Hurry back with clarification? Huh, I'm afraid,not really. I still need to mess things up a little. Why? Reread Part 1 
But I'm gonna clarify why Lois is believing in Luthor's lie. And: Dear Ann, there is something for you!!
I need to thank my beta-reader Nancy again, because she's so patient with me and tries to walk through the jungle of my ideas that I've tried to write down in English. The emphasis is on tried here. 
And I think I should mention again that the song bits are note mine, but a-ha's. I hope those three guys don't mind too much. From Part 6:“Migraine,” he winced. “Go, Lois, get outta here! Get outta here, all of you! Now!” Clark roared the last part.
Obviously he had managed to be convincing enough for Perry and Lois to leave him. The apartment was a little more quiet, and Clark breathed in and out, concentrating on his heart-beat. It was thundering in his head as were most of the other sounds, too. He rolled on his back lying in the middle of his living room. It took about half an hour until he could just hear his heart.
Part 7 Chapter 3
I don’t want to fall again,
Don’t want to know this pain,
Don’t want another friend,
Don’t want to try again,
Don’t want to see you hurt,
Don’t let me see you hurt
(Manhattan Skyline)Lex was furious. He had ordered the men to beat up Kent; he hadn’t asked them to lose the fight and go to jail. But exactly that had happened. Obviously he had misjudged Kent, but he would be wiser the next time. The problem was that Kent had obviously decided to hunt him until he had enough evidence to send him to prison. Lex didn’t really believe that Kent could be successful. After all, he had hidden his tracks very well. And there were many options to get rid of Kent before he could become dangerous to him. Of course, that was assuming that he was smarter than he looked.
Luthor was well-known, whereas Kent was a nobody. He had gained a small amount of fame writing articles for an important newspaper. But the problem with newspapers was that they were read one day and thrown away the next. So who would remember the name, Clark Kent? In this fast moving time, the headlines of today were forgotten completely after twenty four hours. The Planet hadn’t been published for almost a week now. Kent’s fame had risen and set with the sun. But his sun was extinct.
Another problem was Superman, but Lex had another plan for him, and the man of steel didn’t need his attention until tomorrow night. The first test had been very promising. But before he could deal with Superman, he had to find a solution to the Kent problem. He wanted to see Kent suffering for the rest of his life knowing that he had lost Lois. Lex didn’t want to kill Kent, because leaving him alive would be so much more fun. Kent virtually begged to be murdered.
Maybe he would have to dismiss his Kent plan for the greater good. But he would wait and see what was going to happen next. Patience would gain him more than a sudden and half-baked reaction. Until then he should find out what his two brilliant assistants were going to tell the police. He would ask Mrs. Cox to make sure that everything happened as he wished. He could trust her with important tasks, and it wasn’t easy to find people like that these days.
He had to do something about these possible traitors. Killing them would be the best solution, but that had to happen carefully. He didn’t want any trace of their murders to be found. He wondered who the best choice was to trust with this assignment. To help himself think, Lex lit another of his cigars and smoked it with delight.
* * *
Mrs. Cox was still wondering what she was going to do with her new information. She had to use it carefully and prudently. She didn’t want Lex to marry Lois Lane. She wasn’t good enough for him. Mrs. Cox didn’t love Lex; she wasn’t able to feel love. In this respect the two of them were similar. But she admired the man's status and power, and she desired the man himself. That was as close to love as she would ever get.
Mrs. Cox considered letting Lex in on Kent’s little secret. One of the possible advantages was that Lex would be very pleased about her success in finding Superman’s weakness and turn to her. But Mrs. Cox had no illusions about Mr. Luthor. She knew that he was rotten to the core and that trusting him was nothing she’d ever dare to do. Maybe he would turn to her for a brief moment and then concentrate his attention on someone else. Lex Luthor always did as he pleased. Since Mrs. Cox couldn’t really find guaranteed advantages in telling Luthor that Mr. Kent was Superman, she decided to keep that knowledge for herself. She would decide later on if telling him was a good idea.
At that moment Lex came into her office. He wore his usual charming smile and positioned himself in front of her.
“Mrs. Cox, I might need your help. Mr. Kent is becoming a little annoying, and I’d like to get rid of him.” Luthor said.
“Temporarily or permanently?” she asked matter-of-factly.
“Well, personally I’d prefer temporarily. I have certain plans for him. If you can make sure that he won’t get in the way of my plans then temporarily will be fine. Otherwise, permanently would be the better choice,” he replied.
“I’ll see what I can do about that.” She gave him a reassuring smile. Mrs. Cox had no problems with self-confidence.
“And Mrs. Cox, there are two guys in jail. I’d prefer them to remain silent. Maybe you can arrange that, too. We are speaking of permanent silence here,” Luthor said. She nodded as a sign that she would do that as well.
Luthor turned around and left her office. She looked after him and started thinking again. Getting rid of Mr. Kent could be dangerous in both the permanent and the temporary way. And she had to find a solution to this problem that would not only satisfy Lex but also meet her wishes. She needed Lex until she wore his wedding ring. Only when she was his wife she could become his widow.
* * *
Lois wandered through the streets of Metropolis, barely seeing anything through the tears in her eyes. She managed to hold them back so that they weren’t running down her cheeks, but they burned her eyes and clouded her vision. Again she had had an argument with Clark. Though she knew that Clark had overreacted, she felt guilty. She had rummaged the living room of her best friend to find the proof she already had. The detective had told her that Clark was married, but she had searched for the document.
The last proof was sitting in prison, and Lois had decided to visit Sarah there. She didn’t exactly know why, maybe because she wanted to punish herself for invading Clark’s privacy. Lois was also plain curious to whom Clark had lost his heart. She wanted to understand him, wanted to see for herself what he had hidden for over a year. Why had Clark reacted that way? Was this sudden attack of migraine pretended? Or had she really caused the terrible headache by reminding him of the memories? Lois had no idea if Clark had suffered, or if he showed her only a façade, desperately trying to hide who he really was.
Sarah might explain his frequent disappearances. Maybe he visited her every spare minute that he could find and risked losing his job to be with his beloved wife. Clark might have planned how to get her out of prison for all Lois knew. The worst thing was that she didn’t know him any more. He had hidden such a vital part of his life. Maybe her visit that morning had only one reason: she wanted to reconnect with the friend she’d lost. Lois had an urgent need to become acquainted with the real Clark. She had always felt that there was something underneath the surface that she could touch, but she had never known what it was.
Now she had the chance to get to know him completely. She'd never had that before. Lois wondered about herself. Why was she so interested in Clark beyond just the friendship? She shook her head. No, this wasn’t beyond friendship. Being interested in the other person was part of being friends. Another strange thing was that she didn’t really feel angry about his deceit. She understood that talking about his wife must be painful for him. She hadn’t let him in on every painful moment of her life either.
Lois approached the prison and went to the visitor’s entrance. She had been here as a reporter several times. Although she preferred to stay outside these walls, she went straight inside and asked for permission to visit Sarah Elaine Warner. One of the guards was a fan of hers, and that made it a lot easier to get inside.
About half an hour later, Lois saw her for the first time. Sarah wore an orange overall that hid most of her slender frame. Never-the-less, Lois saw that she was beautiful. Her hair was silky and blonde. She had it up in a bun, and some loose wisps fell around her face. Her eyes were deep blue and somehow shining. Lois had often seen that prisoners had empty eyes. She was moving like a cat, elegant but also powerful. Lois had to admit that the woman was very impressive. Her face was immaculate but her lips allowed an insight into her true personality. They gave her face an expression as if she felt superior to the people around her. There was a brutal set about them, but Lois couldn’t have explained what exactly had caused that impression. It was barely visible at the moment, but she could imagine that it would increase when the woman was brutal to someone.
Sarah looked at her and a scary smile appeared on her face.
“Lois Lane, how nice to finally meet you,” she said. Her voice was harsh and didn’t really fit her outer appearance. “Clark has told me a lot about you.”
“I cannot return the compliment,” Lois replied in an icy tone of voice. She had disliked the woman immediately.
“He’s embarrassed. A wife in prison doesn’t fit in his perfect little world. And he’s a very private person; he doesn’t tell people everything.” Sarah laughed.
Lois swallowed hard. She had just experienced how protective Clark was concerning his secrets. He had lashed out at her in a way she had not thought him capable of. It had been so scary, but she also felt that she had deserved it. Lois couldn’t help but blush at the memory. Sarah laughed again.
“So you got to know that character trait of his, didn’t you? When was it? In the moment you found out that I existed? Poor Clark. Not only is he afraid that someone might see through his disguise, he is also more than anxious that another man might lay his eyes on me. There isn’t much danger of that here, is there?”
Sarah smiled and her gaze drifted away from Lois to the guard next to the two of them who watched their conversation closely. She gave the guard a seductive smile and formed a kiss with her lips. The guard forgot for a moment that she was a prisoner and wore a very stupid and besotted expression on his face. Lois’ eyes opened wide in shock. Sarah didn’t seem to notice as her attention was still on the guard. She waved at the guard he waved back.
“I guess not,” Lois managed to say without sounding too ironic.
She didn’t want any trouble with Clark’s wife. Where had he found her anyway? Had she always been like this? Was something about her so irresistible to men that he couldn’t help himself? When she watched the guard, Lois had no doubts that this was the case. Somehow her beauty had turned Clark’s brain into jelly. She didn’t envy him his fate. She had always thought that Clark was different, but maybe she was mistaken about that.
“You can’t help my foolish husband, Ms. Lane. He believes in his vows, and he would never get divorced. And I have no intention of ending our marriage either. And he strongly believes in my fidelity. He wouldn’t want to hear that I’m betraying him. You'd better not try to tell him this if the two of you want to stay friends.” She smiled again and giggled. Lois disliked her even more.
“How can you do that to him?” Lois asked hoarsely.
“I don’t think that’s any of your business, Ms Lane. He’s my husband. I can do with him whatever I please.” She stood up and turned around to leave the room.
The guard followed her with a hungry gaze and hurried to open the door for her. Somehow Lois couldn’t help but think that this woman was even capable of making the best out of being imprisoned. She was really strange. Lois herself got up and had the urgent need to leave the prison as soon as possible. And there was another thing she wanted more than anything: more information about Sarah Elaine Warner. She would go to the police department and ask Henderson.
* * *
Clark regretted losing his temper. It was so totally unlike him. It had prevented him from really hearing what Lois had said. She had found out about his secret; she knew that he was Superman. That was no minor inconvenience, and it presented an increased threat for his parents and for his life. He wasn't so worried about his own life. But his parents mattered to him, and he had to protect them.
When the press found out that his parents knew his deepest secrets, for the rest of their lives they would never leave them alone. They would always be hunting for sweet little baby stories of the famous hero. But it wouldn’t end there; they would also dig out the more unpleasant parts of his adolescence. It was already difficult enough being a teenager, but being a teenager with superhuman powers had even been a bit worse.
He had hurt a few guys involuntarily, and it hadn’t been always his fault. Even though it was unintentional, just being invulnerable could cause people to be hurt - especially when they had chosen him as the punching bag of the day. He had had to learn quickly how to pull back slightly at the right moment. That hadn’t been exactly easy. When he had been too late, the others were hurt. When he had been too quick, the others called him a coward, and he would get another chance to practice his abilities the next day. Well, of course, he hadn’t hurt people very often. He had been more a coward than an aggressor. His parents had helped him in difficult situations especially when his temper threatened to overcome his convictions. But Clark knew the media. If everybody in Smallville knew that Clark Kent had always had these powers, the TV and newspapers would find people claiming that he had hurt them. For some reporters, it didn’t matter what was true and what wasn’t. They would say whatever sold. And it would be boring news to say that he had mostly been a nice little boy. So since they couldn't find real scandals, they would invent them.
Clark had also hurt Lois, and he felt sorry about that. He had no idea how he was going to fix it. He would have to apologize for his behaviour and not only to Lois but also to Perry. The poor man had suffered from his outburst and was completely innocent. He had no idea where his editor-in-chief had gone, but if he didn’t return to his apartment Superman would find him. Clark hoped that his white lie about the migraine would suffice as an explanation. He hadn’t been able to tell Lois or Perry that he might have hurt them by accident if they had stayed with him. He should have stopped short of losing his temper, and he should have ignored Lois' rather small betrayal.
Clark was on his way to the police department. He wanted to talk to Henderson and to his two attackers of the previous evening. Maybe he could find out more about Luthor this way. He wondered what he should say, if Henderson allowed him to have an interview with the two men. With every step he took he came closer to the police department and felt more and more nervous. When he finally entered the department, he heard his heart thundering in his ears. This was the single best opportunity he had ever had to hunt Luthor down, and Clark seriously hoped that he wasn’t going to blow it.
It was unusually quiet in the police department, and Clark couldn’t help but wonder if he had missed a major disaster. Had he been so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t even hear sirens and screams anymore? That was hard to imagine, considering the fact that his super-hearing had kind of paralyzed him just an hour ago. So what was going on here? Clark was worried, especially since this was the police department where the witnesses for Luthor’s evilness were staying at the moment. What had John Black said? * I'd be grateful if they don’t kill me.*
Luthor didn’t exactly have a high estimation of human life if it wasn’t his own. But was there really something wrong, or was Lois right and he had become too obsessive about Luthor? And was Luthor behind what he didn’t even know for sure was actually happening? Clark shook his head. He was really losing his mind. It shouldn’t be a problem to find out if anything was wrong.
Clark focused his super-hearing on the faintest sound in the building. He knew that this was rather daring since a loud sound next to him would be extremely painful. There were only whispers in the next room, and that was definitely odd. Clark used his x-ray vision to look through the wall. A couple of anxious policemen sat in one corner of the room, and right next to them was a bomb. Clark held his breath at the sight of this. Three masked villains with weapons were in the room as well; one of them was guarding the policemen in the corner, and two of them were watching every move of a single officer.
How had they managed to overpower a bunch of policemen? Clark knew at once that these three guys had to be really dangerous. The single officer was fumbling with a key and shivering with fear. Clark knew the poor man. Officer Michaels had four small children and his wife had died of leukemia only months ago. He couldn’t even imagine how this man was suffering now. Anger was building up inside him when he saw the violence of those villains. How could they be so cruel? Clark became convinced that Luthor was behind this, and that the villains were trying to get at the two prisoners. His anger increased. Was there anything evil happening in this city that wasn’t caused by Luthor?
He had to do something, but decided that an appearance as Superman was out of question. These three villains looked so nervous that he expected them to kill the policemen and themselves if they felt threatened. Clark didn’t dare take that risk. He heard loud footsteps approaching him and turned down his super-hearing immediately. Only seconds later he felt something hard pressing against his back.
“Hands up, slowly.” He heard a rough whisper. Clark obeyed and lifted his arms making sure the criminal behind him saw his empty hands.
“Move,” the man said. “Don’t say a word or you’re dead before you even get a glimpse of that pair of tights.”
Together they went straight ahead in the direction of the office Clark had viewed minutes ago. He remained silent and wished that he didn’t have this habit of always pushing his glasses back in place. If he had been able to still look over them he could have destroyed the bomb right now. The villain pushed him over to the group of policemen waiting in the corner.
Officer Michaels had managed to find the key for the jail cells. Clark looked at him while he was searched for weapons and forced to sit down within the group. He didn’t have much time left. Officer Michaels would open the door any minute. Clark turned his attention to the villain watching them. He wasn't looking at Clark right at that moment, and Clark managed to push down his glasses a bit. He x-rayed the bomb and placed a bit of laser vision on the right place.
Clark seriously hoped that no one noticed the smoke emerging from the bomb. He got up quickly and he heated the weapons of the two men next to Michaels. Their guns immediately fell out of their hands. Clark grabbed the gun from the third man, knocking him over with well measured strength. The policemen had watched him with great interest but also fear, because his actions must seem quite risky to them. They weren’t aware of his invulnerability and didn’t know that he had destroyed the bomb. But as soon as they noticed that luck was on their side now, they got up quickly and overpowered their attackers.
The scene had changed completely. Clark was content with his work, and everyone called him a damn, lucky fool. They admonished him not to pull such a stunt ever again. Not a single person became suspicious. He told them that he had seen Superman hovering outside the window and had decided to take action. The policemen bought it. They didn’t know enough about Superman’s abilities to know that he couldn’t have heated the weapons from the outside without melting the glass.
After this rescue, it was no problem to have a little chat with his attackers. He could only make them tell him that they didn’t know exactly who had given them the assignment. But they assured him that they would recognize the voice on the phone when they heard it again. Clark had found two witnesses. They promised him they would testify in court, if the police offered protection and if their sentence for breaking into Clark’s apartment and beating him up would be mild. Since they were still on probation, Clark couldn’t spare them jail time, but he would do all he could do reduce the amount of time they would have to spend there. Clark did offer to ask Superman for extra protection.
Henderson was glad that he had finally found five promising witnesses. The three villains that had invaded the police department were very eager to tell their story to save their skins. To demonstrate his satisfaction, Henderson had shaken Clark’s hand.
The two of them knew that they didn't have enough evidence against Luthor to nail him, but they were on the right track. Together with Henderson, Officer Michaels couldn’t stop thanking Clark for his bravery. Michaels had been very afraid that he would leave his four beloved children alone. They were suffering from the death of their mother, and losing their father as well would have been even worse.
Clark felt so much sympathy for this poor man. His Lois wasn’t going to die, but he had still lost her. That was bad enough, but if he really was never going to see her ever again, it would be worse than hell.
When Clark stepped out of the police department he was very aware of the fact that life was often too short to have a second chance. He had to make up with Lois as soon as possible. Right at the moment that he was thinking this, he found that she was standing right in front of him.
* * *
Lois was stunned as she saw Clark stepping out of the police department.
“Hi Clark,” she greeted him uneasily.
“Hi Lois,” he replied, sounding just as shocked as she was. “I’m sorry, Lois, I overreacted.”
“I shouldn’t have searched your desk.” Lois admitted, still embarrassed by her own nerve. She had learnt more today than she had ever bargained for. “Are you better, now?”
“Yeah, I tend to get bad headaches when I become furious. That was totally uncalled for, Lois. I really need to apologize,” Clark answered.
“No, you don’t, Clark. I had no right to invade your privacy. What are you doing here, Clark?” She bit her lip. She really was unable to stop being the nosy reporter. He had the right to be wherever he wanted to be.
“I had to talk with Henderson,” Clark said. “There is still someone in jail who counts on my help.” He sounded somewhat reproachful. Lois didn’t really understand why. After all, his wife was sitting behind those steel bars for a reason. She had killed someone.
“You can’t help everyone, Clark. Some people sit in jail for a reason,” she replied and bit her lip again. Why was she provoking another argument?
“Have you ever heard of the concept of innocence?” Clark asked. “Not everyone behind those steel bars is guilty of what he’s accused of. Unfortunately not everyone breathing the air of freedom is innocent either.”
“Clark, please stop this stupid crusade against Lex. He isn’t personified evil as you tend to see him.”
“Lois, can't you see through his disguise? He is personified greed; he does literally anything to achieve his goal.” Clark said helplessly. How was he going to make her see the true personality of Lex Luthor?
“You’re envious, Clark, and jealous. Why do you begrudge me living with Lex?”
“You don’t listen to me, Lois.” Clark stated annoyed. “What do I have to do to make you believe my words? Wear tights?”
“You don’t have to steal your wife’s clothing, Clark.” Lois said and ran away.
Why was he like this? She had always considered him to be her best friend, but during those last couple of days he had been so mean. She felt tears streaming down her cheeks. What was there about Clark Kent that had made her cry for the second time this day when she hadn’t cried for years. Lois couldn’t believe it, he made her behave so strange that she didn’t recognize herself. She had lost him for sure now. They were not able to talk to each other without arguing. Lois felt so empty. She relied on him, and she needed Clark to talk to. It didn’t matter how unkind he had been; because she still needed him. Why was she already missing him so much? Had she again managed to fall for the wrong guy?
tbc...
