Be sure to read part 13b before reading this part.
PREVIOUSLY...
She couldn’t do it. God help her - God help them both, but she couldn’t do it. The tears fell faster now. It was the right thing to do. It could save his life, but... she couldn’t do it. Not now. Not yet. Maybe later if he continued to get worse, but not now. Not yet.
Taking the bottle of vodka, she poured some of it over his hands, desperately hoping it might have some medicinal value. When he flinched in response, she thought that just maybe it did.
AND NOW - PART 14
Even opening his eyes was painful. Clark blinked a couple of times, trying to figure out where he was. But between the darkness that surrounded him and the unfamiliarity of his environment, he had problems putting things together.
He remembered an explosion lighting up the night sky. Grabbing Lois and jumping overboard. He even remembered the soft purr of the engine as he’d directed their small boat towards the north star.
But what had happened then? And where was he now?
The surface beneath him was soft and he could reach out and brush his hand over the hard surface of a wall next to him. But if he looked towards the foot of his bed, he was certain he could see trees. He could hear the soft patter of rain and yet he wasn’t getting wet.
As he lay there, trying to put things together, he began to remember other things. Small flashes that seemed almost like dreams. His arm across Lois’ shoulders as she assisted him over uneven ground. Her gentle pleas, telling him he was almost there. Stumbling slightly over rubble as he’d caught his first sight of their destination - the still standing bedroom of the cabin, its side completely blown off. The relief he’d felt as she lowered him gently onto the bed.
In another flash, he could see Lois sitting next to him, gently wiping the sweat from his face and chest. The feeling that every fiber of his being was on fire. The sound of her softly singing to him as she worked to sooth his raging fever. Her pleas with him to drink.
Her body next to him in bed, curled up against his good side. The sweet smell of her hair and the light touch of her hand on his chest.
But there was no Lois here now.
A muttered curse near the foot of the bed caused him to look in that direction in time to see Lois slip beneath the what remained of the roof of the cabin, carrying a bucket. Her hair was damp and she was wearing an oversized pair of sweat pants and his old Smallville High t-shirt. And he didn’t think he’d ever seen anything quite as beautiful.
“Lois.” His voice croaked out the single word causing her head to snap up.
Her face broke into a smile. “Hey, look who’s awake,” she said softly, setting down the bucket and quickly approaching the bed. She picked up a mug from the side of the bed and took a seat next to him. “Do you think you can handle some water?”
He nodded slightly and her arm slipped, with practiced ease, under his back to assist him as he moved himself carefully into a seated position, before passing him the mug.
“Thank you,” he managed before, his trembling and bandaged hands steadied by her confident ones, raising the mug to his lips. He wasn’t entirely sure he’d ever tasted anything quite as wonderful as the cool water slid down his parched throat.
“You gave me quite a scare,” she said softly, taking the mug from him to return it to the night stand.
“What happened? How long have I been out of it?”
“Two days.”
“What?” He began to rise, but her gentle hand on his chest stopped him and he allowed himself to relax back into the mattress. “Did they come after us?”
Lois shook her head. “They must have decided it made more sense to get the hell out of here.”
“So what happened?”
“Well, I nearly missed the island all together - but I guess Lane luck works both ways because I spotted it off to my left at the last minute. If the sun hadn’t chosen that moment to pop up above the horizon, I would have missed it completely. You were pretty out of it when we came ashore, so I came up here to look for supplies.
“I managed to clean out your hands and treat your other injuries, but I think you’d already picked up an infection because you kept mumbling nonsense and you seemed to have a pretty high fever. And your hands... even after I cleaned them, they looked horrible, almost black, and there were these red streaks running up one of your arms...” Her voice broke slightly and it took her a moment to continue. “I eventually got you up here. Then I spent most of the past day or so working to get your temperature down and, during your more lucid periods, trying to get you to drink.
“It was so hard, watching you thrashing around in a cold sweat. Your fever finally seemed to break a few hours ago and you’ve been sleeping soundly ever since.” She turned so that she was facing him on the bed. She reached up to brush some slick strands of hair off his face before touching his face and forehead, he was certain, to check his temperature. “I thought you were going to die,” she said softly. “I had no idea what to do. I had no antibiotics and no way to get you help and for a time I even thought that maybe I’d have to cut your hands off to keep the infection from spreading...”
When her voice broke again, he reached for her. She quickly scampered into his arms, burying her face in his throat as her breathing became raged and, finally, letting herself give into the emotions which, he suspected, she’d spent the last two days pushing aside.
“It’s okay, Lois. Everything will be okay,” he said softly, rocking her gently.
As he held her trembling body against him, he found himself asking what would have happened to Lois if he had died. She’d have been stuck on this island, with no way off and no one knowing where she was other than a yacht full of brigands who she’d likely be hoping would never return. What would she have done when the food ran out? Would there be enough to sustain her on this island until she could be rescued? And how could he, who claimed to love her, have ever put her in such a precarious position?
* * * * * * * * *
Lois woke up and stretched contentedly before realizing that Clark was not sleeping beside her in bed. Sitting up abruptly, she looked around. Everything was as it had been when she’d fallen asleep in his arms except no Clark. And... she noticed a moment later... no water bucket.
She sank back against the pillows, deducing that he’d gone to get water.
He was going to live.
She closed her eyes and soaked in that simple fact, allowing the terror of the past couple of days to bleed from her system. She hadn’t lost him.
When a few minutes later, he still hadn’t returned, she rose from the bed and collected a few things. Since Max’s men had taken much of her stuff to the yacht, her only choice in clothing were things belonging to Clark that had survived the explosion.
In only a few moments, she was heading down the path to the waterfalls. Clark must have decided to get cleaned up, and since the cabin’s demise had left them with no electricity for running water, he’d probably, as she had the past few days, decided to clean up at the waterfalls.
The thought that maybe she’d catch him bathing brought a smile to her face and sent a delicious heat coiling through her belly.
It was amazing how much brighter and more colorful the world looked this morning compared to the previous morning. Whereas yesterday everything had appeared dull and dreary, this morning everything seemed alive with possibilities. Still, with every step she took, she felt worry creeping back in, blurring the corners of her vision. What if the reason he hadn’t come back was that he’d gotten worse again? What if he needed her help and she wasn’t there?
She stopped, breathing a deep sigh of relief, when she emerged from the path to see Clark, his back to her, pulling on his jeans. A fresh shirt was hanging over the limb of a nearby tree. Damn. A minute earlier and she’d have been looking at the full Monty, she was certain. She took a moment to admire his cloth-covered posterior before it disappeared beneath blue denim. Still, she stood there, enjoying the view of his bare back. It seemed he’d removed his bandages, and although the burn marks and the bullet wound on his arm and shoulder were still clearly visible, his rejuvenating powers must have returned because the injuries now looked well healed over. She sighed in relief.
She watched as he picked up his shirt. She was about to go to him when he surprised her by suddenly sitting down on a rock, his shirt still in his hands, his posture changing. He looked for all the world like a man who had just lost his best friend.
Was he still in pain?
She immediately walked over to him, mussing his damp hair. He looked up at her, startled.
“Feeling okay?” she asked softly. “Your shoulder looks better.”
“Uhh... yeah. Thanks,” he responded, giving her a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
For a moment, she froze. Was there something about his physical condition he didn’t want her to know? In order to collect her thoughts and determine how to probe the information she needed out of him, she continued walking past him, down to the water’s edge. As she reached the shore, she heard Clark rise behind her.
“Do you want some privacy because I can always...”
“It’s okay, Clark,” she responded, glancing back at him. “I’d rather have you where I can see you.” She gave him a self-effacing smile. “It’s just... when I can’t see you, I sort of worry.”
“Oh. Of course,” he said. “Then what if I just...” He sat down again on the shore, this time with his back to her.
“Thanks,” she said, pulling off her shirt and sweats and tending to the task before her. Her eyes came back to Clark again and again as she washed her hair and brushed her teeth. Even when she was finally finished and slipping into some clean clothes, she could barely stand to take her eyes off him for more than seconds at a time.
Once she was ready, she forced her pounding heart into submission and, in an effort to keep her tone light, walked over to him. “So,” she said, “you going to tell me what’s bothering you or am I going to have to throw you into the pond to get you to talk?”
He gave her the semblance of a smile before reaching up and tugging gently at her hand. Following his unspoken request, she took a seat across from him, reaching out immediately to push a strand of unruly hair off his forehead. He ducked his head, as if uncomfortable with the intimate gesture. She quickly withdrew her hand, settling both of them in her lap as she waited for him to speak.
“I’m so sorry,” he said in a rush. “I never should have brought you here. It was wrong of me and I promise that I’ll take you home as soon as I can.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but he rushed on.
“I haven’t been completely honest with you and... well, I’d take you home right now if I could but I can’t because..” He took a deep breath. “...well, the truth is that I’m Superman. And I know you probably think I’m crazy because...” He gestured to his shoulder. “But I swear it’s true. I don’t know how long it will be before I get my powers back, but then I’ll take you home and if you want to press kidnapping charges against me or tell the word that I’m Superman, I won’t...”
“Clark!” she exclaimed holding up a hand and halting the flow of words. In the resulting silence, she could finally think. She focused on his first statement - she’d deal with the rest later. “What did you mean when you said you never should have brought me here?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
When she merely raised her eyebrows, he continued.
“If I’d died, you’d have been stuck on this island. No one would have known where you were. You’d have had no way to get back home. It was completely irresponsible of me to...”
“Clark!” she said again. When he fell silent a second time, she continued. “Bringing me to this island was exactly the right thing to do.”
“But...”
“No, buts. Clark, if I’d stayed in Metropolis, I’d still be under Maxwell’s influence. You knew that and that’s why you brought me here.”
“But if I’d died...”
“If you’d died, I’d have other things on my mind at the moment rather than worrying about getting off this island. Okay,” she conceded when she could see that he was about to object, “eventually it would have been a problem. But someone has a cabin here... or did. So that means someone would have found me eventually. It was worth the risk. After all...” She reached out, taking his hands in hers and pausing long enough to be sure she had his full attention. “...taking a risk is what the two of us together is all about.”
His eyes widened as he took in her words. “You remember,” he whispered in part question and in part revelation. Suddenly, he seemed to have second thoughts. “Or... is this just another memory flash?”
“I remember,” she said. “I remember it all. I remember my life before I met you, when being alone was what I thought I wanted. And I remember my life with you, when I realized that being with you is what I really want.” She let out a breath, knowing he needed more than that. “It happened when I saw you react to the kryptonite. It was as if the floodgates opened and I remembered everything - from the moment I burst in on your interview with Perry, through our rolling around on what appeared to be the bed in my apartment in the virtual world, until the moment when you stood on the side of the road, watching me drive off with Lex. I’m so sorry I put you through all that.”
“It’s not your fault, Lois,” he said, raising her hand so that he could kiss her palm, her eyes never leaving hers.
“I even remember what you said after ‘I’ asked ‘you’ to marry me. ‘Who’s asking? Lois or Ultra Woman?”
He gave his first genuine smile. “Who’s answering? Clark or Superman?” he responded.
Her smile matched his. “I love you, Clark. And even though I think I was already half in love with you, even without my memories, the last time I said it, this time I really mean it - from the bottom of my heart. I just wish... Well, Max threw my ring away and although I looked for it while you were recovering...”
Her voice trailed off when Clark reached into the pocket of his jeans and withdrew the most precious piece of jewelry Lois had ever owned.
“This ring?” he asked.
Her eyes lit up in a smile. “You really do carry it with you everywhere, don’t you?” she said, provoking a bark of laughter out of Clark before he reverently slipped it back on her finger. He raised her hand to his lips and, with a gesture so Clark-like it took her breath away, he kissed her finger just below the ring.
For a moment, both just sat there, staring into each other’s eyes. Suddenly, another thought occurred to her - one that Clark needed to know as soon as possible.
“Oh, and, Clark, I never cheated on you.”
“I already know that, Lois. But I take it you remember what happened after you said that line about your body belonging to... whomever, but your heart beating for only one man.”
She nodded. “Gwendoline slept with Sean.”
“Huh?”
“It was a story line on the Ivory Tower. Sean was blackmailing Gwendoline and...”
“The Ivory Tower? Your soap opera? You mistakenly thought the life experience of the heroine in your favorite soap opera was your experience?”
She shrugged sheepishly.
She wasn’t entirely sure his resulting laughter was completely necessary. Oh, but it did her heart good to hear him laugh.
“So I guess there was no need to tell you that I’m Superman or that we’re stranded here until my powers return.”
“Nope. Still, I am wondering about one thing.”
“What?”
“Well, the piece of kryptonite you were exposed to wasn’t very large and you weren’t exposed to it for very long, so why is it taking you so long to get your powers back?”
“I’m not sure. I was thinking about it this morning. When we were on the yacht, my powers were starting to return. But because I couldn’t get any sun, it was taking a lot longer than normal. Then, after I was shot, they were gone again. I think when I’m injured after being exposed to kryptonite, it’s as if my body has to fight to get back just to human normal before it can give me back my powers. So they disappeared again when I got shot and then, before I had a chance to recover from that and the resulting blood loss, I got the infection and had to fight it off first. I’m sure my regenerative powers helped with that, but it still takes time.”
Lois nodded slowly. “I guess that makes sense. And without antibiotics, I think an ordinary man would have died from that infection. At least, it sure scared the hell out of me.”
She leaned towards him, touching her lips to his in an effort to assure herself he was alive.
Still the moment their lips met, the atmosphere changed. When she moved back in for a second kiss, Clark’s arms pulled her closer. She opened her mouth slightly beneath his and he instantly deepened the kiss. Her hands ran through his thick, dark hair as his ran over her back. Before she knew it, she was lying beneath Clark on the ground as he planted kisses down the side of her neck.
Suddenly another thought occurred to her. Here they were on the hard ground, when back at what remained of the cabin was a big, comfortable bed - sitting empty. As soon as the thought entered her mind, she was pushing Clark off her and scampering to her feet.
“Lois?” Clark asked.
She didn’t answer, but merely smiled and held out her hand to him.
* * * * * * * * *
Clark wasn’t entirely certain what was going on inside Lois’ head as she practically dragged him back to the cabin. On the other hand, he often didn’t know what was going on in Lois’ head.
So when they arrived at the side of the bed and she turned towards him, running her hands seductively down his chest until she was playing with the button on his jeans, he was caught off guard.
“Lois?” he asked as her fingers slipped under the waistband of his jeans to tug him closer.
“Yes?” she asked in return.
He swallowed hard at her sultry tone of voice. Standing up on her tiptoes, she leaned forward and softly kissed him.
“Uhh...” he said, trying to keep his mind from skittering over to the bed they were standing beside. Half dressed, the smell of Lois’ shampoo wafting around him, Lois’ hands... No. He was probably misinterpreting the situation.
“Yes?” she asked again as her lips left his to begin nibbling at his neck.
“Uhh... what exactly are we...” His voice trailed off as her tongue circled around his adam’s apple. “...doing here?” he finished when he could think again, even as his arms, of their own volition, enfolded her, drawing her closer.
She leaned back in his arms then, her face splitting into a smile. “Come on, Clark. I know you know how this works,” she practically giggled. “I mean, maybe before... when you could claim to be a virgin...”
He couldn’t help the growl that rose in his throat as he moved in, seizing her lips with his. When she teased him like that... He couldn’t be held responsible for his actions.
Her hands slid up his body to circle his neck as she met his hungry kiss with her own. And for long minutes there was no sound except those associated with two tongues dueling, soft moans and groans, lips touching and moving over each other, of bodies pressed tightly together and hands roaming wildly.
When the kiss finally broke, both were breathing heavily. He leaned forward, touching his forehead to Lois’, needing that contact to regain his equilibrium. He just about felt in control again when Lois suddenly pulled away, taking hold of his hands as she slowly backed towards the bed.
“Uhh... Lois...” he began, following her lead. “Are you sure you want to... I mean, we were waiting for marriage and I know we jumped the gun a bit, but we can still...”
Her light kiss on his lips cut him off.
“I don’t want to wait. For some reason, I’m not feeling skittish about making love to you anymore,” she said, giving him a wink. “How about you? Maybe you want to wait.” Her gaze slid down his body. “Or not,” she completed with a knowing grin.
He growled, sweeping her up in his arms in answer. Her giggle died when his lips again settled on hers as he gently lowered her to the bed. And, just like the first time, the entire world suddenly shrunk so that soon it consisted of only two people, trapped on a tropical island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, once again discovering the secrets known only to young lovers.
EPILOGUE TO FOLLOW...
ML
