Nightfall Honeymoon TOCTo read
Part 4G Part 5
Monday – EveningThe room was dark when Lois finally opened her eyes again. She could see the faint touches of the pink and orange to the sky, hinting that they had just missed the sunset.
Clark is way too addicting. Mama Lois.Lois cringed. It wasn’t like her to not to think of the consequences of her actions. What had she been thinking? To make love to Clark
again without protection while he was in the process of warning her that they were walking the danger line? She placed her hand on her stomach. What if they had already made a baby with their enthusiasm?
Yippee!A smile slipped onto Lois’s lips. She wasn’t ready to be a mother, she knew that, but she liked the idea that she and Clark could create something from their love. She sighed. But he was right. They needed to go back to using condoms. She didn’t know if she could handle a baby in the same year she moved her dream city, found her dream husband, and landed her dream job. Too much dreaming and a nightmare was sure to come along and disturb everything.
“You really should come with a warning label,” Clark murmured, kissing down her neck.
Isn’t that what Cat said of Claude?Lois stiffened. “That’s not funny, Clark.”
“I just meant that Superman is invulnerable to everything but you,” he clarified. “You make me vulnerable.”
Suddenly, Lois saw herself holding a dead and bloody Superman with a torn blue suit and a tattered red cape. She pushed away from Clark; all the way away. “So, what you are saying is that making love to me is deadly?” she said sharply, her voice cold. “Even to Superman?”
“Of course not.” He stared at her.
“Right,” Lois snapped. She was off the bed now, pacing. “Why do you think Linda calls me the Ice Queen?”
‘Cause she’s a bitch?Lois pressed her lips together. “You kill one man and suddenly…” Then her hands clenched and her eyes shut, holding the tears at bay. “A man would have to be invulnerable to survive.”
She heard Clark gasp as she turned her back on him. “No!”
Her tears came unbidden. She could still picture the cold, dead body of the young man to whom she had first given herself, when she had found him in the forest the morning after the second time they had made love.
“You didn’t kill Pete, Lois. The snake that bit him did.” Clark crawled across the bed and folded her into his embrace. “And you’re so hot you’re the Enchantress of Fire.”
Ooooh, I like that nickname. Much better than Ice Queen.“Really?” she whispered, turning her head into his bare chest. Did he really believe that about her?
“Steamy hot,” he replied. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Ever?” She held onto him tightly. “You’ll never leave me.”
“Never,” he promised, kissing her forehead. “That’s what I meant earlier, Lois. I love you so much that being without you would kill me. You’ve become a part of me. I don’t know how I’ve survived my life until now without you.”
“Okay,” she said. He always knew what to say to change her mood.
Sometimes for the better, but usually for the worst.“You can shut up now,” she recommended.
You mean while he’s ahead?“Nope,” he argued. “I’ll never stop telling you I love you.”
Well, okay, if he insists.What had Lois done that was so wonderful to entitle her to this man? “I don’t deserve you.”
“And yet you’ll never get rid of me.” He chuckled, tilting up her chin and placing a gentle kiss on her lips.
Sounds good to me.Her hands covered his bare butt and squeezed.
Man of Steel, my…“Lo-is.”
“Clar-k,” she teased him now.
“Why don’t we get dressed and I take you out to an actual restaurant?” Clark suggested.
“A date? You mean a real date?” Lois asked, her eyelashes batting as she gazed at her husband. “Like where I take out my best perfume, the one I bought after seeing
Love Affair, the good one not the remake, and put a dab behind my knee, even though I have no idea why?”
He smiled, kissing her again. “Yeah, just like that. I owe you one.”
How many official dates did you two actually go on before you got married?Lois raised an eyebrow. “One?”
None?Clark swallowed as his cheeks turning slightly pink. “Okay. I owe you more than one.”
“No can do,” she told him. “We’re not leaving this room.”
He cleared his throat. “Lois, when you told me that you wanted to make love to me for days, did you really mean – literally – ‘days’? Don’t you want to go out?”
Lois bit her bottom lip, demurely. “Do you?” she challenged.
“Ahh…” he stammered, weakening.
“We can’t go out because you left your glasses in Metropolis, silly,” she reminded him with a wink before he believed she was a sex addict.
Ah, Lois… said her inner voice, raising her hand.
“Aw, shucks,” Clark said, lifting her into his arms and pressing another Earth-shattering kiss on her lips. “Have I mentioned how much I like your new teddy?”
Not in so many words. But sometimes words get in the way of actions. Why doesn’t he just show you how much he likes the teddy?Lois smiled her gratitude at his compliment. “We could order up some pasta. Or would you like a bath first?”
Clark gulped, glancing over at the sunken tub built for two. “Pasta or wet Lois? Pasta or wet Lois?” he debated quietly to himself. “Maybe we should start with pasta and end with…” He cleared his throat. “… the bath.”
“Why don’t you set me down, so I can freshen up while you call room service?” Lois asked as she ran a finger down his bare chest.
He set her down, but didn’t let go of her as he cleared his throat again.
“Call room service, Clark,” she said with a chuckle, knowing exactly where his thoughts were heading as his gaze trailed down to her chest.
“Right. Food,” he said, turning quickly away from her.
“You might want to either cover up or shut the curtains,” Lois reminded him.
A moment later the curtains were drawn and Clark was back to walking to the phone with his sleep shorts on.
“Hey, we have a message,” he told her.
“That phone call we didn’t take earlier,” she called from the bathroom. When she returned a few minutes later, she could hear him on the telephone.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier, Mom, I just got…” He sighed, shooting his wife a weak smile.
“I called them last night and told them you were fine,” Lois interjected.
“Mom!” Clark blushed and turned away from Lois, lowering his voice. “No, we haven’t been working on making you a grandmother.”
Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!Lois wrapped her arms around Clark’s waist. “Get off the phone and come back to bed, stud,” she moaned.
“Lois!” Clark hissed, turning bright red. “My mom!”
He’s a knucklehead if he doesn’t realize you know that! Why does he think you said it?Lois grinned. “You’ll be the first to know after Clark, Martha, I promise,” she called over his shoulder and into the phone. She spanked Clark’s butt and sat back down on the bed.
“Mom, I’d rather not … Hi, Dad. Yes, we’re… Well, most of… Dad, do I really need to discuss
this with you two? Right
now?” Clark stammered. Lois watched as his ears became redder.
“Don’t forget to remind your mother about the blue suit?”
“Right. My blue suit burned up on re-entry, could you ask…? Hi, Mom. Yeah, nothing left. I need another... Ah, yeah. Completely gone.” He gulped as his face became more tinged in pink. “That’s why I didn’t come back to Metropolis…” he explained. “You have? Thanks, Mom. You’re a lifesaver… ha-ha, very funny. Been hanging out with Perry and his corny Superman jokes, have you?”
He glanced over at Lois and rolled his eyes. But the action was more sarcastic than annoyed. Clark truly loved his parents.
“We’ll see you in a couple of days…” Clark looked at Lois again.
“Wednesday,” she informed him.
“Our new flight is on Wednesday… Right, I know... No, I don’t know what to do about that. We’ll figure something out… I’ll call you if anything changes.”
Does he mean like if you suddenly have a round belly full of baby by tomorrow?Lois put a hand over her stomach and took a deep breath. Clark said he had aged naturally. If she got pregnant there is no reason to think that she would have a pregnant belly by the next day.
Paranoid much, there, Lois?‘Gee, I wonder why?’ Lois retorted to her wayward thoughts.
Soorrrr-rry!“I love you guys and I didn’t mean to worry you,” Clark said into the phone. “See you Wednesday.” Then he hung up. “‘Come back to bed, stud’? Really, Lois, did you have to?”
Of course!Lois bit her bottom lip and shot him a come-hither expression.
“Pasta! I need to order dinner,” he reminded himself, returning to the phone.
Didn’t Clark say that pasta turns him on?She grinned at his obvious discomfort, licking her lips when he turned back to glance at her for a second. “Do you really
need pasta, Clark?”
“No, Lois, I don’t. But you sure get cranky and paranoid when you haven’t eaten,” he teased.
He better be joking!Lois picked up a pillow and threw it at him.
***
Tuesday – Mid-dayLois leaned forward and kissed Clark, whispering, “I thought she’d never leave. Did you check to see if they have video surveillance?”
Clark nodded. He had angled himself just right so neither his face nor his reflection would be seen on the camera.
“Slowly now,” she warned him. “I’ll keep lookout.”
He laughed. “You’d think we were doing something scandalous or clandestine or illegal here,” he said, taking off those hideous Jackie O. sunglasses and putting on a pair like the ones he had left in Metropolis.
“No! Absolutely not.” Lois shook her head. “I married you, not those glasses. Try these.” She handed him a pair with silver rims, a much more modern look.
Clark removed the black frames and slipped on the new metal-framed ones. “How do I look?” he asked, glancing into the mirror.
Superman in glasses gazed back. Just as Clark was about to tear the ineffectual disguise from his face his wife answered, “Hot.”
Clark took another glance in the mirror. “Really?” Hot wasn’t a term he had ever associated with him or his glasses.
Lois snaked her arms over his shoulders from behind and kissed his cheek. “Uh-huh.”
He lowered his voice. “You don’t think I look too much like Kal?”
She exhaled. “Have I ever mentioned how sexy I think Kal is? Those deep brown eyes can turn a woman to mush.”
No. No, she hadn’t mentioned
that.
Then Lois looked at him in the mirror. “But you’re right. These disappear on your face, making them pointless. How about these?” she said, handing him another pair with a slight tortoise shell pattern.
Lois shook her head and handed him another pair with blue frames. “Ugh. No!” She gave him another and another and another. Finally, she stopped at a simple pair of metal frames with a brown tortoiseshell top.
Clark wasn’t sure he liked this look. He did like it better than the black plastic 1960’s Buddy Holly type frames and these certainly didn’t make him look like Superman. “They make me look a bit nerdy,” he told her unconvinced.
Lois reached over his shoulders and kissed his lips. “So.”
“
So?” Clark echoed in surprise.
“You’re talking to a member of the Math Club and the former Chess Club President of Smallville High,” she breathed into his ear. “I’m not turned off by ‘nerdy’, Clark.”
He turned a perplexed expression her direction, but her words seemed genuine. Huh? Really?
“So if I let out my inner geek…?” he teased.
“Trying to scare me off, Kent? It won’t work.” She raised a brow and bit her bottom lip in the way that she did, which he could always feel deep in his gut… low down in his gut.
“No?”
Lois winked at him. “You show me your inner geek and I’ll show you mine,” she challenged.
Clark flashed back to Lois standing outside the church in her wedding gown. It did remind him of a sleeveless version of that white dress Princess Leia had worn at the end of
Star Wars, during the medal ceremony. He had had many an eleven-year old fantasy about Princess Leia, the year
Star Wars had been released. At first, he pretended
he had been the one to rescue her from the Death Star. By twelve-years old, Jedi Clark not only rescued the Princess, he also received a kiss. And at thirteen… well… Clark smiled. By then he and Princess Leia had become old friends.
He may have dated his share of blondes, but there was always something more exciting about a spunky brunette. Suddenly an image of Lois in a gold
Revenge of the Jedi bikini shot through his mind, then through his body. He swallowed, glancing up at the optician’s assistant. “We’ll take these.”
“Good choice, sir,” the woman replied as if she probably said the same phrase to all her customers.
***
The couple had lunch at the deli next door as the store made negative one lenses to fit his new frames.
Lois leaned across the table and whispered, “I have a confession.”
If she admitted to owning a Princess Leia bikini back in Smallville…
“The first time I realized I might be falling for you…” She paused to take a bite of her pastrami sandwich.
Okay, a different kind of confession than the fantasy he was imagining, but just as nice.
“Was that first night. You know, when I stole a peek at you without your glasses.”
Clark took a sip of his ice tea and lowered his voice, trying to understand. “So, you realized you loved Kal first?”
“There was no Kal at that point, only Clark,” she corrected. “And Clark is one sexy man without his glasses.”
Clark pressed his lips together. “There has always been Kal – technically, I was
him before I was Clark.”
“But the night I stole your glasses, Clark,
I hadn’t known that… actually, neither did
you. That was before the globe started glowing.”
His brow furrowed. “Wait a minute. That was the night of our non-date date. A whole
week before we kissed, you realized you were falling for me?”
Lois shrugged. “Why do you think I got so mad at you? And why do you think I refused to give up on you when your green-eyed monster raged out of control? I knew that man who charmed my socks off was hiding deep inside you, waiting to reemerge.”
Clark took another sip of his drink. “He’s gone, you know,” Clark admitted hesitantly. “My jealousy.”
“Gone?” she gasped in faux dismay. “Your inner idiot?”
“Well, I don’t know about
that.” He pinched his lips together to try and hide the sheepish smile that snuck onto his lips anyway. “But that nagging voice inside my head that kept telling me I wasn’t good enough for you. That you were going to leave me. And that I should jump your bones before you did dump me because I wasn’t going to find another woman like you and end up dying a virgin.
That voice is gone.”
“Wow! My inner voice isn’t nasty like that. She just brings deep inner feelings I’d rather not acknowledge to the surface.” Lois squeezed his hand. “So, when did you lose your monster?”
Clark didn’t look like he wanted to answer, but then lowered his voice, “Friday, while we made love. It was just gone.” He bit into his sandwich. “It’s like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.”
She appeared skeptical by his analogy. “A weight… off
your shoulders?”
A really heavy weight. “I feel like I can accomplish anything now,” he replied.
Lois grinned. “And all because you made love with me?” She laughed in amusement. “Well, if I had known
that was the cure for your denseness, I’d have made love to you
that first night.”
Clark choked on his sandwich and then tried to cover it up by giving Lois what he hoped was a scandalized look. What would he have done if she had attacked him that night? “I’m glad we waited.” His hand slid up her arm to her shoulder. “I’ve really enjoyed this weekend.”
She bit her bottom lip and bounced her eyebrows. “And we have the rest of our lives to make up for that one missing day.” She leaned over and kissed him. “Speaking of which, we should probably earn our keep and give Perry a call about Nightfall. You know, an interview with Superman.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I hear nobody has seen that guy since he left EPRAD Control to battle Nightfall.” He grinned. “Thank God!” Naked flying Superman photos would make his life hell.
Lois kissed his cheek over to his ear. “Better make it after we return to Metropolis. We don’t want anyone to suspect the man went on the honeymoon with us or anything. Or are you going to go pick up your new suit after we get the new glasses? Martha did say that she had made you another suit, right?”
“A few, in fact,” he told her, sitting back. “But if we’re going to work on Thursday, there’s another kind of suit I need to buy. And I promised my new wife a date.”
“A date? A real date? You weren’t kidding?”
Clark shook his head.
There was an effervescent quality to her smile. “Loving this new you. Loving him very much.”
***
Wednesday Mid-DayLois took hold of Clark’s hand as they strolled into the line for the ticket counter at the Buffalo airport. She was sad that their honeymoon was coming to an end. But now they got to start joining their lives together and that would never end.
How are you feeling? Any morning sickness?Lois rolled her eyes at her inner thoughts. Why hadn’t her crazy thoughts gone away with Clark’s green-eyed monster? It wasn’t fair to be tormented so.
The line finally meandered them around to the counter. Clark set their suitcases on the scale as Lois handed their tickets to the agent.
“Mr. and Mrs. Kent.” Clark smiled as he announced who they were as if he would never tire of telling people they were married.
Super sweetie!“Clark Kent and Lois Lane,” she corrected. “The tickets are under those names.”
“Lois Lane?” he repeated back to her.
They hadn’t discussed whether or not she would take his name. “I didn’t marry you to go into hiding, Clark. I like my name and I’m proud of who I am and what I’ve…”
Clark’s smile grew instead of diminish. “I love Lois Lane, too. She’s the woman I fell in love with. What makes you think I’d want you to change anything about yourself? Even your name?”
Lois nudged him. “You’re picking up my bad habits, Clark. Interrupting, rambling…”
“Lois Lane?” The ticketing agent inquired. “
The Lois Lane?”
Both of them turned and faced the agent, their silly smiles wiped off their faces. Back to reality.
The agent’s eyes were wide as she lowered her voice, “Can you contact Superman?”
This didn’t sound like the usual fan or groupie request. Not the usual ‘Superman’s girlfriend’ inquiry either. “Why?” Lois asked cautiously.
The agent swallowed. “I’m not supposed to say anything to panic the passengers, but all the flights have been grounded for the next hour.”
Clark’s hand tightened around Lois’s waist. “Go on.”
“You didn’t hear?” the agent asked, glancing between the two of them in disbelief. “About Nightfall?”
“Nightfall?” Lois gulped, her throat dry and clogged by her heart.
No! Superman has already taken care of that problem. That’s history! No!!!“What message do you need us to get to Superman?” Clark spoke the words Lois could not.
“It’s heading for the moon now. The military just sent the Asgard rocket with a nuclear bomb to destroy it. That’s why all the flights are grounded. Just in case...” The agent’s stiff fingers were turning white from holding them above the keyboard.
“I’m sure he knows, but…” The words stumbled out of Lois’s mouth as her knees turned to jelly.
Nightfall. Moon. Nuclear bomb.Only Clark’s strong arm kept her standing.
Lois cleared her throat, trying to get confidence to emerge. “I could try…”
“No, Lois. I’ll contact Superman. You fly to Metropolis and I’ll meet you there. I’ll catch a later flight or something.” Clark kissed her cheek and whispered only loud enough for her to hear, “I’ll
always come back to you, Lois. I love you.”
Lois nodded dumbly, unable to speak, tears blurring her vision.
Clark smiled at her, brushing a lock of hair off her face. “I’m sure he’s already on it, Lois. Don’t worry.” Then he turned his reassuring smile to the ticketing agent. “But I’ll see if I can contact him.”
Lois forced the muscles in her legs to work. “Good luck.” She smiled at him, knowing it must have appeared as fake as it felt, as if her face was frozen like hard plastic.
He started backing up with a wink. “Call Perry. Tell him to hold Page One for me.” Then Clark jogged out the automatic doors and was gone.
The agent sighed with relief, then started stamping Lois’s ticket. “Gate 3C,” she finally told Lois. The agent’s voice was back up to its normal level as she handed Lois the boarding pass. “As I mentioned before, all flights are still running behind schedule. The two o’clock flight to Metropolis has been delayed an hour.”
Lois exchanged a knowing look with the agent and wandered towards security.
“Miss. Miss!” the man behind her in line called.
She turned and faced him. “I am
Mrs. Clark Kent,” she corrected. “
Mrs.”
“Well,
Mrs. Kent, is this your bag?” he asked, holding up her carry-on she had left at the counter.
“Sorry. Yes. Thank you,” Lois said, taking her bag and trying to look something other than numb.
Somehow she made it through security and over to her gate.
Nightfall was still coming. It was going to hit the moon. Her idea about pushing it off course had failed. Now a nuclear missile was headed to explode the asteroid. That was exactly what Clark wanted to avoid in the first place. She knew Clark wouldn’t let the missile hit its target. Not this close to the moon. Not this close to Earth. It was all her fault. She had distracted Clark from his Superman duties. Now he had to deal with both an asteroid and a nuclear bomb. If one of them didn’t kill him, the other one surely would.
She made it over to a bank of payphones, dropped in her quarters, and pushed the buttons. “Lois Lane for Perry White.”
“Lois!” her boss exclaimed into the phone. “Where’s Clark? I’ve been trying to reach you…”
“He asked me to call you to hold Page One for a new Superman story,” Lois repeated Clark’s message into the phone, unable to feel anything other than stunned.
It was her fault. All her fault.
Bet you’re glad you made love with him without precautions now.“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” she demanded of her inner voice.
“Lois?” Perry asked softly. “Are you all right?”
Her hands began to shake as she realized she had spoken out loud. “No.”
“Talk to me, honey. What’s wrong?” Perry’s voice coaxed into her ear.
“My husband has gone to find Superman to see if he can stop both a nuclear missile and an asteroid the size of Metropolis from hitting the moon and it’s all my fault,” she gasped as the tears she had been holding at bay finally crashed around her in sobs.
“Great shades of Elvis!” Then her boss asked, “Your fault?”
Your fault for suggesting he push it out of the way. Your fault for not letting him get enough sleep the night before. Your fault from distracting him from the news for the last twenty-four hours, so he couldn’t have taken care of this problem sooner. Your fault for making love to him one last time before checking out of the hotel, so he didn’t have the energy to tackle this problem with a clear mind. If he fails, if he dies, it will all be your fault.“It doesn’t really matter, does it?” Lois was finally able to say into the phone.
“So Superman is going after Nightfall again and the Asgard rocket? Is that your story?” Perry said, focusing on the facts.
“Uh-huh. Superman really hates nuclear weapons and I cannot see him allowing it to continue on a collision course with Nightfall, especially this close to Earth,” Lois explained, her shaking hands brushing her hair out of her face. “All flights have been grounded in the meantime. I’m stuck at the airport with nothing to do but wait and think.”
It’s your fault. All your fault. Clark is going to die because of you.“Lois, sweetie, I need to you contact airport personnel and get me a story on the grounding of flights. Can you do that for me and then call it in to Doris?” the Chief asked her.
Story. Focus on the story, not on Clark. “Yes, I think so,” she told him.
“By the time you’ve done that, I’ll have an update on the Asgard rocket for you,” he said.
“Thank you, Perry,” was all she could say before hanging up.
Focus on the story. Not on Clark. Story. Airport. Story. Flights – canceled or delayed. Story.
Lois took a deep breath and marched off.
***
Clark stopped by his folks’ apartment just long enough to drop off his clothes and new glasses, and grab his replacement Superman suit. His folks were downstairs in the café, finishing up the lunch rush, and he didn’t have time for even a hug. Less than five minutes after he had left the Buffalo airport, he was flying through the stratosphere.
Superman could see the missile ahead of him and the Nightfall asteroid advancing towards the moon. It was much closer than it was when he pushed it off-course three days earlier, but it was still headed their way, still on the far side of the moon. And the damage to the moon would be catastrophic if Nightfall hit it. It would affect ocean currents and tides on Earth at the very least. Depending on where it hit, either the asteroid or the moon could break apart and the fragments could head towards Earth. Satellites could be struck and possibly the Space Station Prometheus with all those scientists and colonists. It could knock the moon off its axis or out of its orbit around the Earth. Not to mention the moon dust ejected onto his planet.
Superman sped up. With a carefully deliberate swipe of his arm, he knocked the Asgard rocket off course. Then, with concentrated focus, he aimed himself at his top speed directly for the weakest spot on the asteroid, which the EPRAD scientists had told him about on Sunday. The impact careened Superman through the air back towards Earth.
He slowed himself down to make sure that Nightfall had indeed broken up into small pieces. Using his super-breath, he blew the fragments away, making sure they would avoid Earth entirely. He swooped around to shepherd the few remaining fragments he had missed. One large shard tumbled out of reach.
Clark narrowed his eyes, focusing closely on it. Alarm crossed his face as some more asteroid pieces flew unexpectedly past his head. He zapped these smaller fragments with his heat vision, not wanting to use too much of his air reserves. But that one chunk, out of reach, mocked him as it spun slowly, inevitably, onto a collision course with the Asgard rocket. He focused again on that last shard of asteroid, hoping to destroy it before it crashed into the nuclear missile.
Whether the asteroid impact detonated the rocket or whether the engineers had planned for Asgard to fire at this point in its trajectory, or even if it had to do with his heat vision, Clark never knew. In a fury of nuclear fire, the rocket exploded. A temporary second sun appeared in the sky, blinding him.
The blast shot the remains of that asteroid chunk at Superman and the force of the explosion hurled him back towards Earth.
*** End of Part 5 *** Part 6G Comments
