Live Another Day
Part 15:
Agonizing moments went by as Luthor looked at Clark’s writhing form on the ground. He smiled triumphantly.
Suddenly, the scene was bathed in even more headlights. And on the other side the sun was coming up, casting the first golden rays of sunlight over the sea.
Henderson’s voice came via megaphone. “Drop your weapons! You’re surrounded. There’s no way to escape.”
Luthor and his henchman turned around and ducked behind their car. Then they started to fire at the police. Lois watched the scene with bated breath, hoping that they would overcome Luthor in time to save Clark.
While bullets continued to fly back and forth, Clark moved again, indicating that he was still alive. A wave of relief washed over her. Mentally, she pleaded with him to hang in there until help was coming. Clark struggled to roll around until he was lying on his stomach, then rested a moment. Lois inched closer to the railing to get a better view of him. What was he doing? Clark propped himself up on his knees and elbows and like a soldier crawled closer to the water.
Lois gasped as she watched him as he moved over the edge of the pier and unceremoniously dropped into the water. Was he completely insane? Why didn’t he stay where paramedics could help him?
Both the police and Luthor were so caught up in their firefight that neither had paid attention to Clark. Lois’ heart raced. He was shot! He would drown! She couldn’t let that happen.
Lois stripped down to her panties and T-shirt as fast as she could. Then she climbed over the railing and dived into the water. She was shocked how cold it felt. But Lois gritted her teeth and treaded water while she started looking out for Clark. The ever rising sun was helping a lot and soon Lois spotted Clark. Much to her surprise he was much farther from the coast than she had expected. Maybe the current was stronger than she had thought. Her heart clenched in fear. Could she reach him in time?
Lois began swimming as if her own life depended on it. Even the tame waves around her splashed in her face and made it difficult to keep an eye on Clark. He seemed to be drifting slower. Or was he really drifting? Lois couldn’t quite shake the feeling that despite his injury, despite all odds, he was still purposefully swimming away from the safe land. But his strength was quite obviously dwindling. Now and again, he went under. Each time that happened, Lois prayed that he would make it back to the surface. And when he did, she urged herself to go on, because she knew that he wouldn’t be able to swim much longer.
After what to Lois felt like an eternity, she closed the distance between them. Her own arms were hurting and she was panting with the effort of swimming faster than she probably ever had in her life. Clark was treading water and looked so thoroughly exhausted that Lois was surprised he was still afloat.
She couldn’t keep the worry from her voice. “Clark, what the hell are you doing? You’re killing yourself.”
He looked at her with wide eyes. His face was pale and drawn. But before he could say anything, he lost his rhythm and once again the water swallowed him. Instinctively, Lois reached out and helped Clark back up. He coughed and grimaced at the pain that caused.
His voice was weak. “Need...need to…get away.”
Lois could see that he was fighting hard to remain conscious. He blinked and shook his head slightly. Once again he sank below the surface, but came up again spluttering.
“First of all, we need to get you out of the water.” Lois said firmly.
He panted. “You…you don’t…understand.”
She flashed him a grim look and then started to check her immediate surroundings. But all she could see were ships that were too large to climb on, particularly in Clark’s current state. Just as she was about to become desperate, Lois spotted a small sailboat that was tied to the pier at a distance she felt confident they could reach.
“Hold onto me,” she ordered.
Just to be on the safe side, she grabbed him by his wet clothes. He was heavy, even in the water. Swimming alone had been straining. But trying to pull Clark with her and keep him above water level was perhaps the most difficult thing she’d ever tried to do. After all, Lois was no lifeguard. Clark’s weight, increased by his soaked clothes, threatened to pull her under more than once. Clark tried to help as best as he could, but she saw that it was taking a toll on him. It was a miracle that they managed to get to the boat without drowning in the process.
Lois breathed a sigh of relief as they were close enough to hold onto the railing. Clark beside her was still awake, if only barely so.
“Hold onto the boat,” she told him.
He simply nodded, too out of it to say anything. When she was confident that he could hold himself above water long enough for her to climb on board the sail boat, she heaved herself out of the water. Her weary muscles protested against the effort, but she gritted her teeth. They were almost safe, she couldn’t give up now. On board the boat, Lois crawled to her feet to help Clark out of the water as well. It was a difficult task, because he didn’t really have the strength to pull himself up. And she knew that she couldn’t lift him on his own.
She urged him on. “Come on, Clark, you can do it.”
His teeth were chattering and his voice was barely above a whisper. “Cold, so cold.”
Lois was panting with the effort to pull him up. “Damn it, Clark! Why did you have to go swimming in your state?”
His face was contorted with pain. “Had to.”
He moaned and grunted. His arms were shaking as he struggled for every inch that he moved out of the water. With Lois’ help he finally rolled over the railing and cried out in pain as he landed on his back. Then he lay still for a moment. Lois breathed a small sigh of relief. At least they weren’t going to drown anymore.
But Clark was far from being out of danger. Hastily, she turned her attention on the man who was lying to her feet. His eyes were squeezed shut and he seemed to be breathing through waves of pain that were coursing through his body. Lois peeled up his shirt and revealed an angry looking wound that was bleeding profusely.
She almost squealed in shock at the sight. “You need a doctor, Clark. We need to stop the bleeding.”
Hastily, she slipped out of her t-shirt and pressed it against his wound. He hissed in pain as the fabric touched his abdomen.
He gritted his teeth and shook his head. “No…” Lois could see that even speaking was exhausting him. “Gonna be fine.”
She couldn’t believe that he was being so stubborn. “I’m going to call for help now.”
The moment she’d said that his body seemed to come to life. He pushed himself up and grabbed her arm. “Don’t.”
His eyes were wide and a panicked expression was written all over his face. She could see lines of pain around his eyes. It was obvious how much he was hurting, how much he had to struggle to hold her back. Why didn’t he let her help him? Again! Whatever his secret was, it couldn’t be worth risking his life over!
She tried to shake his hand off, but his grip was surprisingly firm. “Clark, this is insane. I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t,” He grimaced again.
Whatever strength he’d mustered up to stop her seemed to be rapidly seeping out of him. Clark’s hand slipped from her arm and dropped to his side. He sagged back onto the deck and moaned in pain. Lois watched him, her heart thundering with fear. As he closed his eyes, she was terrified that he wouldn’t open them again. She shouldn’t have hesitated, shouldn’t have let him hold her back. Conflicting emotions fought within her to win the upper hand. On the one hand she was desperate to get help on the other hand she didn’t want to leave him alone. If he was going to die here, she at least wanted him to spend his last minutes in the arms of a friend. Her inner battle couldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds, but in Lois’ mind a lifetime had passed.
Suddenly, Clark’s eyes fluttered open. A wry smile appeared on his lips, if only for a moment.
“Looks like… you’re going… to learn…. my secret… after all.” He averted his eyes and looked in the other direction.
Lois didn’t know if she’d ever been more confused in her life. “What are you talking about? Clark, I-”
He broke her off. “Shush. Can’t… explain… now.” He flinched as he moved his head to look at her once again. “Can’t… stay awake… much lo..longer.” He panted with the effort speaking took. “Lois, I beg you - don’t let….anyone… see me.” A low moan escaped his throat and he squeezed his eyes shut. When he managed to open them again, he looked at pleadingly. Then he stroke her hand with his thumb. “Please… don’t… be scared.”
His body went limp and his hand slipped out of hers.
“Clark!” she cried out. “No!” She sobbed. It couldn’t be! She couldn’t lose him! “No, please, no. Come on, wake up for me.”
She patted his cheeks with her free hand, but he didn’t react. A surge of panic rushed through her and she felt for his neck, trying to find his pulse. As she felt an erratic heartbeat under her fingertips, she was slightly relieved that he wasn’t gone yet. She needed to get help, no matter what he’d said. He’d probably been delusional anyway.
But how was she supposed to get help? Henderson and Scardino still seemed to be busy arresting Luthor and his henchman. Lois looked around to see if there was anything on the boat to help her. It was fortunate that the sun was becoming brighter by the minute, casting golden rays of light on them.
As she focused her attention back on Clark, her breath caught. His split lip was beginning to heal before her eyes. And so was the cut on his temple. With a pounding heart, she sneaked a peek under the shirt she was pressing against his abdomen. The bleeding had stopped and the wound became smaller by the second. The bruise around it faded from an angry red to a dark blue. Then it turned from purple to green and yellow until there was smooth skin without even the hint of a scar. Only the dried blood remained visible.
Lois felt slightly dizzy. She dropped onto her butt and watched open-mouthed what she could only describe as a miracle. The lines of pain on his face vanished and his breathing became more even.
For a long time, he didn’t move. Now and again, Lois felt for his pulse that had become reassuringly steady. As she watched him, she began to understand why he’d risked his life to keep his secret. Everyone who’d seen him get shot and look completely healthy just a short while later would have known that he was one of a kind. And she also understood why he thought that she’d be scared of him. This was freaking her out. But was she really scared?
Lois felt her own heart pounding in her chest. Could anything of what she’d seen really change how she felt about this man? Did the things he’d endured to bring down Luthor mean less, because he could heal like that? Did that somehow make him less courageous or gentle? Lois searched her feelings, trying to determine if fear of Clark was one of them. She didn’t thinks so, not anymore. She was curious. And glad that he was still alive. Most definitely freaked out. Stunned speechless, too. But she wasn’t afraid.
Lois was shaken from her musings by the sound of footsteps on the pier.
“Clark!” Scardino called.
“Clark!” Henderson’s voice echoed from the pier to their right.
Lois ducked her head and lay down beside Clark. She reached for his shoulder and shook it.
Urgently she whispered, “Wake up. Please wake up, they’re searching for you.” Clark muttered something unintelligible. Lois shook him again. “Clark, please. What am I going to do? Scardino is almost here. There’s no way to hide you.”
He still barely reacted. Lois was about to scramble to her feet when she realized that she was only wearing a soaked bra and pants. She couldn’t face Scardino like that. Clark had begged her not to let anyone see him. She had to distract Scardino. But how? Lois took the shirt that she still held half pressed to Clark’s abdomen. She put it on to at least cover herself decently, before she would try to get rid of Scardino. As she looked down at herself, she realized that she’d completely forgotten that her shirt was soaked in Clark’s blood.
<Way to go, Lois,> she thought grumpily.
Meanwhile, Clark had opened his eyes and looked at her.
“Clark!” Lois whispered. She was happy to see him awake. “Scardino is here. What are we going to do?”
“Clark!” Scardino called once again.
“It’s okay.” Clark’s eyes drifted shut. “He knows. Most of it, anyway.” With a grunt he propped himself up on his elbows and looked over the railing. “Over here, Dan.” Then he collapsed back on the deck.
Scardino approached them and a puzzled expression appeared on his face. “Lois? What are you doing here?”
She folded her arms in front of her chest. “Trying to get the exclusive.”
The agent grinned. “Figures.” He looked down at Clark. “What happened to you, buddy? For a moment there, I thought that Luthor had shot you. But-” He interrupted himself and glanced at Lois with a guilty expression on his face.
“He did shoot me.” Clark struggled to a half-sitting position. He ran a hand through his hair. “Lois saw me heal.”
“But how is that even possible?” Scardino muttered and knelt down next to the boat. “I thought you were invulnerable?”
“Usually I am. But tonight, I wasn’t.” Clark looked first at Lois and then down in his lap. “It’s a long story.”
“I bet it is,” Scardino said. “One you’re going to tell me?” When Clark shook his head, he added. “I didn’t think so.”
Clark squared his jaw. “Did you get Luthor?”
“Uh huh. Once his henchman took a couple of bullets in his chest, he had no chance but to give up. Don’t think he had much ammo left.” A whimsical smile played around Scardino’s lips. “Luthor tried to put a bullet through his head, though. Henderson shot him in his right arm before he could take the coward’s way out. After everything that we collected, Luthor’s going to rot in jail for a long time.”
Clark nodded, seeming content. “That’s good.”
Scardino sobered. “I can’t thank you enough. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Buy me some time with Henderson,” Clark pleaded. “I can’t let anyone else see me looking like this,” Clark pleaded.
Scardino wriggled his brows. “You mean looking this healthy? What am I supposed to tell Henderson?”
Clark creased his forehead. “That he may declare Chuck Fox dead. That’s all.”
Lois laid her hand on Clark’s shoulder. “But I’m sure he’d understand.”
She felt him stiffen. He sat up a little straighter and this time seemed to move with more ease. When he looked at her, he shook his head. “I can’t risk it.”
Scardino heaved a sigh. “Henderson will throw a fit if he’s got another dead person without a body to show for.”
Clark chuckled. “Tell him that Lois and Jimmy can return from the dead now.”
Scardino grinned. “He’ll be delighted. But seriously, what are you planning to do?”
“I’m going to hide here for a while.” Clark said. “Then I’ll be out of your hair.”
“That’s a huge relief,” Scardino quipped. “You were starting to become a pain in the neck.” He patted Clark’s shoulder. “I’ll see to it that Henderson looks the other way before he sends in the cavalry to search for you.”
Then he got up and continued to yell Clark’s name as if he hadn’t found him.
When he was gone, Lois studied Clark carefully. His complexion was no longer pale. Nothing about him indicated that he’d suffered multiple injuries. He eyed her warily and bit his lip. She sensed his discomfort.
“How are you feeling?” Lois asked tentatively.
“Better.” He harrumphed. “A little weak, still. But the sun will soon help with that.”
Suddenly feeling very nervous, Lois brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “So, you’re invulnerable, huh?”
“Yes,” he said simply. “I’m sorry you had to see that.” He was looking down at his hands again, obviously not able to face her any longer.
“I know you didn’t want me to find out about you.” Lois wasn’t sure how to go on. She didn’t want to make him more uncomfortable than he already was. “But what’s so bad about being invulnerable?”
He let out an audible breath. “There’s more.”
“What else?” she whispered.
“You really want to know?” he asked.
“I’m not scared of you, if that’s what you think, Clark,” Lois vowed. “I know that there’s no reason to be scared.” She wanted to touch him, wanted to reassure him that she was fine with whatever he had to tell her. But she wasn’t sure he was ready for this kind of comfort yet.
“I’m strong.” He eyed her carefully as if he was studying her reaction. When she didn’t flinch, he continued. “And fast.” Then he closed his eyes. His next words seemed to be more of an effort. “I can freeze things with my breath.”
She continued to listen, not sure she really believed what he told her. How could that be possible? Strong and fast was one thing, but freezing things? Lois felt her heart pound in her chest.
His voice was barely a whisper. Obviously he wasn’t yet done confessing. “I can shoot fire from my eyes.”
He opened his eyes again and there was something in his glance that almost made her heart stop. She felt like she could see right into his soul, for the first time really see what troubled him so much. A shiver ran down her spine. She didn’t think it was fear. Excitement perhaps? It was difficult to grasp, because right in this moment, there were so many emotions swirling through her body that she no longer knew how to name them.
“Is there anything else?” she asked.
His lips lifted in a small smile. “I can fly.”
She raised her brows, not sure she’d heard correctly. “Nah, you’re pulling my leg.”
But his expression was so sincere that it took her breath away. “It’s true. I told you I’m a freak.”
Lois shook her head. “I don’t know what you are. A cyborg perhaps, or some character right out of a comic book.” She touched his knee and squeezed it softly. “But you’re not a freak. Don’t ever say that again.” It tore at her heart that he really believed that he was someone people should be afraid of.
He raised his brows and laughed, if only briefly. “A cyborg? That’s what you think I am?”
Lois threw up her hands. “What do I know? It was the best I could come up with after all your mysterious allusions.”
He turned serious again. “I’m an alien, Lois. From outer space.”
She stared at him. “Really?”
“Really.” Clark averted his eyes. He raked a hand through his hair. Now that she knew him better, she could tell that he was still distressed about this unwanted revelation. “Really. That’s why Trask wants to kill me. He thinks I’m the first line of an invasion of Planet Earth.”
Lois shook her head with laughter. “He doesn’t know you very well, does he?”
“Do you really know me, Lois?” He asked bitterly.
“I do know enough to see that you’re a good person.” Lois replied. This time she felt confident enough to take his hand in hers. “You’ve done everything in your power to bring Luthor down even though there was a huge risk of exposure! What if the sun had come up a little earlier? What if you’d actually been killed?”
He shrugged and withdrew his hand. “I don’t know, but that’s not the point.”
“Then what is your point? You’re fast and you’re strong and you can fly!” She smiled at him. “Doesn’t sound all that bad to me.”
He shook his head sadly. “You still have no idea what I’m talking about, Lois. Remember the Nightfall Asteroid?”
Her brows furrowed. “The one that was supposed to hit earth, but miraculously broke apart?”
“It wasn’t a miracle.” He kneaded his hands, looking extremely uncomfortable. “That was me.”
Lois stared at the man sitting next to her and tried to wrap her mind around what he’d just said. It was mind-blowing. And if anyone but Clark had told her such a thing, she’d have thought that that person was just trying to brag. But the Clark she’d come to know wasn’t bragging about anything.
“Lois, are you all right?” he asked concerned.
She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “I guess now I’m just a little scared.”
“See? I told you!” He got to his feet. “I’ll leave you alone now.”
“No, Clark, don’t go.” She tried to smile at him, but failed. The truth of the matter was that she felt still too shocked. “Please give me the chance to really get to know you.”
He looked at her hopefully. “You’d really want that?”
Lois nodded. “Yes I do.” She took a deep breath before she continued. “Clark, I’ve never met someone like you. And by that I don’t mean that you’re an alien or that you have strange powers. You’re kind and considerate and somehow you manage to touch something inside me that I didn’t even know existed.” A sense of despair filled her, because she wanted him so badly to believe that she was seriously interested in him.
A smile played around his lips. “If you still think that way a week from now, leave the window of your apartment open at ten o’clock in the evening.” His smile turned wistful. “I really should go now, before anyone finds me. If your window is closed, you will never see me again. Goodbye, Lois.” He shot her one last, longing glance. Then he stepped towards the railing and elegantly dove headfirst into the water.
To be concluded…
