Well here you are, this is the last part of the story. I know the very last paragraph is kinda corny, but I'm not going to apologize, 'cause I happen to like it like that. eh.
I'd like to dedicate this last part to everyone who's bothered to read through the A-plot so they could get to "the good parts". This goes out especially to Nancy, Lisa and Ann - thank you for all your wonderful comments and your encouragement. I'm not sure I'd have been able to finish this story without you.
Note: at the very end of the story, you'll find a short bio of all the supporting characters and a list of all the crazy little references and insides that I threw in while you weren't looking. hehehe!
~.~.~.~.~
From Part 10:Whatever it was that Lois was angry with him for, Clark hoped that he'd be able to fix it. He'd gotten a quick glimpse at what his life would be without her in it and the last thing he wanted was to actually live it! He'd go over and talk to her a little later. Maybe if he gave her a bit of time, she'd calm down enough to listen to him. Right now, though, he needed to talk to Perry and see whether there was any possible way he would consider re-hiring him. Otherwise, he might really have to leave Metropolis for good and the prospect of that sounded no more appealing than being without Lois. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the editor's door before going inside the office.
Having picked up her things from her desk, Lois rushed towards the elevator, almost running straight into a pair of very tired looking guys who didn't seem to know their way around. Whoever they were, they should have had the good sense to get out of her way, she thought.
"Hey, watch it, will you!" she said, then got on the elevator and left the newsroom.~.~.~.~.~
Part 11"Didn't expect to see you so soon," Perry told Clark.
After all the work he and his two friends had put in to pump the water out of the streets, not to mention the major clean-up operation that he'd promised he'd put every effort in, he hadn't expected Clark to start thinking about coming back to the Planet for at least a couple days.
"Uh... Yes, sir. I realize that... uh... I..."
Clark was standing there looking like a kid who'd done something wrong and was waiting for his punishment. Perry had the hardest time trying to refrain from laughing. No wonder people didn't see through the secret identity! The man standing in front of him now looked nothing like the self-assured hero whose picture grazed the front page of the Daily Planet's evening edition. Of course, the self-assured hero didn't have to deal with any of the issues of "real life" - he had Clark Kent to deal with them.
"You know you're lucky to have a partner like her?" Perry interrupted.
"I am? Well, yes, of course I am. But... How do you mean?"
Clark was confused. Where was Perry going with this? What did that have to do with the fact that he was standing in his office again, barely 24 hours after having resigned, pretty much about to beg to get his job back?
"You have any idea what she was in here for, a second ago?" the editor asked.
"No... Only that she was furious when she left," Clark said, shaking his head. He could only hope that Perry would clue him in as to what had caused Lois to react the way that she had.
"Oh, yeah... that... I might be to blame a little on that one. Mind you, it's got more than a lot to do with you. But anyway, it's not about that. Imagine this... Lois Lane - you know, the woman who spent weeks complaining about being stuck with a work-partner? - well, that same person came in here and practically begged for me to give her back the partner she'd just lost. I'd say that's quite a change of winds, don't you agree?"
"She... what?" Clark was astonished. "She really did that?"
"She really did that," Perry confirmed. "So you see, under the circumstances, I don't have much choice..."
Perry took the envelope containing Clark's resignation from his desk and ripped it in two. He then threw it in the trash bin.
"Welcome back, son," he said.
"Thank you, sir," Clark replied, happy and relieved.
"There's just one little thing," the editor said, authoritatively. "I don't know for sure what's going on between you two, but I could venture a pretty good guess. I'm just going to say this once, so you better listen... Now, you know, Lois is like a daughter to me. I cannot stand to see her miserable. So... aw... if we ever find her crying in the conference room again 'cause of some stupid stunt you pulled, well you better believe me when I say this: invulnerable or not, I promise it's going to hurt."
"I'll... do my best, sir," Clark assured him, although he was more than a little shocked both by the editor's cautionary advice and his admission of awareness. Perry knew? Lois must have told the chief, or he couldn't have known. His expression changed from surprise and confusion to disappointment and frustration. Had he not be clear enough when he'd made her promise that she wasn't supposed to tell anyone? Or had she just figured that this didn't apply to Perry White?
"Hang on," the editor started, seeing the growing displeasure that was starting to show on Clark's face. "Before you start jumping to any conclusions, Lois didn't tell me anything I didn't already know."
"You mean...? Really?"
"Well, hey, I didn't get to be editor of a major newspaper purely for my good looks, you know!" he chuckled.
Suddenly it occurred to Clark that Lois might have thought that *he* had told Perry, rather than the editor figuring it out on his own. It could very well explain her outburst... At least this wasn't anything a little bit of reassuring couldn't fix.
He thanked the editor for allowing him to come back and left his office.
"C.K.!" Jimmy called out to him, "You're back for good, I hope? Hey, there's a couple of guys who were looking for you..." he gestured in direction of the conference room.
"Yeah, I'm here to stay. Thank, Jimmy," Clark said and he made his way to where Barry and Arthur were waiting for him.
"Hey guys!" he greeted them, "I thought you'd have left by now?"
"What? And pass up a chance to see this edition of the Daily Planet before everybody else?" Barry asked as he lifted up the newspaper to show Clark.
The front-page article was entitled: "Heroes Leagued to Save City."
"Tell me, Clark," Arthur asked, "Lois Lane...? Is she the brunette who went by like a tornado just a few minutes ago?"
Clark grinned. "Yeah, that would be her. And she was definitely in tornado mode. Which... I think is my fault, somehow." He looked a little embarrassed as he admitted this to his friends.
"Do you think she'd go for a..." Arthur started.
"No, I don't think so." Clark said abruptly, anticipating his friend's question.
"Careful, A.C.," Barry warned him, "I hear Kent's got it bad for the girl. And I don't think you want to fight *him*, even over a hot little number like her."
"Oh, cut it out!" Clark retorted. He was so embarrassed by now, even his ears had turned a bit red.
"Told 'ya," Barry said to Arthur, with a wink. "Hey, how 'bout we go out for pizza? I'm absolutely starving!"
"Oh, yuck, pizza?" Arthur remarked with an air of disgust, "How can you eat such a thing?"
"Heck of a lot better than seaweed and raw fish!" Barry complained.
"Uh... guys? How about take-out at my place?" Clark cut in, "Because I don't see how we can possibly find a place that you'd both like. Besides, I've got an idea I'd like to run by you and I'd rather we discussed it somewhere a little more private than a pizza place."
They nodded, curious as to what Clark had in mind. The three men left the newsroom together and headed for Clinton Street.
~.~.~.~.~
Sometime later, in Lois Lane's apartment...
Lois was pacing in her living room. She'd come home a few hours earlier and had all but passed out from exhaustion as soon as she'd slipped into bed. She had woken up not very long ago, still feeling somewhat angry but mostly feeling lost and miserable.
As angry as she was with Clark for his lack of trust in her, she was much more afraid of the fact her latest little fit of temper might have pushed him away for good. Pacing her living room like an idiot wasn't helping anything, but it was all she could think of doing right now. There had to be some way of fixing all this mess, she thought. She just wasn't sure how to do that right now.
Every so often, she'd hear noises coming from outside the window she'd left open, but there was never anyone there. She didn't really expect him to show up, especially not after the insults she'd spat in his face, but she couldn't help but hope that maybe he would anyway.
As much as she hated to have to admit it, the bottom line was that without Clark around, Lois was just miserable....
~.~.~.~.~
Meanwhile, not very far away...
What Lois apparently failed to realize was that Clark was just as lost without her as she was miserable without him. And unbeknownst to her, while she was pacing and looking out her window, desperately hoping he'd show up, he was actually standing right outside her door.
As soon as his friends had left and he'd had a chance to take care of a few things that needed his immediate attention, Clark had gone over to her place. He'd seen that the lights were on, so he had entered the building and walked up to her floor. Upon arriving at the door, though, he'd found himself frozen in place, unable to knock. He stood there for the longest time, unable to decide what to do next.
He might have been the strongest man on the planet, but faced with the wrath of this one woman, the all-powerful Man of Steel invariably became as invulnerable as a small kitten. In fact right at this moment, on a scale from one to petrified, he scored at paralyzed plus one.
Finally, he managed to will his hand into a fist and he knocked on the door....
~.~.~.~.~
At that instant, on Lois' side of the door...
The sudden knock at the door caught Lois completely unawares. Her heart skipped a beat. She had spent so much time imagining that he'd come through the *window* that it hadn't occurred to her that Clark might opt to show up at her door instead. At least, she hoped it was him. She wanted it to be him.
Before she could unglue her feet from their spot on the floor and make her way to the door, she heard a voice calling from out in the hall.
"Lois?"
It *was* him! He'd come. For reasons that she couldn't even begin to fathom, he was here. He was really here.
"Lois?" Clark called again, seeing as though there was no answer. "It's me... Listen, I'm sorry. I... umm... I know you're there, Lois. Can we talk? Please?"
Huh? He could he know she was there? Wait a second! He hadn't... had he? Lois sprinted towards the door and undid the row of locks that kept her safe from strangers lurking on the outside. She opened the door in one swift motion, then grabbing Clark by the collar of his shirt, she abruptly pulled him inside and kicked the door closed a second later.
"Do you always X-Ray in to see if I'm there? Huh? How dare you!" she accused him, her eyes narrow with anger.
"X-Ray? No, wait! I swear I didn't. I just... I saw that the light was on before. And I sort of heard you pacing, too. But, I promise, Lois, I didn't look in," he explained, as fast as he could get the words out.
"The light? Oh... right," Lois mumbled, finally letting go of Clark's shirt. "Sorry," she whispered as she took a step back.
"I guess you were expecting someone else?" he said, pointing at the opened window.
Something in his voice told her that he was hurt by the fact that she'd been hoping for Superman to show up instead of just plain old Clark. But it wasn't like that at all... She couldn't let him think that!
"Oh, no..." she lied, "it was just a bit hot in here and..."
"Lois, come on, it's freezing in here."
"Ah... Well, now that you mention it, I guess it is a little bit chilly."
Lois turned around and walked to the window so she could close it. She really hadn't paid much attention to it, but it was rather cold in her apartment now.
"Are you still mad?" Clark asked, in a timid little voice. Better to get that out right away, he thought. While he was still close enough to the door to dash out if Lois went into tornado mode again...
"Yes," she admitted, "Very much so." But there was absolutely no conviction at all in her words.
Clark smiled at the realization that what she said was apparently miles away from what she was thinking. He guessed that meant there was still some hope that everything would turn out all right after all. The thought gave him back much of the courage he'd lost earlier that afternoon...
Lois closed the window and pulled the drapes shut. As she took a step back, she bumped right into something solid that hadn't been there just a second ago. She hated that he could do that and she was about to turn and tell him so, but he had grabbed her wrists and wrapped both her arms and his around her waist. The warmth from his body and the softness of his touch sent waves of pleasant shivers through her body.
"You're not really mad, are you?" he whispered in her ear.
"I'm very mad," she said, trying to sound as cutting as she could, but failing miserably. Of course she wasn't mad. How could she be when he was standing so close like that...
"No, you're not," he whispered before kissing her neck lightly, just above her shirt collar.
Lois felt the world start to melt away slowly. With the last of her conscious mind, she replied, "Yes, I am. I'm mad at the two of you."
"No, you're not," Clark whispered once more, kissing her neck again, a few inches higher.
"Yes, I am," Lois repeated, although barely remembering what they were arguing about.
"No. You're not," he whispered yet again, this time gently brushing her earlobe with the tip of his nose.
"Yes, I am," she replied, but the words had completely lost their meaning by now. Her head came to rest on his shoulder as he tightened his arms around her slightly.
"If you say so," Clark said, sounding clearly amused by Lois' forced indignation.
"I don't remember what I was supposed to be mad about," she confessed, "but I will be again if you stop what you were doing before..."
He smiled and brushed a light kiss on her temple. "This?" he asked softly.
She moaned in agreement, the sound of which almost made him weak at the knees. His eyes closed themselves as three little words rose from his heart to his lips. "I love you," he whispered, his voice thick with emotion.
His declaration took Lois completely by surprise. She had suspected that perhaps he did, but she wasn't expecting him to voice it. At least not right now. She wasn't prepared for it. She hadn't had time to think about what she felt yet... His words had pretty much the effect of a cold shower instead of causing her heart to sing, as it should have.
Clark felt Lois' body tense suddenly. His eyes flew open and he let go of her wrists, his arms falling limply to his sides. He took a step back and mumbled some sort of unconscious apology.
Realizing what was happening, Lois spun around to face him. "No, don't!" she begged, in a state close to panic, convinced that he was going to take it all back.
Clark looked at her, completely befuddled.
"You shouldn't be sorry," she explained, "I should. And I am. Sorry, I mean. You just surprised me. I wasn't expecting... I shouldn't have reacted like that. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to look like... you know... that I don't... you know... because... well, the thing is that... I... uh..." she stopped to take a deep breath. Lois was so confused she didn't know what she was trying to say anymore.
He gave her a lopsided smile. "You have no idea how adorable you look when you're babbling like this," he said softly.
An embarrassed little smile made her way to her lips as her cheeks turned a warmer shade of pink. She looked at him, her eyes wide with wonder. Adorable? When she babbled? Really?
"Really," Clark said, answering the unspoken question that was so clear in her big brown eyes. "But you really have to stop looking at me like this, though," he added. "Unless you're trying to kill me," he whispered after a short pause.
"Oh, that's a pity," she said, a sly smile slowly appearing on her lips. "Cause I happen to like looking at you like this." She batted her eyelashes at him suggestively.
"Careful," he warned her, "you're standing on slippery ground, here."
"That's ok," Lois replied. "Cause you'll be there to catch me if I fall, won't you?"
Clark smiled. "Always," he promised.
"I'm glad you came back, Clark," she told him softly. "I... I'm sorry that I never realized before... um... just how important you are to me. For a while there, when I didn't think you'd ever come back... I... um... Please don't ever..." Lois looked away for a second as tears were starting to cloud her vision. "Don't ever leave like that again, Clark. Please? I... I'm lost without you." Her bottom lip was quivering and her last few words came out barely a whisper.
He gathered her in his arms and hugged her close to his heart. "I promise. I won't leave you again," he repeated over and over as he gently stroke her hair, until she stopped sobbing uncontrollably.
"I think you need to catch me, now," Lois whispered after a moment.
"I do?" Clark asked, somewhat puzzled by her statement.
"Yes." She looked up at him. "You made me slip... and now you need to catch me. Because I'm falling in love with you."
Lois reached up to kiss Clark. For one short blinding moment, as their lips met, it was as though the Earth suddenly stopped spinning and the Universe stopped expanding. Two lonely souls had found their one true mate.
~ The End. ~
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~~~
Supporting Cast of Characters ~~~
The Good Guys:
~ Barry Allen / The Flash ~Barry Allen is actually the second person to have assumed the identity of The Flash. The first one was Jay Garrick. Barry is a police scientist from Central City. One night, as he was preparing to leave work, a lightning bolt shattered a case full of chemicals and spilled them all over him. As a result, he found that he could run extremely fast and had matching reflexes. That is how he became The Flash. His super powers include super fast (as fast as light) speed and reflexes and the ability to vibrate at such a speed that he can de-molecularise and pass through solid objects. He's been known to defy several other laws of physics, such as walking on water...
~ Iris Allen ~Iris is Barry's wife. She also happens to be the aunt of Wally West (the third Flash). She's a photojournalist and works for the Picture News in Central City. An interesting bit of information about her is that while she had figured out that Barry was The Flash (he talks in his sleep, apparently), he did not tell her that he was until well over a year after they were married. I'm still not sure why she didn't just go up and ask him about it... She has pretty much the same super powers that Lois Lane does. ...think about it.
~ Arthur Curry / Aquaman ~Aquaman is the ruler of the mythical kingdom of Atlantis. He is the son of an Atlantean wizard and an Atlantean Queen but spent most of his childhood being raised by a human lighthouse keeper. His powers include the abilities to breathe underwater, telepathically communicate with and control all forms of sea life and swim at super fast speeds. He has superhuman strength, speed and endurance even when he's not underwater.
The Bad Guys:
~ The Superman Revenge Squad ~This is an actual team, which exists in the DCU, except I didn't use the version from the comic books; I used the team they had in an episode of Justice League (animated series). Mind you, I haven't seen the episode, but I have seen the villains elsewhere, including eps of Lois & Clark and Superman (The Animated Series).
Members of the team appearing in this story:
~ Mark Mardon / The Weather Wizard ~ He doesn't usually show up in Superman stories because he's from Central City (ie: The Flash's hometown). His brother, Clyde was a scientist who discovered a way to control the weather before dying. Mark took Clyde's notes and used them to make a wand, which generates weather and embarked on a criminal career.
~ Leslie Willis / Livewire ~She used to be a radio host (a shock jock, to be exact - that's like Howard Stern). She led a hate campaign against Superman before she was turned into a super villain in an accident. She was hosting a rock concert in Centennial Park, during a thunderstorm (!). Lightning hit and Superman went to save her, but lightning hit *him* and transferred some of his powers to her... (Reminiscent of an L&C episode, isn't it?) She can control electricity and turn herself into pure energy to travel through electrical wiring. (And I think for a super villain, she's pretty darn cool!!!)
Other members of the team (which don't show up in the story) are:
~ John Corben / Metallo ~He is a cyborg - part human and part machine. The machine part of him is powered by Kryptonite. You've seen this guy in Lois & Clark, season 2. There isn't much difference between what they had on the show and the comics version of him - he was in an accident and Emmet Vale turned him into a cyborg in order to get rid of Superman.
~ Winslow Schott / Toyman ~He uses toy-based or -themed devices and gimmicks in his various crimes. Basically the bad guy you've seen in Season's Greedings.
~ Kalibak ~ He's the first son of Darkseid, ruler of Apokolips - whatever that means... *lol*!
~~~
References found throughout the story... ~~~
Lois:
"It's as if we're living in... Bizarro world or something!""Bizarro world" is an alternate version of Earth - it's actually a cube planet (!) which is called Htrae. It was founded by an imperfect clone of Superman (ie: Bizarro) and a similarly imperfect clone of Lois Lane. The Superman clone was created by Lex Luthor (the clone of Lois Lane was created by.. well, Lois herself, so Bizarro would have a companion). The L&C episode Vatman was probably inspired by this. In popular culture, the adjective "Bizarro" is often used to describe something which looks to be an imperfect duplicate of something.
Livewire:
"And Toyman, I don't know, he said something about space rats."Ok... If you haven't seen the L&C S2 episode Season's Greedings, you really ought to do that now. Trust me, it's SO worth it.
Unbeknownst to the Wizard, Livewire was busy planning a 'phase four'...This one is a little obscure, I admit! Phase IV is the title of a movie starring Dean Cain.
It just so happens it's one of my favorite movies of his.
Weather Wizard:
"Let's see just how slippery you are when you're wet!"Of all my references, this is by far the most obscure...
"Slippery when Wet" is the title of an album by Bon Jovi. And before you start thinking 'well that's got nothing to do with Superman', let me assure you that it does. Jon Bon Jovi had the classic Superman logo tattooed onto his arm at the height of the success of that particular album. You can see a picture of it
right here. Barry Allen:
"I'm off to see the Wizard?" Well no, that's just a really bad pun... Off to see the Wizard, is obviously from Wizard of Oz... And Barry is on his way to fight the Weather Wizard. ha ha ha.
Iris Allen:
"I wish you'd quit trying to think faster than I do, it's the only race you'll never win..."Barry Allen:
"Ok, well I'll be in Metropolis in a flash."These aren't references per say, they were meant to help you figure out who Iris' husband really is. Barry Allen is The Flash and one of Flash's nicknames is "The Fastest Man Alive".
Barry Allen:
"Cause I'm going to need all the super friends I can get if we're going to put things right.""Super Friends" is the title of a cartoon series from the 70's, by Hanna-Barbera. It is based on the Justice League, which both Superman and Flash were members of.
Jimmy:
"Have you seen? The Flash is here! He's so cool! Hey, I'll bet this guy is even faster than Superman!"Lois:
"Oh come on, Jimmy, of course he's not faster than Superman!"Flash (to Superman):
"You know, I seem to remember you being almost as fast as I am."Superman (to Flash):
"I seem to remember you being almost as fast as *I* am."These all obviously refer to the question of who's the fastest... Flash, or Superman?
Well... There have been several races between Flash and Superman. However, they often resulted in ties (or indeterminate results). In recent races between the third Flash (Wally West) and Superman, Flash has been known to be the faster of the two. As far as I could tell, none of the races between Barry Allen and Superman ended with The Flash winning the race. (oh, and by the way, they didn't end with Superman winning, either!)
Superman:
"I tried blowing that cloud away, but it just wouldn't budge."Ah... that one...
It's an involuntary reference to Smallville. They had Clark do that in the S6 episode Sneeze. Mind you, I had already put that into my story at the time. I eventually changed it to Superman simply stating that he had tried to blow it away, instead of having him do so.
Flash:
"If we went to S.T.A.R. Labs, we could scan for polaron emissions"Ok, this doesn't have a lot to do with Superman at all. I got that from an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. ("Apocalypse Rising"). On an interesting note, in another episode of DS9 ("Let He Who Is Without Sin"), Mr. Worf explains that he grew up on a farming planet and spent most of his youth trying to control his strength so as not to harm humans. Yes, my friends, this makes Worf a farm boy with well above average strength... Kinda like someone else we know.
You might also be interested to know that the actor who plays Worf, Michael Dorn, also lends his voice to Kalibak in Superman, the animated series. (The same Kalibak who just happens to be in the Superman Revenge Squad.)
The man formerly known as the Weather WizardYes, yes, I know... that one should be illegal. Please just ignore it. *Especially* if it doesn't ring a bell.
Jimmy:
"Oh, come on, Lois! What d'you think? That he's going to sneak a peak at your underwear? I doubt he's interested in knowing what color it is!"This is a reference to the first Superman movie, in which Lois interviews Superman for the first time. Upon being told that he has x-ray vision, Lois asks him to tell her which color underwear she's wearing. They were pink....
Superman:
"everything you ever wanted to know about me."If, by any chance you thought this was a reference to something, well... I know what you're thinking and I didn't mean it to be a reference to that. If I had then it would have been "always" instead of "ever". Seriously.
Superman:
"I'll be around"Have you seen Superman Returns?
Superman tells Lois he'll be "around" at least twice in the movie.
"Heroes Leagued to Save City."I smell the beginnings of a Justice League, right there. Don't you?
