Beth, Carol, and Mark – you guys are the best!!
From Chapter 42
Clark walked up to Lois as soon as she came into the party. “Wow!” he said. “You look great!”
“Have you seen Linda?” she asked him, barely paying attention to what he had said.
“No one fields a compliment quite like you,” he said with a smile and Lois looked at him.
“Sorry. Thank you. And you look good, too. Now, have you seen Linda?” She was trying to stay calm, but the truth was, just knowing she was in the same room as Linda made her nervous. They had nothing in common anymore. Still, it was hard to see her.
Clark smiled broadly. “I haven't seen her yet. Lois, what is this rivalry about?”
“Rivalry? What rivalry?” Lois asked.
“Between you and Linda,” Clark said slowly.
“There is no rivalry. I don't like her. That's all there is to it,” Lois explained.
“You brought Lois,” Linda said as she came up to them, looking directly at Clark. “I didn't realize you'd bring…”
“We're partners,” Lois and Clark said together, although Clark's tone was friendly while Lois' was cold.
“Right,” Linda said, linking her arm through Clark's. “Let me introduce you to Preston.”
Clark gently removed her arm from his, but Lois glared at him anyway.
Chapter 43
“You don't mind if Clark and I dance, do you?” Linda asked Lois.
Clark started to say that he minded, but then he caught sight of Lois' face. She was glaring at him again. Him, not Linda. What was her problem? He had not done anything wrong. In fact, even dancing with Linda was not doing something wrong. Lois claimed to be in love with his roommate, but he was supposed to be alone? At first this possessiveness was kind of nice and Clark thought it may even be a sign of Lois' true feelings, but it was starting to grate on his nerves. Did Lois really think he would continue to adore her from afar forever while she focused her attentions of Superman or Lex or whoever came along next?
Clark turned to Linda with a smile. “I'd love to,” he said, extending his hand to her. He did not even turn around to acknowledge Lois while they walked towards the dance floor.
“Well, it's good to see she doesn't have you under her thumb,” Linda said as she moved into Clark's arms and Clark felt himself stiffen.
“Listen, Linda, I don't want you to get the wrong idea,” Clark started.
“Wrong idea?” Linda asked, trailing her hand along Clark's jaw.
Clark jerked away from her. “You're an attractive woman…”
“And you are an attractive man,” Linda cut him off.
Clark backed away completely and stopped dancing. “I don't want to get in the middle of whatever is going on with you and Lois.”
“What is going on between you and Lois?” Linda asked, moving to close the gap between them.
“We're partners. And friends,” Clark said.
“Just friends?”
“I think I'd better go find Lois,” Clark said, stepping away from Linda. When he looked around the Press Club, though, Lois was no where to be found.
************
Lois took her time coming into work. Things were slow and there was no need to rush. It seemed like the perfect day to walk to work. Or, it had been a perfect day to walk to work, but then she saw the accident and the day turned from perfect to not-so-perfect.
Lois sat on the front step, looking down the road. She had come outside shortly after Chad's call. She did not want to wait one minute more than necessary to see him again.
She looked at her watch. It was twenty minutes now. She got up and started pacing the parking lot. Where was he? She looked at her watch again. Twenty minutes and thirty seconds. Okay, she was being a little unreasonable. She just wanted to see him so much.
She started running multiplication tables in her head, anything to keep her mind on something aside from the time. She jumped when she heard the barking of the dog and laughed at herself for being so jumpy. It had just been so long since she had seen him.
Finally, feeling like she would go crazy with impatience, she realized there was no need to wait here. She knew the route he would take to the apartment; she could walk towards him and meet him on his way.
She was stopped on her walk two blocks away by a group of people standing in the middle of the road. A middle aged woman was standing on the sidewalk crying. Looking ahead to see that Chad was still not here, Lois stopped to make sure the woman was okay.
“Yes, dear,” the woman said between tears. “You're so sweet to ask.”
“So, you're fine?” Lois double checked.
“Yes, it was just the accident. The boy was my son's age, around your age, and it struck a chord, I guess.”
“The accident?” Lois asked, confused.
The woman sighed and seeming to finally have her tears under control, ran her hand over her face. “It was that nice Mr. Douglas. He was turning into his driveway, but he apparently took his eyes off the road to glance at his car phone and didn't see the young man on the bike.”
Lois felt her body go cold. On a bike? She looked to the middle of the road. It was here. That was Chad's blue bike, the handlebars horribly mangled. Trying to keep her voice steady, she asked, “What happened to him?”
“He looked bad. So sad. And we don't even know who he is. They couldn't find any identification on him,” the woman said, her eyes, too, on Chad's bike.
“Which hospital did he go to?” Lois asked, her voice breaking.
“Are you all right, dear?” the woman asked.
“I think… I think that's my boyfriend's bike,” Lois said, losing her attempt to stave off the tears.
“Oh my,” the woman said, and then placing a hand on Lois' arm, she said, “Come on inside. You can call his parents and let them know and then I'll drive you to the hospital myself. The ambulance was from Metropolis General. We'll have you there in just a few minutes.”
Lois turned away from the accident in front of her now. She picked up her pace. Maybe something was going right today for the Planet. She could only hope.
************
“Where's Clark?” Lois asked when she got to the newsroom. Given how slow things were at work, she had come in late and it looked like Clark was still not in.
“He left a few minutes ago,” Jimmy said. “I think he had a lunch date with Linda King.”
“Linda?” Lois asked feeling herself get annoyed or hurt or… something.
“Yeah,” Jimmy said. “Did you see the picture of them on the society page of the Star?”
“What?!” Lois nearly screeched, grabbing the paper out of Jimmy's hands. He was right – there was a rather large picture of Clark and Linda dancing the night before with the commentary: Clark Kent, one of the Daily Planet's most successful reporters, was seen cozying up to rising Star writer Linda King last night at the Metropolis Press Club.
"They do look cozy,' Lois seethed. What was Kent doing getting involved with Linda King after everything she had told him about her? Really, all men were the same. A pretty face and nice legs and personality is optional.
Grabbing a Double Fudge Crunch bar out of her drawer, she ripped the wrapper off and took a big bite. If that was how Clark wanted to play it that was fine by her. What did she care who he dated?
************
Clark was glad for the sirens which started during his lunch with Linda. He had agreed to come to lunch with her against his better judgment, and it had been uncomfortable. Clearly, his initial assessment that she was not flirting with him was off base. While he had to admit, some small part of him relished the fact that any involvement he had with Linda would rankle Lois, he was unwilling to lead Linda on like that.
Still, Linda had doggedly ignored repeated attempts during lunch to let her know he was not interested, so Clark was glad for the reprieve. The two had quickly gotten up and run to the elevators where the sirens in the building were coming from.
“An elevator cable snapped,” Clark heard someone say and he started to get out his notebook. Then he realized what he was doing. Someone was in danger right in front of him. Superman would not be coming to this – it was precisely the type of thing Clark had said he would cover himself.
Noticing Linda was distracted with getting quotes from passersby, Clark turned around and found an unused stairwell where he could spin into the Superman suit. He still felt weird wearing it – he felt so exposed, but he knew he did not have a choice. Within seconds, he was in the elevator shaft just in time to see the last cable snap. He caught the car, slowing its descent.
This part was easy – in the elevator shaft he was all alone and did not feel on display. No one could criticize his actions or tell him what he was doing wrong. However, as he passed by the floor where everyone was gathered, intending to lower the elevator so that the people inside could get off at this floor, dozens of flashbulbs went off.
For a moment, Clark felt pure, unadulterated panic. He had been found, exposed. What would happen to his parents, Lois… Then he remembered, he was wearing the suit. It would be all right. He hoped.
************
Lois glanced up at the television monitors as they showed a Superman rescue from a hotel moments ago. The news program showed Superman lowering the elevator to an open floor, but something was off. “Turn it up,” she called out and Jack, who had been passing by, turned the volume up.
“You could do it yourself,” he said to her, but Lois paid no attention to him.
“Superman sped away after the rescue,” the reporter on LNN was saying, “and did not discuss the incident with the press.” That was odd and very unlike Superman. And did he look nervous when lowering the elevator? It could not have been difficult for him – he had lifted a space shuttle into space and smashed an asteroid the size of Metropolis. This was an elevator! What was going on with him?
She had vowed to leave him alone and not ask about whatever project Clark was working on – she wanted to show Clark and Superman that she did not have to be in the know at all times, although it really was difficult to concentrate when she knew they were keeping secrets from her. Now, though, she knew she could not do that. Something was wrong with Superman, and as his friend she had to help him.
************
She showed up right after he had seen the report of Clark saving the falling elevator. He considered not answering, but this was Lois. She would just come back. As long as there was not another Superman rescue going on while they were chatting, it would be fine. He would have to be extra vigilant about keeping an ear out for calls.
“Hi, Lois,” he said as he answered the door. “Clark's not here.”
“I know,” she said, her voice bitter. “He's having lunch with Linda King,” the name was venomous coming from her lips. “I came to see you,” she told him.
“Okay,” he said, already feeling nervous about what she could possibly want.
“Is everything okay?” she asked as she walked inside. “I saw the elevator rescue.”
Superman looked at her quizzically. Was she worried that the rescue had been hard for him? That did not make any sense – it had been easy and successful. “Yeah, um… what's the question?” he asked her.
“I saw the LNN report on it and you seemed… off,” Lois said. “Nervous – almost like it was hard for you. But come on, how hard can it be for you to hold an elevator if you can lift space shuttles into orbit? So I thought something might be wrong. Plus Clark mentioned he was working on something for you – something secret. I just… I want to help.”
Superman smiled, while inside he was feeling anxious. This was the Lois he loved, although she had rarely come out that first year in Metropolis - the Lois that not only wanted to make the world a better place, but wanted to make his world a better place.
On the other hand, she had been willing to do that for Superman from the beginning, so this was not that surprising. More nerve-wracking than her concern was the cause for it. She had noticed a difference between his demeanor and Clark's. He had seen Clark's rescue – while he had looked nervous, it was a marked improvement from the fire the other day.
They were lucky that the television cameras were not quite crisp enough for Lois to recognize that this Superman was younger as well.
“I'm fine, Lois,” he finally said.
“But you looked nervous,” she insisted.
“I'm…,” he started to say that he was not sure why, but did not feel right lying to her, especially when she was trying so hard to be helpful. “I wasn't,” he finally settled on.
Lois gave him a look and he knew that she did not believe him, so he reached forward and placed a hand on her arm. “Thank you for caring, Lois. But I'm fine. Really.”
“And the thing Clark's working on for you? Maybe I could help with that?”
Superman smiled at her tenacity. He could not help it, he found that particular character trait endearing. It reminded him so much of his wife. “Maybe at some point,” he told her, knowing that shutting her out like this was probably hurting her, but also knowing that it was probably not that bad an idea. “But for now, I'd like to keep it between me and Clark.”
Lois nodded, clearly fighting with herself, but she finally stood. “Okay. But if you change your mind… We are friends, right?” Lois asked sounding very unsure of herself.
“Yes, we are definitely friends,” Superman said smiling at her.
************
“Superman's the biggest story of the day, and all we're leading with is a weather graph!” Perry nearly screamed at the afternoon meeting. “Would someone please explain this to me?”
“How could you let her scoop you?” Lois asked Clark.
He wanted to have a fast retort, something that was just as biting as Lois' tone had been with him, but he did not. He was awash in guilt. Not that there was any real decision to have been made – clearly if it was between the lives of the people in the elevator and a story for the Planet, he had made the right choice. Still, the Planet was struggling. He knew Linda was there. Maybe he should have written something up, say he bumped into Superman afterwards. He had just been so busy dealing with his feelings in the aftermath of the rescue that he had not thought of it.
He had instead been going over the rescue from every angle, trying to determine if he had missed anything. Should he have done something differently? He had not spoken to the media – that was definitely something he was going to have to get comfortable doing, but wanted to perfect his Superman first.
“Well?” Lois prodded him.
“What are you asking him for?” Perry asked. “If you want to know something, look at the Star,” he said, clearly annoyed, before disappearing into his office.
For a moment, nobody moved, but then Lois got up and moved to the coffee pot and the meeting seemed to break up. Clark was staring at the picture accompanying Linda's article, a man in the back looked familiar, when Lois came back. “Oh, stop drooling!” she muttered.
“What?” Clark asked. What was she talking about?
“Linda. You're drooling over her writing now,” Lois pointed out.
“I'm not drooling,” Clark said. “What is with you anyway?”
“Me? You're the one who's more interested in making the society page in the Star than the Planet's front page,” Lois said.
“What? Lois, I have no idea what you're talking about. The society page? What would I be doing on the society page?” Clark asked.
Lois picked up a copy of the Star and pressed it into Clark's face. “Dancing with Linda King,” she said in a singsong voice.
“What is your problem, Lois?” Clark asked, long over his guilt about not getting the elevator story and fully back to being annoyed at Lois. “Are you jealous? Do you think I'm interested in Linda or something?”
“I don't care who you're interested in!” Lois demanded. “What I care about is my job. And your letting her scoop you puts my job in jeopardy.”
“Really?” Clark said, deciding not to tell her about the piece of wire he had found from the elevator accident that looked cut, not broken. “You think your job is in jeopardy and it's all my fault?”
“Yes,” Lois said. “I think if you weren't so busy fawning over Linda, you would have gotten the elevator story.”
“You know what?” Clark asked. “You can think whatever you want!” With that, he stormed out.
************
“Hi,” Superman said as he came into the farmhouse.
“You're early,” Martha told him. “Clark isn't here yet.”
“I know,” Superman said. “I was trying to avoid Lois.”
“Lois?” Jonathan asked.
Superman nodded his head. “Things have gotten a bit… complicated.”
“Complicated how?” Jonathan asked.
“Well for starters, I'm not sure how, but she knows Clark is working on something for me and is upset that we haven't asked for her help,” Superman said.
Martha laughed. “I don't see Lois as someone who is comfortable with secrets being kept from her.
“No,” Superman agreed. “She most definitely is not. Although, thank goodness for small favors, she seems to be trying to prove that she's okay with it this time. Not well, mind you, but at least she didn't just camp out in the apartment until one of us told her what was going on.”
“You said that was one way in which things were complicated. What was the other?” Martha asked.
“Clark did a rescue this afternoon,” Superman started.
“He did? We've been watching and didn't see anything,” Jonathan said, surprised.
“It would have only made local news. An elevator cable snapped at a hotel in Metropolis this afternoon and the elevator was on the seventy-first floor at the time.”
“Oh, my. Did he get everyone out in time?” Martha asked.
Superman nodded. “He did great. The problem is that Lois saw the report.”
“Did she recognize Clark?” Jonathan asked, and Superman could hear a note of panic in his voice.
“No, I don't think the video they show on television is high enough quality for Lois to ever notice a difference. But she did notice that "Superman' was acting funny,” Superman said.
“Funny how?” Martha asked.
“Well, he was much better than the other day at the fire, but he was still nervous. I doubt anyone but Lois would have even noticed and the talking heads didn't make any comment about it at all, but Lois did. She quizzed me about it quite a bit.”
“Is this going to work?” Jonathan said. “I don't mean to be a naysayer, but Lois is not stupid, and if Clark takes over for you full time she's going to notice a difference. I mean at some point she's likely to see Clark as Superman in person.”
“I know,” Superman said, dejectedly. “I'm not sure what we're going to do about that.”
“How are you holding up?” Martha asked, hearing his tone.
“I'm okay,” he said. “I just… I'm worried that this won't work until Clark tells Lois the truth.”
“How long did it take until you told her?” Martha asked quietly.
“Well, really I didn't. She figured it out,” Superman said.
“When did she figure it out?” Jonathan prodded.
“After I was in Metropolis for two years,” Superman said. “I was about to tell her anyway, but still…”
“Two years is a long time,” Martha said.
“Yes,” Superman admitted. “When Clark first said he was ready to start trying to take over some of the responsibilities of Superman, I was so happy, so sure it meant I'd be going home soon. But now I'm not so sure. I don't want to rush him at all, but…”
“But you want to go home,” Jonathan said. “We can't thank you enough for what you're doing here. I know that's hardly enough for what you're giving up, but please know that we are incredibly grateful.”
Superman nodded. “Can I ask you two a question before Clark gets here?”
“Of course, honey,” Martha said.
“What happened to Clark? I mean, Herb told me that our pasts were similar; Clark just never considered staying in Metropolis until he met Lois. But I get the impression that's not true, that something happened in Clark's past to make him scared of helping in public.”
Martha and Jonathan shared a glance. “I think you should ask Clark,” Martha said softly.
“So, there is something?” Superman confirmed and Jonathan gave a small nod of his head. “I've tried to ask him, but he doesn't seem to want to talk about it.”
“It's hard to talk about,” Jonathan said. “For all of us. But I'm sure Clark will open up and tell you about it eventually.”
“Okay,” Superman said, feeling even more curious now. If Martha and Jonathan said they had trouble talking about it, it must be big.
