Previously - Chapter 1 ***
Chapter 2***
Lois’s breath caught, surprised when Lex suddenly began spinning her away from him. She recognized the strains of a familiar waltz encompassing them as he spun her back into his arms. Unchained Melody. It was the same song they first danced to at their wedding. The small orchestra had begun playing during their short speech, but she was so caught up in her emotions that she didn’t register it until now. She smiled as she came back to him.
“Dance with me,” he pleaded.
Lois merely widened her smile at him in answer. A nearby waiter took her glass and away they went to begin with ease the beautiful steps they’d been practicing. She never expected Lex to suggest professional dancing lessons. She had known some sophisticated dances before marrying him and considered herself competent despite her lack of outlets to use her skills but blissfully conceded when he explained that it was merely an opportunity to spend more time with her. Romantic gestures and excuses to spend time with one another were his style and she loved it about him.
The passionate dances they practiced did indeed bring them closer. They swayed and turned to the music as the crowd watched, Lois’s dress flaring out gorgeously as they spun. Lex briefly glanced about the room before his attention landed back on her.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?” Lex asked. She could feel the warmth from his hand on her back as he pressed her closer to himself.
“Yes,” she responded with a coy smile, “but you can say it again.”
He tightened his hold on her, put his mouth inches from here ear and said in a low husky voice meant only for her to hear, “You look beautiful tonight.” He then spun her way from him.
She let out a quick breath followed by a short laugh. She smiled back at him as she thought of something different to say in return before she got back to him. Handsome just wasn’t the word she wanted. “You look … quite dashing yourself,” she said as she came back to him.
“Dashing?” He chuckled and tossed his head back. “That sounds so ... old fashioned, but I love it.” He gave her hand a squeezed and spun her slowly around in front of him, trailing his hand around her middle.
“But not,” he started as he brought them to a halt and pulled her even closer, his hand splayed across her back, his eyes roaming all over her face before settling on hers. “Not as much as I love you.”
She stared at his face with a small smile on hers, feeling his eyes bore into her.
“I will
never stop loving you,” he said with quiet intensity that filled her with tenderness.
“I know.” She smiled at him. “I love you, too.”
He kissed her there in the middle of the dance floor, a gentle, lingering kiss. His kisses could be so passionate, as if he needed to prove something with them. She knew even without them that he loved her more than life itself.
A cheer from the crowd reminded her they were on display. He pulled back and looked deeply into her eyes and she thought about how lucky she was to have someone who cherished her as he did. Lois viewed herself as an independent, proficient and assertive person, but she surprisingly liked being prized this way.
They began to sway with the music once more, swirling about the room as other couples finally joined in. As they clung to each other amidst the dancing crowd, she thought back to the day of his proposal, how strange the circumstances were and how romantic it had been.
###
November 11, 1994
She’d been investigating a jewelry store theft the day before. It was an anomaly as there was absolutely no evidence at the scene other than the missing diamonds. The only possible clue was a picture caught by an ATM machine across the street of a person who showed a remarkable resemblance to Superman. Lois’s interactions with Superman were generally brief and his behavior was always detached and a bit aloof, but she just couldn’t imagine him misusing his powers in such a brazen way.
That morning, Superman had met with her in strange apartment that must have belonged to one of his accomplices, which she assumed he must have had. She was there because he had invited her and when she spoke with him over the phone, she’d heard something along the lines of desperation in his voice.
He had insisted that she arrive alone, but Lois notified Lex of her plans. They agreed that she would go to see what he wanted but that Lex would wait outside just in case. And she was thankful she had brought Lex with her. As soon as she arrived, she had this chilly feeling that something was not as it seemed. Superman was seated on the couch in the living room of this unfamiliar place.
“Lois, please have a seat,” Superman said without looking at her but gesturing to the spot next to him on the couch. “I need your help.” He kept his eyes on something behind her. He seemed conflicted, like he didn’t really appreciate needing anyone’s help. How could she blame him for that? He had superpowers. He probably didn’t have a frame of understanding what it was like to not be able to do something on his own.
“What exactly do you need from me?” Lois asked hesitantly.
“I was the one who robbed the jewelry store.” He said unceremoniously. “But I didn’t want to. I was tricked into it. Someone is blackmailing me.” He finally looked at her then and she could tell there was more. She felt cold in his icy stare.
“What do you need from me?” she asked again. She couldn’t explain why she was filled with these chilling impressions of this celebrated superhero, but she found that she was afraid of the answer that was coming.
“They want you dead,” he said quickly. “I have to kill Lois Lane.” The unemotional way he said this left her feeling like this couldn’t possibly be the same superhero who regularly saved the lives of anyone in dire circumstances.
Lois opened her mouth to say something, though what she would say she didn’t know. What do you say to Superman when he says he needs to kill you? She was saved from having to answer when the door of the apartment flew open and Lex stormed in.
Lex looked enraged. “How dare you!” he spat at Superman. “You are supposed to stand for truth and justice. That you would even consider this is despicable.”
Superman dropped his head into his hands. “I know! I know! I just couldn’t see another way,” he sobbed.
Lex seemed to feel some sense of relief at Superman’s remorse.
“Please, Luthor. Help me! I don’t know what to do,” Superman begged as he reached toward Lex with his right hand. “Surely you can help me.”
Lex looked at Superman as a person would look upon excrement on their shoe. Lois knew Superman was invincible, the only way for this to work out was for Lex to help Superman figure out a way to thwart the blackmailers.
“I’ll help,” he conceded, “on the condition that you acknowledge the fact that you needed help. We can’t have your head getting any bigger than it already is.”
“Anything,” Superman spewed desperately. He was practically groveling, and Lois couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
“Your super breath is cold, yes? Cold enough to cryogenically freeze a person?” Lois choked out a cough when he said this, drawing Lex’s attention away from Superman momentarily. The look he gave indicated that he understood the risk, and even so, this was a viable solution. She shook her head in both confusion and refusal. Lex proceeded with his terrible idea, “And your heat vision, it can be dispersed or is it always a beam?”
“I can spread it over a small area,” Superman said, not seeming to follow what Lex was getting at.
But Lois understood. It made sense now – Superman could freeze her and then thaw her out later. When Lex looked to her to gauge her response, she gave the slightest of nods. He turned back to Superman.
“You will freeze Lois. You will take me with you to meet up with your adversary and hide me until the time is right. I will help you bring him to justice and then you will revive Lois.” He spoke confidently as though he was sure this plan would be successful. His willingness to stand up to this unmatched superhero was impressive.
Lex came to her and looked into her eyes. “I have no doubt I’ll see you soon,” he said, a mixture of emotions coloring his tone.
“I know,” she breathed out slowly.
“Close your eyes,” Lex softly instructed.
When she did, he put his hand to her cheek and she turned to press her cheek more firmly against it, her eyes coming open as realization sunk in. She knew he would do anything for her.
“Close your eyes,” he repeated.
She did as he said even though she was nervous, but as the cold swept over her, she felt like she was simply falling asleep.
She heard someone calling.
“Don’t you die on me,” she heard Lex saying. “Lois, now come on, don’t give up.”
She tried to respond but her entire body felt as though something dense was laid upon her.
“Come on. Breath, Lois, breath.” Lex begged. She felt something resting on her chest and finally managed to draw a breath. She began coughing and felt herself cradled in his arms, listening to his soothing words of relief.
“I heard you calling,” she struggled to say. “I heard you calling.”
They could have been there forever in that embrace for she had no idea how long it lasted.
Later that evening, after the story had been written, Lex took Lois out for a very simple, romantic dinner, after which they took a walk in the park. Lois was still feeling a little rattled from her brush with death at the hands of Superman. She couldn’t imagine what would have happened if Lex hadn’t shown up when he did.
As they walked down the pea-gravel path, Lois shivered.
“You chilly? Lex asked as he put his arm around her shoulder.
“No,” Lois replied. That shiver was related more to her harrowing experiences this day than the cooling temperatures of the evening air as a storm approached.
“Lois, I’ve been thinking,” Lex began tentatively.
“Me too,” Lois put in. She had been doing a lot of thinking since clinically dead a few hours beforehand. She reached up to lace her fingers with his.
“What about?” he asked with sincere curiosity.
“You first,” she insisted. Whatever she’d been thinking about could wait.
“Okay,” he said with a smile as he lowered his head. He paused for a moment, composing himself before speaking. ‘Sometimes… you think you’re immortal.” He watched his feet as they walked. “You start to think that the people around you are, too. And it just takes a second to realize how … wrong you are… about everything.”
They stopped there in the middle of the walkway and Lex turned Lois to face him.
“Listen,” Lex began, looking Lois straight in the eye. “What I’m trying to say, Lois, is I almost lost you and I … feel… ashamed.” He looked to his left and sighed.
Lois leaned to her right to be able to look into his face, trying to bring his attention back to her. What was bothering him so? “Ashamed? Why?” she asked as she searched his eyes.
“I kept pushing you away even when I promised I’d stop.” He looked directly into her eyes. “If you died without ever knowing why, I’d never be able to forgive myself. Because I love you.”
Lois smiled at this profession and reached to run her fingers through his hair and caress his face. She could tell he had more to say and held her response until he was finished. He took her hand and led her to the fountain they had neared while walking and asked her to sit.
A flash of lightning brightened their surroundings and a crack of thunder rent through the air. She looked up as the impending storm broke free.
Lex lifted his face to the falling rain and with exasperation in his voice declared, “Come on! Give me a break!”
“You want to go back?” Lois asked while ducking her head to avoid getting rain in her eyes.
Lex looked back at her with fierce determination in his eyes. “If the earth opened up at my feet, I wouldn’t move until I’d said this.” Without averting his eyes, Lex knelt in front of Lois and took her hand in his.
Lois saw what was coming and her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Was she ready to hear these words? Was she ready to answer them?
“Lois,” Lex began, rain dripping from his hair into his face, “will you marry me?”
Lois sucked in a breath as Lex brought out an intricate, beautifully designed diamond engagement ring.
“Yes,” she heard herself say.
###Lex had initially seemed like a cold, untouchable bigwig who only surrounded himself with people he could use to step on in his pursuit of greatness. Everything she knew told her he was a power hungry, devil-may-care business man. And as a reporter she wanted to know the man behind the exterior. Was there someone else in there waiting to be discovered? Was it just an act?
She’d met him and then dated him and he was romantic and caring and … surprisingly thoughtful. Now, she was
married to him. And he was
very different than that façade he presented to the world. He was sincere and caring and had a knack for being in the right place at the right time to rescue her, just like the day he proposed.
Applause picked up around the room as the dance ended and they left the floor, making their way to a group of Lex’s friends. Scott Ferguson, a good friend of Lex’s who also happened to be her camera man at LNN on his recommendation, came up to them with a mischievous smile on his face. She was glad to see this in him. His sister had passed away just the week before and he had been distraught.
“Lex, would you mind terribly if I danced with your beautiful wife?” Scott asked, his expression looking worried for just a moment. “That is, if it’s okay with you, Lois.”
She gave a nod, considering that worried look. Lex acted the possessive husband and Lois enjoyed feeling protected and wanted, but he wouldn’t be offended by her dancing with Scott. Lex and Scott had a history together. He was certainly not a stranger. Why then did Scott have that questioning look on his face?
“Only if you promise to bring her right back to me,” Lex allowed with a smile. He gave Lois a quick kiss on the cheek and released her hand.
***
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