Good instalment. The scenes with Lois and Clark were well done.
As I see it, in order to be able to move on with her life Lois had to force herself to acknowledge Clark's death. She has now grudgingly done so. So, even though Charlie seems to remind her of Clark, she 'knows' that Clark is dead and won't let herself recognize him. He looks like Clark, but it can't be Clark, therefore it's not Clark, just somebody who looks a bit like Clark. Also, he just gave his name as Charlie. There are lots of Charlie's in the world. No reason for Lois to think of Charlie King, as least not until she finds out that's his name.
I'm encouraged by this being the short-haired Lois. It helps work against Clark's dream lady recognition factor, and we all know that once Lois realized she looked better in short hair, she got smarter. So she's in a better state to be able to figure this whole thing out.
It is kind of conincidental that Lois just happened to pick Mystic as her 'getaway place', just as Clark did. To bad there wasn't some backhistory with Lois and Clark that contained the resort town and was the reason why Lois chose to go there, and Clark subconsciously wound up there.
One minor nitpick. ... a neatly-trimmed beard...
Say it ain't so. I'm assuming from his demenor, that Charlie doesn't know he's Superman, and thus doesn't know he has to shave and cut his hair by using a mirror and heat vision. Also, I don't remember it ever being mentioned in the story whether or not he's ever tried to cut his hair or beard in a conventional manner. We know he has long hair and a beard because he can't cut it, but we were never informed as to how he came to that conclusion. As a man who's had a beard most of his adult life, let me tell you, they don't grow out 'neatly'. Also, two years is a pretty long time. Charlie's hair and beard would be fairly long.
Fun story. Looking forward to the uncoming complications, and revelations as they come.
Tank (who wonders what Lois will think when she sees what Charlie's date looks like)
