Lois woke to the sound of knocking. She was on the bed, curled on her side holding tight to one of Clark’s hands, and she couldn’t even remember when she’d relaxed her vigil enough to doze off. Clark was still sleeping, but he was no longer flushed and sweating, and when she pressed a hand to his forehead, his temperature felt normal. His breathing was deep and steady, and even though she knew she needed to get the door, she took a moment just to listen to it, to let herself revel in the soothing sound of Clark sleeping naturally.

The knocking became more insistent, however, so she rolled out of the bed and slipped out of the bedroom. She checked through the peephole to confirm that it was Martha and Jonathan and then threw open the door.

She didn’t bother with greetings, instead just telling them the thing they most wanted to hear. “He’s better,” she said, her voice breaking a little. “He’s sleeping, but I think he’s better.”

“Oh, honey,” Martha said, pulling Lois into her arms. “Thank you.”

The two women clung to one another as Jonathan dropped the suitcase he’d been holding and moved to hover in the doorway of the darkened bedroom.

“He was really feverish earlier,” Lois offered, pulling away from Martha to speak to them both. “And then he was sweating for what seemed like hours. I think he’s sleeping normally now, but I haven’t been able to get him to drink anything. He probably needs to…he lost a lot of fluid. Should we wake him up, do you think, or let him sleep?”

Martha ventured past her husband to her son’s bedside, Jonathan and Lois trailing along behind her. “Let’s let him sleep a little longer,” she said, unable to keep from reaching out and stroking her son’s lank hair. “My poor boy.”

“’M’all right, Mom,” Clark said without opening his eyes. “Just so tired.”

“Oh, Clark,” she said, joy and sorrow mingling in her voice. “What can we get you, honey? What can we do? Can you drink some water?”

Clark struggled to open his eyes. “Maybe,” he said, squinting up at his mother. “My mouth tastes like something died in it.”

“Here, Jonathan,” Martha said, thrusting the ice bucket at her husband. “Rinse this, please, and go get us some ice. In the meantime, Clark, we brought some of your things, and I can help you brush your teeth.”

“Mom,” he complained, “I can brush my own teeth. Just give me a minute to wake up.”

“He’s going to be a terrible patient,” Martha declared. “Comes of never being sick.”

“And of being a man,” Lois pointed out.

“Oh, that too,” Martha agreed.

“You know, Clark and I are both right here,” Jonathan said dryly.

“Yes, and I can’t imagine why,” Martha returned. “You’re supposed to be getting ice.”

Jonathan and Clark exchanged a look.

“Don’t look at me, Dad,” Clark said with a weak grin. “I don’t have the energy to take on either one of them right now, let alone both of ‘em together.”

“Smart boy,” Jonathan commented, on his way out the door.

Martha rubbed her hands together. “We need some fresh sheets in here, I think. Lois, can you call down to the front desk?”

“Sure, Martha,” Lois said, glad to have someone to tell her what to do. She would not soon forget the feeling of being all alone with Clark while he was so sick, knowing that the only people in the world she could call on for help were still hours away. Martha and Jonathan had lived with that feeling for years, she realized, able to turn only to one another with their fears and questions about their extraordinary son. How many times had they been terrified when he’d begun to manifest his powers, when it became clear that his body didn’t work like anyone else’s? How many times had they wished there was someone to tell them what to do, how to help him?

So this is loving Superman, she thought wryly, as she reached for the phone. It was a pretty far cry from what she’d imagined only a few days before, but what it lacked in romance, it made up for in depth of feeling. And she had a sneaking suspicion that once Clark was himself again, he’d be no slouch in the romance department. She just had to knock some sense into him first, that was all.

__________________________________

Lois watched with something bordering on awe as petite, blond Martha Kent took charge. She could learn a thing or two from this Kansas farmer’s wife, she realized. Martha didn’t throw tantrums and never raised her voice, but she had undisputed authority over the men in her life – and over Lois, too, for that matter. Within an hour, she had freshened Clark’s room, chivvied Clark into some clothes, and dispatched Jonathan for food.

“Nothing spicy,” she ordered. “Deli sandwiches or something like that.”

“McAlister’s is right around the corner,” Lois offered. “They’re pretty good. I could go with you…”

“Absolutely not,” Martha said. “You’ve had a long day, and you’re not lifting another finger. Go, Jonathan.”

Jonathan went.

Clark, now wearing a t-shirt and sleep shorts his parents had brought him, had been relocated to a corner chair so that his mother could change the fetid, sweat-drenched sheets.

“Clark, I’m finished here.” Martha patted the neatly turned-down covers invitingly. “You come get back in bed.”

Clark shook his head. “I need a shower first. Brushing my teeth helped, but I still feel disgusting.”

“Are you sure? Shouldn’t you wait for your Dad to help?”

Clark scowled and glanced quickly in Lois’s direction, obviously embarrassed at being babied. “I can still bathe myself, Mom. I’m fine now that the fever has passed. Just tired.”

“Well, I don’t know about ‘fine’ but you probably will feel better for a shower. I’m going to go lay everything out for you. Lois, look through our things, please, and see if you can find Jonathan’s razor and shaving cream.” She glanced at her son. “I take it you can’t shave the regular way yet?”

Clark shook his head.

“What’s the regular way?” Lois asked, pausing in her search through the open suitcase.

“He uses his heat vision,” Martha said over her shoulder on her way into the bathroom.

“Used,” Clark said quietly, looking down at his hands.

“Clark…”

“It’s no big deal, Lois,” Clark said, cutting her off.

“It must be, or you wouldn’t have mentioned it. Your powers came back last time, didn’t they?”

“Last time I was only exposed for a few minutes. I think…this may be different. I think Superman may be gone for good.”

“But Clark Kent’s still here,” Lois said softly. “And if I had to choose, I’d pick Clark Kent every time.”

He shook his head. “You were right, Lois. I didn’t want to admit it, but Superman was a big part of me. And if I’ve lost that part…I’m not sure I know who I am anymore.”

She crossed over to him and put the razor and shaving cream on the side table before kneeling in front of him and taking his hands in hers. “You’re Clark Kent,” she said firmly, “farmboy from Kansas. And you’re Superman, Kal-El of Krypton. And you’ll be that person whether the powers come back or not. You think Superman is about what you can do, Clark, but he’s not. Superman is about the fact that you choose to do it at all. Kryptonite can’t take that away from you.”

“But…what if you suddenly couldn’t be a reporter, Lois? What if that was just gone? What would you do?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’d hate it, and I’m sure I’d be miserable to live with while I figured something else out, but I’d just have to, wouldn’t I? Would you…feel the same way about me if I couldn’t write? Or if I was in a wheelchair? Or blind, or whatever?”

“Of course,” he said, “and I appreciate what you’re saying, but…”

“No buts.” She placed her fingers gently over his mouth. “No buts, Clark. It’s too soon to say if your powers are gone, but if they are, you’ll find some other way to make a difference in the world…because that’s just who you are. Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it.”

He smiled, his lips curving under her fingers. “We will?”

“Darn right,” she said, stroking his bristly cheek. “We’re partners, and I’m planning on us being a lot more than that. I’m in love with you, and I can be pretty determined when I make up my mind about something. So if I were you, Clark Kent, I’d forget about all that waiting business and just give in and let yourself love me back.”

He caught her hand and kissed the fingers that had been pressed against his lips. “I never stopped,” he admitted. “Trying not to love you was a complete waste of effort.”

“I told you I loved you in the car on the way here,” she said softly. “Do you remember that?”

He shook his head. “No, but I remember you finding me in that cellar…and then taking care of me. Not every minute, of course, but just moments off and on when I woke up and knew you were there. I didn’t have to hear the words, Lois. You told me you loved me in a hundred different ways today.”

“I was so scared, Clark. I’ve never been so scared in my whole life. Even when my own life has been in danger…that doesn’t even compare. I’ve never felt that way about anyone before. Loving you is so much…bigger than I ever thought anything could be.”

“Stronger than Superman,” he said softly, cupping her cheek in his hand, and she was amazed to see that his eyes shone with unshed tears. “I love you, Lois.”

She was unable to contain the sheer joy that surged through her at those simple words, and her smile spread across her face. It should have been frightening, being in the grip of something she now realized was as inevitable and uncontrollable as the tides, but she relinquished herself to it without a second thought. “I love you, Clark Kent,” she said, meaning the words with her whole heart.

And then he was pulling her closer and his lips were drifting over hers in a gentle whisper of a kiss. He pulled away much too soon, and she sighed with pleasure and regret. “I’m going to make a much better job of that later,” he promised breathlessly, “once I’m clean and shaven and my mother isn’t trapped in the bathroom.”

“Omigosh.” Lois’s eyes widened. “I completely forgot she was in there.”

“My mom’s very tactful,” he said. “But boy am I going to get an ‘I told you so’ from her later.”

Lois giggled. “Go rescue her. Get your shower. And hurry – I want to get back to the kissing part.”

Clark grinned at her. “I like the way you think, Lois Lane.”

_________________________________

Clark did feel better after taking a shower and shaving, though he nicked his chin during his shave and stared at the blood on the tissue with what Lois told him was a positively morbid fascination.

“This is only about the third time in my life I’ve ever seen my own blood,” he said defensively.

She snatched the tissue and tossed it into the trash. “Your blood looks just like everyone else’s, Clark.” She kissed the tip of one finger and touched it gently to the cut on his chin. “There. All better.”

“Hurts here, too,” he said, pointing to his cheek.

She couldn’t discern any injury, but she raised up on tiptoes and pressed her lips obediently to his smooth cheek. “Anywhere else?” she inquired.

“My lips,” he said quickly. “They hurt bad.”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “You cut your lips shaving?”

“I think it was the Kryptonite,” he murmured, tugging her closer, his intention obvious. “It does terrible things to the, uh, lips.”

His mouth settled over hers, warm and gentle, and Lois melted into his arms. This, then, is what kissing is supposed to be like, she thought dizzily, as the rest of the world seemed to fade away. Why had they ever wasted time doing anything else when they could have been doing this? And there was nothing tentative about his touch, nothing timid in the way his lips claimed hers and demanded a response. This was no first-date peck at the door. He kissed her as though it was both his right and his privilege. She’d never felt anything like it in her life.

“Food’s here, kids,” Martha called, and Clark growled deep in his throat before tearing his lips from hers and pulling away, still keeping her in the circle of his arms.

“Why did you invite them again?”

“Thought you were dying,” she said, pressing her forehead to his chest and trying to catch her breath. “Seemed like the thing to do.”

“I’m in a hotel suite with the woman I adore, and my mom is in the next room,” Clark murmured. “There’s something very wrong with this scenario.”

“They’re getting their own room for tonight,” Lois said, glancing up at him and trailing one finger down his chest suggestively. “What do you say to that?”

He captured her hand in the vicinity of his belly button and held it in his. “I say again – my mom is very tactful.”

She giggled and handed him the eyeglasses Martha had left sitting out on the counter for him. “C’mon, Kent. Let’s go eat.”

________________________________________

While they ate the sandwiches Jonathan had bought, both Lois and Clark were called on to tell their parts in the day’s adventures. Lois had the feeling that Clark glossed over his time in the cage, but she didn’t press him about it then, not in front of his parents. There was a haunted look in his eye, however, that told her it had been much worse for him than he was letting on. Later, if he felt like talking about it, she would be there to listen, but if he never wanted to think of it again, that was probably all right, too.

Similarly, she glossed over the nightmarish almost-wedding to Lex Luthor, giving as few details as possible and emphasizing for Clark’s sake that she’d backed out at the last minute.

“I would have done it,” she said, more to Martha and Jonathan than to Clark, “if I’d really believed that Lex would spare Superman. I’d have done anything I thought would save Clark. But…Lex wouldn’t have kept his end of the bargain. I doubt he ever even considered it.”

“He didn’t.” Clark shook his head. “He never had any intention of letting me survive. And more than anything, Lois, I didn’t want him to get his hands on you. I hope you know that.”

“I do,” she said softly, giving him the very words she hadn’t been able to give Lex. “When it came down to it, I knew I couldn’t do it. I knew you wouldn’t want me to.”

“No,” he said, looking at her so tenderly that his parents exchanged an amused and embarrassed glance. “You did good, partner.”

“You didn’t do so bad yourself.” She smiled at him self-consciously. “How in the world did you get out of that cage?”

Clark explained about the key and Luthor’s tie, and how with the very last of his super breath he’d finally managed to pull the key close enough to reach it through the bars.

“I was trying to figure out how I was going to climb those stairs and get out of there when I heard you and Perry outside the door. I thought it was Luthor coming back for some reason, and so I hid.”

“When I saw that empty cage…” Lois’s voice broke and she found she couldn’t go on.

“I’m sorry.” Clark took her hand. “I’m so sorry I scared you like that.”

“I know.” She wiped at her eyes with her free hand. “Hiding was the smart thing to do under the circumstances. But what if…”

“Don’t.” Clark shook his head. “Just don’t think about it now.”

“Clark’s right, honey,” Martha said gently. “The worst is over, and we’re just so grateful to you for what you did. Don’t tear yourself apart thinking of all the things that could have gone wrong.”

Lois nodded. “I know you’re right. It’s just…been a long day, I guess. My emotions are kind of all over the place right now.”

“We understand,” Jonathan said. “Let’s not talk about it any more right now. It’s been a long day, and I doubt any of us got much sleep last night.”

“You’re right, Jonathan.” Martha began to gather up the remnants of their meal. “We should turn in and let these kids get to bed, too. Clark, honey, you’re still looking pale.”

“I’m fine, Mom,” Clark said automatically, but none of them actually believed him.

Lois joined Martha in cleaning up the mess but paused when there was a sharp knock on the door. Lois glanced at it, startled, and then back at the Kents. “You two maybe should hide in the bedroom,” she said, taking care to keep her voice hushed. “I don’t know how to explain what you’d be doing here.”

Martha and Jonathan nodded without speaking and slipped into the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind them. Lois hurried to toss out the two extra cups that were sitting on the small table.

“Peek through the door,” she hissed at Clark, who had stood up when his parents left the room. “See who it is.”

He gave her a wounded look. “That’s not funny, Lois. You know I can’t.”

She blinked at him, confused, and then her face cleared as she realized what he meant. “It’s called a peephole, Clark,” she said as the knock came again. “It’s the way people without x-ray vision look through doors.”

“Oh.” He shot her an apologetic look as approached the door. “Sorry. I’m a little touchy about that I guess.”

He lowered his glasses and pressed his eye to the little window somewhat warily, as if he expected it to jump out and poke him. “It’s Perry,” he said, before flipping the lock on the door and opening it to reveal their former editor. “Hi, Chief. Come on in.”

“Clark!” Perry exclaimed, clapping Clark on the back. “You missed all the excitement this morning, son.”

“Yeah, sure did,” Clark said. “Sorry I didn’t tell you about the, uh, thing I had to do out of town. It came up kind of suddenly.”

“Yeah, things usually do with you, I’ve noticed,” Perry said. “So how’s Superman?”

“He’s much better,” Lois said. “He was really sick for a few hours, but now he’s mostly just tired, I think.”

“Just tired,” Clark echoed.

“Well, that’s just great. I’m awfully glad to hear it,” he said. “Listen, I won’t keep you kids, but I just came from a meeting with Franklin Stern, and I wanted to tell you about it.”

“Franklin Stern of Stern Media?” Lois asked.

“He’s the only one I know of,” Perry said with a grin. “I went to see him…told him about what Luthor had done to the Planet and suggested that he consider buying it. I told him that a great paper like ours would be the brightest star in the Stern Media galaxy.”

Clark grinned. “That’s very poetic, Chief.”

“I’m a newspaperman, son. It’s in my blood.”

“So it worked?” Lois said urgently, not the least bit interested in poetry. “He’s actually going to buy the Planet?”

Perry beamed at her. “Construction starts next week.”

Lois emitted a shriek that under normal circumstances would have pierced Clark’s eardrums, and then she threw herself into his arms. He caught her up in a fierce hug and then she wriggled away and hurled herself at Perry, throwing her arms around him and kissing his cheek for good measure.

Perry laughed. “Well don’t be shy, Lois. Tell us how you really feel.”

“Lex didn’t win,” she exulted, pulling away from him. “We beat him! We all beat him. He didn’t get me and he didn’t kill Superman and he didn’t destroy the Planet. We’re all still here and he’s dead and gone, and…oh, Clark!” She turned to Clark and grabbed his hands. “We get to be partners again. Isn’t this just the best news?”

“The second best,” he said, his eyes twinkling at her behind his glasses.

“The second best,” she agreed, beaming at him.

“Am I allowed to ask about the first?” Perry drawled.

“Nope,” Lois answered, looping her arms around Clark’s neck and standing on tiptoe to press a kiss to his lips. “Top secret,” she said.

“Very hush-hush,” Clark agreed, kissing her back with enthusiasm.

“I see,” Perry said dryly. “All right you two, just remember when we get back to work that my newsroom ain’t the back seat of your daddy’s Chevy. Strictly professional, you hear?” He tried to look stern but couldn’t quite manage it.

“Aw, who am I kidding,” he relented. “I’ve been pulling for you two for a long time now. Lois, Clark here’s been mooning after you for as long as I’ve known him. The minute he met you it was like he’d been hit between the eyes with a two-by-four.”

“I wouldn’t say mooning, exactly.” Clark looked positively mortified.

“Don’t worry about it, son. I see things other people miss, but I know how to keep ‘em to myself.” He paused a moment to let that sink in and then said, “Well, I’d best be on my way. Clark, you staying here tonight?”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” he said. “Just in case Superman needs anything.”

“Right. OK, I’ll hold down the fort for you while you’re gone, then. Lois, I bought you some time with Henderson, but he’s going to be wanting a statement from you tomorrow, you hear?”

“I’ll go see him,” Lois promised. “But as soon as he’s done with me, Clark and I are going to Kansas.”

“We are?” Clark raised his eyebrows at her.

“Yep. I happen to know a terrific couple who lives on a farm there and has been known to take in wayward Metropolitan reporters…along with the occasional cat.”

Clark laughed and put his arm around her, tugging her to his side. “If I show up with any more cats, my Dad will disown me, but you seem to have grown on them.”

“Well, give ‘em my best,” Perry said, “and you kids enjoy your vacation. I’m going to expect you back on the beat in a month or so.

“That sounds great, Chief,” Clark said, and with a few more words of farewell, Perry left them, and Lois immediately crossed over to the bedroom door to give Martha and Jonathan the all clear.

“We heard the good news!” Martha exclaimed. She and Jonathan were both beaming as they emerged from the bedroom.

“I can’t imagine how.” Clark grinned in Lois’s direction. “Lois took it so calmly.”

“Oh, shut up. You wanted to do the same thing and you know it.”

“I have never wanted to kiss Perry in my life.”

She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Kissing you, on the other hand…”

“On that note,” Martha said, holding up her hand and interrupting him with a laugh, “Your father and I are going to turn in.” She hugged Clark. “Goodnight, sweetie. I’m so glad you’re all right.”

“Thanks, Mom,” he said, returning her hug. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, honey.”

She turned to Lois, then, and hugged her, too, and Lois was touched to see Jonathan pull Clark into an embrace. What a lot of love there is in this family, she thought, and she knew without being told that she was now a part of that. It was an amazing feeling, and the warmth of Martha and Jonathan’s hugs stayed with her, even after the door had closed behind them.

“They’re incredible,” she said to Clark.

“Yes, they are,” he agreed, sighing and sinking down into the sofa.

“You look exhausted,” she said, touching his cheek gently.

“The day’s catching back up with me, I think,” he admitted.

“Let’s go to bed.”

He opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and then tried again. “Lois, just so I know that we’re on the same page…”

She grinned at him. “To sleep, Clark. To sleep. I think anything else should wait for a day when we’re not quite so exhausted and one of us hasn’t nearly died.”

Clark’s eyes widened in exaggerated horror. “Lois, I don’t want to rush you into anything, honey, but if we have to wait for a day when you haven’t nearly been killed…that could be years…decades, even.”

“Oh, very funny, Kent. Hilarious. Perhaps we need a reminder of just who rescued whom today...and did you just call me ‘honey’?”

He gave her a sheepish smile. “I was just trying it out. What do you think?”

“I kinda like it,” she admitted. “Almost made me forget about your pathetic attempt at humor.”

“I was teasing,” he said, pulling her into his lap and kissing her softly. “And you’re right. You were the one doing the rescuing today. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m still planning to yell at you, you know. It’s just that you were pretty pitiful today, and now you’re distracting me with kisses.”

“Well, let’s hear it for more of that,” he said, lowering his mouth to hers.

It was quite a while before they came up for breath. “Thought you were tired,” she murmured.

“I’m never too tired for this,” he said, still feathering kisses along her jawline. “Besides, if that’s all that’s keeping you from yelling at me…”

She smiled. “We’ll save that conversation for another day. Right now, you should get some rest.”

He lifted his head and gave her a serious look. “I know I should. I’m tired and weak and I have to use a peephole to see through the door. I should rest. But I don’t want to, Lois. I love this…us…being here together like this.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Clark,” she promised, stroking his cheek. “Just into the bedroom to sleep.”

“With me,” he said, as if to clarify the point.

“With you,” she assured him.

“That,” he breathed, “may be the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard anyone say.” His eyes seemed to catch fire as he looked at her, and she felt an answering flare of arousal that made her breath catch in her throat.

“I think…we have a lot to look forward to,” she said, surprising even herself with the blatant desire she could hear in her voice.

“Oh, yeah,” he growled, pulling her to him for one more hungry kiss. He pulled away, however, before things could get out of hand. “I’ll be good,” he murmured, “even though I don’t want to be.”

“Soon,” she promised. “We still have some things we need to talk about…but soon. Right now you should rest, and I’d kind of like to take a shower. I feel pretty gross.”

“You look beautiful to me,” he said, and the incredible thing was that she knew he meant it. She would always look beautiful to him, no matter what the circumstances, just as he would always be her hero, whether or not he could fly.

“I love you,” she whispered, once again overcome by emotion.

“Oh, honey…” he pulled her close, and hugged her as if he’d never let her go.

________________________________


After her shower, Lois came to bed dressed in one of Clark’s t-shirts, and his eyes nearly started from his head when he caught his first glimpse of her.

“This is not going to be easy,” he said, as she slid in next to him. “Maybe I should take the sofa.”

Lois waggled her eyebrows at him. “See something you like, farmboy?”

“Mmmm.” His hand quested beneath the covers and made a daring foray along the outside of her thigh. “You could say that.”

It was her turn to stare when he shifted onto his side and the covers slid down to his waist, exposing his broad, muscular chest to her view. It was OK to look now, she told herself. He wasn’t sick anymore; he was her boyfriend, and he was…good grief…he was absolutely gorgeous. She let her hand drift over his chest, a pristine expanse of honeyed flesh that was now hers to explore.

“See something you like?” he teased, smiling down at her.

“I’d have to be dead for a year not to like this,” she said, giving him an exaggerated leer, and then they both dissolved into giggles.

Exhausted as they were, they couldn’t seem to fall asleep right away. The strangeness of being in bed together for the first time combined with the effort that went into battling their hormones left them both feeling too keyed up to go right to sleep. The lure of pillow talk was just too seductive, so they continued to talk and laugh and tease each other until finally, Lois noticed the lines of fatigue around Clark’s eyes, and the reminder of what he’d been through that day sobered her.

“You look so tired.” She stroked his hair back from his forehead, not because it needed it but because she couldn’t resist touching him. Now that she’d been granted that freedom, her hands just seemed to wander in his direction, the little touches and caresses reassuring herself that he was there, he was alive, he was hers to love.

“I am tired,” he admitted, curling on to his side and propping his head in his hand. He apparently sensed her change in mood because he, too, turned serious. “Do you really want to go to Kansas?”

“I really do. I think we both need a few days of peace and quiet.”

“And Mom’s cooking.” A small smile touched his lips.

“Mmmm,” she agreed.

“What happened today is going to be the biggest news story in a decade. Do you really want to leave now?”

She sighed and rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. “Part of me doesn’t,” she admitted. “But the other part knows that I’m too close to this one to write it up objectively, and there are too many parts of the story I hope are suppressed, for one reason or another. That feels…strange, to not want to tell the whole truth about a story. I’m not quite sure how I feel about that yet.”

“Yeah,” he said softly. “Tell me about it.”

“I guess you’ve had to get used to that, huh?”

He shook his head. “I’ve never gotten used to lying.”

“It’s not lying, Clark. It’s just not telling the whole truth. There’s a difference. It’s just going to take some getting used to, that’s all.”

“What are you going to tell Henderson tomorrow?”

“I’m not sure yet. I don’t want to tell him or anyone else anything about what happened to Superman, but at the same time, that cage needs to be destroyed. Henderson can be a pain in the neck, but he’s one I’d trust with something like that. And Perry will be giving evidence, too. It’s going to come out, one way or another, if it hasn’t already. If we’re lucky, Henderson will agree with us that the public shouldn’t know about Kryptonite.”

“Then again, it might not matter anymore,” Clark pointed out softly.

She reached out and touched the tiny cut on his chin. “Clark…”

“I know. I’m obsessing, aren’t I?”

“No. I can’t pretend to know what you’re going through, but I do understand enough to know that it would be…hard to lose that part of yourself. And I would miss him, too. I love Superman, you know. Always have.”

“I know. I’m sorry I discounted your feelings for him.”

“And I’m sorry I hurt you that day in the park…and then later in my apartment. We’ve both made a lot of mistakes, and we’ll probably make more. Or at least I will. I don’t have any experience at being in love. I’ll probably be a terrible girlfriend.”

He smiled and pulled her closer. “You’ll still be the only girlfriend for me, no matter how terrible you are. I’ve searched the world over, Lois – literally – and there’s only you. I hope that’s not too much to tell you before we’ve even had our first date, but I’m through lying to you. I want this to be forever.”

“Oh, Clark.” She tipped her face up and kissed him softly. “That’s definitely not too much to say. I want this to be forever, too, if you’ll have me. And you know, we’re in bed together before our first date. I think we should just take it as read that we’re not going to do any of this in the right order. That doesn’t mean it isn’t right.”

“No, it doesn’t mean that at all,” he said softly, stroking her hair. “This has been a day full of miracles, Lois, and this…” he gestured at the two of them, nestled together in the tumbled bed, “this is the most amazing one of all. I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” she said, making no attempt to hide the tears his tender words had brought to her eyes.

And then with one final kiss, she fitted herself into the strong curve of his body, heaved a deep sigh of contentment, and relaxed into sleep.

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Epilogue


“Lois, you promised!” Clark exclaimed, outraged, as he surveyed the scene before them.

“Oh, sure! You don’t remember me saying ‘I love you’ for the first time, but you remember that.”

“You bet I do! No kittens, you said.”

“You were dying for all I knew, and Perry was in the front seat listening to every word. I wasn’t about to have an argument about some ugly old shirt.”

“Ugly old…”

“So yes, I promised,” she went on, “because I wanted to stop you talking about kittens – which isn’t all that Superman-ish – and I wanted to make you feel better, and I would have kept my promise except that I kind of forgot about your stupid shirt while I was busy trying to keep you alive.”

Clark wasn’t petty enough to argue with that, but he still looked glum as they watched the mother cat, which was glaring at them, and the four tiny kittens, which were suckling furiously atop the ruins of his shirt. “It’s all bloody and covered with…stuff,” he said, peering at it with obvious distaste.

Lois laughed at him. “You’re a farmboy! You’re not supposed to get grossed out by the miracle of life.”

“It’s a wheat farm, Lois. There are no bodily fluids involved in growing wheat. And I’m only grossed out by the miracle of life when it happens directly on top of my clothing.”

“I will buy you another shirt,” she promised, slipping an arm around his waist. “The ugliest shirt I can find. I’ll even throw in an ugly tie, though I’m not sure I can top the ones you already have.”

“The shirt has to be flannel,” he said grudgingly, pulling her closer and nobly ignoring the dig at his ties.

“Of course,” she said. “And I’ll wash it a thousand times and put a few holes in it before I give it to you.”

“No, don’t,” he said. “You can’t rush these things. Every hole and stain has its own memory. It’ll take years to get it just right.”

She shook her head. “You are a strange one, Clark Kent.”

He grinned at the memory her words evoked. “But you think you’ve figured me out?”

“I’m getting there,” she said smugly. “It’s my job, you know…seeing beyond the external.”

“Don’t be so sure, Ms. Lane. I might have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Like this,” he said, and he wrapped both arms around her and pressed his lips to hers. No sooner had she fallen into the magic of his kiss than she felt the ground drop out from under them. When she opened her eyes, they were hovering just inches below the rafters of the two-story barn, and Clark was grinning at her, clearly pleased with himself.

“Neat trick, farmboy,” she said. “Is this how you got the girls into the hayloft when you were in high school?”

“Nope,” he murmured, bending to kiss her again. “Couldn’t fly ‘til I was eighteen.” Another kiss. “In high school…” he trailed kisses down her neck “…I had to use the ladder like everyone else.”

“Ladders are boring,” she said breathlessly, as he gently traced the v-shaped neckline of her t-shirt with one finger.

“I’m glad you think so,” he whispered, and then he claimed her lips in a kiss that seared her soul. At the same time, he somehow managed to navigate them into the hayloft and, with minimal fumbling and only a few giggles, to lower her down into the hay and cover her body with his own.

Superman’s back, she thought dimly, with the tiny part of her brain that was still capable of rational thought. And I’m making out with him in a hayloft. It shouldn’t have made any sense at all, but as he moved over her, pleasuring her with his mouth and his hands, showing her that he loved her with every touch, it made more sense than anything in her life ever had.

He was Kansas and Metropolis and Krypton all rolled into one. He was flannel shirts and wild ties and blue spandex. He was scuffed Nikes and shiny wing tips and red boots. He was Clark Kent and Superman…and wherever he was, whatever he was wearing, when she was with him, she was home.

The End


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A/N: Thank you, once again, to all the FoLC’s who have made me feel so welcome in your midst. Your warm response exceeded anything I could have hoped for when I started writing, and many of the comments made me see things in my own story that I didn’t even know were there. I sincerely hope you enjoyed the conclusion of the story, and I will, as always, be delighted to receive whatever feedback you feel led to offer. (Jonathan wanted me to mention that the first four people to offer feedback on this final chapter will receive a free kitten… wink )

Thanks again for making my foray back into fanfiction such a pleasant experience.