Wedding Consequences: 9/10
by Nan Smith
Previously:
Lenny's instincts overrode his good sense, and he pulled out his gun. "That was a big mistake," he said.
Kent raised an eyebrow, eyeing the weapon. "The Mrs. wouldn't like it if you shoot me," he said calmly. "Remember? They want it to look like an accident. If it doesn't, the money goes to Lois Luthor's heirs, not to the beneficiaries in Luthor's will. Do you really want to explain that to her? She'll skin you alive -- if you're lucky."
Lenny gaped at him. The Mrs.? What did Kent know about her?
It was the last clear thought he had for some time. Something hit him across the back of the neck and he pitched forward, the gun spinning to the ground. By the time he was conscious enough to think clearly again he was on his face in the dirt and his hands were tied behind him with a leather belt. Another belt around his ankles confined his feet and Lois Luthor was standing beside Kent, rubbing the edge of her right hand.
"Nice work," Kent said. "Maybe I should take up Karate, too."
"Wouldn't hurt," she said. "How long before the cavalry gets here?"
"Pretty soon," Kent said. "They're tracking the signal."
"Why don't you go back and talk to them," she said. She nudged Lenny's leg with the toe of her muddy shoe. "Tell them we've got a small complication."
**********
And now, Part 9:
"Chief!" Jimmy Olsen burst into his editor's office, but contrary to the annoyance his boss might have expressed at his precipitous entrance, Perry White sat up straight. Jimmy's face told the whole story.
"They found them?"
"They're alive!" Jimmy panted out the words, almost breathless. "We just got a call from the Colorado Forest Service. They were just picked up, along with some guy with a LexCorp search team that pulled a gun on Clark. Lois talked to me for a minute, just long enough to tell us she'll be sending in a story to the rewrite desk as soon as she can get to a regular phone. They're both okay."
"Thank god," Perry said, aware of a lessening of the knot in his gut for the first time since Henderson had called him in the middle of the night with the news that Barry Jones had been assaulted, and that Lois and Clark were missing. "Did she say what happened?"
"I asked her, but she said she couldn't tie up the radio. They were relaying the call from the rescue copter. She wanted us to call Clark's parents and let them know."
"I'll take care of that right now," Perry said. "I guess we'll have to wait for the whole story, but at least we know they're all right."
"Yeah," Jimmy said. "I wonder what happened?"
"Well," Perry said, "Henderson said that his guys found a bug on my phone, so I guess somebody in Luthor's will wanted more of his money. It's not over, but Henderson's playing it pretty close to his chest."
"I hope he gets whoever the so-and-so is," Jimmy said, with unaccustomed venom. "It figures that some of Luthor's heirs would be just as dirty as he was."
"Whoever it is, he made a big mistake," Perry said. "If Henderson doesn't get him, you can bet Lois and Clark will. Anyway, I feel a lot better. Now if Superman would just turn up, it would be perfect. I don't suppose that's too likely, though."
"Henderson hasn't found a body," Jimmy said, his enthusiasm slightly dampened.
"Yeah. That's what I think everyone's holdin' onto," Perry said. "I know I am." He reached for the phone. "Better get back to work, kid. I need to call Clark's parents."
**********
"I feel a lot better," Lois said, as she stepped out of the bathroom amid a cloud of steam. She was wrapped in a plain, utilitarian robe and her hair was wound in a towel. The Colorado Forest Service had supplied them with bathing facilities and loaned them something to wear in place of the extremely dirty clothing that they had been wearing for the last four days.
The trip back in the Forest Service's rescue helicopter had been mostly occupied by the quick call to the Daily Planet, in between stuffing down the emergency rations presented to them by their rescuers. The paramedic at the station had checked them over superficially and pronounced them amazingly fit after their adventure. Only Lois had noticed Clark's sigh of relief when it was over, and they had firmly refused the offer to have a doctor do a more complete examination later.
"You *look* like you feel better, too," Clark said. He set down the telephone receiver. "I just got off the phone with Perry. He's making arrangements for us to catch a plane to Kansas -- for a few days, at the least. He said to stay away at least that long, or we'll be sorry. The press is howling on his doorstep, and he had another tabloid guy arrested for trespassing. They got the word about what happened to us. Apparently the search for us has been all over the news. Jim Thompson -- one of the guys in the rescue copter -- warned me that the local news station found out we were here and is sending a team to interview us, and there's another planeload on its way from the national news services. We need to be gone before they get here. One of the rangers is going to drive us to the airport in his private car so we can slip by them. We've got about a forty-five minute margin."
"That's good of them," Lois said. "Do you really think we should go on to your parents' farm or should we just head back for Metropolis? I want to get on this thing as fast as we can."
"I talked to Henderson and told him the whole story," Clark said. "He didn't say much, but I got the feeling that he's putting a lot of effort into tracking down whoever was behind what happened. If we go back now, though, *you're* going to be the story. Every tabloid in the city is still fixated on you." He hesitated. "They also think Superman's dead. I wish I knew what to do about that."
Lois seated herself on the cot next to him. "I think the only thing we can do is wait and see what happens. After we get back to Metropolis, you should probably go see that researcher at STAR Labs, too. Then, when we know one way or another -- at least as much as we can -- Superman can either reappear or get in touch with Henderson and give him the scoop. Either way, we don't want him connected with you." She took his hand. "And when we do get back, the first thing I'm going to do is arrange for my lawyer to talk to the Superman Foundation for me. Maybe that will get the tabloids off my neck."
"Are you sure that's what you want to do?"
She nodded vigorously. "It's the only chance I have of getting my life back. I'll still want to have some say in how it's used, and be sure I have an income, just in case, but the sooner the Superman Foundation takes control of it the better. Once that's done, the paparazzi -- and the tabloids -- should eventually lose interest in me. I can't be an effective investigative reporter as long as those parasites are following me around."
"I think you're right," Clark said. "It should frustrate the heck out of whoever tried to kill you, too. I have to say, I like that angle a lot."
"The thought," Lois said, "doesn't exactly upset me, either."
"If you like, we can give Perry a call from my parents' place, tell him what you want to do and have him contact your lawyer and the Superman Foundation," Clark said. "Then maybe most of the paperwork could be settled by the time we get back to Metropolis."
"That's an even better idea," Lois said. "Let's do it that way." She removed the towel from her head and began to rub her hair vigorously. "I can hardly wait."
**********
The last time Lois Lane had seen the old Kent farmhouse had been under circumstances that she would rather not think about. It had been only one day after she had seen a madman try to shoot her partner in the back. That experience wasn't something she liked to remember. One second's delay would have meant a far different outcome and her best friend would have been dead, no matter what had happened to Trask afterwards.
Now she knew that much more had been going on than she had known. Clark's father had been hiding a chunk of Kryptonite in the barn, Superman's powers were in abeyance because of it, Jason Trask had nearly succeeded in killing Superman, as he had intended from the first, and because she had told Rachel Harris to get to the Kents' place, the sheriff had been in time to save his life. Every now and then, however, that scene would replay in her dreams and she would awaken in a cold sweat.
As Clark pulled the rented car to a stop and cut the engine, her gaze flitted to the pond with its little bridge where she had seen Trask die, but she resolutely turned her attention to something else. Those things were in the past. Now she and Clark had a much-needed week of peace and quiet ahead of them to rest and recuperate from the traumatic events of the past several days -- before they returned to Metropolis to face the tabloids and the furor.
She opened the door of the car and got out, looking around at Clark's home. Both the house and the barn had a new coat of paint, she saw. The small bridge over the pond where the rail had been damaged during Clark's fight with Trask had been repaired. There was no trace left of the events that had taken place during that first trip to Smallville.
Clark opened the driver's door and stepped out as well. He glanced around, and Lois saw a smile on his face. This was where Clark Kent's roots were, she thought, the place that had made him the person that he was, and that had given the world the man who would become Superman. And the world would doubtless laugh derisively if it knew.
She had laughed at him, sneered at Clark Kent's Midwestern values, at the same time respecting those identical values in Superman. It was sobering to realize what a difference that an image could make to a person's perception. The last few days had been a lesson in more ways than one, she thought. It was something she wouldn't soon forget.
When she had needed Clark, he had been there for her. Could she do less for him? If Superman was indeed gone for good, which was something that she wasn't willing to accept yet, Clark might need her more than ever. And besides, she needed him.
Clark rounded the car to open the trunk and remove the little bag that had accompanied them on their journey from the field high in the Colorado Rockies to the farmhouse in Kansas. It had a very few of her possessions in it. She would have to buy more if they were going to remain here for a week, she thought.
He closed the trunk and extended a hand. "Looks like Mom and Dad aren't home. Let's go in and get a snack. I may never stop feeling hungry again." He looked briefly at the sun, now sinking toward the west. "It's been a busy day."
"That's for sure," Lois said. She reached out to take the case, but instead he caught her hand in his free one.
"I'm glad we're out of that mess," he said suddenly and unexpectedly, "but I'm going to miss part of it."
"Oh ..." To her vast surprise, she felt her cheeks growing warm. "So am I."
He was silent, looking into her eyes for what seemed ages. At last she broke their locked gaze, dropping her focus to his collarbone, aware that she was certainly blushing deeper than ever. "Clark ..."
"I'm sorry," he said, obviously misinterpreting her flush. "I didn't mean to ..."
"No." She raised her fingers to his lips stopping the words mid-sentence. "You know, if not for you, I'd be on my honeymoon right now. Do you have any idea how glad I am that I'm not?"
He moved closer, not releasing her hand. "I couldn't just let it happen," he said. "Not when I knew what he was ... what he'd do to you. I had to try. I'm only sorry that I didn't manage to stop things in time to keep all the rest of this from happening."
Her hand was trapped between them. She wiggled it free, but only in order to slip her arms around his waist. "Clark, I don't remember if I ever apologized for the terrible things I said to you, for the things I accused you of ... but I'd like to do it now. To tell you just once how sorry I am, and how grateful."
"No --"
"Yes," she said, overriding his instinctive protest. "I'm more grateful than I can ever say. You saved me from myself, and we both know what a tough opponent I am." His lips twitched in a slight smile at her feeble humor, but she hurried on before he could speak. "But mostly, I want to tell you again that I love you -- and not as a brother, either. That's something that I kept hiding behind the whole time, pretending it wasn't so. I guess when I'm determined to do something stupid, all the evidence to the contrary doesn't matter. I'll have to remember that, if I ever want to be an investigative reporter again." She drew a deep breath. "I have to say this now, though, before I lose my nerve. I'll never know why, but you say you still love me."
"I do. I always will."
"Will you marry me, Clark?"
His eyes widened. "*Now*?"
She shook her head. "Oh, not now. That wouldn't look very good, and the tabloids would never leave us alone. But maybe in six months, when all this mess has died down, and the paparazzi have forgotten about us."
"Are you sure, Lois?" His hand came up to cup her cheek. "Are you sure that's what you really want?"
She nodded. "I've never been more sure of anything in my life."
He didn't hesitate. "In that case, yes."
The overnight case landed on the ground as she flung herself into his arms, but neither of them noticed.
Lex had never kissed her this way. She had never even wanted him to kiss her this way. No matter what happened in the future, she thought dizzily, as Clark's arms tightened around her and his lips covered hers, today had to rank as the most wonderful day of her life.
**********
(tbc)
