Why wasn’t she dead?

That was the question that ran through Lois’s mind as she watched the firefighters extinguish the last of the flames. The hangar in which she and Jimmy had been left to die had been completely obliterated from the landscape, leaving an empty space like a lost tooth among the hodgepodge of buildings that comprised EPRAD. She and Jimmy had been in that hangar, prisoners inside that now-empty space. They should have died. It should have been an absolutely foolproof way for Antoinette Baines to silence a couple of nosy reporters who had learned too much. There had been no way to break the bonds that had held her to that pole, and yet someone...someone...had snapped them effortlessly. Had snatched her up, and Jimmy, and flown them out of the building to safety.

And she knew they’d flown. It had all happened so quickly, but she knew the man hadn’t been running. There hadn’t been the jostling, up-and-down feeling of running. It had been swift and smooth, the only prevailing sensation one of wind whistling across her face and through her hair. And then there had been the deafening explosion, and she’d felt him hold her tighter, felt him protecting her with his own body before gently setting her down a safe distance from the building. Still, Lois might have doubted her own senses had he not then taken off into the air after the helicopter that had presumably carried Antoinette Baines to her own fiery death. But there was no room for doubt: She’d seen a man fly. Seen him just slip away from the earth’s gravity under his own power and take to the sky, his cape fluttering behind him.

Yes, he’d worn a cape. She remembered that. It had been red, she thought, and his suit was blue with some sort of emblem on the front, but she couldn’t remember what the emblem was. She’d been clutched to his chest most of the time, unable to see it, and then it had been dark, the flames from the burning buildings making a crazy play of light and shadows across their faces. When he spoke, his voice had been gruff, but she remembered the way he’d held her, the way he’d shielded her from the blast, and then the gentleness with which he’d set her down in the field, and she couldn’t bring herself to find him fearsome. No, whoever he was, whatever he was, he was good. She was certain of that.

And now, perhaps, he was dead. She’d last seen him flying straight into the helicopter explosion. If he’d been close enough, if he’d been near the helicopter when it exploded, he couldn’t have survived it – no man could have survived it. So he had probably died. He had saved her, and then he had gone to his own death, and the horror of that was more than she could contemplate just then, so she pushed it from her mind. She concentrated instead on Jimmy, who was sitting dazed and aching in the back of the ambulance. She held his hand, as much for her comfort as for his, because they’d been through something together that night. They’d nearly been killed, and it had been her fault, her story, her harebrained scheme that had brought them to this place. She knew she should apologize, but apologies didn’t come easily to her and the words stuck in her throat; she just squeezed his hand and hoped he understood.

“Ms. Lane?” A uniformed policeman approached, stern and no-nonsense, creaking as he walked. Why did policemen always seem to creak when they walked? Was it their shoes, she wondered, or their belts? “We need to ask you a few questions.”

She nodded and ran her tongue over her dry lips, dragging her thoughts away from the creaking and back to the business at hand. “Yes,” she said, her voice an unpleasant croak, though whether from the smoke or emotion she didn’t know.

“What were you doing here tonight, Ms. Lane?”

“I was...” She looked at Jimmy and decided his injury had earned him a place in the story. “We were investigating the Messenger explosion. We had reason to believe the shuttle was sabotaged, and we came here looking for proof.”

“Did you have authorization to be here?”

“Um, not exactly.”

“Not exactly,” he repeated.

“We sneaked in,” she admitted. “We needed evidence, and it was obvious we weren’t going to get what we needed through official channels.”

“And did you find this evidence?”

She glanced at Jimmy, then back at the policeman. It went against the grain to give her story away before it was printed, even to the police, but she knew this had gone far, far beyond being just a story. “Yes,” she admitted. “When we got here, we realized that the shuttle in the main hangar wasn’t the Messenger. I’d seen the Messenger two days ago when it was first brought in. The whole left side was ripped out. The shuttle we first saw tonight wasn’t like that, and we realized that someone at EPRAD must be trying to cover up evidence of something.”

“And how had you happened to see the Messenger two days ago?”

“I, uh, sneaked in then, too.” The policeman raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t comment. “Lives were at stake,” she added, more sharply. “The next launch is tomorrow afternoon. If the Messenger was sabotaged....”

“I understand, Ms. Lane. We’ll get to your unorthodox methods of investigation in a bit. For now, I need to know what happened tonight.”

“She caught us is what happened,” Lois said bitterly. “Antoinette Baines. She’s the one who’s behind all this, as near as I can tell. We found a second hangar – the one with the real Messenger wreckage – and Baines caught us there. One of her thugs hit Jimmy and knocked him out, and then they came after me, too, and tied me up. She left some chemicals leaking across the floor that she said would blow us up. She called it their ‘penalty for trespassing’.”

“But you weren’t blown up,” the policeman noted, nodding in the direction of the smoldering buildings. “How do you explain that?”

“I, um, can’t, exactly.” Lois admitted. “A man saved us. I don’t know how he did it, but he saved us.”

“A man?”

“A man in a blue bodysuit and a red cape.” She winced slightly, knowing full well how it sounded. But it was the truth, damn it, and there was nothing else she could say. “He snapped my restraints, grabbed me and then Jimmy and flew us to safety.”

The police officer’s expression changed for the first time. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open slightly before he caught himself and pasted the cool look of disinterest firmly back in place. “He flew you?”

“He flew us,” she said firmly. “Look, I know how it sounds....”

“Were you injured, Ms. Lane?” The man sounded genuinely concerned. He shifted from one foot to the other, and she heard the creaking sound again. “Perhaps a head injury like your friend here? Should we get the paramedics to...?”

“No,” she snapped. “I wasn’t injured at all because the man flew us out of there. I know it sounds crazy, but that’s what happened. And I can’t explain it any better than you can. But a man in a blue suit and a red cape saved my life tonight, and you can just write that down in your little book because I’m not changing my story just because you find it implausible.”

They stared at one another for the space of several seconds, and the police officer seemed to puff up with irritation. “And where is this flying man now?”

“He’s probably....” She couldn’t bring herself to say it. “He flew off after the helicopter. I saw a helicopter taking off and thought that Antoinette Baines might be in it, might be getting away. I still think that. He flew off after it, and then it exploded in midair. If he was close enough, he wouldn’t have...wouldn’t have survived it,” she finished in a whisper. “He saved our lives, and then he....”

“Ms. Lane, you’ve had a stressful evening....”

“Don’t patronize me,” she snapped. “I know you think I’m crazy, but I’m not. This happened exactly the way I’ve told you.”

“Mr. Olsen,” the policeman said, turning to Jimmy. “I don’t suppose you saw this flying man?”

Jimmy gave Lois an apologetic glance and shook his head. “The last thing I saw was that Dr. Baines and the two guys with her. Then the lights went out. But if Lois says there was a flying man, I believe her.” Lois noticed he didn’t look at her as he said it. Clearly, he didn’t believe her story any more than the policeman did, but the show of solidarity was nice, she supposed.

The policeman heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Fine,” he said. “We’ll need a complete statement from both of you later. Someone will be in touch. In the meantime, if anything else comes to you about this flying man, I’d appreciate it if you’d let us know.”

He strode away and one of the paramedics came forward to fuss over Jimmy some more, insisting that he had to go to the hospital.

“I’m fine now,” Jimmy protested. “Just a headache.”

“You should go, Jimmy,” Lois told him, giving his hand one last squeeze. “You were unconscious for a long time.”

“Are you sure you’re OK?” he asked.

“So you think I’m crazy, too.”

“I...no! It’s just....”

“It happened, all right? The only reason we’re not dead is that a man in a blue suit and a red cape saved us. And I don’t know any more about how he did it than you do.”

“Do you think he might have been, like, a guardian angel or something?” Jimmy asked hesitantly.

“I....” The thought hadn’t occurred to her. She didn’t believe in guardian angels, for one thing, and the man had felt too real – too solid and warm and human to have been any sort of angel. “No.” She shook her head firmly. “He wasn’t anything like that. He was real.”

“I don’t mean that you imagined it. Just that...well, you did say he flew.”

“I said it because it happened. But he wasn’t an angel.” There was something – something teasing the edges of her consciousness – but it stayed frustratingly out of reach. “I don’t know who he was or why he could do what he did, but we owe him our lives, Jimmy. I do know that.”

Jimmy nodded and then winced, his hand going to his head. “I feel like my brains are scrambled,” he said.

“Go to the hospital.” She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek, almost smiling when she saw how startled he was by the gesture. “I’m glad you’re OK,” she told him.

He gave her a weak grin. “Are you kidding? It’s worth a concussion to work with the great Lois Lane.”

And that did make her smile.

_______________________________

Word of her exploits made it back to the Planet before she did, thanks to the police calling to check up on her story, and she was greeted at the elevator by a grim-faced Perry White. Just behind him stood Clark, looking utterly shaken. She fully expected a lecture from him, but instead, he came forward and opened his arms, and she stepped into them, little caring that Perry was standing right there watching.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled into his shirt front. His arms were around her, secure and sustaining, and it felt so wonderful that she wanted to stand there, just like that, for the rest of her life.

“What for?” he murmured.

She shook her head, unable to explain. But he’d been sick with worry about her, that was clear, and it was just one more thing to feel guilty about. She’d been stupid, going to EPRAD without telling anyone, risking not only her life but Jimmy’s. She’d gotten the story in the end, but she was being tortured by the fact that if not for a flying man in a red cape, she and Jimmy would be dead. And that was a pretty big ‘if’.

She felt his hand caressing her hair in a soothing motion. “I’m just glad you’re all right,” he said softly. “I’m so glad you’re all right. Lois, if anything happened to you....” His voice broke and he stopped and heaved a shuddering sigh.

“I know.” She saw it then – saw the thing they had found in one another stretching out into the future, saw all that it could be...all that it already was. It had almost ended that night, cut short by a fiery explosion, and she knew suddenly that she wanted it as much as he did. She wanted to see all that promise fulfilled, one day at a time. “I know,” she said again.

She felt his lips brush gently against the top of her head. “And you’re really all right?”

She nodded and pulled away slightly, glancing at Perry and then back at Clark. “I’m fine. Jimmy was knocked unconscious, so they took him to the hospital. I told him I’d pick him up...give him a ride home.”

“I’ll take care of that,” Perry said gruffly. “You don’t need to be going anywhere else tonight. Let Kent here see you straight home.”

She shook her head. “I need to write my story. I got those hard facts you wanted.”

“Damn it, Lois, you know good and well that when I said that I didn’t mean for you to go off and risk your neck!”

“I know you didn’t, and I didn’t mean to risk my neck either – or Jimmy’s. But that doesn’t change the fact that I got all the evidence I needed. When Jimmy and I sneaked into the main hangar, I realized the scientists were working on a phony shell.” She told him then about finding the second hangar with the real Messenger wreckage and about being caught by Baines and her men.

“I fought,” Lois said, “but Jimmy was unconscious and Baines had a gun, which kind of put the odds in her favor.”

“I’ll say.” Clark looked vaguely sick.

Lois put a gentle hand on his arm and felt the tension there. “They tied me up and left some chemicals leaking across the floor. The something-methyl-something-zine and the nitrogen something-or-other. She said that when they met, they would cause a reaction...would blow us up. And they would have if we hadn’t been rescued.”

“Ah, about that, Lois,” Perry said, giving her a disapproving look. “I talked to Henderson, and he said you gave the officer at the scene some cockamamie yarn about a flying man. He wasn’t too happy about it, either. So what’s the real story?”

“The real story is that I was rescued by a flying man,” Lois said belligerently. She didn’t like the idea of Henderson and Perry talking about her behind her back – not one little bit. It smacked a little too much of the old boy network for her taste. “I wouldn’t lie to the police, Perry, and I wouldn’t lie to you, either.”

“Honey...” he began.

“Don’t ‘honey’ me,” she said. “I know what that means! You think I got hit on the head or had a hallucination or something. But I didn’t. And there’s no other way I could have gotten out of that hangar. I was tied up and couldn’t budge, and Jimmy was out cold. So if the flying man hadn’t saved me, I’d....”

“We get it,” Clark interrupted hastily. “Let’s just...not think about that, all right?”

She turned to him. “Do you believe me?” she asked.

“I....” He swallowed hard. “Um...yes. I believe you. I’m just grateful to...him, whoever he was.” His hand went to his glasses and then dropped quickly back to his side, a nervous habit she found endearing. “Would you, uh, know him again if you saw him?”

“Would I know him? Of course I’d know him! He wore a bright blue bodysuit and a red cape...and he flew! It would be kind of hard to confuse him with someone else.”

Perry sighed. “Lois, is it possible you were drugged?”

“No! I was never unconscious – not for a minute. They didn’t give me anything, and even if they had, a hallucination certainly couldn’t have rescued me from that building. It was a man, Perry. A living, breathing man.”

“Who flew.” Perry put his hands in his pockets and rocked back and forth.

“Who flew,” she repeated emphatically.

He shook his head. “Well, I can see I’m not going to talk you out of it, but know this,” he fixed her with a stern look, “the Daily Planet isn’t printing a single word about flying men. I’d be laughed right out of the editor’s office if I let something like that go into print.”

Lois gasped in outrage. “Perry! This is the biggest news story in...well, ever! How can you even consider not printing it?”

“I can consider it because this isn’t the National Inquisitor. This is the Daily Planet, damn it, and we have a reputation to uphold. People know when they pick up the Daily Planet that they’re going to get solid news, not sensational clap-trap about flying men. Now, I’m sorry, Lois, but that’s my final word. You write your story about the Messenger and get it to me as quick as you can. We’ll get it in tomorrow’s edition. But not one word about the flying man.”

He headed for his office, a sure sign that he had no intention of continuing the argument, and she turned to Clark with an outraged look. “A man flew, Clark,” she said. “And he doesn’t want the story.”

“I’m sorry,” he said softly, and for some reason, he looked so miserable as he said it that she couldn’t bring herself to continue ranting at him.

“Do you really believe me?” she asked.

“I...Lois, I....” He raked his fingers through his hair.

“You don’t,” she said flatly. “You were just saying that to be nice.”

“No! It’s not that. I do believe you, I swear. I just wish I could...make this right somehow. I want to...to...do something, but I’m not sure...what’s the right thing to do.”

She gave him a little smile. “You don’t have to do anything, Clark. None of this is your fault.”

He looked, if possible, even more miserable, and she thought it was very sweet that he was so concerned for her. It felt good to have someone on her side, even if there wasn’t much he could do except support her. She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek.

“Lois, could we go somewhere?” he blurted, reaching up to brush his fingers across the spot where her lips had just been. “Somewhere where we could be alone?”

“Oh, I’d love that, and I know we were supposed to have dinner tonight, but I really can’t.” She gave him a regretful look and hoped he could see how sincerely she wished they could spend some quiet time alone together. “I need to get this story written, and then I really, really want to get out of these smoky clothes and take a long bath. Could we do it tomorrow, maybe?”

“Uh, yeah,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and stepping back, putting distance between them. “I guess...tomorrow will be fine.”

_____________________________

A/N: Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

I'd like to say a special thank-you to MrsMosley for putting her time and effort into making a trailer for this fic. I was so pleased - and incredibly impressed! Thank you again, Lisa smile

Can't think of any notes for this part, but as always, let me know if anything confuses. I rushed the final edit just a bit and might have missed something. Thanks to all who are following the story!