The Return of Ultra Woman
Chapter 15
I may not be able to hear an emergency call from across the city, but I can sure zero in on Clark. Before I’m even close to our door, I can hear him moving around. I guess being able to hear each other is mutual because as I’m approaching the entryway, the door opens and in front of me is a much more refreshed version of my husband. This time I don’t get the first kiss. Lara has missed him almost as much as I have, and she gets there first.
I go through the door and collect my kiss, one that has a promise of much more after Lara is in bed. He seems better, but I know from long experience Clark can hide his real feelings as skillfully as anyone. I hope my tone conveys how glad I am to see him. “You seem to be feeling much better now.”
I see that familiar farm-boy smile flash back at me, and I know his improved outlook isn’t just an act. “Yeah. The sleep helped a lot, and now that you and Lara are here, I feel wonderful.”
The way he says it tells me something else. He’s better, but the disaster is still on his mind. I’m almost tempted to ask about it, but it’s probably best to wait. I’ll ask him again tonight after Lara is in bed. He’s still enough of a heroic lunkhead to try to bury the grief. He’s much better at sharing this sort of stress than when we first got married, but sometimes he still thinks he has to carry it alone. For now, we’ll stay with safe topics. “You must be feeling better. I heard ‘Clark in the kitchen’ sounds just a second ago.”
“What better way to show the women of my life how much I missed them?”
We spent the next several hours mostly in the kitchen area. It’s common for us to spend much of our evening there. Lara can play on the floor and the table is a great place for games. This simple family togetherness is one of the things I never knew I missed so much growing up.
Clark brings the same easygoing style to his cooking that he does most things. Once he finishes the prep work, I don’t think he spends more than five minutes actually doing any cooking for most meals. He’ll be with Lara or me and it’ll be as if a silent alarm goes off. He’ll disappear to check a sauce or adjust a burner and then he’s back again. When he’s done, we’ll have a meal that’s some kind of halfway mix of Kansas home cooking and exotic foreign flavors. I have no idea how he achieves it, but Clark certainly makes my lack of food preparation skills a non-issue.
The evening is completely normal in so many ways. We probably linger a bit longer over dinner than usual, but before too long Lara is finished with her bath and we’re tucking her into bed for the night. Usually we’ll spend a few hours in the living room at this time either watching a movie or just being together while we read or chat. Tonight is going to be a bit different. After the lights are off in Lara’s room, Clark turns to me just outside her door. “Can we spend the evening in our room?”
“Of course. Are you still tired?”
I get a sense of fragileness in his words. “Not physically. I just… I just want to hold you.”
I can’t let that go without an appropriate response. Half-a-step later my arms are around his waist and I can hear that special heartbeat up close. The feel of his cheek on my head tells me that he really is fragile tonight. After a few moments, I pull back and make a waving motion with my hand toward our room. “You go ahead. I’ll make sure everything else is closed up for the night and be right in.” Closing up the house and turning off the lights only takes a moment. When I get into our room, he’s on the bed with a thoughtful look on his face. As I lie down next to him, I can’t help commenting on it. “You look very serious for someone who just wants to snuggle.”
He reaches over to me and I feel the wonderful sense of rightness that comes from being in his arms. After a brief pause he says, “You feel so good.”
I know where this might lead, but he seems to be interested in talking first. “I’m glad you didn’t need to answer any calls tonight. Is the city still staying quiet?”
“I did pick up a few calls, but nothing that felt like Superman needed to make an appearance. One of them confused me. A police car was parked nearby for a while this evening and I heard the officers talking about something they called ‘lover-boy’ bandits. It sounded like these were minor nonviolent robberies where the perpetrator was a young man who waited around for some reason. They mentioned the purple girl. Do you know what that’s about?”
I can tell I’m already turning red. “My new look made quite an impression on some of Metropolis’s young men. I answered a call where the guy staged the robbery just to ask me for a date. When the police arrived I said something about ‘lover boy’ in front of the police. I guess he wasn’t the only person to have that idea.”
Clark obviously finds this amusing. “Was he cute?” He barely gets the last word out before he starts laughing. I’m sure he can see the irritation at this situation starting to rise to the surface. “Okay, I’m sorry. I promise that subject is taboo. Besides, I’m not sure I want to know if he’s cute. Please tell me more about your debut day. I read your write up in The Planet after my nap, but I want to hear your version.”
Before starting, I glare at him once more. His response is immediate. “I promise – no more on that subject.”
“Okay. The beginning of the day started out slow. Just before the banks were to open, I noticed an increase in the number of police calls. Right about then, Ralph clued me in to what was happening.”
“Ralph!”
The look of shock on his face is priceless. “Yes Ralph. Of course, he had no idea he said anything important. He made a comment about getting to the bank before it opened. That got me thinking about the timing and it all came together. Within a minute of his comment, I was hovering about the city. Sure enough, I didn’t have to wait for long. When the bank robberies hit, I knew it was time to act. I took down the first group so fast they never knew what hit them.” I pause and look up at him. “The super speed is fantastic for taking care of these sorts of situations. Why don’t you use it more?”
“I use it a lot more now than when I started. You seem to have a lot more control over the speed than I did at first. I guess there are two parts of the answer. First, like I said, you seem to have better control at high speed than I do. Second, well, you’re better at thinking of ways to take advantage of your speed. My first thought for a solution to most problems, is how to use my strength to fix it. After seeing all the success you’ve had today with the speed, I think I’ll be asking you some pointers on the efficient use of super speed.”
“Why you don’t carry zip-ties to restrain the people you capture?”
“Lois, I’ve never doubted your intelligence and creativity. If I ever did, I certainly wouldn’t now. I just never thought about carrying anything in my boots. It’s pure genius and I am thrilled you thought of it. I’ll start as soon as I can get my boots modified to add a pouch.”
He can be so sweet sometimes. Well, most of the time actually. “Anyway, the bank jobs were easy the way I handled them. Of course, then I heard about the armored car. When I first arrived, I spent a few seconds hovering high above them trying to figure out how I was going to get them all at once. They were so spread out I was afraid even super speed wouldn’t get me to all of them quickly enough. Then it was as if someone sent a signal that it was time to go. All the men just dropped what they were doing and ran to the vehicle. I almost started laughing at how easy they made it for me. I just picked up the armored car and set it on its side in front of MPD headquarters.”
“I saw the pictures of the vehicle after you got the men out.” Clark said. “Did you have any trouble with the steel plating when you broke in?”
“Not at all. Does moving at high speed make that easier?”
Now my husband is chuckling. “I wish I would have had you there to suggest how to handle things right at the beginning. Yes, for punching or cutting through most walls and even armor plate, moving at super speed will make almost any material feel like paper. The one thing you need to be careful about is extra thick reinforced concrete. Up to about a foot thick isn’t so bad but if it’s thicker than that… well, it doesn’t feel like paper anymore.”
The grimace on his face now makes me think this was a painful lesson to learn. “I’ll keep that in mind. Anyway, that actually took the most time of the day. Since I was supposed to be out-on-the-street covering the crime wave, I figured I should check in with Perry…” Then it hits me! I forgot to tell Clark that Perry knows.
Clark picks up on my break immediately. “Lois, what’s wrong.”
“Perry knows.”
Now he looks worried. “What does Perry know?”
“You… Superman…Ultra Woman… everything.”
Clark looks dumbstruck. “He figured all that out from your appearance yesterday?”
“No, he says he’s known for a long time. Ever since the time you left as Superman to go off to New Krypton. When he talked to me yesterday, he said he was concerned that if we are both going to go into the super business, we might need extra help with Lara. He wanted us to know he’s there if we need him, and we don’t need excuses to explain when we need to rush off.”
Clark is just staring at me. After a moment his expression softens and he says, “I’m not worried about Perry knowing the truth. He’s way more than just a friend and I’m sure he understands that some secrets need to be protected. However, it does make me wonder who else might know.”
That reminds me. “Is there any way Bobby Bigmouth would know you were in Guatemala?”
“Possibly. Why?”
His calm reaction gives me hope that we aren’t going to have to deal with the problem of Bobby knowing Clark’s secret. “When I talked with him today, he made a comment about you being in Guatemala.”
“I don’t think it means anything. Yesterday, at around mid-day, there was a brief break, so I made a few appearances as Clark Kent. I made sure I was seen in the background of some television shots and even gave a few interviews. As the only representative from Metropolis, I was asked to comment on Superman’s activities. If Bobby happened to see the right television broadcast, he would have seen me down there.”
“That’s a relief. After what happened with Perry I’m wondering if all our friends know you’re Superman and are only humoring us. I was talking with Bill Henderson and it seemed like every other phrase might be a veiled hint that he knows about your identity”
“I think the secret is safe,” he replies. He pauses for a moment. “Do you have plans for an Ultra Woman’s official announcement?”
“Yes. I figured if Perry was in on the secret anyway, I might as well take advantage of it. I asked him to make the arrangements for a press conference at 9:00 am tomorrow morning. How do you think we should handle it?”
“That’s really up to you. But since you ask, I think you should arrive alone and do most of it that way. Would you like me to come in later as Superman?”
I’m glad I’d spent some time thinking this through. “I think a joint appearance will be best. It’s one thing to say I’m married to Superman but it will look better if we’re there together for at least part of it.”
Clark thinks about this for a minute. “I wonder if it would be better to just answer questions instead of offering a prepared statement.”
Now I’m confused. I thought I was going to get to say my little speech. “Why do you think that will work better?”
He looks very serious. “You’re supposed to be an alien with a minimal understanding of Earth culture. How are you supposed to understand that a prepared statement will be expected? If you just show up and let them ask you questions it will give you the opportunity to focus on seeming to be a stranger.”
He may be right. He certainly has experience in these sorts of things. “I’ll think about it. I was so set on making my ‘I’m Ultra Woman and I married Superman’ speech that I’m not sure I want to miss out on delivering it.”
“You’ll still get to make your speech. It’ll just be by way of answering questions.” Now he looks mischievous. “I think you could have some real fun with it. Remember how formal some of the Kryptonians were and how much trouble people had trying to ask them questions.”
Clark is right. Letting the press dig for my identity may have its advantages and could be fun. “Okay, I’ll think about it, but I probably won’t decide until I get there on how to handle it.”
After that, we’re silent for a few minutes when I remember the other subject we need to address. I roll over so I’m on top of my husband. He’s on his back looking up at me. I sense some amorous feelings from him but we still have something else to do first. “Clark, I think you need to talk to me about Guatemala.”
I can practically hear the walls fly up. “Lois, I...”
I cut him off. “Don’t even go there mister. You need to talk and I need to hear what happened. I wish I could pretend you’d be fine, but we both know the truth. Let me be here for you.”
He just stares at me a second or two before saying, “I love you so much. I don’t deserve you.”
“You’re right, but then I don’t deserve you either.” I bring one hand to his cheek in the gentlest caress I know. He needs to recognize I’m forcing this for his own good. “Please Clark, tell me what you saw.”
We both shed our share of tears before we went to sleep.
TBC
Bob
