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Columnist
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Columnist
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Wendy, great, satisfying ending. Tank threw up a well-set up challenge with an interesting premise that you ended with your usual flare. Great read.
I'm ready for the next Wendy and Tank challenge.
gerry
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Kerth
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Kerth
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"Practice up your shielding spells...and remember to duck if you see green light coming your way." Harry Potter to Wizengamot in OotP trial A Bad Week in the Wizengamot
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Freelance Reporter
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Freelance Reporter
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 Fun! Thank you Tank and Wendy for a delightful short story. LaurieD
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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I've loved this challenge, from Tank's set up, to Wendy's response. Just didn't have the time to write down some comment. “Lois, you can come back!” he began, again trying to tell her the truth. “If the only problem is people associating you with Superman, that’s a no -”
“I love you,” she said hesitantly, quietly.
“ - brainer! I’m Superman, Lois... What did you say?”
“I love - ” She broke off abruptly. “Did you say that you’re *Superman*?” I love that part!  It's so sweet and confusing. And they managed to get over their problems very soon. Glad love conquers a lot. I think we’re wasting valuable smooching time here.”   Perfect ending, and a very clever solution to Tank's mess, Wendy. Not get the next challenge out.  Saskia
I tawt I taw a puddy cat!
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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You had me nearly yelling at my screen again...
Classic Clark Lunkheadedness combined with Mad Dog Lane stubborness...
Nice way to save Clark. For a moment I thought you were going to pull out H.G. Wells, but I'm glad you didn't.
Good story as always...
James
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Wonderful ending Wendy!!!
I, too, loved the cross revelation -- so beautifully done. I also liked the way you brought the title back into the story. It is always difficult to weigh the needs of the many against the needs of the few and you and Tank dealt with the conundrum nicely.
Barb.
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Well done, Wendy!!  Good explanation of Clark's reappearance. And, of course, they're together... yay!!! It's wonderful. More T&W challenges soon, please!!!! AnnaBtG. P.S.: “I think we’re wasting valuable smooching time here.” Reminds me of something I read on the other boards... go here to see it ...makes me wonder if Cindy has read this story 
What we've got here is failure to communicate...
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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 Wendy, I hope that you are going to return the favor to Tank...  James
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Merriwether
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Merriwether
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All  Wendy! <happy sigh>
Do you know the most surprising thing about divorce? It doesn't actually kill you, like a bullet to the heart or a head-on car wreck. It should. When someone you've promised to cherish till death do you part says, "I never loved you," it should kill you instantly.
- Under the Tuscan Sun
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Hi, Great part.  “Yes,” he said simply. “Lois, think about it. I’m the real person here. Superman’s just a disguise. You were crazy about Superman - and you ignored me. I was just the schmuck you were partnered with. Can you imagine how that made me feel? The man didn’t interest you; all you seemed to want was the flashy suit and the powers. Is it any wonder that I was jealous? That I didn’t want to tell you who I was?” Its not fair that Lois is carring all the guilt, when he was the one that promote Lois to keep up the fantasy. The jerk deserve a little more suffering.  MAF
Maria D. Ferdez.
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Don't like Luthor, unfinished, untitled and crossover story, and people that promises and don't deliver. I'm getting choosy with age.
MAF
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Merriwether
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Merriwether
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Well, I guess it was an okay solution, but not what I would have done. Who am I kidding? This is exactly why I wrote this premise as a set-up rather than just write it up as a short of my own. I knew that Wendy would be able to handle it just the way the gentle readers would want to see done. If we wish to call this a Wendy and Tank challenge fic it means that we will have done twenty of them! Surely the gentle readers must be very sick of them by now. Actually, if Wendy is ever pre-disposed to 'get her revenge' she knows that she'll have to wait a while until this broken down old man is back in condition to attempt such a thing. My nerve problem is getting a bit better but it's still going to take me about twenty minutes total to complete typing this comment thread given all the times I have to stop and rest. So, all I have to say is... well done, partner. Tank (who is finally feeling better after that bout of heat exhaustion that knocked him out over the weekend)
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Features Writer
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Features Writer
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Very nicely done, Wendy. I loved the moment where they first saw each other and fell into each other's arms... She cried out his name, then threw herself into his arms, sobbing with relief. Her crutches clattered to the floor as he enfolded her into his embrace, murmuring her name, holding her close to him. The rest of the newsroom, the people moving around, the noise of phones ringing, keyboards clattering and voices raised, faded into the distance, until all she could see, all she could hear, all she could *feel* was Clark. And thank you for leading them to the privacy of Perry’s office. *Much* better choice than the conference room, since there is indeed a couch in Perry’s office. Kaethel mentioned that the blinking arrows were a new feature - I don't see them on the graemlins list , but fortunately I have made a note of their location, just in case I have need of it in the future. However, I see that you pointed them in the right direction without any assistance from me whatsoever... And what a wonderful reunion scene it was. It had everything: the revelation, love declarations, anger, L&C realizing what the other has been feeling all this time, you name it...and this... “Oh, god, Lois...” He lowered his forehead until it was touching hers. “Lois, I love you. Please, come home to me? Don’t go away again.”
A rueful laugh escaped her. “If Perry will give me my job back... And if he won’t, I’ll just work as a freelance. Clark, I love you so much - I couldn’t bear to lose you again!”
“You won’t,” he promised her, love blazing from his gaze.
And then he kissed her. Very happy sigh. Everything has turned out very nicely, thanks very much. Tank commented: If we wish to call this a Wendy and Tank challenge fic it means that we will have done twenty of them! Surely the gentle readers must be very sick of them by now. Not a chance! Once you're healthy again, Tank, and if Wendy is inspired, we'll all be ready... KathyM
"Our thoughts form the universe. They always matter." - Babylon 5
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Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
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I love Tank and Wendy challenges and I love this one!
More please...twenty isn't nearly enough!
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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I loved this bit.
“Lois, you can come back!” he began, again trying to tell her the truth. “If the only problem is people associating you with Superman, that’s a no -”
“I love you,” she said hesitantly, quietly.
“ - brainer! I’m Superman, Lois... What did you say?”
“I love - ” She broke off abruptly. “Did you say that you’re *Superman*?”
that was one heck of a revelation, very funny. What a great job you did guys, I hope you will do another story together soon. Laura
Clark: “If we can be born in an instant, and die in an instant, why can’t we fall in love in an instant?”
Caroline's "Stardust"
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
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Wendy A wonderful ending! Tricia
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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Several readers have already quoted my favourite part (the double revelation [g]), though I can find plenty of other things that I loved in this last section. There was Lois's realisation that she didn't make it easy for Clark to say who he was, Clark's admission that it was torture for him to have driven her away because of his powers and the danger they represented. Lovely, lovely and insightful last part. Tank was right, Wendy: that fantastic premise of his was just made for you, and you managed to keep it unpredictable by not making Clark's "resurrection" the main feature, and focusing on the feelings involved in Lois's decision to leave Metropolis instead.  And then he kissed her.
******** Let's take this apart and analyse it, shall we? Right, okay so we have this first: No problem whatsoever. Works fine with me. Follows logically from the previous sentence. Excellent! Looks like the blinking arrows worked at last!! Still, all jokes aside I enjoyed this very much, and I'm looking forward to your revenge on Tank. Make sure Lois gets invulnerable hair or something, btw. Kaethel
- I'm your partner. I'm your friend.
- Is that what we are?
- Oh, you know what? I don't know what we are. We kiss and then we never talk about it. We nearly die frozen in each other's arms, but we never talk about it, so no, I got no clue what we are.
~ Rick Castle and Kate Beckett ~ Knockout ~
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Merriwether
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Merriwether
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/me contemplates reminding Kaethel that Lois is missing teeth, and her mouth and ribs (and heaven only knows what else) are not quite in top form, so maybe it's better than Wendy didn't get too specific /me decides not to -- she likes HER teeth!
Do you know the most surprising thing about divorce? It doesn't actually kill you, like a bullet to the heart or a head-on car wreck. It should. When someone you've promised to cherish till death do you part says, "I never loved you," it should kill you instantly.
- Under the Tuscan Sun
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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Great conclusion, Wendy! As mentioned above, I like that you made Clark's return to life very low key. It's about on par with all his other lame excuses, so I figure Perry and company would buy that one, too. One note about timing, though this is a very small nitpick. Having experienced a lot of west coast to east coast travel, it's really hard to see Lois reaching the Daily Planet before evening, perhaps 8PM. Not impossible, but not likely. I'm not sure why Lois would have expected anyone to still be at work from the normal day shift. I guess she could have taken a red-eye, I suppose. He turned his head in the direction of the elevator, and saw her.
Lois.
He shook his head frustratedly. He really was in a bad way! Missing her so much that he imagined he was seeing her. I like this. It parallels what Lois experienced in "Lord of the Flys" when she kept thinking she was seeing Clark everywhere. And this was something he hadn’t thought about. Lois lived in LA now, and Superman wasn’t within reach. So who would rescue her when she got into danger? Who would protect her when she took the crazy risks which he was sure had already taken at least a dozen years off his life? Makes a lot of sense. LA's a tough place. lol at the dozen years off his life. What about hers? “Here.” He held the paper out to her. “This should explain it.” I'm glad you had Clark explain his "resurrection" by pointing to a newspaper rather than by lying to her outright. It would have made his telling her about his Superman identity much more awkward. “Lois, you can come back!” he began, again trying to tell her the truth. “If the only problem is people associating you with Superman, that’s a no -”
“I love you,” she said hesitantly, quietly.
“ - brainer! I’m Superman, Lois... What did you say?”
“I love - ” She broke off abruptly. “Did you say that you’re *Superman*?” Now this is a great way for the double revelation! By doing it simultaneously, Clark won't feel Lois loves him just for being Superman. Lois won't feel that Clark's telling her he's Superman just because he feels he's obligated to because she told him she loved him. Brava! A red mist began to appear before her eyes. Was that it? Had he not told her the truth so that he could get rid of the competition? I'm glad Lois didn't carry through with her typical fly-off-the-handle behavior and thought about it. If she had, this would have been much longer than 4 parts. Instead, she let Clark explain himself, and she realized that her own behavior contributed to his actions. And, she realised suddenly, if he had told her the truth six weeks ago and asked her to stay as Clark Kent’s girlfriend - the solution he’d offered her just a few minutes ago - he’d probably have come to resent her in time in the belief that it was Superman, not Clark, she really loved. I guess Martha wasn't as persuasive as I thought she was. He still believes Superman isn't real, while Clark Kent is the real him, even though he was going to LA to convince her to come back. “You did the right thing,” she told him suddenly. Wow. Very brave of her to say this. And probably very true, given that Clark wasn't convinced by Martha that the true Clark was a hybrid of his two identities. “You know,” Lois said sweetly, interrupting him once more, “I think we’re wasting valuable smooching time here.” Yay! "Smooching!" 
-- Roger
"The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself." -- Benjamin Franklin
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Features Writer
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Features Writer
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Wendy
Great ending
great challenge
keep these up Tank and Wendy
merry
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hmm... Tank left us pretty shocked with his two first parts, I must say. I mean, poor Lois: broken nose, missing teeth, three cracked ribs, bruises and abrasions on her arms and legs, and one long jagged wound on her thigh caused by a nail on the wooden pallets... What's even more shocking, though, is how you, Miss-I-can-turn-a-20-page-story-idea-into-a-200-one, managed to solve this in only two parts!
Such a little thing really, a kiss...most people don't give it a moment's consideration. They kiss on meeting, they kiss on parting, that simple touching of flesh is taken entirely for granted as a basic human right.
Susan Kay
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