I, too, thought that this was a good place to leave this chapter. I'm very glad that Lois hasn't forgiven Clark yet.
You did a good job of showing us the loneliness of Clark's "Clark-less" existence as "Superman only" in this chapter. I'm glad that Lois realizes how lost and forlorn Clark has been without his civilian identity.
I'm even happier that Clark finally asked Lois what things had been like for her after Clark's "death"/death. Finally he can begin to see what he did to her.
But do you know what I would love to see in this story? I know, I know - I'm asking for an answer and a clarification that is going to be very, very hard for you to deliver. It might very well be impossible, particularly since I kind of suspect that most LnC fans (and that may well include you) haven't given the matter much thought.
This is what I want to know. Why have Superman/Clark's lies to Lois about himself been at the heart and core of the Superman mythos for as long as this mythos has existed, for almost seventy years? Why has it been so traumatic for him to reveal his secret identity to her?
If Clark had gone to Lois right after he was "killed" and told her about his secret identity, Lois's ten-year agony wouldn't have happened, or at least her life would have been very different. In your story, the reasons for why Clark didn't tell Lois were that Lana talked him out of it and Lois scared Superman off by calling him an alien.
But to me, the whole point here is that there have been a gazillion other stories where Clark hasn't told Lois, and we have been offered other reasons for his lies. In the comics back in the sixties, Lois strongly suspected that Clark was Superman, and she was forever trying to prove that she was right about this. Again and again she almost caught him red-handed - or bespectacled and "red-S-shield-ed" - but again and again he managed to escape from her traps. Why did he fight so desperately to make sure she couldn't prove that Clark was Superman? Because he couldn't let her win? Or because she would use her knowledge to blackmail him into marrying her?
In the seventies, Superman was openly dating Lois in his spandex-clad superhero persona. Yet he told her that it would be too dangerous for her to officially marry him, so they couldn't get married. Come on - how could it be so much more dangerous for Lois to officially marry Superman than to have him officially date her and passionately kiss her in front of hordes of onlookers? And if he truly wanted to marry her but couldn't do so in his Superman persona, why couldn't he tell her that he was also Clark Kent? Ummmm... because then he would be expected to really marry her?
In the movie Superman II, Clark accidentally revealed his superpowers to Lois. And lo and behold, before that day had drawn to a close Clark had shed his superpowers so that he could make love to Lois, and they had ended up in bed. Yes, that's what the old comic books had always hinted at: if Superman let Lois in on his secret he would lose his powers and mystique and end up as her love slave(?).
Of course, Clark found a way to get his powers back, but that only took care of half of his problems. Lois still knew his identity! So Clark gave her an amnesia-inducing kiss and "raped her memory", leaving her clueless about who he really was!
In the movie Superman Returns, it turns out that Lois became pregnant as a result of her and Clark's lovemaking in Superman II. In Superman Returns, Lois's memory has been partly restored, so that she knows that Superman is the father of her child. But she still doesn't remember that Superman is Clark Kent, and Superman doesn't tell her! Why? Well, if she knew that Clark was the father of her son she might demand that he help pay for Jason's upkeep and education, and she might ask that he spend time with Jason, too! And she might ask him why he didn't tell her about his secret identity before he made love to her, or, if he did it, why she can't remember it.
There have been so many reasons, so many explanations for why Superman/Clark has had to lie to Lois about himself. He just wanted to protect her. He didn't want to make her angry. He was afraid of losing her. He had to make her love him as the man he really is. He couldn't trust her. His father had warned him against telling anyone. He had been lying to her for so long that it had become a habit. And maybe Lana had warned him. And maybe Lois had called him an alien.
But, bottom line, if Clark keeps lying to Lois, only two things can happen. One, Lois and Clark can be kept apart forever. Or, two, Lois and Clark can be together, but under false pretenses, so that Lois believes that she is with "Clark only" or with "Superman only". One thing remains the same: Clark/Superman isn't truly sharing himself with her.
Why is this so, Anonpip? Why is Clark so unbelievably scared of sharing himself with Lois? Why is he choosing his secret identity over her?
This is the question I would so dearly love to have you answer in this story. I would so, so love to see Clark really try to explain - and to understand himself - why he was protecting his secret identity for ten years rather than letting Lois know that Clark Kent was alive because he was Superman. And I know one thing. I will never believe that the real reason for his lies was that Lana had given him some bad advice or that Lois had called Superman an alien.
But I hope you understand that your story creates such a strong reaction in me precisely because it reminds me so painfully of all the other times when Superman/Clark Kent has defended his secret from Lois Lane at almost any cost!
Ann
