Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic FDK: Away From The Sun Part 6 of As Many As It Takes to Reslove This Story!

You... they held you captive for three years?!"

He looked horrified. Incredulous. And why not? The oh so great Lois Lane, beaten at her own game and made victim for three years and counting.

Clark's hands shook as he pulled two coffee mugs from the cabinet. She'd been alive. All this time. It hadn't really hit him until now. Three years! Three years she'd been a prisoner in a war-torn country. He didn't even want to imagine the horrors inflicted on her.

The mugs rattled as he set them down on the counter. He couldn't stop shaking.

A whole year he'd let her suffer. Why hadn't he looked harder? Why hadn't he torn apart the damned jungle looking for her? Why hadn't he found her?

Years. He'd wasted years of his life without her. And the last year... after the other Lois had left...

The past few days... or had it been a week?

He'd nearly killed himself, dammit, and she'd been alive all this time.

And now she was sitting in his living room, probably offended at how rude he'd just been. He hadn't been able to help it. Everything had assaulted him at once. He'd needed to get away. Be alone.

Distance.

He'd needed distance from her.

It was a nightmare.

One of those bad dreams in which something awful was happening to someone you loved you and you just couldn't move fast enough. Everything was in slow motion and you wished and tried with all your might, but no matter what you did, you still couldn't make it in time.

Never in time.

He'd had that nightmare countless times. Lois. *His* Lois. Dying. A bullet. A cliff. A knife. A wild animal.

He'd never been able to make it.

And she'd always died.

Now she was here... but he still couldn't move.

"Please stay. I know it's probably more than a little... daunting, what with everything I've told you, but I really would like to help you and..."

"And?"

I can't stand the thought of you not being in my life. I can't stand the thought that I should have saved you years ago, and I'd give anything to be able to save you now.

He tried to swallow the emotion, the uncertainty that was biting at his voice. "And I'd really like to get to know you."

It was on the tip of his tongue to offer again to take her home, but he didn't. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Right." She smiled that weak smile again and they both stood there awkwardly for a moment before she finally moved towards the door.

Still intent on his resolve to see her home safely, he spun back into the Suit and took off through the window. He stayed in the clouds high above her and matched her pace as she wandered down the street. His heart sank when he saw her final destination.

The Apollo Motel.

Clark hovered high above the derelict motel. He really should go home. She was safely in her room now and there was no longer an excuse for him to be there. The neighborhood wasn't terribly safe, sure, but it was close enough to his place that he'd hear her if she needed him. No reason for him to stay. No reason for him to watch her as she kicked off her shoes and threw down her backpack. No reason for him to watch her crawl into bed and pull the covers around her tightly as she curled up. No reason for him to listen as she started to cry. Worst of all, there was no reason for him to go down and hold her until all her pain went away.

The sound of her sobs killed him, more so than the other Lois's tears had ever hurt. They reminded him of his tears. His pain. His anguish. And suddenly, he couldn't take it. He couldn't listen and be reminded of everything he'd been trying not to think about ever since he'd flown into his bedroom and found her there. He shot into the stratosphere and headed east towards the sun, stopping only when he could no longer hear her crying. Though the sound wouldn't leave his head. It was etched there, carved into his memory. And there was nothing he could do to erase it.