Lois turned and karate chopped Menken’s gun hand, just as an explosion ripped through the alley, echoing off the brick walls. A sharp, burning sensation penetrated her body, causing her to gasp and bump against Menken, who was caught off guard and stumbled backwards towards a pile trash.
I like that in this Version Lois' residual memories are subconsciously goading her to action.
Did she aggravate her Roller Derby elbow? She shifted her eyes to see why it ached and saw that some of Menken’s blood had stained her brown coat.
Roller Derby Elbow??? Is there some backstory here that you're not telling? Denial is a river in Egypt, dear Lois.
“Great,” she grumbled, lifting her left hand to try to brush it away. As soon as her hand touched her bicep, a dull pain radiated throughout her arm. “Ow!” she yelped, more from surprise than anything and probably louder than she should have. She wondered why her arm stung from Menken’s blood.
Now that I think on it though, I suppose she's in shock.
“It’s a through and through shot, Lois,” Superman told her. “The bullet missed the bone and your artery, but…” He closed his eyes. “We need to get you to the hospital.”
She spun around and focused her intense gaze on Lex. “You shot me?”
Ooooooh boy. Things most certainly are NOT going well for Lex.
A moment later Superman had pinned him against a brick wall, his arm under Lex’s jaw. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t pulverize you?” he demanded.
Lex gasped for air, trying to speak. “Accident,” was the only word he could get out.
Lois knew that if she let this go on, Superman would hurt Lex, or worse. She set her left hand on Superman’s arm and said, “Because you’re better than that.”
I love this. Lois has always been a good reminder to Clark/Superman of what he stands for. I almost want to call her defender of Superman's Principles.
The Man of Steel disappeared from one side of her and reappeared less than a second later on her other side. He set a boot onto Menken’s back, as the man tried to crawl away unnoticed, knocking him flat on the ground. “I’ll take you to the hospital, Lois,” he said as if their conversation hadn’t been interrupted and dismissing Lex’s suggestion out of hand. He shook his head. “Why are we even discussing this?”
“Because you know you can’t leave Menken under the watchful eyes of John Wayne over there,” Lois said, letting go of her arm to gesture to Lex with her left hand, only to have the pain double when she let go. She immediately returned her hand to her damaged arm. It really wasn’t that bad as long as she kept it still.
Ah yes, the itchy trigger finger.
“You aren’t leaving me alone in this alley with that double crossing louse!” Menken insisted, lifting his head from the pavement. “He’s trying to kill me!”
And the truth is beginning to trickle free! Let's hope either Lois or Clark picked up on that.
She took a couple of steps down the alley and stopped. She took a wavering breath, letting a groan escape, more from the annoyance of being shot than the pain. Actually, she was surprised it didn’t hurt worse.
Artery or no, a through and through still loses a lot of blood if not promptly cared for. I suspect Lois is going to find herself fainting and Clark finding this a little too close for comfort. Shock is not a pretty thing.
Lois had seen that Superman was teetering on the edge already. If Clark was right, and Superman had believed that he was partially to blame for Allie’s death, who only knew what he was thinking now? The woman he loved had been shot, been shot by Lex Luthor. Maybe it hadn’t been the best idea to allow him to fly off with Lex.
He probably needed reassurances that everything would be ok and this situation doesn't lend itself to that.
Though he had apologized – Lex had apologized, hadn’t he? – he hadn’t seemed all that sorry by what he had done. He seemed more concerned by the appearance of doing the right thing as opposed to actually doing the right thing. At one point, she had thought Lex had been more concerned that he wouldn’t get blamed for shooting her than he was for actually shooting her.
Ah, picking up on those things, are we now? Hope it leads to some serious questioning on her part.
She shook her head. No, that couldn’t be right. He was probably just in shock. He couldn’t really be that cold, could he?
Superman may have been moving up into the sky, but Clark’s eyes stayed focused on Lois, standing alone in the alley by herself, in pain, bleeding.
*does double-take* "but Clark's eyes stayed focused on Lois" was this a slip on her part or yours?
Oh wait, this is Clark's POV. Nevermind, carryon!
Superman shook his hand with a thankful nod. With a fist into the air, he disappeared into the darkness. He landed in an abandoned portion of the alley between the two crime scenes, spun into his Clark clothes, and jogged towards where Superman had left Lois.
I know this would undermine Lois' interest in Clark but time is of the essence. Unless you're going to hint at the fact you and Superman are the same I wouldn't recommend staying "Clark" for long, Clark.
“I want to step on it and smash it. I want to kick it into the next state, Clark. I want to pick it up and throw it at someone,” Lois growled. “But I can’t. I can’t. Clark?” The last was spoken in realization that it was him standing next to her. “You’re here. You’ve come. I didn’t think you’d come.” Tears ran down her face as she leaned against him. “It’s starting to hurt, Clark. It burns. Help me.”
I can almost see the pain in Clark's face over this.
Clark couldn’t believe she cared anymore what Superman thought or felt, and his love for her doubled again only to be sandwiched by his guilt.
Putting Superman's feelings above her own needs. Sweet. Probably not very wise, but sweet.
“I bet he’s feeling like I do, like he wished that he had been shot instead of you,” he said, silently adding, With a Kryptonite bullet. Or better yet, that Menken and Luthor had shot each other.
Lois grimaced. “Don’t make me laugh.”
Laugh?
“Bullets can’t hurt him,” she murmured.
Not physically of course physical pain rarely hurts Clark/Superman. Now emotional pain... that can be the hardest hurt of all for him.
They were as alone as they would ever be here. Lois watched as Clark put a reassuring smile on his face, trying to make her feel better, but she could see something in his eyes, fear maybe, that they were even here at all. With Superman she felt like she needed to act strong. Around Clark, she felt safe enough to let go of the façade of Lois Lane, strong no-nonsense career woman, and just be herself.
I don't know why but that kinda feels like the reverse of canon... but then again things like "Witness" make that a tenuous statement.
“Nope. That’s not it,” she corrected him with a shake of her head. “I’m not the best; well, okay, I am the best, but not for you.” She was a perfect fit for Superman, not Clark.
A wistful smile graced his lips. “Then the next best woman for me.”
“What happened to number one?” Lois asked.
He shrugged. “She ran off and married some other guy.”
Wait... what? Oh right, Canon-Lois. I know it had to have hurt but he knew her all of what... a couple of weeks, a month total? That's a hard fall if he fell for her the same way Canon-Clark did.
He glanced away. Lois was afraid that she had said the wrong thing, but then he returned his gaze to hers and she briefly saw laughter in them.
Her brow furrowed in confusion. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Otherwise I wouldn’t have come here and met you,” Clark said, caressing her cheek.
“So, I caught you on the rebound. Great,” she mumbled. She knew she shouldn’t be leading him on, but it felt good to laugh and tease him so. Sometimes, it felt like all she and Superman did was argue. She knew it would be bliss once he let her behind that stone wall of his, but until then she would keep cracking away at it one chip at a time.
Probably thinking, If she knew that she WAS the woman who married someone else... Of course even a "rebound" can be for life. You just have to work at it. And boy does Clark have to work on Lois (no matter the version.)
“Distract me,” Lois whispered, trying to push her anger away. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek, and if he kissed her at this moment, she wouldn’t have the power to resist.
Clark moved so that his cheek brushed against hers. She could feel his lips moving across her face. “Any ideas?”
So close. So
very close. I guess her blood loss is making her want more than usual (or at least her inhibitions are lower.)
Lois’s heart skipped a beat and her breath hitched. She wanted him. She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted his lips to go up her neck, to kiss along her jaw line, to touch hers. She wanted him to tug on her lips with his and to feel the tingle of his tongue gliding across her teeth. She could feel her heart racing and her breath go ragged in anticipation. She was getting dizzy from want. “I want…”
No! She couldn’t do that to Superman.
*growls* Quit doing that, Lois!!
“It happened a long time ago,” Clark murmured as if he had described the events as such many times before, but she could tell that wasn’t how he really felt.
Lois reached up and caressed his cheek, turning his face back to hers. “It will never be a long time ago, Clark.”
His bottom lip started to tremble and he nodded. “I miss them so much.”
“Them?”
“My folks were together when…” His eyes closed from the agony of the thought. “I can remember the fire, and the smell…” He covered up his mouth and nose as if trying to forget. “It was sweet and smoky like burning sugar…”
A tear dislodged from Lois’s eye dripped down her cheek. She reached over and awkwardly wrapped her left arm around his neck pulling his face towards hers.
Is she realizing what the burnt sugar means? Probably not in her state.
