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Green-Eyed Monster TOC

Where we left off in Part 33...

At these words, Superman heard the familiar THUMP-THUMP-DA-THUMP of Lois’s heart.

She’s alive! his conscience sang. Luthor didn’t kill her.

He set Henderson down on the balcony and was at Lois’s side a fraction of a moment later. Her eyes were closed and her head sagged in sleep. Gently, he pulled the handkerchief from her mouth.

Lois jumped at this action as her heart started racing, she turned to look into his eyes with more joy than he had ever seen there before. “You came,” she whispered, her voice hoarse.

“Always,” he murmured in return, drawing a finger down her face as he memorized every line and pore, assessing the damage Luthor had effected there. She had a sizeable bump near her forehead, a gash on her cheek, and her lips had dried blood on it. Her hair and shirt were slightly damp as well. “Always.”

Her tongue flashed over her teeth as she saw Henderson enter the room. “Took you long enough.”

“Nice to see you too, Ms. Lane,” Henderson replied, heading for the door.

She lowered her voice, so only her boyfriend could hear her. “Ya think you could untie me now, Kal. I desperately need to…” Lois paused as she licked her dry lips.

“I know,” Clark murmured, resting his head against hers. “Me too.”

“Pee.”

Part 34

Sunday Morning – Just after seven - continued

Surprise and then a brief smile came over Superman’s countenance as he nodded. “Right.”

Well, what did he expect? That you would make out with him in front of Henderson? Please! Especially in this office where you’ve already been bugged once.

“Hold on!” Henderson called and Superman’s hands paused over the ropes. The policeman pulled out an instant camera and snapped a photo of Lois glaring at him. “Okay, you can free her now.”

“Got enough photos for the album?” Lois snapped at Henderson. She wouldn’t forgive MPD’s bungling of her 9-1-1 call anytime soon.

Henderson shrugged and returned to Lex’s office door.

“I have been tied up since about ten thirty last night,” Lois clarified to Superman as he tore the ropes from the arms of the chair.

“I understand,” Superman stated as he shot a beam of heat vision into the locks on the shackles, melting them sufficiently for him to widen the rings holding her to the chair. Just like him not to want to damage the antiques too much. “Clark is worried sick.”

Lois stretched out arms and then shook her hands. Then she bolted to the private bathroom she had seen Luthor use to wash his hands the night before. She pulled open the door behind the bookcase and shut it behind her.

Relieved of her aching bladder and having cleaned up her face a bit, she returned to Luthor’s office.

“Hey, Lane, how do you open Luthor’s door?” Henderson asked, continuing to rattle the doorknob.

Like that would work. Been there, tried that!

“He has a security remote that locks and opens everything in his office, from the balcony doors to his secret plans to revitalize Hob’s Bay Riverfront. It’s on his desk,” Lois replied, taking a moment to grab Superman’s hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. “I can’t wait to see Clark as well,” she whispered to him, gazing up into his eyes. She let go of his hand and sat back down in her chair to put her shoes back on. The simple act of bending over made the room lurch. She took a deep breath and hoped that Clark didn’t notice. “Did you save Luthor?”

Superman shook his head. “I found out about it afterwards.”

Lois sighed. “He didn’t even scream. Who falls off a building and doesn’t scream for help?”

“Someone who knows he doesn’t deserve it,” said Henderson, searching Luthor’s desk.

“I don’t judge those I save,” replied Superman, his arms crossed. “Everyone has a little good in them.”

Lois rolled her eyes.

Not agreeing with your there, Big Blue.

Henderson found the remote and started pushing buttons.

Shoes finally on, Lois reached for the turquoise box and felt dizzy all of a sudden, grabbing her head instead.

Superman scooped her up into his arms. “I’m taking you to the hospital,” he told her, flying out the window.

“No!” she snapped. “I’m just tired, Kal,” Lois amended, lowering her voice. “I’ve hardly slept. We’re not leaving without the globe.”

“You don’t have it?” Superman responded, turning them back to the office. “I thought…”

An image of a flying man dressed in black, snatching the globe out of the air flashed across her mind.

“It’s back in the box. I think,” she said.

That couldn’t have been real. If it was, then it means Clark isn’t alone here on Earth. That there might be women, as well as men, like him. He would want to be with others like him instead of you. No. The image of the flying man in black must have been just a delusion caused by the knock to your head.

“Good. You’re back,” said Henderson as Superman set Lois back down in the office.

So much for duck in and grab the globe before bolting back to your apartment for a much needed day of passionate sex.

“You never told me how Luthor fell, Lois. Did he jump? Was he pushed?”

Yeah, you pushed him off the balcony and then tied yourself to a chair.

Lois sat back down in her chair and pointed to the box sitting on Luthor’s desk.

Superman removed the globe out of the turquoise box. “He was going after this,” he said, holding it with the handkerchief Luthor had forced into her mouth. He must not want Henderson to hear the final message from Jor-El. She didn’t blame him. Enough secrets had been revealed already.

“Exactly,” Lois agreed with Clark. “Luthor stole Superman’s globe from my apartment and when he took it out of the box this morning, it started floating. He climbed onto the railing to try and grab it, but instead he fell to his… his…” She swallowed, trying not to think of the man failing into nothingness. “He fell.”

“That is the globe you mentioned on your stolen inventory list?” Henderson replied in awe, staring at the glowing orb. “No wonder he kidnapped you.”

Lois shrugged. “It’s not like I know all Superman’s secrets. We only met a week ago.”

Superman gave her an intense look that gave her the feeling of being ravished… in a good way. Lois gulped, trying to keep a clear head for her discussion with the policeman.

Who cares what Henderson thinks? Come here, Man of Steel, this girl wants some red cape action.

“Right.” Henderson nodded towards her arms. “We’ll need to photograph those wounds as evidence.” He tossed his camera to Superman as he pushed another button on the remote and the office door unlocked. “Hey. I think I got it.”

Typical. You press sixteen million buttons and get tied to a chair. He pushes it four times and the door unlocks.

Lois blinked her eyes as she glanced down at the red rope burn lines etched onto her arms as Superman took a few photos. Suddenly, everything that happened to her the night before seemed real instead of out of a nightmare. “Evidence against whom?” she murmured as the room began to spin. “Luthor’s dead.”

“Enough, Lois. This isn’t exhaustion. I’m taking you to the hospital,” Superman told her as the cool morning breeze caressed her face. She didn’t recall ever leaving Luthor’s office.

“No,” she mumbled with a whole lot less strength than before. “I can’t afford it, Kal; I don’t have any insurance.”

“I’m taking you to a doctor, Lois. Whether you like it or not,” he said, kissing her forehead as he flew through the air. “I’m not going to lose you to a concussion.”

She snuggled against his shoulder. “How about we go back to my place and make love instead?”

Superman pursed his lips together. “Later.”

“I hate doctors,” Lois muttered.

A sneaky smile slipped onto his face. “Not this one.”

***

Sunday Morning – Just before seven – Kansas Time

Superman landed on the path in front of the Lanes’ house in Smallville. It was still very early on Sunday morning – Kansas time – and he hoped that he wouldn’t be garnering the attention of their neighbors. He jogged up the front steps to the porch and rang the doorbell.

Lois had fallen asleep on the flight over – at least he hoped it was sleep – and he personally didn’t want to let her out of his arms after spending the night worrying about her.

“Who in tarnation is ringing our doorbell before seven in…?” Dr. Lane’s voice thundered throughout the house before he opened the door, still wearing his PJs and a robe. Anger melted away to shock and then concern when he saw who Superman was holding. “Superman?” he finally stammered.

“Dr. Lane?” the Man in Blue asked as if they hadn’t met before. “May we come inside?”

Lois’s father stepped away from the threshold and let Superman carry his daughter inside.

“Lex Luthor kidnapped Lois and held her captive all night,” Superman continued. “She became a little dizzy when we rescued her this morning, but refused to be taken to a hospital.”

“Sounds like my pig-headed daughter.” Dr. Lane nodded. “Follow me,” he went on, leading Superman down the hall to what the hero guessed would be Lois’s old bedroom.

He was correct. Dr. Lane threw back the bed sheets and Superman gently laid Lois down on the twin bed. Lois’s father left them alone for a minute; Clark assumed to get his medical bag. Clark pulled the sheets back up and over Lois, then ran his hand over her hair. Setting his hand on top of hers, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, while he listened to her familiar heartbeat. The sound of it calmed his racing heart.

“Excuse me,” said Dr. Lane gruffly and Superman went to stand on the other side of the room, while her father examined her. After taking her blood pressure and her pulse, Clark watched him inspect her arms and the wounds on her face. Her father checked her eyes, despite her being asleep.

As Dr. Lane examined his daughter, Clark took the opportunity to explore Lois’s old bedroom. There were a stack of old high school newspapers on one the corner of her desk. He had a similar stack in some box, somewhere in storage. On the top shelf of her bookcase he saw a framed photo of Lois, another girl, and stocky young man with blond hair.

Clark picked up the picture. Pete Ross. The photo must have been from the senior prom that Lois and her friend – Clark blanked on the other girl’s name – had dragged Pete to after Lana had dumped him. Lois and her friend were wearing dresses that obviously had been borrowed at the last minute from their mothers’ closets. Lois’s dress was definitely not her style or taste. It was navy blue with white bows. He shuddered. Lois must have really cared for Pete to put on that dress to make him go through with his prom. In the photo, Lois and the other girl gave the cameraman huge smiles; Lois’s didn’t reach her eyes. Pete’s eyes just looked vacant and distant. Oh, yeah, Clark remembered all too well how he had felt after Lana had left him.

He went to put the photo back and found on the shelf a newspaper clipping from the Smallville Post. It was Pete’s obituary, which included a reprinting of Lois’s eulogy. She was some writer, some friend, some woman. She was something else. And, despite everything he had said and done, Lois loved him. Clark was the luckiest man alive.

He set down the newspaper clipping and gazed at his girlfriend again. “Is she going to be okay?” he asked her father.

The doctor turned to Superman with a familiar glint in his eyes and nodded. “Lois might have a slight concussion. What happened exactly?”

“She was tied to a chair with both ropes and shackles when we found her.” He gulped. “I… she… we haven’t had time to discuss what actually happened. I don’t think she got much sleep last night.”

Dr. Lane harrumphed. “I’ll wring his neck if he did more to her than what I see here.”

Superman paled. He hadn’t even entertained such thoughts, but Lois’s behavior when he had entered the office led him to believe these were the extent of her wounds. “Lex Luthor is dead.”

“Good.” Dr. Lane raised a brow at him. “You do it?”

“No! Absolutely not, Dr. Lane! Like you, I have taken a vow help people, not hurt them,” Superman informed him.

“Wait until you have children of your own, then you’ll realize that those vows come with exceptions,” replied the doctor. His eyes widened as he sized up Superman. Sam Lane stood to his full height, crossed his arms, and bore his icy stare into Superman’s, eye-to-eye, man-to-man. “Can you even have children? With an Earth woman?”

Clark gulped, then mimicked Lois’s father’s stance. He did not want to have this conversation with this man, but he refused to back down. A part of him wished he was already flying back to Metropolis. “I don’t know, Sir.” The ‘Sir’ was thrown in for good measure. “For all intents and purposes I am a man, just more so.”

“Are you and her…” Dr. Lane indicated his daughter with a nod of his head. “Taking precautions?”

Clark wanted to turn his head away in embarrassment, but he stood his ground. “Your daughter and I have not been intimate.”

You should have chosen your words better there, Kent. I definitely heard an implied ‘yet,’ and I’m betting he did too.

Dr. Lane’s eyes formed slits. “Good.”

Great! Dear ol’ Dad loves you.

“How could you let this happen to my daughter?”

“I am not your daughter’s keeper,” Superman responded. “She is her own woman and makes her own mistakes. I protect her the best I can, when I can.”

Her father nodded, acknowledging his daughter’s foolhardiness. “Thank you for bring my daughter home, but you can go now,” Dr. Lane dismissed him.

Superman was torn. He didn’t want to leave Lois. He wanted to stay by her bedside holding her hand. But, technically, he wasn’t Lois’s boyfriend, Clark was. And he did want to return to Luthor’s office to see what else he could discover happened between Luthor and Lois. Finally, he conceded with a nod. “Please let Lois know that Clark will call her later to see how she’s doing,” Superman informed him.

“Clark?” repeated Lois’s father, skeptically.

Nope. No fooling the Lane family.

“Lois’s boyfriend,” Superman reminded him, not giving an inch.

“Right.” Dr. Lane’s lips pressed together. “Him.” Lois’s father opened up his medical bag and pulled out a business card. Taking a pen off of Lois’s desk, he wrote something on the back of the card. “Our home number.” He held out the card to the superhero. “For Clark.”

“I’ll make sure he gets it.” Superman nodded, then he wrote down his folks’ home number on notepad on Lois’s desk. “In case you need to reach Clark, if…” He swallowed gazing at Lois. “If her condition changes. His folks are Martha and Jonathan Kent. They are good people.”

Dr. Lane raised a brow. “His folks?”

“The people who raised him,” Superman clarified.

“Are they from Earth or wherever you’re from?” Dr. Lane asked.

Oh, yeah. He knows.

“They are from Smallville, Dr. Lane. As far as I know, I am the only one of my kind on Earth,” Superman said, believing that to be the truth. Lady Zara and Ching were probably long gone by now. He might never learn who and what they were exactly.

Dr. Lane nodded. “I’ll give you a minute and then I want you gone before Ellen wakes up. I don’t want her to see you here.” He left the room but the door remained open a good six inches.

Nope. Not even Superman is good enough for that man’s daughter.

Clark knelt down beside Lois, taking her hand in his. “Lois, sweetie, wake-up. Lois?”

Her eyes, heavy with sleep, refused to open, but her head moved slightly at his voice.

“I’ve got to go now, honey,” he whispered, leaning his head against hers. “Your Dad is kicking me out.”

Lois’s eyes stayed shut, but her head turned towards him, her lips murmuring, “Kiss me, Clark.”

How could he refuse such a sweet offer?

I distinctly remember you refusing an even sweeter offer of making love, Kent.

Clark blew lightly to shut the open bedroom door. “I love you, Lois,” he said before gently setting his lips on hers.

Her arms encircled his neck, pulling him closer, deeper. “Stay.”

“You need to rest, Lois, and you’re not dating the man in this suit. I feel more comfortable around your folks as Clark. Although, I doubt we’re fooling your father,” he told her with a slight nervous chuckle.

“Superman. Clark. Naked, you’re the same man,” Lois murmured as her hands glided down from his neck to his chest. Her touch leaving a path of warmth in its wake. “I never got to make love to you. And I want to… I really, really do…” Her voice grew rough and hoarse with desire as her hands traveled down to his stomach.

You’re not the only one on that page, Lois.

Superman swallowed, unable to move away as she touched him, shivers of delight coursing through his body; so he moved closer, kissing her again. Her hands on his body electrified his senses. “This isn’t a good time, Lois,” he reminded her.

“And that’s the man I want to make love to me…” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken. Her hands grabbed hold of his yellow belt and pulled his hips towards her. “… just once. Please, Clark, before Luthor kills me.”

Good God, Kent! She’s dreaming. Or she’s delusional. You can’t make love to her like this.

Clark hadn’t planned to, especially not here. He set his hands on hers and removed them from his shorts, setting them back down on the bed before wrapping his arms around her. “I love you, Lois. We’ll make love once you’re back in Metropolis. I promise.”

“I love you, Clark, but I want to show you how much I love you before Luthor tells the world you’re Superman,” Lois said, her hands grabbing onto his waist again and sliding downwards, under the edge of the waistband of his shorts, this time.

Had Luthor found out your secret before falling off his tower? Goodness gracious, Lois! What are you doing?

He cleared his throat. His voice broke and he cleared his throat again, trying to get back to his Superman timbre, “You don’t need to show me you love me with your body, Lois. It’s your heart and soul where true love lives,” Superman murmured, pulling her hands out of his shorts with his trembling ones.

Good thing her hands were in the back of your shorts, not the…

“Okay, Superman, time’s…” Dr. Lane opened the door to his daughter’s bedroom, catching Lois leaning intimately against the Man of Steel’s chest with her hands on his hips as he held her in his arms.

Mortification!

“Lois!” Dr. Lane growled at his daughter as he lifted an eyebrow and his lips pressed together. His tongue went over his teeth as he scowled. “Clark! Kitchen. Coffee. Cream?”

“Yes, Sir, and sugar,” Clark replied, bowing his head in defeat.

Dr. Lane nodded curtly and left the room.

Clark gently laid Lois back down and kissed her forehead. Standing up, he spun back into his Kent clothes, the security guard uniform. He pulled his glasses out of his shirt pocket and set them on his face.

As Clark reached the door, he heard Lois giggle and then whisper, “You need to stop breaking my rules, Clark. Do you know how long I’ve tried to escape from here?” She tittered again. “Enjoy your talk with Dr. Daddy.”

Crap! She set you up. Humiliation and punishment. Thanks a lot, Lois.

***

Tuesday – Lunchtime

Clark regarded Dr. Lane’s business card as he stood by the phone booth. He knew by calling in the middle of the day, he would miss having Dr. Lane answer the phone. After having the ‘what are your intentions’ talk with Lois’s father the other morning, Clark felt avoidance was the best policy.

Which is why you’re calling Lois on your lunch break, Kent. Now pick up the phone.

His mother had called him a chicken again. What was he supposed to do? The conversation hadn’t gone as well as Clark would have hoped. Clark had told Dr. Lane that he and Lois had yet to become intimate. Sadly, still true. He had told the man he was in love with his daughter and planned on someday asking her to marry him, once they got their lives in order and were a little more settled. And Dr. Lane had practically thrown him out of the house. It was plain for Clark to see that Dr. Lane did not want an alien for a son-in-law. He sighed.

Nothing like alienating the in-laws, Kent.

Lois was still in Smallville. After two days of catching up on her sleep and resting, she claimed she was fully recovered, except for the couple of stitches Dr. Lane gave to the gash on her cheek and the rope burns on her forearms. Perry had been able to convince the CEO of Daily Books, who in turn convinced Lexco Human Resources, who then in turn got approval from the Lexco Board of Trustees to give Lois the week off with pay. In light of the Chairman of the Board of Lexco kidnapping her and an auditor blackmailing her, the board of trustees decided to grant Lois the week off with pay, and then promptly fired Tempus.

Clark smiled. The thought that Lexco had actually fired Tempus always brought a smile to his face. This Tempus wasn’t a time-traveling dimension-hopping man from the future with all the answers to their future lives on the tip of his tongue. This Tempus was just an ordinary man with ordinary abilities and unemployed. Clark’s smile turned into a grin. Then he sighed.

Officially, Lexco had let Clark Kent – security guard – go as well. He didn’t like being fired. He didn’t like the failure of it. Of knowing that what he and Perry did was intrinsically wrong. Even if they were Robin Hooding, stealing from rich Lexco to pay taxes to Lexco. What the corporate offices didn’t know was that he and Perry had already decided that Clark Kent, security guard, had to go. He hadn’t yet officially put in his notice when he received his pink slip, though.

Well, at least you have your Saturday nights free again.

Now he could use that time to fight crime…

…spend time with Lois…

… make Metropolis a better and safer community in which to live…

… spend time making love with Lois, I meant…

… and catch up on his reading.

Give me a break. You can read a book in less than a minute. Call her already!

Clark was hoping Lois was ready to return to Metropolis. He missed her. Metropolis seemed empty without her. But he was persona-non-grata at the Lane house at the moment. Her apartment was still on stakeout with the MPD, not only because they felt that they owed her due to the 9-1-1 debacle, but also because The Toasters were still out and about. Clark hoped Superman would catch The Toasters soon. It would make a great welcome home gift for Lois. But, so far, The Toasters were proving to be elusive.

You’re stalling, Kent.

Henderson had become a great ally at the MPD. He had expedited the return of Lois’s purse and briefcase from the Luthor penthouse crime scene. Strange though, Clark never remembered Lois having a soft leather briefcase before. The initials L.L. were etched in the leather over the flap. Who else’s briefcase could it be except Lois Lane’s? The contents turned out to be exceedingly confusing to Clark as well. A folder full of information on and photographs of Lois, himself, and Superman and a mini cassette tape with the recording of everything that had been said in the office during the night. All the sweet nothings that Lois had whispered to him to let him know that she was okay. It was obvious that this wasn’t Lois’s folder; it must have been the blackmail folder than Lois mentioned in passing while she was trying to ingratiate him with her father. Clark and his girlfriend still hadn’t been able to have a detailed conversation about what happened at Luthor’s apartment. Those were conversations to have face-to-face, not over the telephone.

Speaking of which…

The globe’s final message from Jor-El had given him the closure Clark had needed with his birth parents. It seemed that little Kal-El had not been abandoned into space as he had thought before the discovery of the globe. He had been saved by Jor-El and Lara just prior to Krypton’s destruction. What the message from Jor-El had failed to mention was the presence of New Krypton – the new Kryptonian homeland for which a group of pioneers had gone in search of before Krypton had exploded. Why had Kal-El been sent on another path, particularly in light of the existence of his infant-marriage bond to Lady Zara?

Thanks, Dad.

Luckily for Clark, Ching had downloaded the history of New Krypton into the sphere when he had recovered it from Luthor’s penthouse. Clark wanted to tell Lois all about the New Kryptonians, but he knew she would flip once he explained about Lady Zara. Actually, everything that he had learned about Krypton and New Krypton from the globe made him glad that Lady Zara didn’t consider him worthy enough for a match with her. Not that he would have zipped off across the universe because of some old tradition of his birth father’s civilization. Kryptonians had strange customs...

Who marries off infants anymore? Betrothals are one thing, but marriages?

… and food…

What is that blue liquid in the hologram?

… as well as archaic traditions…

Concubines? Please. You tell Lois about the concubines and she’ll give you your marching papers once again.

Clark knew he would have to tell Lois about the New Kryptonians, but that was another one of those face-to-face topics.

Pick up the phone already! Her father is at the clinic. He won’t answer and tell you to never see his daughter again. Call Lois already before she thinks you don’t care anymore. Call her!

Clark picked up the receiver of the pay telephone at the park across from Daily Books. This park seemed like their park. Clark could think of no other place from which to phone the woman he loved.

“Hello,” said Ellen Lane. Clark breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hello, Mrs. Lane. It’s Clark. Can I speak to Lois?” he asked, hoping his voice wasn’t shaking in fear.

“No, dear. I’m sorry, Lois went out for a walk,” replied Mrs. Lane.

Clark felt as if his heart shriveled up like a raisin. “Oh.” He swallowed his disappointment.

“I hear congratulations are in order,” Mrs. Lane said.

Congratulations? For what? Had Dr. Lane told her about Superman? No. He hates that his daughter is dating Superman and doesn’t think his wife stable enough for the information.

“Excuse me?” he stammered.

“I heard Lois and her father talking last night,” she replied cryptically.

Was there anything Dr. Lane would say to his daughter or vice versa that could result in a congratulations? Nothing came to mind.

Unless Lois told her father she was pregnant.

No, that would be impossible. Dr. Lane knew they hadn’t been intimate. Clark decided to go with evasive and see if he could learn me. “Oh, really?”

“I’ll be disappointed not to come visit you in Metropolis, but Sam and Lois think this cold turkey approach to my sobriety is cause for concern. My family thinks that if I’m serious – like I wouldn’t be serious – I would actually check into rehab. So to prove to them that I’m serious, I’ll be unavailable for a month or so,” Mrs. Lane told him. Actually, she was being quite revealing to a man she had only met twice.

“Good for you, Mrs. Lane. I know that would make Lois very happy,” he said, hoping it was the correct thing to say in such circumstances.

Mrs. Lane laughed. “I don’t worry about Lois, Clark. With you by her side, she won’t even notice I’m gone.”

Clark loved that he had a cheerleader in the Lane camp. Even if she was a recovering alcoholic cheerleader. Beggars couldn’t be choosers.

“And, Clark, call me Ellen. We’re family.”

Liking Lois’s Mom more and more. Family? Had Lois stood up to her Dad about him? She must have told her father that she was going to keep dating Clark no matter what her father thought. Yes, Clark did deserve congratulations. He had the best, most stubborn girlfriend ever and nobody – not even her dear ol’ Dad – was going to tell her what to do.

“Thank you, Ellen. Tell Lois I called,” he told her. And, then just for fun, he added, “And that I love her.”

“Of course you do, dear. Bye,” said Mrs… Ellen hanging up the phone.

Clark grinned, doing his favorite quarterback dance next to the phone booth. He had won over one of Lois’s parents.

Yea! One down, only one mind left to change.

He practically skipped back to his MDS truck.

*** End of Part 34 ***

Part 35

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