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Missing Lois - TOC Taste of Bye-Bye Baby, Good-Bye, Part 3 Martha offered to make scrambled eggs for Lois the next morning, but the thought of it seemed to make the woman’s anxious stomach rebel.
She was cleaning up the dishes from Lois’s bananas and yogurt, when the phone rang. Thinking that Lois was still in the shower, Martha had picked up the extension in the kitchen. Only she had been a moment too late.
“Hello?” Lois’s voice could be heard on the line.
“Ms. Lane?”
“Mr. Wells.” Lois sighed in relief. “I’m ready.”
“Good. Good. I wish we could have found another solution to the curse, Ms. Lane, but in this instance, time is not on our side.”
Curse? Martha mouthed to herself.
“I wanted to talk to you about that, but…” Lois hesitated. “… at the meeting place.”
“You said something about a change in rendezvous, yesterday.”
“Oh, right. Are you familiar with the old Lex Towers?” Lois asked, then plowed ahead without waiting for his answer, describing the bunker built underneath. “Do you think you’ll be able to meet us there? It’s more private.”
“I believe so.” Mr. Wells paused. “Us?”
“I told Martha, Clark’s mom, everything,” Lois explained. “She’ll be the… contact… here.”
Martha could tell Lois was still afraid to go into detail. Was her paranoia not just a diversion, then? Thank you all for the kind comments to my first part of Chapter 1. As you can tell from the snippet above, I like to have telephone conversations and conversations overheard, partially italicized to help keep it in the reader's mind that the both people in the conversation are not in the same room / location as the POV person. If you find this annoying, I apologize. A few people wondered in the previous part's comments about my writing background and guessed that I might have written other fan fiction. I started writing novels in high school (a long, long time ago). I have completed two novels (unpublished), one contempory romance and one Regency romance (which is about as close to fan fiction as I've ever written). After rediscovering Lois & Clark (thank you, Netflix) last fall and watching the entire series within a month, I was addicted. I found the L&C Archive and started reading the stories posted there and was biten by the writing bug, again. It always annoyed me in reading reviews (not from the L&C fansites) about how the show went downhill after Lois and Clark got together. Hollywood always assumes the chemistry disappears after characters acknowledge their love and/or have children; how there isn't anything more to say about the characters, how to keep the romanctic suspense alive if everyone knows they are going to live happily ever after. My story hopefully will show Hollywood how to think outside that box. I also tried to think of this as an actual show... to give the 'actors' new and interesting character motivations to keep them on their toes. I try to keep both Lois and Clark in every part of the story. If it's not the original Clark or Lois, then it's the alternate Clark or alternate Lois. The hardest part of that aspect was the supporting cast, so please let me know if I've really dropped the ball in that respect. I hope you enjoyed part 2 of Chapter 1 and I'll post again before the weekend.
Last edited by VirginiaR; 12/03/14 07:30 PM. Reason: Fixed broken Links
VirginiaR.
"On the long road, take small steps." -- Jor-el, "The Foundling"
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"clearly there is a lack of understanding between those two... he speaks Lunkheadanian and she Stubbornanian" -- chelo.
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Merriwether
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I love this setup. You've laid some great foundation to explain why Lois is doing what she's doing. This exchange made me laugh: “If you say clone, I’m out of here.”
“Clone?” Clark looked confused.
Lois waved her hand again. “It’s a long story.” Joan
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Pulitzer
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Wow what a ride. I hope you post more soon. Laura
Clark: “If we can be born in an instant, and die in an instant, why can’t we fall in love in an instant?”
Caroline's "Stardust"
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Pulitzer
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Post two was as good as post one! You've set up a most intriguing premise and I am looking forward to seeing how it is played out.
You have indicated more than once that you are open to suggestions. Your plot is original and your characterizations are, for the most part, spot-on. (I'm not entirely convinced that Perry and Jimmy, after having known Clark for years and after seeing how devastated Clark is at the funeral, would disbelieve and ostracize him. But that is one small point in two large posts.)
I do, however, have one suggestion -- you might wish to request a beta reader. Are you familiar with the concept of BRs? Basically, they are people who will read your story parts before you post them and will provide suggestions. Depending on the BRs, the suggestions might range from catching spelling errors (e.g., you had "loo" when you meant "lieu" in this part) to difficulties in plot, facts, and characterization. If your muse has deserted you, a good BR can sometimes help get you back on track and get the creative juices flowing again.
I wish I could volunteer to be a BR for you. Unfortunately, my plate is too full to take on additional responsibilities. but if you were to post a request for BRs in the "Fanfic Related" folder, I'm sure you'll find some people who would be happy to go to bat for you.
Having said all of that, I wish to reiterate how impressed I am by your story so far. I would not be at all surprised if you were nominated for the Best New Author at next year's Kerth Awards Ceremony. (In this context, Kerths are awards given by L&C fans for L&C fanfic written in the previous year. Of course, they were named after the Kerth awards from the show.)
I'm very much looking forward to the next post.
Joy,
Lynn
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Thank you for your imput, Lynn. Why did Perry and Jimmy desert Clark, because they don't know he's Superman. They think he's Clark Kent, guy who left his pregnant girlfriend to go assignment and disappeared for 9-10 months. And since Lois keeps turning stories in under his name, they think he's been in contact with her the whole time and still never returned. I'd tell you more 'why' but then that might ruin Chapter 10 for you.  I'd love a BR. I'll take your suggestion under consideration. Thanks for catching that 'loo' mistake. I couldn't remember any British people in my story needing to use the restroom. Ooops. 
VirginiaR.
"On the long road, take small steps." -- Jor-el, "The Foundling"
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"clearly there is a lack of understanding between those two... he speaks Lunkheadanian and she Stubbornanian" -- chelo.
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Pulitzer
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“After discovering that Clark Kent was Superman, the clone fell in love with him and tried to kill off the competition. In other words, Ms. Lane here.”
“I have that effect on women, too,” Clark said sympathetically. /rolling on the floor laughing/ What a great start! Excellent plot with a lot of threads here - Lois pregnant and cursed, she's got to go to the alt-world and hang out with alt-Clark, which will no doubt be agonizing for both of them as time goes by. What about her paranoia? I'm sure it's justified. Do the NK's have a spy keeping tabs on Lois? I'm glad Martha saw the newspaper so she knows Lois is not off her rocker. An intriguing fic! Please post more soon!
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Pulitzer
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Originally posted by VirginiaR:
Why did Perry and Jimmy desert Clark, because they don't know he's Superman. They think he's Clark Kent, guy who left his pregnant girlfriend to go assignment and disappeared for 9-10 months. And since Lois keeps turning stories in under his name, they think he's been in contact with her the whole time and still never returned. I did realize everything you say here; but even so, they have also been his friend for years, they had seen how much he loves her before he 'went under cover' and they see how her death is devastating him. I think that under the circumstances as they have been presented thus far, they would give him the benefit of the doubt and just assume that -- whatever his and Lois' relationship had been in the most recent months -- there had been more going on than they knew about. I'd tell you more 'why' but then that might ruin Chapter 10 for you. Aha! So there is something more happening!  That shouldn't surprise me -- everything else I have seen in these two story parts tells me you have a firm grasp of the show and its characters. I'm sort of looking forward to chapter 10 now. Only 'sort of' because by the time I get there, I'll have read most of the story. Thanks for catching that 'loo' mistake. I couldn't remember any British people in my story needing to use the restroom. Ooops. [/QB] LOL! I had had a similar thought when I read it. You're welcome. Joy, Lynn
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The article was written by Perry White and she could tell he did not believe Clark’s protestations, “She never said a word.” Yeah. Right. “Is this true? What Perry writes about what happened to us? About what they did?”  Until we can figure out how to break that curse, one of you is destined to die every time you…” H. G. Wells paused as his cheeks turn red.
“Every time we what?”
Alternate Clark mumbled, “Become intimate.” Wouldn't that be fun? HG Wells popping into every Lois's home when she's still a baby, handing them a chastity belt and detailed instructions to keep her away from heroes? Not Clark mouthed ‘wow’ to H. G. Wells. “You talk a lot.”
She brushed away his concerns with her hand. “Only when I’m nervous. I think verbally.” “Precisely. This plan is not going to work.” They could tell his parents? “Or…” She rocked an imaginary baby in her arms. “How exactly would I explain that to him or anyone?” I visited Alt-Clark while you were gone and now I have a baby? Then realizing what she had done, she jumped back up and started pacing again. “Not going to work.” “And to think your Clark is going to miss this.” Other Clark raised an eyebrow towards H. G. Wells. Bad Clark. But they could tape it for him? “It might work. Ms. Lane, what if you didn’t vanish into thin air? What if we left someone here to take your place?” Couldn't Lois return to this exact moment in time after the curse is resolved? Provided the resolving happens in the past. Actually, couldn't HG and Clark resolve the curse in the past and that would be it? /mutters before realizing this might disrupt the entire purpose of this fic. “If you say clone, I’m out of here.” Lois waved her hand again. “It’s a long story.”
“On Lois and Clark’s wedding day, she was kidnapped by Lex Luthor and replaced by a clone, who Clark then married instead,” H. G. Wells explained. Okay, not so long after all. I was thinking about an earlier version of you. A pre-conditional you, let’s say.” And again, not so long after all. “I have that effect on women, too,” Clark said sympathetically. Yes, but with him, women likely just try to kill each other. With this one here, it's a primary love interest that gets in the crosshairs all the time. “I don’t know if I’m comfortable with this,” Clark spoke up. “It feels like we would be lying to Clark.”  If this works, he will have no choice but to forgive you. I know I would under these circumstances. Also, how about telling him when he gets back? "I can see why. It’s quite overpowering.” Clark lowered his glasses and watched with his x-ray vision as Lois ran across the street to her car. Oh boy. And this Clark has no actual experience in handling a Lois. “Lex Luthor showed me this underground bunker he had made out of an old bomb shelter.” The door closed and they started to descend. 
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“Kryptonians have the same powers as he does. And I don’t trust them. I have this sinking feeling like they are going to double cross Clark and I need to tell you something that they can never know. That they would use against him, if they knew.” But they're gone!  Michael
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Michael: These first parts... I think through the middle of Chapter 2, were not Beta'd before I posted them. (Another reason I THANK MY LUCKY STARS for Lynn! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Lynn!  1) They are expecting him not to return before she does. 2) Lois doesn't want her Clark to worry, knowing that she's over in the other dimension pregnant and possibly still cursed and possibly still going to die of complications with him not to have a way to reach her. Why stress him out over something he won't have it in his power to do anything about? They plan on telling him when she returns and the NK's have left for good. Oh dear. But how does she explain the Lnc from the 60s? It's a lot to take in all at once. Oh dear. Oh dear. Is she going to call Dr. Deter? Didn't he have his license revoked after seducing his patient? First thought was "she's worried about attracting Clarks". On second read, practical thinking for a mommy-to-be? But would she know, with her first baby and her lack of interest in the subject until recently. Maybe a little of the first, and she knows about pregnancy... about 15% at least! She must have written at least one article about pregnant women in her career at some point, right? Anyway, she has to leave clothes for the subtitute her to wear.
VirginiaR.
"On the long road, take small steps." -- Jor-el, "The Foundling"
---
"clearly there is a lack of understanding between those two... he speaks Lunkheadanian and she Stubbornanian" -- chelo.
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Thank you for reminding me to go back and fix those old mistakes /whispers: Also, it makes late readers happy  I love Star! I think she was underutilized in the series, so you'll see her again. I don't mind Warning the Lanes against those evil men in blue who seduce young women? Telling them their daughter will be probed by an alien. That's a lot of videotape. He will have lot's of time in those hours when he has to change diapers and rook little Kent to sleep while Lois actually sleeps? Still erases baby, which Lois is trying to avoid. It does? I just figured, she gets the baby in alt-land, the others fix the curse, and Lois returns a couple of days after she left, having lived 9 months in alt-land. It's kind of hard to tell him before he gets back. Michael
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