Lois called for Clark in her sleep. Tossing and turning, her body ached from a deep pain that made her sleep restless. Dreaming, she saw the sickly glow of Kryptonite and Clark huddled in a corner, slowly dying. She couldn't reach him. She was being held back, restrained from helping Clark. She kicked in her dream, mumbling, "I must help him!", but it was no use.
A dark shadow was in the room, an evil presence that menaced her as it destroyed Superman. It came nearer to her, until it was at last restraining her, keeping her from Clark. She turned to see the shadow morph into Lex standing over her with a knife.
"No, Lex!" she cried fearfully, startling herself awake.
Darkness was all around her, and all she could hear was the sound of her own breathing. <<Lex?>> she asked herself, trying to calm down. Was it a dream... or a memory?
She shivered as much from the cool damp of the bunker as she did from the terrifying realization that was beginning to take shape in her mind. Lex had told her that Nigel had stabbed her, yet she had no memory of seeing Nigel St. John that night. She felt a chill go up her spine as her dream made her realize that Lex had flat out lied. With sudden clarity she remembered that it was Lex who she had fought with, who had stabbed her! Lex who had used the Kryptonite… who had killed Clark.
She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them to comfort herself as she felt tears come. She had no idea what to do now that Clark was gone. He had been her rock in so many ways, and she was only just now realizing it! She remembered before her almost-marriage to Lex when Clark had said he loved her, and then had taken it back after the fiasco. She was certain now that he had lied about not loving her, despite even his cold treatment to her as Superman when she had confessed to love his alter-ego. Knowing the truth, she could now see that she had blindly tossed away the ordinary man, frustrating him to no end. Had he then harbored feelings for her all this time? Yet why had he pushed her away then, in both his personae? She wiped tears from her eyes, thinking about how they had hurt each other over the past year, and how close they had recently been coming to starting something special. They were… *had been* about to go one their first real date.
Knowing now that he was Superman, too late, she cursed herself for not realizing the truth sooner. Would it have solved anything between them before? Would he have told her, now that they had been growing ever closer? Or would they have grown closer even sooner if he had told her before she almost married Lex... or maybe, had she known then, would the truth have torn them apart?
She sighed, realizing that she would forgive him everything and anything if she could only see him again. But now, she would never be able to tell him exactly what he meant to her. She could have never made up for how she had rejected him back then, but if given the chance, she could have loved him, with all of her heart she swore, <<I *do* love him>>…
Hindsight is everything.
Lois closed her eyes, not one to pray, but simply trying to reach for the one anchor that had ever been in her life.
"Clark, if you can hear me... I need you..." she whispered, her voice choking on tears.
She knew she had to get out of there. She would never get the whole story about that night from Lex, as he had proven he was as evil as Clark had always said he was. She suddenly sat up, ruminating on her memories of that night. If Lex had lied to her about who had killed whom, could he have also lied that Clark was dead? She thought back to what she knew about how Lex's mind worked, remembering what he had done to her to get her to agree to marry him. Lex had worked systematically to take away everything from her that was safe or was *her*. He could easily be exaggerating in telling her that Superman was dead so she would give up hope and turn to Lex. That thought angered her enough and gave her just enough hope to spur her into action.
She sat up, feeling better than when she had awoken before. The nausea was gone, though she didn't feel as strong as she would have liked.
"Clark," she cried brokenly to the dark, "I have to find out what happened to you..."
She climbed out of bed, looking around cautiously. She had no idea where Lex slept, or even if he was there with her at all. Her bed was in a corner, next to a solid brick wall. The ceilings were high, but gave the impression of being below somewhere. All kinds of scientific equipment and lab tables were set up around her, making her feel a little like Dr. Frankenstein's bride come to life. She could find no shoes, and she realized that she was dressed in the business suit, minus the jacket, that she had been 'killed' in. No wonder she was freezing! The silk shirt was no match for the cold dampness of this lair. She grabbed the thin blanket from the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders as she made her way around the room in the dark.
Her heart was pounding, as she feared Lex would spring on her any moment. She knew that he had been drugging her. Lois thought it might have been opium or some other mind-altering substance that had been keeping her so disoriented. The anesthetic he had given her with the needle had nearly worn off, though she still felt the fatigue in her muscles.
Lois needed a light, unable to see even her hand in front of her face. She felt around the worktables, fearing what her fingers would bump into. There were several drawers and she was cautious in case they contained sharp needles or knives. At last she found a flashlight. The light was weak, indicating the batteries were wearing down, but it was a start. She moved it around the room cautiously, again afraid of coming up on Lex unexpectedly.
The flashlight hit upon a box that looked oddly familiar. She wondered if it was what the Kryptonite had been housed in. Lois stepped up to it and opened it. Sure enough, the green glowing rock that had taken Clark away from her was there. Angrily she picked it up, determined to do away with it, so Luthor couldn't hold on to his trophy of triumph.
As much as she loathed the power of the Kryptonite, ironically it would work well as a light and would help her see to get out of there.
Suddenly, she jumped, the blanket slipping off her shoulders, as she heard footsteps behind her.
“My dear, didn’t anyone ever tell you that you shouldn’t steal other people’s property?” Lex came up right behind her; she could even feel his warm breath on her neck.
She acted faster than she would have thought possible with her muscles still weak. She elbowed him, dropping the Kryptonite and flashlight, and reached for the nearby case the Kryptonite had lain in. Adrenaline flowing through her, she threw the case on his head and picked up the Kryptonite to bang it against the case to disorient him.
“That’s for Clark!” she said with feeling. “And it’s not stealing when it wasn’t yours to begin with.”
Lex was indeed unsteady on his legs. He made a comical tableaux for a moment, his arms flailing as he tried to reach for her. Angrily, he tossed off the case and grabbed on to the edge of a table till the dizziness stopped. As he knocked into it, a steel drawer opened, revealing his stash of hypodermic needles, pre-filled with anesthetic. The room was dark except for the green glow of the Kryptonite and Lois’ nearly dead flashlight, but he had memorized every inch of this bunker to prepare for any eventuality. He carefully grabbed a syringe, a determined scowl on his face and made his way towards Lois.
Lois couldn’t see too well in the darkened room, but took the moment that Lex was confused to start to look for a way out. She saw him out of the corner of her eye before she could make out which direction to go, moving towards her.
Something was in his hand, but she couldn’t see what it was.
“Lois, we could have been great together, you know that? Had we married, you would have had all that you desired. Wealth, security… anything you could want.” He stood before her, the green from the Kryptonite outlining his features eerily.
“It’s true. I would have had all of those things. But there is one thing that would have been missing, something that I’ve realized I really can’t do without, especially when it is offered so freely, so genuinely…” she choked on tears, thinking of Clark.
“And what would this freely given thing be that I couldn’t provide?”
She looked at him, pitying him for the first time as she realized that he could never know what would be missing.
“You really don’t know?” she asked, truly shocked by the depth of darkness in him as he shook his head in puzzlement.
“Love,” she said simply.
Lex laughed mirthlessly. “Ah, yes, of course. I would have liked to have tried, Lois, I really would. Though, I think I've decided maybe you are too free-spirited for my taste after all---“
He suddenly grabbed her arm, lifting it over head and making her drop the Kryptonite. She couldn’t do anything with her hands, but she could kick him.
<<Thank goodness for all those Tae Kwan Do classes!>> she thought, swiftly kicking his side. “Not this time, Lex! You won’t win this time!”
He staggered back, but immediately lunged forward again. She could see now by the glow of the rock that he had a needle in his hand. She grabbed his wrists as he came at her, the needle pointing dangerously down towards her face. Holding his wrists, she kneed him in the crotch.
“You should know better than to try a failed move twice, Lex,” Lois said coolly.
While he winced in pain, she grabbed the syringe and plunged it through his jacket into his arm, cringing as she did so.
“Hope you like a taste of your own medicine, Lex,” she said disdainfully. Immediately she grabbed the Kryptonite again, as much for a light as to get rid of it. Lois looked around quickly for an exit, her heart pounding. She didn’t know if she got the anesthetic in him, or if she’d merely stunned him, but she wasn’t going to wait around to find out.
She needed to get out of there, as much to discover the truth as to get away from Lex. She had nothing to go on but her instinct, and for years as a reporter, it hadn’t failed her. She held onto that, hoping against hope that what Lex had told her was all a lie… that maybe Clark lived. And, so with that hope, she would dispose of the Kryptonite so no one could ever hurt him again. Even as she wanted to believe he was alive, one thought came to her to gave her pause.
It had been over a week since she had been in this bunker with Lex. If Clark were truly alive… wouldn’t he have found her before now?
