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Nightfall Honeymoon TOC

To read Part 13G

Part 14G

Friday – Morning

Kal opened the door of the apartment. “Lois?’ he called, although he knew she wasn’t there. It was entirely too quiet.

His shoulders fell as he sighed. Had he really thought she would be here waiting for him? Especially after all those horrible things he had said. He saw that she had cleaned up the feathers from the popped pillows and felt another pang of guilt in his chest. She was right. He was a dense idiot.

First, he had made love to her. Then he claimed she didn’t love him enough. On top of all that, he had left a huge mess for her to clean up. He would be lucky if she accepted him back. He would be lucky if she spoke to him again.

The phone rang and he froze. Should he answer it? It could be Lois. Or it could be someone else that he was supposed to know but didn’t remember, like Lois’s neighbor, Mayson.

Or it could be Lois, he repeated to himself and picked up the receiver. “Hello?”

“Hello. I was told I could reach Clark Kent at this number. Is he there?” the man on the other end of the line asked.

Good question. Lois said that he was also Clark. Kal swallowed his pride. “Speaking?” He really shouldn’t be so unsure of himself, should he?

“Kent! It’s Joe at MDS. I didn’t recognize your voice at first. Man, where have you been?”

Another good question. Only this one he didn’t have an answer to. MDS? He had no idea who Joe was. Kal decided to try to fake his way through the conversation. “Around.”

“Around? Around? Want to be a little more specific there, Kent?” the man – Joe, was it? – sounded quite angry.

Guess faking his way wasn’t going to work. Where had Kal been? He had no idea. He woke up yesterday in Echo Canyon. Then he came into Metropolis. Before that? Space. He battled an asteroid. No, he couldn’t tell Joe that. Before Nightfall?

“Niagara Falls,” he replied, confident that his answer was at least honest.

“Niagara Falls? Oh, my God, Kent! Did you marry Lois Lane?” The man laughed as if he couldn’t believe his own words.

“As a matter of fact, I did, Joe,” Kal replied. Not that I remember any of the ceremony or the honeymoon, he thought to himself unhappily. Why couldn’t those have been the first memories he recovered? Oh, no. Sunshine! Pah!

“You? And Lois Lane?” Joe seemed surprised by this news. “You married Superman’s girlfriend? Are you nuts?”

Well, yes, yes, yes, and it seemed more than likely, yes.

“He’s going to kill you!” Joe chortled.

Very possible, Kal agreed. His own stupidity would probably cause him to die of a broken heart. Instead he said, “Superman doesn’t kill people, Joe.” He sighed. What had Henderson told him? “Anyway, Lois never dated K… Superman.” The words constricted his heart. What have you done? he thought as the stupidity of his words to Lois were once again brought to the forefront of his mind.

“Sorry, Kent. Everyone’s probably ribbing you. Congratulations,” Joe backed off.

“Thank you.”

“So, when are you coming back to work?” Joe asked.

Work? He – Clark Kent – worked at MDS? Joe was his boss? Or his supervisor or something? Crap! He thought the Kents had said that Clark was a reporter. He was going to have to tell Joe the truth about his memories.

“It’s been a nightmare here since Nightfall with the grounding of flights on Sunday...” Joe continued. “And then all over again on Wednesday. Everything’s behind schedule. We could use our best driver behind the wheel.”

Clark Kent was a driver for MDS? “Joe, I’m going to have to be honest with you. I haven’t been the same since Nightfall…”

“You and me both, Kent,” Joe agreed. “But we need you, man. The higher ups wanted to fire you when you didn’t show on Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday. You didn’t even call. That’s not like you, Kent. I told them, ‘He’s the best deliveryman we’ve got. Let me track him down.’ If you don’t come in today, we’re going to have to replace you.”

Kal choked. What should he do? He couldn’t go to MDS. He didn’t know what MDS was, let alone where it was. And he certainly was in no condition to … what had Joe said? … ‘make deliveries’. “I can’t, Joe,” he finally admitted, hating that those words were even a part of his vocabulary. “I’ve lost my mind.”

“Excuse me?” Joe replied curtly.

“My memories. They’re all gone. I have no idea who you are or what MDS is. Or even what MDS stands for. It’s gone. All of it.” He hated to admit this weakness to a stranger, but if Joe was being honest with him – and Kal suspected he was – the man deserved the truth. “I’ve had no memories for the last day or two. Maybe longer.”

Suddenly Joe was laughing, really laughing. “Man, Kent, Lois Lane must be some lay to wipe your memories like that.”

Kal growled. “Excuse me!” That was his wife the man was insulting. His hand was in a fist, and Joe was extremely lucky that Kal had no idea where MDS was.

“Look, Kent, if you had wanted a longer honeymoon, you should have said so, but I can’t accept such a phony baloney excuse. I can’t believe you. You’re usually such a stand-up and reliable guy.” Gone was the friendly co-worker. Joe was now all business. “But your performance has been slipping over the past few weeks. Trucks coming in late. Hours unaccounted for. I know she’s hot, but I hope she’s worth it. You’ve got enough vacation accrued, how about we call it a draw, okay? We’ll count this week and next week as your two weeks’ notice. I hate to lose a good driver like you, Kent, but we really cannot condone this kind of behavior. Sorry, but that’s the way it’s going to have to be.”

“I understand,” Kal stated, more than happy to part ways with this Joe fellow and MDS, whoever they might be. Superman might not kill people, but after that comment about Lois, Kal was seriously considering making an exception. “Just send my paycheck to the old address. I’ll have my folks forward it on to me.”

“Kent. You’ve got direct deposit,” Joe reminded him.

“Do I? Good. Any idea which bank? No, never mind. I’ll figure it out for myself,” Kal replied tersely, slamming down the phone. He looked down at Lois’s broken phone. Great. “Well, I don’t condone this kind of behavior either, Joe,” Kal grumbled to himself. “…but that doesn’t bring the memories back any faster.”

He took another look around the apartment. Where was Lois? He was feeling more and more lost without her. She would know what to do. She could have stopped him from being fired. He winced, plopping himself down in her desk chair. He never realized how much he needed her and, like an idiot, he had walked out on her!

Sitting on the desk, next to the now-broken telephone, was an open phonebook. Kal glanced down at it. Restaurants. MJ’s Café! Of course, Clark’s parents. They would know where Lois… Kal glanced at the broken phone again with a shake of his head and sigh. He tore the page out of the phonebook and stuck it in his pocket. He would find another phone somewhere.

Suddenly, Kal heard something. What was that ringing in his ears?

***

Meanwhile…

Lois marched into the offices of the Daily Planet past Jimmy, to whom she just flicked her hand in greeting, and straight into Perry White’s office.

“What in blue blazes?” Perry stammered with a growl as he stood up. “Are you forgetting who works for whom, Ms. Lane?”

“Clark’s missing,” she announced, slamming his office door. “He doesn’t see himself as Clark, only as…” She lowered her voice and gave him a pointed glance. “… you-know-who.”

“Great shades of Elvis!” Perry exclaimed before dropping back into his chair. “So, he’s out in Metropolis… as you-know-who? Saving people? Without his memory?”

“Possibility. Probably. I don’t know.” Lois threw up her hands and sat down. “I shouldn’t have let him go on thinking that Clark and Kal were different personalities within the same man. I should have just told him that he was Clark with…” She glanced out at the bullpen and lowered her voice. “Extra features and an extra fancy work outfit.”

“We’ve got to find him,” Perry told her. “He’s vulnerable without his memories. If he should believe the wrong person or talk to the Metropolis Star…”

“I know that. That’s why I’m here. If he does make a move as… you-know-who… I figure the Daily Planet will hear about it. Maybe I can get to him before he talks to anyone, before it gets out that even you-know-how can get hurt, and convince him to come home…” She sighed.

Then what, Lois? He thinks you seduced him. He thinks you used him to try to get Clark back.

“What would draw Superman out?” Perry asked.

Lois shook her head. “I don’t know. A fire? A train accident? A drive-by shooting? A cat stuck in a tree? Who knows what?”

Jimmy knocked on the glass door and stuck his head inside. “Chief! Robbery in progress at a jewelry store downtown.”

Perry exchanged a look with Lois. They were both thinking the same thing. “Jimmy, take Lois. And your camera.”

Jimmy grinned. “On it, Chief.”

Lois gave her boss a grateful smile, then marched to the door. “I’ll drive,” she told the photographer. “You navigate.”

***

Kal stood outside the perimeter of the police tape. He had arrived too late to help, but luckily the police hadn’t needed him to get everyone out safely and capture the bad guys. He knew he should just leave, run off, but there was something about this jewelry shop that seemed familiar. He hoped that the longer he stood here, the more likely the memory would make itself known.

Someone came up next to him and nudged him. “Superman, what are you doing here?”

Kal glanced over and saw Linda King. Great. Just what he needed on top of everything else. He pressed his lips together. “I thought they might need my help. It looks like I was mistaken.” If he could have flown here…

Linda King focused on his face for a moment, then ran her fingers up and down his arm. “I bought some champagne the other day, when I thought the world was going to end. Shall I put it on ice for us?”

He really didn’t want to. He wanted to be with Lois, but if his wife kicked him out for good, he would need a place to go. “Can I think about it?”

“I don’t want to be alone. Nightfall made me realize that life is… whatever it is…”

“But we don’t really have a relationship, do we?” Kal asked her.

“We’re friends,” she said hesitantly. “That’s a relationship.”

“I need to find my own memories, Ms. King. I can’t fake them with somebody else. I’m sorry,” he told her.

Linda pressed her lips together and exhaled. “Hi, Charlie.”

“Hello, Ms. King,” he replied. He was okay with her thinking he was the impersonator. Actually, he felt more like an impersonator than a hero at the moment. A nagging question presented itself to the forefront of his mind. “How do you know Lois Lane?”

“We went to college together,” she answered nonchalantly. “Lois was willing to sell her first big investigative article to me for one night with my boyfriend.” Linda sneered. “No journalistic integrity at all.”

Kal’s jaw dropped. Lois sold her article for one night with this woman’s boyfriend? No, that couldn’t be right. “Why would she do that?” he asked skeptically.

Linda grinned. “Because the first boy with whom she ever slept died. She wanted to prove to herself and others that sex with her wasn’t deadly.”

No. No, that couldn’t be right. Lois wouldn’t have to sell anything to get a man to sleep with her. He knew that sounded worse than he had meant. But had Lois offered herself for sex – not that she ever would – men would have lined up for the chance to prove she wasn’t deadly.

He winced. That was why Lois had reacted the way she did when he had said that a man would have to be Superman to survive being married to her. Her first boyfriend had died. He felt awful. Why hadn’t Lois just told him the truth? Maybe she already had and he just couldn’t remember.

“Which is worse, Ms. King: selling one’s article for some peace of mind or selling one’s boyfriend for an article?”

Linda King got an expression of sucking lemons on her face. “How’s life with the Mrs., Charlie?” she retorted.

“Fine,” he replied, crossing his arms and looking back at the jewelry store. He didn’t want to share his problems with this woman.

She raised a brow. “Is it now? How fine can it be if you’re considering drinking champagne with me?”

Linda was correct. He wished the earth would open up and swallow him whole, so he could just escape this conversation and the torment of remembering his stupid words to his wife.

“How does – Lola, wasn’t it? – feel about you parading around in this suit, thinking that you’re Superman? Giving people a sense of false hope?”

Kal gulped. Was that what he was doing? “False hope?”

“How do you think people feel when they see you? They think that Superman made it back from Nightfall alive. They think he’s still here to help. I know that’s what I keep thinking every time I bump into you.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“No, not necessarily. Until you run into a burning building and don’t come out again, when you can’t fly up to help the crashing plane, or when the bullets don’t bounce off your chest. People aren’t going to want to see the Man of Steel being taken to the morgue, especially Lola,” she informed him. “Go home to your wife, Charlie. Appreciate what you have, not what you lost.”

“What if I can do those things?” he asked her, knowing that it was the wrong thing to say, but wanting so desperately to have someone, anyone – even Ms. King – need him, acknowledge his existence, Superman him, not Clark him. The hero, not the man.

Linda shook her head. “Now, who’s deluding themselves?” she asked him, kissing his cheek. “Look, Charlie, I’m sure it’s the man under the suit Lola loves. That suit – it’s just something you put on when you go to work. It wasn’t the suit that made Superman super.” A contemplative look came over her face. “I wonder if it came off…” She rubbed her hand up and down his arm again. “I guess I’ll never find out now.” She sighed.

Superman glanced at Linda with apprehension and took a step away.

Linda glanced past him. “Oh, look, it’s Lois’s lap puppy.”

Kal glanced at the young man with the camera to whom Linda had indicated with her head. Lap puppy?

“Superman!” the photographer called to him, raising his hand in greeting.

Great. Did he know this kid?

“Have fun playing Superman, Charlie. Give me a call if Lola gives you the boot. My number is in the book,” Linda said with a wave of her hand as she walked away. “Don’t run into any burning buildings.”

My God! Did that woman think Charlie doubled as a gigolo? He shook his head and turned to the young man who had stopped next to him.

“Hi, Superman.” The young man seemed almost nervous to be talking to him.

“Hello,” Kal replied casually to the man whose name he did not know.

“CK’s missing,” the young man told him.

Who? Wait. CK? As in Clark Kent? Was this guy Kal had spoke to on the telephone yesterday about Lois? What had been his name? James? “Clark Kent?” Kal asked unsurely, hoping he was on the right track.

“Yes! I’m sorry, Superman. I’m Jimmy Olsen. I work with Lois and Clark at the Daily Planet. Lois is going out of her mind with worry. Apparently, CK got hit in the head and lost his memory. He made it back to Metropolis yesterday, but wandered off again today,” Jimmy explained.

Lois was worried about him? Joy poured into his heart. Was their love salvageable? Kal looked around. “Is Lois here?” he asked, full of hope, but not seeing her in the small crowd of people milling around.

“She was, but she left,” Jimmy replied with a shake of his head. “She was pretty upset. She took off like a bat out of hell, once I got out of the car and said I was going to ask your help in finding CK.”

Vaguely Kal remembered hearing a screech of tires a few minutes before. Had that been Lois? “Is she still angry at me?” Superman asked Jimmy, his heart sinking back into his red boots.

“Angry? Nah... Well, maybe a little bit, but her emotions are all over the place because of CK. I’ve seen Mad Dog angrier. Like the morning after you took her to CK’s without her permission because you found out someone had bugged her apartment… Whew! She could have cracked concrete with her fist that day.”

Superman gulped. He had done that? Why had she married him again?... Did Jimmy just call his wife ‘Mad Dog’? “Jimmy, do you recall what Lois’s exact words were? Just now, before she drove off.”

“Yeah,” Jimmy said, his brow furrowing in confusion. “She said she couldn’t get out of the car. I asked her, ‘why?’ She had been staring straight at the store. Apparently this was where they had bought their wedding rings.”

Kal glanced down at his bare hand, then back up at the store in front of him. Wedding rings? Was that why this store was so familiar? How come he didn’t have Clark’s wedding ring? Jonathan Kent had given him Clark’s glasses, his wallet, and his apartment keys, but not his wedding ring.

“But I’m thinking she was more upset about seeing you and Linda talking,” Jimmy went on. “Because when I asked Lois if she was going to get out and talk to you, you know to get the story, she said she thought she could see the whole story from where she was. Lois told me once that Linda would steal anything not nailed down. So, I told her that I’d ask you to help find CK for her. She said, ‘good luck with that’ and then took off. I guess, you’re right. Lois is mad at you for some reason, Superman. Wonder why?” Jimmy asked.

Superman winced. Lois had seen him talking to Linda King, the woman from whom she bought a night of sex with her… He shook his head. That still didn’t make any sense. Why would Lois be so venomously enraged by Linda King if that had been the case? No, Linda hadn’t told him the whole true story.

“Or…” Jimmy continued when Superman didn’t speak. “Maybe Lois had warned you about Linda and seeing you two talking and not taking her advice infuriated her. I can see that.”

Oh, yeah. Lois definitely wasn’t happy about that. Oh, God! Hadn’t Lois said that Linda had been trying to steal Superman from her? And then she drove up and saw… what? Linda kissing his cheek? Caressing his arm? Idiot! Dense idiot. What was the matter with him? Oh. Right. Amnesia.

Should Kal run after his wife? And confess his innocence? No, he decided. Who knew where she could be by now? And without his flying ability, it would take twice as long to check the neighboring streets. Superman tried to smile reassuringly at Jimmy. “Lois is right though. There isn’t much of a story here. Robbers came in to Mazik’s Jewelers at gunpoint, the silent alarm went off, and they were stopped shortly thereafter by the police. If you want more details, check in with Sergeant Zymak over there. If you see Lois, tell her I will find Clark and have him call her…” His voice faltered. Except that he had killed Lois’s home telephone. “At the Daily Planet. Do you have their phone number?”

“Ah, sure. The Chief only gave me a hundred of these, but…” Jimmy blushed and pulled out his wallet, removing a business card. He flipped over the card and wrote a couple of numbers on the back. “This top number is my home number.” Jimmy looked even more embarrassed. “For CK, if he needs to reach me.”

Superman nodded.

“The second number is Lois’s home number, in case CK forgot it,” Jimmy explained.

“You know Lois’s home number by heart?” Superman asked the young photographer suspiciously. Maybe there was more to that lap puppy nickname of Linda’s than he had thought. “I didn’t realize that you two were so close.”

Jimmy’s face was bright red now with obvious guilt. “With her sister Lucy. I’m kind of, sort of, hopefully dating Lucy.”

“Ah.” Superman nodded, feeling better about this young man and worse about that Metropolis Star reporter. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks. Superman, do you mind if I snap a few photos?” Jimmy asked, holding up his camera.

Photos! No, thank you, Jimmy. Kal wouldn’t be surprised if he still had feathers in his hair. No, the super running had probably taken care of that. “I should start looking for Lois’s husband. The police took care of this crime and it would be wrong to give me credit for it by photographing me here. Once I find Clark, I promise to give you first exclusive on any Superman photos.” Superman nodded to him.

“Wow! Thanks, Superman. I would really appreciate that. But you’re right. CK comes first,” Jimmy replied.

Kal looked around and tried to figure out in which direction he had come. Spotting the street, he nodded again to Jimmy and jogged down to the corner, waiting to use his super speed until he was out of sight of the young man and Ms. King.

***

Superman spun back into his Clark clothes in that alley two blocks from Lois’s apartment and then jogged back home, hoping to find his wife there. Maybe he had beaten her home. Or maybe she had gone to a bar to drown her sorrows. No, doubtful. Kal realized with his memories gone, he didn’t even know Lois’s vices… if she had any.

He wrote Lois a note, in case she did return home, apologizing for destroying her phone and telling her he would try to reach her at the Daily Planet, if she didn’t want to wait for him at home. Then he rolled up the torn and musky smelling futon mattress – perhaps he should have heat zapped out the dampness from it before he stormed out this morning.

Of course, after the mishap with the glass the previous afternoon, Kal might have set the mattress on fire. He sat down on Lois’s desk chair and buried his face in his hands.

His mind naturally drifted back to making love to his wife early this morning. That she was so willing to share herself, give up that control that she seemed to hold on to so tightly, and trust him… Trust him to touch her. Trust him enough to allow herself to lose control to practically… who was he kidding? She did beg him. He smiled. She had begged him to take her right that moment – without precautions – because she wanted him, needed him. He couldn’t deny her. Tempting though it had been, Kal had wanted her to know that he would use precautions because she had said she wanted to use them. And he was glad he had gone to grab a condom. After seeing the number of boxes of condoms, he knew Lois and Clark were nowhere near ready to become parents.

He mentally kicked himself again. She had been willing to share her body with him completely. Willing to allow herself to become impregnated by him – an alien at that! – and he had still told her that he didn’t believe that she loved him.

He gasped. What if Lois was pregnant already? From those couple of times she and Clark had joined auras or whatever Lois had said they had done. What if there was a part of him already growing inside of her? That thought brought him peace, happiness, and so much joy. And not only because they could make love for almost nine months without precautions – and he could feel that oneness with Lois every time. But to know he would not be alone in the world.

Kal grimaced. He hadn’t been alone. He had had Lois. What if he had lost her with his foolish words that morning? What if she was pregnant and he still lost her? What if she was pregnant and never allowed him to see his child? Watch it grow up? See if it was like him or more like her? What if she no longer trusted him completely, because he had been so cruel to her this morning?

His chest began to ache. He missed Lois. He missed all the different ways she smiled at him. She missed the way she enfolded him into her arms, like she would protect his vulnerable heart from pain.

He sat up. That was another memory. He couldn’t remember the details, only that he had been despondent and that Lois had held him. Not Clark. Him. Kal. Superman. He jumped out of the seat and picked up the damaged futon mattress under one arm and walked out of the apartment and went to find his wife. He would deposit the mattress in the dumpster on his way out of the complex. He needed his wife. Lois. Her.

***

Lois’s heart was aching. She had done it again. Abandoned Clark again. Left him vulnerable and alone… well, not quite alone. Linda King was keeping him company. And he had let her. Even after Lois had told him that Linda was persona non grata in their lives.

She banged her head against her apartment door. Why hadn’t she just gotten out of the car and punched Linda in the nose? It would have made her feel better.

Because Lois Lane isn’t in a relationship with Superman. She’s married to Clark Kent.

She was beginning to think that Clark’s green-eyed monster had come to live inside her.

Sorry, no occupancy.

Except for the fact that her idiot of a husband was acting just as much of muttonhead as he had before she had told him that Tempus told her she and Superman were destined to be together. Had his green-eye monster just gone on vacation and had come back with a vengeance?

That sounds very likely.

She opened her front door and instantly saw that Clark had come home. Who else would take their damaged mattress?

“Clark?” Lois called, hoping he would answer. She refused to call him Kal anymore. She should never have done that in the first place. It had only made him more confused.

But Kal is one heck of a lover, Lois.

She shut the door behind her and sighed. Yep, that he was. A shot of lightning flashed through her inner core – a memory of their lovemaking from this morning. She shifted her position and pushed herself off the door. She was just too addicted to that man of hers.

Kal certainly seemed more open to experimentation than Clark… Lois didn’t know that. She and Clark hadn’t had enough time together as a couple to know if he liked trying new things. He had certainly liked all that foreplay with food.

At least when Clark recovers his memories, he’ll still retain Kal’s new skills.

She moaned in anticipation. A man with the memories of Clark and the sex-drive of Superman. Wow, she was one lucky woman. Unless he was off banging Linda at this very moment.

Kal would never cheat on you. He has Superman’s morals. He hadn’t even wanted to sleep with you even though you were his wife.

Some morals! He wasn’t above insulting her when his ego was damaged.

Gee, I don’t know anyone else like that. Oh, right. Clark.

Whoever her husband was, he wasn’t there. He had come home and then left. Why?

Like you, waiting isn’t one of his favorite pastimes.

At the desk she found Clark’s note to her.

Lois, Sorry about breaking your phone. I’ll call you at the Daily Planet. S.

Lois pressed her lips together. “S” not “C”, but at least not “K”.

She winced. The Daily Planet. Perry was going to kill her. She had been sent out on the story and hadn’t even gotten out of the car. What was the matter with her? She had finally gotten her dream job and she was going to mess it up before she even started.

Or maybe her husband hadn’t stuck around the apartment because he hadn’t wanted to see her. She glanced over and saw the duffel bag still sat next to the closet where she had left it this morning. So, he hadn’t taken his clothes. If he had planned on staying, why did he take that old mattress? Unless… unless he was planning on camping out somewhere with it, knowing she was planning on getting rid of it? Her heart ached.

Why had he smashed the phone? Who did he call? And why had it made him angry? Why hadn’t he suggested that she call to him without a telephone? Did he not want to see her face to face? Or was it simply he didn’t remember that he could?

Maybe Lois should just call out to him and see if he came back. To whom should she call? Clark or Superman? Certainly not Kal. But would he come if she called to Clark? Not if this morning’s fight was anything to go by. After this morning’s performance she refused to call him Kal! What if he didn’t come? What if – like Clark – he thought she was treating him like a dog?

Lois sighed. Glancing down at the note in her hand. He was planning on calling her at the Daily Planet. He apologized for breaking her phone, but not for breaking her heart. She stuffed the note into her pocket and headed back to her car.

A part of her felt bad for leaving Jimmy at the crime scene she was supposed to be covering.

*** End of Part 14 ***

Part 15

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