Home for Christmas by Wendy Richards
Just as she was about to call out to him, she noticed a jeep suddenly
appear around the blind curve in the road, speeding toward the pileup, no
possibility of not crashing into it. And then, in the dim light of the
crescent moon, she saw something incredible. In a blur, Clark moved in
front of the speeding jeep as if he intended to stop it. Lois felt a
scream begin to rise in the back of her throat and then it was over. Clark
was standing in front of the jeep, his hand on the hood. There had been no
collision. How could that be? She watched as Clark, in a fast moving blur,
disappeared back into the darkness.
Lois ran toward the jeep just as Matt Thomson got out. "Are you all right?"
He looked groggy and shook his head, as if to clear it. "Yeah. Did you see
what happened? I should be dead. It was all so quick. I was half asleep and
I skidded on the pavement coming around the bend. The next thing I know I'm
racing toward this pileup and I can't brake the car fast enough. I thought
I saw a man but that can't be possible." He shook his head again and
repeated his question, "Did you see what happened?"
"I'm not sure; it all happened so fast." But she was sure; she was very
sure about what she had seen. She put it temporarily to the back of her
mind. "You must be exhausted," she said. "You can't get back into the car
in this state. Come with me. There's tea over at the emergency van."
They were walking toward the van when Matt saw Jenny, dishevelled and her
uniform blood spattered. She looked exhausted. He hadn't called her before
he left on his flight to Metropolis and now he regretted it. He might never
have seen her again.
Startled, she looked up at him. "What are you doing here?"
"I was on my home when . . ." he couldn't finish because she had flung her
arms around him and he found himself holding her tightly, his face buried
in her wet hair.
She pulled away from him, "I can't talk right now. I'll see you later?"
"Come to my place when you go off duty."
"Yeah," she turned back toward the wreck and he watched her go.
Clark came up toward them as she left. Lois noticed the way the rain had
slicked his dark hair so that it clung damply to his skull and wondered why
she had never noticed his resemblance to Superman before. It had to be the
glasses> she thought in disgust. <and they were *new* ones and I still
didn't notice. . . She wanted to yell at him, to run away from him, to
turn herself in for stupidity. She did none of these things; instead she
controlled her feelings and said hi.
They walked with Matt back toward his jeep. Clark offered to drive him home
and Matt, still shaken from his experience, accepted. Lois agreed to follow
them in Allie's car. Why, Clark? You could just fly back, she thought
angrily.
As she followed behind them, she tried to get a grip on her feelings. She
felt more isolated than she had ever felt in her life. Surprised, she
realized that he had been her anchor for nearly two years and now she felt
adrift, not recognizing the waters around her. Who was he? Which was the
act, Clark or Superman? She remembered reading somewhere about how the
former Soviet Union had planted 'moles' in Europe during the Cold War,
young agents so thoroughly immersed in the culture of their new home that
they blended in perfectly, marrying, having children, developing solid
friendships. As the U.S.S.R. had decayed from within, these sleepers had
never been 'activated' and the agents had not wanted to return, preferring
to stay with their families, willing emotional captives of the society they
had been sent to undermine. How must their spouses and friends have felt
when they found out, she wondered?
Like fools! was her cross answer. How could you not have noticed? You
were supposedly closer to Superman than anyone else. Except Clark Kent! Ha!
Where were your observation skills? You're a trained journalist! You should
have known. Why didn't you pick up on the clues? God, there were hundreds
of them! All those ridiculous excuses! Cheesy excuses! You should turn in
your Kerths! And it's not like you've only seen Superman being 'super'.
You've seen him when he's been vulnerable: when he was blinded (now at
least you know where he was that night!), when you dug a kryptonite bullet
out of his shoulder, and two weeks ago, when he was close to death after
Diana Stride had kissed him with that 'special k' lipstick. God, he could
be naive sometimes!
And then she remembered how he had clung to her when he'd come out of the
atomic furnace that had radiated the krptonite out of his system. Oh,
Clark.
Maybe those European spouses had a support group. She'd have to check the
Internet.
Then she focused on Clark. Why haven't you told me? If you're really
serious about our relationship, you have to tell me. Don't you trust me?
Maybe those agents were right, and I'm part of the cover. She dismissed
that thought quickly; he didn't need a cover; Clark was the cover, the
media link. What if Clark isn't the cover, what if Superman is the cover?
Clark, who are you??
