It was a mistake, Clark. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to confuse things. Lois practiced her speech all the way back to Perry and Alice's. She had driven around Metropolis for two hours, finding herself passing by the Daily Planet, her old apartment, and Clark's. She passed Clark's place for the fifth time before she felt ready to return. She knew what had made her go back there so often while she only felt the need to go by the Planet and her apartment once and it was the same reason she had kissed Clark. Many of her happiest memories of Metropolis, the moments she had felt most content, were in that apartment with Clark. It was funny, really, given that she had lived in Metropolis her whole life, that she would think that this apartment which she had never lived in and had only visited for a year and a half or so was where she had been happiest.
Still, though, Lois was not one to cling to the past. That was a long time ago and neither she nor Clark were those people anymore. I wasn't trying to hurt you. Lois continued to rehearse as she parked the car in Perry's driveway.
“It was a mistake, Clark. I'm really…” she started as she opened the door, but stopped when she saw him on the couch. “Where is it?” she asked.
Clark turned his head to look at her from where it rested on the back of the sofa. “Where is what?” he asked.
“The kryptonite. Don't stall, Clark. Where is it? I'll get rid of it. Bring it to Star Labs or something.”
Clark smiled slightly, “It's not here, Lois.”
“Do you think someone knows Superman is here?” Lois asked, her mind whirling with questions.
“Lois,” Clark said, reaching a hand out to her. “Calm down. I'll be fine.”
Lois took the proffered hand, sitting down beside him. “You don't look fine,” she said, somewhat petulantly.
“I know, but I will be,” Clark said.
“So, where was it?”
“I went to talk to Weis again,” Clark started, but stopped when Lois pulled her hand out of his, irate.
“What the heck do you think you were doing? You know he had kryptonite,” she demanded.
“I know,” Clark said, sounding contrite. “I just… I guess I wanted to do something for you. And finding another lead on the story seemed like the thing that would make you happiest.”
Lois sat back down. “Clark, you don't need to do anything for me.”
“But I wanted to. I wanted to get things back to normal. And I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have taken advantage of you before,” he gestured awkwardly at the door.
“What?” Lois asked. “You didn't take advantage of me!”
“I did,” Clark insisted. “I knew you didn't mean to do that. I knew it was a momentary lapse, a mistake. But I kissed you anyway. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry. But I promise, I won't do it again. You've been clear with where things stand and I will respect that. I promise.”
Lois sat further back on the couch, unsure what to say. She wanted to tell him that he was not completely to blame, that he should not beat himself over this. On the other hand, she wanted to move past what was an uncomfortable conversation and Clark was offering to do so, telling her everything she needed to hear to be sure that there was no misunderstandings about her intentions. Why should she question it?
Besides, there was something else she needed to set straight. “Clark, this isn't about a story. I mean, not that I don't intend to write one when we're finished, but I'm not going after Weis as a way to win the Pulitzer.”
She giggled at Clark's raised eyebrows. “Okay, I won't turn down the Pulitzer if they offer it to us, but that's not why I'm here. This is about you. Your safety. The story Jimmy and I wrote about Bonny and Clyde and the whole lot was really good journalism. Still, though, I would have gladly given the byline to someone else if it could have saved you. I don't have any desire to repeat that. I'd hand the story and all my notes over to someone else if that will save you.”
Clark said nothing for a moment and then moved to pull her towards him, holding her tightly in his arms. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you.”
A little worried she might do something stupid like kiss him again, Lois pulled away gently, intent now on changing the topic of conversation. “So what did you learn from Weis?” she asked.
“Quite a lot actually. I hadn't noticed it since it's so quiet here, but I had gotten some of my super-hearing back. Nothing like it normally is, but before I got too close to the kryptonite, I was able to hear the conversation he was having in his office from the lobby. He was talking to Skagle and confirmed everything we thought. Skagle is in Malaysia waiting for Superman to arrive to help the victims of the typhoon in Indonesia. But since I haven't shown up yet, nor did I show up at the wildfires, they seem pretty convinced I'm dead.”
Lois nodded thoughtfully, but looked up sharply when Clark continued, knowing from his tone he was relishing this last bit of information.
“And, now that I'm out of the way, Weis has big plans. After he talked to Skagle to confirm that I hadn't shown up, he called someone else. A man named Caragy. From what I could gather, Caragy works for NASA, but he's not exactly what you would call a loyal employee. He's supplying Weis with exact coordinates and projections for Deucalion*.”
“Deucalion?” Lois interrupted. “Isn't that the small ship of Prometheus residents trying to make its way to Mars?”
Clark nodded, “So far, the trip has been a success and they are making good time. If the theories are correct and they discover Mars can be made inhabitable, it will be a coup for the US as the US government is funding the mission. But it seems Weis takes after the man whose empire he now owns.”
“What do you mean?” Lois asked.
“Remember Space Station Luthor?” Clark asked.
Lois groaned. “Oh, so Weis wants to be the first person to make it to Mars and find out if it's inhabitable? What would that do for him? It's not like he would own it just because he got there first.”
“Weis seems to think he could persuade the government to let him do so,” Clark informed her.
“And how is he going to do that?”
“War,” Clark replied. “He's planning on launching a bomb at Deucalion. He'll threaten other attacks if they thwart his plans.”
“He can't possibly have the means to take on the US military!” Lois exclaimed.
“He doesn't need to,” Clark reminded her. “He clearly has a way to make nuclear weapons. I'm not sure how the US would feel about fighting a nuclear war. Particularly on American soil.”
Lois ran her hands through her hair in frustration. “I assume he doesn't know you heard this?” she asked.
“No, I don't think he even realized I was there. He came out a few moments later and talked to his secretary and then went back into his office. She forgot to tell him I was waiting to meet with him and I decided to leave. He must have still had the kryptonite in his pocket as in just the time he was talking to her, I could feel the effects. By the time he went back into his office, I could no longer even hear his conversation with her let alone things further away. I didn't want to chance him seeing I was sick, so I left.”
“Good idea,” Lois said. “You look awful.”
Clark smiled at her. “Thanks, Lois. That's always good to hear.”
She laughed lightly as she got up. “We should call Henderson.”
“Already done,” Clark said. “He said he had some news for us as well and would be by in an hour or so. That was about 20 minutes ago. Oh, and he's bringing pizza. I asked for sausage and pepper.”
“My favorite,” Lois smiled.
“I know,” Clark said softly.
Lois leaned over, and mostly to prove there were no hard feelings from earlier, kissed his cheek lightly. Then she got up. “I'm going to get something to drink. Do you want anything?”
“No, thanks,” Clark said, resting his head back against the couch.
By the time Lois had returned, Clark had fallen asleep. She was worried about him. His hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. Looking at him, she understood completely how Henderson had known he was Clark when he found Superman outside of Lex' cage.
She got up to get a washcloth and rubbed it over his face, hoping that he'd feel better that way. She wondered what repeated exposure to kryptonite could do to him. Could it be worse than continuous exposure? She did not know and her impression from talking to Clark was that he did not have enough experience with the stuff to know either.
The doorbell rang and Lois got up to answer it. Henderson came in carrying a large pizza box and a bottle of Coke. “Clark said you have some more news,” he said by way of greeting.
“Clark has been busy. But not this instant. Why don't we bring this into the kitchen and let him sleep a bit more?” she whispered.
“I'm fine, Lois,” Clark mumbled from the couch.
“Kent, what the heck is wrong with you?” Henderson said when Clark's words brought his eyes to the sick superhero on the couch.
“Nothing, I'm fine,” Clark insisted.
“He was exposed to more kryptonite this afternoon,” Lois explained to Henderson.
“Is that a good idea?” Henderson asked as he moved into the living room, placing the food on the coffee table to get a closer look at Clark.
“No,” Lois said firmly as Clark whispered, “I'm fine.”
“No, Clark you are not fine!” Lois insisted. “I think the repeated exposure might be bad for you. You look much worse now than you did the first time you saw Weis.”
“I just need some time away from it and I'll be okay,” Clark assured her.
Lois started to argue, but then changed her mind. This was not the time.
“So, while Mr. I'm Fine here continues to rest, why don't you tell us your news?” Lois said to Henderson.
“Good idea,” he agreed. “Why don't we go get some plates for the pizza and then I'll tell you about it?”
He and Lois got up and got plates and glasses. On her way out of the kitchen, Lois stopped. “It's been so long since Clark and I have had pizza together, I forgot, but he likes to put red pepper and garlic powder on his.” She moved back to the cabinets, opening them randomly until she found the spices. Pulling out the red pepper flakes and searching for the garlic, she asked, “Anything you like on your pizza?”
Henderson chuckled, “Any chance there's MSG in there?”
“You put MSG on your pizza?” Lois asked, stopping the search for garlic powder to look at Henderson incredulously.
“Don't knock it till you try it, Lane. It's like salt without the salty flavor. Really brings out the flavor of the pizza.”
Lois shook her head as she began her search for MSG while still looking for garlic powder. A moment later, she closed the cabinet, a small spice bottle in hand. “Sorry, Bill, no MSG.”
Henderson grabbed the plates and glasses and the two made their way back to the living room. Hearing them come in, Clark made a move to sit up straighter.
Lois took a slice of pizza out of the box and sprinkling first the garlic powder, then the red pepper on it, handed it to him. “Eat,” she instructed.
“Lois, I don't need to be babied,” Clark said. Both Lois and Henderson giggled slightly at the whiny sound to Clark's voice.
“I'm not babying you,” Lois insisted, “but your mother said food helps when you've been exposed to kryptonite. Now eat,” she said.
She leaned over and poured some soda for Henderson and Clark. She had the cream soda she had poured for herself earlier. Once Henderson had taken a slice of pizza (and to Lois' amusement, sprinkled some salt on it), Lois took a slice herself, before settling back into the couch cushions next to Clark.
“So?” she asked Henderson pointedly.
“I talked to an Inspector Kelly with the Whyalla police department. It's the closest police department to the earthquake. Anyway, he was very interested to learn that the earthquake was not an accident and is willing to help us in any way he can. I didn't tell him about the kryptonite, assuming you still want to keep its existence under wraps as much as possible, but we can count on his help.”
“Great!” Lois said, feeling like things were finally coming together. She looked over at Clark and then prepared another slice of pizza, handing it to him with a look on her face that made it clear he was to eat it. “I'll tell him your news while you eat,” Lois informed him.
Clark nodded, and Lois turned to Henderson. “Clark went to Weis' office earlier today and before he managed to get himself sick again, heard a lot of interesting information via super-hearing,” she informed him.
Henderson nodded and took out his notepad again, taking notes as Lois quickly recounted the information Clark had given her earlier. When she finished, Henderson fished his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed. He grabbed another slice of pizza while he waited for the phone to be answered.
“Anderson,” he said into the phone. “See what you can find out about a Dr. Caragy. He works at NASA.” Moving his mouth away from the speaker, Henderson asked Clark, “Do you know which NASA office he works in or his first name?”
“His first name was Steve, but I don't know which office he works in,” Clark said around a mouthful of pizza.
“Can't be too many Steve Caragys at NASA anyway,” Henderson said, before relaying the rest of the information into his phone. “Call my cell when you have something,” he said before he hung up the phone.
He looked at Clark. “I'm going to need your help with something. About how long does it normally take for you to recover from kryptonite exposure?”
Clark shook his head, “I don't know. I haven't had a reaction this bad since the cage, and Lois could be right, the repeated exposure could have a different type of effect. Actually,” he turned to Lois, “we should probably go back to Star Labs sometime tomorrow. I'm sure Bernard would like to examine me. He may be able to tell if the repeated exposure is degenerating or not.”
Lois nodded her head, suddenly at a loss for words.
“I'm sorry, Clark,” Henderson said. “And I'm not trying to pressure you. You don't even need to have powers, just look well. I need you to look like Superman.”
“Why?” Lois asked. “You're not planning to use him as bait, are you? He isn't strong enough!”
Henderson and Clark both reacted simultaneously. Clark placed a hand on her knee and squeezed gently, silently thanking her for her concern. Henderson placed a hand on her arm, saying, “I'm sorry, Lois. I should have thought about how that sounded. I have no intention of using Clark as bait. I am as committed as you are to making sure he comes out of this alive. But if Weis is planning to attack Deucalion we need to warn the FBI. It would be good to have an eyewitness there. And Superman makes a better eyewitness than Clark Kent when listening through walls is involved.”
Lois, calm now, gave a look at Henderson's hand on her arm and cracked a smile. Henderson laughed at the look, and moved his arm only to swat at Lois lightly.
Clark smiled at the exchange. “Give me a couple of hours. With a little bit of rest, I normally look okay.”
Lois reached over to brush Clark's hair away from his forehead, although not sure why. Absently as she watched his hair settle back, she realized she had not seen him in his Superman persona in days now. It was strange how fast that had happened. It was hard to believe that it was only a little over a week since the earthquake in Australia. The morning after, she had been so surprised to see Clark as Clark rather than Superman and now, it was hard to imagine him as the superhero. The thought gave her the chills. While it may have been her growing comfort with Clark, that was not all of it. If he had still had powers, he would have changed into Superman a few times and she still would have been comfortable with Clark. But aside from images of him in Belize a few days ago, Clark had not donned the suit in Lois' presence since the earthquake. And given that he had been with her pretty constantly since the Belize tornado, this was a strong reminder of just why Weis and Skagle could convince themselves that Superman was dead.
Henderson nodded, before dialing his phone again. He got up and paced while he waited and ended up in the kitchen before he started talking. Lois and Clark sat on the couch in silence, the sound of Henderson's conversation coming through only faintly from the next room.
It was not a long conversation, however, and within moments, Henderson was back. “Okay, so my pal Dan Perreli is coming over in three hours. I know it's late, but I don't think this can wait until morning.”
Lois looked at the granddaughter clock hanging on the White's living room wall. Three hours from now would be close to midnight. Lois could barely remember the last time she had gotten a full night's sleep.
“Can I suggest we take a nap before then?” she asked. “It will certainly help Clark and I could use some sleep as well. There's plenty of room for all of us.”
Henderson sat down, “I'm fine, Lois, don't worry about me,” he said just before he stifled a yawn.
“Come on, it's down the hall,” Lois said, smirking at him, leading him to a small bedroom done in yellow with blue trim. Luckily, Alice White was one of those women who was always ready for guests and the bed was already made. “I'll set an alarm for 11:30, okay?” Lois asked.
“Sounds good,” Henderson said as he sat down to remove his shoes.
Lois came back out to find Clark had already moved back to the master bedroom. She had suggested he sleep there when they had come back from Star Labs yesterday as she thought he would be more comfortable on the big bed. She had slept for a few hours in the guest bedroom next door.
She set an alarm on her computer before poking her head into the master bedroom after knocking softly on the door. “Good night, Clark,” she said as she opened the door. But Clark was already asleep. Lois walked in a bit more fully and sat on the bed beside him, watching the rise and fall of his chest as he slept. Despite herself, Lois felt a fondness for the man beside her that she had sworn she would not let herself feel. But she had never been very good at controlling her emotions. If she had, she would never have fallen in love with Clark in the first place, given her rule against office romances.
The thought made her smile. Maybe she would be better this time. Maybe she would be able to keep her emotions to the strong fondness she felt right now and not be foolish enough to fall in love again.
Reaching out to brush an errant curl out of his eyes, Lois watched the rise and fall of his chest once more. The movement was rhythmic and hypnotizing and within moments, Lois had fallen asleep beside him.
* For anyone who is interested, Deucalion is the name of one of Prometheus' sons.
