Hi, everyone!
Sorry for the delay. Hope you enjoy this part! Thanks to everyone who has been reading, especially those who have left fdk.
From Part 11:
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.”
*****************************
Part 12:
Tap…tap…tap.
Perry threw Jimmy an annoyed look as the kid continued to tap the pen he was holding against the desk in front of them. By looking at him, a person would conclude that his young friend was bored. Perry knew better, though. Jimmy was just as anxious as he was for Inspector Henderson to enter the room and tell them why he had requested their presence in his office.
Perry shifted in the uncomfortable office chair as another set of tapping sounds reached his ears. “Son, maybe you should set that pen down. I’m not sure that poor desk can take much more.”
Jimmy looked at Perry, a sheepish look on his face as he set the offending object down on the desk. “Sorry. I just can’t seem to sit still.”
“I know how you feel, Son. It doesn’t help to know that Lois and Luthor’s reception is in full swing at this moment.” Or that there’s been no sign of Clark, Perry added silently. He sighed, unable to rid himself of the guilt that sat in his stomach. He and Jimmy had been working together relentlessly for the past few days to track down Pete Black. The kid had vanished into thin air, though. Perry couldn’t help but feel that he had failed Lois. They’d tried so hard to find evidence against Luthor, but in the end they’d been unable to stop the dreaded wedding.
The door to Henderson’s office opened and the Inspector stepped inside. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Something came up that needed my immediate attention.” Henderson walked into the room before taking a seat behind his desk. “I suppose you’re wondering why I asked you guys to come in.”
“Yeah, the thought’s crossed my mind. I’m guessin’ you wanted to talk to us about Luthor? Can we hope for some good news?” Perry asked.
Henderson smiled, a grin that reached his eyes, and Perry’s spirits lifted. “Pete Black came in today. Poor kid was scared out of his wits, claims that he’s been running for his life ever since his brother was murdered. He told us all he knew in exchange for protection and immunity from any charges. He led us straight to Mrs. Cox, Lex Luthor’s personal assistant.”
“Yes!” Jimmy exclaimed.
“We brought in Mrs. Cox and she talked right away. We have enough evidence now to bring in Luthor.”
Perry and Jimmy exchanged a look, identical smiles plastered on their faces. “That’s the best darned news I’ve heard in a while,” Perry told the Inspector.
“I wanted to let you know what was going on because Lois is Luthor’s wife now, and I figured that she might need some friendly faces present when we arrest Luthor.”
Perry nodded as it occurred to him that the Inspector had a soft spot after all. “Did you find out anything about Clark?”
Henderson shook his head, a somber expression crossing his face. “I’ve tried to find him, but I keep running into dead ends. Mrs. Cox wouldn’t talk about it other than to say that Luthor might know where he is.” Henderson paused for a moment. “You don’t happen to know where I can get in touch with his parents, do you? I tried calling Clark’s apartment, but there was no answer.”
“The Kents are at the hospital. Jack’s been showin’ signs of improvement. The doctors are optimistic that he’ll come out of his coma soon,” Perry explained.
“That’s great news!” Henderson exclaimed, looking genuinely happy that Jack was improving. “Well, I guess we should get this show on the road. I’ve got several officers waiting to bring in Luthor. I guess we have a reception to crash.”
“It’s getting late. Hopefully the reception is still going on,” Jimmy said as he stood.
“Oh, don’t worry, we’ll find him.”
*****
Lois entered the room, each step taking her closer to the inevitable. She’d managed to suffer through the reception, making sure that a fake smile was always placed on her face. If she angered Lex, Lois knew that Clark would take the punishment. The reception had finally ended and now she was faced with the reality of being alone with Lex on their wedding night. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the bed. Someone had covered the satin comforter with red rose petals, no doubt believing that the satiny smooth comforter would look that much more inviting. She was standing in the middle of the most luxurious and romantic honeymoon suite that a bride could hope for, and all she could think about was running to the bathroom to vomit.
Lex approached her from behind, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. “Mmm, my love, I bought you something special to wear for me on our wedding night,” he murmured, his mouth barely touching her ear. Lois’s eyes fell on the white lacy teddy he dangled in front of her. “You go freshen up and put this on while I make sure that our special guest is tuned in. I’d hate for him to miss this.”
Lex dropped the garment into her hands before stepping away. Lois welcomed the numbness that washed over her, protecting her from the hysteria that was simmering just below the surface. Her gaze traveled around the lavish room once more before settling on the bed again. Holding back a sob, she sprinted to the bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet before heaving into it. Several moments later, Lois flushed the toilet before her eyes landed on the lacy teddy she had discarded on the marble counter upon entering the bathroom.
Lois shuddered at the sight, unable to stop the chill that traveled down her spine. Her hands picked up the garment and she stared at it. It was just a piece of lingerie—just material and lace—yet the sight of it terrified her. She dropped the garment a moment later, and her watery eyes found her reflection in the mirror. She stared at herself, all the while wondering how she would ever get through it, how she would ever be able to let Lex…
She couldn’t do it.
The fog lifted and her strong will emerged from somewhere deep inside. Lex had scared it into hiding, but faced with reality—faced with the very real possibility that she would never see Clark alive again—she knew that she couldn’t do it.
Lois knew that she’d been to hell and back trying to protect Clark. She’d pushed him away, had accepted Lex’s proposal—had even married the monster—but she couldn’t bring herself to go any further. She could not bring herself to put on that garment—couldn’t bring herself to go out into that room and let that evil man violate her. She couldn’t do it to herself, and she wasn’t about to do it to Clark. She would not let Lex have his way—not while Clark was forced to listen.
Clark’s words suddenly entered her mind, strengthening her resolve.
<He’s going to kill me no matter what you do. You have to get away from him; it’s your only chance.>
Lois’s mind went to the device that Lex held in his pocket, and suddenly she knew what she had to do. No, it wasn’t just *her* only chance—it was *their* only chance. Lois’s eyes traveled around the bathroom, in search of something that could be used as a weapon. Her eyes found and settled on the vase of red roses that sat on the counter. She picked up the vase and dumped the flowers and water into the sink. Holding the vase in her hand, she tested its weight. Satisfied that it was heavy enough, Lois took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping out of the bathroom.
Lex turned around as she shut the bathroom door behind her. She stood, the vase held firmly behind her back as he stepped closer. “I can’t reach the buttons on my wedding gown,” she explained upon seeing the questioning look he was giving her.
“I can help with that, my love.” Lex stepped forward, closing the gap between them.
Just as he was about to reach for her, Lois lifted her knee, swiftly striking him where it counted. Lex howled in pain and anger, and his eyes stared at her in shock. Before he could recover, she brought the vase out from behind her back and hit him over the head with it, using every ounce of strength she had. He dropped to the floor with a satisfying thud.
Lois bent over him and quickly removed the device from his pocket before pushing the button labeled “off.” She stared at his motionless form for a few seconds, the thought filtering through her mind that she should have done this long ago. Ignoring the sudden urge to kick him for all the grief he’d caused her and the people she loved, Lois sprinted from the room a moment later, hoping that she could make it to Clark and get help before Lex awoke.
As Lois tore down the hall that led to the elevator, her only thought was of getting to Clark. She didn’t notice the curious gaze of the man who had just exited his room, didn’t stop to consider how weird she must have looked running down the hall in her wedding gown. Nothing mattered except getting to Clark.
The elevator came into view and Lois frantically punched the button that would take her down. After waiting ten impatient seconds, she decided that running down the several flights of stairs would be quicker.
Lois found the door leading to the stairs a moment later and started down them at a run. Being careful not to trip over her gown, she flew down the stairs in record time and entered the lobby. Her eyes searched the lobby before resting on the receptionist, who in turn was giving her a strange look.
“Can I be of any assistance, Mrs. Luthor?”
*Mrs. Luthor.* The words were enough to make her shiver in revulsion.
“Yes, actually, you can. I need transportation and I need it now.”
*****
As soon as the car pulled up to the curb outside of Lex Towers, Lois’s feet hit the ground running. People gaped at her in shock, but Lois paid them no attention. The only thing in her mind was the image of Clark trapped inside a cage, lying broken and bloodied on the cold cement floor of the wine cellar as the green glow of the kryptonite slowly killed him.
Lois fingered the device in her hand, her eyes checking to make sure that it was still shut off. She shuddered at the thought that he’d been trapped in that cage for who knew how long, alone and in pain, with no hope of escape.
And he’d been forced to listen as she’d married his captor. Lois fought back tears as she entered through the double doors of Lex Towers. The receptionist stared at her in shock as she ran past. “Mrs. Luthor! Can I help you?”
Lois stopped suddenly, her chest heaving in exertion and fear. “How do I get to the wine cellar?” she demanded loudly.
“The wine cellar?” the woman asked, her features twisted in confusion. “Is there anything I can help you with, Mrs. Luthor?”
“Nope,” Lois answered. “I just had a sudden craving for a good Merlot.”
The woman stared at her for a moment, her expression one of disbelief and uncertainty. “Um…Where’s Mr. Luthor?” she asked hesitantly. “I’m sure he’d be better suited at assisting you with selecting the perfect wine.”
“I do not need assistance! My *husband* will not be pleased to know that his receptionist was acting anything other than professional. Now how do I get down to the wine cellar?” Lois asked again, this time her tone leaving no room for argument.
The receptionist quickly gave her directions, and Lois sprinted off a moment later. Several minutes and a few wrong turns later, Lois finally recognized the elevator that had taken her and Lex down to the wine cellar earlier that day during their wedding.
The very elevator that had remained closed until Lex had punched a code into the keypad. “NO!” Lois yelled in frustration and despair as her fists pounded on the doors. A tear escaped as panic started to eat away at her. Lois frantically looked around her surroundings. She was standing in a narrow hallway with the elevator in front of her and the door she’d entered through sitting to her right. To her left was another door—the only other door in the short hallway.
Did she dare hope for stairs? Lois didn’t see a keypad, but that didn’t mean that the door wasn’t locked. Taking a deep breath and sending up a silent prayer, Lois walked over to the door before trying the handle.
“Damn it!”
Of course it was locked! Was anything going to go her way? Lois sighed, willing herself to calm down. If she couldn’t pick that lock open than her name wasn’t Lois Lane!
<Mrs. Luthor…>
Lois shuddered as the name forced its way into her mind. She mentally scolded the errant thought until it ran and hid in the dark abyss of her mind. There wasn’t a piece of paper in the universe that would ever make her answer to that name.
Lois quickly pulled a hairpin out of her hair and got to work. With much persistence and a few curse words, the lock clicked open and she pushed the door open. The staircase was dark and it seemed to go on forever, but finally, Lois recognized the door that would take her to Clark.
She took a shaky breath before opening the heavy wooden door and stepping inside.
*****
Perry and Jimmy followed Inspector Henderson and several other police officers as they all piled into the lobby of the Lexor Hotel. Perry was itching to see the look on Luthor’s face when he was arrested. The monster was finally about to get his, and Perry couldn’t have been happier. His only wish was that they’d been able to get the psycho before Lois had married the creep.
“Inspector Henderson, Metropolis PD.” Perry remained silent, watching as Henderson pulled out his badge before flashing it at the receptionist who sat behind the counter. The young woman’s eyes widened at the sight of the badge. “We’re looking for Lex Luthor. It was reported that his wedding reception was being held here.”
The woman’s eyes left the badge and she gaped at the group of police officers, motionless for a moment, before springing into action. “The reception ended an hour ago. Mr. Luthor and his bride retired to the honeymoon suite. However, you just missed the both of them,” the woman explained, a touch of nervousness in her tone.
“Missed them? On their wedding night?”
“Yeah, they were both in a hurry to get out of here.”
“Do you know where they went?” Henderson asked.
“Mrs. Luthor requested transportation to Lex Towers. Mr. Luthor followed about fifteen minutes later.” A look of confusion crossed the young woman’s face. “I found their behavior very odd.”
“How long ago did they leave?”
“Mr. Luthor left here about ten minutes ago.”
*****
Lois was met with pitch black darkness as the door shut behind her. She remembered that there was a short flight of stairs—in fact Lex had almost pushed her down them earlier that day. Lois couldn’t see a thing. Feeling along the wall for a switch, she found it a couple of minutes later and flipped it. Bright light lit up the room and Lois blinked repeatedly as her eyes adjusted.
She quickly made her way down the stairs. The cage came into view an instant later and as Lois hurried over to it her heels clicked on the concrete, the sound echoing throughout the cold room.
“Clark?” Lois held her breath; the silence in the room was unnerving. He wasn’t moving.
“Clark?” Not even a twitch. “Can you hear me? Clark!” Lois’s voice became high-pitched as hysteria set in.
Oh, god, he wasn’t moving! What if she was too late?
“Clark!” Lois yelled again as her hands found the lock to his cage. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she took the hairpin and started to pick the lock open.
“You have to be okay. Do you hear me? You can’t leave me—you just can’t!” The lock clicked open a few agonizing minutes later and Lois almost tore the door off the cage in her haste to get inside. The hell she’d been through in the past week would pale in comparison to what the rest of her life would be like without him.
Lois knelt down on the cold cement and her hands reached out to shake him. His skin was so cold! She sobbed as she continued to shake him. “Clark! Please don’t do this. Come on, get up!”
She was too late. Lex had killed him. Lois fell on top of him, her breath coming in small gasps as grief and despair overtook her.
She’d lost him.
She’d never again get the chance to stare endlessly into those gorgeous brown eyes of his, never again hear his laugh, or see his smile. He’d never tease her again, never kiss her again, they’d never get the chance to make love…
Lois sobbed uncontrollably as her arms pulled him to her. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Devastation was taking over, closing in, and squeezing the air out of her lungs.
And then he moved.
And just as quickly as her world had been knocked off its axis, two gorgeous brown eyes staring back at her knocked it right again. Lois’s heartbeat slowed and she could suddenly breathe again.
“Lois?” his voice was weak, but Lois had never heard anything so beautiful in her life.
“God, Clark. I thought I’d lost you,” she said shakily.
“I must have passed out. The last thing I remember was…the speakers. You and Luthor were in the honeymoon suite. The thought of him touching you…” Clark trailed off and Lois could see that he was struggling for calm.
“Nothing happened, Clark. I knocked him out.”
“I think I went a little crazy. I remember trying to bust my way through the door…that’s the last thing I remember.” Clark’s eyes searched hers for a moment. “I think I knocked myself out.”
“How are you feeling now? I was so scared…”
“I’m feeling better,” he hurried to reassure her. Lois watched as his gaze went to the bars of the cage and confusion suddenly crossed over his face. “The kryptonite…?”
“I turned it off. I stole the device from Lex before I left the Lexor,” she explained. “We need to get out of here. I don’t know how much time we have. Can you stand?”
“I think so.” Clark struggled to his feet and swayed a couple of times. Lois reached out and grabbed a hold of him, steadying him.
“It’s okay. We can do this together.”
Clark stopped and gently took her face in his hands. “I love you, Lois.” An instant later his mouth found hers and he kissed her tenderly. A few short seconds of pure bliss went by and Lois was disappointed when he pulled back. “Thank you.”
“For what?” she asked in confusion.
“For loving me so much.”
Lois smiled at him, the first real smile to grace her face in a week. “I’d do anything for you, Clark.”
“You have…done everything for me.” His eyes shut briefly and Lois could tell that he was thinking about all she’d been through at the hands of Lex.
He’d been through so much more, though. Now was not the time to go through all of this. Clark was still so weak; she had to hold on to him to keep him from falling over. “Are you ready, Clark? We need to get out of here. I don’t know how long Lex will be out of commission.”
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
She held onto him tightly as they inched their way up the stairs. The flight of stairs had seemed so much shorter earlier. By the time they’d reached the top, Clark had perspiration dripping down his face and his breath was coming in small gasps.
“I’m sorry, Lois. I hate being so helpless.”
“Don’t you dare apologize, Clark! Lex had you trapped down here for…” Lois trailed off as she realized that she had no clue how long he’d been held captive in that cage.
“Six days,” Clark told her between gasps for air.
“You need to see a doctor. Let’s get you out of here.” Lois reached for the door and opened it a second later…and suddenly jumped back in shock.
Lex stood in the doorway, blocking their escape. He stared at her, and for the first time she saw hatred directed at her in his eyes. She’d seen evil, triumph, lust, and anger in his eyes, but never hatred. Her heart squeezed in fear at the utterly manic glint in his beady, dark eyes.
“You will regret what you’ve done, Lois,” he said, and Lois shivered at the low and threatening tone to his voice.
It was then that she noticed the gun in his hand.
TBC...
