Since the 5yo was up till 2, we stayed home this AM...
Someone asked in the OTOHA thread when UP was going to be posted. There probably will be a break - a week or two - but then probably a chapter a day or so. The beginning needs a few tweaks before posting and a whole new chapter written at about 8-9 or so given some of the stuff that happens late in OTOH that caught me by surprise too [like Lana not being the root of all evil] and DH has the week off this week so that's not likely to happen this week.
And I have to get my ficathon fic done. [Hey! it's up to 5 pages!]
Thanks as always to Nancy, Beth and Alisha
.
Last time:
Clark
I closed my eyes and tried to take deep calming breaths. For now, there was nothing I could do but pray, something I hadn't really done much of in a long time.
And wait.
And watch.
I closed my eyes again and took another deep breath.
My eyes flew open when I heard what I'd dreaded.
A gunshot coming from the spaceship.
Where Lois was.
And then there was an explosion.
I was surprised I didn't pass out.
My heart stopped in my chest, but I couldn't see what had happened. The smoke in the galley was too thick for even me to see through.
A second later, the main door opened and a grim looking Van-El exited the ship, carrying a limp Lois in his arms.
"Nooooooooo!"
*~*140*~*
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
"What do you want?" I managed to gasp. I debated struggling but with the barrel of the gun pointed directly at my temple, I decided it probably wasn't the best plan – at least not yet.
"To get out of here and you're my ticket."
"You're not going anywhere." The authoritative voice startled both of us.
Van-El was standing at the other end of the galley, arms crossed in front of him.
"Just watch me. As fast as you are, you couldn't stop a bullet from this range." He brandished the gun, waving it around near my head.
"You need to calm down and I'm sure we can come to a solution that's acceptable to all of us," Van said.
"Oh, I doubt that," Joey Bermuda said. "Somehow I think acceptable to you would be me behind bars and I don't think that's going to happen."
"You have a point," Van-El conceded. "But you're not leaving here with Ms. Kent."
"So you know who she is?"
"We've met," he said without inflection.
They could go back and forth for a while, I realized.
"Um, Van-El," I choked out. "I think he planted a bomb."
Van-El seemed to be scanning the area and his look turned grim. "We don't have long."
"So you best let me leave." Joey pulled me with him towards the other side of the galley – closer to the exit.
"You will not leave with Ms. Kent."
I could tell that he was trying to decide the best way to play this. Go for the bomb and hope that he didn't escape with me in the meantime? Try to resolve the issue with me in time to stop the bomb?
I took a deep breath. Surely I remembered what I'd learned in my self-defense classes in high school.
But that had been a lifetime ago.
"Please," I said. "I have two little boys. They need me." I wasn't about to let on that their dad was about to get custody... "So does my husband." I wasn't entirely certain about that, but I wasn't going to give any indication that I was anything but a wife and mother whose family needed her.
My boys. If something happened to me, they'd have Clark. He loved them. He'd take care of them and – hopefully – make sure they didn't forget me.
"Where's your ring?" he asked, pulling me with him.
"They made me take it off."
Van-El moved towards the electrical closet.
"Not another step," Joey told him, pointing the gun in his direction.
"Didn't you see the explosion the other day? He walked out of it, completely unscathed. Do you really think that a wimpy little hand gun is going to stop him?"
He wavered for an instant and I took advantage of his second of distraction.
I brought my foot down sharply on his and then brought my elbow back into his stomach.
"The bomb!" I yelled at Van-El.
It all happened too fast for me to remember later exactly what order everything happened in.
I knew there was a gunshot and an explosion, but I wasn't entirely certain which came first.
The smoke was choking me.
And then everything went black.
~~~~~
Clark
~~~~~
"Lois!" I yelled, running towards the launch pad.
"Sir!"
I was stopped by security.
"You can't go in there, sir."
"That's my wife," I told him, consciously restraining myself from simply throwing them off me. "Lois!"
Van looked at me as he set her on a gurney. I breathed a sigh of relief as they attached an oxygen mask but didn't begin CPR or any other kind of heroic efforts.
"Van-El!" I yelled. "Tell them to let me through!"
He nodded at the security guards who reluctantly let me go.
I ran to the waiting ambulance. "Lois!"
She was breathing on her own – that was good. She was unconscious – that was not.
"Lois." This time it was a whisper as I reached out and took her hand.
"Sir? You can't be in this area," someone nearby said.
"She's my wife," I told them, knowing I would refuse to leave.
I could hear conferring happening behind me.
"When she gets better, I'm telling Perry to fire you two." Henderson's hand rested on my back.
"What happened?" I asked hoarsely.
"Apparently, Joey Bermuda was setting a bomb in an electrical room. Lois got in his way when he tried to leave. He took her hostage. Van-El tried to talk him out. The bomb went off and Van-El was able to mostly protect her. Joey is in pretty bad shape and not expected to make it," he finished, nodding towards the other stretcher being removed from the ship.
"Good," I breathed.
"No. Not good, though I understand why you think that. Without the Handyman, we have no way of knowing who put him up to this. It looks like the explosion was set to happen after take-off. If it had, we never would have figured out what happened because the ship would have crashed – rather spectacularly."
I sighed as I brushed Lois' hair off her face. "I understand what you're saying but you'll have to forgive me for not being too upset."
My cell phone buzzed at that moment. Repeatedly.
I didn't let go of Lois' hand as I pulled it out.
Perry.
Sam.
My parents.
Jimmy.
Billy and Serena.
Lana.
All were calling or text messaging.
I hoped the boys hadn't been watching the launch.
Sam. I had to call Sam first.
As though on cue, he called again.
"She's alive," I said without any preamble.
"Thank God," he breathed. "What kind of shape is she in?"
"She's unconscious but breathing. Did the boys see?" I could just imagine them having the launch on and then Van-El walking out with Lois in his arms.
"No, but Christopher's upset – insisting that something's wrong with his mom."
"I'll keep you posted," I told him, "but I gotta go. They're taking her to the hospital and I'm going with her. Will you call the Planet and my parents?"
"Of course."
I hung up without saying good-bye, knowing that he would understand.
I held her hand in mine and brought it to my lips, kissing it softly, soot and all.
"I love you," I whispered, telling her for the first time and knowing that she wouldn’t remember it.
"Colonists, please return to your seats."
I looked up startled. Surely they wouldn't be able to launch now, would they?
Van-El was talking to the officials, but looking straight at me. "I can give them a lift to the space station and return in a few days to bring the transport back. As long as all the life support systems are still functional, of course."
The official nodded his confirmation.
"Samuel!"
I turned towards the transport ship. There was Mrs. Platt hugging Dr. Platt and he let go of her to kneel next to Amy's chair.
There was a flash next to me and I turned expecting to be angry at someone taking pictures of Lois.
Instead I found her briefcase in my face. "There's a picture of the reunion on the camera," said the member of the grounds crew.
No. It was Bobby.
"You got her into this?"
He nodded. "I didn't know this was going to happen obviously and once she found out it was possible to get on the transport, there was no way she was going to take no for an answer. All of her things are in there."
"Thank you. What kind of meal do you want this time?"
"Ah, Lois promised me you'd get me Italian later tonight, but no rush on it. Whenever she's doing okay."
I nodded, turning back to her, climbing into the back of the ambulance as they loaded her. A second later, sirens were screaming as we headed towards the hospital.
"You can't leave me," I told her.
Tears were threatening to overwhelm me. I couldn’t give in.
"Lois, come back to me, you come back to me. You have to come back now. Do you hear me?! Lois, don't go! Fight."
She couldn't leave me, not right after I'd finally realized how much I needed her.
"You are not dying on me, you are not giving up, now open your eyes. Dammit. I can't lose you now. Christopher and Nate... they need you." My voice cracked. "*I* need you."
The tears slowly spilled over.
"I love you, Lois. I can't lose you. Not now. Not when I finally realized I can't live without you."
~~~~~
Lois
~~~~~
I could hear someone calling my name.
"Lois, come back to me, you come back to me. You have to come back now. Do you hear me?! Lois, don't go! Fight."
Through the fuzz I thought it sounded like Clark.
"You are not dying on me, you are not giving up, now open your eyes. Dammit. I can't lose you now. Christopher and Nate... they need you." Then something unexpected. "*I* need you."
What? The fuzz was starting to clear.
"I love you, Lois. I can't lose you. Not now. Not when I finally realized I can't live without you."
"What?" I whispered.
"Lois?" Clark whispered hoarsely.
I started coughing and couldn't hear what else was being said.
"What happened? Van-El? Bermuda?" I whispered, pulling the oxygen mask away from my face.
The paramedic firmly put it back in place.
"There was a gunshot and the bomb exploded," Clark told me, gently stroking my hair away from my face. "You passed out and Van-El carried you out. Bermuda's not expected to make it."
"Did the boys see it?"
I shook my head. "Your Dad said no, but that Christopher is convinced something's wrong with you."
"He's right," I whispered.
I wanted desperately to ask him if I'd heard him right – that he loved me, needed me, couldn't live without me – but I couldn’t bring myself to do that. Not in front of the paramedics, where the rejection would be public. Sort of.
"You're going to be okay," he told me, leaning over to kiss my forehead. "You got the story, you know. The scoop. You have to be okay to write it up. Otherwise, Perry'll have your hide."
"What happened to the transport?"
"Van-El's flying it to the space station and then helping it back in a few days. Life support and everything is operational, just the navigational systems are shot."
"Good."
"And the Platts were all reunited," he told me with a smile.
I smiled back. "I'm glad." I started coughing again as we pulled into the ambulance bay.
The next two hours were a whirlwind of doctors and IVs and tests and more tests to make sure I was okay after being hit on the head and unconscious for a while.
The only time Clark left my side was when they made him.
I caught a glimpse of him talking to a blonde nurse and it came flooding back to me.
Clark.
Talking to Lana.
Hugging her.
Smiling at her.
Tears threatened to overflow and I needed to focus on something else.
"Can I get my laptop?" I asked the nurse who was in the room with me. "Or just my bag there?" I pointed to the bag Bobby must have given to Clark.
She handed it over and I quickly booted it up, calling up a blank word processing document. I sent an email to family and friends to let them know I was okay and they could read the whole story in the Daily Planet.
Dad sent me an instant message saying he was glad I was doing well and did I want him to come up? I asked him to stay with the boys.
An email from Perry came in asking how I was doing and when I thought I'd have the story to him.
I smiled to myself – of course he wanted to know when I'd get the story to him, but I also knew his primary concern was my safety. I told him he'd have it as soon as the medical personnel left me alone long enough to get it done.
I started typing furiously.
"What are you doing?" Clark asked as he walked back into the room.
"Typing," I whispered.
"I can see that. What are you typing?"
"Story." I was sure he'd notice I was being short with him again, but I didn't care. I must have heard wrong when I was coming out of it
He was already back with Lana; he just didn’t have the guts to tell me.
I guessed I should be grateful for that – he wasn't kicking me while I was down.
"Have to get it to Perry," I went on. "Why were you there?"
"I was covering it for you since you were off covering something with Bobby."
"You better write it up, too," I whispered.
He looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it, instead pulling out his laptop and a minute later he was typing as well.
"Mrs. Kent?" one of the doctors said a minute later, walking in to my room.
"Just a minute," I whispered. I bit my bottom lip as I wrote the last few lines of the article. I debated internally then turned to Clark. "Would you read this over before I send it to Perry?"
He nodded. "Sure. I'd be happy to."
Of course. Happy to. Happy to help me with my story before he broke my heart and took my sons with him.
I turned back to the doctor. "Yes?"
He had a mildly amused look on his face. "They told me you were in here typing furiously."
"I'm a reporter. I had to get the story out."
"I heard." He sighed. "You'll have to stay overnight for observation."
I glared at him.
"That’s the way it is. And you'll need to take it easy on your voice for the next few days, too."
I sighed and nodded. "Fine," I whispered.
"Can I stay with her?" Clark asked.
"Of cour..." He stopped mid-sentence as I shook my head vehemently.
"No. You need to go home."
If Christopher was concerned that there was something wrong with me, Clark could go a long way towards reassuring him that I was okay.
"I want to stay," he told me reaching for my hand.
I didn't pull it away but I didn't curl my fingers around it either.
"The boys need you," I insisted.
He sighed. "Fine, but not until they get you settled."
"Someone will be here to take you over to the unit in a few minutes," he told me.
"Thank you," I whispered.
"Anytime, but next time try to avoid the exploding space ships, huh?"
I nodded and reached for my laptop as he left.
"I made a few small edits, but otherwise it looks good."
"Thanks." I quickly typed up an email and sent the article to Perry. I leaned back on the bed, closed my eyes and sighed.
He reached over and took my hand again, this time enveloping it in both of his. "You scared me today," he said quietly.
"I'm sorry," I whispered back. "I didn't mean to scare anyone."
"I know. And I realized something..."
I sighed and pulled my hand from his. "Why are you here, Clark? Navance is dead. We don't have to play like we're the greatest love story since Rob and Laura anymore. So why don't you quit pretending to be the doting husband and I'll call the lawyer in the morning? I'm sure you, Lana and the boys will all be very happy together."
*****
TBC
