How I Spent My Christmas Vacation: One Year Later -- 9/?
by Nan Smith
Previously:
"Church Enterprises?" Lois said, as he closed the phone. "Didn't Perry mention that they were bidding on the LexSave chain?"
"He sure did. They're the corporation that owns Cost Mart."
They stared at each other. "Bobby said that a criminal organization was trying to move into Metropolis," Lois said finally. "Now we find out that the same company that's trying to take over one of Lex's businesses in Metropolis employs a soil engineer that was illegally on your property. In fact, there were three different groups that were interested in your property. And two women used Red Kryptonite on you at the mall. Somehow, I doubt this is all a coincidence."
"So do I," Clark said. "I wonder if the two women that Wayne told us about were the same as the ones with the camcorder."
"It wouldn't surprise me a bit," Lois said. "Come on; let's go back and turn in the car. We need to get back to Metropolis."
**********
And now, Part 9:
A short time later, Lois and Clark were getting back into the rental car. Clark gave a faint sigh of relief as the door closed, cutting off the sharp draft of cold air. The wind was picking up, whipping up the snow that lay on the ground around them in tiny hard flecks of ice that dotted his face, hair and clothing. Overhead, the snow clouds that he had first noticed in the west were blotting out most of the pale, early-evening sky.
Clark turned on the headlights as he pulled back onto the packed dirt of the road. Sunset would be around five o'clock, but it was already getting hard to see, thanks to the cloud cover. Impatiently, he waited for the engine to warm somewhat and then turned on the car's heater. If he ever got his powers back, he promised himself, he would never complain about them again. This getting cold thing was a good enough reason in its own right. Brr!
Lois glanced up at the sky. "I'm ready to call it a day. Besides, it looks like Smallville is in for a storm."
"Probably," Clark agreed. "The car rental place closes at five. We've got a little over an hour to get this thing back or be charged for another day. And since we can't get the paper to cover the expense --"
"Yeah," Lois said. "It might be hard to explain why Superman didn't just fly us out there. Let's get going."
The trip to town, normally a thirty-minute drive, took closer to an hour. Only a few minutes into the return trip the snow started to fall, at first a light sprinkle that dotted the windshield, but it became progressively heavier as they proceeded. By the time they reached the paved highway, it was coming down fairly heavily, and Clark had to fight the gusts of wind that blew unevenly against the side of the car and blasted clouds of flakes against the windshield. The asphalt was slippery with the coating of new snow, and he had to slow to nearly a crawl in order to keep from driving off the road in the white curtain that intermittently obscured his vision. An early dusk had fallen and he was just about to suggest that Lois drive, since her enhanced vision could cut through the snow, when they came upon the scene of a new accident, evidently caused by the sudden snowstorm.
A car had skidded off the road and lay with its nose in the ditch, the rear end thrusting up at an angle. A figure wrapped in a heavy coat and hat was leaning against one of the taillights and waving unsteadily at them as they approached.
Clark brought the car to a stop. Lois leaned out the window. "Need some help?"
The coated figure nodded and tried to stand upright, but succeeded only in falling to one knee. Clark set the emergency brake, turned on the warning flashers and opened the door. The other driver was trying to get to his feet again.
Clark bent to give the other man a hand. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah." The man managed to make it to his feet. "I think maybe I cracked a rib on my seatbelt when the car went into the ditch."
Lois had gone to examine the car. "Charlie, he's going to need a tow truck. There's some kind of fluid running out all over the ground. I don't think he should try to drive it."
"Can you make it to the car if I help you?" Clark asked. "I don't think the tow trucks are going to want to come out in this. Besides, if you hurt yourself you should see a doctor."
A short time later they were on the road again, their passenger sitting in the back seat soaking up the warmth of the car's heater as they made their way slowly toward town.
Between the snow and the necessity of dropping their passenger off at Smallville's tiny emergency clinic, they returned the rental car to Barclay's Car Rental with less than five minutes to spare.
"That was close," Lois said as they stepped out of the small office. "Do you get this kind of weather often in Kansas?"
Clark shrugged. "Sometimes."
"There's a nice, definitive answer," Lois said. "Let's get back to Metropolis. I'm ready to relax and get some rest."
They walked back into the area between two buildings and Lois changed quickly into Ultra Woman. She held out an arm to Clark and together they lifted off into the storm.
**********
As the miles flowed past beneath them, Lois Lane gripped her partner tightly around the torso, almost afraid that she would drop him.
For a short time after she had disposed of the two slivers of green Kryptonite, it had seemed as if the effects were transitory. The warm rays of the afternoon sun seemed to have dispelled the aches and weakness caused by the Kryptonite exposure but a short time after she had returned Rachel Harris to the Sheriff's Office in Smallville, she had begun to wonder.
As the sunlight faded, she had become slowly aware of mild fatigue. Her muscles felt tired and her joints had begun to twinge slightly. Still, it wasn't surprising. This substance affected Clark so badly that he had been powerless for several hours after his exposure to it on the tropical island where they had marooned Tempus. Her own exposure had been much shorter and much less severe, but it was reasonable to expect that there might be some after effects. Still, the sooner they got back to Metropolis the better. A good night's sleep would probably be all that was necessary in order for her to recover.
But as she flew eastward, Clark grew heavier and heavier, and it became more and more difficult to maintain her speed and height in the air. The sun had set and, flying above the clouds, the sky was black and clear and the air was definitely cold.
"Lois, are you all right?" Clark asked. She barely heard his voice over the rush of air in her ears. A pang of fear shot through her. Her super-senses were definitely dulling.
Lois glanced around, at the layer of cottony clouds, tinged with the silver of moonlight, floating below them. As solid as they looked, if she were to suddenly lose her power of flight, she and Clark would fall right through them, to their deaths. And both her strength and her ability to defy gravity were definitely becoming more and more iffy.
She angled downward. Clark glanced once at her and bit his lip, but he said nothing. Instead, he tightened the arm that he had wrapped around her when they took off and hung on.
Once they were beneath the clouds, she could feel the tiny, cold flecks of snowflakes hitting her face, and the chill through the spandex of the suit was more than just uncomfortable. It was becoming downright cold! The only warm place was the part of her body where Clark was pulled tightly against her.
She expected Clark to say something, to urge her to land as quickly as possible. He didn't, and she was vaguely grateful, since it must be obvious that that was what she was trying to do anyway. She felt him give a sigh of relief when her feet hit the pavement and after a pause he released the arm that he had wrapped around her.
"Are you all right?" he asked at once. "What happened?"
Her head was swimming, and she grasped his arm for balance. Instantly, he put his arm around her again. "Come on, Lois, let's get you somewhere warm where you can sit down."
"Not in this outfit," she whispered.
"Come on." His voice was a little faint in her ears, but the solid, muscular arm around her waist guided her to a bench and sat her firmly on it. She shivered, pulling the red cape around her body.
Instantly, he removed his coat and put it over her shoulders. "Come on. There's a motel across the street."
Wherever they were, it was considerably later in the evening than it had been in Kansas. They had undoubtedly crossed a time zone or two during their flight, she thought as she let Clark guide her unsteady path across the street. She had no idea how many time zones to the west of Metropolis that Kansas might be, though she probably should. It was snowing here, too, although it probably wasn't the same storm as the one hitting Smallville, and traffic was light. The streetlights were on, and the Christmas lights that illuminated the store fronts made streaks of red, green and blue on the snowy walk and illuminated the flakes as they glittered down in tiny sparks of color. Ahead of them a flashing sign announced "The Minton Motor Court", and beneath it, in smaller red letters, was the word "Vacancy".
At the door of the motel's office, she pulled at his arm. "I can't go in there. Not in this outfit!"
"Take off your mask," Clark said. "And be sure you keep my coat around you so they can't see what you're wearing. Come on. It's freezing out here."
Lois obeyed, stuffing the mask into the pocket of the coat. Clark pushed open the door.
It was very warm in the office, especially compared to the cold without. The sudden blast of heat made her head swim. Clark guided her to a loveseat that sat against one wall. "Stay here. I'll check us in." He turned and approached the desk where the woman who apparently managed the office in the evenings was watching them curiously. Clark pulled out his wallet, presenting the temporary press pass that Eduardo had issued him at Lois's request some weeks ago.
"Charles King, from the Daily Planet. We need a room with twin beds for one night."
The woman examined the identification and Lois saw her glance first at Clark and then at her. "Are you all right?" she inquired of Lois.
"She's cold," Clark said smoothly. "Our car broke down and we had to walk a ways through the snow. It looks like we're going to have to wait until morning to get it towed."
Lois nodded and pulled his coat more tightly around her, leaving Clark to deal with the business of getting them a room. She was so tired, she thought vaguely. She could barely keep her eyes open.
A short time later, Clark was ushering her into a motel room. He shut the door behind them, reached over to turn up the thermostat and guided Lois over to one of the twin beds that were the main feature of the room. There was a dresser, a couple of chairs and a cable television sitting atop a table in one corner.
Clark pulled back the blankets, efficiently removed his coat from around her, pulled off her boots and within moments, Lois found herself in the bed, covered with the blankets.
For a moment, he didn't speak as Lois snuggled beneath the warm covers of the bed. Then Clark sank down on the foot, regarding her with concern. "How do you feel?" he asked.
"Tired," Lois whispered.
"What happened?" he asked. "You were doing all right, and then --"
"I don't know -- my powers started to fade out." Her eyes flew open and she stared at him, appalled. "Clark, if I've lost the powers -- if they've gone -- how are we ever going to get them back to you?"
**********
The thought had occurred to him, but he had been unwilling to voice it. He was quite sure that Lois would blame herself for it, whether or not the blame was warranted, but now Lois had brought it up, herself.
"I'm more worried about you," he said. "Are you sure you're all right? Are you warm enough?"
"I'm warming up just fine," Lois said, impatiently. "Clark, your powers were switched to me and now they're almost gone! Maybe they *are* gone! And all because I handled the Kryptonite!"
"We don't know that," Clark said. "We know you had them after you were exposed to it. It just seemed to me that they faded after you'd been putting out a lot of effort all day. Maybe you just don't absorb sunlight as well as I do and with a little help from the Kryptonite, they faded out. There's nothing to say they won't come back after you've had some exposure to sunlight." He reached out to take her hand. "Let's not panic until we know there's a reason to panic, huh?"
"Clark, if your powers are gone forever, it's my fault!"
"Oh?" Clark said. He knew that Lois's tendency to perfectionism was operating here. "I suppose you were the one behind those two women shooting us with the Red Kryptonite camcorder?"
"Of course not!" She pushed herself up abruptly.
"Then how on Earth could you possibly be at fault for me losing my powers? We don't know anything about this, yet -- and we don't know that what happened to you is permanent, either. The only thing we can do is wait for tomorrow and see if exposure to sunlight brings your powers back. Blaming yourself, when we don't even know what really happened, isn't very helpful. Aren't you the one who always jumps on me for obsessing about stuff?"
"Yeah, but that's *stupid* stuff!" Lois shot back. "You blame yourself for things that you couldn't possibly do anything about!"
"And you could?" Clark replied instantly. "You mean you knew that exposing yourself to Kryptonite radiation was going to take your powers away *after* we started flying back to Metropolis?"
"Of course I didn't!"
"Exactly," he said forcefully. "You didn't know it. We don't even know if it really had anything to do with it. We sure as heck don't know if it's permanent!"
They glared at each other for several seconds. At last Lois began to smile faintly. "Sometimes I really think you're a journalist after all, Kent."
He felt both his eyebrows fly up. "Huh?"
"On the other hand, maybe not," she added. "For a guy that makes his living with words, you sure aren't very quick with the witty retort."
"It's hard to be witty when you haven't got a clue what just happened," Clark said. "What are we talking about?"
"I was just going to say that you make a pretty convincing argument."
Slowly, he replayed the last few lines through his mind. That was one thing that hadn't vanished with the red beam: his photographic memory. "Oh, I get it. You know, you have a super power that I'll never have, Superman or not."
"What do you mean?"
"I'll never be able to change a subject half as fast as you do." He rose from the food of the bed to sit on the edge next to her and ventured to put an arm around her. "Honey, we don't *know* much of anything, yet. All we can do is wait until tomorrow to see if sunlight brings the powers back. If they don't come back right away, we're going to have to find some other way to get back to Metropolis, and I guess that means a rental car. Renting a car for the kind of distance I suspect we're going to have to drive is going to be a little expensive, though. Considering the importance of what we've found, the Planet ought to reimburse us. I think I've got a way to get them to, without explaining too much."
"What way?" she asked.
"We're neither of us super-powered," Clark said quietly. "We were out investigating this new criminal organization that's rumored to be moving into Metropolis. We wound up here -- wherever here is -- and Superman had to take off on other business. We have to get back home, so we're going to have to rent a car. That's what other reporters do when they get stranded for some reason or other. We're perfectly within our rights."
She processed that and finally nodded. "I guess you're right."
"And after we get back to Metropolis," he continued, "we'll go straight to Dr. Klein, as soon as we can. Maybe he'll be able to help."
"Okay," Lois said. Her burst of self-recrimination seemed to have burned itself out, to his vast relief.
"Good. Now, we need to take care of a couple of things. Or *I* do. You're going to stay in that bed, under the covers, and get rested and warmed up."
"What?" Lois asked.
"Well, we need some dinner, and you need some clothes. We can't drive all the way to Metropolis with you dressed as Ultra Woman. Somebody's going to notice, even if it's just when we stop for gas. Besides, it's freezing out there, in case it escaped your attention."
"Not exactly," she said.
"So I'm going to check out the yellow pages of that phone book that is so conveniently sitting next to the phone, and order us food -- and while we're waiting for our food, I'm going to find out where we are, and call Eduardo. And after that, I'm going to do some research on where I need to go to get you some clothes before we leave. We don't have to check out of here until noon, so that should be time enough. Or do you think you can retrieve your clothes from where you put them?"
Lois shook her head. Clark nodded. "I couldn't get mine back either after they shot me in the mall. Oh well. One of the hazards that goes with the job, I guess."
"Clark --" Her voice sounded very subdued. It broke into his list of things he needed to do, and he turned to look at her.
"What's the matter?"
She put her head against his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."
"Hey." He tilted her face up so he could look her in the eyes. "This isn't your fault. We're going to figure out what to do, Lois, and I'm not ready to give up on getting my powers back. There's too much we don't know about all this." He put his other arm around her, pulling her as close to him as he could, allowing for the blankets in the way. "We're partners forever, and partners don't blame each other for things that can't be helped."
She wiggled an arm free of the covers and slipped it around his neck, tugging his head down, and all at once he found he was kissing her.
The kiss lasted forever, even though the clicking of the second hand of the wall clock said it was only for about forty-five seconds. Slowly, and very reluctantly, he drew back. "Besides," he said softly, "How could I possibly blame the woman I love for something that wasn't her fault?"
She held onto him more tightly without answering. Clark didn't move, and more seconds ticked by. At last Lois released him, looking up into his face with a glimmering of tears in her eyes. "Why do you love me, Clark? I'm the most unlovable person I know. I scare men off. You heard Ralph the other day, complaining about what a bitch I am." Why do *you* feel differently?"
"You don't scare me off," Clark said quietly. "You never have. And Ralph is an idiot. I can say that while I'm Charlie King, even if I can't as Superman. Beside you, Lois, other women are like shadows. I need you to survive, like other people need food and air. I can't help it that most men can't handle the threat to their egos. You've never been a threat to mine, because it isn't a contest and never was. Since we met, I've felt *alive* in a way I never felt before. I fell in love with you about two minutes after we met, if you want the absolute truth. After that, there was no other woman for me, and there never will be."
**********
"I hope these fit," Clark said, presenting three bags from Angelina's Boutique for her examination. "I bought you jeans and a pullover T-shirt, and as heavy a sweatshirt as I could find. I also bought gloves and a pair of snow boots. If they don't fit, I'll take them back and exchange them. Try the boots on first, would you?"
Lois withdrew the boots from the bag, dreading what she would find, but she was pleasantly surprised. They were a pair of tan, waterproof women's boots in her size, lined thickly with wool, and with non-skid soles, as well as a pair of stockings to wear with the boots. They weren't graced with spike heels or tremendously pointed toes, but Lois suspected that they would be all the more stable in the snow for that lack, and probably wouldn't pinch her toes as most of her stylish high-heeled work shoes did. She undid the socks from their wrapper and slipped one on, and then slid her foot into the boot.
And raised her brows. The boot fitted like a glove, there was adequate room for her toes, and it had arch supports as well. The soft, wool lining cushioned her foot and if Clark hadn't been there she would have allowed herself to revel in the sensuous sensation. These boots, she suspected, were about to become her favorite winter footwear.
"It fits," she told him, picking up the remaining bags and the other boot. "I'm going to take a shower before we leave. Did you find a place to rent a car?"
He nodded. "Three blocks down. Minton Valley Car Rental. The only place in town, may I add."
"I'm not surprised," she said. "As a matter of fact, I'm a little surprised there's a real car rental place here -- but then, maybe I'd better wait until we see the cars available."
Clark chuckled. "A lot of this is depending on luck," he said.
"By the way," she added, observing his newly shaven chin, "I see you managed to shave without too many nicks."
"Yeah. It's lucky they supplied a toiletries kit, or Charlie King might be going for the unshaven look," Clark said. "I only nicked myself three times. How do ordinary guys manage?"
"Lots of practice," Lois said. "Just imagine if you were a woman and had to shave your legs, too."
He made a face. "That sounds painful."
"It isn't fun," Lois said. "So what else have you done this morning?"
"I called Dr. Klein," Clark said. "He's still doing that analysis of Superman's blood. I told him we need to talk to him in person as soon as we can, but we probably won't be in Metropolis until late tonight. He said to come by first thing in the morning."
"He can bet on that," Lois said, almost under her breath. Clark didn't answer.
They were in the tiny, unincorporated town of Minton, South Carolina, just south of the North Carolina border in Lancaster County, as Clark had discovered last night. She'd never heard of it, of course. She was a big city reporter, and Minton wasn't even as large as Smallville.
Their dinner, when he ordered it, had consisted of pizza with all the trimmings, delivered from the town's only pizza place, two blocks away. The town, according to the literature in the drawer of the telephone table, consisted of slightly more than ten thousand persons, all told, and she and Clark had landed next to one of the two motels in the entire town. They had approximately six hundred and fifteen miles to cover to reach Metropolis, and so far, since last night, Lois had seen no sign of the super powers returning. Clark had pointed out that they had no idea of what they were dealing with at this point, and that it might take the powers more time to come back for her than they did for him. He had refused to speculate about the possibility that they might not return, but Lois knew he was worrying about it. So was she.
She went into the bathroom, but at the last second paused and stuck her head out. "How about a place to eat? I guess there's some pizza left, but --"
"There's a place called the Kozy Kitchen right across the street from the rental place," Clark said. "We'll have to walk over, but I think we can manage that. I also got hold of Eduardo, finally. The Planet will pick up the tab. He tells me Clark's phone is off and he isn't answering his page."
"Big surprise there," Lois muttered. "I just hope we can keep fooling everyone -- but I'd hate to see you have to be Charlie King full time."
"We'll deal with that when and if we need to," Clark said. "All we can do is take things as they come."
Clark was taking this better than she was, Lois thought. Closing the bathroom door, she laid the bags down on the broad sink board and pulled off the boot, followed by the skin tight costume of Ultra Woman. After the events of the last twenty-four hours, she was more than ready for a hot shower but as she adjusted the water to a comfortable temperature and stepped beneath the stream, she continued to worry.
**********
tbc
