Hello, everyone! Hope everyone had a great weekend.
Well, it's Monday again, (funny how that happens every week, huh?
) so here's part 11. I can't promise when part 12 will be posted. I sent it off to Darcy to BR, but she's been having computer problems, so you'll have it as soon as I do, unless, of course, I get it back before next Monday, then I'll just have to make you guys wait, cause I'm evil like that.
From Part 10:
Lex took her hand and raised it to his mouth, his lips softly caressing her skin. “We must be going now. My jet is waiting,” he said before taking her hand in his and leading her to the door.
Lois sighed in relief as they left the room that had been her prison. They boarded his private jet, but her relief was short-lived as reality once again weighed heavily on her mind. She was leaving one temporary prison—a windowless fortress that offered nothing more than solitude—to become eternally imprisoned as his wife the very next day.
As the jet took off and they began their journey back to the States, she couldn’t help but wonder which prison was worse.
*****************************
Part 11:
“Five minutes, Mrs. Luthor,” a voice called out from behind the closed door. Lois stared at the door, wishing that she could lock out the world, wishing that she could lock out reality. But Saturday had dawned way too bright and early for Lois, and reality had come knocking. She was praying for a miracle—praying that Clark would sweep in to save her. He could even leave his cape at home. She didn’t care, just as long as he rescued her from this nightmare.
Lois knew that it was a foolish thought, though. Clark wouldn’t be around to save her this time. She had been far too effective in pushing him away. She would never forget his reaction after she’d told him that she was carrying Lex’s child; the memory weighed heavily on her heart. There was no other choice, though. Lex was a master at this game of his, he didn’t just hold all four aces—he held the entire deck.
Now the time had come for her to walk down the aisle. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, barely recognizing the woman who stared back. Who was this woman wearing a white wedding gown? It certainly wasn’t Lois Lane. The strong and independent woman she was used to seeing in the mirror had gone missing a week ago when Lex had threatened Clark. The woman who stared back was motivated by fear—fear for Clark and what Lex would do to him if she didn’t go through with this wedding. Fear for what he would do to Lucy, Perry, and Jimmy, too. Was she actually going to marry the man she despised most in the world?
“Mrs. Lex Luthor,” she said, trying the name out. It left nothing but a bad taste in her mouth.
<Marry me, and Kent will live. If you don’t marry me, Kent will come to know the true meaning of the words ‘pain and suffering.’ I can make him suffer in so many different ways that he’ll beg me to kill him.>
The memory of Lex’s words sent a chill through her, just as they had when he’d first spoken them to her. Lois choked back a sob, willing herself to be strong. She couldn’t fall apart now.
“Are you okay, Lois?” her mother asked, her voice full of concern.
Lois jumped at her mother’s voice. Having been so focused on her thoughts, she’d forgotten that her mother was in the room. “I…” Lois started, swallowing past the lump in her throat. “I’m fine, Mom.”
Ellen Lane stepped closer, looking at her daughter intently. Lois knew that she wasn’t fooling her mother. “You don’t look fine, Lois. Is this what you really want? Maybe you’re rushing this just a little? You and Mr. Luthor were engaged just a week ago.”
Lois sighed. For the past week she’d had nothing to do in the Alps but dread this day—the day that her life as she knew it would be over. But she’d felt powerless to stop the inevitable. Clark’s life was far too important. If loving him wasn’t reason enough for her sacrifice, then the fact that the world needed Superman was. The world could get along fine without Lois Lane, but the absence of Superman was too horrible to even think about.
Lois straightened her shoulders. It was time to be strong. “I know that it was a surprise, Mom, but I love Lex. He’ll be a wonderful husband,” Lois lied, willing her mother to believe her. She didn’t think she could stand anymore questions.
“If you’re sure…”
Lois heard her mother sigh. Her eyes found her mother’s concerned gaze in the mirror. Ellen watched her daughter for a few moments in silence before putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. Lois looked at her mother in surprise at the gesture. Ellen Lane was not one to show affection.
“I’m sure. I’ll see you out there in a minute,” Lois said, gesturing in the direction of the ballroom the ceremony was to be held in.
“You look beautiful. Lex Luthor is a lucky man.” Lois watched as her mother exited the room a moment later before shutting the door behind her. Luck had nothing to do with it, she thought before looking at her reflection in the mirror once more. Taking a deep calming breath, Lois left the room.
*****
Clark’s heart almost stopped as the first notes of the wedding march came through the speakers. He closed his eyes, willing away the image of Lois walking down the aisle, her white wedding gown flowing around her, her eyes bright with the promise of love.
But she wasn’t marrying Luthor because she loved him. She was marrying him because she believed it was the only way to save Clark. If Clark had doubted her love for him before, he didn’t any longer. She was walking down the aisle toward a dangerous monster, and she was doing it all to save him. It was truly a selfless act.
Clark wanted to scream for her not to do it.
It would all be for nothing anyway. Luthor was going to kill him regardless. He struggled to his feet, reaching out to the bars as he lost his balance. The bars seared his skin, and he yelled out in pain. As the wedding march progressed, Clark grabbed onto his anger. Luthor would pay for what he was doing to Lois. He yelled out in frustration before launching himself into the door of the cage with all his might. Coming into contact with the bars was too much; he could feel the heat of the bars burning through his clothes.
Clark crumpled to the floor, hating himself for being so helpless. Lois needed him, and there wasn’t a thing he could do to help her. He’d been held in his kryptonite prison for over five days now—he was far too weak. He finally gave in to his tears, letting them fall freely.
*****
Lois walked further down the aisle, trying her best to avoid the eyes of the wedding guests. Lex stood at the front, taking in the sight of her with a hungry look in his eyes. She swallowed hard, wondering how she was ever going to get through this—how she would ever get through tonight.
Suddenly, images of Clark came into her mind. Lois remembered the look in his eyes as he told her that he loved her. She remembered the way it felt to kiss him, the way it felt to be held by him. She had never felt so safe or secure in another man’s arms. She could remember in vivid detail the feel of his warm skin under her fingertips, how soft his hair was, how the sound of his sigh when their lips met fueled her own desire.
As she approached Lex, she willed the images away. She had to do this—she had to do this for Clark—for everyone that was important to her. Lois looked into Lex’s eyes with determination. Lex might be getting his way in marrying her, but he’d never have her heart. Her heart belonged only to Clark.
Lex took her hand, and the contact made her skin crawl. They turned to the man who was about to start the ceremony and Lois paused in surprise. “The Archbishop?” she asked incredulously.
“The Pope had a prior engagement. A week was a little too short of notice,” Lex explained nonchalantly, sounding as if having the Pope and the Archbishop at his disposal was an every day thing.
Dread settled in the pit of her stomach as the ceremony began. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in the sight of God…”
The rest of the Archbishop’s words were lost to Lois. Where was God today? She’d never been a very religious person, but she was willing to send a prayer up to God in hope that he would hear her. Surely she didn’t deserve to live out her days married to a man like Lex Luthor?
Then again, maybe she did. If she’d listened to Clark sooner, had believed in his instincts, maybe she’d be writing a front page article on the fall of Lex Luthor instead of marrying the monster.
Lois was startled to hear Lex say “I do.” She realized that the Archbishop was now talking to her, asking her something…
“…Take this man to be your wedded husband from this day forward, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?”
“I…” Lois stared at the man before her and panic started to settle in. Love and cherish him? How could she promise such a thing? As soon as their wedding night was done and over with—as soon as he got his fill of her—he was planning to send her back to that horrible place in the Alps. Who knew how long he would keep her locked up there, with no one to talk to but herself? He intended to keep her there until she “learned her lesson.”
He wanted a puppet for a wife. Apparently he believed that she would grow strings if he locked her away in isolation. Didn’t he know who she was? She was Lois Lane! She would never learn her lesson!
“Lois,” Lex said, the warning in his voice barely discernable. But the threat in his dark eyes was unmistakable. If she didn’t say “I do,” he would follow through with his threats.
<I have been in love with you for a long time.>
Lois could almost hear Clark’s voice in her head. She’d always found his voice comforting. It amazed her that someone like Clark could actually love her. He was so gentle, so patient. She was sure that she didn’t deserve him. She had treated him horribly in the beginning, and yet, he’d never given up on her.
How could she give up on him—on *them?* There had to be a way out of this! Lois felt hysteria rise in her throat and she had the sudden urge to scream at all of the people in the room to open their eyes, not to be as blind as she had once been to the pure evil standing before them.
Lois paused as Lex stared her down. His eyes held a warning, and Lois bristled at the realization that she could also see triumph in their depths. He knew he had the upper hand. Lois wanted nothing more than to wipe the smugness from his evil eyes. Maybe telling the wedding guests that he had blackmailed her wasn’t such a bad idea. Maybe he would think twice before harming anyone after such a scene.
Steeling her courage, Lois finally spoke, “I…can’t.” An audible collective gasp was heard throughout the ballroom at her quietly spoken words.
Lex stared at her, and the hard look in his eyes chilled her to the bone. She did her best to ignore her fear and forged on. “I can’t marry you, Lex,” she said, her voice loud and strong.
“Darling, that’s just wedding jitters talking,” Lex told her, and Lois noticed the instant he put his charming mask on, hiding the anger that was meant for only her.
Lex turned to their guests with a brilliant smile. “Ladies and gentlemen, please excuse us for a few moments. I do believe that my bride has the wedding jitters. The ceremony will recommence momentarily.” He gently took her hand in his, no doubt putting on a show for the crowd, and started to lead her back down the aisle. She’d bet her three Kerth awards that had they been alone he would have dragged her out of the room by her hair.
Lois halted their progress down the aisle, digging in her heels. Knowing that there was no time better than the present to cause the type of scene she had in mind, Lois eyed the faces of the curious guests and opened her mouth.
Before she could utter a single word, Lex leaned close to her, his breath in her ear and said, “Before you do or say anything stupid, my love, there’s something—or rather someone—I think you need to see in the wine cellar.”
Lois’s blood ran cold at his whispered words. She stared at him numbly as he gave her hand a small yank before continuing down the aisle and through the ballroom doors. “I thought you might change your mind and go back on our agreement, Lois. Fortunately, I’m an experienced business man—I know when insurance is needed,” he told her as soon as they were out of earshot of the wedding guests.
“What did you do, Lex?” she asked fearfully.
“Oh, you’ll see soon enough, my dear,” he promised as he led her down a hallway before coming upon an elevator. He punched in a code and the doors slid open, allowing them inside.
Lois remained silent as the elevator descended. Had Lex done something to Clark? She hadn’t seen him since the day she’d been sent to the Alps. And he hadn’t tried to contact her since her arrival in Metropolis the day before, although that hadn’t really surprised her. After the last conversation they’d had, she’d assumed that he’d finally had enough of the hurtful words she kept flinging in his direction. It looked as if telling him that she was pregnant with Lex’s child had been the last straw. The thought saddened her beyond words and caused a physical pain in her chest.
The doors to the elevator slid open, breaking Lois out of her thoughts. Lex grabbed her by the arm before leading her through a door and down a staircase. His grip on her arm became tighter as their descent to the wine cellar came to an end. Lex opened another door before shoving her through it. She caught herself just in time from falling down the short flight of stairs that would take her to the cement floor of the wine cellar. Lois gasped at the sight before her.
“Clark!” Lois ran to the cage, the sickly green glow illuminating the man lying on the floor inside. Hearing his name, Clark looked at her through squinted eyes. Lois was unable to stop the tears from falling. He looked so weak. What had Lex done to him?
“Lois,” he wheezed. “You need to get out of here. Don’t marry him, please,” he begged her.
She turned to Lex angrily. “You promised that you wouldn’t hurt him if I married you!” she yelled, tears streaming down her face.
“No, my love, I said I wouldn’t *kill* him if you married me. As you can see, Mr. Kent is still very much alive. But you have broken our agreement, Lois. I believe it’s time for lesson number two,” Lex said.
Lois watched in apprehension as he took a small device out of his pocket. “You see, right now the kryptonite’s radiation is set to low. As long as it’s on low, Mr. Kent will survive. But turn it up and…well, I believe a demonstration is due, don’t you think?” Lex smiled wickedly as he set the dial to high. The green glow of the bars became brighter and Clark cried out in pain, a sound that pierced Lois’s heart painfully.
“Grab her and don’t let her go,” Lex instructed and a moment later a man Lois hadn’t even noticed was in the room stepped forward. Where in the world had he come from? Had he followed them down to the wine cellar? As Lex’s goon stepped toward her, she froze, and her instincts screamed at her to run for the exit. Lois fought against her instincts to flee, knowing that if she did she’d never see Clark alive again. She let Lex’s goon apprehend her and stared in growing horror as Lex unlocked the cage before stepping inside.
Lex yanked Clark up by his shirt front before sending Lois a mocking grin. “I’d wager that your precious super hero can’t even stand on his own,” he said before suddenly letting go of Clark. Lois watched in alarm as he crumpled to the floor, unable to hold his own weight.
“Please turn it off, Lex!”
“I think not, my dear. You still haven’t received your lesson.”
Lois jumped, a startled cry escaping her mouth as Lex swung his foot into Clark’s nose. At the sight of the blood covering his face, Lois started to struggle for freedom. She was going to kill Lex with her bare hands!
“NO! Stop, please!” she cried as Lex sent another swift kick, this time to Clark’s stomach, and Lois wanted to vomit all over the cement floor.
“Yes, I suppose that is enough for now. We wouldn’t want our super hero to be too weakened, now would we? He’s no use to me *dead.*” Lex exited the cage, shutting and locking the door once again.
Lois finally broke away from her captor and ran to the cage, her hands encircling the bars that made up Clark’s prison. She sobbed, watching as Clark curled into a ball on the floor. Her insides turned to ice at hearing the anguished sounds he made. “Clark! Can you hear me? I’m here. God, I’m here, and I won’t let him hurt you again. I promise.” She turned to Lex with pleading eyes. “Turn that device back down, please! You’re going to kill him!”
Lex said nothing, but instead simply stared at her. Lois looked at him in desperation, wondering what he was waiting for. The man she loved was in pain—he could be dying!—and all Lex could do was stare at her?
“It’s in your hands, Lois. Just say the words and all of this will stop,” he said finally.
“I’ll marry you! Please turn it off! Please!” she begged, frantic. “I’ll do anything. Please…let him go.”
Lex messed with the device in his hand once again and the green glow became less noticeable. Lois gave a small sigh of relief as Clark’s tense muscles seemed to relax a little.
“I can’t let him go, Lois. Not yet. Having control over him means that I have control over you,” he said as he stepped closer to her. He laid his hands on her shoulders possessively. “I’ll have you in my bed tonight, and he’ll be down here on the cement, hearing every sigh, every moan of pleasure while being helpless to do anything about it. He’ll live with the knowledge that I have what he wanted most,” he said menacingly, his breath hot on her ear.
“What do you mean, he’ll hear?” she asked in confusion, not entirely sure she wanted to know the answer.
“I’ve installed some entertainment for our guest. See those speakers over there?” he asked, pointing at two small speakers attached high on the bars of the cage. “He’ll have the pleasure of hearing while you say ‘I do’ to me, *and* he’ll have the pleasure of hearing us on our wedding night.”
Lois couldn’t help but notice the look of sheer triumph that rested in Lex’s soulless eyes. She felt bile rise in her throat at the thought of him touching her. She almost lost it at the thought of Clark hearing Lex’s satisfaction in touching her.
She looked at Clark again, fear for him rising as his breathing became labored. It was obvious that he was struggling for air. She had to get him out of there. If selling her body and soul to the devil was the only way, then there wasn’t any other choice.
“You win, Lex. Let him go and I’ll marry you.”
“No, Lois. Marry me and *then* I’ll let him go,” Lex clarified.
Lois knew deep down that he wouldn’t, though.
“Don’t listen to him, Lois. You can’t trust him,” Clark’s weak words reached her ears, echoing her thoughts. Her eyes sought his gaze and she sucked in a breath at the intensity in his expression. His glasses, having been knocked aside when Lex had kicked him, lay on the floor next to where his head rested and his nose was still bleeding, the deep red crimson making a mess of his shirt. But the love that shined in his eyes had not dimmed the slightest bit.
<He’s no use to me dead.>
Lex’s words from a few moments ago suddenly rang through her ears. He wouldn’t let him go, but he would keep Clark alive—it was his only way of controlling her. That gave Lois a little hope.
“Can I have a moment alone with him?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, my dear. You know better than to ask such a stupid question.”
Lois realized at that moment that hell on earth was being down in that wine cellar with Lex standing over the both of them, holding all of the control in his hands. She would go to bed with the devil to save Clark’s life, and by doing so, Clark would surely die inside.
Lois turned pleading eyes on Lex. “I just want to talk to him for five minutes alone. Please, do this for me and I’ll do anything you want from now on. I won’t cause you anymore trouble. I just want to say goodbye to him.”
Lex nodded after a few moments of silent consideration before leaving the wine cellar with his guard. Lois sighed in relief as she watched them go.
“Clark…” She knelt down on the cold concrete, her arm passing through the chilly bars to take his outstretched hand in her own. Shivering as the metal grazed her skin, she squeezed his hand.
“Lois, don’t do this. I’m not worth it. Please, don’t marry him. He’s going to kill me no matter what you do. You have to get away from him; it’s your only chance.” Lois winced at the breathless quality to his voice. He sounded so incredibly weak, it tore at her heart to see him this way.
“No, Clark, I can’t think like that and neither can you. We have to be strong, do you hear me?” she asked, giving his hand another squeeze. “No matter what you hear tonight, no matter what I have to go through tonight, just know that I’ll find a way out for us.”
“Lois,” he whispered, “I don’t think we can win this time. You have already done so much to protect me. But you can’t do this. I wouldn’t ask this of you!”
“I know you wouldn’t, Clark. But Lex hasn’t just threatened you—he’s also threatened to kill Lucy, Perry, and Jimmy. I have no choice, I have to do this.”
“They wouldn’t ask you to do this either. They can help you, Lois. You have to get away from Luthor—you have to!” His eyes stared into hers, and she could clearly see the plea in them for her to listen to him—just this once.
Silly man should know her better by now.
“I love you, Clark. If it’s the last thing I do I will find a way to get you out of here alive. And just know that tonight…when you hear me with Lex, it’ll be you that I’m thinking of,” she whispered for only his ears, hoping that any listening devices Lex might have hidden wouldn’t pick up on what she’d just said. She pulled her hand from his and tried her best to ignore his pleas.
“Please don’t do this, Lois. I’m begging you, don’t marry him!”
“I have to, Clark. I love you,” she said in a broken voice as she left his cage before climbing the short staircase that would take her back to the man who she would soon be forced to call her husband.
*****
“Do you take this man to be your wedded husband from this day forward, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do you part?”
“I do,” Lois said, a tear escaping one eye. The wedding guests no doubt thought that she was crying out of happiness. Little did they know that she was dying inside.
Once those two little words were spoken, effectively ending her life as she knew it, the rest of the ceremony went by in a fog. She couldn’t think, couldn’t feel anything beyond the deep depression that drenched her soul. She was surrounded by smiling faces—people who had come to watch as she said “I do” to the most sick and twisted monster she’d ever had the misfortune of meeting.
Lois suddenly worried that she was going to be sick.
Before she had the chance to even think about vomiting, Lois was startled back to reality by the cold feeling of Lex’s mouth on hers. Applause filled the room as he took his new bride in his arms. Lois’s mind went blank as his tongue demanded entrance into her mouth, forcing her lips to part for him. She fought the bile that rose in her throat, not wanting to cause an embarrassing scene.
Lex pulled away a few moments later and Lois looked dazedly at the crowd before them. “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mr. and Mrs. Lex Luthor!”
They were married.
The words entered Lois’s mind and she felt hysteria claim her as Lex ushered her back down the aisle. As they exited the building, she barely noticed the bird seed as it was thrown in the air by the wedding guests. Their loud applause rang in her ears and she couldn’t seem to shake the dazed feeling that had settled over her, blanketing her in a numbing, protective fog.
This wasn’t real. It wasn’t happening.
No amount of wishing it to be true would make it realty, though. Lois was unable to hold back her tears of grief and despair as she entered the waiting limo before Lex. By the time Lex had settled himself inside of the limo and the driver had pulled away from the curb, Lois was openly sobbing.
“Now, my love, you must control yourself. You don’t want to look like a wreck when we arrive at the reception, do you?”
Lois turned dark, tear-filled eyes on her new husband. “How could you do this to me?” she asked, her voice broken.
“I love you, Lois, and I refuse to live without you. If you can’t accept that then you’re going to live a very miserable existence.” Lex reached for her then, his hands pulling her to him. He groaned as his lips found hers. “I can’t wait for tonight, my love. I’ve wanted you for so long.”
Lois couldn’t stop herself from pulling away in disgust. “I hate you for doing this to me. I hate you even more for what you’ve done to Clark. You will never have my heart; that’s something that *you* are going to have to accept.”
Lex’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “I’d watch what you say to me from now on, my dear.” Lois’s eyes widened in horror as Lex pulled a familiar device from his pocket.
“No!” she cried as he flipped the dial to high.
“*Yes,*” he hissed. “Every time you disobey me, every time you anger me, every time you *step* wrong, I will hurt your beloved hero. I own you! It’s time that you got that through your head, my love.”
“I’ll do whatever you want! Please, turn it back down!”
“Now that’s a much better attitude,” Lex said before turning the dial on the device back to low. Putting the device back into his pocket, he turned back to Lois. “Stop crying and clean yourself up. I will not have my wife looking anything other than perfect.”
Lois wiped at her eyes before grabbing the small white hand bag of cosmetics that she’d carried with her into the limo. Five minutes later the limo came to a stop.
“We’re here. Now I expect you to be on your best behavior during the reception. You will play the part of the ecstatic bride to the hilt. Is that understood?”
Lois nodded, wondering how long she could live like this. Lex was going to turn her into his puppet. He didn’t need to send her back to the Alps. He held all the power in the world, and it was all wrapped up in a tiny black device which had the power to hurt the only man she’d ever loved. She fought down the wave of nausea that hit her upon hearing his next words.
“And tonight, my love, is only a few hours away. Don’t disappoint me.”
I know, I know...stop the madness!
More madness TBC in the next part--although there will be a little light shining through the dark clouds!
