Chapter Sixteen
Lois and Clark were walking back to the apartment after they left the Mayor’s mansion when Lois spotted a photographer tailing them. “Clark, we need get out of here – fast!” she instructed him. “I thought for sure that they would leave us alone after the press conference today.”
Clark smiled as he quickly grabbed and held Lois tightly, flying them up into the atmosphere faster than the naked eye could follow. As they rose above the clouds, the moon became visible against the black sky dotted with thousands of stars. The way the moon reflected on Lois’ smooth facial skin made her literally glow in the dark. Impulsively, Clark softly pressed his lips to hers. Lois held Clark’s face, closed her eyes, and returned the kiss. It seemed like hours went by before she opened her eyes again. When she did, they were literally floating on a bed of clouds!
“This is getting to be a dangerous habit,” Lois whispered. “Maybe we should go to Smallville for awhile and let the media cools their heels. Then we can practice French-kissing whenever we want!”
“Sounds good to me,” Clark replied, wearing a childlike grin on his face. He’d always wanted to have someone special that he could share his boyhood farmhouse with. Lana wanted nothing to do with it. She was *done* with Smallville. For her, the future held bigger and better things. Having the woman he loved ask him to bring her there was a dream he never believed he’d realize. Lois didn’t have to ask him twice.
First, they stopped at his apartment so they could put on casual clothes. Lois’ dress was too beautiful and delicate to withstand a 1000 mile flight to Kansas.
“Don’t you be peaking while I undress,” Lois warned. “Keep that vision gizmo of yours pointed in the other direction. I’m very self-conscious of my body.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, spinning into his Superman suit but grabbing a duffel bag of plaid shirts and jeans for the farm.
“Ok, I’m ready,” Lois announced, emerging from the bathroom wearing a v-neck blue sweater and black jeans.
“You look great, Lois,” Clark told her.
“Yeah, right. You wish I was skinny like the other Lois,” Lois replied. “It’s okay, I’m used to it.”
“Lois! I happen to like a woman with curves on her,” he said matter-of-factly. “You’re going to have to start accepting compliments from me. I’m not a phony; I only say things when I really mean it. I’m not Claude, okay?”
Lois looked down at her feet. “You’re right, Smallville. I’m sorry. You are nothing like Claude. You are nothing like *any* man I’ve ever known, not that I’ve known a lot of them… well *that* way...”
“Lois, you’re babbling.”
“I know I am.”
~~~~~
He headed west, following the setting sun, wrapping his precious passenger in his crimson cape.
Lois absolutely loved flying with Clark – she had always loved heights. She adored the perspective she got looking at the view from the top of a mountain, from a window seat in an airplane, even from something as silly as a rooftop. Maybe it was because she had always felt estranged from everyone. Being overweight sometimes was a fate worse than death. When she was able to see the world from above, she was able to realize the big picture – the people that ostracized her, either to her face or behind her back – were no better than her. They were just passengers on planet earth, like she was. And she could make a difference in the world just as well as anyone else!
As the lights beneath them dimmed, Lois realized that they were nearing the Midwest. She knew intellectually that there was a lot more open space in Kansas, but actually seeing the evidence of civilization blink out gradually as they headed west was an awesome experience.
Clark smiled at his companion. “We’re almost there,” he whispered. The excitement he was feeling was very evident to Lois. <He’s just as lonely inside as I am,> Lois realized. <He’s never had anyone to share his hometown with but Lana, and she grew up there with him, so it was no big deal to her!>
“I can’t wait,” she whispered back. And she meant it. Clark was orphaned at such as early age, and turned out remarkably well considered he had bounced around in foster homes for most of his adolescent years. If only they had known each other back then. <He wouldn’t have even given me a glance back then, who are you kidding? He only had eyes for *Lana*!> Lois sighed to herself.
As they descended through the colorful twilight clouds, Clark hugged her tightly. “Thank you,” he whispered again.
Lois kissed him lightly in response. “You’re welcome, Smallville, but I’m doing this as much for me as for you. This is the only way we’ll have any kind of privacy!”
Suddenly the roof of the farmhouse and the barn came into view. Gently, Clark landed them on the open porch of the barn’s attic. It was apparent that the property was in a state of disrepair. There were cobwebs hanging from the rafters in the barn.
“Tell me the truth, Clark… is the place haunted?” Lois asked, only half joking.
“Only by my memories, honey,” he said. “This is where I would come every night right up until the night my parents were killed by that car. I was starting to develop my powers and I felt like an outcast. Coming here gave me perspective. This was my ‘fortress of solitude’. When I was forced to live in foster homes, I missed this barn the most.”
Lois found she had tears welling up in her eyes. “Wow. You really *are * my soul mate. I can *feel* everything that you went through. I felt like an outcast myself growing up. No one wanted to hang around with a fat girl. That’s when I knew I wanted to be a writer. I could express myself through the written word. No one knows what you look like when they read your work – they just focus on the content of your writing, not what you look like. It became my escape from reality.”
“Our connection *is* pretty amazing,” Clark agreed. “When I told you that every part of me knows the difference between you and the other Lois, I was dead serious. I feel this sense of familiarity with you that I never felt with her.
“So, Miss ‘New Age’ - would you recognize where *we* lived in that past life you remembered when Bridget hypnotized you?” Clark asked. “I figure that I can fly you around in the day time and see if any of the area jogs your memories. Maybe it would bring back my repressed memories too.”
“Well, Clark, the house we lived in was probably torn down along time ago. But they say when you visit a place you’ve been to before, you get a real strong case of deja-vu. It’s worth a shot,” Lois responded.
“Before you went and changed history, James had given both of us the day off tomorrow, right? You’re not really due to report again until Monday? And it’s Thursday night…” Clark mused.
“But we’re having dinner with Lucy and James on Friday – tomorrow night, so we have one day to explore Smallville,” Lois reminded him.
Just then Clark heard a dog barking. The sound was getting closer; the animal was heading towards the farmhouse from out in the field somewhere.
“Wow, if I didn’t know better, that sounds just like the dog I had when I was a kid,” Clark said. “His name was Shelby,” he continued. “How I loved that dog. He was my best friend.”
“So after your parents died, what happened to your dog?” Lois inquired.
“Child services gave him to a local animal shelter, and I never saw him again,” Clark said, his eyes welling up just talking about it after all these years.
“Oh, Smallville,” Lois murmured, wrapping her arms around his expansive chest. “Your childhood sounds more heartbreaking than even mine. I didn’t think that it was possible. We can get a dog, if we come out here a couple of times per week. We’ll – or actually you’ll - put a doggie door in the back of the house, leave him lots of fresh water and dry food, and he’ll have the whole farm to run around in.”
Clark smiled. “You are so special, Lois. I should have known that someone that devoted two years of her life caring for children in a third-world country would love animals, too.”
“My father is a real jerk, Clark, but one thing he always said stays with me: ‘Beware of people that don’t like animals, Lois – there’s got to be something wrong with them inside if they can’t warm up to an innocent animal’. And I believe that he’s right.”
Just then it became apparent that the dog was right in the yard of the farmhouse. He was whining and barking for their attention. “I’ll be right back,” Clark said as he sped off.
The dog in the yard was a golden retriever. When he saw Clark, he ran towards him, his tail wagging vigorously. He wore no collar or tags. There was an electronic ID implanted in his neck, however – Clark spotted it with his X-ray vision.
“What’s your name, boy? Huh? What’s your name?” Clark realized how much he missed having a dog as he petted his silky head and ears. The pooch jumped up and licked Clark’s face, causing him to laugh like he was 10 years old again.
Lois surprised them both, coming upon them from behind. “Hey, sweetie,” she cooed to the blond canine. “You’re a pretty … boy,” she determined, after examining him. “Where did you come from? Someone must be missing you!”
“He has one of those electronic tags implanted in his neck.”
“Oooh…they do that now? Someone pretty rich must own him, then,” Lois concluded.
“Either that or he’s a research dog,” Clark suggested. “Maybe he escaped from a lab.”
“Well what industries, pray tell, do they have in this sprawling metropolis of Smallville?” Lois asked sarcastically.
“Hey! I thought you said that ‘this was my home town too’! How quickly they forget…” Clark chided.
“Well it was probably over a century ago, Smallville. Things change!” Lois joked. “Anyway, if this dog’s a lab rat, he’s not going back there. We’re keeping him,” she said decisively. “He’s so friendly. Give me another kiss, boy… oh, you’re just a lover dog, aren’t you?” Lois said to her new buddy in a childlike voice.
Clark couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear. Lana never liked animals much. Maybe Lois’ father’s old saying held some a bit of truth. And if Sam Lane liked animals, even *he* couldn’t be *all* bad.
“So, Smallville… answer me. What companies around here do any kind of research?”
“Well, there’s a company called Luthor Corp that makes fertilizer, and they use animals to test their reactions to various soil treatments. If we bring him to a vet tomorrow, they will probably have the scanning device that can tell us who the rightful owner is. In the meantime, let’s go get some dog food!”
“Yay,” said Lois. “Are we flying, walking, or what?”
Clark pointed to an old red truck. “It still runs, believe it or not. I come here about once a month and start it up!”
Lois stared sternly at Clark. “You really think *I’m* going to get in *that* old piece of junk?”
Silence.
“Okay, let’s go! I was just kidding with you, I’m not that big of a snob!” Lois said, laughing at Clark’s shocked reaction. “That was fun! C’mon, LabRat,” she called to the dog. “You’re coming with us!”
Joyfully, LabRat leaped into the back of the pickup truck. After a few tries, the truck started up and the three of them began the trip down the long dirt road driveway of the farm.
Bouncing around on the unpaved, rough roads leading to the paved highway, Lois noticed how dark it was there at night. “Wow, Clark, you can see *every* star in the sky. How pretty it is here, with no city lights. And it’s so *quiet*.”
LabRat barked in agreement with her.
“Yep, he’s a keeper,” Lois said. “Definitely a keeper.”
They both cracked up.
“Does everyone in this town know that you’re Superman too? I mean, do they read the papers in Metropolis?” Lois asked.
“Well, even before I was ‘outed’ as Superman, as a kid growing up, I used to play hero a lot. I tried to downplay my abilities, especially because Lana was afraid if the authorities knew what I could do, they would lock me up in some lab and experiment on me. But in the end, if I could save someone’s life, I did what I had to do. And I don’t think that anyone in Smallville was surprised to learn that Clark Kent was also Superman, if that’s what you mean. And, it was announced on TV too, so even if you didn’t read the newspapers out of Metropolis, all you had to do was watch the evening news, and you would have found out that way.”
“Lana. What a bitch. I’d like to meet her,” Lois spit out. “There’s a lot I’d like to tell her.”
Clark smiled. “Like what, Lois? Just what would you say to her if you could?”
“That she was a complete idiot to let you walk away. That her loss is someday going to be my gain. That’s she’s just like the girls that made fun of me in high school. She spent her time developing her looks, not her personality, and she’s shallow, and… do you really want me to go on?”
“No, honey. Wow. I think I’d like to be a fly on the wall during that conversation, though!” he replied, chuckling softly.
“And I would also tell her that I might be your ‘BBW girlfriend’, and that yes, she’s got a better body than me, but in the end, I’m going to have the better life!”
They hit a huge pothole in the road, causing Lois to rise right out of her seat and LabRat to slide around the back of the pickup truck’s bed.
“Sorry. I’m going to have to fix that in the morning,” he promised. “Hard to see when it starts to get dark.”
“Can’t you use your vision-gizmo to see at night?” Lois asked.
“I have excellent night vision, but it’s not exactly infra-red,” Clark explained. “It’s kind of hard to explain.”
“So is this Luthor Corp also owned by the reclusive Lex Luthor? Boy, I would love to snag an interview with him,” Lois remarked. “There’s my two short-term goals: unmask Batman and interview Lex Luthor.”
“Nothing else? Are you sure?” Clark asked, winking. He reached over and stroked the side of her face. “I can think of a few other things I’d like to do, and interviews aren’t on my list…”
“Clark Kent! Are you hitting on me?”
“Just planting the seed, Ms. Lane. Just planting the seed.”
~~~~~~~
They returned an hour later with the dog food and some people food as well. Clark had also stopped at the local KostCo store so Lois could pick out curtains for the windows to give them a bit of privacy, and some off-white paint to touch up the inside of the farmhouse.
Clark parked in front, unloaded everything at super-speed, then did something on the side of the farmhouse. All of a sudden lights came on inside.
“I have a generator on the farm so I don’t have to keep electricity running here,” Clark offered. “And well water. It keeps the cost of maintaining this property down.”
Lois started to head in. “Wait, Lois. Let me spruce it up a bit before you come in, please.”
Clark was a blur for about five minutes and appeared proudly in the doorway of the kitchen. “Ok, honey, c’mon in,” he said proudly, offering Lois his hand.
Lois was impressed. No cobwebs, the furniture was rustic and a bit old, but the house was neat as a pin and felt very homey. Clark had started a fire in the living room and the kitchen smelled like – apple pie?
“Smallville, why do I smell apple pie? It’s wonderful, but…”
“It’s an old recipe of my Mom’s,” Clark said. “I learned awhile back how to bake it with my heat vision; getting the crust just right was tricky, but I think I’ve mastered it now. Would you like a slice?”
“After eating chocolate flambé tonight, I think I better pass until tomorrow. Let me take LabRat for a walk tomorrow to burn off some calories first,” she joked. “But it does smell heavenly.”
“Well, that’s probably where my Mom – and Dad – are - in heaven,” Clark said. “They were the best.”
“It’s hard to be here without seeing their ghosts, isn’t it Clark? I wish I could have met them. When you’re ready to talk about how they died – the car accident, I’m ready to listen,” Lois said earnestly.
Clark nodded. “Thanks, Lois. I appreciate that. Well, I’ll have a piece of pie and we can sit by the fire in the living room with LabRat here. Then we can figure out what room you want, and I’ll fix it up for you.”
“You know what, Clark? Is it possible for you to sleep in the same bed with me and not – you know – do anything? I don’t know that I want to sleep alone here.”
“Is cuddling allowed?” Clark joked. “If it is, you’ve got a deal.”
“Deal,” Lois replied, grinning.
TBC ….Tuesday/Wednesday-ish
