There was a pause in the conversation while everyone contemplated Clark's words. Then, in typical Lois Lane fashion, Lois barreled on. “Let's start with who has the means for this. Who has the largest stash of kryptonite?”
Clark sighed, “I don't really know. Dr. Klein keeps a piece at Star Labs and that's the largest piece I know of. But Luthor stole some of it back during my first year in Metropolis and his stash was never found. That unknown piece was the largest one, but I don't know how much of it is left.”
“Do you know how large it used to be?” Perry asked.
Clark looked at the ceiling in thought. Martha got up and moved to the kitchen. “I'm making some tea,” she called out. “I think we could all use it and Clark definitely needs to get some calories in his system.”
“I don't need food, Mom,” Clark reminded her.
“You always seem to when you've been exposed to kryptonite.”
“You do look a little peaked, Clark,” Lois said. Clark fell silent.
Finally, returning to Perry's question, he said, “I can't recall. But it doesn't matter. We know some of it was used for the cage and the bullet and I don't know how much for either.”
“The cage?” asked Lois, Jimmy, and Perry.
Clark shook his head trying to move them past this. “It was a long time ago, but yes, Luthor built a cage where the bars were coated with kryptonite. But I don't know how much he used for that. Or how much Ariana wasted in cutting out her bullet.”
“Would being stuck in a cage with kryptonite kill you, CK?” Jimmy asked.
“Probably. It was pretty similar to the dust, except that I couldn't get out as easily. But I escaped and Henderson assured me that it was destroyed, so we can be sure that any kryptonite used there is gone.”
Lois wanted to ask more questions. When had he been inside it? How did he escape? How sick was he after? But she recognized that Clark was trying to keep them on track, and realized that he was right to do it.
“So potentially the largest piece of kryptonite out there is the remainder of Lex'?” she asked. At Clark's nod she continued, “And no one knows where it is?” When Clark nodded again, she asked, “Are you sure the one at Star Labs is still there?”
“Of course,” Clark replied. “Dr. Klein would contact me if it was stolen.” He paused for a moment and then thought, “Although, my hearing has been impaired the last few days. If someone had a small piece they used in Australia and has since stolen the piece at Star Labs, I might not have heard Dr. Klein calling. I have had trouble hearing much outside the surrounding area since then. And of course now I can't hear anything.”
Lois quickly got up and handed the phone to Clark. It only took a few moments for Clark to explain the situation to Dr. Klein and wait while the doctor checked. Their piece of kryptonite was still in storage.
Martha brought out the tea while Clark was on the phone and everyone was quiet for a moment while they prepared the tea to their liking.
“Maybe we should move on,” Perry said. “This is getting us no where and besides it's just a lead. We don't know for sure that whoever had the kryptonite didn't sell it to someone else.”
Jimmy piped up, “So do we move to who could get to the natural disasters that fast? Or who could orchestrate them?”
“Or,” Jonathan joined in, “who wants my boy dead?”
Lois reached out to place a hand on his arm, “Unfortunately, there's likely to be a lot of people who want Superman dead, Jonathan. And most of them are not above using kryptonite to do it.”
“Is it even possible to cause a natural disaster?” Martha asked.
“Lex' power plant caused the heat wave in Metropolis,” Lois reminded them. “And he caused that tidal wave.”
“So, I think the answer is yes. Someone can cause natural disasters,” Clark said.
“But,” Perry pointed out. “If it's someone who likely bought large amounts of kryptonite and caused an earthquake in Australia and a tidal wave in Belize, it's someone with an obscene amount of money.”
“It's like Lex Luthor all over again,” Jimmy said.
“Not necessarily,” Lois replied. “He may not be hiding behind a shield of philanthropy.”
Clark rubbed his head. All of this was getting them nowhere. All they had done was narrow it down to someone wealthy. Okay, very wealthy. But that was still a very long list.
Lois echoed Clark's thoughts. “So all we've done so far is determine that it is someone unscrupulous with an exceptionally large disposable income. But what do they hope to gain from this? I mean, do we really think someone would go to the expense and effort of bringing down Superman just to get away with petty crime?”
Perry nodded his head in agreement. “No, Jimmy's sort of right. It has to be someone more like Luthor in that they must be a pretty serious criminal for it to be worth taking on Superman.”
“Or,” Martha said, “someone like Trask who is afraid of Superman.”
“Maybe,” Jimmy added, “it's someone who is looking for the infamy that would come from taking down Superman.”
Everyone nodded in agreement before Clark broke the silence with a yawn. “You need to get some more sleep,” Lois said. Martha quickly got up to show her agreement, but surprisingly Clark did not argue at all and within minutes Jimmy, Martha, and Lois had Clark comfortably in Lois' bed.
As they turned to leave Clark asked, “Lois?” When she turned around, he continued, “Would you stay for a minute?”
It bothered Lois how somehow seeing him in her bed looking so vulnerable and weak, she felt like she could not deny him anything. With something that was a cross between a smile and a grimace, Lois moved to sit by his side on the bed.
Clark reached out and placed his hand on top of hers. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“For what?” Lois asked, honestly confused.
“For trying so hard today. I know it must have been hard for you. I know you put your own feelings aside in order to work on this. I just want you to know that I appreciate it. I know how upset you likely are that Perry knew about me, but you didn't say anything about it.”
Lois shook her head as if to say that this was not a big deal, although silently, she still felt like it was. But as Clark had said, she had decided to wait to deal with those feelings until they could move past the current issue. Until there were no large sections of the earth covered in kryptonite.
“And for telling me you love me. I know what it cost you to say that,” Clark said, another yawn breaking free before he could continue. “And I know the last thing you want is to put ideas in my head. But Lois, I don't have any ideas. I know that regardless of how you feel or how I feel, you can never trust me enough for us to be anything other than friends. But I want you to know that this isn't a problem for me. You're willing to be my friend is already so much more than I deserve after what I did to you. Please know that I appreciate all you've done for me the past few weeks.”
Lois shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to say. In a quiet voice she replied, “I'll always be there for you, Clark. Maybe not in the way you'd like, but…” her voice trailed off as she ran out of words to use. “You should know that you can always come to me after a difficult rescue or if you need someone to talk. Not just to give me a story, but because I know that whatever the history between us is, you sometimes need someone to talk to. I'll always be willing to be that person.”
Lois tried not to respond as she saw Clark's eyes fill with tears. “You… Lois, you're amazing. I know that to be fair you shouldn't be talking to me at all, you should be kicking me out of your apartment. You shouldn't care at all about the kryptonite – whether or not I live or die.”
Lois gasped and moved to put her arms around him. “Don't say that!” she admonished him. “The world needs Superman. Of course I care whether or not you live or die.”
Clark sniffled slightly. “I don't deserve you,” he whispered.
Lois smiled slightly, “No, you don't. Now go to sleep.”
“Lois,” he called out again as she neared the door. Off her quizzical look, Clark said, “Thank you also for the new couch and the carpet cleaning and the new vacuum and anything else you replaced today for me. The Superman Foundation will pay you back. We'll just need to work on a way to do it that isn't suspicious.”
“Don't worry about it, Clark,” she said.
“Of course, I will, Lois. That was your money. I'd pay you back now except that of course I have no money aside from the Foundation. But I'll definitely pay you back.”
“Clark, your parents already wrote me a check for the new furniture and vacuum for Lucy. And they paid the vacuum shampoo-er when they came by.”
“Oh,” Clark said. “Thank you anyway. It doesn't matter. You didn't know they would do that. You didn't even consider the cost. You put me above everything else. I can't thank you enough for that especially considering everything I've done to you.”
Lois smiled at him slightly before closing the light and walking out the door.
**********************************************************************
Lois paused in the doorway before she entered the living room. She had heard quiet talking in here while she had been talking to Clark, but now that she entered, everyone had gotten quiet. She took a deep breath before fully closing the bedroom door. “Is everything alright in here?” she asked.
No one said anything for a moment, but then Jonathan spoke up. “We were just talking about earlier, Lois,” he started.
“Sweetheart,” Martha picked up the story, but then caught herself, “Lois, we feel like perhaps it may have felt like we were ganging up on you earlier. And we're sorry for that. We all should have thought about how you may have taken what we were saying.”
“But,” Lois interrupted, “you were too busy focusing on whether or not Clark was going to live or die. I understand, Martha. I do. It was the wrong time to discuss it.”
“Still,” Perry started, but Lois cut over him.
“It's still the wrong time,” she said. “We still need to figure out how to remove the threat from Clark. He seems better now, but with all the kryptonite everywhere, he's hardly out of danger.”
“Yes,” Martha agreed. “But we can take a minute from that for this. Clark is important to all of us, Lois. Of course he is. But so are you.”
Lois flushed as she sat down. She wanted to believe it was from annoyance at no one listening to her, but she knew it wasn't. Just the desire of everyone to talk about her at a time like this made her feel cared for in a way she hadn't in years except when she spent time with Sammy.
“It's okay,” Lois said in an effort to get back to talking about Clark – both as it was important and so as not to have to deal with the sudden onslaught of emotions.
“No, it's not, darlin',” Perry said and Lois could hear some of the stubbornness that had made him such a good editor coming through. “We were being insensitive to you. Jimmy here pointed out that it may have sounded like we were telling you how you should feel about Clark only being Superman.”
“And we weren't,” Martha inserted. “Or at least we didn't mean to. We want more for you than a relationship like that, but that doesn't mean it has to matter to you.”
“And,” Jonathan piped up, ”No one here was trying to excuse Clark for not telling you who he was just because we hoped it wouldn't be enough for you. He should have told you anyway. Something Martha and I told him more times than we can count.”
“But you know what a lunckhead he is,” Martha added and Lois stifled a laugh.
“It should have been your decision,” Jonathan finished.
“Thank you,” Lois said quietly. There was a niggling feeling of anger that she was trying to tamp down. But surprisingly, unlike earlier when it had been directed at everyone for supporting Clark, now it was directed at them for what they were implying about him. He was a person whether he had to be Superman full time or not. They all were acting like being with Superman would be some sort of compromise she would have made. Like maybe she loved Clark enough to put up with having to be married to his alter-ego. Didn't they see how much of Clark was Superman? Superman wasn't some random guy with super powers. He was Clark with super powers and that made a huge difference!
She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. She did not want to be angry anymore. She certainly did not feel like defending Clark. And while it was small and quiet, there was a voice in the back of her head reminding her that they did know this. And that no matter how much Superman might have been Clark, there would have been difficulties in being involved with him when he was Superman full-time.
Having no clue as to the internal dialogue going on in her head, Jimmy piped up, “And none of this deals with Perry not telling you about Clark's secret. I mean, I'm a bit annoyed at that, but really you deserved to know more than me.”
Perry flushed slightly – a sight Los had never seen before. “I know, Jimmy. And I'm sorry. To both of you,” he said, taking Lois in as well. “I do kind of feel like it wasn't my secret to tell and I really did think you knew, darlin',” he said as his eyes locked with Lois'. “But I should have come to talk to you anyway. Even if I wouldn't have told you about Clark, I should have come to see you given how poorly you were taking his death.”
Lois felt a bit ashamed, “I know you tried, Perry,” she said softly. “You tried making plans with me when I was still at the Planet and you called me when I was at the Globe, but I never returned your calls.” Perry started to speak, but she talked over him. “And you were grieving, too. Even if you knew Clark hadn't died, I don't believe you were faking the grief you were going through.”
Perry sighed. “No, of course not. Whether or not Clark's body was dead, I realized he was gone. And even with Superman being around, the world is not as great a place without Clark Kent around.”
Martha surreptitiously wiped a tear from her eye.
“But I still should have tried harder,” Perry said. “I am sorry, honey.”
Lois got up to give Perry a hug. “It's in the past,” she said, taking the Kents in as she said it. “Let's focus on getting Clark well again and then we can move forward.”
Martha got up and Lois moved to give her a hug as well. “Oh, honey, Clark is so lucky to have you as a friend,” she said, sobbing softly. When she and Lois pulled away from their embrace she wiped the tears from her cheeks and said, “Actually, let me restate that. Clark and I are both so lucky to have you as a friend.”
Lois moved forward once more to place a kiss on Martha's cheek and then leaned down to give Jonathan a hug. Less emotional than his wife, Jonathan said nothing, but he hugged Lois more firmly and for a bit longer than normal.
Once Lois sat down, Jimmy made a little coughing noise and all eyes turned to him. Jimmy said nothing more, and did not make eye contact with anyone in the room.
Finally Perry understood and spoke up, “You understand, Jimmy, don't you? I am sorry I never told you, but it was Clark's secret.”
There was a pause while everyone waited for Jimmy to respond, but then he broke out into a broad grin, “Of course, I understand. And,” he glanced at the Kents, “I know why Clark didn't tell me. I would have liked to have known and certainly when he was shot it would have been good to know, but obviously Clark couldn't go telling everyone. I was just giving you a hard time,” he finished, looking at Perry.
Perry leaned over to swat him on the knee and everyone laughed.
The somewhat lighthearted mood was dissipated slightly a moment later when Clark came into the room.
“Honey, you should be asleep!” Martha admonished him. But while Lois agreed with Martha and presumed Jonathan did as well, neither joined in to support her. Lois was completely transfixed by the look in Clark's eyes and found herself floundering for words.
Jonathan beat her to it, “What is it, Clark?” he asked, concern clear in his tone.
“I can't…” Clark paused, seeming to be struggling for words. “I can't fly,” he finally said.
Lois wasn't sure whether laughing or crying was the appropriate response. Of course he could not fly – he had been exposed to kryptonite. Had he forgotten? Luckily, she was spared the awkwardness of pointing this out by Jimmy. “Of course not, CK. You were exposed to kryptonite earlier. Don't you remember?”
Before Clark could answer, Perry had stood up and moved to help Clark to his seat.
Clark thanked Perry quietly before saying, “I thought it was here for me – because he… or she or they or who ever knew I would be coming to Lois.”
No one said anything for a moment before Lois finally found her voice. “It's not? Is something going on, Clark? Wait,” she threw questions at him faster than he could answer them. “Do you have your hearing back?”
Clark shook his head, “No, your alarm radio went off.”
“Oh, sorry!” Lois said, losing track of the conversation for a minute. “I should have made sure it was off.” Off the looks of everyone around her, she remembered the important point. “Sorry,” she mumbled, slightly embarrassed.
“I can't help,” Clark said, also seeming to lose track of the story.
Jimmy was the one who finally figured out how to piece the puzzle together. Leaning over, he grabbed the remote control and turned Lois' television to LNN. It was clear what Clark was talking about as soon as Jimmy found the channel. Wildfires had broken out in Los Angeles County.
“So far, 400 homes have been destroyed,” the reporter announced, “and the fire shows no signs of slowing down. While there has only been one fatality so far, there are bound to be far more if the fire is not brought under control soon.”
A moment later, the television moved to a shelter and Perry moved to shut off the television just as the camera focused on a crying woman asking the camera, “Where is Superman? Why isn't he helping?”
----------------------------------------
It's probably pretty obvious that some of the feedback from the last chapter was heard by my muse. Clark's apology was already written when I read it, which may be why it's likely less than Ann was looking for. But while I had resolutely decided that I had other things to deal with before apologies should be made, when Lois walked back into the living room, I could not seem to make everyone stay on track before apologizing. Ann – it may or may not be what you were hoping for (I suspect it's less) but thank you for the definite impact on how everyone related to each other here.
