PREVIOUSLY...
She had just stepped off the path from the waterfalls and onto the sand in front of the cabin when something in the corner of her eye caught her notice. She looked out towards the ocean and gasped. A boat! In fact, it appeared a luxury yacht was anchored in the harbor.
AND NOW - PART 12
Had Superman sent a yacht to pick her up? But why would he do that when he could just fly her back in his arms? Or had she somehow misunderstood Clark’s intentions?
Before she could probe the mystery further, a strong arm wrapped itself around her from behind as a hand clamped over her mouth to prevent the scream rising in her throat. She fought back instinctively.
“Lois, it’s okay. Calm down. It’s me. I’ve come to rescue you.”
The voice sounded vaguely familiar and she looked towards the man skirting around so that he was standing in front of her. Max? Where the hell had he come from?
“It’s okay. You can let her go.”
The man holding her in a vice-like grip loosened his arm cautiously while at the same time removing his hand from her mouth.
“Max?” Lois asked, completely baffled by this turn of events.
“Yes, it’s me, my love,” Max said, stepping forward to sweep her up in his arms.
“Max?” she asked again, still not completely certain this was happening. “How did...”
“I find you?”
She nodded dumbly.
“Not here. Let’s...” He hurried her over to the edge of the woods, making sure that they were out of sight of the cabin before continuing. “Elias... Uhh... Dr. Mendenhall apparently put GPS chips in all of his would-be assassins so that he could keep track of them. I was able to make use of it to find you.”
“How long have you known about this?”
“Since his unfortunate arrest. I was going through his things at the clinic...”
“And you didn’t tell me? Didn’t take it out?”
“And it’s a good thing, too. Or, alas, I would never have found you.”
Lois looked at him in disbelief. He really didn’t believe he had done anything wrong. How was that even possible?
“I’m only sorry it took so long for me to get here. But I had to hire a crew I could trust, get the necessary provisions and then sail out here. But don’t worry. I made sure to get good men, men who would be sufficient to the task.”
It was then that Lois really took notice of the four other men with Max. Big, rugged men, a little rough around the edges. And all of them wearing fatigues and carrying guns.
“Mercenaries?” Lois asked before she could stop herself.
Deter laughed. “No. Just men I knew I could trust - for the right price, of course. But I had to get you away from that madman.”
“We’re all set, sir. I see you’ve got the woman out of there,” another man said as two more men joined them.
“Yes,” Max said. “Just give me a moment here and then we can set it off.”
“Set what off?” asked Lois, taking in the final two men who seemed to make up Max’s team, bringing the number of thugs with him to six.
“Lois, we have to be sure he doesn’t come after you again,” Max said soothingly, running his hands up and down her arms.
“Who? Clark? What are you going to do, Max?” she asked, panic rising in her belly.
“We’re going to take care of the problem. We’ve put explosives in...”
“What? No, Max! You can’t. You can’t kill...” As she spoke, she began to move, only to find herself suddenly grasped from behind. “Clar...” Her scream was cut off by a hand over her mouth even as she watched in horror as one of the men withdrew a small metal box from his pocket and, at Max’s nod, depressed a button. She struggled for all she was worth but it was no use.
The explosion rocked the ground and a moment later, Lois could feel heat hitting her from the direction of the cabin.
No. Oh, god, no. Clark. Please. Not Clark. She collapsed to the ground as the arms holding her disappeared. If Clark was dead, her life was over.
“What have you done?” she screamed at Max, her vision blurred by grief and rage. Gone was any fear that his post hypnotic suggestions might still have some sort of hold over her. She wasn’t entirely sure she had ever known that she could hate someone so fiercely. “Superman. When Superman gets here...”
“Don’t worry about Superman, Lois. I’ve calculated for all possible contingencies.” He held up his good hand - the other still encased in plaster - showing off a ring containing a glowing, green crystal. “Cost me more than the yacht. Harder to find, too. But rather than taking a risk that the big boy scout with a soft spot for you might interfere, I thought... Better safe than sorry. So now that we’ve taken care of Kent, what do you say...”
“Lois!”
Lois almost thought she was hearing things at first. Clark! Clark calling her name, sounding panicky. “Clark!” she yelled back, relief and joy flooding through her system. She didn’t know how... and, frankly, she didn’t care. Clark was alive. That was all that mattered.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark had been so lost in his thoughts that the explosion had caught him off guard. He’d watched helplessly as the living room and kitchen completely disappeared into a pile of kindling and flames leapt into the air, intent on destroying the rear of the cabin where the bedroom and bathroom were located. A quick blast of cooling breath took care of that problem and Clark did it without thinking even as his mind focused on Lois.
Had she been near the cabin? Was she hurt?
He didn’t know what had caused the explosion. A fault in the generator maybe. It didn’t matter. What mattered was Lois.
“Lois!” he’d yelled, even as he’d run through the remains of the living room and out onto the beach.
“Clark!” he heard and instantly looked in the direction of her voice. What he saw caused fury to rise inside him. Deter. Lois on the ground at his feet. He didn’t need to see more. Without further thought, he ran towards them, intent on getting Lois away from that man.
The pain when it hit him was almost unbearable. The shirt tail on his flannel shirt was still on fire from the explosion, but suddenly he felt the pain of it. He struggled to get the shirt off, even as he felt the fire rush up his arm. Collapsing onto the ground, he rolled, relieved when the fire finally went out. But the pain in his damaged arm was nothing compared to the other pain he was feeling. Kryptonite - it had to be.
How had he missed the arrival of these men? He closed his eyes. He knew how it had happened. He’d shut down his super senses to avoid hearing Lois, her heartbeat, the smell of her, in his effort to get control of his hormones. And as a result, he’d missed the danger.
* * * * * * * * *
“Clark!” Lois gasped, scrambling to her feet and rushing over. The fire was out by the time she arrived but his pain continued, even increased. She could see it on every line of his face and movement of his body. Her eyes crinkled together in confusion. She’d seen that kind of pain on Clark’s face before - but where?
And suddenly, as she knelt in the sand next to Clark, she was lost in a memory. Spenser Spenser. A hidden refuge. Sitting in a chair, surrounded by cross bows, each set with an arrow aimed directly at her. Clark claiming to be Superman - and her fervently denying it.
In attempting to prove who he was, his powers had failed. At which point, he’d joined her in denying his identity.
‘Enough!” Spenser Spenser had yelled. ‘I don’t know what’s going on here, but something is. Pescado,’ he yelled, ‘bring in the you know what!’
A short man in a suit entered the room pushing a trolley on which sat a large lead-lined box. He opened it immediately. At first, Clark cringed, obviously trying to keep Spenser Spenser from seeing the pain the rock was inflicting. Then, unable to fight it, he collapsed onto the couch, holding his head and grimacing as the pain took over.
Clark was Superman.
And almost as soon as she thought it, it was as if she’d never forgotten. Memories flashed past almost too fast for her to follow, one after another until she knew it all. From the moment she’d interrupted Clark’s interview at the Planet until her kidnapping at their wedding. Oh, god. When Clark had said they were engaged, she’d had no idea. She had been kidnapped from her wedding ceremony, with Clark waiting for her in the next room. How had he been able to bear it?
Seeing them rolling around on her bed in the virtual world. Getting a little more carried away than they had intended. Being interrupted by Jaxon Xavier’s computer persona. Knowing that in that moment, if they hadn’t been interrupted, they both could have easily competed the act.
Watching Clark stand on the side of the road while she drove off with Lex. No wonder he’d felt he had no choice but to kidnap her when she’d announced that she was going to the south of France with Max. It was a wonder that...
“What’s wrong with him?” Max asked, snapping Lois out of her memories.
Kryptonite! Max was wearing a kryptonite ring. She had to get the kryptonite away from Clark as fast as possible.
“He was just in a building that blew up, and he was on fire,” she said thinking frantically, even as she scrambled to her feet. “What do you think is wrong with him?” The fact that his clothing was torn and burned and he was entirely caked with ash and dirt certainly supported her hypothesis. Reassuring herself that since he hadn’t come into contact with the kryptonite until he came out of the cabin and the fire was now out, the most pressing problem now was the kryptonite, she grabbed Max’s arm, trying to pull him away from Clark without looking as if that was what she was doing. “But forget about him. He’s not a threat to us now.”
When she finally had Max some distance away from Clark, she turned, snaking her arms up around his neck. “He doesn’t matter.”
He grinned and she tried to keep her abhorrence for him off her face even as she let him gather her into his arms. When his arms were secure around her, he looked at one of his men. “Kill him,” he instructed.
“No!” she exclaimed.
His eyes narrowed as his gaze returned to hers. “What exactly happened between you two on this island?” he asked suspiciously.
“Nothing, Max. I mean, he tried to convince me that I loved him, but I love only you.”
He smiled, seeming to catch that she was still saying she loved him the way he’d told her.
“I just... don’t want to him to die. I don’t like seeing anyone die. And he’s no danger to us, after all.” She ran her hands down from his shoulders to play with the buttons on his shirt. She kept her eyes focused there, as if more interested in his buttons than what she was saying, but secretly afraid he’d see the lie in her eyes if she looked at him. “Can’t we just leave? Sail off in your yacht? He doesn’t have a way to follow, after all.”
“I suppose so,” Max said before reaching down to tilt her face up to his. “I’ve missed you, Lois,” he said softly.
“Not nearly as much as I’ve missed you...” you bastard, she added silently. Then he was leaning towards her. Closing her eyes and forcing herself to swallow her revulsion, she made herself respond when his lips finally touched hers. Clark’s life was at stake, after all.
* * * * * * * * *
The pain abated somewhat and Clark was finally able to open his eyes. No one seemed to be paying him much attention at the moment, but that was hardly surprising. He could barely move.
He twisted his head slightly, trying to see what was happening. His heart sank when he saw Lois in Deter’s arms, sharing a passionate kiss. He closed his eyes. Obviously, she really did love Deter, no matter what the man had done to her. But wasn’t that the very thing she had told him long before Deter had hypnotized her?
‘I think I’m in love,’ Lois had told him.
‘I know you’re in love,’ he’d responded.
‘Well, don’t say anything. I haven’t told him yet.’
‘Him?’
‘The man who threw me a lifeline and pulled me back into the world of reality... Dr. Maxwell Deter.’
Clark saw that Deter had noticed the engagement ring on Lois’ hand - why hadn’t he realized she was still wearing it? And what exactly did it mean - assuming it meant anything at all. Still, Deter seemed to think it meant something because after what appeared to be a small disagreement, Deter removed the ring and tossed it away. Lois watched the ring land, but made no move to retrieve it. Clark had lost her. What did anything else matter after that?
No. No matter Lois’ feelings, no matter his own feelings, Deter had to be stopped. Lois might hate him for it, but that man was no better than Luthor.
‘I love Lois. I do. I really do. But she’s just a little too independent, don’t you think? Well, I’ll take care of that.’
It had been those words as much as anything that had given him the strength he’d needed to escape Luthor. And it would give him the strength he needed now.
But unlike Luthor, Lois knew what Deter was. She had to. So why...? Was it possible this was all an act so she could protect him... and herself... until a better moment came to make her move? Knowing Lois that could very well be, given what Deter had already done to her, given what he’d tried to do to him. Still, with the pain still coursing through his system, it was hard to think straight, to rationalize things out.
So where was the kryptonite? It was a little farther away now than when he’d first collapsed, but he could tell that it was still nearby. His strength was leaving him, more all the time.
He realized immediately that Deter must have it when Deter released Lois and approached the man with the gun standing near him. Closing his eyes, he attempted unsuccessfully to shut out the increased pain.
But he didn’t need to see to hear the men’s whispered conversation..
“Do we shoot him or not?” the thug asked.
“Lois and I are going to head back to the yacht, Erik. Wait until we’re gone and then kill him. But no guns. I don’t want her to know about it. So do this quietly. I told her you were going to see if any of her things survived the explosion, so be sure to take a look before you join us.”
And then the pain again abated. He heard talking in the distance as Deter took the kryptonite farther and farther away. Once it was gone, Clark cracked open his eyes. So they were going to kill him, were they? He just hoped they waited long enough, allowed him to regain enough strength to fight back. Because if they attacked now... He left the thought unfinished. No. He couldn’t die - not with Lois still in danger.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois really didn’t want to go out to the yacht, but it was the best way to take the kryptonite away from Clark. Besides, she didn’t know of any way to refuse that wouldn’t make Max suspect her true feelings. She’d tried suggesting that they go back to the cabin, see if any of her stuff had survived. But he’d been insistent that he needed to get her out of danger - and besides, his men could do that.
Still, she felt as if she was leaving her heart behind on that beach as she stepped into one of the two small motor boats that had been used to transport Max and his men to the island. She suspected that Max had left orders for his men to kill Clark. She hoped not, but... Still, there was no way she could take on Max and six armed men. So her only hope was that by getting the kryptonite away from Clark, he would recover enough to escape.
How long would it take him to recover from the kryptonite poisoning? It seemed to take different amounts of time every time he was exposed. Would he recover more slowly if he were hurt physically then if he were healthy physically? Did that mean the burn to his shoulder would slow down his recovery? How far away did the kryptonite have to be before he started to recover? She wished she had more answers and not so many questions.
Without those answers, she needed to give him as much time as she could, so she was slow crossing the beach and slow getting aboard the boat. Then she watched Clark as the boat pushed off of the shore, watching him as long as possible as the boat powered its way across the smooth waters to the luxury yacht that awaited her. She could only hope that the men on shore would not try anything while she could still see them. After all, Max had told her Clark would not be further harmed. Surely he would have told his men to wait.
She had mixed feelings when two of the men got into the boat with them. There had been a small thought in the back of her mind that once she got out a way from shore, she might be able to overpower Max, steal the ring and then get back to the island, free to help Clark. On the other hand, their escort left two less men for Clark to deal with.
* * * * * * * * *
Erik watched as the small motor boat disappeared around the far side of the yacht before directing his mind again to the task ahead. In order to maintain the illusion that they were staying longer simply to check out the cabin, he’d sent his remaining three men over to sort through the remains while he continued to keep an eye on the poor sap practically unconscious on the ground.
He momentarily considered calling his men back to help, but really what was the point? Setting down his gun, he pulled a kusari from his pocket, a short wire with handles at each end. The guys might be mad that he had decided to have all the fun on his own, but those were the perks of being in charge.
Stepping up to his victim, he was almost casual as he reached forward to wrap the wire around the man’s neck. This was almost too easy. What joy was there in killing, really, when your victim was already half dead? Still, a job was a job and Erik liked getting paid.
* * * * * * * * *
Just where was Deter getting his money, Lois thought as she boarded the yacht. It couldn’t be the clinic. After all, when Mendenhall was being arrested, he’d said that he’d had no choice but to use his skills to create assassins because the clinic was losing money.
Unless... Unless the reason the clinic was losing money had been because Max had been skimming the accounts. And somehow Lois was suddenly certain that was exactly what had happened. No wonder he’d been willing to walk away from everything in order to take her to his villa - there was nothing left to walk away from. The clinic would go under and Max would live off his ill-gained fortune without anyone being the wiser.
He was as much of a psychopath as Lex had been.
‘Boy, I really know how to attract them, don’t I?’ Lois thought as she silently glanced around, trying not to look as if she was paying too much attention to how the landing boat was being secured to the deck.
What was it with her and psychopaths, anyway? If she hadn’t also managed to attract the most decent man she’d ever known, she might get a complex. She was just lucky that Clark had stuck around long enough for her to realize what a catch he actually was.
Her hand subconsciously played with her now empty ring finger. She had so wanted to rescue that ring after Deter had tossed it away. But she didn’t dare. The important thing was to get rid of the kryptonite - and if that meant sacrificing her engagement ring, then that was what it meant. A ring could be replaced - Clark could not.
With thoughts of Clark, she took a step towards the other side of the yacht, from which she hoped to get a look at the island. When one of the goons stepped in front of her, she stopped. It might be killing her not to know if Clark had managed to escape, but there was nothing she could do from this distance to help him. Besides, right now her focus had to be on getting rid of the kryptonite ring.
“What’s this?” Deter suddenly asked, fingering the bag hanging around Lois’ neck.
Lois looked down, confused. Then her expression cleared. “Just some crystals that are believed to help with memory loss.”
Deter snorted, reaching over to remove the bag from around her neck. “Sounds like something Kent would believe in,” he said scathingly. “Well, you won’t be needing this any more.” Without asking her opinion, he tossed the bag over the side of the ship. “Nothing but quacks believe in this stuff.”
‘Dated a doctor once - boy was he a quack.’ Star’s words from the other day suddenly came back to Lois, and quickly she covered up a resulting smile. Which one of them was the real quack? Lois was currently laying odds on Star being the sane one.
“This way, my love,” Deter said, forcing Lois to refocus her thoughts.
“Is this your yacht, Max?” she asked, trying to sound impressed while she fell into pace next to him.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark looked down at his blood soaked hands in dismay. He’d managed to best his attacker, but at a price. He’d barely managed to get his hands between the thin wire and his neck in time. Using it then to throw his attacker over his head had caused the wire to cut deep into his palms. Still, something of Lois’ martial arts skills must have rubbed off on him during their daily sparring matches because he’d flipped the man over his body with surprising ease.
He’d awkwardly scrambled to his feet, bracing himself for a renewed attack - only to discover that the man was out cold. A quick check had assured Clark that he was still alive. The only explanation Clark could find for the man’s incapacitation was that he must have hit his head when he landed.
Knowing he was in no shape at the moment to confront the remaining three men, especially men with guns, he’d retrieved the glittering diamond from where he could see it still sticking out of the sand and stuck it deep in his pocket before staggering into the forest in the opposite direction to the cabin. He’d barely entered the woods when he went sprawling, face first, over an old log. In spite of the fact that the side of his face was scraped up and his raw hands infected with sand and mud, the fall had still been a piece of luck since, from his position on the ground, he’d been able to see a hiding place. Using what was left of his strength, he squeezed his body into the tight enclosure between the log and the ground, hoping he would not be found until he’d had time to recover his powers.
He kept his movements to a minimum, even attempting to regulate his breathing, given how close he was to where he’d escaped his attacker moments before. It was, after all, only a matter of time before his buddies found him.
“Erik!” a man yelled, seeming in answer to Clark’s prediction.
He heard a slight groan in answer.
“What happened?” a third man asked, rushing over.
“I don’t know, Ryan. I just came out here and... Kent must have gotten away. Well, just don’t stand there. Find him!”
Clark closed his eyes and tried to think invisible thoughts, waiting for the moment when the men were all over this forest. Just a little more time. All he needed was a little more time.
“No,” Erik responded. There was a moment of silence during which Clark heard scuffling. Perhaps the other men were helping Erik to his feet. “Forget about Kent.”
“But...”
“He’s got no way off this island. He’ll have to wait for another boat. So it’s not like he can follow us. He knows this island better than we do. And I don’t want to be bothered searching under every rock and stump.”
“But what about Deter?”
“What about him? By the time he finds out Kent is alive, we’ll have collected our pay and...”
There was further discussion but Clark wasn’t listening. Instead his mind was working overtime. He had survived. All he had to do was wait on this island until his powers returned.
But he couldn’t do that. Lois was on that yacht and if he didn’t go after her now, he might never get another chance. The world was a big place, after all. And Deter could be taking her anywhere. But the only boat on this island was in full view of the men now discussing his future.
* * * * * * * * *
“So what do you think?”
“It’s...” Claustrophobic was the first word that came to mind when describing the cabin with its impossibly small windows, but she quickly rejected that word. “...wonderful.” She turned slightly to give Max a quick smile before turning back to the room. “Is this your room?”
“Our room,” he corrected, brushing past her to move over to the closets.
That’s what she’d feared. Still, she kept her face neutral. She had to succeed in her mission of ridding him of the ring and getting off this damn boat. Otherwise... No. No, there was no ‘otherwise.’
“And like I said...” He opened one of the closet doors, showing her the clothing inside. Women’s clothing. “...you don’t need your stuff. I made sure you’d have clothes.”
She walked over to the closet, examining the clothing more carefully, wondering if he’d taken her clothes from her apartment. But no. She didn’t recognize any of these things. Checking inside one of the blazers, she stilled. Her size, but definitely not her style. Everything was a little too soft, too revealing. He was dressing her up as his own personal Barbie doll. “You bought all these?” she asked, trying to keep her voice neutral.
“Nothing but first class for us from here on out.” He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and began nuzzling at her neck.
“Mmm...” she said, trying to make up for the fact that her body had instinctively tensed at his touch.
“What’s wrong?”
Damn. She thought furiously. “Nothing. It’s just...” What?
“What?” he asked, seeming to echo her own thoughts.
“You smell like gunpowder,” she said on sudden inspiration, brought on by the fact that he actually did smell of gunpowder.
He laughed. “Well then,” he said releasing her, “what if I go get freshened up? Maybe you’d like to do the same. After all, living in that primitive cabin, you’ve picked up something of a camp smell. Does that sound good?”
She turned to face him, planting a firm smile on her lips. “Sounds perfect.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
ML
