Let's fill the darkness with a little light
I should start bets as to who my villain is. Right now the majority seems to think it's Tempus. Well, I wanna keep this exciting, so I won't write spoilers. The good news is, that I've finished the story, so you will find out how this ends someday soon.
From Part 6: 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.
Part 7: “You have asked them to come?” Clark said, shocked.
“You don’t want them to see you, I suppose.” Lois sighed.
“Well, actually, I’m not to keen on letting them know what my injury really is. That would spare me from having to explain why it healed so quickly,” Clark replied with a shrug and then added, ”Assuming it does heal quickly.”
“Why shouldn’t it?” Lois stated and sat down on the bed. “I’m sorry, I should have asked you first, before inviting too many people.”
“It’s okay, honey. I’ll deal with it. And if it means that I’m stuck on crutches for a few weeks, it’ll be okay with me. At least, no one will ever suspect a ‘cripple’,” he made finger quotes, “of being the worlds strongest man.”
“That’s for sure,” Lois grinned and kissed him.
“Did Jimmy tell you anything new?” Clark asked, changing the subject.
“He said that he found out something about Smallville and this ominous ‘p53’. He promised to tell us everything once he arrives.”
“I only wish I could come downstairs more easily. I’m a bit embarrassed at the thought of Jimmy seeing me half-naked in our bed.”
“Hey, he’s a man, you’re a man, where’s the problem? He will assume you’re too ill to wander around and dress yourself,” Lois tried to soothe him.
“Well exactly, that is the embarrassing part.” Clark blushed.
“Well, I guess that is a male thing I won’t ever be able to understand. Do you really think he will comment on that,” she hesitated a moment. “Okay, maybe he will.”
They both laughed. They knew that Jimmy was blunt and often lacked tactfulness. On the other hand, he was a really good friend. He was honest, kindhearted and loyal. He didn’t run away when things got complicated and they loved him as a friend. For Clark, he was somewhat like the younger brother he had never had. Jimmy was important.
“I’d rather be dressed and downstairs,“ Clark said and lifted his legs out of the bed again.
This time standing up had become a bit easier since he had already done it before. In addition to that, Lois helped him. Once he stood in the middle of the room, she collected a few clothes for him. She chose comfortable clothing items. The pair of pants was especially easy to put on. Clark normally used them for sports or for just hanging around the house. The t-shirt she got was no problem either.
It didn’t take Clark long to dress and he did it almost on his own. Lois let him maintain his dignity and avoided helping him as much as she could afford to. He did not cope well with having to depend on others. She understood that. Being the most powerful man on Earth gave him certain ideas about himself; he wanted to be the helper not the one being helped.
Once Clark was fully dressed, he leaned on his crutches and took a few steps. He managed to leave the bedroom and headed for the staircase. He had never feared it before. Why should Superman be afraid of a couple of stairs? But now, things were different. He knew that these stairs created a big barrier between him and the first floor. He hated being afraid. But it was as simple as that: the staircase was a threat. If he stumbled and fell down, it was going to hurt. He wasn’t even up to human strength, yet. He barely had enough strength to hold himself up, let alone go down a flight of stairs.
But he would do this. This was the first step back to a normal life. Fear would not keep him from taking this step. So Clark moved on, feeling the soreness in his muscles. They protested against the effort, but obeyed his will. He walked to the stairs and went down the first, then the second. His progress was agonizingly slow. He rested briefly on the third stair, but he kept on going. It reminded him of a scene from Disney’s Cinderella: two mice were standing at the bottom of a very high staircase, one of them doubting that they would ever get upstairs. He felt like the poor mouse. The only difference was that he was trying to get downstairs.
After what seemed like an eternity, he reached the bottom floor and sighed heavily. His hands were shaking and his breathing rate had strongly increased. His forehead was damp with sweat and he prayed that his powers would return before he had to go upstairs again.
*Damn pride,* he thought, but avoided saying it out loud. He knew what Lois would reply. And she would be right. But he wasn’t in the mood to hear her saying it.
So Clark tried to look like he was doing perfectly fine, but who was he going to fool? Definitely not Lois, she knew him almost better than Martha. Lois didn’t comment on Clark’s wish to see Perry and Jimmy in the living room. She knew that he needed to feel free to go there, even if he wasn’t in any condition to. Clark wasn’t always rational. But her life had depended on his being unreasonable more than once. She forgave him his constant need to be the strong one, unable to let go.
If he hadn’t been ignoring his own limits she surely hadn’t survived their flight. So Lois didn’t say anything, which was unusual and very hard for her. She tried to support him the best way she could, forcing him to rest between his steps a few times.
Lois was glad when they finally reached the living room. Clark sat down on the sofa with a heavy sigh, looking very pale but desperately trying not to show it. He was ready to fall asleep again any moment, but he forced himself to stay awake.
Martha and Jonathan both watched him anxiously, fearing that he was going to collapse. It seemed like only an hour ago that he had been lying in the garden, closer to death than he had ever been before. But Clark didn’t rest unless he couldn’t help it anymore. Right now he seemed eager to find out more about his pursuers. Who could blame him? If he wanted to save Lois and himself, he needed to know who wanted to harm them.
The doorbell rang and Martha stood up to open the door.
* * *
It was just Jimmy, Perry hadn’t come. And he wouldn’t, according to Jimmy. He hadn’t found the editor-in-chief despite searching the Planet from the roof to the cellar and trying to call him several times. It was unusual for Perry to be anywhere but at the Planet. Jimmy had decided to meet with Lois and Clark alone. Maybe Perry would be back afterwards and maybe Lois and Clark had ideas concerning Perry’s whereabouts. He had not been gone long enough to start worrying, anyway.
Jimmy walked into the living room followed closely by Martha. Clark was still sitting on the sofa, his injured leg stretched out. Lois sat next to him, one hand resting on his healthy leg and stroking it softly.
“C.K.! You really don’t look too good,” Jimmy said without greeting anyone else.
“Thank you, Jimmy,” Clark said wryly. “Nice to see you, too.”
“Sorry, hello to all of you,” Jimmy replied, blushing.
“I told you that Clark was injured.” Lois was slightly annoyed.
“How did this happen?” Jimmy asked, curiously.
“Don’t ask,” Clark answered firmly, making it perfectly clear that he wasn’t going to tell Jimmy anything about his injury.
“So what did you find, Jimmy?” Lois inquired.
Jimmy ignored Lois question. “You really need crutches, C.K.? It’s your leg, isn’t it? I...”
“Jimmy, what did you find?” Lois asked insistently, interrupting him.
“Find?” Jimmy replied, confused and both his friends gave him an angry glance. “Oh, yes, I remember. P 53! That was an awful lot of work. I....”
“Jimmy!” Lois and Clark reminded him together.
“Okay, I’ll get to the point,” he grumbled. “It’s the name of a protein.”
“We knew that much. Anything else? It can’t be simply related to a protein,” Clark stated impatiently.
“Nothing else about p53, but I did find something about Smallville. There is a foundation buying land there for a new company.”
“Anything about the foundation or the company?”
“The company is a subsidiary of a big foundation, you may have heard of it: GENETHICS,” Jimmy replied.
“And why should a foundation like GENETHICS buy land? I always thought they served the common welfare. You cannot really call that welfare if they steal the land away from innocent farmers.” Lois said.
“I don’t know. I’ve asked a woman from public relations at GENETHICS. She denied that people at GENETHICS hold knowledge of buying land in Smallville. But she said that their subsidiaries are autonomous to a certain degree. I couldn’t make her tell me if buying land is a part of that autonomy,” Jimmy continued.
“So what they are saying basically means: We haven’t got a clue,” Lois stated and shook her head. ”Why am I not surprised?”
“Maybe because it’s the main task of a public relations agent to say just that?” Jimmy said, smiling.
Everybody laughed despite the lack of information that should have left them depressed because they knew barely more than before. Everybody except Clark.
He was lost in thoughts. He couldn’t it help it, there was far too much biology mentioned in the last couple of days. Carla was a medical student, Dr. Thomas researched genetic therapy, both the German students and Jimmy had said that ‘p53’ was a protein and now a subsidiary of *GENE*THICS was buying land in Smallville. He still had a hard time figuring out how a protein could be connected to Carla’s death, but he felt more and more certain that somehow ‘p53’ meant the protein. As strange as that sounded.
Jimmy, Lois and his parents had noticed Clark’s silence and watched him carefully. Particularly Lois and the two elder Kents were still worrying that he could pass out at any moment. But he didn’t seem as pale anymore, so this was probably less likely than just hours before.
They waited, getting the impression that he was about to say something. It didn’t take him long to arrange his ideas in a proper way to express them.
“Jimmy, do you know anything more about the protein ‘p53’?” Clark asked thoughtfully.
“I didn’t understand most of the things I read. It has the nickname “sentinel of the human genome”, that’s all I remember about it,” Jimmy replied.
“Sentinel?” Clark repeated in a low voice, again lost in thought.
*Something only Superman will be able to do. But there are groups of people who want to prevent this for different reasons. Ethics and ideologies, for all I know.* he remembered Carla’s words.
*There’s no living being on Earth who possesses genes with the potential of your genome.* that was Dr. Thomas’ voice.
‘P53’ seemed to be the missing link between Carla and Dr. Thomas. Of course the city of their origin had connected them somehow, as well. Now Clark felt that Carla had really been speaking about Dr. Thomas’ research. And “something only Superman could do” was to give samples of his genome.
Clark doubted that Dr. Thomas was the villain in this story. P53 offered the answer. *Ethics and ideologies* Someone couldn’t stand the thought of his genome being used to improve the human genome. Maybe it was his alieness, but maybe it was just an aversion for genetic therapy. He knew that those discussions were very controversial.
There was the religious aspect: humans shouldn’t play God. And there was the fear of not being able to control the outcome of this kind of therapy. Scientists didn’t know enough to predict the results. Clark had read that there was barely one percent difference between the human genome and that of apes closely related to humans. A slight change in the genome could have huge effects.
*Sentinel of the human genome* – no, ‘p53’ hadn’t meant the protein itself. It was just the code.
“I don’t know how, but GENETHICS is the key to solving this mystery,” Clark said. “The Foundation has always called for laws to control genetic research. They want this scientific area to be handled responsibly. Sounds to me as if “sentinel of the human genome” fits just perfectly.”
“Interesting idea, Clark. You could be right.” Lois nodded. Yes, that was indeed a logical explanation.
“Sorry, but I didn’t get that. Can you please explain?” Jimmy complained.
“Not right now, Jimmy. Maybe when we both know the truth about Carla’s death,” Clark stated before Lois could reply anything.
Jimmy seemed to be disappointed, but changed the subject immediately. "When are you coming back to the Planet, Clark?”
“I don’t think he’s returning anytime soon,” Lois and Martha said firmly at the same time, keeping Clark from answering himself.
Lois was pretty sure that he wanted to get back to work as soon as possible. She knew that he wanted to return to his normal life, ignoring the fact that someone had tried to kill him. He complained about her propensity to throw herself into dangerous situations, but after being exposed to kryptonite he wasn’t any wiser than she was. Clark was so good at ignoring the fact that it left him vulnerable. And he was rather brilliant at playing down his weakness and acting like everything was just fine.
“I hope that Perry will believe me and won’t accuse me of covering your – whatever he believes that you’re doing,” Jimmy mumbled.
“Don’t worry about that. All of us can explain to him that Clark just isn’t able to come.” Martha gave him a broad smile. “You helped us a lot, Jimmy. If it saves our farm, we owe you more than we can ever give you in return.”
“We need to visit GENETHICS soon,” Clark decided.
“We need you to become healthy, first,” Lois said firmly, making it very clear that no discussion was allowed.
Jimmy noticed that his presence was no longer needed. Staying any longer would possibly make him the innocent victim of an argument between the couple. He decided to flee.
Of course, he didn’t run away, but excused himself politely, mumbling something about work he had still got to do. It wasn’t true. There was only an empty apartment waiting for him. He would have loved to spend an evening with his friends; he hadn’t been with Clark for quite a time since he married Lois. But right now seemed to be the best time to stay away.
The atmosphere in the living room had indeed become tense. Lois had noticed how tired Clark was, though he had desperately tried not to show it. But she knew him and she was well aware that he wasn’t able to admit being weak. If he had been able to stand without help, he would have done it no matter how much it hurt him. But he used the crutches and it told Lois more about Clark’s condition than he wanted her to know.
He had to be strong, always. Nobody cared about Superman’s feelings. He was either the infallible hero or the enemy who needed to be destroyed mercilessly. Weakness was unacceptable either way. It would cause the death of others or his own. Nobody asked if it was hard for him to do his rescues, nobody ever saw him weep, except Lois. He tried to hide it, like he tried to hide every pain, physical and emotional. But she saw it, she felt it and it had made her cry more than one time.
Lois wondered if he had always been like that. Or had becoming Superman forced this character trade on him? She could only guess or ask Martha. But according to what she remembered from their previous conversations, he had often stayed alone with his pain, not wanting to bother his parents. It made her so furious every time she saw him aching and remaining silent about it.
Martha and Jonathan were excited and anxious, all at the same time. On the one hand they had gained a little hope, now that Clark knew the enemy he could do something about it and what he started was usually successful. On the other hand, they feared living with false hope, just to be even more disappointed if they couldn’t keep their farm.
Since Clark was still weak and far from being “super”, relying on him gnawed at their conscience. They should leave him alone with their problems. But Clark wouldn’t want to be left alone. He needed to help people like he needed air to breathe. In fact, helping people was even more vitally important for him, since he could hold his breath for about twenty minutes.
Clark himself was more than ready to sleep. He knew that there was an argument hanging in the air, threatening to become a thunderstorm if he were to say anything more. Lois had decided that he should go to bed. Obeying was the only thing left for him to do. If Lois had been in his place, he would also have wanted her to rest. He was pretty sure that she wouldn’t listen, but he didn’t care too much about that. They had come closer to the solution today. Sleeping a night over it would definitely make it clearer.
* * *
Thursday Clark woke up slowly. Something warm and tender lay on his stomach. It took him a few moments to realize that it was Lois’ hand. He felt the warmth of her body close to him, her hair tickled his arm. She placed a soft kiss on his chest and Clark opened his eyes.
“Good morning, my love. What a nice way to wake me up,” he said, smiling.
“It’s going to be even better, darling,” Lois replied with a promising grin. “Much better!”
“You make me curious!” Clark stated and embraced his wife.
About twenty minutes later, they were still lying in bed, held tightly in each other’s arms. Lois noticed that Clark was starting to look a little better. His face showed no pain and he seemed to be more at ease. The scratches that the landing had left him with started to fade. Maybe it was easier for him to get up today.
“Are your powers returning?” she asked him.
He quickly checked his vision and hearing and shook his head. “No sign of them yet. But I’m feeling a bit stronger than yesterday. Though I guess I’ll still need those damn crutches. My leg’s still throbbing.”
“I’m hungry,” Lois said, changing the topic. “I’m going downstairs to prepare breakfast.”
Clark looked on the clock next to their bed quickly. It was eight o’clock in the morning. He was surprised that he didn’t hear his parents yet. He couldn’t use his super-hearing, of course, but usually they got up early in the morning and were busy at that time of day.
Lois had already gotten up, wrapped a bathrobe around her and went downstairs. Clark watched her leaving and wondered whether he could follow her today. Breakfast in bed was great, but usually he preferred to be the one who served it. And if it wasn’t an option, but a must, it was far less attractive. Clark decided to give it a try.
He set up in bed and moved his legs out of it, sighing at the pain that was still cursing through the left one. He had left the crutches next to the bed on the floor. When he went to grab them, his hands grasped only empty space. He examined the floor thoroughly and then the whole bedroom. They were nowhere to be seen! Had Lois hidden them from him to hinder him from going downstairs on his own? He couldn’t really imagine that.
He considered calling Lois, but he heard her already coming upstairs. The door opened and a smiling Lois came in with breakfast. Boy, she was quick! And her smile faded as soon as she noticed that Clark was sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Stay in bed!” she said firmly.
“Lois, I’m not a baby and I’m not totally invalid. I need to get up, Dr. Klein advised me to walk around. Speaking of that, have you seen my crutches?”
“They are next to your bed, Clark,” Lois replied.
“They aren’t, else I would have seen them.” He shrugged.
“I didn’t take them.” Lois stated. “Time for breakfast now. Your mother had already prepared most of it. So, don’t worry about the taste!” She said wryly.
“As if I would, darling.” Clark kissed her when she came close enough to him.
