Greeting and salutations! <g>
I said "by" Friday... well here I am!
I really hope you enjoy this part, I think it ends in a good place... and don't forget - I promised waff in the next part - part 10. <g> So hang in there. Thanks for the fdk and here we go!
Table of Contents From Part 8:
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.
**********
PART NINE
**********
Lois stared in awe at the sight in front of her. It was the Daily Planet globe! Mr. Stern had unveiled it and announced that the Daily Planet was back in business. It was going to take several weeks and a lot of work to get the building itself repaired and remodeled – including some exciting updates and modifications from the way it sounded – but he had wanted to at least show off the re-constructed globe and let them know of his intentions.
Perry was the happiest Lois had seen him in months, and she herself was overjoyed. The Planet was her life and she had felt a huge whole in her heart the day it had been bombed, as if the explosion had ripped something from her too.
Her thoughts turned dark for a moment as she thought about Lex and how he had almost destroyed everything precious to her. But he hadn’t been successful. The Daily Planet was coming back, and Clark was going to be okay.
Clark.
She hoped he wouldn’t be too mad when he found out what she had done, taking his hair to Dr. Klein. Klein had been so excited to get it - he had almost been giddy. But he had told Lois that he would still need a blood sample in order to complete some of the tests that he wanted to do.
That was going to prove a much more difficult task for Lois to accomplish. But at least that hair gave him something to work with in the meantime, until she could get Clark to warm up to the idea.
Perry came walking towards her with a huge grin plastered on his face. She couldn’t help but smile back. “It’s great, isn’t it, Chief? I bet you’re beside yourself.”
“I am. I’m happier than a bunch of clams at high tide.” His grin widened, if that were possible.
She nodded. “Me too. Things just weren’t the same without the Planet. I can’t wait to tell Clark.”
Perry’s smile dropped just a little. “How is Clark? Have you heard from him lately?”
“Not today. I’ve talked to him almost every day, but he caught a cold and he’s feeling under the weather. I told his mom that I would call him tomorrow. It’s going to be hard to wait that long to tell him.”
Perry gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Well, you tell him I said hello and to hang in there. We need him well so he can hurry back here to help us get this newspaper back on its feet.”
“I will. Thanks, Perry.”
Lois watched Perry walk back over to talk to Mr. Stern again and she started to turn around and head for her car when she heard Jimmy’s voice.
“Lois, wait!”
She turned back to see Jimmy come running up to her with Jack close behind him.
“Hey! Isn’t it great?” He opened his arms in invitation and she gave him a quick hug.
“Yes, Jimmy. It’s wonderful,” she agreed.
“Have you heard from Clark? Are you gonna tell him?” he asked excitedly.
“Yes. I’m supposed to call him tomorrow. He caught a cold and wasn’t up to talking today.”
Jimmy frowned. “So he’s not feeling better then, yet, huh?”
“Not yet.” She noticed Jack looked particularly unhappy to hear that news. “What’s wrong?”
“Jack is moving to New York next week,” Jimmy answered her, happily blabbing Jack’s news for him. “The Chief called a few of his contacts and pulled some strings and got Jack into a community college there.”
Lois lifted her eyebrows in surprise. “Wow, Jack, that’s great. I guess I was under the impression that you hadn’t finished high school.”
“I hadn’t. I dropped out a couple of years ago to take care of my brother, but when Clark got me the job at the Planet, Mr. White made the stipulation that I had to take the GED and pass it in order to stay on permanently. So I took it, and I passed it.” He smiled proudly.
“Passed it! I’ll say,” Jimmy interjected. “He had one of the highest scores in the group that he took it with. Between that and Perry helping him, and the fact that the government has a lot of special grants out there for orphaned kids, Jack was able to get into a college.”
“That’s great, Jack. I’m so happy for you,” she said, extending her hand to shake his. “I’m sure Clark will be really proud of you.”
“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for him,” Jack said quietly. “Would you tell him that for me? In case I don’t get to see him before I leave?” He hesitated for a moment before continuing, “Will you tell him that he’ll always be a hero in my book?”
Jack had a curious twinkle in his eyes and Lois was intrigued. Obviously he and Clark had shared something that she didn’t know about. Her breath caught in her throat. Did he... did he know about Clark? She gave him a meaningful smile. “Yeah, I’ll tell him, Jack. But I’m sure he’ll want to come visit you even if he doesn’t make it back here before you leave.”
“Thanks.” Jack smiled at her. “Well, Jimmy and I haven’t had lunch yet and I for one am starving. The Chief promised to take us out for a celebratory meal if he got good news from Mr. Stern.” Jack glanced over at the two men talking. “But if Jimmy and I don’t go pull him away, he’ll be here talking until lunchtime tomorrow.”
Lois grinned. “You don’t know how right you are. Especially if he gets started on one of his Elvis stories.”
Jack smiled and looked at Jimmy. “You ready?”
“Yeah.” Jimmy gave Lois a questioning look. “You want to come eat with us? You’re welcome, you know.”
“Oh, no. That’s okay. I have a lot of stuff to do and this is ‘boy time’. You guys go have fun. But Jack, I expect you to look me up and tell me goodbye before you leave. You’re going to have a blast in New York. It’s been so long since I’ve visited there that I may have to come with Clark when he goes up for a visit.”
“Sure thing,” he said with a smile. “See ya.”
“Bye, Jack. Bye, Jimmy. I’ll talk to you guys later.”
**********
Lois woke up the same way she had yesterday morning, feeling disoriented. She remembered after a few seconds that she was at Clark’s apartment.
She was sleeping in Clark’s bed.
The thought caused an unexpected flush in her cheeks and she burrowed down a little deeper under the comfy covers. This was where Superman slept every night. When he came home from a rescue or an emergency, he crawled into this very bed.
Her mind lingered on that last thought for a minute. She hadn’t really given that aspect of being Superman very much thought before. How did Clark deal with all the emergencies and catastrophes that he encountered? She was fairly certain that he didn’t go running off to Kansas every time something difficult happened.
And it was doubtful that he had anyone he could talk to here in Metropolis. Oh, he could have come to her and talked anytime and she would have listened. But he hadn’t. He had just quietly dealt with it and greeted her the next morning as Clark, with a smile on his face and a hot cup of coffee.
The thought brought tears to her eyes. How many people had Clark lost? In fires and accidents - people that he couldn’t save in time? And he’d had to come home alone to an empty apartment to hear their cries and see their faces in his mind.
Lois shuddered, clutching his blanket tighter against her. She had just realized something even more amazing about Clark. Superman might be the strongest man in the world - able to lift a space station into outer space - but Clark was also strong where it really counted. He had an unimaginable strength of spirit.
He was even stronger than she had possibly imagined.
Lois stared up at the ceiling, contemplating her thoughts, and something shiny caught her attention from the corner of her eye. She rolled over in bed and looked up at the shelf on the back of Clark’s bed. He had a couple of trophies sitting on it and some pictures.
She picked up one of the pictures and smiled. It was a picture of him and his dad. Clark was pretty young, didn’t even look like he was a teenager yet. He had a grin on his face, a fishing pole in one hand and a fish in the other.
Having grown up in a family that was so different from his, she couldn’t even imagine what his life had been like in Smallville. She smiled at the picture as she set it back down. She hoped he was feeling better today and would be able to enjoy some of his time back in his hometown - just as long as he didn’t enjoy it so much that he decided to move back there.
Lois glanced at the alarm clock next to his bed. It was early, but not too early. She had told Martha she was going to call back today, and she was too eager to wait any longer.
She got out of bed, threw on her robe and padded into the living room to find the phone. After dialing the Kents’ number, she snuggled down into the couch and pulled her knees up where she could prop her feet on the edge of the cushion. Clark’s couch may not be as aesthetically pleasing as her loveseats, but it sure had them beat for comfort – hands down.
“Hello?” Martha answered after a couple of rings.
“Hi, Martha,” Lois replied cheerfully. “How’s our patient?”
“Good morning, Lois,” she said, not sounding at all cheerful herself. “Not very good, I’m afraid.”
Lois immediately became concerned. “Why? Has his cold gotten worse? Did he re-injure his wound?”
“He ran a pretty high fever during the night and had the chills. I think he must have picked up some kind of flu bug.” She sighed softly. “He told me he doesn’t feel like talking to anyone.”
“What?” Lois exclaimed. “Not even for just a couple of minutes? I have some exciting news to tell him." Not to mention *important* news. "Is he asleep?”
“No. He’s not asleep.”
“Well, what then? Is he trying to avoid me?” Lois protested. She knew he wouldn’t feel good if he had the flu, but there was no reason he couldn’t talk to her for just a couple of minutes.
Martha sighed again, and when she began talking it was a muted whisper, “Between you and me, I think he’s feeling a little depressed. With his powers not coming back yet, his injury keeping him from doing very much physically and now getting sick... I think it’s just taking a toll on him.”
“Oh, Martha, I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you, Lois.” Lois thought she heard a muffled sob but then Martha was speaking again in a hushed voice. “I’m actually a little worried about him. I’ve tried babying him. I’ve tried being hard on him. I’ve even tried just talking to him, but nothing seems to be working.”
Lois opened her mouth to ask if Clark had been out in the sun much lately, but Clark’s words from before echoed through her mind...
<...don’t say anything about it to my parents...>
Lois frowned. She had done enough lately to damage his trust in her. She would keep his promise – but he was going to have to talk to her. “Hand him the phone, please.”
She could hear some muffled noises and then she heard Clark’s voice. She couldn’t make out what he was saying, but his voice was deeper than it usually was and sounded strained. Lois pushed the pity she was feeling for him down, it wouldn’t make him feel any better.
“Lois?” It was Martha again. “He says he’s just not up for it.”
Lois was instantly mad, forgetting her pity from a few seconds ago. Stubborn male. “All right. Fine. Then, I’m coming to see him.” If he wouldn’t come to the phone, then she would come to him.
“You’re coming to Smallville?” Martha’s surprised voice asked.
Lois realized that she might have been a bit rash. She was a little tight right now financially. But the money she had saved on a hotel room for the week could be used for an airline ticket instead, and all those mileage points she had been accruing on her credit card wouldn’t hurt either.
And she wasn’t about to let Clark get away with ignoring her.
“Yes, Martha,” Lois affirmed. “That is, unless it creates a problem for you,” she added.
“Oh, no. I’d love to have you, honey,” she paused and then continued on in a lower voice, “I think it would be good for Clark. Thank you.”
“I’ll call you later and let you know when to expect me. I’ll get a rental car at the airport and...”
“Heavens no. Jonathan can come pick you up. He needs to head into Wichita to pick up a couple of parts for our older tractor anyway.”
The thought made Lois feel a little claustrophobic. It was kind of Martha to offer and would certainly save money for her not to have a rental, but Lois didn’t want to be dependent on someone else for transportation. And when she decided she was ready to leave, she wanted to have the means to leave – without having to wait on someone else. Besides, she didn’t plan on staying very long. A car rental for a couple of days wasn’t going to break her – especially now that she knew she would have a job again very soon.
“No, really, Martha,” Lois protested, “I don’t want Jonathan to have to come all that way, even if he needs to make a trip. He certainly won’t need to make the return trip to get me back to the airport. I’ll just get a rental. It’ll be easier.”
“Okay,” Martha said, not sounding quite convinced. “Do you need directions from the airport?”
Did she? Lois had been there before but Clark had been driving so she hadn’t really paid attention to the road. “Yeah, let me grab a pen and paper.”
**********
To Be Continued...
