Well, it's been a long road for this story. Well over a year, I think. Thanks to everybody who participated in this story and to all who have read it. And a big thanks to Paul for originating this round robin in the first place. Here, finally, is the very last part!
Note that neither Part 10 nor 11 were BR'ed, so any mistakes are mine alone.
House of Cards, Part 11
by RL
From Part 10:
He thought momentarily of Lois, but shoved his thoughts of her to the back of his mind. Lois was out of his life forever so he had to stop thinking about her, if for no other reason than to keep his sanity. There would be time later for contemplating his losses. Quickly performing a video checkout of his room, Clark spun into his suit, grabbed the lead apron, and exited the motel room at a speed too fast for the naked eye to see.
Now for Part 11:
Landing in front of his parents' home, Clark knocked on the kitchen door but received no response. A scan of the interior told him no one was home. If they were still at the Irig's, he didn't want to show up as Superman. As he prepared to spin into his Clark clothes, a voice distracted him.
"Welcome, Superman. It's so nice to see you again. It's been far too long."
Clark whirled around to see a smirking Lex Luthor standing at the entrance to the barn. His mouth in a grim line, he scanned the barn with his x-ray vision and felt a hand clutch around his heart. Within the barn, he could see his parents and Wayne Irig tied up against a post and gagged, with a tall, statuesque woman standing over them holding a gun. As a guess, that would be Mrs. Cox, Luthor's personal assistant. He flashed back seven months to a similar situation in front of this very barn, except that time, he was facing Jason Trask. Trask was dangerous, and he had barely managed to survive. Luthor was far more dangerous.
Glancing at Luthor's jacket, he also detected the glowing green rock in his right pocket. Fortunately, he was not yet in range to feel its effects. A gun sat in his other pocket. But before Luthor could get closer to him, Clark spun into a multi-colored whirlwind. Coming out of it, he was now wearing his street clothes with the lead apron on under his clothes. Only he wasn't wearing his glasses, and his hair was still slicked back in his Superman guise. Despite the fact that Luthor knew who he was, Clark didn't feel comfortable appearing as himself with the presence of others who didn't know his secret.
Luthor's eyebrow went up in surprise at Clark's change of clothing, but he appeared to recover rapidly.
"Why don't you join us, Superman? I have a few people here who would love to say 'hello' to you."
"I like it just fine where I am, Luthor. What do you want?"
"I was just dying for your company, of course. Or one of us will, I'll say." Luthor started walking towards him, and he started to feel the effects of the Kryptonite. Clark winced a bit in pain and backed away.
"Let them go, Luthor!" Clark spat out as he stumbled backwards.
"I think not. We have some unfinished business between us. Your parents and their neighbor mean nothing to me, except as a bargaining tool. I would be willing to barter for their lives."
"What do you want?"
"Very little, actually. The price is simply your life for theirs. I'll guarantee their safety and even their freedom. They will never have to worry about me ever again. I'll even keep your secret from the world. You may be surprised to know I've told no one about what I found out about you. By the way, you and Lois really should be more careful about where you discuss such important matters."
Clark's head came up at that comment. If he had heard Luthor correctly, it hadn't been Lois who had told Luthor about his secret identity! While cursing himself for not scanning for hidden cameras outside of Lois' office, he felt remarkably better that she had not, in fact, betrayed him.
Occupied with his thoughts of Lois, he nearly missed Luthor saying, "Putting your parents in danger after you're gone has no benefit for me. But attempt to escape and they die."
"What about Lois?" asked Clark, who was beginning to have more difficulty breathing as Luthor approached.
"Lois is of no concern to you, now that she is my wife. She is mine to mold into the perfect mate. And once she learns to please me, she will be very happy." A distant smile crossed Luthor's face. "Of course last night, she pleased me very much. As you could tell from our last encounter, my dear wife was *very* eager to please me. I look forward to more tonight once we're finished here."
Clark felt as if numerous daggers had been plunged into his heart. He collapsed to his knees as Luthor continued to approach with the Kryptonite extended in his right hand. Standing directly over him, Luthor pressed the Kryptonite into his forehead causing him to scream in agony and to fall onto his back, writhing.
"Once more I have you at my mercy. Only this time, there will be no escape. Know that while you're dying, everyone who means the most to you in this world will be under my control."
So intent on his victim was Luthor that he didn't notice the hand knifing down on his shoulder. With a painful shout, Luthor's suddenly nerveless hand released the Kryptonite, which tumbled to the ground. The new arrival scooped up the glowing rock and raced off into the distance.
*****
Lois cursed at the stupid, useless car phone, slamming the handset back into the cradle. First it was the annoying glitter she couldn't get out of her hair while trying to rid herself of her Elvis disguise. Now this. This was the last time she'd let the rental agency convince her to rent a car with one of these useless contraptions. She'd been trying for the past half hour to call the Kents but had failed to reach them. Apparently signal strength was non-existent on the road from Wichita to Smallville.
Hating to show up without advanced notice, she was nevertheless anxious to get to the Kents' farmhouse. Even if Clark wasn't there, talking with Martha had always had a soothing effect on her. Clark had an incredibly wise mother, someone she had gotten to know somewhat on her first visit to Smallville. Though they hadn't known each other very long, Lois knew instinctively that much of what made Clark who he was came from his mother. Martha could help her get perspective on her new life.
Of course the real problem was the mess her life had become, which made every small annoyance grow to epic proportions. How did she get in this situation, anyway? First, she'd lost the Planet, the only home she'd ever known. Then she'd lost her best friend after she found out that he'd been lying to her for a year, and after he'd told her he loved her. She'd gone and accepted Lex's proposal only to find out hours later that he was every bit the devil Clark had told her he was. Now Clark was gone, and she was married to Lex. Even "The Ivory Tower" had fewer confusing storylines than her life had.
Now that her mind was clear as to Lex's true nature, she was now free to examine past events from a new vantage point. Her life had begun deteriorating after the Planet had begun to lose money inexplicably. Then Lex had taken over the Planet, ostensibly to save the troubled newspaper. Shortly thereafter, a bomb had destroyed the building, throwing her life into chaos.
A successful paper did not go downhill for no reason at all, so sabotage was likely. The value of the paper had dropped so drastically that Lex could buy up the paper for next to nothing. And after the paper had been destroyed, Lois had started thinking seriously about Lex's proposal. Could Lex be behind the Planet's demise? It certainly seemed plausible. It was likely she would never have seriously thought about marriage if she were still safely in her routines at the Planet with Clark at her side.
She had been so stupid.
Like every other man she'd ever gotten involved with, Lex had manipulated her and taken advantage of her. Paul had gotten her to sleep with him. Claude had stolen her story. And Lex had gotten her to marry him, albeit without her actual consent. Did she have a sign on her forehead telling every man around that she was a sucker?
How could she have not seen what was so obvious now? And if her suspicions about the Planet were true, everything else Clark had hinted at was probably true, too. Lex probably was behind most of the organized crime in Metropolis. Who else had a motive for seeing the Space Station Prometheus fail? Those tests Superman had been subjected to upon his arrival in Metropolis had involved at least two LexCorp employees, as Clark had pointed out to her. Of course, she had merely dismissed that as coincidence. But that meant Lex was responsible for almost getting her killed when the bank building blew up. And she'd married the guy who had almost killed her!
Lex had been associated with Miranda, too, and that perfume that still had her blushing down to her roots every time she thought of her behavior back then. Was Lex responsible for that, too?
There were simply too many connections between Lex and many of the stories she and Clark had investigated this past year. And she'd been too blind to see them. Maybe there was something to that saying about keeping your enemies closer? By dazzling her with his wealth and power, he had succeeded in compromising her objectivity. Before they had met, Lois had wanted to get the real story behind Lex Luthor. After they had started dating, it galled her to know that her interest in the "Lex Luthor Story" had vanished.
And she had to admit that her own conceit in her skills as an investigative reporter had made her too stubborn to listen to warnings. It had just been too inconceivable to her that she could have been so wrong. Lex had known her faults and insecurities and had played her like a fiddle, making her believe that she could spend the rest of her life with him. Now she just hoped there was a way out for her.
In the midst of her silent self-chastisement, she noticed that she was now coming into Smallville. The Kent farmhouse was only about a mile further down the road. She began to get extremely nervous. What if Clark was there? What if he wasn't? If he was, could he ever forgive her? Fighting down the urge to turn the car around immediately, she turned the car into the long driveway, passing the mailbox with the word, "Kent", on it.
As the car approached the house, Lois could see two figures standing outside. A warning bell went off in her head. Though she was still too far to know for sure, she was certain one of the men was Lex. The other was probably Clark. They must have been very intent on each other since they had failed to notice her approaching car. She stopped the engine before they did, but left the key in a position where the phone still had power.
She grabbed the car phone, praying she could get a signal in Smallville. To her delight, the phone registered two bars. Quickly dialing 9-1-1, she was transferred to the local sheriff. Within moments, she was talking with Rachel Harris, the woman who had saved Clark's life several months earlier. With potential danger to Clark, it didn't take too much convincing to get Rachel to send help.
With the police on the way, Lois crept out of the car and moved closer, staying out of sight. As she had thought, the two figures were indeed Lex and Clark. What was Lex doing in Smallville? Whatever the reason, it couldn't be a good one. And why was Clark dressed like a combination of Clark and Superman?
Coming within hearing distance, she heard Lex saying, " Lois is of no concern to you, now that she is my wife. She is mine to mold into the perfect mate. And once she learns to please me, she will be very happy...." Lois' blood boiled at that moment.
<Not in this life, buster!>
Lex was holding a glowing, green rock before him while he was approaching Clark. To her shock, Clark buckled to his knees, showing evidence of great pain. The scream, elicited from him when the rock touched him, shook her to the very core.
Kryptonite! It had to be. This had to be the mineral Jason Trask had been looking for. Apparently, it could hurt, maybe even kill, Clark.
Without thinking Lois ran towards the two men, coming up behind Lex. Using her Tae-Kwon Do skills, she chopped down on Lex's shoulder, causing him to drop the rock.
Grabbing the dangerous stone, Lois raced for the car. She had to dispose of it to save Clark's life. A bullet then went whizzing by her to strike the car in one of its tires. Unable to escape with the rock, she looked around frantically for a place she could hide it. The Kent's grain silo loomed before her, slightly off to the left. Lois altered her path and headed directly for the silo. Glancing backwards briefly, she felt some satisfaction in seeing Lex running after her. If he was after her, he couldn't hurt Clark. And maybe he could get away. Something told her Lex wouldn't kill her, so she didn't even bother making herself a difficult target. But she had to reach the silo first. With tons of grain likely to be inside, she could easily lose the stone, and Clark would be safe. At least she hoped so.
She was familiar with that silo, having visited the Kent farm before. It was one of the older types, which stored grain at the very top with a large open space beneath it. A double door at the base of the silo provided sufficient room for a large truck to drive underneath the storage bins. Flow control was managed by a series of levers that could either release grain in a slow trickle or could quickly fill up the back of a truck in seconds. A ladder running up the inside of the silo allowed access to the bins, themselves.
Once she climbed to the top, she could throw the Kryptonite into the bin. Then let Lex sort it out. It would take hours to find that needle in the haystack. Without the rock, Lex wouldn't be able to hurt Clark anymore. She only hoped it wasn't between planting seasons.
*****
Clark looked up, stunned by the sound of a gun. Trying to concentrate through waves of dizziness, he noticed that Luthor wasn't in front of him anymore. His head clearing somewhat, he noticed Luthor running after a retreating figure. Lois! He'd know her anywhere.
The barn door burst open with Mrs. Cox emerging; she was apparently responding to the gunshot. He saw her glance around to take in the situation and then hurry off after Lex.
Despite everything, it looked as if Lois had risked her life to defy her husband in order to save his life. The whole situation with her didn't make sense. Just moments before, he had been convinced Lois' loyalties lay with Luthor. Now, he wasn't so sure since she had obviously just saved his life. Unable to take the time to sort things out in his mind, Clark pulled himself to his feet to take off after her. He wouldn't put it past Luthor to kill her if she continued to thwart him.
Without the presence of Kryptonite, he could feel himself getting stronger every second. The lead apron had again done its job. Without it, he was sure he would have been completely incapacitated. As it was, he was still woozy from where the Kryptonite had touched him.
While still weakened, he couldn't quite summon up the strength to super-speed ahead of Luthor but could run faster than a normal human. Along the way, he discarded his jacket and lead apron, since they just got in the way. Passing by Mrs. Cox, Clark leaped onto Luthor's back just as Luthor had opened one of the doors to the silo. Lois was already somewhere inside. The momentum of his dive carried both men inside into the center of the old structure.
While trying to stand up, Clark felt an enormous pain hit him in the chest at the same time as he heard several shots. Fearful for a moment that he had suffered a mortal wound, he looked down to see that the bullets fired from Luthor's gun had merely bounced off. His invulnerability was returning already, but was clearly not all the way back. As he was looking down, though, Luthor threw a powerful uppercut that snapped his head backwards. If he were human, it would have knocked him out. Instead, it sent him falling backwards into a small pile of grain.
Only somewhat winded, Clark grew angry and launched himself at his opponent. For long minutes, the two were locked together in mortal combat. While his invulnerability had not completely failed, Clark was still very badly weakened by his exposure to the deadly mineral. Strength-wise, Luthor seemed to have the upper hand, as well as the advantage of a number of martial arts, apparently.
At one point, though, Clark suddenly felt another stab of pain. Glancing over, he noticed Mrs. Cox standing close by holding a box with a glowing stone inside. There was another piece of Kryptonite!
Regretting having discarded the lead apron, Clark felt his reserves give out as Luthor forced him down onto his back. Two hands tightened on his windpipe like a vise. Spots started to dance before his eyes while he felt himself on the verge of unconsciousness.
"Clark!" he heard from somewhere above. In a semi-state of awareness, he noticed that Lois had climbed to the very top of the interior of the silo. She had apparently seen how the battle was about to end. Almost dispassionately, Clark whispered, "Goodbye, Lois," while wishing he could give her one last hug.
"I love you, Clark! Don't you dare give up!"
The words penetrated Clark's mind, and suddenly his alertness returned. His hands came up to fasten onto Luthor's wrists, attempting to force them away from his throat. Impossibly, Luthor's grip seemed to tighten even further. Even with a surge of adrenaline, Clark was still losing the battle.
Nearly losing consciousness for perhaps the last time, he heard a great creaking noise from above as the doors holding the grain opened.
The pressure at his throat disappeared. Clark glanced up to see Luthor looking above him and the beginnings of the downpour threatening to engulf both of them. Coughing somewhat, Clark took a deep breath and waited for the end...
*****
Part way down the ladder on her way to help Clark, Lois screamed when the grain released over the three people down below. Unfortunately from where she was, she wasn't able to do anything but watch. With the last of the grain, Lois raced down the rest of the way. Reaching the bottom, she was horrified to find all three of them buried under a mountain of grain.
She immediately began to dig with both hands. After a minute or so, she recognized that she was not making any significant progress. Looking around frantically, she spied a shovel nearby that was apparently used for shoveling grain. Several minutes later, she was tiring, but she refused to give up.
A familiar face appeared at the door to the silo. It was Sheriff Harris. Behind her was one of her deputies.
"Lois?" queried Rachel. "We found Martha and Jonathan and Mr. Irig tied up in the barn. What's going on in here?"
"I need help! Clark and two other people are buried under all this grain. If we don't get them out of there, they'll die!"
With remarkable quickness, Rachel began assisting Lois with the digging, followed by the deputy. Jonathan and Wayne Irig came in moments later with a frantic Martha behind them. Lois handed her shovel to Jonathan and resumed digging with her hands, knowing he could make better use of it than she could.
After several more minutes, Lois began to lose hope. It had been a long time since the three had had their oxygen supply cut off. Just then, a shout came from Jonathan. Dropping the shovel, he began using both hands to remove the grain from around a hand that had been exposed to the air. Wayne Irig helped him to pull a body out from under the enormous pile of grain.
Lois found herself hoping and praying that it was Clark, but found her heart sinking when the motionless figure proved to be that of Lex.
"Keep digging!" shouted Lois. "Clark's still in there!"
Lois chose a different area to dig, close to where Lex had been pulled out. Since the two were together when the avalanche began, it made sense that Clark was close by.
Jonathan, meanwhile, examined Lex's body. Grimly, he reported, "He's dead." After a moment of reflection, Jonathan stood up and resumed digging for his son.
Wiping at tears she hadn't realized she was shedding until that moment, Lois was realizing that the odds of Clark surviving were dropping rapidly every second that went by. The only thing that gave her hope was the fact he was Superman. When Superman had gone after the Nightfall asteroid, it became public knowledge that Superman could hold his breath for twenty minutes. No human could have survived without oxygen this long. But could he still do that after exposure to Kryptonite, which had clearly taken away most of his powers?
More time passed with no results. Just as she was starting to despair, a hand suddenly shot out from a few feet away. While amazed, Lois didn't lose a second. She grabbed onto the hand for dear life, pulling hard. Finally, Clark's head revealed itself, along with the rest of him. Spitting grain, Clark coughed repeatedly.
"You're alive!" shouted Lois, hugging him tightly and never wanting to let go. Before either one of them knew it, their mouths joined together in a deep soul-searching kiss, the emotional releases from the past hour or so finally catching up to them.
Breaking apart, Clark said, "Easy, Lois. I do need to breathe, you know." He grinned at his weak joke.
Of course, Clark was nearly smothered at that moment by another avalanche as his parents and Rachel Harris piled on with hugs of their own.
*****
A few hours later, Martha and Jonathan excused themselves and left the house to take a walk, leaving Lois and Clark together in the living room sipping their coffees.
Clark glanced at Lois, feeling an enormous amount of awkwardness towards the woman who had once been his best friend. He wasn't sure exactly what to say to her. On the one hand, he had heard Lois tell him that she loved him while he battled Luthor in the silo. On the other hand, this was the same woman who had married his greatest enemy.
At least Luthor and Mrs. Cox were dead and his secret was safe. They had found the body of Mrs. Cox only a few minutes after Clark had broken through. It pained him to know that Luthor had died, but regretfully acknowledged that the world wouldn't miss him. Clark also felt a little guilty that a part of him was relieved at Luthor's demise. Fortunately for him, Luthor was paranoid about sharing information and hadn't revealed Clark's secret to anyone. So that threat had died with him.
After Rachel had left, Lois and Jonathan had returned to the silo and had found the two missing pieces of Kryptonite. Both pieces were now safely stored away in a large lead box, hidden in the farm's storm shelter. When he regained his powers fully, he would throw the Kryptonite into the sun.
Clark was still amazed at the sequence of events that had saved him. Not only was he fortunate that his invulnerability hadn't left him despite the exposure to Kryptonite, but he was also extremely lucky that one of Luthor's shots had ricocheted off his chest and had smashed into the hinge of one of the doors holding the grain. A later examination of the doors had revealed the damage from the bullet. It had taken several minutes before the weight of all the grain had finally caused the damaged hinge to give way.
He was safe, and so was Lois.
It still hurt to know that Lois had married the man, even though she was now a widow, one with billions in assets now. He didn't know what to think of that new wrinkle.
Fortunately, Lois initiated the conversation they'd both been avoiding for a while, since he was at a loss for words.
"I didn't marry him voluntarily," she said simply.
"What?" asked a very confused Clark.
"I had just found out that Lex really had bugged my office and had lied to me about why the camera was there, so I had it out with him. He then turned all Jekyll and Hyde on me. One minute I was arguing with him in my apartment in Metropolis. The next, I was waking up in a hotel room in Las Vegas with Lex in bed with me. My guess is that he drugged me."
"Then you don't remember ever getting married?"
"Not really. I do remember having a dream about it, though. At least that's what I thought it was. I was dreaming that I was getting married to someone else. At one point, someone had shoved a pen in my hand and had told me to sign my name on a marriage certificate. Then somebody told me to say, 'I do.' So I did. That much I remember, but it wasn't Lex I was thinking I was marrying."
Clark broke eye contact and looked down. He didn't really want to know whom Lois was dreaming of. It was probably Superman, anyway. Despite Lois knowing his secret, he still thought Lois carried a torch for his alter ego. But her feelings would never extend to the ordinary man, despite what she had said in the silo.
"It was you, Clark. I thought I had married you. You see, you really are the man of my dreams," Lois said with a grin. "It took that to finally make me see the truth. I love you, Clark Kent. Not the flashy suit, but my best friend; the one who's always been there for me; the one I love to cuddle up with while watching a movie; and the only man who's ever treated me as a real woman. And I was so stupid for not admitting what I was feeling for you until it was too late."
Clark sat, looking absolutely dumb-founded. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Could Lois seriously be in love with him, and not just in a brotherly fashion?
"You really mean it? And not just because of Superman?" Clark grimaced as that last part slipped out. For that, he wouldn't be surprised if Lois got angry and shut him out.
Instead, she replied, "Yeah. I know I rejected you that day in the park. That was probably the dumbest thing I ever did in my life. But now I see that I was really in love with both of you. I loved Superman because he was the ideal man: generous, honest, and all-around perfect. He was you in a suit. I loved you, *Clark*, but was too afraid to admit it, even to myself." Lois paused for a moment before continuing. "It's pretty easy to love someone who's unobtainable. It's not so easy to love someone who's real and could really hurt me."
"I would never want to hurt you," said Clark with hope rising within him.
"I know that," Lois responded. "But things happen to ruin the best of relationships. I'm still scared stiff. Relationships and me don't mix, if you hadn't noticed already. Every man who's ever claimed to love me has hurt me very badly. Lex was the worst of all. Thank goodness I never slept with him. I think I would have gone insane if I had."
Clark was shocked and delighted at that revelation. "You didn't? Luthor was saying..."
"You believed him?" chastised Lois.
"But last night I heard you ask him to come back to bed."
"I was *drugged*. I wasn't entirely in my right mind at the time. Besides, I thought I was talking to you. I dimly recall Lex's voice answering me back instead of yours. So that means it actually happened, huh?" said Lois, clearly not expecting a response to a question she already knew the answer to.
Clark managed to look suitably embarrassed.
Changing the subject somewhat, Clark told her, "I'm sorry about how I told you about who I am. That was a lousy way to let you know about Superman."
"Yes, it was. I was hurt by it for quite a long time. It almost tore us apart for good. I'm still not sure I entirely forgive you for that yet, but I do understand the reasons why you didn't tell me. I didn't treat you very well as Clark. Plus I was involved with Lex. You still have a lot of groveling to do, though, buster."
Clark laughed, but only partly out of humor. "I really am sorry. I was really upset after you turned me down, and then you wanted me to get Superman..."
"I know," Lois stopped him with a wave of her hand. "The reason you did it was pretty obvious, so I can't entirely blame you. Don't keep beating yourself up over it. I've been pretty lousy to you, too. You kept telling me Lex was bad, and I wouldn't ever believe you. We nearly lost our friendship because I wouldn't admit that you could be right and that I could be wrong about him."
"That's water under the bridge, too. Looks like we both did our best to hurt the other. But it all worked out in the end. You're free of Luthor and my secret's safe. Let's say we call it a draw," Clark said, hopefully.
"I only wish I hadn't married Lex," said Lois wistfully.
"At least you'll never have to worry about money again."
"You know I was never interested in Lex for his money. I hate to say it, but I agreed to marry Lex because I didn't love him, but he was interested in me. I clung to that so tightly, afraid I would lose my only safety line, that I almost threw away the only person who was always there to catch me. Ironic, isn't it? So many men hurt me because I thought I was in love with them. Instead, the one who hurt me the most was someone I didn't love."
*****
It was some time later before they had exhausted their confessions and had settled into a comfortable truce. Lois leaned back against Clark, pulling his arms around her.
"This is nice," said Lois. "I miss this. And I missed you so much."
"I missed you, too. So what do you say? Are you willing to give us a try?" asked Clark. "I'm willing to take it as slow as you want to go."
Lois was grateful and turned within his arms to smile at him. "Thank you. I'm willing if you're still willing."
"Of course I am. I love you, Lois."
"I love you, too."
Lois leaned into him again, giving him a gentle kiss on the lips. Though intending the kiss to be just a simple peck, it rapidly began to spin out of control. Clark's arms tightened around her while she deepened it.
The phone chose that moment to ring.
Pulling apart, Clark awkwardly told her, "I'd better get that."
Lois watched Clark walk over to the phone, noticing how well he filled out his clothes. Perhaps in the near future, she'd have an opportunity to explore further. Her light smile turned into an anticipatory grin.
"It's for you. It's Perry," Clark said, shaking her out of her thoughts.
"Perry? What would he want?" she asked, taking the receiver from Clark.
"Perry, what's up?"
"Lois, honey. Thank goodness I reached you. Ever since you told me about how you ended up married to that louse, I started looking for ways for how you could get out of the marriage, like maybe an annulment or something similar since I can't imagine a nonconsensual marriage is legal. Of course, I just found out that Luthor's dead. And in Smallville, too. It's all over the news. You've got quite a story to tell, young lady. But you can fill me in later. You'll love what I found."
"What is it?" Lois asked anxiously.
"Well, I got a source at City Hall in Las Vegas who owes me a favor to fax me a copy of your marriage certificate. Before you ask me how I know somebody in Las Vegas, just know that I got him in touch with the people at the Church of the Blue Suede Deliverance a few years back. I should tell you the story of how Elvis..."
"Perry!" Lois interrupted. "What did you find out?"
"Sorry, darlin'. Anyway, what I found out was that you didn't sign your name on the certificate correctly. You signed your name, 'Lois Lane-Kent'. I'm not quite sure what was on your mind at the time, but I can certainly guess." Lois heard laughter on the other end of the phone as she turned beet-red.
"After I told my source the circumstances of your marriage, he took advantage of the fact that you had an illegal signature on the certificate and had it declared null and void. You're free. According to the state of Nevada, you were never married. Congratulations!"
"I can't believe it! How can I ever thank you?"
"Well, how about if you come back to work at the Daily Planet?"
"What?"
"I've been talking with Franklin Stern for the last several days. I've got him convinced to re-open the paper. Now if I can get him to give up on these modernizations he's got planned... Well, anyway, his only condition is that I have to get my top reporters together working for the Planet again."
"You know me, Perry. I'll be the first one in line."
"See if you can get Clark to agree, too, seeing as he's right there with you."
"Sure. I think I might be able to arrange it. Bye, and thanks again!"
Lois hung up the phone and looked at Clark.
"Did you hear?" she asked him.
"I did. Congratulations! And tell Perry, yes."
Clark came over to her, picked her up, and swung her around to her great delight. She looked up at him and saw the love in his eyes. How did she ever fail to see how much he loved her? As their lips came together in a passionate kiss, Lois knew she had finally made the right choice.
*****
THE END
