I don't think I will be able to post the last part before the week-end. I'll try but it would be difficult. I have a lot of exams this week, sorry for the delay.
Previously«You found him?» She asked, the hope returning.
«Err… Not yet,» Henderson hesitated. «But Superman assures us that he indeed is okay, don't worry. And come to the hospital quickly, please. He wants to speak with you.»
Understanding that she wouldn't learn anything more by phone, she accepted and hung up. She ran to her bedroom to get dressed with the first clothes which she found, and jumped into her Jeep to go to the hospital where the answers she had looked for for such a long time were awaiting for her.
As soon as she had arrived, Henderson had welcomed and accompanied her in the building, and through the security. Throughout the way, she harassed him to know what Superman had said, and finally, while they were reaching the door of Superman's room, the inspector informed her that the superhero refused to reveal what he knew about Clark's disappearance, except to say that he was well.
It was as if a wall had just collapsed on her head. Why was he refusing to speak? If he didn't, she would never have Clark back…
She had tears in the eyes when she finally entered the room, followed by Henderson.
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And now:Part 8: Truth and LiesSuperman raised the eyes as soon as he heard the door opening, and his heart underwent a shock when he saw Lois for the first time since they had quarrelled in the luxury car which she had borrowed from Luthor, when she was trying to convince him to come and attend to the marriage.
It wasn't the same woman any more who was there, in front of him. His heart squeezed up at her sight. She was dressed anyhow, without make up, her hair was a mess, and she had the eyes red and full of tears. To know that she made a depression and to see her in this state were two different things. He had never seen her like that, and he didn't want to see her so miserable ever again.
Before he had a chance to speak, she dashed to him and began to beg him, under the look of both Henderson and the two policemen who were on guard in the room.
«Where's Clark? Please, where is he? Tell me, I beg you, Superman. I need to know.»
It was impossible to him to answer her pleas, and nevertheless, it was impossible to him to do nothing when he was seeing her suffering so much. He couldn't bear it. He had no solution. Incapable to look at her much longer in the eyes, he looked around him and saw Henderson behind her who fixed him hard, as to challenge him to refuse again to relieve Lois' despair. But he didn't know what else to tell her.
«Lois, Clark is very well,» he told her reassuringly, trying to smile to her in spite of the ball which had just formed in its throat. How he would have liked to have a better answer to give her! But he hadn't nothing else, except for the truth, and he still wasn't ready to tell her. And especially not with Henderson and two of his men in the room.
«But where is he?» Lois insisted, crying freely now.
«I can't...» Superman began, but he was unable to finish his sentence in front of the image of despair which Lois gave him, and he felt a tear pouring on his own cheek, in spite of him.
«I beg you! I need to know! I love him and I never had a chance to tell him… The last time when we saw each other, we had an argument. I beg you… I need to see him again!» She begged, crying desperately, afraid of not being able to convince him to speak.
Superman had difficulty in holding on crying himself by seeing Lois so annihilated by the sorrow. He couldn't continue to let her suffer so much. It didn't matter much that he wasn't ready to tell her the truth; he owed her. And he couldn't justify his silence to his consciousness any more by thinking that she was ony interested in Superman; She obviously cared a lot for Clark. She had even just said that she loved him. He had to tell her, and he was going to. Just not with the police in the room.
He took a profound inspiration to try to find the control of his feelings, and turned calmly to Henderson.
«Inspector, please, could you leave us alone? I'd like to speak in private with Lois.»
Henderson began to walk towards the door but his two men made no movement to follow him.
«In private, please, officers,» Superman repeated looking at the two policemen. Henderson stopped and appeared to hesitate.
«Henderson, you know perfectly well that Lois won't try to kill me. And I can't speak to her in private if I have two nannies in the room,» the superhero insisted.
Finally, Henderson made a gesture to his men, indicating them to go out in the corridor.
«We are just on the other side of the door, if necessary, Superman,» the older man informed him before going out in his turn.
Finally alone, Superman turned to Lois, whose tears had calmed down a little. She was curious to know what he had to tell her in private. She tried not to hope too much. After his earlier refusal to speak, it probably wouldn't be what she despaired to hear, anyway. She absolutely had to make him change his mind. She started to beg him again.
«Please, Superman. For pity's sake…»
«Lois, I am going to tell you where Clark is,» he interrupted her. «But first, you have to promise me not to say anything to anybody…»
«I swear!» She exclaimed immediately. «I just need to know. I want to tell him that I made a mistake. And that I love him. And I hope that he will forgive me for everything I said to him, and that he will still love me, too…»
She had just repeated for the second time the words which he had hoped to hear for a whole year, and he felt moved by her declaration of love, and especially by the emotion with which she had spoken them. He wouldn't backtrack, he really had to tell her.
But as he got ready to speak, he saw a shadow under the door and sighed. Henderson and his men were not simply on the other side, they probably were listening to the conversation. Didn't he have the right of one minute of privacy?
«I don't want that anyone else to hear what I am going to say, so I am going to speak to you in the ear. And you will not answer. You will not say anything, to prevent that someone understand what I am going to tell you. Promise me, Lois.»
«I promise. I won't say a thing.»
«All right. Come here, that I speak to you.»
She moved closer and sat down on the edge of the bed where he was half lengthened, half sat, rested against his pillows. He got up a little more and bent towards her. The mouth in her ear, he began to speak.
«I… I am…»
No. He couldn't tell her who he was so abruptly. She was way too much emotional and fragile to bear such a shock. He had to be more tactful.
«I am born on the planet Krypton, only a few days before it explodes. My biologic parents sent me to Earth to save my life. When I came here, I was just a tiny baby. My spaceship crashed in a field of Kansas, near… Smallville. I had been found by a couple of farmers who adopted me and brought me up as their son. They were the Kents. And they decided to call me Clark.»
Lois moved back abruptly and looked at him fixedly, attentively, looking on the supehero's face for her partner's features. He smiled to her reassuringly and she finally seemed to recognize him. Lois' eyes filled with tears, and when she began smiling, she seemed to shine with happiness. But when he saw her lips move, he quickly put a finger on her mouth before she could emit a sound.
«Shh. No word, you promised,» he reminded her tenderly. She agreed by a sign of the head, eying him hungrily.
«I know that we need to speak about it, but it's really not the time or the place. When I will go out of the hospital, and when Clark will return, we could discuss, really in private this time,» he promised before bending again towards her ear.
«And you don't need to ask me for forgiveness. And I still love you, too. I always will.»
She cried from happiness as hard as she had cried from despair during the last weeks, and he took her in his arms, holding her tight against him.
He leaned back against his pillows, bringing Lois to lengthen near him on the bed. She continued to cry of relief against his chest, slowly calming down, whereas he was holding her in his arms, kissing her hair or her forehead a few times.
They stayed in this position even after her tears had dried up. She didn't want to move. She had despaired to see Clark again one day, and now that she was in his arms, she wasn't ready to move away. The head against his chest, she could hear his heartbeat through the tissue of the hospital gown he was wearing, and it was the most beautiful sound that she had never heard. The most soothing.
But the evening had already come. No sun entered any more through the window. It would soon be the time to transfer him again in the room with the shutters.
They heard a knock on the door, before it opened, and Henderson came into the room with his men. He was surprised to see Lois stretched out beside Superman, in his arms, but quickly regained his composure.
«Sorry to interrupt you, but the visits are over. It's time to return him in his room for the night.»
Lois seemed to be about to protest, but Superman outstripped her to speak.
«He's right, it's late, Miss Lane. You should go home. I promise you that we shall soon see each other again. I feel much better, and I am sure that I'd be authorized very soon to leave the hospital. I will bring back Clark to you immediately afterwards,» he told her.
When she reluctantly agreed by a sign of the head, he added, «in the meantime, maybe you could contact his parents and tell them that he's fine, and that he will soon be back. They must have died from anxiety. You should speak with them.»
Again, she agreed. While she was going out of the room, she realized how much that had had to be hard for Clark's parents. Contrary to her, they had always known where their son was, but they couldn't approach him. And if he had never woken up, they would never have been able to see him one last time or even to attend the burial. He would have been buried as Superman, and they were only farmers from Kansas… She was determined to call them to reassure them on his health. The informations which leaked out in the press held more rumors than confirmed news. Henderson was anxious to keep a maximum of secret around him.
And then she would also tell them that she knew their secret, and maybe Martha would agree to tell her some stories about Clark? She had so many questions, and she knew that she won't be able to ask him as long as he would be at the hospital under narrow surveillance. Every mothers have stories to tell on their sons, and this one had probably never been able to speak freely about hers. Lois liked Martha Kent. She remembered the phone conversation which they had had, when she had admitted to her that she was in love with Clark. They had cried together. Lois knew that they would get along well, and she was in a hurry to get acquainted better with Clark's family.
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Whereas she got ready to go up in her Jeep to go back home, Henderson arrived in the parking and retained her.
«So, Lois. Where's Clark?» He asked out of the blue.
«He's well, Inspector. Don't worry. Superman said that he would bring him back as soon as he could go out of the hospital,» Lois answered him, after a long hesitance. She couldn't tell him anything else.
«It's not what I had asked you. Where is he?»
«I don't know,» she lied. But Henderson wasn't a dupe a single second.
«Bullshit! You came here completely desperate at the idea that Superman would never say what he knew about Kent. Then, you discuss alone with him, and when I return, you're cuddling, and you're not worried any more. Then, don't tell me you don't know! Superman told you where Clark is. You know it, don't lie. Where is he, Lane?» He insisted, a little bit angry.
Lois hesitated. She needed to find an excuse, but what? Obviously, even Clark hadn't found any valid excuses, or he would have already told one. The silence lasted long.
«I'm not going to let it drop, Lane! The police had used too many resources to try and find Kent for me to let it go. I will discover where he is. And you would better pray that he's indeed fine, because by refusing to answer, you make obstruction to the justice!» He threatened her.
«All right! If you insist! I'm going to tell you,» Lois granted, looking exasperated. «But you have to promise first not to repeat it. Never. Nor to write it in your report. Nothing.»
"Okay," he answered, a little bit suspicious.
«Superman put Clark out of danger, at his own place, before visiting Lex. You know, in case it would be a trap,» she explained. It was the theory Jimmy had exposed to her some weeks earlier, when she was trying to find Clark, when it began to seem obvious that Lex wasn't involved in his disappearance. She had found the idea silly, but it was the only thing that came to her mind which could explain why Clark had disappeared but was fine, and why Superman was refusing to cooperate.
«His own place?» Henderson repeated, unbelieving.
"Yes," Lois insisted, trying to look full of confidence, even when she knew that it was evident in her expression that she was lying. «In his secret refuge. That's why he doesn't want to tell where is Clark. He doesn't want to give his address.»
«A secret refuge?» Henderson repeated, even more unbelieving. «And why didn't Clark go out of it when he learnt that Luthor had died and that he was in no danger? When his face made the headlines of the Daily Planet every day as a missing person?» He asked on a sarcastic tone.
Lois put himself at once on the defensive. She couldn't let him call her bluff. No matter if she had to continue inventing more and more pitiful and incredible lies to cover her story.
«It's in the Arctic! It's not as if he could be hitch-hiking to come back! There isn't a lot of people around, or the secret refuge would not be secret any more! And I'm not even sure that they have newspapers over there,» she answered on a caustic tone.
Henderson chuckled, so it was evident that she was lying. But he was obvious as well that she wouldn't speak. She would keep for her the Superman's confidences.
«All right. So, I won't hold you any longer,» he eventually said, letting her go in the car and leave, before going back towards the hospital rooms.
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