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"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.

Superman set the glasses on the counter and started rinsing them one
at a time. "If it's your night to clean up, it's mine, too."

Clark threw Superman a glance of surprise, then took the glasses he
held out and stacked them in the dishwasher. The two men worked
quickly in strained silence, the running water and clinking of dishes
the only sounds in the kitchen.

As Clark finished loading the silverware, Superman wiped the water off
the counters and threw the sponge into the sink, a humorless smile
crossing his face. "This isn't what I thought it'd be."

He wasn't talking about doing the dishes. Clark pushed the dishwasher
closed. "Yeah, I know."

Something smelled really good. Clark fanned the envelope in
front of his nose and realized it was the piece of mail. It
smelled like perfume.

Oh, no. Some woman had sprayed the letter with her perfume.

But the smell was intoxicating. In fact, it smelled really
familiar. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths of it.
It surprised him a little bit when a liquid pool of heat flared
inside him.

He knew this smell.

Clark opened his eyes and glanced down at the handwriting on the
outside of the envelope. No... no it couldn't be, could it?
There was no return address to tell him, so he opened the
envelope and pulled out the letter.

As he carefully unfolded it, confirmation of his answer stared
him in the face.

It was from Lois.

Lois was standing in the middle of the bullpen, sipping a cup of
coffee and sniping at Jimmy, when the elevator doors slid open
and Clark Kent stepped out.

Just like that.

Just stepped out of the elevator as if he did it every day.

Her hand clenched her coffee mug so tightly that it was a wonder
it wasn't crushed to a fine powder. For a moment her brain
skittered around in a blind panic before grasping at the
reporter's questions out of habit:

*Who?* Clark Kent.

*What?* Walking straight toward her.

*When?* Now! Right this minute!

*Where?* Wasn't that already covered in number two? Really, this
wasn't helping much, and he was getting closer...

*Why?* Oh, God...why?

Clark felt the lump in his throat grow even larger. "Honey, please," he begged. "I don't want to lose you. Whatever it is, give me a chance to fix it."

From the way Lois held her shoulders, Clark knew that she was fighting the tears. "It's not-- You can't -- I'm sorry," she finally choked out.

Tears sprung to his eyes as he watched her. So this was it ... everything he'd dreamed of, everything he'd ever wanted ... gone. Somehow in the last week, she had stopped loving him, stopped wanting to be with him. Now it was over and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"So you're breaking up with me." His voice cracked as he said the words.

"You deserve an explanation," he began, having made his
decision. He would tell her. She deserved the truth from
him. Besides, given the liberties he'd taken, he didn't
stand a chance with her if she didn't know why. That didn't
stop the butterflies that were suddenly flying around in
his stomach.

"Just leave it, Clark. I don't need an explanation. You're
a typical male, and you don't always think with your brain.
Been there, done that, bought all the t-shirts. What do you
want in your tea?"

"Just sugar, and trust me, I'm not your typical male.
Actually, Lois, I'm..." His voice failed him at the
critical moment. Lois glanced over at him before turning
her attention back to making the tea.

"Yeah, right. What makes you different?" she asked while
she placed mugs, sugar and milk on the counter.

"Well for starters, I'm Kryptonian." He let out a breath of
relief. He'd done it. He'd told Lois the truth.

Her voice trailed off when his hand slipped into her hair
and his mouth sought out hers. She moaned softly, shifting
on his leg to press her body more firmly against his. It
was only a moment before he had his arm under her legs and
was standing up to carry her to the back of the RV. He laid
her on the bed, before standing up again to look at her,
lying there waiting for him. He kicked off his shoes and
was about to crawl on the bed to join her when he felt
something grabbing at the bottom of his pant leg.

He glanced down in confusion.

"Cookie!" Lois exclaimed when she saw the dog had seized
onto the edge of Clark's jeans and was currently trying to
drag Clark away from the bed. Clark shook his foot, but the
dog maintained its grip, swinging slightly with the
movement.

<You're going to be sooorrrry!>
That nagging voice inside her head was back.
<What do you think you're doing, getting into his car
like this? You're in a city where you don't know anyone, you
don't know your way around and you're letting this guy, whom
you've just met, take you some place you don't know anything
about!>
Quiet!!
"Is this the first time you've been to Kansas City?"
She withdrew her gaze from the view outside the car and
turned towards him. "Yes, it is. It looked ... interesting
from the air this afternoon."
"It's a nice city." He hesitated and seemed to be
looking for something else to say. "Maybe ... if you've got
some free time ... maybe I could ... show you some of the
sights."
"That would be nice."
<What did you say *that* for? You shouldn't be making
plans with him! You don't know anything about this guy!>
Lois turned to look out of the window again. A thousand
thoughts, memories and impressions were freewaying through her
head -- on- and off-ramping, merging, cutting in, braking:
Clark's soft voice saying "Hi," the loudness of the voices
around her when she'd returned to a sense of her surroundings,
the wink from Alice as she'd led a stunned and (mercifully)
silent Perry away, the tingle Lois had felt when she'd touched
Clark's hand for the first time, the admiration in his eyes
when he'd looked at her ...

'Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist, Lois Lane, To Wed Billionaire Businessman, Lex Luthor.'

He checked the date. June 16, 1998. It was yesterday's newspaper but it made no sense. Lex Luthor had been killed over two years ago when the underground tunnel had collapsed during Luthor's attempt to kill him with a quantum disruptor. Besides, Lois was married to him - Clark Kent. And he was absolutely positive he would have heard if Lois had won the Pulitzer. That wasn't the type of news his wife would likely keep to herself. She would be yelling it at the top of her lungs from the roof of the Daily Planet.

"Well, here's the thing. Since you're my best friend, I thought it only right that you be the first to now." She paused for dramatic effect, watching with delight as Clark unconsciously leaned forward even further, obviously eager to hear what she was about to say. But as much as she was expecting a reaction from him with her next words, she was completely unprepared for the extent of his reaction when she said, "I've finally met just such a man."

All the blood drained out of Clark's face, and his mouth fell open. He looked both stunned and distraught, and was completely able to speak. When he finally closed his mouth and made a weak attempt at clearing his throat, he parted his lips and asked in a hoarse whisper, "You what?"

Lois smiled giddily, hardly able to keep herself from bursting out laughing. " And better yet...I've fallen in love with him."

Clark fell back against the couch, desperately trying to keep the room from spinning. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be real. But one look at her flushed cheeks, sparkling eyes and wide smile told him everything he needed to know. In one achingly miserable moment, he knew the awful truth.

"You've fallen in love with someone," he echoed forlornly, hoping with all his being that this was all some sick, sordid joke.

"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."

"Oh, no. No, that's not it. It was just... the strangest thing,
really. That woman. It was like I've known her all my life. I've
never seen her before, I don't even know who she is. I would
have remembered her, believe me. But, I just can't explain, it's
the oddest thing, really. She left as fast a she'd come and for
some reason it's like she ran off with a part of me. And now...
I'm having trouble adjusting to life without that piece of... I
don't know... soul? That she took from me somehow."

Lana looked at Clark with an increasingly puzzled expression as
he spoke. What on Earth was he talking about; she'd stolen part
of his soul? That made absolutely no sense.

The man took a look around the spot where he had landed. He
stood in a dark little alley. He was relieved to see that no one
had noticed his arrival. It was always best that no one saw him
and no one knew he was here. They would not understand how or
why he was here anyway.

He walked over to a newsstand that stood at the corner of the
street. It was early in the morning and they had just put out
all the newspapers. He picked up a copy of the Daily Planet. The
front page title made him wince. The headline, in big bold text,
read: "Caped Wonder Stuns City". The man walked back to the
alley he had come from and let out his frustration on a trash
container.

He had failed. Again!

He knew he should have kept a closer eye on them this time! They
always managed to find a way to make his plans crumble! He had
tried countless times to keep this from happening; to keep them
apart. But no matter what he did, no matter what he threw their
way, they always got out of it. They always won!

Would he never be able to destroy Utopia?

He knew all about her late night drives this past summer. Her
sleepless nights. The miles she had traveled under the cover of
darkness with no apparent destination; just a need to keep
going.

He knew because Superman had been doing the same. In the wake of
the Lane-Luthor wedding debacle, Superman's evening patrols had
stretched late into the night, eventually extending until
sunrise. For much of that time, he had followed Lois. Keeping an
eye on her, staying out of sight, knowing exactly what was
driving her.

And wishing with all his heart he knew how to be the one to help
her stop. To make it ok for her to be still. But if he couldn't
find those answers for himself, he didn't know how he could do
that for her.