There you go.
I hope you like how it ends.
Oooooh. I thought I'd let you know... I've got this idea in my head for a small sequel that's going to start with Lois asking Clark something like what time it is in Europe... Think about it when you get to the end. (Laura: I blame you for it *lol* You put this idea in my head! I had trouble sleeping 'cause of that. *lol*)
btw - this contains some more of "desperately trying to make it to 50,000 words". And one really nasty little comment which makes the Lois from the series look "galactically stupid" in a superb way. Sorry Lois... we do love you, it's just so easy to pick on you.
~.~.~.~
Part 10As the sun started shining in the window, Lois got up and threw her clothes on as fast as she could. She ran down to the kitchen, hoping she might find Clark there. She had had an idea during the night and had stayed awake for hours, waiting for the sun to rise. They were bound to get up soon enough after then, she thought. She knew she could have just called out to Clark when the idea had first popped into her head - he would have heard her and she could have told him right away, but she didn't want to disturb him.
She knew someone was up when she smelled the coffee that was brewing in the kitchen, as she ran through the corridor to get there. When she got there, however, she saw no one. Perhaps the coffee maker was just set to start automatically, she thought dejectedly. She looked around, but couldn't find in which cupboard the coffee cups were stored, so she turned her attention to the fridge, hoping to find something to eat while she waited for someone else to show up.
She grabbed an orange out of the crisper and closed it back with her foot, before shutting the refrigerator closed with her foot as well. When she turned around, she found herself face to face with Clark. The orange fell out of her hand and rolled on the floor.
"Didn't mean to startle you," he apologized and bent down to pick up the fruit and hand it back to her. "You're up early. I hope you slept well?"
"Oh... um... yeah. Well, actually... no... I've been up for hours. I was just waiting for the sun to rise. Anyway... it doesn't matter! I've got it, Clark. I've got it!" she told him.
"What 'it'? What are you talking about?"
"It, *it*. The solution," she said, as if that would explain everything. She started pacing as she spoke. "I don't know why you didn't think of that yourself. It's so obvious, it's so easy! I mean, it's going to take a little bit of work, but it's... ah, it's just perfect! This is going to work, I just know it will!"
Clark moved slightly so he would be standing in front of her, stopping her from pacing any more. He grabbed her shoulders gently. "Lois, calm down. I'm not following you... You're not making any sense."
She shot him a semi-frustrated glance. "Oh, come on! Of course I'm making sense. I'm making perfect sense! You're just not listening to me!"
He just raised his eyebrows and sighed, not knowing how he could possibly reply to that.
"Two words," she announced. "Secret. Identity."
"Whaaaaaat?"
"Yes, yes! A secret identity. I told you, it's perfect! This way you can help *and* no one will ever know it's you. Don't you see? It's perfect, I'm telling you!"
"A secret identity? What exactly did you have in mind?" he asked, although he wasn't exactly sure he liked where this was going.
"Well, a costume. Something. You know... like Batman. Except, well, obviously you can't be Batman. But, I mean, something like that. A costume. So you could help if you need to and you won't have to worry about anyone finding out about you. Don't you see? You wouldn't have to hide anymore. And you'd never have to run again. Ever. I'm telling you: it's brilliant!"
Clark was shaking his head all through her explanation. "I'm not sure it's as good an idea as you think, Lois..."
"Well, I think it is," Lana said. They hadn't noticed her there, but she had been standing in the kitchen for a minute or two already.
"See," Lois said.
"Seriously?" Clark asked at the same time.
"Yeah, seriously. Clark, I think that's the best idea I've heard in a long time," Lana told him.
"Well, if you're going to gang up against me, now..." he said with a teasing smile, before he continued on a more serious tone. "You girls are certain this would work? Really? I mean - it's got to be foolproof. If anyone saw through this disguise... They can't hurt me no matter how hard they try, but if they figure out who I am and... if anyone went after either of you to get back at me... I don't think I could possibly ever live with myself if that happened."
"We'll do everything we can to make sure no one recognizes you, I promise," Lana said, in a reassuring tone.
"Don't worry," Lois added. "Oh, you know what? You could also wear glasses when you're being, you know... just you. No one knows you don't need them, so they wouldn't question it at all. Trust me, glasses can change your face so much no one will ever know you're the same person."
~.~.~.~
Lex Luthor had spent most of the night yelling that he should be allowed to see his lawyer. He knew his rights and this was one of them!
"Will you let me out of here?" he had screamed at the agent guarding the cell.
"I'm not allowed to comment," the agent had answered, snickering.
In the morning, two policemen had come to get Lex from the holding cell he had spent the night in. He had kicked and screamed and desperately tried to get himself free, but there was no way he was strong enough of course. He had no idea where they were taking him and they weren't saying.
They took him to the same little room he had been questioned in. There, he met with an FBI agent. A few short minutes later, they were joined by a lawyer who was going to sit through the entire interview.
The FBI agent explained that they had eyewitnesses and that they had several written testimonies against him. There was nothing left for him to do but confess to his involvement in the kidnapping of little Timmy Parker and a drug smuggling operation. Several of his business associated had been caught too, he'd been told, but they had had the good sense to talk when asked to. So, while they were out on bail and awaiting trial, he was still in here and facing more charges by the minute. The agent warned him that he wasn't going to take kindly to being told that Luthor had "no comment" and that he was going to need to talk and talk very soon. Perhaps the local policemen had let him get away with his childish tactics, but he had no patience for it.
Lex had started talking after almost a full half-hour of just staring at the agent. For the entire time that he was being stared at, the FBI agent had not moved a muscle. He had barely even blinked. He could have lasted much longer, he knew, but he was relieved that Lex had finally decided to cooperate.
The interview over, Lex was sent back to the holding cell. He would rot there for a long while - plotting his revenge - before anyone came back to inform him of his court date.
~.~.~.~
Lois and Lana spent most of the morning working on sketches for a costume. They had looked at several options in ways of colors and material. They had finally decided to go with spandex; that's what all the most fashionable superheroes were wearing these days. And they had narrowed down the color palette to very bold shades of red and blue, plus a hint of yellow. Lois wasn't crazy about the yellow, but Lana wouldn't cave and so they had compromised and while the costume would have some on it, there wouldn't be much at all.
They left the mansion to get supplies, much to Clark's dismay as he realized that this whole costume thing was going to happen whether he wanted it or not. He really wasn't sure about this at all. Although, running away all the time was really beginning to take its toll on him. It was just that thinking of himself as a "superhero", like Batman... well, it was odd. He did not feel like a hero. If he had been, he might have thought of this secret identity before. He would not have hidden in shame, afraid of people - and for them, in a way, too. But he had to admit that being able to help was something to look forward to. He had all these special abilities that enabled him to do things others could not - even Batman couldn't do those things - and there had to be a reason for that. The scariest thing about it, though, was that someone might see though the disguise and figure out who he was. He knew that this would endanger the lives of the people around him. There weren't many people around him, but those who were meant the world to him.
When the girls came back, not very long after, they told Clark that they needed to take measures so they could make the costume properly. It was going to be tight fitting, they informed him, so if they got it wrong, it would look awful. How would it look if the suit was sagging? And sure, spandex could stretch, but if it was so tight that just flexing his muscles would cause the suit to tear, it would be just as bad! He needed to look heroic in it, not silly. So they had to make absolutely sure that they got every single measure right.
While he understood the need for measurements, Clark had originally refused to go along: they wanted him to stand there in his underwear while they did it! He really did not want Lois to see him standing there in his briefs. Not yet, anyway... Not to mention that for someone to be able to measure him, they'd have to touch him and... well, if that someone was Lois, he was likely to "react" to her touching him and he really was not convinced that he wanted her to see such a reaction. Not in these circumstances for sure and especially not with Lana standing in the room! He wasn't sure he'd be able to control that part of his body just as well as he was able to control his strength, for instance.
So Lana had agreed to take all the measures herself and Lois had promised to keep away and not come in to look. She had had a very hard time keeping that promise, however... Upon leaving the room, she had turned around to let them know she's be taking a walk in the garden. Clark had already taken his shirt off that that point and while she saw only his back, she good a good sense of exactly how well defined his body was. She sucked in a sharp breath and left the room quickly. Had she not left right then, she knew she would probably never have.
Lana took all the measures as accurately as she could. She went as fast as she managed too, knowing that Clark was not enjoying this at all. Not to mention that although they both considered her to be his younger sister, they were in no way related and Lana was starting to have a hard time running her hands on his body and not having any reaction to that herself. Once she was done, she let him get dressed again and went back out to get Lois so they would get started with the actual making of this costume.
They had to start over a few times, being that they weren't exactly used to sewing at all. Fortunately, they had bought more then enough fabric to compensate for any mistakes they might make like this. After a while, they finally had it! They held up the costume and admired their work. It looked rather simple - like a blue ski-suit with a yellow belt and a red brief - but they were very pleased with it. Lois went looking for Clark so they could show him.
"That's it?" he asked upon seeing their 'masterpiece'.
They looked at him, both having a somewhat frustrated air.
"Well, I mean..." he started. "It's OK, but it looks like it's missing... I don't know... something?"
"Oh!" Lois exclaimed. "I know!"
She whispered something in Lana's ear and both women started giggling. Clark shot them a very nervous glance. He had heard some of what Lois had said and he wasn't sure he was liking that idea a whole lot...
Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "I've got an idea," he told them. "Hang on, I'll be right back."
He left at super speed and showed up again in the blink of an eye. He had a piece of fabric of some kind in his hand. He gave it to Lana. It was yellow and shaped like a diamond, with a big red "S" in the middle of it.
"Here," he said. "I think this could make it more... well... complete."
"What is that?" Lois asked, curious.
"Family crest," Clark explained. "My Kryptonian family, I mean. It's the crest from the House of El."
"The House of what?" Lois replied. She realized that while she had heard a lot about his life here on Earth, he had barely told her anything about his birthparents. And the only thing she knew about Krypton was the name of the planet and the fact that it was no more. She was clueless otherwise.
"Oh, right. I hadn't gotten around to telling you about that," he said. "The House of El. You could say it's our last name: El. My parents - I mean my biological parents, here - named me Kal-El. My father is Jor-El and my mother, Lara. That 'S' isn't an 'S', it really means El, in Kryptonian. I guess it's just a coincidence that it looks like an 'S'."
Lana started sewing it to the front of the suit. She held the suit up again once she was done and they all looked at it with a smile. It definitely looked better like this! Lois asked Clark to leave them while they added... something to it. She promised that once they were done with that, it would be ready. He gave them a worried look, remembering what he had heard them say, and left.
The women immediately got started on sewing a long red cape to the suit.
When Lana brought the costume to him, Clark looked at her with a very uncertain look. It was bad enough they wanted him to prance around in a spandex suit - although it did look really nice with the crest - but a cape? They seriously wanted him to wear a *cape*? He shook his head. This was crazy! He didn't care that Batman wore one. Batman was free to do whatever the hell he wanted. He himself thought a cape looked silly and he didn't particularly want to be seen wearing one!
She had to pretty much order him to wear it before he said he would. Seeing that she would not let go and would not leave until he had agreed to try it on, he finally caved. He growled as he took the clothing from her and promised he would put the suit on.
After a moment, Clark came in the living room, wearing the spandex suit. The cape - which he really disliked - rustled as he walked. He also had on a pair of red boots they'd gotten to match the outfit. As they saw him arrive, both women held their breaths. They pretty much already knew he had the body to pull off such a tight fitting costume and Lois was expecting that she might go a little weak at the knees upon seeing him in that. But what neither of them expected was that his showing up dressed like that would be so awe inspiring. They stared at him, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. He looked everything like the hero they knew he could be - and then some.
"I knew it..." Clark said, thinking their surprised expression meant they hated it. "I look stupid in this thing!"
"No," both women said simultaneously.
"You look..." Lois started. "Just... Wow!"
"Yeah," Lana added. "What she just said."
"Really?" Clark asked, dubious. "You don't think I look like... I don't know... stupid... in a spandex suit? And with a *cape*?"
"Well, if you do, there are a few really dumb superheroes out there, cause they're all running around in tights, you know!" Lois replied, giggling.
Pretty soon the room was filled with laughter.
"And I don't think you have to worry about people seeing through your secret identity, Clark," Lois added, more seriously. "Because, one thing's for sure: nobody's going to be looking at your face."
Before anyone could reply to that comment, they heard a special report on TV. They had left it turned on while they worked as Lois could not spent more than a few hours without knowing exactly what was going on in the rest of the world. Apparently, there was a fire on the waterfront. A very big one. It had started in an empty warehouse, but had spread to several buildings nearby and had very quickly turned into a five-alarm fire. The reporter who was on site explained that one of the buildings was part of a low-income housing project and there were some people still trapped inside, on the top floors.
Lois turned to Clark, with pleading eyes, silently telling him he should go and help. He was able to after all and he even had the costume on already. It was perfect! He could go out and help and prove to himself that which both women already knew - the secret identity was not only a good idea, it was going to work perfectly well, too.
He gave them an uncertain look, to which Lana replied by nodding, encouragingly. Clark took off like a rocket a second later. The next time the women saw him, he was on the news.
~.~.~.~
Clark got to the waterfront as fast as he could. He landed in front of one the building that he had seen on TV - the one they said was part of an affordable housing complex. The one that had people trapped inside of it. He started blowing towards it as hard as he could. As he did, the fire grew smaller and smaller until it was completely out. He guessed that the firefighters would be OK handling the warehouses for now, so he rushed inside the apartment building and started looking for people trapped inside.
He flew out of there a few minutes later, carrying a couple of very scared looking kids. He set them down near an ambulance, hoping the EMT would know to take care of the kids right away, and he rushed right back into the building. Several times he came out again carrying people to safety and he rushed back inside to make sure no one was left. Every time people saw him come out of the building, they applauded and cheered. Every time he went back in the building, they held their breaths, hoping he would come out again soon.
Clark couldn't believe that people were actually applauding every time he came out again. Granted they had to be happy to see that more people were now safe, but it was him they were applauding, he knew. He heard them talking and he knew what they were saying. And he just couldn't believe that he inspired such awe in all of them. At least they weren't scared of him, he thought. That would have been especially bad, obviously.
Reporters were all over him every single time he landed, but Clark did everything he could in order to avoid them. He hadn't been ready to answer questions yet, at all. He'd have to ask Lois about that, he told himself. She'd certainly be able to coach him and help him answer questions in a way that he would not reveal his identity by mistake. He really wasn't used to the press, even though he was a celebrity in a manner of speaking in his "regular" life. He would definitely need help with that.
As soon as he was certain that everyone had been safely transported out of the building, he gave the fire fighters a little bit of help in extinguishing what was left of the fire. Finally, once he was satisfied that everything was under control, he left the scene. Reporters yelled out to him to come back and give them a quote, but he just flew off in the direction of home.
He flew back, above the clouds, at a slow pace. He needed time to process everything that had just happened. He felt incredible about having been able to help these people - finally being able to help people and not have to be afraid of running away. But he didn't think he would be able to take much more of this adulation. The crowd was literally going wild every time they saw him. He wondered if Batman had to deal with that, too? Maybe he'd have to go over to Gotham and ask...
~.~.~.~
"I'm really not sure I can do this," Clark announced as he got back. He had flown in through the back of the house and had immediately made his way back to where Lois and Lana were still watching TV.
"What do you mean, you can't do this?" Lois asked, alarmed.
"Have you heard what they're calling me? How can I live up to that? Lois, this is silly!" he complained.
"So they're calling you 'Superman'?" Lana said with a lopsided smile. "I think it's cute. Don't you, Lois?"
"Well... I do happen to think you're pretty super, you know," Lois told Clark. "Besides, it makes sense, you have super human strength and speed and all that. Not to mention you just happen to be wearing a really big 'S' on your chest. What else were people going to think but that it stands for your name?"
"I don't know... I just think it's crazy! People were cheering me on. It's completely insane!" he said.
"Clark, you're a hero to them," Lana told him. "Of course they're going to cheer you on! You showed up over there and you saved these people's lives when it's quite possible that nobody else could have. You're quite a bit spectacular, you know - what else are people going to do?"
"It's the first time you're out, Clark. Relax," Lois said, trying to sound reassuring. "They've just never seen anything like you before. They'll get used to the idea. You'll get used to the idea. It'll get easier."
"Well, I must admit it felt... wonderful. Being out there, for one thing. But being able to help. For the first time in my life I wasn't afraid to show myself and use my abilities. And not having to turn a deaf ear on cries for help makes it a lot easier to live with the fact that I have these abilities to begin with."
"See, I told you it was a good idea," Lois told him and she walked over and hugged him. "Plus, you know... you're really very sexy in that suit," she whispered in his ear.
He blushed a little and hugged her back tightly. "Now I understand why it had to be this form fitting," he said, in a husky tone.
"Okay, well... I think this is my cue to go see if anything needs to be done... you know... elsewhere," Lana told them, with a soft laugh. She left rather quickly.
"So, do I get to have the exclusive?" Lois asked Clark. She was only partially serious, but she was hoping that he would agree.
"What exclusive?" he asked.
"The story, Clark. The exclusive story. The scoop. You know? Who is this strange visitor and why is he here. That kind of thing."
"Not an interview again?" he asked, pretending to be annoyed at having to submit himself to more of her questioning.
"Well, you know, I am a reporter. And you're one heck of a great story... Superman." She made a point of using the moniker that had been bestowed upon him - and to make it sound as sexy and suggestive as she possibly could. If there was one thing Lois Lane knew how to do was convince people to talk when she had questions to ask.
"I'm not really sure about this..." he started. He was just teasing of course, he knew there was no way she would ever let him get out of that, but he found it amusing to play hard to get just a tiny little bit.
"Oh, come on..." she said, with pleading eyes. In a low whisper, she called him "Superman" again.
"Well, if you keep calling me that," he whispered, "I just might agree."
She smiled and leaned in for a kiss. It was just as powerful as the first time they'd kissed. The world just seemed to melt away, time stood still and all conscious thought completely escaped them.
After a moment, Lois remembered what had happened the first time she had interviewed him. She hoped that he knew this wasn't going to happen again...
"Believe me, Clark," she said. "This time it's not going to be printed with a stupid title that makes the story look like it's just gossip. Cross my heart! Anyway, the Daily Planet isn't just another rag and I'm sure Perry White would never stoop that low."
"Oh, so no 'spending the night' with me this time around? Are you sure? Cause I was kinda starting to look forward to that," he said, winking at her suggestively.
"Don't push your luck, flyboy! First the interview. Then we'll see. And that's just *if* you answer all my questions," she answered playfully.
"You drive a hard bargain, Miss Lane," he said, planting a kiss on the tip of her nose.
"Does that mean you'll answer all my questions?" she asked with a bright smile.
"If I agree, does that mean you'll spend the night?" he replied, teasingly.
Lois swatted him on the arm, playfully.
"I'll give you all the exclusives you want, Lois," he said.
"There's a definite possibility I might spend the night, then," she whispered before she leaned in to kiss him again.
Right at this moment, both of them knew - in absolute certainty - that this is where they belonged. That this is where they were meant to be. That this is what it was like to be truly and completely happy.
~.~.~.~
The man took a look around the spot where he had landed. He stood in a dark little alley. He was relieved to see that no one had noticed his arrival. It was always best that no one see him and no one knew he was here. They would not understand how or why he was here anyway.
He walked over to a newsstand that stood at the corner of the street. It was early in the morning and they had just put out all the newspapers. He picked up a copy of the Daily Planet. The front page title made him wince. The headline, in big bold text, read: "Caped Wonder Stuns City". The man walked back to the alley he had come from and let out his frustration on a trash container.
He had failed. Again!
He knew he should have kept a closer eye on them this time! They always managed to find a way to make his plans crumble! He had tried countless times to keep this from happening; to keep them apart. But no matter what he did, no matter what he threw their way, they always got out of it. They always won!
Would he never be able to destroy Utopia?
~ The End ~
