moments, he had a considerable stack. He threw the papers and the disks into the fireplace in a messy pile and lowered his glasses. He stared for a moment, but quickly pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. There had to be another way. He gathered up the entire pile, spun changed, and flew out the window with the papers. He returned mere moments later to straighten up. He placed all of Dr. Carter’s possessions back into the boxes. First thing in the morning, he would call the DA’s office and turn over all of it. He locked the door behind himself and took off into the night.
Clark returned to Lois’s house the following morning, with two plainclothes police officers, a pair of federal agents, and a representative of the DA’s office in tow. They followed Clark into Lois’s house and he led them to the boxes. The police officers gathered all of Dr. Carter’s possessions.
“Is that all of it?” one of the feds asked.
“Yeah, that’s all of it,” Clark replied, trying to hide his annoyance.
“Thank you, Dr. Kent.”
“You’re welcome, Ms. Drake.”
“Oh, by the way, Dr. Kent?”
“Yes?”
“You’ve been served.” The attractive young blonde held an envelope in front of him.
********
“What?!”
“It’s a subpoena, Dr. Lane,” the young man in front of her explained.
“I know what it is,” she snapped. She had been in the country for only a few hours. She decided to stop by the office on the way home from the airport and here they were. Were they camping around here waiting for her? “This has to be a mistake, the DA already took my testimony.”
“I’m sorry, Dr. Lane, I don’t know anything about the case, I just deliver the subpoenas.”
“Humph,” she closed the office door behind her. She dropped the envelope on her desk and punched the intercom button on the phone. “Mrs. O’Neil?”
“Yes, Dr. Lane?”
“I’ll be leaving shortly, if anyone from the DA’s office calls, tell them you don’t know when I’ll be back.”
“Certainly, Dr. Lane.”
Lois packed up her things and quickly exited the office. She pulled out her cell phone and began dialing.
“Clark? I’ve just been ordered to report to the DA’s office. You, too? When? Three days ago. So they want you to appear as an expert witness? I don’t understand, Clark, this case was never supposed to go to trial. The DA was certain that he could get the defendants to plea bargain. Listen, let me talk to Perry, yeah, I’ll call you back, bye.”
She hung up the phone and began dialing again as she walked to her car.
********
“Dr. Kent, good to finally meet you,” Perry extended his hand to Clark.
“Clark will be fine, sir,” Clark replied as he shook Perry’s proffered hand. He saw Perry wince slightly and immediately relaxed his grip, mentally cringing.
“So you’ve both been subpoenaed?”
Lois and Clark both nodded.
“Humph,” Perry grunted, he sat down behind his desk and leaned back in his chair. “Like I said, Royce is pulling out all the stops here. The MPs and the feds decided to allow the state to try Fitzgerald for assault and battery and attempted murder, on top of everything that the federal government is trying him for. Two weeks ago, my source at the courthouse said that the DA’s office was convinced that it would be able to get everyone on plea bargain. Now, apparently one of the hotshot defense attorneys has swamped the court with appeals. This Bender guy has filed just about every motion in the book, or so I’m told. Looks like he thinks he’s got a legitimate shot at winning this case.” Perry leaned forward toward Lois and Clark. “Anyhow, it looks like you’re both going to be more involved with this trial than you thought. Lois, you’ve already been cooperating with the federal case, haven’t you?”
“I turned over the laptop, and gave a sworn affidavit to the prosecutors office.”
“But they’ve subpoenaed you for the state trial as well?”
Lois merely nodded. “The DA’s office has demanded that I turn over all of Danny’s personal files.”
“Did you?”
“Well, yeah,” she replied noncommittally.
“Lois, is there something you aren’t telling me?”
“Well…”
“Mr. White…”
“Perry,” Perry corrected him.
“Perry, Lois and I broke into Genzyme.”
“Clark!”
“Really?” Perry raised an eyebrow.
“It was my idea, Uncle Perry,” Lois replied. “We found some pretty incriminating evidence. None of it was necessary, what Danny had found was damning enough.”
“Well, what did you do with it?”
“Clark destroyed it.”
“Well, not exactly…”
“Clark!” Lois turned to face him.
“So where is it?” Perry asked.
“I still have it. I didn’t know what else to do with it.”
“You’re going to give everything to me.”
“Perry, we can’t let you do that…”
“Please, just listen, Clark. You give everything to me…”
“And then what, Uncle Perry? We let you take all of the chances, just to protect us?”
“And then, Lois, I turn everything over to Inspector Henderson.”
“What?”
“Just calm down, Darlin’. Bill is a good man, and he and I have this little arrangement, he asks me who my source is, I say not on your life, we both forget about it, and it’s done.”
“But Perry, this is a high profile case, I don’t think the DA will ignore even the tiniest leads.”
“Clark, trust me on this, Metro PD seized everything at Genzyme immediately after the raid at Ft. Truman. There isn’t anything in that pile that the DA’s office doesn’t have already. I’ll just give Henderson the whole lot of it, he’ll realize that it’s nothing new, and it’ll never come up again.”
“What if the District Attorney subpoenas you, Perry? If he brings you to court, you’ll have no choice but to talk.”
“Don’t worry about that, Clark. Royce isn’t a complete fool. I needn’t remind him what happened the last time Genzyme discovered the name of an individual who wanted to bring them to justice. Even if the DA is as thick skulled as everyone claims he is, he’s still looking for an endorsement from this paper and a nasty editorial by yours truly will slam the door shut on that possibility.”
“What if they ask us about it?”
“They won’t have any reason to, Darlin’. They’re calling Clark only as an expert witness and you said yourself that you didn’t need any of that stuff to find out about the delivery. They won’t have any reason to ask you about anything else. Chances are that nothing will ever come of all this, but you might as well be safe. This is all just a precautionary measure, but if we get all of this stuff to Henderson, we’ll make sure that the two of you are on the up and up when you testify and you won’t have to do any last minute hiding or destroying in the event that the DA’s office goes overboard again and starts demanding your personal files.”
Lois nodded her assent to Perry’s wise counsel.
“Then it’s settled. Get me those files PDQ and I’ll take care of everything.”
“Thank you, Perry.”
“Thanks, Uncle Perry.”
“Of course, Darlin’,” Perry drawled. “I suggest that you try and avoid getting yourself into this kind of predicament again in the future. But since you never listened to your ol’ Uncle Perry, next time, at least try not to drag Clark into the mess along with you.”
“I know, Uncle Perry, I know,” Lois hugged Perry. “Bye Uncle Perry.”
“Take care of yourself,” he replied gruffly.
Clark merely smiled. He held the door open for Lois and they exited Perry’s office.
“Lois!”
“Jimmy!”
Jimmy Olsen bounded up to his friend and hugged her briefly. “I heard about the subpoena, Lois, that totally sucks.”
“Yeah,” she didn’t argue with him. She turned to face Clark and then looked back at her young friend. “Jimmy, I’d like you to meet my, meet Clark.” She placed a hand on the lapel of Clark’s jacket, “Clark, this is Jimmy Olsen.”
“Nice to meet you, Jimmy,” Clark smiled.
“Nice to meet you, too, Clark,” Jimmy shook Clark’s hand, grinning knowingly. He turned back to Lois. “Look, I hate to run, but I gotta develop these pictures or the chief’s gonna lose it. But he’s gonna let me cover the trial, so I guess I’ll see you soon.”
“All right then, we won’t keep you. Bye Jimmy.”
“Bye Jimmy.”
“Bye Lois, nice meeting you, Clark,” the young man yelled over his shoulder as he darted off.
They walked toward the elevator and pushed the down button. The soft ping announced the arrival of the car. As the doors opened, Clark absently placed a hand on the small of Lois’s back as they stepped inside. He realized a moment later what he was doing but also noticed that she didn’t seem to mind. “So you’re back in town one day and already in trouble, huh?”
“Tell me about it,” she replied, shaking her head.
********
Lex sat at his desk, rubbing his temples. Why was he surrounded by idiots? The lawyers had been hired for one simple task: to make sure that their clients were fully aware of what would become of them if they failed to take the fall for everything. The plea bargaining negotiations were of secondary importance. Now, the fools had pushed the DA too far. Royce was no longer willing to enter a plea bargain negotiation. He was dead set on turning this trial into a complete debacle to aid in his re-election campaign.
“Mr. Luthor?”
“What is it?!” Lex snapped without bothering to look up.
“The phone number you requested, sir,” Nigel placed a slip of paper upon his employer’s desk.
“Thank you, Nigel, that’ll be all.” Lex quickly dismissed his assistant.
********
Lois collapsed onto the sofa and turned on the television. She pushed the ‘play’ button on the VCR remote and watched as the opening credits of ‘Casablanca’ rolled across the scene. Just as the narrator began his monologue, the phone rang. Lois stared at the offending appliance, willing it to stop, but it continued to ring, oblivious to the ‘look of death.’ She got up from her comfortable position on the couch and answered it.
“Hello?”
“Lois.”
“Yes?”
“Lois, my dear, it’s Lex, how are you?”
“F…fine,” she replied startled. “And you?”
“Lois, I hope it’s all right that I’m calling you at home, I tried your office earlier today and you’d already left.”
“Yeah, I…it’s fine,” she lied.
“I’m just calling to let you know how deeply sorry I am about this whole unfortunate business. It’s simply callous of the District Attorney’s office to drag you through all of this after your terrible ordeal.”
“It’s all right, Lex, really,” she tried to brush his concern aside.
She could hear Lex sigh on the other end. “‘I am not merry; but I do beguile the thing I am, by seeming otherwise.'”
“Othello.”
“Indeed, it is, my dear and I hope that you will allow me to assist you in alleviating the situation.”
“Pardon?”
“Lois, I want you to have dinner with me. Please. Just give me a few hours to take your mind off of this dreadful nonsense.”
“Lex, I…”
“Surely the thought of my company cannot be so unwelcomed as the prospect of more time spent at the mercy of those absolute sharks.”
“Lex, as unpleasant as this trial may be, I have to do this. It’s important.”
“I know, Lois, I’m terribly sorry if I suggested otherwise, but I do still believe that you could use a break from all of this. If you’ll allow me to be candid for a moment, I must say that my motives aren’t completely altruistic; I would very much enjoy the opportunity to get to know you better, Lois, and to allow you the same opportunity. I believe we have a great deal in common, Lois, much more than you may think, and if you would allow it, I’d like the chance to see you again, before you make your decision about my offer.”
Lois remained silent for a moment, thinking. She was tired and really didn’t want to deal with Lex at the moment. Yet she felt the opportunity to size up the supposed philanthropic billionaire would somehow be helpful. Lois didn’t trust him, but wasn’t exactly sure why. She wanted another opportunity to either confirm or reject her initial judgement of Lex. “All right,” she acquiesced.
“Splendid,” Lex replied cheerfully.
Lois made the necessary arrangements with Lex and begged off as quickly as possible, claiming fatigue and jet lag. She gave up on the movie and instead decided to head upstairs to try to sleep. She opened her bedroom door and turned on the lights to find several wrapped packages that had been carefully placed on her nightstand. Two of the packages were wrapped in matching paper; an envelope with her name written on it attached to one of them. The third, wrapped in silver paper with a bow. She opened the card. It was from Clark’s parents.
Dear Lois,
Merry Christmas!
Love,
Martha and Jonathan
She opened the two packages to find a quilt much like the one she had borrowed from Clark, only this one showed none of the signs of age and use, and a hand carved music box. Lois was touched by the Kents’ thoughtfulness. She carefully placed the music box on her nightstand and spread the quilt out over the bed. She then turned her attention to the final package. It was heavy. She removed the paper delicately and opened the box to find an extraordinary crystal keepsake box. The designs on the borders were incredibly intricate, as though they were hand carved, but that was impossible, the crystal was too hard to be carved like that. She had never seen anything like it before. The cover of the box was a picture frame. Inside was a photo of her and Clark. Martha had taken the picture when the two of them went out to Smallville. They were smiling, their eyes bright with laughter, as they sat upon the couch, Clark’s arm draped over Lois’s shoulder, but Clark wasn’t looking at the camera, he was looking at her. She touched his image in the photograph, “Oh, Clark,” she murmured. That weekend seemed like so long ago. She opened the lid to find a note inside the box.
Lois,
Thank you for believing in me, for inspiring me, and for being my constant source of strength and support. Everything that I’ve become, everything I’ve managed to do in these past months is all because of you.
Clark
She sighed and smiled slightly as she touched the glass surface over his image. “There’s so much I need to tell you,” she murmured. “But I don’t know how to make you listen. I’m so scared, Clark.” She placed the box on the nightstand, crawled under the quilt, and turned off the light,
********
Clark was in the lab early the next morning, performing another round of tests. It was a Saturday and it was unlikely that any of his colleagues would be coming in, but he couldn’t afford to fall behind in his research. He enjoyed the peace and quiet in the lab as he finished another battery of tests and ran the results through the computer program to generate regression lines. When he finished he cleaned up the lab at superspeed. There were definitely distinct advantages to being in the lab alone on a Saturday morning. He checked his watch. He still had almost an hour before he was due in the ED. He headed for the cafeteria for a change of scenery and a cup of coffee.
********
Lois walked across the medical park despite the less than hospitable weather. ‘All this for a mediocre cup of coffee,’ she thought. Of course they would run out in the lab on a day like today. It was too early for her to be naturally awake and she needed a good dose of caffeine to get herself jumpstarted. She entered the deserted cafeteria and made a beeline for the coffee machine. It was only after fixing herself a cup that she noticed the familiar dark head of hair leaning over a mug held between two large, strong hands. The rest of the build was an equally familiar and attractive sight. She walked over to where he was sitting.
“This seat taken?” she asked.
“Lois!” he looked up, grinning. “Please, sit down.” She did. “What are you doing here today?” he inquired.
“I could be asking you the same thing. Ever heard of a day off, Clark?” she smiled and he felt as though he could die of happiness, just like he always felt when she smiled at him like that.
“I figured that with all the stuff going on with the trial, I’d better get done everything I can now, before it gets too crazy for me to even get five minutes of work done.”
“Tell me about it. I’m never going to catch up with my work. I’m going to use up just about every available surgery time in this hospital even after having had to transfer the majority of my patients to other surgeons. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for them.”
“The surgeons?”
“My patients. People don’t come to see me when they’re in great shape, Clark. Heart surgery is bad enough when you trust your doctor and these people have been getting the run around from my office for two solid months. God, what must it be like to have a flake as your surgeon?”
“Lois, it’s not like you were taking an eight week vacation in Maui. You were almost killed by that madman, I’m sure your patients understand. And you are not a flake. You are a brilliant and dedicated surgeon.”
“Why is it that you always know the right thing to say?”
“Because it’s true,” he said simply.
Lois placed her hand on top of his. “Thank you,” she said. He looked up at her. “For the keepsake box,” she continued. “It’s beautiful, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“You’re welcome,” he shrugged; her hand was still on top of his.
“You made it, didn’t you.” It was a statement, not a question.
He shrugged again, staring at the bottom of his coffee cup.
“How?”
“Trade secret,” he replied softly with a slight smile. Their eyes met briefly. “I, ah, have to go,” he began. “I’ve got to be in the ED in a few minutes, but I was wondering if we could talk, later, over dinner, tonight.”
“I’d love to, Clark, but I can’t. I’m having dinner with Lex Luthor tonight.”
“Oh, well some other time, then,” he tried to hide the disappointment in his voice.
“I’m sorry, Clark. Another time, definitely, and we will talk.”
“Right, well, like I said, I need to go,” he stood up from the table and collected his empty cup.
“Bye, Clark.”
“Bye, Lois.” He left the cafeteria forcing himself not to flee at superspeed. He was wrong to believe that there could be anything other than friendship between himself and Lois and here was the proof. How could he possibly compete with Lex Luthor? Luthor was the most important man in Metropolis, the third richest man on the planet and a well-known philanthropist; he was powerful and respected. Not that Clark wasn’t powerful and respected, but that was as Superman. While his powers brought him fame and adoration, they also made him a freak and an outsider. In that sense, Luthor had him beat.
********
“Lois! How are you?” Lex crossed the immense room in quick bold strides. He took both of her hands in his and kissed her on the cheek. He placed a hand on the small of her back and she had to keep herself from flinching. The way he touched her, Luthor’s touch conveyed possession and control. He was guiding her about, moving her as he wished as though she were a marionette. She never felt like that when Clark touched her. She tried to shake off the thought as she sat down in the chair he had pulled out for her. He sat across from her at the small table that had been placed by the fireplace.
“I hope you don’t mind eating in, I’ve grown tired of going out to dine.”
“No, this is fine, Lex, thank you.”
“Not at all, my dear,” he placed his hand over hers. She nearly jumped. “You seem so tense, though I can hardly blame you, given the rather unpleasant Genzyme business, but please, just try and relax,” he smiled as he lifted his wineglass to his lips. “You must try the wine, it’s an exquisite Merlot,” he took another slow sip, closing his eyes and savoring the taste of the wine.
“I’m afraid I’ll have to take your word for it, Lex,” she said.
“Would you prefer something else?”
“Water would be just fine.”
“Water? All right then, water it is,” he smiled and to Lois’s surprise, stood up from the table. He walked toward the bar on the other side of the room and produced a glass, some ice and a bottle of spring water. He poured the water and brought her the glass.
“Thank you,” she accepted the glass. He merely smiled.
A pair of Lex’s employs entered silently, carrying trays. They placed the dishes before Mr. Luthor and his guest and at his slight nod, the pair retreated from the room.
Lex took the first bite of his Dover sole meuniere, savoring the taste. “At the reception, yes I distinctly remember, we toasted Superman and you didn’t raise a glass. I take it you don’t drink, then.”
“No, I don’t.”
“But surely the good doctor is aware that wine is supposed to be good for one’s health. Though I cannot say that I’m surprised by it.”
“I’m sorry?” Lois wondered if she had missed a step somewhere.
“You do not cease to amaze me. A thousand contradictions that check each other in a precarious balance. You’re colleagues describe you as stubborn, adventurous with your work, determined to the point of brashness, indomitable,
fearless, brilliant…beautiful,” he lifted her hand to his lips. “And yet all that passion, that energy, how it’s transformed, metamorphosed into the visage of utter calm and control that you evince, it’s fascinating, really, and I’m quite sure I’ve only managed to scratch the surface,” his gaze was fixed on her, his eyes studying her intently, it was only a small step up from being leered at.
Lois tried to turn her focus away from Lex. “The food is wonderful, Lex.”
“Mm hmm,” he replied, not taking his eyes off her. “Henri has truly outdone himself.”
After several awkward minutes and more failed attempts at steering the conversation, Lois had just about given up.
Thankfully, for some reason, Lex decided to bring up the subject of her work. She could navigate that topic of conversation with little difficulty. While the rest of the evening wasn’t exactly relaxed and pleasant, it wasn’t as awkward as the first part had been.
“Well Lex, I’m afraid it’s getting late.”
“We haven’t had dessert yet.”
“I never have dessert.”
“That’s too bad, you don’t know what you’re missing,” he smiled.
“Thank you, Lex, for dinner.”
“The pleasure was all mine, my dear.” He stood and walked to her chair and extended his hand. She took his hand and stood up. He released her hand and walked to the intercom located on the wall. He held down a button. “Nigel, bring the car around.” Lex held out his arm for Lois and led her downstairs.
********
He didn’t know what he was doing there, hovering over her house. He wasn’t sure what it would accomplish, though he did keep telling himself that he was just there to make sure that she got home safely. ‘She’s a big girl, Clark, she doesn’t need you to watch her twenty four hours a day,’ his brain chastised him, but he paid his conscience little mind, and stubbornly continued to float high up over her house.
********
Lex rode with her in the limousine back to her home and escorted her to her door. She should have expected no less from the suave debonair billionaire. “I would like to see you again,” he said. Since it was a statement and not a question, she felt no need to reply. “Goodnight my darling,” he smiled.
“Goodnight, Lex,” she turned to open the door, but before she could, she felt Lex’s lips pressed against hers in a swift kiss. He withdrew before she could even respond. The smile on his face resembled that of the proverbial cat that caught the canary. He walked leisurely back to his waiting car as she turned, unlocked the door and went inside.
‘God, what was that all about?’ she wondered. It didn’t take much deductive reasoning to determine that Lex’s interest in her wasn’t limited to the professional realm, but she couldn’t help but feel as though he’d been sizing her up all evening. It wasn’t the way one adversary sizes up his opponent, no, despite all of his charm and sophistication he looked at her as prey, as his next big conquest. She suppressed a shiver. There was no longer any doubt in her mind; Luthor was a controlling and manipulative man and one she could not trust.
********
Clark felt his stomach lurch. He shouldn’t have been so surprised, but when the moment came, he’d been struck dumb. He couldn’t help but relive that moment weeks ago, when Lois had spurned his advances, when she’d denied him, only now to kiss Luthor. It was simply further evidence of something his brain already knew to be true. She could never accept him in that way. He could never fill that role in her life. He steeled his resolve. If Lois wanted his friendship, and she had made it clear that she did, then he would offer it to her. He would offer his friendship without strings, or reservations, he would offer her anything she wanted, and if that meant he had to deny what he felt, then so be it. He would deny himself that, for her.
********
Lex sighed happily as Nigel navigated the streets of Metropolis. “She is woman, therefore to be wooed, she is woman, therefore to be won!” he proclaimed happily.
“That woman,” Nigel spoke the word as though it were the most potent venom. “Has cost you a fortune, sir.”
“Seventy nine point three million dollars, Nigel, yes I’m quite aware of this fact. The losses in the Genzyme fiasco were quite substantial, but I believe a respectable sum is to be gained by financing Dr. Lane’s research.”
“So you’re certain that she’ll accept your proposal?”
“At this point, no. She will not. She’s a little too independent for that, Nigel. I’ll simply have to alter the circumstances and make accepting my offer her only viable choice.”
“You aren’t planning on killing her father, are you?” Nigel asked, a reference to the exploits of his employer’s hero, only half in jest.
Lex laughed heartily. “No, of course not. Murder is such a blunt tool, incompatible with my preferred method of operation. I’ll simply ensure that funding for her research dries up.”
“The board members are claiming that they’ve manipulated the budget as much as they dare, sir.”
“I’m surrounded by small minded fools with little imagination, Nigel. You would assume men with their social status and power would have learned how to embezzle properly! No matter, with enough pressure, even these obstinate simpletons can be persuaded. We’ll simply encourage them to embezzle more on the threat that if they don’t, we take public the evidence that proves that they’ve been stealing from the hospital that they’ve been charged to oversee.”
“So you’re confident that Dr. Lane’s research will offset the losses the good doctor has caused you?”
“Ah, Nigel, it’s more than that really. She is a brilliant and beautiful woman with the talent and the drive to transcend the mundane. What better challenge could there be than taming this wondrous creature? What could possibly present a more formidable task than slowly stripping the good doctor of her fierce independence and stubbornness? What could be more *fun* than possessing fully, one who so clearly does not want to be possessed?” Luthor’s eyes danced with amusement as he smiled wickedly, the thought of taming the good doctor having captured his imagination.
“What about killing Superman?”
“All in good time, Nigel. There is no need to rush the inevitable, the axe will fall on Superman, and I’m in no hurry. I’m perfectly content to savor the knowledge of what will be.”
********
The days quickly passed. Lois spent all day in surgery and in the ED and spent many an evening on the phone with her lawyer or in the DA’s office. Both the federal case against Genzyme and the DA’s case against Lt. Col. Fitzgerald were progressing steadily as the prosecutors gathered and organized more and more evidence against the accused. Both she and Clark were called to testify at the pretrial hearings in the federal case against Genzyme. Both gave the testimony that they had gone over with the lawyers and both withstood cross-examination without much difficulty. They managed to dodge the bullet regarding their late night adventures in the Genzyme building. As expert witnesses, their credentials and their diagnoses had been thoroughly scrutinized by the defense, but the prosecutor was altogether quite pleased with their testimonies.
“No, Ms. Drake, it won’t be a problem,” Lois said into the phone. “Yes, I understand, now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an angioplasty to perform.” Lois hung up the phone and left her office, walking at a brisk pace toward to the prep room.
She snapped off the latex gloves and ran her hands and arms under the near scalding water. She changed into a fresh set of scrubs as her patient was wheeled into post op recovery. “Well done, Dr. Lane,” Dr. Myers complimented the younger surgeon as he left the prep room. Lois raked her fingers through her tangled hair. All she wanted was a nice long bath, but a cup of coffee was going to have to suffice instead. She walked to the cafeteria and retrieved a cup. She sipped the steaming liquid slowly; trying to calm already frayed nerves. The hot coffee washed over her palette and splashed against the back of her throat. It burned a little, but she welcomed the caffeine. She disposed of the empty cup and walked down the unusually quiet corridors toward the ED. She rounded the corner and approached the admitting desk. The sounds of harnessed chaos permeated the air. The lobby was again the setting for the nightly tumult in Metropolis’s busiest Emergency Department. Voices raised near fever pitch could be heard from within the exam rooms.
“Hello, Chris.”
“Hi, Dr. Lane, busy evening already, huh?”
“It has been so far, doesn’t look like the ED’s going to disappoint either. What have we got?”
“Half the staff is in on two gunshot wounds in ORs three and four, we’ve got seven cases of the flu in the waiting area, we should be able to handle those, no Code Blues as of yet, but your team is on first rotation…” he was cut off by a garbled sound coming from the radio behind him. “Metro here. Yeah, I got it.” Chris put down the handset and turned back to the large whiteboard. “We got incoming, rape survivor, ETA six minutes, Drs. Forester and Martin are both in op,” he said over his shoulder.
“Any other female doctors on staff tonight, not interns, doctors?”
“Nope.”
“Okay, call up two crisis nurses and the counselor on call tonight. I’ll take care of it. Oh, and call Dr. Wilkinson, she’s an OB/GYN on staff, have her get down her as soon as you can.”
“You got it, Dr. Lane,” the young man replied.
Lois walked down the corridor, a feeling of uneasiness settling into her stomach. As a surgeon, she could hide behind an icy demeanor. She could try to objectify pain, approach her work rationally, methodically, but here, in the ED, where every event was a drama in and of itself, where pain had a face, here there was no escape behind a stoic expression. The cold visage put forward to conceal your humanity served no purpose in the ED, especially not with these patients who suffered the insufferable, who had been violated so horribly. On some level, she could empathize with women in that position; she had known what it was like to be at the mercy of another human being, to be vulnerable, to fear for one’s life, but she still felt as though her own experience several months ago paled in comparison. She rounded the corner and walked into the exam room that was being prepped.
********
“Mmm, that’s it, yes right there…” Luthor moaned as the hands of his masseuse kneaded the muscles in his lower back.
“What is it?” he snapped at the sound of soft knocking on the door. The door opened and his receptionist entered.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Mr. Luthor, but Col. Trask is on line two for you, he says it’s urgent.”
“We’ll continue this another time, Vendela,” he said to the statuesque blonde as he secured the towel around his waist and put on his robe. Both women retreated from the office as Lex picked up the phone on his desk. “What can I do for you, Col. Trask?”
“Listen Luthor, enough stalling, your men have had plenty of time to make the modifications, I’m expecting the delivery system tomorrow.”
“I don’t believe that you’re in any position to be making demands, Col. Trask.”
“We had a deal, Luthor, you hand over the delivery system, my men destroy the alien.”
“Things change, Col. Trask,” Luthor said simply.
“You don’t have the meteorite. Without it, your delivery system is nothing more than a glorified can of aerosol cheese.”
“True, without the meteorite, the delivery system is useless, but what makes you so sure that I don’t have the meteorite?”
“Because I’m holding it right here in my hand, Luthor!”
“Are you really now? Is that really the meteorite, is what you hold in your hand truly Excaliber, or just a cheap knock off, Col. Trask?”
“Luthor, you son of a…”
“No need to get angry, Trask, the alien will be disposed of, when I see fit. I thank you so much for your help Col. Trask. Goodnight,” Luthor hung up the phone with a self-satisfied smile.
********
Clark woke up after a restless night. Unable to sleep, he’d gone out on patrol. While flying over the Atlantic he picked up a distress signal from an oil tanker that had run aground on an ice floe and was now spilling thousands of gallons of crude oil into the ocean. He spent hours helping to clean up the mess, doing his best to minimize the harm to the wildlife that the oil would cause. Having accomplished all that he could he flew home. The Suit was a lost cause and had to be disposed of; he himself took three showers and still didn’t feel clean. He went to bed as the first rays of gray, predawn light struck his bedroom windows.
He shook his head clear of the cobwebs and jumped in the shower again, a fourth attempt at getting rid of the sticky, viscous film on his skin. He shaved and dressed neatly in a dark suit and headed out the door.
He was walking up the court house steps when the sound o someone calling his name caused him to pause and turn around.
“Dr. Kent, I didn’t expect to see you here today.”
“Ms. Drake…”
“Mayson,” the assistant DA corrected him.
“Mayson, Dr. Lane is testifying today, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she is, we should be calling her as our first witness.”
Clark nodded and excused himself into the building. He made his way into the courtroom where he found Lois’s parents.
“Clark, we didn’t expect to see you here,” Ellen said as Clark took a seat beside her and Sam.
“I wanted to be here when Lois testified,” he said simply. It had been an emotionally trying couple of weeks. The federal case against Genzyme had moved into the preliminary pretrial hearing stage just as the DA’s office prepared to take Fitzgerald’s case to court. The opening statements had been made by both sides over the last few days and Clark knew that Lois had been burning the candle at both ends, with a busy surgery schedule as well as full shifts in the ED as well as preparing her testimony. It didn’t help matters that half a dozen times in the last two weeks she’d had to cover for him in the ED. The cardiology staff in MetroGen’s ED was supposed to remain on call when staffing the department, but Lois rarely faded into the background and waited to be called upon like her colleagues. Even though she wasn’t responsible for making rounds in the ED like the regular ED staff, she made herself a regular fixture in the ED, lightening the load on the rest of the staff by jumping in and taking control of emergency situations. Over time, she’d somehow developed the uncanny ability to know exactly when Clark needed help and she’d immediately arrive to take over for him so that he could slip out quietly. He hated placing her in that position, but when he tried to apologize for it, she wouldn’t listen to him. She cut him off, telling him not to be silly and explaining that she wanted to help him. Because of his new, more limited role in the ED thanks to the research project, she had been able to arrange her schedule to be on call in the ED whenever Clark was on duty. Clark appreciated the help greatly, but it was taking its toll on Lois and he would have to find some other arrangement because he refused to continue placing that burden upon her.
“Counselor, are you ready to proceed?”
“We are, your Honor,” Mayson replied. “The State calls Dr. Lois Lane.”
Lois entered the courtroom and took her place on the witness stand. The bailiff brought in a Bible and instructed Lois to place her hand on it. She did as she was told and then took her seat. Clark was slightly surprised when Mayson sat back down and Royce himself approached the podium to question Lois.
Royce began his questioning, encouraging Lois to recount exactly what had led her to Ft. Truman that day. Bit by bit, he entered as evidence everything that Lois had mentioned that led her to suspect wrongdoing on the part of the US Military. All of Danny’s files and emails were numbered and logged as evidence.
“What of Dr. Carter’s journal, Dr. Lane?” Clark saw Lois’s face drain of color at the DA’s question. She swallowed hard.
“Well, he did mention briefly, on several occasions, his suspicions about his employer and the military regarding the project.” Clark could hear her heart thundering in her chest, her breaths were short and shallow. Their eyes met and he nodded slightly, hoping his expression would serve to silently send her a message of reassurance. Somewhere in the background, he could hear Royce entering the journal as evidence. “Oh God, Clark,” he heard her whisper silently so only he could hear.
Whatever was frightening Lois obviously had no effect on Royce, who continued his line of questioning. He had Lois retell exactly what had happened to her after she arrived at Ft. Truman and before the police arrived. It was Clark’s turn to cringe as Lois, in a detached and distant voice, described with clinical precision everything that she could about the ordeal. Her face showing no emotion, she talked about what she saw and heard Fitzgerald and his men doing, she talked about the two goons seizing her, throwing her down the stairs. As though she were talking about someone else, she described her injuries from the fall. Stoically, she described how she and Fitzgerald had recognized each other, how he admitted to taking part in Dr. Carter’s murder, how he threatened to kill her, how he hit her repeatedly
Clark stared at Fitzgerald, sitting beside his slimy attorney, Bender. Fitzgerald seemed thoroughly disinterested in the proceedings. When Lois pointed him out, identifying her attacker, he seemed busy examining the dial of his watch. How dare he feign boredom? Lois’s words echoing in his mind, Clark fought the urge to jump out of his seat and give Fitzgerald something to be afraid of.
“The State reserves the right to redirect, your Honor,” Clark hear Royce’s voice. He looked up as the judge turned to the defense. “Your witness.”
“Thank you, your Honor,” Bender said, straightening his tie as he stood. “Miss, I’m sorry, Dr. Lane, please describe for the court your relationship with the deceased, Dr. Daniel Carter.”
Clark’s heart sank. ‘Where is Bender going with this?’ he thought angrily.
Lois’s heart leapt up in her throat. “He, uh, he was a friend of mine.”
“Good friend?”
“Yes, you could say that,” Lois’s eyes darted back and forth, she could feel the blood thrumming in her ears.
“So the two of you had been in touch over the years, up until his death?”
“No, no, not really.”
“Oh, and why is that, you did just say that he was a good friend, surely good friends keep in touch with each other.”
Lois stared over at Royce, who was busy poring over something or other on his notepad. ‘Why isn’t he objecting to this? What is he doing?’ she wondered angrily. “We had a falling out, I suppose.”
“So Dr. Carter was a good friend of yours, nothing more, and you’d lost touch with him over time.”
“I guess you could say that.”
“Dr. Lane, I don’t believe you’re telling the whole truth. Did you not just swear to tell the whole truth?”
Lois swallowed hard, “I beg your pardon?” she asked, a sharp edge to her voice.
“Dr. Lane, did you or did you not have a sexual relationship with Dr. Carter?”
“Why…why are you asking me this?” she demanded shakily.
“Please answer the question, Dr. Lane, did you or did you not have a sexual relationship with Dr. Carter?”
“Objection, your Honor,” Royce stood up finally, and Lois let out a sigh of relief. “This is irrelevant.”
“Mr. Bender,” the judge looked down at Bender. “Do you care to explain where this is going?”
“Certainly, your Honor, this line of questioning is most certainly relevant in order to put into context Dr. Lane’s previous statements. Her relationship with the deceased as well as previous behavior will place into context for the jury the validity of Dr. Lane’s accounts.”
“Mr. Bender, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt here, please continue.”
“Dr. Lane, Dr. Carter recounted in his private journal, a sexual encounter with you ten years ago, in which he was certain that he took advantage of you, according to Dr. Carter’s accounts, your friendship was destroyed by it, is this or is this not the case?”
How could that idiot Royce have entered the journal in as evidence? How could he not even tell her about it? Drake herself had told Lois that it was unnecessary and tangential to the case. Lois looked up. She could see her father, his head hung down, his eyes avoid her. Her mother had a hand raised to her lips, her eyes were closed. How disappointed they must be in her. How terrible this must be for them. “No,” she said. “No, that is not the case.”
“Are you denying that you and Dr. Carter had a sexual relationship?”
She steeled her resolve. “No, I’m denying the validity of Dr. Carter’s account of it.” Lois said in a deceptively calm tone of voice. “Danny didn’t take advantage of me. It was an act of indiscretion and we were both to blame, but yes, it did destroy our friendship.” She felt a single tear roll down her face, betraying her bravado.
“Are you all right, Dr. Lane?” the judge inquired, offering her a tissue.
She accepted it, dabbing at her eyes. “I’m fine, your Honor.”
Bender continued, “so it was a youthful act of indiscretion, right Dr. Lane?”
“I believe I just said that,” she replied icily.
“Then perhaps you have not yet outgrown these acts of indiscretion, tell me, is it wise policy to sneak onto military bases, eavesdrop on classified information, and start an argument with the officer who has detained you for questioning?” Without waiting for her answer, he continued. “This seems to be a very bad habit of yours, Dr. Lane, acting before you think. It was bound to get you into a lot of trouble. It was in fact, this bad habit that caused you to create the national security risk that led to your detainment. You were injured when you were detained, but my client’s account of how you sustained such injuries as well as your wild claims of his involvement in some conspiracy, differ greatly from yours. No further questions.”
He had set her up. He knew what she was going to say, and he anticipated it. With that one line of questioning, he had possibly obliterated all her credibility as a witness.
Drake took the redirect and did an admirable job of damage control, but Lois doubted that anyone was listening. She was excused as the courtroom was adjourned for the day.
“How dare he? How dare he put my daughter on trial?” Sam Lane stood up angrily. His eyes narrowed as he stared at Bender.
“Sam, please,” Ellen reached out and took his hand. “Please,” she pleaded with him. Sam Lane looked away silently. He followed his wife as they shuffled out of the courtroom. Clark remained a few paces behind. As he exited the double doors, he saw Lois sitting in the courthouse lobby; her eyes turned downward, her hands at her temples. He wanted to run to her, to gather her up in his arms, but he hung back, as her parents arrived at her side. Ellen took her hand as Sam placed an arm around his daughter and kissed the top of her head.
“I’m so sorry,” Lois whispered.
“Shhh,” her mother squeezed her hand.
“You have nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart,” her father said. He handed her his handkerchief, which she accepted silently.
“You must be so disappointed in me.”
“Your father and I couldn’t be more proud of you, Lois, and we love you so much,” her mother whispered.
“Where’s Clark?” she asked finally. “I saw him in the courtroom…”
“Lois?”
She looked up to see Clark standing there, a pained look on his face.
“Clark,” she whispered breathlessly.
She was instantly in his arms, she couldn’t have said how she got there, some small part of her mind told her she must have ran to him, but it didn’t matter. She didn’t want him to ever let go of her. If she had asked him to, he would have held her like that forever. He hugged her tightly, one hand cradling her head against his shoulder.
Her small body trembled in his arms. “Lois, I’m so sorry,” he whispered. After a long moment, he felt a hand on his arm. He looked up to see Ellen Lane.
“Clark, can you take Lois home?”
“Of course, Ellen.”
Lois withdrew from Clark’s embrace long enough to hug each of her parents. “Thank you,” she whispered to them.
“Goodbye, Princess,” her father said.
Ellen took her husband’s hand and the two walked silently out of the courthouse.
Clark placed his arm around Lois’s shoulder as they walked toward the massive doors. He could hear the sounds of hundreds of voices of the spectators and reporters who had gathered outside the building. They were camped out at every exit. He encouraged Lois to stay close to him as he held on to her a little tighter. He zeroed in on the Jeep before they exited the doors and quickly determined the fastest way to get to it. As he pushed to the doors open, they were hit by a barrage of sounds of flashbulbs popping and the blaring cacophony of hundreds of voices yelling out questions. He pushed aside countless microphones that had been jammed in their general direction as he pushed his way through the crowd, protecting Lois with his body. The crowd followed them to the Jeep, Clark obtained the keys from Lois and moved quickly to open the passenger door and get her inside. He moved around to the driver’s side, got in, and started the car. He inched slowly forward with the crowd gathering on either side of the vehicle, not letting them escape. He silently cursed as they made agonizingly slow progress out of the parking lot and toward the street. He glanced over at Lois, who was staring ahead blankly. He reached out his hand and took hers, squeezing it gently. Finally, they made it to the parking lot exit and Clark turned onto the street, speeding up and leaving the crowd behind.
He calculated quickly that it would take nearly an hour to get to Lois’s house from the courthouse thanks to rush hour traffic, so he took the turnoff to head to his apartment instead, which was much closer. He continued to hold her hand. He turned to glance at her briefly and noticed the tears that rolled silently down her face.
He pulled into the parking structure by his building and parked the car. He killed the engine and got out and walked around to the passenger side door, but Lois had already opened it and was getting out of the car. He closed the door and locked up the Jeep. She took his hand as they walked to his apartment. He unlocked the door to his apartment and led her inside. She sat down on his couch as he brewed some tea. He placed the cups on the coffee table and took a seat beside her.
“I feel like I’m going to keep paying for that mistake for the rest of my life,” she said, her voice low and thick with emotion. “And now one of Danny’s killers is going to go free because of me.” A tear escaped from her eye and started the slow journey down her face.
Clark reached up and with the pad of his thumb, brushed it away. She shuddered and sobbed, and he felt his chest constrict. “Lois, you have to forgive yourself for that mistake. This isn’t your fault, and I promise you, Fitzgerald will pay for what he did to you and what he did to Danny. I promise you, I won’t let him cheat justice.” Her arms encircled his neck and she buried her head against his shoulder. He pulled her into his lap and placed a kiss on her temple. He hugged her tightly and held her while she cried.
A long time later, he turned off his bedroom light and closed the door behind him. He had insisted that she stay and after finding her something suitable to sleep in, had said goodnight to her. He was both disappointed and relieved when she didn’t protest to his giving her the bedroom and going out to sleep on the couch.
********
“The lawyers have entered into plea bargain, sir.”
“Shhh,” Luthor replied, holding up a hand. He was sitting in a large leather chair in front of a roaring fire, a glass of wine in his hand. “What do you hear, Nigel?”
Nigel was silent for a moment, listening. “Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto Number One in E Flat Major, sir.”
“No, Nigel, tell me what you hear. It is the first movement, the clash between cello, rightful ruler and master of the orchestra, and the upstart horn. The confrontation between the two instruments reaches fever pitch and…” the music died as the horn was drowned out by the cacophonic thud of the timpani, silencing the other sounds. “The horn is defeated, allowing the cello to retake control,” the bittersweet sounds of the cello followed the string introduction. “It is as though, with such painfully sweet music, the cello mourns the death of his foe, and the orchestra joins in his lament. The thin veil of sorrow is cast aside. The cello takes command, and there is never again any doubt who is in charge. It’s beautiful, isn’t it, Nigel?”
“Certainly, sir.”
********
“No… yeah… thank you… thanks, Mayson, we both really appreciate it…you too, bye,” Clark hung up the phone and continued making breakfast.
“Clark?”
“Hey, good morning,” he said with a smile as Lois entered the kitchen, she had just showered and had put on the clothes she’d been wearing the day before.
“Anything I can help you with?”
“Nope, just about finished here. That was Mayson Drake on the phone. She wanted to apologize for everything that had happened yesterday, but she said not to worry. The prosecutor’s office is sure that Bender’s garbage yesterday didn’t do anything to hurt your credibility. It may have even backfired.” Clark took a seat next to her at the table and took her hand in his. “Lois, I’m sorry you had to go through that yesterday,” he said, his voice low and thick with emotion.
“It’s just so difficult trying to get on with my life when this is constantly thrown back into my face. What’s worse, now with the journal catalogued as State’s evidence, in a few years, any sicko who wants to read Danny’s journal is free to do so, once the evidence turns public information. Clark, that was his private journal, I’ve managed to hurt him in just about every conceivable way.”
Clark’s frustration grew. What could he possibly say to her to get her to stop berating herself? “Do you really think this is what he wanted, Lois? Do you think he wanted you to sit here and beat yourself up over it? Lois you’re not the bad guy here. Fitzgerald is, and I promise you, that he and that rat, Bender, won’t weasel their way out of this. But you’re going to have to stop blaming yourself for this. You’ve done everything you can to make sure that Danny’s murderers were stopped and that Genzyme was brought down, in spite of everything that stood in your way. What more can you ask of yourself, Lois? You risked your life to stop them. If I had lost you…” he began, his voice cracking. He swallowed hard and regained his composure. “If I had lost you, I don’t know what I would have done. I can’t even begin to describe how scared I was. I couldn’t let myself think what would happen if you didn’t make it. It would have killed me to lose you,” he whispered, his eyes unusually bright.
She squeezed his hand. “Oh, Clark,” she murmured. “I’m sorry I put you through that.”
“Lois, please stop apologizing for everything. When are you going to realize that none of this is your fault? Lois, you’re the bravest, most determined person I’ve ever met, and you’ve given so much, risked so much, to help other people. Don’t sell yourself short.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Clark.”
“I feel the same way about you, Lois, and I hope neither of us ever has to find out the answer to that.”
“Clark, there are so many things I need to tell you, so many things I should have said earlier, but I’ve been so afraid.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“Yeah and it’s okay, Lois, I understand, really,” he explained, hoping that if he could convince her, maybe he stood a shot at convincing himself.
“Wait, I’m confused, Clark, just what is it that you understand?” she shook her head, puzzled.
“Well, the way you feel about me, and it’s okay, I understand why we can’t have more than friendship, and if friendship is what you want, then I’m prepared to offer it, Lois, no strings attached.”
“No strings attached, Clark, I don’t understand.”
“Lois, I know that you don’t feel the way about me that I feel about you, that you can’t feel that about me, I know that you’re afraid and it would be wrong of me to ask any more of you than friendship. How could I ask someone like you to love someone like me?”
“Someone like me? Someone like you? What are you saying, Clark?”
“Lois, I’m not human, I’m, I don’t even know what I am.”
“And you think that makes a difference?” she asked angrily.
“How can it not?” he cried out. “I know, Lois, it doesn’t bother me, but I know. I remember how you ran away from me that morning at your house, how you had to get away from me, I remember how you used to cry my name out in your nightmares, I heard you, Lois, I heard you,” the last part came out as a whisper.
“Clark, the way I feel about you has nothing to do with where you’re from. I don’t care if you’re from Moscow or from Mars. But none of that matters because you don’t trust me, Clark.”
“How can you say that?”
“Because it’s true. How could you believe that I was afraid of you, repulsed by you? Do you think I’m that shallow? Do you think I’m some sort of bigot? Do you think that of me, Clark?
“No, no, of course not.”
“But you came right out and said it, Clark.”
“What was I supposed to think?” he shouted angrily. “You were afraid of something, how was I to know it wasn’t me? If you weren’t afraid of me, why couldn’t you just tell me what was wrong?” his expression softened and his eyes pleaded with her.
“Yes, I was afraid, Clark. I was afraid of losing you, of losing what we have. I was afraid because I’ve never felt about anyone the way that I feel about you. I was afraid because I was falling in love with you! And it hurts to know that you don’t trust me, that you think I could be that shallow, that superficial,” she stood up from the table.
“Lois, wait,” he was on his feet in an instant.
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore, Clark, I can’t,” she shook her head.
“Lois, I’m sorry,” he began.
“So am I, Clark,” she turned and headed for the door.
His mind screamed at his body to move, to do something, to stop her, but instead, he watched dumbly as she walked out his door. The echoing of the door closing behind her threatened to destroy his tenuous grip on his self control. He felt his heart shatter in his chest. He rubbed savagely at his stinging eyes. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have let her walk out the door? How could he have driven her out the way he did? He spun into the Suit; the gust of wind he carelessly created stirred up loose objects all over his apartment as he careened through the window.
‘She was falling in love with me. She had told me that she was falling in love with me and what did I do, I drove her away,’ his mind berated him. ‘That’s not fair,’ he argued with his conscience. ‘I didn’t know she was falling in love with me until *after* I had stuck my foot in my big mouth.’ He shook his head. ‘Great, now I’m arguing with myself,’ he laughed mirthlessly.
The next week was the longest in Clark’s life. He watched from a distance as the case against Fitzgerald proceeded. Mayson Drake had taken over lead prosecution of the case as Royce became busier and busier with the larger case against Genzyme. That case was moving to plea bargain and it looked like it would be an easy political win for the DA. After Royce’s monumental error with the journal and the Fitzgerald case, Mayson was doing an admirable job of cleaning up the mess and proceeding against Fitzgerald and his unsavory lawyer. Bender continued to harp on Lois’s credibility and attacked her as a witness, but Mayson had assured him that no one was buying Bender’s line. On more than one occasion, Clark had had to exercise all of his self restraint in order to keep from paying Mr. Bender a visit at his office. Clark was aware that nothing good would come of trying to intimidate Bender and he wasn’t about to try to reason with a lawyer.
********
“Lichtman called from the attorneys’ office. The defendants have agreed to plea bargain. Genzyme’s assets will be seized and appropriated by the federal government.”
“When will the media pick up on this?”
“LNN will be running with it as the lead story tomorrow morning.”
“Very well, Nigel. Call Dr. Chen, tell him it’s time.”
“Of course, sir.”
Luthor leaned back in his leather desk chair, a cigar in one hand. His lips parted in a wide grin. He began chuckling softly, but the sound of his laughter grew louder and louder until it seemed to consume the entire office.
********
Clark rubbed his eyes and raked his fingers through his hair. Another sleepless night and a morning full of events that required Superman’s attention had taken their toll on him. He arrived at the lab midmorning in a particularly rotten mood.
“You all right, Kent?”
“Fine, Geoff,” he replied unconvincingly to his colleague. Geoff turned back to his computer as Clark poured himself a cup of cold coffee. He drank it; the cold, bitter, stale taste apparently didn’t register with him as he drank it quickly. Clark disappeared into the office adjacent to the lab and closed the door behind him.
The laboratory doors opened again. Geoff looked up to see Dr. Lane enter the lab, her eyes darting back and forth quickly.
“Where’s Clark?” she asked breathlessly.
“Hi, Lois, how are you?” Geoff grinned.
“Fine, Geoff, but I really need to talk to Clark, could you tell me where he is?” she responded, irritated.
“He’s in the office, but…”
She crossed the lab in quick strides to the office door.
“But he’s in an even worse mood than you this morning,” Geoff whispered under his breath.
“Clark?” Lois asked as she knocked on the door. She heard a half muffled response and opened the door. She entered and closed it behind her.
“Clark, there’s a hostage situation down at the Lexor Hotel, the hostage takers are demanding that Superman show up.”
Clark looked up, a grim expression on his face. He pushed off his white lab coat.
“Clark, what are you doing?”
“Lois, you said it yourself, I have to go.”
“Clark, why would hostage takers be demanding Superman? Don’t you see? Why would they be asking for Superman if they didn’t think they could beat him? Either they’re incredibly stupid or they’ve set a trap for Superman.”
“Lois, don’t be ridiculous, what kind of trap could they possibly set for Superman? I’m sorry, but I’m wasting time and I need to go.” He brushed past her and exited the office.
“Clark!” she called out after him. God, he could be so thick skulled sometimes. She ran out of the lab and toward the parking lot.
********
Superman landed behind the police barricades outside the Lexor Hotel.
“Superman!” Clark recognized the Lieutenant who was calling him.
“What’s the situation, Lieutenant?”
“Well, Superman, we have an unknown number of armed hostage takers and twenty seven hostages including employees and guests still in the building.”
Clark scanned the building and came up empty. “Lieutenant, unless your bad guys and hostages are all invisible, I’ve got nothing, there’s no one in the building.”
“What the…that can’t be right, my boys sealed all of the exits. Grayson, get me the blueprints of the building. Are you sure about this, Superman?”
“Positive.”
The Lieutenant unfurled the blueprints on the hood of an unmarked police car.
“Lieutenant, these building plans aren’t accurate.”
“What?”
“There’s a sub-basement to this building. There’s a service elevator leading from the sub-basement to a tunnel that connects to the parking garage. Neither of those is on this blueprint.”
“God…” the Lieutenant grabbed his radio and barked into it. “Get me two teams to seal off the ground floor of the parking structure. The Lieutenant glanced over at the parking garage that had been closed for renovations. Construction equipment littered the entrance of the garage; access from all above ground floors of the Lexor to the parking garage had been sealed off because of the repairs. No one had even known about sub ground level access and no one had thought to block it off.
“Superman!” Clark’s head snapped up as he tried to determine the source of the voice calling his name. “Superman, no one can hear me except you. I’ve moved the hostages to another location, one that’s a little more out of the way than the largest hotel in Metropolis. Superman, there is a bomb in the loading dock of the Lexor Hotel, if this bomb goes off, not only does it destroy the Lexor, but a chain reaction of explosions throughout the city will be triggered as well. Better hurry up, Superman you have twelve minutes to diffuse the bomb.”
“There’s a bomb in the loading bay of the hotel, Lieutenant, I have to disarm it, evacuate the area, you’ve got eleven and a half minutes.” In a blur, Superman disappeared.
********
Lois raced across town to the Lexor Hotel. She parked the Jeep illegally in front of the police barricades and ran against the flow of people evacuating the area. Among the swarm of reporters and photographers, she found Jimmy, excitedly taking pictures. She grabbed the young photographer and pulled him aside. “Jimmy, come with me,” she said, explaining nothing else. The young man allowed himself to be dragged along. The pair nearly ran into Bill Henderson.
“Dr. Lane, what are you doing here?” Henderson demanded.
“Inspector Henderson, where’s Superman?” she asked breathlessly.
“Said something to the Lieutenant about a bomb in the loading bay, he went to diffuse it. There’s a general evac. for this city block, that includes you Dr. Lane, so you’re going to have to leave.”
“Henderson, I have a really bad feeling about this. Why would the hostage takers demand Superman show up unless they thought they could beat him? I think this is a trap.”
“Well, there isn’t much you and I can do about it if we get blown up, Lane, let’s get out of here.”
Their conversation was cut short by the whizzing of a projectile screaming across the sky. Whatever the object was, it struck the back of the Lexor building by the loading bay. People began to flee the building as panic ensued. Lois grabbed on to Jimmy and ducked against the moving swarm.
“Lois, this is insane” Jimmy called out to her over the sound of the mob.
“Come on, Jimmy!” she said sharply as she pulled him along. The two moved closer and closer toward the building.
********
Clark studied the digital display on the device in front of him. He calculated roughly that there wasn’t enough Semtex attached to the detonating device to do more than cosmetic damage to the building though it could have been the cause of tragedy had it been set off in a crowded place. He had just decided to pick up the bomb and fly straight up with it, in order to diffuse it high over the Atlantic, when a shrill noise tore through the air. He heard a crash as a small metallic canister hit the loading bay. He stared at the canister for a moment, puzzled. Without warning, the canister opened up and a fine green mist was emitted from within. The world began to spin, as Clark grew dizzy and nauseated. He reached up his hands to his throbbing temples, dropping the explosive. His body began to sway and he collapsed to the ground.
********
“Superman!” Lois yelled out. She ran at full sprint toward the loading bay. She scrambled up the platform and stopped dead in her tracks. The object of her search lay crumpled up on the ground; a fine layer of green powder covered his body. Beside his prone form lay a small unfamiliar device that Lois correctly assumed was the bomb. Not far away was the source of the green mist, a container that looked like a tear gas canister. She placed two fingers on Clark’s carotid artery and felt nothing. His skin was burning up, but there was no pulse. There were what appeared to be burn marks around his lips and his nose and anywhere where the green dust had settled in large amounts on his skin. She fought the urge to panic, and yelled for her young cohort.
“Jimmy!” Jimmy came running after her, leaping onto the docking platform in one swift motion.
The young man’s face fell as he took in the scene around him. “Oh my God,” he gasped.
“Jimmy, you’ve got to help me move him, we’ve got…” Lois looked at the digital display on the clock, “four and a half minutes Jimmy!”
“All right, all right,” he took a deep breath and then looked up at Lois, his eyes wide, “what do I do?” he asked.
“First, stop panicking, then grab Cl…Superman,” she caught herself. “Hook your arms under his armpits,” she instructed and he obeyed. She grabbed Superman’s feet and awkwardly, they carried the large form of the Superhero toward the edge of the loading bay. They managed to lower him down to ground level and moved him away from the loading bay, where they laid flat on his back.
“Now what?”
“We don’t have much time, Jimmy,” she closed his hand around her car keys. “Get the Jeep, bring it back here, and hurry.” He nodded vigorously and ran off at a full sprint.
Lois kneeled beside Clark’s body. She placed one of her hands on top of the other, interlacing her fingers. She placed her hands in the middle of his chest and began compressions. She counted off the compressions in the 15-2 cycle and adjusted her position to tilt back Clark’s head. She pinched his nostrils and covered his mouth with her own, giving the first of two breaths. She began the cycle again, giving the fifteen compressions and the two breaths. She suddenly felt Clark’s body convulse under her, he coughed violently as she struggled to roll him onto his side.
“Thank God,” she whispered. His breathing was heavy and labored and he was unconscious, but he was alive. She could hear the sounds of tires squealing and the crash of a splintering police barricade as Jimmy raced toward them in the Jeep. She looked up, and saw Jimmy approaching he parked the car close by and leapt out of it, rushing toward them. Lois and Jimmy struggled to lift Superman off the ground and into the car. Jimmy was working to get the Man of Steel into the backseat when Lois remembered the canister.
“Jimmy, move the car up the drive away from the building,” Lois turned and ran back toward the loading dock, she calculated quickly that she had only a minute left.
“Lois where the hell are you going?” Jimmy yelled.
“Don’t ask, Jimmy, just do it!” Lois quickly slid up onto the loading platform where the digital display was now counting down from fifty seconds. She could hear Jimmy start the Jeep in the background. Her eyes darted frantically back and forth till she spotted the unassuming metal canister. She ripped off her jacket and picked the canister up in it, and ran back toward the platform’s edge. She leapt down from the platform, landing painfully on her ankle. She ran toward the Jeep, wrapping the canister up tightly in her jacket. She wrenched open the driver’s side door and practically pulled Jimmy out of the car.
“Jimmy, take this thing somewhere safe, where no one will find it. Whatever’s in here is what’s making Superman sick, it may be our only clue to getting him better, understand?”
The young man nodded vigorously and took the canister. He bolted quickly from the Jeep and away from the Lexor, back toward his car. Lois jumped in the driver’s seat and put the car in drive; she stepped on the gas just as a loud earth shattering sound tore through the air. The Jeep lurched forward and she took off toward MetroGen. She immediately reached for her cell phone and hit the speed dial button for ED admitting.
“Metro,”
“Chris, listen to me,” Lois said forcefully. “I need you to get me a private room in the ICU, full life support. Call up Dr. Ali Sadeghi, get him to bring in the ECMO and call my father, tell him to him to meet me alone and with a gurney at the ambulance bay, now!”
“Dr. Lane, what’s going on?”
“No time for questions Chris, this is a matter of life and death, hurry,” she hit the ‘end call’ button and turned her attention back to the road. “Hold on, Clark,” she whispered. “Hold on.” The usual five minute drive from the Lexor to MetroGen was completed in barely two minutes as Lois broke every traffic law known to man to get there. She could hear Clark’s raspy, labored breathing from the backseat as she careened down the boulevards of Metropolis.
Lois pulled the Jeep to a halt at the ambulance bay where her father was waiting, his face pallid, his mouth drawn in a grim expression.
“Lois, are you all right?” he asked as soon as she opened the door.
“Fine Daddy, but you have to help me, get the gurney,” she opened the rear door as her father complied.
“Oh my God,” Sam gasped.
“Daddy, please hurry, he’s dying!” she cried.
Together they moved Superman onto the gurney, covering him from the neck down with a sheet, hoping no one would recognize him. They wheeled him quickly into the hospital.
“Dr. Lane!”
Lois’s head snapped up at the sound of her name being called. She saw Chris immediately.
“ICU room five,” he said quickly.
She nodded as father and daughter pushed the gurney through the corridors toward the Intensive Care Unit. They wheeled Superman into the private room and immediately pulled away the sheet.
“What happened to him Lois?”
“Some sort of poison,” she said as she tried to roll Superman onto his side. “Help me get this suit off him Daddy, it’s the green dust, it’s on his skin, in his lungs…”
Sam quickly complied, helping his daughter roll the Superhero onto his side. They found the zipper on the suit and began pulling it away from his body. The green dust was quickly cleaned off of his skin and monitor leads were placed on his chest. He was quickly hooked up to the ECG.
“Lois, whatever this stuff is, it’s most likely in his system, he must have inhaled it.”
“I know Daddy, it’ll require suction and we need to irrigate his lungs with sterile saline.”
“Honey, we don’t know how his body works, or even if we can treat him effectively with normal methods.”
“Daddy, we have to try!”
“We need a specialist.”
“Dr. Sadeghi’s on his way. He’s bringing in the ECMO.”
“Lois, he’s invulnerable, we won’t be able to get him on standard life support.”
“Not anymore he isn’t, Daddy,” she nodded to the cut on Superman’s lip that was bleeding slowly.
“Well then, we better get an IV into him.”
“Dr. Lane? What’s going on?” the door opened and a man in his mid thirties walked in followed by a pair of orderlies moving a very large machine. The orderlies left the machine inside the room and closed the door behind them. Lois and Sam moved aside from their position blocking the patient from Dr. Sadeghi’s view. They saw his eyes grow wide as he noticed the colorful and familiar suit that had been tossed aside and Dr. Sadeghi realized the patient’s identity.
“Oh my God,” he whispered. “How on Earth did this happen?”
“He was poisoned, Dr. Sadeghi,” Lois explained. “We think the poison is in his lungs, his breathing is shallow and his pulse is weak.”
“Well, let’s move then, we’ve got to get his lungs irrigated and we need to get him onto life support. Can we put him on life support?”
“He isn’t invulnerable anymore,” Sam explained quietly.
Dr. Sadeghi nodded quickly and the three set to work immediately.
********
Hours later, Lois sat beside Superman’s bed. She looked down at his body. His skin was pink and blisters had begun to form. There were all sorts of tubes leading into and away from his body. Leads attached to monitors kept track of his vital stats, as the machines did their essential work in keeping him alive. He looked anything but invulnerable lying there on that bed. Lois held his large hand in both of hers. “Please Clark,” she whispered. “Please Clark, don’t leave me.” She lifted one hand to brush a tear away.
********
“Knock, knock.”
“Who’s there, sir?”
“Superman.”
“Superman, who?”
“Exactly!” Lex proclaimed with a wide grin. He looked over the balcony of his penthouse office, to the city down below. The night was slightly warmer than usual, yet still quite cold, but the weather did nothing to dampen Luthor’s good spirits.
“Nigel, do you see the beauty of it, the sheer wonder of the situation? Today, the day Genzyme was dismantled, the day when the fate of one of my prized projects was sealed, a day that should have undoubtedly been spent licking my wounds, has instead turned to a day of triumph! A day of pure jubilation! Superman is dead, and the city is once again mine for the taking!”
“It was a plan of sheer brilliance, sir.”
“Indeed it was, Nigel. Let no one ever tell you that the optimist is a fool. For I have taken life’s lemons and from them, produced champagne,” he raised his flute to punctuate his sentence. “A toast, Nigel,” Nigel too, lifted a glass. “To my triumph over Superman, infernal do gooder and proverbial thorn in my side.”
“To the death of Superman, sir.”
They clinked glasses and Lex quickly downed the champagne. “Schedule a press conference for tomorrow, Nigel. It’s time for the city’s most well known philanthropist to pay his respects for the fallen hero.”
“Very good, sir.”
********
“Dr. Lane?”
Lois looked up to find Dr. Sadeghi standing in the doorway. She released Superman’s hand immediately. “Dr. Sadeghi, do you have any news?”
“Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation is a very complicated procedure, Dr. Lane. We normally only use it on premature infants with autoimmune disorders or failing organs, but in this case, the ECMO is allowing Superman’s lungs to rest and recuperate. The patient was in severe respiratory distress, but we’ve stabilized vital signs now. We’ve been irrigating with sterile saline and we’ve almost flushed the lungs clear of the toxin. We should be able to take him off life support completely in about twelve hours, I can’t make any projections on recovery, just that he’s stabilized and he should be able to breath under his own power in a while.”
Lois let out a sigh of relief. A few short hours ago, the man lying in that hospital bed could have bench pressed a bulldozer, now it seemed like a miracle that he would once again be able to breathe on his own. “Thank you, Dr. Sadeghi.”
“I have to make rounds in the ICU now, I’ll be in for the next few hours and I’ll be back in the morning. You have my cell and home phone number, call if his situation changes. I’ve told the nurses and the rest of the staff that the patient in this room is not to be disturbed. So far, no one else knows he’s here, let’s try to keep it that way.”
“I don’t know how to thank you, Dr. Sadeghi,” Lois began.
“You don’t have to thank me, Dr. Lane,” Dr. Sadeghi shook her hand and quietly departed.
Before the door could close behind Dr. Sadeghi, Sam Lane appeared in the doorway. “Lois?”
“Hi Daddy,” she looked up at her father with tired eyes.
“Lois, you haven’t left his side in hours, you’re exhausted and you haven’t even had anything to eat or drink all day, you’re in no shape to help him if he needs it,” her father placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“I’m not leaving, Daddy,” she replied resolutely.
“Then at least take a break, get something to eat.”
She nodded as she stood up stiffly to stretch her legs.
“Thank you, Daddy, for everything,” Lois hugged her father, who reciprocated his daughter’s gesture. She left the room quietly, closing the door behind her. She wandered into the cafeteria, purchased a tasteless sandwich and hot coffee and sat down at a table, alone.
“Lois!”
‘Oh God,’ she thought. ‘Not now, Craig, not now!’
He failed to receive any of her telepathic messages and took a seat beside her. “It’s terrible, isn’t it?”
She shook her head, “what?”
He gestured at the television monitor. The TV was tuned to LNN. A reporter stood outside the Lexor Hotel, speaking into a microphone. She was standing next to a man Lois recognized as the police chief.
“…That’s right, there has been no word from Superman since he left to diffuse the bomb. He obviously did not succeed in disarming the bomb that went off in the Lexor loading bay,” Police Chief Berry explained.
“Ladies and gentleman, you heard it here first on LNN, Superman is missing and presumed dead. Metropolis’s hero set out to diffuse a bomb that could very well have taken his life. Fire and rescue crews moved in following the explosion to try and locate the fallen hero, but as of yet, they have been unable to find him.”
Lois’s eyes grew wide with horror. Clark’s parents. They would have seen that news report. They would be worried to death, terrified.
“I can hardly believe it, myself. I mean, Superman dead? Damn shame.”
‘Shut up, Craig, please, shut up and let me think!’ “Craig, I, I need some air, I’m sorry.”
“Sure I understand, it’s hitting you pretty hard, huh? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”
She stood up and started to walk away quickly, tossing the remnants of her food and coffee into the trash.
“Lois, if you need to talk about it, I’m here!” he called after her.
She raised a hand in scant acknowledgement as she left the cafeteria. She rushed to her office, her ankle screaming once again in protest. She fumbled with the lock, finally opening the door and rushing to her Rolodex. She located the Kent’s number and quickly dialed. “Come on, come on, pick up!” she hissed.
“Hello?” she heard a thin voice on the other end answer.
“Martha,” she said breathlessly. “It’s Lois.”
“Lois, what’s happened, what’s going on?” Martha asked. Lois could hear the fear and desperation in her voice.
“Martha, I’m at the hospital, I brought Clark here, he’s on life support in the ICU,”
“Oh God, oh my God. Jonathan!! It’s Lois, Clark’s in the hospital.”
“Lois?” she heard Jonathan Kent’s voice. “What’s happened to my boy?”
“Some sort of poisoning, I don’t know what exactly.”
“Poisoning, how can that be?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she replied. “We stabilized him, and flushed the poison out of his body, but I don’t know if he’ll ever get better,” her voice cracked as the tears began to fall.
“Lois,” Martha’s voice was surprisingly calm. “Lois, you’ve saved my boy’s life, but he still needs you. He needs you to stay calm.”
“You’re right, you’re right, Martha,” Lois said, controlling the sobs.
“A snowstorm has closed the airport in Wichita, but Jonathan and I will be on the next available flight to Metropolis. Thank you, Lois.”
Lois said goodbye and hung up the phone. She ran a shaking hand through her hair as she leaned against the edge of her desk. She exhaled slowly as she stood up. Martha was right. She needed to stay together; she needed to remain in control. She walked back to the ICU and into Clark’s room. He lay perfectly still on the bed, clad only in his boxer shorts. Her father stood beside the bed, noting and recording his vital signs. Sam looked up when Lois entered the room.
“How’s Superman?” she asked quietly.
“The latest lab results just came back. His lungs are clear, and whatever that stuff is, there’s no trace of it in his blood stream.”
“Thank God,” she murmured.
“His body’s still very weak and we don’t yet know what, if any, permanent damage has been done. Perhaps if we knew more about his physiology…” Sam trailed off.
Lois crossed the room to stand beside her father.
“Lois, you’re limping,” her father said, a concerned look on his face.
“It’s nothing, Daddy,” she brushed aside his concern.
He looked at her sternly. “Sit down, Lois,” he said firmly. Annoyed, she obeyed.
Sam knelt down and removed her shoe. Her ankle was swollen again. He held her foot gingerly in his hand and noticed how she tried to hide the look of pain on her face. He frowned as he gently lowered her ankle and stood up. He moved around the room, locating what he required. He carefully bandaged her ankle and instructed to keep it elevated. She rolled her eyes at him.
“Lois,” he chastised her.
“Daddy, it’s just a sprained ankle, and I am a doctor, I think I know how to take care of it,” she complained.
“You know, you’re as stubborn as your mother,” he grumbled, but he couldn’t help but smile. She smiled back.
Sam kissed his daughter’s forehead before standing to leave the room to get ice.
********
She sat by his bedside in the early hours of the morning, a cup of lukewarm coffee in her hands. She sipped slowly.
“Lois, you’ve been here all day, you need some rest.”
“Daddy, I can’t leave him here.”
“Then at least sleep here.”
“What if something happens?”
“We’ll sleep in shifts.”
“Daddy, I can’t ask you to stay.”
“You didn’t ask, Princess, and you may be an adult, and able to make your own decisions and take care of your own patients, but I am your father, and I hope, your friend, and I don’t want to see you try to pull a 24 hour watch.”
“All right, you win.”
“Knew you’d see it my way.”
“But I’ll take the first shift. I can’t sleep now anyway.”
“All right, but since I don’t trust you to wake me, I’m setting my own alarm. I’ll switch with you in four hours, if you get tired before then, wake me up, understand?”
She nodded, “thanks, Daddy.”
Sam settled into his chair and closed his eyes. Before long, the rhythmic sounds of his breathing told Lois that her father was asleep. She covered him with a blanket and resumed her position beside Clark. She reached out a tentative hand to brush aside an errant lock of hair that had spilled onto his forehead. Her fingers lightly traced the contours of his face in a gentle caress. “Come back to me,” she whispered. She sat silently in the darkened room, listening to the din and hum of the life support machines.
She heard the faint beeping of her father’s watch. She had been unaware of how much time had passed. It had felt like an eternity and only a single moment at the same time. Her father began to stir. He stood up and stretched. She stifled a yawn. She rubbed her eyes and looked at her watch, it was past five in the morning.
“Lois, you should go home, Dr. Sadeghi will be back in a few hours, we’ll be able to take care of Superman. Go home and get some sleep.”
“I’m not leaving, Daddy,” she replied resolutely.
“Then at least go up to your office and sleep on the couch.”
She wanted to protest but could find no good reason. She found herself nodding feebly. “Go on, Princess, I promise I’ll let you know if his condition changes.”
She nodded again and left the room, heading for the office. She collapsed on the couch. After over half an hour of fitful tossing and turning she finally fell asleep, though her dreams were far from pleasant.
Lois was seized by terrifying nightmares that pursued her relentlessly. All of them ended with her clutching Clark’s broken and bloodied body to her breast. She woke with a start and bolted upright, her eyes wide with fear and her heart racing.
“Lois, calm down, it’s all right,” she felt a hand on her arm.
“Mother? What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Your father called. I was furious with him for missing last night, I thought he’d forgot, but then he told me what had happened. I’m just glad that you’re both okay, I was so worried.”
“Last night? What was last night?” Lois asked, puzzled.
“Only you would forget what yesterday was, Lois,” her Mother teased.
“It was the fourteenth of February, Mother, what’s the big deal? Oh.” Lois frowned. She had forgotten. She laughed humorlessly. A few weeks ago, she would have given anything to spend Valentine’s Day with Clark. She’d gotten her wish, she realized wryly. Now she would have given anything to be able to take the whole day back and make it so none of it had happened.
“Right, Valentine’s Day, Lois. Anyway, I thought I’d come up here and check on you.”
“What time is it?” Lois shook her head, trying to clear her mind.
“Almost eight.”
Lois got up off the couch, trying to straighten her clothes. “Have you seen him? How is he?”
“Your father and Dr. Sadeghi are taking care of him, Lois, just relax. You need your rest, come on, I’ll take you home.”
“Mother, I’m not leaving.”
“Lois, you’ve been here all day and all night. You really ought to go home.”
“Go home and do what, Mother? I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, and no matter where I am, I’m just going to worry, I might as well be here, where I can at least do *something* to help him.”
“I give up, I never could talk you into doing anything once you had your mind set on the opposite anyway. Come on, let’s go down to the cafeteria.”
“The food’s terrible, Mother.”
“Forget the food, I need coffee! Your father woke me up at six this morning to come down here.”
Lois shook her head and smiled slightly, “let’s go, Mother.”
********
“Dr. Lane!”
Lois stopped dead in her tracks. She knew that voice. With a feeling of dread settling into the pit of her stomach, she turned around. “What can I do for you, Dr. Davis?” she responded politely.
“You can start by explaining to me what the hell is going on here? Who’s in ICU five? Why isn’t the patient registered? Why is there no paperwork for him? Why have you taken it upon yourself to commandeer the hospital’s ECMO system and why didn’t you feel the need to explain any of this to anyone?”
“Dr. Davis, I can explain, but you must understand that these are rather extreme circumstances. I know that I’ve been difficult to work with, but this is not just some crazy stunt I’m pulling to irritate you. If anyone else knew who was in that room, well, suffice to say that all hell would break loose.”
“Dr. Lane, perhaps you can stop speaking in hyperbole and elucidate on the matter?”
“I was on my way over there now, how about I show you?”
Dr. Davis nodded and followed Lois down the corridor. Lois opened the door to room five in the ICU. Both Dr. Sadeghi and her father stood beside the bed.
Lois stepped back, allowing Dr. Davis to approach the bed. “Dr. Lane, Dr. Sadeghi, could either of you explain what’s going on here? Who is this patient?”
“It’s Superman.” Lois said.
“What?” Dr. Davis turned around to look at Lois.
“The bomb at the Lexor was some sort of bait to lure Superman there. He was poisoned. We still don’t know how.”
“My God,” Dr. Davis whispered.
“We took Superman off of life support a few hours ago,” Dr. Sadeghi explained. “He’s now breathing on his own, but he’s covered in second degree burns over twenty per cent of his body and he has sustained significant damage to his trachea, and bronchi from inhaling the poison. He’s still unconscious and we can make no projections on his recovery.”
“We can’t let anyone know he’s here. This hospital will be turned into a three ring media circus,” Dr. Davis shook her head.
“We know,” Sam replied.
“Well, keep me informed of his condition, if you need anything, call me on my cell phone,” Dr. Davis left the room and closed the door behind her.
“Lois, your friend Jimmy called a while ago.”
“Jimmy? What did he say?”
“Well, he said he needed to talk to you, said it was urgent and that he couldn’t talk to anyone else.”
“Daddy, Jimmy has the canister, the one with the toxin, I gave it to him to get it as far away from Superman as I could, we need to figure out what this stuff is and where it came from.”
“It could be our best shot at getting him better again,” Sam mused. “I know exactly who to talk to. I’ll be back soon,” Sam exited the room. He came back a short while later. “Lois, call Jimmy. Tell him to take the canister over to STAR Labs. It’s a new research lab downtown. The projects chief is an old friend of mine, Bernard Klein, we can trust him. He’ll be waiting for Jimmy.”
“Thanks, Daddy,” Lois left the room to call Jimmy.
********
“As a city, we must strive to find the good even in this senseless tragedy. We must take away the messages of Superman’s life, not just those of his death. To this end, I am founding a new Memorial Fund, in honor of our city’s fallen hero. Luthor Industries is redoubling its efforts to improve this city and give back to its community. We will strive for even greater partnership between industry and the city of Metropolis. Luthor Industries plans to take the lead in following Superman’s example. As we mourn him, so shall we also celebrate his values, his ideals, and the lives he touched. Superman died performing his most sacred duty of protecting our city, let us work together to continue carrying his torch. This city has not only lost a hero, many of us have lost a true friend,” Luthor faltered slightly on the last few words. “Excuse me,” he cleared his throat. “In his memory, I pledge to do everything in my power to help realize Superman’s lofty expectations for our fair city, I hope that you all will join me in this pledge, thank you.” Luthor stepped away from the microphone his eyes turned downward, a solemn expression on his face. Flashbulbs popped all around him.
“Nigel, you would think that after years of lying and manipulating, that the act would be easier to stomach,” he said, a disgusted look on his face.
“Yes, sir, but you do it so convincingly.”
“I do, don’t I?” Luthor smiled. “Any sign of the Spandex clad freak’s body yet?”
“No sir, but thanks to the oil drums placed there, the loading bay sustained significant fire damage. The building is structurally sound, but much of what was in the loading dock was burned beyond recognition. Most likely, they’ll find what they’re looking for after a few weeks of sifting through burnt rubble.”
“There’s something quite soothing about contemplating my foe’s fate as a charcoal briquette, Nigel.”
“Indeed, sir.”
********
Lois sat beside Clark’s bed for the second evening. Her father was at STAR Labs, her mother had gone home for the night, and Dr. Sadeghi was making rounds in the ICU. She held Clark’s large hand to her lips, watching silently as his chest rose and fell with every breath. His vital signs had stabilized. They were slightly different from those of a healthy male of his age and size, but they were unsure whether the differences were due to his physiology or something else. They guessed that he was running a fever, but they couldn’t be sure.
“It still hurts to know that you thought I was afraid of you. I realize now that I was the one who reinforced that stupid idea in your mind. I should have just talked to you, I should have told you everything so much sooner. I’m no good at this Clark, at friendships, at relationships. Clark, I promised myself I’d never hurt you, but I did, by pushing you away, by letting my anger control me. I know I’ve said this before, but I don’t know if you believed me. I love you, Clark. Every time I think about living without you, I start to shake. I need you in my life, Clark. You have to come back to me, please.”
********
Sam knocked on the door. When there was no answer, he pushed it open quietly. He had just returned from STAR Labs and had news for Lois.
“…I love you, Clark…”
Sam opened his mouth to speak but quickly shut it. He saw Lois gently kiss Superman’s hand. He retreated out the door as quickly and as quietly as possible. He most certainly was not meant to see this. He stood with his back against the wall. Lois had called Superman ‘Clark.’ He quickly dismissed the possibility that she was delirious, but that only left one rational explanation. The sheer force of the discovery hit him like the proverbial ton of bricks.
The young man lying on that hospital bed was Clark. Clark. Clark was the man who had saved his daughter’s life. The quiet, unassuming young doctor was also the Man of Steel. He thought hard about Clark and Superman and realized that there was more than a passing resemblance, but if he hadn’t stumbled upon the knowledge, Sam would never have guessed that the two were one and the same. The second revelation that he’d accidentally overheard was almost as surprising as the first. No wonder Lois refused to leave the hospital. Sam was already quite certain that Clark meant a great deal to his little girl. His heart went out to her; she’d had to pretend all this time that the man lying on that bed, fighting for his life, was only an acquaintance. He decided that he could sort all of this out later. For the moment, he needed to do everything he could to help bring Clark back to his little girl.
He knocked loudly on the door. “Come in,” he heard Lois respond from within. He opened the door and entered. “I just got back from STAR Labs. Jimmy brought in the canister and Dr. Klein’s begun analyzing it and it’s contents. Lois, that stuff is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. When you and Jimmy found Superman, how did you know that the toxin wasn’t going to affect you?”
Lois looked up at her father, a pensive look upon her face. “I guess I didn’t, Daddy. I didn’t think,” she admitted.
“Well, you’re very lucky. Whatever it is, it’s apparently non toxic to humans, though it’s obviously done considerable damage to Superman’s system. Bernie says he’ll have some preliminary results for us tomorrow. He’s going ahead and working all weekend on this.”
“Daddy, I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Hush,” Sam replied, he cleared his throat. “We’re going to need another IV,” Sam turned toward the door.
“I’ll get it,” Lois stood up. Sam nodded and she left the room.
“Well, Clark,” Sam began. “You’d better recover, son, because if you don’t you’ll break my little girl’s heart,” Sam stared down at the young man lying motionless on the bed. He felt a bit apprehensive about his daughter falling in love with the world’s most powerful being and one that wasn’t quite human. ‘It’s funny,’ Sam thought, ‘it wouldn’t have bothered me in the slightest to learn that Lois was in love with Clark, but now that I know Clark is also Superman…’ Sam tried to reconcile the distinct differences between the caped superhero and the kind, good natured young doctor. ‘Clark looks fully human,’ Sam thought idly. ‘But he isn’t. The differences may be small, but they’re real,’ he reminded himself. ‘Does it really matter? Clark has a good heart, he cares for Lois, and Lois obviously loves him…’ his thoughts trailed off. ‘But there’s the fact that he’s the strongest being in the universe, what if he ever did anything to hurt Lois? Can I even be sure that he won’t hurt her unintentionally?’ Sam shook his head, he’d seen Clark with Lois, he’d seen how gentle the young man was, how protective of his daughter. “I just want what’s best for my daughter, you understand that, don’t you?” Clark lay still, the peaceful look of a deep sleep upon his countenance.
The door opened behind him and Lois walked in. She changed Clark’s IV wordlessly. Sam could see the thinly veiled look of pain on her face.
“Any attempts at convincing you to go home tonight would be futile, wouldn’t they?” Sam asked with a lopsided smile.
Lois nodded. “He’s stabilized, Daddy, but I don’t want to leave him, I’ll go ahead and sleep here.”
“All right, sweetheart, I’ll be back in the morning, I’ll leave my cell phone on, call if you need anything.”
“Thanks, Daddy,”
“Goodnight, Princess,” Sam walked quietly out the door, closing it behind him.
She stood beside his bed, her fingers stroking his hair lightly, watching the smooth planes of his chest rise and fall with each breath. “Goodnight, Clark,” she whispered. She turned the lights off in the room and settled into the chair beside the bed. She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep well, but was exhausted. A long time later, she drifted off into a fitful sleep. She was plagued once again by horribly vivid nightmares. She woke with a start in the middle of the night, soaked in a cold sweat. She left the room to get a cup of tea to settle her nerves. She found a change of scrubs in her locker in the ED lounge and showered and changed. Lois returned to Clark’s room feeling slightly better, but still on edge. She hadn’t really eaten anything in the last few days and her stomach recoiled at the thought of having food placed in it. Her ankle throbbed and her whole body hurt from trying to sleep sitting in that uncomfortable chair. She sat silently in the dark and watched him, praying to a God that she wasn’t sure was listening anymore, that Clark would pull through.
********
“Lois?”
Lois blinked her eyes opened. It was just after eight. She’d fallen asleep a little over an hour ago. “Hi, Daddy,” she replied, stifling a yawn.
“I’m sorry to wake you, Princess. But I brought you some tea, and a bagel,” he handed her a cup and a small plain paper bag.
“Thanks,” she replied, sipping the tea.
“How’s the patient?”
“No change since last night,” she replied.
They changed the IV and recorded Superman’s vital signs. They found that his temperature had dropped slightly, which they assumed was a good thing. His blood pressure, pulse and respiratory rates were stable and strong. Lois noticed her father acting oddly. He seemed distracted as they worked.
“Daddy, what’s wrong?” she asked finally.
“Oh, uh, nothing, Princess, what makes you ask that?” he said, unconvincingly.
“You’ve been acting strangely all morning, something’s bothering you.”
“It’s nothing, I’m going to go get Clark’s lab results, they should be ready.”
It took a moment for her father’s words to register with her. “What?”
“I said I’m going to get Superman’s lab results.”
“You said ‘Clark,’ Daddy,” she challenged him.
Sam Lane sighed. He’d really done it this time. “Lois, last night, when I came back from STAR Labs, I overheard you talking. I know.”
“You know what, Daddy?”
“I know that Clark is Superman, and I know that you’re in love with him. Lois I swear I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I knocked on the door, you didn’t answer, and I figured you weren’t in the room. As soon as I realized that you were here and that you were talking to him, I left. I’m sorry.”
“I can’t believe it,” she shook her head. “What else did you hear?”
“Nothing.”
She looked away. “I guess it must be a shock to find out your daughter’s in love with Superman.”
“Lois, have you really thought about this, what it will mean to have a relationship with someone like Clark?”
“Why, Daddy, does the thought of your daughter dating someone like Clark repulse you?”
“Lois,” her father cautioned sternly.
“It’s funny, you know, because Clark was worried about the same thing, worried about the implications of me having a relationship with someone who wasn’t fully human. He somehow got it into that head of his that I was afraid of him. But you know what, Daddy? Clark is the most human person I know. Everything you would value in another person, every good quality I can think of, Clark has inside him. He’s the kindest, most selfless and caring individual I’ve ever met. And if he isn’t human, so what? I don’t care. Daddy, I love Clark, nothing could change that.”
“I know, sweetheart, and I know what a good person Clark is. I just hope you realize that things won’t always be easy. Lois, he’s Superman, you can see right here that his life is dangerous and complicated, I don’t want to see you get hurt because of that.”
“Is it any more dangerous or complicated than that of an army surgeon, Daddy?”
Sam grunted, leave it to his daughter to corner him like that.
“You and Mother got through that together, Daddy, and I know going into it what a relationship with Clark will entail, but I love him and if he’ll have me, I want him in my life.”
Sam was silent for a moment. “I’m so proud of you, Lois. I couldn’t have asked for a better daughter. Clark is lucky to have you.”
Lois laughed. “Maybe you can explain that to him, after that monumental fight we had last week, he could probably use some reminding.”
“Well, I should go get those test results. Then I’ll run over to STAR Labs to see what Bernie’s figured out.”
“All right.”
“I’ll be back soon,” Sam explained before leaving the room. Lois was once again alone with Clark.
********
“Sam, you’re not going to believe this,” Bernard Klein said excitedly as he moved about his lab.
“What is it Bernie?”
“This substance you brought in, I analyzed it, started every test I could think of on it. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Whatever it is, it’s not of earthly origin.”
“What?”
“It’s extraterrestrial, Sam.”
“You’re serious?”
“As a heart attack. It appears to be a very slowly decaying radioactive meteorite. It’s incredibly dense and oddly stable, where did you get this stuff?”
“This is what poisoned Superman, Bernie.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I’m not. My daughter found him and brought him into MetroGen. He was nearly dead when he got there, spent all day on the ECMO and is still comatose. Bernie, is there anything you can tell us about this stuff that might help us find out what’s wrong with him?”
“My guess is some sort of radiation sickness, it’s the only thing that makes any sense, but I don’t know how his body would react to this stuff. Any burns?”
“Some second degree.”
“That makes sense, anything else?”
“Respiratory distress, fever, loss of consciousness.”
“I don’t know, Sam, this is uncharted territory for me,” Bernie shook his head.
“Is there anything else you can tell us about the sample?”
“Not yet, we’ll know more after the test results come back, but I can tell you about the device that delivered it,” Bernie produced some keys and opened up a storage container. He pulled out the canister. “Recognize this?”
********
“Ah, Nigel, things are falling so perfectly into place, but now, when others would sit upon their laurels and savor victory, now is the time when I must push forward still. One must strike while the iron is still hot.”
“And what would be your next target, sir?”
“I’d like to think of it more as a future acquisition rather than a target, Nigel,” a wave of his expensive cigar served to punctuate his sentence. “Now that I’ve conquered that which could not be conquered, it is time to possess that which will not be possessed,” with an exaggerated motion of his arm, he placed the cigar between his lips.
“Dr. Lane, I presume?”
“But of course, Nigel. Superman was apparently a friend of the good doctor; I should pay my respects. Of course, my plans will be most easily executed with Dr. Lane under the most external pressure. I’d like to shake her confidence a bit.”
“Then you should be pleased to hear that the board of Metropolis Medical Center has reconsidered your offer.”
“Splendid, Nigel.”
********
Lois was startled by the sound of her name being paged on the PA. She got up and went to Chris’s station at ED admitting. “What is it, Chris?” she asked the young man.
“I’ve been trying to get a hold of Dr. Kent, couple of the docs called in sick and he’s supposed to be available to cover today. Have you seen him?”
“No, but don’t worry about it, Chris, I’ll cover for him. Just tell my father I’m in the ED when he gets back.”
“Will do, Dr. Lane. Thanks.”
“No problem, what have you got for me, Chris?”
Chris looked up at the whiteboard. “Fifty five year old white male just came in complaining of chest pains.”
“Sounds like something right up my alley. Let me have it.”
Chris handed her the clipboard and Lois headed to the exam room.
********
Sam Lane arrived at MetroGen and went in to check on Clark after learning from Chris that Lois had had to go into the ED. His temperature was again, slightly lower and the burns on his body had started to look a little better. He’d talked with Dr. Sadeghi who’d counseled him that all they could do now was monitor him and wait. Sam called Ellen to let her know that he wouldn’t be home for a while before sitting down to go over the latest battery of test results.
Hours passed before Lois returned from the ED, looking even more tired than before. She walked into the room, limping on here still tender ankle. She greeted her father, then walked over to Clark’s bedside. She realized what a relief it was not to have to pretend around her father anymore. She took Clark’s hand in her own. “Hi, Clark,” she said softly. She stroked the back of his hand gently with her thumb. “Please, Clark, you have to fight, you have to come back to me,”
********
Clark was wandering through a dense fog. He called out, but no one seemed to be able to hear him. “Hello?” he yelled. “Is anyone there?” He walked through a dark gray cloud, not knowing where he was. He was lost. His head was swimming. Nothing looked familiar. He called out again. This time he heard a voice. Someone was calling him. Someone was calling his name. “I’m here!” he replied. “Come back to me,” the voice told him. He knew that voice. It was her. ‘Lois?” he cried out. “Lois, where are you?” “Come back to me,” her voice echoed in his mind. “Lois, wait! Please.” There was no response. “Please, don’t leave me, Lois!” The voice was gone; he was once again alone in this cold, dark place.
********
Sam looked up to see his little girl swaying unsteadily, a pained expression on her face. “Lois?” She raised a hand to her temple. Sam rushed to her side. “Lois, what’s wrong?” She shook her head.
“It’s nothing, Daddy.”
He looked at her intently, there were dark circles under her eyes, her eyes were red, and her expression pallid. She trembled slightly. “Lois, you’ve been driving yourself into the ground here, you need to rest. Go home, get something to eat, and go to bed.”
“Daddy, I don’t want to leave him.”
“Lois, just what can you expect to do for him in your condition? You’re making yourself sick. None of this will do anything to make Clark better.”
********
Clark could hear shouting in the distance. “What’s going on?” he demanded. “Lois, where are you? Lois?” The shouting continued, but he couldn’t make out the words. He wanted to cover his ears, but found he couldn’t. He turned around; the sounds seemed to be coming at him from all sides. He squeezed his eyes shut and willed it to all go away. The darkness and the silence crept back in. He gasped. He started running, he didn’t know toward what, but away from the emptiness. He prayed for the end of the silent blackness, even the shouting was better than this.
********
Lois tried to turn away from her father. He held her lightly by the shoulders, both to prevent her from blocking him out and to keep her from falling down. “Lois, you’ve been here for three days, you haven’t slept, you’ve hardly eaten anything at all. You need to get out of here for a while. I will call you if anything changes.”
“Oh, God, Daddy what if he doesn’t recover?” she sobbed. She hugged her father tightly, blinking back the tears.
“Lois, he will. He will get better, but you need to start taking care of yourself. Do you understand me?” She nodded dumbly. “I’ll call your mother and have her come pick you up.”
“No,” she said in a small voice, shaking her head. “It’s all right, I’ll take a cab.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” she replied.
“All right. I’ll see you in the morning, Sweetie, not before, do you understand?”
“Yeah, Daddy.”
“I love you, sweetheart.”
“Love you too, Daddy.”
Lois hugged her father before gathering up her overcoat and leaving the room.
********
Talking. There were voices, talking again. He could hear them. “Where are you?” he called out. “Lois?” As quickly as they had returned, they were gone again.
********
Lois put on her overcoat and wordlessly left the hospital. She walked past the taxi stand. The storm that had crossed through the Midwest dumping mass quantities of snow had moved east to Metropolis. The weather was slightly warmer than usual and the precipitation fell as a bitterly cold rain. Lois hardly noticed that she was getting soaked. She shivered involuntarily, barely aware of the fact that she was cold. She kept walking. It was dark out, the clouds preventing the penetration of the light of the stars and the moon. She drifted aimlessly up the street, past the corner, where on a night that seemed like so long ago, she had discovered Clark’s secret. Tears fell silently from her eyes.
********
Sam rubbed his eyes wearily. He needed some coffee. He left the room and headed toward the cafeteria. He sat down at an empty table, a steaming cup held between both hands. He shook his head. This situation was getting more and more complicated. He prayed that he was doing the right thing.
********
An odd light shone through the fog, reflecting off of the clouds that surrounded him. The light hurt his eyes. “Hello?” he called out, moving toward the light. He tried to lift his hand to shade his eyes, but again found that he couldn’t. He moved closer and closer toward it. Through the dense fog, he heard a faint sound. It was a slow and steady beeping, familiar, but he couldn’t place it. He kept moving. Now there was a very distinct mechanical humming in the background as well. He could feel the light on his skin. He felt warm and his whole body started to ache.
Clark’s eyelids fluttered open. He squinted, the dim fluorescent hospital light nearly blinding him. He tried to talk but found his throat to be parched. He coughed. “Lois?” he croaked. He looked around as best he could. He was in a hospital room. ‘How did I get here?’ he wondered. ‘And why does every part of my body ache?’ He lifted his head and was rewarded by a feeling of nausea. He looked down at the tubes attached to his body. He lifted his right arm with some difficulty and grabbed hold of the IV line that had been placed in his left arm. He pulled it out and grimaced. ‘God that hurt.’ He sat himself upright. It was a slow, painful process. The sheet fell away from his body and he could see the leads that had been attached to his chest. He pulled them all away, inadvertently flat lining the ECG. He doubled over, thinking he was going to retch, but his stomach was completely empty. The nausea passed. He slowly managed to coordinate his legs and swung them over the side of the bed. He placed both unsteady feet on the ground. He tried to stand and immediately collapsed to the ground with a grunt. He slowly managed to stand up with the aid of a nearby chair for support. He looked down at his body. He was only wearing his underwear. He looked around the room. The only acceptable clothing available was a set of scrubs that had been left in the corner on a chair. He walked precariously over to the chair and with much difficulty, dressed. The scrubs were a bit too small, but they would have to do. He walked out of the room on still unsteady legs.
********
Sam walked back toward the ICU, coffee cup in hand. He stopped dead outside the door to room five. The sound that came from within filled him with dread, he opened the door quickly and rushed inside. His cup fell and hit the floor, coffee splashed across the linoleum. ECG had flat lined and his patient had disappeared. He scanned the room quickly but there was clearly no sign of Clark. He raced out the door, frantically searching the hallways. He ran toward the entrance, eyes darting back and forth. He heard the automatic doors open and turned to see a tall, dark-haired man limp through them. He ran after him, colliding with an orderly. Sam stumbled back to his feet, muttering apologies, but he lost sight of Clark.
********
Lois stood outside, across the street from the hospital’s entrance, her arms wrapped around her body. Her hair hung limply, soaked and matted down. The raindrops washed away the trail of tears on her face, camouflaging the fact that she’d been crying. She shivered as she stared at the large building. She looked straight ahead. Her heart leapt up in her throat. It couldn’t be him. She was just imagining things. It wasn’t Clark standing there; Clark was lying in a bed inside, fighting for his life. The figure stopped moving. She squinted her eyes and stared hard at him. It must have been her mind playing tricks on her, but he did look an awful lot like Clark. The man started to approach her. She stood, frozen in place.
********
Clark limped out the door. He needed to find her. She had been there, in his room. She’d called to him, pleaded with him to come back. He turned his head from side to side, searching. The cold ground stung his bare feet. “Lois,” he called out hoarsely. He was weak, his powers gone, but he stepped out into the cold rain anyway, looking for her. He stared out in front of him, his eyes adjusting to the dark. A shadowy figure stood across the street from him, she looked familiar. He moved forward, it had to be her. It just had to be. He tried to coordinate his arms and legs to move faster but his body refused. He limped forward, coughing from the cold and the exertion. He had to stop. He leaned forward as his body was wracked with coughing. He looked back up, and saw her running toward him. He straightened himself out, still breathing hard from the effort he’d exerted. “Lois,” he whispered.
She gazed into the eyes of the man who had captured her heart. He struggled to stand, swaying slightly. His broad shoulders sagged as his chest rose and fell with each labored breath. The rain ran in rivulets down the features of his beautiful face, trailing down his throat and disappearing below the v-neck of his shirt. The green scrubs clung to his body, molding themselves to his muscles.
He heard her sob as she threw her arms around him. He wrapped his arms around her, allowing her to help hold him up. He felt her body shake with sobs.
“Oh God, thank God, Clark,” she whispered through tears. She clung to him as if she never intended to let go. “Clark I was so scared, so scared I was going to lose you,” she murmured. They held each other silently for a long moment, each drawing strength from the other’s presence. Lois heard footsteps as someone ran toward them. “Lois! Clark!” she heard her father yell. She looked up to see him rushing toward them. “We need to get you back inside,” she whispered.
“No, I…take me home, please, Lois,” her heart melted at his words.
“Lois, we need to get Clark back into the hospital, he’s in no condition to be running around here like this.”
“Sam,” Clark said weakly. “I just want to go home.”
“Daddy, we can’t very well bring Clark into the hospital, people are going to ask questions.”
“Take him back to your place, I’ll get everything we need and meet you there.”
“Okay,” she nodded. Lois and Sam helped Clark into the Jeep. They reclined the passenger seat and shepherded Clark into the car. Lois covered him up with a blanket and closed the door. She ran around to the other side of the car and got in. She started the Jeep and turned the heat on full blast. She navigated the wet and slippery streets carefully. The windshield wipers beat out their even rhythm as they wiped away the sheets of rain. She reached out and took Clark’s hand in hers. She needed to touch him, to hold onto him and convince herself that this was real. She squeezed his hand gently, her heart swelling as she thanked God for bringing Clark back to her.
She pulled the Jeep into the drive, put it in park, and turned off the ignition. She looked over at Clark, who’d fallen asleep on the long ride home. She lifted a hand to caress his face. “I love you, Clark,” she whispered, blinking back tears, this time of joy and relief. She couldn’t remember ever crying out of happiness before. He looked so peaceful, she didn’t want to wake him, but there was no way she could get a sleeping Clark Kent into the house and she wasn’t going to leave him in the Jeep. “Clark,” she said softly. She put her hand on his shoulder. “Clark?” she said a bit louder. She watched his eyelids flutter open. He looked at her and smiled silently. “We’re here,” she explained, her voice barely above a whisper. She got out of the Jeep and moved around to the passenger side. She opened his door, while he fumbled with the seatbelt. “Keep the blanket wrapped around you,” she instructed. “Now put your arm around my shoulder, I’m going to help you inside, but you’re going to have to work with me, Clark, there’s no way I can move you by myself,” she practically had to shout over the pouring rain. He put his right arm around her shoulders and she helped him from the Jeep. He took a moment to steady himself. She held his right hand, securing his arm around her shoulder, and placed her left arm around his waist. They moved as quickly as they could, trying to coordinate their actions as they made their way up the drive. They arrived at the door soaked to the bone. Clark leaned up against the wall as Lois rushed to get the door open. She brought him inside as quickly as she could. He started to move toward the couch but she steered him to the stairs. “Lois?” he asked.
“Come on, we have to get you upstairs, out of these wet clothes and into bed,” she instructed him. He shivered involuntary as they moved to the base of the staircase. They began the awkward ascent, Clark placed more weight on Lois than he cared to, but he was helpless to try to climb the stairs on his own. “Easy,” she coaxed him. “Take it nice and easy.” After what seemed like an eternity, they made it to the top step and Lois guided him to her bedroom. She led him to the foot of the bed and sat him down, while she quickly searched through her dresser drawers. Under other circumstances, it would have been humorous to watch Lois Lane tossing clothing left and right trying to find clothing that would fit someone of Clark’s size. Finally, she dug out her Property of Metro U. Athletics sweats. The sweatshirt was huge and would fit Clark easily, the sweatpants, while very loose on her, would probably fit Clark rather tightly and would no doubt, be a few inches too short, but they would have to do. The sweats held in one arm, she disappeared into the bathroom, moving quickly. From inside she yelled to him, “you’re going to have to get out of those wet clothes right away.” She reemerged with a pile of towels in the other hand. “Can you manage by yourself, or do you need some help?” the concern was evident on her face.
Clark cleared his throat; “I’ll manage.”
Lois took the wet blanket from around his shoulders. “I’ll be back in a little bit, call if you need anything, I’ll be right downstairs.”
Clark nodded as she gathered some dry clothes and retreated from the room. Lois turned the heat up on the thermostat and proceeded to occupy herself in the kitchen, preparing what she figured Clark would be able to take in. Her father arrived while she was downstairs. He checked to make sure that they had made it in all right and she told him that she would be able to handle everything and that he ought to go home. Her father had spent almost as much time as she had in the hospital this weekend and he needed to go home and rest. She hugged her father, thanked him and bid him goodnight as he left for home.
She made here way back up the stairs, balancing the tray on one hand as she knocked on the bedroom door. “Come in,” she heard a faint voice call from within. She pushed the door open and found Clark sitting on the foot of the bed, dressed in the sweats. She put the tray down on the dresser, pulled the covers back on the bed, and piled all the pillows on one side of the bed. She offered Clark her hand and he got up slowly. He climbed into the bed as she drew the covers up around him. He inched backward to sit up with the pile of pillows against his neck and back.
“Here,” she said, handing him the glass of water.
“Thank you,” he replied. He sipped the water slowly, but drank the entire glass. The burning ache in his parched throat was finally soothed. He handed her the empty glass.
“Do you think you can take some soup?” she asked. He nodded and she handed him the bowl of thin soup.
He held the steaming bowl in his hand and ate slowly, letting the soup warm him up. When he was finished, Lois took the empty bowl from his hands and replaced it on the tray.
“Are you in any pain?” she asked. He shrugged noncommittally. “Clark, don’t play tough guy with me,” she said sternly.
“Yeah, a little,” he admitted.
She disappeared into the bathroom with the glass and returned with some water and Tylenol.
“I’m not sure these will work on me, Lois,” he explained as she handed him the glass and the two little pills.
“It won’t hurt, in any event,” she said. “I’m sorry I can’t give you anything stronger, but you haven’t had anything to eat in days and Percocet would give you a nasty tummy ache,” she smiled. “I’ll be back in a minute,” she left the room and, true to her word, returned after a brief moment, carrying a small black duffel bag. She removed a topical ointment that she applied to the quickly fading burns on his face, neck, and hands. They’d been treating the burns from the time he arrived at the hospital and he was lucky that they were healing so quickly. She pulled out a new thermometer and instructed him to open his mouth and lift up his tongue. He complied. She pulled a stethoscope out of the bag; knowing it would feel cold against his skin, she let out a warm breath on the end of it before making him lift up the sweatshirt. She placed the stethoscope on his chest, listening to his heart. She listened intently, then made him lean forward so she could place it on his back. She instructed him to take several deep breaths and he complied. Satisfied, she allowed him to lie back and took the thermometer out from under his tongue. She held it up and frowned. “Do you know what you normal temperature is?” she asked.
“Ninety nine point four,” he replied.
“You’ve got a touch of a fever,” she commented. “Are you still cold?”
“Yeah.”
“Lie down,” she said. He slid down the bed from his seated position until he was lying flat on his back. He rolled a bit onto his side. She took the quilt from the foot of the bed and spread it out over him. She noticed him shiver slightly. Lois moved around to the other side of the bed and lay down on top of the covers. She moved closer to Clark, she spooned herself against him and put her arm around his body, hugging him tightly to her. “Clark, you’re shaking.” She bit her lip. “Clark, why did you leave the hospital room? What possessed you to run out into the rain?”
“I don’t know, Lois. I remember hearing you calling to me, asking me to come back, then I opened my eyes, and I was alone. I was afraid. I didn’t know where you were, or if you were hurt. I had no idea how I’d gotten in that hospital room, or why I felt so weak, but I knew I had to find you.”
“Oh, Clark,” she murmured.
“Lois, what happened?”
“You don’t remember?”
“No. The last thing I remember is you walking into the office, we argued, I left, the next thing I knew, I was in the hospital, with no powers, and in, well a lot of pain.”
She ran one arm soothingly up and down his arm. His shivering had abated and the telltale Goosebumps on his neck were gone. “You left to go help at a hostage situation…there was a bomb in the loading bay of the Lexor, Inspector Henderson said you’d gone to diffuse it, but it was a trap. Whoever planted the bomb knew you would come to disarm it, and they poisoned you Clark. There was this canister with some kind of green aerosol spray in it. I came running after you. When I got there…Clark, you’d collapsed, you weren’t breathing, I was so scared.” Her voice was low and thick with emotion. “Jimmy helped me get you out of there before the bomb went off.”
“Was…was anyone hurt?”
“By the bomb? No. It wasn’t a very powerful explosive. There were flammable chemicals in the loading bay that ignited, but the area had been evacuated deserted…” ‘but you were supposed to be there, the bomb was meant to kill you, Clark.’ Her heart crept up in her throat and she swallowed painfully. “We got you to the hospital, put you on the ECMO, you were unconscious for the better part of three days. I…I didn’t know if you were ever going to wake up, Clark.” Her voice wavered. “I called your parents, at the hospital and again just a few minutes ago. They’ll be in Metropolis by Tuesday at the latest. A storm closed the airport in Wichita, they haven’t been able to get on a flight out.”
He felt her warm breath on his neck as she spoke in hushed tones. He could feel her body tremble behind him. She hugged him tighter. “Lois, I’m so sorry I put you through that.”
“Shhh, I don’t want to talk about that now, Clark. The last few days, I’ve been thinking a lot about my life, about you. I realized something, Clark. I told you the other day that I don’t know what I’d do without you in my life, Clark, now I know. I’d die, Clark. Losing you would kill me. These last few days, I had to face the possibility of living without you and it terrified me. I’m a wreck without you, Clark. I felt like someone had ripped out my heart. And thinking that our last words may have been spoken in anger…” She swallowed hard, maintaining her tenuous grip on her composure. “Thinking that you may not have believed me when I told you that I loved you, Clark it made me realize what a coward I’ve been.”
“Lois,” he began, his heart breaking at her excessively harsh verdict against herself.
“Clark, please, let me finish. I’ve been so afraid, afraid of what would happen if we took the next step, afraid of losing what we have, I didn’t realize how much I was hurting you, and sending you mixed signals. I was afraid to love you, Clark, because I was afraid of hurting you, and afraid of losing you. I’ve already managed to hurt you and it took almost losing you to realize that. I’ve seen what living without you would be like, Clark; nothing could be more frightening, more empty. I can’t live without you, Clark. I love you,” she sighed, bracing herself for his judgement. It wasn’t fair of her to lay all of this on him now when he was so vulnerable, and with no method of escape, but she knew that if she didn’t say it now, if she didn’t tell him how she felt, she may never get another chance. The last few days had taught her that.
“What about Lex Luthor?”
“What?” she asked, wondering where on earth that non-sequitur had come from.
“I saw…I saw you kiss him.”
“Oh Clark, I ought to strangle you, not only for spying on me but for doing such a poor job of it!”
“What?”
“Clark, you saw Lex kiss me. There was no reciprocity there.”
“So you don’t care for Luthor?”
“Actually, no, I don’t. He’s a power hungry, manipulative and extremely possessive man, and he kinda gives me the creeps, Clark. I had dinner with him, at his insistence mind you, because he’s interested in my research. Clark, you lunkhead, don’t you get it? I’m in love with you.”
“Oh Lois,” he murmured. “I love you so much,” his voice was gravelly and thick with emotion. He turned around to look at her, his eyes bright. He lifted a hand to caress her cheek. She closed her eyes and reached out a hand to his face as well. She tilted his head down and pressed her lips to his forehead. She ached to kiss him properly, to taste his lips, but he was still so tired and weak, what he needed was rest. She felt his arm tighten around her waist as they held each other close. She held him gently in her arms until the slow, steady sound of his breathing indicated that he’d fallen asleep. She slipped from the bed, gathered something suitable to sleep in and headed for the study.
********
The obnoxious sound of the alarm clock woke Lois the following morning. She rolled off of the couch in the bedroom that had been converted to a study and stretched. Luckily, she’d scheduled today as a day in the lab. She would check in with her father, but she would spend the day here with Clark. She mentally shook herself. She couldn’t believe how much had changed in the last few hours. She’d slept last night for the first time in days; finally able to relax and rest knowing that the man she loved was sleeping peacefully in the next room. She’d told him last night, told him everything. She’d poured her heart out to him, left herself vulnerable and exposed and she’d received his own affirmation of his love for her. Her heart soared. No matter what lay ahead, they would deal with it together. She got up and crept quietly to the bedroom. She pushed the door open and found him sleeping soundly. She pulled a chair to the bedside and sat down, watching him sleep. She indulged in the luxury of studying him for a long while. She watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest with every breath, studied his features, perfect and beautiful, a look of sublime peace upon his face as he slept. She finally tore herself from his bedside, gathered her things and retreated to the other bathroom to take a shower and get dressed. She returned to the bedroom a short while later. She left a note on the nightstand for Clark, who was still sleeping soundly. She left the room in a hurry to run her errands so she could return quickly.
********
Clark blinked his eyes open. He turned onto his side and looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand, it was past ten in the morning. His eye caught the note beside the alarm clock. He shook his head as he sat up and picked up the note.
Dear Clark,
Hope you’re feeling better this morning. I had to pick up a few things, be back in a little while.
Love,
Lois
He smiled. She loved him. While they still had a lot of things to talk about, she’d made it clear last night that she wanted him in her life. Almost getting killed had worked wonders for his love life. He slowly got up, stretching his aching muscles. His powers were still gone and he felt weak. The thought that his powers might never return plagued him. He’d had his powers his entire adult life. He’d taken them for granted, forgotten what it was like to be without them. He wasn’t sure what he would do if they were gone forever. What would happen to Superman? He tried to clear his head of the thoughts. There was really nothing he could do about that now. He found more towels and made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. He ran the water as hot as his no longer impervious body could stand it. Ten minutes later, he turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, tired from having been on his feet for that long. He wrapped a towel around his lean waist and stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He heard a soft knocking on the bedroom door. “Come in, Lois,” he called from the bathroom.
Lois entered the room carrying a duffel bag as well as several small shopping bags. She noticed that the bathroom door was slightly ajar and assumed Clark was in there. “Clark I stopped by your place to pick…to pick up…ah a few things.” She swallowed hard. Clark was now standing in the bathroom doorway; naked except for the towel knotted at his waist. She watched as water dripped from his hair and his face down his neck and across his tight pecs, and over his rippling abdominal muscles where the drops of moisture collected at the top of the towel. She realized she was staring at him and noticed how he looked away. She was finally able to tear her eyes away from his body.
“I’m sorry, I’ll get dressed,” he laughed softly, embarrassed.
“No!” she said. “I mean, I brought you some clothes back from your apartment.” She crossed the distance between them and handed him the duffel bag.
“Thanks.” He grinned. He extended one hand to accept the proffered bag and ran the other through his damp hair. Lois inhaled sharply. ‘Don’t do that!’ her mind screamed at him. ‘Don’t you know that when you move like that, that towel around your waist starts to move, to loosen ever so slightly? Do you have any idea what that’s doing to me? How difficult it is for me to pretend that everything’s fine when all I want to do is throw you on the bed and have my way with you? God this is so frustrating!’ He smiled again and then disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door with a soft ‘click’ behind him. Lois finally let out the breath she had been holding. He came out of the bathroom a few minutes later wearing a tee shirt and sweat pants that actually fit him.
“I couldn’t find a razor, in your bathroom, so I picked one up for you at the drug store.”
He scratched at the three day old stubble on his face thoughtfully. “What, you don’t like the beard?”
She grinned at him. “Let’s just say that I wasn’t planning on kissing you properly until you got rid of it.” She felt more relaxed flirting with him now that he was fully clothed.
“Where’s the razor?” he replied.
She handed him the razor and the shaving cream. He turned back to the mirror and began to shave. “Ow.” She heard him say softly. She walked into the bathroom and stood behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“Cut yourself?”
“‘Fraid so,” he replied. He touched the nick and brought his fingers back, sticky with blood. “I’ve never had to do this before.” He laughed a self-deprecating laugh. He swayed slightly and steadied himself against the sink.
“Clark?” The concern was evident in Lois’s voice.
“It’s okay, I’m all right,” he assured her.
She closed the lid on the toilet seat. “Sit,” she instructed him. He meekly obeyed. She took the razor from his hand. She took up the task of shaving for him, moving the blade across his skin in slow, even strokes, taking care not to cut him. She finished and he raised a hand against his skin.
“Not bad,” he commented.
She placed her hand on his cheek and closed the distance between them. She placed her cheek next to his, feeling his warm skin under hers. “Not bad at all,” she whispered in his ear. She found his lips and kissed him. Softly, hesitantly at first, in the merest whisper of a kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling her hands in his hair as she deepened the kiss. She couldn’t believe the way his lips felt under hers; she was stunned by the incredible sensation. The kiss became more passionate as her tongue begged entrance to his mouth and he complied, parting his lips to grant her access. Hungrily, they tasted each other, their tongues engaged in a slow dance. At some point, Clark had stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close to him. He pulled back first and drew in a shaky breath. Their eyes locked and Lois could scarcely believe the depth of emotion in Clark’s gaze, though she knew that every bit of the love she saw in his eyes was being reflected back in her own. Their lips met again in a slow kiss full of love, though not nearly as passionate and urgent as the first. “I love you, Lois,” he whispered breathlessly in her ear.
“Oh Clark, I love you so much,” her voice wavered as she spoke.
He smiled, hugging her tightly. Her arms had moved around his waist and he leaned against her lightly to keep his balance. “As much as I would like to spend the rest of the day like this…”
“Just the rest of the day?” she whispered.
“All right, the rest of my life,” he laughed. “There are still so many things we need to talk about, I wasn’t exactly a very active conversationalist last night, and there are still things I need to say to you, starting with I’m sorry. I’m sorry for ever doubting you, for not talking to you about what was bothering me, for shutting you out.”
“Clark…”
He relaxed the embrace, taking both of her hands in his and gazing into her eyes. “Lois, you saved my life, and for that, I’m eternally grateful, but you’ve done so much more for me than that. I could never thank you enough for believing in me, supporting me, risking your life for me, and loving me, despite the fact that I’m a, what did you call me last night?”
“A lunkhead.”
“Right, a lunkhead.”
“I meant it in the best possible way, Clark,” she said as she hugged him. She took him by the hand and led him toward the bed. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?” He raised an eyebrow at her.
“You’re going to lie down, and I’m going to make breakfast. You’ve had enough excitement for one morning.”
“Spoilsport,” he grinned.
“You better believe it.” She gave him a quick kiss.
He sat down slowly on the bed; his legs were still a bit shaky. He shook his head. He couldn’t believe it; the most brilliant, beautiful, caring and wonderful woman in the world was in love with him. He leaned back against the pillows, a big grin on his face, his heart soaring.
Lois returned a short while later carrying a tray with oatmeal, juice and tea. She set the tray on the nightstand. “Here you go,” she said.
“Thanks.” Clark favored her with a grin.
She walked over to the windows and opened the shutters. Raindrops beat heavily against the windowpanes. It was a cold, gray winter day. She let out a sigh. It had occurred to her downstairs that she had not yet told Clark about her father finding out. She realized that she should have told him earlier, that he had a right to know. “Clark?” She turned away from the window to look at him. “Clark, there’s something I need to tell you. I should have told you last night, but I guess with everything that happened, it just slipped my mind.”
“Lois, what is it?” He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
“Clark, my father knows.”
“Knows what?”
“He knows about you, Clark, about Superman.”
Clark bit his lip, deep in thought.
“Clark? Are you okay?”
“Last night, your father called me ‘Clark,’ I remember now, I thought I had dreamt the whole thing…”
“No, you didn’t, and he did. I’m so sorry, Clark, I know I told you that you could trust me, that I would keep your secret…”
“Hey, Lois, it’s okay. It’s okay.”
She stood behind the chair beside the bed, keeping physical distance between them. “I was talking to you, and he came into the room, I didn’t hear him. He overheard me say ‘I love you, Clark,’ and well, it didn’t exactly take him long to put two and two together. Clark I’m so sorry, I should have been more careful.”
“Lois, honey, it’s all right, really. I know that you wouldn’t tell anyone, and that you were under a lot of stress. I hope never to put you in that position again. What happened was an accident; you didn’t intentionally do anything to hurt me, and I trust you, and I know that you’ll help me protect the secret. Speaking of your father, how’s he taking the news?”
“Oh, well, I talked to Daddy last night. He knows how important it is not to tell anyone.”
“I’m glad to hear it, but that’s not exactly what I meant. How does he feel about his daughter being in love with a guy who’s not quite human and flies around in tights?” Clark wore a hopeful smile, but inside, expected the worst.
“He was worried at first,” she said slowly and saw the briefest flash of disappointment in Clark’s eyes before he blanked his expression. “He asked me if I knew what it meant to have a relationship with someone who was constantly putting his life on the line, someone whose responsibilities were so great that sometimes everything would have to come second to his job. I told him that being the daughter of an army surgeon had taught me a thing or two about it. I learned growing up, watching my parents, what it would mean to be involved with someone like that.” She smiled slightly. “What did you call me?” The smile was replaced by a questioning look.
“Huh?” Clark shook his head.
“When I was telling you that I was sorry, you said it was all right, you called me…”
“Honey,” Clark finished for her. “What? You don’t like it.” He prepared himself for an onslaught.
“Actually.” She smiled. “I think I do.”
She walked around the protective barricade of the chair. He extended a hand to her and drew her close to him. He reached out and tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, allowing his thumb to stroke her cheek and tracing the curve of her jaw with his fingers. He closed the distance between them, capturing her lips in a soft kiss. She pulled back slightly and placed the faintest whisper of a kiss on his lips. He sighed, contentedly and opened his eyes to see her smiling at him, eyes sparkling.
“So your father’s okay with this, with us, then?”
“Yeah, I think he is, and even if he wasn’t, it wouldn’t matter. I love my father dearly and I value his opinion, but it wouldn’t matter what he thought, nothing could change the way I feel about you.” She kissed him again. She pulled back grinning, and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up. “Now eat your breakfast, you need your strength.”
“Yes ma’am,” he replied cheekily. He ate, realizing how hungry he was. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he’d had anything to eat. He wasn’t even sure what day of the week it was. “Lois what day is it?”
“Monday.” She sat down beside him.
“Oh my God, I was supposed to be on call in the ED yesterday, and I’m supposed to be in this afternoon.” He started to get up.
“Take it easy, Clark.” She placed a hand on his chest. “I covered for you yesterday and don’t worry, you’ve got the flu.”
“Huh?”
“I called you in sick with the flu. That should give you some time to rest and recover.”
“Thanks, I honestly don’t know what I would have done without you.” He smiled.
She took his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry about it. All you need to do is concentrate on getting better.” She smiled.
Clark picked up the cup of tea. He took a quick gulp. “Ow.” He grimaced.
“Oh Clark, be careful.” She took the teacup from his hands.
“I guess I’m going to have to get used to being a little more cautious. One morning without superpowers and I’ve already managed to cut myself shaving, stub my toe on the nightstand and burn myself. I’ve kinda taken the powers for granted all these years, it’ll take a while to get used to being normal.” He gave her a lopsided smile, trying to obfuscate his own concern with self-deprecating humor.
“Clark, you sound as if you don’t expect your powers to come back.” She saw right through his attempts at lightheartedness.
“Well, I’m not sure they’re going to, Lois. I ought to be prepared, if that’s case. I was listening to the radio, everyone thinks Superman is dead. The mayor even declared it a citywide day of mourning.” He laughed humorlessly and turned away from her. “Maybe they’re right.”
“What?” She reached a hand out to his face and forced him to turn and look at her.
“Lois, if my powers don’t come back, then Superman is as good as dead. This way, at least no one will wonder what happened to him.” He averted her eyes, unable to deal with her penetrating stare.
“Clark, will you please quit conceding defeat? If you don’t then whoever did this to you has won. Clark you just woke from a coma yesterday, we don’t yet know if your powers will return, but considering the rate that you’re healing at, I’d say that there’s a substantial possibility, yet you’ve already thrown in the towel and are ready to kiss Superman goodbye. Heaven help me, Clark, I love you, but you’re driving me crazy. You have so much faith in everyone else, so much optimism, and you’re so willing to give up everything for other people, but when you have a problem you’re so quick to take the blame and then tuck tail and run. You’ve never given up on me, you wouldn’t let me give up on myself, I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit here and watch you give up. Now I’m going to call my father and Dr. Klein at STAR Labs and see what they’ve figured out about that green dust. If there’s any way to get your powers back, we’ll figure it out.”
If he needed a reminder why he fell in love with Lois Lane, he’d just received it. He silently watched her as she paced in front of the window, cordless phone in hand, a look of quiet determination on her face.
********
“Bernie, I know what you told me yesterday, but are you absolutely certain?”
“Positive, Sam.” Bernard Klein glanced over his shoulder back toward his friend. “Just look at this.” He pointed a gloved hand at the disassembled container that was spread out in front of him. “You see that microtransmitter? The canister was activated by remote control from anywhere up to five miles away. It was shot into the loading bay by a standard issue gas canister launcher from a distance of no greater than one hundred fifty yards. The transmitter was buried, so that in case the canister was found after the explosion, it would look like a regular tear gas canister. Anyone who’d given it just a cursory exam would have assumed it such, but it’s a far more complicated device than that. It was designed to protect and deliver a radioactive compound in an aerosol suspension. Whoever was on the other end of this thing not only triggered it, but was able to control the rate of release of the aerosol.”
“Bernie, who has access to technology like this?”
“You know the answer to that, Sam.”
Sam Lane frowned and nodded. “So it looks like the military is trying to kill Superman.”
“Well, either the military or someone who stole, or otherwise came into possession of the technology, we can’t be sure. The device has been significantly altered from the standard canister used by the military to deliver aerosol compounds.”
“Who developed the original military delivery system?”
“I believe a subsidiary of Luthor Industries, Lex Labs did.”
Sam grunted in response, not sure what to make of the information. “What else have you found out about the substance in the canister.”
“We analyzed it on the atomic level. Sam, you’re not going to believe this,” Bernie stood up and removed the gloves. He walked over to his computer, typed in the half dozen passwords protecting his files and pulled up a folder tagged 126. He opened a file entitled compositional analysis. “Look at this,” he instructed Sam, who was leaning over his shoulder. He scrolled down the page.
“Atomic element number 126, sample isotope, 291 AMUs, element forms a dense crystalline structure, that is a radioactive substance, radiation produced at ultra high frequency deemed harmless to laboratory animals, though it apparently denatures coenzymes associated with photosystem 670 in photosynthetic plants and algae and coenzymes that produce vitamin D from cholesterol. It attacks plants, Bernie?”
“As highly unusual as that sounds, Sam, we tested it on animal, mineral and vegetable and found that the only living substance adversely affected by it are coenzymes associated with photosystems, and those that turn the dehydrocholesteron in the human body into vitamin D when exposed to sunlight.”
“So what you’re saying is that the substance prevents the positive uses of visible and UV light by living organisms?”
“Essentially, yes. I’m not positive why it attacks coenzymes and photosystems, or how exactly this affected Superman, that we just don’t know yet.”
“Lois is with him right now. He woke from the coma last night and we moved him out of the hospital. She called a little while ago; he seems to be recovering well. Maybe we can get him down here and run some tests.”
Bernie scratched his chin. “Yeah, I’ll clean out all this dust from the lab, don’t want to get the big guy sick again, and we can run a few tests, see if we can reverse the damage.”
“Bernie, you know how important it is to keep all of this completely confidential…”
“Of course, Sam. At the moment, all of Metropolis and the rest of the world seems convinced that Superman’s gone the way of the Dodo, but I swear, I won’t tell anyone about any of this. Call your daughter up, Sam. I’ll make sure to escort both of them straight in so as few people see him as possible, but see if your daughter can get Superman to wear a disguise when he comes in.”
Sam nearly choked but covered it convincingly by coughing and clearing his throat. “Oh, a disguise, good idea, Bernie. I’ll ask Lois what she can do.”
********
“Mr. Luthor, we’ve submitted the new projections for the next quarter. Funding grants for the Lanes’ research project have been cut back.”
“How much?” Lex demanded.
“To non existent.”
“Very well. Call the rest of the members of the board; let them know that payment will be arranged shortly. Goodbye, Doctor,” Lex hit the ‘end call’ button. Slowly, but surely, his subsidiaries in scientific and medical research would crawl back out from oblivion, one crooked acquisition at a time.
********
“Do we have an understanding, Mr. Bender? Very good. Continue with the current defense strategy, and I know that subtlety is not your strong point, Mr. Bender, so do us both a favor and make this a convincing attempt,” Luthor turned off his cell phone, pushed down the antenna and replaced it in his inner jacket pocket. He continued walking down the empty hallway with Nigel a half step behind him and to his right. He stopped in front of the elevator and pushed the ‘down’ button. The elevator opened immediately and the pair stepped inside, the doors closed behind them and the elevator began its long decent.
“Pardon me, sir,” Nigel spoke up. “If I may ask, what is the reasoning behind Mr. Bender’s most recent litigious activities? I assume that publicly attacking Dr. Lane’s credibility will make her more apt to accept your proposal.”
“Indeed, Nigel, we are therefore, both operating under the same assumption, but the Fitzgerald case serves a more immediate purpose than that, weakening Dr. Lane resolve further was only a very attractive bonus. My initial response to Bender taking this case to trial was, of course, one of frustration at the man’s stupidity, but I realized something, Nigel. Royce needs to win this case convincingly in order to turn around his image as a bumbling and inept attorney; a successful plea bargain would prove to be a sub par showing. I was properly placed in such a position to make that possible. Bender pressed forward with the intention of overwhelming Royce with the volume and utter inanity of his pretrial motions, killing the DA’s momentum. I’m starting to believe that Bender actually would have been able to exonerate Fitzgerald through some underhanded and conniving machinations, but that certainly didn’t serve my purpose.
“With the case set to go to trial, I tested the waters and found the DA most receptive to my overtures at a sort of partnership. I hand him the Fitzgerald case, leak to him enough evidence to make sure that Fitzgerald is found guilty of not only his crimes, but also of ones he did not commit, along with a hearty endorsement from Luthor Industries for his campaign, in return, I get an amoral and easily manipulated governor in my pocket.
“Fitzgerald is up the proverbial creek with no paddle, we come out of the ordeal without the slightest implications of even the most minor wrongdoing, the future governor of New Troy is firmly under my control, Dr. Lane’s image is dragged through the mud, providing further impetus for her to accept my offer, and if all that weren’t enough, the Spandex clad boy scout on steroids is dead and a quickly fading memory, so there’s really no one to interfere with my plans.”
“Sheer genius, sir.”
“Why thank you, Nigel,” Lex bowed his head slightly with false modesty. The elevator chimed and the pair stepped out and into the lobby.
********
“Lois, I look ridiculous!” Clark raised his arms up in frustration as he stared at his reflection in the mirror.
“You do not, you look fine. Very, un-Supermanlike.”
“I look like a thug.”
“Like I said, very un-Supermanlike, now let’s go.” She pulled him away from the mirror. Holding onto his arm, she led him slowly down the stairs and outside.”
“What happened to the Jeep!” Clark stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the busted headlamps, the cracked rear windshield, the dented hood and the passenger side rearview mirror that seemed to be hanging by a thread.
“Jimmy drove it through a police barricade,” Lois replied matter of factly. He noticed the slightly hurt tone of her voice.
“What? Why?”
“Trust me, it’s a long story,” she shook her head as she unlocked the passenger door.
********
“Excuse me,” Lois looked at the guard’s nametag. “Ted?”
“Yeah?” Ted replied without looking up from the computer terminal at the station.
“My name is Dr. Lane, I’m here to see Dr. Klein.”
“Just a sec,” the young man looked up and blinked several times. ‘Man why do all the hotties come in here looking for Dr. Klein?’ he wondered idly. He realized that he was staring blankly. “Oh, uh, sorry, right Dr. Lane,” he caught a glimpse of the behemoth on Dr. Lane’s arm: tall, black haired guy with a grizzly goatee, and sun glasses in a long, dark trench coat. Ted looked down and away from Dr. Lane and her burly companion. He’d always assumed that’s what Mafia hitmen looked like. “Uh, take these,” he said looking up but not looking at either Dr. Lane or the silent block of muscle beside her. He held out two visitor passes. “And walk right down that hall, Dr. Klein’s is the first office on the right.”
“Thank you,” Dr. Lane smiled at him.
Ted grinned in response. “Uh, no problem.” His eye caught Dr. Lane’s companion, and the smile was instantly wiped off his face. Ted looked back down and waited for the pair to disappear down the hall before he resumed breathing. He turned to watch their retreating forms, well, her retreating form anyway. ‘Not that I’d ever criticize Gigantor’s fashion sense, but red boots and a trench coat?’ Ted shook his head and turned his attention back to the computer and the game of Sonic Pinball he’d been playing.
********
“Dr. Klein?” Lois rapped on the door.
The door was flung open, “Yes? Oh, you must be Dr. Lane! Bernie Klein,” Dr. Klein pumped her hand vigorously. “Come in, please!”
Lois and Clark entered the office. The door was closed behind them and Bernie moved to draw down all of the blinds.
“So, I assume this is,” Bernie nodded toward Lois’s companion.
“Superman,” Lois finished for him.
Clark removed the sunglasses and pulled away the faux goatee. He shrugged off the overcoat to reveal the famous blue and red suit.
“Superman! So good to meet you!” Bernie shook Superman’s hand even more enthusiastically than he’d shook Lois’s. “Sam should be back here any minute. The reason I asked you to come down here is because we’ve discovered some very interesting things about that dust. It turns out that it is in fact, a meteorite made of an element we didn’t even know existed before. I’m hoping that we can learn something about it and why it affects you by doing some tests.”
Superman nodded and smiled at the scientist. “I’d be happy to help you Dr. Klein…”
“Bernie.”
“Bernie, just as long as you keep that stuff away from me. I’m really in no hurry to go through that experience again,” Superman smiled good-naturedly.
“Oh, of course, Superman,” Bernie replied solemnly. Dr. Klein proceeded to tell them about everything that he’d discovered about the meteorite and the canister. A knock at the door interrupted them. Bernie nearly leapt up at the sound. He rushed back to the door.
“Bernie, it’s Sam.”
Bernie opened the door and Sam entered. “Hello sweetheart,” Sam smiled at his daughter. He turned to Superman. “Hello Superman, glad to see that you’re feeling better,” his expression was deadpan, his tone completely even.
“Thank you, Dr. Lane,” Superman nodded.
“Well, how about we get started?” Bernie announced.
********
Superman followed Bernie into one of the scientist’s laboratories, leaving Lois and Sam in the office. The pair sat in awkward silence for a moment.
“How’s he doing?” Sam inquired.
“Better, Daddy, much better.”
“Did you tell him about, well, you know…”
“Yeah, I told him this morning. He seems to be okay with it.”
“Good, good, glad to hear it,” Sam cleared his throat uncomfortably. “He knows that I’m not going to say anything, right?”
“Yeah, he knows, Daddy.”
“Because I understand how important the secret is, and I know what a kind person he is, he deserves his privacy,” Sam sighed. “Lois, I’m sorry if I seemed quick to judge, well, to judge you and your choices.”
“It’s all right, Daddy, I think I know where you’re coming from.”
“Well, you’re a grown up now, capable of making your own decisions, you don’t need your old Dad’s approval, it’s just that…”
“You want what’s best for me.”
“Exactly!”
“Then believe me when I tell you that this is what’s best for me.”
“I know, I trust you, sweetheart, and whatever you do, I’ll support you one hundred per cent.”
“Thanks, Daddy,” father and daughter shared a warm hug.
********
“Well, we’re all done here,” Bernie proclaimed with a grin.
Superman stood up, holding his right hand on the piece of gauze on the inside of his left elbow.
“I’ll run the blood sample myself,” Bernie informed him. We should have those results by tomorrow morning at the latest, Superman.”
“Thank you, Dr…Bernie. I appreciate your help.”
“Of course. You’re recovering quite well, considering everything you’ve been through, but your body is still weak, even by normal standards. Try to limit activity for the next few days, and keep us informed of any changes,” Bernie scribbled something on his clipboard.
“Right, of course,” Superman replied.
The pair returned to the office and Bernie made a beeline toward his computer terminal. The rest of the group gathered behind him. “After I get the test results tomorrow we should know more about how the meteorite affects Superman’s physiology.”
“Any chance that the information will help us determine the source of the meteorite?”
“It’s hard to say, Sam. I don’t think the meteorite is synthetic, if that’s what you’re thinking, and since no one’s ever seen this stuff before, it’s not likely to be traceable.”
“Bernie, what about the canister, do you have any idea where it could have come from?”
“Well, Lois, there are four military facilities on the East Coast capable of making the modifications on the original Lex Labs design. The nearest one is Ft. Truman, but their Chem. tech. Labs have been closed since the Genzyme fiasco. I called all three of the other facilities. With my security clearance, I was able to inquire about any projects to modify the canister, nothing within the last few months; well nothing the government is willing to confirm, anyway. That leaves one civilian facility, Lex Labs itself.”
“So Lex Labs has the capabilities of creating this canister?”
“Yes, the lab holds the patent over the technology and they do perform aerosol research there, so it’s not unlikely that Lex Labs could produce this particular device.”
“But why would anyone at Lex Labs want to kill me? Mr. Luthor has been one of my most active supporters. What could he possibly have to gain by getting rid of me?”
“I don’t know, Superman,” Lois shook her head. “But I’m not so sure that Luthor is the kindly philanthropist that you believe he is.”
“But Lo, Dr. Lane, even if he had a reason, why would he blow up his own building?”
“Huh?”
“The bomb that was supposed to kill me was planted in the Lexor.”
“But the Lexor wasn’t destroyed, Superman,” Bernie commented.
“The damage was minimal, in fact,” Lois frowned thoughtfully. “Only the loading bay was seriously burned. The hotel was fine.”
Superman’s eyes grew wide. “Were there any other explosions that day?”
“Thank God, no,” Sam replied.
“The bomber claimed that there were other bombs–to make sure that I disarmed the bomb instead of just throwing it into space and letting it explode. The whole thing was juust a ploy, so was the hostage taking, of course. That’s it! The hostage takers! I’d forgotten all about that. They had intimate knowledge of the Lexor building. They escaped by using access tunnels that weren’t in the city’s blueprints for the building. That points to…”
“An inside job,” Lois finished.
“Exactly,” Superman smiled. His expression suddenly became sober, subdued. “What happened to the hostages?”
“All found safe a few miles outside of the city limits, no sign of the hostage takers,” Sam said. Clark sighed, relieved.
“Well, we know how Luthor did it, we just don’t know why, yet.”
“Dr. Lane,” Clark looked at Lois. “We still don’t know for certain that it was Luthor.”
“Sorry, Superman, too many things point back to Luthor. Way too much for it to be mere coincidence.” Lois chewed her lip, a determined look on her face.
“Well, I’ll be sure to let you know anything else I turn up,” Bernie supplied helpfully.
“Thanks, Bernie,” Lois replied. “We’re not going to be able to take this to the police until we’re absolutely certain, we don’t want to tip off whoever is behind it that Superman is still alive.”
Superman grunted, “I suppose since someone’s out there who wants me dead and has the means to that end, it is better for them to continue to think I’m dead.” If Clark had been looking at Lois, he would have seen the way her face fell at his remarks. He would have seen the color drain from her cheeks and the fear flash across her eyes.
“We’ll be in touch, Bernie, and thank you,” Sam said. Superman reapplied his costume and the trio left Dr. Klein’s office. After saying goodbye to Sam, Lois and Clark walked through the deserted parking lot in the pouring rain back to the Jeep. “We’re ought to have a talk with your father,” Clark mused. He was caught off guard by Lois’s arms being wrapped around his neck and her lips being crushed against his. She kissed him hard, passionately. After a long moment, he wrapped his arms around her and became a full participant in the kiss. He finally had to pull back and take a shaky breath.
“Thanks,” he grinned. “What was that for?”
Lois only shook her head softly. She hugged him tightly, wrapping her arms around his waist and placing her head against his chest. He felt her body shudder as she exhaled.
“Lois? What’s wrong?” She was silent. He held her tightly. “So you won’t kiss me if I don’t shave, but you’ll absolutely ravish me in a public parking lot with this ratty thing on my face?” He could hear her laugh despite herself. With one hand, he tilted her head up and saw tears in her eyes. She reached up and delicately pulled away the fake goatee. “Tell me, please, what’s wrong?” he whispered.
“I guess it just hit me, back there, how close I was to losing you,” she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I’m not going anywhere, Lois,” he promised. He kissed her softly.
“I love you, Clark.”
“I love you, too, Lois,” the words rumbled in his chest. Lois tucked her head under his chin. He held her close and placed a kiss on the top of her head.
“Clark, your parents won’t be in until tomorrow morning, and I know it’s silly, but I’m worried about you being alone, in case you got sick or needed something, and I’d just feel better if you were close by, if you stayed at my place tonight.”
“It’s not silly, and thank you, for saving me, and taking care of me, and even worrying about me. Of course I’ll stay.”
********
“Yeah Mom, I’m okay. No, I’m at Lois’s…they haven’t come back…I don’t know…Dr. Klein, yeah, he’s a scientist at STAR Labs, he and Dr. Lane, Lois’s dad, ran some tests…we’ll know in a few days…I feel fine, just normal…I guess. We’ll know more about the meteorite soon…not yet…well, Lois has some theories…I know Mom, yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow, love you, too, say hi to Dad for me…bye.” Clark hung up the phone.
“I’ll pick your parents up from the airport tomorrow morning before I go into work. I’m going to start dinner, you sit, relax, watch some TV.” She placed the remote in his hand and kissed his cheek before disappearing into the kitchen.
Clark turned on the football game but soon grew restless. “Lois are you sure that there isn’t anything I can help you with?”
“Not a thing, Clark. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes,” Lois called out from within the kitchen. “What? No, sorry Uncle Perry, I was talking to Clark,” she spoke into the receiver of the cordless phone cradled between her shoulder and her ear. She finished chopping the last of the basil. “Anyway, like I was saying, I need to find out everything you can about the bombing at the Lexor and Lex Luthor…yeah, Uncle Perry, Lex Luthor… no… I know…I know, Uncle Perry…no, I can’t talk about it right now, but I really need your help… yeah, if you could come by here after work tomorrow, I’ll explain everything, oh and bring Jimmy…yeah, Jimmy,” she added the basil to the tomatoes and added both to the angel hair pasta. “I know… love you, too, bye.” Lois hung up the phone.
“Did you tell Perry?” Clark was now standing unobtrusively behind her.
“No, not yet. I thought that if you decided to tell him, then we’d let Superman do so tomorrow.”
“Does Jimmy know?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I told him not to say anything and that when I could, I’d let him know what was going on. But I haven’t talked to him about it since the day it happened.”
Clark leaned back against a counter, frowning slightly, “well, I guess that Superman should talk to them tomorrow. You trust Perry and Jimmy, so we’ll go ahead and let them know Superman’s still alive. I don’t want the whole world to know what’s going on just yet, but I think Jimmy has a right to know, I mean, he did help you save my life. And if anyone can help us figure out what’s going on, Perry can.” Clark gave her a lopsided smile.
“All right, then, Superman will talk to Perry and Jimmy tomorrow.” She nodded her agreement. Lois removed the garlic bread from the oven and finished setting the table, “Dinner is ready.”
********
“That was terrific,” Clark said with a grin.
“Yeah, well Tomato and Basil Angel Hair Pasta is the only thing I know how to make that doesn’t involve curry or chocolate.”
“Let me guess, you lived in Italy?”
“After Iceland and before Iran.” She smiled. “Don’t you dare touch those dishes,” she scolded him and he sat back down meekly. She lifted the plates off the table and carried them to the sink.
“You don’t honestly expect me to sit here and let you cook and clean for me, do you?” he teased.
“Enjoy it while you can, Buster.” She frowned at him. “That was not an invitation for you to start clearing the table. Just leave it.”
“Lois…”
“Clark, I’m dead serious.” She walked to the table, took Clark’s hand, and led him back to the living room. “You even got a second opinion today. Bernie told you to rest and I’m going to make sure that you do. That means you sit, and let me take care of it.”
“Yes ma’am.”
“That’s better,” she replied, glancing at him over her shoulder as she headed back to the kitchen to load the dishwasher.
She cleaned up the aftermath of dinner and set two cups of coffee down on the coffee table. Clark took a cautious sip and smiled. “Just the way I like it.”
“Well, after drinking that sludge in the lab and the cafeteria, I just thought I’d remind you that coffee doesn’t have to taste bad.” She sat down next to him and took a sip from her own cup. They sat in companionable silence for several long minutes.
“Lois, are you really sure that Luthor was behind the bombing?”
She shook her head. “No, no I’m not sure. But I am sure that he can’t be trusted. And I am sure that the whole hostage and bombing business smacks of an inside job pulled off by someone very powerful and with high levels of access within Luthor’s organization. I just have this feeling that Luthor’s behind it, and I want to bring him down. More than anything I want to be there when he gets pulled down from his pedestal. I want to know that he’ll never be able to hurt you again.” Her tone was deceptively calm. She took a slow sip from the coffee cup held in both hands.
“This may be cliched, but I’m glad you’re on my side.” He reached out a hand to caress her cheek. She turned into the contact and placed her hand on top of his. She placed a kiss in the palm of his hand, allowing her lower lip to drag seductively across the heel of his hand.
He watched her, almost mesmerized by her actions. ‘Oh God,’ he thought. ‘Does she have any idea what she’s doing to me?’ “Very glad,” he whispered almost reverently. His fingers slid along her jaw and her neck. His hand cradled the back of her head, his fingers tangling in her soft, silky hair. He drew her closer and kissed her. The tiny, contented moan in the back of her throat was nearly his undoing. He withdrew with a happy sigh and smiled. “Have I told you how much I love you?”
“Not in the last hour.” She smiled and kissed him again.
He smiled as he broke off the kiss and was surprised by the overwhelming urge to yawn. He stifled it nicely and covered, but noticed that his eyes too, were losing the battle with sleepiness.
“Come on,” Lois said, standing up and taking his hand. “It’s getting late and you’re tired.”
“It’s all right, Lois, you don’t have to…”
“Shhh.” She raised a finger to her lips. She led him upstairs to the bedroom. She gathered her things with the intention of getting out of his way and allowing him to get ready for bed.
“Uh uh, Lois, I’m not going to usurp your bed again.”
“Well, I’m not about to let you sleep on the couch. It’s too small for you.”
“Oh and you’ll be comfortable on it?” he challenged her.
“More comfortable than you would be,” she retorted.
“There’s no way you’re going to get a good night’s sleep on the couch.”
“Neither will you, and you’re the one who needs to rest and recuperate.” She crossed her arms, her body language making it clear that she had no intention of backing down. He responded by giving her the now familiar Superman pose and stern facial expression. While it generally scared the bejeezus out of Metropolis’s most hardened, cold hearted criminals, Lois Lane remained undaunted.
The staring contest lasted for a brief while before Clark’s expression softened. “This is ridiculous,” he sighed.
“It’s silly, absurd, really,” she agreed with him. “It’s not as if…” She gestured vaguely toward the bed. “I mean, it’s not as if we haven’t slept together, well we haven’t slept together, slept together, but you know, we have slept, I mean, you know what I mean,” she said, clearly flustered.
“But it is different now,” he reminded her gently.
“But we are two rational, intelligent adults, we should be able to handle this.” Her voiced betrayed a slight distress that perplexed him.
“Exactly, it’s not as if we’re…” Clark’s face fell. ‘It’s not as if what, Kent?’ the irritating voice in his mind egged him on. ‘It’s not as if we’re a couple of drunken college kids who don’t know what we’re doing? No wonder this was upsetting her. Is that what you were planning on saying? Smooth, Kent, real smooth. Wonder how a comment like that would go over?’ He realized that Lois was staring at him, waiting for him to finish what he was saying. “It’s not as if…” he began again. “It’s not as if we can’t control ourselves,” he finished lamely.
“I know, Clark, this is just so…” She threw her hands up in the air.
“Complicated?” he offered.
“Exactly!”
He closed the distance between them and put his hands lightly on her upper arms. “Lois, the way I feel about you, being with you, is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. And to be honest, it scares me.”
She shook her head, confused, “Clark…”
“Hush.” He placed a gentle finger against her lips. “I’m so afraid of doing the wrong thing, of screwing up. Lois I don’t want to rush this. I don’t want to rush us. I want to take this slowly.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist and placed her head against his shoulder. “I want the same thing, Clark, and I’m afraid, too. I know how I feel about you, I’m in love with you, but it’s just so overwhelming. I’m still trying to get used to the idea. My head is telling me to be careful, and my heart is telling me, well, it’s definitely not telling me to be cautious. ”
“So we’ll take this slowly,” he said.
“Yeah,” she replied. “Which means, it’ll probably be a good idea for me to take the couch in the study. Now don’t argue with me, Clark. I slept on it last night; I was perfectly comfortable.”
He sighed, admitting defeat. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“All right then, you win.”
“Knew you’d see it my way.” She smiled at him. Standing on her toes, she captured his lips with hers and kissed him thoroughly.
“Mmmm,” he sighed, this time contentedly, wrapping his arms around her tightly. “Goodnight, Lois.”
“Goodnight, Clark.” She withdrew from his embrace and left the room. Her scent lingered after she was gone but her warmth, her presence was noticeably gone and Clark missed her already. The room just felt so empty without her in it. He changed and got ready for bed. He was exhausted and the thought of a good night’s sleep was enticing, even if he had to spend the night dreaming about holding Lois in his arms as opposed to actually being able to do so.
********
“Dammit,” Lois cursed softly as she tossed and turned on the couch. It hadn’t felt nearly this uncomfortable last night. Tonight, she couldn’t seem to settle in. She shifted restlessly. Sleep continued to elude her. Bleary eyed, she squinted at the digital clock. It was past one in the morning. On a whim, she got off the couch and crept toward the bedroom. She pushed the door open silently and entered the room. She listened to the soft, steady sound of Clark’s breathing. How wonderful it sounded, how peaceful and reassuring. The sound lulled her into a relaxed state. She stood by the window, watching the rain wash over the glass in sheets. The storm continued to rage outside, but in here, she was safe, protected. Just being near him reassured her. In here, the sound of large raindrops beating against the roof and the windows was somehow drowned out by the soft, subtle sounds of Clark’s rhythmic breathing. It was as if she could tune out the rest of the world and only listen to him. Everything else just didn’t seem to matter. She saw a flash of lightning and moments later, heard the distant sound of rumbling. ‘We don’t normally get thunderstorms this time of year,’ she thought idly. The first flash was followed by another, this time accompanied by a much sharper crack.
“Lois?”
She turned at the sound of her name being whispered. “I’m sorry, Clark, I didn’t mean to wake you,” she apologized as she started to back toward the door.
“You didn’t, the storm did.” He laughed softly. ‘I can think of worse things to wake up to than seeing the woman that I love standing in front of me.’
“What’s so funny?”
“Huh? Oh nothing. Couldn’t sleep?”
She shook her head.
“Come here,” he said softly. She obeyed. He pulled back the covers. She hesitated for a moment. “I promise, I won’t bite.” In the darkness in the room, she could just barely make out his features, his reassuring smile. She crawled into the bed and he pulled up the blankets around her. She turned onto her side and felt his arm encircle her waist, pulling her body up snugly against his. She could feel the warmth rising from his powerful body behind hers, could feel the way that he seemed to cradle her with his body, as though they were cut from the same mold, fitted perfectly together. She felt him press his lips to the bare skin of her shoulder in a gentle caress.
“Goodnight, Lois,” he whispered near her ear. She could feel his breath tickling her sensitive skin, could feel the words rumble gently in his body. She felt him hug her just a little bit tighter.
“Goodnight, Clark,” she murmured. He breathed in the intoxicating scent of her soap and perfume and the faint scent that was distinctly hers. God, it felt so good to hold her like this, with no more pretenses, no need to hide his feelings. He sighed happily as he closed his eyes and allowed sleep to wash over him.
********
She awoke to the sounds of rain falling on the rooftop and on the pavement below. Gray light filtered through the windows and filled the room. A sigh of pleasure escaped her lips as she leaned back against the warm, solid body behind her. Their legs were intertwined; his hand rested on the curve of her hip. She placed one hand on top of his, tracing absent patterns on the back of his hand with her fingers. She turned back to look at him, surprised to find that he was awake and gazing at her with eyes full of love.
“Hey beautiful,” he said with a smile.
“Hey yourself, handsome,” she replied. Lois rolled over so that they were lying face to face. As if by its own volition, Clark’s hand reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. His thumb stroked her cheek in a feather light caress.
She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly. “You know, I could really get used to this, waking up every morning beside you.” His fingers instantly stopped their gentle ministrations. She opened her eyes and saw the startled look on his face. “I’m sorry, Clark,” she began to apologize. “Last night I said I wanted to take this slowly, and now, I’m conjecturing about forever, I’m sor…”
“Shhh.” He placed a finger to her lips, a knowing smile on his face. “I was just surprised that you were thinking the exact same thing.”
“Oh,” she said with a nervous smile and a slight giggle.
He gathered her into his arms, kissing her forehead and then her lips. “We don’t have to be up for hours,” he said, his eyes closed, his lips turned up in a slight smile. “And I don’t know about you, but I was having very pleasant dreams.”
“Very pleasant,” she echoed, placing her head on his chest. She had planned on scolding him for not sleeping with a shirt on, afraid he would get cold, but the heat was on, and she realized now, that for purely selfish reasons, that she was glad that he hadn’t.
********
She knocked on the door for the umpteenth time and let out a long sigh. Where was her daughter? She tried the door, knowing that her daughter was almost paranoid about keeping her doors locked. She was surprised when the door opened with an almost inaudible squeak. She pushed the door open and walked in quietly. “Lois?” she called out softly, then again, this time louder. Receiving no answer, she ascended the staircase. She saw the door to the study open and walked quietly toward it. A blanket and pillow were tossed haphazardly on the sofa. Lois must have slept on the couch. Sam had told her that their daughter had taken the Man of Steel home to look after him without fear of the entire city of Metropolis finding out that Superman had been hospitalized. From the looks of the room, Lois was probably awake already and perhaps tending to her charge. Ellen walked down the hallway to the master bedroom. She knocked softly and when there was no answer knocked again more loudly. “Superman? Lois?” When there was still no response, she pushed the door open a crack. “Superman?” she said more loudly. Ellen pushed the door fully open and walked quietly inside.
From under the tangled covers, Lois sat up, her chestnut brown hair spilling forward. “Mother?” The surprise in her voice undisguised.
Ellen looked up to see her daughter, sleepy eyed and clearly not alone in bed. A large, bare and muscular arm draped over Lois’s slender frame, led back to an equally large, bare and muscular torso. “Oh my God!” Ellen exclaimed. “Lois, I’m so sorry, I had no idea…” Ellen began to back away toward the door when Lois’s companion began to stir.
“Lois?” he murmured. He lifted his head from the pillow and looked around. He sat up and the bedding fell away, revealing more of his naked upper body.
“Superman!” Ellen exclaimed almost involuntarily. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. Lois, your father just asked me to check and make sure you were both okay before going into work today, and obviously, you are, I’ll be on my way now,” she said, grasping for her now fleeting composure. She didn’t need to embarrass the poor kids anymore. ‘Calm down, Ellen, you’re an adult, you can act rationally, maturely and gracefully about this.’ She continued her strategic retreat toward the door. It was only a few feet away now. She turned back, grasped the doorknob and exited the room, closing the door firmly behind her.
Lois fell backward onto the pillow. “Oh my God,” she said slowly, her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling in disbelief. Just as quickly she leapt out of bed, and began to give chase to her retreating mother, leaving behind a stunned and embarrassed ‘Superman.’ She caught Ellen halfway down the staircase. “Mother!” she exclaimed.
“Lois, you don’t have to…”
“Oh yes, I do,” she replied emphatically. She continued down the stairs, her mother not far behind. She made a beeline for the thermostat and turned up the heat. The tank top and sweat pants had been more than enough to keep her warm when she was sleeping in Clark’s arms, but rest of the house wasn’t nearly as warm and inviting this morning. Lois walked quickly to the kitchen; this would be easier if she had something to do, like making coffee. She hoped the mundane task would distract her from what was sure to be an awkward conversation.
“Can I help you with anything?” Ellen asked, breaking the silence.
“No, it’s all right, Mother.”
Ellen sat down at the table. “Lois, I know that I’m your mother, and that my reaction upstairs was rather…unceremonious, but I was just surprised, that’s all. I know that you’re an adult and who you see is your own af… business.”
‘Where was the damn coffee!’ Lois pushed everything around angrily and finally found it tucked away behind other boxes and containers in the cabinet. She closed the cabinet a little too forcefully. She took a long breath to try to calm herself down. “Mother, what you think you saw upstairs isn’t real.” At Ellen’s confused look, Lois tried to gather her thoughts. “I am not having an affair with Superman!” she finally blurted out. “We just fell asleep, it was completely innocent,” she started the coffee maker and was now pacing.
“Oh.” Ellen chewed her lip thoughtfully. “Oh, that poor man! I must have embarrassed him terribly.”
“Probably,” Lois replied, realizing that she hadn’t even waited to gauge Clark’s reaction, so quickly had she bolted from the room. She wouldn’t have blamed him if he stayed up in the bedroom until he was sure her mother had left.
“Besides, Mother, the man woke up from a coma just two days ago, even if I were having an affair with Superman, do you really think I’d pick now as a good time to drag him to bed?” Lois placed the two mugs of coffee on the table and sat down across from her mother.
“Well, I’m sorry if I leapt to conclusions, Sweetie, but believe me, if you were in my position, you wouldn’t have known what else to think either.” The idea of her daughter dating Superman was so surreal, but then again, she had seen Lois over the last week. She’d seen how distraught she’d been over Superman’s condition, how worried. She knew about Lois’s constant vigil at his bedside. Only briefly had Ellen seen Lois in Superman’s room, watching over him, but she distinctly remembered now how Lois had tried but was unable to conceal the way that she looked at him. She knew that look. She knew it well, it was the way she and Sam looked at each other, the way Lucy and Scott did, it was a look that couldn’t be disguised. It was the way Clark looked at Lois, the way… “Oh Lois!”
“What? What is it?” Lois asked, startled.
“Clark!”
“What?” Lois was now completely lost.
“Lois, does Clark know how you feel about Superman?”
“Mother, what on earth are you talking about?”
“Lois, I believe you when you told me that nothing happened between you and Superman, but you cannot fool me, I know that you have feelings for him, but you have to know that Clark is completely in love with you, I hope that you aren’t stringing that poor young man along.”
Lois wanted to scream in frustration and laugh aloud at the same time. “Mother, you think I’m in love with Superman and your first concern is whether or not Clark knows?”
“Well, it isn’t particularly surprising to me that you’d fall in love with Superman, who else but a god in a cape could actually distract my daughter from her career? And no, that isn’t my first or only concern, but if I cautioned you about getting involved with Superman, would you really listen to me? I have a million concerns about this, Lois, about you pursuing a relationship with Superman, about the consequences of getting involved with him, how you wouldn’t have a private life, how difficult it would be to be involved with someone who literally carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, someone whose career is so important that he would be forced to choose between spending time with you and saving the planet. And then there’s the fact that he’s the strongest being in the universe, so no, whether or not Clark knows isn’t my first or biggest concern, but my God, Lois, it’s hard to know where to begin…”
“Would it help if I told you that I do not have a romantic attachment to Superman?”
“Lois,” her mother’s tone was stern. “You weren’t able to lie to me when you were a little girl, what makes you think you can do it now?”
Lois let out an exasperated sigh.
“Mrs. Lane?”
Ellen looked up, surprised to see Superman, in a dark blue bathrobe, standing behind her.
“Mrs. Lane, is it all right if I talk to Lois for a moment?”
Ellen remained mute. For some reason, the sight of Superman in a bathrobe bordered on the absurd. She mentally shook herself. “Oh, yes, of course, Superman.”
Lois followed Clark out into the living room.
“Lois,” he began. He moved to take her hands in his, but didn’t. He managed to maintain what he figured would be a professional distance, although no one was around and by now, it was a moot point. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made you take care of this alone.”
“Cl…Superman, it’s okay, really. I don’t think I would have blamed you if you’d climbed out the window and ran away,” she said with a wry grin.
“Lois, I hope you know that I wouldn’t do that.”
“I know,” she replied.
“That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about, though.”
“I know.”
“I want to…Lois, I think we should tell your mother the truth.”
Lois shook her head slightly, confused. “Superman, what did you think I was going to tell her?”
“No, that’s not what I meant,” Clark chuckled, but seeing the still perplexed expression on her face, he continued. “I mean the whole truth. About me.”
“Cl…Superman, we don’t have to do that. I told her that there was nothing going on between you and me. That’s all my mother needs to know,” she said firmly.
“Lois, despite the fact that nothing happened, your mother found us in a position that is pretty difficult to explain away given the fact that we’re supposed to be acquaintances and nothing more.”
“Do you really want to tell my mother everything just because you’re afraid of what she might think?”
“No, Lois that’s not it. I mean it is important; I don’t want us to have to hide the fact that Lois and Clark are in love and I don’t know how we can manage considering your mother found you in bed with Superman.” The last part was spoken in a whispered tone. “If circumstances were different, I don’t know if I’d be so quick to consider the possibility, but Lois, your father already knows, and that doesn’t bother me, so is it fair of us to ask him to keep this from your mother?”
“This isn’t about my mother and father, this is about us, and it doesn’t matter what my mother thinks, nothing could change the way I feel about you. Clark, you don’t have to worry about protecting my reputation.”
Clark looked away, couldn’t she see that he wasn’t just trying to be overprotective? Of course he cared about her, and he couldn’t stand the idea of being the cause of a misunderstanding that would lead to her integrity and ethics being called into question, but it was more complex than that. Maybe he was being too old fashioned, but he was concerned with the question of deceiving Lois’s parents. Her father had found out in less than ideal circumstances and nothing could be done about that, but now, shouldn’t he take the opportunity to tell Ellen the truth, to prevent her from also finding out under circumstances he couldn’t control? At least here he could answer her questions, and, if he was lucky, end the unnecessary deceptions now and prove that he was a man of honor.
There was the very real possibility that Ellen would thoroughly disapprove of Clark seeing Lois if she found out he was Superman, but he wasn’t about to let that stop him. He wasn’t going to be scared off by her mother, but he was nevertheless, compelled to tell her the truth. Besides, he decided that Ellen Lane deserved more credit than that. Ellen’s reaction upstairs had been one of surprise, but he lauded her ability to maintain her composure. It would have been an awkward situation if he had been anyone else, but considering that she’d found her daughter in bed with Superman, Clark was impressed that she hadn’t screamed, or threatened him with death, or both. He also didn’t think that Ellen would give away his secret. She had, on several occasions, made quite clear that she was thankful for everything that the Man of Steel had done, for Lois, and for the people of Metropolis in general. Fully cognizant of the fact that much of his reasoning closely resembled the text of an archaic chivalric code, he remained obstinate about his position. “Lois, I just think it would be the best thing to do,” he said gently.
“It is your decision,” she said with a sigh. “I just hope you aren’t doing this to protect or appease me.”
He nodded resolutely. She could tell there was no changing his mind. The pair walked into the kitchen. Ellen was washing the coffee mugs in the sink.
“Mother,” Lois began. “You might want to sit down for this.”
********
“But that can’t be!” Ellen exclaimed. She stared at the pair seated across from her.
Lois placed her hand on top of her mother’s and squeezed gently. “It is, Mother,” she replied.
“Superman, Clark, I don’t even know what to call you.” Ellen shook her head.
“I’m still Clark, Ellen.”
“So it was you, all along.” Ellen stared in disbelief. “It was you who saved Lois, you in the hospital, who nearly…”
Clark merely nodded.
“And Sam knows?”
“He found out when Clark was in the hospital,” Lois explained.
“So that’s why he’s been acting so strange lately, I figured it was just the stress.” Ellen smiled wryly.
“I made him swear not to tell anyone.”
“Let me guess, you invoked Doctor Patient Confidentiality.”
“I would have, if I’d had to,” Lois said. “But Daddy understood. He knew how important it was to keep Clark’s secret. He knew what would happen if anyone found out.”
Ellen looked down, trying to assimilate the massive amounts of incredible information with which she was being bombarded.
“Ellen, I know you must have dozens of questions, and I want to try to answer all of them, but for now, I just want you to know that I would never do anything to harm Lois, or put her in jeopardy. Your daughter means everything to me.”
“Mother, Clark and I want to have dinner with you and Daddy here, Friday night, then we can talk about all of this.”
“All right,” Ellen nodded, obviously overwhelmed by the revelation she’d received from Lois and her Super beau. ‘It’s not all that different than if she were dating a movie star, or famous musician,’ she tried to tell herself. ‘It’s plenty different,’ a little voice in her head reminded her. ‘There isn’t an actor or musician on the planet who can fly or bench press mountains.’ She had to admit, she couldn’t find any fault in her daughter’s choice in Clark. Clark Kent was a wonderful young man and it was clear to Ellen that he loved her daughter. But as she should have expected, nothing in Lois’s life was easy or simple. Of course she could never fall in love with a normal man, not her daughter. It was not that Ellen believed that Lois was simply infatuated with Clark because of Superman, but she knew she could leave it to Lois to figure out how to make love even more complicated than it already was. “I’d better get going,” Ellen said finally.
Lois and Clark saw Ellen out. Clark leaned up against the closed door and let out a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair.
“Are you okay?” Lois asked, the concern on her face was evident.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Clark said. This was shaping up to be the weirdest week of his entire life.
“Well then, you should go rest. I need to get ready so I can pick up your parents from the airport.”
********
“Clark?” Lois called from the entryway. “We’re back!” Behind her, Jonathan and Martha Kent walked into the house, carrying several small items of luggage. Clark appeared at the top of the staircase, dressed in khaki slacks and a knit sweater.
“Mom, Dad!” he exclaimed, grinning. He quickly descended the stairs.
Martha nearly ran to meet him. She dropped her bags and quickly embraced her son. “Oh Clark, thank heavens you’re all right. We were so worried.”
“I’m fine, Mom,” he said with a smile. Jonathan walked toward the pair and hugged his son heartily.
“Can’t tell you how glad we are to see you, Son,” he said.
“Thanks, Dad. It’s good to see you, too.”
Lois watched the reunion of parents and son, and couldn’t help but smile. Martha turned to the younger woman, “Lois, I know I’ve said this already, but what you’ve done for Clark, what you’ve done for all of us, well, we can’t even begin to express our gratitude.”
Lois smiled and looked down at the floor, nervously tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “I was just returning the favor, Martha, Clark’s already had to save my life once.”
They sat down in the living room as Lois brought out tea and coffee. On her way to the hospital, Lois dropped Clark and his parents off at his apartment. Reassured that Clark’s parents were now with him, she refocused herself on her work for the first time in a while.
********
“No sign of your powers yet, huh Son?” Jonathan inquired as he dropped the bags off inside Clark’s entryway.
“Not yet, Dad.” Clark flopped down unceremoniously onto the couch. “Dr. Klein ran some tests, he seems optimistic, but I don’t know…I guess I just have to wait to see what the results turn up.”
“I don’t get it, Martha, Clark’s had these powers his whole life, now, poof, they’re gone. It doesn’t make sense.” Jonathan shook his head, sitting down in the armchair next to the sofa.
“I don’t make sense, Dad.”
“Don’t you start that, Clark Jerome Kent,” his mother cautioned him, sitting beside him on the couch.
“I’m sorry, Mom, I don’t mean to sulk, it’s just so frustrating. I’m used to being able to fix things, to make them better, now I don’t know what to do.” He shrugged his shoulders, exasperated.
“I know this is difficult, Clark, but it is a true test of your strength: to see how you deal with this trying situation.”
“I guess so, Dad. It’s funny; I used to wish that I were normal, like everyone else. Right now, what I wouldn’t give to be able to go flying again. I’m already starting to miss it.”
“If there is any way to get your powers back, Honey, it seems like you’ve got three great doctors burning the candle at both ends to try and find it.”
“That’s what Lois said,” he replied.
“Well Lois is a smart woman,” his mother answered simply.
“She’s been so great, Mom. I can’t even begin to describe it. She’s been an absolute Godsend.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how she’s put up with me and all the stupid things I’ve done.”
“I take it you two have finally talked?” Jonathan asked with a bemused smile.
“Yeah, yeah we did,” Clark replied with a genuine smile. “I can’t believe it took us that long, and if she’d left it up to me, well, we still might not have straightened things out. Everything else has gotten so impossibly fouled up, except with Lois. She told me that she loves me, and she even forgave me for acting like a fool and assuming that she was repulsed by me. She didn’t just save my life. These last few days, I don’t know what I would have done without her. I mean, when I’m with her, I just can’t help but feel that everything’s going to be all right, somehow, in the end.”
“I knew she’d manage to talk some sense into you,” Martha said, matter of factly.
“Yeah, and if that weren’t enough, she’s on a one woman crusade to figure out who’s trying to kill Superman.” Clark laughed softly, his spirits lifted by thoughts of the woman he loved single handedly bringing down all of Superman’s mortal enemies. “But first, we have to have a long talk with her parents.” He saw the looks of confusion on both of his parents’ faces and continued. “Sam found out about me in the hospital and Ellen found out this morning.”
“Oh my,” Martha said, surprised at her son’s news. “How are they taking it?”
“Surprisingly well, so far, Mom. But I’m not sure how things are going to go once the shock wears off.”
“In thirty years, no one has figured out the secret,” Jonathan began.
“Yeah, and in the last six months, three members of the Lane family have done just that,” Clark replied wryly. Not for the first time, he thanked God that they were on his side.
********
Lois gripped the steering wheel with tense fingers. Behind an eerily calm expression, a thousand conflicting emotions warred in her mind. She should have been angry, furious even, but her mind was too much of a jumbled up mess for her to even figure out how she was feeling. The day had gone well. Her three surgeries all went smoothly as had her consultations. That afternoon, she’d been able to explain to a nervous young man that his recent decline in physical fitness was due to Cardiomyopathy, a condition, which the doctors at MetroGen were fully capable of treating. An expected medal favorite in last year’s summer Olympics, he’d suddenly noticed a precipitous decline in his performance. His coaches, concerned with a possible medical condition, had sent him to the team doctor, who’d referred him to Lois. He swam the four hundred meter freestyle, the same event Danny swam in college, and he may have missed the last Olympics, but Lois assured him that he’d be back in the water and training for the next games.
Work had gone just fine that day. It was as she was leaving that everything began to turn sour. She received a memorandum from the Board of Directors as a form of explanation along with a long, circuitous document detailing all the inconsistent and incomprehensible reasons why funding for the research project was about to be terminated. As if the last week, not to mention the last four months of her life hadn’t already been enough of an emotional roller coaster. Things hadn’t even settled down yet from the last string of unbelievable events. Superman’s would be assassins were still on the loose, the Genzyme case was not yet wrapped up, and she still didn’t know what Lex Luthor was up to. On top of all of that, she was now looking at mortgaging the house, ending her work in the ED, for which she was paid very little, and doubling her patient load in order to try to finance just the next few weeks of research. Even if she undertook all of those measures, she would still be miserably short on cash. There was no way to continue the project now, unless some great benefactor were to sweep down and bestow upon her and her father a considerable sum of money.
She tried to push the thoughts aside. Tonight, she would meet with Perry and Jimmy and then tomorrow with her father and Bernie in order to start putting the pieces together in the hunt for whoever was gunning for Superman. Stopping whoever was trying to kill Clark was her top priority: nothing else mattered. She turned off Troy Avenue and onto Quincy Street, the windshield wipers beating a slow, steady rhythm as she drove. She made the turn onto Elmwood and into her own neighborhood. Finally, she pulled the Jeep into the driveway. Perry and Jimmy would no doubt be there soon.
********
Clark sat on the couch in full Superman regalia, deep in thought. Lois had run just run upstairs to change. He wasn’t certain, but it seemed as though something was troubling her. He waited patiently. The sound of the doorbell startled him. He wasn’t used to being surprised by someone’s arrival; for years he’d literally been able to hear someone coming from a mile away. He hesitated for a moment, unsure what to do. His first instinct was, of course, to x-ray the door, but no matter how intently he stared, all he saw was the wooden door. He got up off the couch and walked to the door. Through the peephole, he could see Perry and Jimmy, waiting expectantly. He opened the door, positioning himself behind it to keep himself from being immediately visible.
“Lois?” Perry called out as he walked through the opened door. Jimmy followed a few paces behind him. Clark closed the door behind the pair.
“Great shades of Elvis!” Perry exclaimed. “Superman!”
“Superman, you’re okay! That’s fantastic!”
“Mr. White, Jimmy,” Clark greeted the pair. “And yes, I’m okay, Jimmy, thanks to you and Lois.”
“What in tarnation is going on here, Superman? Everyone was sure that you’d been killed in the explosion. What happened, and what do you mean you’re okay thanks to Jimmy?”
“I’ll explain everything, Mr. White, I promise. Lois will be down in a moment, why don’t we wait in the living room?” The three shuffled into the living room and sat down. They didn’t have to wait long for Lois to appear.
“Uncle Perry, Jimmy, it’s good to see you,” she said.
“Lois, Darlin’ what in the Sam Hill is going on around here?” Perry shook his head and laughed. “Have you been hiding Superman here?”
“Mr. White,” Superman began seriously. “The explosion at the Lexor obviously didn’t kill me, but it could have. It was a trap set to expose me to a lethal gas. If Lois and Jimmy hadn’t found me when they did, the explosion would have killed me. As it is, I still don’t have my powers back.”
“Jimmy, you helped Lois save Superman’s life?”
“He did, Uncle Perry. I told him not to say anything to anyone about it. Jimmy, I’m sorry we haven’t kept you in the loop about this.”
“Hey guys, I understand, keeping Superman okay was the important thing.” Jimmy looked seriously at his hero. “Superman, are you sure you’re all right? You were in pretty bad shape back there.”
“I expect to make a full recovery, Jim, but thanks for your concern,” Superman replied confidently.
“Who else knows about this?” Perry inquired.
“Just a few doctors. We thought it would be best to let whoever did this think that they’d succeeded, at least until I regain my powers, but we need your help.”
“Superman, you have my guarantee, that we won’t print a word about any of this.”
“Thank you Mr. White, I appreciate that. Lois and I could also use your help in finding the people behind this. We have some leads, but not the resources we need to follow up on them.”
“That’s why you wanted everything we had on Luthor, right Lois?”
Lois nodded. “We can’t prove anything yet, but I know there’s something here.”
“Here’s everything we’ve printed on him in the last five years,” Perry said, handing her a sizeable folder and a disk. “If you don’t find what you need in there, the resources at the Planet are at your disposal and Jimmy, I don’t care what your working on, or for whom, your top priority from here on out is to help Lois and Superman with whatever they need.”
“Right, Chief,” Jimmy said, barely containing his enthusiasm over his new project.
“Jimmy, Mr. White, thank you both so much for everything. I really appreciate it.”
“Think nothing of it Superman,” Perry replied. “You’ve done a lot of good for Metropolis, we’re just glad to be able to help you do your job.”
********
“Thank you gentlemen, that will be all,” Lex dismissed his executive board unceremoniously. Toward the back of the room Nigel remained silent until all the others had left.
“The Board of Directors informed Dr. Lane of the termination of her funding today, sir.”
“Excellent, Nigel. Everything is falling perfectly into place.”
“The result of good planning, no doubt.”
“But of course, Nigel. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Every move calculated to the most exacting detail, all part of an intricate plan to destroy her support network, shake her confidence, and leave her vulnerable. This is a moment to savor, Nigel. The moment right before the kill, when all the patience and calculation on the part of the hunter has brought him face to face with his prize–a moment of sheer triumph. The object of my quest is now within my reach, all that is left is for me to take that which I ddesire. Hurt, unprotected, a stunning creature with no one left to turn to. Her life’s work snatched from her, her reputation in jeopardy, no greater opportunity could possibly exist, Nigel. Lois Lane will be mine.”
“And her work, of course, sir.”
“Nigel, it is so much more than that now. Initially, yes, I started this to take over Dr. Lane’s work as the first of many research acquisitions to improve Luthor Industries position in scientific and technological research. A few breakthroughs in modern medicine would result in billions in future profits. Now, the research is becoming a secondary objective. It’s not about the money any more, or the position, the power and the prestige. Nigel, I’m growing tired of that game. It has proved too easy. There is no challenge to business any more. The city is tightly under my control and further acquisitions throughout the state and then the entire eastern seaboard will most likely go unchallenged. I am the third richest man in the world–within striking distance of number two. But I want something that even money has failed to buy. I want Lois Lane.”
“Tell me, sir, if you would, what is so remarkable about Dr. Lane?”
“I know what you’re thinking, Nigel. I can have any woman that I want, why pursue her with such ardor? It is quite true, there are many beautiful women whose talents I could enjoy with much less effort on my part, but I ask you, Nigel, where is the joy in possessing that which gives itself freely to you? With all their pretense of propriety, all women are common whores. The only difference among the entire lot of them is the asking price. Not that I don’t enjoy beautiful women, but they are like money. The more you have, the easier it is to acquire more, and the game becomes rather dull. Dr. Lane, on the other hand, has made it quite clear that she does not intend to be possessed, by me, or any other man for that matter. What could be a greater test than bending that noble integrity and indomitable spirit, than twisting that independence, than branding her soul indelibly with my mark, than transforming her from the headstrong and independent creature that she is into one whose very existence revolves around me, than becoming the very god of her idolatry? I will have her, and turn her into my own private treasure, to be enjoyed by only me. A work of beauty for my eyes alone.”
********
Lois dropped Clark off at his apartment with the hard copies of the Luthor file not long after Perry and Jimmy departed. She sat down to an evening of Chinese take out and research on her laptop as she pored over the documents carefully, looking for any clues. She removed her reading glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose. A knock at the door startled her. She quickly closed up all of the files and turned off the laptop. She walked to the front door and looked the through the peephole. She felt her stomach clench and her heart slammed against her rib cage. Slowly, she exhaled and opened the door.
“Hello Lex,” she said calmly.
“Lois, my dear, how are you? I know its dreadfully rude of me to stop by unannounced, but I was nearby, and I’ve been thinking about you and wanted to make sure that you’re all right.”
“I’m fine, Lex, but thank you for your concern.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Do you mind if I come in?” he asked.
‘Actually, I’d prefer it if you stood out in the rain and died of hypothermia,’ she thought bitterly. “Please do,” she said. She stepped aside and allowed him to enter.
“It’s good to see that you’re handling the recent tragedy so well. I know that Superman was a friend of yours. We both lost a good friend, and the city lost a remarkable hero.”
“That it did,” she agreed with him.
“Such a waste, such a tragic waste,” he shook his head. “I know that this has been a difficult time for you, Lois. Beginning with that savage attack, and the Fitzgerald case, and now Superman’s death and the elimination of your funding.”
‘Gotcha!’ she thought. ‘How would you know about that, I just found out today?’ “Yes it has been a rather trying couple of months…”
“Lois, your strength amazes me. But I beg you, don’t feel as though you have to endure this alone. Now is the time to surround ourselves with friends and remind ourselves of all that we have. Let us try to do our best to help each other through.”
“Lex, I…”
“Lois, I can see it in your eyes, my dear, you haven’t rested for days, you’ve thrown yourself into your work and have persevered, I know. You’d be surprised at how alike you and I are, but the constant pressure, Lois, there is only so much of it that you can subject yourself to. Have dinner with me tomorrow night, Lois. Let me help take your mind off of all this.”
“Lex, I appreciate your…”
“Please, Lois, trust me.”
She suppressed a shiver. The thought of spending time with Lex made her skin crawl, but perhaps she could use it to her advantage. He didn’t seem to suspect that she was on to him. Perhaps she could learn something of value from it. “All right, Lex,” she agreed finally.
“Splendid, I’ll send a car for you.”
********
Lois went to bed soon after Luthor left. She lay awake for hours unable to sleep, thoughts of Lex tumbled through her mind in a twisted mess. Why did he want to kill Superman? Why was he pursuing her so earnestly? And most frightening of all, what was he going to do next?
********
“Sunlight.”
“Sorry?”
“All Superman needs to recover fully and regain his powers is sunlight, Lois.”
“Are you sure, Bernie?”
“Positive,” Dr. Klein replied to the trio gathered in his lab. “Here, let me show you.” He walked over to his computer terminal and brought up a set of graphs. Lois, Superman, and Sam gathered around the monitor. “As you know, certain biological functions can only occur in the presence of sunlight. Human beings can’t synthesize Vitamin D without sunlight, nor can human pigments be stimulated without it. I ran this test immediately after collecting Superman’s blood and tissue sample. After exposing the cells to direct sunlight, I ran a chemical analysis and compared it to a control analysis of cells not exposed to sunlight. They results were remarkable. By now, Superman’s body should be fully healed, all he needs to restore his powers is sunlight, his body will do the rest.”
“How long will it take, Bernie?”
“If the weather were cooperating, 24 hours, but thanks to the storm and the fact that sunlight is less concentrated this time of year, and therefore weaker, it’ll take a while longer.”
Lois frowned. “What about sunlamps?”
“Yes, yes, I think sunlamps might just help. They won’t be nearly as effective as the real thing, but they should significantly speed up the restoration process,” Bernie mused.
“Bernie, if my powers are charged by the sun, why have I never experienced any diminishment in them at night, or when it’s cloudy, before?”
“It doesn’t require a great deal of sunlight for you to maintain your powers, and your body seems to act as a natural solar panel of sorts, able to absorb and maintain the energizing effects of sunlight, but since you have to start from scratch, well, it will require an awful lot to bring you back up to speed. You should set the sunlamps up as soon as possible, and whenever you can, try to get under natural light. I’m estimating that it will take a few days, and considering your current state, I’d be willing to bet that your powers will come back gradually at first, but once they start to return, you should be back at top condition within a few days.”
“Thank you for all of your help, Bernie.”
“Oh, of course, Superman. Don’t worry, none of the data or records on you will be available to anyone except me. I ran all of the tests myself, so no one knows anything about it, and the sample of the meteorite is in the classified lab vault under lock and key, no one has access to it, except me.”
“I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me,” Superman replied genuinely.
“After all you’ve done for the city, Superman, it’s really the least I can do.”
********
Lois drove Clark, still in his Mafia hit man disguise, back to his apartment in her rental car. She’d grumbled and brooded earlier in the day when she had to leave her beloved Jeep at the auto body shop and was loaned a practical Japanese sedan as a replacement. They sat in silence for the first fifteen minutes of the drive. Lois placed her hand on Clark’s knee. “Long day?” she asked, glancing over at him with a sympathetic expression.
“Yeah,” he replied. “I had a lot to catch up on in the lab, and next week I’ll have an entire new battery of results to analyze. Did you want to work tonight on the Luthor files?”
Lois tensed at the mention of that name. “I can’t, I’m having dinner with him tonight.”
“Him who?” Clark asked flatly, surely she didn’t mean.
“Luthor.”
She did. “Lois, you told me yourself that the guy’s a psychopath and now you’re having dinner with him?”
“Clark, I know what I said about Luthor, and I don’t doubt for a second that the man is a snake, everything I’ve read about him, everything I’ve seen just confirms it, but he’s up to something, and this could be our best chance to figure out what that is. Whatever Lex is up to, he’s not finished yet. I thought he was pursuing me first because of my research and then because he figured he could use me to add another notch to his bedpost.” Clark grimaced at the euphemism. “But I realized that whatever he’s up to is even more sinister than that. I thought I was being paranoid, but I realized that every time I’ve talked to him, he’s known too much, about me, my funding, my friendship with Superman, the Genzyme case. Clark he knew that my funding had been revoked practically before I did. It’s as if the man is keeping tabs on me, God only knows why. I know I should have told you earlier, but I didn’t realize until yesterday, I still don’t know why me, I don’t know where I fall into his sick little game. He can’t be doing all of this just to get to my research, and yet, he’s there, like a vulture, every time that something terrible happens, ready to benefit from the opportunity.”
“Do you think he tried to kill Superman just to get to you?”
“No, I don’t think so, but he’s done a terrific job of playing off the tragedy. I think he wanted to kill Superman to get him out of the way. I think that he knew that eventually, Superman would pose a threat to him, and he decided for a preemptive strike.
“Lois, if any of this is even remotely true, then you can’t go through with it, it’s too dangerous.”
“Clark, I’m not going to do anything stupid, besides, he has no reason to be suspicious of me. He thinks he won. He thinks you’re dead.”
“Lois, I don’t want you playing cat and mouse with a panther for my sake.”
“But it’s okay if you do it for me?”
“That’s different.”
“The hell it is, Clark.”
“Lois, this is an unnecessary chance. We can get to Luthor without you putting yourself at risk like this.” The tension in his voice was undisguised. He took a deep breath, and in a softer tone, continued. “Do you think I’d be able to live with myself if he did something to hurt you and I was powerless to stop him, Lois?”
“Clark, do you think I’d be able to live with myself if Luthor came after you again? If the bastard had another piece of that damn meteorite? Do you think I’d be able to live with myself if he hurt or even killed you and there was something I could have done to prevent it and didn’t’?” Lois gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands. Her knuckles turned bone white. Clark placed a tentative hand on hers. “Clark, Luthor wants you dead,” her voice was small and thin. “What he wants with me is anybody’s guess.” She, however, didn’t want to ruminate on the morbid and perverted possibilities. “Whatever he’s after, he isn’t going to stop until he gets it, and I wouldn’t put it past him to do everything including killing to get what he wants. Maybe I can find out what that is tonight, maybe not. Either way, Clark, I’m not going to do anything to arouse his suspicions. Besides, it would raise more questions if I backed out now.”
“Lois, nothing you can say can convince me that this is a good idea. You said it yourself, the man isn’t above murdering to get what he wants. I don’t want you to put yourself in danger, especially when I’m in no position to help you if you need it, but I also can’t tell you what to do. If you’re going to do this, please, at least call me to let me know where you are and again when you get home so that I know you’re safe. Keep your phone on you and keep it turned on, and if anything happens, please call for help.”
“I will,” she agreed.
“Lois, promise me, please.”
“I promise.”
********
A black limousine pulled up in front of her house at seven that evening. She turned her phone on, put it in her purse, and felt her stomach clench and her heart stop at the sound of knocking at her door. Trying her best to stay calm, she opened the door and was greeted by Lex’s personal assistant, Nigel, perhaps the only man she’d ever met who oozed more creepiness than Lex himself.
The twenty minute ride was conducted in silence. The limousine finally pulled up onto the tarmac at a minor airport. The car came to a stop a hundred feet from a Learjet. She could see Lex standing beside the plane, waiting for her, a charming smile on his face. He walked to the limo and opened her door, extending his hand to help her out.
“You look positively radiant, Lois,” he said, still smiling.
“Thank you, Lex,” she replied. She wasn’t sure if the prospect of a journey by plane was a good thing or a bad thing. It was probably better than being in the monster’s den, but it was clearly a calculated move designed to put her at his mercy and probably intended to impress her. She allowed him to lead her up the stairs onto the plane, the feel of his hand in contact with hers sent a chill down her arm and up her spine.
********
They rode silently down the New York City streets in another black limousine. Lex sat too close to her for her own comfort. She nearly jumped when he placed his hand on top of hers, but somehow, she managed to maintain her composure, despite her own frayed nerves. She had excused herself once during dinner to call Clark and let him know where she was. After receiving his assurances that he was at home, sitting under the sunlamps his parents had purchased and set up, she told him that Lex had flown them out to New York. He was everything except pleased by that particular development. She assured him that she was all right, before hastily saying goodbye, afraid Lex would begin to wonder what was keeping her so long.
The limousine pulled up in front of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. The driver opened the door, Lex exited first and then helpped her out of the car. They ascended the steps of the museum. It was well after closing, and she was uncertain what they were doing there. As they approached the door, the security guard nodded politely at Lex.
“Good evening, Mr. Luthor.” Lex merely smiled as the guard held the door open for both of them. The museum was deserted, but the exhibition rooms were still lit.
Lex smiled at her. “I have a collection on a long term loan to the museum, and as a gesture of thanks, they let me come see it whenever I want.”
Lois recognized several works as those of Monet, Cezanne, Gauguin, Renoir, and Degas, she allowed herself to silently absorb the sheer magnitude of the stunning works that surrounded her. She was startled out of her reverie by the feel of Lex’s hand being placed against the small of her back. Through the material of her dress, his hand felt like ice. How many times had Clark touched her like that? When Clark did it, it was a gesture of warmth and gentle love, Lex’s touch conveyed manipulation and control as he guided her away from the Impressionism exhibit. She tried to hide the effect that he was having on her, tried to keep her body from railing against his touch.
Their footsteps echoed loudly in the cavernous museum, deserted at this late hour. They walked though several corridors lined with notable, yet less historically significant works of the Impressionist and post Impressionist periods. Lex led her away from the main corridor, past the Rodin rooms and toward a small, darkened exhibit room. She was surprised when Lex presented a key and began turning the master switches. The small room was flooded by light. She couldn’t believe her eyes. A slight gasp escaped her lips involuntarily. “These aren’t…”
“They are,” Lex assured her.
She crept closer toward one of the large glass cases and looked down at the yellowed and aged paper.
“The complete original human anatomy studies of Da Vinci, his studies for the Mona Lisa, and my personal favorite,” Lex proclaimed as he approached a large, mounted glass case with it’s own lighting system. He switched on the lights. “Michaelangelo’s studies…”
“For the Pieta.”
“Precisely.”
She gazed in wonder at the artist’s sketches of the Virgin Mary holding the body of the crucified Christ, long considered Michaelangelo’s greatest work. “These aren’t supposed to exist,” she said breathlessly.
“Long thought destroyed, it’s amazing what you can find with zealous and exacting art historians in your employ.”
“Stunning, aren’t they?”
“They’re beautiful,” she replied.
“I’ve been blessed with the ability to surround myself with such objects of beauty,” he said, looking directly into her eyes. “For what is the purpose of wealth and power, if it cannot bring you beauty? Inspiring, passionate, mysterious…”
Without breaking eye contact, Lois replied evenly. “‘The awful thing is that beauty is mysterious as well as terrible. God and the devil are fighting there and the battlefield is the heart of man.'”
“I think I should like to take my chances,” Lex replied with a smile that chilled her to the bone.
********
Several hours later the limousine returned to the curb in front of her house. Lex escorted her to her door once again. ‘Don’t panic, don’t do anything to make him suspicious,’ she repeated to herself silently. She thanked him politely and unsurprisingly, he leaned forward to kiss her, at the last moment, she turned her head, causing him to kiss her cheek. Without showing any reaction to her snubbing of him, he smiled again, and bid her good evening. She hurried inside, driven by an overwhelming need to take a long, hot shower.
She shed her heavy overcoat and stepped out of first her shoes and then the dress. The stockings were next to be removed as she left a trail of clothing all the way from the bottom of the staircase to her bathroom. She was about to finish disrobing when she remembered that she was supposed to call Clark. She slipped into her thick bathrobe and sat down on her bed, and picked up the phone. It was late, but she had promised. She dialed the familiar number.
********
Clark’s nervous pacing in the living room was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. He dove over the couch and reached for the phone. “Lois?” he asked, breathlessly.
“Clark,” the voice on the other end replied.
“Oh, thank God.” Clark sighed, relieved. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Clark, sorry to call so late.”
“No, it’s fine, I’m glad you did.”
“Sounds like you were worried.”
“You have no idea.”
“Well, I just wanted to let you know that I got home all right. I’m going to take a shower and go to sleep. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at eight?”
“Sounds good.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too. Good night, Lois.”
“Good night, Clark.”
Clark hung up the phone quietly. His parents had gone to bed long ago and he hoped that he wasn’t keeping them awake. He’d waited up for Lois’s call, unable to go to sleep. Assured now that she was at home and was all right, Clark stretched out across the couch and went to sleep.
********
Lois knocked on the door to Clark’s apartment promptly at eight that morning. Clark opened the door, an easy grin on his face. “Come in,” he said, cheerfully. He gave her a quick kiss, devoid of the passion that their previous kisses possessed, but in it’s own way, it was comfortable, familiar.
“I take it you’re feeling better,” Lois said with a knowing smile.
“Yeah, no powers yet, but I feel much better today.” He led her toward the kitchen where Jonathan and Martha were cleaning up the remnants of breakfast. They exchanged ‘good mornings’ and Lois took the opportunity to ask the Kents to have dinner with them tomorrow evening.
Lois and Clark said their goodbyes and left, hand in hand, leaving the Kents to a day of exploring Metropolis. Their concerns for Clark’s well being had been abated by his significant improvement just in the past day. The sunlamps really seemed to be doing the trick; they had done for his physical health what Lois had clearly done for his spirits. The previous evening, Clark’s anxiety over Lois’s safety had completely preoccupied him. This morning, all signs of worry had evaporated and their boy could hardly contain his relief. As the door closed behind the younger couple, Martha turned to her husband and smiled. “I’m so happy for them, Jonathan.”
“Me too, Martha,” Jonathan concurred. “I was always so worried about how Clark never felt that he fit in, I think Lois has given him something I was afraid he’d never find.” Jonathan placed his arm around his wife and smiled.
********
“Are the lab monkeys still talking about us?” Lois asked as they walked through the corridors toward the lab.
“Yesterday the pool was up to two hundred bucks.”
“Betting pool?”
“Yeah, on how long before you get tired of me, bag me, and I change my name and run off to the French Foreign Legion.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Geoff gives it six months, I think Andy’s got three, he says the strain of a torrid, secret romance will cause both of us to crack,” Clark replied with a wry smile.
“Torrid romance?”
“His words, not mine, though you’d think they’d be more careful.”
“Well Larry, Curly, and Moe were never known for their subtlety. Is that all they’ve said lately?”
Clark frowned and shook his head. “There’s been a good bit of speculation into your ‘bedside manner.'”
“You didn’t fly off the handle, did you?”
“I managed to restrain myself.”
“Why can’t they just get lives?”
Clark grunted as he opened the door to the lab. Lois reached out a hand to stop him. “Clark, do you trust me?”
“Of course,”
“Then just follow my lead.”
“Morning, Clark, Lois what a pleasant surprise.” Geoff grinned at the pair.
“Geoff, so nice to see you again.” Lois smiled disarmingly at him.
“Well, Kent, you look much better today, that flu really knocked you out,” Geoff turned away from the pair and back to his work.
“Yeah, I guess the flu shot didn’t take this year,” Clark replied absently.
Andy and Steve entered the lab, and from the corner of her eye, Lois could see the pair exchange knowing glances.
“So, Clark, I’ll see you at one?”
“Yeah, one o’clock,” Clark agreed.
Lois turned to walk away, but quickly spun around on her heel. She reached up, and with her hand at the back of Clark’s head, pulling him toward her, she crushed her lips against his and kissed him thoroughly. She felt his body stiffen, but few moments later, he wrapped his arms around her. After a long while, she pulled away to draw in a shaky breath. Clark’s expression begged her for an explanation of what just happened, but she merely smiled at him. She turned and walked past an uncharacteristically silent Geoff. Andy and Steve, who looked almost as stunned as Clark, stepped out of her way as she strode across the lab toward the door, whistling Le Marseilles.
********
The elevator chimed as the doors opened, but if the sound was heard over the din of the chaotic newsroom, it was ignored. The pair stepped off the elevator and walked toward the editor’s office.
“Lois, Clark!” Jimmy yelled enthusiastically.
“Hi Jimmy, is Perry around?” Lois asked.
“Nah, but he should be back soon, he said you might be in today. I’ll get you set up at one of the empty workstations, I gotta run these photos down to copy, but I’ll be back in a few.”
“Thanks, Jimmy.”
“Sure thing, Clark.” Jimmy bounded off with his usual youthful enthusiasm, though he was intercepted on his journey.
“Who is that?” the striking, auburn haired woman practically purred at Jimmy.
“You don’t know Dr. Lane?” Jimmy asked.
“Of course, I know Dr. Lane, I was asking about the Greek god standing next to her.”
Jimmy looked over at the desk where Lois was situated, sitting in front of the computer. Clark was leaning over her. He placed his hand on top of hers on the mouse and moved it. “Oh, that’s Dr. Kent.”
“He’s a doctor? Hmmm.” She eyed the subject of her inquiry lasciviously.
“Put the claws away, Cat,” Jimmy said with a grin. She gave him a cold stare and he wiped the smile off his face. “I don’t think Dr. Lane would appreciate the competition.”
“Don’t tell me he’s with her,” Cat scoffed. “What on Earth could he possibly see in her?”
“Other than the fact that she’s a brilliant, successful surgeon and number twelve on Metropolis Magazine’s list of most beautiful people?”
“Quit drooling, Jimmy. That was a rhetorical question. Besides, I was number nine.” Cat raised an eyebrow at him.
“Hey, I wasn’t trying to compare her to you, jeez, Cat.” Jimmy rubbed his shoulder where Cat had decided to smack him. He made his retreat before he could get himself in more trouble.
********
“Here you go, here’s the list of everyone who works in the LexCorp building, plus all the upper level management at every LexCorp, Lexicom, and Luthor Industries subsidiary, plus his personal accountants, lawyers and physicians.” Jimmy dropped the thick stack of files on the desk with an audible ‘thud.’ “What do you guys need all this stuff for?”
“Lex can’t do whatever it is that he does alone, we’re trying to find anything or anyone to link him personally to any wrong doing.”
“Though at the moment, it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack.” Clark frowned. They had been at the Planet for hours. Most of the staff was gone, leaving behind what Clark assumed was the night staff. Even Perry had gone home. Jimmy, excited by the prospect of a real investigation, had volunteered to stick around, Lois and Clark would not have been allowed in the building after regular hours without a member of the staff with them.
“Well, when you get a list of people you want to look into, give me the names and I’ll run them,” Jimmy offered.
“Run them?” Clark asked.
“Yeah, through the database, if anything comes up, I’ll let you know, it sure beats trying to track down all these people on foot. For important LexCorp employees, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get a hold of their location, and any information on them made public in the last ten or so years.”
“Wow,” Lois replied, impressed. “Well, we should limit this to only Luthor Industries divisions and people who interact with Luthor personally, which eliminates 99 per cent of the people at the LexCorp building,”
“You think his wrong doing is only limited to the Luthor Industries branches?” Clark asked.
“Probably not, but that’s the parent group for LexLabs, and that’s the only area where we’re even close to pinning any wrong doing on him. Besides, it wasn’t hard to get Luthor talking about himself and his work last night. He seemed pretty focused on technological developments and acquisitions, probably because there’s no one left on the Eastern Seaboard except STAR labs to challenge him”
They began the process of narrowing down the list of people to look into. About an hour into the task of crossing off names, Clark called out, “Bender!”
“What?” Lois looked at him, confused. Jimmy, who had fallen asleep, was startled awake and nearly fell out of his chair.
“Luthor’s personal attorney is Sheldon Bender.”
“The rat?”
“The one and only,” Clark confirmed.
“So that ties him to Fitzgerald.”
“Well, obliquely, yes.”
“Jimmy, can you find out who paid for Fitzgerald’s attorney?”
“Sure thing,” the young man replied, trying to stifle a yawn. He took the list from Clark and jogged off to his own computer.
“Clark, if Luthor’s connected to Fitzgerald, then he’s connected to Genzyme.”
“But LexLabs and Genzyme were in competition.”
“Not really, there’s some overlap, but the two facilities specialized mostly in different fields.”
“But why would Genzyme be doing Luthor’s dirty work anyway?”
“That’s the sixty four thousand dollar question,” she replied. “But if it’s true, then we can see a revenge motive for Luthor’s attempt to kill Superman. Bringing down Genzyme and preventing the deal must have cost him a fortune.”
“Yeah, but Superman was no more responsible for bringing down Genzyme than you.”
“Which might explain Bender’s defense,” Lois noted wryly.
“And why Luthor’s pursuing you now.” Lois could see the muscles in Clark’s jaw twitch. Before he could say anything more, Jimmy returned, file in hand.
“I’ve got the name,” he replied. “It’s not exactly legal to do this, but it’s not that difficult either.”
Lois took the file from him. “Nicolas S. Janisek,” she read aloud.
“Doesn’t sound familiar,” Clark replied.
“Jimmy, could you run this name?” Lois asked.
“You got it.” Jimmy returned a short while later, another file in hand.
“Lois, you’re not gonna believe this. This guy’s got a heck of an FBI file.”
“FBI file?”
“Yep. Nicolas S. Janisek, a.k.a. N. Stephen Jameson a.k.a. Nigel St. John,. Former MI6,”
“Wait a minute, did you say Nigel St. John?”
“Yeah, why?”
“That’s the name of Luthor’s personal assistant!”
Clark took the file from Jimmy. “Well, it looks like he isn’t just Luthor’s Mr. Belvedere. It says here the guy was former SAS, Special Operatives Executive, wanted for treason, espionage and a laundry list of other crimes.”
“And now he’s Luthor’s right hand man.” Lois had known that the man was a snake who’d learned to walk upright. Here was the proof, she shook her head, unable to fathom the absolute limitless nature of Lex’s perfidy. “Clark, all of this, it’s all been Lex, all along.”
Clark placed his arm around her. “We’re going to get him, Lois. We’re going to bring him down.”
********
“Damn that woman!”
“Something the matter, sir?”
Lex sat back down in his chair. “She’s more stubborn than I could have ever imagined.”
“So I take it you have not yet won Dr. Lane’s confidence?” Nigel inquired with an almost aristocratic smirk.
“Oh, how she quoted Dostoevsky at me in a thinly veiled threat. Her bravado may be without equal, but she has no idea with whom she is dealing.”
“Indeed,” Nigel replied noncommittally.
Luthor dropped a stack of papers onto his desk with an audible ‘thud,’ and gave his assistant a malignant glare. “Dr. Sam Lane has apparently filed a request to have his research project picked up by NIH. It appears as though the Lanes would rather move to Washington and have the project controlled by the government than to become partners with LexLabs. This mule-headed behavior is becoming a trifle irksome. Killing Superman was easier than this.”
“Does this mean that it is time to redirect your focus and forget about the Lane woman?”
“Of course not, Nigel. If I cannot tame the shrew, I shall simply break her spirit and leave her broken. ‘And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover, to entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain’ ”
“What are you planning, sir?”
“A more direct attack?”
“On Dr. Lane, herself?”
“No, of course not. Killing those who have disappointed you is such a boring way of handling your affairs. I’ll simply kill her father instead.”
“I see you are becoming more and more like your hero.”
“Well, much can be said for Richard and his tactics.”
********
Weighed down by a considerable stack of files, Lois and Clark left the Planet and made their way back to Clark’s apartment. They rode together in companionable silence through the light traffic.
“So you never did explain yourself for that little stunt you pulled today,” Clark said with an impish smile.
Lois shot him an innocent glance that clearly said ‘what stunt?’
“Don’t look at me like that,” Clark teased. “You know exactly what I’m talking about–kissing me like that in front of those three.”
“Oh that,” Lois replied, smiling mischievously.
“Yeah, that,” Clark agreed.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you that the fastest way to silence gossip is to confirm it?”
“Gee, maybe you should explain that to them.”
“Just give it a few days, Clark. We’ll be old news soon enough.” She gave his knee a reassuring squeeze. She pulled up outside his building and gave him a pleasant goodbye kiss before he ran through the rain and up to his apartment.
********
Clark slipped quietly into his apartment, surprised to find the lights on and his mother sitting on the couch in the living room, reading the Daily Planet’s Arts and Entertainment Section.
“Hi Mom,” he said quietly. “What are you doing still up?”
“Oh, I couldn’t sleep,” Martha replied with a smile. “Tired?”
Clark nodded.
“Well, go get changed, I’ll set up the sunlamps.”
Clark disappeared and returned wearing only a pair of mesh shorts to ensure that he received maximum exposure to the healing energy of the sunlamps. “We found evidence linking Luthor to Genzyme,” he explained as he situated himself on the couch under the lamps. “That gives him motive and opportunity to kill Superman. We may be able to prove his involvement in other criminal activities as well.”
Martha sat down in a chair beside the sofa. “That’s good, right?’
“I guess, but it also means that Luthor has been watching Lois very closely. He was probably responsible for the fiasco with Bender.”
“The lawyer who questioned Lois at the trial?”
“Yeah that’s him.”
“But why? What did he stand to benefit from that?”
“I don’t know, Mom. The way he’s pursued Lois, it scares me.” He shook his head. “I don’t even want to think about what he wants to do with her.”
“But at least you two now know what you’re facing.”
“You’re right, Mom. With the Daily Planet’s help, we should be able to get enough information together to take to the police. I think Perry White might assign a few reporters to the investigation as well.”
“Make sure to be careful, Clark.”
“I know, Mom.”
“It’s getting late and I should let you get to sleep,” Martha said as she stood up.
“Goodnight, Mom.”
“Goodnight, Sweetie,” Martha gave her son a kiss on the cheek before retiring to the bedroom.
********
“Morning,” Lois said as she leaned in to give Clark a kiss. “How do you feel?”
Clark grinned. “Super.”
“You mean?”
Clark nodded. “They’re not all the way back yet, but they’re definitely returning.”
“Clark, that’s wonderful!” Lois exclaimed as she threw her arms around his neck.
“Good morning, Lois,” Jonathan said with a smile as he walked in from the kitchen.
“Good morning,” she replied.
“Hi, Lois,” Martha followed Jonathan into the living room. “Honey, I was hoping you’d let me and Jonathan do the cooking for dinner tonight. I know how busy you must be at work, and it would be our pleasure.”
“Oh, Martha, that’s so sweet of you, but, really, I think I can get everything under control.”
“Lois, it really is the least we can do, we insist,” Jonathan assured her.
“All right,” Lois replied with a smile. They arranged for what Lois was planning on making for dinner before she and Clark left for work.
********
Lois finished scrubbing in Post Op and headed up to her office. She stared at her phone for a long moment before picking it up and dialing.
“Daily Planet”
“May I speak to Jimmy Olsen, please?”
“Just a sec,” the voice on the other end of the line replied.
“Jimmy Olsen.” She heard Jimmy speak into the phone, in a deeper tone of voice than usual. She smiled.
“Jimmy, it’s Lois.”
“Hey Lois, what’s up?”
“Jimmy, you said that if I gave you a name, you could probably get me a number and address, right?”
“Sure, no problem,” he replied. “What do you need?”
“A listing for Dr. Guy Sialano.”
“Sialano, got it. Who is this guy?”
“The president of Genzyme.”
“No problem, Lois, I can give you a call in about half an hour with the number.”
“Thanks, Jimmy.”
“Anytime.”
********
Lois checked the address again. She got out of the Jeep and ran to the front door. She rang the bell and waited. The door was opened a few moments later by a rather pudgy, middle aged man she recognized as Guy Sialano. His face visibly fell when he saw her. “I’m sorry, Dr. Lane, but my attorney has advised against speaking to you.”
She put her hand out to stop him from closing the door. “Wait,” she said. He hesitated for a moment. “I know about Luthor.”
The color drained from Dr. Sialano’s face. He looked around behind her but saw no one. “Come inside,” he said tersely. Twenty years in the United States had done little to change his distinctly French accent. She followed him into the foyer and on to the den of his sprawling home. “What is it that you want, Dr. Lane?”
Lois looked at him, surprised. He wasn’t merely irritated. He seemed down right scared. She looked at the typical pictures of Dr. Sialano, his wife and three children that adorned the walls of the den. He sat down at his desk. She took a seat across from him. “I want to know why you’re protecting Luthor. Why you’re taking all the blame, knowing that it will result in a lengthy prison sentence. Like I said, I know about Luthor and his involvement in everything that went on with Genzyme and Fitzgerald.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said flatly.
“Come on, Doctor, if that was the case you would have just slammed the door in my face. You know what I’m talking about, so you might as well tell me why. I know what Luthor is up to, and I’m not the only one. He will get what’s coming to him.”
“So you are going to catch Mr. Luthor, what do you want from me?”
“Do you know what the charge of conspiracy is, Dr. Sialano?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“According to American law, anyone who is part of a conspiracy to commit a crime, is guilty of every crime committed as a result of that conspiracy. It doesn’t matter if you’re just driving the getaway car. If your co-conspirators are robbing the bank, and they kill someone, you too, are guilty of murder,” she explained pointedly. “We’ve only scratched the surface of all the crimes Luthor committed stemming from the Genzyme case. But every charge they bring against him will be brought against you and the rest of the top management at Genzyme. Even the bombing that took out Superman.”
“I had nothing to do with that,” Sialano hissed indignantly.
“Well, as a defense, it generally doesn’t work for the getaway car driver, hope it works for you,” she said as she stood up.
“You don’t understand!” he exclaimed.
“What? What don’t I understand?” she asked as she sat back down.
“He threatened us. Threatened our families, if we didn’t go along with him. Luthor forced us to allow him to use Genzyme to conduct his dirty business in order to keep it from being traced back to him. You see, Fitzgerald and the army were just a convenient conduit for Luthor’s business. The final recipient of the virus was unknown to us. We just manufactured the substance and delivered it to Fitzgerald, we knew nothing else of the matter.”
“If you don’t testify against Luthor it will all be traced back to you, surely you know that.”
“Do you have any children, Dr. Lane?”
“No,” Lois shook her head.
“Try and understand my position, I have a wife and three children to think about. If I go to jail, it will be very difficult for them, but better for me to go to prison than to allow that snake, Luthor to harm them.”
“Dr. Sialano, at least consider talking with the police. They can protect you and your family, perhaps even grant you immunity.”
“It is too dangerous for me to talk to the police. You do not know Mr. Luthor like I do, Dr. Lane. If I talk, he will know. It is foolish for me even to speak with you.”
“I know someone, a detective, with MPD, he can be trusted. I’ll talk to him, no names, and see what he can do for you.”
“You can do as you please Dr. Lane. I do not know how it is that you have found out what it is that you know about Luthor, and I do not doubt the fact that if the information gets into the hands of the wrong people both you and I will end up dead.”
“I will contact you tomorrow, Dr. Sialano, give me until then to prove to you that I can help you.”
He nodded gravely before standing to see her to the door. As soon as she left, he picked up the phone and dialed with trembling fingers. “Michelle, you must listen to me,” he spoke into the receiver. “Take the children from school, go to your sister’s home tonight…yes, you must go tonight, please do not ask me any questions. I will call you there…please just do as I ask…I love you.”
Lois got into the Jeep and picked up the phone immediately, she dialed the number from memory. “Dr. Clark Kent, please.”
“Clark Kent.” She heard him say in an upbeat tone.
“Clark,” she said as she pulled away from the curb.
“Hey, how are you?”
“Clark, I just left from meeting with Guy Sialano and I’m on my way to see Inspector Henderson.”
“Sialano, the president of Genzyme? Lois are you nuts?”
“Clark, he admitted it, Luthor is behind the whole thing. I’m going to see if Henderson can get him immunity if he testifies.”
“What on Earth possessed you to seek out Sialano?”
“I figured I could bluff him out. Anyway, it worked.”
“Lois, do you realize how dangerous that was?”
“Clark, as long as Luthor is free, he’s a danger. The sooner we get him behind bars where he belongs, the safer we’ll all be. I just thought I’d expedite the process.”
“‘Did you have to just run off and do this by yourself, though?”
“I just sort of, got an idea and went with it. Next time I’ll call you first, okay?”
“Lois, I’m serious.”
“All right. Then meet me at the 33rd precinct. We’ll talk to Henderson together and then see where we can take it from there.”
“Okay, I’m on my way.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
********
“Dr. Lane, I don’t even think I’m going to ask how you pulled this off,” he dropped the stacks of files onto his desk.
Lois hid a smirk. “Do you think you can get immunity granted for the witness?”
“You aren’t going to tell me who it is, are you?” Henderson asked.
“Of course not.”
“But you promise it’s senior management at Genzyme?”
“Definitely.”
“Inspector, we’ve found significant links between Lex Luthor and Genzyme.”
“I can see that, Dr. Kent, though I’d kinda like to know how Dr. Lane here roped you into all of this. I’ll talk with Drake, and see if we can move on this.”
They left the precinct, looking forward to the family get together planned for the evening and trying to clear their minds of the troubling thoughts of Luthor and his apparent empire of crime.
********
Lois set the table in the dining room for six. Her parents would be arriving shortly.
“Anything I can help with?” Clark asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, hugging her to him.
She leaned back against his solid body and sighed contentedly. “Oh wait, Clark, do you think you could pick up a bottle of wine?”
“Sure,” he replied.
She turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him before handing him the keys to the Jeep.
Twenty minutes later, Clark, Sam, and Ellen all arrived at the townhouse. Introductions between the two sets of parents and everyone sat down to dinner. The six found conversation both entertaining and easy.
“Oh Sam, you should have seen him,” Jonathan said with a hearty laugh. “There he was, thirteen years old, too tall and scrawny, but out in the storm picking up the cows and carrying them to the barn.”
“They were spooked,” Clark exclaimed. “I had to get them in some how, and they just wouldn’t cooperate.”
“So you picked them up?” Lois asked.
“Of course.”
Everyone, including Clark, laughed at the story and the image of an awkward and gangly teenage Clark Kent carrying cows.
“So before you were Superman you used your powers to do your chores, huh?” Ellen smiled.
“He still does, Mother, you should see him do windows.”
“But I’m sure it wasn’t all fun and games,” Sam said soberly.
“No, I guess it wasn’t,” Clark said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “When I first started to get my powers it was pretty scary. I didn’t know what was happening. But eventually, I learned to get used to it. Mom and Dad were great,” he said as he smiled at his parents. “They took everything in stride, never treated me like there was something wrong with me.”
“There never was, Honey,” Martha reassured her son.
“Anyway, after a while, I got used to the fact that normal for me wasn’t. Mom and Dad even started to take my powers for granted.”
“Well we certainly did take advantage of the fact that we could always count on you to fix the leaky roof on the barn once you learned how to fly,” Jonathan added cheerfully.
“I just have one more question, Clark.”
“Fire away, Ellen.”
“Where did you get that suit?”
Clark felt the color rise in his face. “Well, you’ll have to ask Mom and Lois, they designed it.”
“I should have known you had a hand in that, Lois.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Mother,” Lois replied, as though stung by the remark. She could hardly suppress a grin.
“All right, all right, enough about me, okay? I’m sure someone else has an embarrassing story.”
“I don’t know about that, Clark, compared to you, the rest of us are down right boring.”
“I hardly think so, Sam. You’ve travelled the world practicing medicine.”
“But so have you, my boy.”
“Come on, Sam, I’m sure you have a story for us,” Martha encouraged him.
“All right. Well, my entire third tour in Viet Nam, I moved from one field hospital to another. About sixth months into it, I was stationed not too far from Da Nang. One day they brought in a couple of men all from the same company who’d been wounded in a sniper attack. One of them was a Lieutenant Named Louis Morgan. He’d been shot in the neck. He was lucky, the bullet somehow missed every important blood vessel, and nerve in his neck, but he lost a bit of blood and it was touch and go for a while.
“When he was finally in the clear, he called me over to his bunk. He couldn’t speak very loudly, but we got to talking, he showed me a picture of his wife, and we argued over who was the luckier man. I, of course, won. He told me about his little girl whom he’d never met and who’d been born a few months before. He showed me the picture that his wife had sent him; beautiful baby girl, and he thanked me for giving him the chance to meet his little girl. He said to me, ‘I don’t know how yet, Captain, but I’m going to repay you someday, you’ll see.’ I just told him to hurry up and get better, there was a plane ticket waiting for him.
“Anyway, a week or so passed and Lieutenant Morgan was soon walking around. I was riding back to the hospital one day in one of the company Jeeps, when one of the tires blew out. The Sergeant driving the Jeep lost control and next thing I know, we’re both stuck in the Jeep, which is lying on its side in a ditch. Lieutenant Morgan comes running from the hospital like a bat outta hell, pulls both the Sergeant and me out of the Jeep before the blasted thing caught fire. He saved both of our lives, and he said to me, ‘See Captain, I told you I’d pay you back.’ He, of course, tore open his stitches and we had to redo them, but he most certainly did pay me back. A few years later, when we found out Ellen was pregnant, we decided that if we had a boy, we were going to name him ‘Loius’ after Lieutenant Morgan. Of course we didn’t, but we thought we’d name our little girl after him anyway.”
“That’s some story, Sam,” Jonathan said with a smile.
“And just so you know, there’s a Samuel Morgan about Lois’s age running around somewhere in Missouri,” Sam said, smiling.
When dinner was over, everyone moved to the living room. Lois and Ellen went into the kitchen to brew some coffee. “Mother,” Lois began.
“What is it, Sweetie?”
“Mother, Daddy’s told you about the project hasn’t he?”
Ellen simply nodded.
“NIH may be our only way to save the project. We’ve come too far now to just give up.”
“I know, and that’s why I told him to go ahead with it.”
“But you know that means that Daddy and I will have to move to Washington at least for a year until we can find a sponsor in Metropolis.”
“I know, but I also know how important the project is. How important it is to Sam, how important it will be to all of the people whose lives are improved because of it.”
“But that’s not fair to you two. Daddy and I have been partners on this, I can’t just make him give up everything, make all the sacrifices. And what about you? What about you’re work, what you’re doing with the Women’s Center is so important.”
“And I can’t leave that, not now anyway.”
“So you’re willing to be apart from Daddy for an entire year, just for the research project?”
“Lois, we both know how important this project is. You’re father and I have been through tougher stuff than this before. Don’t worry about us. I’ve told you about our wedding, haven’t I? How your father and I took our week of R and R and ran off to the first Chaplain we could find and eloped. How that was only a few weeks before we found out he would be out of Saigon for the next year. We spent the first year of our marriage apart and I spent almost every night worrying about him; wondering if he’d make it back safely to me. I don’t look forward to being away from him for so long. But we made it through that; we’ll make it through this.”
Lois sighed as she placed the six cups of coffee on the tray.
“You haven’t told Clark yet, have you?”
“No, I don’t even know what to say. How can I tell him something like this?’
“Well you start by just being honest and talking to him about it. But you know, if you can’t do it, if you can’t leave Metropolis, well, you’re father’s been saying that he doesn’t want to force you to leave, that he’ll go ahead to NIH alone.”
“I can’t ask that of Daddy. I can’t ask him to just give up everything, to make all of the sacrifices.”
“Well, whatever you decide, you need to tell Clark about it. Talk to him, the two of you will figure something out.”
“I love him so much,” Lois confessed.
“I know you do, Sweetie.”
“I just can’t even fathom doing something that I know will hurt him.”
“That’s why you need to talk to him. I know it seems bleak right now, but believe me, if you two love each other, and I have no doubt about that, you’ll find a way to make it work.” Ellen hugged her daughter. “Now come on, let’s get this coffee out there before it gets cold.”
Lois gave her mother a lopsided smile. “Oh, don’t worry about it, we can always get Clark to reheat it.”
The group enjoyed more stories over coffee but the evening was cut short when Clark’s pager went off. He explained that it was the ED and said his hasty goodbyes before departing. The party broke up shortly after when the Lanes and Kents left, Sam and Ellen taking Jonathan and Martha back to Clark’s apartment.
********
Clark arrived at the hospital and changed into a set of scrubs, readying himself for a marathon evening. The ED proved to be even more hectic than usual, with several weather and alcohol related car accidents adding to the chaos of the emergency department. The clock slowly inched toward two am and the end of the shift. Clark was in the lounge nursing a cup of coffee and preparing to leave when he heard an ambulance arrive at the emergency bay. He tuned in, his hearing apparently back up to par, and was gone in a blur, leaving behind his cooling cup of coffee.
“What have we got?”
“Police response to a domestic violence call, this is how they found her.”
“Victim’s pupils are dilated, unresponsive, possible cranial contusion, probable concussion.”
“BP’s 81 over 55 and falling”
“Symptoms of an acute subdural hematoma.”
“Order a Cat scan and get me six mgs of dexamethasone stat!”
“Let’s get a pulse…”
“On three everyone…”
Clark ran into the exam room where his colleagues were already working rapidly. He looked down at the woman on the gurney and he felt his stomach tie itself in a knot. ‘No,’ his mind called out weakly. He opened and closed his mouth, unable to form any words. He forced himself to look down again and this time he focused his eyes, not letting himself turn away. The petite brunette was not Lois, despite the striking resemblance. He looked down at the slender woman, her eyes unfocused, her body covered in bruises. Brett moved deftly to place a cervical collar around her neck. Her listless form was suddenly gripped by a violent seizure.
“She’s tonic-clonic.”
“Let’s get her stabilized!”
“Give me two ccs of Depakene stat!”
Clark tuned out the voices of his colleagues as he helped them transfer her onto the table. Soon all he could hear was the weak, erratic beating of the woman’s heart, echoing loudly in his ears. But wait, there was another sound. A faint, fluttering sound. He focused on it. He counted almost a hundred thirty bpm. It couldn’t be. He concentrated on the sound; there was no mistaking the fluttering sound and for the first time, he noticed the slight swell of the woman’s abdomen. His heart sank. Almost as soon as he had identified it, the sound was gone. Replaced by silence. Only he noticed. Around him, the doctors worked just as frantically, completely unaware of the life that had just ended. He watched as if disconnected from his own body, as he checked the woman’s brown eyes, her pupils still dilated and unresponsive, as Dr. Walcowitz added the Depakene to the IV. Somewhere he heard the sound of the ECG and the synchronized beating of the woman’s heart. The sound was muffled, as though his ears had been stuffed with cotton. The sound suddenly faltered, the pattern was broken, the beating was replaced by the long, continuous beep of the ECG. He heard Brett call for the crash cart. Clark took the Defib. paddles in his hands and placed them on the woman’s chest. He held the paddles steady as over and over again, electricity jolted through the metal plates and into the woman’s body, but to no avail. He felt a hand on his arm; someone called out the time of death. ‘It’s not her’ he tried to remind himself. His body shook. The paddles fell from his hands.
********
He hovered outside her window. He didn’t want to go home and he couldn’t be alone. He listened to her heartbeat, focused his mind on it, as he memorized the sound. He shut everything else out, his eyes closed, listening to the slow steady sound of her heart echo in his mind. ‘It’s okay,’ he told himself. ‘She’s okay.’ But he couldn’t drag himself away. He floated outside her window unable and unwilling to move.
Lois looked up from her notes. It was late and she was exhausted. She removed her reading glasses and rubbed her eyes. She caught something outside her window in her peripheral vision and turned to look. She saw Clark hovering outside her window. His eyes closed, his brow furrowed in concentration. He wavered slightly as though it was taking all of his strength to maintain his position. She opened her window and called to him. He opened his eyes, clearly surprised, and lost a few feet in altitude. She gasped, but he recovered after a moment. She held out her hand to him and drew him into the room. He smiled weakly at her. She immediately wrapped her arms around him. “Baby, what’s wrong?” she pleaded with him, but he said nothing. Lois knew that something had happened–something that had shaken him to his very core. He would tell her about it when he was ready, of that, she was confident. So she demanded nothing of him, and was prepared to give him whatever she could, whatever he needed. She hugged him tightly and they remained that way for several long moments. “Come on, let’s get you to bed,” she whispered.
He stripped off his clothing until he was wearing only his boxer shorts and in the darkened room, he allowed her to lead him to the bed. He lay down next to her and when she opened her arms to him, he placed his head upon her chest. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him close to her body. He felt her heart beat out a slow steady rhythm beneath him, he allowed the feel of her body, the sweet scent of her skin, and the sound of her heartbeat drown out all conscious thought and exorcise the images that had seared themselves into his mind.
“Oh, Lois,” he murmured.
“It’s all right, Baby, I’m here,” she told him.
She allowed one hand to gently caress his face, and bent her head to press her lips against his dark hair. She held his big body in her arms, keeping him as close as she could. Eventually, the even sounds of his breathing told her that he was asleep.
She lay awake for a long time afterward; her own weariness had somehow faded into the recesses of her mind. In the forefront lay only her concerns for Clark. She ran her fingers through his soft hair as she wondered what it was that had upset Clark so terribly. She assumed that he’d lost a patient in the ED that evening, something that neither of them was particularly good at dealing with. On the surface, they knew how to move on, to keep going, focus on the next patient and what could be done to help them as opposed to dwelling on the things over which they had no control. That calm composed air only held for so long. There always came a moment, a moment in which they realized that right before them, a human life had ended. A fire had gone out. The incredible, mystical, incomprehensible thing that was the human soul was gone, leaving behind an empty chalice. Life ended, and despite all their education and experience and technology, they were powerless to stop it.
Yet this, this was somehow more than the feeling of despair over the loss of a patient. She’d seen Clark lose patients. Seen when his quiet determination finally succumbed to the cold harsh reality of death, she knew the haunted expression, the distant look in his eyes, and the sullen silence. Clark was a man of great strength, but he often wore his heart on his sleeve and Lois had quickly learned to gauge his emotions. Tonight, seeing him hover outside her window in the rain, he’d looked like a lost little boy. He floated with his eyes shut and his face screwed up in tight concentration. When she’d startled him out of his self-imposed exile, she’d seen something in his eyes that she hadn’t seen in a long time. She’d seen pure, unadulterated fear, followed by a look of profound relief. Yet when they embraced, she could feel his sadness. He clung to her as if his life, as if his very soul depended on it. As she protectively cradled his invulnerable body, she only hoped that she could shelter his all too human and delicate heart.
She thought about all those nights when Clark had held her–when, in his warm embrace he’d lent her the strength and offered her the protection she’d needed. She hoped that her embracce could give him the feeling of being loved, cherished, and protected that she felt whenever she was in his arms. Not for the first time, she sent up a silent prayer of thanks for whatever force of Luck or Fate that had brought this man into her life, along with a wish that she could give to him all the things that he’d given to her.
“I love you so much,” she whispered, her voice low and thick with emotion. “You know that, don’t you? There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you. I will always try to be here for you, just like you’ve always been there for me.”
********
Clark woke up to the same sound that he’d fallen asleep to–Lois’s heartbeat. She was asleep, but her arms were still wrapped around him. He heard her sigh and felt her shift slightlly, never letting go of him. He wondered what he would have done had she not noticed him last night, had she been asleep already. He mused that he’d probably still be floating outside her window in the rain. But she had been there for him. By some stroke of luck, she’d still been awake at that ungodly hour and she brought him inside. She’d held him and comforted him, and had asked no questions, knowing that he was in no shape to provide any answers. He remembered with a smile, that she’d called him ‘baby.’ She’d never done that before. In fact, she rarely used any terms of endearment; it just didn’t seem very Lois-like. Under other circumstances, ‘baby’ would have struck him as almost silly, especially coming from someone who wasn’t normally emotionally effusive, but last night it was so reassuring, he couldn’t even say why. She had a way of touching his heart like no one ever had before.
There had been times in his life when world weary and tired in spirit and body, he’d sought refuge in the most desolate of climes. His parents had always been there for him, had given him their unconditional support, but there were some demons they could not help him exorcise. He’d seen things in his time abroad that would shock the average person. He never vented his frustration in front of his colleagues and generally avoided the types of emotional reactions that would draw even the slightest attention. Everyone assumed that Kent was doing all right and could handle it because he never complained, never seemed to struggle with the burden of the work. He became adroit at bottling his emotions and dealing with them quietly and alone, sometimes not dealing with them at all.
He could no longer do that. Having bared his soul to Lois before, he realized that he needed exactly what she could give him, undemanding support. Simply being able to be with her was cathartic. Her boundless support sustained him. Last night was no exception; she offered before he asked, she knew him so well.
“Hey,” she whispered. He felt her run a hand soothingly up and down his back.
“Hey,” he replied softly. He rolled and propped himself up on his elbow so that he was lying beside her, face to face. He reached out a hand to cup her cheek and brushed his lips softly against hers. He smiled a wan smile at her; he could feel her soft brown eyes penetrating his defenses, silently urging him to open up, while offering him her reassurances.
He rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. “They brought a woman into the ED last night,” he began. “Her husband…her husband had beaten her,” he said quietly. “God, Lois, when I saw her, I didn’t know what to think. She looked… Lois, she looked so much like you. At first I thought she was you, and it felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest. It took a moment for me to realize that it wasn’t you. She was covered in bruises. I kept thinking, ‘who could have done such a thing?’ The whole time, I heard this sound and I couldn’t figure out what it was. I thought it might be one of the machines. It sounded like a butterfly flapping its wings really fast. And then it was gone. I realized what it was. It was a heartbeat, Lois. She was pregnant. Maybe twelve, fourteen weeks. When it stopped, everything seemed to go quiet. I couldn’t hear anything else. She died maybe a minute later. I tried. Lois, you have to believe me, I tried.”
“Shhh, Clark, you did everything you could.” She took his hand, but he continued to look up at the ceiling.
“Who could do something like that, Lois? How could someone do that to the person they’re supposed to love the most? I always thought that when you loved someone, you’d rather hurt yourself than do anything to hurt them.” He was silent for a long moment. “I wonder if he knew about the baby…” He closed his eyes and felt Lois give his hand a gentle squeeze. “I couldn’t get the images out of my mind. I knew it was irrational, but I had to see you, make sure you were okay. It was almost three in the morning, I didn’t think you’d be awake.”
She propped herself up on her elbow. “Well, I’m glad I was. Otherwise who knows how long you’d have stayed out in the rain.” She kissed him softly.
“I’d probably still be out there,” he admitted. He turned to look at her. “Lois, I can promise you that I will never intentionally do anything to hurt you, but what about everything I can’t protect you from? I try to tell myself that we can beat the Fitzgeralds and the Lex Luthors of the world, but I only have to be wrong just once. What Fitzgerald did to you, what if I hadn’t gotten your message, what if I hadn’t found you in time? If that isn’t bad enough, there have been times when I’ve put you in danger. Lois, because of my carelessness, you had to run into a building about to explode in order to save my life.”
“And I’d do it again in a heartbeat, Buster. Clark, do you have any idea how much you’ve changed my life? You’ve given me the strength and the courage and the reason to risk my heart, something I was determined to never do. After that, risking my life for love is pretty much a no brainer. Clark, if I only get to live another two days, or two hours, or two minutes with you, it would be better than living two hundred years having never met you. You and I know better than just about anyone how fragile life is. That doesn’t mean we should spend the rest of our lives too worried to live it. There are things even a Superman can’t control and if being with you means assuming risks, I’m more than willing.”
“Lois, I love you so much. All my life, ever since I realized that I was different, I’ve known that I didn’t belong. I spent years trying to find my place in the world. I traveled the entire planet looking for a place to fit in, a way to belong. No matter where I went, or what I did, I always felt like an outsider, until I met you. I’ve spent my entire life looking for you. I almost gave up. I was convinced that I would never fit in, never have a place where I truly belonged, never know what it meant to be in love. I know now that I’ve been in love with you my entire life, it just took me thirty years to find you.”
Lois reached out a hand to touch his face and kissed him thoroughly, a gesture he was more than willing to reciprocate. He pulled her into his arms, sighing contentedly as their lips parted.
“Your whole life, huh?” she asked him with a smile.
“Yep.” He nodded. “Well, I didn’t know it at first, but realizing I was in love with you was like find the answers to questions I never even knew I’d been asking.”
“Oh, and just how long did it take you to realize you were in love with me,” she asked playfully, kissing him again.
“You positively took my breath away the first time I met you.”
“That’s because I yelled at you and wouldn’t let you get a word in edgewise.”
“Well, that, too. Let’s see, when I knew for certain…November 8th.”
“You know the exact day?”
“Yeah.”
“Liar.”
“Scout’s honor.”
“Okay, then what was so special about November 8th?”
“Well, it was a Friday, about two weeks after I first met you. Up until then, I was completely enamored with you, you were unlike anyone I’d ever met before, but I realized that I’d totally and completely fallen in love with you that evening. I was looking for you; it was a few days after we had that argument over the funding. I saw you in the Children’s wing of the ICU. You were talking to a little boy who you’d just operated on the day before. I felt like I was spying, but I just couldn’t bring myself to leave. I saw then the incredible compassion inside you that you’d worked so hard to hide from everyone. It was like seeing the real Lois Lane for the first time and I knew at that moment that I was utterly, hopelessly in love with you.”
She kissed him again. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”
“A couple of times, I think, but my memory could use a little refreshing.” He pulled her closer in his embrace, his arms wrapped around her slender waist, pressing her body against his, and kissed her again. She returned his kiss with every bit as much passion, sending him reeling. Her hands caressed the muscles of his shoulders and his back, setting his skin on fire everywhere that she touched him. He was certain his mind was going to explode from the sensory overload, yet he couldn’t get enough of her. Some part of his conscious mind was reminding him of a promise he’d made at some point but he couldn’t focus on anything except Lois. Eventually, the tiny voice was screaming at him and he broke off the kiss. “I guess we should stop because if we keep this up I’m not sure I’ll be able to.”
“There are millions reasons why we should stop, aren’t there?” she whispered.
“Yeah,” he replied, breathless.
“Funny, I can’t think of any,” she whispered in his ear before kissing him again.
“Neither can I,” he said between kisses. She moaned softly as he kissed her again and his conscious mind was just about tossed out the window. It, however, came screaming back and went to war with his libido, which after a poison and coma induced vacation, was back with a vengeance.
Lois finally broke off the kiss, breathing hard. “But we did agree to take this slowly, and I don’t think this qualifies.”
“You’re absolutely right, and I don’t want to pressure you, Lois.”
“Don’t you try to take the blame, I instigated this, thank you very much.” With that, she threw back the bedclothes and got out of bed. “I’m going to make breakfast, we’ve got a lot to do today.” Clark got up as soon as she had left the room. Deciding that a trip to the Arctic Ocean would be imprudent, he did what men in his position had done for years; he took a very long and very cold shower.
********
Clark stopped dead in his tracks. He tried to remind himself to breathe.
“Morning,” Lois called to him cheerfully as she looked up from setting the table. Didn’t she have any idea what she was doing to him?
“Morning,” he finally managed to reply.
She shook her head and smiled at him. “What is it?” She stood in the middle of the kitchen, smiling at him. She placed her hands on her hips, which only served to hitch the shirt she was wearing up a little higher, revealing more of her perfectly sculpted thighs. He hadn’t been paying much attention earlier to what she had been wearing, which was probably a good thing. It was hard enough for him to keep his hands to himself when she was dressed in a bulky labcoat, and now she stood in front of him, wearing only a blue men’s dress shirt. The top few buttons were undone, giving him a good view of, well, he had to stop looking there out of fear that he’d need another cold shower. Looking lower was no better; the shirt only covered so much, revealing enough of her legs to be more than just a bit distracting.
“Clark?” she asked, raising a puzzled eyebrow.
“Uh, is that my shirt?” ‘Real smooth, Kent. How long did it take you to think up that one?’
“Mmm hmm,” she nodded and walked toward him. ‘Eve level, Kent!’ he told himself. He nearly jumped when she wrapped her arms around his waist and placed her head against his bare chest. Logic told him that being this close together when they were both half-naked was probably not conducive to maintaining that pact that they’d made, but he put his arms around her nonetheless. “You left it here a while ago. It reminds me of you,” she murmured against him. “It smells like you.” She tucked her head under his chin. He kissed the top of her head. She stepped back and took his hands in hers, looking up at him and favoring him with a smile that he couldn’t help but return.
“Come on,” she said, nodding toward the table. “We should eat.”
They sat down at the table. Without looking up from pouring her coffee, Lois said casually, “you were in the shower for a pretty long time, I hope you left me some hot water.”
Clark cleared his throat. “I uh, don’t think you have to worry about that.” Their gazes met and he saw the mischievous twinkle in her eye, and her wicked grin. She really did enjoy torturing him, it was the only explanation.
“I called Henderson while you were in the shower.” She suppressed a smile. “He’ll meet us this afternoon. I told Sialano to expect me at noon. I think we’ll be able to convince Sialano to talk to Henderson.”
“Looks like you’ve got it all figured out.”
“Well, maybe. If Sialano won’t cooperate, we’ll pretty much have to go after every member of the Genzyme board and hope we get someone to fess up soon. The longer it takes, the more likely that Luthor will get away clean.”
********
“Who is this?” Dr. Sialano said testily as he peered through the partially opened door.
“Dr. Sialano, this is Dr. Kent. He’s a colleague of mine.”
“Dr. Lane, you said nothing about bringing someone else. Now what is it that you want?” He opened the door slightly further, looking his two visitors up and down. He stepped aside and allowed them to enter. “Come in,” he said gruffly.
“Dr. Sialano, I spoke with Inspector Henderson of Metro PD yesterday. He believes that the District Attorney will grant you immunity and will protect you and your family if you can provide evidence and testimony against Luthor.” They followed Dr. Sialano toward his study.
“Heaven help me, tell me you have not spoken with Royce,” Royce spun around, startling them.
“No, not yet,” Lois replied, confused.
“Do you not see? Who do you think it is who works for Luthor?”
“Dr. Sialano, are you telling us that Luthor has bought the DA?” Clark asked, incredulously.
“I cannot say for certain, but who else could possibly guarantee Mr. Luthor the outcome he desires. Besides, Royce is running for governor, and Luthor has donated considerably to his campaign, surely you do not believe that Mr. Luthor has made such donations because he thinks Mr. Royce is the most qualified candidate.”
“So Luthor is linked to Royce and Bender…” Lois mused.
“But that’s not concrete,” Clark interjected.
Dr. Sialano pulled out his keys as he entered the study. He unlocked his filing cabinet. He dropped onto his desk several thick folders and several cassettes as well. “But this, Dr. Kent, this is concrete,” he said. “Dr. Lane, I am looking at a rather long prison sentence, if I cross Luthor, and he catches me, it will be a death sentence. You cannot talk to Royce about this. He is as dirty as Mr. Luthor himself.”
“What about the Inspector Henderson, both Dr. Kent and I can vouch for his trustworthiness…”
“Yes, I know, he was the officer in charge of the case. He is a good man, but I know he cannot grant me immunity.”
“No, but the assistant DA can petition the federal judge, especially if there’s reason to believe that the DA himself is corrupt.”
Dr. Sialano sighed. I will speak with Henderson, but I will make no guarantees, and if I am not satisfied that my wife and my children will be properly protected, I will not talk at all.”
“Of course, Dr. Sialano,” Lois assured him. I’ll call Inspector Henderson; he’ll arrange everything.
********
“Dr. Lane, I don’t know how you do it,” Bill Henderson shook his head as he walked toward the lobby of the precinct building where Lois and Clark were waiting.
Lois simply smiled. “I take it everything went well?”
“I just called Drake. She needs to write up a petition for immunity, we can bypass Royce and take it straight to a judge, and I just got off the phone with the only federal judge I know willing to issue a warrant at eight in the evening on a Saturday night. We’ve got enough in memos, and the tapes that Sialano secretly made of Genzyme board meetings to send Luthor away for several lifetimes.”
“That’s fantastic!” Clark exclaimed.
“Mr. Luthor will probably spending an awfully long time in prison thanks to you and Dr. Lane.” Henderson extended his hand first to Clark and then to Lois.
She shook his hand warmly. “Thank you, Inspector.”
“Hey don’t mention it, anything to get you to leave me alone, Lane. Now that the Genzyme mess is cleared up, I can go back to my routine without being terrorized by you.” He grinned.
“Don’t get too comfortable, Inspector,” she replied.
“You be careful, Dr. Kent, take my advice and stay on Dr. Lane’s good side.”
“True words of wisdom, Inspector,” Clark said with a grin as he felt Lois jab him in the ribs with her elbow.
“Oh and Dr. Lane,” Henderson lowered his voice. “If you happen to see you know who, let him know that I’m looking for him.”
“How did you…” she began to ask, stunned.
“I’ll tell you later,” Henderson grinned and winked before turning back to his office.
********
Superman met Bill Henderson just as the Inspector was leaving the precinct. Insuring that no one else was around, Superman touched down near Henderson’s car.
“You wanted to see me?”
“Superman, I’m glad to see that you’re okay. Yeah, I guess you got my message from Dr. Lane. We’ll be arresting Luthor tomorrow morning. Luthor’s not known for being caught off guard, and I’m somewhat concerned about what will happen tomorrow if he is. He’s liable to snap, Superman, I’m pretty confident my guys will be able to handle it, but I thought it would be best to have a contingency plan. Besides, I thought you’d probably like to be there when it happens.”
Superman nodded. “What time should I meet you?”
“We’ll be there to serve the warrant at eight, Superman.”
“Thank you, Inspector. Oh, and I was just wondering, how did you know Dr. Lane would be able to get a hold of me?”
“Are you asking how I knew you were still alive, or how I knew that Dr. Lane was the one who knew where you were?”
“Both.”
“Simple. Dr. Lane goes careening into a building about to explode to rescue you. We found no body, which means you were still alive when she got there. Since she wasn’t busy raising hell in my office, the few days after, I figured she must have had better things to do. I wasn’t sure until this evening, but Dr. Lane confirmed my suspicions. So what exactly did happen?”
“It’s a long story, Inspector.” Superman grinned and shook his head before taking off again.
********
Lex slipped out of bed and crossed the spacious room to the master bath. A short while later he sat down to breakfast. It was early on a Sunday morning but he was impeccably dressed nonetheless. He sipped his coffee as he read the paper and went over his agenda for the coming week. He frowned at a note from his secretary informing him that she’d been unable to get a hold of Sam Lane to set up an appointment. He shook his head as he thought about the less than tidy way that he would have to dispose of the Lane affair. It was always such a disappointment to him when he couldn’t get his way without killing his adversary, it was so much more fun to leave them beaten and broken rather than dead. Except Superman, of course, his death was necessary and a spectacular triumph no less.
“Morning, Lex,”
“Ah, good morning, Vendela,” Lex smiled.
The statuesque blonde tied the silk robe around her slender waist. She poured herself a cup of tea. A loud knocking startled them. The tea she was pouring splashed across the table. Lex stood up as the doors flew open.
“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded angrily.
“Lex Luthor, I hereby place you under arrest for murder, attempted murder fraud, extortion, blackmail and other crimes too numerous to mention.” Bill Henderson smirked as he nodded to the uniformed officers beside him. Two of the officers began to move toward Lex.
Lex’s eyes darted wildly from side to side. He made a sudden leap toward the mantle halfway across the room. The officers scrambled to follow him. He lunged and pulled back with considerable agility, turning quickly, brandishing an antique pistol in his hand. The officers, caught unaware, stepped back; they had no time to unholster their weapons. Lex pointed the gun directly at his companion from the previous evening. Vendela stared at him wide eyed and in disbelief. She began to tremble. Several of the Henderson’s men began to reach for their sidearms but Henderson held up a hand to stop them.
“There’s no where to go, Luthor,” Henderson said authoritatively. “Put the gun down.”
Instead, Lex grabbed his unfortunate hostage, holding the barrel of the pistol to her temple. He dragged her toward the balcony. “Stand back!” he yelled.
A loud ‘whoosh’ drew the attention of everyone in the room.
“You!” Luthor spat venomously. “You’re dead!”
“Put the gun down, Luthor, there’s no where to go.” Superman crossed his arms menacingly.
“You’re dead!” Luthor repeated. “I killed you!” Luthor looked back toward the open balcony doors. “And to prove it,” he said with a chilling smile. “I’ll see you in hell, Superman!” He pushed his hostage away at that instant and fired his pistol at one of the police officers, before jumping onto the ledge and off the building.
Superman sped to intercept the bullet. He caught it in his hand, a few feet from the young officer who’d turned ghost white with fear. Wasting no time, Superman rocketed toward the balcony and chased Luthor on his descent. He flew faster and harder to catch him. Luthor neither screamed nor flailed wildly as he fell toward the rapidly approaching ground. Superman soon caught the billionaire and roughly stopped his descent pulling him back upward to Henderson and his waiting team.
“Let go of me, freak!” Luthor spat. He began to kick and fight furiously.
“You may as well sit still, Luthor, you’ll only hurt yourself.” Superman said through gritted teeth. He deposited his passenger unceremoniously in front of several waiting officers who handcuffed him and dragged him to his feet.
“You will pay for this, Superman. I’ll have your badge, Henderson, I’ll have you’re head!”
“You have the right to remain silent,” one of the officers began as they dragged Luthor off.
Superman looked at Henderson and merely shook his head. The officers began to file out of the room. A few helpped the young woman to her feet and guided her out of the room as well. Henderson and Superman were the last to leave.
********
Lois stood outside the Lexor building. Unlike Clark, she wasn’t able to be there when the arrest happened, but she waited outside nonetheless. She waited for the extreme satisfaction that would come from watching them lead a manacled and chained Luthor away from his skyscraper and his empire.
“Lois!” Luthor seethed as he caught sight of her. “I should have known. What more wretched and venomous creature is there than woman?”
“Good to see you, too, Lex,” she replied calmly. Lex was forced into the back of a police cruiser and the train of black and whites began to stream away.
An excited Jimmy Olsen along with a Planet reporter and several other members of the press took pictures and reported on the arrest of Metropolis’s leading citizen. A crowd began to gather at the spectacle. A few moments passed before Superman and Inspector Henderson emerged from the building. Suddenly, all the cameras were on the blue and red clad super hero. Those below had watched as he plucked Luthor from the sky, preventing his suicide. Now the Man of Steel stood before them, reassuring them that he was in fact, alive. He stayed for several minutes, giving quotes to the journalists and promising to hold a press conference to answer their further questions. He finally flew off and unnoticed, Lois got back into her rental car and drove toward home.
********
Lois was surprised to find Clark waiting for her outside the townhouse. She pulled the car into the drive, shut off the engine and got out of the car.
“Hey.” He smiled, his hands in the pockets of his overcoat.
“Hey, yourself,” she replied, grinning.
He put his arm around her and they walked to the house and out of the cold. Lois took his coat to hang it up in the closet as Clark disappeared into the kitchen.
“They’ve got Luthor on suicide watch,” he called out to her. “Henderson said they’ve got enough evidence to indict St. John, and a few other of Luthor’s closest associates. A federal judge ordered Royce to take a leave of absence while he’s being investigated, and all of Luthor’s personal files will be seized once the warrant comes down.” He returned. He returned to the living room where Lois was waiting for him, carrying two steaming cups of coffee in his hands. He handed one to Lois and sat beside her on the couch.
“Thanks.” She took the mug and sipped slowly from it. “So I guess that’s it, bad guy goes to prison, Superman returns, all is right with the world,” she mused.
“Not quite,” Clark said. He lifted a hand to caress Lois’s cheek, tilting her head upward so he could capture her lips in a soft kiss. “Now everything’s right with the world.” He smiled.
“This is unprecedented,” she said with a grin. “It’s only noon, we both have the day off, neither of us is recovering from serious injuries, and there are no evil villains out there for us to catch. What on earth are we going to do with ourselves?” she asked dramatically.
“I can think of a few things,” he said with a wink. He finished the last of his coffee and placed the mug on the coffee table.
Lois jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. “I’ll bet you can, Dr. Kent.”
“That was not what I was thinking,” he responded emphatically.
“Too bad.”
“You have a dirty mind, Dr. Lane.” He smiled as he kissed her again.
“So what were you thinking?”
“That you’re idea is probably better than mine.” He grinned wickedly.
“Very funny.”
“Actually, I was thinking that I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of winter.”
“And is there something in particular that you intended to do about that?”
“I was intending to sweep the woman I love off her feet.” He got up off the couch and before she could react, he was holding her against his chest. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “And spirit her off to this tiny little island in the south Pacific, where, if we hurry, we can watch the sunrise. So does that particular plan meet with your standards?”
“I think, it’s perfect,” she said slowly.
“Then let’s go.”
“Are you sure you’re up to that long of a flight?” she asked, a concerned expression on her face.
He nodded. “My powers are all back.”
“One hundred per cent?”
“One hundred per cent.”
She sighed, relieved. “Give me ten minutes.”
He smiled, putting her back on her feet. As she disappeared up the stairs, he spun into the suit. She returned, collecting her overcoat before he gathered her in his arms again.
Lois had flown with Clark on several occasions before, but rarely for pleasure and they hadn’t flown together at all since she’d confessed her feelings for him several weeks ago. Being with him like this was incredible. The world passed by quickly beneath them, but Lois was too busy enjoying the feeling of being held in Clark’s arms to notice. She closed her eyes, reveling in the way his body felt so close to hers. She put her head on his shoulder, breathing in his intoxicating scent which was a wonderful mix of sandalwood, soap, and the unique scent that was just ‘Clark.’
The gently rolling hills and seemingly endless plains gave way to the snowcapped Rockies. They breached the majestic mountain range, crossing the southwestern deserts and finally the valleys and the stretch of coastal oasis. Land gave way to the expansive ocean that seemed to stretch out to forever in all directions. They flew over the endless blue glassy surface of the water, catching up with and passing the sun. They slowly began to descend, as a small island became visible on the predawn horizon. They touched down on the eastern side of the tiny, uninhabited island. As Clark lowered her to her feet, she shed her bulky overcoat and slipped off her shoes, feeling the soft cool sand under her feet. Clark spun out of the suit and took her hand in his, their fingers interlaced. They began to walk along the tiny tropical paradise when Clark stated “here,” and promptly stopped. Still holding Lois’s hand, he sat down in the sand and pulled her into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her. She leaned into his embrace and together, they watched a fire red sun set the ocean ablaze as it crept up the horizon. The air began to warm quickly as the sun started to burn off the early morning haze. They sat in companionable silence, enjoying each other’s company and watching the world around them wake to life.
Lois moaned as Clark’s lips found her neck. He trailed kisses up her neck and to her ear. “Come with me,” he whispered. His breath tickled her skin. She stood up as he too off his glasses, shoes, and socks. He took her hand.
“Where are we going?”
He nodded toward the water. She looked down at her white blouse and khaki slacks. “I’m not exactly dressed for swimming,” she informed him.
“They’re just clothes,” he said with a shrug and a smile. He pulled her along but she obstinately refused to budge. He dropped her hand and ran off ahead of her. She simply stood and watched as he ran barefoot the ocean’s edge. Without slowing, he ran into the blue waters, small waves breaking at waist level. She shook her head, amazed, as he dove into the water with the enthusiasm of a child. He stood up and began wading back to the shore, his navy polo shirt clinging tightly to his body. He ran his hands through his wet hair, pushing the dripping locks away from his face. He grinned at her as he sloshed hi way back up the beach, stripping off his wet shirt and tossing it in the sand.
“Satisfied?” she asked.
He shook his head, “nope.” He walked more quickly as he approached her. She turned to run away, but before she knew it, the powerful arms of her dripping wet boyfriend were wrapped around her.
“Clark!” she exclaimed. She squirmed but to no avail. Her determined effort to stay dry had been all for naught. He picked her up and carried her toward the water. She placed her head on his shoulder as he splashed through the tiny waves that broke at the shore. He waded until he was waist deep. Lois was surprised by how warm the water felt on her bare feet. She slipped down from his arms, standing close to him. She reached up and pulled his head down, kissing him hard. She broke the kiss off and smiled at him before diving under the water’s surface, swimming away from him. She stopped, stood up, and turned to look back at him. Her white blouse was now translucent and positively clung to her body.
Eventually Clark got the message and gave chase. As he closed the gap between them, he dove completely under the water, and quickly caught up with her. He wrapped his arms around and could hear her first gasp and then giggle. He pulled her down with him before pushing them both up above the surface. He turned her around so they were facing each other. Their foreheads touched and they closed the remaining inches between their lips. Lois tangled her fingers in Clark’s wet hair, pressing the length of her body against his. She finally pulled away, breathless. “I love you so much, Clark,” she murmured as she tucked her head under his chin.
“I love you, too,” he whispered.
The air of playfulness was now gone as she held tightly to him. He gathered her close to him and then floated himself on his back on the water’s surface with Lois resting on top of him. She placed her head on his chest. Before long, he realized that she’d fallen asleep. Careful not to disturb her, he floated them back to shore. He lay them down on his outspread cape. They dozed in the warm sunlight.
“Clark?” she asked.
“Hmm?” He was surprised that she was awake.
“Tomorrow we’re going to have to go back to work and the Genzyme case and deal with the affidavits, depositions, and testimony…”
“Perry also wants corroboration for the Planet’s article,” he added, wondering where she was going with this.
Lois sighed. “And you know that Daddy and I have lost our funding for the research project.”
“I know.”
“I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m glad we took the time to do this, Clark.”
“Me too.”
“Clark, Daddy and I applied to have the project picked up by NIH. They expressed interest in the technology a while back. They’re probably the only ones who’ll be able to save the project. If they don’t, that’s it we’re done. It they pick the project up, my father and I will have to move to D.C.”
“I know,” Clark said softly.
“I don’t know what to do, Clark. Daddy told me that he’d go alone and hope that within the next year we’ll find a private sponsor in Metropolis move the project back there. Clark I don’t want to leave you. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
“You’re work is important, Lois.”
“You’re more important.”
“Lois, what you’re doing will improve hundreds of thousands of people’s lives, and it’s just the first step. The prosthetic heart will be possible because of the work that you and your father are doing. I don’t want to be the thing that stands in the way of that work.”
“Clark, you’re not a roadblock, you’re the man I love!” she said emphatically.
“And I will wait for you, Lois. If you ask me to wait a year, I’ll wait. If you ask me to wait ten years, I’ll wait. If you ask me to wait forever, I’ll wait. Lois, nothing will ever change the way I feel about you. If you go, if you’re a million miles away, I won’t love you any less. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. I don’t want you to go, but I don’t ever want to be the thing that holds you back, I won’t.”
“Clark I can’t ask you to sit around and wait for me while I put my career ahead of us.”
“Maybe you’re right, maybe you can’t ask that, but you’re not asking, Lois I’m telling you, I will be right here waiting. My love is forever, nothing can change that.” He hugged her tighter. “Besides, you’re talking to a guy who can be just about anywhere in the world in around two minutes flat. Any time you need me, I’ll be there. In fact, you’ll probably have a tough time keeping me away.” He looked down and saw her smile. He tipped up her head and kissed her softly.
“How did I get to be so lucky, huh?” she asked. “What did I do to deserve to fall in love with the most wonderful guy in the world and to have him love me back?”
“Lois, I’m the lucky one.”
“So now we’re going to argue about who’s luckier?”
“Only if we get to kiss and make up,” he teased.
She looked up at him with her big brown eyes. “Why don’t we just skip the arguing and go straight to the making up?” she suggested huskily.
“Dr. Lane, that’s a brilliant plan.” Clark grinned.
Neither knew who won the argument, nor did they care. Both were altogether too consumed in the process of making up.
********
They flew home comfortable and at ease. It was early evening when they arrived at the townhouse. Clark descended carefully until they were floating outside her bedroom window. He’d joked once about not knowing what he would have done if her home had not been equipped with large picture windows not visible to prying eyes. He floated them inside, landing softly.
“Well,” he said, lowering her to her feet. His hands remained on her hips.
“Well,” she replied, smiling. They shared a gentle kiss.
“I should get going. My parents are leaving tomorrow and I thought it would be nice to spend the evening with them considering how hectic everything’s been.”
“Yeah,” Lois agreed, nodding. She smiled at him. “I had fun today, Clark.”
“Me too, Lois.”
“Are you ready for your big press conference?”
“I guess so, Superman owes the city an explanation, at the very least.”
“What are you going to tell them?”
“I haven’t really got that all figured out yet.”
“But you aren’t going to tell them about the meteorite, are you?”
He was surprised by the intensity of the concern on her face. “No, I don’t think the bad guys of the world need to know that there’s a rock out there that can kill me. I thought I’d just try to explain to everyone that my absence was unavoidable and apologize for it.”
“You think they’ll accept that?” she asked skeptically.
“I hope so,” he replied.
“You’re so trusting, you know that? Well, just smile a lot.”
“Smile?”
“Yeah, just like that,” she grinned. “When you smile like that, I’d pretty much believe whatever you told me.”
“Really?”
She nodded at him.
“Good, because when I tell you that you’re the most brilliant, beautiful, incredible woman I’ve ever met and that I’m hopelessly in love with you, I’m hoping that you’ll believe me.” He grinned, but she could tell he meant every word.
“Hmm, I might need a little convincing,” she teased.
He swept her up in his arms and kissed her passionately.
“All right, I’m sold,” she said breathlessly.
He smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”
“Yeah.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
He kissed her again. He floated out the window and darted off, leaving a colorful streak and a sonic boom in his wake.
Lois closed her eyes and sighed happily. She began peeling off her clothing, stiff with saltwater but dry thanks to a judicious amount of heat vision, as she made her way to the bathroom, humming tunelessly.
********
Clark flew home, checking to insure that no one was asleep in the bedroom he would wake when landing, he descended slowly and entered the apartment. “Hello?” he called out.
“Clark, honey?” He heard his mother reply from within the living room. He spun back into his regular clothes and walked out of the bedroom.
“Congratulations, son.” His father said with a grin. “We saw the news report of the arrest and Superman’s return.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Clark replied as he planted himself on the couch.
“Did they keep you long at the police station after the arrest?”
“Not too long, Dad, they let me off the hook around twelve although Lois, Clark, and Superman are supposed to go in and answer some questions, Superman owes the press a news conference and an exclusive to the Daily Planet on top of the story Lois and I are being interviewed for.”
“Sounds like they’ll be keeping you two busy,” his mother mused.
“Yeah, between all of that, work and Superman being back, I’ll probably be pretty busy.”
“How’s Lois doing?” his father asked.
“Fine, Dad. We spent the afternoon together, you know, took some time off to relax. It was nice.”
“Make sure to giver her our love,” Martha said as she sat down next to Jonathan.
“I will, Mom.” Clark sighed.
“Is something wrong, honey?”
“No, yes, I don’t know, Mom.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Lois’s research funding was cut a little while ago. In order to save the project her father applied for a grant from NIH. Until he finds a cooperating partner in Metropolis, he’ll have to relocate to DC. Lois is debating whether to go with him. Her work is important, I couldn’t ask her to stay because of me, but I don’t want her to go. It’s selfish, but she’s everything to me and I’m going to miss seeing her everyday, seeing her at work and just being able to spend time with her.”
“Have you and Lois talked about this?” Martha asked gently.
“Yeah, she told me that she wanted to stay here but I can’t see her giving up her work. I told her that. She said she didn’t want to put our relationship through that, she said she couldn’t ask me to wait for her.”
“What did you tell her, Son?”
“I told her she didn’t have to ask, and I mean that.” The earnest expression made it completely clear that he spoke the truth. “I will wait for her, I’m not going to force her to choose between me and her career, so if she’s willing, I’ll be here waiting for her to come back. It won’t be that bad, if she’s only gone and year, and it’s not as if I can’t go see her.
“I guess the one thing we both haven’t talked about is what if it’s not just for a year? What if NIH wants to keep the project in Bethesda? What if they don’t agree to the partnership? What if Lois can’t even find a partner in Metropolis? We can’t be sure that it is only going to be a year. I mean, I’d move to DC to be with her, but what about Superman? I don’t think I can just move him. He’s pretty much said that Metropolis is his home.”
“It’s certainly not an easy situation, Son.”
“Tell me about it, Dad.”
“Do you love her?” his father asked.
“You know I do.”
“Then you’ll figure something out. If you two love each other that much, you’ll find a way to be together.”
“You can’t be sure of what’s going to happen, Clark, but you can make sure that Lois knows that she has your support, no matter what, and whatever does happen, you’ll deal with it together,” Martha said.
“No magic solution, huh?”
“Not this time, I’m afraid.” Jonathan shook his head.
********
“There he is!” someone called out as Superman descended to the steps outside the district courthouse. He landed softly behind a bank of microphones. He adjusted the mics lower; for some reason, everyone always thought he was taller than he actually was. He placed his hands on his hips in a stiff Superman-like pose.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m afraid I must be brief.” He didn’t tell them the reason: the head technician in the lab called in sick and Clark was running the timed experiments all day.
“About one week ago, a bomb exploded at the Lexor in an attempt to kill me. As you can see today, the attempt was not successful. I’m very sorry that the events of that day led everyone to believe that I had been killed, but I was touched to hear about the public outpour on my behalf in the days that followed. I’m sorry to have caused any grief, all I can say is that my absence was unavoidable. I will be answering a few questions now.”
“Superman, surely you could have at least contacted us and told everyone that you were all right,” one of the LNN reporters called out from the front of the group gathered at the steps.
Clark knew that this was going to come up. People wanted an acceptable explanation for why on Earth Superman would allow the world to believe that he had died, and despite wracking his brain, he didn’t really have one. He hoped that he’d built up enough trust with the people of Metropolis to be able to make them understand that he hadn’t abandoned them by choice and that he felt terrible about allowing everyone to believe that he’d been killed. He chewed his lip, deep in thought, as he searched for a way to phrase his response. Before Clark could say anything, Bill Henderson stepped out f the group and walked up to the podium. Superman stepped aside for his colleague.
“I’m afraid Superman is telling the truth, ladies and gentlemen. My name is inspector William Henderson, Metropolis Police Department. I’m the officer in charge of the Genzyme investigation as well as the Lexor bombing. When we determined that the two might have been related, we decided that those responsible posed a serious and immediate threat to the people of Metropolis, I asked Superman for his help in the matter, which meant that he had to maintain the charade that the bomb had its desired effect. To have done otherwise may have provoked another attack, one with potentially much greater devastation than the incidental damage that resulted from the Lexor bombing. I’m sorry to have deceived you, I know Superman is as well, thank you.”
Bill Henderson stepped away, leaving a dumbstruck Superman behind to answer the remaining questions. As expected, he refused to comment on Luthor, the Genzyme case and the investigation of Royce since all were still ongoing investigations. He fielded a couple of softball questions before excusing himself and flying off. He caught Bill Henderson before the inspector could drive back to the precinct.
Henderson looked up at the descending superhero with the closest thing to a smile that Clark had ever seen on his face. “Superman, I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”
“I wanted to thank you, you didn’t have to do that.”
“Well I didn’t think you would lie, which would have left you with little choice but to tell everyone what really happened in the Lexor building and since you didn’t seem too eager to share last time, I figured that whatever it was was something the criminal element of Metropolis didn’t need to know.”
Superman merely nodded in agreement. “Thanks again, Inspector Henderson. I really do appreciate it.”
“Anytime, Superman, oh and call me Bill.”
Superman smiled and shook Bill’s hand warmly before flying off. He found himself losing his stiff and formal edge and almost breaking character as a result of Henderson’s far more relaxed and friendly manner. He was surprised by Henderson’s request to call him ‘Bill,’ just half an hour earlier, Clark would have sworn that even Henderson’s mother probably called him Inspector Henderson. He shrugged it off and simply assumed that the often seemingly dour and prickly Inspector Henderson was capable of surprising him.
He flew back toward MetroGen and arrived at the hospital and rushed up to the lab with only a minute to spare. Checking to make sure that everyone else was still at lunch, he sped through the procedures as quickly as he could without affecting the test results. He had just begun the entry of the data when he heard a bank alarm. It looked like the very visible return of Superman hadn’t deterred these particular crooks. With a sigh, he got up from his desk, changed in a blur and darted through the open window.
Geoff opened the door to the lab just as a gust of wind raced through it, setting off a whirlwind of papers. He looked at the open window, puzzled, before shrugging his shoulders and crossing the room to close it.
********
“Chief!”
“What is it now, Jimmy? Can’t you see I’m busy?” Perry turned down the volume on the record player that was belting out “Love Me Tender.” He dropped the mock up of the front page with the headlines already set onto his desk.
“Lois and Clark are here.”
“Why didn’t you say so in the first place?” Before Jimmy could reply, Perry continued impatiently. “Well, don’t just stand there like your feet are glued to the ground, go get them. And tell Mitchell and Hastings I want them in here pronto.”
With a vigorous nod, Jimmy was gone. A moment later, the summoned four were standing in Perry’s office. He made the necessary introductions; both Mitchell and Hastings had met Lois previously, but neither knew Clark. When the formalities of introductions were dispensed with, Perry shepherded the group into the conference room and left them to it. He made his way back to his office, ruminating over his good fortune. Lois and her colleague Clark Kent had been the best thing to happen to the paper in a while, and neither of them worked for him. He trusted that Mitchell and Hastings, his fledgling reporting partnership would do a satisfactory job with the story. Heck, they were young, but Perry had faith that they both had that reporter’s instinct that couldn’t be taught, only cultivated. As a team, they were no Nordcross and Judd, but perhaps that was for the better. He needed a sordid office romance disrupting his newsroom like he needed a hole in the head. Lucky for him, Hastings was married and Mitchell was, what did Jimmy call it? Oh yeah, Mitchell apparently batted for the other team. Not the Perry cared one way or another what his staff did on their own time, so long as it didn’t interfere with work, didn’t get them arrested or the Planet sued. He was just relieved to know that this reporting team wasn’t going to crash and burn in a fantastic fiery wreck, the result of a love affair gone sour.
Perry paced like a caged animal as the deadline drew nearer. He opened his office door and peered out into the bullpen where his reporters raced the clock to finish their stories. The air was heavy with the smells of nervous apprehension and adrenaline mixed with linotype. It smelled exactly as a newsroom should. “Grant!” he bellowed.
Cat looked up at him from her desk, an eyebrow raised. “Yeah, Perry?”
“Where’s the story on the reactions of the city’s elite to Luthor’s arrest?”
“I just LANed it to you, along with an exclusive interview with the girl Luthor was with when it all happened.” She smirked at him. “You should chill out, Perry, too much stress isn’t just bad for you health, it’ll wreak havoc on your love life.” With that, she turned back to her computer.
Perry grunted indignantly. If that woman wasn’t the best damn society columnist the paper had ever had…She had better sources than Woodward and Bernstein. The guys in marketing and accounting loved her as well, since she was in the society section as the subject of a story almost as often as she had a by line, giving the Planet free publicity which boosted circulation.
He went back into his office, slamming the door behind him. He settled in front of the computer to pull up Cat’s stories. Along with them, he found the copy from Mitchell and Hastings. He looked down at his watch, forty five minutes before deadline. Were they getting more efficient as a team, or just sloppy? There was only one way to find out. Fifteen minutes later, he got up from his desk and walked to the conference room where the four were conversing casually. “Hastings, Mitchell, this is first rate stuff, you two. Good work.”
“Thanks, Chief,” Tom Mitchell replied.
“This means I’m expecting you two to work together from now on, permanent partnership.”
“You got it, Perry.” Allison gathered her laptop.
“Mitchell and Hastings, I like the sound of that.” Tom mused as he held the door for her.
“Forget it, it’s Hastings and Mitchell.”
“We’ll negotiate the details elsewhere.”
“We’ll negotiate nothing, pal,” she replied with a grin as the pair exited the conference room.
“I don’t know what to say,” Perry began as the door to the conference room closed. “That story is something else entirely. Thank you.”
“Like you said, Perry, it was their story, we were just glad to be able to help,” Clark replied.
“Jimmy and I are going to put the paper to bed, most of the reporters who’ve been working on the Genzyme and Luthor stories will be getting together tonight for a little celebration. I don’t think they’d consider it a party if you two didn’t show up.”
Lois and Clark exchanged a quick glance and accepted Perry’s invitation.
********
Half the Planet’s city staff sat crowded around the bar in Shay’s Pub on Newton St, home to Metropolis’s largest cluster of sports grilles, college hangouts, coffee houses and ubiquitous yuppie bars. The reporters cheerfully pounded rounds while toasting everything and everyone from the journalists working on the investigation to Metro PD and Superman to Luthor’s aborted swan dive off the top floor of the city’s tallest building.
In a half darkened corner of the bar, Cat Grant was hustling a couple of the sports writers in a game of pool. An inebriated Ralph sat at the bar, an arm around Jimmy Olsen. He swayed slightly and slurred his words as he imparted onto his young friend advice on the subject of picking up chicks among other pearls of wisdom. Allison and Tom entered the pub, apparently still negotiating, and quickly spotted Lois and Clark. They sat down with them and ordered drinks. Their beers arrived just as Perry shouted for everyone to quiet down. Perry began his list of congratulations to his staff, finishing with a toast to Lois and Clark for helping the Planet get the exclusive. The room burst into cheers. Another round was ordered and the festivities continued. Shortly after, Allison excused herself and left on a mercy mission to rescue Jimmy. She subtly recruited the aide of Lindsey, the new research assistant who apparently had a crush on the young photographer to snatch Jimmy from Ralph’s paws. The look on Jimmy’s face was one of profound relief one would expect to see in the face of a shipwrecked man who’d just spotted his approaching saviors. At her approach, Ralph gave Jimmy a rather clumsy slap on the back and an obvious thumbs up along with a slurred “Go get ’em, Tiger.” Allison returned to the table to the sounds of soft applause.
“Well done,” Clark said.
Allison shrugged. “He looked like he could use some help. Besides, Jimmy’s a good kid, but who knows how long he can hang around Ralph until whatever afflicts Ralph and makes him the jerk he is claims Jimmy, too.”
The group looked up to see Ralph suavely hitting on an unsuspecting young woman. He said something with a prominent smirk only to have the woman gasp and turn away in disgust. Shot down, Ralph slumped back down onto his barstool and drank from his nearly empty bottle of beer.
“Hastings!” Allison turned to see the new city beat intern waving to her. “Come on,” he said. “Pool tournament’s about to start. We’re playing doubles so drag Mitchell with you.”
Allison looked at her partner. Tom shook his head. “Not me, I hate pool.”
“What about you, Clark?”
“Well…” Clark hesitated.
“Lois?”
“I’m game.”
“Let’s go, then.” With that, the two women left the table.
********
“Eight in the side,” Lois said coolly before sinking the last ball convincingly.
“Man, Lois, you guys kicked our butts!” Jimmy exclaimed.
“We didn’t play that badly, Jimmy,” Lindsey smiled at him. She turned back to the victorious duo. “Good game. Nice shot, Dr. Lane.”
“Thanks, Lindsey, but please call me Lois. All this Dr. Lane stuff is making me feel way too old.”
“You guys are definitely going to beat Cat and Eduardo.” Jimmy put his arm around Lindsey. She looked at him, startled. He began to withdraw his arm but stopped when she smiled at him and leaned closer to him.
Lois leaned back against the table. She was startled when Allison turned to her and asked softly, “Lois, are you and Clark, you know, together?”
“Uh, yeah, we are,” she replied, unsure where the sudden enquiry had come from.
Allison nodded back toward the table. “Well it looks as if you’ve got competition.”
Lois looked back casually and bit her lip to keep from smiling. ‘Oh Clark, you can be so naïve sometimes.’ He probably didn’t even know that he was being hit on, although it was obvious to both Allison and Lois. Lois smiled. Shaking her head slightly, she handed Allison her pool cue and strode away from the table.
“…really, I am flattered but…”
“Clark?” Lois’s voice was saccharine sweet. Clark looked over at her, startled.
“Tom, you don’t mind if I steal Clark here away for just one minute, do you?” she asked as she stood behind Clark, her hands on his shoulders.
“Uh no, no, not at all,” Tom said with a forced smile.
“Thanks,” Lois replied. She took Clark’s hand and led him across the bar. She cornered him against the wall by the payphones.
“Lois are you okay?” he asked gently.
“Of course I’m okay, Clark. You’re the one who looked like you were in trouble.”
“Ah, so you noticed,” he said with a wry grin.
“Well, I think the whole bar noticed.”
“So you decided to come claim what’s rightfully yours?” he asked quietly.
“Maybe,” she replied. She hooked her fingers through the belt loops of his slacks and pulled him closer.
“Jealous?”
“Maybe.”
Clark laughed softly.
“Can’t say I blame him for trying. He’s got good taste in men.”
“Too bad I’m not available.”
“Too bad,” she whispered before kissing him softly.
Allison gently punched her partner on the arm, startling him. “Either taken or straight, right?”
“Or taken and straight,” Tom said as he drained the last of his beer.
********
“Lieutenant, would you care to revise that report on how no remains were recovered because the fire in the dock destroyed the body? Because I think recent evidence contradicts your theory.” Trask stared at the younger man through narrowed eyes as he paced behind his desk. He tossed the folders in his hand onto the desk. “This is unacceptable!”
“Sir, we had no way of knowing…”
“Lieutenant, you assured me you could kill the alien, he seems rather active for a corpse, wouldn’t you say?”
“Colonel, we should make another attempt. Perhaps the delivery system malfunctioned.”
“Well something obviously failed, because the alien is still flying about, Lieutenant, and I want you to find out what it was.”
“They never recovered the canister, sir. I sent a half dozen men to retrieve it, but it wasn’t in the docking bay and the police never catalogued it as evidence.”
“Well then, you’ve got a problem, don’t you?”
“Sir, if I may, I don’t think the meteorite was a total failure. If it had no effect on Superman, why did he allow the bomb to detonate? It was a simple device, he’s diffused far more complicated bombs in the past. Also, he failed to give an adequate explanation as to where he’s been for the last week. He looked as if he had no idea how to answer the question when the cop came and answered it for him. I think the meteorite had the desired effect, sir. I just don’t think it finished him off.”
“We haven’t the means to either confirm or deny that, Lieutenant.”
“We still have part of the meteorite, sir.”
“I don’t want to try it again without insurance. If we attack and it fails, then we destroy our chance at terminating the alien threat. He must have another weakness. Assemble all the information we have on the alien, including anyone who could possibly be assisting him, they may be our key to finding out how we can destroy him. Dismissed.”
“Yes, sir.” The lieutenant saluted smartly before exiting the office.
********
Lois dropped onto the couch after a long grueling day. Two operations, one of them a double bypass, were followed by an afternoon helping Mrs. O’Neil straighten up the patient records. Knowing that NIH was likely to approve the grant proposal, she had to prepare the records so that they could be transferred to the patients’ new doctors in the event of her prolonged absence.
She turned on the news and caught an update on the piecemeal investigation into Luthor’s colossal empire. A knocking startled her. She found the remote and muted the TV before getting up to answer the door.
“Geez, Lois, how long does it take you to return a call?”
“Hey Lucy, come on in. I’m sorry I totally forgot.”
“I’ll bet you did, so how long were you planning to wait before telling me about Superman?”
“What?”
“Don’t even start that with me, Sis, and don’t try telling me that you don’t know what I’m talking about. I know all about how you’re the one who was hiding Superman.” Lucy plunked down on the couch.
Lois sighed and quickly decided it wouldn’t be worth the expended energy to argue with her sister. “Lucy, he needed help.”
“And out of the blue, he decides to go to you?”
“I have met him before, Lucy, remember? He did save my life.”
“And he’s done the same for thousands of other people. Yet you’re the one he goes to when he needs help. My sister, personal friend and confidant to a superhero, and you didn’t even tell your own sister about it!” Lucy exclaimed. “Wait, there isn’t more is there? You and he aren’t, are you?”
“Of course not, Lucy,” Lois snapped irritably.
“Right, okay, but you and he are friends, right?”
“I guess you could say that.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!” Lucy exclaimed again.
“He asked me not to say anything, so I didn’t.” Lois frowned. “How do you know about this anyway?”
“Mom and Dad are in DC and they asked me to stop by the house to feed the fish and water the plants. I went over Sunday night and the answering machine came on and some scientist left a message asking Dad if he could get in touch with you or Superman,” Lucy said with a shrug.
Lois sighed again. “You think a scientist with national security clearance would be just a little more careful.”
“So who’s the scientist and why did he need Dad to get in touch with you and Superman?”
“Lucy,” Lois warned her younger sister.
“Come on, Sis.”
“Forget it, Luce, I’m not telling you anything more.”
“What, are you invoking Doctor Patient Confidentiality?” Lucy joked.
Lois did her best not to react to her sister’s question.
“Wait a minute, that’s it, isn’t it? Of course, why else would Superman go to three scientists? I can’t believe you’ve been holding out on me! You’re Superman’s personal physician.” Lucy shook her head in disbelief. “I guess if I were you I wouldn’t tell anyone either. Does the suit actually come off, Sis?”
“Lucy!”
“Chill out, Lois, it was just a joke.”
“I will not,” Lois replied indignantly. She gave her younger sister her best disapproving stare.
“All right, Lois, I give,” Lucy held up her hands.
Lois’s hand shot out and she grabbed Lucy’s left hand. Her younger sister grinned. “Lucy is that?” Lois examined the gold ring and its mounted diamond on her sister’s finger. Lucy nodded.
“When?”
“Valentine’s Day.”
It was Lois’s turn to berate her sister for poor communication skills. “And you didn’t tell me?! That was a week and a half ago!”
“And since then, you’ve been too busy playing doctor with Superman to return my calls.” Lucy joked.
Lois let the barb go without comment. “Wow, I can’t believe it, I mean, congratulations. How did he ask? Did you say yes right away?”
Lucy grinned as she related the details. “I was getting ready for work Friday morning. Scott was supposed to by back from Tucson on Thursday, but his flight to Chicago was cancelled because of the snowstorm. We cancelled our plans for the weekend, so I wasn’t expecting to see him at all, but there he was at seven thirty, in the street under my bedroom window. He got down on one knee in the snow and asked me to marry him. I must have scared him because I couldn’t even say a word. I ran downstairs and finally shouted ‘yes’ when I saw him.”
“Wow.”
“I know. Lois, he flew from Tucson to Houston to Tampa to Baltimore and drove the rest of the way overnight because he said he wanted to surprise me.”
“I can’t believe it, Luce.”
“You can’t believe it? How do you think I felt?” Lucy smiled. The two sisters hugged excitedly.
********
“Sir?”
“What is it?” Trask snapped irritably. He looked up at the young officer standing in his doorway.
“I have the information you requested.” The lieutenant handed his CO the manila folder. Trask took it from him, quickly flipping through the file. He pulled out several paper clipped stacks, each with a driver’s license style photograph attached to it. He spread the stacks out across the wooden surface of his desk one by one.
“Perry White, editor, Daily Planet, the first and only exclusive interview with Superman, two editorials, all three very positive spins. Aged fifty three, wife Alice of twenty eight years, two grown sons, Jerome and Lawrence.
“Inspector William Henderson, Metropolis Police Department, highly decorated, highly respected head of the Special Crimes Unit, works with Superman on a regular basis, intervened on the alien’s behalf at the press conference. Aged forty one, divorced, no children.
“Dr. Lois Lane, Cardiothoracic surgeon. Rescued by Superman during the Genzyme debacle, credited with bringing forward the evidence that brought Luthor down, family ties to Perry White, cooperated with Henderson on both counts. Aged twenty nine, single, no children.”
“We also have these sir.” The lieutenant handed Trask several 8×10 black and white photos. “They’re from news coverage, we can place Lane at the alien’s first positive sighting and at Luthor’s arrest,” he explained as Trask flipped through the photos.
“Anything else?”
“Luthor apparently had some sort of fixation on Lane. We can place both of them at the same place together on several occasions. He offered to fund her research project repeatedly and she refused repeatedly. Footage of his arrest shows him clearly speaking to her as he was led away by police, he didn’t seem too happy to see her. She lost her research funding and is now applying for grants to work at the National Institute of Health. It is very likely that she will be leaving the Metropolis area for Bethesda, Maryland.”
“Keep an eye on all three of them,” Trask said brusquely. “And keep me informed on all developments.” Trask turned to the more substantial bios that had been compiled and included in the file, ignoring his subordinate.
“Yes sir.” The lieutenant waited to be dismissed, but when it became clear that Trask was no longer paying any attention to his presence, he backed out of the office unobtrusively.
********
“Morning, Clark, rough night?” Geoff grinned as he turned away from his computer to look at his beleaguered colleague.
Clark mumbled a half response as he poured himself a cup of toxic java. He left an oil rig fire only half an hour before heading in for the ED. He had helped the Coast Guard get the blaze under control before racing back. A relatively long shower later, he still smelled like oil and smoke. It had been messy but thankfully no one had been killed. He then spent four hours in the ED on a rather uneventful shift. If the chief of the ED hadn’t been so flexible as to allow Clark to put in half shifts, there would have been no way he could have continued working in the ED.
“So come on, what have you got planned for tonight?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about, Kent. You only turn thirty one once you know.”
Clark groaned inwardly, he had hoped his birthday would pass unnoticed; though that was clearly not the case. He prepared himself for the ribbing he would undoubtedly receive from his colleagues. “Nothing exciting, I’m afraid, Geoff.”
“Come on, Clark, do you really expect me to buy that coming from a guy who used his sick days to help Superman bring down the richest man in Metropolis?”
Clark hid a grimace. Didn’t anyone in this city read the Metropolis Star? He was uncomfortable about getting himself in the paper, especially linked to Superman. “Yeah, well that was enough excitement for me.”
“That’s a shame considering all the trouble Steve and Andy went to in order to hire that stripper.”
“They did what?”
“It was supposed to be a surprise, I told them you probably had plans, but they insisted. They figured that if you didn’t show, you wouldn’t mind them celebrating your birthday.”
‘Well, that was thoughtful of them,’ Clark mused. “Yeah well, I’m afraid I’ll have to skip this one.”
“Previous engagement? And you said you didn’t have any plans.” Geoff shook his head in mock disapproval. “Then again, can’t say I blame you. I’m sure Lane wouldn’t be too pleased. But what do you need a stripper for with a babe like Lane…”
Clark shot Geoff a truly menacing look.
“…with whom you obviously share a deep, meaningful relationship,” Geoff finished quickly.
Clark silently took his coffee cup and made his way to his own desk, leaving Geoff to ponder his latest faux pas.
********
It wasn’t until after six when Lois showed up at the lab. Clark looked up as he heard her approach. When she walked through the door, he immediately caught her eye. She favored him with a bright smile and all traces of weariness from the long day vanished from her expression.
“Hey Lois,” Geoff said with his typical comedic enthusiasm, which was neither cute nor funny.
“Hello Geoff,” she replied in scant acknowledgement of him.
Behind her, the doors to the lab burst open and Andy and Steve bounded in.
“Hey Kent, happy birthday, man!” Andy yelled.
“Wait til you get a load of what we’ve got planned for you. You are not going to believe…” Steve’s smile faded as Lois turned around.
“But of course, if you’ve got other plans, we can uh, just go another time…” Andy interjected.
“Strip bar?” Lois asked nonchalantly.
Andy shrugged. “Private stripper,” Steve said, avoiding eye contact.
Lois nodded thoughtfully as though his clarification was the most fascinating thing she’d ever heard.
“I’m afraid I have other plans, guys,” Clark said as he grabbed his overcoat.
“But it is the thought that counts,” Lois added as Clark took her hand.
“Have a good time,” Clark said with a grin as he clapped Andy on the back.
“Uh, thanks, Clark,” Andy replied. “Happy birthday!” he called out to Clark’s retreating form.
When they were in the hallway Lois turned to him with a grin. “You know, we could cancel if you want to take them up on that offer.”
Clark shook his head smiling. “I don’t think so.”
“Good, because do you know how difficult it is to get a table at Chez Henri on a Friday night, even if you are Sam Lane’s daughter?”
He chuckled and stopped walking. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her softly.
“Happy birthday,” she said.
“Thanks,” he replied. “So you made reservations for Chez Henri, huh?”
“Well, I had to pull some strings, but you know.” She gave him an impish smile. “Now come on, as much as I enjoy wasting time with you in this hallway, we’ve got an eight thirty reservation and one of us can’t get ready at superspeed.” The last part was said quietly although the corridor was quite deserted.
********
“Good evening, Pierre.”
“Always a pleasure, Dr. Lane. Table for two, right this way, si vous plais.” With a slight bow the slender man turned to lead them to their table. As he handed them the menus, he turned to Clark and said, “Dr. Kent, Henri has asked me to extend to you his personal wishes for a very happy birthday.”
“Thank you,” Clark replied.
With a nod and a kind smile, Pierre was gone.
********
“You know, they never actually say that in the movie.”
“What?” he asked.
“‘Play it again, Sam,’ no one ever says that.”
“Come on.”
“I’m dead serious.”
“Then where does the line come from?” he challenged her.
Lois shrugged.
“Are you sure?”
“Clark, you are talking to the expert on ‘Casablanca.'”
“All right then Ms. Expert, tell me, why does Ilsa agree to go with Laszlo?”
“Ha!”
“Ha?”
“It’s simple, Clark. Laszlo won’t leave unless she goes. If he stays, he gets killed. So she goes to save his life.”
“And not because she actually cares about him.”
“Nope.”
“Not at all?”
“Clark, of all the times Laszlo tells Ilsa he loves her, the best response he gets in the whole film is a tepid ‘I know,’ not exactly the stuff of storybook romances.”
“But she was still in love with Rick?”
“Completely.”
“And you think she made the right decision?”
“It was Hollywood in World War II, sacrificing love for the greater cause was the only ending they could possibly get away with.” She noticed Clark tilt his head slightly to one side. He frowned, deep in concentration. He looked at her, his eyes conveying a silent plea.
“Go, Clark,” she insisted softly.
“Lois, I’m sorry…”
“Go,” she repeated.
He nodded. He rose from the table and kissed her briefly before ducking out.
“Be careful,” she whispered.
Pierre walked by not long after. “Dr. Lane, where is Dr. Kent?”
“You know emergency department doctors, Pierre, always running off to save the world,” she said with a wistful smile.
“He must be very devoted to his work to be able to leave the company of such a beautiful woman. I do not believe I could be so dedicated,” he said with a smile.
Lois paid the bill and drove home. She pulled into the driveway and killed the ignition. She hung up her overcoat and kicked off her heels as she entered the house. She put a CD in the changer and settled onto the couch, not having bothered to change.
A knocking at the door startled her and she realized that she had dozed off. She got up off the couch and walked to the door. She looked through the peephole and opened the door.
“Hey,” he said.
“Is everything all right?” she asked. She shivered as the cold wind swirled through the open door. Clark closed the door quickly behind him.
“Yeah,” he replied. “I’m sorry about taking off in the middle of dinner.”
“Don’t be, you were needed.”
“Yeah, but I still feel bad. You went to so much trouble tonight and I feel like I left you in the lurch.”
“No you didn’t. Besides, you’re here now,” she said. “And there’s still…” She looked down at her watch. “Another half hour left of your birthday.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and placed her head on his chest, still conscious of the music playing softly in the background. “Dance with me, Clark,” she whispered.
He tilted her chin up and kissed her softly. “I’d love to,” he said. He gathered her up in his arms and they began swaying to the music. The song slowly faded and he heard the familiar strains of the one that followed. “I love this song,” he murmured.
“You do?”
“Mmm hmm.”
“Well it fits,” she replied.
‘Fill my heart with song
I want to sing forever more.’
“You are all I long for, all I worship, and adore,” she whispered along with the refrain. He felt his heart do a somersault in his chest. He closed his eyes, enjoying the way it felt to hold her. He heard her gasp and he opened his eyes to see what was wrong. He realized that he’d started to float with her in his arms. He looked down; they were only about two feet off the ground. He noticed her smiling at him and he shrugged. “You have that effect on me,” he said.
She placed her head on his shoulder. “This is what I call dancing,” she murmured.
He dropped a kiss on the top of her head and she tucked her head under his chin as they continued to float, gently swaying to the fading strains of the music.
********
The days and weeks passed as Lois and Clark returned to their normal routines. The city around them, however, was near political upheaval. Royce was indicted on a long laundry list of charges. With a year and a half until the city and state elections, the office of the DA was left vacant. Mayson Drake found herself thrust into the role of acting DA by gubernatorial appointment. She now faced the gargantuan task of not only trying her former boss but the third richest man in the world as well. Everyone was acutely aware of the fact that both cases would only just be entering the trial phases when the elections would take place and Mayson’s successor would take over. The young woman was in the unenviable position of taking to trial two of the biggest cases in the state’s history simultaneously, all the while knowing that she’d never get to carry them through to the end. Work on the Genzyme investigation had to be redone almost from scratch and the office’s resources were already spread pitifully thin. Even more precious resources and manpower were being expended in the internal affairs control board that had been convened to investigate everyone in the DA’s office in conjunction with the Royce inquiries.
The protecting of witnesses in the Luthor case had fallen to the laconic Inspector Henderson’s unit, though the inspector was handling the matter personally. A string of anonymous tips to Henderson’s office had led his men like a trail of breadcrumbs to Luthor’s aide de camp, Nigel St. John. The feds took custody of the acrimonious Brit who was waiting extradition to the United Kingdom to face charges of high treason. Despite the detention of Luthor’s most potent henchman, Henderson was taking no chances with Sialano and the other Genzyme board members who had turned state’s witness. Only he and Superman knew where they were.
The Luthor series that swept across the Daily Planet’s front-page above-the-fold columns for days had just crept in under the cutoff for the Merriwethers. Everyone was convinced that Hastings and Mitchell were a sure thing in the best series category.
Despite a rather intimate involvement with all the major news stories swirling about the city, the only piece of information Lois and Clark were truly anxious about would be coming from hundreds of miles away at the new projects office at NIH.
********
Lois sat at her desk, looking over post op reports. The buzz of the intercom interrupted her. Without looking up from the report, she pressed the ‘listen’ button.
“Dr. Lane, there’s an express courier here with a letter for you. He says he needs your signature.”
“Thank you, Mrs. O’Neil,” Lois replied. “I’ll be right out.” Tossing the folder onto her desk, she left the office. She took the envelope from the young deliveryman and signed for it. Recognizing the icon in the return address, she ripped the envelope open with little pretense of tact or decorum. She retreated into her office and closed the door behind her.
‘Dear Dr. Lane,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to NIH…”
She closed her eyes, relieved the project would continue. Her relief was fleeting as a nagging, unsettled feeling slowly spread over her. This was it. She was moving to DC to continue her work. She was leaving Metropolis. She was leaving her position at MetroGen. Yet she didn’t care. The only thing she could think of, the only thing that mattered was that she was leaving Clark. An icy cold hand seemed to grip her heart. She felt a vaguely familiar ache, an emptiness she hadn’t experienced since Clark had entered her life. She took a deep breath and brought her emotions into check. This wasn’t the time or place to break down. She’d known this was coming for a while now. It was no surprise, though the letter provided the solid confirmation of reality that she’d been able to ignore until this moment. It was a concrete wall that she’d collided with at full speed, and she was painfully aware of how very real it was. She reached a hand across the desk for the phone. Taking in a long breath, she lifted the receiver and pushed one of the speed dial buttons.
“Yes, may I speak with Dr. Sam Lane, please? Hi Daddy…yeah I heard…” she replied unenthusiastically despite her attempts not to sound displeased. “It’s great…yeah. Tonight? Uh, I guess so, I mean yes, we ought to celebrate…I’ll see you then…okay, love you, too. Bye Daddy.” She hung up the phone, trying to get excited about the news.
********
Lois tossed her keys on the kitchen table. What was she supposed to do? At dinner her father had once again insisted that he could continue the project at NIH alone. She had been tempted to take him up on that offer. She could have stayed in Metropolis, focusing on establishing her surgical career. She could have stayed with Clark. No matter how appealing the offer was, she knew there was no way she could accept. Over two years ago when she was just entering her final year of residency, her father had asked her to join him in the project. It was Sam Lane’s genius that had led to the development of the Sinoatrial regulatory processor, but throughout, he had treated Lois as an equal partner, encouraging her input and intuition. After all he’d done, after all they’d done together, how could she leave the project now?
She climbed the stairs, hoping a soak in the tub would clear her mind. She started to run the hot water and added the bath salts. She was just about to get into the warm, inviting water when she heard the distinct tone of the doorbell. She debated for a long while whether or not to answer it before grabbing her bathrobe. She hurried down the stairs and tightened the belt before checking the peephole. She saw Clark standing, looking downward, his hands in his pockets. She opened the door.
“Hey,” she said softly. “Come in.”
He gave her a lopsided smile and ran his hand through his hair as he walked through the doorway. “I’m sorry for just dropping by, I was out…” He made the hand gesture they’d invented for flying. “And I thought I’d stop by and see if you were in. We’ve both been kinda busy the last few days, but I can see that you probably weren’t expecting company, so I could just…” He glanced back toward the door.
“No,” she said. “You don’t have to go. Please stay. We can…talk.” She hated this. She couldn’t remember feeling so conflicted. “I’m just going to get dressed.”
He nodded and she turned toward the stairs. She returned, dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans, to find Clark sitting on the couch, his elbows on his knees and his head resting on his hands.
“Do you want some coffee?” she asked.
“Huh?” he looked up. “Oh, no, I’m fine, thanks.”
She sat down beside him and his arm went around her. She put her head on his shoulder and they sat together silently. “I’m going to miss this,” she said quietly. She more felt than heard him sigh.
“Me too.”
She hadn’t yet told him about the letter from NIH but that Clark could tell what was bothering her without her having to say anything no longer surprised her. While neither had said much about it, they’d both been thinking about it these last several weeks.
“When did they make it official?” he asked.
“Today.”
“Oh.” Silence reigned between them for a long moment.
“I don’t want to leave you, Clark,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper.
“God, Lois, I don’t want you to go,” he said. He pulled her close and pressed his lips to the top of her head. As he spoke she could feel the words rumble in his chest. “But we both know you have to do this, and we are going to be just fine,” he assured her.
She tucked her legs up on the couch and put her head in his lap. She looked up at him as he gently ran his fingers through her hair. “I love you too much to let a little thing like you moving to DC get in the way,” he whispered.
“I love you, Clark,” she murmured. Through heavy lidded eyes she could see him smile his lopsided boyish smile.
She wasn’t sure what time it was when Clark left that night, nor could she say exactly how long he’d held her silently, his touch conveying to her all his love and support more than any words ever could. Eventually, as it became clear that she was losing the battle with sleep, she declared that she was going to bed and suggested that he do the same, declaring that even a Superman needed some sleep. He acquiesced to her logic and kissed her goodnight before heading for home. She closed the door behind him and leaned up against it, closing her eyes and sliding to the ground. ‘We are going to be just fine.’ His words echoed in her mind. How unequivocal his words had been, how certain he’d sounded when he promised her that everything would be all right. She needed desperately to believe him.Ho
Lois didn’t sleep much that night. She stayed awake–staring at the ceiling above her bed–dwelling upon a decision that had been made long ago.
********
He heard the sharp staccato crack of automatic rifle fire all around him. Bullets whined as they pierced the air from all different directions. He crawled on his stomach through the thick mud under the razor wire. The heavy rain obscured his vision. Not that he would have been able to see much anyway, it was pitch black. His M 16 rifle in his hands, he carefully moved forward on his elbows, trying to keep his body low to the ground. He was the first to clear the razor wire. He shouted out to those who were following behind him, and then ran forward. He grabbed the rope and scaled the fifteen foot wall and made the drop on the opposite side. He quickly rose to his feet as the others followed suit. Half a klick from their goal they broke out into a run. He led the group as guns held aloft, they splashed through the stream to the opposite bank. They scaled the final hill. At the top, a lone figure waited for them.
“Twenty five sixteen.”
The men cheered loudly.
“Dismissed!” with that single command, the team grew silent and dispersed. “Lieutenant, a word.”
The Lieutenant groaned inwardly.
“That was totally unacceptable.”
“Sir, that was a course record!”
“Lieutenant, I am not playing games,” Trask snapped. “We are preparing for a war with an enemy whose strength should never be underestimated. The threat this alien poses to us is very real, Lieutenant. This little exercise may have proved that your men can handle combat with a human enemy, but you are certainly not prepared to deal with the invader. Now I want a full brief on your intelligence operations.”
The Lieutenant ran his hand through his short, rain soaked hair. “There’s nothing of interest on White but we confirmed that Lane will be moving to Washington. NIH picked up the project beginning in June, and we haven’t been able to find any evidence to support Henderson’s claim that Superman was helping the police during the week of his absence. Our plants at the Daily Planet and the Police Department have nothing new to report. As you ordered, we haven’t used any detectable monitoring devices, so no bugs or cameras near any of their homes. However, we plotted all of the occurrences of sonic booms throughout the city on map, and there is a statistically significant number of occurrences within a one mile radius of Lane’s home, much higher than anywhere else in the city, with the exception of MetroGen, where Lane’s offices are located.”
“I’m sending you personally to Washington to keep an eye on Lane. I want to know what the nature of her relationship with the alien is. I am certain that she’s our key to bringing the alien down. Whatever his weakness is, she will lead us to it.”
“But sir, what about the testing on the meteorite? And the ship? The scientists have only begun analyzing the spaceship.”
“It will be handled, Lieutenant. It is your job to track Lane. Is that understood?”
“Sir, yes sir.” The Lieutenant stood up straight and saluted.
“Good. Dismissed.” Trask turned sharply and marched off through the rain.
The Lieutenant lowered his hand and walked off in the opposite direction.
********
Lois replaced the scalpel on the tray and looked up at the time elapsed clock. So far everything was going just fine. She handed a used cloth to the nurse who serialized and weighed it in order to help keep track of blood loss. She focused her attention on the patient on the table. On her end of the table, only the patient’s torso was exposed, at the other end of the table, a vascular surgeon worked to remove a vein from the patient’s leg for the bypass. In the background, the heart lung machines and the monitors whirred and hummed, but she was oblivious to the sound. Everything except her patient ceased to exist as far as she was concerned. While normally quite animated in speech, Lois never uttered a single unnecessary word while in surgery. Her energies were far too focused on the task at hand to allow any diversion of attention to superfluous action.
“Lois, do you realize this will be the last time you and I work together?”
She looked up at the sound of her name being spoken. She couldn’t see Craig’s expression for the mask and surgical cap, but that he wasn’t intensely focused on the surgery was obvious. She shot him a glare and hoped that its meaning would get through despite the fact that literally only her eyes were visible.
“I can’t believe you’re leaving.”
“Craig, can we discuss this at another time? Say when there isn’t a patient on the table with his sternum open and his heart stopped and when I’m not trying to bypass an otherwise lethal blockage of the right coronary artery?” Without waiting for any sort of response, she turned back to the patient and took a minute to refocus her attention on the task at hand before proceeding. It took her a moment to clear her mind of any thoughts related to Craig’s statement. She had no desire to consider any of those things now.
********
Lois snapped off her gloves and disposed of them and the dressing gown in the Sharp’s biohazard container. She ran her hands under the hot water and scrubbed them up to her elbows, just as she had in pre-op.
“Look, Lois, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, Craig, really.”
“It’s just that I haven’t spoken to you in ages, Lois, and you’re leaving, it’s just, so hard to believe.” He paused for a moment and began to remove his own perioperative clothing. “Lois, what happened with us?”
She snapped her head up and looked straight at him, a questioning look in her eyes. “What?”
“I got to thinking about us, and what happened, Lois I asked you to marry me, and you turned me down, you just walked away from us. Now you’re leaving. I just don’t understand it, Lois.”
She shook her head. “Craig, you and I had nothing in common. What’s important to me isn’t important to you, that’s why you don’t understand my reasons for leaving. And why now of all times? Are you trying to convince me not to go, trying to win me back? Craig, we were through a long time ago, my leaving doesn’t change that fact at all.”
“What are you so afraid of, Lois?”
“I beg your pardon?” she replied icily.
“We were together three years and when I asked you to make a commitment, you ran away from it. Now you’re one of the best surgeons in the hospital, you could be one of the best in the country, and you’re giving it all up for some research project. What are you running away from, Lois? Are you afraid you might fail? Or are you afraid of succeeding? Lois, you could have anything you want, and frankly, anyone you want…”
“This has nothing to do with me moving to DC does it? This is about me seeing Clark, isn’t it?”
“No, but that is part of an overall trend, Lois. You’re giving up on your career and dating some lab geek drifter with no ambition who never stays in the same place for more than a year.”
“And I suppose that because he isn’t a Yalie, and he doesn’t drive a Porsche or spend his weekends sitting at home, counting his money, he isn’t good enough,” she retorted fiercely.
“I don’t know, Lois, you tell me. You’re the one who’s leaving him for DC.”
Stunned, she wanted to knee him in the groin and then sweep his legs out from under him, dropping him to the ground. She settled for slapping him soundly with an audible ‘smack.’ “How dare you?” she demanded.
Craig raised a hand to his face but said nothing. She stormed out of post op, trying to calm down before checking on her patient and then meeting with his family. She slowly counted to ten, and then fifty, and then a hundred, in an attempt to bring her temper into check. She walked briskly down the corridors, trying to expunge her mind of any and all thoughts of Craig. What did that self righteous, arrogant, narcissistic jerk know, anyway? Her anger began to wane as she regained control over her emotions. She let out a long, slow breath as she refocused her mind on the patient whose room she was quickly approaching.
Several hours later, she sat in the cafeteria, nursing a cup of coffee. Staring off into the middle distance, not really seeing anything, she was caught completely unaware when Clark pulled out a chair at the table and sat beside her. “Hey,” he said with a grin.
“Hi,” she said with a forced smile.
“What’s wrong?” he asked softly, covering her hand with his.
“Huh?”
“Lois, you look like you lost your best friend.”
She felt the hand close a little tighter around her heart at his choice of words. “I feel like I am,” she was almost stunned to hear herself say the words.
“Lois?” Clark’s soft brown eyes pleaded with her.
“I’m sorry, it’s just…what I’m doing to you, what I’m putting you through…it doesn’t seem fair.”
“Lois Lane, don’t you start this,” he said tersely.
She was confused by the unfamiliar tone of his voice and the resolute look in his eyes. “What?”
“Don’t you dare second guess yourself, or think that you’re doing something to hurt me. I promised you that we would be fine, and I meant every word. You are not a victim of circumstance, Lois. You’re too strong for that. And don’t worry about me. I won’t be happy about not being able to see you as often as I want, but Lois, believe me, you are worth the wait. You know I’d gladly do anything for you. It took me thirty years to find you and I will wait another year, if that’s what it takes to be with you.”
“So you don’t think I’m putting my career above you?”
“Lois, when I have to leave you to be Superman, do you doubt that you’re still the most important thing in my life?” he asked quietly.
“Of course not, Clark,” she insisted earnestly.
He shrugged. “This is just your turn to save the world, and my turn to support you for a change.”
“Clark, you’ve always supported me.”
“And I always will.” He took her hand in both of his and raised it to his lips.
While the thought of leaving Clark still hurt, Lois did what was become so easy and so natural to do–she put her trust in Clark.
********
Lois had just returned from a weekend in Washington where she’d toured her future lab facilities and met her new colleagues. She toured DC as well. It was no Metropolis and she didn’t see what the big deal about the cherry blossoms was. Eventually she conceded that she was less than impressed with the city not because of what it was lacking, but because of who it was lacking, but she had to admit that the lab was spacious and well equipped, and now that she had an apartment lined up, there was one less thing to worry about. Lucy would be taking up residence in the townhouse for the next year. So she wouldn’t have to worry about selling or renting out her home while she was away.
On this particular afternoon, she was meeting with her mother and Lucy, who were still debating the relative merits of a summer wedding the following year versus delaying the wedding until after Scott had finished his Ph.D. dissertation. The three Lane women gathered in a small bistro downtown to talk over coffee.
“Have the two of you bought your tickets yet?” Ellen asked.
“Of course, Mom,” Lucy assured her mother. “I made Scott go and get fitted for his tux a week ago.”
“What about you, Lois?”
“Mother, I know how important this event is for the Women’s Center. You know Clark and I will be there.”
“Sandy MacDougall asked me if there’s any chance you’d be willing to perform this year,” Ellen asked casually between sips of her coffee.
“Good luck, Mom,” Lucy laughed. She brushed off her older sister’s glare. “Do the words ‘blood from a turnip’ mean anything to you?”
Ellen turned to her elder daughter, undaunted by Lucy’s remarks. “Lois, you know that they haven’t raised nearly as much money at the ball since the last time you helped.”
Lois had avoided like the proverbial plague singing at the Annual Metropolis Medical Center Charity Ball. She couldn’t recall how exactly she’d been roped into it, twice, and she had sworn never to do it again, though she’d been very easily guilt tripped into increasing her annual donation to the fund.
Later on, she wouldn’t have been able to describe what exactly had possessed her at that particular time to open her mouth and say “I’ll do it.” Ellen smiled and, in typical Lane fashion, carried on at a mile a minute, telling Lois whom she needed to call and when to arrange everything. Lucy simply sat, mouth agape, trying to assimilate her sister’s very unLois-like behavior.
After that day, the issue didn’t come up again. Lois called Sandy, who like Ellen, immediately transformed into a human cyclone of activity, at first, profusely thanking Lois, then rattling off all the things Lois would need to do. Lois was already aware of practically everything Sandy said, but listened anyway. She set up a rehearsal with the band and then promptly went back to business as usual.
A little more than a week later, as she was leaving post op, she ran into Clark in the corridor. “Hey,” she said.
“You know, I went to pick up our tickets to the Charity Ball today,” he said.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I figured you were busy, so I thought I could knock off one of the things on your ‘to do’ list.”
“Well I appreciate it, thanks,” she said slowly. She could tell he was holding something back.
“So why didn’t you tell me about this?” he asked, unfolding a promotional poster.
“Give me that,” she said as she took it from his hands. She stared in disbelief at the large, bold lettering that announced that Dr. Lois Lane would be performing at this year’s ball. “Where did you get this?” she asked.
“Admin. is covered in them.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Scout’s honor,” he replied, raising two fingers. They were both silent for a moment. “So?” he asked at last.
“So?”
“Were you planning on keeping this a secret?”
“No, it’s just nothing worth mentioning,” she muttered.
“Oh?”
“Yeah,” she bristled. She backed away from her defensive edge. There was no reason to explode at Clark over this. “It’s not big deal, really. They asked me to sing this year at the ball, that’s all.” She shrugged it off.
“You never told me you could sing.”
“You never asked,” she retorted.
“Well Admin. is making a pretty big deal of it. They expect it’ll boost ticket sales. So do I get a sneak preview?”
“Don’t count on it,” she said with a smirk.
She spent the next week and a half keeping the specifics of her performance undisclosed. She refused not only to sing in Clark’s presence, but also to tell him what she was singing or when and where she was rehearsing.
The write up in Metropolis Magazine did nothing to aide in her attempts at making the performance low profile, though it did serve to increase the number of cat calls she received at work and elsewhere, exponentially. What exactly caused the perverse fascination with a doctor singing at a charity event was beyond her. She couldn’t deny the fact that being introduced with the preface of ‘the doctor who tore down Genzyme and the Luthor empire,’ probably had a lot to do with it, but surely the notoriety should be fading by now. Her fifteen minutes would be up soon, she hoped.
She entered Clark’s lab on the afternoon of the ball, awaiting the barrage of smart alecky quips from his terminally juvenile colleagues. As she walked into the lab, she could hear Geoff humming. He grew progressively louder until he and his two sidekicks were singing Madonna’s “Material Girl” at the top of their lungs and completely off key.
“You know that we are living in a material world…” he wailed into the test tube he held like a microphone. Clark’s head appeared in the doorway as he peered out of the office into the lab. The chorus dissolved into laughter. Lois disappeared into the office, but through the closed door she could hear them burst into “I’m Too Sexy.”
“Don’t they ever actually work?” she asked.
Clark shrugged. “You ready for tonight?”
“Yeah,” she replied diffidently. “Do you want to meet at my place, or yours?”
“Huh? Oh, I thought you’d have to go early, and you know.” He made a fleeting hand gesture.
“Nah, they don’t need me for sound checks.”
“Well, barring unforeseen disasters, let’s say, I’ll be at your place at seven, then.”
“Sounds great.”
They left the office, immediately drawing the attention of the lab’s trio of anti-heroes. “Will we be seeing you tonight, Geoff?” She asked, as if engaging in civil conversation with any ordinary person.
Geoff looked at the two residents with a grin before turning back to Lois. “Oh, we wouldn’t miss it for the world, would we, guys?”
Steve and Andy rushed to concur. The little tete a tete ended with Lois and Geoff exchanging smirks. To any observer, whether there was a victor in that particular skirmish was completely ambiguous. Lois kissed Clark goodbye and bearing a resemblance to a cat that had caught the canary, she strode out of the lab.
********
She opened the door at exactly seven, wasn’t he ever late? She drew in a sharp breath and the power of speech took its leave of her. She knew that Clark looked good in black, really, really good, but surely it was criminal for anyone to look so absolutely drop dead gorgeous. She bit her lower lip an attempt to bring her conscious mind back to the here and now. In the absence of a chastising super ego, both id and ego had teamed up and decided that they wanted nothing more than to pounce on Clark. The sharp cut of the tux emphasized the broadness of his muscular shoulders and the narrowness of his lean waist. That she was expected to behave herself when he looked like *that* was horribly unfair. “Come in,” she said at last. She turned around in an attempt to compose herself.
He hadn’t waited long for her to open the door. He fidgeted slightly with the cuffs of his shirt and was startled by the sound of the heavy door being opened. He looked up, entirely unprepared for the sight in front of him. He was struck dumb and frozen, like a deer caught in the headlights. The simple black dress she wore hugged every incredible curve of her body perfectly. The thin straps left her arms and shoulders bare. A strand of pearls adorned her neck. She was eyeing him curiously and he realized that he hadn’t said anything. He was lucky he hadn’t gone slack jawed. To his relief, she quickly invited him in; he didn’t trust in his own ability to communicate at the moment. She turned away and he tried in vain to regain his composure. He followed her inside.
“Lois, you look…incredible,” he managed.
She smiled at him. Was she blushing? “So do you, you look, really, really great, Clark.”
“Oh, uh, these are for you,” he said, holding out the large bouquet of roses he’d been carrying in the crook of his arm.
“Clark, they’re beautiful,” she said softly as she took the roses.
“I wanted to wish you luck, for tonight.”
She smiled again and his knees threatened to give out underneath him. “I’m just going to put these in some water,” she said before turning and walking toward the kitchen.
He let out a long sigh. How did she expect him to keep his composure? She had to know what she was doing to him, and it was horribly unfair. With neither his permission nor his approval, his brain started thinking up all the reasons they should skip the ball entirely, lock the door, and forget their agreement. He was stunned by how much seeing her in that dress fanned the flames of his desire to see her without it. ‘Get a grip, Kent,’ he chastised himself. He sat down on the couch. He was going to drive himself insane if he spent the entire night at war with his libido. Clark searched desperately for a way to get his mind off sex. He settled for reciting the Kreb Cycle in his mind. ‘Citrate reacts with aconitase to produce one molecule of water and cis-aconitate, which reacts with aconitase and one molecule of water to produce iso-citrate which…’
“Ready?”
“Huh?” he replied, startled. He looked up at her and gulped. Nope. Didn’t work. “Uh, sure, let’s go,” he said at last.
They parted company almost immediately on arrival. Though he clearly would have preferred an evening alone with Lois to just about anything, he figured that dinner with her extended family might actually be easier without Lois’s bewitching brand of distraction. He made his way to Ellen Lane’s table without the company of his stunning date. As expected, Ellen’s position as the chair of one of the benefiting charities and her work as one of the program’s organizers meant that hers was a particularly large and central table. The Daily Planet’s table was also nearby, probably Ellen’s handiwork.
With the exception of Scott and Lucy, everyone else was already present at the table. Clark found his place among the four empty seats. Ellen introduced him to Lois’s Uncle Mike as well as to Perry’s two sons and their dates. Alice White sat beside Perry at the Planet’s table, looking rather bored. For the Planet staffers, this was a working occasion, and Clark could tell that they were talking shop.
Clark spotted Allison and Tom, engaged as usual, in some sort of negotiation. He also saw Jimmy Olsen, who didn’t look particularly comfortable in a tux. Scattered throughout the room were several of his colleagues from MetroGen as well. Many others were present along with the press covering the event and the doctors. The room seemed a veritable role call of Metropolis’s rich, famous, and powerful; politicians, businessmen, and entertainers mingled among the crowd. Lucy and Scott slipped in just before the emcee began making his welcoming statement. They quietly took their seats, leaving only the empty place beside Clark.
When the opening remarks were finished, Sam turned to the young couple. “Well, I’m glad you two decided to join us,” he said with a smile.
“Well we weren’t about to miss Lois’s performance.” Lucy grinned in response.
“Come on, Clark, what has she got planned?” Scott asked.
Clark held up his hands. “Don’t look at me, she wouldn’t tell me a thing.” He saw Ellen get up and head toward the stage area. She had said something about an introduction, but Clark had been suddenly distracted. ‘Fire alarm,’ he thought with an inward groan. He looked around while he tried to think of an excuse. “Excuse me,” he said at last, hoping that he could simply get away and come up with an excuse later. He noticed Sam give him a rather peculiar look. Realization quickly dawned on Sam. “Was that your pager, Clark?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah.” ‘Thank you, Sam,’ he thought. “Sorry, I just need to go take care of this.” He gestured toward the hallway before making his escape in that direction. He dashed into a vacant bathroom and spun into the suit before taking off via a convenient window. He pushed aside the pang of disappointment over missing Lois’s performance as he flew toward the plumes of gray black smoke in the distance.
********
“On behalf of the Metropolis Medical Center, Children’s Hospital of Metropolis, the Metropolis Women’s Center and Project Health Community Outreach, thank you, and welcome. I’m Ellen Lane and over the past year it has been my distinct pleasure to work with the board of MMC. The Metropolis Medical Center and its related charities could not continue their vital work if not for your generous support, thank you.
Tonight, I have another unique privilege, that of introducing to you someone who in my impartial and unbiased opinion…” The audience chuckled and Ellen paused for a moment before continuing. “…is a truly dedicated and wonderful surgeon and research doctor as well as a talented vocalist. Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. Lois Lane.”
The lights on the stage dimmed as the audience applauded. Lois emerged and hugged her mother briefly before the older woman hurried off the stage. Lois stepped up to the microphone just before the spotlight focused on her. The bandleader readied his fourteen piece jazz orchestra. Her gaze fell upon the table where her family was sitting. Her parents were smiling at her, as were Lucy and Scott. Her Uncle Mike flashed her a discreet thumbs up, but her focus settled on the two empty places at the table and the seat that Clark should have been sitting in. She did her best to squelch the feeling of disappointment. She heard the bars of the intro, ‘here goes nothing,’ she thought.
********
Clark landed next to the fire captain, near the burning warehouse. “Superman, we’ve got three people trapped on the second floor,” the fireman yelled ver the roar of the blaze and the sound of his crew desperately working.
“Anything else I need to know?” Clark asked.
The fire captain shook his head. “That’s it.”
Superman nodded curtly before taking off into the building. He quickly located the terrified but otherwise unharmed workers and moved them to safety. He x rayed them surreptitiously and informed the waiting medics to treat them for minor smoke inhalation. The fire captain jogged over toward him. “Thanks, Superman, we should be able to take it from here.”
Clark didn’t need to be told twice and was soon airborne again. A quick side trip to his apartment and a superspeed shower later and he was on his way back to the charity ball. He entered the ballroom as Lois was finishing a song.
“I’m aware,
My heart is a sad affair,
There’s much disillusion there,
But I can dream, can’t I?”
If he was stunned just seeing her earlier this evening, there were no words to describe how he felt at the moment. The Lois he knew and loved more than life was sophisticated, beautiful, but always the epitome of professionalism. This Lois was sultry and seductive as well as elegant. That she possessed an almost hypnotic sort of beauty that could level most any man was nothing particularly new to Clark, but he’d never seen her flaunt it as she was doing at the moment. He heard his heart pound in his ears and suddenly felt unusually warm. He could face a raging inferno without breaking a sweat but fifteen seconds in Lois Lane’s presence was all it took to make him feel hot and bothered. He closed his eyes as the achingly beautiful sound of her voice pervaded him.
“Can’t I adore you,
Although we are oceans apart?
I can’t make you open your heart,
But I can dream, can’t I?”
As the soft music faded out, the room burst into applause. He saw Lois smile almost nervously at the effusive reaction. He watched as a rose was tossed up onto the stage and traced its path back to a table where one of the younger residents at MetroGen was standing. As the applause died down, he shouted up toward the stage. “Who are we kidding, Dr. Lane? You can have me whenever you want!”
A halfway stifled laugh came from the audience. Lois merely smirked at the impertinent comment. “In your dreams, Dr. Stanton,” she replied. The audience laughed and applauded as the drummer punctuated the punch line.
Clark observed her every move, mesmerized. She picked up a nearby glass of water and he watched as she took a long, slow sip, his eyes focusing themselves on the slight and subtle play of the muscle of her throat as she swallowed. She looked up and her eyes swept over the room. She stopped when she saw him, and smiled. He returned her smile, grinning like an idiot. He watched her cross the stage in even, graceful strides as she moved toward the band.
Lois tried to hide the silly grin she knew was plastered on her face. “All right,” she said. “Last song, you know what we’re going to play. Four four tempo, give it a little bounce, and James, swing the baseline.”
“You got it, Doc.”
She stepped back up to the microphone, her gaze never leaving Clark. The music began and he recognized the song immediately. Lois began to tap one foot slightly, but soon her entire body moved very subtly to the rhythm. She closed her eyes and still smiling, began to sing.
“Fly me to the moon,
And let me play among the stars.
Let me see what spring is like,
On Jupiter and Mars.”
While the last song had a soft, melancholy tone to it, she sang this with vibrant energy and passion. The clear, dulcet quality of her voice was unaltered.
“Fill my heart with song,” she sang boldly. “And let me sing forevermore.” She opened her eyes, and smiling, looked straight out at Clark. She moved gracefully and easily down the scale.
“You are all I long for,
All I worship, and adore.”
Her unflinching gaze pierced him. ‘You know exactly what you’re doing to me, don’t you?’ he mused.
********
“Ellen, your daughter is a wonderful performer. We must have her do this every year.”
Ellen smiled up at the MMC board member who had placed his hand on her shoulder. “Well, I’m afraid it might be difficult for her to make the trip up from DC when she relocates,” she replied.
“Ellen, you know I’m so sorry about that. I wish there had been more I could have done.” He shook his head and gave an appropriately sympathetic expression.
“I’m sure you did everything you could, Dr. Banks.” She returned the disingenuous platitude and Dr. Banks moved on. “I can’t wait until this night is over and the board and I can go back to ignoring each other.” Ellen shook her head.
“Come on, sweetheart, it’s not that bad,” Sam replied, placing an arm around his wife.
“How can you be so calm around the vultures who not only cut your funding but have made an exact science of bastardizing your profession, Sam?”
Sam merely shrugged. “Well, so long as they’re in the boardroom, they’re kept out of the operating room. Now, I for one would like to go back to enjoying the evening of being entertained by our extraordinarily talented daughter and forget all about the board for the rest of the night.”
Attention at the Lane table turned back to the stage. Lucy nodded up at her sister, whose focus was on one particular spot in the room. “What is she looking out at?” she wondered aloud.
“Not what, who,” Ellen replied with a knowing smile. She gestured slightly toward where Clark was standing, near the doorway, an arrested look upon his face, as though he were quite unaware of the world around him.
“Poor guy doesn’t stand a chance, Sam.” Scott shook his head.
Sam merely laughed. “None of us ever did.” He drew his wife closer and kissed the top of her head, as if to emphasize the point that Clark was only the latest of the three men to find himself wrapped around the little finger of one of the Lane women.
********
As the coda ended, Lois bowed and was met by rapturous applause. A softly spoken ‘thank you’ later, she walked to the back of the stage. The emcee thanked her again before the band began its next set. She looked around for Clark, but had lost him in the crowd. She slowly descended from the stage.
“You were amazing.”
She turned quickly, startled to find Clark waiting for her. Before she could reply, she felt his lips pressed against hers. “Thanks,” she replied as she drew in a shaky breath. She took his proffered arm and they walked across the ballroom. He held out her chair for her at the table and as she sat, she was bombarded by the praises and congratulations of her family and friends. They soon settled back into normal conversation. Clark was surprised when Lois reached out a hand and took his, interlacing their fingers. She stroked the back of his hand with the pad of her thumb and he soon found it difficult to concentrate on the conversation.
Lucy and Scott were the first to leave the table, arm in arm, and made their way to the dance floor, which steadily filled with couples taking advantage of the band that continued to play. Clark looked over at Lois; she smiled a smile that lit up her eyes, and gave a slight nod. He stood from his chair and led her toward the dance floor. Almost immediately, she was in his arms, as they swayed gently to the music. She placed her head upon his shoulder and he heard her sigh.
“Do you have any idea how badly I’ve wanted to hold you tonight? How much I’ve wanted to touch you?” he whispered. “Lois, you’ve been driving me positively crazy all night.”
“And what do you think you’ve been doing to me?” she asked with a throaty laugh. “What seeing you in that tux is doing to me? It’s a good thing you can’t read minds.”
“I could say the same thing,” he replied.
“Dr. Kent,” she said in mock surprise. “Shame on you,” she whispered near his ear, her breath tickling his skin.
Delicious shivers ran up and down his spine. “Do you realize how you’ve been torturing me?” he asked.
She pressed her body against his. “Torture?” she asked. “If this is torture, Clark, chain me to the wall.” He would have laughed had he not been totally taken by the feeling of dancing with her, of holding her so close. She kissed his cheek and then found his lips. As their lips parted, they touched foreheads and continued swaying to the music, completely oblivious to the world around them.
********
He stared silently out the windshield of the Jeep as he drove through light traffic on the relatively quiet boulevard. He glanced over at her, she leaned against the side of the car, her eyes closed. She looked like an angel. As he pulled up to a red light, she placed a hand on his knee, startling him. He looked over at her and smiled. Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes and he was fairly certain he knew why–if she were thinking the same thing he was, that they only had a few short weeks before she would leave. They were getting sso close that he’d started to feel an almost physical pain when he couldn’t see her, or touch her. He missed her whenever she wasn’t around. On rare occasions, he could make it a few hours without thinking about her. It wasn’t as though her moving to DC would make it impossible for him to see her, but the question of whether she’d be able to return to Metropolis was still up in the air. He could deal with their separation for a finite period of time, but as much as he knew that he’d wait forever for her, but the uncertainty of their situation was disconcerting. How long would they have to maintain a commuter relationship?
He slowly pulled into the driveway outside her townhouse and killed the ignition. They exited the Jeep and he walked her to the door. “Well,” he began.
“Do you want to come in…for coffee?” she asked.
He felt an overwhelming desire to agree, but he shook his head gently. “I should probably go,” he said, noticing the disappointment flash across her face. “If I come inside, it’ll be that much harder for me to leave,” he said softly. “I’ll just think of all the reasons why I should stay. Considering what’s been going in on in both of our minds this evening, I think you know what will probably happen then.”
“Would that be such a bad thing?” she asked quietly. She looked downward.
He tilted her chin up, he felt her deep brown eyes search him for an answer and he hoped that he could explain what was a jumbled up mess in his mind. “I want to spend every waking moment with you, Lois, and I’d be lying if I told you that I haven’t thought, dreamed about us making love, more so than usual lately,” he admitted. “But if we make love now, Lois, there’s no way that I’ll be able to let you go.”
“So you’re saying it’s better if we don’t know what we’re missing?”
He nodded slightly. “I don’t want the first time we make love to be ‘goodbye,’ Lois. Every time I’ve fallen asleep in your arms, it’s been the most wonderful feeling in the world, but it makes it so hard all those nights that we aren’t together. Waiting hasn’t been easy, I can’t tell you how much I want to make love with you, but I want our making love to be the beginning of forever.”
She wrapped her arms around his waist under his tuxedo jacket and hugged him tightly. “I love you so much, Clark,” she whispered. His heart ached. Was he being stupid, selfish? They only had a few short days before she left. Part of him wanted to sweep her off her feet and carry her inside to the bedroom. “And I hate it when you’re right,” she said. He kissed the top of her head and held her tightly, neither one ready to let go. She pulled his head down and their lips met.
He withdrew reluctantly and caressed her cheek. Giving her a half smile, he whispered goodnight and was gone, his dark formal wear allowing him to blend in with the night’s sky.
********
This was not what Lieutenant David Hackett had in mind when he joined the Army. He expected to be working on the cutting edge of science. He’d served as commander of the MIT’s Paul Revere ROTC Battalion his final year and had led the group to top honors and the title of best battalion in the nation. Straight out of Jump School, he’d been selected for special service in a classified unit.
He wasn’t informed of the nature of his assignment until he arrived at Bureau 39’s headquarters. Two years later, he was still chasing aliens under his CO, Jason Trask. David Hackett had never believed in UFOs, Area 51, Roswell or any of that other nonsense. He’d laughed at the conspiracy theorists, trekkies and loons who chased UFOs and attended MUFON meetings. Now he was spending almost every waking moment of his life studying, investigating and researching UFO sightings, unusual reports and odd findings for evidence of the existence of extraterrestrials. The arrival of Superman validated what would have otherwise been two wasted years of his life. Hackett still wasn’t convinced that the superhero was an alien until the ship had been discovered. Hidden in a government warehouse straight out of Raiders of the Lost Ark for decades, the ship was too good to be a hoax and the bright symbol emblazoned across the front of the little craft was clearly Superman’s S shield. Hackett was now convinced. There really was alien life, and it was already here on Earth. What exactly Superman wanted or what his mission was was still not clear to Hackett. He had no reason to believe Superman was a member of an invading force. From the looks of the craft, which was clearly designed to support a very small living thing, whatever had arrived on Earth certainly wasn’t a full-grown humanoid male. Given the date of the craft’s finding and the date placed on the Smallville sighting, Superman could have arrived on Earth as an infant, that is, if he aged like a human being. His reason for popping up in the last year was still a mystery.
What wasn’t in doubt was that Superman was almost indestructible and should he decide to turn his powers against people, he could be a tremendous force for harm. Superman was a potential loose cannon, and as of the moment, they had no sure method of reining him in. Trask on the other hand, was convinced that Superman was the front man for an invasion. In his monomaniacal delusions, Trask was certain that a war of the worlds was about to erupt. Hackett knew that Trask wasn’t all there, but regardless of the state of the man’s sanity, he was not someone to cross. Trask had associates in high and low places, people who could quite easily destroy one low-level Army officer without much trouble. It didn’t matter what Hackett thought; he had a duty to carry out and a CO who wouldn’t think twice about eliminating him if he proved to be a nuisance.
He looked up at the woman on the other side of the desk as she mulled over his resume. “Well, Mr. Hackett, you’ve come to us highly recommended, a degree in Biophysics in just three years from MIT, a Masters in Biochemical sciences the year after. It says that you’ve served two years in the military and are now at Johns Hopkins earning your doctorate in biomedical engineering.”
“That’s correct,” he replied crisply.
“I think you’ll fit right in here at NIH, the Drs. Lane will be lucky to have you working in their lab, welcome aboard, Mr. Hackett.”
“Thank you.” He smiled as he shook the woman’s hand.
********
Lois finished taping up the last of her boxes. She hadn’t packed up that much stuff, knowing Lucy would be moving in soon and would need most of the stuff still in the house. Lois didn’t really see much of a point in trying to move her stuff into her tiny apartment in DC anyway. She was actually not the least bit upset by the prospect of such cramped quarters. The small apartment made it less likely that she would settle in at all. This was, after all, a temporary move. She went up to her bedroom to finish packing the last of her suitcases. She heard the doorbell ring and rushed down to let Clark in.
She swung the door open and grinned at him. How was it that he looked just as good in a baseball cap, gray t-shirt and jeans as he did in a tux? It probably had something to do with the way the shirt stretched over the muscles of his chest and shoulders and how the jeans hugged his hips and powerful legs she decided. He gave her a lopsided, boyish smile that he probably intended to be innocent but was about as seductive as anything he could have done. “Come on in,” she said at last.
They packed up all of the boxes and suitcases in the Jeep. They took their time, the two of them working at human pace, although Clark could have finished the task in seconds. There was always the possibility that someone might see him, but for the most part, they simply wanted to extend their time together, even if it was spent in a mundane task like packing.
It was late morning when they finished; the sun was beating down intensely upon them. Lois slammed the back door of the Jeep shut and pushed her hair back out of her face. The unruly locks spilled forward again but she ignored them. Clark reached out a hand and tucked the strand behind her ear. “It’s a long drive to DC,” he said quietly.
“Yeah,” she replied wistfully.
“Do you want some company?”
She smiled but realized that she should probably let him go. “I would, but I’m sure you have other things you should be doing.”
He shook his head. “I took the day off.”
“Then I’d love for you to come with me,” she said.
He grinned and they got in the Jeep and drove away from the townhouse. The ten-hour trip to DC was interrupted by a few breaks for gas and food, with Lois and Clark switching places behind the wheel every few hours. For a while, they managed not to think about the separation that they were literally moving towards. Their conversations were light and animated, but interspersed were long stretches of companionable silence, in which all that was exchanged were a few brief, but meaningful, touches or glances.
They were coming upon the longest day of the year, yet it was quite dark when they finally arrived in Bethesda. Lois pulled the Jeep up outside the apartment complex and they began to unload it. They finished moving the last of the boxes and stood outside under a pleasant early summer night’s sky, a cool breeze making the otherwise muggy evening bearable.
“I guess this is it,” Lois said softly.
Clark merely nodded.
She wasn’t quite sure how she got there, but the next thing she knew, she was in Clark’s arms. She hugged him fiercely and felt his arms wrap around her tightly, his hand cradling the back of her head as he held her against his body. They kissed with an intense passion and a hungry longing. Their lips parted and their eyes met. The earnest expression on Clark’s face was almost too much to bear. She placed her head on his chest, trying to memorize every detail, his smell, his taste, the way it felt to hold him and be held by him. She felt warm, safe and protected, but mostly cherished, in his embrace. She never wanted to let go of him.
“I love you,” he whispered, the words catching in his throat.
“I love you, too,” she replied, so quietly that she wondered if he’d heard it. The feeling of his arms tightening around her informed her that he had. He tilted her chin up and kissed her again, more gently than the time before. The tender look in his eyes spoke volumes to her soul and she replied with a tremulous smile.
“I’ll be back to visit soon,” he promised. “But if you ever need me, no matter what it is, or what time it is, just call, I’ll be here in a heartbeat.”
“Thank you, Clark,” she replied, quietly, not trusting her own voice.
“Goodnight, my love,” he whispered quietly and took off,
“Goodnight, Clark.” She closed her eyes and bit the inside of her lip. Her eyes stinging, she looked up at the dark sky, dusted with a haphazard pattern of stars. The sound of the sonic boom signified Clark’s departure. In a few minutes he would be hundreds of miles away from her.
********
He hovered for a few moments above her, looking down at the woman he loved, watching her standing alone. The hand closed around his heart more tightly. He heard her whisper goodbye, her voice small, her tone almost child-like. It took all of his will to turn around and fly away as she stood there, looking up at the sky. He flew home, trying to blank his mind. He arrived in Metropolis a few minutes later and flew into his apartment. He was anxious and restless, unable to sit still. There was nothing on television. In a heated moment of frustration he accidentally crushed the remote control. Sleep was out of the question. He paced around his apartment like a caged animal before spinning into the Suit and darting off to fly patrols.
********
The bellman walked in front of them, carrying their bags down the corridor toward the honeymoon suite. He opened the door and brought their luggage inside. Without warning, Clark scooped Lois up into his arms swiftly. He grinned at her as he carried her over the threshold with no effort at all. He replaced his wife on her feet long enough to tip the porter who prudently made himself scarce.
Lois stood in the middle of the outer room, looking down at the pair of rings that adorned her left hand. She sighed happily; the dreamy smile on her face never fading as she felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around her waist.
“Hello, Wife,” Clark said, hugging Lois close to him, kissing her neck.
“Mmm, hello, Husband,” Lois replied, tilting her head to allow him better access. She closed her eyes as his lips moved across her skin. He trailed kisses down toward her shoulder and back up to her ear, capturing the sensitive shell between his teeth. An almost inaudible moan escaped from the back of her throat. She turned around, took his hands and led him through the bedroom toward the balcony. They continued to hold each other as they watched the late summer’s sun set on the waters. The blue waters were colored by patches of gold and orange as the fire red sun slowly sank lower on the horizon, eventually dipping out of sight. A cool breeze stirred the warm air, rustling the fronds of nearby palm trees. Lois stood up on her toes and kissed Clark before wiggling out of his arms, a knowing smile on her face.
Clark leaned against the railing and watched as she retreated back into the room and out of sight. He sighed, his heart pounding. His stomach twisted in knots and was full of butterflies. Contentment, bliss, nervousness, and excitement hit him with equal force leaving him at once dizzy, scared and sublimely happy. He realized that being around Lois always made him feel like this, only now it was, well, more.
His breath caught in his throat as she reappeared. The white silk negligee she wore was simple, elegant, the movement of the fabric over every line and curve of her perfectly formed figure as she walked toward him was hypnotic. She was positively stunning, graceful and radiant; she took his breath away. For all the languages he knew, the only word that came to mind was, ‘wow.’ Her timid smile informed him that he had not only thought it, but also apparently said it aloud. He returned her smile before spinning quickly, stopping a few moments later clad only in black silk boxer shorts and a black shirt that hung unbuttoned.
Lois raised an appreciative eyebrow at her husband. She knew she would never tire of simply gazing at him. There could be no doubt about his physical beauty, but it was an inner beauty that simply radiated from him and that drew her to him. He was the kindest, gentlest, and purest soul she’d ever known. She crossed the distance between them, slipping her arms under his open shirttails and around his waist. She placed her head against his bare chest.
He wrapped his arms around her. She looked up at him and their eyes met. He tilted his head down and captured her lips in a brief, gentle kiss.
Gazing into his eyes, Lois slid her hands up the smooth planes of his torso and onto his shoulders, pushing down on the material of his shirt. Clark dropped his arms to his sides, allowing the superfluous article of clothing to fall to the floor. She captured his lips in a soul-shattering kiss that left the Man of Steel breathless. He groaned as her lips trailed a path along his jaw line and down his throat. She rained kisses on the hollow of his collarbone and on the corded tendons and muscles of his neck, back up toward the sensitive patch of skin beneath his ear. She looked up at him and could see the unbidden desire in his eyes. Lois raised a hand to his face in a gentle caress. He took her hand in his, raising it to his lips and kissing first her palm and then the tips of her fingers. She threw her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair. She kissed him again, moving backward toward the bed.
Cupping her face in his hands, Clark returned the kiss. Her lips parted, allowing his tongue access. She pressed the length of her body against his as the kiss deepened. It was maddening, intoxicating. He was addicted to her, and he couldn’t get enough of her. She whimpered into his mouth. He pulled back hesitantly, his deep brown eyes meeting hers. “I, I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, his voice low and thick with emotion.
“You won’t,” Lois reassured him.
He was amazed at how she trusted him implicitly. She had so much faith in him, had no fear of his strength, was certain that he would be gentle. His nervousness did not abate entirely, but he put his faith in Lois. She wrapped her arms around his neck and their lips met again. She continued to move toward the bed and he followed. She pulled him closer and they lowered themselves to the waiting mattress. The world disappeared around him; there was nothing except Lois. The realization that they had finally arrived at this moment, at the beginning of their life together made his heart swell and he felt that it would burst in his chest and he could die of happiness at that very moment. But what a way to go. He looked down at the amazing, beautiful woman in his arms, his Lois, his wife. “I love you, Lois Lane,” he whispered.
“I love you, Clark Kent,” she said, her eyes shining brightly. She kissed him again, needing to feel his lips against hers. Her hands moved against the smooth muscled planes of his back, she needed to touch him, to feel his solid body to convince herself that it was real, that this wasn’t a dream. Even when she had assured herself that this was no dream, the need to touch him and to be touched by him was incredible and overpowering. Coherent thought gave way to passion, desire, and love that was stronger than she ever imagined possible. She felt at that moment that she was about to be swept up, in danger of being consumed by a force she was powerless to control, she welcomed the feeling.
********
Hours later, Lois woke up. Clark’s arms were wrapped around her, enveloping her in warmth and assuring her that she hadn’t been dreaming. There was a certain possessiveness in their embrace. They belonged to each other, soul, and now body as well. Clark’s hands moved in small, gentle circles over her bare skin, it was soothing and yet he managed to set her on fire everywhere that he touched her.
“I never thought…” she whispered almost reverently, unable to express in words what she was feeling, what making love to Clark had meant to her.
“You okay?” he asked softly as he dropped a kiss on the top of her head.
“Mmm, very okay,” she replied.
“You’re sure?”
“Clark!” she began. She looked up at him, and could tell that his concern was real. “Yes, I’m better than okay! That was incredible, it was beautiful, it was…”
“Wow?”
“Yeah, wow.”
“I’m glad,” he said simply. “I thought it was pretty ‘wow,’ too.” Nothing could have prepared him for the experience of making love with Lois. It was the single most incredible experience he’d ever known. His dreams didn’t even begin to compare to the real thing. Even the exhilaration that came with flying seemed pale and empty when he compared it to what he and Lois had just shared.
“I love you, Clark.” She settled her head back down on his chest.
“I love you, too,” he replied. She could feel the words rumble in his chest. She smiled in the darkness, happier than she could ever remember being. “You’ve made me so happy, Lois.” His words echoed her sentiments.
“Well, I aim to please,” she replied. She felt him laugh.
“That you do, but what I meant is that I can’t believe I get to spend the rest of my life with you. I am the luckiest guy in the world. You’ve given me everything I’ve ever dreamed of, everything I’ve ever hoped for and never believed that I could have. I love you, Lois. I need you. You make me feel whole, complete in a way that I’ve never felt before. Being with you is the most powerful thing I’ve ever experienced. You make me stronger; you make me feel like there’s nothing we can’t do together. You sustain me, Lois. Thank you.” He kissed her tenderly.
“You know, for a spaceman, you’re the most romantic person I’ve ever met. Earth guys don’t stand a chance against you.” She kissed him. “Clark, you are the best thing in my life, you are the man I never thought I would meet and I love you more than I ever thought I could love anyone. I will always love you, Clark.” She took his left hand from where it rested at her waist. She placed her left hand on top of his and threaded her fingers between his. She looked down at the gold bands on both of their hands and smiled.
“You know, I’ve loved you from the very beginning,” he said softly.
“And I’ll love you til the very end.”
They kissed tenderly at first and then with increasing passion. Lois moaned as Clark broke off the kiss. He looked over his shoulder and then turned back to her. “You want me to float us back down to the bed?” he asked.
“Not on your life, Buster,” she laughed throatily.
They kissed again. Gentle caresses stoked the fire of their mutual passion. Swept up in an endless ocean of love, in danger of drowning, two souls reaffirmed with their physical connection that though they began their journeys separated by millions of miles of desolate space, they were eternally bound–joined at the heart, intertwined and destined to travel through this life and beyond, together.