PREVIOUSLY...
Star! She knew hypnosis!
“I’m going out,” he yelled towards the bathroom door before using a burst of superspeed to get dressed. He was just flying out the door when he heard Lois’ muttered response.
“Don’t hurry back on my account.”
Clark grinned as he disappeared into the sky. Maybe it would be a good idea to do a quick Superman patrol while he was out. After all, he hadn’t done one last night. And Lois’ parting comment was permission - of a sort - to take his time getting back.
Suddenly feeling a little more hopeful, he put on an extra burst of speed as he streaked across the ocean on his way to Metropolis.
AND NOW - PART 8
Lois heard the sonic boom of a plane flying over. For a moment, she stopped and considered whether that had any potential for getting her out off the island. No. If it was going faster than the speed of sound, it wasn’t as if it were landing. And by the time she got outside to wave her arms in the air, it would be long gone. Not that it would see her anyway.
Still, if she was on some sort of flight path... No. This was the first time she’d heard a sonic boom since she’d arrived on the island. And she’d never seen an airplane of any sort flying over when she’d been out and about. No. What she needed was to get Clark to tell her where to find whatever it was he was planning to use when it was time to go home.
Not that there was much chance of that at the moment.
She turned off the hot water and stepped out of the shower. Pulling a towel off the rack, she began drying off.
Clark Kent was the most infuriating man she had ever known. Okay, so maybe things had been a bit... intense last night. And maybe she’d surprised even herself by how she hadn’t been able to get enough of him. But that didn’t mean anything. It certainly didn’t mean she was in love with him or anything.
Of course, that didn’t explain why she had insisted on dragging him into the bedroom even after he’d offered to take her back to Metropolis. At that moment, she’d been free. And she’d known it, too. She’d known if she stopped right then, told him he was right, he’d have kept his promise to take her back to Metropolis - or at least revealed his means of getting them off this island. So why hadn’t she done that?
Because she had wanted to sleep with him.
That thought gave her pause.
Now she was being ridiculous. She’d just been a little bit out of control by then. Nothing to be concerned about. After all, it wasn’t as if she loved Clark. She loved only Max.
Her drying came to a sudden stop. She loved only Max. Could Clark be right? After all, whenever she thought about her feelings for Max, that was how she always thought of them - like words running through her mind.
She resumed scrubbing herself dry ferociously. What was she thinking? Damn that man. Putting these ridiculous notions in her head. She loved only... She loved Max! What did it matter how she thought or said it? It didn’t change her feelings.
What did Clark think? That Max had somehow brainwashed her? The very idea was... ludicrous. That was the only word to describe it.
After all, she could describe her feelings for Max anyway she wanted. In fact, she could list everything that she loved about Max if she wanted to. For example she loved that... She loved that...
Oh, for goodness sake, what was she even doing? It wasn’t as if she had anything to prove to anyone. Her feelings were her feelings. And her feelings were that she loved only...
“Ahhh!” she yelled, throwing her towel across the room and grabbing her clothes.
That settled it. Clark Kent was the most annoyingly annoying man she had ever met! Now there was someone she could easily describe her feelings for. He was...
“Annoying,” she said. “Infuriating. Maddening. Loathsome. Despicable. Arrogant. Presumptuous. Overbearing. Sexy...”
Her words suddenly trailed off as her mind flashed back to the previous night. Clark looming over her. Looking up at him, seeing all the love he had for her in his eyes. The touch of his hands. The feel of his body moving in time with hers.
The look of pain in his eyes when he’d realized that last night didn’t mean anything. She felt a twinge of guilt. No. She had nothing to feel guilty about! Even if she hadn’t exactly had to sleep with him, they had been lovers. So it wasn’t as if she’d done anything that she undoubtedly hadn’t done many times before.
Again she found herself lost in images from the previous night, even as her breathing subconsciously deepened.
She shook her head abruptly. She shouldn’t be thinking about last night. It was disloyal to Max and, after all, she loved only...
“Damn!” she exclaimed. Why was she doing this to herself? No matter what Clark said, it made no difference how she thought about her feelings for Max.
So rather than worrying about last night or Clark’s insane theories, she should be doing something productive with her time. Okay, so her plan to convince Clark to take her off this island hadn’t worked. But Lois Lane was not a quitter. She’d just have to come up with a new plan.
And that plan... She faltered momentarily as she tried to think of a new plan.
Okay, so she didn’t exactly have a new plan at the moment. But that was hardly going to stop her. She pulled on her shirt and opened the bathroom door. Kent wasn’t here at the moment and she had no idea when he would return. So maybe it was time for her to scour the cabin again. See if there was anything she’d missed the first few times she’d tried to discover the hiding place for his satellite phone or radio.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark silently rebuked himself for not making this particular trip earlier. It had been about a week since Lois and Clark had disappeared from Metropolis. And even though he’d left enough evidence behind to let Perry and Jimmy and everyone else know that Clark was responsible, he knew Perry would be worried.
Problem was he didn’t want to put Perry in an awkward position either. After all, he was certain that Henderson had been here at least once, and might well return - especially if word got back to him that Superman had been here to talk to Perry.
Still, after a quick trip back to his apartment to shower and change into a new Superman suit at superspeed, he headed towards his destination.
Superman’s arrival in the newsroom attracted a lot of attention, but Clark ignored the looks of his colleagues as he strode across the newsroom floor towards the door to Perry White’s office. Damn. He should have come later, when most of the staff would have gone home.
Well, it was too late now to do anything about it.
Perry looked up when Superman arrived.
“What can I do for you, Superman?” Perry asked, even as he rose to his feet while gesturing Superman farther into the office. Then, for reasons known only to Perry, he came around his desk, stepping over to the door and closing it.
Clark shifted nervously, suddenly wondering why he hadn’t taken more time to prepare his speech before coming. “I’m not quite certain where to start.” Perry didn’t respond, seeming content to allow Superman to find his own way to what he had to tell him. Still, Clark saw Perry’s posture tighten slightly, as if he were preparing himself for bad news. That realization spurred Clark to speak. “I’m sure a man in your position knows things... unofficially... that you keep to yourself for the greater good. I mean, if you didn’t know things that were... worth knowing, well, you wouldn’t be a man in your position.”
“True enough,” Perry said cautiously.
“Well, I, too, sometimes know things... unofficially... that...”
“Are they okay?” Perry said, suddenly breaking into Superman’s speech.
Clark blinked. “Uhh...”
“Lois’ fish. Are they okay?” Perry asked.
Clark gave a relieved smile. Perry didn’t care about Lois’ fish. He was giving Superman a way to tell him about Lois and himself without making Superman say he knew anything.
“They’re fine, Perry,” Clark said. Now if Henderson asked Perry if Superman had admitted to knowing anything about Lois and Clark, Perry could honestly say that he hadn’t. And if Perry really was asking about Lois’ fish, which Clark doubted, he knew that Star was taking care of them for her - had been since the day they were supposed to get married.
“Are you sure?” Perry asked.
Clark nodded. “One of them seems a little... confused. But they’re safe. It still might be a while before...” Clark hesitated, not quite sure how to say that it could be a while before Lois and Clark returned - especially after what had happened this morning.
“Their owner returns?”
Clark let out a breath, grateful for the older man’s quick thinking once again. He nodded.
“So you’re keeping an eye on them?” Perry asked.
“I think Lois would want that.”
“I’m sure she would. Just make sure they stay safe, would you?”
“You know I will, Perry,” Clark responded and was rewarded by a genuine smile from the older man.
“By the way, after Clark left here the other night, Jimmy and I did a little digging on the good doctor.”
“Deter?”
Perry nodded. “Can’t find any indication of foul play in his medical practice. But there is something strange.”
“What?”
“It seems our good doctor is filthy rich. And considering that at the same time he was amassing his fortune, the clinic was going broke, making Mendenhall resort to creating assassins to keep the clinic afloat...”
“You think he’s been skimming money from the clinic?”
“There’s no reason that clinic should be having money problems. They were the foremost experts in dealing with memory loss. The Planet was paying Lois’ medical tab while she was there. And considering the cost of that place, there is no way they should have been short of money.”
Clark nodded thoughtfully. Didn’t really help him with getting Lois’ memory back, but afterwards... it was definitely worth following up on.
“Just thought it was interesting,” Perry added, as if following Superman train of thought. “I’ve still got Jimmy working his magic on the computer, trying to find any solid proof, but... so far, we don’t have anything conclusive enough to take to the police. But if we do get something, getting Deter charged with embezzlement might slow him down a bit.”
Now, that was true. “Thanks, Perry.”
“Oh, hey. No need to thank me. That girl’s like a daughter to me.” Suddenly, he looked a little embarrassed. “But don’t tell her I said that. Anyway, if there is anything else I can do to help...”
“I’ll let you know.”
* * * * * * * * *
“Superman!” Star exclaimed when she noticed Superman floating outside her window. She rushed over, throwing the window open. “I didn’t expect to see you today. I was sort of expecting to hear something from Clark, though.” She knocked her head with her fist. “Gotta get this thing fixed.”
“Do you know about Lois and Clark?” Clark asked, pushing aside how right she actually was as he landed in her apartment.
“I always know.”
“Through... your psychic abilities?”
“No. It was all over the news. Everywhere you’d go. Big pictures. ‘Have you seen this couple?’ You’d have had to be blind and deaf not to know. Or I guess even then, if you could read Braille, you’d probably still know. I wonder how they do pictures in Braille? I guess it wouldn’t matter in this case. It’s not as if a blind person is going to walk up to a complete stranger and start feeling his face and say, ‘hey, I know you - you’re the person who’s face I felt in the paper this morning.’ Can I do something for you, Superman?”
As always, when confronted by Star, Clark felt a little off balance. He took a deep breath and forced himself to focus. “If you could do something that would help Lois and Clark, would you?”
Star suddenly looked a little suspicious. “If Clark kidnapped Lois, like the police say, then he had good reason. So even though I know you’re one of the good guys, Superman, I’m not going to help you find Lois and Clark so they can turn themselves in - even if you think it’s in their best interests.”
Clark almost smiled. “I’m not going to ask you to. In fact, I’m going to be asking the opposite.”
The expression on Star’s face suddenly cleared. “You already know where they are, don’t you?”
Clark cringed. He knew there would be no way to get Star’s help without telling her this, but he still didn’t particularly like it.
“Don’t answer that,” Star suddenly said. “Just tell me what you want me to do.”
Clark smiled. Lois might not think she had friends, but in that she was completely mistaken.
* * * * * * * * *
“Damn it!” Lois exclaimed, hopping on one foot while trying to grab the other one. She supposed that was what she got for wandering around on wood floors without her slippers. Collapsing onto a nearby chair, she rubbed her sore toe even as she looked back at the place where she’d caught it on something.
But what? There was nothing there.
The pain in her toe forgotten, she rose to her feet and retraced her steps, spotting for the first time what she’d failed to see before. One of the nails holding the floor boards in place had not been pounded in all the way. In fact, looking at it now, she could see slight scraping where this board joined the one next to it, as if it had been pulled up after the floor had been put in.
She glanced around her. None of the other boards nearby seemed to show this type of wear and tear. Nor were any other nails coming out of the floor. So...
Quickly, she scurried to the kitchen. Opening one of the drawers, she pulled out a butter knife before returning to her spot on the floor. It took quite some time, especially as she was trying not to leave marks, but she finally managed to jimmy the nail enough to get it out. Then, sticking the butter knife in between the boards, she flipped the loose board out easily. Maybe kitchen utensils did have their uses.
‘Bingo,’ she thought as she stared into the small area that had been carved out beneath the floor - and the two leather bound books it seemed to hold. She was about to reach in when she heard a commotion on the front steps.
Damn.
Moving quickly, she managed to get the board back into place, but the nail she stuck in her pocket. Hopefully, Clark wouldn’t have reason to know it was gone. But if she wanted to get at those books again, she needed to be able to get them out more quickly than she had done this time. She would give ten to one odds that those were her non-existent diaries. Besides, if she started hammering a nail into the floor now, Clark was bound to hear her. She’d just have to hope that he didn’t check on the diaries and discover the nail was missing before she had a chance to read them.
So... the plan to escape wasn’t dead. If she could look at the diaries, read them, and figure out why he’d hidden them from her, she might be able to find a new way off this island. Besides, the very fact that he’d hidden them from her told her this was something she needed to see.
She quickly rushed over to the couch, bouncing as she landed squarely in the center. Touchdown. And then she waited for Clark to enter the cabin.
An unexpected knock on the door confused her. There were no locks. So why would Clark not just walk in? He’d certainly never knocked before.
Unless... maybe after what had happened between them last night, and her attempt to seduce him into taking her off this island, he was afraid of walking in and finding her lying on a bed of rose petals wearing nothing more than a... She shook her head to dispel that thought. Well, fat chance of that happening! If he thought she was going to sleep with him again, he had another thing coming. She’d been a little out of control, that was all. It wasn’t as if she’d even particularly enjoyed it.
‘Liar,’ her mind screamed at her. ‘He wasn’t the only insatiable one in this cabin last night.’
She pushed the thought away with a growl, refusing to dwell on that aspect of last night. Whether or not she had enjoyed herself was irrelevant. It wasn’t as if it were going to happen ever again.
So why exactly did that thought leave her feeling vaguely depressed?
Knocking on the door a second time pulled her out of her unproductive thoughts.
“Come in, Clark,” she yelled in exasperation. “Don’t worry. I’m not about to jump you when you walk through the door. Trust me, last night was quite enough. I have no desire for a repeat performance. It wasn’t even that good.” There. She’d told him. He didn’t have to know what he seemed capable of accomplishing just by touching her - in fact, it was better if he didn’t.
The door crept open and a head poked inside. Although with the bright sunlight coming through the open door, Lois was unable to see the person now apparently staring at her, that was definitely not a silhouette of Clark’s hair.
“I’m not Clark,” an enthusiastic woman said, confirming Lois’ thoughts. “And I wasn’t exactly concerned about you jumping me. But I’ve got to admit that I’m suddenly very curious about what happened last night!”
Lois scrambled off the couch. Help had arrived!
“Come in. Come in,” Lois said as she rushed towards the door and then around the visitor to look outside, intently scanning the beach.
“Good to see you, too,” the woman behind her said even as Lois ignored her to search the beach. The woman joined her in the doorway, as if looking to see what had Lois so captivated.
“Your boat,” Lois said, turning to the woman. “Where’s your boat?”
“Don’t have a boat. No. Not me. Never could stand the way they rock back and forth. Too scary. Don’t swim either.”
“Then how did you get here?” Lois asked.
“Superman brought me. I was surprised when he showed up this morning. Had been expecting Clark, actually. Mr. Schaffenberger was supposed to meet with me today, too. Ever since he was hit by lightning, he thinks he’s Ben Franklin. I’m helping him reach Thomas Jefferson. They’re almost finished their revision of the Declaration of Independence. I wonder if it took them this long to write the first draft?”
“Oh, sorry that you had to miss your appointment,” Lois said, not quite certain how to respond to the rest of what the woman had said.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Star said dismissively. “It probably wouldn’t hurt them to take a bit of a break anyway. All they’ve done the last few weeks is argue about whether or not to change their list of grievances to include the idea that they don’t want their descendants to some day have to swear allegiance to the current heir to the throne, Prince Charles. Jefferson maintains that it’s irrelevant because King George is nuttier than Charles will ever be. Franklin insists that Charles is nuttier. So I’d much rather be here. Besides, Superman said it was important that I come now and he’s a hard man to say no to. And... woo. Flying with Superman. Now that was quite a rush. But then, you’ve flown with him a lot more than I have. This was my first ride.”
“Do we know each other?” Lois asked, feeling as if she was unsuccessfully trying to tread water. Keeping up with this woman was a challenge to her intellectual capacities.
“Yeah. Don’t worry if you don’t remember. I’m your neighbor - Star. I’m the one looking after your fish. Nice little guys. Not very good listeners though. I’m thinking about getting some fish of my own when you come back. The little striped one has something off about her aura, though. Are we going to stand out here all day or go inside?”
“So... Superman brought you? Is he still here?” Lois began searching the sky instead of the beach. She momentarily considered yelling, ‘Help, Superman,’ but something held her back.
“No. Said he’d come back for me later. Superman is concerned about you - thought I could help. Are you okay?”
“Superman asked you to help me?” When Star nodded, Lois continued. “Are you a doctor?” Lois backed, confused, into the cabin. The woman named Star followed. If Superman knew where she was, why hadn’t he just rescued her, taken her back to Metropolis? Or at least sent her someone with a way off this island? Maybe he didn’t know she was here against her will.
“No. No. Don’t trust doctors, actually. Doctors do so much violence to the body - disturbs a person’s aura. Dated a doctor once - boy was he a quack. Mostly, I do psychic counseling and channeling. Never any dark stuff, though - too scary.” Star shivered. “Occasionally I do crystal healing. But the reason Superman asked me to come is that I do hypnosis.”
“Hypnosis? I don’t believe in hypnosis. It never works on me.” Or did it? Suddenly, she wasn’t entirely sure as she had a flash of Max sitting in front of her, telling her to concentrate on his voice. In fact, she was so caught up in her flash of... something, that she missed Star’s next words. “I’m sorry. What did you say?” she asked as Star dropped her jacket on a kitchen chair and started to put water into the kettle, quite clearly making herself at home. Something about that seemed familiar to Lois, so she followed Star into the kitchen and took a seat at the table, content to let Star do whatever she was currently doing.
After putting the water on to boil, Star turned back to Lois, walking over to the kitchen table and slinging a large purse off her shoulder. “Now, let’s see...” She opened the purse and began rifling through it. “When you first lost your memory, I cast your horoscope to determine the best crystals to use for the treatment of your amnesia. But when I took them to the clinic, they refused to let me give them to you. Like I said, doctors are nothing but over-paid quacks.”
Lois stared in disbelief as Star pulled three small cloth bags from her purse. What exactly had Superman been thinking? This was almost as bad as Clark and his herb obsession. “Let me guess - you don’t have health insurance,” Lois said.
“Here, put this on,” Star said, ignoring Lois’ comment as she picked up one of the bags and handed it to Lois. At the end of the bag was a gold chain, long enough to go around Lois’ neck. “It should go over the heart.”
“It doesn’t go with my outfit,” Lois said, even as she acceded to Star’s request. It seemed easier than arguing.
“It has a number of crystals in it amethyst, emerald, iron pyrite, lodestone, rhodonite, even some forget-me-not. Oh, and take this one, too. It’s for putting under your pillow at night. It has some dream crystal in it and will help you find solutions, focus your thoughts and remember things while you’re dreaming. I’ve made you an extra as well. You can leave the crystals from this one in the sun to recharge their energy while you wear the other one. Change them every day to keep their energy at their best.”
A moment later, the kettle came to a boil. Lois started to rise when Star jumped to her feet. “No. That’s okay. I’ve got it.” She removed the kettle from the heat before looking through the cupboards. “Now, I’m sure Clark must have some herbal... Oh, great! Perfect choice. Rosemary. Now, back to your comment about hypnosis.”
Lois stared at the other woman blankly for a moment before remembering that they had been talking about hypnosis. It seemed that Star’s temporary trip to deal with other matters had been just that - temporary.
Star finally finished setting the tea to steep and took a seat at the table. “Now, you said that hypnosis doesn’t work on you, but I know for a fact that it does.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because...”
The door suddenly opened and Lois tensed when she saw who was standing in the doorway. Clark! Her breath caught as the air in the cabin seemed to solidify and suddenly Lois found herself lost in a lusty haze. It seemed last night had changed things between them and she found herself even more aware of him on a primitive level than she had been before. Lois felt a blush rise in her cheeks even as heat began to coil in her belly. She knew that her breathing had become deeper, but seemed unable to do anything about it. In fact, even though she desperately wanted to, she seemed unable to break eye contact with Clark, whose own eyes had darkened as he’d watched her.
“Uhh... Clark,” Star said, rising to her feet and walking over to him. She took his arm, directing him back to the door. “Superman asked me to help Lois. Do you think you could wait outside?”
Clark finally tore his eyes away from Lois as he allowed himself to be ushered outside.
When Star finally returned to the table and sat down, she looked directly at Lois. “Whoa. Talk about your powerful sexual energy. If that had been any hotter, the entire cabin would have burst into flames. Normally, love it. But it’s sort of counter productive to the reason I’m here. So much for your comment about last night not being good. If that was any indication, I’m not sure I would have lived through it - but what a way to go.”
A blush rose in Lois’ cheeks even as she studied the wood grain on the table, reaching up to push a strand of hair behind her ear. But if Star thought Lois had any intention of elaborating, she was very much mistaken. She’d already obviously given away too much when she thought it had been Clark knocking on the door.
“Why are you wearing your engagement ring?” Star asked, trying to sound casual as she poured the tea into mugs and passed one over to Lois.
“Uhh... yeah,” Lois said, realizing immediately that Star was prying for more information about last night. Well, time to put an end to that discussion. “I guess I should take this off. It doesn’t mean anything, anyway. Just... It’s a long story.” She shrugged, raising her hand to remove the ring.
“No! No! Leave it on. Diamonds are an energy amplifier. They will enhance the power of the other crystals. So back to hypnosis.”
Lois almost let out a sigh of relief, as her hands fell back to the table, the diamond untouched. As much as she might consider talking about hypnosis a waste of time, it had at least distracted Star from asking more questions about the previous night. And as for the engagement ring... she’d take it off later.
TO BE CONTINUED...
ML
