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Chapter 11: Forward
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After a few minutes at her desk, Lois had to admit that it was nice to have a place of her own, even if it was just a desk at the office. Clark's words right after she had seen her apartment building destroyed had been perfect and were just what she had needed to hear at that moment. However, even though Clark had been right, and her possessions didn't define who she was, it was still a comfort to sit at *her* desk and know that she hadn't lost everything.
They had arrived at the Planet to find that power had been only partially restored. Nightfall strikes had taken out a key city power relay station and even though it was probably safe to have power in this building, most of Metropolis would be without electricity for several days. There were generators to run some of the key areas such as the newsroom and a few of the printing presses, but to Lois's frustration, there was no hot water. She had bitten the bullet, taken a quick cold shower and changed into her back-up clothes.
After her shower she had returned to the bullpen and had been surprised that Clark wasn't there waiting for her. She was still trying to figure out what to make of Clark's offer to stay with him. When Clark had suggested that she stay in his apartment, she had been tempted to come right out and say no. After all, she had just turned down an offer from Lex that was, in many ways, similar. For reasons that she wasn't sure she understood, she didn't immediately turn down Clark’s invitation. When Clark made the offer it had a very different feel to it. It seemed that the circumstances, combined with the nature of the person making the offer, made a huge difference.
Lois had to admit that there would be some advantages to staying at Clark's. They worked the same schedule and on the same things already. This would allow them to go to and from work together. It would also make it easier than ever to work after hours. But the newly discovered aspect of their relationship was making this an even more difficult decision. What would happen if she were to stay with Clark? Knowing him, he’d be the perfect gentleman and he’d go back to not letting her see his feelings. She was sure that she could bring that part of their relationship into the open but the problem was that she didn’t know what she wanted.
As she was considering what to do about living arrangements, Perry came up to her desk with a solemn and serious look on his face. “How are you, Lois?”
She tried to force a smile on her face. “I'm fine, Perry.”
He was showing that fatherly look again. “I heard about your building. Are you sure you're okay?”
It was strangely reassuring to have a ‘father’ looking after her. “Yeah. I was very upset when I first saw it. I was lucky that Clark was there. He helped me get through that first shock. Who told you about my apartment?”
“Jimmy happened to go by your building. He had a bicycle here at work, so he used it to head home. That didn't take very long and when he got back here he grabbed a camera and went out taking pictures of the city at ground level. There weren't that many buildings that were completely destroyed. Do you want me to put your name on the list for needing a place to stay?”
“Yes, please. Go ahead and add my name but…I might have other arrangements.” This triggered a confused look from Perry. “Clark has asked me to stay with him,” she clarified.
His eyebrows elevated only the smallest amount in surprise. “Oh,” was Perry's only reply.
She wanted to talk to someone about Clark’s offer and Perry would be fair to them both. She gathered her courage and asked her question. “Perry, just between us, what do you think? Would it be a mistake for me to stay with Clark?”
He took a second to reply but didn’t look surprised by her question. “Darlin', this has to be your call. I guess I’d say that while I don't know if you staying at his place will work out, whatever happens, you wouldn’t be in any danger. Now, as to how well you two will get along… I’m afraid that that’s something that I’ll have to refuse an opinion. I’m sure he’ll try to be a good host. Clark is... Well, you know what kind of person he is. That is, unless because of his amnesia, his personality has changed and he's acting strangely.”
“Not at all. In fact, other than the missing memory, he seems more normal than ever. For all his Midwest normalcy, I've always felt like he was hiding something.” Lois thought about Clark and his admitting to having strong feelings for her. “Because of his amnesia we've talked and…he's not hiding so much anymore. Except for the 'no memory' thing, he's still the same old Clark but he's…I don't know, he feels more open.”
“Good. But where you stay is up to you. I'll add your name to the list, but please let me know as soon as you can about your plans. We're going to need every room we can get. A number of our people have lost their homes and many of those have families.” Perry paused for a second and his face took on a more businesslike expression. “Are you ready to get some work done?”
Lois took on a how-dare-you-ask-that posture. “Of course, chief. What can I do?”
“We plan to put out a special edition in a few hours. I will be running people through the official government contact points and feeding the information back here. However, I don't want to depend only on those channels for our information.”
Lois interrupted him. “What other sources do we have? Are the news wires up?”
“No. All of our usual sources are down. However, there are certain advantages to having been around as long as we have. Back in the 50's and early 60's when everyone was afraid that World War III was going to start at any minute, the paper developed a plan for collecting information in the event of a nuclear strike that knocked everything else out. Down in the shelter, we had several short wave radios and a complete amateur radio installation. We pulled them out and hooked them up to the buildings emergency power. Fortunately, they still work. We have several people working with short wave radios collecting what information they can.”
“What can I do to help?” Lois asked.
“Carl Jacombe is an amateur radio operator and he has it up and running. Without general power, and with all of the other communication lines down, these are our best sources of outside news. I'd like you to work with Jacombe. I want your experience for asking the best possible questions when we make contact with anyone. He's set up in an equipment shed on the roof. It isn't very big, but it has power and is out of the weather.”
Lois stood up. “I'll get right up there and see what he's got.” Just as she was entering the stairwell she passed Jimmy who appeared to have just come up from a lower floor. “Jimmy, have you seen Clark around?”
“Yeah. He was here a while ago. Do you know what he wanted those pictures for?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“He was looking for pictures of you. I didn't have anything current, but I told him that there were some publicity photos in the archives. When I brought them up here, he went through them and took out four or five. Then he got a faraway look and bolted for the stairwell. I haven't seen him since. I thought you might know what that was about.”
“Not a clue,” she replied.
“Okay. Hey, Lois, I'm sorry about your apartment. Do you know where you’re planning to stay?”
“Not yet. I've asked Perry to add my name to the list of people looking for a place to stay. For now I'm just trying to figure out what's going on. I need to get going. If anyone is looking for me, I'll be with Jacombe on the roof working the amateur radio.” As she headed up the stairs, Lois thought about Clark's disappearance and almost laughed out loud. There must be some deep-seated personality trait that caused him to bolt at odd times for no apparent reason. Maybe with his new willingness to be more open, he'll provide a better reason as to where he went this morning.
Lois spent the next two hours on the roof. In this circumstance, the amateur radio was a gift from heaven. They were able to get information from all over the country. There was some news that they could get from the short wave radios, but the amateur provided the ability to ask people detailed questions about conditions on the ground.
The news was not pretty. The northeast part of the United States had been among the luckiest. Most of the region had been peppered with small to middle sized strikes that caused only moderate damage, “moderate” being an unfortunate word. Despite the appearance that only a few buildings in Metropolis had been toppled, many had sustained damaging hits as had happened to the Planet building. In areas outside the city core, the same strike that would do only minor damage to a large, multi-story tower, would completely destroy a single family home or small apartment building. All over this region of the country, neighbors discovered that the loud noise in the night was a neighbor's house being destroyed.
The fragments that struck further south and west were larger, and there were reports that entire towns had been completely destroyed. Atlanta took a particularly bad pounding. Further west, things got progressively worse. Chicago was beat up pretty bad but, as was the case with Metropolis, wasn’t hit as hard as had been expected. It seemed that across the entire country, the most severe damage was farther to the south. A lot of this was speculative as there had been no word from anywhere in the south-central United States. They had gotten some news from the west coast that suggested that they were hit about as hard as the eastern seaboard. However, despite repeated attempts, there was no word whatsoever from Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri or…Kansas. The news that they could get, suggested that this zone seemed to have been hit by the largest and most densely packed of the Nightfall fragments.
It was nearly noon and Lois was at her desk working to turn the notes from the radio contacts into a story when a familiar shadow appeared on her desk. She looked up to find Clark smiling down at her. “Where have you been?” she snapped at him. “We’re in the middle of the biggest news day in history and you just take off without a word?” She was surprised at the anger in her voice. It was only after she had spoken that she realized that she had been worried that something had happened to him and perhaps he had forgotten who he was again.
He took her anger calmly. Here was another of Clark’s basic traits coming through. Lois knew that her personality was explosive. No one else had ever handled it was well as Clark. His reply was in a calm but slightly confused tone. “Lois, didn’t Perry tell you what I was doing?”
“No. Perry and I talked, but not about that. Jimmy said you got some pictures of me and then took off.”
“I’m sorry. I thought Perry would have told you. After all, we are partners. Anyway, I was part of the team that was moving between city hall and MPD headquarters. I have been relaying information in through the messenger system that Perry set up.”
“Okay, Clark. I guess it’s me that needs to be sorry. I shouldn’t have jumped on you like that but I was worried. So, if you were those places, why did you want my pictures?”
Clark looked embarrassed. “When Perry sent me out for the morning, I realized that I might be able to take care of another errand.”
“Cheese of the month club?” Lois asked sarcastically.
“What?” Clark asked.
Inside jokes don’t work when the person has no memory of the reference, Lois thought. “Nothing. What were you doing?”
He smiled sheepishly. “I… Well, I told a few fibs.”
Clark was telling lies to someone? That didn’t seem right. “Clark, what are you talking about?”
“First I went by your apartment. I crossed the police lines and tried to see if I could find any of your stuff. I used the pictures to try to match up some of your clothes. I also know you have several Kerth awards. I was hoping that I would get lucky and find some of your possessions. Unfortunately I think it’s all buried in the rubble. Then I went to one of the relief centers and got you some clothes.”
“How did you do that?”
“I told them that you were my wife and that you were too busy to come yourself. There was a lady there that helped me find some clothes that look to be your size. I went to several places and was able to get a reasonable collection of clothes for you to wear. The quality is nowhere near your usual level of work apparel, but I hope it will be okay. I did the best I could.”
“That was sweet.” She smiled at Clark. “Are the clothes here?”
“No. I, um, dropped them off at my apartment.” Now he has that nervous and defensive look again. After a brief pause he continued in a rush. “I know you didn’t say you would be staying there, and if you go somewhere else I’ll bring them to you myself.”
“That was very thoughtful of you. I still haven’t made up my mind yet but I’ll know before the end of the day and, if necessary, we can move my new clothes together. So, what news have you picked up while you were out?”
“From what they are saying at city hall, Metropolis got off easy. Several major cities in the country had at least a dozen large buildings knocked down, but the count in Metropolis was only nine.”
Then his voice turned somber. “We had a high number of smaller hits, but not as many of the larger ones. However, hundreds, possibly thousands of single family houses were destroyed in the area around the city.” That seemed to remind Clark of his job. “I need to let Perry know I’m in. I think I’ve got enough material for at least two articles.”
Lois waved her hand toward Perry’s office. “So, go check in. We’ll compare notes and see if we can’t make each other’s stories better.”
Clark got a strange look on his face. “We do that all the time don’t we?”
“Do you remember something?”
“Sort of. Part of it was a surge of emotion I felt when you said that we work together on stories. I think I enjoy that very much. Just for a second I had this image of… Lois, have I ever corrected your grammar?”
For possibly the first time ever, Lois smiled at the mention of someone correcting her work. “You *are* getting your memory back. Yes, you have corrected my copy once or twice. Now go check in with Perry so that we can get some work done.”
She watched as Clark took off for Perry’s office and then returned her attention to her article. It was only a moment later that she sensed a presence at her desk. Why was Clark just standing there again? “Well, don’t just…” As she lifted her eyes from her work she realized that this wasn’t Clark. “Lex.”
“Lois, my dear. I’m so pleased to see that you are unhurt. When I heard that your apartment had been destroyed, I had to hurry over and verify your safety. Since you turned down my invitation, I was afraid that you might have been in your apartment when the building collapsed.”
He sounded genuinely concerned but his voice felt so…controlled. Lois didn’t know if it was that too-smooth voice or Lex himself, but she’d been feeling decidedly uncomfortable from the moment she saw him standing over her. “No. I spent last night in the shelter in this building.”
“Yes, I know how my Lois thinks. Always in the center of the news. Chef Andre was heartbroken that you were not with us the past two evenings. I had told him of the possibility of your dining with us during this crisis, and he was so looking forward to preparing your favorites.”
It was all Lois could do not to scowl at him. After spending time with Clark and then last night in the shelter with the combination of her “Daily Planet” family and other “regular” people, Lex seemed to be practically oozing snobbish fakery. His words, his posture, his sympathy all felt like a façade. How was it that she never noticed this before?
The big difference seemed to be Clark. The struggles with his amnesia had triggered a series of events where Lois had been looking at everything around her more carefully. When she looked at Clark, the truth written on his face reminded her of how much you can see in a person if you only look for what’s beneath the surface. On top of that, it had been Clark that had caused her to think more carefully about the implications of the existence of that copy of her apartment.
“Lois, my dear, is something wrong?” Lex asked in a tone that sounded concerned but felt fake just the same.
Her mind had drifted for longer than she realized. “No, Lex. I just have a lot on my mind.”
“I understand. This is a trying day for all. I lost one of my key assistants last night.”
Lois thought she almost detected a trace of genuine regret in Lex’s voice. “I’m sorry. Was it someone that I know?”
“Yes, my dear. It was Nigel. He had some business that he seemed to feel was important enough to draw him out last night. He had the bad luck to have had his car crushed by a small Nightfall fragment. His loss is a great personal blow to me.”
“I’m sorry Lex. I suspect that many people will look back on this and the phrase ‘great personal loss’ will be a common thread.”
“Yes. Losing your home and everything in it would shatter many people, but not my Lois. For you, the only result is that you feel distracted by the experience.”
She was worried that if he called her “his” Lois once more, she would scream. However, before she could say anything at all, he continued. “Please tell me that you will accept my invitation now. Your apartment is there waiting for you.”
Before she could answer, she heard a crash and saw Clark sprawled on the floor. Lois hurried over to him only to find that he was sitting staring at Lex. “What happened? Are you all right?”
He was staring at Lex with an odd expression on his face. “Who is that?”
She followed his eyes. “That’s Lex Luthor.”
He was silent for a few seconds. Then in a voice completely devoid of emotion he asked, “Can you tell me why I hate him?”
TBC
Bob
