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Part 14/14
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For a moment, nobody speaks. Marty looks back and forth between us all, waiting expectantly. Finally Doc breaks the silence. "We found Lucas Peregrine."
Marty's face falls. "Without me? Oh man!"
"Then the government showed up," Josh adds. "And we had to disinter him rather quickly."
"You're serious?" Marty looks back and forth between Doc and Josh. "Where is he now?"
Doc grins. "If you had to hide someone here in a hurry, where would you put him?"
"Oh man!" Marty exclaims again. "Really? You put him in the old hiding place?"
"What hiding place?" Lois asks.
Marty gestures towards the back of the house. "Doc's great-grandfather was a conductor on the Underground Railroad. They built a small cellar with a trap door underneath the old shed out there." He turns to Doc. "Is that where you hid him?"
"And me," Doc says. "After Clark freed us, Josh helped me to hide in there while he went for help."
That explains why I could hear Doc and Jay in almost the same spot but Jay had no idea Doc was there.
Doc looks at Lois. "Have you told Superman about Lucas Peregrine?"
"She didn't have to," I answer. "Your grandfather was correct, Dr. Hanover. Lucas was from Krypton."
Doc breaks into a grin. "Then I'm very glad we saved him. Is he a relative of yours?"
"No, I don't think so. He was falsely accused of a crime and fled to Earth."
Doc nods solemnly as he takes this information in. Luckily, he doesn't ask me how I know this.
"Not to be rude, but why are you here, Superman? Did you come for Lucas?" Marty asks.
Emily clears her throat and says sadly, "That's my fault. I… my brother wanted to kill him. All those accidents were Jay trying to get Superman to come out here so they could shoot him."
"Who took the pictures?" Lois asks.
"John did. I just put them in your rooms. We just wanted to make you nervous, so that you'd ask Superman for help. I really didn't think they were going to hurt you." Emily twists her hands nervously. "And then, that day in Valentia, when you showed up?" She dares a peek at me before looking away. "I'd never seen you in person before. Even though Jay was always going on about how evil you were, you were so…not evil." She shrugs. "Lois and Clark both said you were nice. And the more I worked with them and got to know them, the more I wondered if maybe my uncle and Jay had it wrong. But it seemed like I was in it too deep to back out, you know? And then, when the pier exploded, it was just too much. I realized they didn't care who they hurt. I wanted to tell Clark this morning, but I couldn't think how."
I hold out my hand to Emily. She hesitates and then tentatively reaches out to shake it. "No hard feelings, Emily. You went for help when you could have just run away. That took courage." I give her a smile and she lets go of my hand.
"Thanks, I guess." She looks over at Doc. "So what are you going to do with Lucas now?"
Doc sighs and shrugs. "I… I don't know. We can't really re-inter him since I fear that someone else like John or Jay will come along. I guess we'll donate him to the college."
"Couldn't someone just steal him from there?" Lois points out.
An idea comes to me. "Would you trade him, Dr. Hanover? For another kind of proof?"
"He's not an acquisition, Superman. I think you have more claim on him than I have."
"Wait here," I tell him.
I rocket home and return five minutes later with the box that was hidden in the foundation of Lucas' cabin and hand it to Doc. "If you have it analyzed, I'm quite sure it will prove not to be anything from this world."
"I don't want it analyzed." Doc traces the symbols with wonder. "This is enough. May I ask you where you're going to take him?"
<"…My only regret is that no honors or tributes will be given upon my death. I will have remained a stranger… There will be no one to tend my grave.">
"Family plot," I tell him.
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The next day we bury Lucas beneath the oak tree in my parent's yard. I lay the box gently in the hole and then rise to help Dad slowly fill in his grave. As I cover him I think about everything he sacrificed for the honor of his family. I feel sorrow for the circumstances of his life, for the fact that even in death he was a fugitive. Dad pats the soil into place while I lift the boulder I brought from the shore of Lucas Lake to mark his final resting place.
I step back and Lois takes my hand. Mom touches my elbow. We all stand for a few minutes in silence. I close my eyes, overwhelmed by a rush of feelings. Here I am, surrounded by the people who love me. Fate has been kinder to me than it was to Lucas. He feared he would die in anonymity and that no one would ever truly mourn him. It may be seventy years too late, but at least we can give him this much. I hope that, wherever he is, Lucas sees us. I hope that he knows that, against all odds, one little piece of his world has survived.
Mom pats my back and then she and Dad head back to the house.
"Do you think he would do it again, if he could rewrite history?" Lois asks.
"Do what again? Leave Krypton?"
"Yeah."
"I don't know. Maybe not. Maybe after he got here he realized the sacrifice was just too great."
"What was it Doc said? That sometimes you have to risk everything, even if it means you're left with nothing?"
I look at the bandage on her arm and a lump comes to my throat. If I could rewrite history that never would have happened, regardless of the cost. Lois sees where my gaze is directed and she releases my hand.
"I'll see you back at the house," she says softly and then walks away.
<"…My days are spent in the remembrance of you, dearest Kacie. I remember your hesitation in believing me to be your true mate; how I had to woo you so carefully…">
"But you did win her, Lucas." I whisper to him. "I wish you could tell me how you did it."
<"…I knew from the first our connection was real. I feel it still, a small invisible thread that binds me to you…">
Is that just a Kryptonian thing? I've felt a connection to Lois from almost the first moment I met her. When I made love to her I was convinced that connection became something tangible. Like Lucas said, an invisible thread binding her to me. Was I just reading too much into an intense moment?
Maybe it's time to risk everything and see if she'll give me a second chance.
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I'm pacing my apartment, trying to decide what to do. I called Lois, but she's either not home or avoiding me. Should I go over there? But then, if she's avoiding me that would just annoy her. Is she still upset with me? There's been a truce between us after the events at Doc's and Lucas' burial, but I can't really define where our relationship is now. She hardly said anything to me after we got back to Metropolis this evening. Does she need space?
There's a familiar knock on my door and I break into a smile. When I open the door she's there, standing nervously outside. She's wearing a long-sleeved shirt to hide the bandages.
"Before you ask me in, you should know what this is," she blurts out. She sounds as edgy as I feel.
"What is this?"
"A time warp. A once-in-a-lifetime chance to rewrite your history."
"Okay," I say hesitantly. Please don't let me screw this one up.
"You have to trade me places. And then knock on the door."
Completely bemused, I step outside. She brushes against me as she enters my apartment, setting off that familiar primal reaction to her. She shuts my door and I knock. I can see her shadow through the curtains, waiting, but she doesn't open the door. I knock again.
Suddenly the door opens a few inches and she's glaring at me. "What do you want? Because, unless you're here to apologize, I don't want to talk to you."
"Apologize?" She made me leave my apartment so I could apologize? There's a laundry list of reasons I should apologize to her; which one am I meant to be sorry for right now?
"Yes!"
"For what?" Oh my god, deja vu. I know exactly what she wants me to apologize for.
<"…Actually, it was more like international television..." "…She's kissed him more than once...">
She starts to shut the door so I put my foot in the opening like I did the first time we had this argument. "Okay, I'm sorry."
"For what?"
What did I say next? "For whatever it is you think I did."
"Move your foot."
"Lois, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have teased you like that."
"You're my partner, Clark! You're supposed to take my side. You're not supposed to add fuel to the fire, pointing out how many times I've kissed Superman."
"I didn't say how many times. I only said you'd kissed him more than once." I know the question that's coming next and I know exactly how I'm going to answer it.
"I didn't realize you were keeping track. How many times is it, Clark? Do you know?"
"Seven times," I say confidently.
She blinks in genuine surprise. Was she expecting this fight to go a little longer before I broke? "Seven times? You're wrong, it's only twice."
"No, it was seven times. You just didn't know you were kissing Superman the other five times. You see, Lois, I'm Superman."
"Seven times? Really?" She pulls the door wide open in invitation. Is she kidding?
"*This* would have been your reaction? That's such a load of crap!" I exclaim as I come inside and slam the door behind me.
"You don't know that for certain. There were people downstairs, I wouldn't have wanted to make a scene."
"Whose revisionist history is this? Yours or mine? At least be honest in your reaction!"
"I am being honest. I can't believe you know off-hand exactly how many times we kissed."
"Trust me, they're all seared into my memory." No sooner are the words out of my mouth then I wish I could recall them. "Seared" is the wrong word to use. "Lois, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
She tugs nervously on the end of one sleeve. "It's just an expression, Clark. I didn't take offense."
"It was the wrong thing to say. I'm sorry. I wish this really was a time warp, I never would have let them touch you."
"How would you change that? If you had been there then maybe they would have shot you in the house where you couldn't hide in the trench while you recovered. Maybe they would have kept shooting until you really were dead! They don't hurt now, so don't let that bother you. Do you know what I think of when I see them?"
I shake my head and look at her face. I can't bear to look at her arms. Looking at what they did to her makes me want to fly out the window, track them down and… It would feel so good to burn them back. Make them hurt like they hurt her. The police didn't find them, and I know that if do I'll turn them over to the justice system. But that doesn't stop my dark thoughts of revenge.
"I think about why they're there. I think about why I did it. I think about you and… I think about that night, in the lake. If anything is seared into my memory, Clark, it's that night."
She looks up as if she's asking for divine help and takes a deep breath. "This is… probably the oddest question I've ever asked anyone." She clears her throat. "That night, in the lake, when we… anyway, it was like…" She sighs. "You know how Lucas said there was a connection between him and Kacie? Did you feel… something?" She covers her face with her hands. "I can't believe I'm asking you this. I don't mean the sex, I meant…"
So what I felt that night was real. Lois had experienced it too…a tangible connection. "I do know what you mean, Lois. It was… I'd swear, for a moment there, it was like I was… you," I answer.
"Exactly! That's why I asked you if you remembered your first impression of me. I swear I saw myself through your eyes, on that first day. It was so vivid and I thought later I must have imagined the whole thing. Has that happened for you before, with, you know, with others?"
"Lois, that's never happened before because I'd never done that before."
She doesn't react for a few seconds and then her eyes widen. "You're kidding me. That was… Clark, I never would have guessed. I…"
"I've always felt like there was a connection with you, Lois. That night just… reinforced it for me."
"A small invisible tie that binds us - isn't that how Lucas described it?"
"Yes."
"Do you think that was a one-time thing?"
There's only one way to find out. I think my heart skips a beat when she steps closer to me. "I… don't know," I manage to stammer.
"You're an award-winning journalist, I'm sure you'll think of some way to find out." Her eyes sparkle with encouragement.
My mind goes blank for a moment. Yeah, buddy, you heard that right. Go for it. Risk everything and see what happens.
"If you're teasing me, Lois, you have about thirty seconds left before I lock this door."
Her eyes darken. "You're really going to lock the door?" she asks.
Oh please, don't let me be reading this wrong. "Yep."
She moves past me to the door and my heart sinks. Was I being too intense? Did she think I was going to hold her prisoner here until she agreed to sleep with me again?
When she turns the lock the sound echoes in my ears. "I wasn't teasing you," she says.
She's still turning around when I pull her into my arms and kiss her. Her head tips back into my hand as we kiss each other desperately. Lois puts both her arms around my neck and leans her body invitingly against mine.
I become so breathless I can't think straight. The bed. I should take her to the bedroom and see what she does. I lift her into my arms and walk down the stairs. Each step bumps her body against mine. She kisses my neck, her breath hot against my skin. For the first time ever I worry that I might drop her if she doesn't stop distracting me. I manage to make it to the bedroom and lay her down on my bed. I stretch out next to her and she makes no protest. In fact, she pulls me on top of her as her lips capture mine again.
Her hands move restlessly down my back and lift the hem of my shirt. I break the kiss so that she can pull it off. She rolls us and sheds her own shirt. Oh, this is going so much better than I thought it would.
"I guess you're not going to ask me to leave then?" she smiles
My mouth has gone dry and I have to swallow before I can answer. "No, please, stay as long as you like." My voice seems to have dropped three octaves.
"I'll only stay as long as you want me," she says.
"Then I guess you're never leaving."
She traces her fingers over where Jay shot me. There are faint red marks, but that's all. "No scars," she murmurs.
"No." I glance at her arm. "I'm so sorry, Lois."
"For what?" She looks perplexed, then realizes my meaning. "No, don't be sorry." She takes my face in her hands. "I don't want to talk about any of that right now." Her eyes glint with suppressed laughter. "I especially don't want to talk about Superman, so don't bring that up again either. You said you'd kiss me anywhere I wanted, right?"
<"Lois, I'll kiss anything of yours you want kissed.">
"Yeah…"
"Then kiss me here." She puts her hand over her heart. "You broke it, you can fix it."
I move her hand and press a kiss to her chest. I whisper endearments against her skin, imbuing them with all the love I feel for her, hoping that somehow it will sink deep inside her and truly mend the hurt I caused. I turn my head, resting my cheek against her heartbeat. She wraps her arms around me, the fingers of one hand threading through my hair while her other strokes across my back.
"Clark?" she whispers. "Which one was your favorite?"
"What?" I raise my head to look into her eyes.
"Which kiss was your favorite?"
I shift up a little and brush her lips with mine. "That one," I tell her. "Or maybe it was this one…"
I kiss her again, deeper this time, my tongue stroking over hers. When we come up for air she sighs. "I liked that one, too."
"I bet you'll like this one more," I kiss her again, taking my time and using delicate strokes of my tongue to explore her mouth.
"Oh yeah," she breathes. "That one was my favorite."
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I wake up in the middle of the night and moonlight is pouring in through the window. Lois is lying on her side, facing me, one hand tucked beneath her pillow while the other rests on my chest. She looks so young and unguarded and it stirs up every protective feeling I ever felt for her. I can just make out of the edge of the bandage on the underside of her arm and I'm overcome anew at what she went through for my sake.
<"This had better be worth it, Clark. Otherwise, believe me, I will get even with you.">
Was it worth it, Lois? I watch her sleep and recognize that it was. It was worth everything we risked to get to this moment. Even if I could change what happened, Lois is right; it might not have turned out this way.
<"All is fate.">
Lois was always my fate and I was hers. She protected my secret and now that soft side she hides from the world is mine to protect. I was wrong when I thought that I loved that side of her best. That wasn't who intrigued me so much when I met her. It was the defiant, stubborn half of her personality that I first fell in love with. Without her strength we neither one of us would have made it to this moment.
<"…Do you still think that? That I'm 'driven' and 'focused'…?">
"I wouldn't love you half as much if you weren't," I whisper to her. "I love everything about you."
And, when she wakes up in the morning, I'll tell her that.
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The End
Author's Notes:
I have to thank my betas, Sara and DJ, for all the time they put into reading and commenting on the story for me. Sara, especially I must thank since she had to beta a story that was a gift to her. Thank you for all the snarky comments. Don't ever hold back!
It's fair to say there wouldn't be a PG version of this story without Vicki. I had reached the point where I was seriously considering letting it fade into the ether but she came along and showed me the way to make it work.
I also wish to thank everyone who took the time to comment on the boards. Your kind words buoyed me along on the days when I doubted myself.
When Clark said "seven kisses" this is how I figured it (kisses up to, but not including, WWWhine):
1) Strange Visitor (before they're tossed out of the plane)
2) Man of Steel Bars (when he resigns)
3) Pheromone, My Lovely (as "drugged" Superman)
4) Honeymoon in Metropolis (uh, yeah)
5) All Shook Up (for luck before the asteroid)
6) Lucky Leon (first date).
7) The second time they went swimming in the lake (since Lois is calling this a "time warp", Clark is leaving out the next two times they went "swimming")
The kiss in Tempus Fugitive doesn't count because neither of them remembers it. Personally, I think there's a missing off-screen kiss after Individual Responsibility (assuming Clark showed up and stuck around past 7:05 but I can't include that in the count).
John Hunt Morgan was a real historical figure and Morgan's Raid was an actual event during the American Civil War. Originally I went into more detail about both (Lucas was involved in a battle where the bullets just seemed to bounce off him) but realized that the story didn't need it. If you have the time or inclination, go check them out here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan\'s_Raid. It's a fascinating side note in history.
Marty's "talent" for bloating on the battlefield was inspired by Tony Horwitz's book "Confederates In The Attic". He's an amazingly fun writer. I heartily recommend all his books, he writes travelogues that are hilarious and insightful.
I also stole several lines from the ABC series. Hopefully they'll recognize it as a tribute and not plagiarism. It was done out of love, guys! No profit!
