"When this is over, we will fly back to Smallville," Lois said as she arranged his cape over his shoulders. "You will make us supper, and after we have eaten, you and I will go upstairs."

"And what will happen then, Ms Lane?" he asked with a smile.

"Mr and Mrs Kent will indulge in some steamy honeymoon interaction."

His eyes lit with interest. "Is that a promise?"

"Absolutely."

There was a tap on the door, and Evan Shadbolt entered. "Ready?" he said.

Clark straightened his shoulders, wiped the warm affection from his expression, and faced Evan with business-like resolve. "Yes," he said. "I'm ready."


Part 15

After Clark had left, Lois turned on the television and settled into a chair to watch the live broadcast from Centennial Park, where it seemed a significant portion of the population of Metropolis was awaiting the arrival of its hero. An on-site fast-talking female reporter was making predictions about what they expected from Superman's first public appearance.

"Aw, Clark," Lois said, hoping he wouldn't find the seething mass of humanity too daunting.

The reporter stopped mid-sentence as an audible gasp rose from the throng of people. The camera view switched to the dais, where the red boots of Superman slowly descended. The focus continued to slide forward, and Clark's upper body filled the screen.

Tumultuous applause reverberated. And then from the disarray of loud approval came the chant of, "Superman! Superman!"

The camera zoomed in on Clark's face, and Lois gasped.

He looked - as she had foretold - as if he had been born to do this. He folded his arms across his blue spandex chest, straightened his shoulders to breath-stealing broadness, and slowly scanned the gathered people, his expression perfectly balanced between composed interest and unassuming confidence.

The chant continued.

The lump in Lois's throat liquefied and pushed tears into her eyes.

Clark didn't know it, but he had come such a long way - from despised prisoner to loved champion - in such a short time.

Lois's cell phone buzzed from her bag. She checked the caller ID, more than half inclined to ignore the call. When she saw it was from Daniel, she answered.

"Hi," he said. "Are you watching the television?"

What else would she be doing? "Yeah," she said. "What's up?" She didn't want to sound rude, but she did want this conversation over before the ceremony began.

"Eric has a grain of a lead regarding the whereabouts of the missing person."

Lois's stomach knotted as the burden of decision inched closer.

"I told him not to say anything," Daniel said. "But I wanted to give you a warning that you might need to prepare."

"Thanks," Lois said, appreciating his foresight.

"I'll keep in touch." Daniel disconnected the call, and Lois slipped her cell back into her bag.

On the television screen, the Mayor of Metropolis had stepped forward to the microphone. He waited, one hand raised as the noise of the crowd slowly abated. "Citizens of this great planet," he began. "Today is a momentous day in our history. Today, we officially extend our warmest welcome to our friend from beyond the frontiers of Earth - a friend who came to our planet and, in our darkest hour, risked his life to give us the chance of a future."

The wild cheers rose again.

Behind Lois, the door opened. She turned and smiled as Evan entered. He sat beside her and let out a whoosh of surprise. "Look at all of those people," he said.

"Look at them," Lois said. However, it wasn't the crowd that held her attention, but the man in the blue suit.

The mayor continued - managing to stretch his fairly limited knowledge of Superman to a full-blown five-minute speech. When he'd finished, he placed a medal around the hero's neck and endowed him the freedom of the city.

Clark thanked him graciously and stepped up to the microphone. "Friends," he said.

One word - one solitary word - and the crowd erupted again.

Evan glanced to Lois and gave her an encouraging smile. "He'll be fine," he said.

"I know," Lois said.

"You did a great thing."

"Thanks."

The crowd quieted enough that Superman attempted to speak again. "Thank you for such an enthusiastic and heartfelt welcome," he said. He opened his mouth, but his words were lost as the Superman chant began again.

"I hope he didn't plan a long speech," Evan said with a grin. "If he did, we might be here for hours."

"The press has been clamouring to question him," Lois said. "They wanted a media-only conference, but doing it this way meant he only had to appear once."

Evan's smile died. "Are you worried? About the questions?"

"Eric's there. He isn't on the dais yet, but he will coordinate the question time."

"Has Clark remembered anything?"

"Very little. I've told him a few things."

"Anything about how he spent most of the last seven years?"

"Not yet. I'm hoping for a few more days."

Evan shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. "I'm guessing ... I'm guessing the damage ran deep?"

Lois nodded slowly, fighting down the tears that threatened again. "Real deep."

"I'm sorry," Evan croaked. "I am so sorry."

"You only did as you were ordered."

"That's no excuse."

On the screen, the mayor had subdued the crowd enough that the questions could begin. Eric Menzies strode onto the dais and stood a few feet from Clark.

"Superman has agreed to take questions," Eric's voice boomed through the microphone. "But it is to be done in a controlled fashion." He turned to the roped-off section to the side of the temporary stage where those with a press pass had been permitted to gather. "First question." A bevy of hands shot skywards. Eric pointed at a man near the front. "You."

The question was murmured indistinctly. Eric straightened, faced Superman, and spoke into the microphone. "The question is, 'Are you fully recovered following your mission into space?'"

Superman's face mirrored the surprise that Lois felt. "Yes," he said. "Thank you for asking."

"You no longer need to recuperate at the EPRAD base?" Eric asked.

"No."

Eric pointed to another reporter, listened to the question, and returned to the microphone. "Are you the only one from your planet on Earth?"

"Yes," Superman replied. "I don't know of any others who survived the destruction of Krypton."

A murmur echoed through the crowd. "Krypton. Krypton."

"And, as we have seen already, you came here in friendship?" Eric said.

Superman nodded. "I had no home. I came to this planet seeking a place of refuge."

Eric took another question and repeated it for all to hear. "Did you have super-strength on your planet?"

"No."

"So your abilities developed after you arrived here?" a male voice called loudly from the midst of the crowd.

"Yes," Superman said.

"Do you know why?" the voice asked.

Eric spoke quickly. "As I revealed in a previous press conference, my agency worked with Superman for a considerable time in order to discover the extent of his abilities."

"Do you know why he's 'super'?"

Eric didn't falter. "His physiology has responded to the foreign environment here on Earth. Exactly why or how is beyond my capabilities to either understand or explain. I'm a government agent, not a scientist." He pointed to another reporter, a female at the front of the group of media representatives.

The woman ducked under the restraining rope and marched up the steps and onto the dais.

Lois's breath jammed in her airways. "That's Ruby Rhodes," Evan muttered ominously. "From the Daily Planet."

Rhodes ripped the microphone from its stand and confronted Superman. "Why did our government feel the need to imprison you?" she demanded. "Why did they respond to the leaks of your presence on our planet with the fabricated story of your death?"

Lois felt queasy apprehension well up inside her. She had tried so hard to keep the cell and Clark apart. Now they had come together. In the most public of ways. And she couldn't get to him. She had no way to try to cushion the damage.

She tried to examine his face or read his body language, but Eric stepped forward, blocking the view of the camera. He spoke into the microphone. "Once you have returned to your position with the other reporters, we will continue," he said firmly, regarding Rhodes with intractable determination. "If you refuse to do so, I will direct security to physically remove you."

The crowd erupted again, but this time the mood was harsh and disapproving. Ruby Rhodes scanned them and realised that, in a crowd of thousands, she was without a scrap of support. She opened her mouth. Eric frowned. The crowd booed. She stepped from the stage to the sound of riotous applause.

The camera rested briefly on Superman. His expression was deadpan, nullifying Lois's frantic attempts to interpret his feelings. Under that cool exterior, was he reeling from the mention of imprisonment? Was he angry? Confused? Upset?

Was he feeling betrayed? By her? By the one person he had thought he could trust?

Eric slipped the microphone back into its stand. "As I have already outlined," he said with a sigh of one whose patience was being sorely tested, "Superman worked with a government agency for months before the advent of the asteroid." His eyes slid over the crowd. "Is it realistic to think that something as complex and meticulous as a space mission could be planned and executed within a few hours?"

There was a murmur of acceptance. Eric turned to his left and stared at the Daily Planet reporter. She stared back, unremorseful.

"Ms Rhodes came to me earlier this week, threatening to print her limited and misconstrued information - information she had received from a disgruntled former agent who had been dismissed from working with Superman following the agent's attempt to rape a female colleague." Eric paused, allowing time for the crowd to digest that. "I believed that if Ms Rhodes had published her story, it could have jeopardised the final preparations for Superman's mission. The primary objective of every government agency is to ensure the safety of the people."

A solemn hush had fallen over the crowd. The camera slowly panned over it before resting on Superman, who looked more like a vaguely interested spectator than the centre of the discussion.

Lois's stomach squeezed again. Had Clark retreated into his private world as he tried to assimilate Rhodes' question into the landscape of his obliterated memories?

Eric continued speaking, and the camera focused on him, edging Superman from the screen. "I think it would be easy for us to overlook a critical truth here," he said. "Had the asteroid hit the earth, it would have almost certainly resulted in the deaths of millions of people. Your chance of survival, my chance of survival ... " He turned to his left and paused for a second that seemed to stretch to breaking point. " ... Ms Rhodes' chance of survival - would have been slim. But Superman would have almost certainly survived. He could have flown to the furthest point from the impact, and he has already proven his body's ability to adapt to changed conditions."

Eric waited while the crowd murmured its response.

"Any further questions?" he asked. He pointed to a young woman at the back of the assembly of reporters. "Yes?"

"Is Superman married?" she called out loudly. "Does he have a girlfriend? Does he want one?"

Eric leant forward to the microphone and spoke over the laughter of the crowd. "Superman doesn't answer personal questions," he said. "But I think I would be correct in saying that any such offers would be met with a polite refusal."

"So he's happily single?" the woman continued. "What a waste."

The crowd laughed again, and it seemed to Lois that the pressure-cooker atmosphere engendered by Ruby Rhodes had eased considerably. Her own trepidation hadn't eased at all. What was Clark thinking?

Evan glanced sideways, and his hand covered hers for a brief moment. "Don't worry," he said. "Clark knows that you did everything in his best interests."

"But I don't want him to know about the cell," Lois said fretfully. "Not yet. Not until ..."

"You're wearing a wedding ring," Evan said. "Don't underestimate what that means."

"But I married him before he knew everything."

"Does he love you?"

"Yes."

"Then something as horrific as the cell might be able to shake that, but it won't be able to break it."

"You think?"

"I'm sure." He smiled. "You two have something. Something special. Something that is so inherent to your relationship that nothing outside could possibly penetrate it. Frankly, I'm envious."

"Thank you," Lois said, hoping he was right. She heard Clark's voice and returned her attention to the screen.

" ... new to this. Standing before you, knowing you know that I am not one of you - that is daunting. Unless you have experienced being one in the midst of billions, you probably won't be able to comprehend how much I have appreciated your welcome and acceptance."

"Being so strong and fast, you probably won't be able to comprehend how much we appreciate not being decapitated by an asteroid," a voice shouted.

The crowd broke into laughter. Eric smiled stiltedly. Superman's mask slipped enough that an embryonic smile emerged.

Lois felt captivated all over again. That smile had never failed to call to something deep inside her, brightening the bleakest of moments.

In that smile, she found hope. Maybe everything would be all right. Maybe the foundation of their love was strong enough to withstand the buffeting of memories from the cell. Maybe it was strong enough to keep Clark from slipping back into the clutches of the trauma he had suffered for so many years.

"On that note, I think we've had enough questions for today," Eric said. "But I would like to finish with a request to all of you. If you see Superman, be friendly, but please don't overwhelm him. Remember what he said about being the only one in the midst of billions, and please give the man some space."

"Will he sign some autographs for us?" a voice came from the crowd.

"No," Eric said dryly. "He won't." He crossed to Superman, shook his hand, and muttered a few private words.

Superman lifted slowly, hovered long enough to wave to the crowd, and then flew away.

"Well done," Evan said. "You handled them like a professional."

"Excuse me?" Lois said, turning to her companion.

Evan gave a smiling shrug. "That's what Menzies said to Superman. 'Well done. You handled them like a professional.'"

"How do you know?"

"Layla is deaf. She taught me how to lip-read."

"Oh," Lois said, not knowing how to respond.

Evan smiled. "Luckily, she doesn't need to be able to hear to sew."

"She did a wonderful job designing Clark's suit."

Evan grinned, looking like a proud father. "Yeah," he said. "Although at first ..."

They shared a laugh. "Layla might not be able to hear," Lois said, "but she could see some things with more clarity than the rest of us. The suit is exactly right."

Evan nodded. "I guess you haven't heard anything more about Clark's mother?"

"Nothing concrete. Do you remember anything? You were there at the start. Did Trask or Moyne say anything about what happened to his parents?"

"Menzies asked me about that today," Evan said. "I've been thinking about those early days - trying to work out why I believed Trask without ever questioning whether he was speaking the truth."

"But then Deller was killed, and the blame fell to Clark, and that just confirmed that he was a vicious animal," Lois said.

Evan grimaced at the bitterness in her tone.

"Sorry," she said. "That wasn't directed at you."

"I deserve it," he said. "To my dying day, I will feel ashamed of my part in this."

"Daniel told me that you helped him cover our escape."

"Once I'd read Trask's journals and discovered that they contained a lot of inconsistencies and more than a few outright lies, I realised there was a very good chance that the prisoner we had so conscientiously guarded for seven years very likely hadn't killed anyone."

"Moyne killed Deller and Bortolotto," Lois said. "Clark was weakened by the rods, so he couldn't help them. But he had to watch."

"I heard that Moyne was killed," Evan said. "In Kansas."

His tone was light, but Lois thought it likely that he knew more than he had verbalised.

"There *is* one thing that I remembered," Evan continued. "A few days before Deller was killed, I arrived at the compound for my shift and heard shouting in the staffroom. They quieted as soon as they heard me unlock the door."

"Who was it?"

"Deller and Moyne. Moyne had no reason to be there. It was Deller's shift."

"They were arguing?"

"Yes. After Deller had died, Moyne told me they'd been arguing over whether the rods were really needed."

"Deller wasn't sure?" Lois guessed.

"That's what Moyne said. And, of course, his contention that they were imperative was supposedly proven correct just a few days later when Deller's torn and broken body was found in the cell."

"I wonder what they were arguing about," Lois said.

"Moyne's story - the part about the argument - could have been the truth," Evan said cautiously.

"Moyne went in there without a rod."

"He did?" Evan said, his voice rising with surprise.

"Yep. Clark told me some of what he did during those night shifts."

Evan's face twisted. "I don't want to know," he said.

"Only one person alive knows what happened when Moyne was alone with Clark," Lois said. "And if he never remembers, that can only be a good thing." She stood from the chair as anxiety cascaded over her again. "Shouldn't Clark be back by now?"

"Maybe he got caught by autograph hunters," Evan suggested lightly.

"Yeah," Lois said, but it didn't appease her worries. "Don't say anything to Clark about the search for his mom."

"What did you tell him?"

"That she had passed away years ago."

Evan nodded slowly. "Any other story would have been difficult to substantiate," he said. "And Clark's questions could have gotten very messy."

"I regret it now," Lois said. "I've been evasive at times, but that's about the only straight-out lie I've told him."

"He'll understand why."

"If she has passed away, the pain of that will be blunted for Clark. If she hasn't, and we manage to find her, I'm not sure how he'll react."

"He won't blame you."

"I chose to lie to him."

"Lois," Evan said, standing up and moving right to the edge of her personal space. "You landed the worst operation of all time - a complete disaster that violated every human rights convention ever written. Somehow, from that accumulated pile of muck, you stood against the accepted beliefs, you rescued an innocent man, you put your life on hold to help him in the onerous task of trying to rebuild his life, and you still managed to keep the agency from being smeared across the news like a foul-smelling scandal. And that's without mentioning the small detail that the innocent man turned out to be our only hope in avoiding a disaster that could have finished the lot of us."

"But none of that changes that I lied to him."

"Why did you lie to him?"

"To keep him from remembering the cell." Lois felt hot tears rise. "You should have seen him, Evan," she said. "He was like two different men. Before the amnesia, he was so unsure, so broken, so damaged, so indoctrinated to believe he was less than human. But afterwards when he couldn't remember it, he was so gloriously free. He smiled. He joked sometimes. He was like a new person - still Clark, but without the pain. I wanted to keep that for him."

"He will understand that," Evan said.

"How can you be sure?"

"Because when he came here the first time - before the asteroid, when he still remembered what I had done to him - he treated me with far more respect than I deserved. He's a good man. Better than good."

"Yes," Lois said.

The door opened, and Clark walked in, his cape swinging. He stopped, his eyes darting from Lois to Evan. "Is everything OK?"

"Everything's fine," Evan said as he moved forward and briefly shook Clark's hand. "You did great." He slipped from the room, quietly closing the door.

Lois eyed Clark, desperately trying to read his expression.

He stared at her, his eyes filled with questions. "Was it *that* bad?" he said.

She stepped closer to him. "The press conference?"

"Yeah. You look ... you look upset." His hand lifted towards her face, but dropped before touching her. "You've been crying."

"No," Lois said, hurriedly brushing at her eyes. "No. I just ... I wasn't sure if you were all right with it."

"It *seemed* to go OK," Clark said with a small shrug.

Suddenly, Lois realised that he was waiting for her guidance. "You were wonderful," she said.

"Really?"

"Really."

But he didn't look convinced.

Lois felt panic pummel against the flimsy veil of her composure. Something had risen up between them. Was it just a misunderstanding? Had Clark remembered something? Was he suspicious that she hadn't been entirely truthful with him? She had to find out what he was thinking - then she had a chance of getting them through this without it turning into a total wreck. "What's wrong, Clark?"

He didn't seem taken aback by her question. Perhaps he felt it, too. "Eric seemed unduly displeased by that woman who came onto the stage."

"Is that all that perturbed you?"

Clark looked as if he didn't want to answer.

"Tell me," Lois encouraged.

"When I walked in here, I got the impression that you and Evan were talking about something and that my presence stopped the conversation cold."

Was he concerned about secrets? Or had he felt a twinge of jealousy? Surely not - Evan was at least twenty years older than she was. But she needed to remember that Clark didn't have the stockpile of memories to give him assurance in new situations. "Evan and I have worked together," Lois said, levelling her eyes in Clark's. "He was an agent before he worked here as a security guard."

Clark's face cleared. "I didn't realise that you knew him so well," he said. "I'm sorry if I sounded suspicious."

"You didn't. We were just talking about the press conference. We watched it together."

Clark's smile came hesitantly. "So, everything's OK?" he asked hopefully.

"You seemed to take a long time to get back here."

"Ah ... yeah."

"What happened?" Lois asked as another swarm of worries teemed into her mind.

"I was flying back to the base, and I heard someone crying," Clark said. "I looked down, and I saw it was a little girl. She was probably about six years old. I landed next to her, hoping I wouldn't scare her too much. She stopped crying and told me that she had lost her mom. I asked her name, and she said 'Amy', so I listened through all the other city noise, and I heard a woman's voice calling for her. I figured I shouldn't ask Amy to come with me because she'd probably been taught not to go with strangers, so I told her to sit down on a seat and if she promised she would stay there, I would be back with her mom before she could count to twenty."

Lois smiled as she pictured Superman with the little girl. "Did you find her mom?"

"Yeah. I followed the shouts, found her, told her I would take her to her daughter, and got her there before Amy had counted to fifteen."

Lois put her arms around Clark's neck. "Your first rescue," she said. "Other than the asteroid, of course."

"I'm not sure it counts as a rescue," Clark said. "But I did stop a little girl from crying."

"And relieved a distraught mother," Lois added. "I'm sure that meant a lot to her."

"It did," Clark said. "She was crying and holding Amy and trying to thank me all at the same time."

"You did well."

Clark's smile was fleeting. "So, how about you tell me the truth?" he asked gently as he brushed her hair back behind her ear. "What upset you? Was it just because I took so long to get back to you?"

"I wondered if you were perturbed by that Rhodes woman," Lois said cautiously.

Clark's smile began in his eyes and slowly spread to his mouth. "Lois, honey," he said. "I had already figured out that I must have worked with the agency for a considerable time before the asteroid."

"You did?" Lois said. "How?"

"The farm. If I had spent most of my time there, there's no way it should be looking like it does. Not if I'm any sort of a farmer."

"Oh," Lois said, not sure what else to say.

"Was it such a big secret?" Clark asked. "We obviously met somehow - us both working for the agency seems the most plausible explanation."

Could it be possible that she had been given a little more time? If so, Lois was determined to pack some more good memories into Clark's cache. "So what happens now?" she asked brightly.

"As I recall, you made certain promises," Clark said. "Something to do with 'steamy honeymoon interaction.'"

"Can I watch as you change your clothes?"

He tried to look shocked, but failed dismally.

Lois giggled. "Get out of the suit, Superman," she said. "I need Clark, not a superhero in spandex."

His smile was tempered by the unmistakable desire that flared into his eyes.

Lois lifted his cape and slowly, sensually lowered the zipper on the back of the suit, skimming her fingernail down his spine.

Clark spun around quickly. "Lois," he hissed, although his grin hadn't diminished any. "What are you trying to do to me? We're in public." He glanced around the room. "Semi-public. And Evan will be back any moment to take us to the Jeep."

"So?" she teased.

"Stand back."

"Huh?"

"Just stand back," Clark directed. "I want to try something."

Lois stepped away. Clark spun into a bright blue and red blur that progressed into the more muted colours of his jeans and sweater.

His whir of movement stopped, and Clark stood before her, grinning. "Was that fast enough for you?"

"H...How did you do that?"

"I can cross the United States in less than a minute," he said. "I figure that when I have the right motivation, I should be able to do other things quickly."

Lois picked up the discarded suit. His warmth still clung to the fabric. She folded it carefully and put it in her bag, giving Clark his glasses, watch, and wallet. Lastly, she slipped his wedding ring onto his finger. "You owe me," she said, trying to sound stern. "For cheating me out of seeing Superman strip."

He kissed her. "Once we're home, honey ..." he said.

Lois chuckled at the promise dripping from his words. She picked up her cell phone. "I'll call Evan," she said. "It's definitely time we got out of here."

||_||

Two hours later, Evan Shadbolt watched the news as he ate his evening meal in the cafe at the EPRAD base. Everything - the headlines, the reports, the interviews - centred exclusively on Superman's appearance in Centennial Park.

The transformation was mind-boggling, Evan mused. To think that for seven years, he had sat in the staffroom of the compound, never suspecting that on the other side of the door was a humane and caring individual endowed with such mighty strength of character.

Scorching shame rose into his throat - shame that reared up every time he thought about his part in the alien operation. There was little he could do now other than offer his scant support to Lois and Clark and try to teach his girls to question the prejudices of others.

His radio buzzed, and a tinny voice instructed him that he was required to check an intruder at the front gate.

Evan sighed. Another one. Since the asteroid, the front gate of the base had been the target for dozens of people wanting to catch a glimpse of Superman. He'd hoped that following the appearance today, people would stop coming to the base.

But apparently, someone hadn't gotten the message that Superman was no longer here.

Leaving his meal and hoping he would be back before it had cooled too much, Evan took the elevator to the ground floor and crossed the stretch of concrete to the front gate.

A woman stood there - a petite woman, probably in her fifties, with light sandy-coloured hair swept into a bundle at the back of her head. She was wearing a dark skirt that reached her ankles and a well-worn coat.

Evan went to the gate. She looked harmless enough, but that didn't change the fact that she had no business being at the front gate of the EPRAD base. "You can't stay there, Ma'am," he said kindly.

She pushed a sealed envelope through the bars of the gate. "Could you please give this to Superman?" she asked.

"What is it?"

"A note of appreciation," she said.

"Superman isn't here anymore."

She pushed the letter further through the grill of the gate. "Please give this to Superman," she said.

Evan was on the verge of telling her that they were a space research facility, not a postal service, when he noticed the resolve in her eyes. Whoever she was, it was important to her that this letter get to Superman. He took the envelope. "OK," he said. "I'm not sure when Superman will be back at the base, but I'll try to ensure that he gets your letter. You should go home now."

"Thank you," she said with infinitely more gratitude than his meagre gesture warranted. She gave him a small smile and picked up her shabby suitcase. Evan looked beyond her, noticing that there was no car in sight.

"Ma'am," he said. "It's a couple of miles to the nearest bus stop. Do you have someone I can call to come and pick you up?"

She turned back. "No," she said. "But I'll be fine. Just give that letter to Superman."

It would be dark in twenty minutes. Evan had only an hour left of his shift. He paused. It was against protocol to allow members of the public into the base, but he'd followed instructions to the letter at the compound - and had been complicit in one of the greatest miscarriages of justice of all time. "Ma'am," he said, wondering if this were stupidity or the first step in a new direction. "Would you like to come inside and have a cup of tea? I'll be leaving soon, and I can drive you to the bus stop."

"No," she said. "Thank you."

"Do you have somewhere to go tonight? Do you have money for the bus?"

"I have money," she said, a spark of pride in her tone.

It would be dark before she got to the bus stop. Evan punched in the security code and opened the gate. "Come on," he said. "I'll get you a cup of tea."

He saw the battle raging inside her. Saw how tempted she was by the thought of a hot drink and somewhere to rest. How far had she walked? Had she taken the bus? Or had she walked much further than the two miles from the bus stop? When had she last eaten?

"It's quiet here this time of the day," Evan said. "Most of the scientists have gone home."

He saw her moment of capitulation and wondered why delivering her letter had been so important to her. "Thank you," she said with quiet grace. "Tea would be wonderful."

Evan took her suitcase, re-locked the gate, and re-set the alarm. "Come this way," he said. "What's your name?"

"Esther Wallace."

She wasn't wearing a wedding ring. "We'll get you that cup of tea, Miss Wallace," he said, "and then I'll find you somewhere to stay for the night."