PREVIOUSLY...
That was the last time Lois had seen or heard about either Leit or Munch. Not even her most reliable sources had heard as much as a peep from either of them. That had been the last she’d seen of Superman, too. Then, a couple of days later, she’d lost Clark. Her eyes once again settled on his empty desk and she found herself biting her lower lip to fight back the threatening tears.
No. No. She wasn’t doing this. Superman. She needed to discover a way to bring Superman back... Well, and to get rid of the pieces of information that seemed to keep leaking from her mind as a result of having Faraday’s device used on her. * * * * * * * * *
AND NOW...
Martha let out a sigh as she glanced through the kitchen window to see her son lying out in the back yard, staring blindly towards the setting sun. He spent all day, every day, doing the same thing - waiting for the magical powers he got from the sun to heal his eyes. With snow all around him, and wearing only a pair of shorts, he certainly did paint quite a picture. It might have been funny if it weren’t so painful to watch.
But his activities, or lack thereof, was not what was troubling Martha the most. It was almost as if something, some light was slowly going out of Clark as days passed with no improvement to his condition. He’d had one plan. Come home. Spend as much time as possible in the sun. Let it heal his eyes and then get on with his life.
And as the plan failed to work, Clark was sinking deeper and deeper into depression. Both she and Jonathan had tried to suggest other approaches, other avenues he might pursue. Book an appointment with Dr. Scott, the Kent family physician. Dr. Scott had taken over for his father, now referred to as Dr. Scott Sr., years ago. It had been Dr. Scott Sr. who had helped Martha and Jonathan when Clark had first arrived on their doorstep to get the necessary documents so that Martha and Jonathan could keep him. If he had any suspicions about Clark’s origins, he’d kept them to himself. And the son was the spitting image of his father in every way. Surely if he noticed something unusual in his examination of Clark, which Martha didn’t think was likely, he could be counted on to...
No!
That idea had been shot down immediately. No one could know that Clark was blind at the same time as Superman. And even though there had been nothing in the papers about the reasons for Superman’s sudden disappearance, there was still a chance that someone would make the connection between a suddenly blind Clark Kent and a suddenly blind Superman.
Well, what if they contacted Lois? She and Clark had always worked well together, getting to the bottom of problems. Maybe they could see if she had come up with anything that might...
No!
He simply refused to allow Lois to know.
Okay, so maybe he could try to adjust to his handicap, learn new ways of coping until he could find the answers he needed.
No!
He was nothing more than a danger to other people or property when he tried to do anything. One wrong move and his parents’ farm would be reduced to rubble. It was far better that he just wait until the sun worked its magic.
Martha sighed again.
The whole thing had come to a head about a week ago, resulting in a knock-down, drag-out fight between Jonathan and Clark. Irresistible force met immovable object. Father and son, two of the stubbornest men Martha had ever known, had gone head to head. By the end, Clark had moved out of the farm house... and into a small cabin next to the barn that they used whenever they hired a field-hand to help with the harvest.
At first Martha and Jonathan had hoped that this would be just the push Clark needed to, at the very least, learn to get around and do things for himself. There was a kitchen - of a sort - and a shower in the small shack, after all. So maybe he’d have to learn to tend to his own needs.
It was a pipe-dream. How do you force someone to cook for themselves who doesn’t need to eat? Or to clean who doesn’t have to worry about germs? Or wash clothes who simply wears the same pair of grubby shorts every day. The only thing Clark would do for himself was to slip on the same pair of shorts, stumble his way to the lawn chair they had set out for him in the back yard in the morning and shuffle his way back to bed in the evening. Occasionally, he might throw in a shower for good measure - although not often enough to Martha’s way of thinking. He could find his way to the washroom when needed. When people showed up at the farmhouse unexpectedly, he could disappear back into the cabin quickly enough to avoid being spotted. A string running from the cabin to the lawn chair made certain of that. But otherwise, he just lay in that stupid chair all day, staring up at the sun, clinging stubbornly to the belief that it was going to heal him.
Unable to stand it any longer, yesterday when Clark had been lying out in the sun and Jonathan had been out checking on the fence on the far side of the field, she’d gone over and cleaned the cobwebs out of the cabin, vacuumed and scrubbed until the entire place sparkled. Then last night, she’d smuggled a plate of supper and a piece of fresh peach crumble over to Clark’s when Jonathan had thought she was cleaning up in the kitchen.
She knew Jonathan was right. Tough love demanded that they force Clark to take responsibility for his situation. To find ways to adapt. To look for new solutions. It was just that head and heart could not agree on leaving her baby to fend for himself - even if her ‘baby’ was a nearly thirty year old man. Not taking care of Clark went against every fiber of Martha’s being.
No, regardless of what both of the men in her life may think, there was only one course open to her. It was time for the women folk to show a couple mule-headed men how it was done!
Slipping on her boots and jacket, her course of action determined, she marched out to the barn, stuck her head inside and yelled.
“Jonathan, I’ve got to run into town. Supper is on the table when you’re finished up in here.”
“But, Martha, didn’t you just pick up supplies yesterday?” But Jonathan was already talking to himself. A moment later, he heard the engine of the old pick up come to life. With a shake of his head, he returned to milking the first of the two milk cows they still kept on the farm.
* * * * * * * * *
Lois plopped into the chair at her desk and slipped her feet out of her shoes before reaching up to massage her temples. It had been a big news day. She would have the front page tomorrow and Perry was practically doing cartwheels. But for some reason, the rush she always felt after breaking a big story just wasn’t there.
She knew what the problem was, of course. She was tired. So tired. When had everything become so difficult? After a day like today, what she should be doing was celebrating. But all she seemed to want to do was sleep.
But even sleeping seemed difficult these days. If she went home now, she’d toss and turn all night, only to have the alarm go off shortly after she’d finally managed to fall asleep. Her mind would turn over and over for hours, chasing itself like a dog chases its tail.
Back and forth. To and fro. Over and over. Just... thinking.
Not that she’d be thinking about anything in particular. And certainly, she wouldn’t spend her time thinking about Clark, about his abandonment, his betrayal, his warm eyes when he would look at her as if she was the only woman in the world.... She gave her head a shake to get her mind back on track. No. She wouldn’t spend her night thinking about Clark. But not thinking about him seemed to take as much energy as thinking about him these days, sapping all her strength, leaving her drained just when she should be feeling refreshed and energized, ready to take on another day.
Another day of trying to find a way to save Superman. Not that she could do that openly. Perry had long since taken her off the Superman story. Not that she had given up, of course. But even she had to admit she was at a dead end. No ways to track down Leit or his associate who seemed to have disappeared into thin air. But even if she found a way to cure Superman, it wasn’t as it would do him any good. There had been no sightings or reports of the big guy since the night he’d lost his sight.
She’d even tried standing on the roof of the Daily Planet yelling for Superman one night after Jimmy had mentioned a researcher at Star Labs who was currently working on some sort of advanced technology to assist the blind. A Dr. Bernard Klein. She’d wanted to discuss this with Superman, but no matter how loud or long she had called, she had been met only by the eerie sound of the wind whipping around her.
Nothing else seemed to hold her interest. Lex had returned from the dead and when he’d kidnapped her, attempted to convince her that she loved him and wanted to be with him, her primary reaction had been boredom. Of course, looking back on it now, it was a good thing that Jimmy had followed her to the sewer system and then called the police when Lex had entered behind her. Otherwise, who knew what might have happened without a Superman or a Clark Kent to save the day.
Still, she’d managed to get the story - which had made Perry happy. Now Lex was safely behind bars and so she’d moved on to other stories, none meaning more to her than Lex’s story had. Less even.
Well, regardless of how tired she felt, regardless of the big story she’d broken only today, it was probably time to review her notes on Superman again - just in case she’d missed something. She turned to her computer and clicked on her documents, scanning them briefly to find her notes on Leit.
“What are you still doing here, honey?”
Lois looked up to see her boss towering over her. He seemed to realize the imbalance of power implied by their respective positions and took a seat on the corner her desk. She hated the intimacy implied by that action even more. It seemed Perry was gearing up for some fatherly advice - which she doubted she’d want to hear right now. Besides, Perry sitting there brought to mind another who had often taken that position in the past.
“So what are you still doing here?” Perry asked again.
“I could ask the same of you,” she responded pointedly, even as she realized for the first time that the newsroom was now only in a half-light, the majority of the staffers having already retired for the evening.
“I was just getting ready to go,” Perry responded.
“What time is it?” she asked.
“Almost nine. Now I certainly don’t want to complain or anything. After all, I loved the story you broke today. And I’m the boss so complaining about how hard an employee has been working seems a little... I don’t know...”
“Counterproductive?” Lois asked, slightly amused.
“Exactly! But you’ve been looking a little tired lately.”
“There are at least five metabolic causes for fatigue reported in medical literature, including a decrease in the phosphocreatine level in the muscle, a proton accumulation, depletion of the glycogen store, hypoglycemia and an increase in the plasma concentration ratio of free tryptophan to branched-chain amino acids.”
“What?”
“Huh?” Lois gave her head a quick shake. “Nothing. Just another Faraday leak.”
“Uhh... Well, why don’t you get out of here? Go out to dinner with a friend or something? Celebrate your big story. You’re going to be the talk of the fourth estate tomorrow.”
Lois quickly glanced at her desk, the humor fading. “What friends?” she mumbled under her breath.
“What was that, honey?”
“Nothing. No, look, Perry. I’m fine. I just want to tie up some loose ends here and then I’ll take off.”
She held his gaze in the silence that followed, refusing to confirm his concerns for her by looking away.
“Okay,” he finally said, rising from the corner of her desk. “But if you need some time off, you just let me know, okay? I don’t want you burning out. What would I tell the suits upstairs if I let my number one reporter burn out?” He added the last with a grin to lighten the mood.
The phone on Lois’ desk suddenly rang, causing her to jump at the unexpected sound.
“I’ll leave you to it, then,” Perry said, gesturing to the phone even as he began walking back towards his office.
Lois quickly grabbed the phone.
“Lois Lane.”
“Hi, Lois. It’s Martha...”
Lois was so shocked she couldn’t find her voice to respond. Clark hadn’t called her once in the past month so the last person she’d expected to hear from was Martha.
“Martha Kent,” Martha continued when Lois didn’t speak.
“Martha! Hi. Yes, I know it’s you. I... I guess you just caught me off guard. It’s good to hear from you.” And it was. Martha and Jonathan had taken her in and treated her more like family than her own did during the year and a half Clark had been at the Planet. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed them until this moment. “How are you? How’s Jonathan? How’s... the farm? Are you planting your crops yet?”
Martha laughed. “We usually wait until the snow’s gone to do that.”
“Oh, right. Right. Of course. It’s just... so good to hear your voice.” She could hardly believe she’d just admitted that, but it was. When Clark had left her, he’d taken more from her than even she had realized.
“It’s good to hear yours, too. So how are you doing?”
“Oh... you know,” Lois said, her voice trembling slightly on the words. She quickly got control of her emotions. “Work’s been busy. Always lots going on in Metropolis. Keeps me on my toes. But, hey, you know me. That’s how I like it. Never a spare moment.”
“Oh. Well, that’s good, I guess.”
“Of course it’s good. Why wouldn’t it be good? Well, just today I broke a big story. Probably one of my biggest. Diana Stride. You know her?”
“Doesn’t she have that news program? Top Copy?”
“That’s her. Anyway, you can read all about it tomorrow. But let’s just say that it turns out she’s an assassin for Intergang. She’s been working for them for years - using her cover as a reporter to get close enough to a lot of important men to assassinate them.”
“Really? And you broke the story?”
“Yeah.”
“Congratulations.”
“The police are out looking for Diana Stride right now to arrest her. When the phone rang, I was sort of hoping to hear from my source at the police station that they have her in custody.”
“Oh, well, if you’re waiting for a call...”
“No!” Lois exclaimed. “No. Don’t hang up.” She pulled herself up short. Had that sounded desperate? “It’s just... this is so much nicer than talking to Inspector Henderson.” That sounded better. “It’s just so good to hear from you, Martha. But I’ve just been prattling on about me. What about you? And Jonathan? And...” Lois’ voice trailed off.
“The farm?” Martha asked, a chuckle in her voice.
Lois felt a blush spread across her cheeks. “Yeah, well, I guess I’m sort of wondering how Clark is doing, too.”
“Actually, that’s why I called.”
Lois instantly sat up straighter in her chair, her hand tightening its grip on the phone. “What...” She had to lick her lips to try again. “What happened to Clark?”
“Nothing! Nothing! Or... well, not really.”
“What does ‘not really’ mean?” Lois said, her anxiety level rising with every passing second.
Martha’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Look, I’m using a public phone. I really can’t get into it now. But... Can you come out here?”
“To Smallville?”
“Yes. I’m really not sure what to do and... I need your help.”
“What happened to Clark?”
“He’s okay. Or... well, sort of, but... Will you come? I’ll explain when you get here.”
“Yes. Yes, of course I’ll come. Perry just told me that if I needed some time off just to ask, but can’t you tell me...”
“Great! I’ll pick you up at the airport in Wichita tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? But I really should tie up some loose ends here and...”
“Uhh... Well... I’ve sort of already bought you a ticket,” Martha said.
Lois smiled, touched by the idea that Martha had assumed Lois would react like family would and come if there was a family emergency.
“Sorry if that seems presumptuous, but...”
“It’s okay, Martha. Of course I’ll come. You know that.” Lois let out a breath. “But can’t you tell me...”
“Tomorrow. Please. I can’t say more than that over the phone.”
Lois nodded. Okay, so she would have to wait until tomorrow. She hated waiting. But Lois knew she wasn’t about to get more from Martha now. “So... what time does my plane leave?”
Once she had the particulars, she said good-bye and hung up. Just then, the phone rang again as Henderson called to tell her that Diana Stride was now in custody.
When she hung up after the second call, Perry exited his office, his coat on, obviously headed for home.
“Perry!” she called. “Wait up for a moment would you?”
Perry turned and waited as Lois jumped up from behind her desk and rushed towards him with more energy than she’d had in days.
“You know that time off you offered me?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to take you up on that.”
“Great! You could use a vacation. Help get your mojo back. So when...”
“Tomorrow.”
“Great shades of Elvis, Lois. When I said take some time off, I was expecting like in a week or two.”
“I know, but... well, there’s sort of been a family emergency and...”
Perry’s expression turned from annoyed to concerned in an instant. “I understand. We’ll hold down the fort here.”
“Thank you, Perry. I just heard from Henderson that they have Diana Stride in custody, so I’ll type up that story before I leave.”
Perry nodded. “I hope everyone’s all right.”
“So do I, Perry. So do I.”
“Can you tell me what the problem is?”
“I’m not really clear on that myself. But... I have to go.”
Perry nodded, taking in her tense demeanor. “So how much time do you need?”
“I’m not sure yet. How about I give you a call in a couple of days when I get a clearer picture of the situation?”
“Fair enough.”
* * * * * * * * *
Lois was getting restless. Martha still refused to say a word why she’d asked Lois to come to Smallville.
‘Not yet,’ Martha had said when Lois had stepped off the airplane.
‘Not yet,’ she had repeated when they had climbed into the old pickup.
‘Not yet,’ had been the response when they had finally left Wichita in the rearview mirror.
Not that they hadn’t talked. About Lois’ story, which today was being syndicated all over the country. About Maisie’s award winning apple pies. About a misadventure Jonathan had recently had with one of their milk cows. About the latest television show sensation. About diet and exercise. About their favorite guilty pleasures. About art. About everything and anything except what Lois wanted to talk about.
And now they were driving through Smallville. Past Pop’s Grocery Store. Past Maisie’s Diner. Past the little gazebo that sat in front of Town Hall. Out through the other side of town.
“Martha, why am I here?” Lois finally asked, a slight tone of exasperation creeping into her voice.
“I’m sorry, Lois,” Martha began even as she pulled the pickup over to the side of the road. “It’s just... I’m about to tell you something I have absolutely no right to tell you. And if I am going to do this, I wanted to do it here.” She gestured to the field up ahead of them.
Lois looked around at the snow covered field before looking back at Martha expectantly.
“This is Schuster’s field. Almost thirty years ago now, while Jonathan and I were driving home late one night, we saw what we thought was a meteor...”
TO BE CONTINUED...
ML
