I have to echo everyone else. This is heart-rending and soul-tearing and just so incredibly melancholy that I feel like I'm carrying a weight after reading it. You've captured Lois's pain coupled with her need to go on for her children so magnificently! And "specimen" is so full of free-floating anxiety that he doesn't even recognize, along with the woman in his dreams. You've done so well in presenting the angst that it I can almost taste it.
And you haven't forgotten the action. Will Stephen and Adrienne and Teo get Specimen out of danger in time? What complications will you introduce in the next section? How long will it take for Clark to come back to being Clark, assuming he actually can make it all the way back? How deep is the damage to his psyche, and how permanent is it? How much of his memory will he regain? How much will be lost?
And what about Lois? She's had a year to adjust to being a single parent, and she'll surely have more time before Clark returns. How will she adjust to a changed Clark coming back into her life? Will she measure him against the Clark she married and find him wanting? Scary thought, that.
What about the kids? Will they accept him back? Kids don't always understand about people leaving and later returning. It tends to damage their ability to trust, and not just the person who's returned. This general, whoever he is, has a great deal more to answer for than just trying to turn Superman into his slave. I look forward to seeing him get his just desserts.
Please keep this story coming. I don't write deeply emotional stories well, and I love to read those authors who do. You're certainly one of them, and I always enjoy your offerings. Can't wait for the rest of the whole thing!
