Well, this is my last WIP that I'm gonna get to before baby... Thanks to Carol for proofing. Thanks to those who have asked "whatever happened to that thing you were working on last year?"
Here it is. New and improved? Because it's all been posted before (though the plot has changed quite a bit), I'm only going to have one comments folder. Please be patient, as I have 6 pieces to post first...
This is yet ANOTHER alternate universe of Lois and Clark. The timing is a little different, but not so much so as to be disturbing…
The characters are quite a bit different, but hopefully not so much so as to make them unlikable…
HOWEVER, this story contains some angst - bad stuff. You have been warned.
Disclaimers: I know next to nothing about any universe except Lois and Clark – so if I tread on any comic readers' hearts, sorry. I also own none of these toys - they're just real fun to play with.
<thoughts are in carrots>
*asterisks are used for emphasis*
"Have you ever thought about
time is food for a clock's mouth
eating every second of life..."
-Phil Roy
Gone in a Flash
An Alternate adventure of Lois and Clark
By Betsy (birdies95@att.net)
July 9, 1958
10 pm
Lituya Bay, Alaska
A man and his son sat fishing on the pristine water. It was warm that July evening, and the salmon were plentiful. There were other trawlers trying to eke their livings out of the icy water of Lituya Bay. The calm motion of the water lulled the small boy into a sleepy state, and his father stopped what he was doing for a moment, looking down on his son with love in his eyes and a warm ache in his heart. "They grow so fast", he thought. Sighing deeply, he went back to work.
Suddenly, the roar of what he thought was thunder enveloped them, startling the eight-year-old awake, and making his father look toward the head of the bay in trepidation.
At first, there was just calm. Then – just as he noticed that he could see parts of North Crillon Glacier, which was usually blocked by the mountains – all of the head of the bay disappeared behind a wall of water. It was a wave so large that he knew he was staring death in the face.
Crying to himself, he put a life preserver on his son. "Pray, son. Pray for your life."
The water hit them and raised them above the trees. If it hadn't been so frightening, it could have been exhilarating. The anchor chain started running off the boat. 40 fathoms later, it simply snapped. The boat continued to rise. The man held his son and prayed. "Not too much pain. Not for my son. Oh God, I don't care about me, but please, not for my son."
The fates were merciful to the pair. The man and his son were washed back into the relative safety of the bay.
Even as the man hugged his child and thanked heaven over and over, the crews of at least two other ships were lost in the ocean - swept there by a 1,720-foot wave – a mega tsunami. A rare wave of myth, legend, and horror. One that has only been witnessed once in recorded history.
A force that would reverberate throughout the universe and completely change the life of a man not yet born: Clark Kent.
Alternate Metropolis X
Autumn, 1999
Daily Planet City Newsroom
Lois Lane finished typing up her latest article – a mood piece on the closing of a local theater. It had been so heart-wrenching to listen to the woman as she said good-bye to the theater, to the life she had had there. Lois felt teary just thinking about it. All things, good and bad, eventually come to an end.
She wrote the article with her patented style: clear and concise, yet emotive without being sappy. Once again, she had taken a topic that most reporters would shun and polished it until it shone. With a smile and a sigh, she forwarded her latest baby off to her editor, Perry White. Turning back to the car theft ring, she tried to get the motivation to write another piece about the case she'd blown wide open a week ago. She was usually good for a story or two after the headliner, but beyond that, she got bored. And she had a hard time making sure her audience didn't get bored, either.
As Perry finished the almost spotless story, he looked out his window onto the bullpen. There she sat, alone at work as in life. It never failed to amaze him that Lois Lane, the woman who could see into the hearts and minds of people so well and get them to share so much, was such a single-minded, independent woman. She could write the most heart-wrenching stories, yet when she dealt with people, she seemed almost austere. When necessary - in the blink of an eye - she could cut a person down to size, and her sometimes-cynical sense of humor had caused several misunderstandings in the bullpen. People didn't *get* Lois Lane, though all agreed, after working with her, that there wasn't a more intelligent or fair-minded person on staff.
Her reporting abilities were not even marginally relegated to "touchy-feely" pieces, as his best new roving correspondent, Clark Kent, tended to call them. She could write, and indeed had written (as two Kerth and several Merriweather awards could attest) some of the best investigative pieces in the business. But Kent had a Kerth of his own and a style of his own, also. Looking to Clark's desk, Perry watched as the young man concentrated on a few papers lying in front of him.
Clark generally wrote hard-hitting stories - facts written so coolly that they were many times more shocking in their offhandedness. He had been working as a freelance writer for many years, wiring stories in to the associated press from many obscure places around the globe. Lately, though, he had taken to Metropolis as his home base ("There's so much corruption here, I could never leave and still have a hard lead every week for a decade," Kent had remarked, when interviewing with Perry White for a permanent position at The Planet). He still did some traveling, but he wanted to try building a home, to see if he could make a home anywhere.
It didn't hurt his job credentials that Clark seemed to have met up with the Guardian – a god-like vigilante who seemed to be everywhere and nowhere, and who had very little personal contact with anyone – several times in his vast travels. Between Lois and Clark, no other paper in the world had more hands-on Guardian interviews.
Perry was glad to have another top-notch reporter in the crown of the Daily Planet. It was the best darned paper in the world, with internet and door to door subscriptions unrivaled in the industry. But the only place to go from the top was down. "Not in my tenure," Perry mumbled under his breath. Shaking his head, he straightened his back and turned back to his monitor. He started humming Heartbreak Hotel, one of his favorite Elvis tunes, before opening the piece from Ralph.
"Gotta learn to save the best stories for last. Compared to Lane's piece, this will smell even worse than it would have fresh. Hells bells, this boy needs to learn how to use the spell checker." Out came the red font as Perry began to edit. It was a story that had the makings of a good piece hidden under a load of bad grammar and unconfirmed sources. A knock on the door saved him from mucking any further.
"Chief?"
Looking up, he saw Lois in the doorway.
"Yes, Lois?" He asked, putting aside Ralph's story and glad to have any excuse to do so.
Lois quickly walked in. She didn't sit down, but instead, leaned forward onto his desk, a twinkle of excitement in her eye.
"I just got what could be a great lead. Some guy called me, saying that the space shuttle Messenger is going to blow. I did some checking on him, and it *could* be legit. Can I go for it?"
"What about the story on the businesses in Metropolis receiving the stolen car parts? You promised that to me."
"But, Perry," he knew he was in trouble when she used his first name, "time is of the essence on this story. The shuttle is set to go up next week! Let someone else write up the other story, for goodness sakes." Her eyes were sparkling.
"Come on, Lois. You've got to finish the follow up piece." He was silent for am moment, shaking his head. "But this new lead should be looked into... You don't have time to do both." He thought for a minute, then got up and walked to his door.
"Kent, my office." He called across the bullpen. After typing some short commands into his laptop, Clark walked slowly toward the editor's office. He entered and shut the door quietly behind him. Reminding himself to keep calm, he rested against one of the chairs facing Perry's desk.
"I realize that both of you are used to working solo. But Lois here has a story that could be big, and another story that is big. Clark, you've got some room in your schedule right now. I want you to help Lois on the new story. Investigate it together. If there's a story, write it together."
"Perry, I don't need any help…" "I don't think that's such a good idea, Mr. White." Lois and Clark both fell over each other in protest. When Lois noted that Clark didn't want to work with her any more than she wanted to work with him, she eyed him suspiciously. <Probably another guy who doesn't want to work with a woman. And I thought he seemed nice…>
Clark, on the other hand, was studiously avoiding eye contact with Lois. As it was, he could hardly handle the jolt of seeing her daily. He didn't think he could deal with an in-depth exposure to the experience called Lois Lane.
Meanwhile, Perry raised his hands, ensuring silence. "Last time I checked, I was editor of this paper. I make decisions, and I've made this one. It so happens that I've been thinking of partnering the two of you up for a few weeks. This is the perfect opportunity. Now, get!" He turned back to his desk, indicating that the conversation was over. Lois and Clark looked at each other then both turned slowly toward the door. Clark waited to allow Lois to exit first, lost in thought as he walked back to his desk.
"Yo, CK, you want to check out the game tonight?" Jimmy Olsen, resident gopher and budding photographer called across the room as Clark walked back to his desk.
Smiling, Clark nodded. He had promised himself so long ago, no ties. But here he was, making friends. Jimmy Olsen had been persistent, not even acknowledging the polite distancing Clark had treated everyone with when he had first started at the Planet. Jimmy had seen that everyone got the same reception – cool, polite, restrained – and had seen that there was loneliness underneath. He kept plugging until Clark finally broke. As a result, Jimmy was the first close friend Clark had in years.
"Sure. You wanna come over around 7:30? I have some late work to do here."
"Cool, I'll pick up some beverages. Ok if I invite Jack?"
Clark laughed a little. Even as his conscience was telling him that he shouldn't let anyone else in his world, he heard himself answer, "Sure, why not? The more the merrier."
"Does that include me, too?" Lois asked with an arched brow.
Clark paled, then blushed. "Of course. If you want to, that is. I…" Stammering, Clark wasn't sure how to answer. He wanted her there – he wanted her nowhere near there. Nothing was in control. Life was torture, but it felt good. To feel. He smiled, and tried again.
"Ms. Lane, I would be honored if you would come to my apartment tonight to view the basketball game with me and the rest of the rabble that will be there."
Lois smiled, thinking she might have misjudged him in the office. He always seemed so uncomfortable around her. But maybe it wasn't sexism.
Maybe it was sexism without the ism.
She smiled and shook her head. Once again, it wouldn't be the first time. As long as Kent didn't make a move out of place – and, giving the devil his due, he didn't seem like the kind of person who would ever make an unwanted pass – everything would be fine.
"I was just kidding. I have a date tonight with some girlfriends. Anyway, you want to pull your chair up to my desk and we'll go over what I have on this story Perry wants us to work together on?"
Hesitating only a moment, Clark seemed to come to a decision. He smiled slightly, then nodded.
"Sure, let me grab a notebook, too."
- Two weeks later -
"And finally, a toast to our newest reporting team," Perry raised his glass of water in the staff meeting. "Exposing Dr. Baines, saving the Messenger, and getting a Guardian interview. I expect we'll see even better things from you two in the future!" The room of reporters clapped politely while looking upon the two reporters with a mixture of curiosity and envy. To be partnered with either of those reporters would be a feather in anyone's personal or professional cap. Clark could practically hear the 'some guys have all the luck' thoughts in the other male reporters as they looked askance at him. He couldn't blame them.
He was the new guy on the block, and the star reporter of The Planet was now working with him. Lois was a terrific reporter, a terrific person, and a beautiful woman. And she was his partner. It was also fairly obvious that she treated him as a close friend - she seemed closer than she was with almost anyone else on the staff.
The last few weeks had been a terrifying mixture of pleasure and confusion. Since his parents had died, there had been no one. He hadn't allowed anyone close to him.
But when Clark, in his alternate persona of The Guardian, had saved Lois Lane from a hostage situation six months ago, he felt the world still. His heart stopped. His vision dimmed. He could see, smell, hear nothing but her. He tried to get her out of his mind, but found himself seeking her out subconsciously - reading her articles, making unnecessary tours of Metropolis. He decided that maybe his self-imposed isolation wasn't as healthy as he had thought. If one woman could so mesmerize him, maybe he needed to meet more people. Maybe he needed to expose himself to her face-to-face, and quench his curiosity.
So, he moved to Metropolis. He made friends, unwillingly, with Jimmy and Jack. He had late night research sessions in the office with Lois, picking up her small mannerisms and tucking them into his memory, like the flowers his mother used to press between the sheets of the family bible.
His curiosity was turning to love.
Had turned to love.
Had always been love?
In the end, it didn't matter. He was scared to death - and alive as he hadn't been in twelve long years.
"Clark?"
Clark shook his head of his musings. Lois was trying to get his attention. He noticed that the rest of the room had emptied, and he was alone with her.
"Sorry, I was miles away."
"S'ok. I was just apologizing. And if you listen to office gossip, that's something I don't do nearly enough."
"Well, then. Let's have it." He sat back in his chair, forcing his heart and respiration rates to that of a normal human, and putting a 'friendly' smile on his face.
<God, he's beautiful,> Lois thought to herself. Through the last two weeks, she had found herself watching Clark when she was supposed to be reading her latest research. She couldn't seem to place his personality. She was convinced that he was a cold loner who wanted nothing to do with anyone else, and then he would destroy that image as he brought her a cup of coffee, just as she liked it, with not even a hint from her. When she was sure that he was too directed, seeing only his work and not noticing the things around him, she heard him pointing out Jimmy's work to Perry, ensuring that Jimmy would get credit where normally he would have gotten none.
He was an enigma.
And Lois loved nothing more than a mystery.
"I wanted to apologize to you for blowing you off yesterday. You know, at the Messenger's scheduled take-off. You were right when you said it was too dangerous to plant myself on there."
"Yes, but if you hadn't, *we* would never have gotten that Guardian interview. And I need to thank you for that - sharing the byline on that interview when I wasn't even there."
And he was so polite.
Most 'partners' would assume that if a bonus came with a story, they got half. If they did less than half the work, it didn't matter. They shared everything to do with the story - except blame if something went wrong. It had happened to her so often in the past - dealing with people that just didn't want to carry their weight in work or in life. But Clark did - he gave as much as she did. More when he could, and wasn't being called off by that beeper of his.
Lois feared that she was falling for him. Clark Kent - a name she said with disdain only a few months ago - was rapidly becoming a good friend with the distinct possibility of being more. For her, anyway.
"All right then, we'll call it even," she said with a smile.
They both got up from the conference room table, and Clark held the door for her. She was finding it entirely too easy to get used to his manners, where in others, she would have chafed at being so obviously treated like a 'woman'.
When Mitchell had gotten sick the evening of the White Orchid Ball, Clark hadn't hesitated to step in, though for some reason, he was still very uncomfortable around her. He hadn't gotten angry when she'd left him behind to pursue an interview opportunity with Lex Luthor. But he had, in his own way, let her know his feelings about Luthor.
The morning after the ball, while they were wading through Dr. Platt's report, Clark had mentioned that he had some preliminary research on Lex Luthor. He asked if she wanted to look at it. From the research Clark had, it looked as though not all was above board in the House of Luthor. It also had some comments that the Guardian had passed to him - how someone had tested the Guardian a few years ago, to measure his abilities. Though no one had died, the tests were dangerous and put people at unnecessary risk. Luthor all but admitted he was behind the tests. Both Clark and the Guardian suspected Mr. Luthor of illegal activities, but had no proof.
Lois felt that this had been Clark's way of warning her. He let her do with that information what she would, not mentioning it since he had given it to her. Unlike many people in her past, he didn't try to make her decision for her.
She didn't doubt that, if she had taken Mr. Luthor up on his offer for dinner - as a supposed interview milieu, though Lois would have seen through that kind of suggestion her first year out of school - Clark would have written her off. Oh, he still would have been polite and nice. But she never would have the opportunity to be his friend. It seemed that he had a line that, once crossed, couldn't be broached again.
Lois remembered how Cat Grant had come on to Clark early in his time at the Planet. She had tried every way she could to get into Clark's… good graces. When Clark proved uninterested, Cat had stooped to underhanded tactics, spreading rumors about herself and Clark through the office. Lois didn't know what Clark had said to Cat, but the rumors were quickly squelched by Cat herself, and to this day, she didn't even attempt to exchange banter with Clark on the newsroom floor. Clark coldly ignored her, in personal matters, always. If she even tried anything more than a sedate hello, Clark would smile a little smile and walk away, giving Cat the brush off. It wasn't that he was spiteful or mean. He was simply, utterly, and unapproachably cold. He had certainly managed to freeze Cat, the most hot-blooded female Lois had ever seen, out of commission.
Lois didn't want to cross the line into Clark's list of 'not respected people.' She had a feeling, after reading the file Clark had on Luthor, that if she chose to associate with Lex on anything but a purely professional basis, Clark would lose his respect for her.
The fact that he would share his hoard of information, the file on Luthor, was amazing. Most reporters would not give that kind of information away. The breadth of information Clark had on the man was scary; she wondered just how he had managed to get some of it. It was obvious he had thought of doing an exposee on Luthor, but when Lois mentioned her own desire for the story, Clark had handed over the file. Maybe he was trying to help her with her story. Maybe he was trying to protect her. She didn't know.
Clark Kent was a man of many mysteries.
And then there was that damn beeper and his regular disappearances…
"So, partner, do we have a new 'big story' to work on?" Lois said, as she sat down at her desk, which was across from Clark's on the newsroom floor.
"Well, I have a couple of follow-ups to do on the militia group that threatened the Gay Pride parade. And we have at least a few more articles to write on the Messenger."
Lois wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Old news. Worse than old coffee." Inspecting the contents of her coffee cup, she shook her head and quickly put it back down on her desk. "I have the Luthor stuff, but there isn't anything concrete there. I don't trust something that's been so obviously cleaned up, but I can't find proof of anything corrupt."
Clark smiled. He was finding more out about the 'Mad Dog' side of Lois Lane, and he knew he wanted to stay out of her way when she was on the trail of something. "You'll find something, Lois. Remember, Eliot Ness used bad taxes to bring Capone down. If Luthor's dirty, there'll be some evidence, somewhere. And if there's evidence, you'll find it."
"Thanks for the faith in my skills. Especially considering how much research you've already done on the subject!" Blushing, Lois laughed a little, then became serious. "But if I were so good, I'd be able to get more on the Guardian. The guy is a total mystery. One moment, he seems like he's a guardian angel, saving thousands of people from all sorts of disasters. I mean, he has saved my life, personally, twice now.
"But there's this other side - when he has to deal with criminals. Which he hardly ever does…" Thinking aloud now, she absently picked up a rubber band that was on her desk and stretched it back and forth between her hands. "He'll stop robberies and the like, but only if there is danger to other people. Regular old B and E's he leaves alone. And if something goes wrong for the perps of a crime, the Guardian doesn't help them. Like he's judging them guilty… or maybe he thinks he's letting fate do the judging? Remember that botched robbery last week?" She looked at Clark to see if he knew what she was talking about.
He nodded curtly, but didn't quite meet her eyes. "You're referring to the MNC Bank robbery?"
"Yeah," she agreed. "The getaway car crashed into Hobbs Creek, but the Guardian didn't show up to pull it out until it was pretty certain the guys inside must have drowned. And I've checked - he didn't have any rescues right before that. It was like he let them die. Don't get me wrong - they had just gunned down ten people to steal some money, and they had killed two other people in the car they hijacked as they were trying to get away. I think I would have a hard time justifying saving those guys, too. But the Guardian, he seems so… remote. So careful. And so… reverent of human life. I wouldn't think he would pass judgment like that."
Clark was strangely silent, offering no insight into the events.
Shaking her head, she sat back and sighed. "I just can't figure him out. Hey," she said, with growing animation, "maybe we should investigate him as our new story! You know, try to figure out where he is when he's not on a rescue! Maybe this whole 'Guardian' thing is a disguise. We could analyze his accent - try to figure out where he comes from. Maybe get some computer program to figure out what he looks like. That black mask hides so much, but with graphics these days…"
Clark listened to this line of reasoning with growing frustration. It was bad enough, not being able to justify his actions, but to have Lois Lane investigating him, full time - he thought he'd rather swallow that green rock he'd come to call Kryptonite.
"Count me out," he answered quickly. "The man has saved my butt in some severe situations. All he has asked for in return is privacy. I'm more than willing to grant it."
Lois looked at Clark curiously. She knew that the Guardian had pulled Clark out of some bad fighting in Bosnia and rescued Clark from a mudslide in Northern China. But it seemed like Clark knew the guy better than anyone else. It couldn't be just from those interviews... Clark must be holding something back.
Just as Lois was about to ask Clark a question, he got a now-familiar look on his face, pulled up his beeper (which he always set to vibrate, thank god, or the ringing would be a practically permanent background noise whenever he was in the room), and sighed.
"Sorry, Lois, I've got to go."
Lois looked down at her watch to see the time.
"I know, I know... I'm going to do more Luthor research." But she was talking to air. Clark had already gone. And she'd missed watching his backside as he walked away. Damn, this day just wasn't giving her any breaks!
