I'm starting to wonder whether someone reads this and likes it.
LaraMoon told me, she liked the story. Thank you for encouragement.
From Part 5:
“Don’t worry, my love. You need to find comfort with me as much as I do with you. We both endured horrible moments. We thought we’d lost each other, let’s just prove each other it’s not true at all. This is just about the two of us, please enjoy this with me.” He kissed her again lightly, dragging her against him and holding her tightly. “Wanna see me begging?” he teased her.
Part 6:
Wednesday
It had been afternoon when Clark completely woke up. After their passionate encounter, both Lois and Clark had fallen asleep. They had been exhausted after the events of the night and day. Lois hadn’t gotten much sleep during their flight to Europe and back. And she hadn’t been able to rest when she was worried to death that she might lose him. So neither of them woke up until the following day.
As Dr. Klein had assumed, Clark’s powers refused to return. His leg was still throbbing and he used his memories from the previous afternoon to forget his pain. He was also thinking about the information they had gotten in Germany. They still didn’t know what p53 meant and he was quite sure that Lois hadn’t bothered to check if Jimmy had investigated anything.
But the more he thought about it, the more important it seemed to him. Carla had known something and had died for it. And someone had wanted to kill him as well just after his return from Germany. He didn’t see a link yet, but he was sure that one existed. As long as he was alive, his life would certainly be in jeopardy. Without Lois he couldn’t even have survived this latest encounter with kryptonite.
He picked up the receiver of the telephone on the nightstand and dialed his own number at the Planet. Jimmy had made a habit of taking his calls when he was absent.
“Clark Kent’s desk, Jimmy Olsen speaking.”
“Hi, Jimmy, this is Clark.”
“Clark? How are you? Lois told me you were hurt. What happened?” Jimmy was curious as ever.
“I’m okay, mostly. It’s a long story and I don’t think I’m up to working for a couple of days. Jimmy, I need your help,” Clark replied.
“What can I do for you?” Jimmy asked.
“Find out everything you can about something called p53. I have no idea what it is. And when you have time for it, please look into who’s buying land back in Smallville,” Clark implored and said good-bye to Jimmy who promised to do his very best.
Lois woke up from the noise Clark’s call had caused. She watched him, pleased that he was actually doing better than the previous day.
“Hi, honey,” she smiled and kissed him.
“Hi yourself,” he replied grinning and returned her kiss. “Be careful, I’m still a broken man.”
He told her about Jimmy trying to find out about p53. Clark also mentioned what his mother had said the day before about having lost the farm. Lois was shocked by the news and also eager to help her in-laws. Neither she, nor Clark could bear the thought of them living anywhere but on their land. She had never actually met people that seemed to belong more to the place they lived in than Martha and Jonathan.
Lois knew that it couldn’t be long before Dr. Klein would arrive. So she decided it was better that he wouldn’t catch Superman and her in bed together. Lois rose from bed and got dressed quickly while Clark stayed there. He would try to get up himself when the doctor had visited him. Clark wasn’t so sure if he would actually allow him to walk. But he was pretty sure that the nasty wound hadn’t healed yet. It was still sensitive and achy.
Another thing Clark wasn’t sure about was Superman. The hero would certainly not appear before tomorrow and Clark seriously doubted that being back to normal the next day was very likely. So where did the world think he was? And what was the sniper thinking?
If Superman was considered dead, he was in no danger and neither was Lois. She always seemed to be the main target for villains attempting to kill Superman. He wasn’t the man to save her from danger at the moment. But was she really out of danger now? Assuming the Carla’s murderer thought that Lois and Clark knew something they shouldn’t know, they might pose a threat to him and therefore would be on his hit list as well.
So maybe their life was at stake until they found out who was behind these strange happenings. He wasn’t eager to consider themselves as being a possible target, but he couldn’t deny that it was the safest thing to assume while he didn’t know better. He would speak with Lois about it, pleading with her to be more careful than usual while he wasn’t up to full strength. And he would definitely try to get his powers back as soon as possible.
* * *
To Lois great relief, Dr. Klein hadn’t asked too many questions. He wasn’t curious as to why Superman laid in their conjugal bed. Or maybe he was, but had decided not to dig too far. Anyway, he had said that Superman was better than the previous day. However, he had also mentioned that it was very unlikely for his powers to come back within a short period of time. His theory was that Superman still had to deal with a heavy loss of blood.
His healing ability wasn’t completely gone, but it was mostly being used to keep him alive. It wasn’t strong enough to heal his wounds or restore his powers. Therefore Dr. Klein suggested being careful and not stay in the sun too long. He wasn’t sure it wouldn’t make things worse rather than better.
He had brought crutches with him and advised Superman to get up and walk around without putting weight on his injured leg. Dr. Klein didn’t think that injections of heparin would do Superman any good. And staying in bed to long might cause a pulmonary embolism even if the patient was the Man of Steel. Since Clark himself was very eager to leave his bed, he had no problems obeying the doctor’s instructions.
Dr. Klein had once again promised to have a look at Superman’s leg the next morning. He had already left for quite a while and Clark was still in bed. He looked at the crutches with some embarrassment. The strongest man on Earth needed to rely on their support to walk around. It was hard to imagine.
Lois was downstairs and had a talk with his parents concerning their problems. Jimmy wasn’t yet finished with his researches and hadn’t called back. But then, Clark had spoken to him only two hours ago, so this wasn’t very surprising.
He drove his attention back to the crutches and managed to get his legs out of bed with a small groan. His left leg was still hurting with every move he made. He wasn’t actually used to pain that stayed so long. The pain kryptonite usually caused him faded when the stuff was removed. This time was different.
The crutches were right next to the bed. Lois had offered to help. More precisely, she had threatened to become hell’s most devilish fury if he didn’t call her on his first attempt at standing up. But he wasn’t too eager for her to watch him. So he grabbed the crutches and lifted himself up cautiously. He put his weight only on his good leg, knowing very well that the injured one couldn’t take it.
Clark stood; not very steadily, but he stood. With this goal achieved, he tried his first step. It was more exhausting than he had imagined. As long as he had been in bed, he had felt strong. Well, at least he had felt a whole lot better than hours before. He had hoped that he was strong in the common sense of the word. But now was forced to realize that even human strength was something he hadn’t yet regained. His forehead was wet with sweat and his arms were trembling. He decided to sit down again and rest a moment before he tried again.
His second attempt was more successful and he managed a few steps. It was still tiring and he didn’t know how he was ever going to climb down the stairs in his ridiculous condition. Dr. Klein had advised him to move around, but he had also said that Clark shouldn’t ask too much of himself. So Clark went back to his bed again and sat down slowly with a sigh.
He shifted positions until he could stretch his legs and fetched the remote control from his nightstand. He was very curious to find out what the news said about Superman. Clark’s actions over the next few days and weeks depended mainly on what he would hear from the media. He switched the TV on.
A familiar feeling of guilt coursed trough him when he saw several bad accidents in the news which he could have prevented. Maybe he could have helped these people if he hadn’t flown to Germany that night, maybe he wouldn’t have been shot, then. He still suspected a connection between his visit there and the sharpshooter. He should stop being so kind to fly to every person calling for him. When they weren’t in trouble, then maybe they shouldn’t receive his attention. He should really learn to say “No” once in a while.
But then, the trip was an important part of Clark Kent’s work. He always claimed that Clark Kent was his real identity, but he couldn’t put the work of a journalist over his duties as Superman, could he? It was the same problem he always had to face with his two identities. And with losing his powers it didn’t get easier, quite the opposite. Maybe his conscience harmed him enough to keep a whole bunch of psychiatrists busy for months.
The news didn’t say much about Superman. Everyone had different ideas concerning his whereabouts. Rumors suited him in this case, because there were always people claiming to have seen him. Particularly when he was absent and the media was beginning to ask questions. There was always someone trying to gain a little bit of fame. As long as no one doubted that Superman continued fulfilling his duties, Clark was content. Of course people would start to wonder where he actually was when no film material appeared on television. Clark would worry about it when this became a problem, not before.
Clark turned off the TV not knowing what he was going to do next. He could sleep, hoping for his powers to come back earlier, but he seriously doubted that would have any effect since he wasn’t very tired at the moment. Okay, he was trying to fool himself. He was damned tired, but at the same time he wasn’t ready to sleep. He had too much things to think about and they didn’t allow him to rest, yet.
In his current state, he understood Lois better than ever. No matter how ill she was, she would be on her way to the Planet as soon as possible. In this very moment, Clark wished he was in the newsroom, working on the investigation about Carla. Sitting on his bed, barely able to stand, left him desperate. It wasn’t the first time that he was ill. He had been in a very bad condition during his virus infection, but then he had been able to move. When the virus had robbed off all his strength, he hadn’t been in the mood to do anything. It had been different from now. Now he was mentally capable of everything, his body just didn’t let him do what he wanted to do.
Clark heard steps in the staircase and then Lois’ voice talking to someone. He didn’t understand her words, which reminded him again of his lost powers. Lois was speaking quickly, hastily and impatiently. Since no one replied, he assumed that Lois was calling someone. Of course she talked to herself once in a while, but it wasn’t too common for her. He waited for Lois to approach him. He was quite sure that she was coming to him, since he heard her mentioning his name several times.
When Lois came into the bedroom, Clark understood that she was talking to Jimmy.
“Okay, come over Jimmy. But this sure isn’t a married couple thing,” she said annoyed at the mere accusation.
Jimmy replied something Clark would have heard had it not been for the Kryptonite.
“Yes, I know he’s in a bad mood in these days. Like I said, come over, Jimmy. Maybe your strong hands will be very useful. Bring Perry with you if he can’t believe that Clark is absent for a good reason,” she growled.
After she hung up she muttered: “I don’t believe it!.”
* * *
Two people in Metropolis were really wondering where Superman was.
The first one was Perry White. He had good instincts. And he knew his job. If something sounded like a duck, looked like a duck and walked like a duck, chances were good it actually was a duck. All these reports about Superman that were on television at the moment lacked one tiny but important thing: the truth. Whoever had seen Superman in the last 24 hours had not mentioned this in the newspapers or on TV.
All these fools claiming to have seen the Man of Steel were downright lying. They wanted the 15 minutes of fame that every man deserved in his life, that’s all. So, where was Superman? He had extinguished a fire at the S.T.A.R. Labs. That was his last major rescue. Maybe there had been a few minor ones, Perry’s sources were still trying to find out about this, but Superman’s whereabouts were still unknown. Why were Lois and Clark both absent at this very moment? Great shades of Elvis! He knew that there was something going on with Superman. The guy wasn’t famous for his frequent vacations!
Right now, no one seemed to work on this new Superman story at the Daily Planet, no one seemed to have noticed that there was something going on. Perry had advised Jimmy to get hold of his two best reporters. He should drag them to their desks, if necessary. Perry would have a word with Clark concerning his current work attitude. It started with leaving without telling where he was going. It continued with returning without a story. And it ended with being completely away from work.
If things with Alice only went better!
The second person called himself “p53”. He was anything but happy that his sharpshooter had proven himself not so reliable after all. Of course Superman had been a fast moving target and therefore not easy to hit, but at least he would have expected some information as to whether Superman was hit at all. His sharpshooter didn’t say anything concrete, he just wasn’t sure. Since no dead body of a hero had been found anywhere in the city, maybe Superman was still alive and healthy. On the other hand he hadn’t shown up for over twenty-four hours.
So where was the ever-present hero? It was unlikely for him to take a holiday. He wouldn’t stay away from the city unless something big kept him from being around. But what was it? A rescue somewhere on the other side of the planet, far away from any radio station that would tell the world about it? Or was he in fact dead, had sunk somewhere in the river and was dragged away by the current?
He really hoped it wasn’t the last one. This meant that he had only been partly successful since killing Superman was not the prime intention. A weakened but living Superman was to prefer, anyway. He need the hero in a condition where he was easy to controle. His dead body was only the second best thing. Of course the death of the hero would gain him a lot of fame in the criminal world as well, but certainly not the front page of its history books. And without the hero’s dead body he couldn’t prove his claim of being the ingenious killer.
If he didn’t find the dead body within the next hours his plan was at stake. That was all this damn sharpshooter’s fault. This guy would pay for his mistakes, so much was already decided. It was better to do the rest himself. He was the only one to be trusted with such an important task. He knew that now and to tell the truth, he should have known it from the very beginning.
Perry and “p53” agreed silently that everything concerning Superman had to be investigated thoroughly, assuming that two people who do not even know each other can actually agree about something.
