WOOHOO! THIS IS IT!!!!
The final chapter in the saga that is Learning to Love. Okay, so it's not anything really *new* since it's a companion piece but hey... that's alright
. It's done! And I'm very, very happy about that!
Thanks to those of you who have stuck with this through both fics - or even just one. If I had known what it would turn into, I probably wouldn't have started.
But now... I get to move on! I'll spend the weekend editing the first week's worth of and then [hopefully] posting 'On The Other Hand' which I am very excited about, so look for it coming soon on a message board near you
.
Thanks - as ever - to my fabulous betas: Alisha, Beth and Nancy who stuck through this whole thing [right down to this afternoon's edit to this part
] and CarolynK who worked through the first part of it
.
And now, the finale of Learning to Love: Lucy's Story...
*****
Chapter 19
*****
October 1990
*****
Lucy nudged the air mattress up against the wall and flipped a blanket over the top of it. Abbie and Jon were downstairs in their bouncy seats while she made up the bed in the nursery.
Perry and Alice were taking the bed in the room she and Jimmy had occupied for several weeks after the kidnapping. Lois and Clark had moved back to Metropolis a couple of weeks earlier, but they all had come to Smallville for the Corn Festival.
In an hour they were leaving for the dance contest. Lois and Clark weren't planning on participating this year, but Perry and Alice were. She and Jimmy were discussing it, but neither were very good line dancers.
Before long, they were seated at one of the tables near the dance floor watching as Perry and Alice stomped and twirled their way to second place. The two collapsed into their chairs with their trophy.
"That was great!" Clark exclaimed. "I had no idea you two could dance like that."
Perry laughed. "We can do a lot of things you kids don't know about. You didn't think you guys invented dancing, did you?"
"Well, no," Clark admitted. "But it's a side of you we'd never seen."
The six of them laughed and talked for a while longer before heading back to the farm. The next day was spent doing carnival type things. Both Jimmy and Clark tried to ring the bell and the strength challenge, but they were all laughing too hard after Alice pointed out Superman at the top.
That night was the dance. Lois wore the burgundy dress she'd bought the year before and Lucy had found one in hunter green. Laura Lang watched the babies for a while so Lois and Lucy could dance with their husbands.
Sleeping on the air mattress wasn't exactly Lucy's preference, but that was how it went sometimes. And since they were sharing the room with Abbie... Well, technically, they shared their room with their daughter at home, too, but that was different somehow and they'd kept their hands – mostly – to themselves while in Smallville.
Sunday dawned bright and clear. Jon had been up much of the night and decided to sleep for a while with her son. The Whites and Olsens headed into Smallville with Clark following by air as there wasn't enough room for them all in one vehicle and to take both would leave Lois without transportation.
After several hours of soaking up Smallville hospitality, they decided to head back to the farm for some rest before the big fireworks finale that evening.
Clark was going to fly back to meet them, but they saw him talking to Sheriff Rachel Harris as they drove off. A minute later they heard a sonic boom.
"Well, that was odd," Perry said as he drove.
Jimmy shrugged. "Maybe he heard about a mudslide or something."
"Probably."
Fifteen minutes later, they pulled around the farmhouse to park under the tree behind the house to be greeted by army Jeeps and men with guns.
Perry threw the car into reverse only to find himself blocked in by more men with guns. "Great Shades of Elvis," he muttered.
Lucy and Alice stared at each other in the back seat.
One of the men tapped on the glass with the muzzle of his gun. "Everyone out."
"I don't think they're playing around," Perry said grimly. "I think our best option is probably to go along until help arrives."
Lucy thought that this was probably where Clark was headed, but kept her opinion to herself. Leaving Abbie in her car seat, she unbuckled the carrier from the seat.
"Take the baby out of the seat," the man ordered.
Lucy hesitated, looking at Perry for guidance. He nodded, so she carefully unbuckled her small daughter and held her tightly as she climbed out of the car. Somehow, Jimmy and Perry managed to get her and Alice in between them, attempting to stay between Alice, Lucy and Abbie and the gunmen.
Three minutes later, they were in the barn under the watchful eye of two other men with semi-automatic weapons. Lucy wasn't familiar enough with guns to know what kind.
A third man poked his head in through the door. "They're bringing them out. Luthor has the kid."
Lucy was the first one to grasp the significance of the statement. "No," she whispered.
"Superman will be here," Jimmy reassured her, pulling her behind him.
"Oh, I hope so," one of the men said. "Trask has a plan for him."
"Trask," Perry whispered. "The nutcase from Metropolis." He turned to the man. "Let us go," he bellowed, motioning with one hand for Lucy and Alice to take Abbie into one of the empty stalls.
The two women moved quietly as their husbands distracted the gunmen with raised voices. Their retreat was noticed a moment later they were all forced back out the door.
Luthor and a man with a goatee – Perry quietly identified him as Nigel St. John – were standing nearby; Jon in Luthor's arm and a gun in his other hand. St. John held a struggling Lois by the upper arms.
They all gasped as they saw Clark being dragged across the yard. He was cut and bloody, something they hadn't believed possible.
"Where is Superman?" they heard Trask ask. "Tell me or I kill your wife and friends and your son. One by one. While you watch."
Perry and Jimmy again situated themselves between Lucy holding Abbie and Alice standing in front of her.
"You wouldn't," they heard Clark whisper.
They watched as Trask grabbed Clark's hair and forced him to look him in the eyes. "Yes, I would. Where's the alien?"
The four of them gasped as Clark groaned. "I'm right here."
They saw Trask laugh. "You? You're Superman? You can't even hold your head up."
They watched as Clark struggled to push himself up and look at Trask. "I *am* Superman."
The army man laughed again. "Go get the box. If Clark Kent really is the alien, it should affect him."
A man brushed past them with a silver case in his hand. "Here it is, sir."
"Open it," Trask ordered.
"Yes, sir." The man who had first told them to get out of the car did as he was told.
They saw a green glow and heard Clark groan and collapse at almost the same moment.
"*Clark!*" Lois screamed from the other side of the barnyard. "*No!*"
Tears flowed down Lucy and Alice's cheeks. What was happening?
Trask turned to Lois. "I'm sure you're wondering what that is and why it affects that alien you keep protecting." She nodded weakly.
"It's a piece of the planet he's from – a meteorite. Some have called it Kryptonite since it's from the planet Krypton. Our research shows it is likely to harm the alien and perhaps even kill it," Trask told her.
Perry whispered to Jimmy. "We have to get it away from him."
Jimmy nodded. "How?"
Trask snapped the box shut with his foot and Lois lunged for it. Nigel pulled her backwards and the two tumbled into the lake.
Lucy saw Lois emerge from under the water as Trask kicked Clark repeatedly in the gut. Trask opened the box and pulled the rock out for a minute, holding it close enough to Clark for him to start screaming. He put it back in the box as Luthor started yelling at him. He left the box open and moved it far enough away that Clark couldn't reach it. Nigel was nowhere to be seen.
Lucy looked towards the road where she could hear the sound of sirens.
They could hear the two men arguing. "We cannot allow either of them to live," Trask told Luthor.
"Yes, we can," Luthor said back. "I will not allow you to kill the child that could be my son."
"We don't know if it is your son. If it is the offspring of the alien, it must be eliminated."
"No. If this is my child, I will not allow him to be raised by someone else and I will not allow you to kill him while paternity is in question. I've financed your operations for the last several months and you will do as I say."
Trask took a step closer and looked at him with the most menacing look Lucy had ever seen. "I do not answer to you. A DNA test will be done and if it's not your child, then it will be eliminated."
A small, diabolical smile crossed Luthor's face. "I will take the child with me until such tests can be completed."
"No. We will take it into custody."
"I do not trust you."
"I don't trust you."
"If this is the child of the alien, then we can raise him to be *our* Superman – one who answers to our commands and does what *we* want."
"No. A half-breed alien must be killed."
Lucy eased back towards the barn as Jimmy moved towards Clark. When Trask seemed to be the most distracted by his conversation with Luthor, Jimmy lunged towards the silver case and snapped it shut. He grabbed it and ran out of the farm yard. She could see Clark's eyes close briefly and his face relax in immediate relief as Jimmy took off with the case.
Most of the other men had jumped into Jeeps and taken off at the first sound of sirens coming from the direction of town.
Clark managed to pull himself up and tackled Trask in the small of his back. The sound of a shot ringing out caused her to freeze. Luthor disappeared into the pond, taking Jon with him. Lucy handed her baby to Alice and headed towards the pond but stopped when Lois swam quickly that direction and Clark somehow managed to dive into the water himself.
Lois got to her son and Clark placed himself between her and Trask.
Trask had managed to stand up while Alice to Abbie into the relative safety of the barn. "Out of the pond," he hissed, pointing his gun the direction of the Kent family.
"No," Lucy heard Clark say as his arms reached back to pull Lois and Jon closer to him.
Perry and Lucy continued to edge towards Trask as his attention was turned towards the pond.
Jimmy came back from wherever he'd been and tackled Trask from behind when he was distracted by the sound of tires coming up the drive. They fought and Lucy screamed as Trask finally managed to stand over Jimmy, pointing his gun down at her husband.
A shot rang out and Lucy screamed again until she saw Trask fall backwards into the pond.
Lucy ran towards Jimmy but was stopped by Lois' screams.
"*Clark!*" Lois grabbed at him with one hand as he leaned slightly. "Perry! Help! Clark's been shot!"
Jimmy scrambled to his feet and ran towards the pond, Perry hot on his heels. They positioned themselves on either side of Clark and helped him out of the pond. Lucy was right behind them and wrapped an arm around Lois as they struggled towards shore.
Cars poured into the farm yard. Minutes later, Pete, one of Clark's friends from high school they'd been introduced to that weekend, was at his side but Clark brushed him off, telling him to check Jon out first. A few minutes later, Jon was pronounced fine and Pete turned to bandage Clark's arm. Grateful it was a through and through, Lucy sagged against Jimmy, who held her tightly. Perry had headed towards the barn to tell Alice it was all clear.
Lois' legs buckled underneath her as Pete worked on Clark. Lucy was at her side helping her sit on the edge of the ambulance. Lucy took Jon from her, while Jimmy sat next to her for a few minutes.
Jimmy moved as Clark, with a fresh, white bandage on his left bicep, sat next to Lois. He wrapped his arm around Lois as Jimmy took Abbie from Alice and wrapped an arm around his own wife. "It's over," Clark whispered.
"Are you sure?" Lois asked as tears finally flowed down her cheeks.
Clark nodded. "They're both dead. So is Nigel."
"Are you really sure?" Lois asked him.
"Yes. Luthor hasn't come out of the water yet..." All six watched as bodies were pulled out of the pond. "...and Trask... Rachel got him right through the heart."
With that, Lois slumped onto Clark, unconsciousness overtaking her.
"*Pete*!" Clark yelled and his friend turned from where he was looking over the three bodies.
He ran to Clark's side and helped move Lois onto a gurney. Pete checked her vitals as Lucy slumped against Jimmy, tears flowing down her cheeks.
Alice came up and took Jon from her and she turned in Jimmy's arms crying on his shoulder. Perry wrapped his arms around Alice and kissed her hair as she held Jon.
A few minutes later, Pete turned to Jimmy. "Can you carry her upstairs?"
Jimmy nodded. "Is she okay?"
"Yes. It's just the stress of the day – exhaustion for lack of a better term. I'll give you a list of things to watch for, but she should be just fine."
Jimmy scooped Lois into his arms and headed for the house. Lucy hurried after him, setting Abbie in the bassinet in the living room and ran up the stairs ahead of him, turning down the sheets on the bed in the room Lois and Clark shared. Jimmy gently put Lois on the bed and Lucy covered her with the camouflage blanket she loved.
They closed the door and headed back downstairs.
Clark had made it inside as the police covered the outside of the house. Perry and Alice were right behind him with Jon. Alice worked to make a bottle while Clark took Jon and sat in the chair, whispering to him the whole time. Lucy sat as close to Jimmy as she could, using a blanket to cover herself up as she nursed her daughter.
After after-action interviews with Rachel and the FBI officials who had shown up a few minutes later took most of the afternoon. Alice made sandwiches for dinner and it was still early when she and Perry headed for bed, worn out by the day's events.
"I think I'm going to head up, too," Lucy said a few minutes later. She hugged Clark tightly for a long time before she kissed Jimmy lightly and took a sleeping Abbie from his arms. She went upstairs and carefully laid her daughter in the crib, barely managing to change before collapsing on the air mattress.
Tears flowed as she huddled under the blanket, the events of the day overtaking her. It wasn't ten minutes later that Jimmy came in and shut the door quietly behind him. He quickly stripped down to his boxers and crawled in next to her.
She rolled and buried her head in his chest.
"Shhh, Babe. It's okay."
"I know," she whispered. "But we could have all been killed today, even Clark."
"He's fine. He told me. He doesn't have any powers but he thinks they'll be back soon."
"I'm so proud of you."
"Me? Why?"
"Remember a few months ago you were so upset because you couldn't save me and the baby?"
"Yeah."
"Today, you rescued all of us. Perry and I were both looking at Trask himself, but you went for the case. If you hadn't, Clark wouldn't have been able to move and tackle him. If you'd gone for Trask first, one of them would have gotten you before you could get them, but he was distracted enough that he didn't notice you taking the case." She kissed him softly. "You saved us all today by being smart." She kissed him again, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I love you and I want you to make love to me, Jimmy," she said quietly. "I know Abbie's right there, but she's asleep."
"Clark's going to bring Jon up when he goes down for the night. I told him we'd get up with him if we need to."
"He won't go down for the night for a couple more hours," she told him, pulling him to her. "I need you."
"I know, Babe. I need you, too." He kissed her softly. "Have I ever told you how glad I am you said yes to that football game?"
"Not recently."
"I am. So glad. So glad that you said yes then, that you said yes when I asked you to marry me, that you're my best friend, my soul mate, that we've learned to love each other."
She kissed him again. "Show me, Jim."
He rolled them so she was on her back and he was on his side next to her. "I'll spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you."
"I'll hold you to that."
"I hope you do." He brushed the hair off her face, bathed in the glow of the moonlight on a clear Kansas night. "I love you, Lucy Ellen Olsen. And I will for the rest of my life."
*****
FIN
