I know it's been a while. I was trying to decide what direction I wanted to go in. I'm going to post the first version simply because it was what I wrote first. I'm closer to it than the other versions, but I'm working on a different take. I won't promise how long it'll be before I'm ready to present it though.
Until then, don't eat me alive for this.
++++
"All I'm saying is that maybe we should consider the possibility."
"He's right. Nor is very unpredictable. Wouldn't you agree Kal-El?" Trey stopped to look down at the man to whom he'd just spoken. There wasn't even a nod to acknowledge that the other man had heard a word anyone had said.
"Milord," came the gentle voice of Lady Zara as she reached out to touch her leader's arm. His eyes finally focused.
"Sorry," he apologized. "Guess I was..."
"Back on Earth," she whispered and offered him a sad smile.
He nodded sadly before listening to his full rebuke... again. More than an hour later the council meeting broke and he was able to retire to his room. Heaving a deep sigh he sank to his bed. What he wouldn't give to be home. What time was it there? He'd lost track. The hours and days here were longer than those on Earth. He was sure it was past time for planting on the farm.
What else was going on back home?
Would Lois win another Kerth this year? A Pulitzer?
He thrust a hand through his hair. More importantly, what was she doing? Right now, right at this moment, what was she doing? Was she knee deep in some struggle for truth and justice? Or was she sitting before her laptop typing her latest masterpiece?
Was she smiling? Laughing? Was she happy?
Was she thinking of him the way he was thinking of her? Did she think of him at all? Sometimes she was *all* he thought of.
{{{{Did she know she had the most wonderful laugh in the world? Did she know it held the power to heal gaping wounds?
They were the only ones at the table. Everyone had left for home a long time ago, trying to beat the snow. His folks had said their goodnights and retired to their room in the Lexor across the street. The Planet had sprung for a suite in honor of their newest prize winner.
Funny, Clark thought. Receiving an award didn't feel half as gratifying as simply staring across the table at Lois.
"Weather's changing," he managed after a moment. "It's icing up the highway. I guess it's time for me to hit the road." He gestured with his hand, a flying motion Lois had made famous.
She nodded. "Yeah."
She walked with him to the coat call and allowed him to help her bundle up.
"Congratulations," she told him when she was ready to face the cold.
"Thank you." Clark looked down at the items he held, a symbol that he was a solid fixture in his profession.
Lois lifted her large, brown eyes to his- dark pools that threatened to pull him to the bottom of their depths. "I wish you didn't have to go," she said so softly he almost had to use his super-hearing.
Then an old familiar feeling wrapped its arms around the moment and right there for a second he forgot that she didn't love him any more.}}}}
To this day he hadn't figured out how they'd made it from there to his bed, but there wasn't a single second he'd ever give back. Those hours, those minutes, those seconds he'd spent with Lois was all that allowed him to live through his days now.
****
The shock had worn off. She was definitely pregnant. A visit to a local medical center proved there was absolutely no doubt at all. She'd immediately wrapped up her current story and made plans to return to Metropolis to see Clark, only to discover that she'd been held up in third world countries a bit too long.
In her usual fashion, Lois rushed down the ramp into the newsroom, her eyes searching for Clark the time she’d stepped off the elevator.
“Lois!” Perry was surprised to see his star reporter. She hadn’t mentioned she was coming to Metropolis.
“Hi, Perry. Where’s Clark?”
“Good to see you, too, honey.”
“Sorry.” She leaned in for a quick hug. “I really need to see Clark.”
Perry’s expression was unreadable as he led her into his office. He gently forced her down onto the chair across from his desk before he cleared his throat.
“Ah, Lois, honey, I hate to be the one to tell you this.”
“This what, Perry?” The way he was acting someone had died.
Oh, God, that wasn’t it was it?
“Clark... is gone.”
“Gone? Gone where?” Had he decided it was his turn to chase stories for a while?
“He, ah, well he...” Perry leaned on his desk, glanced down at his hands, then plowed on. “I’ll just say this. He went off with a group of Kryptonians.”
“What?” she squeaked.
****
She couldn’t think, couldn’t see. Perry had just explained the tests Superman had endured for his race of people to decide if he was worthy.
His race of people- there were more Kryptonians out there. Clark wasn’t the last of his kind.
Worthy- of marriage to his birth wife and to rule his people.
His wife.
His people.
Lois leaned over and took several deep breaths to keep from heaving. She felt absolutely ill.
“I should also tell you,” Perry continued. “That I know Clark is Superman.”
Her head snapped up so that she could look at him. “He told you?”
“No. I’ve known it almost from the beginning.” He kneeled down in front of her. “I told him before he left that I knew. He and I worked to come up with a cover story for Clark’s absence. Everyone thinks he and Jimmy went along to document the entire trip for posterity.”
“Jimmy went, too?”
“Yeah. Clark and I agreed the kid was ready for the chance to show what he’s really made of.” Perry reached out to take her hands in his. “It was really hard for him to make the decision to go. He mentioned you several times.”
Lois choked back a sob. “Is he... is he coming back?”
Perry nodded. “That’s one thing he kept repeating- that he would be back.”
But she knew what he hadn’t said. “If he can,” she whispered. The silence filled the room around them and felt so confining that she thought she was going to explode.
“I’m pregnant... with Clark’s baby,” Lois croaked as another sob overtook her.
Perry stared at her in surprise. “Well, ah...”
“It’s okay, Perry. You don’t have to say anything.”
He climbed back to his feet. “Do you plan on...?”
“Keeping it?” she asked, just to have something to say so that her mind didn’t settle on the fact that Clark was really gone. She waited until he nodded. “Absolutely. No matter what’s happened between us, I’ve never stopped loving Clark. I don’t think I know how to exist without loving him.”
He smiled and reached down to pull her up to her feet. “Then I think maybe you’ll need some help.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they walked toward the door. “I’ll book your flight.”
“Flight?”
“To Smallville. I think there’s a couple that will be thrilled to see you.”
Until now, she’d had no idea what she’d do without Clark. His parents were definitely the best place to start.
****
Superman was gone.
Clark was gone.
Kryptonians had come for their *leader*. Lord Kal-El had been called home to take his rightful place in society... and to save his world. Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen had gone off with them as well.
He was gone!
That was the only thing that kept running through Lois’ mind. She’d cried nearly the entire drive from Wichita, having forced herself to wait until she was alone before she let go. It was shocking enough to find out she was pregnant. Once she’d accepted that, she’d actually looked forward to telling Clark. He would be so thrilled.
<<Would have been.>>
Now she’d have to do this alone. Plans had to be changed again. She was forced to reconstruct yet another destiny.
****
"Lois, you need to push!"
She focused on the older woman beside her, offering a watery smile. God, she loved Martha Kent.
{{{{Martha and Jonathan were just as she'd remembered them to be. They’d immediately welcomed her in when she’d arrived unannounced at the farm. They’d even had the grace not to mention her red, splotchy face.
She’d seen them at the ceremony when Clark received his Bailey award, but she’d been preoccupied then. A brief hug and a few friendly words had been all that she’d allowed to separate her from the man she’d finally learned to adore.
The older woman had immediately ushered her inside the house for a piece of pie and coffee. Jonathan had asked a few questions about work, then he'd quietly began his tale about Clark's departure from Earth. She could tell that he, too, was devastated his son was gone.
"When we read your articles in the Planet and Times, we knew you hadn't heard he'd left," Martha offered softly.
"Yeah, well, I was pretty busy." Lois took another sip of her coffee as she thought over what they'd told her. Clark was off with these... people, and they didn't even know if he'd come home again. Suddenly her eyes welled with tears again. She hadn't cried this much since she'd first left Metropolis.
"Lois, honey, what's wrong?" Martha reached out to grasp one of her hands. "Listen to me," she scolded herself. "Of course I know what's wrong."
"You have no idea," Lois said with a wry smile. She wiped her eyes, then took a deep breath. "Martha, Jonathan, I really need Clark right now."
Martha just looked at her for a moment before her own eyes swelled with tears. "Oh, honey," she breathed. She waited with bated breath. Lois nodded, causing another stream of tears from the two.
After a moment, Lois wiped her face again. "We went back to his place to talk after the Bailey presentation."
"You don't have to explain anything, honey," Martha said.
"I wish someone would explain it to me," Jonathan spoke up. "I'm lost here."
They both looked up at him. In one afternoon, Lois had gone from apprehensive to scared senseless, then on to confident acceptance. Now she was back to utter confusion.}}}}
"Focus, honey," Martha rebuked lightly.
She nodded quickly and sat up to bare down to bring this baby into the world. His father couldn't be here; his grandmother was instead. As Lois yelled out through the pain, every single thing she'd ever felt for Clark Kent was culminated into a tiny, breathing soul.
