Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic The French Connection: Lois Returns (3/4)

Max had been right. The sunset was pretty…

Walking along the harbor with him, Lois almost forgot about her earlier urgency to hunt down Clark and what he knew about her memory. The golden hues swirled with magenta and indigo in the sky above them, reflecting a moving canvas of color in the harbor below.

The quiet swish of water lapping against the boats was lulling to Lois. She felt she could lose herself in the sights and sounds of Marseille…

“Lois, there is something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Max said softly, sounding a bit nervous. “We’ve been together a long while now, and even though I’d never want to push you into anything…” He stopped and turned to her, fishing something out of his pocket.

It was a small velvet box.

Lois knew where he was headed, and yet it all felt so wrong. Despite the gorgeous scenery and the idea that she loved Max, which seemed to be like a recording on a loop in her head, it all felt incredibly wrong.

Max held up the little box, not even opening it. Lois put her hand over it, almost to cover it like she hadn’t seen it.
“Max, please don’t,” she said awkwardly.

“Lois, I love you,” responded Max, undeterred.

Suddenly, three thugs jumped out from behind some boxes, each wielding a knife, startling them. “Max!” Lois cried, instinctively drawing herself closer to him for protection.

“The girl… she’s coming with us,” said one of the thugs in a heavy French accent. “Elle en a trop vu.”

Two of the guys approached Lois and Deter, looking ready to grab Lois. The walkway was narrow, and there was no place to run past the thugs, not without risking injury. Deter held Lois close to him, backing up slowly as the thugs closed in on them.

“Give us the girl,” said one of the guys, almost within reach of Lois.

Deter kept backing up, until he precipitously floundered, losing his balance on the edge of the dock. His arms flailed wildly, reaching for Lois. But as she turned at his cry, the thugs grabbed her.

Deter fell into the water with a large splash, giving the thugs a chance to carry Lois away. Lois kicked as a guy threw her over his back, while his friend gagged her and tied her hands.

She wasn’t carried far, though, as the thug set her roughly down inside a boat. The third guy sat down next to her, keeping his knife near her throat. “Si tu bouges—“ said the thug, and then he made a slicing motion across her throat.

She nodded fearfully, getting the gist of what he said, if not understanding the words.

They were in a small motor boat. The sun had set, giving them the cover of darkness to set across the harbor.

Lois watched helplessly as they moved further from the dock. She couldn’t see if Max had made it out of the water or not.

She couldn’t even speak, with the gag in her mouth, to ask what they wanted with her. Why had they taken her and not Max?

The motor was quiet enough that it wouldn’t draw attention from any passersby. And Lois was sitting down in the boat, so that her head likely didn’t show above the sides. If anyone saw it, they would probably think it was someone going for a late boat ride.

Lois tried not to panic, but she had the strangest feeling that she had been in situations like this before. Why she sensed that, she had no idea, but she thought she must be crazy to think getting kidnapped was in any way a normal occurrence.

After about ten minutes, the motor was turned off. Lois didn’t dare move until they told her to, but she could see that they weren’t that far from the harbor. She realized they must have taken her to the island where the Château was.

The thugs made her stand up and get out of the boat. With her hands tied behind her back, she had difficulty standing.
Eventually they got her out of the boat, and they were standing in front of the imposing Château, which wasn’t a castle at all, as the name implied. It had been a prison for years, and had inspired Alexandre Dumas to write The Count of Monte Cristo. Lois remembered reading a bit about it in a book Max had at the villa. As the sky was getting darker, she felt uneasy about entering the shadowy fortress, suddenly wondering if she believed in ghosts.

The men took her inside, making her walk up a winding staircase. They came to the center of the fort, which was an open format, so that one could look at the level above and below. Then they took her into a large, dark room. They sat her in a corner, leaving her sitting in an uncomfortable position, with her hands tied behind her back. Then, one of the brutes threw a newspaper up in her face, shining a flashlight on the page.

“Lois Lane,” said the guy in a heavy French accent. “C’est toi. Qu’est-ce que tu fiches ici?”

Lois stared at the photo of the smiling woman. She had enough French to understand that they wanted to know why she was there. But the irony was that she had no real idea. The woman in that picture looked like a stranger to her. She was smiling and happy, her byline in bold under the photo, proudly declaring another story written by an intrepid reporter.

She noticed another name, and another picture on the page they showed her as well. Clark Kent. He too was smiling… he seemed much more affable in this photo than the man she had encountered that afternoon. And he had said that they worked together?

Lois was getting lost in her thoughts. The thug shook the newspaper in front of her, demanding an answer.

“Oui, je suis Lois Lane,” she answered, the French feeling just about as odd on her tongue as her own name. “Pourquoi je suis ici?” Why am I here? she asked, but when she didn’t get an answer, she realized they assumed she meant it rhetorically. “Je n’ai pas de… memory?” she said, tapping herself on the head, hoping they’d understand what she meant.

The thug looked skeptical. He glanced at his comrades and leaned to whisper something to them in French. “You stay here,” he finally said in English. “Jusqu’à notre rendez-vous…. Et après, c’est Mr Hernot qui en décidera.”

Lois thought ‘décidera’ sounded like the verb for decide, and she wondered if that meant whoever Mr. Hernot was, they would wait for him to decide her fate.

The thug clicked the flashlight off and stood up. The other two thugs sat watching her. The moon was coming out, bright and silver across the sky. A sliver of light shone down through a nearby window, casting light on the newspaper they had carelessly left by her side.

The light shone on the picture of Clark Kent. Lois stared at the photo, desperate to remember anything about the man besides his strange display in the villa garden earlier. The longer she looked, the more certain she grew that there was something important that she should know about him, something that would reassure her.

But all her memories were blank…

For some reason these thugs wanted her because she was a reporter. Somehow, they must be connected to the story Clark had mentioned earlier. Gunrunners, was it?

Lois felt tears slip down her cheeks. She couldn’t even remember who she was, let alone recall chasing down any criminals… And her French wasn’t good enough to try to convince these guys that she didn’t know anything.

Her gaze once more fell on the picture of Clark Kent. She didn’t know why or how – but she thought that somehow, he was her only hope in getting out of there alive.

~L&C~

Clark was flying lazily over Marseille, trying to come up with a plan to get Lois back. He kicked himself for letting his emotions get in the way this afternoon, possibly confusing Lois by his behavior, or worse, making her scared of him. That hadn’t been his intention whatsoever. It was only that the situation frustrated him…

Clark neared the harbor, marveling as the full moon rose, its light glistening in dancing ripples on the water. He wished, not for the first time, that they could be there on their honeymoon. Marseille was a beautiful city, filled with the elegance of France and the earthiness of the Mediterranean. He could imagine walking along the beach or having dinner on the harbor, with Lois at his side. But his longings felt like wishful dreams that might never happen. Things had just gone so wrong.

Clark suddenly heard a splash in the harbor. He zoomed in his vision, and saw that a person was struggling in the water.
Clark realized that while the cover of night might make a Superman spotting less likely, a rescue might easily garner some attention. As he flew down to where the man was struggling, he changed into his Clark clothes, landing on the dock with a thud.

Clark reached into the water and grabbed a hand, as a man desperately flailed for safety. As Clark pulled him out, he realized that he had just rescued Dr. Deter. And while he wasn’t his favorite person, it only sent Clark into a panic about how this had happened to Deter and whether something worse could have happened to Lois.

“Where is she?” Clark asked impatiently, as soon as Deter coughed out some water and started breathing again, albeit irregularly.

Deter struggled to speak. “Some --thugs ---took her,” he managed to get out between gasps for air.

“Where?” demanded Clark.

Deter continued taking in gasping gulps of air, and shook his head. “I don’t know… I heard a boat. I think they must work these docks often… and Lois was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Clark released his breath in frustration, torn between wanting to fly off to find Lois and knowing he should get Deter some help. “Should I call an ambulance?” he asked, sounding just a little bit annoyed.

Deter shook his head. “No, I’ll be fine… I wasn’t in there long. I just—“ he continued breathing heavily. “I’m not a very good swimmer.”

It was then that Clark spotted it… a small velvet box, lying on the dock near Deter. Clark reached for it, unable to believe the conclusion he was coming to.

He looked at Deter, and seeing his expression, Clark knew instantly what Deter had done. Or tried to do. “Is this---were you proposing?” Clark sputtered.

Deter had the grace to look ashamed. “I—I thought—“

Clark stood up, anger boiling inside him. “You didn’t think!”

Without caring about the consequences, he took the small velvet box and crushed it in his palm. As Clark let the velvety dust scatter out of his hand, he relished the dumbfounded look that appeared on Deter’s face at such a feat. “I told you that you had no idea who you’re dealing with,” Clark ground out, his heart hammering. He had never done anything so foolish, but he was driven past sanity. This was the last straw. “Stay away from Lois!”

Clark spun into the suit, and shot up into the sky, not even staying long enough to see Deter’s astounded reaction. Clark knew he was acting recklessly, revealing his identity to Deter like that, but he was so frustrated and so angry at how Deter had manipulated Lois. The man deserved a shock…

Clark kept going upwards, until he was almost to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere. Then he slowed down, and let himself drift slowly back to Earth, as he tried to regain his calm. Who knew what Deter would do with the knowledge that he was Superman?
But did it even matter? If he never got Lois back, what did any of it matter anymore?

Ah, but it did matter. Lois needed him, no matter what Deter did with his new-found knowledge. Besides, he had no proof of what he had seen, and the remnants of the box had scattered into the water. Any doctor could say Deter was delusional.
Clark forced his worries about Deter to the back of his mind.

He needed to find Lois. He would deal with Deter later.

As Clark neared Marseille, he scanned the docks where he had left Deter. There was no sign of him. Then Clark turned his focus on Lois, and concentrated, searching for her heartbeat, a sound he had memorized long ago.

His own heart leapt in response as he honed in on the sound, coming from the mysterious Château D’Îf, which sat across the harbor like a stone monster, bobbing on the horizon. He flew across the harbor, wondering if he should appear as Clark or Superman. But then recalling his behavior as Clark last time he had seen her, he thought Superman might have a better chance of reaching her.

Clark scanned the building. Despite the array of lead pipes and lead bars, he easily spotted her through the mortared walls. He also saw a handful of men nearby, most likely the thugs that had captured her. Clark almost smiled, knowing that at least the rescue would be fairly easy. He swept in quickly, rounding up the three men. He then flew across to the mainland and deposited them in front of a police station, tied up with some rope lying around the harbor.

Clark flew back to Lois, creating a sonic boom in the air.
When he landed in front of her, she stared back at him with a shocked look on her face, still handcuffed. “You—you—how did—you—“ she sputtered.

While Lois’ shocked expression at his speed in dispatching her captors was endearing, reminding him of their early times together, it also brought him sadness. What he and Lois had built before the clone disaster had been so much more special. He longed for her to look into his eyes and know that her rescuer was Clark, and that she was safe – and loved.

He approached her slowly, not wanting to scare her. “Care for a rescue, Miss Lane?” he asked flippantly, hiding the depths of his true emotions.

She nodded, turning slightly so he could reach her handcuffs. Clark easily broke them off her wrists and helped her to a standing position. “Superman,” was all she said, her brow knotted together. It was like she was trying to solve a puzzle, and Clark longed to help her put the pieces together.

“Fly with me?” he asked instead, hoping their closeness would help her.

Lois nodded, though she still looked uncertain as she stepped into his arms. Clark lifted her gently, relishing holding her again, her long limbs cradled close to his body, her arms wrapped around his neck. They took off from the middle of Château D’Îf, shooting up into the moon-filled sky. Clark floated them along the coast, not wanting to take her back to the city just yet – if at all. He certainly didn’t want to take her back to Deter.

Clark glanced down at her, Lois’ eyes round as saucers, though more with curiosity than fear. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I know it sounds strange, but I feel like I know you somehow, though I don’t have any memory of seeing you before.”

Her words pierced his heart, and Clark had to fight past the lump in his throat at her words. “Lois, we do know each other. Very well, in fact,” he answered huskily.

“Oh? So you’ve rescued me before?” she asked, intrigued.

“Yes. Many times, actually.”

“Am I so careless?” Her question sounded self-incriminating.

Clark fought the urge to hug her closer. “Not careless, really. Just—passionate. Dedicated to finding the truth.”

“The truth, huh?” was her rhetorical answer. “I wish I knew the truth about myself. I’m so lost… all of my memories are---scattered, into the wind,” she said, tossing her hand out into the air. The gesture threw off her balance a bit, making her turn in towards Clark a little closer. “Sorry.”

He shifted his hold, so she was more secure in his grasp. “It’s okay, Lois,” he said softly. “Maybe you shouldn’t talk… and just enjoy the view.”

She smiled, making Clark smile in return. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew that somehow she’d come back to him. For now, though, he was happy to just hold her.

~L&C~

Lois couldn’t believe the view. For miles, sandy beaches and rugged coastlines stretched below them. Under the full moon, it was like a dream, like flying in a Van Gogh painting, a swirling sea of a diamond studded sky.

But what was more extraordinary was how easily she had accepted her rescuer’s amazing abilities. As soon as he had whisked those thugs away and had returned, setting her free, she knew everything would be all right. And flying with him, while amazing, seemed almost—natural, habitual even.

Lois closed her eyes for a moment, thinking. None of this made sense. She knew Deter’s proposal had felt out of place, and yet, in Superman’s arms, she somehow felt like she belonged.
Even the astonishing view, while gorgeous, didn’t seem right. For some reason, she longed for a city skyline instead of a rugged cliff, and a river rather than an endless sea.

She sighed and opened her eyes once more. Superman was carefully observing her, and she had the feeling that he was hiding something from her. But looking into his eyes, she saw something there that made her think he had all the answers she had been searching for.

“Could we land somewhere? And maybe talk?” she asked.

“Sure,” he responded, immediately slowing their speed.

“There’s a nice cliff just over there.” Superman nodded to a spot a few hundred feet ahead.

Lois savored the last few moments of the flight, closing her eyes once more as she snuggled closer into his embrace. She breathed in his scent, a mix of laundry soap and his own clean musk, which smelled so familiar. She couldn’t explain why she felt so comfortable with him, but the feeling without knowledge as to why almost made her want to cry. She felt so incredibly lost…

They landed softly on the hill, a large white cliff covered with sandy grass. The surf splashed some hundred feet below them. Lois gently stepped out of Superman’s embrace, yet she didn’t look away from him. She wrapped her arms defensively around herself as she tried to conjure a memory with him—or any memory she might have had before Max.

“How do we know each other?” she asked eventually.

Superman sighed, his hands sitting loosely on his hips. “I’m not sure how much to tell you, Lois. I was told to let you find your memories on your own.”

She nodded, glancing away. “I wish people would stop saying that. I wish Max would quit saying that. Look, I just—feel there is something between us,” she blurted, gesturing between the two of them. “Am I crazy?”

Superman stepped towards her, a soft yet anguished look on his face. “No, Lois. You’re not crazy,” he replied tenderly.

Tears were in her eyes as she met his again. “I’m tired of feeling so—lost. And I just don’t trust Max anymore… he—proposed, and it just felt so wrong, but I don’t know why.”
She laughed a little self-deprecatingly. “It’s like my head tells me I love him, but my heart isn’t so sure—isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?”

“Lois, I—“ he started, but then held himself back.

“What? What is it you were going to say, Superman? I’m so tired of everyone being careful about what they say to me… and I just wish—“ Lois turned to Superman, an idea starting to form. She watched him carefully, observing his handsome features and sinewy body, clad in spandex. She realized she was attracted to him, but there was something else there, just below the surface, that she suddenly wanted to explore.

He seemed to sense she was planning something. “What is it?” he asked, sounding intrigued.

She shook her head, feeling ridiculous. “It’s nothing.”

He stepped a little nearer to her. “It’s not nothing. Whatever it is, just ask. I’ll do it. I promise.”

She contemplated that offer for a moment. “Well, what do I have to lose, right?” She started pacing, playing with her hands as she spoke. “I just had this silly notion—I don’t know, you know how in stories the princess is cured or whatever with a—a kiss?” she said, glancing shyly at him. “I just wonder, with this connection between us, whatever it is—what if I remembered everything if you kissed me. Silly right?”

Superman stood right before her, his hand gently taking hers. “It’s not silly, Lois,” he said softly. “In fact, I’d be honored if you let me kiss you.”

“Oh?” she said, a little breathless at the thought. “Well, I’m kinda out of any other ideas… so, what could it hurt?” she whispered, slowly moving in closer to him.

“Indeed,” he spoke softly, his breath on her cheek.

A cool wind whipped around them, Superman’s cape fluttering around her legs, beckoning her to stand ever closer in his embrace. At last, his lips touched hers. The kiss did feel familiar, but she couldn’t focus on why, too distracted by what the kiss was doing to her senses. As his lips moved over hers, gently yet unobtrusively, she felt her whole body come to life. She pulled him closer to her, his cape practically cocooning them against the wind as his spandex clad body molded to hers.

The kiss was all at once extraordinary—and somehow familiar.
When at last the kiss broke, he looked down at her almost expectantly, with hope shining in his eyes.

“Well, princess? Did it work?” he teased.

She unconsciously pulled her lips inward, as if she could hold onto the taste of him and somehow find herself in the remnants of his kiss. Eventually she shook her head. “But we’ve kissed before, haven’t we?”

His fingers gently reached for her face, lightly stroking her hair back as the wind kept obstructing her vision. “Yes,” he answered huskily.

He stared down at her a moment, seeming to get lost in his own thoughts.

“What is it, Superman?” she asked.

He stepped away from her, turning to face the sea, which was starting to grow more turbulent as a storm rolled in. “I can’t do this anymore… I can’t hide from you who I am or what we are to each other.” He turned around to face her again, his cape fluttering ever more fiercely as the wind began to pick up. “I’ve stood by and watched too many times… I’ve let you slip out of my life, even though it killed me every time. I even let Dr. Deter bring you here – in the vain hope that you’d come back to me somehow… but passively hoping isn’t enough anymore. I miss you, Lois. I miss us,” he said with a heavy sigh.

“Us? “she asked, intrigued.

Superman nodded his head. “And there’s something else, Lois. You know me by another name… and I miss hearing you say it, especially when I’m dressed like this,” he said gesturing towards his costume. “Because when I hear my real name on your lips, and I’m dressed as Superman, I know that you see the real me. And I think I miss that most of all.”

“The real you?” she queried, eying him carefully.

The wind was growing ever more intense and Superman looked around, frustrated. “It seems every time we need to have a serious talk, we get interrupted by the weather. Lois, just tell me. Have you had enough of Dr. Deter? Can I take you home? To your real home?”

He waited patiently as she weighed her options. Lois knew she felt something for this strange, passionate man who could fly… and Dr. Deter? Well, he had put her in a box, expecting her to be happy in the little life he had constructed for her. And Superman—he offered the expanse of the sky and the safety of his arms—and she thought, possibly even the love in his heart.

She stepped closer to him, just as it started to rain. “Take me home, Superman.”

~L&C~

French Translations Many thanks to Nanou1983 for helping me get the nuances authentic!

“Elle en a trop vu.” She has seen too much.
“Si tu bouges—“ said the thug, and then he made a slicing motion across her throat. Pretty sure the thug makes it clear here, but it means 'If you move.'

“C’est toi. Qu’est-ce que tu fiches ici?” It's you. What are you doing here?

"Oui, je suis Lois Lane...“Je n’ai pas de… memory?” Yes, I am Lois Lane... I don't have any...memory.

“Jusqu’à notre rendez-vous…. Et après, c’est Mr Hernot qui en décidera.”Until our rendezvous (meeting). And then, it is Mr. Hernot who will decide.

Inside Château D'Îf


The layout


[img:center]https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hph...28e08cf3f6a8b1f56f8d0fec&oe=5432B57C[/img] I can't get the third image to display... not sure why.