Um, don't remember what the A/N's said...
Sorry
.
Last time
Clark returned to the room holding the globe they'd found in his ship. "Here. What's this one do?"
Trey closed his eyes for a long moment. "They are sending the materials here. We should be able to see them in conjunction with that device. It is a much older version, however, there is a reasonable chance that it will be compatible."
A minute later, a large console appeared on the table. Trey took the globe from Clark and set it on the indentation.
Clark took a seat and the Kryptonians followed his lead.
Clark reached out to take Lois' hand, leaning to one side in his chair. "Okay, gentlemen. Let's see your evidence."
*~*24*~*Lois viciously stabbed the spatula under one of the chocolate chip cookies.
"What'd the cookies do to you?" Martha asked softly.
"That's not it and you know it," Lois retorted. She set the cookie sheet down on the counter with a sigh. "I just don't want to think about what's going on..." She waved vaguely in the direction of the back pasture. "...out there."
'Out there' Clark was learning the art of the Drei from Lord Nor and General Zod.
The council members had left nearly two hours earlier. The holograms they had watched had backed up Nor's claims. Of course, they had no way of knowing for sure that the holograms weren’t faked or doctored somehow, but it certainly appeared that Ching had been skulking around a space ship of some kind.
The fight with Ching was most likely imminent. Lois didn't really understand *why* Ching would feel the need to fight Clark to the death except that he and Zara apparently had a thing going and Clark was Zara's birth husband.
Regardless, it seemed *someone* was going to want to fight Clark at some point so it seemed reasonable that Clark was going to have to figure out the Drei thing and sooner seemed better than later.
"I know, Sweetie." Martha wrapped her arm around Lois.
Lois rested her head against her mother's. "Can't they just have a spitting contest instead? I know Clark's basically invulnerable but against Kryptonians? With Kyptonian weapons? It's not who Clark is, who *Superman* is. He goes out of his way to make sure he doesn't hurt people."
"Would you prefer to fight Lady Zara?"
Lois and Martha turned to see Trey entering the kitchen.
"What exactly would that accomplish?" Martha asked him.
"We fear the only way Lady Zara and Lt. Ching will give up their aspirations is with the death or arrest of one or both of them. Since Lord Kal-El is the rightful First Lord, he is the only one capable of stopping them."
"You can't just arrest them?" Lois asked irritably.
"Given their current abilities, it would be most difficult."
Lois sighed her agreement before continuing. "So instead you're going to have Clark take out all of them for you? You're superpowered, too, now. How many men does she have with her?"
"A dozen or so, milady. However, it is likely that once Lady Zara and Lt. Ching have either been defeated or surrendered, their men will acquiesce to their new leadership – under Lord Kal-El or Lord Nor."
"Why is that?"
"It is the Kryptonian way."
Lois started to say something else but stopped when the back door opened. Clark looked as exhausted as Lois had ever seen him. She'd watched Superman closely over the previous eighteen months or so. She'd seen him physically and emotionally spent, but usually only after spending days helping in the aftermath of an earthquake or other disaster. Or the night of his Grandpa's fundraiser when he'd felt guilty over the second half of the accident near the New Troy state line. He'd been dancing with her and, instead of going when he first heard about the initial crash, he'd thought the authorities would be able to handle it. Instead, the secondary accident had claimed dozens of lives - lives which Clark had felt responsible for.
But this was different. They'd only been outside for a couple of hours but Clark looked more drained than she'd ever seen him. Her eyes narrowed. Was he not as fully recovered from the Kryptonite exposure as he'd claimed? Or was it just that he'd been fighting with another superpowered Kryptonian?
Clark's eyes lit up as he walked into the kitchen. "Are those your cookies?" He walked to her side and gave her a quick kiss before reaching for one.
"Hey! Those are still hot!" She smacked his arm
Clark grinned at her. "Won't bother me a bit. You know, I married you for your cookies and this is the first time you've made them for me."
"Milord?" Trey asked, a puzzled look on his face.
Clark held one out towards the older man. "Try one," he mumbled around his own mouthful before handing one to Lord Nor and General Zod.
Trey looked at it skeptically. He took a tentative bite. "It is delicious, milady," he said hesitantly.
Lois glared at him. "Don't patronize me, *Lord* Trey. If you don't like them, just say so."
He hesitated again. "It would be unseemly of me to say so."
"Well, it would surprise me if I liked Kryptonian food right off the bat." She shrugged. "You won't hurt my feelings."
"But Lord Ka... Er, Clark married you for these. It would be extremely rude of me..."
"It's an *expression*," she told him. "Clark didn't really marry me for my cookies."
Clark grinned. "Nope. Was your dad's pulled pork."
Lois sighed. "Well, Dad put that in the crock pot before you took him home. And there's garlic chicken pasta in the fridge, along with baked spaghetti and beef stroganoff and Mexican chicken."
Clark raised an eyebrow. "Are you planning on feeding an army?"
Lois shrugged. "You never know; I might have to."
"How did your training go?" Trey asked Clark.
He shrugged. "It's hard."
"He's a quick study," Nor interjected. "Ching has been training with a Drei since childhood, but Lord Kal-El has already mastered its finer points, as well as the 980 basic moves. And he won three out of four matches."
"That's good, isn't it?" Lois asked.
"I could still beat him," Nor said, a trace of disappointment in his voice. "There is a mindset crucial to all Drei masters, a point in the match when the man becomes the weapon. All else vanishes. No doubts, no fears, no heart, no mercy. Just the kill."
"You have not shown us that," General Zod told him, shaking his head.
"And I won't," Clark said forcefully, his arm tightening around Lois' shoulders. "That's not me!"
"Yes, it is, Clark," Zod said sternly. "It is part of the Kryptonian that lies within you."
"I've never believed in killing," Clark pointed out. "I've closed my mind to Kryptonian instincts like that."
The other three Kryptonians shared a look.
"Then I doubt you will survive the duel, milord," Trey said softly.
Lois pushed away from the counter. "Great," she muttered. "I married a man who isn't a killer and that's going to get him killed." She dug another package of chicken out of the freezer and tossed it on the counter. "Thaw that, would ya?"
Clark turned and rested her hands on his shoulders. "What's going on?"
She turned to face him, wrapping her arms around him before resting her head on his chest. "I'm cooking, baking, whatever. Trying to keep my mind off Ching killing you." She held him tightly as his arms wrapped more securely around her. "I'm scared, Clark," she whispered.
"I know, honey." He pressed a kiss against her hair. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
A throat cleared behind them and they turned to see Trey shifting uncomfortably. "It's time," he told them. "They are waiting."
*****
TBC
