The Bombshell
I want to take a moment at the very beginning and thank two very fine Beta readers, GuineaPants and Ray (listed alphabetically and not necessarily in order of importance). They helped me find several problems with the story and correct them, including helping me find a far more appropriate title than the one I originally picked. If you like the story, please think of them fondly. If you don’t like the story, feel free to blame them – I mean me! Blame me. Really.
This story takes place not long after the final Season Four episode. The explanation of where the baby came from and where it went is irrelevant to the plot of this story, except that the baby was returned to its own home and Lois now desperately wants a child of her own.
>>>WARNING!<<<
This story contains a character death, along with other deaths which occur “off-screen.” If this type of story is not to your liking, please close this post now.
Chapter One
Martha looked up just in time to see her daughter-in-law heading in to clobber her with a desperate hug. “Martha! I’m so glad to see you I mean we’re so glad to see you how was your flight how many bags do you have and I’m sorry you had to fly here on the airliner but Clark was tied up at work really he was and he couldn’t get away but he’s over by the luggage return and I’m so very glad to see you!”
Martha laughed. “Take a deep breath, Lois!” She did, and Martha patted her on the back. “We’re glad to see you, too, but we don't want you to pass out on the floor right in front of us.”
Lois laughed with her and leaned back. “I’m sorry, Martha. Oh, Jonathan, there you are! Clark’s at the baggage carousel. He said he wants to win a pony.”
The three laughed. But Martha noted the dark circles under Lois’s eyes, and the forced tone in her laughter. Something was still wrong.
Lois scampered ahead of them to the baggage return. Jonathan leaned down and spoke into Martha’s ear. “I think she’s over her depression.”
With a warm smile as camouflage, Martha shook her head. “It’s too much laughter too soon. She looks thin and worn. Losing a baby like that would depress Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.”
“But the baby went back home, right? Clark and Lois only had him for a couple of weeks. Why would she still be upset?”
She shook her head. “Because she wants a baby more than she wants a Pulitzer, Jonathan! For that matter, so does Clark.”
“So you think that’s why they paid for this trip of ours on such short notice? And after we and the Lanes spent so much time with them so recently?”
“Yes. I’m just glad Clark was able to help you finish planting the winter wheat. I think the farm will be okay for the next week or so. There shouldn’t be anything major for Wayne or his hired man to do.”
He sighed. “I hope we can say the same for them.”
Martha looked ahead to the carousel and watched her Clark and Lois interact. They weren’t comfortable next to each other. They both reached for a bag at the same time, and both snatched their hands back to keep from touching the other. Six months before, they would have both grabbed the bag, smiled warmly to each other, and kissed enthusiastically. Now their eyes wouldn’t meet and they danced around each other awkwardly.
Clark lifted his parents’ bags to the floor and turned to greet them. His smile was as much relief as it was affection.
“Dad! Mom! It’s wonderful to have you here!” He grabbed his father and easily lifted him a foot off the floor.
Martha grinned and playfully punched Clark’s arm. “Young man, put your father down this instant! You know he’s afraid of heights!”
Lois laughed uproariously and held Martha’s arm to keep herself upright. “It really is wonderful to have you two here! We have dinner all planned and you won’t have to cook or clean and it won’t cost – “
Martha felt the WHOOOMPH in her chest just before she heard it. Everyone in the baggage claim area froze in place. Almost as one, they turned and tried to look past the waiting area and the gates towards the runway. Clark put his father down and lowered his glasses.
He paled slightly, then leaned towards Lois and whispered something Martha didn’t catch. Then he skipped away towards the men’s room.
Lois wore her work face as she leaned close to Martha. “There’s been a plane crash on the runway, a twin-engine commuter airliner. Clark’s going to help. I’m going to cover the story. Here’s the keys to the Jeep and my parking receipt and money for the gate. You two go on to the apartment; I’ll catch a cab later.”
“What? You’re on vacation, Lois! You can’t cover this!”
“I have to, Martha. I’m sorry. We’ll be home as soon as we can get there.”
She closed Martha’s fingers around the keys and trotted away. Martha turned to her husband. “Well, Jonathan, can you carry those bags by yourself?”
He shook his head. “Not going to try. I’ll just get one of these nice gentlemen who work for tips to help me.”
She patted his forearm. “Finally getting wise in your old age, huh?”
He grinned back. “Getting a head start on it.”
*****
Jonathan slid the transmission lever to P, set the emergency brake, turned off the ignition, then sat back and took several deep breaths. “You okay, Martha?”
Martha released her death grip on the dashboard handle in front of her and wiped the sweat from above her eyes. “I think so. You?”
“I’ll live.”
“I surely hope so! I don’t remember Metropolis traffic being quite so – so – “
“Insane?”
She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. “That’s the word. Maybe it’s because we nearly always ride when we’re here and almost never drive. Well, we’re at their apartment now. I guess we got the good parking space to make up for the terror of the drive itself.” She smirked at her husband. “Do we want to haul our stuff upstairs by ourselves or wait for our son to take care of it?”
Jonathan looked into the mirror to judge the traffic before climbing out. “We let him bring it. What’s the use of having an exceptionally strong son if he doesn’t do any work for us?”
She smiled and nodded. “More wisdom of the aged, eh?”
He slid out the door and hustled around the front of the Jeep. “I wouldn’t talk too much if I were you, old lady.”
“Old lady? I’ll show you what kind of an old lady I am!”
He put his arm around her shoulder. “Promises, promises.”
She giggled. “Jonathan! We’re visiting our son and daughter-in-law! We can’t scandalize them by being noisy at night!”
“Then we’ll wait for them to leave tomorrow morning.”
She pushed him away from the front door and pressed the button to be buzzed in. They were still making goo-goo eyes at each other and laughing at each other’s flirting as they reached Clark and Lois’s apartment door.
Before Jonathan could find Lois’s house key, the door swung open to reveal Clark in jeans and pullover shirt. Martha started to make a joke about his wardrobe, but a glance at his expression stopped her cold.
“Mom, Dad, come in, please. There’s someone I want you to meet.”
They followed him into the living room, where an uncomfortable young woman sat on the couch. She was wearing one of Clark’s old Kansas State sweatsuits. Her sandy blonde hair was pulled back into a short ponytail and her feet were bare. Martha wasn’t sure, but she thought the woman’s eyes were light gray.
Clark stood beside the woman and turned to his astonished parents. “Mom, Dad, I want you to meet Robin McGyver.”
Martha recovered first. “Ah, hello, Robin. I’m Martha Kent.” She elbowed her husband.
“Uh! Yes, I’m Jonathan, Clark’s father. We’re pleased to meet you.”
She glanced briefly at both of them. “Yeah. Me too.”
Martha thought she detected a hint of an Appalachian accent. She sat down next to Robin, who leaned away slightly.
“It’s all right, Robin, I’m not going to hurt you.”
Robin snorted and looked at Clark. He sighed deeply and said, “Mom, you couldn’t hurt her if you wanted to. Robin is from Krypton.”
*****
Lois limped to her front door and missed the doorknob on the first try when her ankle twinged and she jerked as she tried to maintain her balance. It was one more straw of irritation on the mountain of frustration and annoyance and exasperation and emotional stress she’d endured for the last few months. Her metaphorical camel – upon which was piled all that stress – was starting to give her dirty looks.
First it had been the baby in their library. The note had said the child was for them, but the real parents had come calling before very long and she’d had to give the baby back. That had been almost two months ago, but there were times she could still hear that child’s happy gurgle. She’d hated giving up the gurgle, the diapers, the night feedings, all of it. She’d hated giving that baby back.
No. Clark had forced her to give the baby back. She hadn’t wanted to. In fact, handing that darling little infant to a pair of near strangers had almost torn her apart. She’d never given much thought to being a mother until Clark had burrowed his way into her heart and her life, and from then on she’d been alternately terrified by the prospect of motherhood and utterly consumed by longing for their child. Clark’s well-intentioned ‘family of two’ speech, meant both to placate and to comfort her, hadn’t quite done the job this time.
She knew her precarious emotional condition was partly the cause of the rift between them, but she felt that Clark was partly responsible also. He hadn’t tried to understand the depth of her loss and her pain. He’d tried to romance her out of her mood, as if all she needed was a super night or two with him to ‘get over it,’ and she’d reacted with either depression or anger.
She felt like he hadn’t listened to her, hadn’t tried to understand her feelings, so she’d stopped talking to him about them. As a result, Clark had tried to pry her open and had switched to being overly nice and helpful, but he’d received only sharp words and sharper looks for his efforts. So he’d almost stopped talking to her at all. She was so glad that Martha and Jonathan were coming to visit. She could barely wait to get alone with Martha and talk to her. Maybe her mother-in-law could help her bridge the chasm that had developed between her and Clark.
Her own mother was less than no help. Lois had tried to discuss her feelings with her a few weeks earlier, but she’d only gotten an earful of bad memories and unfiltered bitterness from Ellen Lane. Daddy, apparently, had done something else to make his estranged wife angry with him, and despite the torrent of invective from Ellen, Lois never did quite figure out what he’d done to set her off this time.
Lucy had tried to help, but all of her long-distance advice was tempered not only by her being in training as a Forest Service Ranger in Yellowstone National Park, but by the fact that she didn’t know the whole story, and that Lois couldn’t tell her. More than once Lois had been tempted to blurt out The Secret, to let her sister in on the conspiracy of silence to keep Superman’s other identity from the world stage.
She’d always resisted, of course. Lucy had known each time that Lois had been holding something back, but she’d never pried. Lucy apparently knew that Lois would tell her if and when she could. And while the conversations with her sister helped, Lois never got all that she needed from her. Try as she might, Lucy couldn’t help Lois bridge the gap that had grown between the newlyweds.
The crux of it was that Lois didn’t feel needed, not at the Daily Planet or in her own home. Oh, she knew she was valuable, that the paper would suffer if she were to leave for some reason, but she also knew that the Planet would continue. She knew that, despite her strong relationship with the editor and the owner, they wouldn’t hang their heads and mope for the rest of their lives if she quit.
And Clark didn’t have to have her there. He loved her, he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, but if she wasn’t around there were dozens of women who’d kill for the chance to take her place. And there always would be such women. Her husband would never have to be alone, either as Clark or as Superman.
Her thoughts left her almost desolate as she leaned against the door jamb.
She hadn’t gotten the whole story of the crash at the airport, either. The chance to cover breaking news was a double-edged sword for her. On one hand, big stories which would put her name on the front page again didn’t happen every day. But on the other hand, she really, really wanted to talk to Martha, and covering this story would delay that opportunity. On top of that, she’d slipped down a flight of steps and landed awkwardly on her left foot. Her ankle wasn’t broken, but she’d almost certainly suffered a mild sprain. She knew Clark could help her feel better, but she wasn’t yet comfortable touching him or letting him touch her, as the incident at the baggage claim had showed.
She was surprised to realize, as she thought about it, that Clark had flinched from touching her, too. The knowledge twisted her heart. She’d made Clark uncomfortable about touching her! That was something she’d never thought would happen. Well, that had to change, and as soon as possible. She needed Clark in her life.
But did he really need her?
Lois believed that Clark loved her. She had no doubts on that score. He’d resisted numerous women, blonde or some other temperament, and countless hordes of grasping groupies, just to wait for her. Clark loved her. He wouldn’t leave her, not ever.
But did he actually, truly need her? After all, he was Superman, too. He was exceptionally successful as a superhero, he’d been a successful journalist even before he’d joined the Planet, he’d been offered loads of other jobs for more money and more fame, all of which he’d turned down, but Lois had begun to think that he could have and would have done all those things and more even if she hadn’t been around. The alternate universe Clark whom she’d helped start down the path to being Superman had needed her to push him, but H. G. Wells had made it clear that he hadn’t needed her to hang around with him. Even when he’d subbed for Clark when Tempus had trapped her husband in the time window, the alt-Clark had left with hope that he’d find his Lois.
That Clark had surely needed his Lois.
She wasn’t as sure about her Clark needing her. Loving her, yes. Faithful to her, yes. Solid and dependable, absolutely yes.
But did he need her? Did he need her more than he needed a sky to fly through or an injustice to rectify or a safe place to call home?
She just didn’t know.
She finally grasped the doorknob and pushed the door open, leaning on the knob to support her ankle. She was home, the place where she was safe and secure and loved.
Being loved would have to do for now.
She looked around at the front room, smiling to herself, taking in the fireplace, the bookshelf that hid Clark’s extra super-suits, the entertainment center, the sofa, the television, the blonde in the bathrobe –
The blonde in the bathrobe?
The tall young woman was walking out of the master bedroom, toweling her hair, wearing Lois’s favorite bathrobe. The woman did a classic double-take as she noticed Lois standing in the doorway.
All kinds of emotions suddenly battled for prominence in Lois’s mind. She was astounded, furious, petrified, shocked, stunned, amazed, scared, jealous –
And then the blonde opened her mouth. “Hey, Clark, Ah think Lois done got home.”
