Mind's Eye (1/3)
By: C. Leuch
OK, a note before posting: I was poking around on my computer and found some old fic that was never archived. Some of it was only a couple of pages, and didn't seem to go anywhere, so I can see why it was never finished. I think there are some round robins out there, too. For whatever reason, though, this one, which seems pretty awesome, was never finished. It's *mostly* finished, however, so I don't think it would be too much of a stretch to finish it up. Hopefully I can keep the tone from the first 26 pages of the story as I write the last 4 or so, so.... Anyway, the last save date I have on this in January, 2007. I don't think any of this was ever posted to either of the boards, though I can't be sure. Enjoy!
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It was as Lois was in midair that the ship she had just leapt from exploded, the hot rush of air propelling her outward, away from the wreck, and ultimately into the cold depths of the ocean. She opened her eyes as she was forced under the waves, seeing the distorted shape of the fireball in the distance, marveling for a moment at its stark beauty. The feeling quickly passed, though, as her lungs began to burn from lack of oxygen. She struggled toward the surface, taking a large gulp of air as her head finally broke through. The fireball that had engulfed the ship was now largely gone, replaced by a regular, almost calming blaze that illuminated the surrounding ocean, which was now littered with debris. It would only be a moment, Lois thought, turning her eyes toward the sky. Superman couldn’t miss an explosion, especially not one this close to shore, and in no time she would be in his arms, flying to somewhere drier and more pleasant. She allowed herself to enjoy the thought, but before her fantasy could be fulfilled, something crashed into the water with a loud splash mere inches from her.
Startled, Lois turned toward the sound. Most of the items floating in the water around her had been whole mere moments earlier, before meeting their doom in the blast. But as her gaze found the object that had come oh-so-close to hitting her, it dawned on her that maybe the explosion hadn’t destroyed everything. Even in the dim light from the soft orange glow of the fire, it wasn’t hard to tell that it was a bottle bobbing in the water next to her, its elegant curves indicative of an item that was delicate and probably quite valuable. Lois tilted her head slightly as she reached into the water and cupped her hand beneath it, raising it up for a better look. She turned it back and forth, smiling slightly as the light glinted off its surface. Out of the water, it was even more beautiful than she had originally thought, if that was possible. It occurred to her to wonder what exactly the bottle held, and how it ended up on the yacht of a first-class low-rent slimeball, but before she could truly ponder the questions, a wave washed over her. Reflexively, her grip tightened around the neck of the bottle, but that only served to pop it into the air with a wet squeak. As it fell, she angled herself underneath it, and after a moment it landed gently against her chest.
Nice catch, Lane, she thought with a smile as she reached down to get a grip on the bottle again. But before she was able to, it began to glow with a yellowish light and smoke began to come from the top. Transfixed, Lois found herself unable to move as more smoke poured from it, curling around and circling above the bottle, defiant to the gusty winds that stirred up the waves around her. Eventually the smoke started to take on a shape, at first vaguely that of a man, then more clearly so. He appeared to be...a genie. A really small genie, who just materialized from the strange-looking, mysterious bottle.
“You have to be kidding me,” Lois muttered. The genie, who had been hovering quietly above the bottle, his legs crossed and his arms folded together, came alive at her words, his eyes popping open, a startled expression forming on his face.
“I am not this, ‘kidding me’ person, I assure you,” the genie said. “My name is Julian, and I am here to grant you three wishes.”
“Three wishes, right,” Lois said, pondering reaching down to pinch herself. The chill of the water, though, and the uncomfortable way her clothes were clinging to her body were proof enough that she wasn’t dreaming. Maybe it a practical joke or something. Looking around, though, Lois couldn’t see anyone who might be watching.
“It’s cliché, I know,” the genie said with a sigh, waving his hand in the air. “But what can a genie do? It’s not MY fault that one of my fellow genies just happened to help a guy who’s good at penning tall tales.”
“I just have trouble believing this is happening, that’s all,” Lois said, the distinct feeling coming over her that maybe she was experiencing hypothermia or something. She was a professional reporter, right? And professional reporters didn’t talk to genies, did they?
“Cast your wish, and we shall see,” the genie said with a smug smile. Well, Lois thought, there probably wasn’t any harm in trying it out. And if she were hallucinating, well, maybe it would make the experience a little more fun. Okay then, she decided, make a wish. At the moment, she fervently wished that she was at home, dry. At the same time, though, making a wish to be on dry land would negate a possible rescue by Superman, something that she would never miss if given a choice. Maybe, she thought, the first wish should be completely outrageous.
“I wish...” Lois started, wracking her brain for the best possible wish that she could have granted. Money would be the easy answer, but her time with Lex taught her that money didn’t necessarily equate to happiness, and there was only so much that money could buy. Besides, it didn’t take much creativity to wish for a few million dollars, and even in her dreams, Lois prided herself on thinking outside the box. There was always world peace, but then she probably wouldn’t have anything to report on, as awful as the thought was. After a moment, one idea popped into her head, and the more she thought about it, the more certain she became that it was absolutely perfect. It would be a wonderful skill for a top-notch investigative reporter to possess. The world could be hers. Politicians could never grease their way out of an interview, bad guys and scumbags could never distract her with a charming smile and flattery. “I wish I could read other people’s thoughts,” she finally said with a wicked smile.
As soon as the words were uttered, the air began to crackle with electricity, raising goose bumps on Lois’s arms. Suddenly, with a bright flash, the genie disappeared. “Granted,” he said, the bright light overtaking everything around Lois with a loud boom. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the light was gone and the world went black. The bottle, still nestled against her chest, was no longer glowing, the air was no longer filled with smoke. Even the blaze on the boat seemed to be gone now. Only the stars above interrupted the total darkness, the gentle lapping of the waves around her the only sound.
It was then that two strong arms slipped underneath her, plucking her from the water and lifting off into the cool night air. She made sure that the bottle was still firmly against her chest before she looked up to see the face of her rescuer. She smiled reflexively as her eyes met his, and she couldn’t help but notice him smile ever so slightly in response.
“Thank you, Superman,” she said.
“You’re welcome Lois,” he answered. They flew in silence for a moment, eyes locked, before he looked away. “Just out of curiosity, what brings you out this way tonight?” he asked. Lois could feel a blush rise on her cheeks, and she quickly turned her face away from him to try and shield her embarrassment. What was it about being with him that caused her to act like a self-conscious schoolgirl?
“Well, I stowed away on the boat of Jimmy the Rat after hearing a tip that he was going to be meeting a business associate out here tonight. I thought I could get some juicy stuff, but as it happened, I picked the night when the Rat was supposed to be exterminated.”
<Figures,> the voice of Superman said, but it wasn’t her ears that heard the word. Startled, she turned toward Superman again, but he appeared to be as stoic and neutral as ever. That voice, though...stoic wasn’t the word she’d use to describe it. She blinked a couple times, wondering if it was just another figment of her imagination. But even as she looked at his face and his unmoving lips, his voice entered her mind again. <See, this is why you never go to the movies. Aside from not having a date, you know that somewhere in the middle, probably during the good part, Lois will require rescuing.>
He...? What...? Lois blinked again, not quite sure whether to be indignant, amused, or extremely scared. Her mind just had to be playing tricks on her. But, then again, what if it wasn’t? As odd as it might seem, wasn’t this her wish? If she didn’t know any better, she’d certainly think that these were Superman’s thoughts that she was reading. Holy cow, she thought, her head spinning as she felt herself descending dangerously toward panic.
As Lois looked toward Superman, she saw apprehension etched on his face, probably in response to the confusion that was undoubtedly radiating from her by now. She tried to smile at him, and although the gesture seemed to soften his expression somewhat, he still seemed concerned. “Well, I’m just glad you’re okay. Jimmy the Rat wasn’t so lucky,” he said, the words definitely coming from his mouth this time.
Lois shrugged. “After all these years, I’m getting pretty good at spotting bombs.”
Superman frowned. “I just wish you wouldn’t get yourself in situations where you had to, that’s all. One of these days I might not be here to save you.” The warning was the same every time he rescued her, the words very familiar to both of them by now. She had no doubt that what he said was sincere, and she always tried, however half-heartedly, to convince herself that maybe it would be wise to be more cautious, that maybe someday she would fall victim her sometimes overzealous drive to get the story at all costs. Invariably, though, her mind came back to the fact that, despite the warnings, Superman really had been there for her whenever she needed him. And realistically she had to admit that any attempt to scale back her dangerous reporting work would result in fewer opportunities to get that big story, and it would certainly mean that she would see less of Superman. That alone made her unwilling to heed his warnings, no matter what the possible cost. She just had to make sure he wasn’t halfway across the country when she went on her assignment, that’s all.
It was usually at this point that she made some flippant comment, something that wouldn’t exactly say that she was ignoring his advice, but was said in a way that could make both of them smile. Lois bit her lip, pondering whether or not to ask him if they should swap calendars so they could coordinate her next rescue. But before the words came, she heard his voice in her head again, and she could only stare at him in surprise.
<If I ever lost you, I don’t know what I’d do,> the voice in her mind said. She searched his face, but his expression didn’t betray his thoughts. It was possible she had imagined the words, ones that she had always wished to hear from him. He had never explicitly said anything that would lead her to believe that he harbored any feelings toward her, although it didn’t take much imagination to think that he did just from the bare emotion that she saw in his eyes every time they met. Of course, her romantic side had always imagined that emotion to be love, even as her more practical side suggested that it was the same simple compassion that he had for anyone who was in trouble. Still, all the meaningful glances she had received from him in the year plus that they had known each other didn’t betray even a fraction of the emotion that the words in her head just did, and Lois found herself overwhelmed. She wanted to hug him, she wanted to shout for joy, but she also found that she wanted to hear him really say the words. As flattering as it was to know that he cared for her, it still didn’t seem real, and she knew that it wouldn’t until she heard it with her ears instead of her mind.
Too late, Lois realized that her thoughts had led her to sigh loudly, drawing the attention of her hero. His eyes looked toward her even as his head faced forward, a small smile playing across his lips. He gently drew her in more closely toward his chest, and instantly she felt more at ease. Maybe it would be best to stop pondering the meaning of phantom words in her mind and just enjoy the moment and let the adrenaline subside, she thought. Lois diverted her eyes downward and decided that experiencing the city from the arms of Superman was something that she could never tire of. The New Troy shoreline rapidly approached, the docks beyond quickly giving way to the Metropolis financial district. As she watched the city flash by below her, she valiantly tried to relax and push aside her earlier thoughts, forget everything that had happened in the last few minutes and just observe, but she found herself unable to. His words kept repeating themselves in her mind like a broken record, her subconscious making note of the sound of his voice, of the deeper meaning attached to the statement. If a stray glance or meaningful expression could fuel her romantic feeling for her for so long, she knew that his statement tonight would lead to happy day dreams for a long time to come, and there was nothing she could do to stop them.
The words became like a mantra, a soundtrack to the flight, and eventually occupied all conscious thought. It was only after she started mentally replaying a song and forced them to stop she became aware that his voice had entered her mind again. Curious, she concentrated on the new information, and after a moment she found herself smiling.
<In 1979, George Brett led the Kansas City Royals in hitting percentage and home runs,> Superman’s voice said. <Remember when we went to a game that year? It didn’t seem like anyone could stop him. The American league batting title went to, uh..it wasn’t Brett, was it? No, some other guy....>
Lois had to stop herself from laughing. The city presented itself in all its glory below them, the stars sparkled above. In his arms was someone more than capable of holding an interesting, intelligent conversation, and all Superman could think of was baseball. Lois liked to think that she had something to do with that. And maybe it was further proof that maybe his feelings for her ran deeper than he let on. Still...why the Kansas City Royals fixation? Nobody liked the Kansas City Royals. He continued to mentally review various useless statistics all the way back to her apartment, Lois doing everything in her power to hide her amusement at his particular distancing technique.
Eventually, they approached her window, which hung slightly ajar out of habit. His baseball dialogue ceased as they floated into the apartment, signaling the end of their trip and her return to the real world. She tightened her grip on the bottle as he lowered her to the ground and stepped away. It was amazing, she thought, a half smile forming on her face. He had plucked her sopping wet from the ocean and held her tightly against his chest, but he didn’t appear to have gotten a drop of water on him. Meanwhile, the short flight had left her soaked to the bone, and now somewhat chilled.
“Thank you for being there for me once again,” Lois said, her shoes sloshing as she shifted her weight. “If it wasn’t for you....”
“I’m just glad I could help,” Superman said, cutting her off and taking another step back. She could almost feel him sigh as he took a long look toward her, his steely exterior hiding any emotion.
“I do enjoy our impromptu flights above the city, though it would be nice to meet under different circumstances,” Lois said, hoping to lighten the mood.
Superman’s mouth twitched in response, although his expression seemed almost sad. <If you only knew,> he thought, the words heavy. His eyes probed her for a moment, then the words came in her head again, this time almost causing her jaw to drop out of sheer surprise. <She’s wet and it’s chilly in here, and you’re not noticing that fact at all. It’s definitely time to go.>
“Goodnight, Lois,” he said, nodding politely to her, then quickly lifting off the ground and disappearing through the window. Well, that was interesting, she thought, her gaze moving downward and seeing the source of his comment. Her new talent was already beginning to reap some rewards. Who knew that underneath the cape and the spandex, Superman wasn’t the stiff and formal superhero that he let on to be? His personality was very different from what she had ever imagined. And quirky, she thought with a grin. There was a definite swing in her step and she kicked off her shoes and headed for the bathroom and a nice warm shower, placing the bottle on her end table along the way. The Man of Steel was not immune to a little mental innuendo, and it had been aimed at her tonight, a fact that she found herself to be almost proud of. One thing was for sure, it would be pleasant dreams for Lois.
And she sure couldn’t wait for tomorrow.
***
It took less than a day for Lois to decide that she would rather not be able to hear all the deepest darkest thoughts that lurked in the minds of others. As fun as it had been to get beneath the façade of her favorite superhero, most people simply weren’t that interesting. It was a depressing revelation, but she supposed she wasn’t really all that surprised. What was it that SHE usually thought about every morning on the way into work? Or while she’s drinking her coffee? Or fighting the crowds on the busy Metropolis sidewalks? Certainly not anything earth-shattering or even particularly interesting. Apparently she wasn’t alone in that respect.
It was soon after arriving at work that morning that Lois had told Perry she was going out to work on a hot lead she had, although “lead” was a little deceptive. It was more of a trial run of her new talents, which was sure to bring her something that could end up being a lead, but Perry didn’t need to know that. Besides, it wasn’t as if she had any other hard news to work on at the moment. The boat explosion from the night before had already been covered by the overnight crew, and her lead on the late Jimmy the Rat wasn’t substantial enough to warrant a story of yet, although she could see it solidifying once details of the gangster’s estate emerged. For the time being it was just her and the minds of Metropolis. How many devious little secrets could be hidden there, factoids that may never be discovered if not for her valiant efforts? There had to be several out there that could spawn some sort of investigation, or solve a long-standing mystery, or bring justice to someone who thought that the world had forgotten about their past indiscretions. It was with optimism, then, that she pulled up a chair at a local sidewalk café to begin her investigation.
Her first target was a woman sitting at a nearby table, sipping a latté and watching the crowd pass on the sidewalk. While listening to the woman mentally review her grocery list, Lois lamented the fact that she couldn’t actually dig around for secrets, just listen in on thoughts, because the thoughts she had managed to hear so far had been eye-crossingly dull. Even so, Lois stuck with it, hoping that it would eventually pay dividends. The woman’s thoughts eventually turned to cooking supper that night, which led to a mental tirade about how ungrateful her husband was. She started mentally listing all the ways in which the man was a poor excuse for a human being, in stunning detail. Lois actually found herself feeling sorry for the man as she forced herself to turn her attention elsewhere. Strike one, she thought, deciding to aim her mental powers at the waitress next. If anyone needed a definition of what constituted mental clutter, all they needed to do was tune into that poor girl’s brain. It seemed like a thousand different thoughts were flying around in there all at once, the topics ranging from which patron ordered what, to whether or not her hair was perfect, to what the weather forecast was for the rest of the week, and so forth. It was enough to make Lois crazy, and she ended up looking for a new target very quickly.
The experience didn’t really get any better than her initial encounters. Lois decided after a while that listening to personal introspection was very boring. Even after all the caffeine that she had consumed, she found her eyelids drooping as the hours slid by without any results. After a while, she started toying with her abilities, trying to see how far the range was, or whether she could toggle it on or off. The most exciting part of the morning was when she was finally able to flip that mental switch that would turn off her newfound talents and allow her a few moments of peace. As she rose from the café to make room for the lunchtime crowd, she decided that maybe it was best to keep the private thoughts of others private for the rest of the day and leave her talents for when there was a guaranteed payoff.
Her feet were dragging noticeably when she finally wandered back into the Daily Planet building without her promised lead. She avoided eye contact with Perry as she slinked to her desk, hoping to find something, anything, to occupy her time. Hopefully some brilliant scoop would present itself, which would mean that she could avoid any talk of what she had been doing all morning. Some story just had to be out there waiting for Lois Lane to give it the treatment it deserved. At the thought, Lois looked toward the desk of her partner, a wide smile forming on her face. Clark seemed blissfully unaware of her presence, engrossed in something or another, papers scattered across his desk. Not that she would ever muscle in on his story, but they WERE partners in an officially unofficial sense, and his work always seemed to be better with her input. Besides, he looked like he could use a little help, even if he didn’t know it yet.
With a sly smile, Lois rose from her chair and sauntered in the general direction of Clark’s desk, nonchalantly surveying the documents that he had in front of him, intending to survey the situation for now and assess how she would offer her help. The papers looked official, the seals of the city and state government atop some of them. Keep walking, she told herself, but she couldn’t seem to pull her eyes away from his desk. It wasn’t any surprise then that after a few more steps, her foot connected loudly with a trash can, drawing the attention of everyone on the floor. Never one to fall victim to an embarrassing moment, Lois kept on walking, her eyes forward now, off toward destinations unknown...maybe the coffee machine.
A warm cup of brew later, Lois took off toward Clark’s desk, this time with a new sense of purpose. “Hey, Clark,” she said cheerily as she approached his desk, drawing his attention. As usual, he regarded her with a light, friendly smile. Sometimes it was too easy.
“Hi, Lois. What’ve you been up to? Haven’t seen you around much today,” he said, and her grin faltered for a moment. She felt the momentary desire to take a peek into his mind to see what his thoughts on the matter were, but she held back, remembering her earlier vow.
“I, uh, had a hot lead,” Lois said, waving her hand dismissively. “Looks like you have one, too.”
Clark’s eyes narrowed somewhat and his smile became crooked. She didn’t even need to read minds to gauge his thoughts, she decided. He knew what she was up to, although he seemed to be far from upset. “It’s nothing that hot or that interesting,” he replied, an amused tone in his voice. “Tracking political contributions and how effective they end up being. Stuff like that.”
“Wow,” Lois said, cringing. Who knew there were facts out there waiting to be discovered that were even more dull that the grocery lists and mental appointment calendars that she had seen all morning?
“Well, it is educational to see how the political process works. Interest Group X gives big money to Politician Y, and surprise surprise, nine months later Politician Y ends up introducing legislation that gives a big boost to Interest Group X. It’s one of those things that you always figured happened, but seeing it put together like this is...just....” Clark stopped, cocking his head to one side, as Lois let out a yawn.
“Oh, don’t stop,” Lois said as soon as she could, drawing a chuckle out of Clark. He smiled at her for a moment, appearing as if he were going to say one of his infamous quips, but he never got around to it. It was probably just as well, Lois thought, the sound of a police dispatch seemingly filling the air around her. Clark seemed to notice it, his head turning sharply toward the windows, his eyes becoming far away. It was odd, Lois thought as the dispatcher urgently announced a fire at a midtown office building, but nobody else seemed to hear the sound. Confused, she looked toward Clark again, only to see a look of panic on his face.
“Lois,” he said sharply. “I’m sorry, but I just remembered that I have an appointment to get to.”
Lois blinked at him in disbelief. An appointment? He heard the dispatch, right? Surely whatever it was could wait. “You...?” she started, but the words wouldn’t come.
“When I get back, I’ll get you caught up on this story. Maybe you can find an interesting angle.”
“Okay,” Lois said, bringing a smile from him. With that, he shot out of his chair and walked quickly toward the stairwell, his hand on the knot of his tie. Lois remained perched on the corner of his desk, too shocked to realize at first that the sound of the dispatch seemed to go away as Clark left the room. Strange. Well, she thought, looking around, nobody else was heading toward the doors. Maybe they really didn’t hear what she heard. And maybe, just maybe, there was a scoop out there for her, after all. Pity Clark and his appointment, she thought as she rose and went to fetch her bag. The high rise fire was all hers.
***
Even with the benefit of whatever it was that had allowed Lois hear the original dispatch for the fire, the relatively long taxi ride across town delayed her just enough to land her in the midst of a frenzy of activity as she arrived at the scene. The Metropolis Fire Department had the area cordoned off for a block on either side of the fire, their fire engines lined up inside the ring of barricades further serving to block any view of the activity on the ground. Lois managed to fight her way through the thick crowd of onlookers and other reporters to get as close as she was able to the scene, although the long block of busy street between the barricades and the fire wasn’t close enough to allow more than a glimpse of it. The building itself was engulfed in smoke and flames, ladders perched beside it raining water down upon the fire. Superman was there, flying in and out of the blaze faster than Lois could track, usually emerging with someone in his arms, depositing them at a waiting ambulance before disappearing again. Every now and then he took a few moments to aid the firemen, to aim their hoses at unseen hot spots or provide them better access to the fire. All in all it was a very mundane scene, as far as fires in Metropolis went, but Lois knew that now, for her, it could be considered an opportunity.
It was true that she had decided to mothball the mind-reading powers, at least when it came to using them on the unsuspecting average citizen of the city, but Superman was still fair game. And now, when he was doing his super feats, would be a perfect time to crawl inside his mind and try to hear what he really experienced as he did his duties. It was one thing to imagine what she would think or do in his place, but to hear his thoughts firsthand and uncensored, that would be something else entirely. What was it like to walk through unimaginable heat with the knowledge that it couldn’t harm you? How did it feel to move faster than the human eye could conceive? Would he be filled with confidence as he faced disaster, or would apprehension and self-consciousness lurk beneath his steely facade? Up until now, the answers to those questions had been known only to him, and she intended to change that. Summoning all the power in her possession, she concentrated on him and closed her eyes, waiting for that tenuous mental link to establish itself, but not really knowing what to expect.
Immediately a scream pierced her consciousness, causing her to flinch as her eyes opened abruptly. The woman next to Lois gazed pointedly in her direction, but nobody else appeared to have heard the noise. Although, now that her eyes were open, Lois couldn’t hear it anymore, either. With a start, she looked toward the building, wondering if she had heard something that Superman had also heard. Up until now, she had only heard the thoughts of others, not experienced the sights and sounds as they did. But...maybe he had been so fixated on the sound that it became his thoughts. Or maybe Superman’s mind simply worked differently. It was an intriguing idea, but it was beside the point right now. Concentrate, Lois thought, taking a deep, calming breath and closing her eyes once again.
The scream came again as soon as her eyelids fluttered shut, then the sound of a series of wracking coughs. The smell of ash became almost overpowering, the crackle of flames steady and regular. Then came the mental images, the pictures beautiful and disturbing at the same time. Orange colored the world, the bright yellows and blues of the flames shooting up the walls and licking the ceiling with the rush of hot air, the currents causing the fire to form swirls and waves. All around her, droplets of water seemed to dance in slow motion, their teardrop shapes distorting the light from the blaze and reflecting miniature pictures of the surroundings. On the floor, a woman lay crumpled, her arms outstretched toward the door, her chest heaving as she seemed to cough almost agonizingly slowly. Lois’s heart clenched with compassion, even as she realized that some of the emotion must be coming from Superman. Fluidly, easily, a pair of arms clad in blue, Superman’s arms, slipped beneath the woman and brought her toward his chest even as he turned to exit the building. Flames stood between where he was and the exit, but he didn’t flinch as he walked right through them, the blue of the sky finally becoming visible past the charred interior of the building. Gracefully, he exited and floated to the ground, depositing the woman on a gurney. Up until that point, there had been an underlying sense of urgency driving his motions, but as he turned back toward the assembled masses, that urgency seemed to fall away. His eyes immediately found her amongst the crowd, and she could see herself standing there, her eyes closed, a look of peace on her face.
Lois gasped, her eyes opening once again. In the distance, Superman stood next to an ambulance, his dark eyes locked onto her, his face unreadable. He seemed magnificent, standing tall against the flurry of activity from the police, paramedics, and firemen, his cape flapping gently in the light breeze, the slight layer of grime that covered his features making his figure that much more impressive. But at that moment, Lois couldn’t help but feel that somehow it was the sight of her that gave him strength. <Lois,> he thought, then looked back toward the fire, and with a blur of motion he was gone.
Lois noticed how much more quickly the flames seemed to flicker in front of her than they did when she saw them through his eyes. Water cascaded from the hoses, the drops moving with the speed that water usually did when it fell. She wondered for a moment if she had experienced what it was like to move faster than the world, if that’s what it was like for him all the time. Did the rain hang in the air and the people move in slow motion? Did speeding bullets slow to a crawl, just asking to be plucked from the air? She wanted to laugh just thinking about the sheer joy it must bring to experience those things, but she couldn’t laugh, not here. The tenuous mental link that she still had with him told her that everyone seemed to be safe now, and that Superman had turned toward more businesslike tasks, but nobody else knew that. She did allow herself a smile, though, at the experience.
As the fire died down and the crowds began to disperse, Lois decided to move on. It was time to go back to the Planet, to write up the story. Then there would be plenty of time to revel in what she had seen that day from her hero.
***
Clark wasn’t at the Planet when Lois arrived. Whatever appointment he had, apparently it had been fairly long. As she finished her story and proofread the copy, he still hadn’t arrived. She was beginning to get worried, but as she finally hit the “submit” button and forwarded it on to Perry, he emerged from the elevator, seemingly a little worse for the wear. His eyes never left the floor and he wandered slowly down the walkway and toward his desk. She held up her hand in greeting, but he didn’t look her way. He seemed preoccupied, she thought, a voice in the back of her head telling her to take a little peek to see what had upset him. It was tempting, she thought with a rise of her eyebrows, but there were certainly more conventional ways of getting the information.
“Hi, Clark,” Lois said as she rose from her desk. He looked up, a small smile finally forming on his face as his eyes met hers.
“Hi Lois,” he said, his attempt at cheerfulness not wholly successful in driving the flatness from his voice.
“How was your appointment?” she asked as she leaned against his desk. His smile faltered, and at that moment an image materialized in her vision, then just as quickly went away. With the image came a rush of emotion so powerful, it felt like a punch to the stomach.
“I don’t really want to talk about it,” he said, looking away from her, a sour note in his voice. Lois’s breath caught in her throat, and she tried to summon the image that she had seen and sort out the feelings that had come with it. It was hard to know what exactly it was, but she just knew that it was bathed in orange, and contained a shape that was vaguely that of a man. The thought brought sorrow, the depths of which were hard for her to fathom. Lois took a step back, gasping at the intensity of her grief and the sudden feeling that whatever it was that she had seen was all her fault. No, she thought, not her fault, but...Clark’s fault.
She turned to him in astonishment, wondering for the first time where it was he had really gone, what he had seen. She contemplated reaching out to him with her mind, trying to understand what it was that he thought he had done, but she couldn’t. Clark was her friend, and he apparently was very upset. It was hard not to feel compassion toward him, although it surprised her how badly she wanted to ease his pain away. Reflexively, she reached out, her fingers gently brushing his shoulder. “It’s okay, Clark,” she said with a smile.
He turned toward her, his eyes dark, and Lois quickly drew her hand back, the smile dropping from her face. Her gesture had been more intimate that she had intended, its affects apparently stronger that she would’ve ever realized if not for her new gifts. What would’ve seemed like a look of deep friendship that was directed her way was now accompanied by another emotion, this one equally as strong as what he had felt earlier. Lois took another step back, intending to retreat to her desk, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from his.
“Thank you, Lois,” he answered, his voice heavy. Lois nodded, unable to speak for a moment.
“I, uh, should get going,” she said, pointing her thumb toward the elevators and taking another step away from him. Clark nodded in response, a grateful smile on his face, and finally Lois turned away from him, walking quickly toward the elevator. Suddenly the air in the newsroom was too thick, the walls too close. She needed to get home, immerse herself in a tub of chocolate ice cream, and try to figure out what it all meant.
Last edited by CLeuch; 06/19/16 11:22 PM.
