<big happy sigh> Wonderful! You wrapped this up nicely, and left us no loose ends! (Unless you count this:)
Tank (who figures that now that Bill knows, Wendy will have to write a quick sequel eliminating him... can't leave those loose ends you know)
I think I'm glad you let Lex die... I was more than halfway convinced he'd survive (which would have been a more fitting punishment for him than death, really, if one looks at what he
deserved). But then, as Maria says, we would all have to worry about what
else Lex might come up with-- an evil, malevolent man further poisoned by his pain and bitterness...
well! <shudder>... glad he's not around anymore.
And I, too, just loved the way you had Henderson and Lois interacting. We saw a few chapters ago that Lois remembered Henderson from the runaway episode, and that she held no grudge against him... and that she was convinced he had no idea who she was. Yet here, again as Maria says, you have Henderson almost like a proud father in the background of her life. Neither one will ever talk about it, but each respects the other-- and it's very obvious, under the teasing and banter. Very nice study of human interaction, Wendy!
You really have made Henderson into a character in his own right, Wendy-- we've got part of the story from his perspective; we've got a very low-key but savvy man figuring out the CK=S angle, when it's not really apparent at all (except to us Folcs, who would never tell, anyway :p ). I also really enjoyed his happy anticipation of how the next six months or so of his life would pan out, work-wise. If this was TV, Henderson (and Yvonne's George!) would get a spin-off show.
And we have some sweet interaction between Lois and Clark-- sweet, but believable. I liked the insight into just how hard it is, for Lois in particular, to ignore her inclination to treat S as CK. She's so comfortable with this relationship now, that she has to keep reminding herself not to lean on him, touch him, or show any admiraton outside of the usual "public meets Superman" stuff. Here's this wary, standoffish woman who really does believe (finally!) that she's loved (and that she's worth loving!).
And you've efficiently included the epilogue right up front, for those of us who would otherwise be clamoring for more.
Now who are we going to nag...er,
gently encourage??
Two things I was thinking as I finished this story:
A person called Lao Tzu said, "Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength; while loving someone deeply gives you courage." That's Lois and Clark, isn't it?
And Dean Koontz wrote, "Destiny struggles to reassert the pattern that was meant to be... and sometimes, happily, it succeeds." That's the whole story, isn't it?
~Toc
