A/N: And here is the last story in the trilogy, set in the episode ‘The Eyes Have It’, written by Kathy McCormick and Grant Rosenberg. This story happened after the episode ‘Chi of Steel’, which happened as canon after the second story in this trilogy ‘Rule Change’.
Thanks, as ever, to Carol for BRing.
Standard disclaimers apply.
Rated PG-13
For the previous two stories, visit the
TOC *.*.*.
Final Scoreby Alisha Knight*.*.*.
Lois stared at the lights of Metropolis from the safety of Clark’s arms. Ever so slightly, she pressed herself against his body and massaged her fingers against his neck. Somehow it was easier to act seductively around Superman since realising his true identity, and a lot more fun knowing that he had no idea she knew.
“Thanks Superman.”
“You’re welcome, Lois.”
She was irritated that he appeared to be showing no signs of discomfort at her attentions. That was when she noticed that something was wrong, not that he normally reacted in any obvious way, but she could normally sense him tense up.
“I don’t want you to think I’m complaining, I’m just curious. Why are you flying so slow?”
“Well, because I can’t see. I can’t see anything at all.”
*.*.*.
Clark could sense Lois’ relief as they flew closer to her apartment’s window. He would be happier once they were in surroundings that were more familiar and easier to find his way around than the cold night air above the city. He never thought that he’d ever *want* to stop flying with Lois in his arms.
“Okay, now a little to the left. Now, down, just a few feet. No, you’ve gone too far. Up, up. A little bit more. Now. Now. Now.”
His arms felt light as Lois pulled herself into her apartment. He heard her stumble slightly, then she spoke again. “Now you’ve gone a little bit past it, so come to your right. To your right a little bit, and then come straight in.”
Clark followed her instructions and found himself crashing through an unopened window.
“Or to the left.”
“Sorry,” he apologised. This was so horrible. He hated this, this darkness. He knew Lois’ apartment pretty well, but not as well as his apartment or the farm he grew up on. Even there, though, he’d probably feel just as disorientated as he did right now.
“No, no, it’s my fault. I..” Lois rushed over to him. “Can I get you anything?” She took a hold of his shoulders and manoeuvred him round to her sofa. “I just don’t know what to do. I’m so sorry. Here. Here, sit down.”
He did, not knowing what else to do.
“Is there anybody that I can call? Just tell me what to do to help you.” Lois sat down beside him.
She didn’t know what to do? Clark sure as hell didn’t know what to do, and who could she call at this time of night? Even if he asked her to call his parents, after explaining why Superman wanted the Kents to know, how could that help? He should just leave and go home, but how? He couldn’t find his way. He could ask Lois to drive him to Clark’s, but she’d want to know why he wanted to go there and she’d want to know why Clark wasn’t there and why Superman had some keys to his apartment. So, how could she help?
“You could let me sleep on your couch tonight.”
“OK. Fine. Are you hungry?”
“No.” Clark heard her stop and turn around to look at him.
That had been a bit too harsh, but after everything else he’d had to endure that night, Lois’ cooking would be the last straw.
“I’m not hungry. Thank you. And I’ll try not to impose on you past tonight. It’s probably temporary. And I’m sure everything will be fine by tomorrow.” He stretched out his arm slightly, an almost unconscious movement, and sent her lamp smack onto the ground. He heard it shatter and he grimaced. He could just imagine the anger on Lois’ face and the tirade that was about to come out of her mouth.
“Yeah, I’m sure you’re absolutely right,” she said, not sounding at all angry with him. Then she added softly, “and you’re not imposing.”
She sat back down beside him, taking his hands in hers. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m,” he paused, biting his lip, “a little scared.”
“I’ll bet. Are you gonna be comfortable enough to sleep in that? I could run over to your place and pick up something better if you like.”
Clark shifted uncomfortably. “Er, Lois. I thought we’d agree to drop that for now.”
“Yeah, but...” She cut herself off. “If you’re sure. I just couldn’t see me being able to get to sleep in that suit.”
He grinned, and they fell into silence. After a moment he felt Lois caressing his hands.
As Superman, Clark knew he should take his hands back, maintain his distance from her, but instead he gave her fingers a light squeeze, then let out a huge sigh. “Lois, what’s gonna happen to me if this *is* permanent?”
“What do you mean?”
Clark paused but then decided to carry on anyway. He needed to voice these doubts, needed to hear her come up with crazy but reasonable solutions and voice her belief in him. That’s what she had always done for him, and not always realising it.
“I could probably carry on my normal life, I know Braille, I can use that for my job, but what happens to Superman? A blind superhero’s not going to be much use is it?” He couldn’t keep the bitterness out of his voice.
Lois edged closer to him. “Listen to me. I know that we’re going to sort this all out, that you will get your sight back. Don’t ask me how, I just do. And even if it doesn’t, most other blind people find that their other senses increase, they notice things through them instead of sight. You have an advantage in that. I know your hearing’s super, what about the other senses?”
“Well, I suppose all my other senses are, as you put it, ‘super’.”
“There you are then.” Lois grinned. She was right about the senses. He knew she was grinning by the tone of her voice. “It may well be that you could still be Superman, you might have to wait until you’ve got used to the blindness before you return to it, but that’s the worst case scenario that *isn’t* going to happen.”
He chuckled, “You didn’t sound too convinced when I said it.”
“No,” Lois admitted. “I guess it’s tricky trying to keep positive without getting your hopes up.”
“Yeah.”
Lois reached up and stroked his hair, then she leant forward and gave him a quick peck on his cheek.
“Lois,” he warned her, finally turning his face to her direction. There hadn’t really been much point in trying to look at her; all he would have done was look near her. Some part of him said he would look less blind and less disabled if he didn’t try to focus on anything and keep his eyes averted from her.
“It was just a friendly kiss.” She said breathily, the air from her words caressed his lips she was so close.
Clark moved forward and placed a tentative kiss on her lips, nothing passionate, just something. She flung her arms around his neck, intensifying the kiss to new depths.
“Lois,” he managed to say, without breaking the kiss.
“No,” she interrupted, “just kiss me.”
<Just kiss me>, Clark fought the impulse to raise his eyebrows, not that she would have noticed, she was too involved in their kiss. Couldn’t she tell how this kiss was affecting him? The suit wasn’t designed to hide his body after all. He should pull away. He should order a cab to take him to his friend Clark’s apartment. He could get away with that. He needed to be with a friend and Clark was well known as one of Superman’s best friends, and obviously it would be bad for the Man of Steel to be seen staying the night in Lois Lane’s apartment, a woman frequently portrayed as his girlfriend, at least in the eyes of his enemies. It was a shame that he couldn’t find the strength to leave her. It was a shame that he needed her so badly right now. Then she pulled away.
“Wow,” she gasped, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have.”
“No,” Clark agreed, trying to appear unaffected in his voice, which resulted in it sounding flat, “we shouldn’t have... Why did you stop?”
She giggled. “I stopped because you may not need oxygen, but I do.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Don’t be.” Lois replied, moving herself onto his lap, nibbling his ear, moving around to kiss him on the mouth again. Then she pulled away again.
“You know,” she said, hesitating. “This couch isn’t *that* comfortable.”
“No?”
“No.” She paused slightly then pressed her body up against his. “But my bed is.”
Was she really suggesting what he thought she was? He wasn’t sure and with Lois he felt he couldn’t be sure without looking at the expression on her face, which he couldn’t. Then she was kissing him again, pulling at his suit and standing up, bringing her with him. She was serious. This was bad; he should go. Now, but he couldn’t. He didn’t want to. He needed her, wanted her and she wanted him. But she didn’t know he was Clark, this was just a terrible but wonderful idea.
“Don’t you want to?” She breathed the question in his ear.
“I want to,” he replied just as quietly, he even managed to keep the ‘but’ that was forming from spilling out. <Bad idea, Kent, this will all blow up in your face in the morning.>
“Good,” she said, pulling him along with her, into her bedroom. He heard her turn off the lights as she went. That was finality, he realised. She didn’t intend to return to the rest of her apartment until the morning.
*.*.*.
He was too scared to open his eyes. He could feel Lois’ naked, sleeping body in his arms and more than anything he wanted to see her. He hadn’t seen her last night while he’d been making love to her, but it had been night. Even with his sight, he wouldn’t have seen that much.
Now it was early morning. He knew it was early because Lois’ alarm hadn’t gone off and he knew it was morning because he could hear other people in the building getting up and there was an unmistakable smell of coffee in the air. Only in the morning did that many people make coffee at the same time.
Clark wanted to open his eyes and see the morning light falling on the face of the woman he loved, nestled up against his chest but he didn’t want to open his eyes and find the world just as dark as it was with his eyes closed.
Oh, this was stupid, he was Superman, opening his eyes had to be the least frightening things he’d ever have to face, so he should just do it.
Darkness.
Pitch black.
He fought back the tears that threaten to engulf him. Had he really thought that his vision would return like magic? God, Lois was right; he was amazingly naive. He raised his hand and stroked her silky hair. He could feel its texture beneath his fingers, feel where it stopped just above her shoulders and smell the perfume of her shampoo but he couldn’t see its deep chestnut colour shining in the sunlight.
Very soon this would all be lost to him as well. As soon as she found out he was Clark, she’d never speak to him again. He wouldn’t let him get close enough to her to use his other senses to ‘see’ her.
<Clark.>
The name echoed through his head. Why was it doing that, prodding at his memory, urging him to recall something? He knew his name was Clark, what was he missing?
<Oh, Clark!>
Wait a minute! Lois had groaned that out last night while they were making love!
He couldn’t stop the laugh escaping his lips. He had always easily imagined that if Clark had ever managed to sleep with Lois, with or without telling him about his alter-ego, she would have called him ‘Superman’, but calling Superman ‘Clark’ in the heat of passion, now that he had not expected.
“What’s so funny?” came Lois’ croaky, sleep-filled and slightly annoyed voice from against his skin.
“Nothing.”
“Yeah, right.”
He felt cold air touch his skin as she lifted her head, and heard the rustle of bedding as she moved, probably to prop herself up so she could see his face. “Tell me.”
Should he? Well, he might as well as not. His whole life was falling apart fast, why not just speed it up to get it all over and done with. “I was just remembering, last night. You called me Clark.”
“Oh.”
For a moment he got no response, then she placed her head back on his bare chest. “Is that a problem? I mean, it is your name.”
Her head vanished from his chest an instant later. “Isn’t it?”
She knew? She had said it so calmly, like it wasn’t a problem, then sheer terror came into her voice when she asked him that last question. She had been convinced he *was* Clark when she had slept with him and the idea that he wasn’t horrified her. That he hadn’t expected either. She was just full of surprises, all of them pleasant, he thought as a warm glow spread through him. She wasn’t going to freak out at learning she had slept with Clark, she’d wanted to sleep with *him*, not just Superman. She didn’t like the idea that Superman might be someone else.
“Um, well, yeah. How long have you known, and why didn’t you say something?”
Lois smiled as she traced patterns on her lover’s chest. She adored that word now. First Clark had been her partner, then friend, then best friend, now lover. She felt like they had skipped a huge section out, surely he should have been her boyfriend, and possibly her husband, before he became her lover? Still, it couldn’t be helped now.
“I worked it out when Corbin kidnapped you. Clark, you had no idea how terrified I was that something awful might happen to you, again, and I needed to discover Superman’s identity, fast, because he hadn’t appeared to say that he’d meet Corbin and rescue you. I’d kind of tried, half-heartedly, to work it out without any success because I hadn’t bothered including *you* in my research. Once the idea came into my head everything just slotted into place and I was a little upset, so I decided to make you squirm by flirting a lot with Superman. I know how much that annoyed you, because you wanted me to want the real you, Clark, not Superman.”
She kissed the flesh under her lips, sending a little ripple of heat through her body. “And I do. I did mean to tell you before we went this far.”
“So did I.” He hugged her closer to him. “Sorry.”
“Me too. We’re just as bad as each other really, aren’t we?”
He grinned. “You know, I have wondered how you would react to finding out millions of times, none of them were as pleasant as this.”
“How’s your eyesight?” She asked him after a pause.
She felt him tense beneath her. Realising it was a touchy subject, she got up and slid into her robe. “I’ll make us some breakfast.”
She looked over at him, then picked up his outfit off her bedroom floor. “Your suit’s on the foot of the bed. If you need any help getting dressed, let me know.”
*.*.*.
Lois bent down with her dustpan and brush to sweep up the remains of her vase. Deciding that the flowers were too badly battered to be saved, she disposed of them along with the china.
“Why don’t I just sit at the table?” Then, after a pause. “Lois?”
“Yes?”
“I know this is newsworthy, the fact that I’m, Superman’s, blind. But--”
“Do you really think that little of me? Do you really think I’d tell anyone?” Lois asked him as she got a jug of orange juice from the fridge, the liquid rippling across the pitcher as she tried to not let her anger at his statement show.
“No, of course not,” he sighed. “I trust you. I guess I’m just feeling paranoid and vulnerable right now. I didn’t mean that I thought you’d... I-- I don’t know why I said it. My world’s gone a little bit haywire - so’s my thinking.”
“What about Clark?” Lois asked idly as she poured out two glasses.
“Huh?”
“Well, I assume Superman’s going to be lying low for a while, but what about Clark? What are you going to do?”
Clark let out another sigh. “I suppose Clark could be blind. I wear glasses anyway, maybe it’s a degenerative thing. I’ve never explained them, people have never asked why I wear them, just if I’ve ever considered contacts.”
Lois smiled at him as she put the glasses on the table, amazed at how quickly she’d let his earlier statement slide. Suddenly going blind, it had to be confusing, and he knew well enough how she could get when there was a story to be had. “So, what? Do you want to come into work, or just ring Perry and tell him you’re ill? That might be better. There’s got to be some way of getting your vision back. I wouldn’t go out and buy a white stick just yet.”
She sat down, and looked at him earnestly. “Is it any better? Can you see anything at all?”
She waggled her hand in front of his eyes.
“No. Lois, I was wondering if STAR Labs had anyone on staff who might be able to help me.”
“Well, yeah, I’m sure they would. That’s a good idea. They open at 9. I’ll give them a call.”
A moment later he spoke again. “Lois, when I said I liked my bacon crisp, I didn’t mean....”
Lois, realising what he was hinting at, got up and rushed over to the stove and frantically tried to fan down the flames that had appeared on the bacon. Clark walked over and solved the problem by placing his hand on the burning meat.
“Alternating current is deadlier than direct current.” Lois told him. She had no idea why, the words hadn’t even popped into her head, they just came out of her mouth.
“I have some Pop-Tarts,” she quickly added, trying to cover her previous statement.
He smiled. “Pop-Tarts it is. You’re right, I’ll ring work and tell them that I need a few days sick leave, and hope that STAR Labs can help.”
“OK,” Lois rummaged in her cupboards for that elusive box. “But considering you’re not exactly, well, normal, you’d better still be Superman when the person from STAR Labs comes. Just in case.”
She slammed the cupboard door closed in frustration.
“Problem?”
“I can’t find the Pop-Tarts.”
Clark shrugged. “It’s not a problem. I don’t really need to eat, and you can grab something on your way to the office.”
Lois couldn’t help it, his words touched her and she needed to hug him. After she’d launched herself into his arms she felt him gingerly place his arms around her. “You OK?”
She pulled away slightly, then reached up to give him a brief kiss on the lips. “Sure. It’s just that you’re still being, you. Apart from that one little comment, you seem to be taking this all in your stride. I feel like it’s just me that’s falling apart.”
He chuckled. “No, I’m falling apart. I’m just focusing on you so that I stop thinking about it.”
*.*.*.
Lois put the phone down. A Dr. Bannerjee should already be on his way to her apartment to look at Clark. Well, to look at Superman, anyway. Now she needed to make a quick call home to fill ‘Superman’ in and she’d then be on her way to sit in on the appointment.
“Where is Clark?”
She looked up to see their boss walking over. She had thought that Clark was going to phone in sick. He obviously hadn’t done so yet. She could tell Perry the truth, she supposed, that Clark was blind and waiting in her apartment for a doctor from STAR Labs but she decided to lie instead. *Superman* was the one in her apartment.
“I don't know, Perry.”
“Are you his partner?”
“Yes. I'm his partner, not his keeper.”
“Are you and Clark fighting again?”
She closed her eyes and played for mercy. She just wanted to get Clark back to normal; she didn’t need this cross-examination about a work colleague.
“Clark and I don't fight, Perry. OK, so we *disagree* sometimes...”
He seemed prepared to let it go. "Well, it's not like Clark to be late without calling in...”
“Maybe he left early on his weekend date,” Jimmy interrupted.
Lois avoided looking at him, in case she was blushing. She’d forgotten about his weekend away with Mayson but considering what he’d been doing with her last night, she doubted that he’d go, even if he got his eyesight back.
Jimmy decided to fill the following silence. “If I had a babe like that Mayson Drake after me, I'd leave early.”
<Ignore him,> Lois told herself as she dialled her own number. <Don’t get annoyed, or jealous, he’s not running off with Mayson Drake. And you can give him hell for letting Jimmy think that he has later.>
“You probably would, Jimmy,” Perry stood up for the absent reporter, “but it's not Clark's style.”
The phone rang out. Lois heard her own voice barking out forced pleasantries followed by a long tone.
“His name is Bannerjee,” she said in a low voice. “I'll be there as soon as I can. I need a word.”
“See if you can find him.”
As she stood up, Lois realised that Perry’s command had been aimed at her. Well, she would find him when she got home, but... “I have something else to do, Perry. I’m sure he’ll turn up soon.”
*.*.*.
There was something not quite right about the STAR Labs doctor but Clark decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’d recently come into contact with Dr. Bernard Klein, also from STAR Labs, a scientist interested in learning more about Superman and he was also decidedly strange. Clark hadn’t quite made up his mind about Dr. Klein yet. But there was definitely something wrong with Bannerjee’s assistant, who was clattering around Lois’ apartment.
“You are completely without sight?” Bannerjee asked him.
“Yes.”
“No colours, no shapes?”
“No.”
“You cannot perceive the light that I am shining into your eyes at this instant?”
“No.”
There was a click; Clark assumed that the examination was over.
“You understand your eyes are not like human eyes,” Bannerjee said.
“Yes. A man shined a light into my eyes. A purplish light.” There was a loud noise and Clark turned his head in the direction of it. “What is Mr. Gomez doing, Dr. Bannerjee?”
“Ah, he is trying to find the facilities, Mr. Superman. Like you, Mr. Gomez is visually challenged, but he will be more careful now, isn't that correct, Mr. Gomez?”
“Yes, doctor,” came a sullen response from somewhere in the apartment.
“So,” Dr. Bannerjee continued, “a man shined a light into your eyes. Was this a deliberate attempt to blind you?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Hmm. I do not know for certain what happened of course, how could I? But it is the case that ultraviolet light makes certain substances opaque, substances that are otherwise transparent. Clear glass, for instance. Perhaps it is the same with the Kryptonian eye.”
Clark fought the impulse to roll his ‘Kryptonian eyes’. This wasn’t helping him see; he didn’t care how his eyes worked, just so long as they did, and right now they didn’t. “Can anything be done to restore my sight?”
Bannerjee seemed to ignore him, captivated by his own hypothesis. “It is an interesting theory, yes? Though the loss of sight is always tragic, the man who thought of this method of blinding you is clearly a genius. I would like to meet him.”
“So would I,” Clark muttered darkly.
“But, of course, your sight is more important than anything else, and I am apologising now for wandering down this path of theoretical science when clearly you are most disturbed about your condition.”
Bannerjee was interrupted by the sound of a key in the door. Lois. Clark didn’t see why Lois felt she had to be there but perhaps a dose of Mad Dog Lane was just what Bannerjee needed to actually get to the point. She opened the door.
“Superman!” Lois yelled. “It's the men from the park! The man who blinded you!”
Clark reacted instantly, grabbing Bannerjee. He heard other noises, he assumed that was Gomez going after Lois, and hopefully Lois bettering him.
“Lois?” he called. “Are you all right, Lois?”
More fight noises reached his ears, causing Clark to tighten his grip on the doctor. If the doctor’s friend hurt Lois at all...
Then Bannerjee started to gasp. Clark realised he had him by the throat and he loosened his grip. That was all the leeway Bannerjee needed to struggle free. He heard two sets of footsteps running away from Lois’ apartment.
“Lois?” he called. “Lois?”
“I'm fine, Clark,” she replied. “I'm calling the police.”
“No.”
“No?”
Clark paused, then spoke. “Call Mayson Drake. I know you don’t like her, but she's trustworthy, she's discreet, she's –“
“Unavailable,” Lois finished for him.
He was confused. “Unavailable?”
“She's gone to the mountains for the weekend. With Clark.”
“What?”
“So Jimmy thinks. I thought you were going to call in sick, now Jimmy’s convincing everyone that you and the discreet Ms. Drake have gone off for a long, dirty weekend.”
“You could have told them where I was.”
“No I couldn’t. I can’t tell people where Clark is, I can’t even tell them where Superman is, which is who you are right now. And if I tell Perry that Clark’s blind and staying in my apartment, then somehow it gets out that Superman’s been blinded and is staying in my apartment, he might put two and two together.”
“So tell him I’m sick!”
“How do I know you’re sick?”
Clark rubbed his forehead as his brain fought to keep up with Lois. “Well, why wouldn’t you?”
“Maybe because I’m your partner, not your girlfriend.”
“You’re not my girlfriend?”
“No. Last night doesn’t make me your girlfriend.”
“OK then. Because you’re my friend.”
Clark found the phone thrust into his hands. “Call Perry and tell him you’re at home, ill, then I’ll call Mayson and ask for her help.”
He lifted the handset. “And, Lois? When things have calmed down a bit, can we talk about last night and what it means? I’m not convinced it doesn’t make you my girlfriend.”
“When the rest of the world thinks that you’re spending this weekend *with* Mayson Drake, *nothing* you say or do makes me your girlfriend.”
Lois was deadly serious, Clark knew that, but something in the tone of her voice made him think that she was smiling. He loved that woman.
*.*.*.
She looked under the couch Clark was holding up for her.
“Thanks, but there's nothing under there but dust bunnies...” Clark lowered it back to the floor. “It would help if I knew what I'm looking for. It must be something small, or he wouldn't have been looking under the chair.”
“Think back two nights ago, back to when Dr. Faraday came in. Did he have anything in his hand?”
“I don't know. I've tried to remember, but I just don't,” she looked around. “I guess that's it. There's nowhere else to look.”
“I wish I could help.”
“You did help. You lifted furniture. Really heavy furniture that hasn't been moved for eons. And now I know how much dust accumulates under really heavy furniture that never gets moved.”
He smiled at her ramblings. “I mean I wish I could really help. If I could see, I could've searched this place in a few seconds.”
Lois watched as Clark felt his way along to sit on the couch. She wanted to go and help him but she wondered whether his male pride would be hurt. “I don't know what to do. When you feel your way along the wall or along the furniture, should I offer to help you, or should I let you do it yourself? I don't want to make you feel...”
“Helpless?” Clark asked as he finally sat down. “Dependent? Clumsy?”
“Well, yeah. Pretty much. I just feel so bad. I'm so sorry.”
“Me too. I don't like this. I *do* feel helpless and dependent and clumsy. But we all have to play the hand we're dealt, Lois. If the blindness turns out to be permanent then I'll just have to figure out how to be the best blind man I can be, because I really do believe that we're put on this earth – or whatever planet we're put on -- to do better than we think we can, to be kind and helpful and generous and forgiving.”
“Oh Clark, cut the Superman bit will you? You’re not fooling anyone.” She sat beside him and squeezed his hand. Then, in a gentler voice, she added, “You do know you can count on me, don't you?”
“Thank you, Lois.”
She leant forward and gently kissed his lips before pulling away. She licked her lips, then leant forward to kiss him again when there was a knock on the door. She paused but didn’t rush to answer it. Clark cocked his head to one side.
“It's my parents.”
“Your parents? What are they doing here?”
“I called them, told them what had happened. They must have decided to come to Metropolis.”
Lois rolled her eyes. “Yes, fine, but what are they doing *here*?”
“You could let them in and ask them.”
“Oh!” She leapt up and opened the door for them. “Jonathan, Martha, come in.”
“Hi, Lois,” Martha greeted as they walked past her. “Oh, Superman. How are you? We're so sorry, we should've called. Clark wasn't home, so we thought... Well, I guess we didn't think.”
“Mom,” Clark smiled at her Oscar-winning performance. “It’s OK, Lois knows. I should have told you.”
Martha looked at Lois, who nodded. That seemed to be enough for Martha, who rushed forward and embraced Superman in a hug. “Oh, Clark.”
Jonathan wasn’t far behind her. “How are you, son?”
Lois noticed that Clark avoided answering his dad’s question. “When I called you, I told you that you didn't have to come here, Mom.”
“Oh, Clark. Honey, of course we're here. Your dad and I love you more than anything on earth.”
Lois felt uncomfortable in the face of all this family love; it wasn’t something she was used to. She looked over and found Jonathan watching her.
“How long have you known?”
“Oh,” she replied. “I worked it out when Corbin kidnapped him. I knew that there had to be a good reason that Superman hadn’t come to his rescue.”
“Really?” Martha asked, surprised. “You’ve known that long?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I just only let him know I knew last night.”
Martha led Clark back to the couch and made him sit down. “Now then you two, what’s the plan?”
*.*.*.
Lois had only popped out for some supplies. With Martha and Jonathan now also helping them out, she’d decided to go and get some actual food for them to eat. Unfortunately she’d been kidnapped on her little trip. On the plus side, however, she now knew from her captor how to cure Clark’s blindness. At least, she did hypothetically.
“Where is it?” her capture asked as they entered the Daily Planet newsroom. Lois pointed at Clark’s desk and they walked over to it.
The doctor looked through his pen tray, the last place she’d seen the device they were looking for, but it wasn’t there.
“You lied to me!”
“I did not! It was right there!”
“Enough! No more Mr. Nice Guy. Now I will extract it from you painfully. You will wish you had not lied. Munch!”
Lois glanced at the doctor’s henchman, worried.
Suddenly the room went dark. Lois dropped to the floor as Munch lunged for her and she crawled to hide under a desk.
“Don't let her get away, Munch! Do you have her?”
“No, doctor.”
“Do you have a flashlight?”
“No, doctor.”
“She can't have gone far. Find her. You go that way, I'll go this way.”
The pair stopped talking as she assumed they began their search for her. One set of footsteps started getting closer. She froze as a pair of legs came into view. Then a face grinned down at her.
“I've found her, doctor.”
There was a strong gust of wind. Lois held onto a desk for dear life as the unnailed-down contents of her work place flew past her.
“I know you're here, Superman,” the doctor called out into the gloom.
“Yes, Dr. Leit,” Superman’s voice replied. “I'm here. And I have the device. Lois, can you get to where I am?”
Deciding that both of them would be safer together, Lois made a dash for Clark’s voice, just as Leit and Munch grabbed her. She struggled but they weren’t about to let her go.
“Lois? Are you all right?” Clark sounded concerned.
“She's fine for now, Superman,” Leit answered him. “And she'll stay fine if you'll roll the device this way, toward the sound of my voice.”
Munch’s grip on Lois tightened and she let out a whimper of pain.
“All right, doctor. Catch!”
A second later Lois heard the device fall on the hard floor but her captors still kept hold of her.
“Nice try, Superman. Munch, retrieve the device, please.”
Munch did as he was bid and as soon as he let go Lois stomped down as hard as she could on Leit’s foot. As he cried out in pain, she grabbed the light used to blind Clark from his jacket pocket and ran towards the superhero.
“Superman! Look this way!”
She shone the light into Clark’s eyes, praying to whatever might be out there looking over them for it to work.
“Drop the device,” he called out to Munch.
“No!” Leit yelled. “Give it to me! Give it to me!”
Lois watched as Leit lunged for the device, just as it exploded in a ball of light so bright she had to shield her eyes from it. When the light faded she opened them to see Leit and Munch fumbling around the newsroom. She glanced over at Clark, her eyes adjusting to the dim light coming in from the street. He was looking back at her, *right* back at her, smiling. She felt herself smile back at him.
*.*.*.
“Hi.”
It was Monday morning after what had been easily one of the best and one of the worst weekends of Clark Kent’s life. He’d been blinded and he’d made love with Lois. He hoped that the misunderstanding with Mayson had been cleared up, at least as far as the office was concerned. Martha had called Perry and told him that Clark was sick and that she and Jonathan were in Metropolis looking after him. Clark still hadn’t had a chance to discuss things with Lois, however, since they’d been too busy tying up the Leit story.
Just as he reached his friends who were standing together in the Daily Planet newsroom, they all walked away, muttering things that Clark could barely hear. Turning around he saw Mayson stood behind him. Mayson, ironically the one lose end Lois hadn’t forced him to sort out.
He smiled uneasily at her. “Hi...”
“I want you to know I was really humiliated when you stood me up...”
Clark tried to interrupt, but Mayson carried on regardless.
“... and I still think it was a rotten thing for you to do, but I've met your parents now, and spent some time with them, and they are such wonderful people that I'm willing to assume that any son of theirs wouldn't do what you did and that this weekend was some kind of misunderstanding. I won't ask you for an explanation, and I won't ask you out again, but if *you* want to ask *me*, I probably won't say no.”
She leaned forwards and planted a light kiss on his lips, and then walked off without giving him a chance to speak.
He glanced over at Lois. Her face was stone but he could tell from her eyes that Mayson’s actions had upset her. Well, her actions and his inactions, he supposed.
“Mayson, wait!” he called as he raced over to the elevator.
She paused as the doors opened behind her.
“Yes?” she asked hopefully.
“I want to explain about this weekend...”
“Clark,” she interrupted. “I don’t want you to explain—“
“No,” he spoke over her, glancing back at the newsroom as he did, pleased to see that everyone had appeared to find work to do and no-one was paying them any attention. He purposely didn’t look to see if Lois was watching them. “Please, this time let me speak. You keep interrupting me and that only leads to misunderstanding. So, let me finish this time. First of all, I didn’t agree to spend the weekend with you in the mountains, and if you’d let me speak when you asked me to go I would have said no.”
Her face fell. “Oh.”
“And I haven’t been well, I couldn’t have come even if I’d wanted to but I am sorry that I didn’t think to let you know that I was ill. I didn’t want to leave you feeling stood up.”
“But if I’d let you speak when I asked you out...” she tailed off and sighed. “Yeah.”
“And I won’t be asking you out in the future.”
He saw her eyes flicker into the newsroom before returning to him, he was pretty sure he knew what she was looking at. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because I’m going to ask Lois out.”
“She might not say yes.”
“You’re right. But I think she might. I’m sorry Mayson, but I don’t want unintentionally lead you on.”
She nodded. “Well, I know my place. Actually, I think I always did but I liked you so much that I knew that I had to at least try. Good luck with Lois, I hope you’ll be happy.”
Mayson turned around and pressed the button for the elevators again.
*.*.*.
Lois furiously hit the horn to declare her annoyance to the stationary traffic. Beside her, Clark laughed.
“What is that supposed to achieve?”
“It’s supposed to make me feel better.”
“Did it work?”
“Not as much as I was hoping. And why am I driving, anyway? Why didn’t you fly us to this interview?”
“You didn’t give me a chance to offer.”
She thought about it. “I guess I didn’t.”
“Anyway, it might not be such a bad thing. At least this traffic jam is giving us time to talk.”
“About what?”
“Us.”
She felt her breath catch. “I don’t know that there’s an us.”
“Could there be an us?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean... would you like to go on a date sometime?”
She glanced over at him. He looked equally eager and apprehensive. When she had thought that Superman was someone else, not Clark, she had begun to realise that she had stronger feelings for her friend than the superhero. But now she knew that there was no choice. She could have both.
She looked back at the road as the car in front began to move, feeling the start of a smile on her face. “Yeah, why not. Sometime.”
fin.
