Because I don't have a backbone and *can't* say no...
From Part Three...
And the world slowed down. Stopped. He was trapped in a heartbeat.
The silenced gunshot.
Deadly.
His breath caught. Lois.
The voice returned. No.
Lois.
No.
He could hear the sound of the bullet ripping through skin.
Could feel it tearing through muscle.
And then it was in him.
He screamed.
--
Part Four
--
Blood.
His blood.
Everywhere.
The echo of his scream ringing in her ears.
The cold hand squeezing her heart.
And his blood. Seeping out of the wound on his thigh. The bullet hole.
It was staining her hands.
The blood of the man she couldn’t help but love. Spilt by the man she‘d thought she could trust.
Because of her.
She knelt next to him. Pressed against his wound. His feverish skin slick beneath her hands.
Clark…
He’d lied to her. And she loved him anyway.
Lying there. Bleeding.
He wasn’t Clark. He wasn’t Superman. He was both and yet… neither. And she loved him anyway.
She had to stop the bleeding.
He’d been right.
About everything.
About her.
About…
Lex.
She could see his figure out of the corner of her eye.
Slightly blurred.
She tried to blink away the tears. She had to stop the bleeding.
He looked stunned. As if he couldn’t believe what he’d done.
And then she saw it. His lips sliding into that almost smile.
The same smile he would have married her with.
She felt her heart harden. They were all liars. The men in her life.
Clark moaned. Muttered something unintelligible.
She leant closer. Tried to make his words out. Strained to hear them. Hoped they weren’t his last.
“I …love… ”
The pain in her chest was unmistakable.
“Save your strength Clark.” Her voice was a whisper. “You can tell me later.”
She couldn’t let him finish. Couldn’t let him say good bye.
Couldn’t let him give up.
Because some lies were easier to forgive.
“Very touching.” Lex interrupted.
She turned to look at him.
Lex.
The man who’d turned her world upside down for the third time.
Lex… Who sounded like he’d killed before.
Sounded like he relished it.
Like a monster.
His eyes were red.
The gun rose. Steady.
Never drunk. Always in control. He’d told her that once.
“Take his clothes off.”
“What?”
“His suit,” Lex hissed. “Take it off.”
Clark whimpered.
She looked down. At the suit. At her partner.
“Why?” She asked, not looking up.
“It’ll make it easier to dispose of the body.” His answer was clipped.
She sucked in a breath.
The body.
A body.
Cold.
Still.
Lifeless.
She shook her head.
No.
Clark wasn’t dead.
He shifted beneath her. Slightly.
The bleeding had slowed.
He wasn’t dead.
Alive.
Clark was alive.
She couldn’t do it.
She loved him.
And she couldn’t.
She wouldn’t.
She glared at Lex and his almost smile.
“No.”
No. She wouldn’t strip him of his dignity.
She couldn’t treat him like a piece of expired flesh.
No.
One word.
She’d said it twice.
She watched Lex’s eyes narrow.
Saw his jaw clench.
His finger twitch.
“That was not a request.”
She could feel her anger welling up.
He wasn’t dead. Clark wasn’t dead and Lex was… thinking in terms of logistics.
“What are you going to do, Lex? Shoot me?”
Stupid, she knew. To provoke him. But she didn’t care.
She watched his face.
He didn’t flinch.
“No.” He lowered the gun slightly. “But I may shoot him again.”
Her mouth opened.
Silence.
“It might not finish the job.” His voice was a sneer. “But I promise it will hurt.”
Disgust.
He stepped towards them. Eyes ablaze.
She was disgusted. In him. In herself.
She angled herself in front of Clark.
She’d almost married him. Because she hadn’t listened. Hadn’t wanted to.
Slid into a crouch.
She’d almost slept with the devil because her eyes were closed.
Almost.
“Lois?!”
Her mother.
Standing in the door way Lex had left open.
Always in control.
Except today.
He turned. Surprised. Shocked.
Her best chance.
She eyed the gun.
He stumbled backwards as she connected. Grabbed at his arm.
Her only chance…
The smell of alcohol assaulted her.
Not in control.
He stumbled backwards.
Unsure of his footing.
Stumbled backwards.
But didn’t fall.
His grip on the gun didn’t loosen.
He spun around. Tried to pull himself free. To push her away.
She stumbled backwards.
One step.
Two.
Blood.
Staining her polished floors.
She slipped. Pulled Lex with her.
The gun went off.
The crack of glass echoed in her head around the sound of her heart beating.
Lex landed heavily on top of her.
The gun skittered across the floor.
His body pressed against her.
His breath caressed her lips.
Their legs intertwined.
Intimate.
Wrong.
Their wedding night.
His eyes locked with hers.
“You can’t say ‘no’ to Lex Luthor,” he hissed.
He pressed his lips against hers. Hard. Demanding.
It would have been their wedding night.
His body went limp. His head slumped sideways. Dead weight.
Crushing her.
Suffocating her.
She struggled beneath him.
Desperate to push him off her. Away from her.
She wriggled free.
Her mother was standing over her. A stunned expression on her face. An old fashioned black medical bag hanging loosely from her hand.
“I… I didn’t mean to…”
Her eyes were glued on Lex’s prone figure.
Lois forced herself to look at him.
“No.” Her voice was a whisper. “But I’m glad you did.”
Clark moaned her name.
The tension bled out of her shoulders and she sagged with relief.
He was still alive.
She moved to his side. Gently brushed the hair off his forehead.
She was trembling.
She stood up, tucked her hands under her arms, and looked at the prone figure of her ex-fiance.
She sucked in a deep breath and looked away.
Steeled her resolve.
She needed to get rid of that rock… she needed to call an ambulance… she needed… Clark.
Clark…
She bit her lip.
He loved her. And she loved him.
They’d figure out the rest.
--
Hands brushing through his hair. Lips against his forehead. Soft voices.
He braced himself.
Green.
Pain.
But it didn’t come.
He ached.
His ribs were sore, his leg was on fire, but the deep searing pain was gone.
The kryptonite was gone.
He opened his eyes gingerly.
Lois.
Light.
Smiling.
Her hand stroking his cheek.
He tried to sit up. To reach for her. To touch her.
She grabbed his hand and held it in her own.
“Don’t try to move Clark.” He could hear the worry in her voice. “You’ll start bleeding again.”
“Is Luthor…” His voice trailed off. Unsure.
He saw her tense.
“He’s unconscious.”
Clark sighed in relief.
“I’m sorry… that you found out this way. I should have told you.” He paused and sucked in a painful breath. “About Lex… and about… me.”
She relaxed and stroked the hair off his forehead.
“It’s okay, Clark… I’ll yell at you later.”
He closed his eyes.
“Try and relax, the ambulance will be here soon.”
A distant voice pricked the back of his mind. He knew he should be worried, but he couldn’t remember why.
Lois had saved them.
His eyelids were heavy.
Her hand was stroking his forehead. Soothing.
She was safe.
And he was tired.
He let the tension flow out of his muscles.
“I love you, Lois.”
The hand stroking his hair stilled, and he opened his eyes.
She smiled.
“I know.”
He squeezed the hand still holding his own.
She was safe.
She knew.
And she loved him.
He closed his eyes.
They could deal with everything else tomorrow.
Tomorrow, they’d put everything back together.
- fin -
Now, before anybody brings out those pitchforks... I'll explain why I decided to end this story here. I realise there are a lot of unresolved questions, but the answers to these questions are... long term. They can't be solved in the immediate future. And since the story is so immediate I decided to leave them... for the sequel.
