PREVIOUSLY..
**So... where should she go? She needed a big, strong man. The problem was she didn’t know any other big, strong men. How pathetic was that?
So the choices were to accept Kent’s assistance, and potentially spend the night fighting off his advances, or try to come up with another solution.**
AND NOW...
* * * * * * * * *
Chapter Twelve
* * * * * * * * *
Clark was slowly nodding when she finished. “I remember how surprised I was when you showed up on my doorstep looking like a frightened kitten.”
“I’ve never looked like a frightened kitten,” Lois objected, hoping to lighten the mood of their former discussion.
Clark smiled, appreciating her efforts, before picking up the story himself.
**”Lane?” Clark asked curiously. “What are you doing here?”
She glanced over her shoulder nervously.
“Come in,” Clark said immediately before pulling her into the apartment and closing the door. Something had obviously happened. Something that had frightened her very badly. “What happened?”
Lois opened her mouth, looking as if she was about to respond, before closing it again.**
“I can remember suddenly realizing that I couldn’t tell you. There was no way I could risk you stealing my story,” Lois said.
“I would never steal your story.”
“I know that... now. Back then...”
**“This was a mistake,” Lois said, suddenly turning back towards the door. What exactly was she doing here? He was the enemy. Hadn’t she only reminded herself of that fact just this morning? She grabbed the door handle.
“No!” Clark’s hand reached over her head to shut the door. “No,” he said again, much more gently. “You don’t have to tell me anything except... Are you okay?”
She turned towards him, studying his eyes. There was something about his eyes. Something that always looked so sincere.
No. No, it was just a ploy. It was the look men learned to make women trust them. On the other hand, what other choice did she have? After all, he’d already saved her life twice today. And after seeing the ease with which he had defeated Finn, she felt safe here. Or... well, at least she felt safe physically. What he would do to her emotionally if she gave him half a chance... she didn’t even dare speculate on that one.
“I’m wondering...” Her eyes flicked to his large, comfortable sofa.
“Do you want to sit down?” he asked.
“No! No, I was wondering...” Why couldn’t he just realize that she was scared? That she was looking for a safe place to crash for the night. Was he really going to force her to say it?
“Something happened, didn’t it? You’re scared of something.”
She nodded nervously.
“Look,” he said, “I’d feel a lot better if you stayed on my couch tonight.”
She instantly relaxed as tears gathered in her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered, not sure why he would do this for her. He had even avoided the phrase ‘stay here for the night’ as if wanting to assure her up front that he was not asking her to share his bed.
“Hey,” he said, stepping forward and pulling her into his arms, as if it were an automatic response to seeing a female in distress. “It’s okay.”
She closed her eyes, leaning into the comfort of his embrace, wondering why she believed him. It made no sense. Here she was, once again in the lion’s den, and feeling... safe.**
* * * * * * * * *
**Lois jerked awake, as she had almost every night since the pheromone incident, waking in a sweat after another of those annoying dreams. It took a moment for her breathing to calm, but by the time it had, she realized that she was not in her bed or even her apartment.
Was she still dreaming?
Suddenly, the events of the previous night rushed in to fill the gap in her memory.
Right.
She was at Kent’s apartment.
Which meant... Her eyes drifted to the bedroom door. ...the man she’d been dreaming about only moments before, the man who had been provoking such wonderful sensations in her was only a few feet away, through that open doorway. Scantily dressed, no doubt. Unless... Maybe he slept in the nude. Images from the time she’d been under the influence of the pheromone compound cascaded through her mind before she could stop them, adding to the sweat accumulation from the dream. All she’d have to do would be to get off this couch and make her way to the door. She could climb into his bed, allowing her hands and lips to wake him in a way that would undoubtedly bring all his fantasies to life. She could...
No! No, she couldn’t.
Not now.
Not ever.
“He’s the enemy,” she told herself again, lying down and rolling over.
And he was too. She took a moment, reminding herself of his betrayal at EPRAD. Reliving the moment he’d turned her over to Toni Taylor. Remembering how he’d tried to talk his way into her bed by claiming that someone had shot at her.
No, he was definitely not to be trusted with her heart.
On the other hand... she was somewhat confused that he hadn’t tried anything when she’d arrived at his apartment. In fact, other than offering her the bed, he’d simply retrieved a blanket and pillow for her and told her to make herself at home.
Kent was definitely... a contradiction. A dangerous contradiction. After all, she knew him. She knew he would do anything to keep her from getting a story. She wasn’t entirely sure that he hadn’t known the moment she’d arrived at his apartment when she’d been under the influence of the pheromone spray that she wasn’t herself. And then there was that whole thing that had happened last year...
No. Getting involved with Kent was definitely not an option.
So... why had she chosen to come to Kent’s apartment in the first place? To tell the truth, she wasn’t exactly sure. There had just been something about that decision that had felt... right. Almost as if she knew this was where she was meant to spend the night - that this was where she would be safe.
Okay, now she was officially losing her mind. She’d panicked and.. and what? What exactly did she think she was doing sleeping on Kent’s couch?
She looked at the clock on the wall. Three a.m.
Slowly, she rose from the couch and quietly pulled her slacks back on. It was time to get out of here, before she gave him a chance to hurt her again. And if she stayed here any longer, she just might make that possible.
Besides, she now felt calmer about Trevino’s phone call. It had obviously been meant to scare her. And it had worked. But surely Trevino wouldn’t try anything. After all, Finn had been her hit man. Trying something herself... Nah. She wouldn’t take the chance.
Besides, right now they had no way to connect Trevino with Finn’s attempted murder of her. And so, unless Finn talked, Trevino would undoubtedly walk away scot free.
Lois had simply panicked - and as a result had leapt from the frying pan into the fire. Well, time to correct that.
She snuck over to the doorway to his room and took a quick peak inside. Satisfied that he was sleeping soundly, she turned her attention to the phone. She dialed a familiar number and then, glancing nervously at the door to the bedroom once again, waited for the phone to be answered.
“Yes, I need a taxi at 377 Clinton Ave immediately.”
After hanging up the phone, she stepped towards the drawers in his kitchen, searching around for a moment to find what she needed. A pen and some paper. Moving the paper over to the desk, she quickly wrote a note.
She reread it a couple of times before declaring it to be adequate.
‘Thanks. But I don’t think this is a good idea.’**
“I’d spent most of the night dreaming that when you would wake up in the morning, we’d talk. I was devastated when I found your note,” Clark said on a sigh. “So... where did you go?”
“I made a quick trip back to my place to shower and change and then I went into the Daily Planet. Perry found me asleep on his couch when he came in later that morning.”
Clark nodded, although he still couldn’t quite shake the depression he’d felt upon finding that note. It had seemed so curt. So final.
“Hey,” Lois said, reaching over to place her hand on his arm. “That’s not what really happened. You know that, right? This is just some... screwed up reality.”
“I know that. It’s just...” He gave her a sad smile.
“I know.” She sighed. “Still... I’m having some problems, given the way I felt about you in this reality, believing that I chose to spend the night at your apartment.”
“Well, you said you felt safe there.”
“But that’s just it, Clark. Why would I have felt safe at your apartment? I mean, I know I did in our reality, but in this one...” She raised an eyebrow. “It isn’t logical.”
Clark thought about what she was saying for a moment. She was right. “Well... you spent the night at my apartment in our reality...”
“But in our reality, you and I were friends. I trusted you by then. In this reality... I just don’t get it. Funny thing is even when I think about it now, it just felt like the right thing to do.”
“Sorry, honey. I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t understand it, either. On the other hand, I’m glad you didn’t stay at your apartment that night... in either reality.” He reached over, gently massaging her neck. “So... who eventually caught Trevino?”
“Oh, right. Superman did it in our reality, didn’t he.” She thought about that for a moment. “Well, after Jimmy came into the storage room, Trevino ran out, only to be caught by security in the lobby when she tried to escape.”
Clark nodded. Well, that was that.
“This is just so frustrating,” Lois said. “It’s mid-afternoon, and we still don’t know what we did wrong when we went into the past - or how to fix it.”
“Come on, honey. We’ll figure it out. We just have to keep going.” He turned back towards his computer, scrolling through his articles, as if hoping to inspire her, while desperately searching for inspiration himself. “Wait!” he said suddenly, scrolling back to the headline that had captured his attention.
“What?”
“It’s just... This headline... I’ve never seen this headline before.”
Lois got out of her seat, coming to stand behind him. “Miraculous Energy Source Found In Kansas,” she read before looking at Clark’s name on the byline. “What’s that all about?”
“A miraculous new source of energy was found today on a small farm outside of Smallville, Kansas,” he read.
“What?”
Lois hunkered down over his shoulder, silently following as he continued to read.
“Experts claim that the crystal, which appears not to be native to the planet, emits a high frequency radiation which they believe can be converted into a source of cheap energy. Experts claim that the radiation is not of a type that his harmful to humans.
“The green crystal, which emits some sort of internal glow, was found by a local farmer named Wayne Irig.” She stood up. “But, Clark, the whole incident with the kryptonite should have happened weeks ago.”
“In our reality, it did. But in this reality... Wayne said he sent a piece away to be analyzed at a lab in Metropolis. That was when it came to the attention of Jason Trask. But without Superman, Trask wouldn’t have been particularly interested in the discovery of some strange crystal. Certainly not interested enough to risk the possible consequences of kidnapping Wayne and digging up his land. So that means...”
“...that the crystal was analyzed and instead of seeing a weapon...”
“...it was hailed as a source of cheap energy.”
“So how did you get the story, Clark? And what happened? Were you exposed to it? Clark, what if this cheap energy source is reproduced somehow? Kryptonite in every home. We’ve got to do something about this!”
“Okay, slow down, Lois. Let me think, see what I can remember.” He took a deep breath and thought back. “I remember getting a call from my parents. That’s what alerted me to the story.”
“Did you fly out to Smallville?”
Clark shook his head. “There was no need. They called to tell me that Wayne had found some crystal that was being hailed as the best thing since the discovery of oil. They thought The Star might be interested in the story. But since the rock was at Star Labs, I went there instead of going back to Smallville.”
**Clark had been pleased to discover that Dr. Klein was the one who was running the tests on this new find. He’d met the good doctor a few times since that original meeting, and always found him to be both competent and helpful. He placed a quick call to Star Labs, leaving a message for Dr. Klein and then called Wayne Irig to find out what he knew.
A few minutes later, Dr. Klein called back, confirming what Irig had already told him. The unusual crystal seemed, from initial tests, to be potent enough that, with time, Dr. Klein believed it could be used to provide cheap power - provided that enough of it could be found. And yet, all the tests they’d run so far, indicated that there was no risk to humans.
Dr. Klein was almost beside himself with this discovery. There would, of course, be the costs of set up and delivery of the power, but otherwise... it was the next best thing to free electricity. The possibilities were staggering.
They were already hoping that, should the final tests go as expected, they would be able to convince the people of Smallville to let them explore the area for larger deposits of the substance.
Dr. Klein rambled on for quite some time about the possibilities this presented for America, for the developed world, for third world countries. He even raised the possibility that this stuff could be used to power cars. Just one microscopic piece of such a crystal could, according to Dr. Klein, provide power for the life of the car. And, when that car was no longer usable, be installed in the next car. And so on. No more need for fossil fuels. The possibilities were endless.
And not only for the world. If there was a deposit or supply of this stuff in Smallville, it could take struggling farmers and make them instant millionaires - much like the discovery of oil had done for many farmers in Texas years before.
Fifteen minutes later, Clark had a story on his editor’s desk that had the man shouting for follow-ups. When Clark assured him that he had a meeting with Dr. Klein the following day, his editor was ecstatic.**
“I remember actually going home feeling pretty good about myself that night,” Clark told his wife. “I kept thinking about the possibilities. Free power. What could the world do with that?” He shrugged. “Of course, I wasn’t so naive as to believe that big oil companies and rich businessmen were going to let this go unchallenged, but... Still... the possibilities were staggering.”
“So what happened?” Lois asked, practically hanging off the edge of her seat.
Clark sighed. “About what you’d expect I guess. First thing the next morning, I was waiting, bright eyed and bushy tailed, at Star Labs - looking forward to getting a look at this modern miracle myself. I had a hundred questions - everything you could think of from other uses for the crystal, how much, theoretically, would be required for all the Earth’s current and future energy needs to how long it would take to start supplying this energy.”
“So when you went to Dr. Klein’s lab...” Lois prompted.
**Dr. Klein greeted Clark in the lobby. The man himself looked as if he hadn’t slept in quite some time, but his eyes were practically dancing. It seemed he was exceedingly eager to share this exciting news with the world because he didn’t stop talking about it, extolling its virtues and possibilities as they rode up in the elevator towards Dr. Klein’s lab.
“I assume you’d like to see it,” Klein said as they walked down the hall.
“Of course,” Clark said. “I was even hoping to get a couple of pictures.” He held up the camera he had brought.
“Of course. Of course. Right this way.”
As Clark followed behind the doctor, he felt a strange sensation in his stomach. Almost the way he imagined it felt to have food poisoning or an upset stomach. But he didn’t feel those things, so what was going on? Sweat appeared on his brow and he suddenly felt incredibly warm. Still, he kept following the doctor. He’d just take his pictures and ask the questions he needed for his follow-up and then, after he wrote the story, if he wasn’t feeling better, maybe he’d take a sick day.
Clark was barely listening when Dr. Klein finally stopped at the door to one of the labs and pulled it open.
As he stepped inside after the doctor, he felt a wave of pain flow through him like nothing he had ever known and then... Everything went black.**
“So what happened then?” Lois asked, visibly checking Clark, as if trying to assure herself that he was all right.
**Clark was disoriented when he regained consciousness. Where was he? The room was unfamiliar and what was Dr. Klein doing? Holding his wrist while looking at his watch? What was that all about?
He jerked his arm away.
“Oh, you’re awake,” Dr. Klein said, sounding relieved. “I was so worried. When you passed out in the lab... I didn’t know what was going on.”
Well, that made two of them.
“At first, I didn’t know it was the S-126.”
“S-126?”
“Well, that’s affectionately what we’re calling it. Smallvillium in the name we’ve given the crystal since it was found in Smallville, Kansas. But the element that makes this crystal so different is Element 126. But why did you go into the lab in the first place if you knew it was in there?”
“What are you talking about, Dr. Klein? What happened?”
“You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“About how your metabolism reacts to S-126?”
Metabolism? Clark felt a sense of unreality come over him. What exactly was Dr. Klein talking about? And, more importantly, what did he know?
“Unfortunately, since we didn’t know that it was the crystal that was affecting you, we didn’t move you immediately. I’m afraid as a result you got quite a strong dose. And then, well, given your dense molecular structure, even when I did figure out that you were having some sort of reaction to the crystal, we had quite a time getting you out of there.”
Oh, no. This really wasn’t sounding good.
“What exactly are you trying to say, Dr. Klein?” Clark asked cautiously.
“Don’t you know? Well, Mr. Kent, I took a sample of your blood to try to figure out what was wrong. You’re not human.”**
“Damn,” Lois breathed.
“That was pretty much how I felt. Not only had Dr. Klein just told me that he’d taken a blood sample - which should have been impossible since I’m invulnerable. And not only had he figured out my secret. But it was the first time I’d ever had proof that I wasn’t human. Until then, I’d thought it was far more likely, given how human I look, that I was some sort of Russian experiment. But to find out I wasn’t human...”
“Didn’t you know before... Oh, of course. Since Trask didn’t come after you...”
“...I never found the globe which, even before it told me why I’d been sent here, it told me where I’d come from. I guess I must have gone pale or something because...”
**“Mr. Kent? Are you okay?”
“Uhh... yeah,” Clark answered, feeling everything except okay. At least they were alone, but... how many others had seen the results of the blood test and knew what he was? And what had happened to his powers? None of them seemed to be working. It was definitely time to take evasive action. He could worry about the rest later. “What are you talking about? I’m not human. That’s crazy. Don’t I look human to you?”
“Well, actually, you do. That’s one of the things that I wanted to ask you. I mean, I suspect that our two species must have evolved along similar lines or from the same source. So is that why you were sent here - to find out if it was time to reunite our two great civilizations? I assume your people must be further along technologically if you were able to come here. Is that because your people didn’t get slowed down by the lack of scientific advancement we had during the dark ages? I’ve always wondered where we might be, what advancements we might have already made, if not for that period in our history...”
“Dr. Klein!” Clark interrupted. Once he had a little room to think, he paused. Now what? “So... who all have you shared this crazy theory with?” he asked, trying to sound casual.
“Shared...? Oh, you want to know who else knows you’re an alien?”
“I don’t know what you think you’re trying to do, but... I’m not an alien.” Clark tried to get up, the instinct to flee very strong now, but found that he was unable to do so. He collapsed back onto the couch.
“Easy there,” Klein said, studying Clark even closer.
Clark shifted uncomfortably under the doctor’s steady gaze.
“So why exactly don’t you want anyone to know that you’re an alien?” Klein asked suddenly sounding nothing like the eager puppy who had had so many questions only moments before. “And why are you hiding out, pretending to be a reporter? Are you studying us, preparing to take a status report back to your people? It seems to me that the right thing to do in a situation like this would be to introduce yourself to our leaders not hide amongst us. That is, if you have no improper intentions.”
This was getting worse by the minute. Now Dr. Klein thought he was... what? Some sort of scout for an alien invasion?
No. This was not good at all. In fact, there was only one thing Clark could think to do. It was the only chance he had to ever get out of there. After all, without his powers, he really was in danger of being taken away and put in a lab somewhere - maybe even here - and dissected like a frog, just like his father had always feared. The truth. The only chance he had now was to tell Dr. Klein the truth and hope that it was enough.
“Okay,” Clark said, resigned. “I’m not some sort of alien, checking out how you live to send a report back to my superiors. And I’m not ‘pretending’ to be a reporter. I have no idea who my people - as you put it - are or why I was sent here. In fact, until today, I didn’t know I wasn’t human. I thought the most plausible theory was that I was some sort of Russian experiment.”
Clark let out a breath. “Twenty-seven years ago, my folks... my adopted parents here on Earth spotted what they believed to be a meteor land in a farmer’s field. They were curious, so they stopped the truck to check it out. Anyway, they found a tiny space craft, half buried in the mud. When they opened it up, they found me. That’s all I know,” Clark said when Dr. Klein looked as if he was about to ask more questions. “Keep in mind that this was at the height of the cold war. So they figured...” Clark shrugged. “...I was probably some sort of Russian experiment. For years I worried that I was some sort of sleeper agent and that one day they were going to pop the memory capsule in my brain, or whatever, and I was going to become some sort of Russian soldier.”
“But you don’t believe that now.”
“No. Not after what you just told me. I’m still not sure what to think, but...”
“No, that’s not what I mean. You said that you worried for years... But not that you always worried. Why?”
Clark hesitated. Dr. Klein didn’t know about the powers, and since at the moment, he didn’t have the powers, maybe he could just leave that part out. But... No. Right now, Dr. Klein held his life, his secret in his hands... Or did he? “First, answer me a question. How many other people know what you told me?"**
TO BE CONTINUED...
