T.O.G.o.M for 2010
By Tank

Yes, it's another year come along and that means another shot at the most rewritten episode in all of Folcdom. You guessed it; another version of TOGoM but with a bit of a twist. Let the moaning begin.


Lois Lane frowned as she eyeballed the line of well-dressed Metropolis elite as they filed into the somewhat run-down looking warehouse which her sources had told her housed an illegal gambling operation. Each, in turn, walked up to the heavily boarded door and spoke to a pair of eyes that would glare down at them. If the person on the other side of the door liked what was said, the door opened and they were let in. The door would close and the process would repeat itself. She recognized a judge, several councilmen, and even an assistant D.A. enter the illegal club.

She had hoped to come and check out the place on her own, but her boy scout of a partner had insisted on coming along. She just hoped Clark wouldn't do something stupid that would get them both in trouble. The rumor had it that Capone, and the rest of those reanimated gangsters might show up here tonight. It was their best lead and she knew she had to be there just in case.

With a barely audible sigh, and a glance at the determined look on her partner's face, Lois gave Clark a little push in the back and propelled him toward the door.

Once in front of the foreboding portal a small window slid back revealing a pair of dark, shadowed eyes. "What's the password?"

Clark looked a bit thrown by the question. "Ah... Joe sent me?" There was no response from the owner of the eyes. "Swordfish?"

Lois saw the shake of the fellow's head and could tell that they were about to be denied entrance. She stepped in front of Clark. "He's always kidding around. The fat lady sings."

As they were let in and moved into the entry hall Clark turned to Lois. "How did you know the password?"

Lois shrugged. "I was watching the other couples that entered... closely."

Clark's eyebrows rose. "You can lip read?"

A small smile tugged on the corners of Lois' mouth. "Yeah... I can lip read."

They wandered around a bit but didn't really see anything that led them to believe that their quarry had yet arrived, if they planned to come at all. Lois grabbed Clark by the sleeve and pulled him behind a column.

"This is a big place, and there are a lot of people here. Let's split up and just mingle. Play some games, and don't draw any unwanted attention to ourselves. If either of us finds out anything worthwhile, we'll find the other and decide what to do. Okay?"

Clark nodded, then turned and walked toward the bar. Lois stared after him for a few moments. She had a bad feeling about tonight. She tried to shrug off her premonition and headed over toward the slots. Maybe she could get lucky on a nickel machine.

**********************

Clark looked around for Lois. He'd just had an encounter with Bonnie Parker over by the bar and he had to tell Lois about it. If Bonnie was here, that meant that Clyde and the rest probably were also.

He finally saw her striding angrily along the line of slot machines seeming to check out the occupant of each machine. He caught her just before she started down the next aisle of machines.

"Lois, Lois, wait up. I've got some news." He reached out and grabbed the sleeve of her jacket.

"Yeah, well I've got to find a little old lady who walked off with a bucket of my nickels."

Clark ignored her irritation. "Bonnie and Clyde are here."

She stopped her rush and turned toward him. "I ran into a guy who told me that Georgie Hairdo, the guy who owns this place, is dead."

Clark nodded. "I think it's time that we phone Henderson and get the police involved."

Before Lois could answer they were interrupted by the sound of gunfire. After a few startled screams, everyone's attention was drawn toward the entry landing. Al Capone stood there, surrounded by John Dillinger, and Clyde Barrow. Bonnie Parker slowly sauntered up next to Clyde and leaned against a railing.

Clark tried to hold Lois back but was unsuccessful as she made her way up to the front of the crowd. He rolled his eyes, and then followed.

"Ladies and Gentleman, may I have your attention. The former proprietor of this fine establishment has decided to retire and has generously agreed to turn over ownership to me, Al Capone."

"Hey, Al, maybe we could make this little cutie our head hostess." Dillinger stepped forward and reached for Lois. "I've always liked a lady in red."

Clark saw the glare that Lois gave Dillinger, but the gangster was determined to paw his partner. He didn't think about his actions, he just knew that he couldn't let that happen. He quickly stepped forward and stepped between Lois and Dillinger.

"Hey, who are you... her brother?" The gangster gave Clark a shove, causing him to fall back a couple of steps.

Clark surged forward.

"Clark! Look out!"

He suddenly found himself falling to the side as the force of Lois' shove sent him to the floor. The tableau that followed seemed to happen in slow motion. He heard the sharp retorts of three quick gunshots. A quick glance showed him that Clyde Barrow was holding the smoking gun. He had been the target of the gangster's murderous intent and would have been on the wrong end of those shots if Lois had not knocked him out of the way. Instead.... NO!

"LOIS!"

Clark scrambled to his feet just in time to see a look of surprise on Lois' face as she clutched her midsection. He reached her just as her legs seemed to give way.

"Lois?" He cradled her as she slowly sank to the carpeted floor. "No, Lois, no!"

Clark, from the corner of his eye, saw Capone give Clyde an angry glare.

"Now why'd you go and do that. Now we have to get out of here. I can't be tied to no murder." He gestured to a couple of non-descript thugs flanking him. "Grab the stiff; we'll have to dump the body."

The two no-necks came down and grabbed Lois by the legs and began to drag her off.

"No." Clark tried to hold onto her but was pushed away by one of the thugs. He watched helplessly as Lois' limp body was manhandled up the short stairway and out the door. "Lois?"

******************************

The classic black sedan roared around the corner in a particularly seedy part of Hell's Kitchen. The vehicle barely slowed as the back door was opened and a bundle of limp flesh was tossed unceremoniously into the garbage littered street. Accelerating away, the sedan was out of sight in seconds.

Lois rose from her squalid resting place and made a futile effort to wipe the filth from her dress. Her hair was soaked from the puddle she had landed in. She inwardly cringed, thinking what that small pool might be made up of. She pulled the shoulder length wig from her head, revealing the short dark hair beneath. She silently cursed the fact that she'd have to wash and set the wig again.

Then it hit her. She probably wasn't going to need the wig again. It had happened so fast, she hadn't known what else to do. Clark would have been killed if she hadn't acted, but pushing him out of the way had put her in the path of Clyde's bullets. A roomful of people had seen those bullets hit her in the stomach and chest. She had no choice but to pretend. Unfortunately, in the morning, when the newspapers hit the stands the world would know what that roomful of people knew. Lois Lane was dead.

Lois swiveled her head, checking to see if anyone was in sight. With a sigh, she stepped deeper into a dark alley and then lifted quickly into the night sky.

*****************************

Clark sat in his living room, Lois' small clutch purse still held tightly in his hands. The room was dark. But it didn't matter because his eyes didn't see anything except Lois slumping into his arms, and then to the floor. Over and over again the horror replayed itself in his mind. Lost in his own personal hell, he wasn't aware of his surroundings. If pressed he'd have a hard time telling anyone how he'd even managed to get home.

First he'd had to deal with an endless line of police; from the street cops who were the first to respond to the detectives who sauntered in later. Each asked him the same questions again and again. It was like they were all too stupid to talk to each other rather than him.

Then Clark had to call Perry and tell him what had happened. That had been enormously difficult. The Chief loved Lois like a daughter, and being told about her murder had devastated him. After the two men shared their all consuming grief for a time, Clark begged off and just went home.

He hadn't realized that he still had Lois' purse, which he'd picked up after Capone's thugs had dragged her away, until he was home. He made no move to set it down anywhere. He just continued to hold it as he moved, zombie-like, to his living room and sat on the couch, staring at nothing.

Occasionally a tear would escape, to trickle from the corner of his eye and make his way down his cheek. He knew that he was still somewhat in shock. He was numb; he didn't feel anything... except the pain. The pain that twisted in his gut like a dull knife. Pain burning to the core of his being.

God he loved her, and she never knew. He'd tried to tell her once, but had been forced to recant his confession. So she just saw them as friends. They were partners and friends; best friends, but he was in love with her. He had been... from the first day he saw her. How could he not. She was Lois Lane.

And now she was gone.

****************************

"Jeez, you look terrible."

Lois glared at her sister as she floated through the French doors that led into the living room from the back balcony. "So nice of you to notice." She knew that Lucy was right, though. Her once fashionable red dress was torn and filthy. She clutched her soiled wig in her right hand.

Lois crossed the room and flopped down into the chair opposite the couch where her sister sat. She dropped her faux locks onto the coffee table and sighed. "Luce, I'm dead."

Lucy Lane eyeballed her distraught big sis. "So I hear." She almost smiled at Lois' look of confusion. "Your boss, Mr. White, called. He told me what happened." She reached over and gave Lois' hand a squeeze. "He also said that your partner, Clark, was taking it pretty badly; having a hard time dealing with it, were his words."

Lois sighed again. "Well, I guess that's something."

Lucy frowned. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you saying that it's a good thing that Clark is hurting because you were apparently killed right in front of him?"

Lois was taken aback by the vehemence of her sister's response. "No, I... well; a girl likes to think that she'll be missed." She shrugged. "I'm not happy that Clark is having trouble accepting my death, it's just that... we're friends and I'd like to think that my apparent death would have some affect on him."

"And did it?" Lucy leaned back and folded her arms in front of her chest.

"What?"

"Lois, according to what Mr. White told me, it's been hours since you were shot. Where have you been? And why aren't you in your Ultrawoman suit?"

Lois spread her hands in a gesture of helplessness. "Clark has it."

"What?"

"I keep the suit, super compacted, in my purse. I dropped it when I had to fake my death. Clark must have picked it up because when I saw him, he was still holding it."

Lucy flashed Lois a somewhat smug smile. "That's what I thought. You've been flying around watching Clark, haven't you?"

Lois looked embarrassed. "Yeah, I have been. At first I was worried about him in that club. Then I was curious as to how he would deal with everything. I watched him dealing with Henderson, then the call to the Chief, and later when he finally made it back to his apartment." Lois scrubbed her hand through her hair. "What you told me that Perry said about Clark makes more sense now. I have to admit that while I was watching him I was confused."

"Confused? How?"

"Well, Clark and I are partners, and friends. Maybe even best friends, but while I expected him to be upset over my death, his reaction seemed rather extreme to me."

"What are you talking about? How can being upset over a friend's murder be considered extreme."

Lois stood and began to pace. Her arms flailed about haphazardly. "You know how it is. Like when Wendy was killed in that car accident in high school. She was my friend and I was really upset that she'd been killed. I cursed the driver of the vehicle that struck hers, and I even cried for awhile. But, within a short time I calmed down. My more extreme feelings dulled to just a general depression. It's really hard to sustain that kind of emotion."

Lucy spread her hands in confusion. "So, what does that have to do with Clark?"

Lois shrugged. "It's just that I expected to see something like that. I expected Clark to be sad and maybe angry over what happened. But he didn't react at all like that. He came into his apartment, he never bothered to turn on the lights, and he was still clutching my purse in his hand. He didn't curse the fates, nor moan or whimper. He didn't say anything. He just walked over to the couch and sat down. He sat there, holding my purse, for hours. Never moving, never bothering with the TV or the lights. He just sat there in the dark. It was very confusing. I couldn't get a read on his reactions. At least not until you told me what Perry said. Now it finally makes sense."

"How so?"

Lois turned and stared directly at Lucy. "He looked lost."

"Lois sit down." Lucy waved her sister back to her chair. Once Lois was seated she leaned forward, her arms resting on her knees. She sighed, then looked her sister in the face. Lois' expression was wary. "You do know that Clark was in love with you, right?"

"What?" Lois was surprised by her sister's words. "Don't be crazy. Clark thought of me just a friend, like I do him."

Lucy's brow rose. "So, you just think of Clark as a 'friend'?"

Lois blushed. "Of course." Lucy's stare bored into her. "Well, maybe a best friend... or a little more. But I know that Clark only thought of me as a friend."

"None are so blind as those who will not see," Lucy muttered under breath. "Lois, the only person who knew the both of you that didn't know that Clark was in love with you apparently was you. It was obvious to everyone else." Lucy frowned, then pointed her finger at her sister. "Didn't he profess his love for you once, back when you were thinking of marrying Lex Luthor?" Lucy ignored the glare that Lois gave her. "Well, didn't he?"

Lois rolled her eyes. "Yes, but he told me later that he just said that to try and keep me from marrying Luthor."

"And you believed him."

"Yes, why would he lie?"

Lucy barked out a quick laugh. "Well, he apparently lied one of those times. But the real question is... which time."

Lois opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again. She hadn't thought about Clark's behavior back then for quite some time. It was a chapter in her life that she tried to forget. The fact that she had even considered Luthor's marriage proposal still astounded her. Add to it, that he turned out to be the biggest criminal in the city and she hadn't even known. It was enough to make her want to hide her head in shame.

Clark had never trusted Lex. He didn't have the advantages that she'd had, but his instincts had told him that Luthor was hiding something. Still, she had just chalked it up to jealousy and had dismissed Clark's warnings.

If she had been wrong about Luthor's feelings toward her, could she also be wrong about Clark's? Was it possible that he really did love her?

Suddenly the present came crashing back on Lois. "It doesn't matter."

"Which doesn't matter?" Lucy was confused again. "That he lied, or which time he lied?"

Her helplessness in light of the situation she was in was finally beginning to crush down on Lois. "Any of it. Don't you see? Whether Clark loved me, or just liked me as a friend doesn't matter any more. Lois Lane is dead, and there is no longer a person for him to love, like, or be indifferent toward."

"The man is hurting badly, Lo, don't you think that he deserves to know that you aren't dead?"

"What? I should fly over there and say, 'hey Clark, could I have my purse back, it has my extra costume in it. Oh, and by the way, I'm not actually dead because I'm invulnerable.' Is that what you think I should do?"

Lucy shrugged. "Well, he'd know that you aren't really dead, and he could still be your friend as Ultrawoman."

Lois snorted. "Not likely. He doesn't even like Ultrawoman." Lucy's look of disbelief caused Lois to pause. "Well, he doesn't dislike me. I can tell that he respects Ultrawoman and has some admiration for what she does, but he's always very professional when we speak. It's one of the things I always liked about Clark. He never came onto me, as Ultrawoman, like so many of the slobbering fan boys do. It was refreshing to be seen as something besides a super-powered sex object."

Lucy laughed. "Well, can you blame them? It's not like the suit exactly hides your more womanly attributes."

Lois scowled at her sister's mocking. "You know the suit it tight because it makes it more aerodynamic. Also, my aura only projects a few millimeters from my skin so the suit has to be tight to keep from being destroyed every time I perform some super feat."

"So, why the cape? That surely isn't aerodynamic, and I can tell you I've had to make plenty of spares over the last few years when you come back with them singed, torn, or even lost."

Lois pouted a bit. "I like the cape. It looks really good while I'm flying. Besides it has another, more practical purpose."

"What?"

"It keeps all the perverts from ogling my butt."

Lucy had to bite her lip to keep from bursting out laughing. She quickly regained her composure. "That still doesn't tell me what you plan to do about Clark."

"No, it doesn't."

*****************************

Clark knew that he should get up. That he should go to bed, do something. Lois was gone and sitting, alone in the dark wasn't going to bring her back.

He'd spent hours just sitting in his living room trying to cope with the emptiness in his gut. He'd loved Lois, even though she only thought of him as a friend. He'd tried to tell her once, but she broke his heart when she told him that she didn't think of him 'like that'.

He hadn't meant to confess his feelings so early in their relationship, but his hand was forced when Luthor had asked her to marry him. The Daily Planet had been nearly destroyed, and everyone was lost. He was afraid that Lois, feeling bereft with the loss of the job she loved, might take him up on his offer. In the end she'd turned Luthor down. Later, together with Perry, Jimmy and Jack, they had uncovered enough evidence to prove that Luthor had been behind the troubles at the Daily Planet. Thanks to their efforts Luthor was now in prison.

Lois had seemed badly shaken when she found out exactly what kind of man Lex Luthor really was. Her confidence had taken quite a jolt and Clark took it upon himself to take back his declaration of love and tell Lois that he just thought of her as a friend. He didn't think that she needed the added pressure of trying to get the Planet up and running again with a partner who worshipped her.

So, she didn't know how he really felt, and now it was too late; too late for her, too late for him, too late for happiness.

Clark's dark thoughts were interrupted by a somewhat hesitant knock on his door. It barely registered on his consciousness. It was really late and the strangeness that someone would be at his door at this hour was the only thing that caused him to take notice. He considered ignoring the late night caller until he heard the soft, familiar voice.

"Clark, let me in. I know you're in there."

His heart practically wrenched itself out of his chest as shock and unrestrained, wild hope flared up. He rose quickly and reached the door. He didn't bother to look through the spy hole. He just pulled the door open and stared at the petite figure that stood on his stoop.

"Lois?"

"Yes, Clark, it's me. Can I come in?"

Like an automaton he stepped aside. His mind was in turmoil. It was Lois! But it couldn't be! The woman was the right size, and she was wearing the same red dress that Lois had been wearing, though it was quite dirty and torn in several places.

He closed the door without taking his eyes off her. She turned to face him. There was something wrong. Her hair....

"What happened to your hair?"

She reached up and fingered the short locks. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly in a wistful smile. "It got dirty."

Confusion, hope, bewilderment, and relief all warred with each other in his mind. Lois was dead, but she was standing in front of him. He saw her shot down in cold blood and dragged off to be disposed of like yesterday's garbage. But she was alive. It was Lois.

The only other possibility was his grief had unhinged him and he was hallucinating her standing there. But if that was the case why would he imagine her with short hair.

He took one step toward her, then stopped. "Lois? I don't understand."

"I know you don't. That's why I'm here, now. To explain it to you. To explain everything." The smile she gave him was a sad one. "Can I have my purse back?"

He suddenly realized that he still had her purse clutched tightly in his left hand. His mind still a jumble of incoherency, he reached out so she could take the purse from him.

"Thanks."

She snapped open the small bag and then began to spin. Almost immediately she was nothing more than a blur of colors. The colors changed as the miniature tornado came to a halt. He recognized the colorful suit instantly.

"Ultrawoman?"

"Yes, Clark, I'm Ultrawoman. That's why I wasn't killed this evening. Bullets can't hurt me."

Clark was stunned. His legs suddenly felt weak so he stumbled back into the living room and collapsed onto his couch. He stared up at the small woman who followed him into the room and sat in the chair opposite.

It was funny, in a way. Lois was never a frail-looking woman, but her trim body never showed a bulkiness of musculature, yet she was the strongest woman on the planet. And she had been the woman he thought he loved.

"Why are you telling me this now?"

Frown lines formed on her brow. Her expression was hard to read. "Because you needed to know. I underestimated the hurt you felt over my apparent death and for that, I'm sorry. You deserved to know that I hadn't died from Clyde's bullets."

A part of Clark was ecstatic that Lois hadn't been killed earlier, but there was still something nagging at him. Lois wasn't dead, but what was her status? He respected Ultrawoman and, like the rest of the people, was grateful for all that she did for them. But you couldn't be a friend to Ultrawoman. She couldn't have friends.

Clark's voice was soft and full of emotion. "A roomful of people saw Clyde Barrow gun down Lois Lane at close range. They saw her lifeless body dragged out by Capone's thugs." Clark knew that even though Lois hadn't been killed, nothing had really changed. "How to you plan to fix that?"

She couldn't look him in the eye. Her head dropped and he saw her hands tighten into fists. "I can't."

*****************************

"I can't."

Lois knew that Clark realized the true nature of the situation. She may have not been killed by the gangster's gun because she was Ultrawoman, but Lois Lane was still dead just the same. He had cut right to the heart of her problem. She could still be Metropolis' resident hero but the crusading reporter was gone.

"Clark, I can't say that I truly know what are relationship was. I know you were very important to me. You were my best friend, and maybe you were more. I just wish that we'd had the time to find out."

He ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, me too." He stood up and walked around to the back of the sofa. "So what *are* you going to do?"

Lois wanted to say that she was going to stay around Metropolis and continue to hang out with her friends and family. That the only thing that would change would be that she'd be doing it as Ultrawoman rather than Lois Lane. She wanted to say that, but she couldn't. It wouldn't be true.

"I guess I'll pack up the stuff I'll need and move out of mine and Lucy's apartment. I'm sure I can find some remote place that I can call a base of operations. Maybe it's time that the rest of the world got some attention from Ultrawoman. Metropolis has pretty much had the monopoly on the super hero for some time now. Maybe it's time that changed."

"I guess that would make sense." Clark's voice was flat, almost mechanical. Lois could see that the hurt and the loss that he'd been dealing with earlier were still with him. Her revelation had done nothing to change that.

He walked over to his door and opened it for her. "I wish you the best of luck, Lois. I'll miss you."

She slowly walked over and laid her hand against his cheek. "I’ll miss you too, Clark. Be well."

Lois was already out the door and a hundred feet into the night air when she heard the door close behind her. She stopped and looked down at the tiny speck that was Clark's apartment building. Just then her special hearing kicked in.

"I love you, Lois."

A tear rolled down her cheek. "I love you too, Clark."

fin