Hello everyone! I promised part 8 today or tomorrow and since it's ready - here it is. <g>
I stopped to thank my betas on the last part (thanks again) but I wanted to thank the readers this time, particularly the fdkers <g> for all their support <hugs>
And here we go! <cross your fingers that there are no replications this time - ugh>
Table of Contents From Part 7:
“Don’t worry. You won’t even miss me,” he teased her. “You’ll be too busy moving.”
“Yeah, that’s why I’ll miss you. I could have roped you into helping me,” she joked back. Standing there with his arms wrapped around her, she wished the moment wouldn’t end. His embrace was so strong and sure, yet so tender and caring. She wished she could ask him to stay but that wouldn’t be fair, and she wasn’t entirely sure he’d stay even if she asked him to. And she didn’t want to risk having to face rejection. “Call me tomorrow when you get to Smallville, okay?” she asked instead, pulling away to look up at him.
Clark didn’t want to let her go. She felt so right in his arms. Her body was so soft and yielding, pressed against him. He could sense the strength inside of her but could also feel her fragility and uncertainty. For just a moment he had been able to pretend that she felt more for him, for Clark, than just friendship. “I will,” he promised.
She nodded and released him from her arms, stepping back out of his. “I guess I should get going so you can pack.”
“Lois...”
“I’ll be waiting for your call tomorrow,” she said as she walked up the steps to his front door.
“Lois...”
“Please, Clark, I can’t do long goodbyes. I’ll talk to you soon.” She opened his door. “Goodbye.”
And then she was gone.
“Goodbye,” Clark whispered after her and then wondered again why he had decided to go to Kansas.
**********
PART EIGHT
**********
Lois sighed to herself and shifted her telephone receiver from one ear to the other before answering, “Yes, Dr. Klein, I know you can’t continue your experiments without a blood test and DNA sample from Superman. He’s just very busy, you know?”
As she continued to pack a few more last minute items for transport to Clark’s apartment, she half-heartedly listened to Dr. Klein explain that he understood but that he couldn’t proceed any further until he had something more to work with.
“Well I actually haven’t seen him lately,” she admitted. “I’ll have him come in just as soon as he can.” Before Dr. Klein could ramble on any further, she decided to end the conversation by saying, “Thanks for calling and I’ll pass the information on to Superman.”
“Wait! Ms. Lane,” he exclaimed. “Don’t you want to hear what I’ve discovered so far?” His voice had an anxious quality to it and it piqued her interest.
“Go on,” she told him.
“Actually,” he stammered, “I don’t think it would be a good idea over the phone. Why don’t you come to STAR Labs? I’ll be here for another hour.”
“Okay, I’ll see you shortly. Bye, Dr. Klein.” She hung up the phone and scowled at it. She didn’t really have time to do this. Today was the last day she had left to get her stuff moved out of her old apartment.
Time had flown the past few days. Clark had been right. She had hardly had time to miss him. Plus, he had been really good about calling her once a day to check on her.
Except today. She frowned. He hadn’t called her yet today. She hadn’t realized how much she had begun to look forward to that daily call. Well, he probably figured with her moving today that she wouldn’t have time to talk.
And she really didn’t. She certainly didn’t have time to go talk to Dr. Klein, either, but she would. She glanced back down at her red telephone. That needed to go in her last box – she wasn’t leaving it behind.
She had arranged for the movers to store all her furniture and the boxes of things she could live without for a week, and then re-deliver them to her new apartment next week. She had only moved a few clothes and some bare necessity, personal items, to Clark’s apartment for the week that she was going to stay there.
It was going to be weird staying there without him.
Wait a minute, she thought, that came out wrong. She giggled a little bit to herself. It would be even weirder staying at his apartment *with* him there.
Weird, yes, but not necessarily in a bad way, she mused.
She walked over to the counter and grabbed her purse before heading for the front door. She hoped Dr. Klein’s interruption was going to be worth the trouble.
**********
Dr. Klein shook his head as he thumbed through several reports in the folder he was holding. “Kryptonite is a very exceptional piece of meteorite. The chemical composition of it is so complex that I...”
“Dr. Klein, I skipped on chemistry class,” Lois told him, trying unsuccessfully to hide the impatience from her voice. “Can you get to the reason that you called me to come here?”
“Oh, yes, of course. What I was amazed to discover was that Kryptonite emits a high level of radiation and...”
“Radiation? As in the stuff that causes you to get sick and your hair to fall out? The stuff that causes cancer? That kind of radiation?” she asked alarmed.
“No, Ms. Lane. I’ve run several carefully controlled tests and the radiation emitted by Kryptonite doesn’t seem to affect humans. There’s a possibility that it might if someone was exposed to it enough over a long period of time, but accidental contact with it isn’t going to have any lasting detrimental effects...” he paused and looked at her significantly before continuing, “...to humans. However, if my hypothesis is correct, the radiation is very likely deadly to someone from Krypton.”
Lois kept her mouth shut, listening intently, and pretty soon he continued. “In fact, if I were to postulate based on what I’ve read about Superman and the information you’ve given me about him, I would say that if it wasn’t for the healing and strengthening effects of our yellow sun on Superman, a lengthy exposure to Kryptonite would probably kill him. Perhaps not at first, but if he didn’t have the sun to rejuvenate him, he could die. It’s that potent. It’s like people on Earth who have had radiation poisoning. I’m sure you’ve read accounts of the things that happen to their bodies as the radiation begins to...”
Lois held up her hand to stop him, not wanting him to go into the gory details. She felt like her heart was going to stop. No wonder Clark still didn’t have his powers back yet. After such a prolonged and intense exposure, he was fortunate to be alive. Add to that his injury and the fact that he had been out of the sun for a while...
She needed to share Dr. Klein’s theories with Clark. Surely it would make him feel better to know that’s why he still didn’t feel ‘super’.
No. Not yet. She wasn’t sure if he would be ready to have a reasonable conversation about it yet. She would wait. It wasn’t something she wanted to discuss over the phone anyway. “So you think it’s possible that the effects of the Kryptonite would last longer and be more potent if Superman were kept out of sunlight while he was exposed?”
Dr. Klein rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Yes, I’d say that’s a very strong possibility.” He glanced back down at the file he was holding and closed it. “I can’t do any further research without running some tests with Superman’s blood and DNA samples. Once I have those, I can begin to work on some type of inoculation to counter its effects.”
Lois sighed. “Yes, I know, and I’m still working on getting those for you.”
He nodded. “In the meantime, tell Superman that if he comes in contact with Kryptonite, to get away from it as quickly as possible and get himself out into the sunlight. That’s really all I can tell you at this point.”
“Thank you, Dr. Klein. Really. You’ve been more help than you know.” Lois held her hand out and he shook it.
“My pleasure. Tell your father I said hello the next time you talk to him.”
Lois fidgeted uncomfortably. Ah, yes, she had told her father she would call him again soon, hadn’t she? Well, all things in good time, she always said.
**********
Lois sat down on Clark’s couch with a cup of coffee and glanced around the room restlessly. She felt like an intruder. She had spent her first night here last night, but she had gotten in so late and been so tired that she had fallen into bed and gone to sleep without giving it a second thought.
Now that it was morning and she had gotten a good night’s sleep, things felt very different to her. Clark had asked her to stay here, told her that he wanted her to, but that didn’t make her feel any more comfortable being here without him.
She glanced towards the unmade bed in the other room. She had slept in Clark’s bed last night. In Superman’s bed! She felt a little light-headed and took another sip of her coffee.
What about later? She was going to be using his shower and eating at his table... It was just strange. She had been over here lots of times, even eaten with him, but it was still weird.
Lois glanced around the apartment again as she took another long drink of her coffee. Part of her wanted to snoop around a little bit, but the other part of her was horrified that she would snoop around in her friend’s home... Superman’s home!
But it was her home for right now, too.
And she needed to know where things were at, in case she wanted to... well, cook or something. She rolled her eyes in disgust. Couldn’t she have come up with a better rationalization than that?
Lois got up and walked over to the stairs. At least she could hang up a few of her things in his closet so they wouldn’t get wrinkled. She had been so tired last night that she had just draped her clothes across the railing. She gathered up the slightly wrinkled, dry-clean-only items and picked up the couple of extra pairs of shoes she had brought with her.
She went to his closet and opened it, hanging her clothes up. Then she bent down and set her shoes on the floor inside. When she rose up she bumped her head on something. She let out a few choice phrases and stepped back to see what she had hit. It was the metal hook that his ties hung on. It was tilted up a little from her head bumping it.
Smarting from her injury, she smacked it, forcing it to bend even further. Then she jumped back, startled, when the wall in the back of the closet slid over to reveal a secret compartment.
She smirked. “So that’s where you hide the suits,” she muttered. She parted the sea of clothes and peered into the back section of the closet. There they were - three suits and three capes hanging pristinely. She glanced down at the floor - and three pairs of boots stacked neatly.
The phone rang and Lois jumped like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She lowered the tie hook and made sure the door was securely closed before running to the couch to grab the phone.
“Hello?” she answered frantically on the fourth ring.
“Lois?” It was Perry. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Fine, Perry. I was just...” Snooping. “Exercising.”
“Uh-huh. Well, I’ve got great news. Mr. Stern has asked me to meet him at the Planet building this afternoon. Jimmy and Jack are tagging along with me and I thought you might want to meet us.” He paused for a moment and when he continued, Lois could hear the smile in his voice, “I thought if he required any further persuasion that you might be just the person to give it to him.”
Lois couldn’t hide the excitement in her voice. “You can count me in. I’ll be there. What time?” She couldn’t believe it. The Daily Planet just might get rebuilt after all!
“Two o’clock. We’ll see you there.”
“Bye, Perry.”
Lois hung up the phone and felt the most peace that she had in days. She was about to set the phone down when she remembered that Clark still hadn’t called. He hadn’t called her all day yesterday. While it was still early today – even though she had slept in a little – he hadn’t called today yet either.
Maybe she should call him this time. Lois dialed the Kents’ number and waited for someone to pick up.
“Hello?” Martha answered.
“Martha? It’s Lois. How are you?” Lois tried to make polite conversation but she was just itching to tell Clark the good news.
There was a quiet sigh. It was almost inaudible but Lois heard it. “I’m fine, honey. How about you?”
“Martha? What’s wrong? You know you can’t fool an investigative reporter.” She paused for a moment and rolled her eyes before adding, “Well, not for very long, at least. Is something wrong with Clark? He didn’t call yesterday. I thought maybe it was because he knew I was moving.”
“That was part of it, yes. But Clark’s not feeling very well. He... caught some kind of a cold.” Her voice was quiet.
“A cold?” Lois exclaimed. “But Superman doesn’t get sick?”
“Apparently he can if he goes without his powers for long enough. His body is evidently normal enough for him to get sick.”
Lois was floored. “So his powers haven’t come back yet at all?”
“No, they haven’t.”
Hearing the concern in Martha’s voice, Lois hesitated a moment before asking, “Clark’s never been sick before, has he?”
“No, he hasn’t.” Martha’s voice had gotten even quieter. “And just between you and me, I’m worried about him, Lois.”
“Can I talk to him?”
There was a sigh. “His nose is really stuffed up and he’s been coughing. He says he’s not fit to talk to anyone right now and that he doesn’t feel like it anyway.”
Lois scowled. “You tell him to get some rest and that I’ll be calling him tomorrow... make sure you tell him that I’ll be expecting him to actually talk to me then.”
“I will.” There was a long pause and Lois was about to say goodbye when Martha continued, “Thank you, Lois.”
Lois didn’t really know what to say. “For what?”
“It’s just so nice to have someone to talk to about my boy. All I’ve ever had was Jonathan, and while I love him dearly, I’m sure you know that men aren’t always the best at talking or sharing their feelings.” Her voice had taken on a tremble and it made tears sting Lois’s eyes.
“Yeah, tell me about it.”
“And since Clark started getting sick yesterday, Jonathan hasn’t wanted to talk about it at all. I think he feels that if he just ignores it that it will go away and everything will be okay.”
“Oh, Martha, I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.” Lois could hear her clear her throat a little. “Oh, but listen to me go on. You didn’t call to hear me complain. How have you been?”
“Good. Still trying to adjust to the idea of staying at Clark’s apartment. But at least it’s temporary. I’ll be glad to get my stuff moved into my new apartment.”
“Well stay there as long as you like. Clark was happy to have you there.”
“Thanks, Martha.” Lois ran her finger along the rim of Clark’s coffee mug that she was drinking from. “Please tell him I said to feel better and that I miss him.”
“I will. Goodbye, Lois.”
“Bye, Martha.”
Lois hung up the phone and frowned. Poor Clark. It was miserable to be sick and she couldn’t imagine how it felt to someone who had never been sick before. She hoped he would be feeling better when she called him tomorrow, but if not, maybe the news she hoped to get this afternoon would cheer him up.
She finished up her coffee and put the mug in the kitchen sink before heading into the bathroom. After a quick shower, she wrapped her hair in a towel and walked over to the mirror. Ugh, her reflection looked as bad as she felt. Her eyes were tired and had shadows under them. The past few days had taken their toll and she was nowhere near caught up on her sleep.
A bottle of hair gel sitting on the sink caught her eye and she found herself a little amused to think of Superman using hair gel – but of course Clark would have to use something to style his hair.
Her mind suddenly made an abrupt turn and she found herself imagining what it would feel like to run her hands through his dark silky locks. She could picture the two of them right here – Clark kissing her, his arms around her. It didn’t take too much imagination since she had shared kisses with him both as Clark and Superman. He would run his hands up her back as he deepened the kiss, exploring her body softly with his fingertips, and she would wrap her arms around his neck, threading her hands up through those delicious locks.
She glanced up at her reflection in the mirror to find her cheeks flushed. Lois smiled at herself and the color deepened, making her feel like some sort of lovestruck teenager.
Then her smile began to fall into a frown. Would she get the chance to hold him like that? Kiss him like that? What would Clark have to say to her when he came back from Kansas? Would he come back?
Lois looked back down at the hair gel and picked it up to put it away in his cabinet. She paused long enough to pop the lid open and take a whiff of the fragrance. Mmmm, it smelled good. It was part of what made up Clark’s scent and it made her stomach do an excited little flutter. She closed the lid and noticed a stray black hair stuck to the outside of the bottle. She picked it off and dropped it in the sink and then put the bottle away.
She grabbed a washcloth and started to turn on the water in the sink, but she hesitated. Something was nagging at the back of her mind. She glanced down at the hair she had deposited in the sink. It was Clark’s hair. She could tell by the color and length of it.
It was Superman’s hair.
She was pretty sure that Superman normally didn’t lose his hair. She wasn’t even sure how he managed to cut his hair. Surely he would break any pair of scissors unlucky enough to attempt the task. But since he was ‘normal’ right now, his hair was obviously normal as well. This hair must have fallen out when he was putting gel in his hair.
Hair... contained DNA, didn’t it?
Lois frowned at her reflection in the mirror. No. She shouldn’t do it. Clark had told her that he didn’t want Dr. Klein to experiment on him.
And yet...
Dr. Klein wouldn’t actually be experimenting on Clark. This was just a stray hair that she had found. Clark didn’t even have to know about it.
No. It was Clark’s decision. She should respect his decision. No matter how completely and inexplicably unreasonable it was...
Lois’s frown deepened. Not only was it not reasonable, it was downright silly. If Dr. Klein could help him get better faster and maybe even find a way to keep him from getting sick from Kryptonite in the future, what was there to consider? It seemed pretty black and white, cut and dried to her.
In fact, if she posed that same question to herself...
If she had the opportunity to help her friend, help him get well and possibly save his life on down the line, what was there to consider?
His feelings, she reminded herself.
Yes, but he didn’t have to know about it. She could give it to Dr. Klein and keep it quiet. Then when Dr. Klein found a way to help Clark, he would forgive her.
She ran out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. She began opening and closing drawers in rapid succession until she found what she was looking for – a sandwich baggie. She took it back into the bathroom and collected the hair from the sink, dropping it inside the baggie.
Now to finish getting ready so she could make a stop by STAR Labs before meeting up with Perry at the Planet.
**********
To Be Continued...
