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Desperate Reporter. A Wendy and Tank Challenge Fic - 1/2

Part one by Tank


"How are you doin', darlin'. Feeling better?" Perry White moved closer to the hospital bed.

"I'm much better, Chief." Lois Lane gave her boss's hand a squeeze. "It's a good thing the badguys weren't very good shots this time."

Perry frowned down at the young woman, he considered like a daughter, lying in the bed recovering from her second gunshot wound in the last six weeks. "You were lucky, young lady. If that bullet had been two inches the other direction, I'd be giving your eulogy instead of advice."

Lois had to bite down on her lip to keep from laughing. "You're going to give me advice? What kind of advice, Chief? How to dodge bullets?"

Lois instantly sobered at the stern look on her mentor's face. "No, Lois, I'm going to advise you to think very seriously about that offer the Feds made you. It's been two months since you testified against Intergang and the threats the Churches made in court to kill you for it."

Lois tried to shrug, but her shoulder throbbed too much and she only wound up wincing in pain. "Hey, Chief, they're the bad guys. It's what they do. If they didn't make threats in court, what would we write about?"

Perry's look of concern was beginning to scare Lois. "Honey, you've been wounded twice and shot at at least a dozen times since then."

Lois drew her lips into a firm line. "Yeah, and Superman was able to put quite a few gunmen behind bars because of it." She could immediately see that argument was not going to hold any weight with Perry. She sighed as she bit down on her lip for an entirely different reason. "Are you saying you want me to leave?"

A lone tear snuck out of one corner of the older man's eye. "No, darlin', I want you to live." He patted her hand. "I've got to go. There's no one but Jimmy minding the store, and I don't want to leave him alone there too long. Clark should be here soon." He tried to smile for her, but it didn't quite take. "You think about what I said."

She nodded, then watched him walk through the door.

His words haunted her. It forced her memory back to the time after the first attempted shooting. The FBI had come to the Daily Planet the next day and she and an agent Reynolds had spent some time in a private conference. He explained the witness protection program and told her that, if she wanted to, he could get her into it.

More curious than really interested, Lois had asked about the particulars. He told her how they would set her up in a different town, with a new identity and a new life. No one would know where she'd gone, or who she would become. She'd then asked about her friends and family. How would she be able to continue to see them if she was in some other town? And her job? How could she continue doing what she loved, if she wasn't in Metropolis, at the Daily Planet?

That had been the most sobering part for her. She was told that it had to be a clean break. No ties back to her old life. No contact with any of her family or friends. It would be too dangerous. Too easy for the badguys to find her through them. No, it would have to be; new town, new job, new friends.

And that's when Lois had told him, 'thanks but no thanks'. That had been a little over five weeks ago. In that time she'd had two trips to the hospital, and several near misses. She was well aware that if it hadn't been for Superman, she'd be dead by now. But Superman was around, and he would save her whenever he could. Of course, the badguys knew that too, and they'd be on the watch for those times when Superman couldn't be around.

The attempt that had put her in the hospital this time had occurred when Superman was in China helping combat the devastation caused by freak flooding of the Yangtze. Perry was right. She had been lucky this time. Only the fact that Jimmy had been able to pull her to safety inside a building had kept the assassin from being able to fire another round into her, and finish the job.

She wasn't afraid to admit that she'd been scared this last time around. Not only was she shot, but Jimmy had come close to getting shot also. If anyone else died because of her...

Just then her attention was drawn to the door as Clark walked into her room. "Hello, Lois. How are you feeling?"

Lois had to sigh. If she only had a nickel for every time someone had said that to her in the last few days. "I'm much better, Clark." She put on a brave face for her best friend and partner. "Come sit beside me and fill me in on all the great stories I'm missing out on."

Clark moved over and sat on the corner of her bed. Not unlike he was wont to do at her desk at the Planet. He gave her a sad smile. "Sorry, partner, it seems that the only big time story happening right now is you."

"Me?"

Clark spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. "This latest attempt on your life is front page in all the papers... even the Planet. Henderson has vowed to bring the shooter to justice and has instituted a huge man hunt to find the guy."

Lois shook her head. "They won't find him." She glanced up and saw the confusion in her partner's eye. "The guy was hired talent. Probably from out of town. He's long gone by now. The next attempt will be by someone completely different."

Clark frowned hard at Lois. "Don't say that. Henderson will break this thing. Superman will help. No one is going to kill you, Lois."

"Won't they?"

Clark's expression changed to one which Lois found hard to read. "I'm so sorry, Lois."

It was Lois' turn to be confused. "For what?"

"I wasn't there for you."

She rolled her eyes. "What? Are you supposed to stay glued to my side night and day? It can't work, Clark. Eventually, there will have to come a time when I'm alone and then... bang. They get me." She shook her head again, causing her hair to move back and forth. "Heck, the last time, Jimmy was right next to me. He could have been killed!"

"Lois..." He placed his hand over hers.

"No, Clark, Intergang is determined to kill me, and it seems like now they don't care if someone else is hurt in the process." She interlaced her fingers with his. "What if next time Jimmy, or Perry, or you are walking with me and the shooter kills you by mistake." She bit down on her lower lip. "I can't be responsible for that, Clark. It would kill me just as surely as a gunman's bullet."

Clark reached out and stroked her cheek with his palm. She leaned into it, savoring the strength she felt there. "What's with all this gloomy talk all of a sudden. This isn't like you. You should be scheming of ways to find out who's doing this and kicking their butts for them."

"Clark, we know who's doing this. It's Intergang. The Churches are probably ordering these hits from behind bars." She pulled her head away from his hand and leaned back against her pillow, staring up at the ceiling. "I was too proud, and too stubborn to see it at first. Heck, I'm Lois Lane, only Superman is more invincible than me. No mere criminal organization is going to intimidate this intrepid reporter. Let them come. I'll out last them."

She turned and looked into Clark's eyes. A few tears rolled down her cheek. "But I can't. They aren't going to stop until I'm dead." She allowed herself another soft sigh. "If it were just me, I would probably stay and continue to fight them. But it's not. Jimmy came close to getting shot the other day. I can't risk the lives of my friends. I can't let someone else die because of me."

She could see that Clark was warring with himself. The conflicting emotions flashed across his face in rapid succession. "What are you going to do?"

Lois took several breaths before speaking. "Perry was in here just before you came. He reminded me of the FBI's offer of witness protection. I think I'm going to take them up on it."

Clark's indrawn gasp was clearly audible. She could see him getting ready to argue with her. She placed her finger against his lips. "No, don't say anything. You know how much I love my job, my life here in Metropolis. This isn't something I want to do. I don't have many friends, but those I do have I'll miss terribly." Suddenly she felt shy, and could feel the heat of a blush on her face. "Most of all, I'm going to miss you, Clark. Over the time we've been partnered, you've managed to become my best friend. I've never had a best friend before. It was kind of nice."

Clark shook his head as if trying to deny her words. "Lois, you don't have to do this. I'll be there for you. Superman will keep watch over you..."

She raised her brow at his tumble of words. "Oh? Superman and you are going to put on a 24/7 watch over me?"

Clark frowned. "If we have to."

Lois smile was sad. "Clark, the reason I'm in the hospital now is because both you and Superman were in China. He, helping, and you covering his actions. What? Superman is going to give up helping other people just so he can watch over me?" Her voice took on a little steel. "And what about you? Are you going to hover over me all the time. God, as much as we may like each other, we'd both come to hate that. Besides, I'm not going to let you get in the way of any bullet intended for me."

"I..." Clark rose from his perch.

"No." She cut him off. "You know I'm right, here. Even if it didn't put your life at risk, there will be times when you can't be around. And when that happens..."

"But, Lois.."

"No." She was determined now. She wasn't sure just when she'd made up her mind, but now that she had, she had to convince him it was the right thing. "Tell me, Clark. How would you feel if a bus load, or a plane load of people were killed just to get to me? You think that Intergang is above such tactics?" She could see by the look on his face that she'd won. Unfortunately, she didn't feel like a winner.

She reached out her hand and he took his in her own. "I want you to do two things for me."

"Anything, Lois."

"I want you to get in contact with that Agent Reynolds. The one who visited me before. Tell him I wish to see him."

Clark moved his head in the merest of nods. "Okay, and the other thing?"

"Kiss me goodbye."

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Lois navigated the twists and turns of the suburban streets. The sun was shining, and it was a beautiful day, but her heart was heavy. So this is how it begins she thought.

After that fateful decision in the hospital, she'd been visited by the FBI the very next day. They had arranged for her transfer to a secure medical facility and she'd spent the rest of her recuperation in their care.

It was a long process, but it some ways it was kind of fun. It was almost like preparing for an major undercover assignment. Only this undercover assignment was going to be for the rest of her life. They had been able to create an entire back history for her, complete with identification, social security number, passports, and a made-up life before.

She'd let her hair grow out, figuring that it would be a look that no one would associate with Lois Lane. She hated it, but it was just another one of the sacrifices she'd been forced to make.

The most shocking to her had been the program handler's insistence that she foster a young girl who could then pass as her daughter. Lois had resisted it for a while, but her handler had been persistent and she'd finally broken down. How hard could it be to raise a young girl anyway? After all, she practically raised Lucy, hadn't she? Of course, she hadn't really liked it.

As she turned down another street that looked just like the last one, she glanced up at her new driver's registration pinned to the visor. Susan. It was a name she was having a hard time getting used to. She just didn't see herself as a Susan.

She glanced down at the map sharing the front seat with her. She took another turn then stopped. She rolled down her window and leaned out, craning her neck to see the street sign. Yep, this was it. She had arrived at her new home... Wisteria Lane.

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