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Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Clark TOC can be found Here

Where we left off in Part 6…

As Clark landed next to her as Superman on the platform, all these thoughts and doubts faded away. Lois gazed at him as if she loved him and, for the moment, that was enough to satisfy him. He had craved for her to feel the same way about him for so long, since before he even moved to this dimension, it felt good to have her attracted to him. He only hoped that with her looking at him like that, he would be able to rein in his emotions and feelings and not do something stupid, like kiss her as Superman.

“Hi,” Lois said slightly breathlessly, licking her lips.

“Hello,” Superman replied. He was also somewhat breathless at her adoration, but he was able to fake it better. “You ready for that flight?”

“Yes!” she said, stepping closer. “I mean, if that’s okay with you. Do you need to rest first?”

“Rest?” he echoed, somewhat perplexed. Superman rarely needed rest. “Oh, no, I’m fine. I was able to get some sunlight out in space, and recharge my batteries.”

Lois’ eyes seemed to bug from her face. “You’re solar charged? Please don’t tell me that you are some robot or cyborg or something because if I gave up going into outer space for some hoax…”

“No, Ms. Lane. I’m not a robot or a cyborg or any type of invention or some lab experiment gone wrong,” Clark reassured her, having heard all the arguments and off the wall theories back in his dimension. “I’m all man.” He had wanted to say he was human, but technically ‘Kryptonian’ would be more accurate.

She relaxed until he said the word ‘man’ and then he watched as her mouth dropped open. Ooops, perhaps he shouldn’t have phrased it quite like that.

He heard the platform elevator stop and, not wishing to do anything but be with Lois, he scooped her up into his arms in to the cradle hold. “Ready?”

Lois nodded, and he slowly took off into the air.

“Are you cold?” he asked as they hovered above EPRAD.

She shook her head and wrapped her arms around his neck for extra safety. He wished he could say it was because she wanted to be that much closer to him, but he had discovered it was a natural reflex when he picked someone up and flew them somewhere. Still, the action was more than acceptable when she did it.

He gave her an aerial tour of Metropolis, but Clark had to admit to himself, he did it more as a delaying tactic than to show her how beautiful the city was from up above. Now, if it had been nighttime… He noticed that she wasn’t really looking at the city, but only at him, so he altered his course and headed downtown. “Where shall we go?”

“My place,” Lois replied without hesitation.

Part 7

Clark swallowed and tried to think of a good and proper reason, besides the obvious, why Superman should not to be alone with this woman in her apartment.

“So I can change my clothes,” Lois clarified, glancing down at her Prometheus jumpsuit. “If that’s all right?”

“Of course,” Clark said, after clearing his throat. What did you think was going to happen between Superman and Lois Lane in the privacy of her apartment? Please! Get your mind out of the gutter. She just met you, Kent… well, this you, Superman you. Did you really think that Lois Lane would seduce you?

He could easily have thought ‘try to seduce him’, but at this point in time, Clark didn’t think it would be all that difficult; she wouldn’t even have to try all that hard.

He had just been successful at unveiling his Super persona without a revelation that Superman was also Clark Kent and with nobody trying to kill him. Plus, he saved a bunch of colonists from dying, while issuing an invisible punch at Lex Luthor. Win-win-win-win! He felt like celebrating his victory.

Clark had to avoid that scenario at all costs. If his almost kiss with the married Lois Lane of that other dimension was anything to go by, his self-control was hovering just above nil.

“How about you tell me where you live?” he suggested, giving way to temptation.

Lois showed him the way, and soon they landed on her roof where he set her down. She didn’t seem in any rush to move away from his chest.

“Ms. Lane?”

“Um… Right, sorry, just getting my land legs,” she said, and headed to the door leading into the building. After a few steps, she noticed he wasn’t following. She returned to him, took his hand in hers, and pulled him after her.

“It would be better if I remained here, Ms. Lane,” he responded honestly.

“I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

That will make changing your clothes quite difficult, Superman almost said, in Clark’s usually offhand manner; instead he pinched his lips together to stop this retort from slipping out.

He winced as the natural consequences of this thought also crossed his mind. In this Suit, you’re Superman! Act like it, Kent! Be aloof. Gentlemanly, but distant. You want her to fall in love with your Clark side, not the hero.

“Ms. Lane, I would feel more comfortable waiting on the roof,” he insisted, halting his steps and turning slightly away from her.

Her brow furrowed. “You can trust me.”

Um… not really, no. Who knew what she would do to get the Pulitzer prize winning Superman exclusive?

“Ms. Lane, you just met me. Until we know each other better, it would be more proper if I waited here,” Clark told her, scraping the bottom of the barrel of the manners his mother had been teaching him, regarding behavior towards girls or, in this case, women.

“And I’m afraid that you’ll disappear while I’m changing,” she said, then shook her head. “No, you better come with me.”

“Ms. Lane, I promise you that only a call for help will make me leave this roof. I offered to take you to your office and, unless you change your mind, I plan on doing just that,” Superman explained.

“A call for help?” she echoed his words. “What does that mean exactly? A mugging? A robbery? Shots fired? A police chase? A fire? A cat stuck in a tree? What are you talking about? What kind of calls, and who calls you? Do you mean on the telephone? Do you work alone, or are there more like you?”

Clark smiled at her nervous ramble. “No one calls me on the telephone, Ms. Lane,” he explained with a tap to his ear. “I just happen to have very good hearing. That’s how I knew you needed my assistance on the Prometheus transport this morning. Yes, to all those kinds of problems; although, I believe I can skip the cat stuck in tree rescue just this once, for you.” Are there more like you? Well, not in this dimension. “As far as I know, I alone, am the only person with my abilities in this universe.” Universe and dimension meant same thing, right?

Lois stared at him. “The man, the other day, under the street, the gas line explosion…”

“Yes?” he asked as her after it seemed that she wasn’t going to continue.

“That was you, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Superman said with a more certainty.

“How did no one see you?” Lois questioned. “I mean, look at you. You don’t exactly blend in with that suit.”

“There are miles of tunnels that run under the city, Ms. Lane. You must know that,” he answered with a statement of fact, one that had nothing at all to do with her question, but true nonetheless.

“Why didn’t you come forward then?” she insisted, more curious than accusatory. “How long have you been on Earth? Did you grow up here or just arrive? How long are you going to stay?”

“Ms. Lane, your clothing,” he gently deflected her questions.

She shook her head. “Right. Of course.” She stared at him for a moment like she was drinking in his image in case she never saw him again. “See, this is why you need to come down to my apartment. I have so many questions. I think, considering the fact that I saw you first, you owe me an exclusive.”

“Is that the rule?” he replied with a smile, knowing it wasn’t.

“Well, no,” Lois hesitantly admitted with slight embarrassment. “But I’d appreciate it very much.”

“We can talk later,” Superman reminded her.

“We can talk now, while I shower and change. If I walk alone through that door, what’s stopping some Metropolis Star reporter from yelling ‘help’ just to get your attention?” Lois demanded with her hands on her hips.

Oh, no, he could not possibly be in her apartment while she showered. No, he did not possess that kind of strength. Clark was shocked that she would request such an intimate thing to a total stranger, and somewhere deep inside of him his jaw was hanging down to his ankles, but somehow he found the energy not to let it reach his facial expression. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stop an uneasy chuckle. “Ms. Lane, they’d have to know that I’d come when they called for help, now wouldn’t they?” He crossed his arms uncomfortably across his chest, wishing he could just keep his mouth shut around this woman. “And they won’t know that until you write your exclusive.”

“Oh, right,” she stammered as if his logic finally penetrated her thick skull. “So, stay.” She pointed down at the roof.

He raised a brow. She didn’t just say that to him, did she?

“Please.” Lois sweetened her plea with a smile. “I’ll be just a few minutes.”

“I promised, Ms. Lane,” he reiterated.

“And a promise from you means… what exactly?” she wondered.

So, she doesn’t trust Superman enough to be honest with her, just enough for him to be in her apartment while she showered and changed. Lois had mentioned a tendency to jump in with both feet. “I’ll be here.”

“Right.” Lois nodded and opened the roof door, turning to look back at him as if to double check that he hadn’t left yet. Finally, she slipped through the door and jogged down the stairs.

Clark exhaled and relaxed as he started to pace. What was he doing? Why had he promised her that he would stay? Why had he agreed to fly her to work? Why had he allowed her to detour them away from going directly to the Daily Planet? Why didn’t he just tell her that there was somewhere he had to be? He sighed. Because there wasn’t anywhere else he wanted to be.

Lois was a drug, a very highly addictive drug, and the more time he spent with her, the more he needed. He had thought she was intriguing before she had starting looking at him with that lovesick expression. Now… He dropped his head into his hands. At least he hadn’t gone into her apartment, where she was surely stripping out of that jumpsuit… He winced as he tried to keep that thought from entering his mind.

You would have to think of that, wouldn’t you? he admonished himself and forced himself to look up into the sky so that he wouldn’t be tempted to x-ray into her apartment. This outfit was way too tight for him to stand in her living room with her shooting him questions from her shower as he listened to the water splash and…

Stop it, you muttonhead!

Clark started to hum to himself as he recited the Gettysburg Address forwards and then backwards. For an extra distraction, he also made himself translate it into Japanese. Once he had finished, he had his body under control again.

Make yourself a vow, at this very moment, that Superman won’t sleep with Lois, let alone kiss or even flirt with her, until you’ve had the guts to tell her that Superman is Clark Kent. You already vowed never to take advantage of a groupie, no matter how tempting said groupie is, or how much the groupie wants to be taken advantage of. Of course, if Lois started looking at Clark Kent with that same expression of love, he’d say that all bets were off.

Clark closed his eyes and listened. He could hear a shower just being turned off; therefore, he had time for a quick trip. With a fist held into the air, he blasted into the sky, past the clouds, out of the Earth’s atmosphere. When he was sure was out of view from anyone in Metropolis, let alone Earth, he allowed himself to fly a couple of loop-de-loops, his old football victory dance, and let himself holler of joy. Once he got that out of his system, he slowly glided back to Earth.

Clark paced for another fifteen minutes, before he heard Lois run back up the stairs to the roof.

“Okay, Lane, brace yourself for the worst. He may not be there,” she murmured to herself before he heard her take a deep breath and exhale.

Superman turned to face the door as it opened, and he couldn’t stop the smile tugging at his lips. She had washed all the hair gel from her hair and a slight breeze blew the rose scent of her conditioner over to him. She wore a brown business suit with a polka dot skirt and white blouse that he hadn’t seen before. The smile was because he knew all this effort had been for him. She returned his smile with a breathless quality of unadulterated joy. Unable to say a word, he scooped her into his arms and flew off towards the Daily Planet.

Neither of them spoke as he approached the building. He blew open the doors to the windows above the newsroom and floated them into the bullpen, setting Lois down near her desk.

Clark didn’t know about her, but it seemed to him they were together in an empty room, until he heard the Chief mutter, “Great shades of Elvis!”

Before either one of them could speak, Clark heard someone call for help. “Someone needs me,” he told her.

She nodded. “Yeah, me,” she said under her breath so only he could hear her.

He needed her too, but that was not what he meant. “My assistance.” Superman floated backwards towards the windows, never letting her out of his sight.

“Wait a minute!” Lois called, following him up the stairs. “How do I find you?”

Clark paused by the windows. “I’ll be around.”

He could see that she was still oblivious to the crowd gathering around her. She only had eyes for Superman. She seemed like a completely new woman. He missed the woman she was just the day before, all spit and fire. He had never hated his Superman persona more than in this very instant. Clark Kent would never have a chance now. He gazed at Lois with one last longing glance before hearing the call for help again.

*

Superman disappeared through the open window in a streak of red and blue. Lois watched him until she could see him no more, which actually was about three seconds. Man, he was fast.

“I see it, but I don’t believe it. Lois Lane finally, literally, swept off her feet by a man. Too bad he’s an alien,” Cat said with awe in her voice. “So, Lois, who’s your new boyfriend?”

Lois stiffened at Cat’s words. “If you must know, he’s called Superman.” She pushed by the gossip monger. “And he’s not my boyfriend,” she replied, bristling at Cat’s implication. “I’ve got a story to write.”

“Well, you could have fooled him,” Cat returned.

Lois turned back to Cat, excitement coursing through her. “Really?”

Cat threw her head back with laughter. “No, not really, Lois,” she replied snidely.

The investigative reporter flushed with humiliation at how easily she had fallen into Cat’s trap. “He’s not that sort of man,” Lois snapped. “He’s a gentleman.”

Her defense of the new hero only made Cat laugh harder. “He turned you down, didn’t he?”

Lois ignored Cat’s barb with a flush to her cheeks and went to her desk to type up her story.

“Lois,” Perry called from the door of his office.

How was she supposed to write up her story with all these interruptions?

“Did you see Kent?” he continued.

Clark? “No,” she answered. What was she, his keeper? Well, Perry could have Clark’s leash back. She was done with him.

“I sent him to bail you out.” Perry leaned over her shoulder. “That took a lot of guts,” her boss said in a lower tone, but with pride. “Maybe you’ll succeed next time.”

She turned to face him. “I succeeded this time. I could have gone to the space station,” Lois wanted to make sure that fact was clear. “I chose to stay.”

“Why?” Perry inquired.

Why? Why? Hello, flying man! “I couldn’t let anyone scoop me on Superman.”

“Oh,” Perry said with interest. “You got the interview, then?”

“Well, no,” she admitted, inwardly bashing her head on her desk. What was wrong with her? Why did she allow Superman to tell her ‘no’? Why did she need to clean herself up for him? She flipped her hand towards the window as an excuse. “You heard him. Someone was calling for help. Anyway, he promised me the exclusive.”

“That and a dime will get you a telephone call, Lois, but it sure as hell won’t fill up my front page.”

Lois growled. “Don’t worry, Chief, my bomb scare on the Prometheus will more than fill it up.”

“Bomb? There was a bomb? LNN broadcasted something about an explosion over the transport after the flying man showed. They were implying he might have had something to do with it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, it goes to show, you can’t believe unsubstantiated reports on TV.”

The Chief grinned. Nothing pleased Perry more than rubbing the television news’ nose in the smelly garbage they often produced. “You got the real story?”

She shot him her ‘What do you think?’ look. “Nah, I always take Superman Express to work.”

“Atta girl!” he said with a congratulatory slap to her back.

Jimmy approached them, holding up his camera. “I’ve got photos to go with your article.”

“Well, see about that,” Perry grumbled.

Jimmy gestured in frustration behind Perry’s retreating back. “I’ll never get my big break,” he groaned, plopping himself down in the chair next to Lois.

“Hey, do me a favor, will ya?” Lois pulled her car keys out of her purse and tossed them at Jimmy. “Go pick up my car from the EPRAD parking lot.”

Jimmy laughed and shook his head with amazed disbelief. “Only you would get a ride with a real live superhero when you had your car available. Smooth, Lois, really smooth.”

She shrugged. “He offered a lift; what was I supposed to do? Turn him down?” Lois glanced up at Jimmy with a mischievous grin.

***

After Clark stopped the robbery at the liquor store, he gave his statement to the cops as the hero. Twenty seconds after Superman flew off, Clark came around the corner and questioned them as himself, the reporter. He phoned in the article to copy, some woman named Doris, and then went to the City of Metropolis and inquired about the explosion and the hurt worker.

The man had already been released from the hospital, and Clark tracked him down at his home. Manuel Suez’s wife was thrilled to have a reporter come and interview her husband, and to discover and verify that he indeed had been saved by Superman prior to the hero’s big debut that morning on live LNN. Neither she nor her husband believed the reports that the flying man had anything to do with the explosion above the transport vehicle.

Great, thought Clark wryly. LNN was putting Superman down as the bad guy. What did he have to do to catch a break?

After getting Manny’s firsthand account of his rescue by Superman, Clark took the story back to the Daily Planet to type it up.

“Wait a gosh-darn minute!” Lois snapped, jumping out of her chair, when Perry praised Clark for his story. “Superman is my story.”

“Honey, this is a follow-up to the gas main break earlier in the week. If I recall correctly, that was Clark’s story; you were more than happy to let him write it up,” Perry rebutted.

“Anyway,” Clark interjected. “You’re the one who went undercover on the Prometheus transport without telling me. I thought we were partners on this.”

“We were not partners! On the Messenger explosion and cover-up, Kent, you worked for me. I was lead reporter. The Prometheus is another story entirely, and since Superman is part and partial to that story, since I found him…”

“Actually, I hear he found you,” Clark corrected with a knowing smile.

“Thank. You. Kent,” she replied tersely, before turning her attention back to their boss. “Perry, this isn’t fair. I should have the exclusive on the follow-up. Those are the rules.”

“Oh? The ‘rules’, huh?” Perry replied, gesturing to Clark with the hand holding his copy. “Well, since Kent here had the initial story where Superman saved the city worker, wouldn’t that give him the exclusive on everything Superman?”

“But he’s mine!” Lois demanded, almost whining. Then she must have realized everyone in the office was looking at her because she lowered her voice. “Mine… as in my story. Story, mine. Superman promised me the exclusive.” By the end of this spiel, her voice had grown soft.

Clark shook his head. She had it worse than he had imagined. “We could partner up and share the Superman stories?” he suggested. It seemed like the perfect excuse to work together.

“There is no we, Kent. There is you, and there is I; there is no we. Superman is mine; hands off!” Lois told him in no uncertain terms, her index finger pointed at him like a weapon.

He raised his hands in mock self-defense. “Just an idea.” Now, Clark understood why Perry had warned him not to step on Lois’ toes regarding his Luthor exposé.

“Okay. Okay. Hold it! Hold it!” their boss exclaimed, stepping between the two of them. “Last time I checked, it was my name on the door over there with the title ‘Editor-in-Chief’ under it. If that has changed, I’d appreciate it if you two would let me know.” He gave Lois, then Clark, a stern look.

Lois lowered her finger and Clark his hands.

“I still make the decisions here on who partners up with whom and which topics are exclusive and which aren’t,” Perry reminded them. “I’m sorry, Kent, but as much as I’d like the comedy of errors the two of you as partners would bring, it’s a no go.”

She shot Clark a victorious smirk.

“And, Lois, Superman is big, too big for one reporter to handle. Since he came on the scene this morning, he has saved a bunch of colonists from a bomb, flown the Prometheus transport up to the space station, given you a lift to work, and stopped a liquor store from being robbed. It’s not even noon, yet. If he keeps going at this pace, it will take the entire newsroom to keep up.”

“Meaning?” Lois growled; her tone of voice clearly showing she knew where this was leading.

“Meaning, the ‘rules’ are off. From now on Superman is fair game, every reporter for himself…” the Chief said to Clark, and then turned to Lois. “Or herself.” He stomped into office and slammed his door.

“Great, Kent! You’ve made Perry mad,” Lois snapped at him.

“I did? Who got all greedy regarding stories all of a sudden?” he remarked.

“Greedy? So, now I’m not only a snob, I’m a greedy snob? May I remind you that I practically handed that city worker story to you the other day? I’d say that was quite a bone,” she responded.

“Only because you now know that the man who rescued him was real,” Clark rebutted, letting his frustration that, not only did she not recognize him as the man she was mooning over that morning, but also that she preferred a pair of tights to his real self, seep out. “May I remind you that back on the day, not only was I standing right beside you when it happened, but that you didn’t give a damn about such a little story. You didn’t give me a bone, I volunteered to write it.”

Lois’ index finger pointed in his face again. “Don’t come between me and Superman, Clark. I’m warning you.”

He leaned forward so her finger was barely a centimeter away. “Or you’ll what?”

Cat Grant walked up from where she had obviously been eavesdropping on their conversation. “Mmmm-huh. Wait a minute. I get it. You and Superman joined the ol’ zero gravity club up on the space station, didn’t you?” Cat laughed as if even the thought of this was preposterous.

“What?” Clark sputtered, backing away, instantly chagrined. The last thing he wanted was Lois and Superman to be a gossip item. It would put her at too much of a risk.

“Excuse me?” said a confused Lois through pressed lips. “You know I didn’t go to the space station, Cat.”

“I know,” Cat said through her laughter. “But where did you and Superman go on your little flight?” She waved her finger up in the air and towards the window. “All of Metropolis wants to know. It couldn’t have taken all that long to fly to the Daily Planet on Superman Express.” She beamed. “Don’t worry, honey, your secret is safe with me,” Cat reassured her with a wink. “No one would believe it anyway.”

“He took me on an aerial flight around Metropolis, if you must know. It will all be in my story, if you can remember how to read,” Lois shot back.

Clark glanced at Lois. That wasn’t exactly true. She had invited him back to her apartment. Thank God he hadn’t followed her inside.

“Me-ow, Lois, did I hit a little close to home on that one?” Cat said with a raised brow. “In all seriousness, Lois, I can’t believe you gave up a trip to space for a man.”

“I… uh… I gave it up for a story, Cat, not for a man,” Lois said, plopping herself back down into her seat. “Now, if you two don’t mind, I have a page one story to finish.” She waved Clark and Cat away with a flick of her hand as if they were pesky flies.

Cat slid her arm around Clark’s, leading him away and back to his desk. After she had pushed him down into his seat, she walked around behind him, leaned over his shoulder, and teasingly whispered in his ear, “Still madly in love with her, Clark? Or did the screaming banshee finally scare you off?”

Clark stared over at Lois, considering Cat’s words. Lois sat at her desk, completely focused on her computer screen. She bit her bottom lip as she concentrated on her story. Slowly, her lip escaped from captivity, only to be bitten again, as Lois deleted a line from her story and retyped it differently. Sure, he was hurt that Lois cared for super fake man over him, but as he watched Lois’s bottom lip gradually slip out from her teeth once more, an ache in his chest, a longing he still could not deny, tightened and almost took his breath away.

He had never wanted to kiss a woman more. Clark was humiliated, frustrated, and his ego bruised, but he still loved Lois. Unfortunately, she only had eyes for his alter-ego.

Jimmy stopped by his desk. “Hey, Clark, I got those photos developed from this morning. Since you missed the excitement, I thought you’d want first peek.” He slid some photos across Clark’s desk.

Clark knew his friend was looking for some positive feedback before entering the crocodile pen, but before Clark had a moment to look at them, Jimmy was paged for a telephone call.

“Be right back!” Jimmy said, bouncing off.

Clark’s eyes gravitated down to the pictures in front of him. The top picture showed Lois, her arms around Superman’s neck as he cradled her against his chest, and a look of total enrapture on her face. The next photo was after he had set her down, but he realized their arms were still wrapped around each other’s waists. They looked like they had wanted to kiss. He gulped. Not good, certainly not good PR for Superman.

He quickly looked through the photos, stopping at the last one, where Superman hovered by the windows looking back at Lois with an expression of longing. So much for a cool manner of aloofness there, doofus!

“How am I ever going to compete against that?” Clark muttered to himself.

Cat gasped, drawing his focus away from his heart’s desire. He had forgotten the gossip columnist was still standing there behind him.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Clark mumbled, giving her a cursory glance before shifting papers around on his desk and covering the photos.

“Oh, no you don’t. That one is mine!” Cat said, snatching up the photo of Superman practically drooling while hovering by the windows looking back at Lois. “It’s a great shot of his rear end.” Cat bounced her eyebrows with a naughty grin. She must have caught Clark’s stunned gaping expression, because she continued with a shrug, “Well, if I can’t have the real thing…” Her fingers danced across his shoulders. “Or the next best thing, I might as well have a picture for my fantasy collection.” Then she straightened her posture, returning it to that come-hither pose that she consistently used. “Well, if you ever come to your senses…” She swished her own barely covered rear end, well displayed in her skintight dress, for his benefit. “You know where to find me.”

Crap. Clark had, once again, worn his heart on his sleeve, and Cat had seen straight through his suit to the truth. She knew he was in love with Lois Lane. Clark groaned, resisting the urge to drop his head onto his desk. Let the misery begin.

Jimmy returned, and Clark held out three photos where it wasn’t completely obvious that Superman would do anything for Lois Lane. They weren’t the best or clearest photos in the bunch, and he felt guilty for steering Jimmy astray, but he couldn’t have those other photos splashed across the Daily Planet’s front page. It would make Lois Lane a target if anyone knew how much Superman cared for her.

“I’d lead with these,” Clark suggested with a confident nod. The one where Lois and Superman looked as if they were about to kiss had disappeared from the pile.

*********
The Kents
*********

“Martha!” Jonathan called to her as soon as Martha had the front door open.

She sighed. He was awake and still in the bedroom, still in the room that was now their bedroom. She pulled her keys out of the lock and shut the door. She set her bag of groceries down on the kitchen table and went into the bedroom.

“You need to get out of bed,” Martha told him and not for the first time that day. “Doc Simpson said you needed to get up, stretch your muscles, and get back into your regular routine. Staying in bed isn’t good for you.”

“Who was that on the phone?” he replied, ignoring Doctor Simpson’s advice. “Who did you go out and meet? Was it Wayne? Are the two of you…?” Jonathan accused before his voice faded, not wanting to say the words he had been clearly thinking.

“Are the two of us what, Jonathan?” Martha crossed her arms and raised a brow, no longer able to hold in the anger of her husband’s apathy towards his new life. “Spending more time together since your accident? Yes. He and Thomas have been helping me out around the farm, because you won’t get your butt out of that bed and help at all. Do we talk more about our feelings? Yes, again, because you won’t talk to me, and you won’t let your friends come and see you. He misses you. You prefer to sit in that bed and wallow in misery about what your life could have been.” She threw the newspaper that had been under the crook of her arm onto the end of the bed and straightened his wheelchair next to the bed, making sure the wheels were locked. “Do you know so little of me and of Wayne that you would actually think that either of us could ever consider such a thing? There has only been one man for me, Jonathan Kent, and he’s the one moping here in bed, day in and day out, for the last few weeks. I’m not taking it anymore, Jonathan. You need to get out of bed.”

Jonathan looked away from her. “I need to rest.”

“Bull! I need you, Jonathan. I need you to come into the living room and watch what’s happening on the news,” Martha demanded, her voice cracking. “I can’t face this alone.”

His brow furrowed. “What happened, Martha?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Come. You’ve got to see it for yourself.”

Jonathan still didn’t move, but Martha saw worry in his eyes. “That was a nasty storm we had yesterday. Did tornados hit Smallville? How many people died? I knew we needed to get that new tornado siren up and running this past winter.”

Martha pinched her lips together. “It’s not about tornadoes, Jonathan. You have to see this for yourself.”

“Did something happen to President Garner? Was he assassinated?” He dropped his head into his hands. “Oh, God, Martha, I can’t even remember the name of our Vice-President.”

“It’s Davies.”

“Right, Lane Davies,” Jonathan echoed with a nod.

“Now, honey, that doesn’t matter. President Garner hasn’t been killed. Now, get your butt out of that bed and into that chair, and come out and see,” she insisted, turning to leave the room.

“Martha, who was it on the phone? Who called before you rushed out of the house?” he pleaded.

“Joan, down at the market. I had asked her to call me when Richard returned from Wichita with the evening Daily Planet,” Martha explained, actually leaving the room this time. She couldn’t be his crutch anymore. He needed to start to do things for himself.

“Newspaper?” she heard him mutter.

Martha went into the living room and turned on LNN again. Was there any more developments? Had he spoken to anyone in the press besides Lois Lane? Had he made another appearance? She sat down on the sofa and stared at the same pictures that they had been showing all day: a man in red cape and blue suit, flying over EPRAD. She was transfixed.

“Martha?!” she heard her husband call, then a squeak of the bed, and then he called again. “Please, Martha. Could you just hold my chair?”

“I locked the wheels, Jonathan,” Martha told him, unable to look away from the pictures on the television.

“Martha!”

“Oh, fine,” she muttered, pulling herself away from the same video that had mesmerized her all day, to go help her husband. She flipped the blankets and sheets off his legs and then held the back of the chair as he pulled himself into it. As soon as he was in, she fixed his legs on the footrests and unlocked the wheels.

“Could you hand me the afghan, Martha?” he asked, reaching for the newspaper she had dropped on the end of the bed.

Martha covered his lap and tucked in the blanket around his legs.

Jonathan snapped open the paper. The blood seemed to drain out of his face as he made a gurgling noise. “Martha,” he whispered.

There, on the front page of the Daily Planet, was a photo of a man in a blue suit and a red cape, carrying a brunette woman in his arms, flying into an office. Emblazoned on his chest was the same symbol that had been on the spaceship and baby blanket of that child they had found almost thirty years earlier.

***End of Part 7***

Part 8

Comments

Although, I have borrowed the name Lane Davies, from the actor who played the character Tempus on the Lois & Clark tv show, for the Garner’s Vice-President, this character is not to represent him in any way, shape, form, or character. I meant no offense, only an homage to the man who brought us much enjoyment as our beloved villain. Thank you.