Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Fanfic Quiz -- Opening Lines

FROM: "Lois Lane"< maddoglane@dailyplanetnp.met.r.com >
TO: "Lucy Lane" < littlesister@metcooksch.7287.edu >
SUBJECT: Need recipe-FAST!
DATE: 12 Jul 08:30:09

Dear Luce,

Help! Dan is coming over tonight and I want to show him I can cook (don't you say anything!). Need ideas for something quick and easy to fix. What do you recommend?

Lois

"Well, hello, Lois," Superman said conversationally.

Lois let out an angry puff of air. "Hi, Superman."

Superman sat down on the edge of the roof and stared out over the city. "Lovely view here, isn't it?"

Lois gave him a look that said "any closer and I'll kick you right off this roof, a pity you can fly," and struggled at the bonds that were holding her tight against a metal protrusion from the roof.

Superman whistled to a passing bird, which did a double-take and almost crashed into the side of the building.

Finally, Lois made a sound that was somewhere between a squeak and a curse. "All right," she said, giving up. "Superman, can you help me?"

"Why, certainly," he said with a grin. "All you had to do was ask."

"One hundred and seventeen buttons," the Wedding Coordinator had pronounced with no small satisfaction, as she closed the last one. Between the bride's mom and herself, the "buttoning in" of Lois had taken a mere half an hour. During which the bride had stood quietly, mind racing, as each button further sealed her fate- locking her away from her former life, her former self, and her former...ummm...partner.

Lois, looking back hours later, from the safety of her own bedroom, could hardly believe it hadn't been a dream. The glorious gown, her own anxiety, the constant murmurs of her mom and Mrs...um...Mrs. Wedding Coordinator Lady. None of that seemed real. And none of it mattered anymore. No, what mattered now, as the sun set on what was to have been her wedding day, were the 117 buttons.

"Excuse me, I'm WHAT?!" Lois stared at the city clerk on the
other side of the window in utter disbelief.

"According to my records, you're already married," the clerk
repeated, more slowly this time.

"I am *not*," Lois insisted adamantly. "I would *know* if I was
married! You think a woman forgets something like that? Maybe
*you* would," she spat out, causing the clerk to stiffen
defensively, "but I certainly wouldn't! I am not married!"

"Yes, you are. It says right here that you are, as of December
12th, 1993."

"Who does it say I'm married *to*?"

"Umm..." the clerk mumbled as she studied the records one more
time. "A Mr. Clark Kent."

"Clark, I'm terribly bored." Lois slapped shut the magazine she'd been flipping through without really reading it.

Her partner looked up from the surveillance equipment he'd been checking on for the fifth time that night. "What is it, Lois? You don't find..." he cocked his head to the side to read the headline of her magazine "... 'Spice up your love life: 100 tips to seduce him' interesting?" he teased.

She gave him a wrathful look. "This article is completely worthless," she growled. "The woman who wrote that gives all the cliches, from the good ol' strip-tease to the 'buy him a whip for his birthday' trick. The whole magazine isn't worth anything, anyway. I'm sure it's not a good way to seduce your lover."

The elevator doors opened and Clark stepped out into the
Daily Planet's newsroom. As he walked down the ramp to his
desk, Jimmy bounced up to him with a broad grin on his face.

"Hi, CK! Or should that be, Super-CK?"

Clark stared at him in shock, momentarily lost for words.

"S-sorry?" he stammered eventually.

"So what does Metropolis look like from up there in the clouds?"

"I-I-"

But Jimmy had sailed away before he could respond to the young man's startling question. He made his way to his desk in a daze, wondering if Jimmy really had figured out his secret. Before he had time to dwell too much on that worrying thought, Perry appeared round the corner of his desk.

"Superman! You and Lois. In my office. Five minutes. With everything you've got on the mayor's story. OK?"

Stupid!

He was so stupid!

How could he have let this happen?

She had chosen Dan - Hawaiian shirt wearing, ugly-flower bearing - Scardino.

Why had she chosen Scardino?

It was absolutely crazy!

Ludicrous!

He almost refused to believe that it had happened. Was it just a crazy nightmare? First some slimeball had sued Superman for breaking his arm -- as Superman saved his life. Now Lois had declared her love for that monkey-man?

*Laney, wake up!*
Laney Kent sat up in bed in response to the voice
sounding in her mind. *I'm awake*, she thought. *I'll be there
in a few minutes.* She checked the clock. Two a.m. Moving
slowly and stealthily, she slid out of bed and dressed in old
jeans, a dark t-shirt, and hiking boots. She pulled her heavy
brown-black hair into a ponytail, and, after a moment's
thought, took insect repellent from her dresser and slathered it
on her exposed skin. Smelly stuff--she'd have to be sure to
shower before Marty or her parents saw her tomorrow so they
wouldn't suspect--but if she were to come down with malaria
in a week or so, there would be no way to keep this a secret,
so there would really be hell to pay.
She tiptoed to the door and opened it, cursing its
tendency to creak. Fortunately, Claire's room was next door.
Of course, she couldn't be totally silent, so if Marty or Dad
were listening then she was just dead and would probably be
grounded until her high school graduation, which was flatly
unreasonable. It wasn't like she was sneaking out to a wild
party like most kids her age would be.

The worst day of the year was approaching fast, and, as usual, it had caught Lois unprepared. One day, life was normal. Chasing down leads, catching bad guys, getting headlines, dreaming of a Pulitzer, and fantasizing about how Clark looked without his shirt.

The next day--WHAM! Everywhere you went, pink, pink, and more pink. Oh, and sometimes, to break up the monotony--red! Candy hearts. Heart-shaped balloons. Pictures of hearts. Heart streamers. Even stupid, annoying,
saccharine-sweet Valentine's Day cards, always addressed to other people, with pictures on the cover of--you guessed it--hearts! Lois, prize-winning investigative reporter, detected a theme.

The large double bed could just be seen through the door to the bedroom, but for some reason Lois' eyes gravitated to it. She swallowed hard. She'd been in the honeymoon suite at the Lexor previously. She'd even slept in that bed before. But this time was different.

She heard the man behind her paying the bellboy and closing the door. Somehow when she had accepted his proposal, she hadn't considered what would happen on their wedding night. She shook her head slightly. It was crazy. Obviously, he would expect to consummate their marriage. Still, she wondered if he was as nervous as she was.

She could feel him come up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She tried to force herself to relax. She had been in his arms before.

"It's going to be okay, Lois," he whispered.

The training room was nearly empty. The only sounds that could be heard were two fighting sticks making contact with each other, and the occasional grunts and heavy breathing of the Dre opponents. Two muscular young men,
both in their mid to late twenties, parried and sparred in the tradition of the masters of their sport. Both wore the traditional black jump suits, which hugged their bodies and revealed the muscles developed from years of
practice. Both were covered in a thin sheen of sweat, the result of nearly an hour of testing their opponent's skills.

Pausing to catch his breath, one of the fighters removed his tunic, leaving him only in the skin-tight pants. His hair, soaked with his sweat, was plastered to his head. His well-sculpted chest, glistening with perspiration, shone with the rise and fall of his laboured breathing.
Resuming his stance, he faced his rival.

"Your skills are improving, Kai," he managed to say as he ducked to avoid a swing from his opponent's weapon.

From the roof of the apartment building across the street, the couple could be clearly seen in the colored glow of the Chinese lanterns that were hanging around the sidewalk cafe. They were relaxing over dinner and wine, their newly married status apparent in their frequent touches and easy laughter. Attractive, young, and visibly in love, they drew smiles from other customers and passers-by alike.

Lois Lane was upset and, being Lois Lane, was taking it out on the inanimate objects around her. Her keyboard groaned under the angry onslaught of her fingers, sighing in relief as she paused to take a sip of coffee. Banged down too hard, some of the coffee leapt skywards and made a desperate bid for escape. Lois muttered a curse and reached for the box of tissues cowering on the corner of the desk.

"Somebody help! The bridge is going to collapse!" The frightened voice made Clark Kent jerk his head up suddenly, earning a few skeptical looks from his Daily Planet colleagues. Clark looked over at his partner and fiancee, Lois Lane. She raised her eyebrows questioningly, and made a quick hand motion under the table. Clark nodded furtively.

"Ah...Perry...?"

"Clark has to..."

Lois and Clark started at the same time. Perry slowly looked over at the two of them expectantly.

"Any particular reason why you two are disrupting my staff meeting?" he drawled.

"I'm sorry, son," said Perry to a very dejected Clark Kent.

"It's not your fault, Perry. Luthor's good at covering his tracks. It was a long shot thinking we could find the evidence we need to bring him down before the wedding. I knew that. I guess I just hoped..." Clark quickly cleared his throat when his voice broke on the last word.

Perry watched with concern. He was worried about Lois marrying Luthor, certainly. But his current consideration was whether Clark would survive Lois' marriage. What had kept Clark going for the past few weeks was searching for the evidence they needed on Luthor. Now that they had failed, Perry was more than a little frightened about how Clark would react.

"Hey, C.K., there are lots of fish in the sea..." Jimmy began, but trailed off at the look of warning in Perry's eyes.

Clark gave a humorless chuckle. "I know, Jimmy. The problem is there's only one I want, only one I've ever wanted." He gave Jimmy what was meant to be a friendly slap on the back, but he nearly knocked the breath out of the kid. "Sorry," muttered Clark. "I guess I just need some time alone. I'll talk to you guys later." With that Clark grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.

"Do you think he'll be all right?" asked Jack once Clark was gone.

Perry looked thoughtful for a minute. "If Lois goes through with the wedding tomorrow, I'm really not sure. I hope I'm wrong but..." he shrugged his shoulders.

"How does it feel to have world-class journalists for parents?" asked Mr. Green.

"Uh, okay," I said politely even though I get really tired of that question.

Mrs. Green said that my parents must be pretty busy, always rushing out to talk to sources, and I said that yes, they're always rushing out, especially Daddy, and sometimes Mummy has a job called 'Acting Editor', and then she gets a lot of phone calls. I was trying not to yawn because really, I get these questions so much that it's an actual bore, but I was trying very hard to be polite because Mr. and Mrs. Green are Lisa's parents and Lisa is my new best friend, and anyway, since I was eating dinner at their house it seemed like I should do my best to be courteous even if their conversation was so boring that--

And then I got it. The bombshell. Dropped right in my lap.

"Auntie Lois!" The little bundle of energy that Lois called a nephew came rushing into her office.

"Hey, Sammy, what's up?"

Lois smiled at the grinning little boy as he hugged her leg. Lois glanced up to see her sister, Lucy, step through the door. Lucy leaned against the door jamb. She seemed
worn out, but then it was quite a chore trying to keep up with her exuberant five-year old.

The little boy looked up at his favorite aunt. "We went to see Grampa Sam today. Did you know that he saved Sooperman's life once?"

Clark landed on the roof of the Rayron building, swaying momentarily
before regaining his balance. Grimacing, he shook his head groggily
while his gaze swept his surroundings. He hadn't thought his speed
great enough for him to overshoot Metropolis and land on top of Rayron
in the middle of the sewage treatment facility. He hoped it didn't
mean what he thought it meant. After a long, tiring day, all he
wanted to do was go home and relax with his wife and infant son, and it
would be too cruel if he had been jolted into that alternate universe
again. The sun peeking out through the storm clouds looked higher in
the sky than he remembered it, reinforcing his apprehension that he had
been catapulted into the parallel universe, but hopefully he was just
more tired than he'd thought ....

A flight to Hyperion Avenue and a quick x-ray of the town house that he
shared with his wife dashed his faint hopes. Rubbing the back of his
neck in frustration, he flew to Clinton Ave so he could reconnoiter
inside the walls of his counterpart's home, but he discovered to his
surprise that Clark Kent's apartment was occupied by strangers.

"Help!!" Lois Lane Kent screamed as loudly as she dared, wincing as the sound echoed through the large empty warehouse. She scanned the area for any sign of imminent rescue, paying close attention to a large open window at one end of the building. She saw nothing, however, and once more, futilely, rattled the chains that bound her arms to those of the chair.

A soft chuckle emanated from the shadows in the rear of the building. "You won't be able to get them loose, you know," her captor stated, amused by her efforts. "And we're too far from other buildings for anyone to hear you screaming. In case you were wondering."

"I appreciate the advice," she replied haughtily, "but I've had far more experience at this than you have, and I'm here to tell you, it's important not to give up."

Dimly, she could see him tilting his head in acknowledgement of her point. "Ah, but Superman won't save you this time." He began moving restlessly, and emerged from the shadows, revealing the mild-mannered exterior of Clark Kent.

"Enjoying yourself, Lois?"

Feeling two gentle hands on her shoulders, Lois Lane turned around, her half-full wine glass in her hand. "Yes, very much so. It's a beautiful party, Lex," she complimented.

"Thank you, my dear," he whispered, leaning down to place a soft kiss on her cheek. "You know that it's only beautiful to me because you are here. I know I must have told you several times already, but you look simply stunning tonight."

"Thank you." She blushed slightly, even though she should be used to his extravagant compliments. They'd been on a few dates together, and each time, he'd been extremely complimentary towards her, almost to the point of embarrassing her. Lois Lane didn't think of herself as an overly feminine and beautiful woman, so it surprised her each time Lex gushed over her. It wasn't an entirely unpleasant feeling, though, she acknowledged, and that was
why she'd never mentioned to him that it sometimes made her uncomfortable.

As he sped towards the Planet, Clark kept his hands firmly on the wheel of the Jeep, his mind fixed rigidly on the road ahead, and his eyes determinedly *off* the rear view mirror.

Though relying on side mirrors alone made night driving hazardous at best, it was safer than what was likely to meet him if he succumbed to the temptation to glance into the back seat...

...where his leggy, curvaceous partner was engaged in undressing.

Clark pressed his lips to Lois's mouth once again and breathed, then lifted his head a few inches, checking for any sign of respiratory action.

There was still none.

"Breathe, Lois! Breathe!" he pleaded in an agonised whisper, again checking her body temperature; while it had been warm, it was now getting cooler by the second. "Come back to me, Lois! You have to come back to me!" The prospect that she might not was too unbearable to contemplate...

Distraught, he renewed the heart massage he'd started a short time ago, only to feel a hand tugging at his arm.

"Clark - Clark, it's no good. She's gone," his mother told him softly, close to tears herself. "Come on, honey, you have to stop torturing yourself like this!"

"She can't be," Clark retorted, not even looking at his mother. "I won't let her!" His mother was wrong. She had to be! Lois was going to be *fine*! He just had to keep going, keep breathing for her... Shaking off Martha's arm, he resumed the artificial respiration he'd been performing, increasingly desperately, for the last half-hour.

"Clark." This time it was Jonathan. He turned to look at his father, seeing the grief and agony on the older man's face, telling him what he now knew was the awful truth. "Clark, you have to accept it. She's dead."

He crumpled. He just couldn't hold himself up any longer, and he folded into a weeping heap on the cold stone floor.

"I swear, I'm never going out on another date as long as I live!" Lois angrily informed Clark the second he answered her impatient pounding on his apartment door. Then she pushed her way past him into his apartment without even waiting for an invitation.

"Hello to you, too," Clark answered pointedly, though inwardly he knew he wasn't as irritated by her dramatic, theatrical entrance as he made himself sound. He slowly closed the door and followed her down the steps to the living room. "Lois, do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Late. I don't know," Lois grumbled as she tore her coat off and threw it onto the closest chair where it barely clung to the armrest. Then she continued to storm her way through his apartment, heading for the kitchen. Without thinking twice, she jerked open the fridge and quickly rummaged through its contents until she found a can of soda and pulled it from the shelf.

Clark grinned. "Help yourself, Lois," he teased, watching as she popped the top and took a long drink.

The fire in the grate had finally managed to make some headway against the atypically chilly night, and H G Wells sighed with contentment as, for the first time in hours, his toes, fingers and nose thawed to something approaching a comfortable temperature. As he listened to the Home Service on the wireless, he leaned back in his wing chair, and stretched his slippered feet out across a footstool. A snifter of brandy in one hand, he decided that a quiet evening at home had a lot to recommend itself as an idea.

Not five minutes later, however, the distant sound of the doorbell drew him out of his idle reverie. With a sigh, he put aside his glass, switched off the radio, and forced himself to make his way down the cold corridor to the front door.

It had been one of the worst snow storms on record the day she left her family. Inside the warm homestead in Smallville, Kansas, a vigil had been going on inside a tiny and crowded bedroom. Throughout the years, this bedroom had seen the births of numerous Kent family members. Today it would see the passing of its most beloved, Lois Lane Kent.

On her 81st birthday, Lois Lane had suffered a stroke and was sent to bed to mend; however, her frail and tender condition could not make it through this most difficult of battles. Two months later, with her family gathered around, she bid adieu to the world.

Clark now sat on the bed as his wife of 50 years lay drifting between life and death. With all the superpowers he possessed, he knew, this time, he
simply could not save her. He sat there stroking her silver hair, her hand tightly wrapped in his. She opened her eyes and smiled at him and lifted a
hand for him to lean closer. As he did, she whispered softly in his ear, "Kiss me good-bye." Clark Kent never needed an excuse to kiss his 'bride', as he often called her, and now so many years later, he kissed her softly as if it were the first time.

Lois Lane's brow was furrowed as she pulled her jeep out of
the Daily Planet's parking garage. It had been one crazy
day. First there had been the unexpected solar eclipse
this morning on their way to work. Then her partner, Clark
Kent, had been hit by that runaway car. Thankfully he
hadn't been hurt. She had been surprised by that. The
impact had thrown him quite a distance, yet he seemed no
worse for wear than a little dirt on his clothes. It
wasn't till later that morning that they found out the
eclipse had been caused by some huge asteroid that no one
had ever heard of. The scientists called it Nightfall.

Once she and Clark got back from the EPRAD press conference
Perry had called a staff meeting. He had been in rare
form, like some eager general in his own personal war room.
Lois had to smile as the memory of the look on Cat's face
came back to her. Perry had suggested that Cat use
Applegate to help her on a sidebar story. A 'Where Were
You When the Lights Went Out' piece involving whatever
local celebrities that Cat could get to talk. Needless to
say, she declined the help.

Superman struggled to continue flying through the stormy night, his energy resources almost completely depleted. He *had* to get there. She would help him. She would...

The wind howled fiercely, battering his exhausted body as he battled to remain in the air amid the rain and the biting cold. He had already flown hundreds of thousands of miles, and had stretched his strength to the limit in order to destroy the asteroid which threatened Earth. He had taken an oxygen pack since he had known he could not hold his breath for the duration of the flight. But the pack had been ripped away from him by the force of his collision with the asteroid.

He had managed to fly back, faster than he had ever before travelled, to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and reach an altitude where he could breathe again. But he was now drained, his body more tired than he had ever experienced. Other than his encounters with Kryptonite, Clark knew that this was the closest he had ever come to dying. And he wasn't safe yet...

"Yes, mother .... No, mother .... Uh huh ... Well, I think-- ... Yes, but--
... But I-- ..."

Lois Lane cradled the phone to her ear as she paced in her living room.
Every few moments, she raised her eyes hopefully up the stairs towards the
bedrooms, straining to hear if there was any noise coming from the nursery.
It had taken Lois 47 minutes (she had counted every single one) to get
Laura to finally stop crying and settle down for her afternoon nap, and
Lois had collapsed on the living room couch afterwards, relishing the peace
and quiet. But now she almost wished Laura would wake up and give her an
excuse to get off the phone.

An attractive blonde walked through the doors and onto the steps outside the Metropolis Insane Asylum. Stopping momentarily, she pushed her hair back over her shoulders and let the wind play with it as the words of the old spiritual ran through her mind.

'Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last.'

It had actually been a brilliant plan. A small demonstration, by accident of course, was all it took to convince the jury that working with the substance day after day had made her not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. The fact that no one had been permanently injured had undoubtedly gone a long way to help - not to mention her shameless flirting with juror number four.

"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.

Lois grinned as she slipped slightly deeper into the warm water. This was the perfect bubble bath, "Mmm," she purred. There was no finer place to have a bubble bath than in Lex Luthor's huge, marble sunken tub. It was enormous. It was one of the many perks of being Mrs. Lex Luthor, and though Lois and Lex had only been married three weeks, she could scarcely absorb all the wonders of her groom's amassed fortune, but the daily bubble bath was still what she prized above all the treasures she had encountered thus far.

Once upon a time, far away in a distant land, where men were bold and women were just as bold but also intelligent, there lived a sad old king whose only daughter was...well to put it mildly a bit of a pain in the butt.

Clark sank to his knees beside the body. Dark red blood was already beginning to pool around the man's head. Clark reached out a trembling hand and felt for a pulse. He closed his eyes when he discovered there was none. The man was dead. Time seemed to stand still until suddenly the area was swarming with police.

"Police. Don't move!" commanded a voice behind Clark.

Dear Lois,

I didn't think I would ever write this; some things are too personal for words. All I have left are dreams of things that won't ever be, especially now that you have made your choice. I guess Dan Scardino can offer you all the things that I can't: an ordinary life, children. He can be there when you need him, and that is something I could never guarantee.

Clark sighed. Well, they were gone. Perry, Jimmy, the others ... each of them saying their good-byes and leaving through the same well-used revolving doorway of the Daily Planet building. And that was just fine with him -- it left Clark alone with Lois. Well, Lois and the thirty or so police officers milling around the downstairs lobby.

Tonight, however, neither Lois nor Clark was paying attention to the many uniforms brushing past them. They were simply staring -- at each other.

Lois fumbled with her keys as she mounted the steps of the
townhouse. It had been a long day; right after lunch,
there'd been a news flash reporting massive flooding and
mudslides in Venezuela. Clark had flashed her a look and
was gone.

He'd been away for hours, leaving her to cover for him, and
she knew it might be hours more before he came home; he
wouldn't leave until he was sure he'd saved everyone who
could be saved. And when he did get home, he'd be
exhausted and dispirited. She pulled open the outer door.
Maybe she should think about ordering in some of his
favorite Chinese dishes. Or something from that little
Thai place he liked. Or...

The knife came from nowhere, sharp against her throat.
"Don't scream," ordered a low, threatening voice. "Don't
move until I say."

Lois wrung her hands nervously as she watched her partner sitting at his desk from her vantage point at the coffee break area. Since he had returned from the 'dead' a few days ago after being shot by Al Capone's gangsters, she was more aware of him than ever before. Now that she had him back, her insides rolled over in knots every time she came near him. Sleep was a distant friend; she kept turning in her mind what her life would be like without Clark Kent, her best friend and partner. Her conclusion was that she wouldn't have a life; the handsome reporter had ingrained himself in such a way that there was no separating her life from his anymore. He was a part of her and she hoped that he felt the same way.

As to whether Clark Kent cared for her, there was no doubt in her mind that she was important to him. After all, he had literally *died* for her. Thank heavens that Superman had been able to use Dr. Hamilton's procedures on him and bring him back to life. Still, exactly *how* important she was to him was still a mystery to her.

Yet there was the slight problem of how to get her message across to him without making a fool of herself in the process. There was the incidence of him taking back his declaration of love after her disaster of an almost wedding to Lex Luthor. That happened right before she almost admitted to him that there might be something more between them - - the same thing she almost did the other night when she had driven him home after the capture of Al Capone and his gangsters. She didn't want to humiliate herself for love's sake anymore, not for anyone, especially her best friend.

People bustled around Lois as she glanced up into the perfectly clear blue sky. The sun hung high in the sky, casting its rays toward the earth, glinting off the metal of the bridge. She really couldn't ask for a better day to do this. Around her, the wooded hillsides sloped down infinitely toward the bottom of the gorge that the bridge spanned. The autumn colors made them almost seem to be on fire, and Lois couldn't help but smile. Yes, it truly was a perfect afternoon.

You ever heard the expression "alone in a room full of people?" Well, that's me. Only in my case, it's a very big room.

It's funny that things turned out the way they did, considering how the
weekend started. Usually it's Mom and me who get into trouble ("my
Earth women," Daddy calls us, "my two enterprising Earth women"), and
usually Dad who rescues us, and this weekend *did* begin that way.
Well, sort of. Dad didn't actually *rescue* us from that thing that
happened at the courthouse; he just teased us about it. And he didn't
rescue us from the Nycon building, either, which Mom was quick to point
out ... but he teased us about that, too.

Lois Lane was feeling atypically frightened. With hindsight, she
wondered why she had ever allowed herself to be entrapped in this highly
vulnerable position. Lois was a wholly independent, liberated young woman
of the eighties who had been taking care of her own decisions since her
parents had participated in a particularly messy divorce when she was 14
years old. At the time she had felt totally abandoned as her mother had
found solace in a mixture of alcohol and nerve pills and her father had
immersed himself firstly in his profession as a doctor and secondly in his
predilection for pretty young assistants, which Lois reflected was the
cause of her parents' troubles at the outset. Had this rejection from her
father, the most important male figure in her young life, had some bearing
on the situation in which she was now floundering?

She had never been so frustrated. Never. In all her years as an
investigative reporter, never had someone been so bold as to tell
Lois Lane that she'd lost her edge.

Today it had happened.

This morning Ralph had walked casually past her desk, the day's
edition of the Daily Planet in hand. He paused long enough to make
sure she noticed him, then proceeded to say with a smirk, "Hmm, once
again, another day goes by and the famous Lane byline hasn't even
graced the front page." He saw her features flinch at his words,
though she did her best to hide it, and it only served to encourage
him. "Whatever is the world coming to?" he asked, his voice filled
with mock exaggeration.

"Lois! Clark! Take a look at this!"

Jimmy's excitable voice reached the Planet's star reporters as they had barely stepped out of the elevator to enter the newsroom. Lois turned to Clark, raising an eyebrow in amusement; Clark grinned back as they both wondered just what had occurred this time to gain Jimmy's interest.

Not allowing his friends time even to deposit their briefcases at their desks, Jimmy rushed over. "The Star says Superman's got married!"

Superman drifted carefully through the open window, as cautious
as though the shivering woman he was carrying against his chest
was made of spun glass. He'd rarely felt as awkward about flying
with anyone - let alone her - and he was thankful that she had
finally calmed some. Her squealing and squirming had been
completely disconcerting and his nerves were just about shot,
leaving him still a little twitchy, despite his gratitude that
she'd *finally* stopped screaming and settled on simply clinging
to him with an around the throat Ninja death-grip instead.

"She is everything I dreamed she'd be ..."
Clark thought to himself.
As the grey jeep stopped at the red light,
the two occupants sat giggling their heads off.
"Stop, Clark. I can't drive anymore." Lois
laughed.
"And that's news?" Clark answered her.
She smirked as she tried to reach over and
hit him. "Ha ha ha ... very funny, Mister Perfect."
He turned to look at her with a goofy smile
on his face, "I know I am."
"You really have lost it." She said, shaking
her head. She drove on. After a moment, she
turned on the radio. "You can change the channel
if you want," she told him.
He started to play with the dial.
They had just been to a National Reporters
Convention. It was a long drive home, but the two
didn't seem to mind. She enjoyed his company,
more than ever. He always had some silly joke that
was so stupid that she couldn't help but laugh.

By midnight, the election night party at the Metropolis Hilton's
main ballroom was working its way through lively and approaching
rowdy; the "Kent for President" campaign was expecting a win. The
stage and podium were draped with ribbons - red, blue, and yellow -
and news crews for all the major networks had staked out corners of
the room for their live broadcasts. Until the final vote tallies were
in, however, there was nothing to do but drink, laugh, and shout to
be heard over everyone else shouting to be heard. All the Kents
were gathered upstairs, glued to LNN's election night coverage.

The tapes were ready. The VCR was ready. The popcorn was almost ready. Even the weather was co-operating: it was grey, wet and dull outside, but not too rough. All in all, Lois thought, it was a perfect day to be indoors and shut out the world, without any great risk of storm and tempest to call Clark away.

Once he got here, that is.

It's strange, isn't it? The way you can sometimes pinpoint your feelings without a shadow of a doubt, knowing that you are making exactly the right decision? And then there are other times when you have no idea which way is up, your feelings so muddled and your heart so muted that nothing comes through clearly.

I definitely fall into the latter category tonight.

Lois placed the nozzle back on the gas tank and walked inside to pay for her gas. She ran her fingers through her sweaty hair, wishing she had showered at the gym after her Tai Kwon Do class. She increased her pace in a hurry to get home. She could shower there.

It had been a long, mind-numbing day. She and Clark were inbetween major stories, and she had spent all day writing a boring story about the dedication of the new Metropolis Museum of Anthropology. Like the city needed a new museum. Just one more place for politicians to spend the tax dollars of hardworking citizens, she grumbled internally as she entered convenience store. She headed to the counter, then abruptly changed directions, deciding to grab some ice cream while she was there. Today definitely called for ice cream.

Stepping out of the shower, the young man toweled off and shaved in record time. Dressing with unusual care in spite of his haste, he chose and discarded several shirts before he was satisfied with the result.

Tonight was special; the night he had been waiting for, the night that would end the lying, the hiding, the months and years of secrecy.

Tonight he would tell her ... everything.

Lois stepped out into the darkness of the hallway and
winced as the bedroom door clicked to a close at her back,
seeming overly loud in the calm silence of the slumbering
farmhouse.

She stood for a moment, breathing heavily as though in the
midst of some clandestine burglary, waiting to be
discovered. But nothing stirred, the silence was unbroken,
the darkness continued to press against her.

Lois Lane's brow was furrowed as she pulled her jeep out of the Daily Planet's parking garage. It had been one crazy day. First there had been the unexpected solar eclipse this morning on their way to work. Then her partner, Clark Kent, had been hit by that runaway car. Thankfully he hadn't been hurt. She had been surprised by that. The impact had thrown him quite a distance, yet he seemed no worse for wear than a little dirt on his clothes. It wasn't till later that morning that they found out the eclipse had been caused by some huge asteroid that no one had ever heard of. The scientists called it Nightfall.