Chapter 3
He woke with a start, momentarily confused why he was on his couch before he remembered Lois falling asleep on him and smiled. It had been a good dreamless night, and he’d slept solidly all night, and well into the morning by how bright it was in the apartment. He moved the blanket he’d been draped in aside and stood, stretching out, wondering when Lois had left. He wandered into the kitchen to start the coffee pot and spotted a note on the counter with Lois’ scrawl on it. Picking up the phone, he dialed Lois’ number, disappointment flooding him as he got her machine. Hearing multiple sirens on the periphery of his hearing range he turned off the coffee pot, changed into a Suit, and headed out.
It was well into the afternoon when he flew toward the hospital with the latest rescue victim. Entering the Emergency Room, he handed the patient over to the doctors and was about to leave, wondering if he needed to stop and pick up some groceries, when a familiar voice called out to him.
“Superman!”
He stopped, concerned. “Lois, what are you doing here? Are you hurt?” He quickly scanned her, looking for obvious injury or blood, while respecting her privacy and not x raying her for hidden injuries.
“No, Superman, I’m fine. I was waiting for you.”
“Oh,” he said, relieved. “Do you need a quote for an article?”
“No, I uh… I need your help for a moment. Are you busy?”
“Busy?” he questioned as she led him toward the elevator.
“Yeah, do you have ten minutes? You don’t have to be somewhere?”
“Not that I know.” He was intrigued by her evasiveness and wasn’t paying attention where she was taking him. When they exited the elevator, he recognized the way she was walking and a pit of dread formed in his gut. “Where are we going?”
“I need your help. I’ve been trying to gain access to see Mayson Drake which shouldn’t be so difficult seeing as I was able to see her with Clark already, but I keep getting turned away. I just want to ask her some questions.”
“Aren’t the police handling this?” Superman tried to dissuade Lois on her current pathway.
“How many times have Clark and I figured it out before the police did?” Lois scoffed. “Anyway, I’m hoping she’ll talk to you and you can ask her to talk to me. I’m not exactly her favourite person.”
Neither am I, Clark thought to himself as they exited the elevator.
“You again,” the officer at the door stated as they approached.
“Superman would like to see Mayson,” Lois stated before Clark could object.
“Mr. Superman, sir!” exclaimed the young man, jumping to his feet. “It’s an honour to meet you. I was there when you rescued that bus load of people from the floods we had last year. That was something.”
“Thank you, Officer…?”
“Officer Abbott. Let me see if Ms. Drake is available for a short visit.”
As the young man vacated his post and disappeared into Mayson’s room, Clark chanced a glance at Lois, barely restraining himself from rolling his eyes at her smirk. Instead, he frowned at her.
“Lois, I’m not comfortable with this.”
“Please, Superman. It would really help me out. Besides, aren’t you curious how she’s doing?”
He was, which was one reason why he was still standing in the hall, the other reason was the woman doing the asking.
“She’ll see you briefly,” said the officer as he returned. “Just you, Superman,” he clarified, glaring at Lois who had stepped forward.
With an apologetic glance toward a fuming Lois, Clark stepped into the private room.
“I thought Abbott was joking,” Mayson remarked as he closed the door behind him. “What are you doing here? I was told there was a persistent reporter here too. I’m guessing Lois is in the hallway?”
“She wanted to see how you were doing.”
Mayson snorted and winced. “She wants information for her story.”
“I’d like to know how you’re doing.” She looked better than the last time he’d seen her, but the wince of pain had him worried.
“Is it really you? I mean, once I know what to look for I can kind of see it, but you even sound different.”
“It is me,” he admitted, wondering if Mayson remembered their conversation the previous day, albeit as Clark.
“So all those times I said how much I disagreed with what Superman was doing, it was you all along?”
He nodded, not missing the bite in her voice.
“Yet you still encouraged me?”
“Mayson, I - ”
“I can’t do this right now, not with you. You should leave.”
“I’m sorry, Mayson,” he whispered as he moved towards the door.
“Just… don’t come back in that costume.”
He nodded as he squared his shoulders and opened the door. He’d barely stepped into the corridor when Lois began to pester him with questions.
“Well? What did she say? Can I see her?”
Suddenly feeling claustrophobic in the corridor, Clark needed to leave. “She’s on the mend,” he stated as calmly as he could, hoping it was true. He hadn’t received an answer from Mayson when he’d asked.
“Did she say anything about the bombing,” Lois asked, clearly disappointed Superman wasn’t about to be a fountain of information for her.
“No, I’m sorry, Lois.” He looked towards the elevator, spotting the stairwell exit right beside it. “I’ll talk to you later, Lois. I’ve got to go.” With the abrupt words, he strode quickly toward the exit, and, once in the stairwell, flew to the roof exit.
****
Clark reluctantly returned home after an uneventful evening patrol, trying to shake free of the idea that if he kept flying further eventually he’d find a rescue to keep him busy. He’d been avoiding spending any time alone with his thoughts all week. Lois had been cool to Superman since he’d run out on her in the hospital and all business with Clark. Admittedly, they’d had a busy week which hadn’t left much time for relaxing.
After the last time he’d seen Mayson, Clark hadn’t expected to hear from her again and had been more nervous than anything else when Perry informed both himself and Lois that Mayson had requested their presence for an interview. They’d gone immediately to the hospital, Lois clearly delighted with the prospect of a scoop. Neither of them had imagined Mayson would be asking for their help.
Superman’s help.
Mayson gave them information about a drug that was designed to make a person appear dead, only to have them revive hours later, and it’s suspected use with several prisoners, recently deceased. Lois, too delighted with the guaranteed scoop, wasn’t questioning why Mayson was coming to them, but Clark understood. With Jimmy and Lois’ help, Superman was able to arrest Stanley Gables before any more prisoners died and uncover a further plot to wreak havoc on Metropolis. The story had hit the paper that morning, along with the attempted murder of Mayson Drake.
He’d spent most of the week feeling a false sense of calm. She hadn’t said as much, but given the publication ban around her status, it wasn’t likely Mayson would be announcing to the world that Clark Kent was Superman. Now Gables was arrested and she was free to speak to anyone, Clark had no idea what to expect. He’d spent today trying to keep busy in order to forget about his worries.
Looking at the time, he realized he’d have to talk to Mayson tomorrow as it was past visiting hours now.
****
“I almost told them no,” Mayson remarked as Clark entered the room.
“I’m glad you didn’t.” As awkward as he felt, they needed to have this conversation. “How are you feeling?”
“Better than last week,” she responded dryly.
“That’s good.” This was worse than he thought. He couldn’t figure out what to do with his hands. He’d bought flowers again, but had decided at the last minute that it wouldn’t be appropriate and had given them to someone in the hospital lobby. Now he was going between having his hands in his pockets, reaching up to adjust the tie he wasn’t wearing, and pulling on the hem of his sweater sleeves.
“Sit,” Mayson instructed while gesturing to the empty chair. “Your nervous fidgeting is annoying.”
He obliged, though the chair was much closer to her bed than where he’d been standing.
“Why are you here, Clark?”
“I thought we could talk.” Last night he’d been solely concerned with finding out if Mayson was going to divulge his identity to anyone. After a restless sleep, he’d realized that it wouldn’t set his mind at ease. Given what he knew about Mayson, it would be unlikely she wouldn’t think about it either, regardless of her dislike of Superman. It would be best if they could both discuss what was on their minds, and move forward. He’d been right, he realized, when she nodded in agreement.
“We won’t be interrupted. There’s still an officer assigned to guard this room, in the event someone connected to Gables decides to try something, but I doubt it. I think that particular case is closed.”
“How long until you’re discharged?” Clark asked, genuinely interested.
“Hopefully after the weekend. I believe I’m going to a rehab facility for a few weeks, as I’ll still be in a wheelchair for some time and my apartment isn’t accessible.”
“When will you be returning to work?”
“As soon as they permit me. I don’t do the sitting around and resting thing very well.”
When Mayson smiled at her own comment, Clark grinned back, grateful for the small talk as he was unsure how to begin.
“And- ”
“Clark,” Mayson interrupted. “Neither of us are here for idle chatter and I know you well enough to see that you don’t know where to start, so I’ll do us both a favour and begin. I’ve had enough time here to think about this conversation.”
Clark nodded in acknowledgement as Mayson took a moment to find her words.
“When I first met you, well, I’m never that forward,” she began. “I rarely fall for the cute guy, but I couldn’t form a coherent sentence around you. There was something about you, your personality, that I gravitated toward. I could have waited for the following day to get your deposition for the Baby Rage case, but instead I came over to your home. I asked you out, you said yes, and then we kissed. I’m never that bold.”
He remembered that evening well. In the moment, it had been flattering to discover Mayson was attracted to him. The conflicted feelings had taken a little longer to surface, along with the guilt.
“What I can’t understand now is why you led me on?”
“I’m sorry?” he queried, wondering if he’d missed something in his musings.
“I trashed Superman to your face and then a minute later, I asked you on a date. Why would you ever agree to date me if it was obvious I didn’t agree with Superman and what he does? Also, you lied under oath!”
“I did not,” Clark automatically answered. He’d made a point to always be truthful so he wouldn’t jeopardize a case or criminal proceedings.
“In the Baby Rage case, you said you saw Superman fly down, but you didn’t. How could you? You were Superman.”
“I didn’t say I saw him.”
At his response, Mayson glared at him. “And then I took a chance. I invited you to spend a private weekend with me, and you agreed.”
Clark resisted the urge to squirm in his seat. So many things had happened that shouldn’t have happened if only he’d had the courage to talk to her first. “Mayson- ”
“No, Clark. You said you’d come.”
“There were other things going on,” Clark interjected. “I was going to decline but we were interrupted and you left.”
“And you stood me up.”
Clark sighed. “Superman was blinded; I was blinded. I was stuck as Superman until I could get my sight back.”
“But you let all your friends assume you’d gone with me. It was embarrassing to show up and find out from your boss that I’d been stood up. I was humiliated; you used me, and it wasn’t the last time. You used me to get information, and distracted me while your partner stole my beeper.”
“I had nothing to do with that,” Clark stated quietly.
“You promised you’d call and you never did. Why was I so stupid? I kept throwing myself at you, and you led me on. What was it? Why couldn’t you just say no thank you? Were you just trying to see if Lois would go out with you and I’d be your backup? Even when you said you cared for Lois and for me, I still hoped that…”
Clark reached over and handed Mayson the tissue box that was beside her bed. “Mayson, I never intended to hurt you.”
Mayson accepted the tissues from him and dabbed at her eyes. “I gave you an open invitation. Ask me out, and I’d say yes. If you weren’t interested, why did you keep leading me on? I knew you were hiding something and whatever it was, was preventing you from admitting your feelings for me. I thought it was Lois, but it wasn’t, was it?”
Sitting back down, Clark ran his hand over his forehead. He’d done this to her. His passiveness, his willingness to allow others to believe in their assumptions so he wouldn’t have to lie, had hurt Mayson repeatedly. He struggled to think of an appropriate apology as ‘I’m sorry’ wouldn’t be enough.
“If it wasn’t for Superman would you have gone out with me?”
“Mayson, it’s not that easy.”
“Well, what was it?”
This was one of those conversations he’d thought about for months and hadn’t been able to find a way to explain it. His feelings had been so mixed up he’d just pushed them back and was now paying the price. He was also aware of how selfish those thoughts were as he had repeatedly hurt Mayson.
“You hated Superman,” Clark began, trying to organize his tumbling thoughts. “You called him a criminal and as much as I was attracted to you, I couldn’t see a way around your dislike for him… me. If we had started dating, how would that news change your opinion of me?”
“And Lois?”
“I didn’t think Lois liked me back, but I was wrong. She did something unexpected, putting her life in danger to find me and we were patching things up when…”
“My car blew up,” Mayson finished somberly for him.
“I like Lois a lot. When she walks into a room, I can’t help but know she’s there. Even when she’s testy, I still want to be around her.”
“But does she feel the same way?”
“I think so.”
“You think so? What if you’re mooning over someone who will never return your feelings? Trust me, it’s not worth it.”
Clark sighed. “Remember Lex Luthor?”
“Of course! Everyone was clamouring to be on that case. The old AD was promoted for his work on it.”
“Well, he manipulated Lois and she didn’t fully understand the extent of his meddling in her life until after he’d died. She’s had one bad relationship after another. She cares about me, I know she does. She’s just scared of being hurt again.”
Mayson seemed to consider his words. “But she likes Superman.”
“She’s liked Superman for longer than she’s considered Clark as a friend.”
“So you’re worried she’ll want the cape but not the man underneath?”
He internally winced at Mayson’s astute assessment of his situation. “I did, but not anymore.”
“So when are you planning on telling her? You were going to tell her?” Mayson asked incredulously.
“Mayson, it’s not that simple.”
“So you were going to let her fall in love with you and then spring this on her?”
“Well…” Yes, he thought, he had planned that but hearing Mayson state it with a look of contempt had him rethinking his initial plan.
“Here’s a different scenario. What if you and I had dated and we fell in love? As I’m imagining wedding bells, you spring this news on me. How do you think that’s going to end? It wouldn’t have resulted in a deepened relationship built on trust. Lois adores Superman, but she’s had, as you’ve stated, bad relationships. Now you blindside her with this secret months down the line. How well is she going to take being lied to? What if you’re out on a date with her and hear a cry for help? Abandon her with some feeble excuse? How is that fair to her? Do you think she’ll put up with that for long? Or would you ignore the cry for help? Can you do that?”
No, he thought. It would tear him apart.
“I didn’t think so,” Mayson said quietly when he didn’t respond.
Clark didn’t break the silence that followed, trying to work out how best to answer the question that was concerning him the most.
“What is it? It’s my job to read people and I can see there’s something else on your mind.”
“It’s my parents…”
Her eyes widened. “Are they like you too?”
“No. They’re regular people who adopted me.”
“How?”
He hesitated before answering. As much as he wanted to share his past with her, hopefully put her suspicions around Superman to rest knowing he wasn’t an alien who had just arrived on Earth, he wasn’t sure what she would do with that information.
“It’s ok, you don’t have to tell me,” Mayson sighed at his silence.
“My parents are regular people and I need to keep them safe.”
“Safe?”
He stood and began to pace, frustrated that he couldn’t find the right words.
“Safe from what? Or whom?” she prodded.
“No one knew who I was, who I am,” he said as he paused behind the chair he’d been sitting in, and leaned his hands on it. “If that information becomes widely available, I need to know so I can keep my parents safe.”
“Oh.”
At Mayson’s silence, Clark resisted the urge to pace again and sat down. “I’m sorry to ask you this…”
“No, I get it. I was still processing that you’re two people without thinking of those that already know.”
“It’s just my parents, and now you.”
“I can’t believe Lois hasn’t figured it out.”
“She’s kept me on my toes and there have been a few close calls,” he admitted.
“Look, I’m not going to tell anyone and right now I’m too tired to be irritated that you think I would expose you.”
He was about to object and remind Mayson of her dislike and mistrust towards Superman but chose to stay silent. She did look tired and he didn’t want to antagonize her. It had been a tough conversation for him to have, especially hearing Mayson’s version of how he was hurting herself, and Lois. He needed some time to think it through and ponder.
“Thank you, Mayson,” he replied. “I’ll head out now, let you rest.”
“Thanks, Clark.”
As he approached the door, he turned and paused. “Is it ok if I visit again? I don’t want to presume…”
“Yes. Only if you bring coffee.”
Clark smirked at her as he opened the door. “See you later, Mayson.”
****
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