Title: Frozen
Author: Sue S.
Obviously this scene is ripped from the episode 'And The Answer Is'. I've quoted directly from the episode, but I didn't mean any harm by it. Don't sue Sue. It's worth noting that I was working on this while DJ was working on "Quiet Regret". We each wanted to explore a similar theme, she just writes faster.
Many, many thanks to DJ for reading an early version and for sending me a clip from the episode to spur me on.
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"Freeze you?" he repeated in disbelief.
"Yes. Like cryogenics," she explained. "You know, people who fall in frozen lakes but get revived? You could freeze me with your breath - fast. I've seen you do it a hundred times - and then it would look like I was dead, and you could take my body..."
He hurried to cut her off. "Lois, do you have any idea how dangerous that is? You could have arterial ruptures, permanent brain damage... Lois, you could die."
She looked at him, her eyes full of quiet desperation. "Yes. I could die." Her legs felt weak and shaky so Lois sank to sit on the sofa. She searched for the words to make him understand how important this was. "But Clark's parents *will* die unless we help."
He sat down, his features still stubbornly set to deny her.
"Please, Superman, you haven't seen him," she said urgently. "You don't know what he's going through. He *needs* me. And I have never needed you more than I do right now. You just can't turn me down. You can't."
Clark lowered his head and sighed. It was too risky - surely she had to see that? But she was right. His parents were running out of time. And yet, the alternative was too dangerous to consider. He lifted his head and their eyes met. She was watching him, her gaze steady and stubborn as she silently pled with him.
<"...I have never needed you more than I do right now. You just can't turn me down. You can't.">
"All right," he said softly and stood up
She blanched and let out a shaky sigh. For a moment he was certain she was having second thoughts. Then she blinked and stood up, her eyes seeking his again. "If... anything ha-, happens," she said in a shaky voice as her eyes welled with tears, "tell Clark that I love him."
The air seemed to have left his lungs. He wanted to confess everything and tell her the truth. But there was simply no time.
"He knows," he told her softly, "but I'll tell him." She gave him a faint, grateful nod. "Close your eyes," he asked softly.
Her eyes closed and his entire body shivered with the magnitude of what she was doing. For him. She was doing this for him.
He couldn't do it. He reached out to touch her cheek, desperately trying to put off her request for a few precious seconds more. The words he wanted to say ricocheted in his mind - I love you. I need you. I can't do this. Please, there has to be another way.
Her eyes flew open wide, her hand coming up to touch his as she left out a gasp and a single tear slipped loose. "The way you just touched me..."
He took his hand away as he gave her a gentle nod. Yes, he thought. It's me. Lois, I love you so much.
"Close your eyes," he asked again.
She lifted her gaze to his one last time, her expression a mixture of confusion that quickly turned to trust and acceptance. She closed her eyes and her features relaxed, her apprehension seeming to melt away. She trusted him. He remembered the kiss she had given him at the Planet and her reassurance that "Everything is going to be all right." He would have to trust her. There wasn't time to come up with another plan.
Clark hesitated for a moment longer then drew in a deep breath. It was the work of mere seconds, too fast for him to second guess himself. He caught her as she slumped towards the floor.
"Lois?" he asked, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. He brushed away the hair that had slipped over her face with numb fingers. Her face was still and pale. There wasn't a whisper of breath in her lungs and her heartbeat had ceased. She was dead.
Dead.
The word echoed inside his mind and seemed to spread through his whole body, leaving him just as cold as her. He had just killed Lois. Clark shut his eyes and gathered her body close to his as he told himself that it was okay. She was only suspended. In a few minutes he would warm her up and she would live again. She would come back to him.
He opened his eyes and pressed a kiss to the icy skin on her forehead. "Lois," he whispered as he carried her lifeless body towards the open window. "You were right. I need you. Don't leave me."
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End
