Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic Butterfly Trilogy- Part 3c/3 - Releasing The Butterflies

Summary: Follows part 2, Taming the Butterflies. Part 3 picks up several months after part 2. I've compressed some of the timeline to make a few events work, but they still happen in order that the series happens. This story covers events in 'The Phoenix' and 'Top Copy' with some references to episodes prior.

A/N: Part 3 has been split into 4 sections due to length. This is section c.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, merely exercising my imagination. Excerpts taken from 'The Phoenix' and 'Top copy.'

****

The following morning, Lois found herself spending more time watching Clark as Perry talked about their latest assignment, Mr. X. She had spent most of her sleeping hours dreaming about Clark merging into Superman, and vice versa. She’d woken annoyed, and fatigued, as though she hadn’t slept at all. Now she stared at Clark, trying to compare his face to Superman’s.

“Are those new specs, CK?” Asked Jimmy as Perry left the room.

“Yeah,” he answered. “Picked them up this morning.”

“Can I try them on?” Jimmy was already reaching over the conference table to grab Clark’s glasses.

She was startled as Clark backed up quickly, his hands reaching for his frames to prevent Jimmy from grabbing them.

“No! I have a really strong prescription; I wouldn’t want to hurt your eyes.”

“Alright, I’ll see you later.” Jimmy either hadn’t noticed the overreaction, or wasn’t upset by it. She on the other hand, was perturbed.

“Lois, about last night…” Clark began.

“It’s ok Clark, we can finish the chess game some other time.” She was not in the mood to deal with him at the moment.

“I’m not talking about the chess game. I’m talking about us. You were trying to say something and I…I…”

“Had a sudden urge to return a tape,” she finished for him. “Perfectly understandable. I needed to express a deep personal feeling, you needed to save three dollars.” She grabbed her paperwork and headed for the door.

“Lois,” Clark cut her off from the door. “You know, I really hope someday, you learn that, sometimes what it seems like people are doing isn’t what they’re really doing.”

That wasn’t cryptic at all, she thought as she rolled her eyes at him. “What are you, a fortune cookie? If you had some other reason for leaving last night, say it.” Here was his chance, as right now her imagination was running wild.

After some hesitation he answered. “I guess I don’t.”

“I guess that’s it. Let’s get to work.” She brushed past him, her heart hammering. Could it be possible? She pushed the thought out of her mind, they had work to do.

About an hour later, Perry wandered by to see what they had dug up so far. Clark was just in the bathroom as all morning he’d been rubbing the side of his neck as though he was having a reaction to something. She’d told him to go check a mirror, irritated by the constant movement in the corner of her eye.

The elevator door opened and Diana Stride, the host of Top Copy, emerged, some sort of black device in her hand, a camera man following her quickly. She breezed past Lois and Perry, intent on finding something. As Diana approached the hallway to the private offices and the bathrooms, Superman stepped out from behind a doorway.

Diana made her little announcement on their special edition of Top Copy, paying tribute to Superman, and stated her intent to interview everyone. Whatever device she had been holding, shorted out, and Superman took it from her. Lois looked around while her colleagues clamored for Diana’s attention, each wanting their moment to talk about the resident hero. Where was Clark, she wondered? Superman left quickly, holding Diana’s ruined device, and a few minutes later, Clark returned from the bathroom, still rubbing his neck. Lois felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. This was seemed all too convenient, but she needed more evidence before making any wild claims.

She made it through the rest of the day by immersing herself into research and keeping a close eye on Clark. He left twice during the day, once returning with a coffee for her, once returning with no excuse at all. Then she had harassed Clark into contacting Mayson, hoping to find out something about Mr. X. He was reluctant, and she pointed out that they could get more information out of Mayson, especially if he turned his charm on her. As they left, she mocked him about using the knowledge that Mayson was attracted to Clark so they could get what they needed for the story. Clark had looked at her aghast, and she’d walked out of the Planet ahead of him, uncaring at that moment that she’d upset him.

****

Meeting Mayson at the restaurant had been a great idea, Lois thought afterwards. Ultimately, Clark had turned the charm on, yet Mayson hadn’t given them more information, other than the assassin was famous. In a moment of peevishness, she’d snatched Mayson’s beeper from her purse, which happened to be right next to her own.

Clark had been livid once he found out what she’d done, and tried to insist she immediately return it. Lois had ignored him, and back at the Planet, she’d enlisted Jimmy’s help as they traced the numbers that contacted Mayson’s beeper, while Clark sat at his desk and sulked. She assumed the only reason Clark had agreed to come with her and Jimmy to their guess at Mr. X’s hiding spot, was to keep them out of trouble.

The plan had been to stake the place out, see if they could spot who the mystery witness was, and get out of there. As always, the night hadn’t gone to plan. They’d been found by Mr. X’s guards, and then the assassin had arrived and blown up the house. The strangest thing had occurred right before the house had exploded, she remembered. Clark had yelled at them all to get down mere moments before, and he had pushed both her and Jimmy to the ground. How had he known the explosion was imminent?

Clark had promptly disappeared while she had stayed on the ground during the shooting. She had watched in awe as Superman had arrived, grabbed the injured Mr. X, and flown off. She and Jimmy were escorted back to their vehicles after the police had interviewed them, and they’d never found Clark. Arriving home, very late, her answering machine was blinking, a message from Clark saying he was ok and at home, that he would see her in the morning.

It wasn’t proof, but Clark’s miraculous ability to warn them of the impending explosion certainly didn’t help divert her from this ridiculous notion she had fixated on, that he and Superman were two different people. She needed more. Pacing around her living room as she wasn’t able to sleep, she tried to think of how to find out for sure, without upsetting Clark. What if she was wrong? There was that distinct possibility that she would be, and her mini investigation could anger Clark, and upset Superman.

Finally feeling tired, and not having any better ideas than to pull Clark’s glasses off when he least expected it, she headed to bed.

****

Clark’s excuse the following morning was weak. He claimed he’d wandered off, tried to chase after the assassin, then Superman had found him lost in the woods, and flown him home. Lois shrugged off his excuse, showing him the necklace she’d found and sharing her idea that Diana Stride was the assassin. He didn’t believe her, so she shared some of her research into Diana’s past, and her links with famous people that had been interviewed by Diana, and were now dead.

Mayson had arrived and demanded to know how they had found her witness. When Lois refused to answer, Mayson threatened them both with jail time. Not getting the results Mayson wanted, she left, warning them of the consequences, with a twenty-four-hour time limit.

“Well, she’s watched a little too much Perry Mason.”

“Maybe we haven’t watched enough,” Clark remarked.

“What does that mean?” She turned to him, hearing the defensive tone in her own voice.

“It means, maybe we stepped over the line.” Clark spoke softly, not encouraging an argument.

“We didn’t. I did, is that what you mean?”

“Lois, whatever one of us does, the other person takes responsibility for.” He began to approach her. “That’s what being partners is all about,” he finished as he placed his hands on her upper arms.

“Ok,” she said as she leaned into his embrace, feeling her anger thaw. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I shouldn’t have been so….”

“Jealous?” Clark supplied.

She glared at him in response. “No, I don’t think so. I was frustrated at something, and took it out on you.”

He held her for a few minutes before leaning down to kiss her. She’d missed this. They hadn’t argued, but she had felt herself distancing from him while her mind played tricks on her regarding his potential other identity. She was still mad that he’d run out on her two nights ago, and if he was living a double life, there was the beginnings of an anger and sadness that he hadn’t told her the truth already. She tried hard to stomp those feelings down as they weren’t substantiated. There would be nothing worse than being angry at Clark due to her own imagination. How would she explain that to him?

The remainder of the day was uneventful, even with the arrival of Diana. Lois had suggested to Clark they show Diana the necklace, but she’d detected no trace of concern in Diana’s attitude as they’d taunted her. Clark had disappeared towards the end of the day, kissing her goodbye and promising to be at her place in the morning. She’d taken an early day and headed home, needing a better night’s sleep.

****

Clark looked awful when he knocked on her door late the next morning. She remarked that he looked pale, he claimed a headache, though he refused her offer of aspirin. Lois resisted placing a hand on his forehead to see if he was running a fever, instead wondering how Superman could be sick. Either Clark was faking, though his pallor didn’t support that theory, or he wasn’t Superman.

Throughout the morning Clark didn’t seem to improve, and at their late lunch, he barely ate anything. Lois was growing concerned, and in the elevator back to the newsroom floor she noticed he seemed to be swaying slightly on his feet.

“Clark, are you sure you’re ok?” She reached out to feel for a fever, and he flinched.

“Headache. It’s not going away” He rubbed his neck and winced.

“Mayson Drake just called,” Jimmy announced the moment they stepped onto the floor, handing Lois a slip of paper. “She said you have exactly one hour to answer her question, or else,” and he ran off.

“So, how do we play this?” Lois asked Clark.

“Your call. You’re my partner. Whatever you decide, I’ll back you up.”

She smiled at him, and turned to sit at her desk.

“Must tie my shoe,” she heard Clark mumble, as he crouched by her desk. “Lois, do you have that aspirin?”

“Yeah, I think I have some.” She picked up the phone to dial while she opened her bag to see if she had any. There was a gust of wind and all the loose papers on her desk went flying, including the message Jimmy had just handed her. She turned back to Clark, shocked when she didn’t see him, still holding the phone.

“Clark?” She called, hanging up the phone, as she noticed Diana Stride standing in the newsroom.

“He’s left the building,” Lois heard Diana say before Perry called across the newsroom.

“Yoohoo! Diana!”

Lois watched as Perry approached Diana and invited her to his office for the interview. She observed with interest as Diana reluctantly agreed, her cameraman staring around the newsroom. The device in her hands was the same as the one Superman had destroyed. Was Diana tracking Superman? Then why was she continually showing up uninvited in the newsroom?

“Clark!” She whispered. If she was right, then it meant that Diana had also figured it out, or was close to. She walked towards Perry’s office, intent on eavesdropping, surprised when Jimmy emerged.

“Jimmy, what’s going on?”

“Oh, Perry’s ready for his interview with Diana, but she’s saying the light isn’t right, they’ll come back later in the evening. Where’s CK? He wasn’t looking too hot.”

In a moment of decisiveness, she ran back to her desk, grabbed her bag and coat, and dashed back to Jimmy. “I need you to contact Mayson Drake and tell her to come to the Planet. Then I need you to give her this.” Lois pressed the pager into Jimmy’s hands.

“Sure thing. Lois, you ok?”

“Yeah, Jimmy. I have to run. Look, when Diana tries to leave, stall her if you can.” Lois threw the last request over her shoulder as she ran for the elevator.

She fired up the Jeep and joined the downtown Metropolis traffic, thankful it wasn’t too crazy, just the beginnings of the afternoon rush hour. She headed towards Clark’s apartment, assuming that’s where he would go, hoping she would find him there, otherwise she had no idea where he would be.

****

Thirty minutes later and she was slowly getting closer to Clark’s place. Downtown had been a disaster, despite her initial assessment that traffic wasn’t bad. Every light she’d arrived at had turned red, and in her frustration she was finding herself drifting more than a little over the speed limit. She forced herself to check her impatience, getting a ticket right now would not be conducive in getting her to Clark before Diana got there!

Finally, she pulled into a parking spot in front of his building, thankfully there was a spot left, a rarity at this time of day. Digging in her bag she found the keys to his place, and ran up to the apartment entrance, barely remembering to lock the Jeep. Once through the main entrance she ran up the few flights of stairs to his place, her heart pounding from the exercise, and from the fear of what she would find. If he was there, she would find out if he was, or wasn’t, Superman. As she fumbled with the key in the lock on his door she wondered if she was ready for that revelation. She took a deep breath, and opened the door.

“Mom, hold on a sec…” Clark sat up on the couch and saw Lois. “I’ll call you back.”

“Clark?” Lois dropped her bag at the door and hastened down the stairs to the couch. She reached out to his forehead, pulling her hand back when she felt his skin was much warmer than normal.

“Lois, I…” He groaned instead of finishing his sentence, clutching at his mid-section.

“Clark, is it…?” She couldn’t bring herself to say the words. His eyes locked on hers and she pushed past her uncertainty and asked, “Kryptonite?” She watched as his face fell in shock and fear. She barely suppressed a gasp of shock herself. Now was not the time for either of them to fall apart, she warned herself. “Diana, she’s at the Planet with Perry. I asked Jimmy to stall her but if she’s tracking you, she’ll be here soon.”

Clark seemed to respond to her matter of a fact handling of the situation. He reached for the phone and began to dial. “My parents… I need them…” He broke off, groaning again.

Lois took the phone from his shaking hands, trying to compose herself to talk to Martha.

“Hello? Clark?”

“Martha! It’s Lois. I’m here with Clark, and he’s really sick.”

“Honey, put him on the line,” came Martha’s worried voice through the phone.

“I know, Martha. I know who he is and what’s causing this.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, dear.”

“Please. Help me. Can I take him to a hospital? Will it be safe?”

“Lois…”

“Martha, he can’t go to a hospital. Wait until we get there.” Jonathan’s voice over-rode Martha and Lois hadn’t realized he was on the line too.

Clark grabbed the phone from her. “Mom, it’s ok. She knows. Yes. I think so. Ok. Can you bring that hologram art project?”

Lois listened to the one sided conversation as Clark fussed with his tie and top button, and bit her lip, waiting nervously. Clark handed the phone back to her, finally removing his tie. “Hello?” She asked.

“Lois, honey, get him to a hospital. I don’t know what they can do for him, but he can’t stay there. We’ll get the next flight out.”

“Lois, tell Mom that the hologram needs to have sound too.”

Having no idea what Clark was on about, and assuming his illness was making him a bit delirious, she relayed the message, surprised when Martha seemed to understand. She hung up the phone and turned her attention to Clark, who had divested himself of his tie and was fumbling with the buttons on his shirt.

“Here, let me help.” Lois moved his hands aside and began unbuttoning his shirt.

“Lois, I’m sorry. This isn’t how I wanted this to happen.”

Despite their situation she grinned at him. “I can’t say I imagined the first time I took your shirt off would be because you’re sick.”

He grinned weakly back at her. “You know what I mean,” he mumbled as he reached up to cup her face while she pulled back his shirt, and gasped.

There it was, all the evidence she needed. The big bold red S on top of the blue spandex suit underneath Clark Kent’s work shirt. Focus, she chastised herself. She’d deal with the flood of emotions this was causing, later. “Let’s get you to the hospital.”

“I have to go as Superman. I can’t go as Clark.” She nodded her understanding, helped him stand and as she took off his shirt, he began to undo his belt and unbutton his pants. Once he was out of those, she grabbed his clothes and took them into his bedroom, and when she returned he had his boots and cape on. He turned to walk towards the stairs and collapsed.

“Clark!” She cried as she ran towards him. “Clark, please be ok.” He was writhing around in pain, and she helped him roll onto his back. After trying a few times to help him back to his feet, she gave up, and grabbed his phone, dialing 911.

The next few hours were a flurry of activity, followed by a frustrating amount of sitting and waiting. The ambulance had shown up within ten minutes, Superman was placed onto a gurney and taken away in the ambulance. Lois had to hop into her Jeep and follow them to the hospital, thankful she had asked which one they were taking him to. Once she arrived at the hospital it had taken all of her Lane perseverance to find out where Superman was, and how he was. She still wasn’t allowed to visit him, so she sat in the waiting room, stubbornly refusing to leave until someone let her see him. Clark would know she would be here. She hoped he’d ask for her.

As she sat, staring blankly at the wall opposite her, she felt the waves of anger, sadness, and worry crash over her repeatedly. Anger at his lies, sadness over the lack of trust he’d shown her, and worry because he was ill.

Who else knew? That question kept circling in her thoughts. Obviously his parents knew, but it seemed unlikely that anyone else did. Superman had only been around for just over a year, but Clark had a lifetime of history, childhood friends, and life experiences. From all the articles and news reports she’d seen speculating about Superman’s life, mission and intentions, it was clear no one else had uncovered anything different than she had already discovered. Less, if you counted the things he had told her which she hadn’t printed.

He did trust her, a sneaky voice whispered in her mind. Perhaps it was fear instead that kept him from divulging everything, the same fear that kept her from a certain four letter ‘L’ word.

The anger abated as she waited, replaced with increasing concern over his condition. If only she could be there with him!

****

“Miss Lane?”

She started at the sound of her name. “Yes?”

“Come with me, please.” The nurse led her down several corridors, up a flight of stairs, and down several more corridors, well beyond the emergency room. The rooms she passed were closed off with doors, unlike the ones on the other floors that had doors that were open, and beds separated by curtains. Stopping at one nondescript door, the nurse opened it with a security card, before allowing Lois to enter.

She gasped as she saw Superman lying on the bed, electrodes stuck onto his head and his chest. He grinned weakly at her, and she was thankful he wasn’t groaning in pain anymore.

“Wait here,” the nurse instructed. “The doctor will be with you shortly.” When she left, Lois heard the door lock behind her.

“Clark!” Lois exclaimed as she rushed to his side.

“Lois,” he whispered. “Superman. Please.”

“Oh, right,” she thought guiltily. She was just so relieved to finally see him she hadn’t thought about his identity, and could have blown it for him.

“Thank you,” he continued, not noticing her awkwardness as he reached for her hand.

“Are you ok? What’s going on?”

“I’m waiting for the doctors. They can’t do much to find out what’s wrong, I’m still invulnerable. The needles break.” She looked at the equipment he was hooked up to. “I guess they’re trying anything they can,” he commented.

“Are you in pain?” He wasn’t groaning anymore, but he was holding his midsection and he looked as though he was barely holding onto consciousness, his head rolling around, and his eyes closing frequently.

“A little,” he admitted as she heard the lock on the door engage.

Lois sat nervously on the edge of the bed as the doctor entered and approached them. Clark held onto her hand and she gently ran her thumb over his trying to comfort him.

“I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t know what to do,” the doctor admitted. “This Kryptonite you told me about, has invaded your system somehow. You’ve ingested it, which is why your stomach hurts, and it’s also in your bloodstream. It’s coalescing, and seems to be spreading almost like cancer.”

“If it were cancer?” Lois asked.

“Well, then we’d try to kill it with chemo or…”

“Superman did you hear that?” Lois jumped off the bed with renewed hope.

“I heard,” he struggled to say.

“So we could try to burn it out, or heat it, or radiation…” They could beat this! Her heart leapt in relief.

“Well, we have the facilities here...” began the doctor.

“No,” Clark interrupted. “We’d need something bigger.”

“Like…?” Lois asked skeptically.

“The nuclear plant.”

The doctor looked at him, appalled, and began to protest. “That amount of radiation would kill a man…”

“I may be weakened, but I’m still invulnerable. It’s my best shot,” Clark responded, his eyes closing.

Lois, terrified at the consequences of what she was about to do, turned towards the doctor. “I have my Jeep downstairs. Is there a way we can get him to my vehicle without anyone seeing him?”

“Miss Lane, I can’t endorse this treatment…”

“I’m not asking you to. Superman knows what’s best for him and the risks he can take. If we don’t do this, there’s no other option that you know of at the moment?” As the doctor shook his head, she forged ahead. “Then we try his idea. Get him whatever you need him to sign to release him, and we’ll be on our way.”

“Ok, ok,” the doctor acquiesced, raising his palms in defeat. “I’ll get the forms, and a wheelchair. If you can bring your vehicle around to the staff entrance, I’ll meet you there.”

As soon as the doctor left the room, Lois bent to give Clark a kiss. “I’ll see you in a few minutes. Hang in there,” and she ran out of the room towards the stairwell.

The doctor emerged from the staff entrance, pushing Clark in a wheelchair. Clark, or rather, Superman, was wrapped in a nondescript blanket with a hat pulled low down on his head. The doctor helped her get Superman into the front seat, wrap him back up in a blanket and belted in, where he sat, listlessly.

“Thank you, doctor.” Lois felt a small amount of chagrin for not bothering to learn the doctor’s name.

“Miss Lane, if this doesn’t work, don’t approach him. I’m not sure what he has planned but if he is radioactive, it could kill you.”

She gulped at the seriousness of his tone, thanked him for the warning, and hopped into the drivers seat.

The sun was just starting to set in the late winter sky, not quite giving them the cover of darkness, but making the shadows long enough that it would make him less easily recognizable as they sat in traffic. The nuclear plant thankfully wasn’t on the other side of the city, it was closer to the river, but it was the height of rush hour traffic. “Hold on, Clark,” she whispered as he lay unresponsive in the passenger seat.

Once there she had no idea what his plan had been. It took a concerning amount of time to rouse him from sleep, or unconsciousness, then she’d had to struggle with all of her strength to get him standing on his own feet. His arm around her shoulder, she helped him walk to the entrance, where he took a rest against the outside wall.

“Lois, I have to go in alone.”

“I know.”

“I’m sorry.” He reached for her and she swiped furiously at the tears collecting in her eyes, leaning into his arms for a hug. “I love you, Lois,” he whispered.

“I love you too, Clark,” she mumbled into his shoulder, feeling his embrace tighten around her.

“Go back to the hospital. Diana is going to try to get to him there, I’m sure of it. Warn Mayson that Diana is the assassin. She’s the one that had the Kryptonite. She kissed me last night, that’s how I must have ingested it.”

“Clark, if…” She couldn’t finish her sentence as Clark’s kiss cut her off.

“No if’s. I’ll see you there.” He kissed her passionately one more time before pushing himself off the wall and walking unsteadily towards the entrance. She watched as he talked to the security guards and they led him out of her view, before making her way back to the Jeep. Once inside she leaned against the steering wheel and burst into tears, the shock of finding out Superman’s identity and the fear of losing Clark, too much to bear at the moment.

A few minutes later she was startled by a guard knocking on her window, asking if she was ok, and if she was lost. She apologized, and explained she’d be leaving right away. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she put the Jeep in reverse, and backed out of the parking lot, and began the drive back to the hospital.

****

Mayson was already at the hospital when Lois arrived, and when Mayson saw her, she’d stood abruptly, and angrily approached her. Lois, not knowing what had happened with Jimmy and the beeper, began to apologize.

“Mayson, I’m sorry about the beeper. I did something I shouldn’t have.”

“You stole it.” Mayson put her hands on her hips, clearly annoyed.

“Not the first time I’ve bent the law for a story, but, I did feel bad after I finished rationalizing, and I realized that a big part of why I did it, is because I don’t like you.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Lois confirmed.

“Well, I don’t like you either.”

“That’s a relief!”

“Uh, huh.” Mayson didn’t seem to be any less annoyed with Lois. “Why are you here? Is Clark ok? I stopped by the Planet and some young guy handed me the beeper, passed on your apologies and when I asked him where you are, he made some comment about Clark being sick.”

“It’s Diana Stride. She’s your assassin.” Lois changed the subject from Clark, not wanting to discuss him with Mayson right now, and also needing to get to the reason she was there.

“Oh?” Mayson looked at Lois skeptically. “How did you come into that tidbit of information?”

“Superman.” Lois took a risk, knowing that Mayson didn’t much care for the superhero.

“So, you both think that Diana Stride, television personality, is a professional assassin?”

“I know it’s hard to believe,” Lois began, but stopped at the sound of someone falling over nearby. Both she and Mayson turned down the corridor and watched as the various guards and hospital personnel fell to the floor. Mayson ran towards them, Lois cried out as she saw a gas coming down from the ventilation system.

“Mayson! No! It’s gas!” Her warning was too late. Mayson was already ahead of her. Lois took a deep breath and ran towards her, catching Mayson as she slid down the wall, semi conscious. Lois spotted an oxygen tank sitting in a supply cart and grabbed the mask, opened the valve, and while trying to stop herself from coughing, she took several deep breaths of the clean air. Feeling the slight fog that had begun to settle in her brain lift some, she took another deep breath, put the mask on Mayson’s face, and ran towards Mr. X’s hospital room.

As she approached the room she spotted a nurse about to inject Mr. X. Unable to see the face of the nurse, she ran into the room and barreled into the nurse, assuming she could apologize if she had the wrong person later. She hadn’t anticipated Diana’s reflexes, who flung her against a wall, Lois’s own quick reflexes kicking in just in time to prevent her falling, or slamming into the wall.

“You’re in way over your head, Lois.”

“I only have one thing to say to you, honey…” Diana approached and swung her right arm towards Lois. She saw the action coming, and blocked, followed by another block, one of the many moves she’d practiced over and over in Tai Kwan Do. Seizing her opportunity, she kicked Diana in the stomach area, who overbalanced over the bed and fell onto the floor.

“…Keep your lips off Superman,” Lois finished smugly, surprised when Diana pulled a knife from her garter, and threw it at her. She grabbed a tray from Mr. X’s table, and gasped as the knife pierced the tray. Throwing it aside she watched as Diana climbed out of the window. About to follow, three gas masked guards burst in the room, weapons pointed at her.

“Wrong reporter,” she commented dryly. “Go check with Mayson Drake,” she added as one lowered his weapon and ran off down the corridor, the other two waited, weapons still pointing at her. It took a few minutes, but as Mayson saw her through the room’s window, she signaled to the guards that Lois was ok. The guards pushed past her to get to the window, looking for their target.

The area was a bit of a disaster. Hospital personnel were checking over those that had been unconscious, new members of Mayson’s team ran around still wearing gas masks, and Lois stood off to the side, not wanting to get in the way. She waited, uncertain of where she should go, assuming that at some point someone would want her statement about what she had witnessed with Diana and Mr. X.

“Lois,” a voice whispered behind her and she almost leapt to the ceiling in fright. She turned around and threw her arms around Clark, still in the Suit, as he stood behind her.

“Are you ok?” She asked tearfully.

“I’m better,” he answered quietly. “I’m not in any pain, but I’m a bit weak still.”

“I’m so glad you’re alright.” Suddenly conscious of what he was wearing, Lois backed up from the hug, resting her hands on his biceps, reluctant to disengage contact completely, desperate to make sure the man she loved was ok.

“She didn’t hurt you?” Clark asked concerned, his hands on her waist.

“No, no. I might be a little achy in the morning but…”

“Diana made a clean getaway,” Mayson interrupted, talking to Superman. Lois stepped away from Superman so they weren’t touching anymore. “We can’t find her. Maybe you could, um, I don’t know… help with the search?”

Clark grinned. “I’d be glad to Ms. Drake.”

Mayson smiled briefly before turning to Lois. “Lois, I just have to say thanks. I owe you. Keep this up, and we may have to like each other.”

Lois laughed at the attempt at humour. “Oh, no. Anything but that!”

They all turned towards the television as Diana Stride’s voice announced their breaking story for the evening. “Does the Man of Steel have a secret life?”

Lois gulped in horror and turned to Clark, who was grinning.

“Boy, people will do anything for ratings. Excuse me.” He nodded at both of them and walked purposefully down the corridor out of sight.

“So, how does he work?”

Still horrified at the Top Copy teaser, and taken aback by Clark’s apparent indifference and sudden departure, Mayson’s question thoroughly befuddled her. “What? Who?” Lois tried to understand the context of the question.

“Superman,” Mayson clarified, not appearing to notice Lois’ confusion. “He said he’d help. How do I find out what he’s up to?”

“Oh, that. Uh, well, I’m not really sure. If he finds her, he’ll come find you I suspect.”

“Ok. If you hear from him, you’ve got my beeper number,” Mayson slyly stated with a grin. “For now, if I can get you to write down your statement, and that’s all I’ll need.”

Lois took the paper and pen from Mayson and finding a counter that was clear, she quickly wrote her statement up. She gave it to an officer, waved at Mayson, and hurried outside, unsure of where to go, or what to do, next. She wanted to find Clark, but who knows where he could be! Climbing into the Jeep she was struck by recollection that Clark’s parents were flying in to Metropolis. They should be at the airport by now. Where were they going to go?

Feeling unusually indecisive, she turned the Jeep on, and laughed when she saw a note sticking under her windshield wiper. It was short, asking her to go the Planet, and wait for him there. Clark hadn’t signed it, but she knew his handwriting anywhere. Putting the Jeep in drive, she drove back to work with many unanswered questions, but thankful that Clark seemed to be ok.

Once at the newsroom, she filled Perry in on what had happened at the hospital and sat down to collect her thoughts and write up the article. There was an abnormal amount of people in the newsroom and it seemed that everyone wanted to be here when the Top Copy story broke. Lois wasn’t sure if that was a directive from Perry, of if every reporter there, from sports, to entertainment, to the regular beat reporter, wanted to see if they could snag a headline from this story.

Unlike everyone else’s anticipation and excitement, she was feeling very uneasy about Diana’s story. The focus Diana had given the Planet, the amount of times she’d popped by, usually with some sort of device in hand, the same as the one Superman had destroyed, gave Lois the impression that Diana had been honing in on some sort of beacon. What if Diana had been able to track the Kryptonite she’d poisoned Superman with? Maybe tonight’s breaking story wouldn’t be a tale worthy of the tabloids. What if Diana had stumbled on the truth?

She clenched her fists a few times, trying in vain to get her hands to stop shaking. If she was feeling like a wreak, how was Clark doing? His identity was being hunted, as though he was some criminal who needed to be exposed. His indifference in front of Mayson had to have been an act, but she wished she could talk to him, find out how he was feeling, and more importantly, see if he had a plan.

****

As the opening theme to Top Copy began, everyone in the newsroom crowded around the televisions, the volume up as high as it could go. Lois, as much as she hated to watch it, stood in front, needing to know what tale Diana had concocted. There had been no sign of Clark, no phone call, nothing. She’d been hovering nervously around the televisions for a while, under the guise of needing a fresh coffee, hoping to hear of a Superman rescue to explain his absence.

She watched with increasing frustration as the show aired the various interviews Diana had been doing at the Planet, and with other citizens of Metropolis. To Lois it was obvious that Diana was setting the stage for the reveal, focusing on the people responsible for printing the news as oblivious to the person hiding in their midst. The final reveal was predictably towards the end of the show. Lois gulped as she watched the camera pan over a closet, the famous Suit conspicuously displayed in a closet full of normal clothes, a closet she recognized. Oh, where was Clark, she moaned as Diana’s voice pierced her thoughts.

“…Superman is in fact, Clark Kent.”

Lois felt the blood rush from her head and released a breath she wasn’t aware she’d been holding. Everyone around her was reacting with gasps and cries of disbelief. Beside her, Jimmy spoke up.

“I don’t believe it.”

“Me neither,” added Perry’s gruff voice.

“I mean, they always kind of looked alike.” Lois turned to glare at Jimmy as Perry asked her a question.

“Lois, you buying this?”

“I… I…” She had no idea what to say! Fortunately, Perry and Jimmy seemed to take her lack of words as disbelief as they joined in the conversations of their shocked co-workers.

The elevator dinged as the doors opened to reveal Clark, dressed in his work suit from earlier, fiddling with his glasses. The general hubbub grew quiet and Lois restrained herself from running over to embrace him, her urge to warn him of what Diana’s story had been.

“Hi,” he announced, with a small wave. “Um, Lois, Perry, uh, can I talk to you for a second?”

Lois headed over, Perry and Jimmy right behind her, as Clark stayed in front of the still open elevator.

“Come with me,” Clark requested, stepping back into the elevator.

The short ride down was silent, and Lois was confused. Was he going to confirm to Jimmy and Perry what Diana had just told the world? The elevator stopped at the main floor, and they walked out in silence, heading towards the main entrance. Lois noticed that several of their coworkers were coming down the stairs, and as the other elevator arrived, more people disembarked.

“Mr. Kent!” Several people called out as Clark exited the revolving door, photographers and camera-people standing in his path, the bright and sometimes flashing lights making it hard to see beyond them.

“Clark, what is going on here?” She asked.

“I decided, the easiest way to settle all of this, is a press conference.”

He walked with confidence, and Lois followed in confusion, though she slipped her hand into his, and squeezed it briefly hoping she could convey her support. Clark glanced down at her and smiled, before releasing her hand. “It’ll be ok, Lois. I promise,” he said before stepping up to a podium with several microphones attached.

She watched, first in apprehension as Clark began to address the crowd that had gathered, and then wonder as Superman made an appearance, midair above the Daily Planet globe. How, she wondered. How had Clark pulled this off? She missed most of what was said, then Superman flew off, and Clark asked if there were any questions. The gathered media dispersed, believing that Diana’s story was a hoax, the Planet employees grumbling about staying late for no reason, a few clapping Clark on the back, and laughing at the ridiculous notion of he and Superman being the same person.

“Lois,” Clark spoke quietly into her ear. “I need to go, but I’ll be back shortly. Can you head back upstairs and start writing up a story for Diana’s arrest?”

She nodded, and he was gone. Numbly she took the elevator back up to the newsroom floor, sat at her desk, and stared at her computer blankly. Perry wandered by, wanting to know where Clark had gone off to. She gave him the excuse that he was still talking to the media outside, which Perry responded by grumbling about making sure they had the story first.

At that moment, she realized how many times Clark had done exactly the same thing. Except, after his lame excuse he would have dashed off right away, while after her lame excuse, she was sitting at her desk, glaring at the computer screen. She rested her head in her hands as it was starting to spin. The combination of Clark’s excuses and Superman’s activities began to collide in her memory. Last week, it had been Clark that was blinded, staying in her house. He wasn’t home sick, he’d been at her house, as Superman, incapacitated. No wonder his parents had stopped by!

Tapping her pen on her desk, she tried to repress her concern for Clark. He’d been poisoned, inside a nuclear reactor, and had his identity exposed, all within the last twenty-four hours. Other than the brief time he’d stopped in at the Planet before his press conference, and the very short conversation they’d had afterwards, she hadn’t had the opportunity to find out how he was really doing. Was he fully recovered? What if he went after Diana and she confronted him with Kryptonite again?

Beneath the increasing worry she felt for Clark at his current absence, she could feel a slow simmering anger beginning to grow as she remembered many of his excuses, and her interactions with both Clark and Superman. She shook herself out of her thoughts. She had a story to write, and if she sat here and continued that train of thinking, she’d end up either a blubbering mess, or a volcano, ready to erupt at any moment.