Before we get to the last part - a few thoughts.
Firstly to Iolanthe - your betaing is such a gift to me. You're always encouraging, always enthusiastic and always full of great suggestions. Thanks for sticking with me through a story that went way, way longer than I anticipated.
Secondly to everyone who read this fic - thank you! I am so
that you took the time to read such a long fic.
And to everyone who left FDK - thanks for your enthusiasm, ideas, suggestions, theories and predictions. At times, I felt the FDK threads outdid the story part!! It is an absolute pleasure to write for such wonderful readers.
Here's the final part and the epilogue. I think I've tied up just about every end and put all the toys back where they belong.
Corrina.
From Part 41 ...
Lois looked at the globe, still in her hands. “Do you think it is this?”
“I don’t know. But I think I’ll keep it close.”
“Good idea,” Lois said. “Then if it does have any more messages, you won’t miss them.” She flashed him a grin. “I’ll take the globe - you bring the suit.”
“You want to take it with us?”
“Absolutely.” She took his hand in masterful fashion. “I am *not* letting my husband loose in a suit like that without having tried it out first.”
“You want me to wear it?”
“You bet I do.”
“Where?”
“In the bedroom.”
“In the -?”
“I’ll do you a deal, farm boy,” Lois said. “You wear the suit. I wear the tight skirt. For the first thirty seconds anyway.”
He grinned. “Deal.”
Part 42
They ate lunch together – Clark, his parents and his wife.
The women were still buoyant from their shopping trip. Clark continually looked from his mother to his wife, enjoying their vibrancy. When his eyes met his father’s, they both smiled.
“Clark?”
Lois held a plate towards him – a plate with little brown squares on it. “What is it?” he asked.
“Chocolate,” she replied, grinning broadly.
He took a square and put it into his mouth. She was right, it did massage your tongue – but he had much greater reasons to be glad to be alive than a little square of melting sweetness. He looked at his wife and smiled.
“Do you like it?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said. But not as much as I like you. Clark turned to his mother. “All the things you and Lois bought this morning – they needed to be paid for, didn’t they?”
Martha nodded.
“With ... money?”
“Yes.”
“I can’t pay you back,” Clark said. “Not yet. Not until I get a job.”
Martha smiled. “I enjoyed every second of being out with my daughter-in-law. It is a privilege to be able to help you both.”
“Thank you,” Clark said sincerely. “But I need a job.”
“Any ideas?” his father asked.
Clark shrugged. “What were my plans?”
“You planned to go to college,” Martha said. “You hadn’t fully decided which course.”
“It’s too late for college now,” Clark said. “I have to work so I can support my wife.”
“Hey,” Lois said, as her hand touched his arm. “I *have* a job, so don’t assume that college isn’t a possibility for you.”
Clark shook his head. “No, I can’t go to college,” he said firmly. He looked at Lois. “Your job in Metropolis? Do you want to go back to it?”
“Yes, I do,” Lois said. “But if we decided that wasn’t best for both of us, I’m confident I could find work at just about any newspaper in the country.”
“This afternoon, after we’ve found your parents, I’ll start looking for work.”
“I have a better idea,” Lois said.
“You do?”
“Remember when you gave the Reports?” she said. “Remember how I said you were good with words?”
“Yes,” he said hesitantly.
“I think together, we could be a formidable reporting team,” Lois said eagerly. “I could do the bulk of the writing until you catch up with written English again. Until then, I could edit your work and help you.”
Clark tried to smother his grimace. “Lois,” he said gently. “I appreciate what you’re offering, but really, you don’t need to coddle me.”
“I wouldn’t be coddling you,” Lois said. “You won’t have a job at the Planet for longer than a week if Perry doesn’t believe you’re up to it. But think about it Clark, your extra skills would be phenomenal. You can see things and hear things -.”
“You want me to pry into the business of others?”
“Only if we think they’re doing something illegal.”
He was torn between her obvious enthusiasm and his fear this would lead to conflict – either now or later. “I don’t know, Lois.”
“Clark, I wouldn’t be able to force you to look through a door,” Lois said. “If you didn’t think it was ethical, you wouldn’t have to do it. But I’m telling you, there are some nasty characters out there and I think it’s fair game to use any advantage we have to bring them down.”
“We find out information and -?”
“Investigate. We investigate – together – then we write up what we’ve discovered and hand it to Perry.”
Still, Clark hesitated. Then Martha spoke. “There was man called Lex Luthor,” she told Clark. “He was very rich and very influential and very generous. He lived in Metropolis and did a power of good with grants and sponsorships and gifts to the city.
“But he was a crook. Most of his money was made through illegal deals or standover tactics or forcing people to pay him exorbitant amounts of protection money. Of those who knew his true character, most were too scared to speak against him. Those who weren’t, he silenced ... permanently.”
“You keep saying ‘was’,” Clark said. “He *was* a crook. Did he die?”
“No, he’s in prison.”
“Someone spoke up?”
“Yes,” Martha said. “Your wife.”
Clark spun to Lois. “Lo-is,” he hissed. “You took on a murderer? You could have been hurt. Didn’t you think about –?“
Lois’s touch on his arm deepened and she smiled serenely. “See, I *told* you your powers would be very handy.”
“The point is,” Martha said. “That without Lois’s investigation, without her having the drive and the courage and the skills to uncover the truth, Luthor would still be enjoying his reign of terror.”
“It’s not about prying into someone else’s business,” Lois said. “Well, not always. It’s about finding the truth. There *are* papers who will print anything – scandal and accusations without so much as a breath of evidence. But the Daily Planet is not like that. Perry White is not like that. Without hard evidence, he won’t print anything. Getting the story is a lot of work – legwork, research and chasing down leads that go nowhere.”
Clark felt like he was being manoeuvred – in the nicest possible way – by a formidable combination. He glanced to his father. Jonathan offered him nothing but a smile partly hidden by his large hand. “You really think we could do this together?” Clark asked Lois.
“To be honest,” Lois said. “I’ve never had a partner before. Perry suggested it once and I threatened to resign. But I think in you, I’ve found the perfect partner – not only in life, but also in work.”
“If I’m not up to standard, I would want you to be honest and tell me,” Clark said.
“I won’t need to,” Lois said. “You’ll know.”
“We could ask, I suppose,” Clark said, unconvinced.
“There’s something else to consider,” Lois said, pushing home her point. “If you’re serious about donning that suit and helping out wherever you can, there are going to be times when you need to make a hasty, unexplained exit. If you’re working with anyone else, you’re going to have to come up with endless excuses for walking out. If you’re working with me, you can go and do what you need to do and I’ll make up the excuses.” She grinned at him. “Being blunt, I’ll probably be better at it than you anyway.”
Clark leant back on his chair and let out a deep breath. “Lane and Kent,” he said. “Reporting team, Daily Planet.”
Lois grinned with triumph. “Sounds good to me.”
+-+-+-+
Lois and Clark stood together on the busy streets of Metropolis.
Busy. Noisy. Crowded. Smelly. Harried.
Clark held Lois’s hand.
She seemed oblivious to the commotion that played out around her.
He wished he could fly away.
Wished he could take Lois and escape to the quiet fields of Kansas.
Ahead was a tall building.
Not the tallest he had seen in this city, but five times taller than anything on New Krypton.
“This is Mom’s apartment building,” Lois said.
They stood there, heads back, eyes squinting against the bright light that reflected off the wall of windows. Clark tightened his hand around hers and thrust away his inner turmoil. “Ready?” he said quietly.
When she faced him, he saw the mix of her emotions – excitement twisted tightly with apprehension. “Yes,” she said.
“I know you’re concerned,” he said. “I know you said your mom can be difficult, but I’ll be with you – we’ll be all right.”
“I know,” Lois said. “But we are dumping a lot on her without any warning. Me – not dead at all, but right here in Metropolis and married. Whatever she says, however she reacts, can you please try to remember she is going to be dumbfounded?”
He smiled for her. “Don’t worry, honey.”
Lois stepped forward purposefully. At the door to the apartment block, someone came out and they slipped through and into the elevator.
On the fifth floor, they exited the elevator and walked along the corridor. They stopped at a wooden door. “This is it,” Lois said, taking a deep breath. She raised her hand. Her knock sounded uncomfortably intrusive in the silence.
Clark heard footsteps on the other side of the door. They blended with Lois’s thumping heart. A woman opened the door, saw them and glared. “What do you want?” she snarled.
Lois recoiled, bumping into Clark. He put his hands on her shoulders. “I’m looking for Ellen Lane,” Lois said.
“Who?”
“Ellen Lane.”
“Never heard of her.”
“She used to live here,” Lois said. Clark could hear the panic in her voice.
“I live here now.”
“How long?” Lois asked. “How long have you lived here?”
“Two months.”
“What do know about the former tenant? Did she leave a forwarding address?”
“No,” the woman barked. “All I know is I enquired about an apartment here and the super told me there was nothing – then two days later, he called me and said something had unexpectedly become available.”
Clark felt the tension pinch the muscles of Lois’s shoulders. “You don’t know anything else?” she said.
“Nothing. Is that all?” Without waiting for their reply, the woman slammed the door.
Clark twirled Lois into his body and held her close. She was shaking. He didn’t know what to say - didn’t know how to help her.
She backed away with a brave smile and turned towards the elevator.
Clark hurried to catch up to her. “It could be anything,” he reasoned. “Maybe she found a residence she liked better.”
“But why leave so suddenly?”
The elevator doors opened and they stepped in. “What are you most worried about?” Clark asked.
“That she went back to the drink,” Lois admitted. “That she couldn’t cope with my disappearance and probable death and found solace in alcohol.”
“And if that had happened, where would she be now?”
Lois faced him with eyes that radiated fear. “Worst case – on the streets. Best case – in a hospital or a rehab centre.”
The elevator doors opened and they walked back into the warm sunshine. “Where now?” Clark asked.
Lois hesitated. “To my father’s, I suppose.”
“Perhaps he will know your mother’s whereabouts.”
“I doubt it,” Lois said dolefully.
Clark took her hand. “Shall we try his work or his home?”
“His work. He won’t be at home. Not on a week day.”
Clark smiled, hoping to lift her spirits. “Is it close to here? Should we ... you know?”
“No, not here; too many people around. We’ll take a cab.”
Lois took one step onto the road, put her fingers in her mouth and let fly with the most piercing whistle Clark had ever heard. A yellow car pulled up and they both got in.
“You *have* to teach me how to do that,” Clark said with admiration.
She grinned through her anxiety. “Bet you already know how to do it,” she said.
The cab took them to an obviously wealthy area and stopped outside a doctor’s clinic. “Your father works here?” Clark said as he took in the overt opulence.
Lois nodded as she paid the driver and they got out.
“It’s very impressive.”
She shrugged dismissively. “It’s all he has to show for thirty-five years of addiction to his work,” she said. “It should be impressive.”
Clark brushed her hair back from her face. “Do you want me to come in with you?”
“No,” she said.
“OK, I’ll wait here.”
“No,” Lois said, looking more uncertain than Clark had ever seen her. “Would you go in?”
“Of course. If that’s what you want.”
“He might be at the hospital,” Lois explained. “I really don’t want to go in and have to wait and endure them all pointing at me and whispering.”
“What should I say?”
“Tell them you need to see Dr Lane urgently and ask for an appointment today. They almost certainly won’t give you one, but try to find out if he’s in today.”
“OK,” Clark said, trying to sound more assured than he felt.
“I’ll wait here,” Lois said.
Clark walked into the big airy room. There were people sitting in clusters, some reading, some staring blankly ahead. He crossed to the counter. “I need to see Dr Lane,” he said. “Could I have an appointment today?”
The woman smiled at him. “I’m sorry; Dr Lane has no appointments today.”
“Could you check, please?” he asked. “It is very important that I see him. Today.”
“He is unavailable today,” she said. “Can I make an appointment for -?”
“Is he here?” Clark cut in.
“No. He’s -.”
“Where is he?”
“He doesn’t work on Thursdays.”
Clark felt the disappointment sweep through him on Lois’s behalf. “Thank you,” he said and walked away.
“Is he there?” Lois asked as he exited the clinic.
“No,” Clark said. “I’m sorry, Lois. They said your father doesn’t work today.”
“He works every day.”
Clark felt a wave of helplessness wash over him. How could they find anyone in a city this big? This crowded? “Maybe we should go to his home,” he said. “Even if he’s not there, someone might know where he is.”
Lois didn’t look convinced, but nodded her agreement. “We’ll walk,” she said. “His house is only a few blocks away.” She led him along leafy streets, with large houses set back behind neat, colourful gardens. Lois stopped at a gate. “This is it,” she said.
“Your dad lives here?” Clark asked, eyeing the grandeur and size of the building.
“Yeah. He’s a doctor – a very well paid doctor.”
As they walked up the imposing steps, Clark felt the surge of his apprehension. Lois’s father was a doctor and by all appearances, a very successful one. How would he feel about his daughter marrying the son of Kansas farmers?
They rang the bell and Clark heard the chimes resonate through the building.
A minute later the door opened and a woman appeared.
“MOM!” Lois lunged forward and hauled the startled woman into her arms. “Mom,” she sobbed.
Clark could see the absolute disbelief on the woman’s face. After only a few seconds, she backed away and stared. “Lois?” she said hesitantly.
“Yes, Mom,” Lois said gently. “I’ve come home.”
The woman continued staring. “We ... we thought ...”
Lois held her hand. “I know what you thought, Mom, but it was just a horrible mistake.”
Her mom’s face stretched to a wide smile as her tears tumbled. “Lois,” she said, pulling her daughter into her embrace again.
After long minutes, they broke apart, although Lois didn’t loosen her grip on the woman’s arms. “Mom,” she said. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at your apartment? Where’s Dad? Are you all right?”
Lois’s mother took a moment to recover from the barrage of questions. She stared, open-mouthed. “What are you doing here?” she managed.
“I came to see Dad,” Lois said. “I went to your apartment but you weren’t there.”
“I left that apartment.”
“Why?”
“Because I got married.”
“You got married?!”
“Yes.”
“Who to?”
“Your father.”
Lois swayed and Clark grasped her waist to steady her. “You married Dad?” she spluttered.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I fell in love with him again.”
“Why? How? When? Are you sure?”
“We spent so much time together after your dis- ... after the Mission to Mars failed and there seemed to be no hope. He was such a tower of strength – so loving and considerate. When he suggested we try to put our lives back together again ... for both of us ... and for Lucy, I realised that was what I really wanted.”
The women stared at each other for a long moment.
Then, as if compelled by the same force, they came together in an all encompassing hug.
When they drew apart, Ellen’s attention moved to Clark. “And who is this?” she asked her daughter.
Lois turned to Clark, her grin impossibly wide and her eyes sparkling through moisture-dampened eyelashes. “This is my husband,” she announced ecstatically. “I got married too.”
Ellen looked him up and down, her face devoid of everything except shock. “You –.“ She swallowed roughly. “Why?”
“Because I fell in love,” Lois said.
Ellen’s face creased to a smile. “I guess I can’t argue with that.” She held out her hand to Clark. “I’m Ellen Lane,” she said.
“Clark Kent,” he said as he gently took her hand. “I’m very pleased to meet you, Mrs Lane.”
“Come in,” she said. “Sam and Lucy have gone to get fresh bread to go with the soup I made.”
Lois stopped her with a hand to her shoulder. “You made soup?” she said incredulously. “Dad went shopping for fresh bread? Lucy is here?”
Ellen nodded. “Three months is a long time. A lot can change.”
“So I see.”
“Particularly three months when you learn that what you have can be taken away in a moment. Three months when you reassess everything and decide what is really important.”
“You reassessed?”
“Everything,” Ellen said. “As did Sam – he only works three days a week now. And Lucy did too – she moved back home and seems much more settled.”
“So you really are a happy family?” Lois said in a voice filled with longing.
Ellen smiled sadly. “Not happy, no. Surviving, desperate, unified, grateful for what we still had ... but not happy.” She smiled into Lois’s face and her tears welled. “Not with our girl missing.”
“Well, I’m back,” Lois declared.
Ellen shook her head and brushed the tears from her eyes. “From the moment you first drew breath, you were full of surprises, girl.” She leant forward and kissed Lois’s cheek. “Now we’re all together again, now we can be happy.” She glanced up to Clark. “All five of us.”
Lois grinned, but it was cut short by a squeal from behind them.
“LOIS!!”
“LUCY!!”
Lois rushed past Clark and into the arms of her sister. Clark faced the tall man who was eyeing the girls with an expression that didn’t dare believe. Clark held out his hand. “I’m Clark Kent, Sir. I’m Lois’s husband.”
Lois’s father’s gaze moved slowly from his daughters and into Clark’s face. He took Clark’s hand in a firm hold. “Sam Lane,” he said. “Thank you for bringing my girl home.”
+-+-+-+
Just once more.
Perry forced his attention back to the feature he was supposed to be editing for the weekend edition. The paper was put to bed. He should go home. There was nothing to keep him here. He stood, a little tentatively. He could feel advancing age creep through his body. Again, he thought about retiring.
It was a recurring thought these days.
He’d lost other reporters – they’d left the Planet, or, on two occasions, had passed away – and he had continued on. Missed them, yes, mourned them, but life, the paper, had gone on.
Now, he didn’t have the strength to go on.
Nor the desire.
Nor the energy.
Not without Lois.
The escalator dinged and Perry looked up, expecting the cleaner.
A woman emerged.
She looked around the empty bullpen.
Before her gaze had travelled more than a few degrees, Perry knew.
He rounded his desk and tore out of his office.
“Lois?” he gasped, as he crossed the floor at a speed he hadn’t reached in many years. “LOIS!”
Her head spun towards him and Perry saw her face light with joy. “Perry!”
She flew down the stairs and leapt into his arms.
He held her.
Lois.
She had come home.
When she drew back, her eyes were shining with tears. “Perry,” Lois said tremulously. “Oh, Perry.”
He held her, saying nothing. He, a man of words, could find not a single word. So he just held her.
Lois broke away with a teary smile and gestured to the tall young man who had followed her. “This is my husband, Clark Kent,” she said.
Perry would always feel a little abashed that the moment he had met Clark Kent, he’d had tears streaming down his cheeks.
But he’d barely glanced at the young man. Could not recall if he’d acknowledged him in any way. Simply couldn't take his eyes from Lois.
She had come home.
“We have a great story for you, Chief,” she announced.
Yep, Perry was sure she did.
“And we’re wondering if you need another reporter.”
+-+-+-+
Clark Kent walked into the bedroom he shared with his wife in their tiny apartment. He removed his jacket and loosened his tie. He took his wallet from his pocket and opened it.
Money.
The first he had earned since he was fifteen years old.
And despite how many things they really needed, he knew exactly what he intended to do first with the money from this paycheque. He heard movement behind him and threw his wallet on the bed. He turned to greet his wife. “Everything OK?” he asked.
She smiled at him and put her cell phone on the bed.
Her ability to turn a still-fairly-limited array of working clothes into endlessly different outfits still fascinated him. She looked amazing – every single day.
He was a lucky, lucky man.
She smiled, infusing him with good feelings – feelings he hadn’t even suspected were possible until he’d met her. “Everything’s perfect,” she said. Her tone caused him to stop. Study her. She was grinning that ‘I know something’ grin.
He answered her smile. “Who called?”
“Someone following up something I did this morning.” She added her bag to the bed and took him into her arms. She kissed him – with enough vigour to make him wonder if they really needed to get to their booking on time. “Friday,” she said. “And we have the whole weekend off – our first weekend to spend together.”
“Any plans?” he asked.
She smiled him the smile that fired his body every time. “One or two.”
“I have plans for tonight,” he told her.
“I bet you do,” she said.
“I have plans before that,” he said.
“Really?”
“I have a booking at Martello’s.”
She smiled. “Chicken and chocolate and –.“
“And the bubbly drink.”
She didn’t agree as he had expected her to. “Clark,” she said, her grin wider than ever, her eyes dancing.
“Yes, honey.”
“I have something to tell you.”
“Go on,” he said, knowing it was something good. Something better than good. “Tell me.”
“You’re going to be a father.”
Clark looked from her grinning face, down and back up again. “You’re pregnant?” he breathed in disbelief. “We’re going to have a child?”
She nodded, her grin bursting, looking more beautiful than he’d ever seen her. “Yep,” she said. “We’re going to have a child.”
His first instinct was to crush her to him and spin her around and around. He controlled that and made do with tenderly brushing back her hair. “Lois,” he said. “Aww, Lois.”
“So, no bubbly drink for me ... not for a few more months.”
“I won’t have any either,” he said, not caring about bubbly drink or anything else. Lois was going to have his baby! “We’ll have it together after our baby is born.”
“Our baby,” she said.
He took her into his arms and they drifted gently off the floor. “Are you happy?” he asked.
“Happier than I’ve ever been.”
“Me too.”
+-+-+-+
Epilogue
Martha Kent stood on the porch of her farmhouse, gazing at the lengthening shadows caused by the descending sun.
Her eyes filled with tears.
She lowered her cheek onto the soft head of the baby she held. Her arms tightened protectively around the tiny bundle as she remembered the days long ago when she had held this baby’s father.
In the distance, Martha saw a couple.
She smiled and the first tear splashed down her cheek.
They walked hand in hand, their complete happiness evident. It radiated across the fields and filled Martha's heart with overflowing joy.
She heard footsteps behind her and felt the gentle touch of her husband on her shoulder. “Is she asleep?” Jonathan asked.
“Yes.”
“You’ll miss her when they go back to Metropolis.”
“I’ll miss all of them,” Martha agreed. “But I’ll be forever grateful that Lois chose to come here for the last weeks of her pregnancy and the first weeks of little Elra’s life.”
“She wanted to give you a little of what you missed with Clark.”
Martha glanced into her husband’s face. “She’s perfect, isn’t she?”
“Lois?” he said. His big fingers brushed softly over the downy hair of his granddaughter. “Or Elra?”
“Both of them.”
“Clark has the world,” Jonathan said. “Three beautiful women to share his life.”
“And what about you, Mr Kent?” Martha said. “Those three women love you too.”
He smiled, though she could tell his tears weren’t far away. “I have the world too.”
“We won’t miss them much,” Martha said. “They’ll be regular visitors. Even though Lois can’t fly any more, Clark is so darn proud I don’t think he’ll miss any opportunity to show off his family.”
Jonathan dropped a kiss on the soft head of Clark’s daughter. “I wonder if this little girl will fly,” he murmured.
+-+-+-+
Clark Kent - Kal-El - could see the shape of his daughter’s little body cradled into his mom’s arms. He could see his father hovering over both of them. He focussed his vision on their faces and read the absolute contentment there.
Lois’s hand was embedded in his. “Are you sad about leaving your parents?” she asked.
“We’re not really leaving them,” Clark said.
“Of course we’re not. We’ll see them a lot.” Lois grinned up at him. “You can fly us back whenever we want to.”
Clark looked into his wife’s face. His love for her grew every single day.
“Do you miss New Krypton?” she asked.
“Sometimes.”
“I guess whenever someone has roots in two places, he can never fully feel at home.”
“Maybe,” Clark said. “Though not for me.”
Lois smiled. “Why not for you?”
“Because I only have one home.”
“Smallville?”
“No.”
“New Krypton?”
“No.”
She hesitated. “Metropolis?” she said with surprise.
“No.”
She grinned. “Then where? Where is your home?”
“Wherever you are.”
She smiled at him. “Then you’ll always be home.”
“That’s my plan.”
“I love you, Kal.”
Sometimes, when they were alone, she called him Kal. It reminded him. Reminded him of how she had come into his life.
Taught him.
Comforted him.
Loved him.
Taken his cold heart and warmed it with her smile.
Her laughter.
Her love.
Her body.
Everything that was her.
“I love you, Lois,” he said. Clark stopped walking and turned her to him. “I was the Supreme Ruler of an entire planet ... but I had nothing compared with what I have now.”
Her hands stroked his face the way he loved.
“I didn’t even know how little I had ... until I found you.”
Her hands caressed her love, filling him, overflowing him.
“Until you came and awakened my heart.”
The End.
Thanks for reading!!
