Ghost From the Past
Folc4evernaday
Part 29
Note: Yes, the wedding is happening in the finale. Hope you guys are still with me. Hope you enjoy. FDK appreciated as always.
***
He wanted him dead.
He wanted to kill him.
He had hurt Lois.
He had hurt Jamie.
He had hurt his family.
But something inside him would not let him do it.
<<"Alien. Destroy. Alien.">>
'Man. I’m a man.'
<<"He's a monster. I have been working with Henderson for years trying to prove it, but he is always one step ahead of me. I just wanted him to pay for what he did.">>
‘He hurt Lois.’
‘He could hurt her again.’
‘You could stop it here and now.’
<<"Alien. Destroy. Alien.">>
‘Man. I’m a man.’
‘Kill him.’
‘No, I won’t do it.’
‘You will do it.’“I said kill him!!!” Thompson repeated angrily.
<<"He must die.">>
‘You know you want him dead. You know you could do it. You’re the most powerful man on the planet. You could destroy him and snuff out his life in an instant for what he did to Lois. He doesn’t deserve to live.’
‘You must kill. You must destroy.’
‘No. You can’t.’
‘You can kill him. The world will be a better place for it.’
<<"Alien. Destroy. Alien.">>
<<"It took everything in me not to pursue it. After everything that happened … I couldn't risk losing the only thing I had left of you. I've often wondered if something might have happened to him when I was unconscious. Lucy said I wasn't breathing when she found me…">>Lois had been attacked when she was pregnant on Luthor’s orders. He watched as the blood slowly drained out of Luthor’s eyes, meeting his gaze as his eyes narrowed back at him. He could do this. The world would be a better place for it.
“That’s it! Kill that piece of scum!” Thompson ordered angrily.
<<"He must die.">>
<<"You could never hurt someone intentionally.”>>
<<"He must die.">>
<<"You can NOT afford to lose your temper like that…">>No, he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t take a life. As much as he hated this man for what he’d done to Lois... As much as he wanted him to suffer... He just couldn’t do it. He loosened the grip he had on Luthor’s throat, hearing him gasp for air.
<<"You could never hurt someone intentionally.”>>“I said kill him, alien!” Thompson ordered angrily.
<<"Alien. Destroy. Alien.">>
<<"He must die.">>
<<"Alien. Destroy. Alien.">>
<<"You could never hurt someone intentionally.”>>He threw Lex to the ground in anger as he fought the inner battle waging inside his mind, urging him to take a life. “No….” He shook his head over and over again. “Never.”
<<"Alien. Destroy. Alien.">>
<<"He must die.">>
<<"Alien. Destroy. Alien.">>
<<"You could never hurt someone intentionally.”>>“I said kill him!!!” Thompson repeated angrily.
Lex stood up warily, glaring at Clark uneasily, “You…” He croaked, waving a fist at him.
“You son of a…” Thompson brought the red glowing device toward him, and he felt something click inside him once more. “You will KILL him….”
“No,” Clark repeated, struggling once more for control of his mind.
***
“One minute and counting…” The announcer read off as Lois looked for anything to pry the doors open with.
“Somebody help!!!!” Lois pounded her fist against the steel door in despair. She glanced at the keyboard next to the doors and searched for anything she could use to pry it open with. She checked her pockets and smiled when she found her swiss army knife still tucked neatly in her left pocket. “Yes!”
***
“Forty-five seconds and counting…” The announcer read off as Clark stood to face Thompson in anger.
“I am not a murderer!” He spoke coolly.
Thompson took a few steps back, holding up the red glowing rock as if it would protect him from whatever demise he thought was coming his way. “You stay back!”
“Who are you?” Clark asked, advancing toward him. “Really?”
“None of your concern.” Thompson stammered. “The point is I know who you are….” Clark stopped in surprise, and Thompson grinned, “I know all about the green meteorite…and Trask, and I know that you may be a caped God to some but in reality, you’re nothing more than a common….”
Before he could react a shot fired and Thompson was on the ground. Clark turned to see Lex standing a few feet away with a pistol in his hand and a look of satisfaction on his face.
“You …killed him!” He accused, advancing toward Lex.
“Somebody help!!!! There’s a bomb in here! Please!!!”He heard Lois’ cries and moved at super-speed…and leaving Lex Luthor to escape after assassinating the President of the United States. He flew down the hallway as he scanned the lead-lined panels, hoping to find some crack to show him where Lois was. There was none. Each door kept running him into dead end after dead end until finally, he found her heartbeat.
“Clark!!!!” He calmed his nerves and focused on the sound, allowing it to lead him to her.
***
“Thirty seconds and….”
There was a pause, and the controls Public Affairs Officer looked up from his desk to see one of the officers holding up a time out sign. He looked at them in concern.
“Sir, we have a circuit failure in the main panel.”
“Due to a mechanical failure, we have suspended countdown at twenty-nine seconds. We will advise.”
***
“Lois?” Clark called out as he pried the doors open. He sighed in relief when he saw her hunched in the corner in tears.
“Oh, thank God…” She cried, pointing at the digital clock on the wall. “There’s a bomb….”
Seeing the timer ticking on the device he yanked it off the wall as Lois yelled, “Clark!!!”
Buried inside the mass of wires and crazy glue he found the C-4 plastic explosive card that was set to trigger the explosion and popped it in his mouth to swallow. As it exploded in his stomach, he let out a light burp, emitting a soft rain of smoke as he opened his mouth, “Excuse me,”
“Are you okay?” Lois asked, looking at him in concern.
He nodded, cupping her cheek as he pulled her to him, “Are you?”
***
“Sir? Due to our equipment problems and... an unexplained occurrence, I don't think we have any alternative but to abort.” One of the technicians advised in the control room.
“You can’t do that!” Dr. Platt shouted from across the room.
“Dr. Platt? What are you doing here?” The Launch Commander asked, seeing the man wheel himself toward the control panel switch board.
“We can fix it. You can’t abort. He’ll have won.” Platt stammered.
“Who will have won?” The commander asked.
“Lex Luthor.”
***
Clark reached for the control panel board where Lois had begun cutting wires out and began working on repairing the damage with his heat vision. “I was trying to get their attention. I thought if something stopped working they might stop before it was too late.” Lois explained sheepishly.
“I think I can fix this.” He said with a smile. “Just sit tight.”
Just then the doors opened, and the group of colonists stepped inside, looking at both Lois and Clark in his Superman suit in confusion. Lois noticed the looks of anger and mistrust on the colonists faces and quickly covered, “Uh, there was a bomb….he ate it.”
“I’m almost done repairing the damage,” Clark reassured them uneasily.
The head colonist took a step toward them then looked at Lois critically, “And what were YOU doing here, Miss…?”
Lois crossed her arms over her chest, “Getting drugged, kidnapped and thrown in here against my will.”
The head colonist looked at her with a critical eye before turning on Superman, “Mister….we have mechanics who can…”
Clark closed the control panel and smiled as it lit back up. “All done.”
“Cool!” Amy Platt smiled up at him.
Clark smiled back, kneeling down so that he was eye-level with her, “Hi.”
“Hi. I like your costume.” Amy said with a shy grin.
A broad smile spread across his face, “Thank you. My mother made it for me.” She looked at him in awe, and he looked around the room, “What’s your name?”
“Amy. Amy Platt.” She introduced herself, holding her hand out to shake his. He took her hand and smiled as she asked, “Who’re you?”
“I’m…a friend.”
“I read about you in the paper. They called you ‘Superman.’ A man that can fly…” She grew thoughtful for a moment, “Is what they say true? Can you really fly?”
He nodded, “Yes I can.”
“Can you teach me?” She asked.
“ Not to fly, but once this lab is operational, walk... that's very possible.”
“Attention, colonists. The mission has been scrubbed. Prepare to disembark.” The announcer echoed from the speakers.
“No…” murmurs of disapproval echoed through the room.
The head colonist sighed in defeat, “That’s it then. It’s over.”
“Why?” Lois asked in confusion, not understanding the reason behind the mission being canceled.
“Once the thrusters have been fired, they have to be replaced.” Mrs. Platt explained tearfully, looking down at Amy in despair.
“We'll lose our launch window.” The head colonist sighed, “We just have to forget about Space Station Prometheus.”
A determined expression washed over Clark’s face as he stood up, “No you don’t.” Everyone looked at him in confusion, and he continued, “There’s nothing wrong with this transport vehicle or the station. You just need to get there.”
Lois feigned ignorance as she began to realize what Clark was suggesting, “And how are they supposed to do that?”
“Easy. I’ll give them a lift.” He smiled back at the surprised colonists.
***
“What do you mean Lex Luthor?” The head of security asked.
Platt sighed, looking around at the skeptical looks, “It was him. It was all him. That man that attacked me was working for him. I think he did something to someone else because when I was taking pictures…”
“What pictures?” The officer asked.
Platt held up a bag of disposable cameras. “These.”
The Public Affairs Officer called out as he walked past them, barking orders to his team, “I want security and tech teams over every inch of that transport. We have...”
He stopped as they all stared at Space Station Prometheus as it was lifted from the launch pad without the rockets being fired off.
“…Lift off?”
Everyone stared in awe when the chirp from one of the security team officer’s radio brought them back to the present, “Attention all EPRAD Control Units. We have a body. Repeat. We have a body. Nobody leaves. Nobody. Authorities have been notified…”
***
Lois watched numbly from the viewing tower as paramedics and police officers swarmed the launchpad of EPRAD Control. Two bodies. Once one of the men killed had been identified as President George Thompson, the Secret Service and White House staff filled the halls, questioning everyone over and over and over again.
“Miss Lane?” Dr. Platt looked at her in concern, “Are you gonna be okay?”
Lois shook her head, “I’m not sure.” She said weakly.
“It was him, wasn’t it?” Platt asked.
“Who?” Lois asked.
“Luthor. He was the one that hurt you, wasn’t he?”
“I don’t know.” She said shakily. “I don’t remember. All I know is I woke up in the main control panel staring at a bomb and sporting a serious migraine.” She looked at him in concern, “If you knew Lex Luthor was behind all this why didn’t you say anything?”
“Who would have believed me?” He asked.
A knock at the entry level’s wall caught both of their attention, and they looked toward the doorway to see Bill Henderson standing there with an irritated look on his face, “Just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?”
Lois sighed, “I went to the bathroom, Bill. It’s not like I snuck on board willingly.”
Henderson sighed, “What is this? Lane-luck?” Off her look, he stopped teasing her, “Listen I checked with the guys at the White House and since the footage on the security matches up with everything you said they’re going to let you go without any charges….”
“But?” Lois prompted.
“But be prepared to issue statements over the next few weeks. Apparently, they think they caught the president’s murder on tape. No idea when they will be issuing a statement to the public though…or the press.”
“Can I go home?” Lois asked.
***
LEX LUTHOR CAREER CRIMINAL
LEX LUTHOR ASSASIN
FALL OF THE HOUSE OF LUTHOR
SUPERMAN SAVES SPACE STATION
***
Lois didn’t want to go home. After she’d been looked over to make sure there weren’t any adverse effects from the injection she’d been given and told to follow up with her doctor she’d gone straight to Clark’s apartment. She knew when Clark returned from giving Prometheus the boost it needed to reach the space station lab he would need someone to talk to. She’d seen what had happened. Everyone had seen what had happened. She had been looking for signs of him on the local news stations, but all anyone wanted to talk about was the president’s assassination.
The video footage that had been sent to the news stations showed Clark grabbing Lex by the throat and nearly choking him to death before throwing him to the ground and President Thompson pulling out a red glowing device and pointing it toward Clark. Unnoticeable to the casual observer Clark seemed to be struggling to fight for control as he advanced toward the president with his hands in the air.
Then a shot rang out, and Clark turned to see Lex holding the gun.
It was then that he disappeared and stopped the bomb from going off inside the Prometheus Transport.
Something had happened inside that corridor. That much was certain. Why had he attacked Lex like that after promising not to earlier with his conversation with Henderson? Why had Lex shot President Thompson? Why had President Thompson been afraid of Clark? What was that red glowing device he was trying to use on Clark?
So many questions raced through her mind. No answers came to mind.
So here she sat curled up in the corner of Clark’s couch with a bowl of popcorn and a rerun of ‘When Harry Met Sally’ on television. She leaned back against the cushions of the couch for support, snuggled close in Clark’s old football jersey as she fought back the tears that threatened to overtake her.
It scared her to know she’d come so close to losing everything.
“I love that you get cold when it’s 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes…”Clark wrapped his arms around her from behind whispering the rest of the famous quote in her ear as she leaned back into his arms, “… And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it’s not because I’m lonely, and it’s not because it’s New Year’s, Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” She leaned back to kiss him, cupping his cheek as she wrapped herself around him. “You’ve seen that movie a million times and know every word by heart. Don’t you ever get tired of it?”
“Never.” She smiled back at him, linking her arms around his neck as she slid on his lap, resting her head on his shoulder, “They released that video…”
“I know.” He sighed, running his hands up and down her upper thigh as he spoke. “I caught the frequency when I was coming back into the Earth’s orbit.”
“How did everything go?” Lois asked, running her hands up and down his chest.
“Space Station Prometheus has been put into orbit, and everyone is safe.” He said with a smile.
“Clark…” She began slowly, “That red device…”
“I don’t know.” He said, massaging her upper thigh as he spoke, “All I know is I kept having these thoughts to ….kill Luthor….in my head. I couldn’t do it. I wanted to, but I couldn’t do it. When I stopped the voices in my head seemed to stop. I have no idea how or why…” He shook his head in disgust. “I let him get away.”
“You saved thousands of lives today Clark….and helped expose Lex for the monster he really is,” Lois reassured him.
“Dr. Platt coming forward didn’t hurt any either.” Clark pointed out.
“At least now we know the real reason Platt was drugged.” Lois sighed, “He didn’t want anyone pointing the finger at him.”
Clark pulled her close to him, resting her head against his chest. “I’m so sorry. I got there as soon as I could.” He brushed his lips against her forehead, and she sighed against him. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.” She sighed, “Now that you’re here. Just don’t go anywhere unless it’s an emergency, okay?”
“I won’t.” He promised, holding her close, “Come on, let’s get you and Junior to bed.”
She laughed, “Junior?”
“Sure, Lois Junior.” He grinned back at her with a teasing smile, and she smacked him on the shoulder lightly.
“I don’t think so.” She grimaced. “Baby has to have his or her own name…at least with living family members.”
“Okay,” He conceded the point, running his hands up her legs as he pulled her closer. He was still shaken by what had happened earlier. It was clear he was trying to focus on anything and everything to not think about what he’d almost done.
“Clark…” She whispered, stroking his cheek, guiding his gaze back toward her. “It’s not your fault.”
“I should have stopped that bullet. I was right there.” He said with a pained expression.
“He was trying to use that…thing on you. Who knows what affect it had on you? You weren’t yourself. It was not your fault.” She soothed, resting her head against his chest.
“I’ve never felt anything like that.” He said in a hushed whisper. “It was like someone else’s thoughts were being projected into my head. Like I was watching myself do things I didn’t want to do but couldn’t seem to stop myself…” He hung his head in shame.
“It was not your fault.” She repeated, leaning up to kiss him, lightly at first then growing with more intensity as he sought her out hungrily. She couldn't get enough of the feel of his lips on hers or the way that his lips shuddered desperately into her mouth, pulling passionately on her lips as he pleaded for more. She willingly gave in, deepening the kiss until it became frantic, eager, demanding. “I’m…right…here.” She reassured him as she felt his solid form press against her. She moved to straddle him, running her hands up and down his chest as she loosened his tie, tightening her thighs around his torso.
“Are ….you sure….you’re ….feeling….up to …it?” He asked in-between heated kisses, running his hands up and down her upper thighs.
“Everything’s fine.” She reassured him, tugging the silk tie from his collar as she pressed herself against him, “Kiss me.”
***
“Everything’s fine.” She reassured him, tugging the silk tie from his collar as she pressed herself against him, “Kiss me.”
He obliged, running his hands through her hair as he fingered through her dark locks, feeling the softness against his fingertips. Unwilling to break contact but desperate for the closeness he knew was sure to follow he stood up, wrapping her legs around him as he carried her to the bedroom. An old fantasy came back to him as he let his eyes linger on the sight of Lois in his old football jersey on his bed.
<<“ When we’re at home maybe I’ll lose the bra…”
“Promise? Whose home?” He winked at her as she buttoned her blouse.
“Is that your fantasy, Mr. Kent? Me no bra?” She teased.
He shook his head. “No, you on my bed in my football jersey…nothing on underneath…” He murmured brushing his lips against her neck.
“Football jersey, huh? Maybe if you’re good, we’ll try it out sometime…”>>
She caught his gaze and looked back at him in concern, “What is it?”
“You are so sexy,” He murmured, whispering feather light kisses against her throat, slipping his hands beneath the hem of the jersey. She fingered the buttons of his dress shirt, popping them open one by one as she helped shed him of his shirt.
“So much better…” She said with gratification as her eyes lingered on his chest, running her hands up and down his shoulders seductively. He groaned his approval, slipping his hands beneath the hem of her jersey and she whispered, “Hope you don’t mind I stole this.” She leaned her head back against the mattress, staring up at the ceiling as he fingered the waistband of her cotton panties, “It makes a very comfortable nightgown.”
No, he didn’t mind. It looked much better on her. He let his eyes wander down the soft curves of her body, watching where the faded red jersey wrapped snugly around her hips in just the right way. He could feel his dress slacks growing more and more uncomfortable by the second as the fantasies he’d had about her in this garment ran through his mind.
“I like it better on you.” He whispered in her ear, “Just without the panties.”
“That’s right. You had a fantasy about that….Me in your football jersey on your bed…” She recalled with a smile.
“…and nothing on underneath.” He finished for her, moving his hand up the back of the jersey, expertly popping the clasp to her bra from beneath the jersey.
She smiled back at him, tugging the lacy garment out of the left sleeve of the jersey and tossing it to the ground. “Well, now you’ve got me here on your bed, in your jersey with nothing underneath. Is that the extent of this fantasy or is there more?”
“There’s always more.” He smiled back at her, leaning in to kiss her, pressing his lips against hers as he allowed his hands to roam up and down her body from beneath the jersey unhindered by any garments.
“Tell me.” She pleaded with him as she reached for him, fingering his hard chiseled abs for a moment before moving her hands lower until they were resting on the buckle of his belt.
His mouth came crashing down on hers as he thrust his tongue against her lips, demanding entrance. The world slowly faded away as they both focused on losing themselves in one another's arms, pushing the stresses of the day away.
You okay?” He asked, watching Lois as she let out a shallow breath, resting her cheek against his chest.
“Mmm hmmm,” She sighed happily, leaning up to kiss him. “That was amazing,”
“Mind blowing,” He nodded his agreement, stroking her cheek.
“Super.” She finished for him with a smile.
***
“Super.” She finished for him with a smile. Lois stared up at the ceiling with a wide grin on her face. That had been out of this world. Where did he learn to do that? Why hadn’t they tried that before? She glanced back at him, noting the look of satisfaction on his face as he stared up at the ceiling.
How she loved this man…
A thought occurred to her as she recalled their conversation from this morning. “One month.” She said breathlessly.
“What?” He looked at her confused.
“One month.” She repeated. “That’ll give us enough time to get everyone together and plan a wedding. I’m not telling anyone about the baby until we’re in the second trimester, though.”
“Okay,” He smiled, leaning over to kiss her, “One month.”
***
TBC...
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