Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic Hearts United, 6/16

Hearts United ( Table of Contents )
part 6
by Pam Jernigan

Lois looked at her closed door and laughed softly. Kal was such a bad liar. She'd been concerned at first, until it had occurred to her that he was probably off to buy an engagement ring. With that settled, it had been fun to watch the rest of his stammering performance.

Gosh, he was cute. Of course, he'd need to get somewhat better at lying convincingly -- to people other than her, of course -- if he wanted to be a superhero. And what were they going to call him? She'd have to help him out with all that.

But first, they had a wedding to arrange. This was going to be a very short guest list, she realized ruefully. Her parents were overseas, she hadn't kept up with any school friends, and she'd never gotten that close to anyone in the service. With one exception. Before she could talk herself out of it, she picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number. After only a short negotiation with his secretary, she was connected to Colonel White. "Hello, sir, it's Lois Lane."

She heard a warm chuckle. "I recognized your voice. So what's new since yesterday?"

"Well, not too much," she replied happily. "But I thought you'd like to know that I'm getting married."

"What? That's terrific, Lois, congratulations." He sounded surprised but pleased. "Have you set a date?"

"Yes, actually. Friday."

There was a short pause. "Of this week?"

She grinned. "Yes, sir, this week. I know it's awfully short notice, but we don't want to wait."

"I see," he replied, more thoughtfully. "You, ah, sure about this? And who's the groom? You know your dad is going to ask me."

"Yes, sir. You met him yesterday -- Kal Ellison." The name was starting to sound more natural.

"Ah. I thought there were some serious undercurrents going there. How long have you known him?"

"Long enough," she assured him airily. "He's a great guy."

"Good, good... so, that's your ship captain."

Lois blinked. "Um... what?"

"I'm only assuming here, but it seems to me like he's the captain of that ship you were held on."

"Why would you think that?" she asked, curious and stalling until she decided what to say.

"Speaking as an old friend of your dad's... Lois, before you were kidnapped, you had no social life. And from what you said, when you came back... well, I just put two and two together, is all."

"Oh." A smile spread across her face. "Well... I can neither confirm nor deny that."

"Heh. I'm happy for you, honey."

"Thanks, sir. So, I called to invite you to the reception. The wedding itself is going to be very small, just a civil ceremony downtown, but a friend of mine is planning a party for afterwards. I don't have all the details yet, but--"

"When you know, call my secretary; she'll arrange for me to be there."

"Good. So..." Lois steeled herself to ask the question she didn't want to ask, switching from personal to professional mode. "How are things coming with that asteroid?"

"Not very well." He sighed. "And the news crews are starting to notice all this unusual activity. So far, we're telling them it's just a satellite problem, but they're not all buying it. Of course," he added with a tinge of humor, "the Metro Post would have everyone believe we've been contacted by aliens and are trying to negotiate with them."

"They would." Lois allowed herself a brief grin then paused, toying with the phone cord. "So... do I take it no one's come up with a brilliant plan yet?"

"'Fraid so. They're talking about hitting it with rockets or missiles, but those wouldn't be very effective *or* accurate until the rock is fairly close."

"And by that point, there won't be much time to try anything else," Lois filled in, fatalistically. "Do they think they can hit it?"

"Well... they keep talking about how even a partial hit to the asteroid would up the odds of the human race's survival. And there's a lot of talk about doing everything possible to survive it hitting us. Underground complexes, bomb shelters, that kind of thing."

She closed her eyes. "Damn." Somehow, when fantasizing about living in the comics, she'd always focused on the fun parts, not the bits where Superman had to go off heroically to save the day even if it killed him.

"Yeah. But they don't think it'll hit 'til Saturday, maybe later, so I'll still come dance at your wedding. There's really nothing else we can do."

"It doesn't seem like it, no." Unless Kal could stop it. In the comics, of course, he'd be able to. But she didn't think she could put too much faith in comic book precedent. "Well, I've got things to do, Colonel, so I'll say good-bye."

"Good-bye, Lieutenant. Until Friday, that is."

****

Kal walked home from the sporting goods store, thinking. He'd had no idea scuba gear was so complicated, but apparently it was, with a bewildering array of options and accessories. From what the salesman had said, though, he thought he could get by with just a back-pack style twin tank and a decent diving regulator to breathe through. He didn't need to breathe much, anyway, so that shouldn't be a big deal. He hoped the pressure wouldn't be a problem; the equipment was made to withstand external pressure from the water, not for flying in vacuum. Still, that was only a logical extrapolation from the decompression process, and they were also built to withstand that, weren't they? So he was probably in good shape. He already had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to buy.

He didn't think there'd be any way to communicate, though, not without powerful and expensive radio equipment. It wasn't as if there was a large private market for them, so very likely the only usable set-ups were run by governments or scientific researchers. In short, they were inaccessible. He'd manage without them, then.

So, that only left the most dangerous part of the whole adventure -- breaking the news to Lois.

He became aware that he was walking more slowly, to further postpone the inevitable. That was unacceptable. He picked up the pace and, for good measure, found an alley short-cut he could speed through. Lord Kal of the House of El was no coward.

He slowed to normal speed as he approached the apartment building. It belatedly occurred to him to check on her emotional state. She wasn't as happy as she had been earlier, he thought. Suddenly, being with her was his most important priority. He barely restrained himself from using super-speed into the building and up the stairs.

"Lois?" He unlocked the door to find her sitting at her kitchen table.

She smiled at him, but it wasn't up to her usual standards.

"How are you?" He walked over to stand behind her and began gently massaging her neck.

"Oh, I'm fine. Still tired from yesterday, I guess."

"What have you been up to?"

"Oh, I thought I'd call all my friends to tell them about the wedding..." She looked up at him with a rueful smile. "But apparently I haven't got any friends who don't already know about it. I hadn't really thought about what a social life I didn't have in a while."

He tried to work out the syntax in that last sentence, then mentally shrugged. He sat down next to her, leaning in close. "For the record, Lois, you are the best friend I have *ever* had."

Her smile widened. "Ditto."

"We're getting married, Lois; that's the main thing. So what if it's a small party?"

"Yeah, you're right. I did invite one person, though -- Colonel White."

Kal raised an eyebrow at her.

Glancing up at him, she amplified, "He's not just my ex-commanding officer, he's also an old family friend -- served with my dad for a long time. My folks are overseas at the moment, and I've no idea how to get in touch with Lucy, but at least I can have someone there."

"Well, that's good," he concurred, sighing as his thoughts turned back toward the Nightfall asteroid. "Did he say anything about them finding a way to stop that rock?"

"Nope. Well, he said they had a plan but that they weren't very hopeful that it would make much difference."

Kal folded his hands on the table, looking down at them. He knew the obvious next step, and so did she.

"This means it's time for Plan B, I guess," Lois said with an attempt at lightheartedness. "Or in this case, Plan K, where the K is for Kal-smashing-the-asteroid."

He looked at her. "Are you okay with that?"

"No, I hate it." She shrugged. "But the alternative is worse, I guess."

"I'm afraid so."

"Well, then," she straightened up and looked him in the eye. "We're going to do everything we can to get you back in one piece."

"Right." He still didn't really believe there was any great danger in it, but he appreciated her determined attitude. "Well, let me tell you what I found out about scuba equipment today."

****

When the phone rang, Francine looked up from the paperwork she'd been studying, but before she could reach for the phone, Brenda had picked it up. She didn't pay much attention to the conversation -- if Brenda thought it was something that concerned her, she'd get her on the line. In a very short time, Brenda put the phone back in the cradle and for a moment, stared at it with a puzzled look on her face.

"What is it, Bren?"

"That was Lois," her partner reported. "She wanted to come over right away, and said she and Kal had something to tell us."

"Well, we already know about the wedding. Unless they couldn't wait and flew to Vegas this afternoon?"

Brenda grinned. "After all the trouble Lois went to? If Kal suggested a shortcut now, she'd probably deck him, just on principle."

"Or not," Francine replied dryly. "I don't think he's very deck-able."

"Hey, he can have whatever superpowers he likes, but this is Lois we're talking about. He'd be toast."

"Nah, my money's on Kal."

"You want to put some real money on it?" Brenda challenged, grinning. "I'll bet you a nickel."

Francine laughed. "You're on. But I'd rather not have any occasion for her to try."

"Well, sure--" Brenda started, then turned, frowning slightly. "Was that our door?"

As Francine paid attention, she could hear quick footsteps in the hall, and a moment later their office door was opened to reveal Lois and Kal. "You guys got here quick."

"Oh, you know," Lois muttered, as she sat in her usual guest chair. Kal stood behind her, leaning against the wall, looking more gorgeous than normal, dressed all in black. "Faster than a speeding bullet and all that."

Francine lifted an eyebrow at that. "You turning him into a full-fledged Superman, Lois?"

Kal looked surprised, but Lois just laughed. "I'm working on it. But that's not the problem today."

"Okay, then, spill it," Brenda urged, scooting her desk chair a bit closer to the group.

"Well, the military's still trying to keep this top-secret, but I've got connections -- and if I can't trust you guys, I can't trust anyone." Lois took a deep breath. "There's an asteroid out there headed right for us. Depending on how it hits, it's going to wipe out most of the human race -- maybe even all of it."

Francine blinked, but otherwise kept her face as straight as she could. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Brenda's jaw drop. "No way..."

"Unfortunately, she's telling the truth," Kal said quietly.

There was a rather strained silence for a moment. Francine let the papers she'd been holding slip through her fingers. They didn't matter, now.

Brenda stirred first. "Damn. I knew we should have gone to New Krypton!"

Lois laughed a bit at that, but the tension didn't leave her face. "They say it won't hit until the weekend."

Short honeymoon, Francine thought, but didn't say aloud. "I see."

"So why are you telling us?"

Kal shrugged. "Well, because Lois is going to need your support."

Suddenly, Francine figured out what he must be trying to say. "And because... this sounds like a job for Superman?"

Kal arched an eyebrow at her, but nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much," Lois confirmed. It was obvious she was unhappy with the situation, but she soldiered on anyway. "We've got some gear for Kal to wear -- air tanks, mostly. And the dark clothes, of course, to try to avoid another picture. We're not sure how long it'll take him to get out to the asteroid -- they're calling it Nightfall, by the way -- and it's still pretty far out there."

"Whoa," Brenda whispered.

Francine glanced at her partner; Brenda was never quiet. She looked shaken, her eyes unfocused.

"So, what's the plan?" Francine asked.

"I'm going to put on the gear and take off," Kal replied. "Actually, I was hoping to use the alley behind this theater; it's secluded enough that no one should notice me."

"And then, once he's gone," Lois added, "you two are going to be propping me up until he gets back."

"You've helped us before, so we know we can count on you."

Francine nodded slowly, remembering the ruse under which they'd infiltrated Nor's ship. "Sounds a lot simpler than the last plan you asked us to help with."

Kal flashed a grin, showing a glimpse of perfect white teeth.

"Also more dangerous," Lois said, getting to her feet. "But we're doing it anyway. So -- we left the gear out in the alley. Wanna come watch?"

"What, you're leaving now?"

"I haven't got anything more important to do," Kal pointed out. "Have you?"

"More important than saving the world?" Brenda pretended to ponder. "No, guess not."

Kal lead them all out to the alley, then picked up a bundle of tanks, straps and hoses. It took a few tries until they collectively figured out how to get him into the harness to hold the tanks on, but in no time whatsoever, he was standing there, ready to go. He looked taller somehow, Francine decided.

"There ya go, Kal!" Brenda patted him on the upper shoulder and stepped back, smiling bravely. "Have fun out there in space, okay?"

"And take a sweater," Francine added, tongue firmly in cheek. "It might get cold."

As hoped, that pulled a giggle out of Lois. Kal gave that heart-stopping grin again. "I'll be careful. Okay, I might as well go... step back a bit, ladies."

Francine and Brenda stepped back, but Lois lingered for a moment at Kal's elbow. He looked down at her, and brought up a hand to cup her cheek. "I'll be fine, Lois. I promise."

She nodded, then reached up to give him a brief kiss. "For luck." She paused. "And this one's for me." Pulling him close, she kissed him thoroughly.

Francine looked away, to give them a moment of privacy. Soon, though, Lois stepped back to join the others.

"I don't know how long this will take, exactly," Kal warned, while gently floating upwards. Francine tried not to goggle at him, but it was hard. "It might be a few hours. I'll come back here when I'm done -- or Lois, if it's late, I'll just head home, okay?"

"That'd be fine," Lois said, her arms crossed closely in front of her. "I just want you back."

Kal smiled one last time, then all of a sudden accelerated. Francine couldn't help gasping. As she looked up at the strip of sky between buildings, the small figure that was Kal rapidly dwindled out of sight. "Wow."

"Well, okay, show's over," Brenda said, with a look at Francine that she had no trouble deciphering. Their job was to distract Lois.

She reached out to give Lois a sideways hug and maneuvered her back into the building. "Who wants to play Parcheesi?"

****

Lois slowly climbed into bed. She hadn't let her friends take her home until nearly midnight, and she was tired. It had been an interminable evening. The worst part was that the feeling of the bond was gone; it hadn't lasted more than a few minutes after Kal's take-off. She'd lived twenty-six years with no one else in her mind, and had always been fine, but now... she missed the warmth and cheery glow of Kal's presence.

He would come back. The bond was only interrupted due to inter-planetary distances, not anything permanent. He'd be back soon. She sighed, turned over in bed, and tried to sleep.

tbc