TOC ~
Part 14
~ - ~
Alt-Smallville – June 1972
“From the Beginning”
~ - ~
“Clark?”
Martha Kent shaded her eyes and looked out past the barn and the wheat field toward the grove of trees that lined the creek bordering their property. When she didn’t see any movement, she called again.
“Clark!”
It was unusual for Clark to disappear so near to dinnertime, but it was the early days of summer. Clark was an exceptional boy who had loved kindergarten, but he’d been spending more and more time alone as the summer went on. She knew that she shouldn’t be worried; their farm and the surrounding countryside held endless fascination for a six year-old boy. However, Clark wasn’t exactly a typical six year-old boy, either and she couldn’t stop her heart from beating just a little faster whenever he stayed out just a little longer than usual.
Deciding not to let her worries carry her away, Martha jogged across the farmyard toward the barn. It was clear from the clang, clanging behind the door that Jonathan was working on trying to fix his old tractor again. She pushed open the door to see her husband’s legs sticking out from under the tractor, a Johnny Cash song blaring on the radio. She turned the sound down and then stepped next to her husband’s legs. She laughed when she heard Jonathan whistle.
“Wow. Now there’s a sight for sore eyes. I’ll trade “Ring of Fire” for those legs anytime.”
“Oh, Jonathan. You’re such a flirt. Are you trying to butter me up for something?”
Jonathan slid out from under the tractor and sat up, a big grin on his face. “Maybe. Is it workin’?”
Martha squatted down and gave him a lingering kiss. Jonathan hummed in appreciation before grabbing a rag to wipe his hands. “Did you come out just to kiss me or is dinner ready?”
Martha laughed. “Dinner is almost ready. I called Clark, but he hasn’t come back to the house yet.”
“Martha, he’s a boy on summer vacation. I saw him heading toward the creek about an hour ago. His stomach will drive him home soon.”
“I know, Jonathan. I just can’t help worrying.”
Jonathan stood up and walked to the door of the barn. He reached up high and grabbed a short rope attached to a big, brass bell. He rang it several times before he let it fall silent. “That’ll bring him.”
Martha and Jonathan walked out into the farmyard and turned toward the grove of trees again. After another moment, they saw a small figure drop from one of the big oak branches. Jonathan chuckled and patted his wife on the shoulder before going back into the barn to clean up.
Martha continued to watch the wheat grasses ripple as her young son made his way through the crop toward the house. She smiled when she heard his young, sweet voice carry across the farmyard.
Clark approached the house at a quick walk, pausing occasionally to swing a long stick at dandelion fuzz in the early evening sun. Martha’s smile broadened when she heard him laugh and then faded a little when she heard him talking to himself.
“If you liked climbing those trees, wait until we go to the big willow tree that grows by the pond. We can swing on the branches into the middle and then drop in. The water is still cold from the spring melt. It’s the best!”
Martha waited until he’d passed the vegetable patch before interrupting what seemed to be a very interesting conversation with … no one.
“Clark? Whom are you talking to?”
Clark looked up and smiled at his mother. “My friend.”
Martha looked toward the wheat field. “Your friend? Where did he go?”
“No, mama. Not *he*. She! It’s my invisible friend, Lolo! She lives in the city and has never climbed a big oak tree before. I took her up the one we chose for the tree house. She thinks it’s perfect.”
“Oh.” Martha thought for a minute wondering if she should be worried about her son’s invisible friend. “How long have you been friends with Lolo?”
Clark shrugged. “A while. She’s the best. She plays with me and is very smart. Someday, she is going to make the world a better place. I want to be just like her.”
“She sounds wonderful, Clark.”
“Uh huh. And when we grow up, I’m going to marry her.”
“Marry? Aren’t you a little young to be thinking about marriage, Clark?”
Clark shrugged. “She’s my best friend.”
“Well, I can’t argue with you wanting to marry your best friend.” Martha decided to play along. She knelt down next to Clark and showed him her left hand. Her diamond engagement ring sparkled in the afternoon sunlight as she pulled it from her finger and handed it to Clark. He took it reverently and held it up to inspect it.
“It’s beautiful.”
Martha nodded. “It was my grandmother’s ring. When you get married, I’ll give it to you, if you want, so that you can give it to … ”
“Lolo,” Clark finished softly. “Thank you, Mama.”
“Yes, Lolo. Best say goodbye now. It’s time to wash up for dinner.”
“Okay. Bye Lolo.”
Clark handed the ring back to his mother before giving the air next to him a little wave. Then, he skipped up the stairs to the farmhouse. Martha shook her head and decided not to worry. Lots of children have imaginary friends. She was sure that he’d grow out of it and be just fine.
~ - ~
Alt-Metropolis – Friday, July 18, 1997
~ - ~
“What in the blazes could be keeping him?” Perry turned to James Olson. “Where did Clark say he was going?”
James shrugged. “Just that Lois had a question for him and that he’d be right back.”
“Maybe he’s responding to a call for help,” Cat offered. “Star is with Lois and no one else is in the building.”
A few more minutes passed and Perry checked his watch again. It was now five minutes past their planned start time. He looked at Henderson. “How long are we going to wait before we decide that something has gone wrong?”
“I don’t think that both Clark and Lois would be a ‘no show’ for the ceremony unless something has gone wrong. I’d say we’ve waited long enough. I’ll have my men check the building.” Henderson pulled out his walkie-talkie and issued commands to have the building searched for intruders.
“I’ll go check the ladies’ restroom,” Cat offered. “Lois and Star went in there to get changed.”
“I’ll check the men’s room,” James offered.
Perry looked at Alice. “Let’s go check my offices. I’ll be darned if I’m going to let Lois’s plan to catch this murderer turn inside out now.”
Perry and the others had only taken a step when they saw the door to the clerk’s office fly open as Clark staggered in. It was clear that something had gone wrong. His face had a sickly hue and perspiration beaded his forehead.
“Clark!”
Clark stumbled to his knees and gasped his name. “Perry. Kryptonite.”
Perry ran to Clark, Alice and Henderson close behind him. James and Cat shared a look before sprinting out the other door to look for Lois and Star.
Perry reached Clark and took him by the shoulders. “Where is it Clark?”
Clark tipped his head back and tried to reach behind him. “My back. Lois… She taped it to my back.”
“Lois did this?” Perry shook his head and decided to get the story after the poison was away from Clark. He tried to pull Clark’s jacket away, but it was stiff and heavy. “Clark, I can’t get your jacket off.”
Clark nodded and struggled back to his feet. “Step back,” he said.
Clark dropped his arms back and shrugged his shoulders until the jacket slid to the floor with a ‘thunk’. Perry reached forward and ripped Clark’s dress shirt buttons apart and yanked the fabric down to his waist. Henderson already had a small, lead-lined box ready and Alice moved around Clark to peel the glowing, bullet-shaped rock from his skin. Alice dropped the Kryptonite into the box and Henderson closed it.
Clark sank back to his knees visibly relieved just as James and Cat ran back into the room. Perry turned to ask, “Did you find them?”
“They’re not there,” Cat informed everyone. “Lois’s dress and bag are in the restroom, but there’s no sign of either of them.”
“James,” Alice said. “We need a first aid kit. Perry keeps one in his office bathroom under the sink. Please get it for me. Clark’s back is badly burned.”
James nodded and rushed out of the room.
Henderson kicked at Clark’s tuxedo jacket and caught Perry’s eye. “Lead lined. I guess we know what kind of ‘precautions’ they took against this bullet showing up today.”
Perry shook his head and turned back to Clark, who was struggling to stand up. “Hold on there, son. Let’s get the story and a plan together before we go off, half cocked. You said Lois did this?”
“She wasn’t herself, Perry. It was Lois, but it was like she was in some kind of trance. Her heartbeat was slow and steady, like she was sleeping and her pupils were dilated. I think she might have been drugged.”
Henderson’s walkie-talkie crackled to life and he stepped aside to listen and ask questions. When it fell silent, he turned toward the waiting group.
“My guys finished searching the building. They aren’t here. One of my undercover officers saw an old, homeless woman leave the back alley pushing a shopping cart, but swears it wasn’t them.”
“Either of them could have been wearing a disguise.”
Henderson nodded. “I’ll see if he can find the woman and have him check the cart.” Henderson lifted his walkie-talkie again and issued the order as James rushed back into the room, a white box tucked under his arm.
James slid to a stop beside Alice and he opened the box up. Alice took out a burn cream and a bandage while Perry kept asking questions.
“Is there any other reason that Lois might have left with Star, Clark?”
Clark shook his head vehemently.
Henderson returned to the group and knelt down next to Perry. “There’s no sign of the homeless woman now.”
Clark started to moan. “No. No. I can’t. She’s not there.”
“We’ll find her, Clark. They’ve been missing less than half an hour.”
Clark shook his head and rubbed at his head. “You don’t understand, Perry. I can sense her here,” he said, pointing to his heart, “but I can’t hear her. It’s like there’s a huge hole right here,” he said, pointing to his head. “I tried to call for her. Our connection is there, but I can’t hear her answer.”
Perry’s breath caught in his throat at Clark’s revelation. He’d known for years that Lois was psychic, but Clark’s ability to communicate with her that way was news to him. It was clear by the confusion on Cat and James’ faces that they didn’t understand what Clark was saying at all, but the lack of surprise on the police inspector’s face told Perry everything he needed to know.
Perry caught Henderson’s eye. “She’s not dead,” he surmised, relieved.
“And whoever took her knew,” Henderson responded.
Perry lowered his voice and leaned closer to Clark. “Is there any way to mask it?”
“Foil. Aluminum foil,” Henderson murmured back. “The way Superman wrapped up Fat Head, right?”
Clark lifted his head, a hopeful look on his face. “Yes.”
“But who else would know that? The only ones that know about Lois are right here in this room.”
… a psycho-freak from Club Weirdo…“Star,” Clark gasped. “Star knows.”
“Knows what?” Cat asked. “You think Star might be involved with the murderer?”
“Maybe they were both drugged?” James suggested.
Perry didn’t know. It didn’t make sense. Star was Lois’s friend. Could Star have taken her? Or did the murderer take them both? And did Clark’s inability to connect with Lois mean the worst? Perry swallowed his fear and said a prayer that they would find them both soon.
~ - ~
Lois came back to consciousness and groaned at the throbbing pain at the base of her skull. She tried to shift her body, but it only took a second to realize that she was bound hand to foot, a gag firmly wrapped around her mouth.
She blinked her eyes and turned her head as far as she could to take in her surroundings. She lay facing the room’s windows, a heavy, metal desk between her and the wall. Lois wondered if the dusky light she saw out the window meant that she hadn’t been unconscious for long or if a day or more had passed. The room was a moderately sized office space with gray, cinderblock walls and a threadbare indoor-outdoor carpet. Lois groaned and tipped her head back in recognition. She was in her father’s old office on the base where she had grown up. Why the hell would she be here?
Turning her head the other direction, Lois was surprised to see three other figures also bound in the room with her. She recognized the women from their photos – the missing brides. Her relief that they were alive was tempered by their demoralized looks. One woman was asleep on another mattress, one was weeping softly next to her, and the last one, Lolita Dolcheck, sat on the floor looking blankly toward Lois, hopelessness on her face.
Fear settled in when Lois realized that she couldn’t sense anyone else in the room. She reached out to Clark and realized with a start that she couldn’t hear him, either. She shook her head and felt some sort of cap around her hair, a strap under her chin. No matter how she moved, it didn’t come off. Foil? Well, that would explain the block on her abilities. It also limited the list of suspects drastically.
Just then Star entered the room through the only door. “Oh, good. You’re awake.”
Lois’s eyes popped in disbelief before she started grunting at her friend and struggling to get free.
“No. I don’t think I will untie you. I can’t trust you, yet.”
Lois continued to struggle against the ropes binding her hands and feet. She felt the rope holding her hands slip a little, but then the knot tightened and stopped giving. Lois growled at Star, but the woman she thought had been her friend seemed nonplussed by her struggles. Lois watched as Star calmly moved a chair to place it in front of Lois. Star sat down and placed a small wooden box on her lap before looking into Lois’s eyes. Lois’s eyeballs rolled up and around, trying to see how the cap was attached.
“Yes. I’ve shielded you, just in case. I noticed last week how you and Clark seemed to have started communicating without words. I never sensed anything from him, but then again, I don’t have your power.” Star watched Lois continue to struggle, nodding as if answering a question. “I know you, Lois, and I bet you have a ton of questions. The first thing you need to understand is I did this because you were in danger. That’s why I took action.”
If Lois hadn’t been so unnerved by learning that her best girlfriend was a serial murderess, she would have rolled her eyes at the monologue that always seemed to come from the criminals that kidnapped her. She kept her eyes on Star, but she continued to work on loosening her hands from the knotted rope.
“I’m sure you’re probably working your way through denial and disbelief,” Star continued. “Soon, I’m sure you’ll feel betrayed and angry. Until then, I can satisfy your insatiable curiosity. You’re my best friend, Lois. I want you to understand why I did this.”
Star leaned over to pick up a notebook from the desk. She held it up to Lois. “Do you recognize it? It’s Mensa’s notebook on ‘Dynonomics’, the same one that I read all those years ago. Mensa succeeded in learning telekinesis, but did you ever wonder how the study of ‘Dynonomics’ would affect a psychic? I didn’t either, not until I started having prescient visions.”
Lois snorted and Star laughed. “It’s true! At first, I couldn’t make sense of them. I thought it was just my imagination. I didn’t start to take them seriously until you didn’t come back from the Congo. Remember? I heard you cry out Luthor’s name in fear and pain. It was prophecy, the first of many.”
Star tossed the notebook back onto the desk . “It took me a couple years after you disappeared to begin understanding the visions I received. Like you, I wanted to use my abilities to help people. I let the premonitions guide me.”
Star turned to look at the three women “My visions led me to save these women from their abusive relationships. They each foolishly married a man like the ones that abused my mom; one a mean drunk, another a womanizer who had no intention of keeping his vows, and the last had already been convicted of beating his ex-wife and daughter bloody. My visions showed me what to do. None of these women deserved to be shackled to men that were going to mistreat them. They won’t be missed.”
The weeping woman sobbed a little louder at Star’s words and Lois stared. Her friend, Star, was a serial killer? How had she not known? Lois shook her head in disbelief, but couldn’t help but listen, fascinated by Star’s twisted logic.
“If you had seen what I have, Lois, you would agree. One vision showed me your death from a terrible, gruesome illness if you married Clark. In another, you were heartbroken when Clark left you for a woman on a distant planet.”
Lois struggled again and lifted her head to look out the window hoping to see Superman coming to her rescue. When Star turned her head to look out of the window, too, Lois was finally able to wriggle a few fingers free from her bindings. She curled into a tighter ball to hide her work to free her hands.
“He’s not coming Lois. I made sure of that earlier. The drugs and hypnosis keep you from remembering, but I had you tape Kryptonite to Clark’s body before we tied him up in Perry’s office.”
Lois shook her head. It couldn’t be. She would never hurt Clark. Star tilted her head and opened the box on her lap. She removed a hypodermic needle filled with an opaque liquid. She held it up and flicked it to remove the air bubbles. “I knew you wouldn’t believe me, so I brought this to show you. This is ‘Oracle.’ Mensa wasn’t very careful with his supply. One small dose and some post-hypnotic suggestions last night was all it took to get you to help me.”
Star stood up and set the box down on the desk. She knelt down next to Lois. “I know how much you love Clark. I saw it last week. The world still needs you, Lois. It will need you even more now that Superman is dead. I can help you forget him so that you can continue with your life without the pain.”
Star leaned forward to administer the drug and Lois was finally able to pull a hand free. She knocked the needle aside and then slammed her open palm into Star’s chin. Star cried out and fell backwards, a wig flying off of her head to reveal a tight, foil cap on her head. In the short moment that Star was off balance, Lois reached up with her free hand and removed her own foil cap.
<Clark!>
<Lois! Where are you?>
Lois almost cried with relief that Clark was alive. She sent him a flurry of images, of Star, her location, and her situation. <Hurry…> she barely managed before Star drove a knee into Lois’s stomach, pinning her free hand and knocking the wind out of her.
Star pulled the foil cap back on Lois’s head and then picked up the needle again. “I know this is difficult to accept, Lois, but it is for the best.”
Lois struggled with all her strength, but Star was able to maintain her grip. Lois closed her eyes and turned her head away as Star lowered the needle, but a second later, the pressure lifted and a strong wind fanned the pages of the notebook on the desk. Lois opened her eyes to see a blue and red blur resolve into Superman. Lois watched as Clark tied Star to the chair before removing Lois’s restraints and scooping her into his arms.
Clark rested his forehead against Lois’s and then held her close, both of them shaking at the close call.
<Are you alright?> he asked.
Lois nodded and hugged him tighter. <I am now. Are you? Star said I put Kryptonite on you. I’m sorry…>
Clark shook his head. <Shh! I know you were drugged. I’m fine. I’m not sure how I recovered from the Kryptonite exposure so quickly, but I’m sure it had something to do with you.>
Part 15 – Epilogue
~ - ~
Alt Metropolis – July 18, 1997
“Until the End”
~ - ~
Lois and Clark were sitting side-by-side on the sofa in Cat’s office, their fingers laced together. Lois looked around at her friends and colleagues as they rushed to revamp tomorrow morning’s edition of the Daily Planet. Cat was behind her desk editing the article she and Clark had written, while James helped her reformat the layout. She glanced through the window and saw Perry White talking on the phone at her own desk in the bullpen, assuring his wife that everything had turned out fine and that he’d be home soon.
“I remembered something yesterday.”
Lois looked up at Clark. “What was it?”
Clark’s eyes sparkled. “A memory from my childhood. I was climbing trees with my invisible friend when my mother called me home for dinner. That was the first time I mentioned you to her, I think. I told her I was going to marry my best friend, Lolo. That’s when she told me she wanted me to have great-grandma’s ring.”
“I don’t remember that, but it sounds like a wonderful memory.”
Clark leaned toward her and Lois accepted his kiss. She sighed and rested her head against Clark’s shoulder. A moment later, she saw movement at the top of the ramp and Lois nudged Clark as Bill Henderson exited the elevator and headed toward them. Perry joined them in the office just as Henderson arrived.
“The three women have been admitted to Metropolis General for medical treatment and psychiatric evaluation. The doctors think that they’ll quickly recover physically, but the emotional healing will probably take a long time.”
“And Star Adams?” Cat asked.
“She’s in the twelfth precinct lockup until her arraignment. Soon after her trial, I expect she’ll be remanded to the women’s penitentiary for a very long time.”
“Well, Lois,” Perry said. “You were right about a connection between Mensa, the Kryptonite, the drug, and the serial murders. Star was the link between them.”
“I still can’t believe it was her. Star’s been my friend since we were teenagers. She’s had it rough, abused by several men in her life, but she was my roommate for years. I don’t understand how I could have missed something like this.”
“She hid her obsessions from all of us,” Cat admitted.
“I think she changed after you left for the Congo, Lois,” Clark added. “Maybe losing you was one hurt too many.”
Lois nodded. It made sense. How many times had she relied on Clark to keep herself sane? How much anger and bitterness would she have felt without Clark’s optimism and goodness to lean on over the years? Star hadn’t had Ellen or Lucy Lane, nor had she known anyone like the Kents. Lois realized how lucky she had been.
“I’m still not sure why she killed those men,” James said.
“She decided they were too violent to be in relationships,” Lois explained. “She wanted to save those women from a future of abuse.”
“Judge, jury, and executioner,” Henderson said.
“Lois, you never did explain in your article what she was wearing on her head,” James said. “What was it?”
Lois, Clark, and Henderson shared a look. “Aluminum foil,” Henderson answered. “Star fancied herself a psychic and there’s a superstition that the foil blocks others from invading her mind. She wore a wig to hide it.”
“Weird,” James muttered. “I, for one, am glad psychic powers aren’t real. Just the thought of someone reading my mind gives me the heebie-jeebies.”
“Amen to that,” Cat replied.
Perry clapped his hands together. “Well, kids. You’ve done it again. Except for the tiny detail of the murderess being your maid-of-honor, everything worked out just like you intended.”
“Almost everything, Perry.”
“What do you mean, Darlin’?”
Lois held out her left hand to show the engagement ring Clark had given her to Perry and the others. “Clark asked me to marry him yesterday, not as a ploy, but for real.”
“We signed the wedding certificate earlier,” Clark added, “and wanted to complete the ceremony today. We just wish we would have been able to actually go through with it.”
“W… well now. That’s wonderful you two.”
Perry shook Clark’s hand and then hugged Lois, while Cat, James, and Bill Henderson rounded the desk to add their congratulations.
“All you need is a Justice of the Peace,” Henderson offered. “I’m sure Judge Diggs would come …”
“Actually,” Perry interrupted. “That won’t be necessary. Even if I wasn’t the Mayor of the great city of Metropolis, I am an ordained minister of the First Church of Blue Suede Deliverance. If you don’t mind me serving double duty, I’d be honored to give you away and then I can perform the ceremony.”
“Really?”
“Yep. So, what do you say? Do you still want to get hitched tonight?”
“Yes,” Lois answered.
“We’d be honored,” Clark said.
“Thank goodness!” Cat exclaimed. “I’m not sure the paper would survive another day without you two being together.”
Lois and Clark laughed and then looked at each other. “I can’t think of a better place to get married than the Daily Planet. Let’s do it.”
Cat directed Clark and Inspector Henderson to move several desks out of the way while Lois ran to the restroom to change into her wedding gown. James disappeared upstairs, returning a few minutes later with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a camera in the other, several other Planet staffers trailing him with bottles of champagne and glass flutes. Eduardo dug up an accordion from somewhere, and even Willy, the night watchman, joined them, rose petals in hand.
A few minutes later, everything was set. A breathless Alice rushed down the ramp into the bullpen, a handkerchief already clutched in her hand. She took the camera from James and started snapping pictures. Clark and James stood at the end of their makeshift aisle and when everyone was seated in a haphazard pew of office chairs, Cat signaled Eduardo to start playing.
Cat held a flower in her hand and strolled up the aisle to a slightly wheezy version of “Pachabel’s Canon”. When Lois joined Perry at the other end of the room, the music morphed into “Here Comes the Bride.”
~
Clark rose several inches into the air when Lois stepped into view. He heard James chuckle and felt him tug on his elbow, pulling him back to earth by his jacket sleeve, but Clark only had eyes for Lois. Her simple gown was both understated and elegant, cleaving to her figure in all the right places, but Clark couldn’t take his eyes off of her face. She was practically shining. There were no barriers between them now and he could feel everything, her joy, nervousness, happiness, anticipation, desire, and peace.
Perry offered Lois his arm, which she took with a smile and a kiss on the cheek. Perry beamed with pride as he slowly walked Lois toward his old office, Clark, James, and Cat waiting for them next to the coffee maker. Perry stopped in front of Clark and turned to Lois. “You know, for a day with so many twists, this has turned out to be one of the best of my life. Being able to give away my ‘almost daughter’ to my ‘almost son’ has to be just about the best feeling in the world.”
Lois wrapped her arms around Perry’s neck and pulled him into a tight embrace. He kissed her cheek and then stepped away so that Clark could take his place. He stepped around them both and beamed at the motley crew assembled there.
“Dearly beloved, coworkers, and friends. We gather here tonight in this hallowed room to join together two of the most amazing people it’s been my pleasure to meet, Lois Lane and Clark Kent. You two are proof that love survives. Survives any challenge, any loss; all the rescues, all the arguments; even death. Now, you’ve finally found your way to each other. Lois?”
Lois reached across and took Clark’s hands. “Clark, I have loved you for so long. I love your enduring goodness and eternal optimism. You’re selflessness has inspired me and the purity of your intent has pushed me to always look for the goodness in people. There is no distance that can separate us now. I can’t wait to share my heart, my mind, and my life with you. Forever.”
Lois took the ring from Cat and slid it onto Clark’s finger.
Perry cleared his throat. “Clark?”
“Lois, you are my best friend. That means everything to me. You see beyond the things I can do and know me for the man that I really am. Sometimes you see me even more clearly that I see myself. Falling in love with you was so easy; I don’t know why I ever fought it. I love your humor, your passion for truth and justice, and the way you jump in without checking the water level. The world is a better place with you in it and I can’t wait to share that world with you. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that you are my one love. So today, I give you my heart, my strength, and our future. Forever.”
Clark turned to accept Lois’s wedding band from James and then slid it onto her finger next to his mother’s ring. He lifted her hands and kissed her knuckle gently.
“Lois and Clark,” Perry announced, “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Clark hardly waited for the words to leave Perry’s mouth when he leaned toward Lois. She did the same and the two newlyweds came together, their lips joining in solemn promise. One gentle kiss merged into another, deeper kiss as Clark pulled Lois closer to him. He lingered there long enough that James whistled and the other witnesses began to clap and cheer. Embarrassed, Clark finally ended their kiss, a broad, ecstatic smile on his face. He left his forehead connected to hers.
Lois looked into Clark’s eyes. “I have loved you from the beginning,” Lois whispered.
“And I will love you until the end,” Clark promised in return.
The End
