Super Shook Up TOC The final part! Finally! (Of course, there will be an epilogue... as soon as it decides to finish itself. It's almost there. :))
from part 5:
Clark leaned his side against the couch, probably for a bit more support. "So, how is it that I can do all this? Where did these powers come from?"
Where *did* they come from? She wasn't exactly sure. Superman was just Superman. She was pretty sure he got his energy from the sun and told him as much. But then there was the hard part...
"Clark, you're Kryptonian."
"Cryptwhatian?"
"Kryptonian. You're... an alien."
He paled. "I think I'm gonna be sick."~~~Part 6~~~
It'd taken a lot of coaxing and reassuring on Lois’s part, and he’d made her repeat what she'd told him already, before he started to relax a bit. Sure, "I’m an alien" was still reverberating loudly in his mind, but there was something about the way she talked about him that made it okay. There was caring, compassion, and a strongly instilled sense of... it wasn’t hero-worship. It was more like... she found Superman--him--as something to believe in, to build a few hopes around. And she’d mentioned those same qualities in Clark, too. She’d all but told him she loved him, and that was enough for now.
She’d gone to make them some tea, and he could hear her shuffling around his kitchen, albeit much calmer than when she’d been in her kitchen. He grinned. It was no wonder he loved Lois; she was passionate and smart and slightly high-strung all rolled into one, a fascinating mixture of perfect with a little crazy thrown in.
Lois reentered the living area, carrying a tray with two teacups and the necessary accoutrements. She smiled softly as she set the tray down on the coffee table and reclaimed her seat next to him on the sofa.
"Oolong tea," she said.
He nodded his thanks as she handed him a steaming cup. Her hand brushed his and he felt his skin tingle. Their eyes met for a moment, but she looked away quickly as if she’d noticed too but wasn’t sure what to do about it.
"You gave me the same box of tea once. You said this kind was really calming. I don’t think I ever got around to making it, though. I don’t do calm well. It makes me edgy."
He found himself grinning again, and she smiled shyly back.
"Are you edgy now?" he asked softly.
"Me? No. Not at all. Why do you ask?" She reached a hand to smooth down her already smooth hair. "Do I look edgy?"
Her heartbeat suddenly filled his senses, an erratic flutter. A small voice reminded him he had super hearing and that he ought to tell Lois it was working. But his heart was beating its own staccato rhythm, and there was no force in this world, let alone a small inner voice, that could make him end this moment. He was going to kiss her, and he’d make damn sure he wouldn’t forget this one.
He set his teacup down on the coffee table and said, "No, you look..." He paused, a little unsure, then forged on. "You look beautiful."
His heart started racing faster as he watched a blush rise in her cheeks, and that only made her look more beautiful. He leaned slightly closer to her, and she started babbling again.
"I’m sure I look a mess. It’s been a rough couple of days... well, I guess they’ve been rougher for you, losing your memory and saving the world and all..."
He watched her eyes flit to his mouth and realized he must have done the same. He shook his head. "No, not a mess. Beautiful," he repeated.
Her heartbeat was thrumming in his ears. She inhaled softly, and he went for it, closing the distance between them until their lips met, softly at first, then more insistently. She sighed, leaning closer still. He brought a hand up to cup her cheek, his fingers splaying across her soft skin.
Memories flashed in his mind. The inside of an airplane and Lois giving him a tender kiss goodbye... a newsroom and him giving her a farewell kiss... a bright room, racing hearts, and he was on top of her, kissing her passionately... a tarmac on a blustery day and she was kissing him almost dreamily... another tarmac, crowded with people, and she was kissing him goodbye again--for luck...
All of them ruses or farewells. But this, now, this was real. She was warm against him, willing and more than.... Oh, he was thinking too much. Feeling. He should be feeling. Her lips, her tongue, the warmth of their breath mingling as they parted, barely, and gasped for air.
They sat, mere inches separating them. His eyes searched hers, drank in the sight of her, and he leaned in again to recapture her lips.
A sharp rapping at the door startled them both apart. Lois, wide-eyed and breathing heavily, just stared for a half a second. Another knock, but neither of them moved.
"Clark, open up! It's Jimmy," came a muffled voice through the door.
Lois sat back and gave him a worried look before she stood and moved toward the front door. "Something must be wrong."
Clark followed her up the stairs onto the landing, still unsettled by both the kiss and the sudden interruption. Who was Jimmy?
She opened the door quickly, out of breath, and he wondered fleetingly if it was from her rushed trip to the door or his kiss. Before he could ponder that further, a young man came through the door hurriedly and turned to face them on the landing.
"Thank god I found you guys! Didn't you hear? EPRAD said that Superman didn't get rid of all of the asteroid. There's a large chunk of it still on course for Earth. We don't have much time and Superman's still missing."
Well, he could solve one problem for the young man--if he was Superman, he wasn't missing any longer. He was about to open his mouth to say so when he felt a sharp tug on his arm.
Lois spoke before he could. "We'll find him, Jimmy. He's got to be out there somewhere. Why don't you head back to the Planet and see if you can pull up any sightings of anything having fallen from the sky last night. Clark and I will hit the streets and look for Superman."
Jimmy nodded vigorously. "Good thinking, Lois. I'll call your cell as soon as I find anything."
"Thanks, Jimmy."
The young man hurried away again, and Lois shut the door after him.
"Why didn't you tell him, Lois?" It didn't seem right send Jimmy off to research when they both knew exactly where Superman was.
Her hand was still on his arm and she turned him gently towards her. "No one else knows, Clark." Her eyes were full of concern. "At least, I'm pretty sure no one does. I mean, if you hadn't told me, you certainly wouldn't have told Jimmy. Besides, as far as we can tell, Superman *is* still missing." She raised her hand to touch his temple. "We have to get you your memory back."
He nodded resolutely in understanding and then headed back to the couch. Lois followed and they sat facing each other.
"Now, is there anything you remember?" she asked. "Besides you always editing my copy?" She gave him a teasing grin, though there was still a touch of anxiety in her voice.
He smiled in return as he searched his mind. Their shared kisses flashed through his mind again in sequence. A brief image of Lois making coffee and chastising him for all the full cream and sugar he put into his own cup. And then, an image of him throwing Lois, dressed in an evening gown, in a dumpster. He tried not to laugh out loud. Maybe she wouldn't appreciate him recounting that, but he'd definitely have to ask her later how that had happened.
She was looking at him expectantly. "Anything?"
"Little things are starting to come back. Nothing about Superman, though."
Why was the Clark part of him filtering back, but he couldn't remember anything about Superman? He strained for a super memory, anything, but all he got was a tight knot of anxiety deep in his gut. He glanced around his living room, searching for something that might trigger a memory of Superman. Knickknacks, books, a wine rack, photographs. Nowhere was there a flash of the red, blue, or S Lois had made him wear earlier. She'd said no one else knew, so obviously he kept that part of himself well-hidden. He almost laughed at the irony. Apparently he kept it so well-hidden even he couldn't find it now. Was that the reason he couldn't remember? No, that just seemed silly. Obviously he'd known he was Superman.
His gaze traveled back to the photographs on his mantel. There was one of him and Lois. He smiled, searching for the memory that matched his smiling face, her carefree expression, and the little bear she was holding. There --the Smallville Corn Festival. He'd won that bear for her. No anxiety this time. Why was that? Was there something so terrible about Superman that he was repressing the man in blue altogether? Something terrifying?
What was he afraid of? He pushed harder for a memory. A flash of darkness, pricked by streaks of light, hit him. He was falling. Choking. Burning. Crashing... No!
He looked back at Lois. She'd apparently been waiting patiently for him to remember something. But there was anxiety written all over her face, matching what he felt inside.
"What's wrong?"
She worried at her lower lip for a moment, as if she were afraid to say what she was thinking, but then she said, "Jimmy said we're running out of time, that a piece of the asteroid is still headed for Earth." Her look turned to one of fear and anguish. "Oh, Clark. What are we going to do?"
His heart sank, and he wished there was something he *could* do. "I don't know."
She leaned into him and he pulled her into an embrace, stroking her hair as her head came to rest against his chest.
"I don't want to die," she whispered into him. He could feel her body start to tremble, barely perceptible, as if she were trying to hold back her emotions.
And then something inside of him clicked into place. His mind was flooded with images. Red and blue. The cape. Him in the suit. Saving her. Again. And again. He felt a sharp pull in his chest, his heart racing. Losing Lois was not OK. His chest tightened. The anxiety was there again in his gut. But this time it was different. This time…
He remembered how he felt in all those moments, saving Lois, almost not making it. The fear was almost paralyzing. Losing Lois was. Not. OK.
He couldn’t lose her now.
***
She tried to fight away the fear in her chest. She didn't have time to be afraid; they needed to get Clark his memory back. She needed Superman.
But it wasn't fair to be crying against him now, not when he had to be just as worried and scared. She didn't need Superman--the world did. What she needed was Clark here to hold her and assure her everything was going to be all right, even if it wasn't. If she was going to die, there wasn't any place she'd rather be but in Clark's arms. It was selfish of her, though, to hold on to this moment as if it were her last. There was still hope. There had to be.
Suddenly she was filled with a fresh surge of determination. She pushed away from Clark, gently but hurriedly, and then she stood and started pacing. She had a new plan.
Bubbling with newfound excitement, she spoke, "We should call your parents, Clark. They'll know what to do. They can help. Oh, no... do you remember their number?
"No, I--"
"No? Oh, boy. That's not good. Think, Lois. Maybe I have it written down somewhere or... Ooh, I know! Perry'll have it. We can call the Pla--"
"No, Lois. I mean we don't need to call them."
She stopped mid-pace and turned to look at him. That voice... it was deeper, confident, and it was Superman's.
The End
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