Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic Northern Lights -- Part Eight

Part Eight

Clark accepted Lois’ help as she led him out of the hidden compartment toward the front of the building.

"Kryptonite?" she whispered in his ear.

He nodded his head. As they walked toward the front door, he stood up straighter. "I’m all right now."

"Your powers?"

He levitated off the ground a few inches, felt dizzy and stepped back onto the firm floor. He then pushed his glasses down to the tip of his nose, glaring over top. "They’re just a bit woozy. Out of focus a bit, but I’m sure I’ll be fine in a few minutes."

"Come outside. We’ll walk around the front of the building and then go to the Jeep."

"Why do you think Kryptonite was there?"

"I don’t know, but we’ll have to get rid of it..."

"And find out what it was doing there."

***************

Anna lay on the bed in her hotel room. She was thankful that David hadn’t coerced her into going to a hospital. Instead, she lay on the bed in her bathrobe, a wet cloth on her forehead, a couple of extra-strength aspirin travelling uselessly through her system. She had no strength to argue when David made her swallow the two pills or when he undressed her…he was a doctor after all.

Her eyes were closed, but she could sense him sitting across from her in the arm chair. She had no idea how she was going to explain this to him, or to anyone else. She hoped that the excuse of some random bug that caught her off guard would be a sufficient answer.

She’d never been sick before, never felt pain or nausea before. It was all new to her. She wondered if it was that Kryptonite she’d read about in the newspaper. From what she had seen, she had never been sure whether Kryptonite really existed or if criminals wanted to believe that if they had it they could stop Superman. There was never any evidence he’d been affected by it. She tried to remember, but thinking was too hard. She just wanted to doze.

She shivered. Cold! It was a new sensation. She felt someone pull a blanket up around her chin.

"David?"

"I’m here. How’re you feeling?"

"Cold."

He sat on the edge of the bed. "Here. Take a drink of tea." She lifted herself up while he placed the cup along her lips. "Sip slowly. It’s hot." She did as she was told. The sweet, hot tea felt good as she drank it.

"Thanks."

"How’re you feeling?"

"Better. Just tired. A bit achy."

"That’s okay. Go back to sleep." David stood up, tucked the blankets around her shoulders, and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I’m going out for a while. I’ll be back soon."

Anna closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift into sleep.

************
David sat in the cab, worried about Anna. First, the unexplained episode in the warehouse and then her uncompromising stance on going to the hospital scared him, partially because, even as a doctor, he didn’t know what was wrong with her, and therefore didn’t know how to help. And then, on top of everything else, when he had helped dress her for bed, he had fought to keep thinking of Anna as a patient and not as the beautiful woman he was in love with.

It rattled him more than he’d like to admit. Putting Anna’s robe on her, reminded him of that one night, it seemed so long ago now, where he had let passion override his reason. When he wrapped Anna into the robe, he felt guilty having made love to one woman while being in love with another. He knew it wasn’t logical...but what about that night was rational? Even though his heart had made a commitment to Anna, he had never shared it with her, and she had made no promises to him. Far from it. She would have given him her cynical permission to have a meaningless fling with whoever flew into view. Nonetheless, he felt as if he had cheated on her.

"348 Hyperion Avenue, sir," the cab driver said.

David paid the driver and headed for the door. He was hoping that Clark Kent would be able to answer some of his questions.

It was Lois Lane who answered the door and ushered him into the living room.

"I know you said you wanted to see Clark when you phoned, but something came up and he had to step out for a few minutes. He should be back shortly. Did you get anything more at the warehouse after we left?"

"No. That’s really why I wanted to talk to you...why you left."

Lois’s eyes opened wide.

"We just wanted to check the perimeter."

"I don’t think so. I saw..."

Just at that moment, Clark walked in carrying a grocery bag.

"Lois, I thought I’d pick up some cookies as well as the groceries so we could offer David something with his coffee," Clark said as he pulled out a bag of chocolate chip cookies.

"Coffee...right," Lois mumbled.

David watched her follow Clark into the kitchen. Her back was to him, but he could see that she was gesticulating, soundlessly, communicating with him much the same way as Clark had with her in the warehouse.

Clark rolled his eyes and made his way over to the couch. "How can I help you, David?" he asked.

"When we went into the secret compartment, just as you and Lois were crossing the threshold, you signaled her, grabbed onto your abdomen, and she escorted you out. What happened?"

As David was talking, he noticed Lois come up and sit beside Clark. Their eyes met for a moment, then turned back to David.

"I don’t remember him grabbing his abdomen," Lois said. "We just left to check the outside."

"I watched you for a while," David said. "Clark was in pain, but it seemed to me that you were familiar with it." He stared at the couple intently, then added. "I’m a doctor and I’ve seen people in pain before."

"Whatever it was," Clark said, "I’m fine now. Thank you for your concern."

"That’s not why I’m here." Once again, David noticed Lois looking wide eyed at Clark.

"Why are you here?"

"Anna."

"Anna?"

"Anna McLaren."

"Yes, but I don’t understand why?"

"I saw you almost double over in pain and Lois take you out of the room. I was going to see if I could help you when I heard someone fall. It was Anna."

"She tripped?" Lois asked.

"No. She was doubled over in pain. When I got to her, her breathing was erratic and she had a fever. I wanted to take her to the hospital, but she wouldn’t let me. By the time, I got her back to the hotel, she said she was feeling better, the pain was gone, but she felt weak and tired. She wouldn’t let me take her temperature, but I could tell she had a high fever."

Clark slipped his hand into Lois’s. She squeezed it lightly, then her fingers intertwined with his.

"Do you think it’s something catchy," Lois asked guilelessly.

"No. At first I thought it was a gallstone attack, but then I remembered Clark. All I could think of was some kind of allergic reaction, but the symptoms don’t match. I thought that Clark might have the answer."

Clark, hearing his name, turned to David. "I don’t think I can help you out here. You probably need to talk to Anna."

"She didn’t know what happened to her, but she wasn’t too interested in pursuing it either."

"I’m not surprised," Lois whispered.

"What?"

Lois gasped. "Oh...um...well, she’s a woman and you’re a man and I don’t think she sees you as a doctor so...um...she doesn’t want you...you know..."

David sighed. "Unfortunately, Lois, Anna only sees me as a doctor."

"Oh!"

"Look, David," Clark said, getting up from his seat. "I’m sorry that we can’t help you out with this one, but I’m sure Anna will take care of herself and get any necessary help."

"Thanks for your time." David got up and followed Clark to the door. "I’ll check in with Henderson and find out what he found after I left with Anna."

Clark walked David to the door and let him out.

***************

"Clark, are you thinking what I’m thinking?" Lois asked after Clark closed the door.

"Yeah," he said heading straight for the computer. "Let’s see if our theory works."

They both stared at the computer screen watching Google open up. Clark quickly typed in Anna McLaren’s name and waited.

"Do you think she was affected by the Kryptonite?"

"Symptoms sound similar to the ones I had the first time I was exposed."

"Maybe that’s why she kept staring at you. She knows."

"How would she?"

"Same way we’re going to find out now. Working backwards from the information we have on you. Well..." Lois tapped her foot.

"Patience, Lois. This modem doesn’t work at superspeed."

Clark scrolled through the listings on Anna McLaren. "There’s more than one Anna McLaren," he said before finally stopping on an article in the Huntsville Standard when she was transferred to the town. He quickly read through it.

"She was born in Huntsville, 1966. Parents are Pauline and Brad McLaren. He’s a police officer with the Toronto force. She’s got four older brothers. Two are police officers. One’s an accountant. The other’s an architect. She’s got a university degree...Anthropology...and one in criminology. Spent her summers in Huntsville."

"Nothing there except she was born the same year as you, but then so were millions of other people. Anything else?"

"No. I’m going back to the search page."

"Open this up." Lois pointed to the computer screen.

Clark followed his wife’s direction. "It’s a letter to the editor she wrote to the Huntsville Standard." He skimmed through it. "She’s responding to an article on adoption. She believes adopted children need to know as much as they can about their birth parents. She writes, ‘Not knowing eats away at one’s sense of self and worth.’"

"She’s adopted?"

"It’s strongly implied."

"Okay. 1966. Adopted."

"We’re still talking in the millions."

"Go to that page...‘Matt’s Wedding’."

"Pictures."

Lois edged closer to the screen. "Nice family shot. She has a similar one on her desk."

"Definitely looks different than her brothers."

"Doesn’t look like either of her parents." Lois took the mouse and scrolled down the page. "Or her Uncle Harry."

"Adopted."

"I’d say so."

"I think it’s time for a more in-depth search. We’ll need the Planet’s computer for that. Are you coming?"

*************
Anna lay on the bed. She didn’t feel as tired or drained as she had a few hours before, but she was reluctant to get out of bed, reluctant to try out her talents. She couldn’t make up her mind if she hoped they would just go away, or if she would miss them.

Being like other women would allow her to have a relationship. She berated David for his stubborn wooing of her, calling it foolish and hopeless, but his persistence made her realize how honest his feelings were. And as much as she told him that she couldn’t have a relationship with him or any man, she very much wanted to have one. Except that no man would want her the way she was.

Now, if she stayed normal, a relationship with David was a very real possibility. And she wouldn’t have to tell him about herself...or that night...

There was a knock on the door. Pushing away the temptation to try and look through the door, Anna ran her fingers through her loosened hair, maybe, if she was normal, she could get a stylish cut. Wrapping her cozy robe around herself with the mismatched belt, she answered the door.

*************
David stared at Anna. Standing in front of him, wearing the robe, her loose hair falling down her shoulders, she was so sexy. He remembered helping her undress and not finding her pyjamas. He wondered what she was wearing under the robe now. He found the image of her nude under the robe was exciting him more than he’d like to admit.

"Where did you go?" she asked.

"What?" he asked, taking a deep breath, hoping it would bring him back to reality. "To the Kents’ place. Mind if I sit down?"

"No. Go ahead." She waited for him to sit down. "Did they find anything at the warehouse?"

"No. I don’t know. I went for another reason."

Anna raised an eyebrow. David had seen her use the technique with others. She wasn’t going to ask what the other reason was; she’d wait for him to tell her on his own. Which he would.

"Kent doubled over about the same time you did. I thought it might be a shared allergic reaction." He waited for some response. When none was forthcoming, he continued. "He said nothing was wrong with him, but, to tell you the truth, I don’t believe him. He was in some pain, if only for a short time."

"You told him what happened to me?"

"Yes...Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Never mind. It doesn’t matter."

"How are you feeling now?"

"Normal. I was going to shower and go out."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah! I’m fine."

*************
Lois signalled Clark to follow her into the conference room.

"Did you get the kryptonite from the warehouse?" Clark asked.

"Yeah. I got rid of it the usual way."

"Good."

"What did you find?" Lois asked her husband.

"Anna’s parents filed adoption papers in Huntsville where they own a summer cottage."

"Huntsville, not Toronto?"

"Small town, less hassle, fewer questions, I guess, especially when they come back to the city for the winter."

"Any record of her birth parents?"

"No. Just legal mumbo-jumbo burying their identities. There’s a statement of live birth, but I can’t find a trace of the doctor who signed it."

"Hmm." Lois skimmed the pages Clark had printed up. "I looked at the weather and satellite conditions for May 1966. On May 19, 1966 there was unusual activity in the sky creating a seasonally early aurora borealis."

"Northern lights?"

"Yeah. It was preceded by a flash of light streaking across the sky. Meteorologists determined that a meteor had passed over the area, but they searched the Algonquin Park area and couldn’t find any evidence of it crashing to earth."

"How did they explain it?"

"It disintegrated before it hit land." Lois placed her hand on Clark’s cheek. "You realize what this means, don’t you?"

Clark nodded.

"You’re not alone anymore," she whispered.

Clark took Lois’s hand and moved it to his lips. "Lois, honey," he said, pausing to kiss her slender fingers, "I haven’t been alone since I met you."

"Lois. Clark." It was Jimmy. Realizing that he was interrupting a private moment, he blushed. "Don’t you guys get enough of that at home...and where do I get some for myself?"

"You gotta find the right person, Jimmy," Clark said with a smile on his face. "What’s happening?"

"I got some more information on Anna McLaren for you. Her old high school went on line with a big who’s who project and there’s the write up on McLaren. She was a jock in her high school days playing mostly on boys’ teams. She was a top athlete, having played house league as a little kid and then moving on in high school."

"She’s built like an athlete," Lois said. "Doesn’t look like there’s any fat on her."

"Well, what’s interesting is that she quit all sports in her senior year. She said she wanted to focus on her academics to get a university scholarship, which she ended up getting."

"Interesting, Jimmy," said Clark. "You can stop looking for now."

"Why do you want to investigate a cop? Do you think she’s crooked?"

"No. Absolutely not," said Clark.

"We just want to know who we’re dealing with," said Lois.

"I...uh...think we have enough information now. Thanks, Jimmy."

Once Jimmy had closed he door behind him and moved further into the newsroom, Lois turned to her husband. "Wouldn’t an academic scholarship be harder to get than an athletic one. She’s the youngest of five kids. I’m sure they could have used the money."

"If she was anything like me, she would have been nervous about giving herself away in a game. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and want to win for your team, especially when you know you could help them so easily."

"You got an athletic scholarship and played football."

"I did, but I had put a lot of thought...and I must admit...practice into it. I used it as a test of my control to play not quite as well as the better players but well enough to get the scholarship."

"Must’ve been frustrating at times."

"It was...and to be honest, I was glad when I could afford to stop playing football. I loved the game, but the stress wasn’t worth it."

"You think that McLaren didn’t want that stress?"

"Maybe."

Lois took her husband’s hand. "Clark, do you think she’s Kryptonian like you?"

"I think so, honey."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Go and talk to her."

****************
tbc