And the Truth Will Set You…
Part 4
Kissimmee, Florida, was the last place Martha Kent thought she would be spending this week. Not that she didn’t like central Florida, but a trip to the home of Disney World was never high on her list of things to do. Although she had to admit that she enjoyed the uniqueness of the trip they had all taken to Gatorland. The Gator Jumparoo was, if nothing else, fascinating. Who would have guessed that right across the street from a modern golf-course community in south Orlando, there would be a major reptile zoo? Even more interesting was the fact that the zoo overlooked a lake where hundreds of alligators lived in near-open conditions. Martha wondered how many people living on the golf course across the street knew that all of the hundreds of alligators on display had been captured in the immediate area. Kansas may not be the most exciting place in the world, but if the dog was late for supper at least you didn’t have to wonder if he had become a snack for the local reptile population.
She was trying to make the best of this trip. After all, what is a mother to do when her son shows up in the middle of the night and declares that all their lives are over? Clark had appeared suddenly on Monday night and said that they had to disappear… forever! With some super-speed help, they’d packed up the farm on a moment’s notice. Clark had just barely been calm enough to let Jonathan make arrangements with Wayne Irig to take care of the place while they were gone.
They had finally gotten Clark calmed down enough to explain what had happened. In a last-ditch attempt to save Lois from marrying Lex Luthor, their son had told Lois the secret of his dual identity. From the way he described it, things didn’t go so well. Clark had come away terrified that Lois was going to tell Luthor the secret, and as a result, the three of them would be fugitives forever. At least that was Clark’s opinion late Monday night.
Her son had wanted to head for a remote Andean village or the Canadian Northern Territories. Jonathan vetoed South America and Martha didn’t like the sound of the remote reaches of northern Canada. Once it became clear that they weren’t going to let Clark bully them into some hyper-remote location, they had an almost reasonable talk about where they could go, It had to be some place where they were likely to be overlooked for at least a week. Martha won the day with the argument that they still needed to be able to get news from the outside world. They had needed to disappear and how better to do it than to disappear into a crowd? In this place, surrounded by thousands of other strangers, who was going to notice another small family? Clark had insisted that they pay for everything with cash to make sure they remained undetectable.
Martha had never seen her son so distraught. He was angry at Lois, angry at himself, and he was in more pain than she’d ever seen. Ever since they’d arrived, Clark had been in a funk. On Thursday when she declared that they were going to leave their room and do something, Clark just barely agreed. They had to stay away from the major attractions since modern amenities meant modern surveillance. That suited Martha fine and she suggested they see the area and look for more old-Florida activities. That led them to the alligator park. Yesterday had turned out to be a pleasant change from the hiding-in-their-rooms that had filled their first two days here. The outing seemed to help Clark get past some of his “they’re coming to get us” phobia. He was still deeply depressed but there was a little less stress in the mix.
Her men were out at the moment. Jonathan had convinced Clark to fly him back to the farm for just long enough to check on the place. Martha had used to time to go to the hotel office and buy a newspaper. What she saw on the front page convinced her that there might be an opportunity to get Clark to do something besides hide.
Clark hadn’t been gone more than twenty minutes when the door opened and her son walked in. “Back so soon?” she asked.
“I dropped Dad off and checked Smallville and the area around the farm. There were no signs of any unusual activity at either place. Dad was making sure everything at home was in order. Since things looked so quiet, I wanted to make sure you were okay. I’ll go back and pick him up in a few minutes.”
“I’m fine,” Martha replied. “I picked up the morning edition of The Metropolis Star. Superman is on the front page.”
“What?!” Clark exclaimed. “Lois didn’t…”
“No, she didn’t,” Martha cut him off quickly. “There’s an article about a major apartment building fire yesterday in the city. They are wondering why Superman didn’t help.”
He glanced at the paper for only a second and put it down on the nearby table. Then he dropped heavily into a chair. “Eleven people dead,” he muttered.
“There’s an editorial wondering what has happened to Superman. They have a timeline of your last few days in Metropolis. They know just about when you left.”
“Mom, I… I wish there was another way. I don’t like it, but that life is over. People die every day. I can’t help everyone, even as Superman. The only difference is that this was Metropolis.”
He tried to shrug it off, but Martha could see that the death toll from that fire was eating at her boy. “But that’s the point. This was Metropolis.” She paused for a few seconds. Maybe this was the time to ask that question again. “Clark, was it really necessary for you to leave?”
“We’ve been over this. I told Lois, and she’s going to marry Luthor. She probably called him right after I left Monday night.”
“I don’t believe that. Lois is a sweet girl. She might be confused…”
“It’s not confusion!” he cut her off angrily. “She… I…” He paused for a moment to collect himself. “She threw me out of her apartment. She threw me out and now she’s going to marry Luthor.”
Martha had seen many young people heartbroken in her time, but somehow never expected to see her son this way. He was acting stupidly but she and Jonathan had been reluctant to push him too hard. It did sound like Lois was going to marry Luthor. But Martha had met Lois. She had feelings for Clark. Strong feelings. If only he’d established more of a foundation first. But no, he had to drop the “I love you” bomb on a young woman who was already confused. “You said that you told Lois that Luthor was a criminal.”
“She never believed me before about him. Why would things be different now?”
“Clark, we’ve been over this. Because this time it was Clark and Superman that told her.”
“I don’t think that will make any difference.”
Her son could be so exasperating. “You aren’t giving her the credit she deserves. You need to get over being hurt and angry. Think about what she was going through. Didn’t you say that the Daily Planet was just about her whole life?”
Clark looked sullen. “Yes.”
“You also said that Luthor was a smart man and that he did everything possible to confuse and deceive Lois.”
“So?”
“Then how can you blame her for the way she reacted? Her whole world has been turned inside out and Luthor was doing everything in his power to get her to do what he wanted.”
“But she admitted that I’m her best friend,” Clark offered weakly. “And even if she turned Lex down she was only interested in Superman, not Clark.”
Martha stayed on the attack. “What could you expect? You’ve as much as admitted to having led Lois on too often when you were wearing the Suit.”
“But she should have known.”
That was too much. Martha reached out and slapped Clark’s shoulder. “What? How?” she challenged.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It’s just…”
That should be enough. All she really wanted to do was get Clark thinking. She switched back to “understanding Mom” mode. “Son, it’s not just Lois that you need to forgive for all this. It’s not just your fault that this all happened. Strong feelings can confuse anyone about what might be the right thing to do. Being around her as yourself and feeling like you’re the one person that she didn’t notice. You did the best you knew how.”
She watched as he seemed to consider her words. He probably hadn’t realized that he was blaming himself for this mess. A few minutes alone would be good for him. “Why don’t you go pick up your dad and we can talk when you get back?”
“Okay, Mom.” He started for the door but stopped half way there, came back and hugged her. “Thanks. I hope you’re right about everything.”
“I do too, Son. Now go get your dad.”
~~~***~~~
It wasn’t more than fifteen minutes before the door opened again. As Jonathan came in, he was talking to Clark over his shoulder. “I keep telling you, that was all that anyone’s heard.”
“What are you boys talking about?” Martha asked.
Jonathan came over and gave her a kiss. “I think we can go home,” he offered cheerfully.
She looked back and forth between her two men. Clark was shaking his head. “I don’t know, Dad. It sounds good but…”
“Would one of you please fill me in?” she asked.
Jonathan sat down and started to explain. “I called Wayne to check in. He said everything was fine. There haven’t been any strangers around our place or anywhere else in Smallville. The only thing unusual was that he’d gotten a call from Lois looking for Clark.”
“Did she say what she wanted?” Martha asked.
“She just said she wanted to talk to him. Wayne said that she sounded very upset.”
Martha tried not to smile as she turned to Clark. She failed. “Well?” she asked.
“Maybe she just wants the facts for the article to expose me,” he offered weakly.
“You don’t believe that any more than I do,” Martha replied.
“Wayne’s not the only person Lois called,” Jonathan added.
“What?!” Clark turned to his father. “You didn’t say she talked to anyone else.”
“I didn’t get the chance. I always have a hard time talking when you are flying me somewhere.”
Martha put her hand on Clark’s shoulder. “Jonathan, please tell us what else you found out.”
“Well, I wanted to see if anyone was snooping around so I called the sheriff’s office and asked Rachel if she’d seen or heard anything. She said that no strangers have been around. Then she asked if I’d heard from Clark. Apparently Lois has called her every day starting Tuesday afternoon.”
“Every day?” Clark asked.
“Yep. Lois told Rachel that she and Clark had had a fight and Clark had said he was leaving Metropolis.” He turned to his son. “Apparently Lois was desperate to talk to you. From the way Rachel tells it, the last couple of days Lois has seemed almost in tears.”
~~~***~~~
It was after 10:00 p.m. and Lois was sick of reading, sick of Ivory Tower, and sick of being by herself. She’d been especially tired every night this week. Not physically – the work she was doing was no more demanding than it ever was before. No, she was coming home each night mentally and emotionally exhausted. She knew that it was normal to come home some days drained of energy. That was just the way life worked. Lately all her days had been tiring.
Lois felt very much the woman without a home. Sure, she had her apartment, but that had never really been home for her. Her home had been the Daily Planet. That was gone now. The idea of freelancing for the Star had seemed so attractive. The demise of the Planet hadn’t put an end to crime and corruption. The work she so loved was still there for her. But she had to admit that, although Petersen was a good man to work for, he was no Perry White, and the Star just wasn’t the Planet.
The Star editor had bought into two themes of investigation for her contributions to the paper. The first was to be a standard business corruption series. That sort of thing always sold papers. The other was to be a complementary investigation that would delve more deeply into how corruption in business could lead to involvement with organized crime. Lois planned to deliver those stories. She did need a paycheck. But the real reason for these two lines of investigation were to provide a cover for her to start looking more closely at Lex.
Even after Sammy had tipped her that she was off limits for most of Metropolis’s underworld, she’d thought she would only be minimally impacted. In one respect that was correct. Many of her sources had no connection with the Metropolis underworld, so she still had access in business circles and city hall.
What she hadn’t counted on was the sense of social isolation. After the Claude fiasco a few years back, Lois had learned to be a loner. She had always done her investigations alone and that was how she liked it. At some point this past year that had changed. Early on, she’d been certain that there was nothing she could learn from Clark. Now she was willing to concede that her earlier opinion might not have been correct. However, whether she needed him or not, she certainly missed him.
Before Clark, it was all about the win. Getting the story and the results of the investigation were everything. This year, when working with Clark, she had come to learn that given the right circumstances – and working with the right person – the investigation itself could be fun. When she worked with Clark, there was an element of joy – of camaraderie – present in every day. Now that she was back on her own, that was gone. Plain and simple, she just missed him. She missed him terribly.
She wondered if she loved Clark. This past week had truly been the wake-up call she’d needed. She had learned a lot about herself. After all the things that had happened on Monday, she’d cut all ties with Lex. In the intervening days she’d found, much to her surprise, that she hadn’t missed seeing Lex at all. What did that tell her? She had been considering marrying the man, but now that he was gone from her life, she felt no appreciable loss. Clark, on the other hand…
~~~***~~~
As Clark approached Lois’s apartment he couldn’t help but think that if the situation wasn’t so tragic it would be funny. Last time he’d come, Lois had invited him as Superman, and he’d come as Clark. This time he was uninvited and he’d come as Superman. The one thing that the two visits did have in common was that he was as nervous this time as he’d been the last.
He approached her apartment from the air. He was in the Suit, but since this was not intended to be a return of Superman, he stayed above the buildings in the relative dark of the night sky. He was close enough so that when he concentrated he could hear Lois moving around in her apartment. She seemed to be alone so he went a little closer. Given the importance of this conversation, he risked looking in her apartment. What he saw almost knocked him out of the sky.
When Clark had come by on Sunday, he’d known that he would be telling Lois his secret. He’d used his special vision to check Lois’s apartment for surveillance equipment before he entered. He trusted Lois, but she was too close to Luthor. Clark had almost been surprised that he’d found nothing in that search. Things had changed in the intervening week. Now her apartment was full of bugs. A careful scan revealed that every room in her apartment had at least one camera, even her bathroom.
Clearly she’d done something to anger Luthor. Only he would have the means and motive to do something like this. Clark couldn’t talk to her in her apartment. He considered calling on the phone and talking to her as Clark, but it was likely that her phone would be tapped and she might say something that would reveal his identity. Hopefully she hadn’t already.
He finally decided on a note. A quick side trip to the bombed-out Planet building provided a pen, paper and some tape. In less than a minute he had the note.
Lois
I would like to speak with you but your apartment is bugged. If you are interested, please go into the alley just to the north of your building. I’ll be waiting.
Superman
That should be safe enough. Even if the surveillance equipment managed to detect the note, it wouldn’t reveal anything compromising. There was always the chance that her apartment might be under external surveillance so he didn’t want to hover outside her window. Instead, Clark used super-speed to tape the note to Lois’s window. Then it took several passes of tapping on her window before she came over to investigate. He felt a surge of joy when Lois immediately put on her coat and headed for the ground floor. Clark removed the note and a shot of heat vision disposed of it quickly. He headed to the alley to wait for Lois.
~~~***~~~
It was all Lois could do to keep from running down the stairs of her building. When she’d heard the tapping, just the chance that it might be Clark had lifted her spirits more than she thought possible. Then, when she read the note, she had a decidedly mixed reaction. Clark was here, but her apartment was bugged. Her anger about her apartment being bugged was almost lost in the joy of Clark’s return.
It was late enough that under normal circumstances she would never enter a dark alley. But the note had been in Clark’s handwriting. Just the same, Lois had her hand on her pepper spray as she approached the alley.
“Clark?” she whispered as she turned the corner.
“I’m here,” came the reply.
Lois took another step and there he was. He was wearing the Superman suit but she didn’t see Superman. She saw Clark. He’d come back to her, and the surge of joy was overwhelming. She never decided to rush over to him, but it happened just the same. For a moment, there were no words, just him and her arms around him.
At first he was stiff. She didn’t mind. Given how they’d last parted, she’d expected that. After a few seconds he seemed to relax and she felt his arms surround her. The stresses of the past week seemed to melt away. Being there in Clark’s arms brought her a sense of peace and joy that had been missing ever since Lex had first proposed.
She felt like she could have stayed in Clark’s embrace forever. But all too soon she heard Clark’s voice. “We need to talk.”
At that moment she didn’t want to talk, she wanted to hold Clark. Even more, she wanted to be held by him. But his voice did sound so nice. The voice she’d heard on Sunday night had been full of anger. That wasn’t the voice she’d come to depend on this past year. The voice she was hearing now was as different as night and day. This was her friend. Her partner. Her lo… No, that was still too scary. After this week, she suspected that it might be true, but Clark was back now and there would be time to sort that out later.
“Lois?” he tried again.
“Please don’t leave again,” was the only response she could manage.
“I’ll stay if I can. But we need to talk. I need to know what’s been happening.”
She looked up at him. There was concern… and something else. She hoped it wasn’t her imagination. “Okay, we can talk. Just don’t leave,” she said as she tightened her hug.
He looked around. “We need to go somewhere private. Hold on.”
Right now that was a request she was happy to fulfill. She felt his arms get just a little tighter as they headed for the sky. As they cleared the rooftop of her building, Lois discovered that while flying with Superman had been great, flying with Clark was even better.
~~~***~~~
The only place that Clark was sure they would have some privacy was high up in the Planet building. He’d been there only a few moments before, and had noticed that the building was completely clear of both people and surveillance equipment. He took them to their old newsroom. The area where he had first flown Lois through the window nearly a year ago was clear of debris and the glass was intact. There was enough light from the city and a partial moon so that they wouldn’t be in complete darkness.
As he set Lois down he was seized with a fit of nervousness. Lois’s greeting had caught him completely off guard. Was it genuine? Was it because she wanted to see Superman? He’d come tonight with the sole purpose of talking to her but now he didn’t know what to say. Finally he just stepped back and said, “Hi.”
“Hi?!” she yelled. “Clark, what were you thinking?”
“Huh? About what?”
“You disappeared!” she shouted again. She didn’t seem to be in a mood to mitigate her volume. “You left Metropolis!” Then in a softer tone, “You left me.”
Part of him was thrilled at her being so upset that he’d gone. However, he also felt that given the situation, he’d had to go. “I didn’t see that I had much choice,” he replied defensively. “I had to convince you that what I knew about Luthor was genuine. You wouldn’t listen to me. I thought you might listen to him.”
“Him?” she asked. “What him are you talking about?”
“Superman. I figured that since you wouldn’t believe me you might believe him.” This conversation looked to be going badly again.
She stepped back and motioned at his body with her hand. “Clark. What in the world are you talking about? Look at what you’re wearing. Right now you are talking out of his mouth.”
He could feel that same despondency from the other night growing again. She didn’t understand. “Never mind,” he replied. “I’ll take you back to your building and go. This was a bad idea.”
In an instant, she had him in one of those hugs again. “No,” she pleaded, her head pressed up against his chest. “I don’t understand about you and … him. But I know I don’t want to lose you, whatever clothes you are wearing.”
Her tone made it impossible to doubt her. And it felt really good when she held him like this. Maybe he should try a different tack. “Lois, first of all, have you told anyone about me? I mean my two jobs.”
She released him and stepped back. “You mean the fact that Clark Kent has a part time job as Superman?”
Up until that moment, despite everything she’d said and done tonight, Clark still harbored doubts.. But with that one simple statement, those doubts shattered. She knew that first and foremost, he was Clark “You do understand,” he said joyfully.
“I’m trying,” she offered.
“Well, yes. If anyone found out…”
“Of course I haven’t told anybody.” She replied abruptly, cutting him off. “I… I guess I understand why you never told me. You didn’t feel you could trust me. But it’s hard. I thought we were friends.” She sounded so hurt.
“We are friends. Part of me always wanted to tell you,” he pleaded. “It’s just… you have to understand that my parents and I have kept that secret my whole life. It was scary enough when we were only worried about the government coming to lock me up in some lab or imprisoning my parents. Since I created Superman, I have other enemies that are more dangerous than the government. The consequences of that information getting out were… I’m sorry, but I couldn’t take the chance.”
“What changed your mind?”
Clark sat down on a nearby step. He looked at the floor for a second to gather himself, then looked up at her. “I didn’t know what else to do. I had to do whatever was necessary to make you understand what he really was. It was my last hope to save you.”
Lois came over and sat next to him. After a second, she reached out and took his hands in hers. “You did,” she replied softly. “But Clark, don’t you realize that you’ve put yourself at risk even with me keeping your secret?”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
She shook her head as if he were a slow student. “The timeline of Superman’s disappearance is all over the city. I’ve been scared to death that someone was going to ask me if I noticed that you and Superman left on the same day. What would it mean if Lex or someone else noticed the timing and made the connection? That’s what I was talking about a moment ago when I asked what you were thinking. I thought that you would keep either Clark or Superman around for a while so there wouldn’t be anything for people to notice.”
“Lois, I’m sorry but I was terrified that you would tell someone. That’s why I had to disappear and get my family into hiding.”
“Well, you needn’t have worried because I didn’t and I won’t. Besides, since Tuesday your other reason for leaving Metropolis no longer applies.”
She was still holding his hand. Her smile was so nice. He was afraid to guess what she meant so he just waited and let his confusion show.
After a second, she supplied the rest of the answer. “On Tuesday I went to Lex and told him I couldn’t see him anymore. I quit LNN and I’m freelancing for the Star until I can decide what to do now that the Planet is gone.”
He felt a surge of elation but tamped it down. “Why?” he asked cautiously.
“Because you told me what he is.” She still sounded a little defensive, but she also managed to make it sound like that had been the only possible outcome.
His word as Clark had never been good enough before. “You mean because Superman told you what he is.”
She suddenly looked tired. “Clark, please don’t be this way.” She paused and took a deep breath. “Yes, it was because Superman told me. But it wasn’t so much that it was Superman, as it was that now I have some idea why you would know things about Lex that I don’t. In the past when you’ve told me to be careful of Lex, you never gave me any reason. Think about how it looked based on what I knew. You never gave me a basis for your dislike.”
“Now you know why I know what I do. You also know all of who I am,” he offered.
Lois nodded and he started to ask the question. It stuck in his mouth and he ended up standing there with his mouth open for several seconds. Lois was uncharacteristically patient as she waited for him to continue. She must have seen that he had something important to say. Finally he took a deep breath and asked, “Where do we stand?”
She got that defensive look again. “What do you mean?”
Clark almost accused her of only being happy to see him because she knew that he was both Clark and Superman, but managed to avoid saying that. She seemed to be trying so hard, and he so wanted to believe. “Tonight you seem awfully happy to see me. When we last talked… well, you threw me out.”
Her comeback was immediate. “I never wanted you to leave Metropolis. When I asked you to leave my apartment, I did so because it seemed like you were making baseless accusations against… my then boyfriend. I’ve always wanted you as my friend. You know that.”
“Lois, what do you want now?”
She stood and walked slowly away. After a few steps she stopped and turned around. “I want you back.” She paused for a second to collect her thoughts. “I’ve managed to learn a few things this week. First, I missed you terribly – and I don’t mean Superman. I missed my best friend and partner.”
Clark felt another of those waves of joy wash over him. If only there had been some way to get here more easily.
She walked back and sat back down. “The other thing I learned is that I don’t know who you are.”
Clark started to interrupt but his mouth barely got open when Lois cut him off with a finger to his lips. “You aren’t Superman. You’re Clark. I’m ¬¬¬beginning to understand that part. But you aren’t really Clark either. At least, not the Clark I thought I knew. The Clark I knew was never worried about enemies and government labs. Don’t you see that the Clark you show the world – the Clark I thought I knew – is no more who you are than Superman?”
That simple statement caught him completely off-guard. Somehow, he’d never really thought about that before. He used his powers all the time to make everyday chores a little easier, but no one ever saw that. So much of what he did – and didn’t do – was based on who he really was. He could argue that Lois had seen all the really important parts of Clark Kent, but who was he to tell her what she should think was important?
“Okay,” he finally answered. “I wanted you to like me as Clark but I’ve never let you see the real me.” As he said the words he felt a fear rising. What if Lois didn’t like the real Clark?
Lois seemed to sense his fear and took his hands again. “I do have a better idea of who you are now. I just need to figure out what parts are you and what parts are pretend. Now I know that when I see Superman all stiff and formal, that’s just an act. And next time I see Clark afraid of anyone, that’s the other face of the same act.”
She reached out and brought her hand gently to his cheek. “I’ve learned that the source of all that’s best in Superman comes from who he really is.” She pulled her hand back and her tone turned more serious. “We should take some time and get to know each other. You need to see me when I’m past being infatuated with the hero. I need to see who you are when you aren’t constantly hiding one part of yourself or another.”
Clark still wanted to be cautious but just couldn’t muster the will. He couldn’t help asking, “So, when we figure out how to get Clark back to Metropolis, will you go out with me?”
“Absolutely!” she answered enthusiastically. Clark wouldn’t have thought she could smile so big and talk at the same time.
He could have sat there just looking at her smile and holding her hand for a lot longer, but they had other issues to deal with.
“Lois, we need a plan for my return.” He felt relief at having his partner back. Lois would come up with a good story – he knew she could do that. “And your apartment is bugged,” he continued quickly. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It is completely covered for both video and sound. There are even cameras in your bathroom.”
So much for the smile that she’d been wearing. For a few seconds he saw nothing but anger, but then it flashed to a look of worry. “Oh, God! Your secret…”
“Don’t worry,” he cut her off. “Before I came in on Monday, I looked your place over. I do that all the time at my apartment. It was clean then.”
“So my apartment was bugged after I broke up with Lex.” Her voice was cold. This was angry Lois, but that was okay. He liked angry Lois. As long as the anger wasn’t being directed at him. “That was part of what I wanted to tell you,” she said after a second. “When I told him we were through, I saw some of what you’ve seen. There’s a darkness in him that I never noticed before.”
So she had finally seen it. “You can’t go back to your apartment,” Clark warned.
She smiled a mischievous smile. “Sure I can. You see, my friend Superman…” she patted him on the leg “… came by tonight to tell me that Clark got my messages and that he and his parents are back from their family emergency. While he was visiting, Superman noticed that my apartment was bugged and graciously agreed to clear them out. You can do that, can’t you?”
“Sure. But what if they come back?”
“Is there any reason Superman can’t return tomorrow?”
“No,” he answered. Lois clearly had this all figured out.
“Good,” she said brightly. “Superman can clear out the bugs tonight and resume activities tomorrow. Clark can…” She brought both hands to his cheeks and held him with an intense gaze “…will – please – call me at least once a day to lift my spirit and keep up on developments in Metropolis. He can wrap up his business in Smallville in a week or so. In the meantime Superman can let me know if someone plants any more bugs in my apartment.”
He could look into those eyes forever. “It sounds like a plan,” he said with a smile.
“Good. Now let’s go clear out my apartment so I can get some sleep. I’m suddenly more relaxed than I’ve been in a long time.”
As Clark lifted her in his arms and flew out the window, he realized that he had one more question. “Lois, what in the world are you doing working for the Star?”
TBC
Bob
