Dead or Alive
Lois cried as the doctor finally pulled the sheet up over Superman’s head. The coroner had come and pronounced him legally dead. His body had been taken to the morgue. How could that have happened? No next of kin had been beside him in the hospital. Just Lois, who couldn’t stop crying. Later that evening, nobody saw Superman walk away from an empty drawer at the morgue.
pt 2
"What the blazes did you do that for?" Jonathan was mad at his son.
"Clark you just march right back out there and tell her what you’ve done!" Martha demanded, her hands on her hips. "Don’t you dare treat Lois like that!"
"But Mom, Dad! She didn’t want to see me any more!"
"Son, your mother used to tell me that all the time!"
"What?"
"He could be so stubborn. I used to kick him out and break up with him, but I never meant it. Never."
"Well, believe me, Lois meant it!"
"Awe, Hun, she was just mad at you. And she had every right to be."
"I told her I was sorry!"
"Well it takes people awhile to get over things. This was pretty big. She’s right you know you could have killed her, falling asleep up there with her."
Clark shoved his hands into his pockets and kicked at a fold in the carpet. "I know Mom, I know. I shouldn’t have done it. I wasn’t thinking."
"Well, that’s not good enough, Son."
"I know Dad, that’s why I removed Superman from the scene." He nodded toward a clear plastic bag filled with red and blue fabric. Bits of yellow showed through. "There are the suits. I didn’t know what to do with them."
"I’ll keep them for you, Clark. You’ll come to your senses."
"I don’t know why you had to go public with it like this. That was a pretty drastic step."
"I had to do something drastic or I’d end up putting on the suit again the next time I heard a cry for help."
"Have you thought about that? What are you going to do next time?"
"Dad, there cant be a next time. I can’t risk other lives."
"Son, you’re way out in left field here. Not rescuing people will risk far more lives!"
Clark looked away. "No more superpowers, Dad." He looked at his watch. "Could you drive me to the airport? I’ve got to get back to work."
Martha looked at Jonathan and shrugged. "Son, you’re making one huge mistake here." He pulled out his keys and headed to the door.
"Here Clark, take these!" Martha pulled a package of freshly baked brownies from the freezer. "I made them for you."
"Thanks, Mom."
He hugged his mother goodbye and followed his father out the door.
Lois Lane’s face was puffy and red as she walked off the elevator into the newsroom. She headed straight for the ladies room. Clark heard her heartbeat and kept his mind on his work.
Superman Dies From Fatal Fall by Clark Kent. Clark looked over his work and sent the article to Perry.
"What in Tarnation is this all about?" Perry demanded from his doorway. "KENT!" Clark pushed his chair out from his desk and headed in to talk to his boss. "Close that door and sit down, son." Perry waited while Clark sat down in the red overstuffed armchair across from his desk. "Would you care to explain what this is all about?"
"It’s all there, Chief."
"What do you mean, its all there? Superman’s dead?"
"I believe so, sir."
Perry chuckled. "Just whose leg you trying to pull here?" Then he whispered, "Clark, this is me, Perry. You’re sitting right here. Superman isn’t dead! What kind of a stunt is this, Clark?"
Lois headed over to her desk, her face still red and puffy, but not as badly as it had been before she’d splashe’d cold water on it.
Clark returned to his desk, glancing at Lois. What had started out as a lazy way to deal with having been pushed out the window, had gone too far. He’d been so mad at her for throwing him out of her life, that he’d not made any effort to catch himself before he’d hit the pavement. He’d lain there with his eyes closed wondering what he should do, how to get her to listen to him, that he’d not meant to drop her. Sure it had been really unSupermanish to let go of her, but he couldn’t change what had happened. Now she didn’t want anything more to do with him. Ever.
But realistically, if he’d been so careless about her life, how could he ever go on being Superman in public? He’d become lackadaisical with his superpowers. He didn’t deserve them.
Lois hadn’t ever figured out that Clark was Superman. She’d never taken so much interest in him as to find out for herself. So he’d finally given in to her and become her boyfriend as Superman. But that was all over now. She was right. It was unforgivable.
He hadn’t meant to die, it was just that the crowd had gathered and then the medical personnel. Sure she cared about him. But she was a hard nut to crack. She’d never forgive him. He knew what she was like.
So when they checked for his pulse, he made the decision to opt out of his life as Superhero. He’d decreased his heartbeat until they couldn’t detect it.
He’d almost changed his mind when Lois had cried beside him. He loved her, but she’d decided it was over between them. She’d never forgive him for faking his own death either. That was right up there with being a slack superhero.
But where was his strength? How had a woman come between him and his desire to help humanity? What would he do now? Well, he’d be a good reporter--that was all. He’d leave Metropolis. Well, maybe. Could he do that?
He was mad at her, though. Why couldn’t she just forgive him? Why did she have to be so pigheaded? He tried to put it all from his mind.
“Hi, Clark.” Lois came over and sat on the side of his desk. “I guess you heard what happened to Superman.”
Clark glanced at her swollen eyes and nodded. “Going to miss him.”
She nodded. “He was my best friend.” She wiped her cheek again.
Clark patted her knee. “I know.” He stood up as she did and gathered her into his arms. She shook with sadness. “Oh, Clark! It’s so awful!”
What was she so upset for? It was her idea to stop seeing him. What had she expected him to do, just ignore her or come begging back to her doorway? He’d done the best thing for everyone.
"Can we go somewhere and talk?" What did Lois want to talk to Clark about? He wasn’t anyone special to her. She barely knew him, at least compared to Superman, anyway.
The momentary notion of having a visit in the clouds like they usually did was out of the question.
They sat on a park bench in Centennial park, watching the water splash down the fountain. Finally she turned to him. “Clark, I pushed him out the window.”
“What? Who?”
“Superman. How was I supposed to know he’d die? Nothing kills him. At least it never has before. Do you think he’d been exposed to kryptonite?”
Clarks eyebrows came together. “What are you saying, Lois”
“I'm saying,” she burst into tears. “I killed Superman! I murdered him!” She was burying her head in his jacket sobbing.
He was dumbstruck. She thought she’d killed him? But of course she would. That’s what had happened, hadn’t it. She’d pushe’d him out the window and he’d fallen to the sidewalk where he’d not bothered to get up and been pronounced DOA. Good grief.
"Lois, you didn’t do it. You can’t kill Superman."
“Oh yeah?” she blubbered, “He's dead isn’t he?”
Good grief, now what was he supposed to do? Say ‘No he’s not dead, he’s sitting right here beside you.’?
“Why did you push him out the window?”
“He was being a jerk.”
“Superman was being a jerk? I thought you were in love with him.”
“Forget it, Kent. Just forget it. He was being a jerk and I pushed him. And he fell. And he died.” She was crying again.
“If he was such a jerk, then why are you sad that he’s gone. I would have thought you’d be glad to be rid of him.”
She pulled her head back from him and looked him in the glasses-covered eyes. It was obvious Superman hadn’t talked to Clark, that was for sure. He’d died right after their fight.
“Well, I was mad at him alright, but I didn’t want him dead!”
“Then its not murder, Lois, its only manslaughter!” He grinned, pleased with his attempt at humor. It didn’t work. She cried harder.
“What if the police find out? I don’t want to go to jail!”
“You’re not going to go to jail, Lois.”
“Why not?”
“Because you can’t kill Superman. Everybody knows that.”
“Then why is he dead?”
Clark raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know.” He liked holding Lois. It had been a long time since Clark had spent any time with her. She and Superman had become a couple about a year ago. She’d asked not to be partnered with Clark anymore. He’d understood. It had been too hard for him to be with her as two people. She’d felt a bit unfaithful to Superman as she’d become closer friends with Clark. So the break in the partnership had worked well for both of them. He’d still gotten some of the Superman stories, but most of them had been written by her. She and Superman had talked of marriage, but he’d never been able to tell her he was Clark, never really wanted to or felt the need. It was a good thing, as it turned out, because he could at least stay in Metropolis now. He had a good job, a nice apartment, good friends and things weren’t looking too bad between himself and Lois at the moment. But that was bound to go back to its normal state.
He stroked her back, waiting for her to calm down. “But I did it, Clark!”
“You keep saying that Lois. Maybe he just wanted a way out and faked it.”
“What?” Lois pulled her head away from him.
“Well, what if he had reasons for not wanting to be around anymore, it’s kind of obvious, isn’t it? Nothing could kill him before.”
“You think so?”
“Here, sit back down.” He sat on the park bench and she followed his lead.
“Did he have anything to hide from, anything he was running away from?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“How were things going between the two of you, if its not too private to ask?”
She huffed at him and turned away. “Never mind. It's private.” She stood up, about to walk away, but hesitated and turned back to him and sat back down again. “Did he say anything about things in his life, to you?”
“To me?” She nodded. “He was always happy enough when I saw him. But you’d know him better than I would. I barely know the guy anymore.”
He wasn’t sure why he’d put that in. And what was he doing suggesting he’d faked it? Giving Lois hope? What did he want to do that for Superman was dead, gone, out of the picture. The suits were even gone. His hand went to his chest where he felt his bare skin beneath his shirt. He was feeling a bit naked without it on, actually.
Lois was fiddling with a piece of thread dangling from a button on her skirt. Her tears had started again.
“We had a fight.”
“What? Lois, you don’t have to tell me this, what’s between the two of you is private. I don’t want to know.”
Clark stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets. “We’d better get back now.”
