From Part 1:
The kiss ended as suddenly and unexpectedly as it had begun, Lois having taken a step back, almost gasping for air. She looked up at Clark, her deep brown eyes sparkling like the ocean in the moonlight and the snowflakes in her hair shimmering like as many stars in the night sky.
“Can I ask a favor?” she said, sweetly.
A million different answers came to his mind. Anything. Everything. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. I would give you the world. But when he opened his mouth to speak, the only thing that came out was “Yeah,” in a ragged whisper.
“Would you drive the rest of the way?” she asked, a wide smile gracing her beautiful face. She held up the keys to the Jeep and dropped them in the open hand he had extended towards her in answer.
~.~.~.~.~.~
Part 2 -
Clark got behind the wheel and took a quick look at the driving directions Lois had given him. They were so detailed that he had to make a real effort not to laugh as he read them. While he would have been just fine with an X on a map and the address of the place, Lois was apparently so afraid to get lost that she had written down every single turn and the exact distance to travel between each one. She even had a list of significant landmarks that were visible along the way, presumably to make sure she could verify that she hadn’t taken a wrong turn somewhere. As if taking a wrong turn was even possible, with directions this precise!
As they got back on the main road, Lois realized it was a good thing that she didn’t have to drive anymore. Big clumps of fluffy white snow drifted lazily to the ground, creating what seemed like curtains all around them and beyond which they could barely see. She wasn’t used to driving in this sort of weather at all. When a snow storm hit Metropolis, she’d either take cabs or just stay home. Not that they really ever got storms in Metropolis anyway. Clark, on the other hand, seemed to be perfectly comfortable driving through the snow. They’d make it to their destination safely, she knew.
With that thought, Lois started relaxing in her seat. The tension and the stress from driving had taken their toll on her and very soon, fatigue and drowsiness started to take over her.
“Thank you,” she said, stifling a yawn as she laid her head on the headrest and closed her eyes. Just for a second, she thought.
“You could have let me take over a while ago, you know,” Clark replied.
“No, I mean… for coming along,” she explained, sleepily. “And for being there when I need you.”
He extended his arm and gently took her hand in his. “I’ll always be there for you, Lois.”
She mumbled something that Clark couldn’t quite make out as she squeezed his hand slightly. A second later, she was fast asleep. He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb then brought his hand back on the steering wheel.
“Always,” he whispered.
~.~.~.~.~.~
Several miles and two inches of snow later, they had arrived at the entrance of the private road that lead up to the cottage. Clark had been glad to take the wheel, earlier, but he was downright relieved that Lois had decided to let him drive, now. The road hadn’t been cleared – it was a private road, which meant it fell on the owner to open it – and there were over three inches of snow on the ground, perhaps even more because of the wind.
Clark knew right away that driving from there to the house would be a challenge. If he had been alone, it wouldn’t have been a problem. He probably wouldn’t have been driving, anyway. But now… there was no way he could drive and use his heat vision at the same time, so he’d have to drive through the snow. Oh, he could have parked the Jeep and then cleared the road in a couple quick glances, but Lois would surely have woken up and, obviously, there was no way he could do anything “super” with her observing him.
Luckily, Clark not only had super fast reflexes, he could also count on the fact that Lois’ Jeep had both anti-lock breaks and four-wheel drive systems. It would take him a while to travel the distance to the cottage, which he estimated to be around a thousand feet away, but he knew they’d be perfectly safe getting there.
~.~.~.~.~.~
Strong hands on her shoulders. Soft kisses along the side of her neck. Breathless whispers in the night.
Anything you like, Lois. You can ask for anything you like. Anything…
Just hold me, Clark. Hold me close. Hold me and never let go.
Anything, Lois… Always.
~.~.~.~.~.~
After what seemed like forever, especially to a man who could move as fast as the speed of light, Clark finally parked the Jeep in front of the house. He turned to Lois and gently shook her awake.
"We're here," he said softly.
Lois opened her eyes slowly. She blushed as she realized she’d just been dreaming about Clark. The pleasant feeling died quickly, however, as Lois looked out the window. She rubbed her eyes, somewhat confused by what she was seeing. It was snowing heavily, but the shape of the building in front of her was nothing like it was supposed to be. She had expected it to be a much larger house. Not a tiny little cabin like this was!
"No, no, no. That can't be it. You took a wrong turn somewhere," she said, accusingly.
Clark raised an eyebrow. How could he possibly have taken a wrong turn? Lois’ directions were so precise that it was unimaginable that anyone would ever get lost following them. "Nope,” he replied. “I followed the directions exactly the way you'd written them. This -" he gestured towards the cabin - "is it."
"But... it's not possible!” she barked.
Clark cringed a little. Somehow, about an hour ago, Lois Lane had fallen asleep and while he was busy concentrating on the road, she had been replaced by her evil twin – Mad Dog.
Completely ignoring his reaction, Lois continued her tirade. “It's supposed to be, oh, I’d say at least twice as big as this. And it's not supposed to be so run down and awful! Are you sure you didn't take a wrong turn, Clark?" She grabbed the paper he was handing her and glanced at it, knowing she wouldn’t find the answer there anyway.
"Absolutely positive,” he told her. “If you try the key in the front door, I'm convinced it'll open."
Lois stepped out of the Jeep carefully and took a few steps closer to the cabin. It looked as small and dingy from up close as it had a minute before. Maybe he’d followed the directions properly, but the directions themselves were wrong? She doubted it. She had double-checked them carefully, afraid that they’d get lost on the way and never be able to make it back to civilization afterwards. She kept on walking until she reached the entrance and noticed a row of big pewter numbers screwed on the side of the door: five hundred seventy nine. Looking at the piece of paper she held clutched in her hand, she saw that the address was right. They were exactly where they were supposed to be. The cottage, however, was nothing like she had expected it to be.
"I thought it would be more like an actual house," she said, pitifully, as Clark joined her at the front door. “It’s awful!” She sighed.
“Does it matter?” he asked. Lois turned to face him, a shocked expression on her face. Of course it mattered! Clark quickly rephrased his question. “If you’re planning on selling it, does it really matter if you like the way it looks or not?”
“Well, yeah!” She pouted. “We were supposed to get here and find this really nice place that I’d at least feel a little sorry to have to sell. This… How am I even going to be able to sell this? Who in their right mind would ever want to own such a place?”
“Well, who says the inside isn't great?” he offered. “First impressions can be deceiving, you know.” And Clark was definitely an expert on that! Who would have thought, looking at this mild-mannered reporter, that underneath the nicely cut suit and colorful tie he wore was hiding someone as remarkable as Superman?
He peered through the wall quickly and unfortunately realized that the cabin was just as dingy and run down inside as out. Unlike his own, this ordinary exterior did not arbor a truly exceptional interior. Lois was going to be very disappointed, he knew.
“Come on,” Clark suggested after a moment, “let’s go inside. We’re turning into snowmen out here.”
Lois gave him a weak smile and nodded. She inserted the key inside the lock on the doorknob and gave it a turn. There was a metallic click, followed by the creaking of the hinges as she opened the door. Lois popped her head inside and looked, but there wasn’t enough light to see much of anything, so she gave the door a small kick to swing it completely open and stepped inside.
As her eyes got accustomed to the darkness, she was able to make out some of her surroundings. She seemed to be standing in one very big room and from the looks of it, this was quite possibly all there was to the place. One big room. Like a loft. It was even worse than she thought!
Clark ran his hand on each side of the door, looking for the light switch. After a moment, he finally managed to find one and flicked it on. As he got a sense of what the cabin looked like exactly, he immediately knew how frustrated Lois was going to be. He shut the door behind himself and waited for the storm to hit – the one Lois was likely to create. But the skies remained clear… for now, anyway. Perhaps Lois was too tired to be frustrated, he told himself.
“It was supposed to be a nice big cottage,” she complained, letting her head drop in defeat. Suddenly, Lois desperately wanted to forget about this whole entire place and just go home again. But she couldn’t very well suggest they just go back to Metropolis, could she? She knew that Clark would probably not even argue and he’d offer to drive them all the way back home, but she couldn’t ask that of him. Two more hours driving in the storm? No, she’d just have to live with the fact that she owned a shack, that she’d never be able to sell it and that for the time being they were pretty much stuck here.
Clark moved in closer to her and ran his hands on her arms, comfortingly. “It’s not that bad,” he told her. “Once it’s cleaned up, it’ll look just fine. A fresh coat of paint can do wonders to a place.”
She turned to face him and gave him an unconvinced smile. Lois was kicking herself for not having asked much details when she’d been told she had inherited a ‘cottage’. She’d just figured that it would be a nice house. This, however, was the most incredibly kitsch-looking shack she’d ever set foot in.
“I’m sorry to have dragged you all the way up here,” she whispered. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this at all. I thought a bit of dusting would be enough. This…” She sighed dejectedly. “Clark, even if I brought in the team from ‘This Old House’ they couldn’t fix it up so it looks nice. Not in a million years. It’s a disaster!”
The expression in her eyes, a mix of regret and despair, made his heart constrict. He took her hand in his and pulled her in for a hug, which she gladly leaned into.
“Come on,” he told her, soothingly as he gently stroked her hair, “it’s going to be just fine. You’ll see.”
“There’s, uh… there’s only one bed,” she said after a moment, pointing a hand in its direction.
Clark couldn’t help but chuckle. “We can flip for it,” he suggested, grinning, as he recalled the last time they’d had this conversation.
“It’s a big bed,” she said, giggling. “Maybe we can share.” Just as she said it, it occurred to her that it probably wasn’t the wisest thing she could have said. She moved away from him suddenly, her eyes wide and her cheeks flushed. “Um… I mean…”
“I know,” Clark cut in, seeing how mortified Lois was, “I remember.”
“How much more snow is expected?” she asked, changing the subject to a less dangerous one. “Do you know?”
“Last I heard, probably about fourteen inches in all.”
Lois gasped in shock and ran over to the window. Fourteen inches of snow. No wonder the guy from the snow removal company had laughed when she had told him she didn’t need their services anymore! He’d argued with her for a while, obviously thinking – knowing, even - that she was out of her mind, but she’d ended up telling him there was no need for his services and she had hung up abruptly. They’d be stuck here all winter, she thought. The Jeep would be buried and they’d never be able to get out of here. And it was all her fault!
“What?” Clark asked, slightly worried. What was so alarming about it, he wondered. Granted, fourteen inches was a lot of snow, but it wasn’t as if this was a life-threatening situation or anything. “Lois? What’s wrong?”
“We’re stuck,” she explained, throwing her hands in the air. “We’ll be here until spring and then when they find us, we’ll have died of starvation. This is the worst day of my life!”
“Don’t you think you’re overstating it just a little?” he offered, trying very hard not to laugh. Lois had a natural born tendency of exaggerating things to such a degree that he often had to exert enormous amounts of effort not to burst out laughing. Clark knew that laughing now would be a really very bad idea, though. Not when Lois was so distraught.
“No… No, Clark, I’m not.” She turned to face him. Panic was obvious in her face and she was gesticulating madly as she spoke. “We’re stuck here. There’s no way we’re ever going to be able to leave. There’s what, about a thousand feet from here to the road? It’s going to take forever shovel all that snow!”
“Shovel it?” This time it was too much and Clark was unable to stop a chuckle.
Lois merely glared and him, blinking a couple of times as if he’d just uttered the most unbelievable thing in the world. Clark sobered up quite rapidly at the sight of his partner. Volcano-Lois was about to erupt, he realized. And if he wasn’t careful, the lava flow would be fierce.
“Lois, people don’t shovel their driveways in places like this. When they don’t own one themselves, they hire someone with an industrial snowblower or a snowplow to open it up for them. It’s a country thing,” he explained.
“Yes, I know that’s what people do around these parts, Clark! I’m not that naïve!” she barked.
“Well then, where’s the problem? Whoever usually removes the snow here will be by sometime tomorrow and it’ll all be perfectly fine.”
“No, they won’t. There is no snow removal service!”
Lois’ exasperated attitude and the bite in her words made it harder and harder for Clark to keep his cool. “What do you mean there isn’t one? Someone has obviously opened up this road before, judging by the height of the snowbanks on the side of the road. And if the previous owner was an elderly lady, she definitely didn’t take care of it herself.”
“I cancelled the service, OK? I cancelled it. That’s why. You know, for a reporter, one would think you’d be able to figure things out a lot quicker!” she threw at him.
This time it was Clark’s turn to glare. “Lois, calm down,” he said slowly once he had regained enough control over his emotions not to shout right back at her. “Yelling at me will not accomplish anything.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled, her cheeks reddening somewhat. She hadn’t really meant to yell – or insult him, for that matter – but dealing with the fact that she was wrong had never been easy for Lois. Admitting that she’d made a horrible mistake was just too hard. Anger was simply a defense mechanism. And since there was no one else around, Clark had found himself the target of Lois’ fury, much to his annoyance and her embarrassment.
“We can call them back in the morning and straighten things out,” he suggested.
“No… we can’t,” she said, sheepishly. “My cell phone doesn’t work. I’m not getting any signal out here.”
He sighed. “Right… Well, that doesn’t mean we have to be stuck here, anyway.”
“Yes it does. How are we supposed to get out of here? I mean, unless you’re planning on shoveling snow for the next month?” Lois’ voice had started to reach into the higher octaves again. Apparently, this volcano erupted in multiple bursts.
“Not exactly what I had in mind, no.”
“What then? Heat vision? Oh, wait – that’s a power only Superman has. Of course you could contact him. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to drop everything and come rescue us from all this snow. Oh, but wait… no signal on my cell phone. Then again, we could scream. Help! Superman!” She threw her hands in the air.
“No need to shout for him,” Clark said, feeling his blood starting to boil again. He was tired and he’d had just about enough of Lois’ volatile temper for tonight. He was used to her flying off the handle every once in a while, but this was absolutely ridiculous. “In fact, I don’t think there’s any need for us to shout at each other, either.”
“Guess not,” she mumbled. “But we’re still stuck.”
He raised an eyebrow at her and sighed. “I’m going to have to get some firewood,” he told her. Having looked around quickly, he had noticed that the only heating source was the fireplace but there was no firewood anywhere in sight.
Lois looked over to the fireplace. What else could go wrong, she wondered.
“I’m sorry,” she told him, in a small voice. “I honestly didn’t mean for you to have to work very much at all.”
“It’s all right, there’s probably a cord of wood just outside. I’ll be right back,” he said, going outside.
Clark quickly went around the cabin, looking for any sort of firewood, but found none. Luckily he had a few abilities he could count on that would help resolve the situation in no time. However, as he headed off into the woods, his super hearing kicked in and he heard screams, sounds of cars crashing into one another and cries for help.
He rushed back inside the cabin. Lois was sitting on the couch, staring at the ceiling and wondering how a potentially nice weekend could possibly have turned into such a nightmare. She straightened as she heard him come back in. She hadn’t expected he’d be done so fast and was disappointed to see that he wasn’t carrying anything. She braced herself for more bad news.
“All I’ve found are some really big logs that need to be chopped into smaller ones. They’re right around the back,” he told her. “It’s going to take me a little while, though.” He was thankful to have a real excuse for once. Lying to her was becoming harder and harder.
“This is such a disaster!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.
“No it’s not,” he said reassuringly. “Everything’s going to be fine. Just keep warm and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
~.~.~.~.~.~
Leaving Lois alone in a cabin with no heat, when she was so distraught, made Clark feel just awful. But what else could he do? He couldn’t ignore the fact that someone out there needed his assistance. Lois wasn’t in any danger here, he knew. She could take care of herself for half an hour or so, while Superman was off being heroic. He’d be back before she even started to miss him, he was certain of it. And then he could cut down a tree, chop it into logs and dry the wood with his heat vision so it would make perfectly fine firewood. Everything would turn out OK in the end. He went around to the back of the cabin where he knew she wouldn’t see him, spun into the Suit and flew off in the direction of the accident.
When he arrived at the scene, however, he realized that he’d have to be gone longer than half an hour. There was an overturned semi-trailer blocking the road, three crushed vehicles whose drivers had apparently not seen the truck at all and crashed right into it and about half a dozen cars that had skidded over the side of the road and right into a ditch. Not to mention that given the road condition and the visibility, there was a high probability that more drivers would get to this point in the road and not be able to stop in time to avoid the other vehicles.
Superman touched ground at the scene and proceeded to scan for injured parties. Some of these people needed immediate medical assistance, he realized. But the closest hospital that had any chance of being sufficiently equipped to deal with so many casualties was actually quite far away. He, himself, could get there in a matter of seconds, but taking people there would take longer – he couldn’t fly as fast if he was bringing anyone along, or he’d end up causing them more harm than good.
The quickest way to get these people the help they needed, he thought, would be to just fly the vehicles over to the hospital, back in New Paltz. Luckily, some people were able to get themselves out of the cars that had veered off into the ditch. They started helping others out of their vehicles and so Superman was left to deal with just the most extreme cases of injuries.
One by one, Superman carefully flew the three crushed cars and then the driver of the semi-trailer to the hospital. Everyone else seemed to have been able to get out safely and no one appeared to be injured seriously. When he got back, the last time, Superman brought all the vehicles out of the ditch and made sure everyone could get back on the road safely.
~.~.~.~.~.~
Meanwhile, Lois was starting to worry. Clark had been gone for almost an hour. How long should it have taken to chop some wood, she wondered. Perhaps he was having a hard time? She knew that Clark wasn’t all that strong, but she knew better than to go out and offer to help – he might take that the wrong way. Any normal man would. Except, he’d been gone for quite some time now and she was really starting to wonder if something had gone wrong. What if he’d hurt himself with the axe? The thought of Clark bleeding to death outside was just too much to bear and so Lois made her decision and she went outside to look for him.
The snow had practically covered over his footsteps, but she could still see that he’d gone around to the back. The trail seemed to lead into the woods, but then it disappeared. And there was no sign of Clark. Or of the big logs of wood that he’d mentioned. Had he made that up? What if he had had to go into the forest? What if he’d gotten lost?
“Clark?” she called out. But no answer came. She called again a couple of times, but still no answer.
How much longer should she wait for him before trying to get help? Not that she was even sure she could drive out of there, but perhaps she'd get a better signal if she plugged her cell phone in the Jeep? Lois didn’t dare venture into the woods, as she was afraid she’d get lost there and then they would probably both die there, stuck in the middle of nowhere! She heard noises coming from the forest – something like branches or a small tree falling to the ground. She smiled. That had to be Clark. Maybe he just hadn’t heard her calling because he was too far away. Oh well, he was probably fine and he’d be back soon.
Lois walked back to the cabin, but decided against going back inside. It was freezing in there and she’d been walking in over a foot of snow, so her boots and the bottom of her pants were all wet. The Jeep, however, had heating. And a radio, so at least she would have something to keep her mind occupied while she waited. Clark would certainly be back soon, anyway. She’d just wait for him in there and dry herself off in the meantime.
~.~.~.~.~.~
Superman flew back to the cabin from the scene of the accident in a fraction of a second. The entire rescue operation had taken him two full hours and he wasn’t looking forward to having to explain to Lois what had taken him so long. She was going to be beyond angry, he knew. When he arrived at the cabin, he saw that the Jeep was running. Had it not been for the fact that the engine was humming, the vehicle could easily have been mistaken for a mountain of snow.
If the Jeep was completely covered in snow, he reasoned, then it meant that Lois had probably gotten inside a while ago and since the engine was running, she had to be still inside. Suddenly, he realized something: the exhaust pipe was likely to have been blocked by all the snow. Panicked, he x-rayed the inside of the Jeep and saw Lois, unconscious. His heart almost stopped. He dove towards the vehicle and all but ripped away the driver-side door. She was still breathing. Barely, but she was. He took Lois in his arms and brought her inside the cabin.
There was still the matter of firewood to take care of, however. It was just as cold in here as it was outside. If he didn’t manage to get a fire started soon, Lois would freeze to death and he most definitely hadn’t saved her from dying of carbon monoxide poisoning just so she could die from hypothermia! He set Lois down on the couch and sprinted out. Barely a few seconds later, he was back with some wood. He piled it in the fireplace, dried it off with his heat vision so that it would actually burn, then he got a fire started.
He went back to Lois. Her cheeks had a little more color to them and she seemed to be breathing more easily. He even got her to open her eyes, although he was fairly certain she hadn’t even noticed who she was with. No matter, he knew she’d pull through and this was the only important thing. But he needed to get her warm. Picking her up from the couch, he brought her over to the bed. He took off her boots, her coat and scarf and gently laid her in bed, covering her with layers of warm covers.
“You’re back,” she mumbled.
He sat down on the side of the bed and tenderly stoked her cheek with the back of his hand.
“I’m sorry, Lois,” he whispered. “I’m so, so sorry.” He had almost lost her, he realized. He’d never forgive himself for putting her life in danger like this. It was all his fault.
As he bent down to kiss her forehead, his cape dropped from off his shoulder and onto the bed. Somehow it landed near one of Lois’ hands and she grabbed hold of it, as if it was one of the covers. He tried to free it from her, but she just kept pulling back. He tried getting up, but that only made her stir and grip his cape more tightly.
“Stay with me,” Lois murmured.
He sighed. He didn’t have much choice anyway… As long as she was holding on to his cape, he couldn’t go anywhere. If he lay there beside her, he could help keep her warm, he thought. An hour or so of sleep would do him good, too – the drive and the rescue had taken their toll on him. Lois would probably be asleep for a good long while anyway and by the time he woke up, it was likely she would have let go of the cape and he’d be able to change back into Clark.
~.~.~.~.~.~
Lois slowly started to wake up. She smiled as she heard the crackling of the fire and felt the strong arm on her waist. Clark had made it back. He was all right. She opened her eyes, but shut them right back as she realized she had a killer headache. It was dark, anyway, she could barely make out her surroundings. Lois didn’t remember much after getting in the Jeep last night. She was sleepy and must have fallen asleep there, she guessed. It didn’t matter, the only important thing was that Clark had safely made it back.
Carefully, Lois turned around to face Clark, making sure not to wake him. Moving quickly was out of the question anyway – her head was throbbing with pain just staying still. She opened her eyes again, just a fraction of a second. Having assured herself that she wasn’t dreaming and that Clark was really there with her, she closed her eyes again.
“Don’t ever scare me like that again, Clark,” she whispered to him. “I don’t want to find out what life would be like without you.”
“Never,” he mumbled sleepily.
Lois opened her eyes once more, looking up at his face. She realized she’d never actually seen Clark without his glasses. He looked so peaceful in his sleep, he had such a gentle but strong air. He wasn’t really awake, she knew. Just barely enough to understand her, so no matter what she said, he probably wouldn’t remember in the morning. She might as well be honest, if only with herself.
“I love…” she started, but the rest of the words died in her throat. The hand she ran on his chest had caught what appeared to be a thick seam in the oddly silky fabric; looking down she had discovered, much to her dismay, that what her fingers had felt was Superman’s spandex suit and the border of the familiar S shield. She pulled back, allowing for more light and blinked a few times. There was no mistaking this for anything else. It wasn’t Clark she was with, this was Superman.
Confused, Lois scrambled away from him and sat up in one sharp move even though it sent awful jolts of pain cursing through her skull. There was a time when she would have been overjoyed to wake up and find Superman next to her in bed, but there was something about seeing him there now that just wasn’t right. It didn’t make sense. If only she didn’t have such a headache, she would have been able to figure it out. If only…
Her moving away suddenly woke him up with a start. His eyes grew wide and he straightened himself up quickly. This was bad, he knew. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way – he should have woken up a long time ago and changed back into his regular clothes. There wasn’t much of a chance he could explain this away, now. Sure, he could tell her how he had found her, but how could he possibly explain the fact that Clark wasn’t around? For all she knew, Clark had gone out to get firewood the night before and it wouldn’t take very long before she realized that he wasn’t back yet.
“Superman?” she asked, frowning. “What…”
“I found you in your Jeep, last night,” he explained, calmly. “Lois, you had passed out from inhaling carbon monoxide.” A shiver ran through his spine, the memory still quite vivid in his mind. He had been this close to losing her. Just a minute later and… “You could have… You almost…” he swallowed uneasily, the rest of the words dying in his throat.
“I went in there to warm up,” she admitted. Immediately, she remembered why she had done that. She looked around the place quickly, but saw no one else there. “Clark?” she called out, but the only answer she got did not come from Clark. As far she knew, anyway.
“Lois…” Superman said, in as soft a voice as he could manage.
She ignored him completely. “Clark?” she called out, louder this time, panic obvious in her voice. Where was he? Why wasn’t he answering?
“Lois, please calm down,” Superman said, trying to sound reassuring.
She turned to face him, a look of horror starting to show in her eyes. “He went out to get some firewood,” she explained. She was agitated and speaking at near super speed. “He was gone so long and I got worried so I went out to look for him but he wasn’t there and then…” She stopped, frowning. “You need to go look for him!” she declared, wondering why she hadn’t thought of that right away.
Seeing as though he wasn’t moving at all, Lois gave Superman a sharp push in the middle of the chest. “Well, don’t just sit there!” she ordered, ignoring the unbearable throbbing behind her eyes. “Go! Find him!”
“Lois,” he started.
She cut him off suddenly as everything became crystal clear in her mind. “Oh, dear God,” she whispered, an expression of absolute terror on her face, “that’s why you’re here, isn’t it? He’s not… he’s not dead, is he? Oh, please, no! No, no, no! Tell me he’s all right!”
“Lois, calm down,” he repeated once more. He gently took her hands in his. “Please? Nothing’s happened to Clark,” he explained after a short pause. Facing the fact that he could not longer try and pretend that Clark Kent and Superman were two separate beings, he took a deep breath and confessed his secret to her. “Lois? Look at me… I am Clark.”
She stared at him in disbelief for a moment before she found her voice again. “You…” she croaked. “You’re… him?”
He nodded, encouraging her to accept the facts as he was presenting them to her.
“You… lied to me,” she said in as cold and cutting a tone as he had ever heard her use.
~.~.~.~.~
To Be Continued…
Bottom Dweller’s Notes:
A quick little note about “This Old House” – it’s a TV show that’s been on the air since 1979 (on PBS) where they renovate a house from top to bottom. Even if you’ve never heard of it, chances are you’re familiar with Bob Vila – this is the first show that he hosted.
Of course, when Lois complains that even they couldn’t fix up the house, she’s exaggerating quite a bit. Then again, even though Bob Vila *can* work miracles, by the time this story takes place (1995) he wasn’t on “This Old House” anymore, so who knows…
And yeah, it so happens I love home renovation shows. Don’t ask me why, because I’m not even very handy with tools! I just love to watch these shows. *g*
