Title: Total Recall
Author: Sue S.
Rating: PG
This is my solution to the squicky amnesia arc. I could live with the clone. It was Clark walking away and letting Luthor leave with Lois that irritated me to no end. And then they brought in the gosh-awful Dr. Deter and it just got sillier and stupider and more irritating. So this story starts with the assumption that Superman stopped the car and kept Lex around until the police arrived to arrest him. Lois was never coached by Lex to tell Clark she didn't love him, etc.
All my love and gratitude, as always, to my betas DJ and Lara.
<><><>
"Lois?"
She looked up to see *him* standing there. Clark - but not the "Clark" who had ruined her life. Apparently all of her memories were straight from a trashy novel that she herself had written. He was both Clark and Kent - Clark Kent - her fiancé. The man who had told her he was "Kent" was actually her villainous ex-fiancé, Lex Luthor, who had broken out of prison and gone straight for her like a moth to flame. It had to be one of those cases where real life was even more unbelievable than fiction. No wonder she didn't remember anything - it was too frightening to contemplate who she really was. Or what a mess her life must be.
"Lois?" Clark asked again. "Are you okay?"
She nodded, just to be polite. "I'm fine. I'm just, uh, trying to take all this in." She gestured at the apartment around her. There were framed pictures and awards with her name on them, but none of them looked at all familiar. Except for one - the man in the silly blue and red suit who had "saved" her from being abducted by Lex. Superman - that was what the police had called him. And the EMTs who had checked her out. They had all seemed awestruck by the odd man in the garish costume.
Then again, she had been impressed when he had flown away.
"So, uh, about Superman," she said and pointed at the picture. "How well do I know him?"
Clark seemed to hesitate before he answered. "You were the first reporter to interview him. The two of you have always been pretty close."
"And that doesn't bother you?"
He gave her a wistful smile. "No. It doesn't bother me at all."
Fiancé. She had a fiancé. Two of them, if the policeman who arrested Kent, no, *Lex*, was to be believed. The officer had seemed almost gleeful as he told her that she had once been engaged to the man they were arresting. Then Clark had shown up and the officer had called him over to insist that Lois was his problem now. Actually, the cop had thought that Lois was his wife, until Clark corrected him and said that she was his fiancée.
Clark had told her he would take her home. She had been almost excited as they rode in the cab to get here, thinking that surely something inside would spark her memory.
So far nothing had. And now the silence between her and Clark was getting longer and more awkward.
"Well..." she said with a forced smile. "Thanks."
"Well," he repeated, apparently just as uneasy. "I guess I'll be going now." He walked to her kitchen counter and grabbed a pen and the notepad sitting near the phone, scribbling something as he continued talking. "I'm going to leave you my phone number. If you need anything, anytime, please just give me a call."
"Sure," she said genially, knowing that - even as nice as he seemed to be - she wasn't about to go calling a stranger.
"Or," he added as he turned at the door, "if it's a real emergency, just stick your head out the window and call for Superman." He smiled as if that was a private joke they had once shared.
"Um, okay." Lois shifted uneasily and wished that he would just leave already. She was a grown woman and she could take care of herself without his, or some weirdo in tights', help.
"Good night then," she said pointedly, taking hold of the edge of the door in preparation of closing it firmly. "And thanks for all your help."
"Good night." He hesitated for a moment and she was sure that he was about to bend down and kiss her. Instead he gave her a wistful smile. "I'm glad you're..." He exhaled and shook his head, running one hand nervously through his hair before he tried again. "I'm glad you're safe now."
She gave him a tight smile and edged the door nearer to being closed. "Bye."
"Good bye." This time he did lean down and kissed her softly on the cheek. Then he straightened up, his eyes apologetic, and ducked into the hallway.
Not wishing to give him an opening to try something that awkward again, Lois hurriedly shut the door, quickly twisting two of her locks closed. Her hands were shaking and there almost seemed to be a wailing sound at the back of her brain telling her not to let him leave. She didn't dare to look through the peephole but she knew - just knew - that he was still standing out there. She let out a long sigh and turned to look at her apartment.
There were boxes everywhere - a jolting reminder that she was supposed to be married to the man she had just shut out in the hall. Lois bit her lip nervously and checked the peephole.
He was gone.
The wail in her head fell silent, subsuming into a pang of loneliness that actually seemed to ache throughout her entire body. She squared her shoulders to push the feeling away.
"Lois Lane," she muttered to herself. The name didn't feel at all familiar or reassuring. She wandered over to the counter, looking down at the notepad. His writing was bold and direct. Just looking at it sent another wave of loneliness through her.
Too late, she told herself. He was gone now. It was too late to bring him back. She walked to the window, parting the curtains to check the sidewalk below. There was no sign of him. The voice in her head whispered she had been a fool to ask him to leave. Lois shook her head to clear it.
She wandered aimlessly around the room, stopping in front of a picture of herself and Clark. He was holding an award and grinning at the camera while she was smiling at him with obvious pride and affection.
/"We work together at the Daily Planet."/
That was what he had told her. They had been co-workers, then dated. And they were supposed to have been married a week ago, only she had been abducted and replaced by a clone. Lois had simply stared at him when he told her that, quite certain that he was setting her up for an elaborate practical joke.
"So you married my clone?" It had only been a week since the wedding, so she felt compelled to ask him. "And you're still married to her, aren't you?"
He had flushed at that and then nodded grimly. "For the moment. But I've started the paperwork to have it annulled."
For some reason, that had struck her as funny and she had laughed as she sputtered, "Well, I guess I wish you luck on breaking up your marriage."
He grinned back at her, starting a funny little drop in her stomach. "Thanks."
Back in the present, Lois set the picture aside and went to look in her closet. Maybe her wardrobe would give her a better sense of who she was.
<><><>
The next morning she went out walking. She found her neighborhood grocer, then the coffee shop. She bought a paper and sat near the window. She frowned at the scant amount of cash left in her wallet, then at the ATM card inside. She had no idea what her PIN was. Would Clark know? Or should she make a trip to the bank and get a new one?
Resolving to try and figure out what was going on in the world first, Lois sipped her coffee and looked at the paper in front of her. The lead story on the front page was about the capture and arrest of Lex Luthor. The byline on the story caught and held her attention - Clark Kent. She read through the article, fascinated to learn that Lex Luthor had once been the third wealthiest man in the world, a renowned philanthropist and, as it turned out, a megalomaniacal killer. And, there it was confirmed in black and white, her former fiancé. He had killed himself on their wedding day, only to turn up alive months later with designs on her. He had been arrested, escaped and... well, she knew the rest now.
Or did she? What had passed between her and Lex to make him so doggedly obsessed with her? Here was a man who could have had anyone in the world, but he was in love with her. She had thought him handsome. And he had certainly seemed warm and sincere when he had found her at Bibbo's nightclub. And his kiss? It had been nice. She couldn't deny that she had felt something when he kissed her.
Her mind made up, Lois folded the paper, took another gulp of coffee and headed for the jail.
<><><>
The sergeant in charge was surprised, but cleared her to visit Lex. She waited in front of the glass pane, feeling a strange dread settle over her. What exactly was she hoping to accomplish? Would seeing him and knowing who he really was spark a memory for her?
He entered through a back door, looking out of place even though he was dressed in the same denim shirt and pants as the other inmates. His smile turned wider when he saw who his visitor was.
Lex picked up the phone to speak to her. "Have you come to post my bail, my dear?"
In spite of herself, she smiled at his words. According to the Planet, his bail had been set at half a million dollars.
"No," she said, smiling again to soften the word. "I just wanted to know, how did we meet?"
His eyes flickered and then seemed to soften. "I knew you by reputation before we met. You came to a function that I was hosting and seduced me into giving you an interview."
She felt her cheeks flush. "I seduced you?"
"In a manner of speaking. You did agree to go out with me, but you seemed to think the evening was an interview while I was much more interested in learning about the woman beneath the exterior."
"The exterior?" she asked, curious to know how she had been perceived by such a powerful man.
"You were very driven, a quality I have long found enchanting in a partner. But you added something more to that."
"What?" she asked, unconsciously leaning forward and tightening her grasp on the phone.
"Beauty. Inner beauty. A softness that you don't show many people. You trusted me with your true nature and I was smitten."
Lois looked away. They were words - very pretty words - but they seemed more like flattery than emotion to her.
"Lex," she started, surprised to find his name felt thick in her mouth. "Tell me your side of all this." She held up the copy of the Planet she had bought with her coffee. "How do you answer to all these charges?"
"I've been framed," Lex said easily. "When things turned sour between Perry White and myself, he started a vendetta against me. Your writing partner also led the charge on that one. He's always been less than supportive of our relationship. You used to complain about that."
"I did?"
"He refused to come to our wedding. You were crushed and, if I were the man that article says I am, I would have gladly done something to hurt him back for it."
Lois fought the urge to roll her eyes. "As it is, Lex, I believe you didn't stay long at our wedding either."
There was a buzz behind her as someone else entered the visitation room and she saw Lex frown. Lois glanced over her shoulder and was surprised to see Clark standing there. His expression made her feel as though she had just been caught being unfaithful.
She looked at Lex again, only to see that he was watching her closely. He gave her an affable wink and softly said, "It would appear I'm still in demand."
"I came to find you," Clark told her, giving Luthor one last malevolent look. "Detective Henderson told me that you were down here."
"What did you need?" Lois asked him, feeling irked that Clark seemed to think he needed to track her whereabouts.
"I need to talk to you," Clark answered evenly. "But not here." He cut a meaningful glance in Luthor's direction.
As they were leaving the station, Clark's hand touched her elbow to guide her. "Lois, I don't think you should spend time with Luthor until you remember things more clearly. He's a master manipulator."
She shrugged, irritated that he was being controlling. "Is this what being married to you would be like? Maybe there's a reason that I'm blocking my memories."
He blanched and she knew that she'd struck a nerve.
"No, Lois, that's not..."
"It doesn't matter," she said airily and walked away from his touch. "I'm just trying to figure things out. Thanks for helping."
She looked over her shoulder after she had walked a few steps. He was exactly where she had left him, watching her with a saddened expression. Realizing that she was ruining the effect of flouncing off, she swiftly looked forward again and kept walking.
<><><>
End Part 1/6?
Oh, the things I'm clearing off my hard drive while I procrastinate another story. 
This story is blocked out and the first four parts are written. 
