This is something I've had sitting around for a while now. I finally decided to post it as a standalone. Don't ask me where all this New Krypton stuff is coming from.
Much love to LaraMoon for BRing, and for lots of help with the title!
A Waking Dream
Bang Bang Bang
She waited for the force of the bullets to slam into her, as the sound of the gun firing echoed off of the walls of the narrow alley. It didn't come. Their were only the sensations of cold, hard pavement beneath her scraped and bruised knees, and a light breeze so brief she wasn't sure it had actually been there.
Ca-chink Ca-chink Ca-chink
The sharp clang of metal against metal was followed in very quick succession by a strangled gasp of fearful bewilderment from the man who had pulled the trigger. Despite her eyes being squeezed shut as tightly as they could be, the sounds were so dizzyingly familiar she could nearly picture the scene unfolding in front of her.
Except it wasn't happening. Not actually. Not even the sounds of crunching metal and the desperate grunts of exertion, as her attacker struggled to break away from her savior, were enough to convince her that it was actually happening. She had been tricked by her own senses too many times over the past year to give in to their cheap deceptions again. No, she refused to get her own hopes up again only to have them brutally murdered by reality the moment she opened her eyes. She would not open them until her ears had decided to comply with what she knew was true...that her fiancé had not returned from New Krypton, had not just saved her life, and was not standing in front of her at this very moment.
Voices echoed around her, both of them panicked, one of them concerned. They swam around in her brain, looking for a place that would comprehend the words that were being formed. The unintelligible voices were soon joined, then drowned out by, the sounds of sirens and squealing tires she vaguely recognized as the police arriving. Doors slamming, more stunned voices, repeating the same name over and over again. The one name that she refused to hear, refused to believe. Why wouldn't they stop saying it? She wanted to cry out to them to stop, but somewhere in the confusing din of chaos, she had lost her own voice.
And suddenly, she was lifted up off of the jagged concrete, into the most warm, solid embrace she had ever felt, and was in the air. She was only faintly aware that she was suddenly soaring over the tops of buildings, gliding over the city with less effort then even the most agile of birds would exert. She couldn't allow herself to think about it, because if she thought about it she'd have to open her eyes, and if she opened her eyes she would realize this was all a fantasy, some kind of cruel dream her subconscious had conjured up to torture her.
“Still getting yourself into trouble I see.” The voice was soft and deep, filled with so much emotion it sent a shiver up her spine. For the first time, she realized the strong, steady arms around her were trembling. “Lo-- Lois? Did he hurt you? Are you okay?” His voice cracked with the effort of speaking, but he had to know if she was harmed in any way.
The very faint feel of her head shaking against his spandex-clad chest did nothing to quell his fear that she was hurt. “Lois, look at me,” he whispered, one hand slipping up to trace his fingertips along her jaw. “Lois?”
Her head snapped up suddenly, like she had been jarred from a deep sleep. The haunted brown eyes that stared up at him spoke the volumes that she herself couldn't. The word rose within her then was choked off by her uncooperative throat, forcing her to attempt a number of times before it finally escaped her in a sob. “Clark...”
End
