Previously - Chapter 22 ***
Chapter 23 ***
Darling tell me do you love me
For what I am
Or for what I
May someday be
Or do you love me
Really love me
Because you love me After letting his boss at the Tribune know that needed a few days off for an emergency, Clark and Scott had stopped at the mall before heading to the airport to fly to Metropolis to purchase all the Nat King Cole music they could find as well as a portable CD player for him to use while on the plane. Scott assured him that if he just kept listening, eventually another song would let him remember something.
They sat with an empty seat between them on the plane as it carried only half the number of passengers it could hold. Clark preferred it that way. Flying just wasn’t his style and he’d have been even more anxious if the plane had been packed with people bumping into each other, bouncing and swaying with every jolt of the plane. At least on an empty plane he could close his eyes when it became too much and pretend something else was causing the movement.
Blue gardenia
Now I'm alone with you
And I am, oh, so blue
She has tossed us aside After hours of listening, it just didn’t seem like anything was going to happen. And that made Clark wonder if his decision to give Scott the benefit of the doubt had been a bit impetuous. Here he was on a plane to Metropolis on his way to the house of someone who wanted him dead to help someone who didn’t want him there. He
must be mad.
Another jerk from the turbulence brought his attention back to the plane. He glanced at Scott to find him dozing with his head leaning against the window. Clark chose the aisle so that he could straighten his legs when he needed, another aspect that was made possible by the small number of passengers and one that also helped him maintain his calm. He closed his eyes and tried to relax.
That's my girl
Take a look at her, she belongs to me
Yes, that's my girl
Hands off, don't touch While he listened, he considered the wallet and photos with his own handwriting on them. They were compelling pieces of evidence that Scott was being truthful. And his conscience would feel some relief by making up for what he’d done in the past. In addition, he couldn’t ignore that there was nothing friendly in the way that man had taken Lois and she likely needed help from someone. He’d always been the type of person to help in any way he could.
“Excuse me, sir,” said a polite but annoyed voice.
Clark opened his eyes to see the flight attendant making his way down the aisle. The flight attendant nodded his head in the direction of Clark’s foot blocking the walkway.
“Sorry,” he said, quickly pulling the offending foot back and tucking it under the seat in front of him.
Clark took the opportunity to replace the CD that just ended with the next before repositioning himself. He attempted to shift into a more comfortable position, but only a child could find such small seats anything but cramped.
Brush those tears from your eyes As the next song started, he glanced around the cabin of the plane taking into account the other passengers, but quickly realized that was a mistake as he began to feel dizzy and sick to his stomach. The passengers on the plane became blurry, forcing Clark to close his eyes. He took a few deep breaths before everything before him morphed into something he’d never seen before.
And try to realize
That the ache in my heart is for you
###
May 21, 1995
He was standing next to her, leaning over her, filled with fear. She felt warm to his touch, but there was no movement … anywhere. She had to be okay, he couldn’t let anything happen to her.
He grasped her hand as he demanded, “Live.” He shifted a little and gently placed his hand under her neck. Without thinking, he leaned forward to put his mouth over hers. He breathed gently in and backed away from her, searching for some sign she was going to be alright.
Still nothing.
“Come on, Lois,” he said gently, pleading. “Come back to me.” In his peripheral vision, he saw the world crashing in slow motion into tiny pieces around him, fear of having to continue life without her consuming him. “Fight, Lois! Come on, fight.” His voice wavered between demanding and desperate. How could he lose her? She was everything to him.
He leaned forward and breathed into her again, tenderly, worrying he would never again feel her return his kiss. How had he ever let her convince him this was a good idea? “Don’t you die on me, Lois.” He had to stay strong, had to will her out of this. She had to wake up. “Now come on, don’t give up.” He couldn’t give up either, she would come out of this. “Come on, breathe Lois! Breathe!”
Still she didn’t move.
His breath caught as his head sagged, he was at a loss for what to do next. A future that didn’t include her flitted across his eyes and he felt a sharp sense of loss. He needed her. More than he’d ever needed anything in his life. He would give his life for her… just like she had done for him.
Her chest suddenly rose with the effort to draw in that first breath and his head came up quickly as she coughed through those first glorious breaths. “Okay, okay,” he kept repeating, feeling that sense of loss melt away. The greatest hope he’d ever felt took its place, filling him completely.
He reached around to help her sit up more, but instead found himself cradling her in his arms. He spoke soothingly, reassuringly, relieved, “Yeah that’s it. Okay.” He held her close, unable to look away from her beloved face, knowing he was forever hers.
“I heard you calling,” she breathed out, opening her eyes to look into his. “I heard you calling,” she repeated more strongly. Never in his whole life had any sound meant so much to him.
### Clark leaned forward and waited for the fog to clear. “Whoa,” he said under his breath, shaking his head gently. Some of what Lana had heard him say was in this … memory? Dream?
He saved her, brought her back from the clutches of death. He belonged to her, he would do everything in his power to prevent her from ever feeling any pain of any kind. He would give his life for her. And she had done the same?
Was this another dream? Or had he loved her? Why didn’t he know? Why couldn’t he remember?
“Scott?” he said as he reached to nudge his unlikely ally.
Scott’s eyes opened, and he looked from the window to Clark. “Are we about to land?” he asked in a groggy voice.
“I have no idea.” Clark looked passed him to the window.
Scott rubbed his hand over his face and stretched as much as a person could on an airplane. When he realized Clark was still looking at him, his eyebrows rose as he said, “What is it?”
“When did Lois almost die?” Clark asked, bluntly.
Scott frowned and shook his head slightly. “I don’t know. Did you remember something?”
“I don’t know, it seemed more like a dream, like the first one.” Clark sat back in his seat, making use of the headrest. He frowned as he ran through the scene again. “She was lying ... somewhere and … not breathing. I thought she was dead, but I talked to her, helped her, told her to come back to me … and she did.”
“Was anyone else there?” Scott sat forward, curiosity on his face. “Did you see anything else?”
“No … I don’t know.” Clark hadn’t noticed any of the surroundings, just Lois, in his arms. Closing his eyes, he strained to bring the rest of the room into focus, but it wouldn’t show itself. “I only saw Lois.”
“Well, it’s a start.” Scott shrugged. “Keep listening. Once we reach Metropolis, we’ll talk about what we’ll do then. That’ll give me more time to think about it.”
Clark nodded and put the headphones back over his ears, skeptical still, but less so. It could have been a dream. But the feelings felt so real, so … authentic. He was aware of her figure in his arms, could tell how light she was, could feel the warmth of her against him.
There goes my heart, there goes the one I love
There goes the girl I wasn't worthy of
There goes my happiness, it couldn't be
There goes somebody else in place of me Clark closed his eyes and forced himself to focus on the scene. Rubbing his thumb and index finger together, he realized he could feel her face when he’d put his hand on her chin, her smooth skin. Her soft hair. Her delicate fingers. How was that possible?
He shook himself. No, it wasn’t possible. Clark ruined her life and Lois Lane wanted nothing to do with him.
***
Stretching her arms above her head, Lois rolled to her side toward the bright sun filtering in through the curtains covering the west facing windows. Her headache seemed to have disappeared and she no longer found the sunlight to be so uncomfortably bright. Thankfully the winter sun set early and while the day had been a long one, it still wasn’t over.
Yawning as she sat up, she wondered what they would be having for dinner this evening and whether Scott would be here in time to eat with them. The anniversary party a few days ago ended with Lex and Lois traveling to this wonderfully secluded home where they had spent the past few days relaxing together. But Lois was looking forward to returning to work soon, eager to get started on her next story.
A chilly afternoon breeze swept in through the curiously open window and with it voices. Lois rose from the bed and walked to the open window, looking out at the balcony. Not seeing anyone there, Lois opened the door to let herself out onto the balcony. Another breeze blew past and Lois shivered, wondering once again why the window had been left open and grabbed the blanket draped over the chair near the door.
She came to the railing and peered over the edge to see an unfamiliar woman seated in the patio chair with a coffee cup in her hand at the table across from Lex. The brown-haired woman suddenly sat forward and leaned closer to Lex, causing a narrowing of Lois’s eyes. Lois could see lips moving to speak but couldn’t hear the words. Lex nodded to whatever she’d said.
They both leaned back in their chairs and Lex looked up. A smile stretched across his face as his eyes landed on her and the jealousy she felt moments before cooled.
“Lois, Darling! I’m glad to see you up!” Lex called as he stood up and motioned to her. “Won’t you come down and meet our guest? I was hoping to introduce you before she needed to leave.”
“I’ll be down in a minute,” she said, nodding feebly, unsure of how much she wanted to meet this mysterious guest, yet compelled to find out who she was as quickly as possible.
Lois went back into the bedroom in search of shoes and a sweater all the while wondering who this woman could possibly be. She found her shoes tucked slightly under the bench at the end of the bed but was unable to put one of them on. Reaching in, she found a napkin shoved into the toe of the shoe. If it hadn’t been so neatly folded, she might have missed the writing on the inside. She didn’t recall having written on a napkin or putting it in her shoe, but instead of discarding it, she tucked it into her back pocket to look at later.
Once her shoes were on, she quickly descended the spiral staircase at the front of the house all the way to the basement floor. As she stepped from the last stair, she faced the French doors of the family room that opened to the patio, but it was the voices drifting from the hall to the left that drew her attention. She paused momentarily and when she realized it was her husband’s voice along with that woman’s she heard, she quietly stepped toward the sound, listening in.
“You’re sure he’s coming tonight?” the mystery woman asked. Was it Scott they talked about?
“Absolutely,” Lex answered. “I already spoke with Scott about it, they’ll arrive before the day is over.” So, it was Scott they talked about. She smiled and began to turn back toward the French doors.
“And what if
he doesn’t come?” Lois stopped as she frowned at the way this woman sneered the word ‘he’. How could anyone think Scott was anything other than the nicest guy? He was a great friend, supportive, helpful, dependable. He made her job at LNN better by being her cameraman.
“That’s incredibly unlikely because the fool has never been able to stay away from Lois. Not until I did something about it.” Lois’s mind raced. Lex and Scott were good friends. So, who were they talking about? Was someone coming with Scott? “But after the last few days, it’s clear that he has come back to cause trouble.”
“Well, I for one look forward to the end of this,” the mystery woman added. “That infiltrating miscreant shouldn’t be allowed to roam freely. He’s a danger to everyone.”
Lois searched her memory for someone who couldn’t stay away from her, someone who would want to cause trouble, but other than the various criminals she’d exposed over the years, nothing stood out.
“True. And no longer will you have to fear. After tonight, he’ll be a distant memory.” Lois’s eyes went wide as she caught the meaning of what Lex was saying.
The scraping of chairs brought Lois quickly out of her thoughts and she quickly retreated to the family room toward the doors. She calmed her breathing and opened the French doors to the patio before Lex and their guest reached them.
As they came in, she pasted a smile on her face and took Lex’s outstretched hand, leaning forward to receive the kiss he planted on her cheek. “Lex, who is our guest?” she asked, nodding to the woman in question.
“This is Dr. Florence Montgomery, a colleague of mine,” Lex introduced her. “Flo, my wife, Lois.”
“Nice to meet you,” Lois said, nodding to the woman without releasing her hold on Lex. “What brings you out this way?”
“She was just dropping off some equipment for me,” Lex answered for her.
“Yes, well, I need to be going now.” She ducked her head and began quickly ascending the steps to the main floor.
“I must apologize for her behavior,” Lex began, a frown on his face as he watched Flo leave. “She is quite awkward and her …companion, Lowell, wasn’t able to come with her today.” He shook his head and sighed before turning to face Lois, enfolding her in his arms. “Are you feeling better?” he asked, his eyes exploring hers, his voice sensuous.
“Much.” She smiled, but it faltered as she recalled the words she’d heard moments earlier.
“What is it, Darling?” Lex asked, his frown matching hers.
“I overheard you talking about someone coming tonight,” she admitted. “With Scott?” She searched his eyes.
Lex took a deep breath before beginning. “Yes, I was planning on telling you soon.” He released from his embrace and led her to sit on the plush couch. Lois could tell by his behavior and the conversation she’d overheard that something unpleasant was afoot. “I was hoping to shield you from all of this, but it seems I have no choice now.” He took both of her hands in his and sighed.
“What’s going on, Lex?” His tone was unnerving her, and she couldn’t keep it from her voice.
“We came to the chateau so quickly after the party because I received some distressing news about a person who has been attempting to take you from me.” Lex squeezed her hands. “He planned to come to our house that evening and so we came here instead.”
Lois’s eyes went wide. His insistence that they take a vacation seemed impulsive at the time, but he’d played it off as wanting some time alone with her. Now it made sense. They hadn’t even packed anything, leaving the party and coming straight here.
“He has found out where we are again.” A small gasp escaped Lois, but he continued, eyes locked on hers, “I am through running from him. Tonight, I will stand up to him. He will not bother us again.”
Lois’s heart leapt at his protectiveness but the memory of his comments to Dr. Montgomery and her own concern for what he would do brought her back to reality. “Who is it?” she asked, needing to know the identity of this person who would ruin her happiness.
“Clark Kent.”
***
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