Previously - Chapter 19 ***
Chapter 20 ***
Lex stood in front of the door to the hotel room he knew Ferguson to be in and reached out to firmly knock. The sound of movement in the room reached his ears, and Lex awaited the opening of the door, ready to dress down his wife’s inept guard.
Ferguson had clearly been expecting someone else, Lois, of course, when the door opened. “Lex,” Ferguson said without attempting to mask his surprise. “I’m glad you’ve come,” he said as Lex pushed past him into the room. “Something is up with Lois.”
Lex turned his head to look over his shoulder and eyed him, his patience dwindling. “And you are only just now telling me this?” Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself that Lois was safely aboard his private jet and he was merely coming to leave some instructions for this man.
Ferguson close the door to the hotel room and took the few quick steps to stand just inside the main room. “I’m sorry,” Ferguson said, sincerity and concern in his tone. “I should have. I just wasn’t sure what to do. I was waiting until-”
“Until when?” Lex snapped, turning abruptly to face him, searching for signs of duplicity.
“Until I knew what was going on with her.”
“Trying to take matters into your own hands?” He had assumed, based on the way in which Ferguson and his wife had left, that Ferguson had something to do with their disappearance. But if even his wife’s guard was unsure what was happening, perhaps Hightower had been right. Still, Ferguson could be involved and his show of genuine concern a result of having lost control of the situation. “How could you let her come out here where you know Kent to be? What were you thinking?”
“She was … confused, distressed. I am only trying to keep her safe.” The palm up stance Ferguson assumed painted a picture of genuine concern that, while comforting, inspired just a bit of jealousy. It was Lex’s place to keep her safe and no one else’s.
“Ought I be jealous?” he sneered.
“No, no! It’s not like that.” Ferguson appeared uncomfortable. “You can’t expect me to watch someone as a full-time job and not begin to worry about that person’s well-being.”
Lex considered that statement for a moment. “I suppose you wouldn’t be as good at the assignment if you didn’t care about her well-being.” Choosing to allow it to pass for the moment, Lex moved the conversation to the situation at hand. “So, tell me. What is going on with her?” Lex clasped his hands behind his back and waited, motionless, with his eyebrows high in expectation. Ferguson’s explanation would reveal whether he was with or against Lex.
“I think she’s remembered some things.” It seemed that Ferguson was choosing to be honest with him, a sign of loyalty.
“And you are here instead of with her? Have you any idea what she has been up to this morning?” There was no sign of Ferguson when Lex had taken her from that trail. He didn’t even seem to realize she was missing at this point.
“She said she needed to take a walk to clear her head. She’s really struggling. I didn’t want to put any more stress on her … since she is expecting.” Ferguson breathed out as he leaned on the dresser.
Lex was initially caught off guard by the sentimentality that had been weaving its way through him over the past two months, but as it bubbled to the surface now, he reluctantly embraced it. He did not want any harm to come to Lois or the baby, regardless of the circumstances. Ferguson had been right to give her space if, in fact, his motives were the way he presented them. Lex released his hands and walked toward the window, peering out at the trees concealing any view to be had. He relaxed as he saw the plan to deal with the situation solidify in his mind. “Yes, well, I have her now aboard the jet. We’ll head to the chateau after you and I are done here.”
“Is she alright?” Scott asked, surprised.
“She is. And I thank you for your concern,” Lex began as he adjusted his coat to leave this dilapidated hotel room. “One last thing before I leave. I noticed she is not wearing her wedding rings. Where are they?”
Lex looked up when an answer was not immediately given to see Ferguson with worry written in his features. “I don’t want to make things worse for Lois,” he began, “because I don’t know what’s caused … any of this … but I don’t think any of it is intentional.” Lex watched as Ferguson crossed the room and rifled through something near the bed before approaching Lex. “Lois gave me her rings this morning.”
“She what?” Lex turned to face him, saw the rings in Ferguson’s hand and took a halting step forward. While this was jarring, Lex took the gesture as confirmation that he had Ferguson’s loyalty. “She has remembered more than I thought.”
“She’s confused, she doesn’t know what is real and what isn’t.” And it was obvious Ferguson was genuinely concerned.
Lex picked up the rings and rubbed them between his fingers. It was certainly fortunate that Lex had arrived when he did. Squeezing them in his fist, Lex shook his head to clear it. If she had remembered enough to doubt his affection, she would be feeling very confused. His resolve to put things back to the way they had been doubled.
Still, Lex needed to guarantee the appearance of his weakened adversary at the chateau in order to complete his new plan. In this state, Clark Kent was just as vulnerable as any man, but Lex had carefully scripted a death befitting the alien that stripped him of everything. Lex nodded to himself and tucked the rings in his coat pocket before giving his instructions. “I need you to make sure that Kent comes after her.”
Scott’s eyebrows raised. “Why not just kill him now?”
Lex narrowed his eyes as he looked Ferguson over appraisingly. “Because that isn’t good enough for him. He needs to understand a few things before he dies, and it is necessary for him to come to the chateau to learn those lessons.” Lex strode toward the door. Should the man prove himself by following through with his instructions, Lex would be sure to make his expectations for appropriate behavior in any situation more clear. “See that he arrives before the day is over.”
***
The dull roar of jet engines was the first sound Lois registered when she awoke. Keeping her eyes closed and her body as still as possible, she struggled to determine where she was. On a plane, as far as she could tell, lying down, her head propped on a pillow. Her hands and feet were free, and a dull ache in her neck and a dry throat were the only sources of discomfort she was aware of. Wherever she was, she was okay for the moment.
Just to be on the safe side, she continued to feign sleep while she tried to remember what had happened to get to this point.
She’d been riding a bicycle. Clark had run past her. She’d been about to sing another song in an effort to release his memories. Lex had stopped her, held her back.
Lex.
Maintaining her stillness, she relived the scene. She was watching Clark stumble in pain with a mix of confusion and fear evident in his face. Lex must have had kryptonite. How much did he know?
She wasn’t really safe at all. He’d taken her with him. She must be on his private jet.
Their private jet. She was nauseous at the thought.
Able to recall many of the dangerous and seemingly hopeless situations she and Clark had been in before eased the fear momentarily before it occurred to her that she hadn’t yet released his memories… Superman was still gone.
Panicked breaths came quickly and before she could calm them, a hand came to rest on her shoulder. Lex’s voice drew her eyes open before she was able to decide what she would do and how she would do it.
“Lois, darling?” He was leaning over her, looking at her with a frown creasing his brow, the concern evident in his eyes.
She frowned at the contradictions in her thoughts, half her mind still feeling an unreasonable attachment to him, the other half angry, knowing him for the monster he was.
“Are you alright?” His voice was tender, worried.
“I…I think so,” she answered as she attempted to sit up. Seeing her struggle, Lex reached to support her, which did not relieve the confusion Lois felt. She
knew just how manipulative and unscrupulous Lex was, yet these warm feelings for him still responded to his care. The nausea overwhelmed her suddenly and she was surprised when Lex provided her with an airsick bag.
Had he expected this?
This warm-hearted, despicable Lex was such a contradiction. Vile enough to have done his utmost to ruin the life she had known and replace it with the one of his choosing, yet affectionate and concerned about her needs. She recalled the way he’d responded at their home three days ago when she’d told him she was pregnant and began to wonder if somewhere within that fabricated exterior, an actual heart was beating.
A very small, shriveled and black heart, she reminded herself.
Wiping her face with the proffered napkin, she shook her head. Anger flared again at the knowledge of everything that had happened because this selfish man – if he could be called man, Clark was more human than Lex – would stop at no end to have his way. She stamped it down in favor of using her position to gain what she could. “What are we doing on the jet?”
“You and Scott made a little detour on your way to the chateau. I came to you to bring you home. Do you not remember?” His expression was inscrutable though his voice held the same concern as before.
“I …” She stopped. Admitting anything would hinder her ability to find out what he knew…or what he was willing to tell her. She reached for her head and used her feigned condition to take some time to think. “I don’t feel well.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Lex reach for a glass on the table at the end of the couch.
“Here, this will help.” Lex handed her the glass of water and she took several sips to relieve the burning in her throat before passing the glass back to him.
How convenient that her own lie provided such an excellent excuse. She had previously felt a bit of guilt at her deception but remembering the kind of maliciousness he was capable of made her feel like he deserved everything that came to him.
“Please, lie back and relax,” he suggested. Lex guided a pillow under her head as she leaned back. “We don’t need you under any undue stress in your condition.”
“Where is Scott?” she asked as she closed her eyes.
“He is still in Columbia,” he answered. “I spoke with him just before we left. He’ll meet up with us at the chateau later. I had an errand for him to run.”
A tingle of foreboding sent a chill through her. What sort of
errand could Lex possible have in Columbia, MO? But she feared she knew the answer to that question and it only made keeping calm that much more difficult.
“What did he tell you?” she asked, wondering herself what Scott would have said in that conversation. She believed Scott was on her side. And if he was, surely he would not have told Lex everything. Only hinted? Made something up?
“He said that you were confused, that you wanted to talk to Clark.” She opened her eyes expecting that whatever she saw was not necessarily an accurate representation of Lex’s current state. However, when she saw disapproval in his eyes, she knew it was genuine. “Why on earth would you want to talk to that miscreant? Hasn’t he caused you enough pain already?”
She shook her head and then placed a hand on his arm. “Please, don’t hold it against Scott. It was my idea. I needed to ask Clark about … something.” Keeping her mask in place, she smiled inwardly as his expression led her to think that he believed her excuse. But the seconds that drew out destroyed that confidence.
“Lois, I found your notebook,” he said, his eyes boring into her. But it wasn’t anger smoldering behind his eyes. She wished she knew what he was thinking.
She searched her memory of what she’d written, how she’d organized things. What excuse for that could she possibly have? She swung her legs back to the floor and positioned herself sitting next to Lex. Wringing her fingers, she distorted the truth. “I … I’ve been having … dreams.”
“Darling,” Lex began, taking her hand in his, believing her story, “think for a moment. How could Clark possibly have anything to say to you about your
dreams? He’s been out of your life, thankfully so, for years. I can’t imagine why you’d want to bring him back into it. Have you forgotten what he did to you?”
Actually… She glanced down at his hand grasping hers, tender and gentle. The judgmental look on Lex’s face didn’t match the affection in his hands and she found it offensive. It was as if he was treating her like a child. Funny, she didn’t have any memories of him behaving that way over the past two months. Perhaps when he didn’t have anything to worry about, he was capable of being a decent person. Even if he could never truly
be a decent person.
“He must be made to keep his distance from you. Which reminds me.” Lois watched nervously as Lex used his free hand to reach into his pocket. “I was hurt to find out that you had removed your rings.”
Lois prayed that Lex hadn’t noticed her sharp intake of breath at the sight of the rings she’d given to Scott when they arrived in Columbia. Leaving the tiny regional airport, she had decided that it would be better if, when Clark recovered his memories, she didn’t have to explain them. She’d given them to Scott to hold.
But why would Scott have given them to Lex? Was he not truly on her side? Was it to keep Lex from suspecting his involvement?
***
“I…” she started. She frowned and Lex could see her struggle to control her breathing. She was doing a fair job of concealing her emotions, but now he could see the contest between fear and hopelessness dancing in her eyes. “What did you do to Clark?” She shook her head, pausing before clarifying, “On the trail, he was hurting, what did you do to make him hurt like that?”
Lex was not entirely surprised that she would ask this. After all, he knew she’d regained some of her memories and he would have to take care of that. He gave her credit for attempting to keep up the charade but wondered how long she would be able to do so. His own feelings of fury at the man who would take her from him and concern for his child growing inside the woman he loved warred inside him.
“I merely sent him a warning,” he explained, choosing to be as patient as he could manage under the circumstances. The last thing he wanted was to add to her stress knowing that it would not be good for her and the baby.
“A warning?” The increase in her frown and narrowing of her eyes told Lex that he’d pushed a button. He found her tenacity endearing. “Lex, I am not a ch-”
Lex held up his hand to stop her, knowing that it would further infuriate her but also that time was running out. The fact that he found an enraged Lois even more attractive than a compliant one only served to push him to provoke her more. “It’s alright, Darling.” He covered her hand with his and smiled at her. While she was distracted by her own anger, he easily slipped the rings back onto her finger. “Soon, we’ll be back at the chateau and all will be as it was.”
She jerked her hand from his as she stood up from the couch. He could see her composure crumbling before him and knew that while it was predominantly her anger, she was beginning to lose control for another reason.
“What if I don’t want to go to the chateau?” she spat.
Lex took a slow deep breath, standing and moving to close the distance between them. It wouldn’t do for him to lose his control as well. She wasn’t in her right mind now and he would have to be tolerant just a little while longer. “Now, Lois, why wouldn’t you want to go to the chateau?”
“Because you’ve … done something to me.” She backed away from him until she bumped into the door of the cockpit.
The resentment in her eyes pricked a nerve and caused Lex to lose his ability to care how she responded to his words. “Yes,” he responded with his eyebrows lifted, reaching his hand toward her abdomen with a mirthless smile. “I certainly have.”
“Don’t touch me.” She shoved his hand away and pushed past him releasing a single sob that sounded remarkably like a certain name.
Lex chided himself for his foolish behavior. This was not going as planned, but soon she would be asleep, calm and relaxed once more. He could see now that he would have to choose. It had been such a fantastic idea to completely ruin the life of his nemesis, strip him of everything he had, as was done to Lex, while having his prize as well. But now he saw the fallacy in that line of reasoning.
“You know, I thought I was doing the considerate thing by allowing him to live out his miserable life,” Lex said, turning slowly toward her as he felt his patience slip away. “But you have put me in a difficult position because, while I want to do whatever it takes to make you happy, I certainly cannot allow him to live knowing that it is a risk to what we have.”
“
We don’t have anything. You
invented all of it,” she spat.
Ah, the admission he’d waited for, hoped to lure out of her. She
was aware of the circumstances. Lex took this moment to pour himself a drink at the counter adjacent to the end of the couch.
“Did I?” he asked innocently. “I recall many instances where you were a
very willing partner.” He looked at her over the rim of his glass as he took a sip and reminisced over the last two months during which she had lived every minute as his faithful wife.
“In your dreams,” she seethed.
“Well, yes, there also.” Lex couldn’t help but smile at his joke. “But, darling-”
“Don’t call me that,” she shouted.
He breathed and began again, more forcefully this time, “Once you forgot about Clark,
I was your top priority and I know you still remember the past two years of wedded bliss. And while it may be true that the first part of our marriage is somewhat different than you remember, you cannot deny that the past two months have been very much a reality. You have
willingly been my wife since the procedure took place.”
“You have clearly misinterpreted the word ‘willingly’.” Lois’s narrow-eyed glare didn’t cover the green tinge developing on her face. Lex looked away from her, reminding himself that this was only temporary. The loving looks they shared would return soon enough.
“It is of no consequence,” he said more to himself. “I can handle your ire until the procedure can be repeated. And rest assured that there is no risk to the baby.”
“There is no baby,” she stated, crossing her arms over her chest. “I lied.”
Lex wanted to quickly turn to her but maintained control of himself as he thought through all the evidence that suggested she was lying about that. “Do you not recall your fatigue leading up to our anniversary party?
“Planning took a lot out of me,” she retorted.
“And how do you intend to explain your morning sickness?” he challenged.
Her breathing rate seemed to be slowing as she blinked a few times before narrowing her eyes at him. “Revulsion,” she replied slowly.
“I see.” Her arrow hit its mark, but Lex chose the high road knowing only a few minutes remained. “Well, I suppose I’ll have to look into the truth of your declaration soon. But since I can see that you are thoroughly incensed and as I don’t wish to put you under any further stress, it makes the drug I put in your drink that much more justified.”
She quickly looked at the glass of water she’d taken sips from earlier before turning a fearful gaze on him that quickly turned to indignation. Yes, an angry Lois was very attractive, but that sort of thinking would have to wait.
“You will
never get away with this.” She closed her eyes and opened them very slowly. “Clark will come for me.”
“I’m counting on it.” He smiled at her and felt a twinge of regret at the way he was surely making her feel as if she was the target of his anger when it was strictly directed at his nemesis.
Lois opened her mouth to speak as she took a step toward him, but nothing came out. Lex closed the distance between them as her eyes began to roll back and caught her, gently laying her on the couch once more. He repositioned a pillow beneath her head and, as he lowered her head onto it, paused for a moment, observing her closely.
It had been too long since he’d last seen her and he missed everything about her. Her sharp words from moments ago filtered through his reverie and he gently rested his hand on her abdomen as he considered the facts. The changing hormones of pregnancy seemed to be the only reasonable explanation for why she’d regained her memories. In addition, she had been sick to her stomach multiple times over the past four days, today included.
In fact, she seemed to be sick nearly constantly. He’d been witness to it. There was no faking that. Could there have been some other reason for her symptoms? Was it merely revulsion? Perhaps it was the migraine Scott had suggested that first night. But she hadn’t complained of any headaches. What else could it be?
“Oh, Lois,” he said, bringing her relaxed hand to his lips. A mix of emotions muddled his thoughts, but he refused to give in to the heartache he felt at the idea of losing something so precious to him as his unborn child until he could verify it one way or the other.
***
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