Hello everyone. I said tomorrow and where I live, tomorrow is in like 5 minutes. So here's the much talked about part sex... err, six. *ahem* Been reading fdk <winks at Ann>
A huge thank you goes out to both of my beta readers - Sue and Lara. Sue, bless your heart, I'm not sure how many times you read this part, but thank you. And thanks for all the little nudges and suggestions and for giving me the strength to post. <g>
Anyhoo... Now on to the warning. If you are a sensitive reader, easily bothered by certain topics, then I would urge you to page down to the bottom of this post and read my spoiler warning before deciding whether or not to proceed. If you choose to read on, without reading the warning, you do so at your own risk and I do not want to hear about it. Agreed?
Okay then, moving on...
Table of Contents Oh, and P.S. - as I noted before, the inspiration for this fic came from several different places... 2 of which came from this
thread which has a wallpaper that Laura S made (that I tried to recreate in this fic) and some lovely suggestions that LabRat made. <g> I had to make sure I credited them - thanks ladies - and here we go!
From Part 5:
Clark watched Lois go, an inconsolable grief tugging at him. She loved him – she just didn’t love *him*.
A spark of jealousy and anger welled up inside him. How could she have been so insensitive as to ask him to run and fetch Superman for her? After he had just poured his heart out to her, laid his feelings on the line?
What had she done? She had trampled them, no matter how lightly, and had then had the audacity to ask him to send his competition over for a chat.
He knew he was being silly. He *was* Superman. But she didn’t know that. She had callously thrust him aside and then used him to get what she wanted...
Superman.
Fine, Clark thought to himself. It’s Superman she wants? Then it’s Superman she’s gonna get. He refused to lose her to Luthor and he was absolutely sick of being ignored by her as Clark.
She would listen to Superman. He would tell her what she needed to hear, and then he would leave.
It was over.
**********
PART SIX
**********
“So?” Lois asked, watching Bobby suck down the last of the oysters she had brought for him. He’d already inhaled the crab cakes and butterfly shrimp.
“Mmm,” Bobby murmured appreciatively. “You did good, girl. Your uncle has some of the best oysters. I wonder who his supplier is?” He licked off his fingers and wiped his mouth on a paper napkin from the dispenser on their table.
Lois glanced around her uncle’s small diner. It was quiet in there right now, but it was getting close to dinnertime and soon the place would be hopping. So if Bobby had information to give her, he needed to get a move on. She was just about to point that out to him, when he continued.
“Okay. I bet you want to know if Lex’s limo was at the bank robbery that Superman thwarted yesterday,” he said, crumpling his napkin and setting it on his empty plate.
Lois rolled her eyes. “No, first of all, *I* already know the limo was there. I saw it myself. Secondly, *you* don’t know that it was ‘Lex’s’ limo. And thirdly, I’m not so sure *that* was Superman.”
“You’re not sure of much, are you?” Bobby grinned at his assessment and Lois scowled at him. He shrugged. “If you want proof that it was Lex’s limo, then why didn’t you get the license plate?”
“I tried. It was too far away for me to see,” she protested.
His grin widened into a smirk. “Not for me.”
When Bobby didn’t continue, Lois let out an irritated sigh and pulled a small bag from her purse - one that contained fudge brownies from a little bakery just down the street from the Planet. She had hoped to keep them for herself... they were made with some of the finest chocolate she had ever had the pleasure to taste. But they would be worth that license plate number. She shoved them discreetly under the table and passed them to Bobby. It wouldn’t do for her uncle to find out she got her brownies elsewhere.
“When are you gonna learn not to withhold from me, Lois?” Bobby asked, taking the bag and lifting it up to his face, inhaling the contents. “Mmm, I’ll save those for later.”
Lois groused at the loss and crossed her arms in front of her. “The number?” she snapped.
He handed her a Polaroid and she looked down at it. The license plate number was clearly visible in the picture – just random letters and numbers. For some reason, she had expected the plate to be a vanity plate if it belonged to Lex.
Well, there was one way to find out for sure. She’d take it back to Jimmy and have him run the plate number – find out exactly who it belonged to.
When she looked back up, Bobby was gone from their booth. She glanced around but there was no sign of him.
She smirked contemptibly.
Parting with him was definitely not sweet sorrow... but parting with her sweets, that had certainly been sorrowful. She wondered briefly if that bakery had closed for the day yet.
***********
Lois glanced around the newsroom – still no Clark. She had hurt him, she knew she had. And if she was truthful with herself, she felt guilty about it.
But honestly, did that really give him the right to go off and sulk about it?
She shut down her computer and was about to grab her purse, considering making a trip by Clark’s apartment on her way home, when Jimmy walked up. He was frowning.
“What’s up?” she asked, warily.
“I got an ID on that plate.” He paused and then handed her a print-off. “The plate is registered to Luthor.”
“You mean it’s registered to LexCorp?” she clarified, still clinging to the idea that Lex’s personal limo would have a vanity plate.
“Well, yeah, but that’s Lex’s company, right?”
Lois raised an eyebrow at him. “Jimmy, do you know how many people Lex employs?”
Jimmy nodded slightly. “Yeah, but do you know how many of them would have access to a limo? My bet would be not many.”
She blew out a breath, preparing to argue, but then she realized that he had a point... and it would actually help her out. If she could prove that it wasn’t Lex, then her list should be a fairly short one.
“Listen, Lois, I don’t know what’s going on here, or why you had me run that plate. But Lex Luthor is pretty much a hero in my book, right now, for saving my job and all. I don’t really want to jeopardize that job by doing things like -” he pointed at the paper she was holding “- that.”
“I know, Jimmy. And believe me, I wasn’t sure who that plate was going to belong to. I’m just following up leads right now, to see where they go.” She folded the paper and stuck it in her jacket pocket. “What about the security tape I asked you to get from Henderson, from the first robbery?”
Jimmy looked around nervously. “He couldn’t give me the tape,” he whispered. “But he confirmed the plate number from the tape – it was the same one.” He cleared his throat and made a little cough. “So, uh, can I go now?”
Lois nodded and turned to grab her purse. Then she hesitated, calling out at Jimmy’s retreating form, “Have you seen Clark?”
Jimmy answered without breaking stride. “Nope, sorry, I haven’t. I’ll let him know you’re looking for him, if I see him.”
She scowled as she watched Jimmy round the corner, out of sight. Lois hated to be wrong... about anything. What if she was wrong about Lex? Could there really be something to Clark’s paranoid delusions?
Picking up the phone, she dialed Clark’s home number. There was no sense stopping by there if he wasn’t home. The phone rang several times and then his answering machine picked up. She hung up without leaving a message.
What now?
She reached up with one hand to rub the soreness she could feel in her shoulders and neck. It had been a long day. She needed to go somewhere that she could relax and think, mull over the events of the past few days.
A nice hot bath sounded like a good idea. Yes, that’s what she would do. She would go home and take a long, hot bath – try to clear her mind – and then she’d try Clark again later.
**********
Lois opened the door and stumbled inside her dark apartment. Hadn’t she left a light on? She swore she had left the light over the kitchen sink on...
A soft sound, like someone clearing their throat, caught her attention and she glanced over towards her open living room window. A neon light had been put up across the street and she was still trying to get used to the unnatural red glow that now filtered in through the window. When she had the lights on in her apartment she normally didn’t notice it. But with all the lights off and her eyes not yet acclimated to the dark, it...
Her thoughts cut off abruptly as a shadow moved in the corner. Someone was getting up out of her chair. She tensed, ready to fight her intruder if necessary.
“You wanted to see me, Lois?”
The voice was as dark as the room, but familiar. The question was soft and hesitant, but held an underlying tension. Superman? Was it him? She squinted through the dark, trying to make him out, but it was no use, it was just too dark.
“Superman?” she asked, hopeful.
“Yes.”
“Oh. Here, let me get a light.” She turned towards the lamp beside her to click it on, but she was prevented when a large hand came from behind and caught hers.
“Why did you ask me here, Lois?” he murmured, his voice low and unexpectedly different... Was it her imagination or was there longing in his tone?
What had Clark told him? Never mind that, what did she tell him? “I...” she stammered, not turning to face him, her thoughts not coming together the way she had planned. He had caught her off guard, being here, waiting for her to get home. And now, touching her like this – she was exquisitely aware of the heat of his hand on hers.
“You like me, don’t you, Lois?” he asked softly. His hand pulled gently, coaxing her to turn around.
Her stomach fluttered nervously. Wasn’t that what the clone had asked her? The sense of déjà vu was overwhelming as she turned to him and admitted, “You know I do.”
The clouds which had been hiding the moon, parted, and beams of light poured in through the window, illuminating the man standing before her.
Her breath caught in her chest. He... he wasn’t wearing his Suit! Or cape! He was dressed in... regular clothes. He had on a dark-colored men’s suit with a white dress shirt. There was no tie. The shirt was completely unbuttoned, exposing the simple cotton t-shirt he was wearing underneath. The white sleeves of the shirt were exposed where they rolled back over the coat sleeves and his shirt was untucked.
“Your suit,” she breathed. “Where...?”
“You don’t think I wear it all the time, do you?”
Her mind stuttered. “N..no. I mean... I thought... I didn’t know.” Her eyes took in every detail of his appearance because it was so new and different to her, leaving her feeling stunned and completely unsure of what to say. The red lighting from outside was casting a surreal glow to his features. His hair was tousled from its normal slick appearance and his eyes were dark and intense. A flicker of recognition sparked through her brain but it was gone before she could identify or understand it. Suddenly it seemed like he was standing much too close.
“Let me go,” she said, trying to slip her hand free from his. This wasn’t Superman. It couldn’t be. He had never come to her like this before, dressed like this, with that look in his eyes – it sent a shiver down her spine as memories flashed through her mind of the first clone.
His hand tightened on hers, barely even perceptible, but enough that she knew without a doubt that this wasn’t Superman. Not her Superman.
“You’re not Superman,” she said quietly, trying to keep the fear from her voice as she continued her attempt to free her hand of his grip.
“Yes, I am, Lois.” He levitated off the floor a few inches as if that was supposed to prove something and then lowered himself back down. “You said you wanted to speak with me. So here I am.”
That was true. She had asked Clark to let Superman know she was looking for him. But what if Clark had made a mistake? She didn’t know how he had contacted Superman. What if he had talked to the clone accidentally, instead?
He pulled her closer to him, until she could feel the warmth of his body bleeding through her clothing and caressing her skin. She could feel an underlying tension in his posture. His proximity was making her dizzy. He leaned down, brushing his lips near her ear. “Why did you ask me here, Lois?” he repeated, the need in his tone now clearly manifest.
“I...” Her mind was unable to form a coherent thought. Why *had* she asked him here?
Her body went rigid when his lips placed a kiss just under her ear next to her hairline. It sent tingles down her neck and goosebumps rose on the backs of her arms. She had dreamt of this very situation a million times. Superman would come to her, admit to her that he was in love with her. He would touch her... kiss her...
Her mind swam and then began to founder from his slow, sensual kisses to her lips; the soft touch of his hand to her face, sliding down to cup her chin as he deepened the kiss.
This definitely felt like Superman. She remembered how *wrong* it had felt when the clone had kissed her. He had been clumsy and forceful, and... sloppy.
But now... Now she was being kissed with passion and longing, gently, but with just the right amount of firmness. Some of the kisses resembled the one she had stolen from him, right before he had left for space – to destroy the Nightfall asteroid.
That gave her an idea.
“What did you say to me just before you left to destroy the Nightfall asteroid?” she quizzed him.
“Mmmm,” he murmured, giving her another slow taste. “I said I’d come back... we’d go flying.”
Her brain stuttered. This *was* Superman. The real one. No one could possibly know that but him.
“Is that why you asked me here, Lois? To take you flying?” he asked. She swore his voice almost sounded playful. Superman – playful?
“N...no,” she managed, coherent thought being drowned out by the affection he was lavishing on her.
“I know,” he admitted softly. “You wanted to know how I felt about you - isn’t that right?” he murmured, his voice thick with a strange intensity.
Oh god. Clark had told him! “I wanted...”
“I know what you wanted,” he told her, taking her other hand in his. He wrapped her arms behind her, despite her efforts to resist him, and grasped her two smaller hands together in one of his as he brought his other hand up to trace his fingertips lightly over her cheek.
He took in a shuddery breath before continuing, “I know what you want because it’s what I want too. What I’ve wanted for a long time.”
Really? No, she pulled herself away from the daydream. Something wasn’t right. He seemed to be Superman, but he just wasn’t acting... normal. She needed to get back in control...
He touched his lips to hers and then captured her mouth in a passionate kiss as he used his superior strength to force her back, until she was resting against the front door. When he shifted, the doorknob pressed uncomfortably into the small of her back.
“Ouch, the door,” she grit out. She was suddenly two feet over to the left, her back against the wall - his lips claiming dominion over hers once again. She mentally cursed herself for saying anything. If she had stayed where she was, she might have been able to open the door – get away.
As it was, she doubted there was anything on this wall that could help her. But she felt along its surface with her fingers, anyway, unable to break his hold but desperately hoping to find something... anything...
But what could she possibly do to him?
Lois jerked her mouth away from his, gasping for breath. “No! No, you’re wrong. This isn’t what I want. And you’re not Superman.” She didn’t care what questions he’d been able to answer. “He would never behave like this.”
His smile sent chills down her spine. “You’re wrong. I am Superman. I’ll prove it to you.”
Lois was panicking. No. No, this couldn’t be happening. “Clark,” she heard herself whimper. She wasn’t sure why his name had sprung to her lips – she should have been screaming for the real Superman to come.
But for some reason, it made him pause.
“Clark?” he asked, sounding amused. “You think Clark’s going to save you? Clark’s not coming.”
“What?” she whispered in shock. Why would he say that? “Have you done something to him?” Dread filled her heart. This was the clone – and he had done something to Clark. Horrific images began to flash though her mind.
A noise came from his lips that could have almost been a chuckle if it hadn’t sounded so dark and disturbing. “I am Clark.”
“What?” Confusion and disbelief jolted through her body. No. No, it couldn’t be. But as she looked at his face again, into his eyes, she realized it was the truth. She didn’t know how she had never seen it before, but there it was, staring her in the face. Clark Kent was Superman. She knew it like she knew the grass was green or the sky was blue. It suddenly just was. A thousand different moments became clear. A hundred different memories abruptly wove themselves together into a fabric that encompassed both of the men now standing before her.
And if Clark Kent was Superman, then that meant that this was the *real* Superman.
Superman – Clark - lowered his mouth to hers, drawing urgently and hungrily from her lips. She struggled in vain against him and then his hands tightened on her to restrict her movements. “I know you’ve wanted this, Lois,” he said, his voice low and breathless. “I know I have. I’ve lusted after you. I tried to win your heart as Clark, but you didn’t want me. You wanted Superman.” He paused for a moment, a lustful smirk tugging at one corner of his mouth. “Guess what? You can have him. You can have him right now.”
Her stomach rolled abruptly, her mind screaming white noise. Something was wrong with him. What had happened to him? Who had done this to him? This wasn’t him. This wasn’t Clark! This wasn’t Superman!
And she knew then, without a doubt, that there was no clone.
Superman had done all those things.
She remembered seeing the taunting, proud manner of Superman without morals or restraint and her breath caught in her throat. There had been nothing to stop him from stealing, from behaving callously in the face of other people’s distress. Lois was in trouble and, this time, Superman was not going to save her. *She* had to stop him. It was up to her. But how? How do you stop the most powerful man in the world from getting exactly what he wanted?
Her mind and thoughts were tripping over one another. She was grasping at them like they were feathers floating on a swift breeze. And all the while, Clark’s lips were tasting her. Her face, her neck, down her heaving chest – as far as they could explore until her shirt got in the way.
Then, as if reading her thoughts, his free hand strayed to the buttons on her blouse.
“No,” Lois cried, determined to resist him. “Please, Supe-- Clark, please don’t do this.”
His only answer to her plea was to capture her lips in another kiss, his fingers fumbling with her buttons. She turned her head violently to the side, trying to escape.
There was a ripping sound as her shirt was pulled off one shoulder and down her arm. His teeth grazed her shoulder as a groan came from his lips.
Lois began to tremble and she let out a choked sob. “No, please, Clark,” she begged him, tears forming in her eyes. “Please. This isn’t you. You aren’t yourself.”
Clark ignored her protests, slipping his hand under the hem of her blouse to feel her bare skin. He kissed her hungrily, pressing her tightly between his body and the wall behind her. When one of his legs slipped between hers, fitting their bodies together, she let out a soft whimper.
“Please, stop,” she begged.
“I will stop... soon enough.” He crushed their lips together, lingering long enough to leave her wanting for air. “But first,” he grunted, running a hand through her hair, tangling his fingers into it. “First...” he broke off and resumed kissing her, pressing harder against her as if he meant to meld their bodies together as one. “You will succumb – even if I have to force you...” He forced his tongue between her lips, impatiently seeking her inner depths. He relinquished her mouth long enough to growl, “I won’t be denied.” And then his actions became suddenly voracious, no longer tempered with tenderness or love but, instead, demanding and greedy.
She tried, one last time. “Stop it! You’re hurting me!” she spat at him with all the force and confidence she could muster, pushing against him with everything she had.
**********
Clark felt like he was coming out from a deep sleep. It was dark and he couldn’t see... but he could hear a voice distinctly. It was Lois’s.
“Stop it! You’re hurting me!” She was screaming the words at him.
Then there was another voice in his head. A familiar voice, though he couldn’t place it. But it wasn’t speaking to him; it was more like a memory – instructions repeating.
//”...force her. You must show her that you are not to be denied. Her subjection must be complete. Even if you have to force her. You must show her that you are not to be denied. Her subjection must be complete. Even if...”//
“I...” Clark stammered, the room blurring in and out of focus. He was hurting her? “Lois, I...” He didn’t *want* to hurt her. He shook his head, trying to clear it, trying to fight whatever was happening to him.
But it was exhausting. The more he fought, the more he felt as if he were mentally slogging through quicksand.
And then, more words, more commands, began repeating from the deep recesses of his mind, dulling his dissent and quieting his thoughts.
//”Obey. You must obey. There is no right. There is no wrong. There is only my voice and my command. Obey. You must obey. There is no right...”//
No right... no wrong...
He relaxed, allowing the darkness to envelope him and drown out his disquieting thoughts. He was doing what he was supposed to. This is what Lois had always wanted, after all. Superman. She had yearned for him... thrown herself at him.
She wanted him.
And he wanted her.
He used one hand to tug at her clothing. She fought to stop him – why was she fighting him? And then he heard her crying out to him again.
“Plee... hee... heese, Claaaarrrk,” she sobbed.
His body stiffened. No. This wasn’t right. She was frightened. She was begging him. He had to help her. Clark struggled against the darkness in his mind, but the effort bordered almost on physical pain. He began to lose focus and would have receded into the black void once more but a pitiful whimper escaped Lois’s lips, and her fear compelled him to fight. Help her, help Lois – he began mentally reciting the words like a mantra.
His eyes flew open. Lois was pinned between him and the wall, her face so very close to his own. Her lips were red and swollen and her expression was contorted in fear.
“Lois?” Her name felt thick in his mouth. What was he doing? What was happening?
“Don’t do this,” she pleaded, hope springing into her eyes as a tear streaked silently down her flushed cheek.
No. No, he didn’t want to hurt her.
//”subjection... complete... force her... not to be denied... must obey... subjection... force her...”//
Clark shook his head, trying to clear the rambling thoughts, trying to fight against them as they threatened to overwhelm his senses once again. Lois was crying. He had to make her stop crying.
“I don’t...” he rambled, not able to concentrate and lost in confusion.
He had to make her...
//”not to be denied...”//
He had to make her see who was in control.
**********
A few tears slipped from Lois’s eyes as she shut them against what was happening. There was no escape – she couldn’t fight him. She didn’t have any strength left to fight him with. Laying her cheek against his shoulder, she whispered softly in his ear. “I know you don’t mean this. You would never do this.” She let out a shaky breath and shut her eyes even tighter, steeling herself for what was about to happen, fighting him would only make it worse.
Clark jolted to full awareness, memories flooding from his mind. He grasped at them but couldn’t hold on to them. As he became aware of his surroundings, he was instantly confused about why he was in Lois’s apartment and simultaneously horrified by the tears on her cheeks and her torn blouse... The words ‘you would never do this’ echoed over and over in his mind. One of his hands was pinning her hands behind her and the other was...
He jerked his hands away from her and stepped backwards so quickly that he almost fell down.
Lois gasped when Clark’s hands were suddenly gone and she was teetering unsteadily under her own power. She opened her eyes to find him standing several feet away from her, a shocked and confused expression on his face.
“Lois?”
“Clark?” she whispered, and then, “Superman?”
His eyes widened further. “No... I... No, what’s happening? What am I doing here?”
The anguish in his voice added to her own, breaking her resolve. She began to cry in earnest and collapsed with relief down to the hardwood floor beneath her.
She heard Clark gasp and sensed him take a couple of steps towards her, but then he stopped.
“Lois, I’m sorry. I don’t know what... God, Lois...”
And then he was gone. She could feel the gust of wind as it ruffled her hair and she opened her eyes to find herself alone in her apartment.
She lay on the floor for a few moments in shocked disbelief of what had just happened, but then, she finally snapped out of it. That was Clark that had just flown out of her window.
He had seemed confused, and yet, he was the only one who could give her answers. She got up and went to her window, looking out. Lois knew he was gone but she still had to look...
And that’s when she saw it.
A black stretch limo.
***********
To Be Continued...
WARNING!!! -- This fic could be a little too intense for some gentle readers. Clark's loss of control over himself pushes him to do things that he would not normally do. His lust for Lois in particular. He almost goes too far with Lois and it's not exactly something she's into - at least at the end. But never fear, gentle readers, he comes to his senses before it's too late. And because this is PG-13 nothing is graphic or explicit - but it is a little intense. So there's your warning - proceed at your own risk.
DJ <signing off and holding her breath>
