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"You are Clark Kent; they call you Superman." Lois almost screamed it as the sounds of machinegun fire drowned out the sound of everything else. Two of the tires burst, and the truck began to careen out of control..

[...]'s head exploded. The pain grew unbearable; he could see the roadblock approaching; they were going over eighty miles an hour and there wasn't any way to stop. The men directly in front of them were scattering, even as the men to the sides began to open fire.

He wished desperately that there was some way to escape. The truck spun, and in a moment, all he could see through the front window was the open sky.

He braced for impact, even as his mind was being overwhelmed with images of a happy childhood, of life with parents who loved him. They'd taught him right from wrong, and he'd loved them with every fiber of his being.

He tensed, and it took him a moment to realize that they hadn't crashed. He looked out the side window and gawked. They were flying; the world was rapidly moving by below them, and they were leaving the enemy behind.

It took him a moment to realize that he was in control. His mind resisted the concept for a moment; he was a human being, not some sort of alien, someone destined to always stand outside. As the memories continued to flood through his mind, he felt a sort of calm resignation settle over him. He was what he was, no matter how much he wished things could be different.

He felt an odd calm. As he brought the truck down to a gentle landing, he looked behind them, seeing through the burning back end of the truck and back out to the horizon.

"They're chasing us already." His voice was flat. "I have to stop them."

Lois had a small trickle of blood on the side of her face; it looked as though she'd hit her head at some point. She stared at him dazed.

"You have to stop them," she said. "We both have to stop them."

He nodded, then turned as though to leave the vehicle. She grabbed his arm, and kissed him hard. Even that barely penetrated the protective calm that had descended upon him.

"We have to let Lex kill Clark. I don't see any other way," said Lois without preamble as Superman set her down on a mountainside high above Metropolis.

Superman was at a loss. He didn't have enough information and what little he did have had him frightened for Lois's safety, not his own. He thought back to this afternoon, the last time that he had felt even remotely in control - even then the world had been out of kilter.

He had gone to see Lois at her request at LNN and been very surprised at the job offer she had made him. It had given him hope that she really had missed him - even if it was only as her partner. The crumbs I live on, he'd thought in wry acknowledgement of his vulnerability where Lois was concerned.

Until that moment, he hadn't been sure that he was going to tell her he loved her. Once he'd seen her, he'd known. He was lost without her and felt a sense of desperation, as if this were his last chance.

Lois's reaction had surprised him; her eyes filled with tears as she said, "I do love you, but as a friend." His heart sank and it was with great surprise that he had felt Lois engulf him in a hug.

Hiding her face so she wouldn't be seen speaking, she said in a voice she hoped was low enough that it would not be overheard by those she knew were listening, "We're being watched, and if you're not careful, you'll get us both killed. Play along and, as Superman, come to my place as soon as you can."

He sighed again. "Aren't you going to tell me what you're thinking?"

"What I'm thinking?" she asked, the calm in her voice frightening Clark. "What I'm thinking?" She practically bit off the last words. She spun around, her back to Clark, and stuffed her fists into her pockets.

"Lois?"

"What am I thinking, Clark? I'm thinking...how could you? How could you let me think you were dead?"

"Lois, I had no choice. I was dead...Clark was dead. If I didn't have any way to come back to Metropolis as myself, you might as well have believed I was dead. The truth would be crueler."

"The truth would be the truth, Clark! I'd want to know! And don't you think I'd rather know that you were alive, even if you could never come back and be my partner again, than think that you were floating in Hobb's Bay with bullets in your chest because of me?"

"Because of you?" He stared at her in surprise. "How could you think it was your fault?"

She turned back around slowly, and Clark's chest
constricted when he saw the tears in her eyes. "Of course it was my fault! I was the one who dragged you to that club. I got you killed...or would have, if you'd actually stayed dead."

Clark reached out a tentative hand to touch her arm. "Lois..."

"No, Clark, let me say this," she said, brushing his hand away.

"Okay," he said softly.

"Clark, when I thought you were dead, I thought about how much I missed you, how much I was going to miss you for the rest of my life... well, I started to think, maybe there's more to our relationship than just friendship."

Clark held his breath, his heart starting to beat louder with anticipation.

"But now, Clark, I find you've been holding back on me. All this time, and you were su-Sup-Super-"

"Superman," he said helpfully.

"Yes! All this time, you were Superman, and you didn't whisper anything to me while I was bending over you, didn't come to tell me the truth afterwards. Oh, no, your precious secret was much more important to you than I am. And that makes me feel like I don't know you."

"There's no way out!" Lois yelled. "We're trapped!"

"We'll find a way out!" Clark promised, dragging her onwards. There was no way that he'd allow Lois to get killed...

"Clark, there's a cliff up ahead..." she exclaimed suddenly, alarm in her voice.

She was right; he'd brought her some way to the side of the road, and just up ahead, the mountain-side sheered off completely. There were signs that he could see of erosion, where the cliff-edge had given way on previous occasions. For all Lois knew, they were doomed; there was no way ahead, and behind them, gaining on them every second, was the gunman.

Clark didn't even stop to consider his options; there was no other option. He glanced quickly behind and then ahead, then hurriedly said, "Trust me, Lois."

"Huh?"

As one more shot zinged its way past them, missing him by inches, he grabbed Lois around the waist and ran forward... straight off the edge of the cliff.


********

The gangsters were suddenly gone, and around her, Lois was barely aware of confused motion as the patrons of the illegal gambling parlor attempted to make their escape out the side and rear exits.

She didn't move. It was as if the life had been sucked from her when her partner had been shot. Nothing mattered, anymore. Besides, there might be the slightest chance that Clark could still be alive. She couldn't see him breathing, but in spite of the holes in the front of his shirt, she didn't see any blood. She had to get help! The thought occurred to her suddenly. If there was the slightest chance that she could still save him --

The sirens drew up outside and abruptly cut off. And that was when it happened. Clark's eyes popped open. For an instant, they stared at each other.

"Clark?" Lois whispered. "Oh, Clark! Don't move. Help will be here in a minute."

He sat up. "I don't have time to explain," he said, quickly. "Come on."

Incredibly, he was on his feet, tugging her with him. Lois felt as if she were moving in a fog. Her mind felt numb from too many shocks. From the front of the club, she heard the thump as someone slammed a shoulder against the doors. Clark lowered his glasses and glanced quickly around.

"We're surrounded." She barely heard his voice. Then, she felt herself swept up in a pair of powerful arms and they were rising toward the ceiling. Below them, the front door splintered and burst open, but Clark had thrust open the skylight and they were soaring up into the night sky.

Slowly, very slowly, he felt her pull his glasses down his nose, as if afraid of what she'd find beneath. And maybe she *was* afraid. Maybe she would be afraid of him once she knew, maybe she wouldn't want to approach him ever again. Maybe she was mooning after Superman because he was unreachable, and once he was there, in front of her, stripped bare of any mystery, she'd shy away from him. He shivered at the thought, but forced himself to remain calm as Lois finished taking off his glasses.

A small gust of air reached him, tingling his eyes and forcing him to blink a few times, noticing with growing worry that Lois was standing in front of him, staring at him impassively, her face a mask.

"Oh, my..." she finally breathed out. "You... look... like... him..." she repeated, pausing between each word as if to take in their full significance. Her free hand reached for his face again and this time there was no hesitation as she smoothed his hair back. "Oh, my God! Oh, my..." She retreated abruptly, leaving him disoriented and dizzy from her touch, unaware of the pain she was causing him with her reaction.

Fear.

This was what he'd dreaded the most, and this was what was now lying in her eyes. She walked back without turning around, keeping her eyes fixed on his face, until her back fetched up hard against the far wall of the apartment. Her gaze kept travelling from the glasses she was still clutching, to him, who hadn't made a move since she'd discovered the truth, not even allowing himself to breathe for fear of making her scream.

She brought a trembling hand to her face, shaking her head as if to deny the truth offering itself to her, yet unable to doubt any longer. "Oh, my God, you *are* him," she hissed out, voicing the evidence.

"I don't know, Lois. You'll have to be the judge of that. But, remember, whatever happens, I do love you. I trust you. And I'll abide by whatever decision you make afterwards. If you want me out of your life, I'll leave. If you want to..." He shook his head, refusing to finish the thought.

"Clark..."

He swallowed. Then he said, "Perhaps the easiest way is just for me to show you."

He took her right hand, and his touch sent a jolt of...something...through her body. He guided it towards the buttoned seam of his shirt. Then he eased her fingers between the buttons, allowing her to feel beneath.

Lois's eyes widened as her fingers touched skin-tight fabric instead of flesh. She raised her left hand towards the buttons, undid one, and peeked through the resultant gap.

The primary colours of the suit were muted by the shade cast by his street clothes, but she nonetheless could easily make out the blue of its body and the red and yellow of the lower angled corner of the famous S shield.

Was this his idea of a practical joke? She opened her mouth to ask, but then shut it again as she answered her own question. Of course it was no joke; Clark hadn't known that she was coming over. He couldn't have known to wear the suit under his clothes, and it wasn't something one would do on the off-chance. Still, she found herself doubting the evidence of her senses.

She lifted her head to look at his face. She was stunned to see trepidation there as he waited for her to do something, anything, and it dispelled the last of her doubts. Nobody could fake that much fear. "You," she said, "you're Superman." It was a statement, not a question.

"I warned you, Lois. I came here to tell you that the secret identity
wouldn't work. A secret identity to a secret identity just isn't going to
work. I tried to tell you, but you were so bent on getting me to try on
these crazy costumes that I couldn't get a word in edge-wise." Although
the look on his face was serious, his love for her shown through.

When he came out of the bathroom, he was wearing nothing but a towel.

Lois started. His hair was falling over his face and he looked a lot like
Clark. She'd always known that they resembled each other slightly, but
this was too much. And she HAD seen Clark in a towel before and the view
was much the same.

She shook her head waiting for Superman to notice her, but he didn't. She
saw him spin and when he finished spinning, he was standing there in a pair
of boxers with his hair dry and glasses in his hand. He looked at the
glasses as though trying to decide what to do. He finally set them on the
nightstand and crawled into Clark's bed.

Lois was having difficulty breathing. Once he'd stopped
that spinning thing, he had looked JUST like Clark without the glasses. Not
that she'd ever seen Clark without his glasses.

It was just too much. She waited to hear the even breathing that meant
Clark was asleep, hoping Superman breathed the same way when he was asleep
and not knowing what to make of the whole thing.

She slipped out the front door, being careful not to make any noise.

Lois sat down. There was no real emotion on her face. Just stunned
shock.

She knew that Clark and Superman were friends. The whole world knew that.
Well, anyone with any sense anyway. But something just wasn't
right here.

Could Clark be Superman?

Superman was *Clark*?

Lois froze to the spot, her mind awhirl with images and memories. She saw herself gazing dreamily at Superman, while ignoring Clark; kissing Superman and being rude to Clark; telling Superman that she loved him and wanted to be with him, while rejecting Clark's impassioned, beautiful declaration of love; placing Superman on a pedestal for all the good he did, while dismissing Clark's good qualities as signs of an overgrown, unreconstructed boy scout.

Clark lying to her about everything that he was... a major part of his life that she'd been excluded from. Clark using his alter ego to sweet-talk her on occasion, knowing that she'd respond better to Superman than to Clark. Clark flirting with her in his other guise...

...because she'd never have given Clark the time of day, she recognised guiltily. Her own behaviour was by no means beyond reproach.

"You said you loved me because I was like Clark... because you saw Clark in me," he clarified, taking a step towards her.

She glared. "Oh, I'm sure that would make Clark feel a lot better about my being in love with another man."

"I'm sure it would," he said softly. "More than you know."

She was looking at him with fear now, her eyes wide. "Please, Superman, take me home. I-- I don't want to talk about this anymore. I don't want to hurt Clark."

He was advancing slowly, steadily now, and she shrank back from him. "You won't," he said softly, his hand coming up to touch her cheek. "I'm him." And his lips came swiftly down on hers.

Lois started sputtering, which made for a rather strange result, given that she and Superman were liplocked.

But there was something so familiar about his kiss. And she'd wanted this for such a long time. She leaned into the kiss, and when he tentatively deepened it, she gave in with a soft sigh. This felt so *right*. So wonderful. There was something about kissing this man that made the whole beach spin away around her, until only she and Superman were left in the world.

In fact, the kiss felt an awful lot like the one wonderful kiss...she'd shared with Clark.

She came back down to Earth with a thud.

"What?!" she asked, not understanding.

"I said," Clark said slowly, "you won't hurt Clark...because I'm him."

"You're who?"

"Him."

"Him who?"

"Clark!" he burst out. "I'm Clark!"

At some point, Lois had wandered into her bedroom and confronted her two BEST friends over their treachery. Since she didn't have them there in person to wrap her little hands around their throats, she'd resorted to storming at their
pictures. Apparently, verbalizing her frustrations hadn't held enough satisfaction and she'd decided to turn both of them into
the devils they were.

Or, had become in her mind.

Clark glanced down at the magic marker in his hand and back at the two images of Clark and Superman complete with horns, tails and pitchforks. The two matching identical twin images, because she'd apparently also decided since she couldn't take Clark's glasses off in his picture, Superman needed them, too.

AARRGGHH!

Suddenly all the broken dishes and overturned furniture made tons of sense. It was a wonder the roof was still on the building.

The biggest question in Clark's mind was whether she'd gotten drunk before or after her artistic endeavor.

The whole thing would almost be hilarious, except he didn't know where she was or what her mental state was. AND, the thought of a pained, angry, humiliated, furious, not to mention possibly totally plastered, Lois Lane loose on the world WITH the world's biggest secret under her belt made Clark's blood grow decidedly cold.

When the room was completely closed off, Clark Kent began to spin in place.

At least he had chosen to wear the suit under his clothes this time. ***** had been occasionally embarrassed by his ability to see what his father was doing at superspeed. For @@@@@'s sake, he was grateful. It was hard enough to see that Superman had a human life; she wasn't ready yet to see him in his underwear. That would have to wait until at least the third date.

She stared, unable to tear her eyes away from the familiar red and blue clad figure floating in the middle of the room. Superman stood in all his glory in front of @@@@@, and she was speechless.

When she finally moved, it was to punch ***** in the arm.

"What was that for?" ***** protested.

Clark Kent spun back into his daily clothing. "She probably thinks you should have told her earlier. Your mother wasn't all that happy when she found out either."

@@@@@ shook her head, and ***** could see that she was blushing. "I'm sorry, sir. I can understand the need for secrecy. After all, this is big...really, really big..."

***** stared at @@@@@ as he rubbed his arm. He'd never seen her babble before. If she weren't careful, she'd have his father thinking she was a younger Lois.

"But then I realized how much ***** was taking for granted...and it just made me so angry!"

"You don't make a habit of hitting people, do you?" Clark asked in his Superman voice. It had the same effect on @@@@@ that it always had with him, and ***** felt the need to defend her.

***** interjected. "I'm the only person she likes to hit. If we were seven, I'd think she liked me." He smirked.

Now she really did blush.

*****'s father chuckled and said, "Well, in *****'s defense, they say that no man is a prophet in his home town. ***** knew me as Dad a long time before he found out about my second job."

@@@@@ spoke again. "It's a lot to take in...the idea that Superman has a wife...a family." She shook her head. "I always thought that Superman was above that sort of thing."

"No one is immune to love, @@@@@," Clark said gently. He smiled. "Even Superman puts his boots on one foot at a time."

Clark just glared silently at Tempus. Tempus looked confused for a moment, but something about the quality of Clark's silence persuaded him to continue his analysis.

He had absorbed a lot of information about Superman before Wells discovered his secret agenda, and he had always been confused by a series of unexplained phenomena. Where had Superman lived? How had he always managed to disappear back into oblivion when he wasn't needed? Why had he made such a career out of helping these two reporters in particular? What was the connection? The final pieces fell easily into place.

"Oh but maybe he *did* bring Superman. Oh yes ... yes, it's perfect!" Tempus stepped up to face Clark, strangely unafraid. "A disguise? It's been suggested many times. How did you escape detection? Why that's remarkable. It's so simple. How did you manage to perpetrate this farce for so long?" He rolled his eyes heavenwards and laughed even louder.

"Oh my dear," Tempus turned to Lois. "How you must have suffered!" he declared with false sympathy. "Always running off to change into his little blue suit and save the world. All those
lonely nights. All those cold dinners!"

Tempus stopped when he saw her face, which was absolutely devoid of expression. She was as white as a sheet. "Don't tell me he didn't tell you?" he said, finding yet another piece of the puzzle. "Oh, this was worth the whole trip!"

Lois stared at her partner while her brain sorted through all the seemingly disjointed information. Superman came to Earth as a baby. Clark was adopted. Clark was always running out on her.

She stared until her eyes began to swim out of focus ... then, like looking at one of those 3-D pictures, suddenly it just clicked.

Clark's face resolved itself into the face of Superman.

Her eyes widened, blinking back moisture and her lips parted. A great blackness massed itself at the edge of her consciousness. With a great strength of will, she held it all at bay.

She found herself sitting in his lap, rocking back and forth as
he sought to convince her that she was really and truly safe.
Her arms reflexively went around his neck as she buried her
face in his shoulder. Never mind the blindfold; she didn't have
to see him to know him. Kal-El or Superman, it didn't matter;
she *knew* him. She knew this was --

She frowned. She knew how it felt to be held by Superman, and this
wasn't it. This was more like --

A flash of memory stirred in her heart, the way she'd felt when
someone had once cradled her as she huddled on her kitchen
floor, comforting her in just this manner. This was only a
faint echo of that intensity, a reflection that paled in
comparison with that reality, but...

Clark Kent let Lois Lane drag him into the conference room. She shut the
door behind them and turned toward him. Her face was flushed with
excitement.

"Quick, tell me your deepest, darkest secret. The one you'd never tell
another soul." She looked at him expectantly.

"What?"

"Come on, I need to tell you a big secret I'm keeping and I need
blackmail material to protect myself."

The corners of Clark's mouth turned up slightly and without missing a
beat he answered.

"Okay, I'm Superman."

"Wha, What?" She just stared at him.

"You know, the guy in blue tights, flies around the city doing good
deeds. That's me."

"Clark, I'm serious here."

"So am I."

Lois waved her hands about and let loose an exasperated sigh as she
launched into a classic Lane rant.

"Fine! Don't tell me!" She headed for the door. She stopped and turned
as she grabbed the knob. "You're still my partner, and I still need your
help with this, so meet me at my apartment in one hour." Lois took a
deep breath and gave Clark a mischievous smile.

"I think you might be surprised with what I have to show you."

Clark watched her as she stormed up the ramp toward the elevators. He
shook his head and smiled.

"So will you be, Lois. So will you."

She finished straightening the kitchen and walked around
the corner into the living room. There she saw Superman
standing in the light of the window, completely focused on
Jacob. He had him stretched out along his forearm, his
head cradled in his palm.

Lois froze as the room spun around her. She gasped and
Superman whipped his head around to look at her.

Misinterpreting the reason for her gasp, he tried to
reassure her.

"Don't worry, Lois. I've got him. He likes it, see," he
said nodding at Jake, who was indeed gurgling and waving
his arms.

Lois willed her heart to stop pounding. She opened her
mouth to speak, but before she could form any words
Superman tilted his head to the side and turned to Lois
apologetically.

"I have to go," he said, handing Jacob to her, and with one
last smile he was out the window.

Lois staggered to the sofa. "Oh my God. Oh my God. How?
I mean..."

Finally, it all made sense. The constant disappearing act,
accompanied by the incredibly lame excuses... He wasn't
afraid of commitment, he didn't have a secret wife, he
didn't have an illness that made him need to use the
restroom every half hour, and he wasn't just the most
forgetful man on the planet. He was Superman.

Confusion battled anger as she grappled with fact that
Clark had been lying to her for over a year.

"Oh, honey, we thought you were dead!"

For Charlie, the sound of the voice on the other end of the phone produced a wave of familiarity. "Do you...do you know me?" he asked, aware that his voice had begun to shake.

There was a short silence. "You don't remember?"

"Not much," he said, honestly. "Your voice sounds familiar, but --"

"Honey, I'm your mother." The woman's voice was full of concern, mixed with what was unmistakably relief. "You're my son, Clark."

"I -- I don't understand. You said your son had the flu -- or do you have another son?" Charlie asked, feeling more and more confused. "Can he do all these strange things, too?"

"No, honey. You're the only son we have. We adopted you when you were a baby. We had to have an explanation for why you didn't come to work for the past three days so we told everyone that you had the flu. Do you remember what
you were doing before you wound up in Metropolis?"

"I -- Lois found me," he found himself saying. "There was a fireball and she followed it. She found me in the hole it made."

"Are you all right? Are you hurt at all?"

"I don't seem to be," he said, "except that I can't remember much."

"Oh, heavens." Her voice paused for an instant and when it returned it had become almost businesslike. "Now, listen to me, Clark. This is important but you can't tell anyone. You went to stop Nightfall. Do you remember anything about it?"

Lois had been right, he thought. This woman who said she was his mother, and whose voice sounded so familiar, was confirming what he and Lois had figured out over the past three days. "How was I supposed to stop Nightfall?" he whispered. "We -- Lois and I -- thought that might be what I --"

"She knows?" his mother's voice said, suddenly concerned. "She's a reporter! Clark --"

"It's all right," he interrupted. He could almost visualize the face that went with the voice and at once understood her concern. "She hasn't told anyone; she *isn't* going to tell anyone. She's just trying to help me remember. If the rocket doesn't stop the asteroid...."