Okay... I admit that I had been feeling discouraged by the fact that I only had a tiny number of people give me feedback on my story (and I am so appreciative to those who had given me feedback!). Then, I read on one of the topics in the "fanfic related" section that many of the people who read these stories do not provide feedback until the complete story is posted. So...
Here is the next section of Zoe Meta. The final section will also be posted soon. Hopefully, I will then receive more feedback regarding the story and any modifications I need to make before submitting it to the archive. My husband beta read it for me, but he is not an avid Lois and Clark fan, and, therefore, can not check the "Lois and Clark" part of it. He can only help me with grammar and timeline issues within what I have written.
Now, with no further ado...
Zoe Meta 4/5
previously…
“I can no longer be Superman, but this world needs a hero. I want to give you my powers so you can be UltraWoman again.”
Lois stood up and started to pace. “I can’t. I won’t.” She began. “You’re Superman. I was horrible at it, remember? I couldn’t get the heat vision right and I couldn’t get there in time. I didn’t get to…” She continued, in full babble mode.
“Honey, you were great at it.” Clark said, trying to stop her tirade.
“I’m not Superman, you are. How could I ever do that? It would kill you to see me do that. It was bad enough when the transfer was temporary, much less doing this.” She argued.
“I know.” He admitted. “But it would hurt me much more to see innocent people die just because there was no hero to save them. The results greatly outweigh the sacrifices and my personal pain.” He paused. “Please, Lois. There’s no way I can do it any more. I don’t even have all of my powers. I can’t fly, my invulnerability is gone.” He sighed. “But I still hear the cries for help, the pleas for someone to save them. Do you know how much it hurts to hear someone calling out, begging for mercy and being unable to help them. It’s killing me.”
Lois’ mind was working in overdrive. “So, the only reason you are here is to ask me to become UltraWoman. Not to see me or your parents? As soon as I agree and the transfer is made, which I still haven’t said I would to do, you’ll leave again? That’s it?” Lois asked, enraged. “What about Jerome? You want him to continue to be raised without a father?”
and now…
“Look at me.” He barked. “How much of a father can I be? I can’t feel anything from the waist down.” He continued, his voice rising with every word. “I won’t be able to teach him the things that fathers normally do. He’s better off without me.” He finished, his voice filled with anguish.
Lois felt like she’d been slapped in the face. She wanted to slap HIM, hoping it would bring him to his senses. Did he really want to abandon his son?
“It’s not fair to you either, Lois.” He continued. “You need someone who is able to work around the house and able to earn a living.”
“I don’t care about any of that, I just want to be with you.”
“Now. But, what about a year from now, 5 years from now, 10, 20?” He sighed. “You’ll get tired of it and me.”
“How dare you presume to know what I will and will not do. I would not get tired of you. I love you! I want to be with you, regardless. Besides, I thought that Ching and Zara had come up with a treatment.”
Clark shook his head. “They thought they had, too. After I was injured, the doctors on New Krypton immediately began working on a solution; however, their work was incomplete before I left. Zara and Ching were instructed by the Council of Elders to come to Earth with the findings of the doctors when their work was complete. If their treatment was a success, the Council expected me to return to New Krypton and resume my position.”
“What?!” Lois exclaimed, interrupting him. “They were going to kill you because you were injured, but then they were going to have you come back if you were healed? What kind of twisted logic is that?”
Clark nodded. “I would have fought it, if there had been a need. As it turns out, though, it was not a problem.”
“Are the doctors going to keep trying?”
“No, it is over. The only solution they could come up with is what Zara and Ching brought a few weeks ago. Since that didn’t work, there are no other options for me.” He took a deep breath, trying to summon the strength to follow through with his decision. “That is why I want to give you my powers and leave you to your life, let you be happy.”
“I wouldn’t be happy without you, especially now that I know you aren’t on New Krypton anymore. What do I need to do to prove that to you?”
“Nothing, Lois. I know that is how you feel now, but I can promise you that those feelings will change. I thought I could handle this at first, but each day it has gotten harder and harder to accept that this is how I will be, forever.” He ran his hand through his hair. “That’s how I know that you will eventually regret wanting to be with me. I don’t want to get that far and hurt both of us, or Jerome.” Clark straightened himself. “That is why I am leaving once the transfer is complete, regardless of what you say.”
“Did you tell your parents this hair-brained idea?” Lois asked, her temper barely in check.
“No, not yet. I wanted to talk to you first.”
“What?” She practically screamed. “You knew that I wouldn’t be happy about it. Did you think I would be okay with this? Did you think I would just roll over and take this? Did you honestly think I had changed that much?”
“No, but I was hoping.” He admitted. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair.
Lois remained on the couch as she watched him move out of the livingroom. From her vantage point, she could see him pause at the foot of the stairs. She rose to meet him. “Clark?” He turned to face her. “What are you doing?”
“Nothing.” He paused. “Just wishing.”
“For?”
“I want to see my room.”
“Well… come here. I want to show you something.” She said, grabbing his wheelchair handles.
“Lois, please, I just want to be left alone.” He argued.
“Too bad.” She said as she stopped at a door.
“You wanted to show me the den? Lois, I used to live here. The den has looked the same for the past 20 years.”
“Patience, Clark.” She replied, opening the door.
“I’m telling you…” Clark continued, “it looks just like…” He paused as he finally notice the furniture. “my room?” He moved into the room, Lois following closely behind. He turned to her. “What is this?”
“After Zara and Ching told us about the attack and everything that happened, we installed the ramps and moved your room downstairs.”
“How did you know I would be back?”
“We didn’t. We just hoped you would.”
“I’m surprised any of you would still talk to me after you learned that I had been back for so long without telling you.”
“Of course not. We love you. I won’t deny that it hurt, but we realized that you were being a lunkhead, and hoped that, one day, you would come home or I would find you.” Lois finished softly.
Clark looked around his room. “Could you give me a minute?” He said without turning to face her.
“Sure.” She said, patting him on the shoulder as she left, closing the door behind her.
He heard the door quietly shut. He sighed and slumped into his chair in defeat. This was even harder that he imagined. How could they still love him after everything he had done?
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lois went out and sat with Martha under the oak tree in the back yard.
“Where’s Clark?” Martha asked as Lois approached.
“In the den.” She answered, picking up her son. “He wanted some time alone.”
Martha nodded. “Makes sense.”
“Martha, he wants me to take his powers and be UltraWoman again.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I haven’t. I’m scared that I won’t be able to do it. What about Jerome?” Who will watch him when I’m at an emergency?”
“Now, what’s the real reason?” Martha prodded.
“I’m scared that once I agree to do it, and the transfer is made, that he will leave again.”
“Surely not.”
“He said he would.”
“Well, of course he won’t, especially after he gets to know this little boy.”
“Mommy, who is that man?” Jerome asked softly.
Lois looked to Martha for guidance. “You might as well tell him.” Lois nodded.
“That man is your daddy.”
“My daddy?” Jerome questioned. Lois nodded. “Why’s he in that chair?”
“Because he hurt his back and can’t walk.”
“When will his back get better?”
“It won’t, honey.” Lois answered quietly. Her son struggled to get out of her lap. “Where are you going?”
“Get a drink.” He said, and took off toward the house.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Clark looked up when he heard the door open. “Jerome, what are you doing?”
The little boy walked slowly toward Clark. He stopped just in front of his chair. “Are you my daddy?” He asked quietly.
Clark looked at him a moment. “Yeah, I am.”
The little boy stood there a minute. “Mommy told me you hurt your back, that you can’t walk.”
“Yeah.”
“Does it hurt?”
Clark smiled. “No, it doesn’t hurt.”
“Did your mom kiss it and make it better?”
“No, I was a long way away when I got hurt.”
“Oh.” Jerome looked around the room, then turned back to his dad. “Is it okay if I give you a hug?”
“I’d like that.” Clark answered.
Jerome stepped forward. Clark picked Jerome up and set him in his lap. Jerome wrapped his arms around Clark’s neck and held on tight. Clark held his son close to his chest. The two stayed that way for several minutes. Tears ran silently from Clark’s eyes.
“Clark,” Lois opened the door to the den. “Have you seen…” She stopped when she saw her son in his lap.
“I’m sorry.” She said, scooping her son up. “He said he was going to get a drink…”
“It’s okay.”
“I know that you need some time alone.”
“It’s okay really.” Clark looked at his son. “He’s cute.”
Lois smiled. “He looks like you.” She sat him down. “Go see your grandma.”
“Okay.”
“He seems like a good boy.”
Lois nodded. “He is. He had to be. I have taken him to work with me since he was old enough to walk.”
“I was never that quiet or still when I was that age.”
“That’s what Martha said.”
Clark nodded. He looked around the room. “Looks like you got everything of value in here.”
“We tried.” Lois said, looking at Clark’s numerous trophies. “Everything else from your apartment was put in storage. We kept everything.”
“I figured you would.” Clark replied. “I didn’t expect this, though.”
Lois sighed. “After Ching and Zara came, we realized that when you came back, you might not be able to use your room upstairs. We wanted you to be happy and feel at home again.”
Clark nodded silently.
“Kids, dinner.” Martha yelled from the kitchen.
“Come on.” Lois said, opening the door. “One thing I’ve learned in the past six years is ‘don’t be late to the dinner table’.”
“I definitely remember that.” Clark said, following Lois out the door.
Clark pulled up to the table. “Why’d you get a new table, Mom?”
“Well… the other one was just so old and needed to be refinished. It was just easier to get a new one.” She answered, putting the pinto beans on the table.
“Uh, huh.” Clark replied, unbelieving. “You guys thought it was too low for my chair to fit under.” He said quietly.
Lois nodded. “We tried to think of everything.” She answered, as she put Jerome in his booster seat.
“Thank you.” He sighed. “I just wish you didn’t have to do all of this.”
“Honey, we did it because we love you.” Martha said as she started the fried potatoes around the table.
“I just wish…” Clark began.
“Wishing isn’t going to change anything, Son.” Jonathan interrupted.
Clark nodded. “I know.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Clark, what are you doing out here?” Jonathan asked, approaching his son.
“Nothing, just thinking.” He paused, “The stars aren’t this bright in the city.”
“Still living in the city?” Jonathan asked, innocently.
“Not Metropolis, not even a city the size of Metropolis, but it’s still big enough that you can’t see the stars.”
“Ah.”
They remained in silence for a moment.
“Oklahoma City is so spread out though.”
“Yeah.”
“The Daily Oklahoman’s not a bad paper though.”
“I like it.”
“You had some good articles lately.”
Clark turned to his dad. “Wait a second. How did you know what articles were mine? How did you know I was even there?”
Jonathan smiled. “Remember the I-40 bridge collapse?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Lois was at the press conference.”
“She was? I didn’t see her.”
“Yeah, she was there, on assignment from the Tulsa World. She pegged you as soon as she saw you at the briefing, then you asked a question, giving her your name and the paper you worked for to her without knowing it.”
“Why didn’t she come to me?”
Jonathan sighed. “You’ll have to ask her about that, Son. I know she talked about it at one time, but then she didn’t do it, so I don’t know.”
Clark nodded. “I didn’t think anyone could recognize me.”
“Everyone that loves you can.”
“What about Lois?”
“What about her?”
“Why did she change her name and everything?”
Jonathan paused a moment. “She was running away, Clark.”
“Running away? From what?”
Jonathan looked at his son directly in the eye. “The pain, Clark. The pain of living in Metropolis without you, working at the Planet without you, raising Jerome without you.”
Clark was shocked. “She just decided one day to throw her entire life away?”
“Without you, she didn’t want that life. Her work started to go downhill, she never got to see Jerome, and couldn’t take it. So, she changed her name and interviewed at the Tulsa World as a junior reporter.”
“Lois, a junior reporter?” Clark asked, incredulous.
Jonathan nodded. “That’s why she was at Webber’s Falls that day.”
The pair remained in silence for a few minutes.
“What did she change her name to?”
“Karli Kent.”
“Kent?” Clark questioned, obviously shocked.
“Yes, she wanted her and Jerome to have the same last name.”
“What about Karli?”
“You’d have to ask her. I think it was the girl name that she could think of that was closest to yours.” Jonathan answered.
“Why would she change her name though?”
“She wanted a new start, where she wouldn’t always be associated with you.”
“Oh,” Clark said, disheartened.
“She wasn’t trying to forget you, Clark, just the pain. She missed you so bad, it hurt. Every time she heard her name without yours, it hurt her. She couldn’t stand being without you. Then her work started to suffer, and she just could not take it. Like I said, she was running away.”
“I just can’t believe that Lois would run away from anything.”
“When it comes to you, Lois is completely different.” Jonathan explained. “She loves you so much that being away from you causes her pain.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That's all for this section... The final piece will be up shortly.
clrgard
