Nightfall Honeymoon TOCWhere we left off in Part 2...“Superman, I would like to offer you our tactical nuclear option once again,” the General said to him.
Lois couldn’t believe that the television microphone was able to pick up this private conversation. Of course, this was LNN, Lex Luthor’s news station, and it would not surprise her if they used less than honest methods.
“The EPRAD science team has given me clear indication of the asteroid’s size and mass. If I hit it at maximum strength, it’s their opinion that I’ll be able to achieve a fifty megaton explosive force to slow it down and then move it off its current path towards Earth. I think we should try that first and not risk nuclear fallout.”
Lois’s heart thudded in her chest.
Her idea! Clark had used
her idea for solving Nightfall! Never had she loved him more that at that very moment. He had listened to her.
And if it doesn’t work and Clark never returns, it will be your fault.Superman, his red cape flowing gently in the wind, walked away from the General and the EPRAD science team to an open area. He took once last look towards Linda and the other reporters, bent his knees, and then took off into the air.
“Good luck, Clark. I know you can do it,” Lois said as her husband’s image disappeared from view on the TV screen.
***
Part 3G
Sunday – Late afternoonFrank Madison’s voice drew Lois’s attention back to the television. “Several hours ago, Superman said his final goodbyes to the crowd. He was described as calm but determined. His last words were, and I’m quoting now, ‘I’ll do my best.’ He took off, and this time the entire world was watching.”
“Something’s happening, Perry,” Lois told the man on the phone.
“Thanks for the exclusive interview with Superman, Lois,” the Chief told her. “That will be a coup for our first edition.” Then her boss cleared his throat. “You know that kiss…”
“It didn’t mean anything. I know,” Lois assured him that she didn’t need reassurance.
“I’m being told that we have a live transmission from Superman…” said Frank on LNN. “We’ll take that live feed from mission control.”
“He only…” Perry couldn’t say the words. Obviously, being at the store, he wouldn’t speak the truth they both knew about Clark and Superman.
“I know Clark loves me, Perry,” she told him, moving the telephone closer to the television, so she could see as well as hear Frank Madison.
“I can see it now. In fact, it’s hard to see anything else. It’s immense,” Superman’s voice radiated over Lois like a calming wave. He has been out in space for hours, and he was still okay.
“Roger, Superman. We copy you on the ground,” said Ground Control. “Stand-by for final briefing procedure.”
“I know what I have to do,” said Superman’s voice over the television. “Well, here I go.”
Lois took hold of the pillow again, clutching it tightly against her chest.
“Impact in five, four, three, two…” announced Ground Control.
Static buzzed over the microphones.
“Switching to back-up computers for corroboration. Confirmation. Asteroid velocity is decreasing. The asteroid appears to be changing course,” continued EPRAD Ground Control. “We are stopping the countdown clock at this time.”
Lois could hear cheers over the phone line at the bookstore and in the studio at LNN.
“This is EPRAD Control. We have lost transmission with Superman.”
“Well, his microphone went out,” Lois muttered over the phone to Perry. “I… I… He’s fine.”
“I’m sure he is, darling,” Perry reassured her.
“He has to be.”
“Technical glitches like this happen all the time, Lois. Why back during the lunar landing…”
Lois didn’t say anything to Perry as she slowly hung up the phone.
Clark’s microphone went out. That was all. He was okay. He would be coming back to her. He promised.
See, you should have let him get you pregnant!“Shut up!” Lois screamed, covering her ears.
Oh, so you can’t even allow yourself to tell you, ‘I told you so.’“Just shut up!”
Fine! Have it your way. Deal with your loss all on your own then.The silence of her lack of thoughts was deafening. Lois ran over to the mini-fridge and pulled out the half-gallon of chocolate brownie fudge ripple ice-cream she had bought shortly after Clark left EPRAD that afternoon. She had already eaten half of it. Sitting back on the bed, she stared at the television screen, waiting for it to tell her the good news that Superman was okay.
“He’ll come back to me,” she whispered to herself between bites, as her tears mixed with her ice-cream. “He’ll come back to me. He has to.”
***
Sunday – LateClark was tired; exhausted really. Slowing down and shifting the direction of an asteroid the size of Metropolis took a lot more effort than he had ever expected it to. More than he had ever used before. But he had done it! His radio had cut out shortly after he heard EPRAD Control scream out with joy. So he knew he was successful. Nightfall was no longer going to hit Earth.
And now Clark could return to Lois and finish their honeymoon. He took another sip of air from the oxygen tank. He was so tired. If only he could close his eyes and rest. Or get some sunshine. Nightfall had been on the far side of the Earth from the sun, so he had had to accomplish everything without an extra solar recharge. Even now, he was still in Earth’s shadow. He pushed himself on, knowing he could relax once he was back in the hotel with Lois. She would have to let him sleep this time, because for the first time in his life, he doubted he would be able to do anything else. Even with Lois.
He was getting closer now. Earth’s blues and greens were appearing less marble-like and more distinct. He could almost make out continents. He took another sip of oxygen. Holding his breath while he was this exhausted was more difficult and he knew he wasn’t lasting twenty minutes between breaths anymore. He blinked his eyes and then forced them open. Almost there. Almost home. A sliver of sunshine blinded him from over the top of the Earth, causing his lids to close once more.
Clark forced his eyes open to look at his home planet.
Almost home. Almost home. Almost home. His brain repeated, relaxing him with its rhythm. Just a minute. He would rest for just a minute as he was almost home. Just one minute of sleep and he would be recharged enough to finish his journey.
Sleep. Sleep. Sleep.***
Monday – very, very early morningThe ringing of the telephone jarred Lois awake. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep. She had wanted to be up when Clark returned, but the hours had crept by. Eventually she had turned off LNN, sick of the coverage of the celebrations that had broken out all over the globe at Superman’s successful push of the asteroid. Only Lois hadn’t felt like partying. Until Clark returned to her, she would have no reason to celebrate ever again.
She had been able to get hold of Martha and Jonathan a few hours before midnight. The circuits had all been busy until then. Clark’s parents hadn’t seen nor heard from him since he had stopped by that morning before heading over to EPRAD. He had left his change of clothes, glasses, and wedding ring with them – not wanting to risk losing them in space. They all believed he would stop there first to pick that stuff up before heading to see her in Niagara. So that phone call must be from the Kents telling her that Clark was okay and on his way.
Finally, Lois was able to untangle herself from the sheets and make it to the telephone. She picked it up and, instead of her usual ‘hello,’ Lois gasped, “Martha?”
“No, Honey, it’s me,” Clark’s voice filled her with such joy. She figured it must contain helium for she felt as if she were floating.
“Clark! You made it back,” Lois gushed in her excitement. “I was so worried. Are you heading back to Niagara now?”
Her husband paused, before clearing his throat and then paused again. “Lois, I’m already in Niagara,” he finally admitted.
What?!“Then why are you calling?” she asked exasperated. “Come back to the hotel and I’ll show you just how much I love and miss you.”
“I’d love to do nothing more, Lois, but…” He stopped there and after another long pause said, “I can’t.”
Can’t?Lois’s heart lurched. “Clark? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“No, honey, I’m fine. A little tired and wet but…”
“Wet?” Lois repeated.
“Yeah, well, I kind of fell in the river.”
Lois squeezed her lips together. “
Kind of?”
Her heart soared as she heard him chuckle. “Okay. I crashed into the river and went over the Falls.”
Lois covered up the telephone, so Clark wouldn’t hear her laugh. When she was able to control herself, she asked, “Clark, where are you?”
Another long pause. He was obviously embarrassed, and she was rightfully chagrined. Of course,
he had still heard her laugh. But it had felt so good to laugh after the day she had had.
“Come on, Clark. I’m sorry I laughed, but please, you just told me you went over the Falls,” she tried to explain.
“Lois, it’s not that,” Clark said softly. “I need your help.”
“What’s wrong, Clark?”
“Promise you won’t laugh?” he asked.
“No,” she replied, giggles overtaking her again.
“Lo-is, please. I don’t want to be found like this,” he pleaded over the phone.
Oh, right, he was in the blue suit and his athletic suit was in Metropolis. “You need a change of clothes?” she inquired.
“Yes! How did…? Never mind that. Yes. And a hat or glasses or something to hide my face when we come in the hotel,” Clark said. “Thank you.”
“Where are you?” she asked again.
“Oh, God! Is that a security guard? Lois, hold on the line and be quiet…” Clark said before he disappeared. She could hear the Falls roaring the background.
Why didn’t he just tell you where he is, so you could work on getting to him instead of hanging on the line?A minute passed, then two, before she heard Clark’s whispered voice back on the line. “Lois, do you know that cave tunnel thing that leads to the staircase by the Falls? The one where they have all the rain slickers and boots?”
“Vaguely, from the movie ‘Niagara’ with Marilyn Monroe,” she replied.
“I’ll meet you there. In the cave. You might have to break in or climb a fence or something. Do you think…?”
“I can handle it, Clark. I’ll get there as soon as I can,” she told him.
“Thank you, Lois. You don’t know how much I love you at this moment,” he replied, before hanging up.
Lois sighed with a smile. Yes, she did. She made a quick call to Clark’s parents to let them know that he had returned safely and that she would have him call them in the morning. Then she gathered up some clothes, stuffed them into her carry-on bag, grabbed her hotel key-card, and rushed out the door.
***
A half-hour earlier…Clark had no idea how long he had allowed himself to sleep before the bright sunshine of morning had blinded him. All at once, he had felt cold and hot and blinded by the sunlight. Hot because in sleep he had slowed his descent through the Earth’s atmosphere. Cold, because he had been too far North. He had gone completely over Santa’s winter wonderland and the sunlight had been from Siberia’s afternoon sun. Superman then had shifted direction and had headed back over the pole to North America’s middle-of-the-night darkness.
Clark had never been so embarrassed in his whole life. Here, he had saved Earth from certain doom, only to have ended up flying over Canada… He had not been quite sure what had happened, but he guessed it had something to do with his slow re-entry though Earth’s atmosphere. All he had known was that he couldn’t fly into heavily populated Metropolis.
Perhaps he should have stayed in Northern Russia a little while longer and soaked up more of those healing rays, but he had retreated to the safety of the darkness of night on the Western side of Earth. If he had thought the photos of Superman and Lois on the cover of the tabloids was bad – and he had – they were nothing to his current predicament.
As it was, with exhaustion and lack of a sunlight reboost, it had been like he was flying drunk. That had been why he had messed up his landing and had crashed into the Niagara River. The current had been strong and moments later – POP – over the edge he had gone. Fortunately, with the descent – the fall from the Falls – he had been able to fly to the back side of the waterfalls to regroup and plan his next move. He only hoped he hadn’t been caught on any of the cameras focused on the Falls twenty-four/seven.
He couldn’t have gone back to the hotel – not like this – it would have created too many questions. Nor could he have flown to the balcony of his hotel room. What if in his tired state, he had ended up on the wrong one? What if Lois hadn’t left the balcony door unlocked for him? What if someone had seen him? No, Clark had decided to call Lois and have her bring him some clothes, then Clark and Lois could return to the hotel as husband and wife – no one the wiser.
As he had leaned against the rock wall under the Falls, Clark had scanned through the water searching for the next place for him to move. He had seen the stairs climbing up the side of the Falls. He had remembered seeing a brochure at the Lexor with pictures of happy raincoat-wearing visitors being splashed by the Falls. Scanning down the stairs, he had found the cave tunnel where the rain slickers were kept. It had felt like the perfect solution… well, almost like giving chocolate to an angry Lois. He had grinned at his analogy. A plan had formulated in his muddled mind. Cave, coat, coin, call, clothing, and cuddle.
Coat to cover his… he had swallowed. Then find a coin to use in the payphone. Call Lois at the Lexor Niagara and have her bring him some Clark clothes. Then they could return to the hotel and he could finally get some shuteye while cuddling with his wife. He had known Lois wouldn’t be thrilled with his non-honeymoon related exhaustion, but she would have understood. Wouldn’t she have? They had the rest of their lives to make up for this missing day.
Getting to the cave and putting on the rain slicker had been straightforward and easy. He had lucked out and had found a quarter on the floor of the cave. Thank you x-ray night vision. Unfortunately, the payphone he had found had been at the mouth of the cave under a streetlamp.
Hearing Lois’s voice had been like a dose of sunshine. For a minute there, he had forgotten his predicament and to keep an ear out for anyone who might see him. Until he had heard the jingling of the security guard’s keys. Clark had hidden against the ceiling of the cave until the man had moved on, thankful the man didn’t check upwards.
Now, Clark waited in the shadows of the rain slicker cave for Lois. He heard a soft pat-pat of footsteps and pressed himself more firmly against the wall as he gazed through the darkness at who it could be.
“Clark?” Lois whispered in the darkness.
His heart exploded with relief and he stepped away from the wall. “Lois.”
She looked so stunningly beautiful in those sweats. It was all he could do not to rush to her and gather her up in his embrace.
“Clark!” Lois turned to face him and then squinted in the darkness. “Clark? Where…?” She swallowed and yet he saw a smile slip onto those oh-so-kissable lips. “Where is your blue suit?”
Clark gathered his rain slicker tighter around his barely covered hips and butt, and cleared his throat. “I think it burned up on re-entry,” he replied, softly, feeling the heat of a blush rush to his cheeks.
“All of it?” she asked, moving closer. The smile on her lips grew into a grin. “Boots, cape, shorts, and all?”
Clark rolled his eyes. “Yes!” he announced exasperated. “Do you have clothing for me?”
Lois dropped the overnight bag off her shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. “I want a kiss first.”
“Lo-is!” He just knew she would try to take advantage of his lack of clothes.
“My new husband has been gone on a dangerous mission all day, and I’ve been worried sick,” she told him, resting her head against his chest. “That’s the man I want to kiss.”
Of course! Clark felt like kicking himself for being a complete heel. “I’m sorry, Lois. It’s been a long, trying day.” He bent down at the same moment she went up onto her tippy-toes.
Her kiss sent an electric current thought his body and he wondered how he didn’t kiss her the moment she had entered the cave. Her tongue danced across his lips and her mouth took hold of his bottom lip. Clark groaned and pulled her closer as his body seemed to come alive with revived energy. He opened his mouth to hers and he felt her tighten her grip on his neck, almost as if she were afraid if she let go he would disappear. His hands slid down her back, cupping her bottom and lifting her up. She hooked her ankles around behind him, moaning his name. It was almost his undoing.
Clark still couldn’t believe this woman desired him as much as he desired her.
He heard the snaps as Lois ripped open the rain slicker he wore to climb inside and then she giggled. “Happy to see me, Clark?”
Of course, he was happy to see her. He was always happy … Oh. Clark chuckled realizing what she meant. “Maybe we should return to the hotel,” he whispered, setting her down.
A little pout of disappointment slipped onto her lips and he pulled her into another embrace. Her body once again pressed against his. His fingers went under her sweatshirt and brushed the bare skin of her tummy. Her eyes opened and focused such a look of desire on him, he stumbled backwards against the clothing cubbies in the cave. Then he laughed and she joined him.
“Maybe it would be best to wait until we got back to our room,” she admitted. “We don’t really need to be caught here.”
Clark gulped and closed the rain jacket over his naked body.
Lois smiled at him as she picked up her bag. First she pulled out her Jackie-O sunglasses and slipped them onto his face. “Your disguise.”
He laughed, realizing he had left his “disguise” in Metropolis with his athletic suit and his wedding ring.
Then Lois took out his jeans and a t-shirt and threw them to him. “Oh, crap, Clark. I didn’t bring you any briefs.”
Clark shrugged. “I’ll deal.”
“I didn’t know you had lost
all of your clothes,” she exclaimed in her defense and stilled his hand as he went to step into his jeans. “Wear mine.”
Clark froze, his mouth hanging open. “What?”
Lois had already kicked off her shoes and was pulling off her sweatpants.
“Ah. No thank you. That’s okay, Lois,” he was somehow able to mumble still unable to tear his gaze away from his wife standing before him in just her panties and a sweatshirt.
“I don’t need them; I’m wearing sweats. But your jeans have a zipper and I’m not chancing you being out of commission for the rest of our honeymoon due to a zipper error,” she said as she slid her underwear off her body and tossed them at him. He swallowed, easily catching them.
“I’ll be fine,
really,” he replied, holding her undies back to her.
Lois placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. “
Really? And have you tested your invulnerability on
all parts of your body? Personally, I’m not willing to chance it at this time. Put ‘em on.”
Clark’s head snapped up as he heard the telltale jingle of the security guard’s keys in the distance. Instinctively, he grabbed Lois and pulled her to his chest.
No, you need her closer in case you have to super speed out of view, he told himself as he lifted her straight up, chests together, cupping his hands under her bottom, his concentration still in the distance with the security guard’s keys.
Lois wrapped her arms around his neck and shifted her body only a hairline fraction, which was just enough to remind his body that neither of them were wearing bottoms. She gasped and stared at him with such an expression of yearning he realized that she must have been feeling something resembling the sensations that were currently taking over his body. This felt like the difference between sunlight and moonlight. Both were beautiful in their own way.
This sensation, this feeling of Lois and him joined as one, felt like blinding sunlight.
“Oh, that’s new,” Lois finally whispered, a slight catch in her voice. Could she feel his aura envelop her in its protective shield? She covered his mouth with hers. It was as if she had started a motor he hadn’t known existed inside of him.
A small part of him tried to voice a warning to her about the approaching security guard, but the only sound he could utter was a deep rumbling moan.
Lois gasped his name, “Clark.”
That sound was his undoing as his feet left the ground from the pleasure of their love-making.
Her hot jagged, breath whispered into his ear as they finished, “I love you.”
Clark still couldn’t speak until he heard the jingle of the security guard’s keys echo off the walls of the cave. “Lois,” he murmured softly in a panicked voice, returning them to the floor and pressing them into the shadows.
“I heard it too,” she whispered quieter than he had.
“Ssshhhh!” Clark hissed.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” said a deep voice before a bright light engulfed them.
They were caught. Escape now would just give away his secret identity and Superman’s intimate relationship with Lois. He continued to hold his wife tightly to his chest, knowing his hands covered her bottom better than wrapping his borrowed rain jacket around her would.
Clark could just picture the next headline on the
National Inquisitor: “Superman and Lois Lane Arrested in Trespassing Sex Tryst at Niagara Falls.” He gulped, thankful that at least he was still wearing Lois’s ridiculous sunglasses to shield his eyes.
Lois’s soft voice whispered in his ear, not wishing to reveal her well-known face to the guard, “Repeat after me.”
He nodded slightly in agreement. Between his long day, exhaustion from pushing an asteroid the size of Metropolis off its path, his plunge off the Falls, and his current passionate embrace with his wife, Clark’s mind was a complete blank.
“Just a couple of honeymooners celebrating…” she whispered.
Clark said the words out loud to the security guard.
“… having a future now that Superman has saved us from the Nightfall asteroid,” Lois continued into his ear.
He finished the statement, glancing at the portly guard through the bright glaring light.
First, the guard raised a brow at this statement. Then a smile tugged at his scowl. “Well, I’ll make an exception this time due to… um, circumstances. I’ll be passing by here again in twenty minutes. Make sure you and the Mrs. are gone by then. And no going out on the Falls Walk.”
Clark exhaled in relief. “Thank you.”
Then he watched as the security guard walked back the way he came. At the mouth of the cave, the man threw the beam of light back at them. “And leave the rain slicker here when you leave.”
“Yes, Sir,” Clark called with a nod. He watched and waited until the sound of the man’s jingling keys had faded under the roar of the Falls.
Without another word, Lois started kissing Clark’s neck once more. When she reached his ear, her hot breath tickled him as she began sucking on his earlobe.
“Lois, we really should be heading back to the hotel now,” Clark reminded her, his voice husky with desire.
“Uh-huh,” she murmured.
“Lo-is!” his voice cracked.
“You heard the man, we have twenty minutes,” she said, pressing a kiss onto his lips. “Let’s make the most of it.”
“I need to rest,” Clark moaned, as he felt her restarting that uncontrollable passion machine inside him.
“Your body says you’re lying,” she informed him.
Clark’s eyes rolled back in his head as his knees weakened, and he stumbled to the benches along the wall and sat down.
“Clark!” Lois slid to the floor.
The sudden coolness of the cave without his wife’s body heat caused him to shiver. It was almost as if she had taken his aura with her when she stepped away.
“Clark!” Lois gasped again, kneeling before him and running her hand over his hair. “Are you all right?”
He glanced into her eyes before covering her mouth with his. He pulled her to his lap once more, needing her body heat. Clark looked at her long enough to ask her permission with his eyes. A smile graced her lips.
“I’m sorry.”
Lois hugged him. “I’m not.”
“I shouldn’t have made love with you without precautions,” he explained, brushing a lock of her hair off her face.
“It was worth the risk, knowing that you’re safe home with me again,” she said, lifting up the sunglasses so she could look into his eyes. “We’ll think about the consequences later, if there are any. There’s nothing we can do about it now. What’s done is done.”
“I don’t like how I lost control.” He kissed her gently. “Did I hurt you?”
“Do I look like I’m hurting?” Lois asked and then chuckled. “Clark, you have no idea how fantastic a lover you are, do you?”
Clark made a gurgling noise in response.
“Maybe it was I who hurt you,” Lois whispered, running her fingers over his shoulders, pushing off the rain slicker. “Are
you all right? I’ve never seen you so…”
He smiled sheepishly. “Well, I
did have an exhausting day.”
Lois took hold of his face with both of her hands and placed a tender kiss on his lips. “Shall we return…?”
Clark interrupted, deepening the kiss, tugging on her bottom lip, and running his tongue over her teeth. They should go. They shouldn’t remain out in the open, where they could be caught again. But he didn’t have the willpower to resist Lois at this moment. He wanted her. He wanted to feel the sunshine she radiated. He wanted to hear her moan in pleasure again, if he could.
“I was invulnerable until I met you,” he whispered as his hands slipped under her sweatshirt. “But now, I know what heaven feels like.”
“Are you sure you want to head back to…?” Lois couldn’t finish that thought as he took off her sweatshirt, so that she was completely naked in his arms.
For a while, there were no sounds except their muted moans from their love-making and the roar of the Falls.
Finally, Clark collapsed onto the benches again, holding her tightly to him, happy in the knowledge that he made her create that delightful wow-moan three times more. He could survive on that sound alone.
“I love you, Lois,” he whispered, kissing her cheek.
“You may love me like that anytime you want,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder. “But now, I need to sleep.”
“Not yet, Honey. We still need to get dressed and go back to our room,” he reminded her.
“Carry me?” she asked dreamily.
“Lo-is.” He would be lucky if his legs still worked to walk himself back to the Lexor.
“Give me a moment then,” she renegotiated with a sigh of contentment.
*** End of Part 3 *** Part 4G Comments
