Hearts United ( Table of Contents )
lucky part 13
by Pam Jernigan

from last time:

The woman in his arms merely glanced at the doctor before continuing her study of his face. It was highly distracting, but a movement to the side caught his attention. Turning his head to face Gwen, he saw that she was still holding her purse/gun. Only now it was pointed at the newcomer.

He still didn't feel concerned about being wounded or killed. But the threat to this woman -- who he didn't even know, really -- terrified him.

**** PART THIRTEEN

Lois ran her hands up Kal's arms and around his neck. He seemed not to recognize her, but at the moment she really didn't care. He was alive and well, standing right in front of her. She felt weak with relief and the release of tension.

Unexpectedly, she felt a spark of fear -- it was coming from Kal. He couldn't possibly be afraid of her, could he? He was, however, focused on the older woman who'd interrupted them. Lois looked, as well, to find the other woman staring at her, a paper sack at her feet, and a rather awkward grasp of a purse. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"I'm Dr. Porter," the woman said coolly. "And I must ask you to unhand my patient."

Her grip tightened. "No way."

"Kal? Kindly tell your friend that you need to come with me." The purse swung slightly, and Lois caught her breath. That woman had a weapon of some sort in there, Kal knew it, and it was pointing straight at her.

"Look, lady," Lois said flatly. "This is my fiance we're talking about," There was a slight jerk of surprise from Kal. "I've been looking for him all day, and you can't imagine how utterly important it is that he come with me."

"No," said the doctor, adjusting her grip on her purse. "He needs to come with me. The fate of the world depends upon it."

Lois blinked at the woman's dead serious tone. What did she know? She loosened her grip, moving a half-step back.

"Say goodbye to your friend, Kal," the doctor ordered, with an ominous little wave of the purse.

Kal met Lois's eyes, and she could see the turmoil there. He was afraid for her? It was sweet, but showed how very little he remembered about himself or her. **It's okay** she thought at him, then swept a leg out in a high arc, kicking the purse toward the middle of the street.

The gun discharged as it flew toward the street, mortally wounding a trash can. At the same time, the doctor cried in surprise and anger. After one wide-eyed glance at Lois, Kal moved forward to capture the woman's arms and hold them behind her back.

****

Gwen struggled, but Kal had no trouble keeping hold of her. He was having some trouble absorbing all that had just happened, though. The mystery woman was his fiance? Squinting at her, he asked, "Lois?"

She flashed him a smile before darting out into the deserted street to claim the handbag and contents. Holding it carefully by one strap, she peered inside. "What a nice bag you've got here," she said, rejoining them on the sidewalk. "Sorry about the bullet hole, but if you hadn't had your finger on the trigger... see, one of the things Kal's forgotten is that until just recently I was an Army officer."

Gwen slumped, the fight going out of her. "You have no idea what you've done. You've killed us all."

Lois was untroubled. "Actually--"

She was interrupted by a dry voice. "Drop all the weapons! This is the police."

****

It seemed to take forever to get things settled, but Francine, arriving just behind Henderson, did a lot of the explaining. Lois couldn't really concentrate on those details. Her attention was taken up by Kal. There were so many things she wanted to ask, to do and to say, but for the moment, she was focused on the simple pleasure of being held by him. He seemed to derive as much comfort from the contact as she did.

"Okay, kids, that's about all we need for now," Henderson announced, finally.

"Thank you! So we can go now?"

He pulled out a notebook and a pen. "I need contact information for both of you--"

"Francine knows our address; can you get it from her? I just want to take him home."

His face softened slightly. "Yeah, okay. Get out of here. Tell you what -- Peters here will drive you home in the squad car. "

Lois smiled. "I'd appreciate that. Metro cabbies are bad enough during the day, let alone after dark."

The ride back to their apartment was quiet. Kal kept studying her when he thought she wasn't looking; when she caught him at it, she'd just smile and squeeze his hand. Lois led the way from the street up to their apartment, and let them inside.

Alone at last.

****

He wasn't alone. Amid all the swirl of confusing details, that fact was his favorite. He savored the thought that he was loved -- that *Lois* loved him. He still remembered next to nothing about her -- at least not with his mind. His heart knew her and wanted to stay with her forever.

"So..." He stood next to the sofa, unsure what to do. She looked tired.

"Just... have a seat, Kal. I'll make some coffee."

"Okay," he replied, sitting down. "Do I like coffee?"

"Yes," she said, spooning dark-colored crystals into a small whitish basket. "You take it black, just like me."

"Okay." She continued to fuss around in the kitchen while he examined his surroundings. Superficially, it resembled Gwen's office -- neat and uncluttered, with several plants. But it felt entirely different. It wasn't cool and reserved, it was welcoming and warm. An impression that was reinforced by the smell of coffee that began to permeate the room.

Lois came to the sofa and sat next to him. It felt natural to put an arm around her shoulder; she snuggled into his side. What had he done to get this lucky?

There was a long moment of comfortable silence.

Eventually, Lois stirred. "I missed you," she said softly. "I was so scared I'd lost you... I don't think I could do that again."

He raised an eyebrow. "Had you lost me before?"

She shrugged. "Sort of -- it's a long story."

He looked around the quiet room. "We seem to have some time."

"True enough. Let me get the coffee." She walked to the kitchen, then came back a few moments later with two mugs of dark steaming liquid. When she handed one to him, he took a cautious sip. Not too hot, and a strong taste, but he decided she'd been right. He did like coffee.

"So." Lois set down her mug and turned sideways toward him. "You are Lord Kal-El, of the House of El, of New Krypton."

He frowned. "That sounds right, but... where is that? Europe?"

"Not exactly. Um... I'm not sure how to say this, but... you're from another planet."

"What?" It seemed impossible, but she was dead serious. It gave him a cold and lonely feeling. "Are you from there, too?"

"No, I've never been there," she said, dashing that hope. "From what you've told me, it's a pretty... severe place. Duty is everything, emotions are to be repressed..."

He nodded, thinking back. "I remember some of that. Mak-Ra was saying I should only trust myself, never anyone else, not all the way. And there was something about... did I rule the planet or something?"

Her lips twisted in a half-smile. "You were supposed to. You didn't really want to, but you were afraid the society would fall apart without you -- something about the balance of power."

Fear struck at his heart; he'd known there was something he must do, was this it? "Do I have to go back there?"

She reached for his hand. "No. You found a way to leave them in good shape. It's pretty funny, actually, but very complicated, so I'll wait 'til later for that, okay?"

He supposed he'd have to trust her on this. "Okay... but how did I get here, then?"

"You were sent to spy on us." She grinned. "You spent a few years observing and learning about our cultures, and then you were supposed to go home, but..."

He thought he could guess. "I met you?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Did we like each other right away?" It felt so *odd* to hear about his life this way, but it was vastly better than not knowing.

She squirmed a little. "Well, we didn't *not* like each other. There was a brief conversation while we were trying to put out a fire -- and then the next time we met, I had a gun on you."

He looked askance at that. "You wanted to shoot me?"

"What I wanted was for you to turn the space ship around and take us home -- one of your crewmen had kidnapped us..."

Kidnapped them? Who was them? And what kind of society was he from, anyway?

Next to him, Lois shrugged. "Anyway, like I said it's a long story, but we spent some time together over the next week, and... fell in love," she ended, simply.

That part he had absolutely no trouble believing. "So I came back here with you?"

She grimaced. "Not right away; we didn't think you'd be able to. But then you figured a way out of the problem, and came back a few days ago."

"A lot of this is sounding familiar. I remember a moment from not that long ago -- in this room, I think -- you and I were there, along with Brenda and some other woman."

"Really? What did you think of it?"

"I thought that you were all I'd ever want in a woman -- but that you weren't real."

She'd begun to smile during the first half of that sentence, but then the second half had clearly puzzled her. "Why would you think that?"

"I... don't know, really." Now that she mentioned it, that *was* strange. He hadn't doubted his memories where New Krypton was concerned, why this one? "I was convinced that you were just a dream, that I was alone, and..." Maybe this was a clue. "that I should stay with Dr. Porter. All things considered, she's my prime suspect."

"Well, she sure didn't want you going off with me, so maybe that's it. That woman gave me the creeps."

"She made me uneasy, too, but I didn't see that I had another choice. She said I was subconsciously blocking my memories, but that hypno-therapy could help me retrieve them."

Lois tilted her head to one side. "Sounds like post-traumatic stress to me. From what I remember hearing in the Army, your memories should be coming back on their own in the next day or two."

"That would be good," he admitted. "I was... *hungry* to get my memories back."

"Which is why you put up with Dr. Porter so long, I'll bet." Lois leaned against him. "So how'd you end up out on the street with her trying to force you back inside?"

"Ah... I was waiting inside when she got a call -- I heard Brenda's voice on the answering machine. So then I figured you must be real. How did you find me?"

"It took all day, but I tracked you down -- the girl from the shelter this morning said you'd gone off with a Dr. Porter, and that she had an office in that block... I'm glad you were outside, though; it made things a lot easier."

"Well, I didn't really know where I was going," he confessed, leaning back against the sofa. "But I had to get out of there."

She leaned back, too, sighing a little, and looked up at him. "I'm glad you did."

"Me, too." Slowly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he bent his head and kissed her.

****

Lois relaxed into the kiss. It felt as if she'd been missing this for weeks, and it had wrung her heart to see that lost uncertain expression in his eyes. An unhurried embrace was just what they both needed. **I love you so much, Kal**

All too soon, he broke the kiss, pulling back to stare into her eyes. He was throwing off sparks of uncertainty in her mind. "Um, did I just hear... no, never mind."

"What?"

He looked sheepish. "It just sounded like you were talking, but we were kissing, so..."

"Oh." She smiled. "Did I forget to mention that you're telepathic?"

He sat back, staring at her. "Yes!"

"Well, I can't do it very well, and only with you, but all Kryptonians are telepathic, apparently."

His eyes went distant. "I'll bet that explains it."

"Explains what?"

He focused on her again, smiling ruefully. "In some of my memories, I thought people were whispering... but it was probably telepathy."

"Might have been, yeah." She had a flashback to sitting in a shuttle with Ching and Zara, frustrated that the two of them were ignoring each other... until she'd realized they were speaking silently. "It was quite a surprise for me -- just hearing about it, and then realizing I could do it, just a little. Only with you, though." She smiled at him.

He looked intrigued. "Why can you do it with me?"

She took a breath. How to explain that? "Well, you said emotions weren't encouraged on New Krypton, but that occasionally, a couple would bond, telepathically. They'd be linked, and could feel each other's feelings. I can sense you; I visualize you as a ball of fire, sort of."

"This awareness... have I ever told you what it felt like, on my end?"

"You said it was like a waterfall."

"Yeah... so that's what that is. I've been wondering all day long!" He grinned at her. "Thought I was going crazy there for a bit. So, do you have any other shocks to my system?"

Lois thought about the fragment of Nightfall tumbling towards Earth, and looked at Kal's open, trusting face. It was so comfortable just to sit here with him... and what the heck, it wasn't due to hit for another two days. "Have I mentioned that we're getting married?"

"I think you alluded to it, yeah..." He stared down at her, studying her. "It's the weirdest thing. Just about the only memories I have are of duty, responsibility, self-control. But then I saw you... it was as if my world had been black and white, and suddenly went Technicolor."

She smiled and snuggled. "That's beautiful. Oh, it's wonderful just to be here with you. Even if you don't know who I am."

"I know enough," he said, dropping a kiss on her hair. "I love you, Lois."

****

Her stomach in knots, Gwen dialed a familiar number, looking around the station house to make sure no one was eavesdropping. She had a right to one phone call, and a right to privacy, and she was grimly pleased to see that the police were honoring both.

"This is Trask." The sound of his voice nailed down her wandering attention. "What is it?"

"This is Gwen Porter," she stated coolly. She really didn't know if he'd work with her here, but she had to try. "I need someone to post bond for me. There's something terribly urgent I need to do," or at least attempt, she thought, and looked around again to be sure no one was listening. "I can't do it from in jail."

"Well, well, well." Trask sounded alarmingly amused. "Got yourself into trouble?"

She didn't miss the distancing in that phrasing. Her fingers curled around the phone line. "No, I was pursuing the investigation you sent me on," she reminded him. There were only a few ways to extract help from Jason Trask, she'd found. Appealing to his sense of responsibility wasn't one of them.

The best way was to be useful to him. "I was -- am, if you get me out of here -- following a hugely promising lead."

"How about you tell me what that lead is, and I'll tell you if it's promising?"

She nearly laughed. "How about I don't. Get me out of here, Trask, or you may not live to regret it."

Kal was the world's best hope -- she didn't put much stock in the rocket they were planning to launch. EPRAD couldn't even notice alien incursions; how could they be expected to do anything competently? It was Kal, or worldwide destruction. She had to locate him.

"What are the charges?" Trask asked, in a tone that if not warm, was at least no longer amused. She closed her eyes briefly. This was working. A moment's thought convinced her that this was a bad time to tell him about the manslaughter charge.

"Possession of an unlicensed handgun." Her nostrils flared. Such a stupid charge. Gun control laws were meant to impede *criminals*, not people like her. "They've set a ridiculously high bail amount."

"Oh, really?" Trask was amused again. "Isn't that ironic? You think they'd be interested in proof that you're practicing psychotherapy without a license?"

Damn that paper trail. Driven to her last ropes, she took a deep breath. "Not nearly so interested as they would be about Bureau 39."

"You don't want to do that," he stated quietly, all amusement gone.

"No, I don't. But I will if I have to. I think the American people would be greatly interested to know how their tax dollars are spent."

There was a moment's pause, and she found herself holding her breath. "I'll have someone there in half an hour. You'll be out in time for dinner."

It would have to be an awfully late dinner, she thought, irrelevantly. Never mind. She exhaled slowly, feeling trembly. She'd done it. "That will be acceptable."

tbc