Clark and Lois – The Lost Years - Matchmaker Chronicle Volume 3
By Ken Janney
This version is rated PG-13
* denotes emphasis *
< denotes thoughts >
[ playback of a recording or TV Commentary] / telepathic communications /
(#) footnotes
As always comments are welcome. (ken.janney@kjanney.com)
Reminder:
Universal Locator Designation
Alpha 023 x Gamma 004 x Tau -120 - Canon Lois and Clark universe also called – Prime
Alpha 023 x Gamma 025 x Tau 036 – Canon Alt Clark universe also called – Alt 1
Previously –
These revelations had given Mayson new insight into this man she was with. She took another sip of her wine while she thought. Now she was seeing him as less a vigilante and more as a selfless, caring man who felt a compulsion to help in any way that he could and considering just who he was and what he could do, that was a lot. He had been very correct when he had said that if more people lived by his values that the world would be a better place, it could almost be called Utopia.
They had both managed to finish up at about the same time. Clark called for the check. Tony came over and said, “The management, namely me, has decided that since you were here with Mayson, this meal was on the house.”
Clark replied, “Thank you Tony. The meal was delicious.”
“Tell your friends. We depend on word of mouth advertising.”
“I’ll do that. Thanks again.”
Reverting to his Mafia style speech he replied, “Doan mention it.” and laughed as he turned away with the dirty dishes in hand.
As a result of this time with him and their discussion Mayson had gotten a new perspective on this man and she came to a decision. She asked, “Clark, would you consider me very forward if I invited you to dinner?”
“To discuss the case?”
“No … I’d like to discuss *you* some more. I’d like to get to *know* you better.”
“Uh, Mayson, I don’t know if that would be a real good idea. You might be very disappointed.”
Mayson thought about his statement for a few seconds before answering. “No, I *don’t* think I will be.” She took out one of her business cards and wrote her address on the back. Handing it to him she said, “Can you come over at 7:30 Friday? I make a mean lasagna. It's from an old family recipe."
“I think I’d like that. Okay, 7:30 Friday.” He pocketed the card.
And now -
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chapter 5 – Dating Mayson
Flashback continues - Friday August 2, 1996
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Clark arrived promptly at 7:30. As Mayson opened the door the delicious smells of pasta wafted out to greet him. He held out a bottle of wine to her. Mayson reached out to take the bottle of wine from his hands and taking his hand in her free one pulled him into the foyer. She looked at the wine, “Italian red?”
“I stopped on my way and picked it up at a little shop I know in Rome.” He took a deep sniff, “I detect an absolutely delicious aroma.”
“If you think it smells good, just wait until you have a taste. You’re going to think you’ve died and gone to heaven, even if I do say so myself.”
“If it tastes half as good as it smells, I’m sure that’ll be the case.”
“Flattery? Is that the Kansas farm boy talking or the Metropolis sophisticate?”
Laughing he replied, “Kansas farm boy all the way! A Kansas farm boy can appreciate good food just like any gourmet.”
“Well, okay mister Kansas farm boy gourmet, let’s eat. Why don’t you open the wine while I get the lasagna?”
To her amazement Clark took the bottle and gave it a blast with his supercold breath to chill it and then opened the wine and poured two glasses as they sat down to the meal. At his first forkful Clark simply closed his eyes and got a very dreamy expression on his face. His appreciation of the lasagna was evident. “This is absolutely the *best* lasagna I have *ever* tasted.”
“More flattery?”
“By no means! Superman *always* speaks the truth. In my considered opinion I have never tasted better and that’s the truth!”
Laughing she said, “Then I guess I have to accept your statement as fact.”
They enjoyed a pleasant meal and they both enjoyed the conversation during which they maintained the earlier somewhat bantering tone. After dinner they relaxed on her couch.
Mayson started the conversation in a somewhat more serious tone, “At lunch you told me that you had been engaged. So, Clark, tell me about your engagement. How did you feel when she broke it off?”
“Well, I was engaged to Lana Lang, my high school sweetheart. She was afraid that if the government found out what I could do that they would lock me away and study me. She was afraid to lose me to the government after we were married and wanted me to hide what I could do, but I just couldn’t do that. I found myself helping from the shadows. We were planning the wedding when Lois showed up. I felt a strange attraction to her. It was like she was the woman I was supposed to be with, not Lana. Lois had worked at the Planet and had been missing for a number of years on assignment. She suddenly reappeared and inexplicably knew about me. She’s the one that made the suit for me and helped with my debut. When I went public, Lana couldn’t handle it and called off the wedding. This Lois was actually wasn't from around here and shortly after my debut she left. The day she left was the saddest day of my life. Even worse than the day my parents were killed. It felt like my heart had been ripped out.”
Mayson looked on him with empathy in her eyes.
He continued, “I have to admit that this has been a very lonely time for me. My fiancée had left me and the woman I was attracted to like no other had left. I literally had no one. It’s been quite a few months. I also have to admit I have been spending a lot of time dwelling on it. I’ve been doing my job at the Planet, helping the police on this investigation and pursuing rescues. A lot of nights I still spend flying to the Congo and searching for Lois Lane.”
“Why are you looking for her in the Congo? Is that where she went when she left? Why are you spending so much time looking for her?”
“It gets complicated. When I met Lois I felt an immediate attraction to her like the way iron filings are attracted to a magnet. She assured me that if I ever found her again that we would be drawn together by an even stronger pull. I decided that I needed to find her and I’ve been looking and looking. I’m beginning to give up hope. She’s been missing for over three years. The trail has been stone cold.”
“Isn’t there anyone else that you can be attracted to?”
“I don’t know. All I know is what I felt when I was in the presence of the one I was with for that short time.”
Somewhat shyly she asked, “How about me? Would I have a chance?”
“I don’t know Mayson. At this point we don’t know each other very well. I do like you, but it’s not the same thing. We could give it a try, but I can’t promise anything.”
“I’m not asking for any promises. I’m starting to like you and I just want to see how things can work out. If you’re willing to give it a try, so am I.”
They spent the next couple of hours talking and then Clark heard an emergency call for a fire in Suicide Slum and had to depart. As he was about to leave Mayson said, “I’ve enjoyed our time together. Let’s do it again.”
Clark replied, “Next time I’ll have you over to my place. I make a pretty decent stir fry. How about Sunday, at 7:30?”
“It’s a date. I’ll see you then.”
“Maybe I should pick you up. I can get us into my place without the paparazzi spotting you. I don’t think you want the notoriety of being seen dating me.”
Mayson suddenly became very excited as she asked, “Does that mean that I get a chance to fly with you?”
Seeing her excitement, he replied, “Yeah, of course it means that.”
With a look of pure joy on her face she said, “Good, I’ll look forward to it. I’ll see you Sunday, bye!”
“I’ll pick you up, bye.”
That had started a relationship which had grown over the course of the months.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
One Friday evening Mayson was at home and had just finished her shower and was in the process of dressing for their date. So far they had managed to keep their relationship a secret by either him coming to her place for dinner or him picking her up to fly back to his place or else to some more remote location where he was less likely to be recognized. Tonight Clark was going to be picking her up so she was putting on the finishing touches, a little dab of perfume, here and there. She had the TV on LNN in the background when the abrupt change of scene caught her eye. She grabbed the remote and turned up the volume when she saw that they were reporting on Superman.
She saw Clark as he was rescuing campesinos, the poorest of the poor, from a mud slide which had occurred in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. A number of the hovels of the camoesinos had been washed right down the hillside with the occupants. Clark had already rescued over a dozen and was digging for more. After rescuing over twenty, what he started bringing out were not survivors, but dead bodies.
She watched in horror as he started bringing out a family, parents and six children, all dead. Her worst fear had come to pass. She had known, ever since that first lunch, just how sensitive he was to failed rescues and most especially children. She knew that he would be late returning and that their date would be postponed but she also realized that he was going to need someone to comfort him after this event.
Just on the off chance that she would need it he had given her a key to his apartment and she knew that this was the time for her to use it. She would be there waiting for him when he returned and be a shoulder for him to cry on.
She also knew that she would never be able to get past the paparazzi and their secret would be compromised but his welfare was more important to her than their secret. She would deal with the notoriety but she had to be there for him when he got back.
She grabbed her coat and bag and headed out the door. She drove up and parked in front of his apartment and as soon as she got out of the car she was mobbed by the paparazzi, snapping her picture and shouting questions. Many of them were shouting to get her name until one of the reporters who had been on the courthouse beat recognized her.
As she reached the top of the steps leading up to his apartment and she pulled out her key he shouted, “Assistant DA Drake, are you dating Superman? How long have the two of you been dating? How did you meet? Are you getting serious? Are the two of you getting married?”
She turned around after unlocking his door and addressed the crowd, “Yes, I’m dating *Clark Kent*,” She emphasized the use of his name. As soon as she had started speaking a hush had fallen over the crowd of paparazzi gathered at the bottom of the stairs as they gave her their full attention. She continued, “and we have been seeing one another for a while now. Right now I need to go into the apartment and get ready for him to return. He’s in Honduras right now on a very difficult rescue and when he returns he is going to need to be comforted.”
“Your crowd really disgusts me! You hound him and hound him! You don’t care anything about him aside from a sensational story like is he dating someone and if he is who is it. You don’t care anything about the man inside the suit. The very caring and compassionate man in the suit that suffers greatly when he has to deal with death, death that he blames himself for even though he isn’t responsible. He beats himself up every time he can’t get there soon enough or he isn’t fast enough to keep *everyone* safe. He blames himself unnecessarily but he still blames himself. If you want a real story, tell about his compassion, how much he cares for all of us and is torn up every time someone dies. Now, if you’ll excuse me I need to be there for him when he returns.” She turned and entered his apartment closing the door behind her.
As soon as the door was closed she just leaned back against it to try to calm her jitters and the tears came. She had been able to hold them at bay while she addressed the hounds but now she was able to release the floodgates. She was shaking with the emotion she had been putting into her statement to the paparazzi.
After a few minutes she was able to leave the support of the door and move down the steps into his living room. Fortunately there was a banister for her to hold on to for support and guidance while her vision cleared. She dropped her coat over the back of a chair and her bag on top of it and grabbing the remote turned on the TV and tuned in to LNN.
She saw that he was still pulling dead bodies out of the mud. At this point there were almost as many dead as there were alive. The local network providing the feed for LNN was able to zoom in on Superman for a close up of his face as he was bringing out one of the final bodies, that of a child, a girl of about eight years of age. The look of anguish on his face tore into her heart.
She hadn’t said anything about it to him, keeping her feelings to herself, not trusting her emotions, but seeing him and his anguish her heart went out to him and she realized that she was actually falling in love with him. <This man, this very gentle man, this man of infinite compassion and almost limitless strength.> She resolved that she wouldn’t tell him, at least not yet and she settled in to watch and wait. She didn’t want to add yet another burden to his already staggering load.
After another half hour she saw that the rescue effort was coming to an end. Superman was conferring with local rescue officials and after a couple of minutes she saw him lift off into the sky and she knew that he was on his way home. Intuitively she knew she needed to calm herself and dry her tears so that she could present a brave front for him and allow him to vent.
Five minutes later she heard him land on the balcony. She got up from the couch where she had been watching the TV and moved to his bedroom just as he was coming in through the French doors. He had heard the TV but the meaning really hadn’t registered and until she was standing there in front of him he didn’t realize that he wasn’t alone. As soon as he saw her he reacted to her presence by looking toward the living room where she had come from with a questioning look.
“I saw what you were doing on LNN and came over to be here for you.” Stepping closer she put her arms around his neck and pulled him down into a kiss.
He tried to keep her from doing it, saying, “Don’t Mayson, I’m covered in mud.”
Disregarding his remark and her finery, moving closer she tightened her arms around his neck and pulled herself in closer and initiated a kiss.
Clark relented and kissed her in relief.
Mayson then deepened the kiss, which was rapidly turning into a raging inferno.
By the time they broke from the kiss Mayson was almost as muddy as Superman but she didn’t care. She took his hand and led him to the bathroom. She unzipped his suit and took it off of him and then removed her soiled dress.
Standing there in her bra, panties and slip she said, “Do you need an engraved invitation? We both need a shower. You can go first or I can … or … we could … share. What’ll it be?”
comments go here To be continued in Chapter 6 – Clark’s Birthday
