WARNING: This chapter contains a character death!
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Chapter 7
Lois arched forward, trying to reach her shoe. She was still tied to the chair by the ankles, and try as she might she couldn't contort herself enough.
She glanced over her shoulder to where Clark lay in a crumpled heap. His breath was coming in short, painful sounding gasps.
“Superman?” she called.
He raised his head slowly and looked at her. She breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been so still, she thought he'd slipped into unconsciousness.
“Can you move?”
He nodded.
“Can you get my shoe off?”
He gave her a quizzical look but did as she asked. After crawling the few feet he gave her the shoe then collapsed onto his belly beside her.
Her heart went out to him. She'd seen him in the throes of Kryptonite exposure before - including once when she'd been scared he'd die - but not since she'd discovered his secret. This was Clark - her Clark - that was suffering. She had to help him.
Moving as quickly as she could, she ripped the insole out of the shoe and extracted the piece of dull grey foil she'd secreted underneath it. Unfolding it, she grabbed the piece of Kryptonite and wrapped it up in the lead foil, making sure she covered every glint of green. Looking up, she saw him watching her, his body relaxing as the pain subsided.
“You keep that in your shoe?” There was a trace of his usual humour in his voice.
“Why do you think it takes me so long to get through Customs?”
He gave a weak chuckle, then rested his head back down on the floor.
…
Lois never ceased to amaze him.
He'd never met anyone else that would consider keeping lead foil in their shoe, just in case they ran across Kryptonite. Right now, he was exceedingly grateful that she did - and he loved her even more for it. The pain was gone, leaving him feeling shivery and weak - and afraid. Somehow he had to defend Lois, but how?
“How long do you think we have?” Lois broke the silence. “Until he comes back? Long enough for your powers to come back?”
“No” he said softly. “He'll be back before then. He'll come back to gloat.”
“How do you know?” she asked curiously.
He chose not to answer, wanting to spare her pain, but he hadn't counted on her quick intellect.
“He's done this before, hasn't he?” she questioned, horror in her voice.
“Yes.” he admitted. He sat up cautiously, testing each limb for the return of pain, then reached for the ropes still confining Lois to the chair.
“That's why you looked so sick ... I was so glad to see you, I didn't realise until later. That's why you couldn't save him, wasn't it? When he jumped?”
He sighed. “Yes.”
“How long?”
“Do you really want to hear this?”
“How long?” she persisted.
“Two days.” he capitulated. “In his wine cellar.”
Lois was silent. Grimly he went back to trying to loosen the knots around her ankles.
He'd gotten one foot free when she spoke again.
“I'm sorry.”
Clark paused for a moment. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” He gave the last knot a tug and it came free. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked at him. “You're not responsible for Luthor's actions, Lois.”
“But if it wasn't for me - “
“He still would've tried to get rid of me, Lois” he cut her off. “I'd stopped too many of his illegal activities.” He touched her hand. “It is not your fault, Lois.”
“You should have told me.”
“Why? So you could blame yourself? That's exactly why I didn't tell you, Lois.” He reached out and brushed the tear that was threatening to fall away from her cheek.
“I was so blind.”
“Luthor is very good at only letting people see what he wants them to see. Even now, there's a whole group of people in Metropolis who believe he's innocent. Even Perry was fooled, Lois.”
“You weren't.”
“I was jealous.” He grinned at her and got a wan smile in return. “That's better.” He leaned forward and kissed her gently. “We need to figure out what we're going to do.”
She gave herself a little shake. “How long will it take for your powers to come back?”
“I'm not sure.” Thanks to her, it hadn't been a long exposure - more like the first time he'd come across Kryptonite than any of the subsequent exposures. “In Smallville, it took about a day. But we were outside a lot.”
“That helps?”
“The sunlight helps.”
She rubbed at her ankles where the ropes had grazed her skin and stood up, looking around. “Will that help?”
She pointed to where the late afternoon sun was slanting through the ventilation slits onto the container wall. “It's not much, but -”
“But any sunlight is better than none” he finished. Clark stood shakily and went over to the small patch of light, sinking down against the wall and letting the light play over his face. He closed his eyes and a moment later felt her sit down beside him. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close.
“How are you feeling?”
“Tired.” he admitted.
“Go to sleep.”
He sighed, already drifting off. “Love you, Lois.”
“I love you too.”
…
Luthor came while they were still sleeping.
Clark had woken when the sun had gone down and they'd spent some time talking, discussing how Lois had been captured in the first place and what they'd do if Luthor returned before Clark's powers did. Eventually, as the night had grown colder, Clark had detached his cape and draped it over them as Lois slept on his chest.
The grating noise of the container lock being opened startled them to full consciousness. They sprang to their feet, Clark moving as quietly as he could to stand behind one half of the door.
As soon as Luthor was far enough through the door, Clark jumped him.
The element of surprise only worked in Clark's favour for a few moments. While he was somewhat restored by the sleep and the sunlight, he was only as strong as a normal, human, male. His adversary not only had the benefit of years of martial arts training, but he fought with the strength of madness.
The fight was brief but vicious, the two men trading kicks and punches as they both vied for the upper hand.
Clark could feel himself tiring. He had to get Lois away from here as quickly as he could. He dodged as Luthor picked up the chair and swung it at him.
“Run” he shouted.
At the last second he ducked away from another blow with the chair. Luthor started to lose his balance, unable to stop his momentum in time. Clark took the opportunity to get one arm around Luthor's neck and pulled him up, barely letting his feet touch the ground. Luthor scrabbled for a hold, unable to get a grip on the slick Spandex to try and break Clark's stranglehold.
“Lois, run!”
This time she turned towards the doorway - and came to an abrupt stop.
The unmistakable sound of a pistol slide being racked filled the air.
“Not so fast, Miss Lane.”
A blond, heavyset man stepped up into the container, brandishing what Clark recognised as a .357 magnum pistol. From his vantage point, he could see Lois gulp as the barrel of the gun was levelled at her forehead.
“Don't even think about it, Superman. Even you can't move fast enough to stop a bullet before it hits Miss Lane.” The newcomer gestured with his free hand, keeping the gun trained on Lois' forehead.
“Let him go.”
Clark capitulated, loosening the choke hold he had on Luthor and letting the former billionaire fall to the floor, coughing.
“Good. Now take a step back. Me, Mr. Luthor and Miss Lane are going to walk out of here, nice and easy. If you even think of following us, then Miss Lane here gets a bullet right through that pretty head of hers.”
Clark put up his hands and stepped back, hoping Lois understood what he had to do.
Luthor picked himself up off the metal floor and dusted himself off before joining the unknown man.
“Thank you, Henri. I knew I could count on you.”
He held out his hand for the gun and Henri handed it to him.
“But no one threatens Ms Lane.” As he spoke he fired one shot into Henri's abdomen. The big Frenchman toppled out of the container. Clark instinctively started to move towards him and was stopped by Luthor training the gun in his direction.
“Au revoir, Superman.”
He yanked Lois out of the container by her upper arm and was swiftly gone from sight.
Clark grabbed his cape off the floor and stepped down out of the container, wincing a little. He could feel sore spots developing where Luthor's blows had connected. Henri lay on his back beside the door, clutching at his abdomen and writhing slightly. Clark could see blood welling from between his fingers and pooling on the ground beneath him, and knew that even if he had his powers, there was no way he could get the stricken man to the hospital in time to save his life.
Wadding up his cape, he moved Henri's hands out of the way and used the cape to try and stanch the flow of blood. He'd flattened the battery in his cellphone yesterday trying to locate Lois, so he had no way of calling an ambulance.
Maintaining pressure on the wound, he leant over Henri.
“Where is Luthor taking Ms Lane?”
“Can't ... tell you” the dying man gasped out. “He'll ... kill me.”
“He already has.” Clark stated bluntly. “Even if I could get you to a hospital, it wouldn't make a difference.”
He knew he should try and reassure the man, but right now it was beyond him. If it hadn't been for Henri's interference, Lois might have gotten away. Instead, she was back in Luthor's power and Clark had no idea where they were headed.
“Where is Luthor taking her?”
As he watched, the habitual sneer faded from the older man's face and a look of fear crept into his eyes.
“Tell me!” Clark demanded.
“Cha- Chamonix.”
Clark leant back, still keeping pressure on the gunshot wound. Chamonix was a small town high in the Alps, near the Swiss border almost 400 miles away. Somehow, he had to get there before Luthor, or he knew Luthor would disappear into the fortress he'd mentioned to Lois. If that happened, he wasn't sure he'd be able to find her before Luthor did something to her. Along the way, he had to hope that his powers came back. It would be almost impossible to overtake them without the benefit of his super-speed.
Henri's breathing slowed and then stopped. Clark's shoulders drooped. It wasn't the first time he'd seen someone die in front of him, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with. He hated seeing the waste of human life, and Luthor had definitely taken more than his fair share.
He sighed. He had to get away from there before someone saw him, had to find a way to follow Lois and Luthor, and had to do it without Luthor spotting him.
Then it came to him. Lois' rental car. Unless someone had moved it, it should still be outside.
He picked up his now ruined cape and extracted his Clark clothes from the pocket. They too were a write off, soaked through with Henri's blood.
As much as he didn't want to take the extra time, a stop by his apartment was imperative. Luthor was demonstrably not stable. If he caught a glimpse of electric blue Spandex, even if it was someone driving, who knew what he'd do? If he went as Clark, at least he had a better chance of getting near them.
Looking around carefully, he made his way to the entrance of the container yard. The surrounding area seemed to be deserted. Just up the street he could see a ordinary sedan that might have been Lois' rental car. Doing his best not to attract attention, he walked up the car. Its driver’s window was missing and he breathed a sigh of relief. Sliding into the driver’s seat, he felt around around the steering column and hot-wired the ignition, mentally thanking Jimmy and Lois for teaching him that particular skill.
One quick stop at his apartment later and he was on the road to Chamonix.
