Thanks to Beth, Carol, and Mark for all their help in making this fit for eyes other than my own.
From Chapter 24
Martha laughed lightly. “Oh, honey. You worry too much. Get changed.” She stood up and waited while Superman did his spin thing. “Come here,” she said, leading him back downstairs to the doorway of the living room.
She put a finger to her lips, indicating that he should be quiet and pointed inside. Lois and Clark were sitting close together on the couch, talking, and took no notice of the two people watching them.
Martha leaned over and whispered in a voice only Superman could hear, “Do you really think this Lois needs that? I think she's already far too attached to my son to not realize she would miss him if he left.”
Superman smiled. Martha was right. Maybe things were different enough in this world that the kiss was not needed after all.
Chapter 25
“Thank you, Lois,” Superman said as he dropped her off at her apartment.
Lois smiled, feeling herself flush slightly. Something was about to happen, she knew it. Instead of taking her home with Jimmy or Clark, he had taken Jimmy home first and then her. She guessed he was going to go back for Clark now, but he could wait another minute, right? Clark was their friend. He would understand.
“I'm glad it helped take your mind off things for a little while,” she said shyly.
Inwardly, Superman groaned. He had known taking her home alone was a bad idea. He had just been feeling so thankful for their doing this for him and he knew it was not nearly as fun to travel with him when he had a person in each arm. Plus, it had given Lois and Clark a few moments together while he had dropped off Jimmy.
He had thanked Jimmy as well and while the boy seemed a bit star-struck, that conversation had been easier than this one was turning out to be. Lois was not star-struck per se, but she seemed a bit… love-struck? And not in a good way. Well, not that there was any good way for her to be feeling about him that could qualify as love-struck. But not in a way that even made him feel all that good. On the other hand, it was a reminder, one he had to admit he needed every so often, that this was not his wife. Regardless of the resemblance, this woman was younger and still scared of a real commitment, and so was latching on to something that she saw as safe. The only difference between this time and the last time he had gone through this was that she was safe. He was off limits. Even as he found himself wanting to respond to her, she would slip into this role and he would remember – she was not his wife.
“Well, it did help me to do that, Lois. So thank you. Good night,” he said before he turned around and exited the window. Lois had looked disappointed that he had not continued their conversation, but this was the best way to deal with her, he was sure.
***********************
“This is a courtroom, not a circus tent. And this is a gavel. When I pound it, that's the international symbol for all of you to shut up. You got that?” Judge Diggs asked. The room got immediately silent.
Her features softened slightly as she turned to Superman. “Good afternoon, Superman. Is that your real name?”
“That's what people call me,” he said.
Sitting a few rows behind him, Clark could hear the slight catch in his voice when he said that. It was what people called him…, it was all that people ever called him. It must be so hard to be Superman all the time, almost never seen as a real person. That was why Superman liked going to see his parents. They saw him for who he really was – an older version of himself, their son.
Still, even they never called him Clark, but Superman never complained about it. He never really complained about anything. It was like this entire trip was not about him; it was only about the original inhabitants of this universe. At this point, though, Superman had been here for more than four months. This was not just a fast trip to help another Clark Kent. He was living here and Clark was not sure how much longer Superman would need to do that. He knew he was still not ready to don the suit. The thought of it made him break out in a sweat, the image of his father's prone body on the cot forefront in his mind.
Shaking his head slightly to bring his attention back to the trial, he decided that he was going to start calling Superman Clark when they were alone or with his family. It was a bad idea. He knew that. What if he slipped up in front of someone else? Still, he needed to do it. It was a very small way to say thank you for what Superman was doing for him.
As he tuned back into the trial, Clark stifled a groan. Superman had just volunteered to stop using his powers. Clark understood why he did it, but he could not help but be concerned. Would this be like last time? People would call for Superman and Clark would feel compelled to help? He was not sure he could handle it again. He imagined he would need to quell the desire to help anyway. Superman's giving up use of his super powers would not prove anything if Clark started being Superman right now. For now, Metropolis was on its own, he supposed.
***********************
Clark stood in the police station watching the officers try to pretend not to be awed by the presence of Superman. It had only taken a moment after the trial for Superman to use his powers to stop a prisoner from shooting a bunch of innocent bystanders – many of them kids. Judge Diggs had had Superman arrested immediately, and Clark had volunteered to go with him and cover the story for the Planet.
He would have liked to have had a chance to apologize to Superman for having to go through this again. It could not be any fun to be arrested. They had not had any time alone, though, not that Clark should have been surprised.
Besides, now that he saw them here, he realized, Superman was not really that upset. He had never seen Superman act like this when around other people before. He was being himself.
***********************
Lois sat in her seat in the courtroom feeling frustrated. What was Judge Diggs going to do this time? She had said she was a fan of Superman, but then she had him arrested and now she was trying him for contempt of court. He needed a lawyer to help him get out of this mess. Why was he insisting on representing himself?
“Perry, we've got to…”
“We're journalists. It's our job to remain objective,” Perry said, anticipating her words.
“Clark, tell him!” Lois demanded. She tried not to feel too annoyed when Clark shrugged.
“What on earth am I supposed to do with him?” Judge Diggs said when Superman floated above the floor to avoid getting hit by a cup of coffee, clearly to herself, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
Lois flashed a look at Clark. He had groaned when Superman moved out of the way. Okay, maybe Clark was a bit concerned for their friend.
“Your honor,” Perry started, standing up. “Perry White of the Daily Planet. The Planet will vouch for Superman.”
Lois smiled. Perry claimed to be nothing but an objective newspaper man, but he had a heart of mush.
***********************
“Clark, open up. It's me!” Lois called from the other side of his front door. Clark smiled. She had a bag of groceries with her. Was she really going to offer to cook Superman dinner?
Clark turned to give Superman a grin as he went over to the door. “Good evening, Lois. What can we do for you?”
“I came to cook for you,” she said, her bag of groceries balanced on her hip.
Clark reached out and took them from her. “Jimmy made it sound like you don't cook.”
“I don't,” Lois admitted sheepishly. “But I make a mean pasta salad.”
Clark smiled. “Why don't I make us something to go with that?” he asked her, moving to start taking things out of the refrigerator.
“How are you, Superman?” Lois asked.
“Okay,” he said. “Thanks for suggesting I stay with Clark tonight when Perry was trying to find someplace to keep me.”
Lois shrugged. “I figured you'd want to be at home.”
“Yes, well, I appreciate that you didn't give away the fact that that was where I was going.”
Lois smiled. “No problem.”
“Why don't you go help Clark make dinner?” Superman suggested.
“Oh, I'm sure he's fine. I came to talk to you,” Lois said. Why was he trying to push her away?
“Thanks, Lois,” Superman said, wishing he knew the best way to direct her attentions to Clark. Not that he had been good at that last time around, either.
“Well, maybe we could both help him then?” Superman suggested.
Lois tried to cover her disappointment with a smile. “Sure. Good idea,” she said, but everyone in the apartment could hear her true feelings.
“Need any help, Clark?” she asked as she and Superman headed back towards the kitchen.
“No,” Clark said, and Lois felt guilty when she could hear the slight undertone of unhappiness in his voice. Surely he understood – they were friends, sure, but it was not the same as with Superman. Clark had to understand that.
“It smells great, Clark,” Superman said.
Lois wondered if he had an enhanced sense of smell, too. Then she realized that she could smell it, too. “What is it?” she asked Clark.
“It's halibut,” Clark said and again Lois could hear the sadness in his voice. “I spent some time living in Paris and someone there gave me some great cooking tips that I've used ever since.”
“Like what?” Superman asked, his eyes wide. Clark had lived in Paris. Superman had always stuck to small cities during his travels. Well, until Metropolis. He was beginning to suspect more and more that there were differences between them that Herb had not told him about.
Clark smiled, remembering the “cooking lesson”.
“No, Clark!” Severine whined. “You need to fillet the halibut first!” she insisted.
Clark smiled. “Your mother said you weren't a picky eater,” he said.
“I'm not!” Severine insisted, standing up as straight as she could. Clark tried to hide a small smile. At just under three and a half feet tall, Severine had no hope of looking menacing. “That doesn't mean I don't want things done right!” the six year old said.
Clark started to pat her on the head, but then decided that she may take that as patronizing right now. “Of course. What should I do after I fillet the fish?” he asked as he reached for the filleting knife.
“You need to put lemon and herbs on it,” Severine instructed.
Clark opened up the cabinet over his head to look for the spices. “Where are the spices?” he asked her.
Severine gave an adorable little sigh. “They're in the refrigerator. We don't use dried herbs. They don't taste as good!”
“Just to always use fresh herbs,” Clark said, getting back to Superman's question on the tips he had learned. He could feel his mood dampen and felt no desire to talk about his time in Paris. He had had to leave after he saved Severine from a car accident by tearing a door off the car she was in.
***********************
“What do you think is going to happen to him?” Lois asked Clark on the way to the train station.
“I don't know,” Clark said sadly. “But he couldn't not go. They said there were three hundred people on that run away train.”
“I know,” Lois said. “But that doesn't change the fact that he violated the injunction for the second time. Judge Diggs is going to have to do something.”
Clark nodded, keeping his thoughts to himself. If he was Superman, he would leave Metropolis. That could not be what Superman did, though. It was pretty clear he still lived there.
***********************
He had done it. Superman had agreed to leave Metropolis. Clark did not understand. The only thing that made sense was that it was not Superman's fault and eventually someone, Lois probably, figured it out and Superman was able to come back.
For now, though, he had agreed to leave.
“You can't leave!” Clark watched his partner accost Superman as he stepped away from the press conference.
“I'm sorry, Lois,” Superman said and Clark could hear that he meant it.
“Superman, we need you here,” Lois said, nearly pleading.
“Lois,” the superhero started, his hand moving up and towards Lois' cheek. At the last minute, though, he looked up and saw Clark's face, and his hand dropped.
“I appreciate your support,” he said to Lois, his voice soft but firm. “But I need to leave. I'm sorry.”
***********************
“So, now what?” Jimmy asked Lois and Clark as they sat in the nearly empty newsroom.
“We can't let him leave,” Lois said.
“I think we need to, Lois,” Clark said.
“Clark!” Lois sounded annoyed at him again.
“But I also think we can help him to come back,” Clark said with a pointed look at her. “We just need to figure out what is really causing the heat wave.”
“Right,” Jimmy said smiling. “Let's get working on it.”
***********************
“Are you angry?” Martha asked.
“Angry?” Superman asked, looking startled.
“That we showed up like this. We know we're not your parents, Superman,” Jonathan said. “But we thought you could use someone who cares about you right now.”
“And we do,” Martha added.
Superman felt his eyes tear up. This had not been any easier this time than last time around, but he had thought he would be going through it alone. He wasn't though. Lois and Jimmy had tried to cheer him up with the trip to Smallville, Clark had told him that afternoon that he was gong to start calling him Clark, and now the Kents were here to support him.
“I'm so glad you're here,” he told them honestly.
“So you'll come home with us?” Martha asked.
Superman nodded, feeling more at home here than he ever had before.
***********************
“Clark, open up. It's me,” Lois called from the other side of the door.
Clark opened the door a minute later, looking depressed.
“Sorry, Lois. He already left,” he eyed the grocery bag in her hand. “More pasta salad?”
“No,” Lois said. “I wanted to see what you could do with sirloin. I'm hoping it's as good as your halibut.”
“You what?” Clark asked, confused.
“I didn't come to see Superman, Clark. I know he already left. But I thought that you might want a friend the night your roommate moved out.”
Clark grinned, “So you decided to get me to make you dinner?”
Lois laughed, “Pretty much.” She pushed past him to put her bag on the counter. “So, what are you going to do?”
Clark looked at the meat and placed it on the counter before checking the contents of his refrigerator. “How about beef tataki?”
“What?” Lois asked. “That doesn't sound French.”
“It's not,” Clark confirmed. “It's Japanese. Very rare beef in a citrus sauce. They serve the beef seared, but still raw inside, but since we don't really know if this meat is safe that way, I think I'll cook it a bit more.”
Lois took a seat at the table as she watched Clark pull things out of the refrigerator. “So, how many countries have you been to?”
Clark shrugged. “I moved around a lot after college,” he said. “I'm not sure how many places I've been.”
“Why'd you move around so much?” Lois asked as she got up to reach for a knife. She took the cucumber from Clark and placed it on the cutting board. “Slices?”
“Julienned,” he told her. At her quizzical look, Clark explained, “Cut into thin strips, like match sticks.”
Lois nodded as she began to chop the cucumber.
“I guess,” Clark said as he measured ingredients into a bowl, “I never found someplace that felt like home.”
“And here?” Lois asked, looking up at him.
Clark smiled. “I think this is home.”
Lois smiled at him, knowing in that moment that that was the answer she had been hoping for.
***********************
“Clark, Lois!” Jimmy called as he came down the steps into Clark's apartment. “Look – you were right. Superman isn't causing the heat wave. Polonium is.”
“Polonium?” Lois asked.
“Bismuth exposed to radiation,” Clark said, looking at Jimmy with wide eyes. “Like radiation from a nuclear power plant?”
Jimmy smiled. “Exactly. You were right, CK. It's coming from Lex Luthor's power plant.”
