Previously, on Part 10:
"I love you, Clark. And please, believe me," begged she. "You're not my second choice. I can understand if you don't want me because of my feelings for him, but please, never doubt that I love you too. Because it's true."
Her throat was tight by the tears she was holding back, and she was barely able to speak anymore, but she needed to say it.
"You're not just a way to forget him. I'm really in love with you."
Here. She said it. And she was so terrified of his response that she wanted to die. If he rejected her, she would have lost everything. Everything would be over. That was the moment of truth. She looked Clark in the eyes to know his reaction to her speech, and saw silent tears on his face. He raised a shaking hand to caress her hair, and smiled at her.
"I love you too, Lois," responded he, the voice hoarse with emotions. He never felt so happy in his whole life.
Relieved, she broke off and cried hard in his arms. This time, that was happy tears. She had been so terrified to hear his response.
"I love you too," repeated he.
She raised the eyes on his happy face, and kissed him again, harder, to make him feel everything she felt for him.
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And now, Part 11:
PART 11: THE KIDNAPPING
An incessant bip awakened Clark. He blinked a couple of times to clear his head. He just needed a second to realise that the bip came from a clock. Why was it not on the radio settings? The bip stopped as he opened his eyes on an unfamiliar environment. He turned his head and saw the woman besides him. He remembered. He was in Lois' bed. He smiled.
She was laying her back on him, the head still buried in her pillow. She turned off her alarm clock automatically and she didn't seem to have noticed him yet. He grinned and cuddled against her. She jumped a little.
"Hello, sleeping beauty," murmured her tenderly, kissing her hair.
She remembered and relaxed. The night before, she admitted to Clark her growing feelings for him, and he said that he loved her too. They spent hours to cuddle and kiss, and say their love. Late in the night, they went lying in her bed to cuddle more comfortably, and they fell asleep. Nothing more happened but she was truly happy, maybe for the first time in her life. She turned towards him, grinning too.
"Hello, Prince Charming. I don't think you're supposed to wake me up by kissing my hair."
He laughed softly.
"I think you're right."
He kissed her very tenderly and drew back, too soon for Lois' taste.
"I love you, Clark."
That felt so great to say it, even after having said it for hours the previous night. That felt great to say it, knowing that he felt the same way.
"I love you too, Lois. And you know... I'm really glad you finally realised it," said he in a joking tone. "You're bed is definitely more comfortable than your sofas."
She laughed softly and she leaned over him to kiss him again, when her alarm clock went on again. The few more minutes of sleep that she allowed herself every morning were over. It was time to get up and go to work. She turned off the alarm, and sighed.
"We need to prepare for work, " announced she without any enthusiasm.
"I guess so. You can take your shower first. I prepare the breakfast."
"Thank you, Clark."
They get up, still fully dressed, and Lois went to the bathroom. When Clark heard the water go on, he went through the window unhappily. It was time for him to do his show for the paparazzi's benefit by Andrea's window.
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Lois was trying to focus on her computer's screen, but she couldn't keep her mind off Clark for too long. She left her head again and looked across the newsroom towards him, and found him looking back at her. He smiled to her and she grinned back, before lowering her eyes on her computer again, a little embarrassed to have been caught starring one more time. But she was also very happy; he wasn't working either! He looked at her, too...
Clark couldn't keep his mind off her either. All the day, he thought only about her. About their night together. That was the better night of his life. He dreamed for a long time to hear her say that she loved him, and to be able to say it back. And the night before, that wasn't a dream anymore. She said that she was in love with him, with the two parts of him - what was more - , and he had finally been able to admit his feelings to her without the fear of being rejected.
He never had been so happy in his life. Everything was just perfect. Well... Almost, he amended with a frown. There were still some clouds in the sky.
He hadn't told her yet he was Superman. He still had to pretend that he was married to Andrea, and look Lois suffer because of that. No. Not anymore. He won't let her keep suffering. He made his decision. It was time for him to tell her the truth. All the truth. And this time, no one will keep him from doing it. He won't discuss about it with Henderson first. He'll just do it.
Now that the decision was taken, he felt a surge of relief in him. But he felt worried too. How will Lois take the news? Probably not good. But he couldn't let his fear keep him from telling her the truth.
He saw her look at him again, and smiled. Apparently, she had as much difficulty as him at thinking about something else apart their new relationship. He smiled wider and left his seat to go to her.
"Hey. What do you think about leaving work early?" suggested Clark with a smile.
"Why? Do you have something in mind?" asked Lois suggestively.
"Actually, I would like to talk."
"Talk?" repeated Lois in a teasing tone. "You're definitely not an average male."
Clark smiled. He liked to see her joke. That was so much better than to see her upset or crying... and he saw that too much lately. He appreciated very much to see her better, and felt happy to know that was because of him and her feelings for him. He couldn’t really bring himself to believe that they really were together, at last. That was a dream come true, and he hoped that she won't be upset again by what he was planning to tell her. But that needed to be done.
"To be honest, Lois, I have something important to tell you."
Lois felt him tense and she worried. Surely he wasn't about to dump her, like everyone else, was he?
"Wow. You sound serious. Something's wrong? Please, tell me nothing's wrong."
"No, Lois. Don't worry. Nothing's wrong, I promise," cut off Clark. "Yes, this is a serious subject, but... nothing's wrong. Actually, maybe it's even a good thing. I hope you'll see it that way, anyway."
Clark interrupted himself when he noticed that Lois was trying not to laugh, and starred at her.
"I'm sorry, Clark, but you're so cute when you're babbling," said Lois smiling.
He smiled back. "I guess I'm a little nervous. So... what do you think about leaving work early?" asked Clark a second time.
"Fine by me."
It was only 4:00PM but what the heck. She saved her work, not that she really wrote much during the day, and turned off her computer. While she was putting back her coat, Clark turned off his computer too, and then, they headed for the elevator.
While the doors of the elevator opened, Clark heard the news on the television behind him in the newsroom. There was trouble at the nuclear central of Philadelphia. A big trouble. He needed to go.
"Clark?"
Lois' worried voice brought him back to his surroundings. She was inside the elevator, and he still hadn’t moved an inch to follow her.
"Oh no. I know that look. Don't tell me you forgot something, Clark."
"Yeah, I did," responded Clark. "I'm sorry, Lois. Go back home, I'll come to your apartment as soon as I can."
Lois sighed in frustration as the doors of the elevators were closing without really letting her the time to protest.
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They were following the police car for hours. Like everyday. And he was really fed up with that. When the boss had first talked to him about his mission, he thought that would be exciting. Not everybody could brag about kidnapping Superman's wife. He'd become famous!
But now, he was just really bored. A whole week to watch her from afar without doing anything. Boss' orders. Something about 'waiting for the right time'.
<Yeah! And I'm Santa Claus! They're just afraid of Big Blue!>
Ricky snorted. He preferred the time when Lex Luthor was the boss of the city. He wasn't afraid of his own plans, at least. Now, he worked for Intergang, and one thing for sure, they were amateurs compared to Luthor. Not surprising they couldn't do their business in Metropolis until the great man died.
But he had orders, so he was boring himself to death following Superman's wife all day long, waiting that the time was right according to the boss.
His cellular rang. He looked at the number of the caller. It was the boss. Probably more boring orders! This man really wasn't up to the task at controlling the city as Luthor was. He picked up the phone.
"Yeah, boss?" asked he with a slightly disrespectful tone he couldn't completely hide.
In his office, Billy Church Jr heard the contempt in the voice of his man and became angry. He’d have to teach him the respect. Or maybe he'd just kill him. But the images displaying in front of him on television remembered him that he had more important matters at hand right now. And he needed Ricky for just a little longer. He forced himself to ignore his anger for now.
"You're still following the woman?"
"Yeah, boss."
"Good. We made sure Superman was busy for a long time. It's time," announced Billy.
"The time is finally right, boss?" asked Ricky, surprised.
"Yes. The time is right," responded Billy, still looking at the television screen were the images of Superman's rescue at the nuclear central of Philadelphia were displaying.
"Oh! And... Ricky? I don't care if you need to hurt her, but I want her alive, understood?"
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Andrea was inside the police car with her two colleagues. They were finishing their patrol, and then, they could go back to the police station write their rapports and go home. She was looking forward to that. When would her colleagues grow tired to ask her embarrassing questions about her husband?
Henderson insisted that they couldn’t know the truth, that she had to lie to them in the same way as she was lying to everybody else. She didn't have anybody close to her so that wasn't really difficult, most of the time. But she would have liked to tell the truth to her colleagues and her family at least. Heck, theses guys were probably the closest thing she had to friends, and they were risking their lives by still working with her. She really thought that they could know the truth.
But Henderson was adamant. She couldn't tell anyone. He ordered her colleagues to go to work with a discreet Kevlar protection but insisted that they remained in the dark. So now, she spent her days of work fending the questions of her partners, and her days off fending the questions of her big sister.
"Come on, Andrea. Tell us. You know you can tell us everything," insisted Michael, one of the two policemen she was working with, in a cajoling tone.
"Guys, please! I won't tell you! Anyway, why is it so important to you to know what Superman is like in bed? You're fantasising about him or what?!" blew Andrea, finally losing patience.
Her two colleagues burst out in laughs. "No. We just want to be sure he's keeping you satisfied. Nothing's more dangerous that a frustrated woman," joked Bryan, the other policeman.
She really was fed up with hearing that for days. She really wished Intergang won't wait too long before attacking her. Being their hostage couldn't be a worse fate than that.
Suddenly, a shock shook the vehicles. Pretty surprised, she shook her head, trying to clear her mind. She didn't have the time to understand what was going on that a second shock moved the car, propelling it out of the road, into a wall.
Andrea and her two colleagues were pretty shocked. They looked to one another in surprise and turned their heads towards the exterior of the police car to find out the source of the shocks that provoked the accident. They jumped as they saw four men armed with semi-automatics in their hands.
Michael was the first to recover and unsheathed but he hadn't the time to shot before the four men pelted the car. He ran out of the car to hide in the other side, joining Bryan who went out already. Andrea followed them quickly.
The fusillade was violent but short. Soon after the beginning of the gunfire, the four men turned around the car to shot at them directly. Three of them were shooting on Bryan and Michael, while the last one attacked and disarmed Andrea.
In a few seconds, the two policemen were down-to-earth. Their bulletproofvest protected them a minimum, and probably saved their lives, but they received numerous bullets in the arms and legs and they were bleeding seriously. They were unconscious, and Andrea feared the worst for them as the four men took her away in their van.
As she was struggling and screaming, one of the men punched her and she fell unconscious too.
"Ricky, are you crazy?!"
"No. The boss said he didn't care if she was hurt, as long as she was alive," responded the guy who had knocked her out. "Come on. Help me to carry her."
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Clark came back at the Daily Planet around 6:00PM. While he descended the stairs from the roof, and looked at his watch, he couldn't help himself but to curse.
Lois was waiting for him in her apartment for two hours, now. He was so dead. His only hope was that she'd understand his need to go, and forgive him the deceit after he'd tell her the truth. But he still wanted to write Superman’s interview about the Philadelphia rescue before getting on his way. That wouldn’t be too long, that wasn’t a front page story, thanks to his quick appearance there. That could have been a big disaster otherwise.
When he entered the newsroom, the noise of his busy colleagues who were running everywhere startled him out of his thoughts. It looked as if something big was happening, and he doubted that was his rescue at the nuclear central of Philadelphia that provoked such a commotion.
Before he could ask someone what was going on, Perry spotted him.
"Kent! Where have you been?" asked angrily the old editor in Chief, coming towards him. "Tell me you were at the police station."
"Err... No, Chief. Why? What's happening?"
"Superman's wife was abducted one hour and half ago. Her police car was attacked while they were finishing their patrol. She was taken and two other policemen were seriously injured. They're at the hospital. The doctors are operating them, right now. The police refuse to comment but apparently the criminals let a message at the scene for Superman. Apparently, someone's trying to blackmail him. Clark, I want to know exactly what they want, and who the police suspect to have done this, understood? I've already called Lois and sent her at the police station. You join her and you bring me an exclusive, ya hear?"
"Yes, Chief," responded briefly Clark
He went out immediately, changing back into his Superman persona as he ran into the stairwell towards the roof.
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