Hello everyone! Eeeek! I'm back, with a long one again - are you with me? I've had this story on my hard drive in note form for like 6 months and I've been writing on it for a month now and am pretty far along. So I decided to go ahead and post part 1. Here we go. But first a couple of disclaimers. <g>
Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been, an expert on anything medically related. I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. <g> However, I did do research, and I did ask around (bless Sue’s sweet little heart for answering all my questions). Hopefully I didn’t get too far off the mark with my postulations in this story and if I did, I hope you’ll all excuse me. We are dealing with science fiction here and an extra-terrestrial so hopefully you’ll cut me a little slack. <g> But feel free to correct me if you find anything that glares at you. Just be gentle.
And another disclaimer: There isn’t really any main villain in this fic. Luthor is in the beginning, but that’s it. I say this because even though there’s not a villain-plot, I’m not sure if this fic could be classified as mostly b-plot or not. <shrug> I’ll let you decide that.
Description: Lois is having doubts about getting married to Luthor. Superman is slowly dying in a Kryptonite cage. Both realize how much the other means to them but is there any hope of realizing both their dreams... or is it too late?
House of Cards
By MetroRhodes metrorhodes@yahoo.com
Rated: PG-13
Submitted: May, 2007
All characters and settings are the property of DC Comics, Warner Bros., and whoever else can legally lay claim to them. No copyright infringement is intended. This story was written purely for fun, not for profit, but the story is an original idea and belongs to me. A thank you to the writers of Lois & Clark, without them we wouldn’t have this wonderful world to play in. Any scenes or dialogue from the series belong strictly to the original writers of the episodes borrowed from.
Thank you to Sue, my wonderful beta... words can’t adequately express my gratitude at your endless help and words of advice on this story. Thank you.
***********
Lois stared at the image in the mirror in front of her. The pristine white wedding gown was ornate and exquisite but something way too gaudy for Lois’s tastes. She had wanted something more austere, something with less frills and more... her. But Lex had insisted that while no dress could properly do her justice, this dress and this extravagant veil came the closest.
She reached down and fingered one of the lace appliques that adorned the soft satin. It was too flashy, too ornate. She preferred more tasteful clothing. A wedding dress could still be beautiful – and in her opinion could showcase the bride even better – if it were simple.
But it was what Lex wanted.
That thought made her pause. Since when had she started caring so much about what Lex wanted? Lois Lane was still her own person. Being married was not going to change who she was.
Was it?
In truth, things had already changed so much. She felt like she was losing herself to all the changes. For longer than she wanted to admit her life had been her work. Her life had been the Planet. It was her anchor and she missed it dearly. Her strong fortress had been reduced to a house of cards. How easily it had been toppled. But while she missed the building itself and the work, she missed the people even more.
People who weren’t going to be at her wedding.
Friends... like Clark.
Lois could feel the twinge of tears trying to start in the corners of her eyes. She took a deep breath and blinked a few times, trying to ward them off – she had been fighting back tears all afternoon.
Why was Clark being so stubborn about this? Lois knew that she could have been more tactful when he told her about his feelings for her. But what had he expected? His revelation of love for her had caught her completely off guard.
No, she had to be honest with herself. It actually wasn’t such a surprise. The fact that he told her was, but not the feelings he expressed.
He had told her, back when Miranda sprayed them with her pheromone compound, that he hadn’t been affected. But Lois hadn't really believed him. If there was one thing she knew with certainty, it was that Clark was attracted to her. That had been obvious almost from the moment they met - she had just sublimated her attraction to him because the last thing she wanted was another complicated affair with someone from work...
But she knew he was attracted to her; it was partly Clark’s attentiveness to her that proved his attraction. While it was true that she considered him a really good friend... no, that wasn’t right. If she was being honest with herself, Clark was her *best* friend. Even so, the kind of things Clark did for her, the way he put up with her for one thing, that went beyond mere friendship.
Lois reached up and wiped under her eyes where a little moisture had gathered and was threatening to smudge her mascara.
Before today, Clark had always been there for her. And it wasn’t just the little things, though they were nice all by themselves.
Lois couldn’t help thinking back to when Barbara Trevino had threatened her and she had gone over to Clark’s apartment. It had just seemed so natural to go there. She had callously told Clark that if she had to pick a bodyguard, it wouldn’t be him. But that wasn’t the truth. There wasn’t anyone she trusted more to protect her and be there for her. Well, almost anyone...
Sure, maybe Superman was more physically capable of protecting her, but no one had a heart like Clark’s. He had taken her into his apartment that night, no questions asked. She could still feel the strength and comfort in his arms as he held her and let her cry softly against his shoulder. She could still hear his soft voice as he promised her that she would be safe with him.
Lois knew there had been more beneath the surface of that comment. He had meant she would be safe from Barbara Trevino, but he had also meant that she could trust him. He had given up his bed for her – even insisting on putting fresh sheets on it – and he had slept on the couch. Not once during that night had he made her feel uncomfortable or made her feel like he was encroaching on her privacy.
She had known then that she had feelings for him. Her feelings had been allowed to surface during the pheromone fiasco and she had tried to deny them, push them down... flippantly wave them off. But they were there and they had resurfaced. They had slowly been developing since... well, she wasn’t exactly sure. But they had only grown stronger during the Nightfall asteroid incident. She had almost lost her best friend then. Besides nearly losing Superman, she had almost lost Clark. Not literally, of course. But she had really been afraid that his memory was permanently gone. It had scared her in a way that she wasn’t comfortable thinking about.
Somehow Clark had found the chink in what she had thought was the impenetrable armor of her heart and he had snuck inside.
The closer they became the harder she tried to push him away. That’s why she had gotten involved with Lex to begin with. Lex was safe. He was unattainable. She knew that she was only a fun, diversionary amusement for Lex. Even so, she loved the extravagant meals he lavished upon her, the trips to the opera... the gifts. And as a side benefit, it allowed her to keep her distance from Clark.
But then something unbelievable had happened. Lex had proposed to her.
Lois reached up and straightened the veil on her head. Why had she accepted? Lois wasn’t really sure she had planned on ever getting married... to anyone. She was of course overwhelmed and flattered that Lex Luthor – the world’s richest and most eligible bachelor – would actually be so in love with her to propose to her. Lois Lane – the bristly, hard-as-nails reporter who didn’t let anyone get close to her. The woman who Cat was certain would die a lonely old spinster.
So Lois had considered Lex’s proposal.
And then Clark had done the unthinkable! He had outwardly professed his love for her. She wasn’t sure why she was so afraid of her feelings for Clark. Truth be told, she hadn’t actually realized that she had feelings of *love* for him until that very afternoon in the park when he had laid his heart on the line and told her how he felt.
Lois had told herself all along that she really liked Clark. That they were good friends. That she cared about him as much as she could care about anyone... but not in a romantic way.
But that day she realized she had been lying to herself. She did have those kinds of feelings for him. And it had scared her. It had terrified her. She had done the only safe thing – she had told him she had feelings for him but just as a friend. It was all she could admit to. She was so stunned that she hadn’t been able to even think straight.
Lois cringed at her reflection in the mirror. What had she said? Even now she couldn’t believe how calloused she had been to Clark. Just moments after he had confessed his love for her, she had asked him to run and fetch Superman. How could she have done that to him?
Her stomach clenched into a tight knot. She had done it to push him away. She could have contacted Superman herself. A couple of hearty “Superman’s” shouted from her apartment window would have surely gotten the Man of Steel’s attention. And she really had wanted to talk to him. But she had asked Clark to find him for her because she knew it would show him that she didn’t have *those* kind of feelings for him – she had those kind of feelings for Superman.
She could only bring herself to fall for men who she knew were unattainable. That was the only way to be safe. It was the only way to guarantee that she wouldn’t end up with another Claude or Paul or some guy like the ones who had pursued her in college. Maybe it was just easier to be the one who’s loved than to be the one doing the loving...
She knew that was certainly the case with Superman. She had known deep down – even if she didn’t want to admit it – that Superman was unattainable. That was probably part of the allure. What she hadn’t counted on was his blatant refusal of her. He had been so cold and aloof that night he had come to see her. He had rebuffed her and then left without so much as a goodbye. It had stung. Stung? It had hurt like hell. It had left her open and vulnerable. So when Lex had asked her once again if she would marry him, she had done the unimaginable.
She had accepted.
The tears that Lois had been holding back so fervently began abruptly spilling from her eyes and a soft sob escaped from her lips. What had she done?
Lois jumped slightly as a voice came from the other side of door, interrupting her thoughts. “Ten minutes, Mrs. Luthor.”
Mrs. Luthor? Why did that sound so... wrong?
Lois took a deep breath and sniffled a couple of times as she wiped under her eyes. She looked carefully back on her image in the mirror as she practiced saying her name, “Mrs. Lex Luthor.” She sniffled again. “Lois Lane Luthor.” She sucked in a breath as another sob tried to escape. The name just didn’t feel right. “Lois Luthor Lane,” she whimpered out. A few tears escaped her eyes again and she patted them away with the tissue in her hands. It didn’t matter how she said it. It was wrong. This whole situation was wrong. She shouldn’t be marrying this man. This wasn’t the man she wanted to be with.
She had to say it, just once. She had to see what it would have sounded like. “Lois Lane... Kent.” Her voice broke on the last name.
She started crying again in earnest, mumbling her name to herself as her mother entered through the door into the spare guest room. “Oh, mom, what am I going to do,” she half spoke, half sobbed.
“Oh, honey, if you’re not sure,” her mother began earnestly.
“It’s too late!” she cried, interrupting her.
“No it’s not!” her mother reprimanded her. “You do what your heart tells you to do.”
Could it really be that simple? It *was* too late, wasn’t it? She had already accepted Lex’s proposal. She was here, in her wedding dress, and the ceremony was about to begin down in the lobby. She couldn’t back out now.
As if reading her thoughts, her mother continued, “It’s never too late until you say ‘I do’. And then you’ll live with the regret the rest of your life or your marriage will end in failure like mine and your father’s did. Don’t marry someone who isn’t right for you, honey. Divorce is a terrible thing to have to go through. Believe me. I know.”
“But mom, I said yes. Lex Luthor is well respected. He is a humanitarian and would be a good provider and...”
Her mother took her by the arms and turned Lois to face her. “Do you love him?”
Lois’s heart stammered. Did she love him? She liked him a lot. She loved the things that he had done for the city. Her pride was enamored and flattered by the attention that he lavished on her. And truthfully she was probably a little infatuated with the kind of power that he held.
But if she was honest with herself, she didn’t have romantic feelings for him... not the same way that she did for Clark. Or even for Superman. How could she have not realized that sooner? Or maybe she had, maybe that’s why she had put off his sexual advances.
Her silence was answer enough for her mother. “Lex is still in his bedroom across the hall. Do you want me to go get him?”
Lois hesitated. Could she do this? Could she really tell Lex Luthor that she was backing out of the wedding?
Yes. Yes she could... she would... she had to. She nodded softly at her mother. “Yes, please.”
She watched her mother disappear out her door and she fidgeted for a few seconds while she waited for the inevitable. What would Lex think of her? What would the public think of her? Would they think that Lois Lane was a flake? A ditz who couldn’t make up her mind? Who didn’t know a good thing even when it was handed to her on a silver platter?
The door opened again and a very concerned-looking Lex walked through the door. “What’s the matter, my dear? Pre-wedding jitters? Your mother said you needed to speak to me.” He seemed to sense her unease and he attempted to lighten the mood. “You know it’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding.”
She nodded. “Yes, Lex, I know.” It was going to be the worst luck he could imagine. She opened her mouth again, but she wasn’t really sure what to say next. How do you tell someone that you’re not really in love with them?
Lex walked over to her, smiling indulgently at her. For some reason the smile irritated her. “Come, come, my dear. What’s this all about? Hmmmm? Everything’s ready. It’s time to begin. We shouldn’t keep our guests downstairs waiting any longer.”
He took her by the arm and attempted to lead her from the room. She finally came to her senses and planted her feet, resisting him. “No. No, Lex. I’m... I’m sorry,” she began.
He had turned to look at her when she had resisted him and now his eyebrows were beginning to furrow. “Sorry?”
“Yes, I’m sorry. But I can’t marry you, Lex. I’m... I’m not in love with you. Not like I should be. And that’s not fair – not to you and certainly not to me.” The words were soft but she spoke them with a firm determination that almost surprised her. She almost felt like her old self again.
She couldn’t be sure but his eyes seemed to darken almost imperceptibly. But then that same indulgent smile fell back into place across his face. “Come now, darling. You don’t mean that. You’re just nervous. You’ll feel better once you walk down the aisle and say your vows.”
Lois frowned. The smile told her everything she needed to know. He was trying to placate her and still get his way. Hadn’t he even heard what she had just said? Didn’t he care that she didn’t love him? Any other man would refuse to marry a woman who had professed that they weren’t in love with them. After all, he didn’t even really know her that well. If they didn’t have love, what did they have?
She started to pull her arm away from him and was shocked when his grip tightened on her. “Ouch, you’re hurting me.”
“Am I? I’m sorry, my dear.” His voice almost seemed patronizing. “But you have to understand. I always get what I want. It’s too late for you to back out now. You already said yes, you already promised to give yourself to me.”
His words threatened to make her nauseous. ‘Give herself to him.’ Had she really been willing to do that? She had managed to put him off until their wedding night, telling him that she wanted things to be perfect. But she had really wanted to wait until she felt more comfortable, until she knew him a little better, until she... loved him.
But now she realized that she hadn’t ever really known him at all. Maybe Clark had been right. Maybe she had been so enamored with Lex that she hadn’t taken the time to see him for who he really was. Because the man standing before her right now was not a man that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.
“No, Lex. Let me go,” she protested, allowing a little heat into her voice as she ripped her arm free of his grasp. “It’s not too late until I say ‘I do’ and sign that marriage certificate. And I can’t do that. I won’t. I’m in love with someone else.”
Lex’s eyes darkened visibly. “Who? Superman?”
Lois shook her head. “I won’t deny that I have feelings for him, but that’s not who I was talking about. Not that it’s any of your business,” she bit out.
He frowned at her and then understanding seemed to light up in his eyes. “No, it can’t be,” he said, shaking his head in amazement. “How perverse. You can’t honestly tell me that you’d rather be with that out-of-work hayseed partner of yours over me.”
A knock at the door interrupted them and Lex snarled, “Who is it?”
“Mr. Luthor this is Inspector Henderson with the Metropolis Police Department. Open up. We have a warrant for your arrest...”
“Arrest?” Lois yipped, not hearing the rest of Henderson’s words. “What’s he talking about, Lex?”
Lex wasn’t listening to her. He was looking at a wall on the opposite side of the room. “I’m sorry to hear of your decision, my dear. I’m afraid before this day is out that you are going to deeply regret it.” He walked past her headed for the other side of the room as Henderson began to bang on the door.
“Open up, Mr. Luthor, we know you’re inside.”
Lois heard the sound of the doorknob turning and then the door flew open. She looked back in the direction that Lex had gone and found herself in shocked amazement.
He was gone.
“Lane, where did Luthor go? Don’t try to protect him or we’ll have to...”
“I’m not trying to protect him, Henderson,” she snapped. “He was just here. I watched him walk that way.” She pointed. “Then I turned to look at the door when you came through it. When I looked back, he was gone. He must have gone out the other door.”
Henderson pulled a walkie-talkie out of his coat pocket. “All units proceed to the exits of the building. I repeat all units, secure the building. Our suspect has fled the scene. I repeat, Lex Luthor has resisted arrest.” He turned back to look at Lois. “Do you know where that other door leads to?”
She nodded. “A hallway. The hallway leads to his office and he has a private elevator.” It was the elevator that she had been instructed to take down to the lobby floor for the wedding.
Henderson pulled out his walkie-talkie and shouted into it, “Jones, I want you to question Mrs. Cox about Lex’s private elevator. Find out what stops it makes. See if she knows where he’s headed. I’m on my way down in one of the main elevators to meet you.” Henderson pointed at the two officers who had accompanied him inside the room. “You two fan out and secure this floor in case Luthor doesn’t take the elevator and doubles back.”
Lois watched in stunned amazement as the officers sprinted from the room. “What’s this all about, Henderson?”
“Luthor has been charged with too many crimes for me to even go into right this moment. But I will tell you that your *fiance*,” he stressed the word and Lois felt herself blanch just a little, “is guilty of arson, attempted murder, and the destruction of the Daily Planet building, just to name a few. Perry White brought the evidence to light for us. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a criminal to apprehend.”
Lois stood there in shock as she watched Henderson leave the room. Clark was right. He had warned her about how dangerous he thought Luthor was. She hadn’t believed him. She had even mocked him. But he was right.
Would he ever forgive her?
**********
Clark was going to die if he didn’t get out of here soon. He wasn’t completely sure why he wasn’t already dead. He wasn’t sure how long he had been in this Kryptonite cage, but it felt like a lifetime. Every breath he took was excruciating.
He had been certain that he was going to die here, either succumbing to the Kryptonite itself or by Luthor’s hand when the man came back to finish him off after his wedding ceremony.
But then Luthor had made a mistake. He had left him a way out.
Clark looked at the key he held in his hand. It had taken every ounce of strength he possessed to finally get this key. Now he wasn’t sure he had the strength left to follow through and get himself out of this cage.
He was lying on his back on the cold concrete floor of the wine cellar. At least the floor should have been cold. He couldn’t feel it. He couldn’t really feel much of anything, anymore. His body was numb all over. The pain had been worse than anything he had ever experienced. Even his first exposure to Kryptonite hadn’t felt like this but, then again, it had been a short exposure. He hadn’t been trapped inside and surrounded by a cage that had been infused with it.
Just the thought of the pain returning was enough to take his breath away. Or maybe that was the pain that his breathing was causing him. That was the only thing he could still feel – knives stabbing through his chest with each breath he took.
That and the ache in his heart at knowing that Lois was here in this very building about to marry the man who would have murdered him.
Lois.
She was the reason he was still alive, that he was still fighting. Even though she hadn’t listened to him when he had tried to warn her about Luthor, he couldn’t give up on her. He couldn’t stand by and just let her marry that monster.
Lex’s words came back to him, igniting a fire in his heart.
<I love Lois, I do. I really do. But she’s just a little too independent, don’t you think? Well, I’ll take care of that...>
Lex would break her. He would extinguish the spirit that made Lois the woman that Clark had fallen in love with. And once Lex did that, he would have no further use for her.
And even if Lex wasn’t able to accomplish that, Clark knew him too well. If he couldn’t break her, he would take all he could and then he would kill her.
Clark shuddered with the rage that was building inside him. No! He couldn’t let that happen. Not as long as there was breath left in his body. He pulled himself up from the floor and dragged himself over to the cage door. Sliding the key into the lock, being careful not to touch the glowing bars all around him, he turned the key and let out a sigh of relief at the welcome sound of the lock releasing. He pushed the door open and crawled away from the cage to a far corner in the room.
Now what? How did he proceed? He was in no shape to do anything ‘super’. Who knew how long it would be before he regained his powers after this long of an exposure to Kryptonite... if he even did regain them this time. As bad as he felt right now, he should probably still be worried about making it out of here alive.
He just needed to rest for a few moments to catch his breath. He still had to figure out a way to get to Lois, to stop that ceremony. To do that, he was going to have to go as Clark Kent. Superman was in no kind of shape to be seen publicly. Clark was sure that the farther away he got from this cage and the longer he was away from it, the better he would feel. By the time he made it to the room where the ceremony was being held, he should at least have it together enough to carry on a coherent conversation with Lois.
She had wanted proof. She didn’t believe him about Luthor and had wanted proof. Well he had the proof now and he would give her what she needed to stop this wedding.
And then he would leave.
She had made it clear that she didn’t love him and she sure as hell didn’t trust him. That had been obvious when she accepted Luthor’s proposal. Clark couldn’t continue on living in this city, working side by side with someone he loved, knowing that she would never feel that way about him.
And then there was Superman. He might have rebuffed her advances as Superman but she was still in love with her hero, he was sure of it. Whereas Clark himself would never be anything more in her eyes than just a friend or a partner.
And Clark needed more than that.
But first things first. He needed to change clothes. And he finally felt like he might have enough strength to manage it. There was no time to lose. The ceremony would be starting any moment. Clark wasn’t able to spin back into his clothes, but he moved with all the strength he could muster and a couple of short minutes later he was Clark again.
He looked down at the suit, cape and boots he was holding in his hands. The constrictive nature of his suit had been making it hard for him to breathe, so he had opted to take it off. Plus he didn’t know what he was going to face before this was all over and he didn’t want to risk the suit getting exposed. He couldn’t be Superman so it was probably better if he just hid his costume somewhere for now.
But where?
Clark peered out from behind the barrels he had been hiding behind. They seemed to be shielding him just a little from the effects of the Kryptonite because when he exposed himself just then, the pain hit him again full force.
This wasn’t going to be fun. But he couldn’t hide in here forever. He had to get out of here and up those stairs. He just had to keep it together that long and he would be okay.
The stairs.
There was a hollow area beneath the stairwell. He could stash his clothes under there and come back for them later... perhaps after the police had deactivated that cage.
Clark took a few deep breaths. It was now or never. He moved out from behind the barrels and gasped audibly as the pain slammed into him full force again. He had to get out of this tomb. He kept to the sides of the room, staying as far away from the middle and that cage as he could.
When he got to the stairwell, he quickly tucked his uniform as far back underneath it as he could reach. The pain was threatening to overtake him again, sharp shards of torture sliced through him with each movement he made. He just had to make it up the stairs. Once he got up the stairs and through that door, he would be safe.
When Mrs. Cox had led him down here, he had been surprised to find a room like this inside the LexCorp building. Although he probably shouldn’t have been. Lex’s living quarters occupied the whole top two floors of the building. The rest of the building was pretty much offices and laboratories, rooms and sections devoted to his vast empire. But Lex still lived out of this building, this wine cellar was evidence of that.
On his short tour, Mrs. Cox had made it a point to lead him through the lavishly decorated lobby area where the wedding was to take place today. Not far beyond that door at the top of the stairs there was a marriage ceremony about to begin. He could already hear the organ beginning to warm up. Images flashed through his mind of Lois in a beautiful white gown, her skin glowing radiantly, her glossy dark hair barely visible beneath her delicate veil... Luthor didn’t deserve to see her like that.
Clark weakly began his ascent of the steps, barely able to take one at a time. He jerked his head up at the sound of the door opening above him. His eyes widened in horror as he saw Luthor step through. Why was he here? Wasn’t he supposed to be at the alter right about now?
Luthor’s mouth gaped open in shock when he saw Clark standing on the stairs below him. “You!” he screeched. “This is your fault.” He came towards the stairs and then froze when he realized that the cage below him stood empty. He let out a fierce shriek and turned his gaze back on Clark. “This is the last time you will interfere with my plans.”
Clark felt his knees go weak when Luthor reached up and snatched the axe from the wall beside him. Luthor held up the deadly-looking weapon for inspection and smiled wickedly at Clark. “It appears that I have the high ground, Mr. Kent.” Clark watched as if frozen in place as Luthor moved down the stairs towards him. Clark was weak and he was vulnerable, if Luthor struck at him with that axe...
“So this is who she would love? This simpering nothing that is cowering before me?” Lex gloated as he moved toward Clark.
Clark didn’t understand what Luthor was talking about, but he knew he had to put some space between them and he began backing down the stairs. His mind whirled. Where could he run? There wasn’t anywhere to hide down here.
Luthor advanced on him in a rush and took an unsteady swipe at Clark’s throat. Clark dodged at the last second, but his attempt to evade cost him his footing and he stumbled backwards down the stairs. In that instant Luthor swung out with the axe. The steel blade penetrated Clark’s vulnerable skin and he felt a red-hot heat rip through his side, sending a searing jolt of pain through him.
Clark let out an anguished cry and Luthor lunged out with the axe punching Clark in the stomach with the flat end of the blade. It knocked Clark off his feet and he fell the last couple of steps. He slammed into the rock wall behind him, hitting his head hard. The room started spinning and he slid slowly down the wall until he came to rest against the landing.
He grit his teeth. The pain from his wound was almost unbearable. He hadn’t thought anything could hurt worse than the Kryptonite. Clark looked down and felt faint from the blood that was seeping into his shirt.
Luthor arrogantly strode down the stairs, smiling at Clark. “So wise so young, they say do never live long.” He chuffed a short laugh. “This axe is special, Mr. Kent. It was going to be the death of Superman. I wanted the satisfaction of personally plunging this through Superman’s heart – watching him suffer as he drew his last breath. You may have taken that from me, but I most certainly will get the satisfaction of killing you with it.”
Clark’s mind was hazy. He couldn’t seem to concentrate on Luthor and the only thought he could hold on to was that he was sorry he had failed Lois. But as he watched Luthor adjust his grip on the axe, Henderson entered through the open door at the top of the stairs. His gun was drawn and aimed at Luthor. “It’s over, Luthor!”
“It’s never over!” Luthor snarled as he raised the axe up to plunge it into Clark’s defenseless body. Henderson didn’t waste any time and fired his weapon, hitting Luthor in the back between his shoulder blades. The axe slipped from Luthor’s hands, clattering noisily down the stairs to the floor below, and he collapsed next to Clark. He looked up at Clark and coughed. Blood began to trickle from his mouth when he opened it. Luthor tried to speak but before he could form any words his eyes closed and his body slumped.
The world was swimming around Clark, colors and images blurring and fading and he fell over. The last thing he heard was Henderson calling his name.
**********
To Be Continued...
Okay, I'm thinking that my posting schedule will probably be once per week. We'll see. I might post more frequently than that, but no promises. I'm also not sure how many parts there will be - I want to estimate between 20 - 25. I'm 75% of the way finished with the story, so we'll see. <g>
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the story!
-- DJ
