Chapter 2
The streets of Metropolis were an absolute nightmare. Every major intersection Lois approached appeared gridlocked, forcing her to find alternate routes time and time again. Everywhere she looked, the streets were littered with people holding placards announcing the end of the world.
She checked the time and grimaced. She’d gone home to shower and change and had wound up falling asleep. Now she’d lost six valuable hours, hours she might need to get Clark into the sky.
Finally, she gave up trying to get through the overcrowded streets, pulling the car into a barely-legal space a mile away from Clark’s apartment building. She walked the rest of the way, mentally rehearsing ways to try and convince Clark of the truth.
Clark answered the door at her knock. Lois blinked as she took in his lack of glasses, realising that in all the time she’d known him, she’d never seen him without them. Even in casual clothes with his hair brushed forward, the resemblance to Superman was startling.
“Lois? What is it?”
“Can I come in?”
He stood aside and gestured her into the apartment, closing the door behind her and following her down the few steps into his living room.
“What’s going on?” His expression sharpened with interest. “Did you find Superman?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes,” she replied, knowing that her voice sounded odd. “I found him.”
He heaved a sigh of relief. “Good. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t too keen on relying on this rocket they keep talking about.” He dropped onto the couch and put his bare feet up on the coffee table. “So where is he?”
Lois sank down onto the couch next to him. “Right here. Clark, you are Superman.”
Clark gave her a disbelieving look, then broke into laughter.
“Lois, I am not Superman.”
His laughter faded as he gradually realised she wasn’t joking.
“You’re crazy.” He stood up abruptly. “There’s no way I could be Superman. I can’t fly, or-or burn things by looking at them. I know I can’t remember much, but I’d remember that!”
“Not necessarily,” Lois responded calmly. “The police psychiatrist said your amnesia could be caused by some kind of physical trauma.” She stood up. “You flew into space and collided with a giant asteroid, Clark. It’s my guess that you pushed your powers to the limit to do so, and then it still wasn’t enough. It makes sense that you’d want to subconsciously blank that out.” She could see from his face that he still didn’t believe her. He needed a demonstration.
Thinking rapidly, she went into the kitchen, Clark following behind, and grabbed the largest knife from the block on the counter.
“Lois? What are you doing?”
She spun towards him. At the last second, she turned the knife aside and aimed for his hand instead of his chest.
“Lois!”
The knife made impact and bounced out of her hand, skidding away to land on the floor. She bent and picked it up; the blade had snapped off at the handle. Clark looked at his hand in surprise, turning it over to check for blood.
“Believe me now?”
***
They started small, Lois reasoning that attempting to use things like heat vision could be done out of the public eye. She raided Clark’s stack of recyclables for newspapers to practise on, making sure to keep a bowl of water handy.
“I still have no idea how to do this,” Clark warned as they screwed up balls of newsprint.
“I know. There.” She stood up and moved out of the way. “Maybe if you just try concentrating on it and willing it to catch fire?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, so I don’t know how you do this either. Give it a try.”
“That makes two of us,” he muttered just loud enough for her to hear before he turned his attention to the little pile of screwed up paper.
***
Hours passed.
The pile of newspaper balls remained intact. So did the cup full of water he’d tried to turn to ice, and the cast iron saucepan he’d tried to bend.
“So. We’ve tried heat vision, freezing things, super speed, super strength, the visual thing and flying. That’s everything that we can test for.”
“And none of them work,” Clark observed. He sighed. “Maybe we can try something else.”
“Like what?”
“Maybe if I knew a bit more about them. One of the articles I read said they developed over time.” He gestured to the stack of newspapers they’d been using for fuel. “What power did I get first?”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay. Then…when did I start getting my powers?”
“I don’t know.”
He let out an exasperated sound. “So let me get this straight. You know I’m Superman, and you know my powers developed over time… but you don’t know any more than that? Didn’t I tell you any of this stuff?”
“No. Look, Clark, I’ve known about this for about…” she checked her watch “Twelve hours now, so forgive me if I don’t have all the answers!”
His shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry, Lois. It’s just… frustrating, you know.”
“I’m sorry too, Clark. I wish I knew how to help you more.” She took a deep breath, willing herself to calm down. Getting angry and impatient with him wasn’t going to help the situation. “Look, the Asgard rocket is supposed to make impact in a few minutes. Why don’t we turn on the TV and see if it hits anything?” She gave him a thin smile. “You never know, you might be off the hook.”
***
They both watched in silence as the rocket and its payload flew straight past the asteroid.
Clark took a deep breath and looked over at Lois, strain written all over his face even as he tried to smile.
“Well. Ready to make another attempt?”
They redoubled their efforts, each uneasily aware that they were running out of time. As each endeavour failed, Lois could see the little furrow of Clark’s brow getting deeper.
Finally, she called a halt.
“It’s frustrating you, isn’t it?” she asked quietly.
“Yes.” He sighed. “I just wish I could remember something- anything- about Superman. Everything I’ve read… it feels like it was someone else doing those things. Not me.”
“Well, why don’t I describe some of the things you’ve done? I mean, I‘ve been there for a lot of them.” Catching his odd look, she explained. “I have a knack for getting into trouble.”
“Like what?”
“Well, there was the time that Trask threw me out of an aeroplane… he was trying to get Superman’s attention. I’ll admit it worked. Though when I think about it… you must have jumped out of the plane after me. Then there was the bomb on the colonist’s transport. I tried ripping out some cables to get someone’s attention, and you came out of nowhere and *ate* it. That was the first time I ever saw Superman…”
She saw his expression change.
“And I burped… you asked me what I was…” he said slowly. “And a little girl in a wheelchair told me she liked my costume…”
“And you told her your mother made it! Yes!”
“I remembered!” He let out a whoop, grabbing Lois and spinning her around. “I remembered.” He hugged her tightly before setting her on her feet. “There’s something I’ve gotta do.”
She followed him into his bedroom at a jog, pausing in the entrance to the balcony as he strode to the edge, purpose and determination in his bearing. He stepped up onto the ledge, stripping his glasses off before ripping his shirt open to expose the bright uniform underneath. Then in the blink of an eye he was gone.
***
The scene in the streets of Metropolis a short time later reminded Lois of the footage she’d seen of VE Day celebrations. Tickertape was raining down, people were dancing and openly weeping; in the newsroom, Perry had organised cases of champagne. She’d accepted a glass so as not to stand out, but she was worried. While the Nightfall asteroid had changed course, there was still no sign of Clark. Lois was forcing herself to try to believe he was debriefing at EPRAD, but she couldn’t help dreading the worst.
Only when he walked into Perry’s office, champagne glass in his hand, did she breathe easier.
“Did I miss something?”
“Only Superman saving the world,” she told him wryly.
“A real day to remember- if you’ll pardon the expression,” Perry put in.
Clark waited until Perry and Jimmy had moved away before he turned to Lois.
“I just wanted to say… thank you. If it hadn’t been for you, I don’t know that I would’ve remembered in time.”
“I do.” She laid one hand on his arm. “That’s just the kind of person you are, Clark. You wanted to help; you would’ve found a way.” She smiled at him, moving away to put down her now-empty glass. Once the euphoria of literally saving the world wore off, he had a lot of explaining to do. She had a lot to deal with too, trying come to grips with the fact that the man she’d disdained, ignored and on occasion, bullied, was the same man she’d drooled over. And along the way, they would have to figure out what this would do to their relationship, both personally and professionally.
But all that could wait for another day.
