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Over the next few minutes, Clark explained to Vicky exactly what had happened. He told her about Marty's friendship with Maria and how upset Marty was to learn that Maria had been killed. He told her how Ben had tried to comfort Marty, only to have Marty violently
overreact to his touch and throw him into the field. He explained that Ben had a broken wrist and a concussion and that Marty was going
to be helping him with his work. He told her about Rachel being upset.

As he waited, he found himself wondering about the effect the
woman had on him. He'd always liked women, in a friendly way, but
none of them had ever made him feel what this woman had at first
sight. He'd assumed that whatever had endowed him with abilities
far beyond those of ordinary men had also cursed him with an
inability to be attracted to anyone. He'd been resigned to a
lonely life; he wasn't able to confide in anyone, and without the
ability to love, he was destined to be ultimately unhappy.

At least that's what he had come to believe. While he had never
been struck by cupid's arrow, the whole idea of love fascinated
him. He'd read the Kama Sutra, and the love writings of a dozen
different nations, all in their original language.

He'd even explored the possibilities involved in sex, though he'd
always been disappointed. He hadn't done it often; while he might
not need to worry about pregnancy or disease, he'd always been
concerned about the emotional well being of his partners. He'd
come to believe that he was incapable of love; leading a woman to
hope that more was possible was deeply wrong.

He'd wondered if it would have been easier had his parents
survived. They'd always seemed to know the answers, and Clark had
had many questions since their deaths. If he'd only been a little
faster, everything might have been very different. He certainly
wouldn't have lived the life he had; on the other hand, he might
not have been so driven to succeed.

"No, Mom, I'm okay. Really, I am. Married? Yes, actually I am.
I would have called you but it was so sudden. Who? Well, you remember me
telling you about Lois? The girl I met in D.C. and that I was pretty sure
that Lois Lane was her? Well, that's who I married. No, we haven't had a
chance to talk about all of that yet. Dad? Everything is fine, really.
No, I haven't told her yet. We haven't had a chance to really talk things
out. No, I don't know where we are going to live. I know, Dad, like a
frog. I've heard it a million times. Yes, I'll bring her out to meet you
soon. No, probably not tonight. I mean, how could we get there so fast?
It would cost an arm and a leg to get plane tickets on such short notice.
No, I don't think that it's a good idea for you to come here. Where would
you stay? We don't even have a place of our own yet. And my
sister-in-law," Lois smiled at that remark, "is staying at Lois' apartment
right now. Look, Mom, Dad, I gotta go. We're already late for work and
Perry's sure to fire me at least. No, we aren't taking any time off just
yet. I'm sure he would give us the time, but he doesn't know yet. You're
the only people who know. Except for the three people at the wedding. I
don't even know if Lois told the clerk at the hotel when we checked in last
night. No, not this hotel. Give me a little credit, Mom. We stayed
downtown. Now, I really have to go. I'll call you later. I love you,
too. Bye."

There was a tentative knock on his door.

"Yes!"

The door opened a crack. "There's a Clark Kent here to see you,
chief."

Perry grunted, not bothering to rise from behind his desk, but
still gesturing with his hand for Jimmy to let in the latest in a
string of interviewees. This one seemed the least promising one
to date. The only reason Perry had agreed to give him an
interview was at the request of Professor Carlton. He seemed to
think the young man was exceptional. But now, having looked
through Kent's resume, Perry knew this was a waste of time.

"Mr. White?"

Perry finally looked up to see the good-looking, dark-haired man
standing in his doorway. Reluctantly, he pulled himself together,
rising to his feet and making his way around the desk. It wasn't
this man's fault that Perry's favorite reporter was facing a
death sentence. And it wasn't his fault that Perry was being
forced to find her replacement.

Clark Kent spun out of the 'suit' in the dingy alley behind his apartment
building and emerged into the neon luminescence of Clinton Street. In a few
minutes he was in front of the double grey door that led into his
apartment. Slowly he let himself in, the loneliness of the day returning as
he walked down the few steps into his living room. He smiled slightly,
recognizing the source of his feelings, remembering the last twenty-four
hours. He missed her.

They had met outside the heavy bronze doors of the front entrance to the
'Planet' after he had delivered Diana Stride to the FBI. It had been late
and Lois had been on her way home, when he told her that he had got them
'the exclusive.' Turning, she had smiled crookedly, and said, "You're some
partner."

"Is that all I am, Lois?"

"I don't know." And she had looked at him, searching his face.

And then he had made it easier for them; suggesting they finish the chess
game that they had begun a few days earlier, before the whole Diana StrIde
thing had exploded. Smiling, she had taken his arm and they had entered the
Planet, riding up to the seventh floor in companionable silence and then
finishing their game. He had won, and surprisingly she hadn't seemed to
mind. Looking up at him, she had smiled and said softly, "You win, Clark
Kent." For a moment, he had stopped breathing as his eyes met hers.

Then she had giggled. "This time, Kent! Come on, I'll drive you home but
you can start thinking about a rematch when I get back from Minnesota."

"I know that women aren't 'persons' under Martian law, but... Are you telling me that women can be bought and sold like any other chattel?"

She nodded.

"And your mother sold you to Luthor for fifty credits when you were..."

"Fourteen." She gave a humorless chuckle. "She didn't even get enough money for a really good bender."

Clark sighed and ran his fingers through his hair,
obviously agitated. "Can we please talk about something
else - anything else?"

Lois rolled her eyes. "You make it sound like I'm obsessed;
like I've forced you to discuss this all day!"

"You *have* forced me to discuss this all day! We examined
and analyzed every possible reason for his appearance. I'm
sick of talking about Superman!"

Lois was slightly taken aback by Clark's vehement response,
but they were too far into this argument for her to back
down now.

"I thought Superman was your friend! You sound like you
don't even like him!"

"It's not that I don't like him, it's that I don't like the
way you act when you're around him!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"It means, I'm sick of watching you get all mooney-eyed
every time he drops by! He's just an ordinary man, Lois,
stop acting like he's some kind of god!"

"You know what? You're just jealous! Just because I don't
get all mooney-eyed over you-"

"No! That's not it at all! I'm just sick of being your
sounding board for this pathetic obsession!"

"Are you saying that I'm pathetic?!" she asked, incensed.

"That's *not* what I said! I *said* that this obsession is
pathetic - there's a big difference. You're better than
this, Lois. You deserve better than this; better than him."

"Better than him? Who could possibly be better than
Superman?!"

Clark's eyes searched the room as his mind ran through the
events that had taken place. Doctors were rushing around
him. The fear gripped him as various wires and tubes were
connected to him. The pain was almost unbearable now.
Closing his eyes, he knew he had to have more help than
these people could give him.

A moment later, the doctor came out, called Lois over, and
informed her that Clark was refusing further treatment
until he could talk to her alone.

She came to his side and took his hand. "Clark, what are
you doing? You have to let them take care of you. You've
lost a lot of blood."

He squeezed her hand as he steeled his nerves to tell her
what he had to. "Lois, I need you to listen to me." He
waited until she met his gaze. "I need you to call Dr.
Klein."

"Bernie Klein? Why?"

"He's the only one that can help me."

"But he's a scientist at Star Labs."

"Yes. He also studies Superman's biology." Clark squeezed
her hand again. "He's my doctor, Lois."

The sensation in Clark's legs was coming back. By the end
of the week, he had almost total feeling. Bernie advised
him to start strength exercises so he would be able to try
and walk soon. Standing by himself, next to the bed, is
where Lois found him when she woke the morning of their day
off.

"Clark?" She touched his back from her position on the bed.

He turned to look down at her. "Pretty good, huh?"

"It is." Lois eased up in the bed and leaned on the
headboard. "Can you take a step?"

"I haven't tried. When I woke up, I thought I'd try to
stand. I've been here for about half an hour." Clark very
carefully lifted one foot from the floor. The step was
small, but it was a success. He was amazed that he didn't
feel like he'd fall. His legs were strong and supported his
weight easily. "I guess being super helps."

"Yeah." Lois jumped from the bed and reached out to take
Clark's shoulders. "Lean on me. I'll help." He placed his
hand on her shoulders and allowed her to take some of his
weight. Together they took a few careful steps. "Look at
you!" Lois said through happy tears.

"Lois, honey...?"

"I'm okay. This is just so great. I feel like it's me
taking these steps. I guess it is in a way. What one does,
the other does. And I love you and you're part of me...."

Martha smiled again and hurried into the
kitchen so that Clark couldn't see the emotions on her
face. She had been extremely worried that he'd given up. He
only helped himself enough to make it through the day. He
had withdrawn completely and had almost stopped talking to
them. She and Jonathan felt he had to deal with all the
different things he was feeling, so they hadn't pushed him.
But just that morning she saw the fire die from her son's
eyes. He felt useless, and he was angry. She had prepared
herself for the worst. The man she just walked away from
was definitely not the same one she'd seen earlier. It was
amazing how one small woman could change a man's outlook
just by being in the same room.

He leaned forward so that his mouth was near her ear, and
vice versa. "I, uh... have something I need to tell you."

"Save it for later, okay?" she whispered back. "Clark, do
you see that window over there?"

He turned to look, and saw her pointing to the same one
he'd noticed earlier. She leaned forward again to whisper,
"Do you think there's room for you to fly me through there?
I mean, some of the glass might come out, but that
shouldn't matter if we're long gone by the time the goon
comes around the corner."

Clark could only stare at her.

She looked perplexed. "Well, we can't stay in here, not
when they're going to burn all that's left of West River!
Clark? Why are you looking at me like that?" Her eyes
widened and she blushed. "Oh, right. Um, hi, Superman.
Can we go now?"

"Then let's take it from the top," Lois said, looking up and pinning him with her stare. "How well do you know Superman?"

"Well, like I said, I know a little about him, enough to speak to him and have a conversation, but it's all superficial. I don't know anything you probably don't."

"But you've known him longer."

"Well, yeah, but it's not like we sat down and had any heart to hearts. It's always been pretty much the way it is now."

"So, nothing you've been keeping off the record for an old high school friend?"

"High school friend? Lois, you make it sound like we shared a locker and ate fudge rounds in the cafeteria together. I think a kid in tights with a cape would have been noticed at Smallville High."

"You know what I mean, Smallville. Have you been keeping anything back from public consumption?"

"Well, Lois, if I was then it probably wouldn't be a good idea to share it with Metropolis' number one investigative reporter, now, would it?"

He said it so earnestly that Lois felt a smile start to form on her lips before she caught herself.

"You're good, Kent, but flattery won't even get you to first base, let alone knock my concentration out of the ballpark."

"That's why you wouldn't make a good superhero, C.K.," Jimmy
added. "The glasses would be a dead give away."

"At least I'm the only Princess Leia here tonight," Lois said,
quickly changing the subject before she burst out laughing at
Jimmy's last comment.

"Well... not exactly, Lois," Clark said, pointing to two of the
girls from copy, both of whom were wearing the same costume -
except that neither of them felt compelled to wear a coat.

"Oh, well, they are obviously Princess Leia before the rescue.
I'm Princess Leia after someone got her a coat.