Haven't written a word in like 8 days [okay, I did the Tank thing, but not on the WIP I've got going - ESF for short because it has no title so it stands for Eureka Springs Fic since that's where it opens up] :p . Hate that. Haven't edited the stuff in Shaken that I need to yet either... /sigh/
Thanks - as ever - to Alisha, Nancy, Beth, and Queenie. It's all Queenie's fault...
Last time:
She stood nervously in the doorway between the living area and the bedroom. The white gown hung from slim straps on her shoulders and fell to pool on the floor around her feet. The filmy white robe did little to hide the neckline that revealed more than any shirt – or even swimsuit – he'd ever seen her wear. He could clearly see the small mole on the swell of her breast – the one he'd gotten glimpses of from time to time.
His eyes traveled down her body and back up again to see that she was nervously biting her lip – something he'd always found endearing.
"You look..." He shook his head slightly. "You look amazing."
She wrapped her arms around herself. "Really?"
He nodded. "Give me one second."
Clark was sure he turned into a blur and a couple seconds later he was standing in front of her. His black shirt hung open and he wore only that and a pair of black silk boxers. He'd thought, dreamed, about this moment for years and he'd made another stop the night before that he hadn't mentioned to Lois. He'd thought about getting something for her, but he wasn't sure that was appropriate; how she'd take it. Sure they were getting married, but...
"Wow," Lois whispered. "I hope you don't do everything that fast."
He wrapped his arms around her and she slipped her hands under his shirt and around his waist, her fingers trailing over his skin. "There's only one way to find out." He leaned to the side and scooped her into his arms.
He carried her into the bedroom and laid her carefully in the middle of the bed before he crawled on next to her.
"I love you, Lois Lane Kent," he told her quietly before kissing her.
"I love you, Clark Kent," she said kissing him back.
And then... the only sounds in the suite were those of two young lovers becoming one.
Chapter 9
Lois rested her head on Clark's chest as he tugged the satin sheet up over them.
"Wow," she whispered.
"I know," he whispered back, his finger trailing up and down her spine.
"That was..."
He smiled at her. "I mean..."
She sighed. "Exactly." She stretched up to kiss him softly. "The only thing I'd like more would be..."
"More?" he whispered huskily.
She nodded. "More."
He kissed her softly. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
She shook her head. "A little bit, but I expected that and just for a minute." She rolled to face him more fully. "I think I'd like 'more' now, if that's okay with you."
He pulled her on top of him. "That's fine with me." He floated them off the bed, taking the sheet with them. "But I think I'm going to show off a bit this time, if that's okay with you."
She gasped as she realized they were hovering in mid-air. "Clark!"
"Are you okay with this?" he asked suddenly, lowering them back down towards the bed.
She looked at him sternly. "If you actually land back on that bed, 'more' isn't going to happen."
Clark chuckled as he floated back up. "Your wish is my command, milady."
"And don't you forget it," she whispered, kissing him.
"I won't."
It was well after noon before they were dressed and ventured out of the suite.
"So, lunch?" Clark asked, holding her hand as they stood on the sidewalk.
She nodded. "Yeah. I'm hungry." The food Clark had brought back with him hadn't been eaten.
He leaned closer to her. "We did just burn a lot of calories, didn't we?"
She blushed. "Yeah, we did."
"Do you want to get something and take it back with us or eat out?"
She hesitated. "As much as I'm enjoying spending time alone with you, this may be our only trip to Metropolis."
"That's what I was thinking," he said. "Want to go to the Daily Planet?"
She looked at him with a raised brow. "Have we met? What do you think?"
He laughed. "Daily Planet it is."
They walked towards the famous building, stopping at a deli across the street for lunch.
"Do you think we should call your parents?" Lois asked him as she took a sip of her drink. "Do you think they'll be worried or anything?"
He shook his head. "I told them last night that we were going to spend the day together and that, since you knew about me, I'd probably take you places I couldn't before. They probably think we're checking out the pyramids or the Great Wall, maybe hanging out on a deserted island in the Pacific or something so they don't expect us to actually be at the lake."
"You're going to take me all those places and then some you know," she told him.
"Gladly."
They finished their sandwiches and chips and headed out the door. Lois gasped. "That's Norcross and Judd," she whispered, pointing to a couple standing outside the building attempting to hail a cab.
"We're not here to stalk them," Clark reminded her.
"I know *that*," she said exasperated. "But can I help it if I want to tail them and see what they're up to?"
"No, but I've got a better idea." He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her.
"What's that?"
"Go look around across the street and then go back to the hotel and try out that Jacuzzi." He kissed the base of her neck. "How's that sound?"
"I didn't bring a swimsuit," she told him with a grin.
"Me either. Guess we'll have to go skinny dipping."
Lois giggled. "Okay then."
"Jacuzzi it is then?"
"That sounds wonderful," she sighed as he kissed her neck some more. "As long as you promise to do more of that."
"Gladly."
*****
"Tell me about you," Lois said quietly, her head resting on his chest, her fingers drawing random patterns on his stomach.
"What about me?" His hand rubbed up and down her back, pulling the sheet up over them.
"What do you know about yourself? *How* do you know it?"
"Well, my parents found me in Shuster's field when I was about two and a half months old. Dr. Lewis – he was the doctor in Smallville before your dad – got them a birth certificate and all that. They told him the official story. One of Mom's cousins had been in a 'delicate way' is what Mom called it and that's where I'd come from. The reality was that they found me in a space ship. It's about the size of a jet ski or so, I guess. In it is this... globe thing. It looks like a really big marble or something, but when I was about thirteen it started to tell me things. It told me I was from a planet called Krypton."
"Krypton?" Lois whispered, in awe.
He nodded. "That was something I just knew in my head when I picked it up. It glowed and changed to a globe of this other planet and I just knew it was Krypton. Over the course of the next couple years, every once in a while it would play this holographic type message. Jor-El, my birth father, would tell me things about why I was sent away, about Krypton, about being Kryptonian." His fingers played with the hair at her temple.
"Why were you sent away?"
"The planet was going to explode – it did not long after my ship was sent off. My father was apparently the First Lord of all of Krypton but he was also a scientist. So was my birth mother, Lara. They realized the core of the planet was unstable but no one would listen to them so they made a ship big enough for me and sent me here. They thought I might have the kinds of powers that I do because the Earth has a yellow sun and Krypton had a red one. I'm not sure about the science behind that but..." He shrugged. "They were right. And Kryptonians are telepathic. I guess part of that is having some kind of... mental or something connection when they meet the person they're supposed to be with."
She propped herself up slightly. "What's that mean?"
One arm tightened around her waist and the other hand reached up to brush the hair off her face. "It means that when I met you I knew that I wanted to marry you. It's part of being Kryptonian, knowing immediately. When Jor-El told me that, I decided to stop focusing so much on convincing you to marry me and just convincing you to let me be your first date and go from there. That's part of the reason why Lana or anyone else never stood a chance. There was no point in dating someone else – I'd only end up hurting them in the long run, because you've always been the only girl for me."
Lois leaned over and kissed him softly. "Honey, if you ever mention Lana's name when we're naked together again..."
He winced. "Yeah?"
"It'll be the last time we're naked together for a while."
He laughed. "Deal."
She rolled away, taking the sheet with her, picking up her nightgown up off the floor and slipping it over her head as she stood up. "But now you must feed me."
"I take it we're not going out if you're wearing that," he said, finding his boxers and pulling them on.
She sighed. "Actually, we probably should."
"Why?"
"Because room service is expensive and we've already spent so much money today." She sat on the couch, her feet curled up underneath her. "I mean, the wedding itself was pretty cheap, but this couldn't be." She gestured to the room. "This had to have cost at *least* a couple hundred bucks. You work at *Maisie's*, Clark. It's a good job for high school, but you're not making tons of money and I'm not working at all – not really. Just babysitting here and there and my folks during the summer. How can you afford this?" She shifted so he could sit behind her and she snuggled in next to him.
"Well, you're right. This wasn't cheap, but it's worth it. This is all the honeymoon we're ever going to get." He played with her wedding rings. "It could be the only day we have together. I have every intention of coming back tomorrow, but if I don't, this is all you'll have – the memory of today and whatever I have left in my bank account. I figured an amazing today together was worth more to you than a few hundred more dollars."
She nodded, tears in her eyes. "You're right. I'd much rather have an incredible day together today than a little more money, but what I really want is for you to come home safely."
"I know and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that happens."
"I know, but did this completely wipe you out?"
"No, not completely. I have some money left. Hopefully enough to help us get on our feet a bit if Mom and Dad let us stay in Gramps and Granny's house. Enough to get some garage sale dishes and a bed because as much as I love you, I can't imagine sleeping on either one of our twin beds long term, though I guess we could push them together and make a king size if they're close enough to the same height – if our parents let us have them, of course. Enough, I hope, to do stuff like that." He kissed her head. "Enough to order room service for now."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah." He reached for the room service menu. "What do you want?"
*****
Lois rested her head on Clark's shoulder as they drove. The silence in the truck was pervasive. There was no radio, no sound of swishing wipers, only the sound of their breathing and the occasional blinker noise.
They pulled into the yard in front of the farm, the darkness enveloping them when he turned off the truck and the headlights.
"I don't want you to go," Lois said quietly. "I know that's selfish and all that, but a big part of me would rather have you here for two more days with me than risk you not coming back at all."
"I know."
A light came on inside.
"They're going to be out here in a minute." He hesitated for a second and then pulled his wedding band off. "Keep this for me?"
She nodded. "I'll keep it safe." She sighed and pulled her wedding rings off, sliding her promise ring back on her left hand. "These, too." She zipped them into the small back pocket in her purse.
He opened his door and slid out of the truck as the porch light came on. She followed him out the driver's door, resting her head on his chest as he took her in his arms.
They'd said their good-byes officially before they left Metropolis. It wasn't supposed to turn into another session of love making, but it had. Tears had flowed down both their cheeks as they kissed and touched and loved and were together one more time.
After a long moment in each other's arms, Clark sighed and reached out to shut the door. "Come on."
Hand in hand, they went into the living room where Martha and Jonathan were waiting.
"The rockets didn't work, did they?" Clark asked quietly as they sat on the couch, his arm automatically going around Lois. "We haven't been anywhere with a TV on." That much was the truth. They'd left the television off.
"No, they didn’t," Martha said quietly. "Did you two at least have a nice day together?"
They both nodded, but didn't trust themselves to say more.
"That's good," Jonathan said with a sigh. "But Clark I think it's time we faced reality. If this is going to work, you've got to get going."
He nodded. "I did the math. The average person breathes about twelve times per minute. I can hold my breath for twenty minutes but if I take two tanks with about an hour's worth of air, that's about 1440 breaths worth of air so I don't have to hold my breath that long. If I breathe once a minute, that gives me a full day's worth of oxygen and I don't think that I'll be gone nearly that long."
"Good," Lois said quietly.
He sighed. "I'm going to get changed." He kissed the side of her head and went upstairs.
"How mad are my parents?" Lois asked quietly as he disappeared.
Martha and Jonathan exchanged a glance. "They're not happy," Martha told her. "But they understand you wanting to spend time with Clark. They're least happy, of course, that you two spent the night together – and I'm not saying that to accuse you of anything so don't think that, but you were out for the whole night. *We* understand why that is, because Clark's leaving, but we couldn’t tell your parents that. We could only tell them that Clark had told us not expect him until this morning but that he reiterated that you two weren't going to have sex until after you got married."
Lois nodded, but didn't trust her voice. She looked towards the stairs, grateful that Clark was already back.
She tried not to notice how good he looked in the black wet suit, sure that his parents would be able to read in her eyes what had transpired between them.
His hiking boots did look more than a bit out of place, though. He picked up the two tanks and checked them over before fixing them to his back.
He looked around the room and sighed. "I guess this is it," he said quietly. "I don't think I should wait any longer."
Lois hung back as Martha and Jonathan gave him hugs and kisses and pats on the back. She knew they didn't want him to go any more than she did, but she also knew that none of them really had a choice.
After hugging both of them for one more long moment, Clark turned to her. "I know we already said good-bye, but I love you."
She nodded, tears finally spilling down her cheeks again. "I know. I love you, too."
He held her close for a long moment. "I have to go."
"I know."
The four of them walked to the porch, where Martha and Jonathan stayed while Lois followed Clark into the farmyard.
He kissed her softly. "I love you, wife," he whispered.
"I love you, husband," she whispered back. "Be safe."
"I will. I'll be home before you know it."
"I hope so."
"You'll see. Before you know it, we'll be telling them..."
She smiled. "You have to be here to help me with that."
"I will be."
He gave her a long, gentle kiss. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
He took a big step back and lifted into the air, putting the breathing regulator in his mouth and then disappearing before their eyes.
Lois watched the sky for a long moment before turning back towards the porch. Tears continued to flow down her cheeks as she watched Jonathan holding Martha in his arms. She walked slowly up the stairs only to find herself enveloped in a three-way hug.
After a long few moments, they headed inside.
Lois finally spoke. "Um, do you mind if I go use Clark's bed? We both kind of dozed off for a while earlier, but I didn't sleep much or well at all."
That was the truth. She'd finally fallen asleep in Clark's arms, but it had been a restless sleep filled with uncomfortable dreams that she couldn't quite remember.
"Of course, honey." Martha put an arm around her and led her up the stairs.
She slipped her shoes off and glanced down at her jeans. She was sure she knew the answer, but felt obligated to ask anyway. "Do you think Clark would mind if I borrowed something of his to wear? These aren't exactly my most comfortable pajamas."
Martha gave a forced laugh. "Honey, I think Clark would be just fine with you borrowing some of his clothes." She went to his dresser and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. "Here. I'm sure you'll want to roll the pant legs, but they've got a drawstring and the shirt will probably swallow you whole, but it'll be much more comfortable."
"Thank you, Martha."
Her mother-in-law gave her a big hug. "Oh, honey, I'm so glad Clark has you."
"I'm so glad I have him."
Martha let her go and closed the door behind her as she left. Lois quickly changed clothes, taking a long breath with her face buried in Clark's John Deere T-shirt before pulling it over her head.
She crawled under the covers and cried herself to sleep.
*****
Lois sat in the porch swing, one leg curled underneath her, the other foot rocking herself back and forth, the blanket tucked around her.
She stared at the stars, wondering where her husband was and trying desperately not to give in to the tears that threatened. Breaking news had come in several hours earlier that the asteroid had mysteriously exploded.
Given the time that had elapsed between the time Clark left and the time the announcement was made, they believed that Clark should be back before long. Martha and Jonathan were trying to stay busy inside, but there was nothing for her to do. She'd avoided calling her parents but knew Martha had talked to them and told them that she was there but that Clark was off running an errand. She'd told them that Lois was welcome to stay the night and that Clark would make sure she was home in the morning so she could spend some time with them.
"Nothing yet?"
Lois looked up to see Jonathan walking towards her. She shook her head. "No. Nothing yet."
He sat on the other end of the swing. "I don't think I've ever told you how happy I am Clark has you in his life. I know I wasn't crazy about him telling you, but it had nothing to do with you. I've always had this half-rational fear of him being discovered and telling anyone..."
"I understand that," Lois reassured him. She started to say something else, when something caught her eye.
"A shooting star," Jonathan said quietly.
Lois nodded. "It's awfully early for part of the meteor to get here, isn't it?"
They both looked at each other, their eyes suddenly wide. They both looked back at the streak heading towards them.
"Clark," Lois whispered, standing up and running off the porch. "Clark!" she screamed as she hit the ground, running towards where the streak had disappeared.
Jonathan headed towards the house. "Martha, let's go!" He grabbed his keys. "In the truck, Lois."
She was still screaming his name as she climbed into the back of Jonathan's pickup. Martha and Jonathan were only a few steps behind her as they climbed into the cab.
A minute later, they were speeding down Twentieth Road in the general direction of Smallville and where they'd last seen the shooting star.
As they neared Shuster's field, the cattle in the area seemed louder than usual.
"There!" Lois screamed, pointing towards a stand of trees. There seemed to be a small fire in the middle of them. She hopped down and opened the gate leading into the field, climbing back into the bed once she'd closed it. The trunk bounced across the field and she held on for dear life.
Jonathan stopped as close as he could to the trees and Lois jumped out.
"Clark!" she screamed, running through the underbrush. "Clark, where are you?!"
She could hear his parents behind her calling the same things.
A minute later, she made it to the small clearing where the grass was smoldering.
What she saw stopped her short. "Clark?" she whispered, peering into the crater.
He was there, curled up in a ball in the bottom of the trench he dug.
Martha and Jonathan appeared at her side. Seconds later, they were scrambling down into the hole. Lois led the charge, oblivious that most of his clothes had burned up at some point before he landed.
"Clark," she whispered, her hand resting on the side of his face. "Clark, look at me." She felt for a pulse. "He's alive," she said, relief evident in her voice. "Clark, come on, sweetheart. Wake up."
He groaned suddenly and moved just a bit.
Tears continued to stream down her cheeks as she closed her eyes in relief.
"Clark, honey, wake up." Martha was on his other side.
He shifted again, just a bit and opened his eyes. He looked from one to the other and back again. He licked his lips and finally spoke.
"Who are you?" He looked back and forth again. "Who am *I*?"
*****
TBC
