Sorry for the delay, I was out for the Holidays longer than I expected (I didn't take my computer with me). Anyway back on track now. Part 12 during the upcoming week. -- Max
Labrat is keeping up the TOC (thanks Labrat) at:
Reflections TOC Oh, for those of you who asked, the back story (in the first 5 parts) is very important to understanding the emotional role reversal of this version. Thanks for all the comments so far...
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Reflections
Part 11
Three hours later, Henderson and his crew were gone, and Clark was sitting in front of the computer in the Daily Planet conference room, putting the finishing touches on the story updates. After getting a tongue lashing from Henderson on holding on to critical evidence, and then a dissertation on the dangers of investigating without police backup, Henderson had insisted that Lois be checked out by the paramedics he had called in. After a quick exam, they gave Lois a shot for the lingering pain she still had, and suggested for her to see a doctor first thing in the morning.
Clark could see that Henderson respected Lois a lot, despite his gruff manner with her. It was evident in the concern Henderson showed in his eyes while the paramedics examined her. After they had left, Lois and Clark pieced together for Henderson what their research had turned up so far. After the attempt to get Dr. Platt's notes from them, it was clear that someone was trying to prevent the launch of the space transport, by any means necessary. But even after bouncing ideas off Henderson for a couple of hours, they were no closer to figuring out a motive.
Saving his work, then backing it up to the server, he finally declared himself done for the evening... morning actually. He consulted his internal clock and found it to be a little past three in the morning. He looked over to the couch where Lois was peacefully napping, covered with Clark's sports coat to keep her warm. An hour ago, she had told him she just needed to close her eyes for a minute, but she had quickly fallen asleep, the long day, and the pain medication catching up with her.
Clark sat back in his chair, and just watched the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she slept. For some reason, the sight of her sleeping was very soothing to him. It made him feel like all was right in the world. With his enhanced senses he could hear the gentle rhythm of her heartbeat echoing in the room. It was a life-affirming sound, giving witness to the fact that this time he had not been too late. That he had not failed another woman.
Clark suddenly sat up straight in his chair, and shook his head to clear the errant thoughts that had snuck into his tired mind. After a moment, he focused again on the resting form of his new co-worker. He had no idea why the sight of her sleeping was so fascinating to him. It must be the relief that he was able to save her.
He sighed softly to himself and began the task of cleaning up the mess they had made in the newsroom. Double checking that Lois was still asleep, he shifted into hyper-speed, cleaning up the remains of their coffee and snacks, and reorganizing all of Dr. Platt's notes in a matter of seconds. That done, he returned to the computer and sent a copy of their story update to the printer, and then shut down the machine. He took the hard copy off the printer and dropped it in Perry's inbox.
Now with nothing to do, he suddenly realized that he no idea what to do about Lois. Should he just leave her on the couch and sit here the rest of the night standing watch? One thing was for sure, he didn't want to leave her alone tonight. When Lois had recounted her story to Henderson, she revealed that there had been a third man present -- one that Clark hadn't caught. She might still be in danger, and he wasn’t going to abandon her again...
Again? Damn, he was letting the past sneak into his thoughts again. Lois was not Lena. He had to focus on the here and now, not on his mistakes from the past. Still, he thought it best to remain close to Lois for the time being, even if it meant spending the night in the newsroom standing guard over her. The world could get by without a superhero for one or two nights.
*** RING!!!! ***
The telephone startled Clark, and he almost broke the chair he had been leaning against. Before it could ring a second time and wake Lois, he quickly grabbed the receiver.
"Newsroom."
On the other end of the line, he could hear the voice of a young woman. The voice sounded surprisingly similar to Lois.
"Thank goodness, someone's there! Do you know if Lois Lane is there? I need to talk to her."
"May I ask who this is?"
"This is her sister, Lucy. She never made it home tonight, and I was getting worried. Is she there? Is she all right?"
"Don't worry, she's fine. We were just working on a story together, and it got late." Clark decided that he better let Lois choose what she wanted to share with her sister about tonight. After a moment, Clark noticed that Lois's sister had stopped talking.
"Ms. Lane?" After a few more moments of silence he tried, "Lucy?"
"Lois is working on a story... with you." She said it as a statement, not a question, as if checking with herself that she had the concept right.
"Yesss," Clark replied, confused.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Clark... Clark Kent. Your sister and I have been working on a story together all day. We made a few big discoveries, so we needed to get them down in our notes."
"And you're working *with* Lois, not for her."
"Well, it is her investigation."
"I, um... that's, um... you're working *with* her?"
"I believe I said that." Now Clark was even more confused. Lucy's reaction was very strange, like Lois had never worked with anybody... before. He glanced over at Lois, and mulled over what he knew of her so far. It wasn't a stretch to believe that she would be a challenge, to most people, to work with. Though after an initial hiccup, they had seemed to work well together today. Still Lois couldn't be as bad as Lucy's reaction seemed to indicate. Could she?
Now that he thought about it, she could be a real pain when she wanted to be. And he could tell she hated to be wrong. Definitely high maintenance.
Lucy's voice broke him out of his contemplation. "Yeah, right. Um, can I speak with her?"
"Sorry, she fell asleep on the couch. She had a rough day, and she had to take some, um, cold medicine that really knocked her out. So I was just going to let her sleep for a while." Then after a beat, "You knew she didn't get home. Do you live with Lois?"
"I'm kind of in-between career choices right now, so Lois is putting me up."
Clark mulled that over for a moment, then said, "OK, then why don't you give me your address, and I'll get Lois home. She'll be more comfortable in her own bed."
Clark grabbed a notepad and a pencil and jotted down the address Lucy game gave him. After hanging up the phone, he went over to Lois and gently removed his coat from her. A small sound of protest escaped her lips, and she curled up into a tighter ball. After putting his coat on, and retrieving her purse, he tentatively tried to get her awake enough to get her off the couch. He knelt down besides her, and with a soft voice said, "Lois, come on, it's time to go home."
Lois just groggily replied, "Oh, please, Daddy, just five more minutes, then I'll get ready for school."
Clark shook his head. This wasn’t working. He wondered just what they did give to her in that shot. It didn't look like she was going to wake up any time soon. He guessed that he could just carry her downstairs and get them both in a cab. He picked up the phone, and called a local cab company for a pickup in front of the Daily Planet. Then he returned to the couch, and gently lifted her up, drawing her near his chest. She seemed to find a nice comfortable spot against his chest, and emitted a very satisfied sigh as she snuggled closer. Such a change from the little spitfire he had been working with today.
He lifted an inch off the ground and floated over to the elevator. He called the elevator, got in, and pressed the button for the first floor. When the doors opened on to the lobby, he found it empty, the security guard evidently on his rounds. Glad that no one could see him carrying Lois, he walked out of the building to wait for the taxi. It was a dark, moonless night in the city, with the cool ocean breeze being funneled down the canyons of the city buildings. He willed his aura to extend around Lois, and began looking for the cab he had called. Twenty minutes later the taxicab still hadn't arrived, and Lois was still asleep in his arms.
"Great, now what?' he thought to himself. He felt kind of silly standing in the middle of the street carrying Lois in his arms. He could try to wake her up, and maybe take her home in her Jeep.
"Lois... Come on, we have to get to your Jeep so you can go home."
After getting no response, he tried again. “Lois?"
She stirred a little in his arms, and mumbled, "Not now Luce, it’s your turn to make Dad's breakfast."
'Great. Now what?' He had to think of something. He probably looked ridiculous carrying her in the middle of the sidewalk, with her purse dangling from his hand. Good thing the street was deserted...
Deserted...
'Hmmm... I could always just... Naw, that would be crazy. Wouldn't it? Then again, it is pretty dark out here, and there is a handy alleyway nearby. Still...'
He thought about it for a moment more, and then made his decision. 'Oh, what the heck. I'll just never tell my Dad about this one. He'd probably have a coronary if he found out.' As one last test, he said in a loud voice, "LOIS, time to wake up." She only groaned and snuggled deeper into his chest.
Satisfied that she was completely gone from the waking world, Clark slipped around the corner into the alleyway, and extended his senses to insure that no one was around. He then strengthened the protective aura around Lois to the maximum that he could, and silently lifted off. He flew in the shadows as fast as possible, and less than a minute later he was landing in a darkened corner of Lois's street, near her apartment building.
He walked the last few blocks to Lois's place, normally. When he got there, he climbed the stairs to the entrance of her building, and rang the buzzer that was marked 'L. Lane.' After a few moments, a groggy voice came through the intercom speaker.
"Hello?"
"Hello, it's Clark Kent. Could you let us in?"
"Sure. Doesn't Lois have her key?"
"Long story, I'll explain it when I get there."
"OK, I'll buzz you in."
Clark entered the building, careful not to wake Lois. He rode the elevator to the fifth floor, then rang the bell on the first apartment door off the elevator. A woman with a faint resemblance to Lois, wearing a big white bathrobe, opened the door to let him in.
"You must be Mr. Kent," she whispered.
Clark only nodded in response.
Clark had the distinct impression that Lucy was giving him the 'once over' as he entered the apartment. It was natural he guessed... a man she didn't know, with her sister in his arms. Probably didn't know what to think of him.
Lucy whispered, "Follow me, I have Lois's bed all ready. I must have nodded off, I didn't hear you pull up. Where did you park Lois's car?"
"We took a cab. It was easier to negotiate a sleeping woman if someone else drove. Besides I didn't know if Lois would get upset if I drove her Jeep."
Lucy chuckled softly. "I see you know my sister already. Set her on the bed, and I'll take care of her."
They entered what was obviously Lois's bedroom, which was illuminated only by a small nightlight near the dresser. Clark noted that her bed was loaded with various stuffed animals, a picture which, once more, was at odds with her tough reporter exterior. He smiled at the contradiction, as he gently laid her down in her bed. He turned to leave, allowing Lucy to finish tucking Lois in.
He entered the living room again, and sat down on the one couch in the apartment. Clark noted how, though the couch looked very elegant, it was stiff and uncomfortable to sit on. In fact, he couldn't find a comfortable position, no matter how he sat. Giving up, he got up, and started to look around the room. He ended up by a bookcase filled to capacity with books, music, and video tapes of all sorts. He saw that most of the tapes were marked 'Ivory Tower' with a date and sequential number. He recognized the title as one of the more popular soap operas that had sprung up in recent years. Judging from the number of tapes in the bookcase, Lois must have recorded every episode. Yet another paradox from his spitfire of a partner. He may have to tease her about this later.
Partner...
Was he becoming her partner? They had worked very well together today, but he was used to working on his own, fearful that someone would discover his secret. It should bother him that he was starting to like working with Lois, but it didn't. As he mused over the implications of that, he wandered over to her curio case. In addition to the usual collection of knick-knacks, there were three identical trophies. He examined the inscriptions, and found them to be Kerth Awards won by Lois. Clark raised his eyebrows in surprise. Lois was young to have won a Kerth, no less three of them. He hadn't realized quite how impressive her credentials were, especially for the short number of years she had been a full-time reporter.
To the left of the Kerths, was a photograph of Lois, a close-up framing her shoulders and face. She was holding one of her Kerths by her cheek, a look of triumph on her face. As Clark studied the picture, he noticed that he saw his own face reflected in the case of the curio. His face seemed to hang there, next to hers. For some strange reason, it made him think how nice it would be to have a real partner. Someone he could confide in... someone who he could lean on when life caught up with him.
He cast his eyes sadly to the ground, the burden of his solitude hitting him as he stood there. He couldn't have a real partner. He knew that his life was more than Clark Kent, reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper. He was *Superman*...
He groaned inwardly at the thought of his new 'official' name. His life was lived from one crisis to the next, with his only normalcy in life stolen here and there when he could be himself... Clark Kent. How could he ask that of any woman?
Even more, could he ever learn to trust someone again?
"Thanks for bringing her home, Mr. Kent. Lois must have been really wiped out though, to sleep all the way home like that."
Clark spun around to see Lucy standing in the hallway that led to the bedrooms. "We had a very... full day today, and she was exhausted." he replied. “Besides that medicine really knocked her out. Anyway, it was part self preservation that made decide to bring her home. She may be in a better mood in the morning if she slept in her own bed."
Lucy chuckled at Clark's comment. "I can see you never slept with my sister... um, I mean near my sister before. She's not a morning person no matter where she sleeps." Lucy turned a light shade of red at her faux pas.
Clark politely chose to ignore the slip, and responded, "I bet she'll be fine once she gets past that first cup of coffee." Then after a beat, "Which brings me to a favor I'd like to ask."
"What? Sure, Mr. Kent, what can I do for you?"
"First, please call me Clark. And second... would you mind if I sat up here in your living room for the rest of the night? Lois had a pretty hard night, and I'd like to stick around in case she needs anything... when she wakes up that is."
That sounded lame, even to his own ears. He wondered what Lucy thought of his request, or if she thought that he was some kind of weirdo who would kill them both in their sleep. But Lucy didn't seem taken back by the request. After a moment of thinking, she asked with an air of resignation, "So who tried to kill Lois tonight?"
"What? How did you... I mean... why do you think that?"
Lucy shook her head, crossed her arms, and leaned against the doorframe. "Come on, Mr. K... Clark. I know Lois. She's been regularly ticking off most of the disreputable elements of Metropolis since she started working at the Planet. Half the time I'm surprised she survives a normal working day at all. So let me guess... you're worried about her, so you want to stand watch while she sleeps."
Clark couldn't hide the sheepish expression on his face. "Something like that."
"Should I be worried?"
Clark let out a contemplative sigh. "I'm not really sure. We believe that there were three men threatening us tonight, and only two were caught. And on top of that, they didn't get what they were looking for. On the other hand, with all the police commotion tonight I doubt that whoever is still out there will try anything else soon."
As Lucy took all of that in, Clark added, "Still, I would feel better if I could look after you two for the night."
Lucy smiled appreciatively. "That's very sweet of you, Clark. Not many guys... co-workers, would have made the effort to get Lois home." Then a wicked grin grew on her face, and she said, "I guess I'll feel safe with you protecting us. You must be tough, surviving a whole day working with my sister. Most reporters run screaming after the first few hours."
"She's not that bad to work with. I mean I know that she's a little high maintenance... hates to be wrong... can be argumentative at times... is intelligent, funny..." He paused to shake his head. "But she's one of the sharpest reporters I ever worked with."
Lucy had pushed away from the doorframe, and was looking intently at Clark, an expression of disbelief on her face. Finally she said, "Um, right. So would you like a pillow and some blankets? I have to warn you that that couch is really a torture device, and you might be better off on the floor."
"So I've noticed. But I think I'll just stay up and read. I noticed that you have a few interesting titles in your bookcase."
"Aren't you tired?"
"I’ll be fine. The adrenaline hasn't worn off yet, and at this point if I tried to sleep I'd just feel worse. You go on to bed, and thanks for the offer."
"If you're sure... Then good night, Clark, and thanks for watching out for my sister." She turned to go back to her bedroom, but stopped and looked over her shoulder at Clark. "I know that Lois can be a little difficult at times, but she's a great sister... and person. Just so you know." She then turned her head and went into her bedroom.
Clark looked after her, somewhat confused as to why Lucy had made that last comment. Shrugging, he walked over to the bookcase and began to peruse the collection of books there. After a minute he selected a PD James novel, and went back to the couch to sit down and start reading. Just as he was about to sit down, he stopped, Lucy's warning echoing in his head. He chuckled, and dropped down on the couch. After a few attempts to get comfortable, he gave up, and floated himself an inch off the couch. Good thing he was *Superman*. He mentally supplied some generic theme music as he said his new superhero name in his mind.
Speaking of which... He expanded his senses, searching for any sign of someone lurking near Lois's home. After his search yielded only the odd alley cat, he relaxed, and cracked open the book to begin reading. He spent the rest of the evening there, alternating between reading and performing super-powered searches of the surrounding area.
By 6:00 am, the dawn was breaking through the window, and Clark was just finishing the novel. He got up and replaced the book back on the shelf, and went over to the kitchen to get a drink of water. He retrieved a glass from the draining board on the sink, and examined it for cleanliness. He then filled it from the tap, and downed a glassful within a few seconds.
After his drink, he just stood at the sink, staring out the window, the water glass still in his hand. The rays of the dawning sun touched his face, and he could feel the influx of their restorative power being absorbed into his body. He had long ago learned that the yellow sun was the main source of his powers, his body somehow being able to absorb vast quantities of sunlight. Just for fun in college, after taking a basic physics course, he calculated that his body had absorbed more than 120 million watt hours of energy by his tenth birthday, just about the time his powers started to manifest themselves.
As the sun recharged him, he thought that he would need to get away during the morning to do a quick patrol around the city, since he would have usually been out during the night trying to prevent crime. He sighed and got his body moving again, going through the mundane task of cleaning the glass he had used. He replaced the glass in the draining board, but didn't move from his spot. He was thinking about how Lois would react when she woke up. She probably will be mad at him for assuming that she needed protection. But he could deal with that. Maybe he should just quietly leave, and keep an eye on her from...
"Good morning, Mr. Bodyguard."
Clark turned around to see Lucy standing in the hallway entrance, wearing the same bathrobe she had on a few hours ago.
"I'm sorry. Did I wake you, Lucy?"
"Naw, I've always been an early riser. I was just going to get the coffee started and then try to wake Lois. She’s usually not coherent until she gets her first cup in the morning." Her smile left her for a moment. "Not that she's cranky in the morning, or anything like that," she added hastily.
"Oh, well I thought I should be going anyway. Tell Lois that I..."
"NO! I mean don't go, you can have breakfast with us. I'll let Lois know you're here, and we can fix some breakfast." She scurried over to the refrigerator and opened it to assess the contents. From behind the refrigerator door, Clark could hear Lucy inventorying it contents.
"Let me see, we have four eggs, some bread, a little milk, something in the meat bin... no juice, butter..." She slammed the door, looked around for a second, then grabbed a huge bag of oranges off the top of the refrigerator. "And I got these -- $2.99 at CostMart." She held them out at arms length to Clark, like she was holding a prize turkey.
Clark once again scrunched his face in confusion over Lucy's behavior. Maybe she was just worried about her sister, and didn't want him to leave yet. "Sure, Lucy. Why don't you let me try to make something, and you girls... ladies, go get ready."
"Oh. Well sure, that would be nice." Lucy looked like she suddenly realized that she had the bag of oranges in her hand, unsure what to do with them. Clark walked over and gently took them from her.
"I'll take care of these for you." Lucy only nodded at his comment, as he placed them on the kitchen island.
"OK then, I'll... we'll get ready. Don't go away." She smiled briefly, and then dashed back toward the bedrooms. Clark just watch her leave, a scowl on his face, not sure what to think of what just transpired. He shrugged, and put himself to the task of creating a breakfast out of the scant supplies in the house. First, the coffee...
End Part 11
