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Part 12

Part 13

Near Midnight – Saturday Night

Clark set down his pen and looked at the chicken scratch statement he had come up with for the press conference tomorrow. He would take no questions, just give his statement. He hoped it would be enough.

He glanced at the clock. It was late, going on midnight. He had been alone in the store for roughly an hour. He liked the silence of being here by himself. He liked shelving books at fast speed. It was a challenge, being careful at top indoor speed. But tonight, tonight he wanted some music and he wanted to hear what was being said about his other persona.

Clark borrowed Perry’s radio from his boss’s office and set it on the main cashier counter on the third floor. He could have hooked it into the store’s P.A. system, but with his good hearing, it was completely unnecessary. As he went to turn on the radio the store’s phone rang. It had never rung on one of his overnight shifts before. Clark reached over and picked it up.

“Daily Books,” he said tentatively.

“Clark?” her voice made his skin tingle.

“Lois. Is everything all right?”

“Uh-huh,” Lois said, but for some reason he didn’t believe her. “I just missed you.”

Clark smiled as he sat down on the counter. “I miss you, too. Lois, don’t you work at the crack of dawn tomorrow?”

“You know I do,” she replied.

He had offered to leave her the truck for her to use in the morning, knowing he was perfectly able to zip to work on his own, especially after her kisses left his gravity control seriously on the fritz. But she hadn’t known any of that and had refused his offer, believing he would be late if he didn’t take the truck.

Clark realized she sounded a bit breathless. “Lois? Did you have another nightmare?”

There was a pause before she laughed. “Clark, I told you, I didn’t have a nightmare last weekend…” Then her laughter turned into nervous giggles.

“You what?” Clark murmured, he could hear her heart racing.

“I had been dreaming of you and me…” she paused again.

“Oh, right, the rock climbing.”

“No, Clark. We weren’t rock climbing.”

Clark’s mind went in a thousand different directions at lightning speed and then stopped on an image of him sucking her toes. Heat rose in his cheeks. “Oh,” he said, his voice cracking on that one word.

“I was dreaming about…” her husky voice faded.

Was Lois about to whisper into his ear in the middle of the night her intimate dreams about the two of them? He swallowed. “Maybe you shouldn’t tell me,” Clark suggested. He would likely go crazy being locked in the store if he heard her tell him what exactly she had been dreaming about.

“Are you sure, Clark?” Lois teased him.

“Do you feel safer whispering these things to me knowing I cannot rush right over there?” he inquired.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Clark. I never feel safer than I do in your arms.”

His heart soared. “I…” Clark didn’t know how to respond to that statement using words.

“I dreamed that we were kissing,” Lois admitted in a rush.

“Oh.” Clark’s silly grin was back. “Really?” She had wanted him to kiss her a week ago? So much so that she had dreamed about it? He really had been a dense idiot!

Lois laughed flirtatiously. “No, not really, but I’m not going to tell you what we were actually doing.”

Clark joined her laughter. “Tease.” He was floating above the counter now. “Go to sleep, Lois.”

“Good night, Clark.”

“Sweet dreams, Lois.”

“Ooh. Do I get to dream of you?” She bubbled with laughter again.

“Good night, Lois,” Clark said, hanging up before she could say more about her dreams. He hadn’t thought his day could get better. He had thought wrong. Lois was fantasizing about kissing him, about more than kissing him. Clark spun around in mid-air with joy. There couldn’t be a happier man on the planet.

Clark floated down and turned on the radio, then flew into Receiving and pulled out the cart of shelving Jimmy had left for the ‘weekend book shelvers.’ He set the cart down by the counter as the DJ came back on.

“And that was Flash by Queen dedicated to Metropolis's new savior from the guys down at City Hall. I don't know if the man in blue... and red... and with the big 'S' on his chest would like to be compared to a football hero, but what the hey. I also played Blue Suede Shoes dedicated by Perry. Yo, Perry, I'm looking at the LNN footage and, sorry, dude, he's wearing red boots. Only the suit was blue. And then finally These Boots were Made for Walkin’ by Nancy Sinatra dedicated by Cat. Um... Kitty Cat, I'm thinking those boots were made for Flying! What's with the shoe references, tonight? Do we have a new foot fetish epidemic in Metropolis? Anyway, this is Lenny Stokes, the Soundman, coming to you from WMET - all rock, all the time. We're taking dedications all night long for our new superhero. 'Let's see if we can get that man to dance!' say the ladies down at the Apricot Diner on Third who have dedicated this oldie from KC and The Sunshine Band, Get Down Tonight.”

Clark laughed, flying around the store, putting books away here and there.

After a station break, the DJ came back on. “It’s Lenny Stokes, The Soundman, again. DC – sorry, girl, I cannot pronounce your name, if my life depended on it – suggests we call our new hero Mr. Fahrenheit, after the Queen song, Don’t Stop Me Now! Mr. Fahrenheit, huh? I know the women of Metropolis thinks he’s hot stuff in those tights, but Mr. Fahrenheit? We’ll have to think about that one. And what is with all the Queen requests tonight? Is there something about a man in tights that makes one naturally think of Queen?” Lenny guffawed. “Well, all you homophobes out there, better watch what you say from now on, just in case. I doubt you want to make this man angry. Here is DC’s request, Don’t Stop Me Now!”

Clark laughed with a shake of his head. Well, that was an interesting take on his new suit. He had never had any doubts where his interest lay in that department. Let the masses think what they wanted of him. He and Lois knew the truth.

The song started and Clark’s feet began to tap to the beat, then his hips started to move. He twisted across the open space and ended up sliding on his knees on the slick tiles surrounding the handrail overlooking the ‘pit’. The books on the cart forgotten as he danced around the store, the music making his body express the joy in his heart. Suddenly, he was spinning mid-air over the open space in the center of the store.

As the song ended, Clark landed on the carpet of the ground floor in a one-knee kneel. He glanced up to see a homeless man staring at him through the window. Clark shrugged with a smile at the man and waved, then jogged up the stopped stairs of the escalator back to the third floor. As he stepped off of the escalator, he saw a bright light and heard Jor-El’s voice.

“There is no longer any doubt. The chain reaction has begun. As panic spreads, the population awakens too late to its fate. Our future is inevitable.”

The globe! That was why Lois had called him. Why her voice had sounded shaky. Why her heart had been racing. Clark was amazed and a bit dismayed that he could see and hear the sphere’s message from so far away. Amazed that the globe and him were so attuned to one another. Dismayed that Lois could, would, and did activate it without him.

Lois had called him, probably to tell him about the globe, only he had distracted her by talking about her dreams. He wouldn’t take back that conversation for the world, but he still wish he hadn’t sidetracked her. Obviously her fear of the sphere was now gone if she felt comfortable enough activating it, touching it without him there.

“At last the computers have located a suitable destination. A planet physically and biologically compatible with Krypton whose inhabitants resemble ours, and whose society is based on ethical standards which we, too, embrace in concept, if not always in deed.”

That was what they had been looking for in the previous message. Something was happening to the planet Krypton and they were looking for a new planet on which to live.

“The inhabitants call it, simply, Earth.”

The light and image of his birth parents faded. Clark sat down on the floor and thought about what he had just learned. He had been sent to Earth on purpose. Did that mean that others from Krypton had also made it here? If so, he had just announced his presence to them in a big way. Would they try to contact him? Would he finally meet others like himself? What would that mean for planet Earth? Would they want to help Earth, like he did? Or…

Clark thought about what Jor-El had said, “Ethical standards we too embrace in concept, if not in deed.”

… Or not?

***

Sunday

Lois paced by the front doors of Daily Books. She felt bad about not telling Clark about the globe glowing again. She had meant to – that was why she had called him – only they had gotten off the subject. She placed a hand to her warm cheeks. She couldn’t believe she told – a bit – about her erotic Clark dream to him! Somehow it was easier to share secrets in the middle of the night over the telephone. Had he been there in person…

If he had still been in your apartment after midnight, Lois, you wouldn’t have needed to tell him about your dream, you could have lived it instead.

Why did her thoughts always go there as she was about to see Clark? The man was apt to think she was perpetually flushed.

You are. For him.

To divert herself from these thoughts, Lois pressed the buzzer and looked in the window in hopes of catching her first glance of Clark since the night before.

Addicted much?

Lois smiled with a roll of her eyes. A bit, she confessed to herself. His kisses were…

She saw the escalators start to move. Shadowing her eyes from the morning sun, she finally got a glimpse of Clark coming down the escalator. He saw her peering through the window and his face lit up. He was happy to see her.

Duh! The last thing you said to him was that you were dreaming about him. Of course he’s happy to see you.

Clark approached the door and then glanced down at his watch. “Lois, it’s barely six-thirty. I’m not supposed to let anyone in until seven o’clock,” he called through the door.

Damn!

Lois held up a small white bag. “I brought breakfast.” She batted her eyelashes and held up a carrying tray with two cups of coffee.

“I guess I could make an exception this one time,” he replied, pulling his keys off his belt. “But you better not make this a habit or you’ll get me in trouble.”

He’s always bending the rules for you, Lois. The man is smitten.

She was too, she acknowledged to herself. There was just something irresistible about Clark Kent.

As he opened the door, she handed him the items from her hand – which he accepted without question, the gentleman – freeing her to wrap her arms around his neck and pressing a kiss to his lips.

“Good morning, Clark, “she murmured.

He swallowed. “Lois, I am on duty.”

She took the breakfast items back from him and sauntered into the store.

“You can’t take a five minute break and greet me properly?” she asked innocently.

Clark grinned wickedly at her and she felt like melted butter under his gaze. “Perhaps a few minutes.” Before he locked the doors, he easily brought in the huge bundles of Sunday papers.

Oh, you’ve got to feel those muscles again.

Clark looked down at the cover of the Metropolis Star, distracted from her.

Lois started up the escalator. “You can read the paper later, Clark, but if you don’t come up soon, I can’t guarantee there will be any donuts left.”

Clark double checked that the front doors were locked and then followed her up the escalator. He caught up to her before she reached the break room. He took the coffees from her once again and held open the door to the break room.

Lois put her items in an empty locker and went to set the bag of donuts on the table, when a pair of strong arms surrounded her. His lips hungrily found hers and Clark pulled her closer. The kiss was so strong, Lois could feel it release a desire deep inside of her; a desire never before released. She dropped the donuts and wrapped her arms around his neck. Then as his kisses continued, she felt the need to climb up his body to become even closer to him. Clark must have sensed her need because his hands moved down her back and lifted her up. Lois wrapped her legs around his hips and locked her ankles around his backside.

“Lois,” he moaned as she squeezed her legs.

“Clark,” she replied with her own moan. Then Lois remembered where they were. She unlocked her ankles and slid down his firm body with a sigh of regret. Reluctantly, she pulled her lips from his. “Maybe we should have breakfast.”

“I’m happy to survive on your kisses,” he murmured, bringing his mouth back to hers.

Lois smiled and set her hands on his chest. “There’s something I want to tell you.”

With a regretful sigh of his own, Clark stepped away. “Do you know what you do to me?”

Lois’s smile grew into a silly grin. “I have an inkling.” She looked around for the donuts and found the bag on the floor. “Oops. I hope they aren’t too smashed.”

“I don’t think we stepped on it, so they’re probably only a little bruised,” he said hopefully, sitting down at the break table.

She opened the bag. “I got a glazed, an old fashioned, a jelly and a…”

“Ooh! Cake! My favorite,” said Clark, taking that one. Then he belatedly apologized.

“I was hoping you like those,” Lois replied with relief. She hadn’t known what kind of donuts Clark liked so she had gotten a variety. She liked how his eyes lit up as he grabbed that donut, just like a little boy’s. She was amazed at how alert he seemed after staying up all night. She was dragging her feet and she had gotten five hours of sleep – more or less.

Clark shot her a smile. “Usually people go for the glazed – bringing only that kind.”

“I aim to please.” She laughed.

He took her hand in his. “You always please me, Lois.”

If he keeps talking to you like this, you’re going to be seriously in love with him – and soon.

Lois returned Clark’s smile and attempted not to repeat her thoughts aloud to him. It was too soon, way too soon to be speaking of love, even in jest.

Clark took a sip of his coffee, then tried not to wince, failing miserably.

“Not sweet enough?” she asked.

He stood up and retrieved some sugar packets and creamer from the snack counter. “I’ve got a bit of a sweet tooth.”

Lois smiled coquettishly at him over her cup. “Is that why you like me?”

Clark laughed. “You, Lois, are both sweet and spicy.”

Nice save after that laughter, big boy.

Lois watched as he opened packet after packet of sugar and poured them into his coffee. “Clark, how do you eat like this and look…” she held up a hand towards him.

Absolutely delicious?... Extra nibblishous?... So gorgeous?... Completely irresistible?

“… as good as you do,” Lois finally finished, glancing away.

Chicken! Clark would love to hear how much you crave his body.

Clark knew how much she craved his body by her kisses, she didn’t need to verbalize those thoughts.

He shrugged his response, but his smile didn’t fade. After he finished fixing his coffee, he reached back and took her hand again. “There was something you wanted to tell me?” He flashed her a grin. “I don’t know if I could handle more revelations about your dreams,” he teased.

Lois glanced away from his eyes for a second, then returned his gaze with intensity. “Your loss.” She grinned, her eyebrows moving up and down, as she watched him swallow.

Clark cleared his throat. “Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

She chuckled and squeezed his hand. “No.” Then she launched into what happened with the globe. He listened to everything she said, hanging on her every word.

She knew why the sphere fascinated her. She wondered what Clark thought about an alien living amongst them. Did this thought scare him? Thrill him? Make him nervous? She wished he would share his feelings about what they had learned from the globe. She knew she was mostly to blame for not knowing how he felt, because of her previous hysterics. But now that she was calmer, maybe they could discuss what he was thinking.

“And the sphere responded when you touched it?” he asked, his voice in awe.

Lois smiled reassuringly. “Yes. Same as you. Sorry, handsome, there’s no special connection between you and the globe. Anyone can activate it, it seems.” She had been teasing him, but she observed a hint of sorrow shadow his face, but then she saw him draw it back, so she wouldn’t notice.

Had Clark thought he had had a unique bond to the globe? Had that made him feel important? That the globe hadn’t done anything until he had entered her life? Lois put her other hand on top of his. “Some of us think you’re pretty special nonetheless. Don’t take it personally, Clark. The only one who should is the alien himself.”

Clark smiled indulgently at her. “I wish you had mentioned it last night.”

Lois flushed and glanced away. “I meant to, Clark, but then you distracted me with talk of my dreams.” She licked her lips. Thinking about that dream always made her want to kiss Clark. He must have read her mind, because he cupped her jaw with his palm and lightly kissed her. His touch set her on fire. She wrapped her arms around him and slid into his lap, deepening the kiss.

“How is it that no woman has laid claim to you before now, Clark? I just can’t stop kissing you.”

Clark winked at her. “Don’t worry about me, Lois. I’ll get used to it eventually,” he teased, then kissed her again. “If you can get used to me finding you irresistible.”

Ooh. Love this man!

“But…”

Oh, no! Not the ‘but’ word again…

“… if you don’t move back to your chair, I may end up walking funny today,” he murmured between her kisses.

Lois raised a brow. “Are you saying that I’m too heavy?”

Clark returned her brow, raising his with equal measure, and gave her a ‘do I look that stupid to you?’ glance. “Are you going to make me spell it out for you? We are at work.”

Lois gave him one last kiss and a naughty grin before moving back to her chair.

He exhaled and tried to focus on his donut and coffee for a minute in silence, but failed as he kept glancing over at her. Finally, they both broke the silence with laughter and Lois took hold of his hand once more.

“Clark, does the thought of an alien…” No. Lois shook her head. Leading question. “Knowing that there is an alien on Earth, how does that make you feel?”

He swallowed, looking down deep into his coffee cup in thought. “Excited, but I know he scares you…”

She wiped his words out of the air. “We’re not talking about me or my feelings, I’ll explain them later. I want to hear what you think. So you’re excited?” She motioned for him to continue.

“You aren’t scared of him?” he asked in shock, almost incredulously.

Lois smiled indulgently at Clark. Tempus had already told her that the alien was good; so good that a utopian society was built on his ideals. She hoped she wasn’t the type of woman who would ever fall for a bad man. “OK. I’ll answer this one question, then I want to know what you feel.” She took a deep breath, trying to organize her thoughts and then continued, “How I feel is complicated. All that we’ve learned from the globe and …” She didn’t want to tell Clark what Tempus told her. “… I have to believe deep in my heart that the alien is a good man or I’ll go crazy. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. Now, can you…”

Clark took both her hands in his and looking into her eyes said, “Lois, I lo…”

Lois placed her fingers to his mouth. “Clark, I’ve shared my feelings, now you.”

He smiled at her – a big happy smile that reached his eyes, cupped her jaw in his hands and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

“No distractions, Clark. Please.” She placed a hand on his chest and pushed him gently away. “I’ve got to clock-in soon.”

“I’m nervous about this last message from the sphere. What if there are more aliens than just this one man? What if they aren’t all good?”

“If there had been more than one, don’t you think we’d have heard something before now? Pete and I found the globe over twenty years ago,” she said not wanting to think about an alien invasion.

“Maybe they are hiding like he has been,” Clark suggested, his eyes wide and fearful.

“Clark, did the sphere say anything to you – in that first message – before I woke up to lead you to believe this? Any information about the man giving the message?”

He stared at her for a minute without speaking. Was he thinking about her question? Or was he debating whether or not he should tell her the truth? Finally Clark said, “He said that there would be five parts to the message.”

“Five parts? Five parts?” Lois threw up her hands in frustration. “You know, if these were large messages or full of information I could understand that. Why didn’t it just give us the whole message at once instead of making us wait a couple of days between each part?”

“I couldn’t agree more, Lois.”

How come each time he looks at you, it seems like he likes you more? Where is this man’s flaw? He’s too perfect. No one – especially a man – can be this wonderful.

Lois’s head was spinning. Her passionate side was turning logical, almost wary. She pushed these thoughts aside. She could use some Mr. Wonderful in her life at the moment. “We’ve only seen three out of the five messages. Let’s reserve this fear until we have more information.”

“You’re right. This is all conjecture,” he responded, exhaling.

“Complete conjecture.” Lois bubbled with laughter. “Who knows if we’ll ever learn more about this alien than what the sphere tells us? We may never even meet the man.”

Clark stared at her. “Ah, Lois, there’s…” The after-hours buzzer sounded, cutting him off. “That’s probably the Assistant Manager. I better go.” He stood up reluctantly. “Thanks for breakfast.”

“Anytime,” she replied.

He flashed her a grin before heading out the door.

Great. You just told him you’ll make him breakfast ‘anytime’. As if a man wouldn’t take that to mean something else entirely.

Clark’s not like that, Lois reminded herself, but she felt her cheeks flush nonetheless.

Clark’s not like that? Scoffed her inner voice, mocking her. He’s a man. They’re all alike. See, he didn’t throw away his trash even.

Lois threw away her stuff and then Clark’s, hoping he was done. She clocked in and then made her way downstairs to put out the Sunday papers.

She passed Clark on the mezzanine level and he grabbed her wrist gently. “Lois, I’ve got to go change the security tapes, then there’s something you need to know.”

Lois smiled warmly at him. Was he going to tell her he already told his folks he was bringing her to Sunday dinner again? She thought the world of Martha and Jonathan, but how about a real date, just the two of them? She pulled him under the overhang, so the Assistant Manager, who had just gone upstairs, wouldn’t see them and pressed another kiss on his lips.

“What I’d like is another movie night.” She moved her eyebrows at him up and down and grinned wickedly.

Clark smiled sheepishly. “I’d like that too, but it would have to be an early one. I have to work first thing tomorrow with MDS. Let’s just play it by ear.”

Lois looked at him with a pout and batted her eyelashes.

You should be ashamed of yourself, Lois! Grow a backbone, girl.

She sighed, knowing her inner voice was right. “Well, OK, I should really get to work.” She pushed past him.

“Lois, I’m not turning you down,” he said in a slightly exasperated tone.

She flipped her hand at him.

“I’ll come down in a minute and we’ll talk.”

“Whatever, Clark.” Lois continued walking down the escalator. “I guess we’re not official.”

She heard him groan behind her and smiled mischievously.

Let him suffer!

Lois went into her Receiving room, grabbed her scissors and went to put out the morning papers. She cut the twine off the first bundle, The New York Times, and put it on the newspaper rack. She went to the next paper, the Metropolis Star. Lois went to put it on the rack as well, but stopped, when something caught her eye. A photo of Linda King!

Ooh. That witch – that so-called best friend of hers – who stood and laughed when Paul had called Lois an Ice Queen. Who had helped drum Lois out of Met U’s journalism department. Who had stabbed Lois in the back, stealing Lois’s article which had then won the Met U’s Bulletin’s prize for best sophomore journalism. Lois’s prize. Lois had hunted down the leads. Lois had done all the research and Lois had written the first draft of her story. Then she had made the mistake of giving it to Linda to proof while she went to her psych class – science for the humanities. Lois had come back to her room to find her story, her notes, even her back-up copy, and her best friend were all gone. And Linda ended up with her prize!

Lois had gone and cried to Paul – the student paper’s editor – who had sympathized her right into his bed. The next morning he announced to the entire paper staff that Lois Lane – the Ice Queen, no less – was willing to sleep her way onto the front page. Linda had laughed with delight. Linda had kept the byline. Linda had claimed her prize for the story on the professor who was selling grades for sex with his female students.

Ironic!

Lois unfolded the Metropolis Star to see what her old rival was faking her way through today. There, next to the photo of Linda King, was a picture of a man flying under the huge plane Clark had gone to see the day before. Why was a man under the plane?

Flying under the wing? her inner voice gasped

A man dressed in a blue suit, a red cape and shorts, and a bright yellow ‘S’ on his chest. The photos and colors started to swirl together before her eyes. She blinked her eyes and focused harder. There was another photo of the man carrying one of the airplane’s eight engines – holding it in mid-air.

The headline read: ‘Met Star First To Talk To Flying Hero.’

Super Strong, Super Fast, Flying Man from Another Planet, who looks good in Blue, Tempus’s words rang in her ears. Lois dropped the paper on the floor and went to the cover story on the NY Times. ‘Flying Man Saves Colossus Plane’. The L.A. Times, the Chicago Tribune, Gotham Gazette, and the NY Post – all the papers had photos of this man flying through the air saving the huge plane. None of the papers had anything better than a grainy close-up photo of her ‘super’ man.

Yours?

No. Not hers. Clark was…

Lois’s eyes formed slits.

Clark! her inner voice growled at him as well.

*** End of Part 13 ***

Part 14

Comments

Flash! performed by Queen, written by Brian May

Don’t Stop Me Now! performed by Queen, written by Freddie Mercury

Blue Suede Shoes performed by Elvis Presley, written by Carl Perkins

These Boots Were Made for Walkin’ performed by Nancy Sinatra, composed by Lee Hazlewood

Get Down Tonight performed by KC and the Sunshine Band, written by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch