Thanks to Beth, Carol, and Mark for BRing!
From Chapter 32
He looked up from where he lay on the ground. The building next to him was tall, very tall. Where was he?
“You need help?” someone asked him. He looked up at the person speaking. They had been speaking… French? No, that was not right… German. His thoughts, though, were in English. So, he was far from home? On the other hand, he had understood the question. He spoke German. Maybe he was an American who was living in Germany? Or a Canadian, he supposed. Maybe even British or Australian, but he immediately rejected those. He seemed to think people in England and Australia spoke with an accent, and he did not think he would think that if he lived there.
“No,” he finally said to the man hovering above him. He was not at all sure who he was or what he was doing in Germany, but he would figure it out.
Chapter 33
When given the choice, Clark said he would rather not go home yet. He had looked guilty admitting that he did not remember his parents and Lois supposed that was why, although she worried it was going to hurt Martha and Jonathan's feelings. Lois waited until he was busy speaking to Dr. McCorkle to call his apartment. It was not going to be easy to make this call.
“Hello?” Martha said. Lois was glad Martha was the one who answered. She thought that Martha might be a bit more reasonable than Jonathan.
“Martha, it's Lois,” she said, feeling her heart rate pick up. “I'm with Clark.”
“You are?” she asked. She and Jonathan had tried to pretend that they were not worried about Clark, but Lois had her doubts about whether they were being sincere or not. The relief in Martha's voice made it clear that they had been just as worried as she was.
“He's at the police station.”
“The police station? Why? What happened?”
“We don't know. He doesn't remember anything,” Lois said.
Martha sighed, but overall seemed a lot less upset than Lois would have expected.
“Is he okay other than that?” she asked.
“Yes,” Lois confirmed. “The doctor said to surround him with familiar things for the next few days.”
“We'll come meet you,” she offered.
“No,” Lois said quickly. “We're about to leave. We're going to head to the newsroom first. I wanted to take him home, but I think Clark feels badly for not remembering you. I think he's hoping the newsroom will jog his memory so he'll remember you before he sees you.”
“Okay,” Martha said sounding disappointed. “Just let him know that we're happy he's okay, and we're not upset that he doesn't remember us.”
“I will.”
“And Lois?”
“Yeah?”
“Take care of him for us.”
“I will,” Lois said, hanging up the phone.
***********************
He wandered the streets aimlessly, not sure what he was looking for. Maybe something that looked familiar?
It was weird to wander around, though. People kept coming up to him and thanking him. He could not determine what they were thanking him for, though. Something to do with something called Nightfall?
Weirder yet, no one seemed to be reacting to his weird clothes. He was wearing a leotard in blue with red underwear – on the outside no less! The look was completed with a red and yellow shield on his chest and red boots. Apparently, the outfit was normal, though, as a couple of people had said something about it being too bad about his cape. While he would have thought the comments about the cape odd, the truth was that he could see a cape with this weird outfit. Actually, he wished he had one. He felt oddly naked without it.
The other thing that was useful was that he had finally figured out where he lived. Several people in Germany had asked when he was heading back to Metropolis. It was a little weird getting back there, though. He had gone to the airport to buy a ticket, only at the last minute realizing he did not have any money. It did not matter in the end, the airlines practically fought over giving him a free ticket. The woman who gave him the ticket he used said the strangest thing to him, though. Well, maybe not any stranger than anything else he had heard today, but strange. She had said something about choosing to fly like a normal person. How else would he fly?
Lastly, he had determined his name, although it was as weird as his clothes. Everyone, both in Germany, and then here in Metropolis, called him Superman.
He was starting to suspect that he had a very odd life. He just wished he knew more about it.
***********************
“Look familiar?” Lois asked Clark as he looked at his desk.
He shook his head. “No.” He sounded so discouraged Lois slipped her hand into his.
“It will be okay, Clark,” she said. “It will come back to you.”
“Thank you,” he said and Lois tried not to laugh at the sincerity in his voice. He had no memory of who he was, but he still was unerringly polite.
“You don't need to thank me, Clark,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze before releasing it. “We're friends.”
“I thought we were partners,” he said.
“We are. But we're also friends,” Lois said smiling at him. She did not think she had really realized how true that was until now.
“Are we… more than friends?” Clark asked, blushing furiously.
Lois wanted to laugh – it was so like Clark to blush at such a question. “No, Clark, we're just friends.”
“Okay,” he said, then looking at her again, he asked, “Are you married?”
“Why? Do you think that's the only reason we wouldn't be together?” Lois asked.
“No,” Clark blushed again. “I was just wondering.”
“No, I'm not married,” Lois said and for just a moment, her mind wandered.
“I'm sorry, Lois,” Chad said, his voice soft. “But it's only for a semester. Really. I'll be right behind you.”
“But it's not what we planned,” Lois said, tears streaming down her face.
“I know, baby. And I'm so sorry. You know that I want nothing more than to come with you.”
“I know,” Lois sniffled. “I know you have to do this.”
“I'll come home whenever I can,” he said, his voice soft, his hand grasping hers tightly. “And you can come visit. Grandma said it's okay.”
“Really?” Lois asked, her eyes looking particularly large while wet.
“Yeah, she said that as long as we don't sleep in the same room, she's okay with you coming for a visit. I mean, I know you'll be busy with classes and all, but you can visit during one of the breaks.”
Lois smiled weakly. “So, we'll see each other at least a few times.”
“Yes,” he said softly as he pulled her closer and held her tightly to him. “I'm going to miss you so much, Lois,” he whispered into her hair.
“Me too,” Lois whispered back.
Shaking her head to clear the thought, she reached into his desk and pulled out a pair of glasses. “These are yours,” she handed them to him.
Clark looked at her quizzically. “They are? I wear glasses?”
“Yeah.”
“Hmm.”
“What?” Lois asked as Clark moved his glasses around, looking at them from different angles as if he had never seen them before, although Lois supposed it might have felt that way to him.
“It's just that I can see fine.”
“Really?”
“Maybe they're for reading?” Clark asked.
Lois shrugged. “You wear them all the time. I thought you were blind without them.”
Clark put them on.
“Any difference?” Lois asked.
“No,” Clark said. He placed them down on his desk. “I'm not sure why I wear them… So,” Clark said, looking around the newsroom. We're reporters. And partners.”
Lois started to tell him that she was the senior partner - this Clark was infinitely more malleable than the one she dealt with every day - but then felt too guilty, so said nothing. “Yeah.”
“How long?” Clark asked.
“A few months,” Lois said. “You worked as a freelancer for several years at different small papers around the world as you traveled. You tried to get Perry to give you the same deal when you moved to Metropolis. Somehow you got him to agree, and then you decided to stay and we've been partners ever since.”
“So you were already working here?”
Lois nodded. “Since right after college.”
“So, you're the senior partner?” Clark asked. Lois bit her tongue. Did he have to make it so easy?
“No,” she finally said, hating the fact that she felt the need to be honest. “We're equal partners.”
“Even though you were working here for years while I was traveling the world?”
Lois smiled. “Yeah. Clark, you're a really great writer and you have great investigative skills.”
Clark looked at her quizzically for a moment before asking, “Are you always this nice to me?”
Lois laughed. “So you are starting to remember!”
Clark smiled. “So, what are we working on now?”
Lois' face fell. “The asteroid I told you about. We still don't know where Superman is.”
Clark placed a hand on her arm. “It sounds like he's important to you.”
Lois gave a half smile. “Superman's important to everyone, Clark.” She took a step closer to whisper, “It's not exactly public knowledge, but you two are friends. You're roommates.”
“I'm roommates with Superman?” Clark asked, his voice a tad louder than Lois thought it should be. She looked around, though, and no one seemed to have noticed.
She nodded.
“What do I have in common with a superhero?” Clark asked.
Lois remembered the first time Clark had told her he was friends with Superman. She had thought the same thing – what could out-of-this-world Superman have in common with Smallville Kent.
“A lot, actually,” she told Clark now.
***********************
“Superman!” yet another person called.
“Hi,” he braced himself for another person thanking him for something he had no recollection of doing.
“That was great work you did, son,” he said. Son?
“Any chance we could get a front page story on what you were thinking? I'm sure Lois or Clark would be happy to write it up,” he said. “Well, maybe Lois. Clark has amnesia right now, so he probably won't be writing for the next few days.”
Something stirred in Superman at the names Lois and Clark.
“Maybe tomorrow?” he asked, hoping he would remember whatever he was rumored to have done by then.
“Sure thing. We're all real proud of you,” the man said again as he turned away.
Superman wandered around some more, wondering what to do with this new information.
“Hey, Superman! Great job!” someone called and he turned to see someone at a news stand. “Want to see the story?” he asked, grinning.
Superman walked over. “Sure,” he said, wondering if it would help.
“For free,” the man said handing him a paper.
“Thanks,” Superman smiled, walking away. He found a bench a few blocks away and sat down to read it.
The headline read "Lois Lane'. It startled him for some reason. Then he remembered – he was married to Lois Lane. Or he thought he was. That guy would have said something about that if it was true, though.
Then in a rush, it all came back to him. He was married to Lois Lane… just not this Lois Lane.
So, it had worked, sort of. On the other hand, as with the kryptonite in Smallville, it had not been any easier this time around. He was going to have to learn that his last experience did not change his physical capabilities. He could not do more now just because he had done this before.
Perry said Clark had amnesia, too. Not that that was a surprise, but Superman supposed he should try to find him.
***********************
“Anything look familiar, son?” Jonathan asked. Martha, Jonathan, and Lois watched him walk around his apartment, picking things up at random.
“I own eighteen copies of To Kill a Mockingbird?” he asked from the bookcase.
“It's your favorite,” Martha and Lois said in unison.
“I don't remember,” Clark said, falling on the couch, dejected.
“It's okay, Clark,” Martha said.
“Dr. McCorkle said not to push yourself,” Lois reminded him. “It will come back eventually.”
The opening of the door startled everyone.
“Superman!” Lois said as he walked in.
She ran to him, wrapping her arms tightly around him. “We thought something had happened to you.”
He smiled. He knew it shouldn't, but it felt good to hold her. “I'm okay, Lois,” he said.
Martha and Jonathan came over to hug him as well and he could tell from Martha's hug that she had been as worried as Lois.
“Hi,” he said to Clark.
“Hi,” Clark said back, looking awkward. “Sorry. I got hit by a car a few days ago and apparently I have amnesia from it. I didn't even remember my own name. But Lois tells me we live here together and you saved the world from the asteroid.”
Superman smiled. He wished he could answer that honestly. We saved the world, he wanted to say. With Lois here, though, he knew he had to be quiet.
“I was sorry to hear about the car accident, Clark. I hope you'll be okay.”
Clark smiled, “It can't be any worse than coming face to face with an asteroid the size of Metropolis.”
“Probably not,” Superman smiled. “Still, I'm sure it's disconcerting not remembering who you are.”
“I should head back to the Planet,” Lois announced. “The fact that you're back is news,” she said to Superman.
“I bumped into Perry White on my way here,” Superman told her. “I told him I'd give you and Clark the exclusive on what it was like up there,” he said and tried to tamp down his emotional response to the broad smile she bestowed upon him in response. “I'll come by the paper tomorrow.”
“See you then,” she smiled at him. Then in a softer, more nurturing tone, she said to Clark, “I'll call you tonight.”
“Shouldn't I come with you?” he asked.
Lois smiled, “No. You need to rest up. You've been through a lot, Clark.” On impulse she walked over to where he was still sitting on the couch and gave him a hug.
***********************
Clark left the following morning happy he had work as an excuse for getting out of the house. It had been a frustrating night. His parents had tried to convince him that he had all these weird abilities like Superman. Superman had tried to tell him that his amnesia was not due to a car accident, but because he had gone with him to stop the asteroid. None of it made any sense.
He had a headache from going around and around with them all over and over again. He was looking forward to the break.
“Good morning, Clark,” Lois said. Not for the first time, Clark wondered if there was anything between them. Lois had been so kind to him and he could not help but notice the way he reacted to her.
“Good morning,” he replied.
“Anything?” she asked as he sat down behind his desk.
“No,” he said, shaking his head. He had promised his parents and Superman that he would not tell Lois about the weird things they had been trying to convince him of. He picked up his glasses. He also promised to start wearing his glasses. His parents insisted it was dangerous for him not to, although he still had trouble believing he could set things on fire with his eyes if he did not wear glasses.
“You're wearing them?” Lois asked as she placed a cup of coffee and a donut on his desk. “The coffee is how you like it and this is your favorite kind of donut.”
“Thanks,” Clark said. “My parents suggested I start wearing the glasses. They say I get headaches otherwise.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Wow, Lois, this is great.”
“No problem, Clark,” Lois said, her smile so wide it made Clark feel a strange sense of euphoria. He somehow had the feeling he rarely got to see Lois like this.
“Thank you,” he said again, only this time his voice was soft.
“For what?” Lois asked, as she leaned her hip against his desk.
“For whatever it is you've done for me that makes me feel as good about you as I do. For taking such good care of me the last couple of days. For just… being a great friend.”
Lois smiled, leaning over further to place a hand on his arm. “Clark, whether or not this memory of yours comes back… I just want you to know, I think you're terrific. I love you – I mean, like a brother, but I love you.” Blushing, Lois walked away.
Clark smiled. Maybe he was starting to remember, because he had expected her to qualify her “I love you” in some way.
***********************
Clark walked home from work slowly. It had been a good day. Superman had come by and given them an interview; although, he kept throwing weird glances Clark's way while he did. Lois suggested Clark try writing part of it up and he found that while he had no memory of writing before, it was still something he was good at. Plus, Lois had been solicitous and caring all day long.
Clark was hesitant to go home and back to the argument with his parents and Superman. It was pretty clear from all that he had read that there was only one Superman. Why would he have all these abilities and not be willing to use them?
For a moment an image entered his mind of his father looking bruised and with a broken leg, but it was brief and not having any idea what it meant, Clark ignored it.
Suddenly he heard something. It was not a sound he recognized per se, so much as he knew it was not normal. He looked up and realized there was something wrong with the billboard he had just walked under as it had come loose and was swinging back and forth. While he watched it seemed to come completely loose and fell. A moment later, Clark was balancing it in the palm of his hand.
He dropped it in surprise and then stared at it. He looked around but no one else was there. No one else had seen. Had he really just caught a billboard on the palm of his hand? Were his parents correct?
He closed his eyes for a moment and it all came rushing back – the fact that he did indeed have the abilities his parents said he did and the explanation for the memory about his father earlier which was why he was not using his abilities.
He felt sick. While, with Superman's help, he had been successful this time, in reality, this was another failure. Superman had been able to do it in his universe alone. Clark probably would have been caught if he had been alone. If not because of the amnesia (although he thought Superman had said he had had that in his universe as well and he definitely said he woke up in Germany yesterday with no memories) then because he had refused to wear glasses yesterday. If there was no separate Superman walking around, someone would have been suspicious. As it was, he was lucky that no one had noticed the resemblance. How had Lois missed it?
This was why he could not be Superman full time. He just did not know what he was doing: he made far too many mistakes.
With a heavy heart, wishing he was still suffering from amnesia, Clark headed home.
