Author's note: Special thanks go to Kismatt, ChrisPat, Lori, Peg and Deadly Chakram for their help translating my Aussie-isms to American terms in this chapter. Thanks so much!
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Chapter 8
Lex dragged Lois around the back of the container yard's office and into the rear of a small Citroen sedan that was waiting there. Before she had time to realise his intentions, he picked her up and tried to force her into the trunk of the car. She kicked and flailed, trying to prevent him, and succeeded in landing a kick on one of his upper arms. He dropped her legs so that she was sitting in the trunk and aimed the pistol at her head. She froze and swallowed hard. From her position, it was practically impossible to knock the gun out of Luthor's hand.
“Much better.”
Using his free hand, he pushed her head down and slammed the trunk lid. A few moments later, she felt vibration as the engine roared to life and the car started to move.
The trunk was cramped and dark; the only light came from the occasional flash of the brake lights and Lois had to draw her legs up to fit with any degree of comfort. In the brief moments of light, she studied the inside of her tiny prison. Like most sedans, the rear seats were designed to fold forward in two parts. She could see a tiny gap between the two halves of the seat, but try as she might she couldn't fit her hand through it. She had to find another way out.
Accordingly, she started banging on the lid of the trunk every time the car stopped, hoping that someone would hear her.
Finally the car pulled off the road and slowed down. There was a click, and the trunk flew open. Lois squinted against the sudden brightness and glared at Luthor.
“You won't get away, you know. He'll never stop looking for me.”
“I know.” His face creased in an evil grin. “I'm counting on it.” He glanced at her. “Come now Lois, you don't think I got to where I was without considering every contingency.”
“But the Kryptonite -”
He cut her off. “Was not the only piece. No, when I removed the Kryptonite from Nigel's possession, I had the foresight to have it cleaved.”
Something about the way he spoke of Nigel St John made her skin crawl.
“Removed it?” she queried
“Yes, well, Nigel had to learn not to cross Lex Luthor.” He shot her a darkling look. “A lesson that you had best learn also. I know you had something to do with neutralising the Kryptonite in the shipping container. You'll pay for that when we get to our destination.”
Lois shivered at the menace in his voice. He seemed more unstable, more violent, than he had even at their previous encounter shortly after his resurrection. Lois wasn't sure if he'd gone further down the path to complete psychopathic insanity or if she was just seeing him for the first time with the veneer of civilisation stripped away. She shrank away from the opening of the trunk, wanting to get as far away as the confines of the car allowed.
“I'm going to let you out for now” he said abruptly. He stepped back from the rear of the car, keeping the ubiquitous gun trained on her. She stood shakily, cramped from her time in the trunk, and looked around. They were pulled over in a roadside rest area. There was no traffic on the road, dashing her hope of trying to attract the attention of someone in another vehicle. She stepped away from the car. Luthor immediately grabbed her arm and steered her to the passenger seat, shoving her down into it and slamming the door. She tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. Luthor must have engaged the child lock. In another moment, they were pulling back out onto the road.
Her situation looked desperate. It would be hours at the very least before Clark got his powers back and could come looking for her - and that was dependent on Clark knowing where to look. Even if he did find her, Luthor still had Kryptonite, and Lois has no idea where he was keeping it. Her money was on it being somewhere on his person - in which case, it was practically impossible for her to get to so she could dispose of it.
The only thing she could think of to do was try to escape from Luthor. He seemed so determined to have her in his power that she was convinced he wouldn't try to kill her if she did try to get free and failed.
Failure didn't bear thinking about. Being in Luthor's power, possibly for the rest of her life ... the idea brought a combination of terror and revulsion. She had no doubt that being Lex Luthor's prisoner would be filled with abuse... physical, emotional, mental - and worse. Was this what he'd planned for her if she'd been stupid enough to marry him two years ago? Perry, Jimmy, Clark ... all of them had maintained that Luthor was a monster, and the one time she'd asked Clark about it he'd refused to look her in the eye and wouldn't answer her.
No, she had to get away. She had to get back to Clark.
…
Her opportunity came a few minutes later.
After glancing at the fuel gauge several times, Luthor pulled the car into a gas station and stopped at the pump nearest the entry. Before unlocking the doors, he pointed Henri's gun at her, holding it low so it wasn't obvious from outside the vehicle.
“You may use the bathroom. If you try to escape or ask anyone for help, I will find you.”
Lois nodded her head tightly, beginning to second guess her decision to try to get away ... but if she didn't do it now, who knew when she'd have the chance again? It would be dangerous, but that had never stopped her before. She was Lois Lane, notorious for jumping in without checking the water level first - even before Superman arrived on the scene.
As casually as she could, Lois got out of the car and rounded the side of the building, studying the layout of the complex. Once inside the tiny, foetid bathroom she inspected the small window above the sink. It was made to slide open, but not very far. Judging the distance carefully, she felt sure that she could slide her petite frame through the opening, though it would be a tight fit. Quickly she climbed up onto the metal sink and laboriously started the task of popping the screen out of the window without making too much noise. Time started playing tricks on her. Getting the screen out only took a few minutes, but it felt like hours. Unable to tell if she'd been in the bathroom for an unusually long time, she checked over her shoulder before hoisting herself up and wriggling through the window. On the other side, she checked her surroundings once again then dropped to the ground as silently as she could manage.
To her great good fortune, there was a bus pulling up to the stop she'd noticed at one side of the gas station. With a purposeful stride, she walked towards it, making sure the few franc notes she'd had in her pocket were still there. She had no idea where the bus was going, but if she could get to a train station, it would be an easy matter to get back to Paris - and Clark. Her heart pounded as she crossed the concrete, reverberating in her ears and stopping her from hearing any possible following footsteps.
She was nearly at the edge of the concrete apron when a hand clamped onto her upper arm and she felt the hard metal barrel of the pistol in the small of her back. Adrenaline flooded through her and she twisted in Luthor's grasp, intending to use her taekwondo training to break his grip. But he was ready for her move, jamming the butt of the pistol into her side, causing her to double over and hiss in pain. He half carried, half dragged her back to the car, shoving her back into the passenger seat and backhanding her across the face for good measure. The blow half-stunned and blinded her, making it impossible to resist as Luthor reached into the back seat and retrieved a coil of rope, tying her feet together and using the free end to bind her hands.
“I warned you what would happen” he hissed in her ear. “You are mine, Lois, and you can't get away. Even that pathetic, overgrown boy scout can't change that.” He pushed her back into the seat before rounding the car and climbing back into the driver's seat himself.
…
Nemours, Auxerre, Sauvigny-le-Bois ... as the towns rolled by without a sign of his powers returning, Clark became more and more anxious. A showdown with Luthor was inevitable - had been building almost as long as Clark had been Superman. Clark had thought it was all over when Luthor had died, but his return from the dead and subsequent imprisonment had just deferred it. It had to end this time, one way or another, and Clark wanted to be in full possession of his faculties.
Being without his powers was a curious sensation. Without his usual heightened senses, the world seemed dumbed down and muffled, like he was moving through fog. He assumed that this was how normal people experienced the world. Every so often on his dash across France, he tested his powers, trying to look through the dashboard of the car ... and failing. Paradoxically, he began to worry that his attempts to test his powers were draining the tiny reserves that he was trying to build.
He'd deliberately changed into the most skin-exposing clothing he could find - a sleeveless tee shirt and a pair of mesh basketball shorts - and rolled down the remaining front window to try and maximise the amount of sunlight he received. As he passed through Beaune, south of Dijon, he started being able to hear the radios in other people's cars. It was the first sign he'd had of his powers returning and he sighed in relief. Some of the tension left his frame.
By the time he got to Macon, he felt strong enough to fly. Momentarily he considered turning in the rental car there and flying the rest of the way, but instead decided to conserve his energy and return it at the next town.
Bourg-en-Bresse wasn't a particularly large city. It was an easy matter to track down the rental car agency and pay for the car - and the window repair. Then he found a deserted spot and took to the sky.
…
Clark flew high over the main road between Geneva and Chamonix, scanning frantically for traces of Lois and Luthor. The road was practically deserted; so far he'd only seen two vehicles since leaving Geneva, and he was starting to worry that he'd missed them.
Then, just shy of Oex, as the road curved a little, he spotted them.
Lois was in the passenger seat, her hands and feet bound. As he dipped lower, Clark could see the right hand side of her face was swelling and turning purple.
For all that Lex Luthor had threatened Lois and kidnapped Lois, this was the first time he'd deliberately physically hurt her. Fury seized Clark.
He swooped down and grabbed the car's rear bumper, planting his feet and stopping it close to instantly. Then he strode to the driver's side. Angry and impatient, he ripped the driver's door off its hinges, reaching in to grab Luthor by his collar.
Luthor was ready for him.
As Clark reached into the vehicle, Luthor pulled a small box out of his pocket and flipped it open. Clark saw the sickly glow of Kryptonite at the same time that the all too familiar wave of pain rolled over him.
Luthor smirked evilly, then followed it with a ferocious kick to the stomach that left Clark sprawling on the gravel shoulder, close to the edge of a sheer drop.
Before he could shake it off and stand, Luthor was looming over him. He aimed another kick at Clark's side, shoving him across the sharp edged gravel. Clark felt the Suit tear and the gravel cut into the bare skin of his side. He rolled, grabbing at Luthor's legs and yanking him off balance. One of Luthor's elbows caught him across the face as he fell. Still clutching the Kryptonite despite the fall, Luthor reached over and pressed the toxic green crystal into the oozing graze on Clark's side.
Clark jerked as the Kryptonite burned him, trying to push the lump of rock away. Finally Luthor withdrew it as he stood, but the pain only lessened slightly. Clark clutched at the burn, feeling the pain searing its way along his nerve endings, radiating out from his side and making it hard to breathe.
Dimly he was aware of Luthor standing over him again.
“You'll never win, Superman.” Luthor gloated. “You've been a worthy adversary, but all good things must come to an end.”
He drew his leg back.
As Luthor's boot connected with Clark's side, he felt - and heard- his ribs shatter. The excruciating pain from the Kryptonite burn intensified and he screamed. Struggling to draw breath, his head dropped to the ground.
“Goodbye, freak.”
He felt rather than saw the kick aimed for him, one that would push him over the edge of the cliff face. With a superhuman effort, he rolled at the last second.
The momentum of the vicious kick missing caught Luthor off guard. Unable to get his balance back, he pitched forward over the sheer drop ahead.
Clark made one wild grab at the falling man and missed, the pain of his action causing him to curl into an agonised ball.
...
Lois heard the kick impact and Clark's scream. She struggled free of the last of the ropes and rounded the trunk of the car just in time to see Clark curl up, the red of his cape bunched up behind him. Of Luthor, there was no sign. She rushed to where Clark lay, dropping to her knees beside him. His eye was beginning to swell shut, his face was grey and his breath was short and painful sounding - but he was alive. She breathed a sigh of relief.
“Superman?”
“Couldn't – save - him” he panted, each word clipped and strained.
“Where is he?”
“Over - cliff.”
Lois walked slowly to the edge, dreading what she'd find. Hundreds of feet below she could see a broken figure on the jagged rocks - and felt a huge sense of relief.
It was over. Lex Luthor would never return to blight their lives.
She turned away and saw a glint of green. Picking up the sickly glowing crystal, she turned it over in her hands. It seemed almost inconceivable that such a small piece of rock could wreak so much damage on a being as powerful as Clark. She had to get it away from him.
Lois went back to the car and retrieved the box Luthor had kept it in. Inspecting it, she realised it was lead lined, explaining why Clark hadn't known Luthor had the chunk of Kryptonite. She put the rock back in the box and made sure it was closed securely, stuffing it in the glove compartment for safe keeping.
Then she returned to Clark's side.
“He's dead” she said briefly.
Clark seemed to be breathing a little easier.
“Tried to save him.”
She smoothed his hair back. “I know.” She paused. “Where are you hurt?”
“Ribs. Think they're broken.”
She sat next to him for a few minutes, holding his hand and listening as his breathing eased a little. Finally she broke the silence.
“Do you think you can walk? Just to the car?” she asked.
He nodded, then slowly, laboriously pulled himself to his feet. When he was standing, Lois was appalled to see the horrible greyish tinge had returned to his face.
“Are you okay?”
“Just - give me a minute.”
She stood next to him, letting him lean on her shoulder for the short distance to the car, then helped him clamber into the passenger seat.
Lois slid into the driver's seat and looked at Clark worriedly. He was leaning back against the headrest like he had no strength left, his brow deeply furrowed with pain.
“We need to get you to a hospital.”
“No!”
The vehement exclamation was followed by a groan. She glanced at him, seeing the beads of sweat collecting on his forehead. “Clark -”
“No hospital,” he repeated. “All I need is -”
Lois cut him off in frustration. “Time and sunlight. I know.”
She put the car into gear and turned it around, heading back towards Paris.
