Chapter 12: The Bomb “Lois,” Clark shouted down the phone. “LOIS!” He stood up from his desk in shock. People looked up from their desks, but he ignored them. He focussed his super-hearing through the phone and when he heard her scream he dropped the phone and immediately ran, at human speed, for the stairwell then super-sped up and out to the roof.
He didn’t think he’d ever done such a fast change and he knew he’d never flown as fast in his life.
Coast City. That’s 2,400 miles. At ‘speeding bullet’ speed that’s still gonna take me ... too long. I need to go ten times faster. And he sped up, terror urging him onwards at ever increasing speeds.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lois experienced the fastest lifetime recap ever as the chunk of ceiling dropped.
Mom drinking, Dad leaving, looking after Lucy, college, work, more work, award, Clark, Lucy, Clark ... home .... As she raised her hands to shield her face, one final thought came to her.
I should tell him. Somehow the ceiling missed Lois by inches, smashing to the floor just to her right but crushing her phone. She scrambled to her feet and stumbled for the exit. Her ears were ringing, making all sounds muffled as if there were cotton wadded up in her ears. A quick glance behind revealed the devastation and her mouth dropped open in shock. The conference room was inaccessible, the doors a tangled mess, and piles of debris were streaming down through a wide open hole in the ceiling.
A second explosion rocked the building again at that moment and Lois watched as supporting columns in the lobby began to collapse around her. More sections of ceiling began to fall and she turned to head for the exit again, this time desperately dodging multiple chunks of falling concrete.
Just as she made it to a gaping hole in the wall she was struck from behind, something impacting on her skull.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The closer he got to Coast City the more he tried to focus on Lois’ heartbeat. The terror that he always buried deep in the forgotten corners of his heart and mind surfaced with a vengeance.
I wasn’t there. I couldn’t save her. There were so many heartbeats, so many shouts for help as he landed, only minutes after setting off.
My goodness I must have been flying at nearly light-speed, came a dispassionate thought in the back of his mind.
Seeing the devastation he knew he couldn’t waste time being selfish and looking specifically for her, so he just dived straight in and began removing rubble, hoping desperately that he would come across her anyway. As he focussed on the task at hand it also cleared his mind and eventually he started to hear a steady thumping.
Lois, he breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could discern a direction he was interrupted.
“Superman!” came a deep, familiar and authoritative voice. “What are you doing here?”
He turned round to see Coast City’s resident hero. “Lantern,” he acknowledged. “I’m here to help.”
“Obviously,” he chuckled. “I mean, how did you know, how did you get here?”
“I was, uhm, on the phone with Lois Lane and heard the explosion.”
“You!” Green Lantern pointed at him incredulously. “On the phone? ... with Lois Lane!” He tipped his head to one side and then his expression lightened with realisation. “Well, she is your unofficial publicist.”
“Yes, but now I can’t find her and there’s too much destruction to waste time on one particular person.”
“I understand.” He turned and began lifting chunks of masonry with the green glow emanating from his ring.
Time moved on and Superman and Green Lantern rescued dozens of delegates and press but the pile of bodies was also growing. Clark let the beating heart he was focussed on spur him on but he wouldn’t let himself aim directly for her so he refused to work out which direction it was coming from. The despair at the loss of life warred inside with his hope over continuing to hear Lois’ heartbeat.
“Hey,” came a shout from behind. “I’ve found her.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lois awoke to the sensation of flying.
Superman. But when she opened her eyes she was surrounded by a green glow and held by unfamiliar arms.
“Green Lantern!” she exclaimed.
“Oh, Miss Lane, you’re awake.” He looked down at her.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
“I’m taking you to hospital.”
“What!” she struggled against his arms. “I’m fine, put me down and get back to the conference.”
A superhero shouldn’t waste time taking an uninjured person to hospital, she thought.
“No,” he spoke clearly and held her tight. “It’s okay. Superman’s there. But the only way I could get
him to stay and keep helping was for
me to promise that I’d get you to hospital. He was originally determined to take you himself. I’ll drop you off and go straight back, but he can help more than I could.”
Superman was willing to stop the rescue to take me to hospital! Lois was a little confused but she filed the information away in her memory for later thought and started to plan the fastest route back to the scene of the destruction.
Green Lantern dropped her off at the entrance to an Emergency department. “Please, get yourself seen to.” He looked at her, somehow knowing what she planned. “He made me promise. Don’t be responsible for me breaking my word to Superman.”
She immediately felt her teeth grit together and she growled. “Ugh,” then she sighed in resignation. “Okay.” When he peered at her, attempting to work out whether she meant it or not, she shooed him away with her arms. “I promise. Now go.”
While she waited to see a doctor she found a payphone and called Clark. “Hi, this is Clark Kent. Leave a message.”
“Clark, I’m fine, don’t worry. Tell Perry I’ll have him an exclusive later on today. Eyewitness account ... journalist on the spot ... Green Lantern ... Superman. It’ll have it all.” She hung up and went back to her seat.
He had to play the promise to Superman card, she grumbled silently.
After she’d been discharged, diagnosed with ‘minor bump on the head’ and ‘major impatience’, Lois made her way back to the disaster site complete with painkillers gracing her handbag.
Superman and Green Lantern were still attempting further rescues even though hours had passed. Lois waited patiently until they stopped the rescue effort. She closed her eyes to rest and let the pounding pain subside. She opened them suddenly when she heard shouts. She was just in time to see Green Lantern flying away surrounded by his signature green glow. Superman strode away from the scene and Lois ran after him.
“Superman!” He turned and looked at her, bleakness in his eyes. But as he blinked and focussed on her she saw that wash away to be replaced by ... something she must be misinterpreting.
“Miss Lane!” he said quietly. “Do you want an interview, or a quote?” he asked wearily.
“What just happened?” She raised her arm in the direction Green Lantern had gone, her tone making it clear that it was not a professional interview question but just curiosity.
“We found a third bomb still live. Green Lantern shielded it and has flown away to a safe distance.” She watched the shutters come down over his eyes again and he turned away. “And I can no longer hear any heartbeats.”
He sat down on a low wall and rested his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together out in front. Lois sat down next to him and she felt her heart break for him as he hung his head.
“I couldn’t save them all. Why couldn’t I save them all?” She heard the raw emotion in his voice and felt a tear run down her own cheek. He looked up and turned to her. He reached out a hand and brushed her cheek. “At least you are safe. I don’t know what I would have done if ...” Lois knew she must have looked shocked at his words, as he stopped and pulled away.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“No!” she grasped his hand to keep him from pulling away. “It’s okay. I know you care about me, Superman. I know you care about
everyone.” She explained away his feelings as being part of his general compassion. He smiled at her.
“Look, um, there’s something I need to talk to you about. I ...” she paused then stood up and walked away a few paces. “I need a friend. A good friend, as I think I’m about to embark on a ... difficult period in my life. I need someone I can talk to about things, about how I’m feeling. Can I come to you?”
“You know you can talk to me about anything, Lois.” She heard a little confusion in his voice.
“Not, now. I need to speak to Clark first.”
“Clark! But I ...” he stood and his expression changed again. “You and Clark?”
“Yes, me and Clark. When I’ve talked to him, can I come and find you? I ... uh ... think I will need friendly support.”
“I’m always here for you, Lois.”
Is that upset in his tone? Why would he be upset? “Thank you,” she said and reached up to kiss him on the cheek. “Now about that interview and quote.”
He chuckled and smiled at her. “Of course, Miss Lane.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
All the way back to Metropolis Clark fought the despair creeping into his soul.
It can’t possibly be as bad as I think. Of course she’s going to want to talk to me ... as Clark. But why would she then need to confide in Superman afterwards? Confide things she can’t tell Clark ... her fiancé.
Unless. He landed at home and sped inside his apartment without being seen.
Unless, there is no ‘fiancé’ after she speaks to Clark. His knees buckled, whether from the physical and mental exertion of the rescue or from the emotional impact of what Lois was about to do to Clark, and he collapsed onto his bed.
Clark checked the clock. It was late evening, well past the time Lois had taken to calling him for their daily, platonic chats. He knew what she was doing. He knew how much she valued him as a friend. For years they had been each other’s sounding board and go-to friend whenever life was overwhelming and she clearly missed that as she wasn’t in the office with him day by day.
So she called ... and they chatted ... and it was perfectly natural. Except for the giant white elephant that no-one mentioned ... their change in status.
He sped to the shower and washed in super-quick time. As he exited the bathroom and wandered into his bedroom, towelling off the last drops of water, the phone began to ring.
He immediately stilled and turned to look at the phone.
Here it comes, he thought and his stomach dropped into his feet.
“Clark Kent,” he answered, just in case it wasn’t Lois.
“Clark, where the heck have you been?” She was fuming.
“Um,” he spoke but the nerves kept his mind from working fast enough to explain why he hadn’t been around to answer the phone all afternoon.
“I screamed at you down the phone this afternoon. The conference was bombed and every time I tried to call, you weren’t there. I’m supposed to be your fiancée. Clark what is going on?”
He found it hard to breathe for a moment, excitement taking over.
She called herself my fiancée. Maybe it’s not over. “I ran for Superman the moment I heard your call. Ever since then I’ve been ... working.”
“Working! Where? Because you never answered your office phone and your mobile must have been in a signal black-spot and I’ve been calling your apartment every ten minutes this evening.”
The difficulties of this situation just brought home to Clark how important it was that he tell her the truth as soon as possible. But over the phone was not the way to reveal such a gigantic secret. TWO gigantic secrets.
“Lois, it’s a bit complicated.”
“Complicated. How complicated can it be? I was almost in the middle of a terrorist attack. Thankfully, I was on the phone to you just outside the conference room otherwise I could have ... I could have ...” and that’s when he heard the shock and the terror that was underlying her anger, and her voice cracked.
“Lois, I’m so sorry,” he spoke earnestly and the despair hit him again. He felt like he was back in the rubble pulling out lifeless bodies. The thought that Lois had nearly been one of them had him gritting his teeth to help keep his composure. He made such stupid mistakes as Superman this afternoon. His emotional reactions to Lois had been uncharacteristic, even atypical of Superman.
Was that part of Lois’ reason for a ‘talk’ with Clark followed by a ‘talk’ with Superman? “Clark, I ...” he heard her take a shuddering breath and knew that she was holding back tears. “I could have died and I just, I needed to talk to you. The way we left things ... about our engagement. I ...”
“It’s all right, Lois. I wish I could have been there for you, more than you can know, or understand. But, once you get back we will talk. I will be able to explain everything to you then. I can tell you ... Well, I can explain, and I hope you will understand.” He practically begged for her understanding with his tone.
“Yes. There are things I need to say too, but not over the phone. I’ll come back as soon as I finish up the story, Clark. In a few days.” She spoke quietly, all the anger having drained away once she’d vented it.
“Okay, I’ll be waiting.”
After she hung up Clark climbed into bed and stared up at the ceiling while his mind processed the day. He’d had to accept his inability to be omnipresent early on in his career as Superman, but he never came to terms with loss of life. The despair and anguish would tear at him, but never more than this day. Lois could have been one of them. And she was usually the one to help him through it, without her ever knowing it. Whenever he turned up at the office carrying his ‘Superman emotional baggage’ she’d call him on it, although she would never know what was causing his mood. And before long she’d have him laughing, or teasing, or engaging in playful banter.
And he was strengthened to carry on another day.
But she wasn’t here tonight, and she was going through her own emotional rollercoaster.
As he pondered all her words to both Clark and Superman he, once again, began to worry that she was going to call it off. And then true despondency hit him. She’d never be there for him again, as this would probably end their friendship.
And then he decided ...
He would tell her anyway.
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