The ringing of the phone jolted Lois awake. She jerked up, the sudden movement sending a sharp stab of pain through her head and setting off a round of coughing.
Clark was upright immediately. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, wincing at the pain in her head. “It just startled me.”
She cleared her throat and reached for the phone, hoping it was Henderson telling her Luthor was in custody and this nightmare was over.
“Lois? Thank god! I was just at brunch with Louise Kaplan – you remember Louise, she’s the one who hosts that New Year’s Eve party every year – and she asked me how you were feeling, and I had no idea what she was talking about. You know I never follow the news, but Louise’s husband is a producer at LNN, so she’s always up to date on the latest gossip-”
“Mother,” Lois interrupted, rolling her eyes.
Ellen Lane was just getting started though. “Anyway, she told me all about your adventure last night. She said you were released from the hospital, but I was sure that must be wrong because certainly you would have called your mother the second you were released to let me know you were safe, but I see you are home after all.”
Lois sighed and caught sight of Clark out of the corner of his eye, the horrified look on his face making her laugh.
“Mother,” she said again. “I didn’t get home from the hospital until after three in the morning. I’ve been asleep. I haven’t even gotten up – what time is it?”
“Well, I don’t know why you couldn’t have called me from the hospital,” Ellen continued, ignoring her question. “I’m sure they have phones there. Certainly most of their patients want to call their mothers and let them know they are okay. Why, I would have been just worried sick if I had known. And then to have to hear it from Louise…. That woman is always so superior. I’m sure she just loved being the one to inform me about my own daughter….”
She tilted the phone away from her ear, and the tinny approximation of Ellen’s shrill voice filled the air. Lois winced. Her mother could give her a headache at even the best of times, and her head was already throbbing.
“It’s almost eleven,” Clark said quietly. “I’ll get you some pain meds. Do you need anything else?”
She coughed again but shook her head.
“Are you even listening to me?” Ellen continued. “Is someone there? You didn’t call your father, did you? That would be just like you-”
“No, Mother,” Lois said, bringing the phone back to her ear as Clark climbed out of bed and walked toward the door. She watched him go, smiling at the broad expanse of his bare back, wanting him to hurry back to bed to cuddle with her.
“Of course, he probably wouldn’t even answer if you did call him,” Ellen continued obliviously. “That’s why you should call me. I could have been on the first train. In fact, I could still-”
“No!” Lois said quickly. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you. I know how busy you are. I’m fine, really. I just need a little rest, and I’ll be good as new.”
Clark returned, opening his palm to offer her a pill and handing her a glass of water.
“Thank you,” she mouthed silently, swallowing the pill and then setting the glass on the nightstand. She tilted her head toward the empty side of the bed, and he smiled before walking to the other side of the bed and climbing back in. He leaned back against the headboard, and she scooted over until she was close enough to curl up against him and could lay her head on his chest.
“If you insist,” Ellen said. “I really do have a busy schedule this week. We have a charity dinner on Friday, and I still haven’t even bought a gown. And I need to get my hair done and…”
Lois pulled back and looked at Clark as Ellen continued to ramble.
“Are you sure you’re related to her?” he whispered, clearly horrified.
“Maybe she was sent here from a far away planet,” Lois muttered, and Clark burst out laughing, covering his mouth to muffle the sound.
“Oh yes,” Lois said into the phone. “I wouldn’t want you to have to reschedule all of that. I’m fine, really. Just a little banged up, and I sprained my wrist.”
“Your wrist?” Ellen said. “Don’t be afraid to throw your father’s name around. In fact, maybe you should call him for a second opinion.”
“I thought you didn’t want me to call Daddy,” Lois said drolly.
“The man might as well be useful for something,” Ellen said dismissively, oblivious to Lois’ tone. “He might have been a complete failure as a husband and father, but I can’t deny that he’s a good surgeon. If only he’d put half as much effort into his family as he did-”
“Okay, Mother,” Lois said, cutting her off before she could get worked up. “I’ll have my doctor send the x-rays to Daddy’s office so he can look at them. But really, it’s fine. Just a little sprain. Now, I really should call the police station and see if they have any updates, and I’m sure you have things to get back to, so…”
“All right, dear, if you’re sure. I do need to get moving if I’m going to make my spa appointment. I’ve been doing this new facial treatment that does wonders for fine lines. You really should give it a try. You aren’t getting any younger, you know. I’ll ask Fillipe if he knows of any spas in Metropolis that offer it.”
Lois sighed. “Yeah, thanks.”
They said their goodbyes, and Lois set the phone back in its cradle and turned to Clark, who was looking a little shell shocked.
“That was….something,” he said.
“Isn’t she lovely? Are you sure you don’t want to have Thanksgiving with my family?”
Clark laughed and then shook his head. “I see now why you were perfectly happy to have Thanksgiving in Smallville-”
He stopped abruptly, a horrified look on his face.
“What, Clark?” she asked, immediately concerned.
“Smallville. I just…took off yesterday. I didn’t call out of work this morning.”
Lois grimaced. “You should probably give them a call.”
“Let’s hope I still have a job,” Clark muttered, standing up and walking around the bed to reach the phone.
He perched on the side of the bed, and Lois rested a hand on his knee. Given how beloved he was in that town, and at that school, she had zero concern that he was going to lose his job over a single unexplained absence. But she felt bad anyway that he had left so abruptly and gone missing in action. She should have let him take a few days off work and stay with her like he had offered on Sunday.
He punched in a number from memory and waited politely as someone answered the phone. “Hello, Mrs. Harper. This is Clark Kent. Is-”
He stopped abruptly, eyebrows raised. Lois couldn’t hear what was being said, but she heard the excitable female voice on the other end of the line ramble for a few seconds before Clark spoke again.
“I’m fine,” he said. “Yes, I’m in Metropolis. Lois is fine. She’s right here. We were in the hospital all night, and I totally forgot to call this morning and let Mr. Capanelli know that I wasn’t going to make it. Is he in his office? Could you transfer me?”
The voice started again, and Clark smiled and tilted the phone toward her so she could hear the secretary’s impassioned ramble. “-and you take good care of that sweet girl and tell her we’re all thinking of her. We were all just sick with worry when we realized what was going on. I must have gotten twenty phone calls last night from people in town hoping I’d heard from you. I tried to call you at home and there was no answer, so we figured you must have headed out there as soon as you heard. Of course you were too busy to call, but we were just worried sick until we saw the update on the news that she’d been found. I heard on the radio this morning that she’d been released from the hospital. We were all so relieved to hear that. Any word on that horrible man? I’d like to give him a piece of my mind!”
Lois couldn’t help but laugh, picturing the tiny, eldery matron of Smallville High lecturing Lex Luthor like he was a tardy fifteen year old. Clark reached out and cupped her cheek. “I told you the whole town loves you,” he whispered. Then he put the phone back to his ear. “No word yet, but hopefully we’ll hear something soon. The whole police force is out looking for him. Is Mr. Capanelli in? I really need to-”
There was a pause, and then Clark thanked the woman, and then a longer pause. “Mark,” Clark said. “It’s Clark Kent. I’m so sorry-”
Clark shook his head and laughed softly, pulling the phone away from his ear again so she could listen.
“-whole place has been up in arms. Mrs. Harper says the news is reporting that she’s been released from the hospital? Is she okay?”
“She is,” Clark said. “Thank you. But she’s going to need some help for…a few days, while she recovers. And there’s an active police investigation, so I don’t know-”
“Don’t you worry about us,” Mark interrupted. “Janice Miller is subbing for you today, and she said she’s available all week, so that’s covered. And Jake’s got the team under control. It’s an easy week anyway – this game should be a no brainer. You just let us know when you’re ready to come back.”
“Thanks,” Clark said softly, and Lois could see how affected he was by the support from his coworkers.
“You still have a job?” she teased when he hung up the phone.
He laughed. “Okay, that fear might have been a little unfounded. I need to call my parents too, though, and that might be ugly.”
She looked at him expectantly, surprised to hear him hesitate to call his parents.
He sighed. “I blew in and out of there Sunday to tell them you were in danger, and I was going to tell you…everything, so you’d let me protect you. It…didn’t go well.”
Her stomach dropped. She didn’t want to be the wedge that came between Clark and his parents. She knew how much they meant to him. And she liked them so much and wanted them to like her.
“It’ll be okay,” he said, reading her expression. “I just…. I was worried sick, and all they could focus on was convincing me to wait to tell you until we had time to talk it through. I tried to tell them I didn’t have time for that….”
She reached over and stroked his arm, feeling her own anxiety rise as she imagined his panic.
“They were wrong,” he said firmly. “I should have told you sooner. I might have been able to protect you. And none of the things they warned me about– You knowing…it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’m not going to apologize for that. And I’m not interested in fighting with them right now. I don’t have the energy to focus on that. We have more important things to worry about.”
“Are they going to be mad that I know?” she asked quietly.
“Not mad,” he said, but he didn’t sound entirely convinced. “Just…worried. We’ve never told anyone. Ever. It’s always just been the three of us. We never really even…talked about telling anyone. That was never an option. I guess we all knew that…someday…if I met someone…but I told you last night, I never thought that was a real possibility for me. This wasn’t something we planned for.”
Lois was quiet for a minute, thinking about how lonely he must have been. Not just as a teen, when his whole life was reordering itself, but as an adult too, watching his friends pair off and get married and have babies.
“Did you ever think about telling someone? Not…a girlfriend. But a friend? You never thought about telling Pete and Lana? They’re your family too.”
Clark took a deep breath. “I thought about it,” he said. “Not when we were young, but later. When I came home. When we were all back together. The three of us. Like it had always been when we were growing up. I thought about it then. It would have been so nice to…be able to really talk to them. Lana kept trying to set me up on dates. It would have been nice to explain…. And Pete’s so steady and thoughtful. I’ve wished so many times that I could talk to him…especially about the stuff I can’t tell my parents.”
“Why didn’t you?” she asked. “Surely you trust them. I know Lana is…Lana. But she loves you. She wouldn’t tell anyone. You said yourself she’s fiercely loyal.”
“It wasn’t that,” he said. He hesitated, and she felt the same terror he had exuded last night start to boil to the surface.
“Clark,” she said softly. “They love you. You know that, right? This wouldn’t change anything….”
“By the time I thought about it seriously, by the time I was really sure that it would be safe…. Sophie was my little buddy. And Caleb was this teeny tiny little thing. And I loved them so much. I thought….” He took a shaky breath, and looked to the side, avoiding her gaze. “I’ve always thought a family was something I couldn’t have. Sophie and Caleb…they’re as close as I could ever be to being a dad. And…I just…. I know Pete and Lana love me. They’re my best friends. But those are their babies. And they were so innocent and vulnerable. They’re so…fragile. And if they thought I was a danger to them…. If they thought my powers could….”
“Oh, god. Clark, no,” she said, tears filling her eyes. “You can’t really think… Honey, no. They know you. They know how much you love those kids. They know you would never hurt them. Not even accidentally.”
His gaze slid back to hers, and the uncertainty broke her heart.
“Clark,” she said, her voice shaky with tears. She took a breath and steadied herself. “Did I ever tell you, it was your gentleness that made me fall in love with you?”
He shook his head, clearly surprised by this change of subject.
“When we were…just friends? This summer? When you came to visit?”
He nodded, and waited for her to continue.
“I wanted so badly…. I wanted…more. I didn’t think we could make it work, because of the distance. And I was scared, because you’d become so important to me as a friend. I’ve never had a best friend before. But I was so conflicted. Because I wanted you — wanted you to love me, wanted you to kiss me. I didn’t want to be just friends. I just thought it was the only option that would work for us.”
He smiled, his face relaxing, and she knew he was reflecting on that time. He reached over and stroked her cheek, then let his hand fall to her lap and held her hand. “I know,” he said. “I understood.”
She nodded. “I know. I knew then too – that you knew. I knew you knew it wouldn’t take…much of anything, to push me over the edge. That last night…on the couch. If you had kissed me….”
“You weren’t ready,” he said softly. “You didn’t want me to kiss you.”
She whimpered, overwhelmed yet again by her love for him. “I did want you to kiss me. But, you’re right, I wasn’t ready. And I needed that time. I needed you to let me get there. So I wouldn’t regret it. So I wouldn’t push you away. But you could have pushed. I would have kissed you back. I would have…” she trailed off and shrugged, not sure exactly how far she would have gone that night.
“I didn’t want to push you,” he said. “I don’t want to push you…about anything.”
“I know, Clark,” she said. “That’s exactly what I mean. This is what I love so much about you. Even without your powers, you’re bigger and stronger than I am. But I’ve never been scared of you. Because I know I can trust you. You’ve proved it a million times in a million ways. You were always so careful to back off, physically and emotionally, when I needed space. It’s not just about physical force. At the slightest indication that I’m unsure, you immediately stop and let me decide what I want. Even now. When we make love…. Last night when I needed your help in the shower…. It’s always, always my decision. If you sense even the slightest hesitation, you back off.”
His brow was furrowed, and she could see that he was confused by this conversation. He didn’t understand why this was significant – how different he was from so many other men – or how it applied to this situation.
“Your strength…it’s a gift,” she said. “You use it to help. I knew that even before I knew just how strong you are. You make me feel safe. You’re always looking out for me. For everyone around you. We all feel safe around you, Clark.”
He smiled sadly at her, shaking his head. “But if people knew….”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I understand your fear. I do. People are stupid. People fear what they don’t know. But those of us who know you…we know you. We know you are good and kind and gentle. Pete and Lana…they know you. And I can guarantee you, there is no one in the world they trust more with their kids than you. And that would not change if they knew everything about you.”
He didn’t look fully convinced, but he seemed to be considering this point of view. That was enough for now. They didn’t need to discuss or resolve everything in one day. They had a lifetime to discuss this. She reached up and stroked his cheek.
“Call your parents,” she said. “They’re probably worried about you. I’m going to go to the bathroom and put some clothes on. Then I’m going to need to check in with Perry and the police.
He nodded, and then kissed her gently. She stroked his cheek again, and then left him to his phone call.
*****
By dinnertime, Lois was getting restless.
Clark had called his parents and seemed relieved to reach their answering machine. He left a message telling them they were both fine and everything was good – really good – and he was staying in Metropolis for a while, but would call them soon with more updates.
Lois had called the police station and the newsroom numerous times throughout the day, all but begging for updates, but they didn’t have much to give her. Perry told her repeatedly to get some rest and leave the investigation to the police and the writing to her coworkers, but she hated just sitting around when Luthor was still on the loose.
In the early afternoon, the body of Luthor’s accomplice was found in the sewer system. But Luthor himself was still in the wind, and Henderson sounded as frustrated as she felt with their lack of progress on that front.
Meanwhile, she and Clark had spent hours talking about everything but Luthor. She had a million questions about his origins and his powers, and he had been true to his word that he would answer all of them. He had promised to take her to Smallville soon, where she could question his parents and where he could share with her an artifact that he had apparently recovered a few years ago that shed some light on the reason for his being sent to Earth and contained video footage of birth parents, and the his first home, the planet Krypton.
Physically she was sore, but otherwise okay. She continued to cough occasionally, and Clark gave her a worried look every time she did. But it didn’t hurt to breathe, and she never felt compelled to use the inhaler the doctor had prescribed for wheezing or shortness of breath.
Mostly she was just bored. And antsy.
She leaned against the counter and watched Clark chop up the rest of the vegetables left over from their dumplings on Saturday night and turn them into soup. His brow was furrowed with concentration, and she watched him suspiciously, certain it wasn’t his knife strokes he was focusing on.
“What?” she said softly.
He looked up, surprised.
“What are you worrying about?”
“I’m not worrying,” he said, returning his eyes to the cutting board. “I’m just thinking about work. I didn’t leave any plans for the sub. There’s going to be a recruiter from UK at the game on Friday, and I wanted to work on some special teams stuff in practice this week. You know, that kind of thing.”
“You can go back tom-”
“No!” he said. Then he smiled at her apologetically, and she knew he felt bad about being so abrupt. “I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t want to leave you. I won’t leave you, not while he’s still out there.”
She was quiet for a minute. There was no reason for them to be sitting in her apartment all day not doing anything. A plan was beginning to form, but she wasn’t sure how Clark was going to feel about it.
“If they haven’t found Luthor by Thursday morning, I’ll come with you to Smallville,” she said softly.
His head whipped up. “Really?”
She nodded, feeling a twinge of self-recrimination at the surprised look on his face. He was so willing to make any sacrifice for her – was it really so surprising she would be willing to do this for him? “I should have come the first time you asked,” she said.
He shook his head, not entertaining her guilt, then leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Thank you.”
“Actually, we can decide tomorrow night,” she said with false casualness, as he went back to chopping. “Since we won’t need plane tickets.”
He set the knife down and turned to face her slowly, eyebrows raised. “Lois…. No. What are you–? No. That’s not….”
“You fly yourself back and forth all the time.”
“Yes,” he said, blinking. “That’s different.”
“How?” she asked.
He spluttered and gesticulated with his hands. “It just is. I’ve never flown with anyone before. Not more a few yards, like when I carried you out of the building or that little boy in the woods. I can’t just…fly you to Kansas.”
“Fair enough,” she said casually and his eyes narrowed with suspicion. “So…we’ll work up to it. We could do a little practice run tonight.”
His eyes widened and he shook his head with disbelief. “What are you talking about? A practice run?”
“Well,” she said slowly. “I’ve been thinking…Luthor’s lair has to be underground somewhere in Metropolis. He’s using the sewers to move around, but he’s not in the sewers all the time or they would have found him by now. If only we could x-ray the parts of the city that are near the spots where we know he’s been active….. If only we could move quickly around the city and look down on it from above with that x-ray….”
His mouth was hanging open. “You have lost your mind. You want me to fly around the city x-raying the ground looking for Luthor’s lair? And I’m just supposed to leave you unattended while I do this?”
“I won’t be unattended,” she said quickly. “I’ll be with you. It’ll be good practice for us. In case we need to fly to Kansas tomorrow night.”
Clark lifted the cutting board and scraped the vegetables into the softly boiling broth. He said nothing as he transferred the cutting board and knife to the sink and used a rag to wipe off the counter.
She watched him expectantly, waiting for his response. He turned to her finally, hands upturned, mouth agape, clearly at a loss for words.
“It makes perfect sense, Clark.”
“You are out of your mind. You must have hit your head a lot harder than we thought. You think I’m going to take you flying, and you can just hang out while I x-ray the whole city looking for Luthor’s lair.”
“I won’t just be hanging out,” she said quickly. “I’ll be navigating. You barely know this city. You’ll need my help.”
“I’ll need your help,” he muttered, turning his back on her as he ran hot water in the sink to wash the dishes. She didn’t say anything, letting him think it over, confident he would come to the same conclusion: if they truly wanted Luthor caught as soon as possible, this was their best option. And if he couldn’t bear to leave her long enough to search, he was going to have to take her with him.
“We both know you’re going to do it. And we both know I’m going to come,” she said finally, when she could stay quiet no longer. “Do we really have to play this game where you pretend you aren’t going to bring me, and then I wear you down?”
He turned to face her, incredulous, but it was only a moment later that he sighed, resigned. “Okay, on one condition.”
She nodded, willing to accept nearly any caveat.
“We need to drive somewhere remote and take off from there. We need to practice first. I have no idea how fast I can fly with you, or how high. We need to practice takeoff and landing. I can’t just whip out your window with you like I did by myself yesterday.”
She was nodding eagerly almost as soon as he began speaking.
The rest of the evening dragged, and she found herself hurrying them along, rushing through dinner and cleanup, practically vibrating with excitement. Clark seemed more circumspect, and she was beginning to wonder why he wasn’t more excited.
“Don’t you want to fly with me?” she asked finally as they washed the dinner dishes. “I thought you would be more excited.”
His face softened immediately. “I’m sorry, honey. I am excited. I want to fly with you so badly. I’ve dreamed of it for months. I’m just nervous about the logistics. And I wish we were exploring it on our terms, and not rushing to find a murderous sociopath.”
She laughed softly. “Okay, you’re right. How about this? Forget about Luthor for the moment. As best we can anyway. Let’s fly. That’s it. We’ll test it out. We’ll see how it feels. We’ll see how comfortable it is. If you feel ready, when we’re done, we’ll go fly around the city a bit and look for Luthor’s lair. But if we aren’t ready for that, then we aren’t ready for that. It will still be fun and exciting to fly for a bit.”
He nodded eagerly, and she could see some of the pressure melt away.
