>>> Wednesday, August 28th
Lois worked the locks on her apartment and slipped through the open door. It had been a grueling day, both physically and emotionally, and seeing Superman go off on the LNN reporter had been the topper. She changed into sweats and sneakers, then put a frozen dinner in the microwave.
The oven chimed, and she thought she heard it tapping. Have to get that thing looked at, she thought.
Then she realized the tapping was coming from the living room window.
She hurried to pull the drapes open, hoping she wasn’t hearing things, but there he was, hovering in the darkening twilight just outside her window. She quickly opened it and stepped back to allow him to float in.
He spun clumsily into his civilian clothes, then stumbled and went to his knees in the floor. She locked the window and grabbed a blanket from the linen closet and wrapped him in it.
“Clark? Are you hurt? Was there Kryptonite on the ship or around the dock?”
He shook his head and sat on the carpet. “No. I’m just tired. I haven’t been sleeping well lately. And that ship was huge. I had to bring it in from outside the twelve-mile limit.” He sighed. “I’m tired, Lois. So very tired.”
“Would you like something to eat? I’ll call out if you – “
“No, that’s okay. If you’d – do you mind if I just rest here for a while?”
She smiled. “I don’t mind a bit. Let’s get you up on the couch first.”
He allowed her to haul him upright and to guide him down on the couch. “Can I get you anything, Clark?”
He leaned his head back. “No, I just need to sit down and rest for a few minutes.”
She pulled a chair close. “Do you feel like talking about it?”
He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. “Yeah, I think I do.”
She leaned closer and took his hand. “Then tell me the thing that’s in the front of your mind right now.”
He grinned slightly. “Staying right here and listening to your voice.”
She smiled also. “Thank you. What about the next thing?”
“Ah, yes. The next thing.” He rolled his head to one side and lost his grin. “There was this little girl who was one of the last ones off the ship. Her name was Keisha. She couldn’t have been more than nine years old, and she had a bad bruise on her leg where someone had kicked her trying to get off the ship, but she was so upbeat. I took her to the hospital, and they decided to watch her overnight. I went in to visit her a little while ago and tell her how brave she was, but she beat me to it. She looked straight at me and said, ‘Superman, you look like you need a nap.’”
Lois chuckled with him. “She sounds like a real trouper.”
“Oh, she is. We talked for a few minutes, and she asked me what it was like to fly. I told her that I could get higher than anything except the space station, and if her parents permitted it, I’d take her on a flight after she got out of the hospital.”
“I’m sure she’s looking forward to it.”
He smiled wider. “She said the first airplane she’d ever been on had landed hard and they’d had to leave the plane by the inflatable emergency chutes and then ride in a smelly truck back to the terminal. From there, she’d ridden a bus to her uncle’s house with her older sister and it had broken down on the highway and they’d waited for six hours before another bus had come to get them. Her uncle took them sailing on a lake near his house and she fell into the water and caught a bad cold. The first big ship she’d been on had almost sunk. She thanked me for my offer, but said that if it was all the same to me, she’d stay on firm ground from now on.”
They shared a gentle laugh. “That sounds like a good memory.”
He rubbed his free hand over his face. “Yeah. I’ll keep it close to shut out the others.”
Uh-oh, she thought. “What others?”
“Oh, the older man and woman from Florida who wouldn’t let me near them. They kept yelling something about me being a scout for an alien invasion.” He dropped his hand to his lap. “Then there was the burned woman who got totally hysterical when I tried to fly her to the hospital. I ended up putting her in an ambulance.” He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. “And the two teenage boys who wouldn’t look at me. They said they were related to someone I’d killed.”
“Really? Were they Bill Church’s grandsons or nephews or something?”
“I asked them who they were talking about. They wouldn’t tell me. They weren’t injured, so I decided to just leave them alone.”
She lifted the hand she held and kissed it. “I’m sorry, Clark. I know that hurts.” She tugged his arm and guided him down on the couch. “Why don’t you lie down for a while?”
He resisted for a moment, then slid down to a horizontal position. “Okay. But just for a few minutes.”
“Sure.” She arranged the blanket around his shoulders. “You were gone for quite a while. Did you go somewhere else?”
He waited two long breaths before he answered. “I headed towards the Arctic. I go there sometimes to blow off steam.”
She patted his arm. “I pity the poor icebergs that got in your way.”
He closed his eyes again. “I never made it. I flew over an Inuit village where a polar bear was attacking a group of women. They were trying to fend it off with spears and brooms. Two of the women were already hurt by the time I got there. I picked up the bear and took it to the coast, then I flew back and offered to help the wounded. They very politely declined. They weren’t afraid of me, exactly, just very wary, and a little upset.”
“Upset? Because you saved them from a bear?”
“Because I took away a source of food. They were going to kill the bear, eat it, and tan the hide.”
“Oh.” Lois nodded, not knowing what else to say.
He sighed deeply. “I hope those women weren’t hurt too badly.” He yawned. “Bears are very messy eaters and the wounds they cause with their claws often get infected.”
Lois leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “I’m sure they’re fine, Clark. You just get some rest, okay?”
His speech was beginning to slur. “Sure. Tha’ was a big ship, too. Heavy. Couldn’t pick it up. Too – “ he stopped and yawned. “Too long. My aura isn’t big enough for something so big. Woulda – would’ve folded in on itself if I’d tried it.”
Lois tugged his glasses from his face and put them on the coffee table. He didn’t stir. She smoothed his hair and stood, then turned off the overhead light and turned on a small table lamp. If Clark was so tired he couldn’t stay awake for her, she’d let him sleep as long as he wanted to.
>>> Thursday, August 29th
Catharine knocked on Lois’s door with her foot while balancing the tray of pastries. She figured her boss could use a surprise treat this morning, since she knew that Lois and Clark hadn’t been able to spend much quality time together lately.
She was about to knock again when the locks clicked and the door swung open. “It’s about time! You know, holding this tray steady is a real pain in the – “
Her mouth froze in an open position as Clark took the food out of her hand. “Good morning, Catharine. Come on in.”
She stood in the doorway as Clark made his way towards the kitchen. He stopped and looked back at her, smiling. “Really. Come in.”
She stepped in slowly, looking around the room, taking into account Clark’s rumpled clothes and the folded blanket still on the couch. “Uh, Clark? I hope I’m not – er – interrupting something.”
“No, of course not. I came by late last night and since I was so worn out, Lois was nice enough to let me use her couch. Coffee or fruit juice?”
The sudden change of subject threw her. “Huh?”
Clark smiled indulgently. “Would you like a cup of coffee or would you prefer orange, cranberry, or apple juice?”
“You have cranberry? I mean, Lois has cranberry?”
“I went out for a few things earlier. I didn’t know you were coming by this morning.”
“Lois didn’t either. It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing.” She closed the door behind her and put her purse on Lois’s living room table. “How about a big glass of that wonderful cranberry stuff?”
“One generous glass of cranberry juice coming up.” He filled a tall tumbler and handed it to her. “Here you go.”
She sipped it, then took a bigger swig and made yummy sounds. “Ooh, that’s good. Hey, is Lois up yet?”
He stopped and cocked his head to one side, then nodded. “She’s getting dressed now. She should be out in a couple of minutes.”
As she tried to puzzle out how he knew what Lois was doing, he opened the covered tray and began dividing the pastries into three piles. “I assume the scones are for you?”
“Uh, well, Lois likes them, too, but you can have my share.”
“No way. You didn’t plan for me, so I’ll just take the leftovers and be thrilled with them.”
Catharine smiled. “If you say so, Clark.”
The bedroom door opened and Lois walked out, fully dressed in a dark blue pantsuit except for her shoes. “Clark, have you seen – oh. Hi, Cath.” Lois looked at Clark and then back to Catharine. “This is – something of a surprise.”
Catharine smiled. “Not an awkward one, I hope. Clark already told me he slept on the couch, and I know you don’t leave blankets out here, not even if they’re folded, so don’t worry about your respective reputations.” She pointed to the kitchen table. “I brought morning goodies.”
Lois smiled back. “Thanks, Cath. And no, this isn’t nearly as awkward as it might be if Clark had slept somewhere other than the couch.”
Clark handed Lois a glass of orange juice and deadpanned, “Ladies, please, you’re embarrassing me.”
The two women laughed. Lois pulled out a chair. “Sit down, you two. We’ve got almost forty minutes before I have to leave for the office. Clark, are you coming in with us today, or do you have other plans?”
He looked intensely at Lois for a long moment. “Actually, I do, both for later and for right now. Since Catharine is here, I can tell her what I hinted at the other night.”
“What you hinted at – No!”
Catharine looked at Lois, whose puzzlement had suddenly morphed into something much more intense. “No! Clark, you can’t tell – you mustn’t! Not now! Not yet!”
“Why not? I think she deserves to know.”
Lois pushed her chair back and gestured sharply. “I think so too, but not now! The timing’s not right!”
Catharine felt like a spectator to a particularly intense tennis match. In a reasonable tone, Clark asked, “Remember how you found out, Lois?”
“Of course I do! What does that have to do with it?”
“You found out because I lost my temper. Everybody might know soon, and if that happens it will be because I lost my temper a second time.”
“That’s totally different!”
Clark remained seated. “Both of them involved Mayson.”
Lois stood and began pacing along a tight line. “That’s not fair, Clark! And it’s not the same thing!”
“Maybe not, but I still think it’s time to tell Catharine.”
Catharine raised her hand. “Can I ask a question?”
They ignored her. “You can’t do this!”
“I don’t know why not.”
Lois strode to the table and slapped it with both palms. “I won’t let you! This is ours! You can’t give it away to just anybody!”
Clark stood slowly. “Lois, I love you. I love you more than I love any other human being on this planet. But I don’t belong to you any more than you belong to me. And Catharine isn’t just anybody.” He took her hands in his. She turned her head and tried to pull away, but he stepped after her and refused to release his grip on her. “Please. She needs to know. You need a friend who understands it all. And I need to stop lying to her.”
Lois turned back to face him. “Clark – “ she began, but then she sighed deeply. “Go ahead. I still think it’s a good idea at a bad time, but I can’t stop you.”
“Thank you. It’ll be all right.”
“Yeah, sure.” Lois sat down across from Catharine and stared at her. “You’d best brace yourself, Cath. This is going to be something of a shock.”
Catharine frowned and nodded. “I’m ready. I hope.”
Clark stood, leaning on the back of the chair. “You have to understand that I’ve wanted to bring you in on this for some time now. Lois and I haven’t really discussed it, but you already know how she feels about it – “
He paused and looked at Lois. She refused to make eye contact with him. He shrugged and continued. “Anyway, this is the kind of secret you can’t tell anyone, not ever.”
Catharine nodded. “You mean like knowing that K. C. Jerome is really you?”
His face twisted and he almost laughed. Lois looked up and said, “That’s like comparing firecrackers to hydrogen bombs, Cath.”
“Oh.” Cath nodded, her mind spinning. “Uh, Clark? This doesn’t have anything to do with anything – illegal, does it?”
He shook his head. “No, nothing illegal, I promise.”
She exhaled. “Good. I was afraid you were going to tell me something I’d have to take the fifth over.”
His expression sobered. “You still might.”
She leaned back and crossed her arms. “Really? Well, now you’ve done gone and gotten me interested, Mr. Kent. It’s not illegal but you still might have to go to court over it?”
“No, not directly. Look, maybe I’d better just tell you.”
“Maybe you should.”
He turned and paced back and forth twice. “Okay. You were on the right track when you mentioned K. C. Jerome. I do have another name I use from time to time.”
“Another name?” He nodded. “Do I know it?”
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“Very well.”
She frowned and blew out a breath. “Have I met you while you were using this other name?”
“Yes.”
“And I didn’t recognize you?”
“I was – dressed as that someone else.”
“Was I impressed?”
Lois snorted. “In more ways than one.”
Catharine frowned. “I’m not sure I like the direction this is taking. Clark, maybe you’d better not tell me any more. I don’t want to cause problems between you and Lois.”
Before Clark could answer, Lois burst out, “Oh, I don’t think you have to worry about that!”
Catharine leaned forward. “Lois, honey, it can’t be that bad!”
“You won’t think so in a minute or two!”
“Girl! Come on, this is Cath! You know, the News Kitten! I know you. I know you wouldn’t care if Clark were an undercover FBI agent, or a bonded courier, or – “
“Or if he was Superman!”
“Yeah, if he was Superman, or he was involved in an undercover sting operation of some – “ Catharine stopped, dropped her jaw open, and stared at Lois for several seconds.
She finally shook herself out of her shock. Enunciating every syllable with the greatest of care, she asked, “Lois? What did you just say?”
“You heard me! Deal with it!” And with that, Lois leaped up from her chair and stormed into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
Catharine slowly turned to look at Clark. His expression reminded her of a little boy who’d gotten his best clothes muddy just before morning church services.
“Clark?” she asked quietly. “Does Lois think you’re Superman?”
He hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”
“I see.” She sat back. “What did you do to give her that impression?”
He opened his mouth to speak, but shook his head and stepped back.
Then he turned into a roiling cauldron of bright colors.
Suddenly Superman was standing behind Clark’s chair, his hands on the chair back just as Clark’s had been a few moments earlier.
She nodded slowly and spoke even slower. “Yeah. That would do it, all right.”
She sat staring at Superman for almost a full minute. He finally pulled out the chair and sat down. “Catharine? Are you okay?”
She focused on his face and took a deep breath. “I think so. I mean, you don't get to learn something like this every day. I mean, this is better than when Lois didn’t marry Lex Luthor.” She stood. “This is better than doing news on the air in Cincinnati.” She turned and began pacing around the table. “This is even better than Superman taking down Intergang. Except – “ she stopped and faced Clark. “Except you did it.”
He shook his head. “No. You and Mayson and a lot of others set them up to fall. I just pushed the stack over.”
“That was a huge push!” She resumed pacing and her volume increased. “I mean, all these years, and Lois never even gave me a hint! A couple of times I threatened to slap her silly unless she told you how she felt about you, but no, she refused to say a word! And – oh, fudgesicles! – one time I even told her that if Clark wouldn’t take her maybe Superman would!” She put her head in her hands and stomped once. “Man! I can’t believe she let me get away with that crack!” She straightened and pointed to him. “And I bet you were the one who told Mayson about the football thing!”
Clark frowned. “The football thing?”
“Sure!” Catharine grabbed his arm and squeezed it as hard as she could. “Remember? That first day in the newsroom when I asked Lois who the new tight end was and she told me to throw my usual forward pass and find out and when I was in Ohio Mayson told me if I did throw you a pass she’d penalize me five years for illegal use of hands!” She paused and took a deep breath. “I didn’t know you were listening but how could I know because – “ she released him and straightened abruptly. “ – because you weren’t Superman then.”
“Catharine, maybe I’d better – “
“Shh! Let me think.” She dropped into the chair Lois had vacated and frowned, thinking hard.
After another minute or so, her eyes brightened and she nodded to herself. “I get it now. We always thought Superman had some other identity he disguised himself as so he could have some privacy, but it’s the other way around, isn’t it? You’re Clark. You’ve always been Clark. And you either had these abilities most of your life or had just found them when you got to Metropolis and you wanted to help people with them but the only way to do that was to be someone else!” She lurched forward and grabbed his arm again. “This – this spandex costume is the disguise, isn’t it? You had to become Superman in order to help people and still stay under the radar as Clark. Am I right?”
He nodded. “Almost perfect.”
“Okay.” She leaned back and exhaled deeply. “The only question I have now is why did Lois freak out a few minutes ago?”
He shook his head. “That, I don’t know. I certainly didn’t expect it.”
“Me either. Hey, how long has she known?”
He ducked his head and she was almost sure he blushed a little. “Since before Mayson died.”
“Ah. That must have been the big secret she told me she’d learned about you but couldn’t tell me.”
His eyebrows rose. “I didn’t know she’d mentioned it to you at all.”
She waved one hand in dismissal. “It was in an e-mail she sent me while I was in Cincinnati. She only mentioned it that one time, and I never probed.” She heard the bedroom door open behind her, and she suddenly had an evil, evil thought. “You know, it’s a shame I’m out of the gossip business.”
He jerked in place and then relaxed. “I’m confident you’ll make the right decision about my secret, Catharine.”
She grinned evilly. “Oh, I wasn’t thinking about printing that. I was thinking about how much the Star, or even the National Whisper, might pay for the story of Superman’s girlfriend.”
She thought she saw his gaze flicker towards the bedroom, and then she was sure she saw a wicked reflection of herself in his eyes. “Well, you know, it isn’t easy for a superhero to have a long-term relationship with a woman. There’s always some burglar to stop or mugger to apprehend or some kitten stuck in a tree, and that’s not conducive to any kind of dating life. There was this one time when Mayson and I were out to dinner that I heard a fire alarm on the south side, and I had to fake an attack of diarrhea to get away without hurting her feelings.”
Now she knew Lois was listening. “I can imagine. So, you don’t routinely tell your dates of your double identity?”
He was really getting into the part. He leaned his elbows on the table and began gesturing. “Well, no, that wouldn’t work very well. Pretty soon I wouldn’t have a secret identity. Besides, I’ve heard that there are a lot of women who’d love to date Superman just to say they’ve dated me.”
She gave him a sultry look. “Mmm, maybe more than just date.”
“See? That’s exactly what I’m talking about. Why, just last week some woman wrote in to a paper in Central City that she’d be willing to have my child so I’d have something to look forward to when I got out of prison. Setting aside the obvious negative outlook she had about my future, I’d say she was being more than accommodating to me. In fact – “
Later, as she mentally reviewed the next two seconds, Catharine was sure she hadn’t seen him move. One instant he was sitting across the table from her, and in the very next instant he was floating above it and extending one arm behind her head. She would have said that she’d never seen someone move that quickly before, but the truth was that she hadn’t seen him move.
Superman’s feet floated down to the floor, and in his hand was a pillow from Lois’s couch. Catharine turned to see the pillow tosser standing beside the couch with her hands on her hips, trying for a furious look but not quite pulling it off.
Catharine took the cushion from his hand and tossed it lazily back to its home. “It’s okay, Superman. It is, after all, a throw pillow.”
Lois lifted her hands in the air and groaned theatrically. “I suppose you’ll want the Planet to run an ad for the new comedienne at the Improv Club now.”
“Or a serious raise.”
“What? A raise? You’ve got to be kidding!”
Catharine grinned. “I think I’ve got some serious leverage to work with, don’t you?”
“What? What leverage?”
“Why, the fact that you attacked me with a deadly weapon.”
“Pillows aren’t deadly weapons, Cath.”
“They will be when I get through talking about them.”
Superman stepped away from the table and spun back into Clark clothes. “Maybe I should leave you two here alone to fight it out. I’ll come back in an hour and take the survivor to the nearest emergency room.”
Lois pointed to him. “You’re not going anywhere until I get you for that crack about that woman wanting to have your baby!”
He held his hands out to either side. “I’m just repeating what I read in the paper.”
“What do you – “ She took a step closer and then stopped. “You mean you really did read that? Some moron actually printed that?”
“Yes. And that letter to the editor was one of the nicer ones.”
“Oh.” Lois slipped into a vacant chair. “Maybe I was wrong about the timing after all. Right now, I think you can’t have too many friends.” Her eyes flashed and she turned to Catharine. “And you! I just want to say one thing to you!”
Catharine leaned back and braced herself. “Okay. What?”
Lois deflated before her eyes. “I’m sorry. I reacted badly and I shouldn’t have. It has nothing to do with you, I promise. It just that Clark and I seem to have so little that’s just ours, and I don’t like sharing any part of him.”
“Uh-huh. You don’t much like surprises either, do you?”
She chuckled ruefully. “Not that kind, no. Clark, I’m sorry. I trust Cath, I really do, and I was just being a woman.”
Clark reached across the table and grasped her hands. “I’m glad. I don’t think I could take it if you were being a golden retriever.”
They both stared at him, astonished, then Catharine began to laugh. Lois ducked her head and muttered, “My life as I know it is melting all around me, and all the man whom I love can do is mock me. Oh, woe is me, I am undone!”
She leaned back and threw her arm over her head in a melodramatic gesture, then gravity overcame her sense of balance and she flopped over backwards.
She bounced up from the floor and put her hands on her hips. “Clark! You catch pillows but you let me fall? What kind of Superman are you?”
He grinned at her. “One with good friends, I think, and a girlfriend who didn’t hit the floor hard enough to hurt herself. Besides, I did blow a cushion of air under you.” He held out another chair for her. “You want some scones before work or shall I wolf them all down?”
Catharine pulled her plate towards her. “I find that learning deep, dark secrets is exhausting. I’m hungry, whether you are or not.”
Lois sauntered to the chair Clark was holding and sat down daintily. “Thank you, sir. Oh, I think these pastries are cold. Would you be a lamb and warm them up, please?”
“Of course.” He held the platter in front of his face with one hand, lifted his glasses with the other, stared at the scones for about two seconds, and then put the plate down again. “Here you go, all nice and hot.”
Lois took two and began buttering them. Catharine picked up one and dropped it on her plate, then quickly blew on her fingers. “Huh. I guess being Superman comes in handy, after all.” Then she froze.
Lois looked at her. “Cath, what is it? What’s the matter?”
“I just realized something absolutely devastating.” She looked at Clark. “You’re not just Superman, you’re also K. C. Jerome.” She sucked in a sharp breath. “That means – Superman writes romance novels!”
Lois stared at her for a moment, then a smile crept onto her face. Catharine’s face matched it, then led the way in hysterical laughter.
Clark looked from one woman to the other, then shook his head sadly. “My friends. I have a host of wonderful friends.”
