Part 4
Lois was at her desk when Clark walked into the newsroom. Jimmy was standing beside her discussing something. She looked up when he saw Clark coming down the ramp, straightening his tie. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he was about to head over to Lois’ desk when the faint beginnings of the stabbing pain of Kryptonite tickled every inch of his body. He backed up as quickly as he could, getting out of range of the stuff in Lois’ purse. He ducked into the stairwell, and in a moment with an identifying whoosh, he flew through the window as Superman, keeping his distance from Lois’ satchel.
Lois heard the familiar sound and rushed over to see him. He watched her to make sure he wasn’t going to crumple from the kryptonite, but found it was safe as she came and stood beside him. “Superman!” she said with a smile.
He nodded, then scooped her up and flew out the window before she had a chance to object.
She nuzzled her head against his shoulder as he flew, kissing his neck. He laughed, “Cut that out, Lois!”
She leaned back in his arms. “How are you today, Superman?”
He smiled down at her beautifully radiant face. “I'm fine. I'm sorry about last night. It was pretty rough at that explosion.”
“You don’t have to apologize to me, Superman. I read the story Clark wrote about you. I guess you must have seen each other before he came into work. It really brought out the feelings you had while you were doing that rescue.”
“Yes, I stopped by his place this morning to discuss something with him and gave him the interview. He had LNN on and had already heard all about it.” Couldn’t he have just not responded? Did he ‘have’ to keep lying to her? It would be so nice to just tell her who he was, but certainly not when she’d just decided that romance with Clark wasn’t going to happen.
He’d really played a dirty trick on her. That’s the way she’d look at it, wasn’t it. It reminded him of the time when his father had said no and he’d gone to ask his mother who’d unsuspectingly said yes. Here he was, the only man in the world who was so clearly standing for truth and justice, and what was he doing? He was no better than any of the other men she’d known in her life. Take what you want regardless of what she would do if she had all the information.
“Where are we going?” Lois was looking around at the thick clouds that were surrounding them. Superman flew through the cumulous clouds that had formed rooms in the sky. He found a place in one of them where he could sit on a cloud with his treasured package. He seated himself on the cloud and leaned back, letting Lois sit upright on his lap.
“Here. I have to talk to you. Clark said you found some kryptonite at that crime scene. Where is it now?”
“It’s in my satchel.”
Superman pulled a small lead box out from the back of his suit and handed it to her. “Could you put it in here please and then I’ll get rid of it?”
“Okay.” Lois smiled. “I didn’t dare leave it at the crime scene in case someone got a hold of it.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “Okay, when I take you back to the planet could you get it for me?”
“Okay.”
“What time do you think you’ll be done with work today? I want to take you out somewhere.”
“I can be ready at seven in my apartment.” She smiled, looking at his smooth face as she fingered his cheek gently with one hand.
He caught her hand in his and brought it to his mouth to kiss it, playing with the ring. “Lois, I know it must have sounded so bad when I asked you not to say anything to anyone about our engagement yet, but there’s something that you have to know about me first. I have a lot of secrets. I guess that’s kind of obvious.” He paused as she looked at him expectantly.
“Well, you’d have to. If everyone knew where you stayed when you weren’t making rescues, they’d all be swarming you for autographs or for a lift somewhere. I know there are a lot of things I’d like to know about you.”
He smiled wistfully at her. “I can’t tell you yet. I’ve never told anyone some of the things I’ve got to tell you, so it’s going to take a lot of thinking and courage before I can do that, but I will. Can you wait for me to get up my nerve?”
His face looked strange, a mixture of fear and hope and determination on it. Lois wasn’t the kind of person who could just look a secret in the face and not ask what it was. “Why can’t you just tell me? You can trust me, Superman.”
“I know I can trust you, that’s why I’ll even consider telling you. But I can’t do it yet. You’ll understand why when I tell you. Can you trust me and just wait until I'm ready?”
“I guess so,” Lois said, unconvincingly. “But I don’t understand.”
“I know. And once I’ve told you my secret, then I’d like us to announce our engagement, but until then, nobody can know. It will all make complete sense later when I tell you. Can you trust me on this, Lois? I know you’re a strong woman and an investigator. This is probably going to be one of the hardest things I ever ask you to do, to just sit back and wait until I'm ready to share this secret with you.”
“You’re not gay are you?” Lois asked suspiciously.
“No, Lois. Don’t be silly.” He smiled and chuckled at the thought of it, squeezing her briefly.
“It’d sure be a waste, with a body like yours!” she said under her breath.
“I heard that, you know!” he smiled and dipped his face to meet her lips. “Okay, and there’s another thing I wanted to tell you. Clark and I’ve been talking and he’s agreed to share his apartment with me. I think it would be important for me to have a place where you can find me if you want me when there’s no disaster or anything, and it’s somewhere that I can live so it’s not so far away. Oh, and speaking of disasters, I’ve got this for you.” He pulled on his cape which was flapping in the breeze and took a small dog whistle out of the pocket. He smiled at her and held the necklace open while she ducked her head to let him put it on her. “It’s just a dog whistle, but I’ll hear it farther away than a cry for help. It won’t do you much good if you are tied up, so if you could try to anticipate danger before you walk into it, I can at least know what you’re involved in.
“You’re so good to me, Superman.” She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. “But I can really take care of myself.”
He grinned at her just like he had for the past year as Clark. “Right Lois! Like you did in the Prometheus when you met me? Like you did when the invisible men locked you up in the vault and you practically suffocated? Remember when you were pursuing the tsunami and were about to be wiped out by the wave?”
He could see that he had taken the wind out of her sails, but continued anyway, to drive home the point. “ What about when Trask threw you and Clark out of the plane, and when Miranda, was lowering you into the vat while she sprayed Metropolis with her pheromone Revenge? Remember when you were standing in front of the magic channel until I came to rescue you and…”
“Well that time you got hypnotized and ‘you’ were the one who had locked me up to drown me in that water box!”
“Okay, but I did outsmart her in the end and save you all!”
“Okay, I guess I have needed you a few times.”
“And when it wasn’t me that rescued you, it was Clark. Remember when Clark saved you from being murdered by the makeup man when he was strangling you in your kitchen?”
“Okay, that’s enough,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Just admit you’re wrong, Lois, it’s the easiest way!” Superman laughed with her, teasing her in the way that came naturally to him. It felt good to be open with her as Superman. It had been so hard to bottle up all his feelings and keep her at arms length when in the suit, knowing that he’d never get to be as close to her as Clark.
“So just whistle for me before it’s a bad situation, okay? Please?”
She looked up at him, placing her palm on his cheek, she smiled lovingly. “If you kiss me, I won’t make you beg.”
He smiled and pressed his lips against hers. Awhile later he dropped his arms from around her and took her hands. “Okay, now I’ll take you back to work so you can get me that kryptonite!”
She took a deep, blissful breath. “Did anyone ever tell you you’re a wonderful kisser?”
He smiled again that familiar smile that reminded her so much of Clark. “Only you!”
He lifted her onto her feet and stood up holding onto her. “One thing about being up here, you certainly just can’t get up and walk out on me if I annoy you.” She followed his gaze down to the dotted scene of metropolis through the quickly moving clouds. He smiled. “I think I’ll bring you here when I tell you my secret.”
Their arms were around each other. It was easy for Lois to forget that she had to be touching him in order to exist up in the clouds. She could just see how sensible it would be for him to bring her up there if he ever wanted to tell her something that would make her fly off the handle. She had to get a better grip on her temper. She’d never seen Superman act out of anger, even when he’d been tormented by the worst of criminals.
“So your secret is going to make me mad?” she teased, moving her hands up and down his back under his cape.
“It might. It could. It probably will. You may hate me for awhile.”
She raised her eyebrows. “I can’t imagine you saying or doing anything that could make me hate you. You’re the most wonderful, gentle, kind, selfless, helpful man I’ve ever known.” She held her hand out to look at her ring as it sparkled in the sunlight, and smiled. He was looking at it too.
“I made it for you, you know?”
“you what?”
“Well, I didn’t make the ring and the setting, but I made the diamond.”
She was stunned, her mouth opening slightly.
“It’s okay, Lois, I can do stuff like that. You know, super strength.”
“But how? Where?”
“I have a friend who owns a coal mine.”
“So this is really a piece of coal?”
“Well, it was. For a very long time actually. It was a lot bigger then too!”
He smiled at her amazement. “Come on we’ve got to get going.”
She didn’t take her eyes off her hand as she held him with one arm. He pulled her close to him and kissed her forehead.
“Okay, I'm ready,” she whispered, still hugging him. “Can we fly like this or do you have to carry me.”
“Like this is wonderful!” he met her lips again with his as they descended feet first out of the clouds.
As they neared the globe of the Daily Planet below them, she returned to work mode. “I'm glad you found a box for it, the kryptonite. I didn’t know what I was going to do with it. I certainly didn’t want to bring it anywhere you’d be affected by it, but I didn’t dare leave it there! So who do you think wanted it?”
“Luther. I'm not sure, but he’s let me know on more than one occasion that this planet’s not big enough for the both of us. I'm sure he’ll use it to kill me. He’s smart and devious. It amazes me how he gets away with so many things, still looking like he’s got clean hands.” Clark shook his head slowly. “He has a way of turning things around so he looks really good to everyone, perhaps even saving their lives, while he’s really the one behind the biggest mass murder around.” Clark leaned back on the side of the building as they landed beside the stairwell door on the roof of the building..
“So Lex is really bad? How do you know?”
“Well, the first time I met him, I saw that he was trying to replace the Prometheus with his own space station. He was behind the sabotage. He was having an affair with that Dr. Bains. When I discovered his involvement, after the project was saved, I went over there and told him I knew about him. He thought of my warning as a welcome challenge. He actually looked forward to seeing how he could win against me.” He paused and turned to Lois’ face. “It’s not like it’s about winning against Luther. I just want right to prevail. I just want people to be safe and happy. But he sees me as a threat to his empire and to his freedom to do whatever he wants.”
Lois was amazed by what he was saying. “But he seems so nice!”
“That’s the thing, Lois, he’s so convincing. He’s so well mannered and speaks with such an air of wisdom and sophistication.” Clark shook his head again.
“He has always treated me with the greatest respect and consideration. You know this is really hard to believe, Superman!”
“I can imagine. He’s pulled the wool over the eyes of most of the world. Everyone just thinks he’s such a benevolent person whose aim is to help and to share of his wealth. But I’ve listened in to his phone calls. I’ve heard what he conspires. I’ve seen some of the things he initiates. Do you remember when your father was making those limb replacements?”
Lois nodded, dumbfounded. “Well, he was the one behind the whole thing. He was paying for the research and the wrestlers so that he could create an army of supermen. That was his goal. It’s so awful, Lois. I really don’t want to go on about it. I can’t prove things so that he can go to jail for it all, because I learn a lot by keeping my eye on him, looking through his building to see what he’s planning. It’s really unbelievable. Anyway. I’ll have to go over and X-ray his penthouse and see if he’s got the kryptonite there somewhere.”
Lois was agitated. “I just can’t believe how blind I’ve been! How could I have been right there with him and not known?”
“Well, did you ask him about his work?”
“Yes, a bit, but he was pretty evasive. I just thought he didn’t want to bother me with the details of running a huge empire.”
“Well, there’s more to it than that. Did he take any phone calls when you were with him?”
“Yes, several times. He’d never tell me what they were about. He just left the room and wouldn’t tell me what he was involved in, like it would be boring for me to hear about it. But it was obviously something pretty important to him. That ‘personal assistant’ of his is in on everything that goes on in his life.” Clark could hear the bitterness in her voice. “She looked like a lot more than a secretary to me. She’s got long reddish brown hair and wears short skirts and does ‘whatever is necessary’.” The words came out of her mouth laden with distaste.
Clark was nodding. “His private morals aren’t any better than his business ones. Well, I know for sure that he wants to kill me. I know he supports research and does experiments to further his imagination. He’s no ordinary man. There’s nothing I would put past him, Lois.”
“So will you go over there and see if you can see the kryptonite now? I’ll see what Henderson has about those prints and see if we can find out more about this look-alike guy and those other people. I guess he was suspecting a double cross and hired the look alike to take his place in the exchange in case he got shot. It was certainly a well thought out plan.”
“He doesn’t miss a trick, Lois.”
“I can’t believe I was thinking of marrying him!”
She felt Clark stiffen in her arms. He didn’t say anything, since she’d never told Superman about Lex’s proposal. He just looked off through the clouds into the distance, so grateful that she’d chosen him over Lex.
He spotted a plane on an angle high above the layer of clouds in the distance, heading toward the earth. He had to go.
“Lois, I’ve got to go catch that plane before it crashes,” he said pointing upward and pulling the door to the stairs open for her. “I’ll come by for the kryptonite later.” He kissed her quickly and shot back into the air.
Lois stood watching him go, then headed down to the newsroom, noticing that Clark was still gone. She walked back to her desk, fingering the small box. She sat down and opened her satchel and unwrapped the lipstick, then placed it in the box, hooking the clasp tightly before replacing it into her satchel.
She turned to her computer, turning over all that Superman had just told her about Lex. She thought about how he’d tensed when she’d mentioned Lex’s proposal. She’d not told him about that, wondering how it must have made him feel to hear that, knowing all he’d told her about the man she had actually contemplated sharing her life with. She felt ill and suddenly made a dash for the Ladies’ Room. She was ashen faced and shaking when she returned to her desk. Why hadn’t she listened to Clark? How could she have been so rude to him and so angry with him when he’d tried to tell her how bad Lex was when she’d first told him he’d proposed to her? She looked toward his desk again.
Her thumb fingered the ring on her finger and she looked down at it. Oh my gosh! Clark thinks I'm going to marry Lex! She felt her stomach begin to churn again, cramping. Her hands went to her mouth and she took off to the rest room again.
It was some time before she came back to her desk this time, stopping at the coffee stand for a donut.
“How’s that story coming, Lois?” Perry asked as he headed to the coffee stand and began pouring himself a mug.
“Well, there’s definitely a lot to it. It looks like more than we thought.” She nodded to his office and began to walk towards it as he followed her. He closed the door while she sat down. “It looks like it was a kryptonite purchase, Chief. Clark found some specks of it beside where one of the bodies had been.”
Perry let out a low whistle. “Do you think you and Clark can get that rock back?”
Lois eyed him, “I’d like to try. But it could be anywhere. Superman’s going to go x-ray Lex’s building and see if he can find where he’s hidden it.”
“Good work, Lois. Keep me posted on this. If you can bring down Lex Luther, I think you’re going to be looking at that Pulitzer you’ve always wanted. And you and Kent are the ones who can do this.”
She didn’t want to share a Pulitzer with Clark, but it would certainly be better than not getting one, and it was obviously going to be too big to do this all by herself, as much as she hated to admit that anything was beyond her abilities. She knew if she got into trouble, Superman wouldn’t be able to come and rescue her if there was kryptonite around. But she could always depend on Clark. Even without superpowers he was quite a smart guy and had gotten her out of trouble before like Superman had said. Well, just a few times.
Perry looked squarely at Lois, “What’s wrong with you, you look as white as a ghost.”
“I’ve not been feeling too well, today.”
“Well, go on home and get some rest.”
“No Perry, I’ll be fine. I'm feeling much better now,” she lied, running her hand through her silky brown hair.
He noticed the diamond ring on her finger, “Lois, is there something you want to tell me?” He asked, and then nodded to her ring when she looked at him questioningly.
“Oh. No. This is a ring my mother gave me. I guess it was her mother’s ring. I’ve just decided to start wearing it, you know, to try to keep certain people away from me.”
“Oh,” Perry answered, nodding slowly, “Um hum. Well, it’s none of my business. Just let me know if anyone’s harassing you and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Oh Perry, it’s nobody at work! I just go out sometimes and don’t want guys to get the wrong idea.”
He nodded again, “Well that’s good. So you’re free to leave if you’d like, or if you feel like it, you can do some more digging. Just keep me up on what you find. Oh and where’s Clark?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t seen him. I thought he came in a little while ago, but I guess he must have forgotten something.”
Perry shook his head, “That boy’s forgotten more stuff in the year I’ve known him than I’ve forgotten in my whole life. He really should take a time management seminar. That boy needs to use a planner.”
Lois stood up and headed back to her desk, looking over at Clark’s empty workstation. Where was he anyway?
Someone turned up the LNN news broadcast. Lois saw Superman standing beside a plane talking to reporters. She sighed. What a life he leads. He goes from disaster to disaster, hardly taking time to breathe between them.
Maybe Perry was right, maybe she should just go home. Lois left the newsroom and was driving down Clinton Street in the hopes of finding Clark at home so she could talk to him about this look-alike case before she had to get ready for her date with Superman at 7.
She didn’t think he’d be there, but she had to go near his place anyway, so she stopped in. Just as she was parking her car, she heard a whoosh of wind, and saw Superman drop from the sky into the alley beside Clark’s apartment building.
She quickly pulled over and parked her car, heading into the empty alley to see her fiancé. She heard the balcony door of Clark’s apartment close and turned back to head up the front steps of his building.
Clark landed on the balcony and stepped inside. He’d forgotten to bring along the file Henderson had given him. He was just going to pick it up and go back to the Planet to write up his rescues of the day and his findings. He stepped to his desk when he heard a knock at the door. It was Lois. He exhaled. Was she here to see Clark or had she just seen Superman land? He spun into his business clothes and headed to the door, pushing his glasses up his nose and straightening his tie.
“Hi Lois,” he grinned.
“Hi Clark!” she said as he moved out of the way, holding the door open for her. She trotted down the stairs past him, tossing her bag onto the overstuffed chair at the bottom and looking into his bedroom as she walked into his living room. “Where’s Superman?”
“Superman?” Clark asked before realizing that he’d been seen landing in the alley. “Oh, he’s in the bathroom. How’d you know he was here?”
Lois patted Clark’s chest and headed past him, “I saw him fly here!”
“What are you doing, Lois, give him some privacy. Sheesh!”
Lois turned back to face him, forgetting her pursuit of her boyfriend. “Clark, Superman told me about Lex. I'm sorry I got so mad at you.”
He grinned, glad she had finally started to listen to reason. “It’s okay, Lois.” He smiled then added, “Just don’t let it happen again!”
“Oh, you!” She said, swatting his chest playfully.” His smile widened. He felt like sweeping her into his arms, but he’d have to wait until he was in the suit.
“Have you spoken to Superman since he’s was over at my place last night?”
“Well, not really, he just got back from the Midwest.”
“Another disaster?” she assumed.
“Well, actually he dropped in to see my parents. They’ve become pretty close since we’ve known each other. You know, what with not having parents and all, they have always treated him as their own son. I guess he’s like a brother to me, too, actually,” Clark mused.
“Really? You never told me that Clark! Why didn’t you tell me that?”
He shrugged meekly, “I don’t know, I guess you never asked.” Or I never thought up that lie yet, he mused.
She smirked at him, “Like I wouldn’t have LOVED to know any more tidbits about Superman that you just might know? How could you have kept that from me?”
Clark shifted, wondering where he should go with this, wondering why he’d told her his latest stupid lie. He could tell her that Superman had been raised with him. Now wouldn’t that make it simpler to have his parents come to their wedding! No, he was going to tell her the truth before then. Maybe he could take her to visit his parents more if they did that. After all, those were the only true friends Superman had in the whole world. How could he ever hope to have some way of involving his parents in their relationship? But how would it look if people in Smallville started talking?
“Clark?”
“What Lois?”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me? How long have you known Superman?”
“Lois, why are you suddenly so interested in how far back Superman and I go?”
He picked up the file folder and headed to the door. “I’ve got to get back to work, are you driving?” He picked up her satchel and handed it to her, trying to get her to go up the stairs.
“Wait, I have something for Superman.”
Clark sighed, “I’ll wait for you at your car.” He said, stepping out the door and flashing back in again before it closed behind him on the way out. He came out of the bathroom smoothing back his hair.
“Oh hi, Lois,” I heard you come in.
“Hi Superman, I saw you land and thought I’d give you the kryptonite.” Instinctively he shrinked away, then remembered the lead box.
She opened her satchel and handed him the container.
“Thanks, Lois, I think I’ll go dispose of this right away! See you at seven!” He dipped to give her a kiss and headed out the window. Flying at the speed of light, leaving a sonic boom in his wake, he flew to the ocean and dove to the bottom where he placed it on the ocean floor and moved an enormous boulder over on top of it. In a flash he was standing at the side of Lois’ car as Clark. She came down the stairs.
“Clark, I'm done at work for the day. I just wanted to go over what you’d found out. I’ve got to get ready for my date tonight.”
Clark nodded respectfully. “You don’t look so well Lois. Are you okay?”
She shrugged. I'm just tired. I was up late.
“So where’d you go? I thought you were going to go back to the planet after the crime scene.”
“I did, but then I remembered I’d left this file at home and needed to come get it.”
“Oh. Why did Superman come over?”
“Didn’t he tell you? He’s going to be living with me. He said he was going to tell you that.”
“Oh, he might have mentioned something about it to me. So what’s in the file?”
They went over the information that Clark had picked up from the police station about the massacre. “Superman took them a frozen sample of the tire tracks where they had gone through the mud. They’ve been running them through the system to see if they can ID the tires. They printed out the police checks on those guys at the scene for me.”
