~LOIS~
<<Oh my god, we're flying! HE'S FLYING! What?>>
Lois held on tight to her rescuer, trying to grasp all the thoughts assailing her head at the same time.
She was safe from the thugs. They had her camera. There goes her Pulitzer. This is the guy from her dream. She's flying. Over the Congo. The rainforest is beautiful. She's flying---no, *he's* flying... It was like a news bulletin ticker that kept tabs on her personal events. And barely any of it came together into one cohesive thought.
"So, are we going to land anytime soon?" she asked in a small voice, surprised she could talk.
"In a minute," he answered calmly. "Just look around..."
Lois did just that, gasping as she tore her gaze from his for a second and looked at the amazing view below them. The rich canopy of trees, and birds that flew over them, birds that she didn't realize could fly that high. <<I didn't know *men* could fly that high, either!>> They were suddenly being sprayed by a waterfall, as Clark took her lower to get a better view. Then, they were sweeping over plains, giraffes and elephants playing and eating below them. The sun was beginning to set, painting the sky with pinks, purples, and golds. It was breathtaking.
Pulling herself away from the natural marvels below them, she looked up again at the man who flew. She realized she felt completely safe with this stranger. From her perch in his arms she admired his handsome features and kind eyes when he looked down at her. <<*Am* I dreaming?>>
Without questioning the impulse, she reached out a hand and cupped his chin, turning his face so she could see his warm gaze. She felt a snap of energy, as if something had fallen perfectly into place, as if this meeting had been destined.
~CLARK~
He had flown her around the Congo, shown her the marvels of the earth, and unwittingly, had shown her the marvel that was himself. She was relaxed in his arms, almost drowsy now. It was time to land, time to introduce himself and get to know Lois.
He found a clearing in the jungle. A large tree stood, covered with vines that had branches thick enough that a normal man could walk comfortably on, if he could get up that high. But Clark could. And just in case Lois decided she wasn't so happy with her rescuer... well, he could keep a better eye on her there.
*******
Gently, he set her down on the thick branch, bracing her against the trunk. She simply stared at him. Questions were in her eyes, but her gaze was soft, patient. A rare moment for Lois. But then, no one had so literally swept her off her feet before.
"You know my name," she said suddenly, her head tilting to one side. "How did you know my name?"
"We'll get to that... Are you... are you okay?" he asked, though he thought he knew the answer. He just didn't know where to start.
"Yeah, I guess so..." she sat up straighter. "My camera! All that time, wasted, for nothing!"
Clark sighed. "I'm sorry, Lois. May I call you Lois?"
She nodded distractedly. "Sure. But--what am I going to do?"
"Lois, they were going to kill you. I am certain of that. I had to rescue you---"
He seemed as if he was going to say more, but thought better of it.
"So you know my name. What's yours?"
He felt silly telling her his name was Superman, he was still getting used to it himself. "It's--complicated. Where I'm from, they call me Kal-El. But in Metropolis, they call me Superman."
"Superman," she whispered to herself, mesmerized by the name, the fact that he hinted at being an alien not even registering.
"Whatever you prefer," he said, though he had actually really wanted to tell her to call him Clark. But that didn't seem right, yet, not with him in the Suit and after that amazing flight. Clark had seemed too ordinary.
"Wait, you said Metropolis. Do I--do I know you?" she asked incredulously, mentally kicking herself if she had missed a story about a man who could fly!
"No, not---yet," he hedged. "Lois, I have a lot to explain to you. Please, just be patient as I sort out how to tell you all you need to know."
"Okay," she said cautiously, watching him pace in the air, his large cape swishing around him. <<Whoever he is, he sure is impressive.>>
"You seemed certain that they were going to kill me. How do you know? I'm a well-known reporter. I didn't think I was in *that* much danger," she said, not willing to admit that was glad to be out of there, regardless, glad she didn't have to test that theory.
He sighed. <<Lois, I'm from the future, I know you were killed in the Congo and I came back in time to rescue you...>> he tried in his head. Sounded crazy, even to his ears.
"I knew from a... an impeachable source that you were in imminent danger."
She laughed. "You sound like a reporter."
He smiled. "Well... you're not off the mark..." he said half to himself.
"So, Superman, how did you find me? Why are you *here*?" she gestured to the wild forest around them. Clearly, no matter how strange he was, he seemed even more strangely placed against this Congo backdrop.
"You were gone a long time from Metropolis," he started slowly, feeling the loneliness of the three years that he should have been getting to know her, should have been falling in love with her.
"Two months is hardly a lifetime! It was a big assignment... Did Perry send you to look for me?" she asked suddenly.
<<That would be easier...>> he thought. But it will be hard enough to unravel this story for her, without adding any lies into it.
"No," he breathed out. "Actually, Perry is a politician now. And Mr. Olsen runs the Planet."
"Mr. Ol--*Jimmy*?" she asked, shocked.
"Yeah," he smiled."But he didn't send me either. I---" he said quickly, then stopped.
"Yes?" she looked at him, waiting for him to clarify.
"This is so hard to explain!" he admitted.
"Look, just tell me. I'm willing to believe just about anything after being swept up in a man's arms that can fly!" she said, crossing her arms in mock disgust.
Clark laughed. <<She is so charming.>> "Ok, well, I met this writer... a very famous writer, actually." He glanced sideways at her, running his hand through his hair. "Oh, this is nuts! Even to my ears, and I lived through it!"
"Just tell me, Superman. I promise to believe you."
He sighed, "Okay, okay. Let me just get out the story. I met HG Wells about a month ago..."
~~~~
Clark quietly finished. "And, well, when I met the other Lois, I knew I had to go back and find you."
Lois looked at him, her eyes wide. She wanted to believe him, she really did. But it was all so fantastic! <<Yet, wasn't he, this man in a blue suit and cape, also impossible, and fantastic?>> she asked herself.
She made her decision. "I believe you."
He turned to look at her, then saw the truth of it in her eyes. He let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding in. The branches across from them swayed from the impact.
She walked up to him cautiously. "So, explain to me, is there a Clark Kent in this world too?"
He nodded, a small smile on his lips. "Yeah, I am Clark. *This* is actually my secret identity," he said sheepishly, gesturing towards the Suit.
"And you're a reporter at the Planet, too?" Lois asked.
Clark nodded.
She was silent a moment, and started pacing on the branch. Lost in her thoughts, she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking and slipped suddenly, falling towards the ground far below, and just as quickly, she was in his arms, floating on a cloud of air.
"Thanks," she said in wonder. She thought back again to her dream. He had let her fall in her dream... maybe reality would be kinder for a change.
"You're welcome."
He set her down gently, back on their branch. He was reluctant to let go. She held on to him as well, watching emotions play across his face. He gently reached up to stroke her jaw, noting a small welt where that idiot had slapped her. His face hardened a moment.
"What is it?" Lois asked in slight alarm.
"That---monster slapped you."
She lifted her hand to his hand on her cheek, instantly calming the anger that was building in him. "I'll be fine, really."
Clark let out a sigh, and gently kissed the bruise on her cheek. "I promise you, Lois Lane, no one will ever hurt you again," he vowed.
Lois felt the impact of the intensity of his voice. This guy meant it, and it scared her a bit. "Please, don't. I'm fine, really." She pulled away, the force of this man a bit too much for her at the moment.
"I'm sorry, Lois. I have a---very strong protective streak in me, I guess," he said, one eyebrow arching charmingly.
She gave him a sidelong glance, "Hmm, and I'm guessing maybe you can do more than just fly?" she asked.
He nodded, <<careful, don't want to scare her.>> "Yeah, I---I'm invulnerable. There's nothing on earth that can hurt me."
"On earth?" she asked. "You mean---you're an alien?"
He tried not to feel a sense of loneliness as she said those words. But he looked at her closely, and realized she was curious, not condemning.
"Yeah, from a planet that was destroyed, called Krypton..." he said quietly. "But I was raised on earth... by two adoptive parents who are lovely people---were lovely people," he finished sadly, thinking of his parents that died and the other Clark who still had his.
"How did they die?" she asked, walking up to him to lay a hand on his arm.
"A car crash, when I was ten..." he said, not able to get out more because of the guilt that he held within in him. The fact that he couldn't rescue them, that he dreamed about that accident much more than he would've liked.
"I'm sorry," she said simply.
"Thanks."
She kept a hand on his arms which were crossed across his chest, thinking. "So you can fly and are invulnerable. That's pretty amazing... or 'super', I should say?" she said archly.
"I, uh, can do other things as well," he said, debating how much he should tell her, but at the same time unable to resist the temptation to share everything with her, something he hadn't been able to do with anyone.
"Oh? Like what?"
"Well, I'm very, very strong. And my--- eyes hold special powers."
She nodded, thinking about how those eyes held some special powers over her.
He explained about his heat vision and x-ray vision, and about his super breath. "I can also hear very far. It allows me to hone in on when someone is in trouble."
She eyed him warily, taking her hands off him and stepping back a little.
"Sounds like you could be a dangerous guy," she said without judgment.
"I could be, but I choose not to be. I promised my parents and myself a long time ago that my abilities would only be used for good, for helping others," he gently took her hand, looking into her eyes. "You do believe me, don't you?"
"Yes. I think if you were dangerous to me, you would've done something before now. And besides, there's something about you---" she began, thinking about her dream.
He nodded, encouragingly. "What?"
"This is going to sound really silly, but I actually dreamed about you, before I met you."
His breath caught in his throat. <<She dreamed about me?>>
"Yeah, it sounds crazy. But the night before I met you---last night, actually. You--you saved me in a dream."
He smiled warmly at her, gently squeezing her hand. "I told you that our destinies---well, I can't explain it. But I told you about the other Lois and Clark. Maybe, maybe there's something between us as well," he finished quietly.
She squeezed his hand in answer, and then stepped back.
She sat back down against the tree, thinking about all he had told her.
Clark was afraid he had said too much. "I'm sorry," he said suddenly.
"About what?" she asked in genuine surprise.
"About---I mean, I didn't mean to---to scare you."
She shook her head. "No, don't apologize. I just have a lot to think about, ok?"
He nodded, not entirely convinced.
She leaned her head back against the tree, silent a moment. Then she began forming a plan aloud, "Well, I assume you can get us back to Metropolis?" she asked.
Clark smiled. "Sure, whenever you want to go."
She nodded. "Soon, but not yet. I can't have spent two months here for nothing, Superman. I need that picture to finish my story."
"Don't they have your camera? They may have destroyed it."
"Yes, I think so, but I have a spare at my camp site. I have to go back and try to get some evidence, surely you see that?" she asked. "You said you work at the Planet, that you're a journalist. Surely you understand the significance of this story?"
"Yeah, I guess so..." he grudgingly admitted.
She warmed to her idea. "And since you said you're invulnerable, why, what's the worry?" she smiled.
"I am, but you're not, Lois. And that's the 'worry'."
"Look, you said that the other Lois and her Clark are great partners. Why don't we do a test run, for us? Try it out, see how it can be?"
He liked that idea. It had been great working with the other Lois. Obviously she and the other Clark worked so well together, why can't he and this Lois be just as good a team?
She walked up to him and touched his arm.
"I may even eventually let you share my byline," she said, thinking she had given him the ultimate concession, something he absolutely couldn't say no to.
But it wasn't the byline he couldn't turn down, it was the warm way her eyes twinkled. The way he felt so good in close proximity to her. That was what he couldn't say no to.
"Okay, but I think you should go back with Clark. Are you ready to meet him?" he asked, a secret smile on his lips.
"I don't understand. I thought *you* were Clark."
He laughed. "You'll get used to it. It gets confusing living as two people, so I tend to talk about myself in the third person. Step over to the trunk and hold on, this stirs up a bit of a breeze."
She did as he said, watching him warily. He suddenly turned super-fast in place. Then gone were the boots, the blue suit and red cape. There before her stood another man. A gorgeous man in khakis and a short-sleeved button down white linen shirt. He wore glasses in this other persona, his hair soft around his forehead, made for fingers to run through...
She thought she was more impressed with this GQ model than the guy in tights. This was a man a girl could get close to, could---
"Lois?" he asked, worried by her stunned stare. "Would you prefer I turned back into Superman?"
She shook her head vigorously, "No!" then less vehemently, "I mean, no, you're fine. You're better than fine. Actually--"
He suddenly realized her problem and it made him grin. She liked Clark better than Superman! She stepped up to him, no hesitancy this time in her movements and reached up to kiss him. He pulled her close to him, one hand on the small of her back and the other stroking her hair off her face.
She was dizzy with emotion. Running her hand through his hair was as wonderful as she thought it would be, better even. The kiss was soft at first, but then turned passionate, hungry. Their tongues were playing an ancient game, each tasting the other, yet giving and full of promise. Finally, it was Clark who stepped back.
"Wow," she breathed.
"Yeah, 'wow' is right," he said.
"Why did you---why did we stop?" she asked, shyly.
"Lois, we just met. That was amazing, but---well, let's get to know each other first, okay?"
She nodded. "But you said the other Lois and Clark are soul mates and that sure as hell felt like--"
"I know. And I believe that's possible for us as well, but, Lois and Clark were friends for two years before anything serious happened. And although I don't expect us to wait that long," he said, seeing the disappointment in her face and feeling his own, "I still think it's a good idea if we take things slow."
He couldn't believe these words were coming out of his mouth. He who had fantasized what it would be like to kiss and make love to Lois. But he knew he was right. They at least needed to get out of the jungle alive and back to Metropolis, then they'd see where things took them.
"You're right. Slow. Yeah," she said, not thoroughly convinced. She wanted so much to kiss him again, to check if that was for real, that impact she had felt in his arms.
"Besides, I just want us to get your pictures and get out of here alive. Then we can see about other---possibilities."
"So, when do we head back?"
It was full night now. He wanted to stay there with her, in that lovely tree, with the myriad of night sounds to lull them to sleep, but he knew their best chances were now, before the thugs would suspect that they'd return. Maybe they could get in and get out with no fuss...
"How 'bout right now?" he said and then spun into the Suit with a smile, holding his arms out to her.
"Thought you'd never ask!" she laughed, jumping into his arms again. She couldn't resist. She leaned up and kissed him again.
"Work before play, Lois. Work before play," he said grinning, as they headed up towards the stars and back to Papa Ludu's lair.
