I was planning to post this in two parts, but... oh, well.
Sorry for the constant delays. I hope you enjoyed this story.
AnnaBtG.
***
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Superman,” Clark firmly said.
Rachel opened the lab door. “Welcome, Superman. Clark said you wanted to talk with us.”
“Yes, I do. It’s about the baby…” His voice softened.
“Look, Superman…” Jane began, but he interrupted her.
“No, Jane, it’s okay. Now, if you’d like to listen to me, I have a deal that I believe would please both sides.”
The Thorns nodded affirmatively.
“My…” He paused, choosing carefully his words. “…girlfriend, and I, would like to have a baby, but…” He stared at his fingers. It was difficult for him talking about this sad subject. “…we can’t,” he finally managed. “So, I was just wondering…” He gathered all his courage and stared at Rachel. “If we give you the baby, will you help us conceive?”
Jane smiled. This would be the most convenient thing for all of them. Sharlynn’s face lightened up, too. Rachel, on the other hand, looked somewhat troubled.
“I don’t know, Superman…” She absently looked around. “I’m not sure I have the required knowledge for it. Not that I wouldn’t be glad to help you, but…” She sighed. “You know how this is. I can’t promise you something like this.”
“Can’t you at least try?” he pleaded.
“Well, sure,” she unconfidently said. “I’d like to have something to work on, now that the court said I’m not able to work on the Treasure anymore. It’s just that I’m not sure about the results.”
“Thanks. Just try. That’s all we need.” Full of gratitude, he shook her hand.
“I’ll do my best,” she promised.
“OK. And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“All right. When do I begin?”
He shrugged. “As soon as possible.”
“How about now?”
“That would be great.”
“All right. I’ll just need some samples from you and some from her.”
“Samples?” he asked.
“Yes. Um… blood, sperm from you, an ovum from her…”
Clark didn’t know what to say. He only knew that he couldn’t present Lois as his girlfriend. But, then, he couldn’t present anyone else.
What could they do? Disguise Lois? No, they needed something safer.
He stayed there, thinking. The Thorns were looking at him questioningly.
And then, he had the best idea.
“Look, Rachel,” he said. “I can’t bring here my girlfriend. If anyone finds out we’re together, she’ll be in danger. Not that I don’t trust you, but…”
“It’s OK. I understand.”
“How about experimenting on samples from yourself or your sisters? There would be no difference, my girlfriend is a normal human being like you.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Rachel agreed. “Now, will you give me your samples?”
He flushed. “What must I do?”
“Well, blood, first of all…”
“Normal needles won’t work.”
“I know. Let me think…” She thought for a moment, then walked to her desk. “Come here.”
He obeyed.
“How do you feel?”
“Fine.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, concerned.
“Yes. Why?”
“I have some Kryptonite in these solutions,” she said, pointing at a few test tubes. “Are you sure it isn’t affecting you at all?”
“Well, maybe it is, but just a little bit.”
“Well, let’s see…”
She used a syringe to get some of a yellow liquid and wet Clark’s hand. Clark, panicked, started to blow it.
“What did you do?” she asked, astonished. “You froze it!”
“Sorry,” he apologized, staring at the yellow crust on his hand. “It itches.”
“Oh. Does it still itch?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Good. Leave as it is, don’t scratch it.”
She took a clean syringe from a glass and used it to suck out some of Clark’s blood.
“Ow!”
“Superman!” Rachel exclaimed, amazed.
“Sorry. I’m just not used in pain.”
She rolled her eyes, then reached for an empty glass. “This will be easier,” she said, handing it to him.
Clark just stared at the glass. He’d rather have all of his blood sucked out of him.
“Superman?”
He timidly reached for the glass. “Yeah. Sure,” he said, trying to ease himself, rather than her. “Where could I…?”
“Out?” Rachel dared.
Clark’s expression clearly informed her that he wasn’t going to fill this glass in a place where he could be seen by anyone who’d have the bright idea of coming down in the basement.
“OK, we’ll go out.”
Clark nodded. Soon, he was left alone in the lab, staring at the glass in disgust.
***
“Done yet?”
“Yeah, come in.”
The door was unlocked and opened, and the Thorns entered the lab. Clark was timidly standing in the middle of the room, looking at them.
“Where is the glass?” Rachel asked.
“There.” He pointed at her desk, where he had left the, now full, glass.
“Good work,” she commented.
Sharlynn suppressed a chuckle at Clark’s red face.
“Um… will you…” he tried to ask Rachel.
“Yeah, what?” She turned to him.
“…Start working on it right now?”
“Well, I’ve got what I need, so… yeah.”
“All right. If you have anything, get in contact with the Kents. They know where to find me.”
“Sure,” she reassured him.
“Thank you very much. You don’t know how much we appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome,” she smiled.
He smiled back. “Bye.”
“Bye,” they all waved, as he exited the lab.
***
Minutes later, he was home. Lois had been impatiently waiting for him.
“So, how did it go?” she asked, as soon as she saw him.
“Great. Rachel is already working on the… samples I gave her.”
“Oh, Clark,” Lois exclaimed, falling in his arms. “I’m so happy!”
Clark smiled. “I didn’t know you wanted children that badly.”
She turned to look at him. “Your children, yes. I did.” She kissed him on the lips. “Wouldn’t it make you happy?”
“Would it make you happy?”
She remained silent for a second. “I hadn’t realized it for a long time, but… yes.”
“Then it’d make me happy too.”
They stood still, staring at each other’s eyes. Eyes full of love, joy and anticipation. And fear.
“What if it doesn’t work?” Lois asked, blankly.
“It doesn’t matter,” Clark simply replied.
She fell on his shoulder, dreaming of the future.
***
The days were passing. Rachel was still working on that project, but with no result. Superman stopped by every so often to see how she was doing, but all she could tell him was that she hadn’t found a way to overcome the problems.
She had explained him that Kryptonian spermatozoon were too strong for a normal human ovum and, once they attacked it, they destroyed it. She had tried many Kryptonite solutions to make them weaker, but they all affected their reproductive abilities. Every day she tried something new, but nothing could bring the desired results.
That day, she was in the lab, frustrated, staring at all her equipment and thinking what there was that she could do and she hadn’t.
Suddenly, her eyes shone. “I am so stupid!”
She hurried to the apartment. She needed to make a phone call.
***
Superman arrived soon after at 35, Hillstone Street. He headed directly to the lab and opened the door. Rachel, after the Black Team’s arrest, had quit locking the door.
“Superman, here you are!” she exclaimed, once she saw him.
“Lois told me you wanted to see me,” he said, shutting the door.
“Well, I have an idea. Have a seat.”
He sat on a chair, curious. Rachel, on the other hand, stood in front of him, in obvious excitement.
“It’s actually very simple,” she began. “The problem is that Kryptonian and human are two different species, therefore they don’t match. Let’s make them both belong to the same species.”
“You said that trying to weaken my spermatozoon didn’t work.”
“So, let’s try strengthening your girlfriend ovum.”
“Vitamins?” he asked, unsure.
“No. Electricity.”
He grimaced questioningly.
“As far as I know, there have been a few times when your powers were transferred to some people through electricity use. If we transfer your powers to her, all of her molecules will get stronger, including her ovum.”
Clark’s face lit up. “Have you figured out how to do it?”
“I don’t think it would be a difficult thing to do. We shouldn’t use too much electricity, because it could be dangerous.” She started pacing around the room. “Now, I’m not very much into such technical stuff, but I think that all we need is a simple device, with a small generator, a few wires, and if you simultaneously touch the wires while holding each other as well, the electricity could go through your bodies because of the created circuit. We only need to make sure the voltage isn’t too high…”
“You need anything from me?” Clark asked timidly.
She breathed heavily, thinking about what she needed. “Could you do some shopping for me?”
“Sure. What do you need?”
“I need several meters of wire, and lots of batteries.”
“Batteries?” he repeated, surprised.
“Working with batteries would be safer. I could check the voltage more easily. I don’t trust myself with using an electricity generator.”
“Okay, I’ll bring you what you asked for.”
“If money’s a problem…”
“…No, not at all,” he cut her.
“Are you sure?” she asked, sympathetically.
“Yeah, it’s OK.”
“OK, then. Oh, and Superman?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll have to see your girlfriend, once you bring her here for the transfer.”
Clark just gulped hard. He didn’t particularly like the idea of revealing his biggest secret to Rachel.
She read his hesitation, and tried to ease things for him.
“What if she was wearing a mask?”
He thought for a second, then replied. “Well, I’ll discuss it with her, and I’ll let you know. Is that alright?”
“Sure,” she smiled.
“I’m going right there.” He headed to the door, but she cut him.
“Superman…”
“Yeah?” He turned to her.
“I don’t want you to think I’m pressing you,” she said in a serious tone.
“Of course not! I mean, after all, you’re helping us. We have no right to complain.”
Her severe face lightened up. “Fine, then.”
“Well, I’ll see you later.”
“Bye.”
******
Clark joined Lois at the Daily Planet a few minutes later. She was typing in boredom, editing some newbie’s mistakes.
“Hey, honey, how’s it going?” he said, kissing her cheek.
“These newbies are pathetic. I wonder why did Perry hire them.”
“Because you said you wouldn’t write any more lousy dog-show stories.”
“Of course I wouldn’t!”
Clark smiled. He loved his wife’s temperament.
“So, what did Rachel want? She sounded really excited.”
“She has an idea that may work.”
“Really?” She stopped typing and turned to him. “What?”
“Superpower transfer.”
“From you to me?”
He nodded in affirmation.
“You don’t look particularly happy,” she observed.
“Nor do you.”
“Because I see your face. Is there something wrong?”
He sighed, sinking deeper in his chair. “At first, I was wondering if such a temporary transfer could affect your physiology. Now, I think it can, but there’s the technical problem that’s worrying me.”
“Technical?”
“Rachel is a biologist, she doesn’t know how to make a machine that could actually work. Of course, finding an engineer that could do it is out of question. Too risky.”
“So?”
“She’ll work with batteries and wires.”
Lois stared at him in disbelief.
“That’s what she said. Well, practically, it’s the same thing. But she’ll just spend so much time testing and testing the voltage.”
“Better safe than sorry,” Lois tried to console him. “Besides, if she made a machine, she’d still test it several times.”
“Yeah, I guess. Oh, and there’s something else too.”
“What?”
“If the power transfer is to be done, she’ll have to see you.”
Lois’s face became serious. “Can’t we do it without her?”
“I guess we could, but, on the other hand… It’s like cheating, using all of her help without giving her anything in return.”
“We gave Jane her baby!”
“She’d take it back anyway,” he shrugged. “If we refused to give her the baby, she’d go on a trial and finally would win.”
“And…” Lois lowered the tone of her voice. “…is revealing your, *our*, secret to her something that she could find useful? Only if she sold the information!”
“That’s not the point.”
“I know,” she murmured.
“It’s like Dr. Klein. I feel terribly for not having told him the secret yet.“
“Dr. Klein is stupid,” Lois commented impolitely.
“No, he’s not!”
“OK, but it could slip him accidentally. His mind is traveling through the galaxies.”
“That’s why I haven’t told him yet. But Rachel…”
Lois didn’t answer.
“What do you think we should do?”
“Tell her, I guess.” Her tone was dull.
“Are you sure?”
“You know what?” She livened up. “Let’s just have her make that machine, and we’ll see. I want to think about it.”
“Good idea.” He smiled encouragingly. “Then, I’m going to do some shopping.”
“Shopping?”
“Batteries and wire.”
“Oh, right…” She rolled her eyes.
“I have this weird feeling that the shop man will think I’m a lunatic,” he joked and kissed his wife. “I’ll see you later.”
“Bye, Clark.”
He smiled and left.
***
Later, he appeared at Rachel’s lab, again dressed as Superman, carrying a few bags that contained dozens of batteries and a few meters of wire.
“Oh, here you are!” she exclaimed. “I guess you’re in a hurry.”
He grinned. “You could say so.”
“What batteries did you bring?”
“20 V. The largest I could find. I bought fifty.”
“1,000 V. Must be enough, although I might need more. Here, will you help me?”
“What should I do?”
“Arrange all these batteries. Put them on the floor, one next to the other.”
After less than a minute, they were all in place.
“Darn,” Rachel cursed. “That wasn’t such a bright idea. I’ll have to de-arrange them, if I want to connect them with the wire.”
“Do you want me to do it? I’ll hover over them, instead of de-arranging them.”
“It’s a slow, nervous-breaking task.”
“It’s OK.”
“Then, look what you have to do.”
She took a small tool, something like a pair of scissors, and showed him how to cut the edge of the wire’s cover and tie it on the battery.
“Don’t do it on superspeed, otherwise you may cause damage.”
“I’m careful.”
“You can never be too careful.”
“Alright,” he succumbed and hovered over the batteries, face down. “What will you do in the meantime? It’s gonna take a while.”
“I’ll have some chocolate and think of a way to test a human’s resistance in electricity.”
She opened a drawer, took out a big chocolate, sat on a chair, crossed her legs and began eating, slowly and silently.
Clark couldn’t stop a big smile from appearing on his face, when at a point he turned around to take a look at her. That was what Lois would look like, if she was a scientist. Brown hair and eyes, no make-up, casual clothes under a white robe and chocolate in hand.
Lost in her thoughts, Rachel didn’t notice him. But, a few minutes later, when Clark was almost finished, she rose and put the single piece of chocolate remaining back in the drawer. “Got it,” she said calmly.
Clark turned around. “What?”
“Finish your work, and I’ll tell you.”
Once he did, he landed on the floor. “So, you had any ideas?”
“Yes,” she pleasantly replied. “You’re very electricity-resistant, aren’t you?”
“I think so.”
“So, you’ll be holding your girlfriend and have both edges of the wire on you, instead of just one. She’ll use you as a filter. I’m just wondering, if that means we need more energy. You can cope with 1,000 V, can’t you?”
“I think I can,” he said.
Rachel stared at him for a moment, unpleased. He wondered what her problem was.
“Normally,” she finally spoke up, “we should test this out. But I’m afraid that the batteries will go low and we’ll have to buy more, and we’ll have to test them too, and…” She sighed. “I don’t want to fry you, but neither to have you spend all your money in batteries.”
Silence filled the room for a moment.
“I think that 1,000 V are good,” she concluded.
“Alright,” Clark agreed after a few seconds. “Should I go bring my…?”
“If you’re in a hurry,” Rachel shrugged.
“Well, then, I’m going, and if she agrees we’ll come later today. If not, I’ll let you know when.”
“Sure,” she smiled. “Take your time.”
He was already heading to the door when he remembered something.
“Rachel?”
“Yeah?”
“How long will it take until the transferred powers fade?”
Rachel turned skeptical. “How long did they last when they were transferred by a lightning?”
“Several months,” he replied.
“Well, we use significantly less power, but if it lasts too long with a lightning…” she monologued. Then, she turned back to him. “I’d say a few days. Which means that you’ll have to find a convenient day for the transfer. Hmm… I hadn’t thought of that.” She said that last sentence more to herself than to Clark.
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I have to leave now. See ya.”
“Bye.”
***
When Clark arrived home, he filled Lois in all the details.
“The problem is,” she said skeptically, when he was finished, “that this solution is just temporal. The machine, or whatever it is, is ready. But we have to use it now, because we can’t have Rachel keep her lab full of batteries until we decide we want a child. And, if we happen to want a second child, we’ll have to go through this again. It’s very annoying.”
Clark listened to his wife’s babble carefully. These were exactly his feelings.
She looked at him, waiting for his opinion.
“I agree with you,” he said. “But it’s our only choice.”
Lois took a deep breath. She felt frustrated. Other people had to take measures in order not to conceive. Who had ever heard of taking measures in order to conceive? But she didn’t reveal these thoughts to Clark. She knew he’d feel guilty about it, and it wasn’t his fault he was a Kryptonian.
“We should have thought more about it,” Lois sighed.
“We were just trying to find a way,” Clark said. “It was just a bad coincidence that the only way is this one.”
Lois breathed heavily. “My convenient day is in a week.”
“So, we ‘re getting ready for then?”
She shrugged. “I guess…”
“Will you go as Lois?”
“If I go as Lois, you ‘ll have to go as Clark.”
“Obviously…”
“It ‘s not Rachel I’m afraid of,” Lois said. “It ‘s Sharlynn. She ‘s very smart. See how she organized all this conspiracy, and it wasn’t even all that necessary.”
“You think she ‘d go public with our secret?”
“No, but…”
“You think she ‘d blackmail us?”
“No, but…”
“Then, what are you afraid of?”
Lois shrugged again. “Haven’t you ever had a bad feeling about someone? I mean, I know I’m overreacting, but I can’t help it.”
“OK, then. We won’t tell her. Alright?”
“Not yet, at least.”
“Not yet,” Clark agreed.
***
Clark called at the Thorn’s apartment. When Jane picked up the phone, he spoke in his Superman voice.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Jane, it’s Superman.”
“Oh! Hi, Superman. What ‘s up?”
“Jane, can you give a message to Rachel?”
“Sure.”
“Tell her we ‘ll do the experiment next Friday.”
“Got it.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“Bye.”
******
Friday finally came. Lois wore her Ultrawoman costume for the big day.
“How do I look?” she said, looking at herself in the mirror.
“Gorgeous,” Clark replied.
“What else would you say?” Lois commented. “So, are we going?”
“Yeah.”
He scooped her up and flew away from the window.
***
They arrived at the old building, walked down the stairs and knocked the basement’s door. Rachel unlocked and opened the door and, seeing Ultrawoman, stared in amazement.
“Oh, so you ‘re not that ‘ultra’ after all!” she exclaimed.
Lois smiled. “Not really.”
“OK. Come in. Here,” Rachel instructed. “Let me wire you.”
She gave two wire tips to Clark. “Hold them from the plastic, don’t touch the tips. You… ehm… Ultrawoman, touch Superman with both hands.”
The couple did as they were told. Lois put her hands on Clark’s chest.
“When I say now,” Rachel continued, “you, Superman, touch the tips of the wires. Both tips at the same time. If anyone of you feels dizzy or sick or anything, stop it immediately, OK?”
“OK.”
“Ready?”
“Yes.”
“Now!”
Electricity ran through Lois and Clark’s bodies. Both looked fine, although they were a little bit shaky.
At some point, the shaking stopped. “Batteries must have run out,” Clark commented.
“How are you feeling?” Rachel anxiously asked.
“Fine,” Clark said.
“Me too,” Lois said.
“Superpowers? Test Superpowers.”
Clark levitated effortlessly. “Works fine for me.”
Lois stared at the ceiling. “I can X-ray!” she exclaimed.
Rachel let a deep breath. “It worked.”
“Thank you,” Lois smiled.
“It was nothing,” Rachel replied. “I… needed to do something about you. Now, I think you should go home and see if the results are as expected…?”
They all grinned. “Sure,” Clark said. “See you soon?”
“Yeah. Let me know if it worked!”
“Sure.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
***EPILOGUE***
Clark picked up the phone and dialed a now familiar number.
“Hello?” Sharlynn greeted.
“Hi, it’s Superman.”
“Oh! Hi, Superman!”
“How’s everything?”
“We’re all fine, Superman. You want to talk to Rachel?”
“Yes, please.”
“She’s here. Wait a sec.”
Rachel picked it up after a few moments. “Hello?”
“Hi, Superman!”
“I just wanted to tell you that we received her pregnancy test results.”
“And?”
“Your method worked.”
Rachel smiled broadly. “Oh, I’m so happy for you two!”
“Thank you very much, Rachel.”
“My pleasure. I hope everything works out for you.”
“I’m sure it will. I have to go now. See ya.”
“See ya.”
“Oh, and Rachel?”
“Yeah?”
“Lois says hi.” Clark winked at Lois, who nodded affirmatively.
“Oh! Is she there, too?”
“I told you, we just received the results. Bye now.”
“Bye…”
Rachel hung up the phone, puzzled for a moment. Suddenly, realization dawned. “Ooooooh…” She grinned. “Should’ve guessed.”
“What?” Sharlynn called from the couch.
“It worked. Superman’s girlfriend is pregnant.”
“Way to go, sis!”
“Thanks, Sharlynn.”
Sharlynn noticed the grin on Rachel’s lips. “I’m glad you’re happy.”
“Yes, I am."
"What should you’ve guessed?”
Rachel shrugged and stared out of the window, the grin never leaving her face. “That it’d work.”
***THE END***
