Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Lois & Clark Fanfic A Triangle with Three Sides (8/?)

For Elizabeth, a summary of where LnC were when we left them. 

After discovering that Thompson had a file on Smallville, Clark talked to his parents and discovered that they found him in a spaceship. His father buried the ship, but it is no longer where it was buried.

Superman has started patrols of Metropolis.

And Lois and Clark have discovered that the name of the man who came into the Planet looking for information on Smallville is Jason Trask.

And now on with…

Chapter Eight

Lois walked into the interview with Burton Newcomb feeling uneasy. This man had at least at some point been associated with Jason Trask. And while they had no proof, it appeared as if Trask had no qualms about killing people who got in his way. Still, Lois did not get to be an award winning journalist because she backed away when stories got rough. She was a little worried about Kent, though. She guessed that writing stories for small newspapers in third world countries rarely put his life in danger. She could not even think about what he could write that would put his life in danger for those papers except exposing some corrupt government. And if Clark had written a story like that, she would have heard about him.

As a result, she watched him carefully as they entered, trying to head off his saying something stupid in his fear. So she was surprised when Clark started off the interview before she did, and while he did not ask a question right away, she had to hand it to him for managing to start off with something that had a lot of shock value.

“Yesterday a man named George Thompson came to Metropolis. Today he's dead.”

To Lois' surprise, Newcomb did not react. She glanced at Clark for a moment, but he seemed content to just watch Newcomb and she decided to go with it for a moment.

Finally, Newcomb responded, although his tone was still nonchalant. “That's too bad. What's it got to do with me?”

In her impatience, Lois forgot that she had decided she was letting Clark lead. “What's it got to do with you? Well, for starters, he was investigating Jason Trask.”

Clark pulled out a copy of the picture he had found earlier and placed it on Newcomb's desk, effectively cutting off any denial Newcomb might have made about knowing Trask.

Again, Newcomb lapsed into silence. Finally, he got up and moved to stare out the window. A few moments later, in a soft voice, he asked, “Have either of you had to keep a secret? A huge secret?”

Neither of them answered. Lois was not about to admit to having any secrets in front of Kent – she had already told him way too much during the Prometheus investigation. She glanced at Clark. He was fidgeting in a way that made her curious, but he said nothing.

“Keeping a secret eats away at you,” Newcomb finally continued. “It's just a nibble at a time, but it adds up. And one day you wake up and realize it's consumed everything inside of you.”

Lois was still watching Clark during this speech and surprisingly, he was not looking at Newcomb. Instead he was staring at the carpeting with apparent fascination. And when Newcomb finished speaking, he gave a small nod as if he understood. Lois filed this away for later use. Combined with the eating like a kid thing, she was beginning to have a lot of questions about the seemingly innocuous Clark Kent.

They really did not get much more information from Newcomb. He was unwilling to confirm Lois' belief that Trask could be found at the warehouse she had followed Thompson to yesterday, but he definitely implied that this was correct. Most importantly, though, he had left them an electronic key card that would let them in.

Of course, Lois and Clark headed straight for the warehouse. Once they were settled in Lois' car and on their way, Lois glanced over at Clark. “So what was it?” she asked.

“What was what?” Clark asked, sincerely confused.

“The secret,” Lois said and the calmness to her words concerned Clark.

“Lois, what are you talking about? What secret?”

“When we were talking to Newcomb and he described what it is like to have a secret, you nodded along,” she explained.

“It's called empathy, Lois,” Clark said, his voice tight. “I wanted him to know we understood.”

“Don't lie to me, Kent,” she said, her voice a bit hard. “Newcomb wasn't even watching you. So spill!”

Clark sighed, “I'm a reporter, Lois. I need to protect my sources.”

Lois looked at him with her eyebrows raised. “That's your secret? A source? I don't believe it.”

Clark was on top of the world. It was the homecoming game and he was the first freshman to ever be allowed on the varsity football team. True, he was likely to spend the entire game on the bench, but that could not diminish his excitement. And Lana Lang, the girl he had had a crush on since the third grade field trip where she swung her head around and her pigtails went right through his ice cream cone, was finally noticing him now that he was on the team. All in all, freshman year of high school promised to be great.

And then things got even better. John McCaffy was injured. It was only a minor injury and he was likely to be back in shape before the next practice, but he had to come out of the game and that meant Clark was in. Once he was on the field, time flew, and within what seemed like seconds it was coming to the last few seconds of the game. The Smallville Tigers were down, but if he could just successfully pass the ball to Mike, he thought the chances were good that Mike could bring them victory. Only he was surrounded by opposing players and being a freshman, he was shorter than nearly everyone around him making seeing Mike difficult.

Finally realizing that time was running out, Clark leapt up, spotted Mike and threw the ball. It was not until after the ball left his hands that he realized no one on the opposing team had tried to intercept it. Instead they were all staring at him in awe. As he landed on the ground with a thud, he finally realized why. The advertisement for the Smallville Press had been at eye level for him when he had reached the pinnacle of his jump. The sign was close to ten feet off the ground. He was pretty sure that he had read that the world record was only about seven feet. How had he done that?

The rest of the team was distracted when Mike, unencumbered for the moment by the opposing team players who were all around Clark, managed to make the winning touchdown. The end of the game seemed to bring everyone's attention off of Clark and somehow no one mentioned his high jump later.

It appeared as if his teammates had not noticed and obviously Coach Willis had not either as he seemed surprised when Clark quit the team the following day.

“I grew up in Smallville, Lois,” he said. “What sort of secrets do you think I have?”

“Good point,” Lois conceded and she dropped the subject.

The card Newcomb had given them easily let them get through security at the warehouse entrance. But the room they were in was empty and there was another locked door in front of them, this one using a combination lock rather than the key card. Next to the lock was a timer and with a gasp, Lois exclaimed, “I think we need to guess the combination in 60 seconds, well 50 seconds now, or an alarm is going to go off.”

Without a word, Clark stepped forward and concentrated his hearing on the lock. As he heard the tumblers fall into place, he stopped and spun the dial in the other direction until he had broken open the door.

“Don't tell me. Safecracker?” Lois asked and Clark thought he heard a tiny bit of awe in her voice. But he did not want to give her any clue as to his special abilities, so he explained, “The general said they all took the oath on August 2, 1947. The combination was 8-2-47.”

To his delight, Lois still looked impressed.

Curiously, they entered the room. It was vast and filled with files and objects covered with tarps. Lois moved immediately to the files and began pulling folder after folder. Smirking, Lois laughed, “Give me a break. I've seen this movie,” she said as she took in the image on one of the photos.

“I don't know,” Clark replied. “These look like the genuine article to me.”

Lois shook her head and Clark could tell she was back to thinking he was a hack. “Clark, when something looks this good, it's never real.” Her tone was patronizing, but Clark did not want to give up hope that this was real. That perhaps somewhere in here was an explanation of who and what he was.

“What if it's not?” he asked her. “What if people actually traveled in these?” But he did not hear her answer. Going through the files he had seen one labeled “Smallville Incident, 1966.” Clark tried to calm his immediate panic. It was becoming clear that these people knew more about him than he did. He could not panic each time he saw something about Smallville. Still, he grabbed Lois' arm and led her to the tarped area.

“What are you doing?” Lois asked, her voice sharp.

Thinking quickly, Clark replied, “You didn't like their pictures. So let's see what else they have.”

Lois randomly began pulling tarps off of objects, but discarded each thing she found as junk. But Clark did not hear the endless litany of complaints from Lois about what she was seeing. He felt drawn in a way that he could not explain to a particular ship. On it he found the crest – the one on the blanket he was found in and the one Superman had taken to wearing on his suit.

Taking in the entire ship, Clark saw a bag next to it containing a small ball. Removing it from the bag, Clark held it in his hand for a moment just looking at it. Almost as soon as he touched it, the ball began to glow and Clark could see clearly that it was a globe of Earth. However, in front of him, the image on the globe changed. It finally settled down again, this time with a reddish tinge and completely different topography. Without thought, Clark whispered, “Krypton.”

Lois' voice cut through the fog in Clark's brain and all at once he realized he knew something about himself. He was not a Russian science experiment. Trask was right. He was an alien. An alien from the planet Krypton.

“Clark!” Lois called again and Clark realized her voice was close. In a rush, he pulled the tarp back over the ship and placed the globe in his pocket before she could see them.

“Someone's coming,” she said. The two of them looked around but this place had only one entrance and exit. There was no escaping. Within moments they were surrounded by Trask and his men, guns pointing at them from every angle.

“How did you get in?” Trask asked, his voice as cold as ice.

Lois, to Clark's surprise, did not seem the least bit alarmed at the situation and when she answered Trask, she matched his tone. “That's your problem.”

Clark could feel himself start to panic. If she angered them and someone shot at Lois, he would not have a choice. He would have to save her. But exposing himself in front of this group of people seemed like just about the worst idea ever. He could easily envisage Trask above him with a scalpel, his father's fears of him being dissected like a frog coming true.

Trask, however, seemed surprisingly unfettered by Lois' tone. “That's correct,” he agreed with her. “Getting out, however, is your problem.”

His voice shaking slightly, Clark told Trask that people knew where they were. And Lois immediately added to this that Superman was coming for them.

Trask's response chilled Clark and did nothing to calm his panic. “Oh, I hope so. In fact, I'm counting on it.”

Then, guns still drawn, he and his men guided them to a military jet. Trask and three of the men from the warehouse got in after them, their guns still trained on them.

************************

Superman walked around the farm feeling bored. He had never realized how hard it would be to be Superman full time, particularly now when he was not really fully out there. He hoped that later he would be busier. But Herb had counseled him about doing too much. If he was really Superman full time, when Clark was ready to take over, it would seem like he was less helpful. So he needed to leave time for a real life. Only he did not have a real life here. The Kents were being good and kind to him. And they seemed to appreciate having him around to help with chores and to talk to. But it was not the same. He missed Clark Kent. Heck, forget Clark. Who he really missed was Lois. It was hard to believe he had only been here for a few days. Maybe it was knowing that he would not be seeing her soon, but Clark longed for Lois in a way he had not since before they were dating.

When he closed his eyes, he could smell her shampoo and feel the pressure of her hand in his. But that was not enough. He wanted to hold her in his arms when he fell asleep at night and wake up to find her sprawled across the bed, her knee unconsciously trying to push him out of bed.

And he missed the kids. They were so young still, not quite teenagers and while he knew Herb said he would return him to a time just after he left, he still felt like he was missing out on their lives. Emily had been going to her first boy-girl party the night that he left and he had no idea how it had gone.

With a sudden realization, Superman took to the sky. Lois and Clark were likely caught by Trask and his men by now. And Clark did not have a Superman costume to change into if this Lois decided to go skydiving.

************************

Clark glanced at Lois out of the corner of his eye. Despite her calm outward appearance he could hear her heart beating faster than normal. When he peered at her now, he could see a slight layer of sheen on her forehead. He wanted to reach over and take her hand, but doubted she would appreciate the gesture.

“It's a romance novel,” Lois said.

No one said anything for a moment before Clark realized she was probably speaking to him. “What?” he asked, wondering if this was some sort of strange diversionary tactic.

“My novel,” Lois explained and while Clark doubted Trask or his men could hear it, he could detect the faint sound of panic in her voice. “It's about a woman who dies without ever finding her true love.”

This time Clark decided to chance it. Reaching out, he took her hand in his. “That's not going to happen to you,” he told her.

To Clark's surprise, Lois tightened her grip on his hand. “Yeah? Check it out, Clark. These guys look serious. So, I told you, now you tell me.”

“Tell you what?” Clark asked.

“Your biggest secret.”

“The topic of your novel is your biggest secret?” Clark asked.

Lois yanked her hand free of his. “No,” she said, the typical disdain back in her voice. “But I can't imagine you have any secrets good enough to be worth my best.”

Clark sighed. Of course she thought that. He wondered what she would say if he told her Superman was sleeping in his childhood bed. Then he remembered. They had discussed this earlier. “I don't have any secrets. We talked about this earlier, remember?”

Before Lois voiced a reply, though, two of the men with Trask unlatched the door to the airplane and Trask came over.

He smirked at them, “I assume the two of you are familiar with the scientific method?”

Clark was the one who responded, “Advance a theory. Submit it to a test.”

Trask smiled at him like he was a pupil getting a test question correct. “My theory is that at least one of you knows how to contact this alien creature Superman, probably telepathically.”

“And how do you plan to test this?” Lois asked, her voice wavering ever so slightly.

“Oh, I'm thinking if I throw you out of this plane without a parachute, you'll find a way contact him pretty quickly.”

“What if this theory of yours is wrong?” Clark asked, although he suspected he knew the answer.

“Pushing back the frontiers of science is not without risk.”

His soldiers opened the door.

“Leave Lois alone. Just use me,” Clark said, his voice surprisingly strong.

“No, I'll go,” Lois said in response.

Clark inwardly groaned. He wished he had a way to tell her right now that he could fly, just so she would not argue with him, but knew that was not wise. “Lois! You don't understand!” he said instead.

Lois gave him a withering look. “Stop trying to be a martyr, Clark. I'm going.” Then turning to Trask she demanded, “I get a last request.”

“Within reason,” Trask agreed.

“I want to kiss Clark goodbye,” Lois informed him. Clark was shocked. Had she been attracted to him after all?

Before he had time to process the thought, though, Lois' lips were on his and almost immediately, Clark was lost in her kiss. As she pulled away, though, Lois leaned toward his ear and whispered, “Take the one on the left.”

Clark just had time to process that no, she had not found him attractive, the kiss was simply a diversionary tactic, when Lois kicked Trask. Clark immediately got up and pinned one of Trask's men against the wall of the plane, but the second immediately trained his gun on Clark in response.

Clark looked at the man, trying to decide his best move when suddenly Lois cried out, “Clark!” just as she fell out the door.

Calling out her name, Clark jumped after her. He could see her below him, but he decided to wait to rescue her until he was out of range of sight of the men above. He could hear her calling to Superman as she fell, but she must have fallen for Trask's suggestion that she could speak to him telepathically, as she was muttering rather than yelling.

Clark saw a cloud bank up ahead and aimed for it, hoping that once he was below it, the men in the plane would not be able to see him anymore. When he came out the other side, he saw Lois up ahead and rushed towards her.

Then, from his left side, he saw him. Superman was headed straight for Lois. Clark could not decide if he was happy Superman arrived as this relieved him of having to share his secret with Lois or annoyed that Superman got to be the hero again, an act that was certain to fuel Lois' fantasies about the man.

Before he could process what was happening, Superman was beside him with Lois in his arms. “Clark, grab onto my arm,” he said. With a sign, Clark did as Superman asked and the superhero brought the two of them down on the rooftop of the Daily Planet.

When they landed, Lois did not speak and both Superman and Clark looked at her with concern. Without a word, Lois pointed upward and the two men turned around to see a missile coming straight toward them.

Superman took off towards it and intercepted it. He threw it skyward but a moment later it exploded, the sound and light blocking out everything for a moment. When things cleared, Superman was no where to be found.

Lois searched the sky for him and when she did not see him, she turned to Clark. “Do you think he's alright?” Lois asked him.

Clark said nothing for a moment, trying to come to grips with his own emotions. Superman was here supposedly to help him. What if he was killed by that explosion? Clark was not really sure what the limits of his abilities were. What if somewhere in a parallel universe a different Lois had just been widowed? Children just orphaned? And how would they ever know?

Looking dejected, Clark turned to Lois, “I hope so, Lois. I really hope so.”