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Nightfall Honeymoon TOC

To read Part 5

Part 6G

Wednesday – Late afternoon

Lois sat on the plane and wrung her hands together, unable to relax. The delay hadn’t been too terribly long for everyone else. An hour, possibly two. For her, it seemed to stretch into an eternity. Then someone from the airline had announced that the Asgard rocket had hit Nightfall as planned and had broken it up before the asteroid had been able to strike the moon. No reference to Superman or his involvement had been mentioned.

She had tried to contact the Daily Planet, Doris or Perry, but all the circuits were busy. Lois kept hoping that Clark would return to the Buffalo airport and join her on the last leg of the journey home, but he never showed. She understood that once again, he must be exhausted. But to have no mention of him at all in the announcement had made her worry. Had no one realized that he had gone to help? Had he been too late and been blown to bits when the bomb had impacted with the asteroid? Where was Clark?

Trying to concentrate on happy memories from their honeymoon to tide her over until she made it back to her apartment, where Clark must surely be waiting for her, Lois closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

They had spent all the previous afternoon walking along the trails around and in front of the Falls. Everything had been wonderful: the weather, Clark holding her hand, the walk, the view, and the ease of their conversation. Although happy to be out again in the sunshine, Clark had kept teasing her that they needed to return to the cave and walk along the stairs to the mists. Lois hadn’t wanted to chance running into that security guard again.

As she thought again about the night in the cave, she remembered catching that first sight of him in that yellow rain slicker that hardly covered his bare hips. Of his embarrassment until she had kissed him. No matter how hard he tugged on the hem of the slicker, it never had completely covered him. She was surprised he hadn’t tied the jacket around his hips, but she guessed that it would have been quite obvious with his bare chest and bare legs. He had never been sexier than that night in the cave.

The mortification on Clark’s face when Lois had suggested he wear her underwear, quickly disappeared when he had pulled her into his arms. Just thinking about the wildness of that night caused her to flush. Her husband had made her feel like that. She knew that being with a man could be pleasurable; there was too much documented proof and first person accounts to discount it as urban myth, but until Clark she had never known true intimacy or pure ecstasy.

Even when they had made love in the honeymoon suite using precautions, Lois had felt more bliss than she had ever felt with any other man. She knew that she could make love to Clark quite easily for the rest of her life and never be disappointed. He was tender and giving and patient and curious and grateful and pleasing and loving and all those components made Clark an amazing lover.

But that night in the cave, when they had… gone without precautions… there was something else. Something more than the urgency and the fear of being discovered out in public. Some other quality. Something indescribable.

Lois had been trying over the last few days to find the words to explain how Clark had made her feel and there just weren’t any that fit perfectly. It had been like their bodies had been fused together, yet still separate, still pliable, still themselves. Only more so. It was like endorphins had rushed through her body, but there had been no pain, no numbness, only … “endorphins” was the wrong word. Like their pheromones had merged into one and everything about him had made Clark extra desirable. He had shot her body full of contentment and satisfaction. Lois clenched her fists in frustration. Only more so.

Just being with him had made Clark sexier, extra attractive, additionally loving, especially caring, and particularly pleasing. Only more so. And that sensation that had danced through her entire body had been so strong, so powerful, so addicting… it took only a brief thought of that moment to make her ready to make love to him again. Lois crossed her legs and exhaled slowly.

That was why when they had woken up from that long afternoon nap, the day after he had returned from space, her body had craved his. It had only taken him running his hand over her body to make Lois want him again. It was if her body had become aligned with his. They were magnets attracted to just each other. Only more so.

After their walk the previous afternoon, they had returned to their room and made love again before getting ready to go out on their ‘date.’ They had showered together and couldn’t help themselves. Clark had claimed that there was something extra special about the combination of his wife and water. That would explain their amorous night of pasta and bathing two nights earlier as well.

Clark had fed her. Normally, she wasn’t one who liked a man to do anything that made her feel like a helpless infant. But Clark feeding her and her feeding him… Lois wanted to groan at the thought of it. Maybe it had been the way that she had sat in his lap as he fed her. Or the way he had touched her as they ate. Or perhaps it was the memory of Clark in the bath afterwards. Bubbles and scented bath oils and Clark. She could live a lifetime on the memories from the past five days.

Lois sat up and her eyes opened. Four days. Friday and today had mostly been traveling. Sunday, Clark had been in space all day. So technically there really had only been Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday. Three days! Oh, definitely too short of a honeymoon.

Knowing that she had been making Clark happy was almost as exciting to Lois as him giving her blissful enjoyment. She had found herself doing little things that she knew would bring out that charming smile of his. Whether it had been actually placing perfume behind her knee and ear as she said she would before their date the night before. Or remembering how he liked his coffee. Or wording things just so that he would find something funny or delightful or reminiscent of some tactile memory. Clark liked anything that had to do with his senses. Super vision, super hearing, super smell… she wondered if he had super taste and super touch…

Oh, he definitely has super touch, Lois, moaned her inner voice.

“Excuse me, Miss? Are you all right? You seem quite flushed,” said the flight attendant, causing Lois’s eyes to flash open.

“Fine,” she croaked out, wishing she didn’t have to wait to see her husband again.

“Seat upright then. We’re coming into Metropolis,” the flight attendant informed her.

Lois couldn’t believe that she had spent the past hour and half fantasizing about Clark and their honeymoon. Thankfully, there hadn’t been anyone sitting in the seat next to hers.

***

Wednesday Evening

Lois grabbed her suitcase and Clark’s suit bag off the baggage carousel. She was back to feeling numb. Clark hadn’t met her plane at the airport. She lugged the suitcases to the bus stop to take the shuttle back into the heart of the city.

Approximately an hour and a half later, given all the traffic interruptions due to the celebrations of the destruction of Nightfall, she dragged her suitcase and Clark’s suitbag up the front steps of her building. Leaning against her door was Leo Nunk.

Great. Just what you need. A headache.

“Hi-ya, Lane. How was your extended weekend in Niagara Falls?” he asked, reaching forward with his tape recorder.

Really? After your engagement announcement and Nightfall, Leo Nunk still is interested in your sex life?

“I’m not in the mood, Leo,” she groaned, plopping down her bags to pull out her keys.

“Is that what you told your boyfriend? Is that why you’re coming home alone?”

Lois rolled her eyes, unlocked her front entry door, shoved her suitcases inside, pushed past Nunk, and slammed the door in his face as he tried to follow. Then she picked up the suitcases again and headed towards her basement apartment, hoping against hope her husband was there with a hot home-cooked meal, a bottle of wine, a warm hug, and a great excuse.

Instead the apartment was dark when she opened the door. She sighed.

And a mess.

Not a she-had-been-robbed-again mess, but a Lucy-hadn’t-cleaned-the-whole-time-nor-moved-her-stuff-to-the-Kent’s mess.

Lois shut her front door, tripped over a few pieces of clothing sprawled over her floor and sat down at her desk to cry. She buried her head in her arms but she was too exhausted for the tears to start.

Where was Clark?

She picked up the phone, then set it back down. Walking into the kitchen, she washed her hands and returned to the telephone with a wet dishrag to wipe down her telephone. Then she tossed the rag onto her dining room table, which she could tell probably hadn’t been cleaned properly since Clark had made them breakfast the previous Friday.

Lois picked up the receiver again and dialed. She wondered where the Kents were. Then she realized it was almost eight o’clock on a Wednesday night. Her in-laws were most likely in the middle of dinner rush at the café.

She dug the phonebook out of her bottom drawer and flipped to the dog-eared page.

“MJ’s Café. How can I help you?” Maisie’s voice sang into the Lois’s ear.

“Hi, Maisie. It’s Lois…” she began.

“Lois! Jonathan, the kids are back from their honeymoon,” gushed Maisie as Lois’s stomach sank down into her toes. If Maisie thought Clark was with her, it meant he couldn’t be helping out with the café.

“Lois!” Jonathan said cheerfully into the phone. “So, are you back in Metropolis? I heard something on the radio about planes being grounded during the Asgard rocket mission.”

She closed her eyes. How could she tell Jonathan that Clark was missing? She took a deep breath. “I’m home, but Clark ran off before our flight to find Superman and tell him about the new Nightfall threat.”

“Lois?” she heard Jonathan’s hesitancy. “Where’s Clark?”

Lois swallowed. “I don’t know. He hasn’t been here. I hoped you might have seen him.”

“Hold on, honey. Let me check with Martha,” Jonathan replied before silence filled the phone line. They both knew that if Martha had heard from her son, she certainly would have told Jonathan.

A minute later Martha picked up. Lois could hear the familiar noise of the café’s busy kitchen. “Lois?” Martha’s voice felt like a ray of sunshine on Lois’s otherwise dreary day. She hated to be this woman’s thundercloud.

“Please tell me you saw Clark about half-past noon today,” Lois pleaded, wanting some kind of good news. “Or better yet, anytime since.”

“No. Sorry, Lois. I haven’t seen him since he stopped by on Sunday,” Martha answered. “We were in the middle of the lunch rush at half-past noon today.”

“Right. Of course,” Lois replied flatly. “I thought he might’ve stopped by for his blue suit before…” Her voice went out on her.

“I can send Jonathan upstairs and check, if you like?” Martha suggested. Lois heard her cover the mouthpiece and speak with her husband. “Go up and check if he stopped earlier.” She uncovered the receiver again. “Maybe he’s not back yet, since… since he had to take a later flight from Buffalo? Did you check your messages?”

“The thieves stole my answering machine,” Lois informed her, regarding the break-in that had happened while Lois had been off interviewing Superman.

“My goodness, Lois. They got everything you own, didn’t they?”

Lois sighed. “Pretty much.” Her TV, VCR, computer, answering machine, purse, keys, and Clark’s globe. At least they had recovered that. She still was waiting on a check from the insurance company to replace her stuff.

“Is there any reason to worry, dear?” Martha asked.

“He went up about the same time as the Asgard rocket,” Lois told her. She refused to sugar-coat the news. She hoped they would do the same for her.

Martha gulped. “Jonathan and I didn’t hear anything…”

“I am hoping it was because EPRAD didn’t know he was going. But if he got caught between the asteroid and the missile…” A sob wrenched through Lois’s chest.

“He’s pretty tough, Lois,” Martha assured her, but Lois heard a wary crack in her voice. “Jonathan?”

Clark’s father must have returned from the apartment upstairs. “He took a suit and left his clothes, Lois.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, despite Jonathan not telling her anything she hadn’t already suspected to be true. “You’ll have him call me if he stops by there first?” she asked.

“Sure thing, Lois. And you?”

Lois reassured him she would have Clark call them if… should he show up at the apartment first. But she knew he wouldn’t. It had been Clark’s idea to ban Superman from visiting her place. They didn’t need any more tabloid photos of Superman outside her front door, especially since her engagement to Clark had been announced. Lois said goodbye and hung up, burying her face in her arms once more. This time she didn’t have any trouble finding her tears.

Do you think Clark went down to the Daily Planet to write up his story? asked Lois’s inner thoughts.

Lois’s head snapped up off her desk.

He did say to tell Perry to hold Page One for him.

Her heart began to beat again as she dialed the Daily Planet’s number she had memorized over the last few days. “Lois Lane for Perry White.”

“Lois?” Perry’s gruff voice was a salve for her wounded soul. He would have her answers. “Where’s your story about the grounded planes?” he demanded.

Or not.

“Is Clark there, Chief?” she asked softly, ignoring his question.

“No, Clark isn’t here,” he retorted. “Do you have his Page One story?”

“He left Buffalo, grabbed his new blue suit, and no one has seen him since,” she said, the tears pouring down her face again. “He’s missing.”

Perry’s tone changed at her tears. “Calm down, honey. This is Clark we’re talking about here. He’ll be okay.”

“What have you heard about the Asgard? All I’ve heard was that it destroyed Nightfall,” she tried to make her words coherent through her sobs.

“Yeah, that’s the line of bull we’ve been fed as well. Sounds like a story worth investigating,” he told her.

“Per-ry! My husband’s missing.”

“Well, you could stay home and cry into your cappuccino. Or you could get off your derrière and go and look for what happened to him,” Perry suggested. “I’d start at EPRAD Control and find out what the real story was and not that official malarkey they handed out. You and I both know that wasn’t the truth.”

Lois took a deep breath. “What if Clark comes home and I’m not here?”

“Leave him a note. He’ll find you.”

A hint of a smile tried to make an appearance on her lips, but failed. Clark had always been pretty good at tracking her down. “Thanks, Chief.”

“Now, do you have that story I assigned you about the planes?” he asked.

“Hold on.” Lois dumped the contents of her carry-on bag onto her desk. The first notebook she opened had her vows to Clark that he had written for her. She pushed it off the side. The next notebook had the vows she wrote for Clark. She pushed that book to the side as well. She couldn’t think about that now or she would start crying again. The third notebook had her story about the grounding of flights due to the Asgard mission out of fear of an electromagnetic pulse. “Here it is. Can you transfer me to Doris?”

“Doris left hours ago, Lois. Give it to me.” Perry sighed, resigned.

“I’m sorry, Chief. The circuits were down and I couldn’t phone it in from Buffalo.”

“No excuses, Lane, just the story,” he told her.

As Lois read her story to him, her eyes gravitated to a large brown envelope she had dumped out of her bag. She slipped her fingers under the flap and pulled out an eight by twelve photo of her and Clark moments after their wedding. He looked so handsome. So happy.

He’ll always come back to you, Lois.

Her voice caught in her throat.

“Lois? Is that all?” Perry asked.

She sniffled. “I love him so much.”

“I know that, honey. I can hold the front page until ten, but not any later. Go out and find your super man.”

She tried to smile through her tears but didn’t. “Yes, Sir.” And then hung up the phone.

Keys in the lock caused Lois to spin around. “Clark!” She rushed to the door and pulled it open.

There stood a very giggly Lucy and a Jimmy with his arms wrapped loosely around her waist. Jimmy dropped his embrace at the sight of Lois and Lucy wrapped her arms around her big sister.

“Lois! How was Niagara? The wedding?” She bounced her eyebrows. “The honeymoon?”

“Wedding?” stammered Jimmy. “You and CK got married?” His jaw hung open and he remained in the doorway. “The Chief said you two went away for the weekend and then couldn’t return because of Nightfall.”

Lois blanched at the asteroid’s name. But she knew she was going to have to fake her way through this conversation because neither of them knew Clark was Superman. Lois forced a smile to her face. “Wonderful.”

“Details! Details!” said Lucy, dumping her purse on the coffee table and plopping down on the couch.

“Lu-cy!” gasped Jimmy, glancing around. “Where’s CK?”

Well, isn’t that question to beat all questions?

What was Lois going to tell them?

The best lie is thinly veiled truth.

“We got separated in Buffalo. He went to contact Superman about the return of … “ She swallowed. “… Nightfall and missed our flight back to Metropolis. He’s probably been trying to get another flight home, or contact me, but either the lines are still down or because I don’t have an answering machine anymore…” Lois clamped her mouth shut to stop herself from rambling further.

Jimmy cleared his throat, glancing around again. “Where’s Lucy supposed to sleep?”

Not here! That’s for sure.

“She was supposed to move her stuff over to the Kents’ place two days ago,” Lois replied with a sharp look at her sister, who sneered her response. Jimmy – on the other hand – seemed relieved by this development.

Dirty mind much there, Jimbo?

Lois put her hands on her hips and refocused her sharp gaze to her husband’s friend. “Where did you think she was going to sleep, Jimmy?”

“Yeah, Jimmy. Where?” Lucy retorted, her gaze mirroring her sister’s.

The photographer rubbed a hand down his face, grumbling, “Man, am I glad CK isn’t here.” He raised his voice. “So CK thinks Superman is still around? He hasn’t been seen since he left EPRAD four days ago.”

Lois broke her eye contact with Jimmy. “I’m sure he was just resting. Pushing an asteroid that big must have been exhausting, even for someone as strong and invulnerable as Superman.”

Or he was in Niagara boinking his new wife? One of the two.

“Clark knows Superman?” Lucy stammered. “Do you think he can introduce me? Maybe we could double date?”

“Hey!” Jimmy snapped.

Poor Jimmy. Lois’s inner voice sighed. You did warn him about Lucy.

“Superman doesn’t date, Lucy,” Lois said quietly.

Not anymore, he doesn’t.

“He doesn’t? Poor dude,” Jimmy said gleefully.

Lois grabbed her carry-on bag and started throwing her stuff back inside. “Jimmy, can you take Lucy to MJ’s?”

“Sure.” Actually, he seemed quite delighted with the assignment.

Poor Jimmy. He’s got it bad.

“Lucy, give me my car keys,” Lois said as she finished gathering her stuff and turned to her sister. “Clean up before you go. You’ve been here a week and it’s turned into a sty.” She pulled the wedding photo off the desk and handed it to Jimmy. “Can you give this to Martha?”

“Wow! Lois, you look…” Jimmy stumbled over his words to find the right one. “Amazing!”

You’ll accept amazing.

Lucy scrambled over to them. “Wow! Lois! You look hot! That’s some dress.”

Jimmy nodded, not wanting to voice his approval too strongly.

The Lucy whistled. “And that man of yours. He’s… He’s… “

Super?

“Gorgeous!”

There’s an understatement.

Lois cleared her throat and dragged her eyes away from her husband’s photo, pointing over her shoulder. “I’m going to EPRAD. See if I can get them to tell me the truth about Nightfall.”

“First night back from your honeymoon and already on the job,” said Jimmy with a shake of his head.

Well, this isn’t how you planned to spend the evening either.

Lois returned to her desk and wrote a vague note to Clark. Went to EPRAD, looking for Superman and the real Nightfall story. Love you, LL

She started down at the note and a cold chill crept down her spine.

You never told Clark you loved him when he left. He told you he loved you, but you never told him.

A new set of tears threatened to descend. She would have plenty of times to tell Clark she loved him, Lois told her inner voice. But she didn’t convince either one of them.

***

Lois arrived at EPRAD Control, having gotten directions from Jimmy, and then got the run-around with security. Finally, she convinced the guard to contact Professor Daitch on her behalf as she only had one question for him. The guard explained the situation to the scientist who agreed to listen to Lois’s one question. Then the guard passed the phone to Lois.

“Good evening, Professor Daitch. Lois Lane, Daily Planet. Thank you for your time,” she told him. She didn’t scream at the man; that fiery part of her died when Clark disappeared. The Professor would know better than anyone what really happened in space. She needed his help in finding Clark.

“What’s your question, Ms. Lane?” the Professor, obviously tired from his long day, said exasperatingly.

She was going out on a limb with her guess. If she was wrong, she wouldn’t learn anything. But she knew Clark. Knew he wouldn’t let that bomb detonate so close to Earth, if he could help it. “Why did EPRAD tell everyone that the Asgard rocket destroyed the Nightfall asteroid when it didn’t?”

“Are you suggesting that Nightfall hasn’t been destroyed and the government is lying to the American people?” he asked in disbelief. “Because I guarantee you, Ms. Lane, Nightfall is no more.”

“No, I’m asking why EPRAD said it was the Asgard that destroyed Nightfall when it wasn’t?” Lois replied, vague enough that if she were right the Professor would understand but the guard might not. The guard looked at her as if she were crazy.

“Why are you contacting me and not General Zeitlin, who was in charge of the Asgard rocket?” Daitch asked tentatively.

“Truthfully, I trust scientists more than generals. And secondly, my…” Lois bit her tongue from saying ‘husband’. “My friend who spoke with you on Saturday night seemed to find you an honest fellow. I trust his judgment.”

“Your friend in blue?”

“Yep, that’s the one.”

“And when did you last speak with Superman, Ms. Lane?” the scientist asked.

Lois glanced at the guard, glad he could only hear her half of the conversation. “This morning.”

Well, technically that’s true. He wasn’t in his blue suit though. Is Clark still Superman when he’s out of the suit? Or does the suit make the super man into Superman?

“Pass the phone back to the guard, Ms. Lane,” said Professor Daitch. She handed the phone to the guard with a heavy heart. She failed. Professor Daitch hadn’t told her anything. And she was no closer to finding out what had happened to Clark.

Lois watched as the guard spoke to the Professor for a moment and then hung up the phone. Her heart constricted at the thought of failing Clark one more time. Tears started to fill her eyes and she turned away from the security gate to return to her car.

“Ms. Lane?” called the guard.

Quickly, Lois wiped her eyes. “Yes?”

“Professor Daitch would like to meet with you in his office. Turn right at this gate…” The guard gave her directions as he handed her both a visitor’s pass and parking pass. Lois could only nod, unable to speak.

You did it!

Lois clipped the visitor’s pass to her lapel of her jacket and climbed back into her Cherokee, tossing the parking pass onto the dash. She was going to learn about Clark’s final moments. Finally learn the truth about what happened to her husband. She took a deep breath and willed the tears from her eyes as she drove through the gate.

***

Wednesday – Night – Late

Lois pulled her car to the side of the road and jumped out. There, on the corner, was a telephone booth. She dropped in her quarter and dialed.

“Daily Planet.”

“Lois Lane for Perry White,” she stammered.

“Hold please.”

Lois bit her bottom lip as she waited for the call to be connected.

“Lois, it’s ten thirty. I can’t…” Perry said with a sigh.

“I just left EPRAD Control. I was right. It was Superman who destroyed Nightfall…” she said breathlessly.

“Slow down, honey. You’ve got proof?” her editor asked warily.

“I saw the unreleased footage from EPRAD’s own computers. The Asgard rocket veered off-course a full minute before Nightfall exploded.” She pressed her eyes shut as the tears she had been holding in for the past hour started to fall. “One of the asteroid pieces must have struck the rocket, because the Asgard actually detonated about thirty seconds after the asteroid exploded.”

“Oh, Lois. Clark’s tough…”

“Nuclear bomb tough, Chief?” she sobbed. “Bullets and C4 bombs are one thing. We’re talking nuclear warhead.” Her knees turned to jelly and she collapsed on the sidewalk, still holding on to the receiver. “How could he ever survive that? The radiation alone…”

“Lois, honey. Do you have anyone to be with you tonight?” Perry asked softly.

She shook her head. There was only Lucy, and she had sent her to the Kents.

Oh, God! The Kents! How are you ever going to tell Martha and Jonathan that their son is dead?

“Do you want me…? You don’t really want to be alone, do you?”

Lois continued to sob.

Of course, you don’t want to be alone! That’s why you married a man who was virtually indestructible.

“Lois, we don’t have any proof that Superman is dead, do we?” her boss said calmly.

She gasped for breath. “No.”

“Then we’ll keep that out of the story, shall we?” Perry suggested. “And keep our hopes alive.”

“Okay,” she murmured.

Clark said he will always come back to you, Lois. You have to believe him.

“Why don’t you come down to the offices and type this up, darlin’?”

“Okay,” she repeated. Lois really didn’t want to return to her empty apartment. Actually, she didn’t want to do anything.

Concentrate on the story, Lois. You can become a vegetable later. Write your story. Tell the world what a wonderful man your husband is… how he saved them all.

“Great. I’ll call down and stop the presses. You hurry over. You know where the offices are?” he asked.

“Yeah, downtown somewhere,” she mumbled.

Perry gave her directions from the bookstore to the new Daily Planet offices. “You can’t miss it, honey. There’s a big globe out front.”

“Okay,” she said and dropped the phone, curling herself up into a ball.

Get on your feet, missy! You’ve got to write your Superman story and you need to be strong enough to call the Kents. You can’t let them find out when they open their Daily Planet in the morning that their son was caught in a nuclear explosion.

Lois continued to sit on the sidewalk and rock herself back and forth.

GET UP! her inner voice yelled at her. Clark will never forgive you if you give up on him. Now, get off your butt and get down to the Daily Planet. Write your story and call the Kents. GO!

“I was supposed to die first,” she murmured. “I’m the vulnerable one. I was supposed to die first. He wasn’t supposed to…”

UP! Remember Clark vowed that ‘Not even death will part us’. GET UP!

Suddenly, from deep inside her she felt something take over her body. It felt like it stretched down her arms to her fingers, down her legs to her toes, and it pulled Lois to her feet. It made her pick up the dangling receiver and hang it up. Then it opened her car door and threw Lois behind the wheel.

DRIVE!

Lois rubbed her nose with the back of her hand and then wiped her eyes. She pulled her keys out of her pocket and stuck them into the ignition.

*** End of Part 6 ***

Part 7

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