Oh, wow, this is a freakin' brilliant chapter. Things are moving so fast now, and I'm on the edge of my seat. You took pity on us by posting this chapter on Sunday ... any chance the Wed-Fri part of things could get bumped up a day, too? (Yes, I'm hopelessly pathetic, LOL.)
The Scardino/Lois conversation was really well done. I could feel Scardino's fear, shame, and desperation, and Lois's incredulousness. She once again showed signs of her training and amazing thinking skills as she was able to come up with a list of preliminary conditions so quickly. And at least Scardino was willing to apologize and admit how wrong they all were.
"Is he bitter? About what happened to him?"
"About what we did to him?" Lois corrected.
Thank you for this. I'm sure you've noticed how "non-apologies" have become the standard mode of operation whenever anyone is caught doing something improper in the world today. It's never "I'm sorry for what I've done" but "I'm sorry if you were offended" or "I'm sorry for what transpired". A complete lack of personal responsibility. So good for Lois for calling him on it.
And the conversation between Lois and Clark was fabulous. As I'd hoped, the tears and anger and alone-time helped Clark heal a little, and he was once again able to be physically affectionate with Lois (the hugs, the stroking of her hair and face -- possibly even more than they'd been doing before). And maybe even more importantly (and a bigger breakthrough), he was able to TELL her how much he needed her and that he wanted them to share the bedroom again and continue their "therapy". This seems really huge to me, that he could not only feel this, but ask for this. *huge sigh of relief*
One is a Kansas farmer, human, regular guy, son of Martha and Jonathan Kent, and married to Lois Lane.
Heh, I love how she slips this in there, so naturally ... married to Lois Lane. Of course he will be.
Clark's fear at having his alien identity exposed was palatable -- that whole section of dialogue was really, really well done -- but this was sheer brilliance on your (and Lois's) part:
"Wherever your mom is, there's a chance that she reads the papers."
The force of Lois's words hit him. "You ... you mean, perhaps *she* could find *me* instead of the other way around?"
Lois nodded eagerly. "If she sees a report about a strong, super-powered alien saving the world, she is going to know it's you - whatever your disguise. If she's being held somewhere, she can try to call out to you. At least she'll know you're all right."
I had this same thought, that Martha is somewhere grieving because she saw the Daily Planet story and Clark's photo, and believes that he's now dead. But if she sees him try to stop the asteroid, she'll know that he's alive and she can try to reach him. Having the CIA making it a priority to find her will help, too, but I think Lois is right on with her thinking here -- nothing will stop Martha from getting to her boy once she realizes he's alive.
You know, I'd been speculating yesterday that, if Clark was too emotionally damaged to forget what Moyne had done to him, that any amnesia from the asteroid (per canon) could be exactly what he needed to create some new associations with Lois. (Say, coming back to her in a fog, and making love to her because he didn't remember that he wasn't supposed to.) It was the only way I could think of to help Clark "forget". But after this chapter, I'm now thinking that might not be necessary ... he seems to have healed a bit on his own now that he's stopped keeping everything bottled up inside, and perhaps the urgency of the Nightfall crisis will help him focus even more on the positives of being who he is. But however you're going to handle it, I can't wait for the ride!!
Kathy
ETA, from AmyPrime:
Gee, if only there were someone who knew how to sew....
I have no idea whether this will actually happen, but the idea that it could circle back to this had me
Great catch, Amy!
