A future for Us
Pt 12
Recap from Pt. 11
Clark raised an eyebrow. “Not yet, Chief.” He was back at Lois’ desk momentarily. “Lois, I'm going to take you home. Come on.” He pulled her gently up from the desk. Her eyes had a faraway stare in them as he tried to stand her on her feet. She collapsed into his arms, so he picked her up and carried her to the elevator, not caring what his colleagues thought as the doors opened. Since he’d begun this as Clark, he’d better finish it as Clark, he thought, hailing a cab with his head as he stood beside the curb holding Lois in his arms. A camera flashed and he felt like a beacon for another inquisitor article.
“Lois?” he whispered as he slipped her into the back seat of the cab before sliding in next to her. “Lois!” he demanded, as she didn’t make any motion that she’d heard him at all. He turned her chin to face him. Her eyes were still staring, her face expressionless. “Lois, don’t do this. Talk to me.”
She didn’t respond, so he leaned her head over onto his shoulder and held her as the taxi pulled away.
Pt 12.
Clark found Lois’ apartment keys in her purse while they were still in the cab, before carrying her up to her door. Careful with his precious burden while unlocking the door, he let them into the quiet apartment.
Bubbles were rising in the corner of the large fish tank, the sound of the motor making the only noise in the room. Clark carried her through to her bedroom and put her in her bed, pulling the covers up around her. Her eyes were still open, staring dully ahead.
“Lois,” Clark choked. “Lois, come back to me.” He patted her limp hand in both of his large ones. He wondered if he should have brought her here or if he should be taking her to a hospital. He felt her forehead, knowing that she didn’t have a fever, but was just overwhelmed. He slumped down on the bed beside her, enumerating what she had to deal with. Was it really so much more than ever before?
There was Ralph and his harassment. There was the lawsuit. There was the National Inquisitor. There was her brand new knowledge that Clark Kent was Superman. There was her engagement to Superman and to Clark Kent. There was Lex’s suicide. He took in a deep breath again. Had all of this been just too much for her? He felt bad that he’d let himself be seen with her as Superman. He thought back to the times the media had captured them together. He thought about the ring that had linked her with Lex in some people’s minds. Good grief, she did have a lot on her plate.
He pulled the phone over to his lap and dialed his mother’s number. “I don’t know what to do, Mom.” He told her as much as he knew about what had caused Lois’ present state of mind, guilt ravaging through him. He heard tires skidding and metal twisting, but couldn’t leave her.
Turning down his hearing, he focused on what his mother was saying. They batted back and forth some ideas, but in the end decided that if she hadn’t improved in a few hours. Clark would take her to the hospital.
Clark felt torn. He had Superman duties to attend to. He had the story to write up, but he wasn’t about to leave Lois’ side. He looked around the room and made some quick decisions. In a minute or less, Lois’ desk and computer were beside her bed. Clark had brought her a glass of water.
“Do you want a bit to drink?”
He lifted her head up off the pillow and touched the glass to her lips, gently tipping a drop into her mouth. It ran back out the side, so he returned her carefully to her pillow and put the glass on the bedside table. He was completely out of his league here. Her eyes were still open. He couldn’t take it anymore. Should he shut her eyes? Should he take her to a hospital now? What was going on? Maybe he could hold her and she’d come to.
He climbed into bed beside her, and carefully pulled her onto her side and into his arms. He kissed her forehead as he let one hand caress her back, running it up into her hair. “Oh Lois, what’s going on in your head? Say something to me, Lois.” He trailed kisses down her face and to her lifeless mouth. Perhaps her body would wake her mind up, he thought idly, wondering however if he was taking advantage of her to kiss her when she wasn’t able to respond. He moved away from her lips, instead covering her face with his kisses. “I love you so much Sweetheart. Everything’s going to be okay.” Was he telling her or himself?
He was completely out of his league here. He knew nothing about trauma. He touched her eyelids, bringing them down to hide her staring eyes. Her heartbeat was steady and calm. Her breathing was slow. Perhaps she just needed to sleep. She’d wake up and everything would be all right. Perhaps her brain just needed time to sort out all the events of the past few days. She always did need time alone to process things. This was just bigger. She hadn’t raged at him for lying to her about his identity. She seemed to be taking her frustrations out on Ralph, actually.
The phone rang. It was Perry.
“Clark, how is she?”
“She’s the same, staring into space. It’s really scary Chief.”
“You stay with her, Clark. She’ll need you if…when she comes to. Actually you’d better think about taking her to the hospital.”
“I thought I’d see if she sleeps it off first, Chief. She did say she didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Um hum. I got the harassment form off her desk and have shown it to the lawyers. They think we can fight this one pretty easily.”
“Thanks, Chief.” He paused. “Chief, there is something I should tell you.” He paused again then went on, “Lois and I got engaged last night.”
“Well great shades of Elvis, son! That’s some good news! It’s about time. She sure is a hard nut to crack!”
Clark smiled at Perry’s reaction. “I feel a bit bad about telling you without her knowing.”
“Does she know the rest, son?”
“Excuse me?”
“You know…I don’t suppose I should say it on the phone…”
Clark was clueless as to what he was talking about. “She knows she’s been charged with assault. I’ll tell her about the lawyers when she…comes around.”
“Uh huh. I think this whole thing is a lot for her to deal with right now, son. This is probably her mind’s way of dealing with so many huge things at once.”
Clark didn’t see why Perry would think getting engaged to him would be so huge. I mean, it was big, for Clark, but for Lois she handled all sorts of big things all the time. She’d never reacted like this before. And quite frankly, he would have much preferred to have her yell and scream than to lie there staring into space.
He hung up the phone and turned back to the woman lying beside him. Could she hear him talking to Perry. Her eyes were closed now, just the way he’d left them. He held her head close to his chest. The rhythm of her heartbeat and her breathing mixed with his own, and soon he fell asleep.
A scream pierced him and he bolted upright and out of bed and the living room window, changing into the suit by the time he was in the air. He followed the scream to a woman who was falling off a building. He soared underneath her and caught her in his arms, depositing her on her feet on the ground.
“Are you okay?” he asked, relieved he’d made it in time. Her blue eyes and curly blonde hair enhanced the angelic look on her face.
“Oh, thank you Superman!” She said, flinging her arms around his neck and plastering a kiss on his lips. He tried to politely pull away, but she wasn’t about to let go. She ignored the fact that he wasn’t responding to her kiss in the least as she deepened it and slid her arms down the sides of his chest, dropping a small metal object under his belt.
He peeled her arms away from himself and shot up into the air. He wasn’t fast enough though. She caught hold of his shoulders as he took off and found herself lying on his back as he flew across the city. He spun around to grab her, catching her in his arms to carry her back down to the ground. How had she done that? Before he knew it, she had latched onto his mouth again and was pushing her chest into his. As he landed beside the same building where he’d deposited her before, a flash of cameras went off before he could peel her away from him and take off again.
Shoot! What was that all about? He could just see the national inquisitor’s front page with this floozy kissing him, beside the one with him carrying Lois to the cab. Good grief. Wasn’t enough enough?
He zipped a few feet away from the crowd that had gathered and shot up into the air. On his way over the city, yet another female scream cried out. In moments, he was catching another falling woman. She too was lathering his face in kisses as he landed on the ground, cameras flashing again. He wasn’t interested in stopping long enough this time to talk to her. He was being set up. But what about those women? Had they been sure he’d catch them?
He spun around and back over the site, hovering high above the high-rises, x-raying the buildings. Perhaps there were nets to catch the women in case Superman hadn’t shown up. He spotted what he was looking for. A man was shoving something in the back of a truck, it was just what he’d suspected. They’d been awaiting his arrival. If he hadn’t shown up, the women would have been caught by safety nets.
Curious now, he watched the crowd. The reporters with cameras were huddled together, discussing their success his hearing told him. He aimed a careful beam, and destroyed the film in each of the cameras. All except for one. It was around a man’s neck. His arms were folded above the camera, blocking Clark’s heat vision.
He didn’t have time to stick around and wait, he needed to get back to Lois. With that, he dove through the window of her apartment, forgetting the sonic boom that would follow him across the city. He had to stop doing that.
He leaned down over Lois and kissed her cheek gently. “Lois?” <For goodness sake Lois, wake up! What’s happening to you anyway?> He spun into his shirt and pants, tossing his jacket and tie on the desk chair. He wanted to lie down beside her again. Perhaps the feel of him beside her would help her over her situation, whatever it was. He looked at the computer, knowing he was ignoring his day job yet again.
He lifted the covers and slid in beside Lois, gathering her into his arms again. He wasn’t feeling very relaxed himself. Maybe he should take her to the hospital now. Did he dare lift one of her eyelids to see if her eyes were still staring? He was getting pretty distraught, the longer he lay beside her, feeling her steady breathing and heartbeat. He should have talked to her when he’d come into the office instead of emailing her. What an idiot. He probably could have calmed her down. He exhaled, unaware how tense he’d become.
What had just happened out there in the streets? Two crazed women with their hands all over him, followed by cameramen. That one camera was still out there. Not to mention the ones from the front of the Planet and from the first jump.
He hadn’t noticed that she’d put a small tracking device under his belt. He hadn’t taken the suit off, so the tiny piece of metal, the size of a watch battery was still on him, beneath his Clark Kent clothes. He may not have noticed, but the group of people at the National Inquisitor’s boardroom was well aware of it. The monitor showed a map of Metropolis, with a blinking yellow light flashing. The light had sped across the city almost instantaneously where it had stopped and now blinked slowly.
“Fred, he’s stopped. He’s at…” the man behind the desk clicked on the dot and the address of Lois’ apartment popped into view.
The quick exchange of information ended as Fred replaced his two way radio back in his belt. “We’ve got him.” He announced to the black haired woman in the front seat of the car beside him. She checked the film and batteries in her camera and nodded to him.
“Let’s go, Fred! Tires squealed as Fred typed in the address in the device on the dashboard.
“Turn left at Rosalyn,” the machine stated.
Lois wondered where she was. She felt warm. Whose arms were around her? Where was she? She heard slow steady breathing beside her. She moved slightly and Clark snapped awake. “Lois?” The afternoon sunlight was streaming across the room.
“Clark? What are you doing? What day is it? What’s going on?”
“Oh Lois! You’re okay!” he pulled her closer to him, his tears wetting her forehead.
“Of course I'm okay, Clark. Why are we in my bed?” she was glad to see they were completely dressed, even though the covers were pretty warm. She sat up, tossed the blankets off, and swung her feet around the side of her bed.
“You don’t remember?”
She felt the ring on her finger and looked down at it, wondering how it had gotten on her finger. “Clark! What’s going on!?” she demanded, standing up. “Get out of my bed.” She stood up, running a hand through her hair. “What’s my desk doing in here?”
“I was going to…” Clark began.
“Boy, Clark Kent, this had better be good!”
She shuffled to the bathroom while Clark got up, made the bed, and put the rest of his suit back on, including his glasses. He smiled. Well, she was back to normal! Normal was good.
He heard the shower running and sat down at the desk, powering up her computer. In a few minutes, he had written the Superman hostage save up and emailed it to Perry. A few minutes of research at top speed and he was writing up a sidebar on the rising number of terrorism attacks around the world and the more obvious precautions being taken to safeguard cities.
A bit more research, a phone call to city hall, then to the port authority, and he was tying it all in with Metropolis. He read it over quickly before sending it along to Perry as well. He looked at his watch. Shoot, he’d missed their afternoon deadline.
He opened another document and detailed the two women jumping off buildings and the cameras and the way the women had shown their appreciation towards Superman. He left some unanswered questions for the public to mull over until he could find out the answers for himself.
Lois came out of the shower as he was sending that third article to Perry, waiting while the mail program completed the tasks. He looked up at her. She was wearing a bathrobe and was toweling her hair dry when she looked up and met his eyes. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him.
“Clark Kent, get out of my bedroom right now!”
He waved a hand at the computer helplessly trying to explain himself before exiting her room, closing the door behind himself on the way out.
Lois bent over the computer and opened the outbox. Checking her watch, she opened his last document and read it. What in the world had happened to Superman? And how did Clark know about it?
She moved to the sent box and opened the next document he’d just sent to Perry, then the next. A terrorist hostage taking? That was today? The document before that she remembered sending a few days ago.
She shook her head and went over to her closet. What time was it anyway? 6pm? Why was she at home sleeping, didn’t she have work to do? She pulled on a pair of black slacks and a white blouse.
“Clark?” she asked as she went out into the living room. “Are we going in to work”
He raised his eyebrows at her.
“I mean, I don’t know why I'm home and not at work at all, and I can’t remember what we’re working on and I don't know if we’re done for the day now or if I'm going back in to work.”
“Perry sent you home. You kind of…collapsed at work today. I brought you home and put you to bed. I was so worried about you I lay down beside you. He said not to come back in until you are better.”
“Oh.” She said, pushing her eyebrows together, trying to remember. “I did?”
“Um Hum.” He came over and put his arms around her. He wanted to tell her what had happened, but wasn’t sure if that would bring it all on again. He was just so relieved that she was better. Whether she was back to normal or not was yet to be seen. He wondered what would be in the Inquisitor tomorrow morning, too. And then there was the court case that she was going to have to face sometime. “How are you feeling?” he asked, pulling away enough to look into her deep brown, albeit confused-looking eyes.
“Fine. I guess. I guess. Clark, what happened?” he led her over to her couch and waited while she sank down into it before seating himself beside her.
“You blanked out. You’ve had a lot to deal with lately and I think you just shut down. You really scared me, Lois.”
She screwed up her eyebrows at him again. “I’ve always got a lot to deal with Clark, that’s our job!” she paused, the puzzled expression lingering on her forehead and in her eyes. “Clark?”
He took her hand in his. “Yes Lois?”
“Clark. What am I dealing with? I can’t remember anything.”
“What can you remember?” he asked, not daring to add to her fragile state.
She paused and thought for awhile. “I remember flying in Lex’s plane to Italy for dinner.”
It was Clark’s turn to worry again. “Is that the last thing you remember?”
“No,” she said slowly, then looked up at Clark’s face and hesitated. “Yes.” She wasn’t going to tell him that Lex had proposed to her. Clark was obviously very concerned for her and the way he was lying with her in bed and holding her hand now, it didn’t look like he’d be too pleased if she had to tell him she’d not said ‘no’ to Lex.
Why hadn’t she said ‘no’ to him? She didn’t love him, that was for sure. If she loved anyone, it was Clark. He obviously loved her, too.
