So here's the second part. I hope you'll enjoy.
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Part 2
Unbeknownst to her the man lying on the ground began to open his eyes. She didn’t see his struggle to move his limbs. The man who used to carry space shuttles into the orbit and keep bridges up with his bare hands was too weak to move anything apart from his eyelids. She never saw him closing his eyes as the blackness threatened to overcome him again. And she also didn’t know that the only thing keeping him awake was her; hearing her cry desperately made him want to calm her, kiss her and be there for her.
Lois couldn’t stop crying. The words ‘I’, ‘killed’, and ‘Clark’ kept dancing through her mind, searing themselves forever into her memory.
Finally she couldn’t take being away from him anymore, she had to see him. She had to feel his skin against hers.
She moved over to the lifeless body of her fiancé, stumbling several times due to her blurry vision. She didn’t care; all she wanted was to hold him, just for one last time feel his body near her as it was still warm. Perhaps she could pretend for some bittersweet moments that he was still alive and with her.
She sat beneath his head and lifted it gently onto her lap, stroking his gelled hair with her hand and touching his pale lips lovingly. The warm breeze on her hand where her fingertips connected with his face felt almost like a shallow breath. If she could just turn back time, perhaps she could do something different. Perhaps she could save him somehow.
Her tears were still flowing freely. Some fell on his face as she leaned over him, leaving wet trails. Gently she wiped them away, not wanting to stain the memory of his perfect features with her tears.
As she gazed lovingly into his face and traced his features with her fingertips and knuckles, she thought she could see his eyes moving under the closed lids. Lois shook her head and wiped her eyes. Her mind was playing tricks with her. The tears still made her vision blurry.
But there was it again! It couldn’t be. Lois wiped her eyes a second time and looked more closely, hoping against all odds she didn’t just imagine the movement.
His eyes were moving!
“Clark!” Lois cried. Desperately searching for another sign that he was alive, she took his hand into hers in the hope of feeling his fingers closing around hers, a sign of him grabbing on to his life and to her. “Open your eyes, please, honey!” She was cupping his face with the palm of her other hand and stroking his face with her thumb. Her desperate voice was interrupted by the hiccups from the still freely flowing tears. She leaned down to kiss him with frenzied desperation. In hope of luring him back to consciousness and back to her she put all her passion and love into this connection until she felt him kiss her back.
He complied and groaned weakly. “Lois?” Even the combined sounds of the sea breeze, the splashing of the waves and the distant hum of the freighter’s machines were constantly threatening to drown his voice. “Are you ok?” Every word he said was carefully chosen, even talking seemed to tire him out at the moment. But she knew why he didn’t stop, he wanted to comfort her. “Why are… you crying?” He tried to move his head to get a better look at her but he was still too weak.
“Oh Clark! You’re alive!” she cried happily and bent down to kiss him again as if her life depended on it. As always it was typical for him to think of her first, regardless of his state. Her tears were still flowing but now they were tears of happiness. “Please forgive me! I didn’t know what I was doing; I couldn’t do anything against it. Oh Clark, how can I forgive myself for almost killing you.”
“Lois, what… are you… talking about?” He was barely coherent but still his voice was full of concern.
“I… I shot you with kryptonite. Oh god, Clark, I thought I killed you. I’m so sorry! Max – no Deter –” She said as she was still fighting off the last remnants of the hypnosis, “the doctor from the Neuroscience Center had a deal with Lex and manipulated me with Mendenhall’s contraption. I shot you, Clark! How could I do that? How can you not hate me?”
“Lois, ssh… calm… down!” Clark said, still being too weak to be able to deal with her babbling “I don’t… hate you.” He paused to catch his breath. “I just need sun and you… please stay.” Then he stopped, having just realized the significance of something she had just said. “Are you… back?” Clark’s voice already sounded a bit stronger and hopeful at the prospect of finally having her back for good.
“I… I think I remember everything; it all came flooding back too late, when I saw what I’d done. Are you in pain?” Lois asked, willing to do everything for him in hope of easing the still strong guilt. “Can I do anything for you? Do you need anything?” Then, as the sound of steady footsteps crunching splinters of glass and pieces of rusting metal could be heard from afar, announcing others nearing the place where Lois and Clark were, she said in fear, “We have to leave; it is probably Lex or Deter coming to see the body. Can you move?”
He struggled to no avail, he could move his limbs a bit but he was still too weak. “No. But Lois, you go! Please run!” The fear he felt for her life giving him strength. “Don’t… let them get you again! I’ll pretend to be dead. It is our only chance! Please, I am too heavy. And I’m sure Lex and Deter won’t do the dirty work themselves. Now go, I’ll manage.” Clark's voice became desperate. “I think… I can still influence my pulse as I did when we tested the virtual reality center. You remember Jaxon Xavier… so they won’t be able to feel for it.”
“But Clark!” Lois refused to leave his side. She was torn between the wish not to leave him and the knowledge that what he said was right. Even if she had been able to move him, she would only be able to pull his body. The trails on the dirty ground would lead whoever was coming directly to them. But it seemed too risky to leave him, what if Deter or Lex did something to kill him just to be sure? But he was right, as hard as it was, she couldn’t do anything. Her hand felt for his and she squeezed before leaving him, fearing what could happen in the next few minutes.
Lois ran to the laser and grabbed it to avoid the risk of anyone taking and using it to shoot Clark ever again. Then she hid behind some huge crates near Clark, hoping that he would be okay and that they could both come out of this alive.
Just seconds after she had crouched down, she could hear one of the two men responsible for this terrible situation coming up to the place where Clark was lying. Lois felt her heart was beating hard and fast; and her breathing came in short gasps; she feared it was audible not only to her but to Lex as well. The sounds he made told her it was Lex. She also recognized the tune he whistled; it was an opera by Pucchini, although she couldn’t remember which one exactly. They were Lex’ favorite operas and he took her to one when they were dating. Lois suppressed a shudder when that memory surfaced – her together with Lex in his limousine. There was the sound of something being put on the ground. Lois froze in fear. Had Lex brought another weapon with him?
All she could do now was to sit and wait, not knowing what it was.
She held her breath for fear of being discovered and when she had to release it, it seemed a lot louder than the light summer breeze she could feel.
“Ah, the sweet sight of victory!” she heard Lex say, his voice dripping of smugness. “Finally I beat you. It is still hard to believe that you, the almighty superhero and this softy Kent are one and the same. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, probably I still wouldn’t. You could have subjugated the whole world with those powers, instead you choose to be a boring reporter.” Lois could hear the disdain for Clark’s choices. “I guess I was right all along, you are weak!” There was a sound of Lex kicking something – or someone – hard, presumably Clark, and she tensed, barely able to stay silent at the prospect of her beloved being hurt. Lex resumed his monologue, he became louder, almost shouting violently. “I have won! You are dead. That imbecile clone you married is dead. I’ll live my every fantasy while you’ll rot in hell. But first that we’ll dissected you and find out what made your body work.” He laughed evilly. Lois didn’t think she’d ever heard Lex laugh. It sounded a bit maniacal, like one of those Bond villains from the 60s. “Who knows, someday I’ll lead my own army of Supermen to rule the world. I will claim my prize. I’ll have the world bow before me. No one will be able to stop me… I will be a god!”
Lex was silent for a moment while she could hear a cigar being lit. Lois could hear him walk a few steps, and again she held her breath. Had he discovered her hiding place? But no, the steps didn’t become louder. “The bond between the two of you is finally cut forever! I have to admit that I would have loved to kill you with my own hands; I even thought of bringing a gun with me just to be sure you stay dead. But I can’t risk it; I’d rather dissect your body as it is. I really want to find out what made you tick. Who knows which parts of your body might be useful to me after all.” Lois heard the desire to kill and to torture in his voice and couldn’t suppress a shudder. There was another sound of Lex kicking Clark.
Then he went on. “This is the ultimate victory. Having my lovely bride Lois kill you is better than anything else. Now that she did it and her soul is free, she will bond with me, and I’ll shape her until she’ll be my perfect bride and the perfect prize for all the work I had to do to get her. She’s mine forever!” Lex said full of self-assuredness and contempt for his former enemy. “I hope Asabi has the new clones ready, I’d hate to wait for them now that everything else is prepared. Together we’ll take over the world.” He laughed again. “I’ll have my happily ever after.”
A second set of footsteps could be heard. “Luthor! Why did you want us to meet here? What happens if someone sees us here with the corpse? What is your plan for Kent? That love-struck fool is getting on my nerves. Every day he’s there and leaves something for Lois. I’m not sure how long I can stop her from remembering if he keeps doing that. My colleagues are starting to notice that I take his gifts and use them as mine.”
Lois could almost hear Lex’ evil smile. “I have no plan… I don’t need one because Clark Kent is lying right there. It seems unbelievable considering how weak Kent is in comparison to the alien, but the two are one and the same man. And now, as the ultimate revenge, I’ll make his secret identity public knowledge. That way everyone he knew and loved is in danger and he isn’t there to protect them.” Lois suppressed a gasp, Lex wanted to tell everyone about Clark! The wish to confront them and stop them became unbearable but she couldn’t take on both at the same time. Even if she did storm out and was able to knock them out, she couldn’t stop Lex from telling everyone what he knew. She couldn’t help in any way and a new bout of tears burned in her eyes. She hated feeling helpless.
“Unbelievable, you say that this wimp and Superman are one and the same?” Deter uttered. “Sure, they kind of look alike but… strange, one would never think two men as different as those two could be the same guy. But it doesn’t matter anymore, Superman is dead and if what you say is true, so is Kent… As for my payment…” Deter began.
“Oh yes, here.” There was a sound of something being handed over. “Five million dollars, as we agreed.” A clicking indicated that a case was opened, then a few moments later the case seemed to be closed again.
“It was a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Luthor.” A self-satisfied Deter left the scene. Lois heard footsteps becoming more and more distant.
Lex began to whistle some Pucchini again and after he finished the second song, Lois heard another clicking sound, then Lex spoke aloud to himself, “Five, four, three, two, one…” Lois could hear an explosion and the ground shook. She was shocked, Lex had just killed Deter. She had always thought that he didn’t like to do the dirty work himself. He usually had his men or Mrs. Cox to do the actual killing. What did that mean for Clark?
It was even worse that he wanted to tell everyone about Clark’s secret. What could she do? What should she do? Every fiber in her body wanted to get out from behind the crate and confront him, to beat him for all he had done to her and Clark and the rest of the world. But something held her back. If she slipped out now, she was almost certain that Lex would discover that she wasn’t under any influence anymore and who knew what he would do then. As hard as it was, Clark was safer this way. At least she hoped that was true.
Lois could hear how Lex called someone over the cellphone. “Asabi? Yes it is done; she is free now to be mine. Has she come back to the Neuroscience Center yet?... No?... I’m sure she will be soon. Prepare her room so we can start directly when she gets back. I’m on my way and I’ll meet you there.” He ended the call and then Lois could hear him talk to Clark’s body again.
“Really, it is a pity I haven’t been able to get my pound of flesh from you before. I wanted to when I had you in my cage but then you escaped before I could get it. Luckily this time you can’t disappear. I have to admit, I’d have preferred to do some experiments with your body before we started the clones, so we could include some of your DNA into my new body. But my people will be here to collect you soon and then we’ll find a way to transfer your powers. Gretchen’s records are very detailed.”
As the second set of footsteps could be heard walking away, the sound of his whistling became weaker and weaker. Lois waited for a few extra moments after the sound of the footsteps was gone. She was still in shock at the thought of the coldness Lex showed in getting rid of his business partner. Every one of these seconds felt like an eternity but she couldn’t risk being discovered. When what she hoped was enough time had passed, she grabbed the laser – not wanting to leave it anywhere out of her sight to avoid someone else finding it and – ran to Clark.
She crouched down next to Clark and shook him gently. “Clark, are you ok? I heard him kick you…” Tears began to burn in Lois eyes again; he was not reacting. “Clark, please don’t be dead.” She put her ear over his face to hear if he was breathing. Desperately, she shook him again, this time as hard as she dared.
