Hi all,
Several months ago now, someone posted a challenge to rewrite the wedding episode - I wrote two pages, posted it and then the story wallowed on my hard drive for a few months. I brought it out again recently in an attempt to work through writer's block on the sequel to West Wind (all emails harassing me to complete it are appreciated). Anyway, I finally finished STGTTIR - I'm posting it on the regular FF boards because of the length of time since the challenge was issued.
Swear to God, This Time It's Realistic
By Elle Roberts
"Let's not invite my mother."
Clark Kent glanced over at his fiancée. Her face was bathed in darkness, lit only by the reflection of the passing streetlights. The only thing that surprised him about her comment was the fact it had taken her almost the entire trip back to his apartment before saying what he knew had been on her mind since they left the restaurant.
"Lois, not inviting your mother - "
"Would make me very happy. And it is my wedding day, so I should get to be very happy," Lois Lane rationalized.
"But the thing is, if you don't invite your mother you really won't be very happy."
Lois gave a short laugh. "Clark, the woman will turn the entire day into a sideshow."
"Lois, the date is only two weeks away."
"You don't know my mother. She's a magician when it comes to this kind of thing. If she wants doves and the London Symphony Orchestra for her daughter's wedding, she will find a way to get them, even if she only has two weeks. The woman always finds a way to get what she wants, even if no one else agrees with what she wants." Lois gave Clark, who was badly suppressing a large smile, a glare. "This isn't about me."
"Lois, I just think that you'll regret not inviting your mother."
"Well Clark, if you feel that way, why don't we invite kryptonite too?" Lois responded. Memories of his near death experience with the kryptonite gas flooded her memory as soon as the words left her mouth. "Well, fine, my mother isn't that bad, but I'm not forcing you to invite people you don't want to have at our wedding. And that's the thing, Clark. It's our wedding. It's all about us, not my parents or your parents or the Daily Planet or clones or New Kryptonians. After everything we've been through, don't you think we deserve to be a little selfish about how we want to get married? And if I don't want to invite my mother, then I don't think you should question my decision."
Clark felt the corners of his mouth finally twitch upwards into a grin. After the insanity of the past few months, hearing Lois babble was a wonderful return to normalcy. He was about to open his mouth to reply when he heard a passing car's radio.
"... twenty are confirmed dead. To repeat, an airline has crashed into a Los Angeles freeway and a fire ... "
Clark, needing to hear no more, turned to Lois. She spoke before he could open his mouth. "I'll pull off at that gas station on the next block. Is there anyplace you could duck behind to change?"
Clark lowered his glasses and glanced ahead. "Yes, there's an alleyway and a dumpster that should shield me from the street. How did you know I -"
"You're as horrible about getting that far away look when you hear something as you were, and still are, with excuses," Pulling into the gas station and stopping the car, Lois glanced at Clark. "Well, I was close to needing gas anyway."
Clark was hesitant to leave. After so many problems, they were finally returning to a normal schedule, or as average as could be expected given that one of them wore spandex and flew around as a second job. Since regaining his powers after Nor's death, the rescues he had performed had been short, sweet and within the city limits of Metropolis.
"Clark?" Lois queried.
Clark reached up and gently caressed Lois' cheek. "I'll be back soon, I promise."
"Not that long ago I was willing to wait for you, even knowing you may not come back. One rescue is nothing compared to that," Lois said. Lightening her tone, she added, "Besides, I can do invitations without you tonight and forget to include my mother."
"Dinner with your mother was not that bad," Clark retorted.
Before his partner could respond, Clark leaned across the front seat and gave her a long kiss. Breaking away, he ran his hand down her cheek before getting out of the jeep and heading towards the alley. As Lois pulled her credit card out of her wallet, she heard the familiar sonic boom.
Glancing up, she watched the sky for a moment before softly saying, "Be careful."
~
"Hello?"
"Lois, it's me."
"Clark!" Lois glanced around, lowering her voice. "Where are you?"
"Los Angeles."
"What are you doing in Los Angeles?" Lois asked.
"There was some of that kryptonite gas at the accident last night," Clark explained.
Lois made a startled noise. Noticing that Diane, who had been walking by, had glanced over, Lois forced herself to keep her tone quiet. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine. There wasn't that much. You know that Star Labs had taken the gas that was left for disposal?" At Lois' affirmative, he continued, "It was on the plane. The impact caused some of it to leak. I don't have any powers."
Suddenly why he was calling made sense. He was stuck in Los Angeles. "How much longer before ... well, you know."
"No idea," Clark replied. Lois heard something in the background and when Clark spoke again, it was all Superman. "Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, Miss Lane. I'll see you soon."
"See you soon."
Lois put the phone back into the cradle. Looking at Clark's empty desk, Lois picked up the phone, knowing exactly whom she needed to call.
~
"So, how are we feeling, Superman?"
Clark glanced across the hotel room at Dr. Klein. "My powers should be back shortly."
"Good, good. I still feel horrible about this. We had been assured the container had no chance of breaking," Dr. Klein added.
"Well, Dr. Klein, I'm sure they never factored in a plane crash," Clark suggested.
Dr. Klein gave a nod. "I never thought of that. Anyway, I just stopped by to tell you I'm going over to Caltech to oversee the disposal of the gas."
"I'm glad to hear that. I'll see you when you get back, then," Clark said.
As soon as Dr. Klein had left, Clark let out a frustrated sigh. Just when it seemed like everything had hit an even keel, he had to get stuck in Los Angeles as Superman two weeks before the wedding.
Clark had arrived at the accident last night and immediately begun to help the paramedics get to trapped individuals and x-ray the injured to diagnose breaks. Initially, Clark had not even noticed his weakening abilities, but slowly his x-ray vision had become fuzzy. After a half hour on the scene and increased confusion on Clark's part, Dr. Klein had arrived with two of his colleagues from Caltech. He had immediately waved Clark over to them.
"Dr. Klein, what are you doing here?"
"Superman, how are you feeling?" Klein seemed unusually fidgety, Clark noted.
"Well, actually, my powers seem weak," Clark admitted.
"Superman," Klein lowered his voice and leaned in. "The remainder of the kryptonite gas was on that plane."
"What?"
"As soon as I heard about the accident, I rushed over here. Though this is Los Angeles, so I suppose rushing isn't the right word," Klein commented.
"Dr. Klein. The gas," Clark said, anxious to hear what Klein was going to say.
"I arrived here yesterday to make sure everything was ready. The gas was scheduled for disposal tomorrow. It's in a silver tube marked Property of Star Labs," Klein explained.
Clark used his faltering vision to scan the wreckage. Finally, he spotted a canister that seemed to have a faint green trail around it. Pointing it out to Klein, Clark watched as the three scientists quickly moved over to the tube and began to contain it.
A half hour later, Clark had done what he could do, and his powers were entirely gone. Despite Klein and his companions cleaning up the cracked canister, enough of the gas had seeped into the air to make Clark feel nauseous and powerless. At Klein's suggestion, Clark had ridden with the scientists back to the hotel Klein was staying in and accepted the scientist's offer to spend the night on the extra bed.
So here he was, 3,000 miles from Lois as Superman and stuck with a guilt-ridden scientist. At least the wedding was 13 days away - he would be back in plenty of time, before anyone could even miss him.
~
Lois Lane was absorbed in a Mary Tyler Moore Show marathon when the knock sounded at her door. Standing, she quickly straightened the remains of her take-out dinner. Glancing through the peephole a moment later, she let out a groan as she saw who was on the other side of the door. It would be so easy to just go back to watching TV.
"Lois? Lois, open the door. Don't make me wait."
Lois opened the door and smiled. "Hello, Mother."
Ellen Lane glanced around her daughter's apartment and then at her daughter, who was wearing ratty sweats with an equally messy hairstyle.
"I hope Clark hasn't seen you like that," Ellen commented as she began to drag in a large box.
"Of course he's seen me like this, Mother," Lois responded.
"And he hasn't left you yet. Amazing. Well, let's get started," Ellen said as she began taking things from the box and putting them on the table.
"What are we getting started on?" Lois asked in the sweetest tone she could muster through clenched teeth.
"Wedding plans. Now, you haven't left me much time, but I am sure that we can still pull something together so it's halfway respectable."
Lois fought the urge to scream. "Mother, we went over this last night at dinner. We want it to be simple, and we want to plan it."
"You think I'm going to leave planning such an important event to a woman who knows more about breaking and entering than cooking?" Ellen exclaimed.
"Clark's helping too," Lois said, not even wanting to find out how her mother knew about some of her on-the-job skills.
"You and a man planning a wedding. That's absurd. Just go back to talking to criminals and let your mother handle this," Ellen explained. "Speaking of Clark, where is he?"
"He, um, had to deal with a family emergency," Lois lied. After all, Superman was almost a member of the family, and he was incapacitated at the moment.
"And another family member couldn't deal with it?"
Lois glanced around. "Well, see this family member, while well-loved by many, only really interacts with Clark for situations like this. No one else can really do anything."
"I don't know why I'm surprised he'd leave you to deal with someone else two weeks before your wedding. After all, what can you really expect from a man anyway?" Ellen said as she finished getting out the oodles of wedding magazines and other planners she had apparently deemed necessary for the process. "Now, tell me what you want and if it's acceptable, then I'll get everything in order."
"Mother, we have all of this organized. I told you. This is our wedding, not yours. It is about what Clark and I want, not what you want. We want a simple wedding. That's it. No puffy dresses, no stand-in bridesmaids, none of that. Just a wedding so that we can finally get married," Lois said, the pent-up frustration from last night finally overflowing.
Ellen stared at her daughter for a moment. "Fine, then. I'll leave all of this here for you to use and once you realize how difficult it is to plan a wedding, you know my number. I'll be hearing from you."
Lois watched her mother leave, happy to see her gone but also knowing her own words had been harsh. If only Clark was here to deal with this. Glancing over at the mess her mother had left on the table, Lois was about to get a large trash bag and begin shoving the lace-trimmed periodicals into it when the phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Lois, it's Martha."
"Martha, hi."
"Did I catch you at a bad time, honey?" Martha's voice, so soothing after her mother's, was a welcome sound to Lois' ears.
"No, it's just my Mother again. Martha, I'm trying, but I just don't understand why she won't just let this wedding be about Clark and myself? No bell ringers, nothing elaborate, just something that's about the two of us," Lois explained. "And then she asked about Clark, and I'm worried about him too and what if he can't get back in time? I mean, how many weddings are we going to have to go through before we actually get to be married? Is that so much to ask, Martha? All I want to do is get married without the police breaking up the ceremony or getting kidnapped or having Clark stranded across the country."
There was silence for a moment before Martha began to comfort her future daughter-in-law. "Lois, Clark will be back. Knowing him, he's probably almost back to full strength now, and he'll be back in Metropolis before you know it. And as for your mother, she just wants to help, because she loves you."
"You're right. Thanks Martha," Lois said. Straightening, she asked. "Why were you calling?"
"Well, since we hadn't heard from you since this morning when you called to tell us that Clark was in Los Angeles, we just wanted to know if you hard heard anything else? But, I'm guessing that you haven't."
"No," Lois said. "I've just been assuming he hasn't been able to get away from anyone long enough to drop the Superman façade and call me."
"Well, when you hear from him - "
"I'll let you know," Lois promised.
She and Martha exchanged a few more pleasantries before hanging up for the evening. The previous episode she had been watching had ended, and Lois was now treated to the show's theme song. Lois smiled as she heard the words.
Clark would be back soon enough, and within two weeks, they would be married and all this silly wedding nonsense would be behind them.
She was going to make it after all.
TBC ...
