Well, wow! What an intense chapter! I don't know when I've last seen everybody being so ragged and raw.
First, there's Jimmy:
“How's about I try to figure out the answer to that one, Chief?”
Perry slapped him gently on the shoulder. “You do that. But keep your head down, okay? I don't want anyone getting hurt.”
Jimmy's eyes turned to stone. “You mean anyone else, right?” And he turned away.
Then there's Cat:
The signal cut off and Cat put away the phone by reflex. I helped kill more than fifty people, she moaned to herself. And I set up Clark and Lois to die with them.
It was too much to think about and she fainted.
One of the research interns found her a few minutes later and called for help. Cat spent that night and most of the next day in the hospital, recovering from shock and from the concussion she'd suffered when she'd fallen to the hard tile floor.
Then there's Lois:
“Clark?”
Her tone was flat and she still wasn't looking at him. “Yes?”
“Why did you ask Bob if he could remove my powers?”
He frowned. “Because I wanted to know, and I thought you needed to know. Besides, I wasn't sure if you wanted to keep them.”
“You should have asked me if I wanted to keep them.”
“But you'd already said – “
“Doesn't matter what I said before. You should have asked me.”
He sighed. “Fine. I should have asked you.”
“Yes. You should have.”
He didn't respond. He didn't know what to say or do.
She finally turned and looked at him. “So when do we tell your parents?”
“What?”
“I said, when do we tell – “
“I heard you the first time!”
Her eyes narrowed. “Don't yell at me, Clark. I'm just now getting to where I don't want to take your head off below the shoulders.”
Wowzers. I can sympathize with her, at least a little, but she is just too short-tempered here. She wants to take off his head below his shoulders?
Then there's Jonathan:
Jonathan burst out, “Oh, my heavens, you're pregnant!”
Lois jerked and stared at Jonathan. “What?”
“You're pregnant, aren't you?” He turned to his son. “Clark! Why didn't you at least use some protection?”
“What? Dad, wait, this isn't – “
“You've got to be kidding! Lois! Are you two going to get married or adopt out the baby or do you plan to raise our grandchild on your own?”
She leaped to her feet. “Wait a minute! I never said I – “
Jonathan stood also. “This is just crazy!” He stomped each foot once and waved his arms aimlessly. “You couldn't wait to get your hooks into him, could you? You took advantage of – of – his – “
Whoa!! Don't jump to conclusions, Jonathan!
And there's more to come from Jonathan:
“So what is she going to do with these powers? Are we going to have another costumed super-hero flying around saving people? Or is she going to schedule her fine, unselfish acts and then bill her clients? How will the press see this? What will they say about Superman's relationship to – to whoever she's going to be?”
“I don't know that she's going to "be' anyone – “
“And what about us?” Jonathan stood and his voice also rose. “Are we going to be in more danger now that we know about both of the super-powered people in the world? Will other people try to copy your powers? Can other people copy your powers? Maybe only one other person can have them at one time! Maybe copying your powers again will leave you helpless and vulnerable! Maybe Lois will join up with this new person and start her own crime syndicate and look at what you will have created!”
Clark stood and faced his father. “Dad! Lois isn't – “
“And if you were going to give your powers to someone, why in God's name didn't you give them to Lana?”
Aaah gaaah. Being mean to Lois isn't a good way for anyone to make himself or herself my favorite person. I don't like Jonathan a lot right now.
I can understand that Lois is having a breakdown:
Lois felt her bowels turn to water. She stood and walked back into the kitchen and pushed through the door. She jogged across the field and stopped at the base of the tree housing the Fortress of Solitude, where she floated up to the wooden platform Clark had showed her just days before. She sat down and looked across the brook into the meadow glimmering in the fading twilight.
Then she put her head in her hands and wept her heart out.
Even Martha is helpless:
Martha was the only one in the living room who'd seen Lois leave. Her husband and son stood almost nose to nose, staring at each other, barely breathing. She thought about saying something, anything, but couldn't come up with any words which wouldn't make the whole situation far worse.
I don't think I've ever seen Martha so out of her depth before, Terry. When has she ever been unable to talk to Jonathan and Clark before?
Is it possible that Lois is being affected by her link to Clark? Is that making her more emotionally brittle and short-tempered?
What about Jonathan? Is he just being, well, disagreeable?
I guess Jonathan has always come through as more more frightened of Clark's sheer
alienness than Martha. Perhaps he loved Lana so much because she never encouraged Clark's "difference"? The show certainly portrayed her as someone who didn't want Clark to show his powers in public. Now that Lois has become super-powered, Jonathan is perhaps afraid that Clark will embrace his alienness more than before in response to her.
This was a very intense, fascinating chapter, Terry!
Ann
