- Thank you all for your patience. A busted water pipe in my house caused the writing to be put aside for a while. Author's note: I have invented a new literary device - the 'super ellipse', which is this: ..... (five dots instead of three). This denotes someone on the phone listening to what someone at the other end of the conversation is saying. You'll see it when it comes up.
Reflections - Table of Contents From Part 6...
She got up quickly, and had started toward the exit again when she was tackled by her assailant from behind. He landed on her heavily, knocking all of the wind out of her. He flipped her over, and wrapped both of his hands around her neck, cutting off all of her air. She struggled, but in this position had no leverage over the much bigger man. She slowly started to lose consciousness, as he continued to choke the life out of her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
... now Part 7
Reflections, Part 7 Clark was distracted in thought as he walked toward the exit of the parking garage, each slow step echoing through the empty structure. He realized that he had started to get too emotional when talking to Lois just then. He needed to concentrate on separating his experiences of the past with the events of the present. After what had happened to Lena, he had often berated himself for not being able to be everywhere when trouble arose. The more he tried to do, the more he thought needed to be done. Every time he couldn't get to a rescue in time he would try even harder... try to do even more... trapping him in a downward spiral.
Gradually though, over the years and with the help of his parents, he had learned to focus on what he could do, and learned to live with his limitations. Donning the superhero suit had helped a lot, and allowed him the freedom to use his superpowers without the fear of discovery. He had occasional relapses, but overall he had come to understand what he could and couldn’t do.
But tonight, he had almost felt panicked at the prospect of Lois being in danger. Actually, he had felt panicked, and had needed to purposely will himself to calm down. But now, he needed to get focused on what he could do. Lois may not want an escort home, but that didn't have to stop him from making sure she got there all right... with a superhero guardian angel watching over her. That decided, Clark began to look for a private place to change into the suit, only to be interrupted by a voice speaking from directly behind him.
"Hey, buddy, got any spare change?"
'Damn,' thought Clark. 'I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I didn't even hear him come up to me.'
Clark reached inside his pocket for a spare dollar, while simultaneously listening for Lois's approaching car. Strangely, he didn't even hear her engine yet. His attention was directed at the entrance of the parking garage, when he heard an ominous click come from the street beggar. He turned to see the man pointing a small handgun at him.
"Sorry, buddy, your girlfriend's going to be a little delayed. But don't worry, you're going to join her." He waved the gun in the direction of the garage, indicating for Clark to walk back in.
As Clark walked backed toward Lois's car, with the gunman behind him, he went through his options of how best to get away from his assailant without revealing his super powers. He should think of sometime quickly, before they got to Lois. It would make it harder to escape without revealing himself if she was watching. They must want him and Lois for something, or the gunman would have just killed him on the spot.
He could just disarm directly, making it look like he used some kind of martial arts technique, but the gunman was being smart and keeping a careful distance. Much too far for Clark to get to him before being shot, without the use of super speed. As they moved along the wall of the parking structure, Clark saw his opportunity coming up in the form of a supply closet door left slightly ajar. The door was opened just a crack, perfect for what he needed to do.
Clark carefully gauged the distance between himself and the gunman. Then, just as he walked by the door, he moved his right arm at super speed, swinging the door behind him. It slammed into the gunman, knocking him down with a resounding thud. Clark peered around the door, and saw the man laying unconscious on the ground, but still breathing. He bent down and retrieved the man's gun, emptying it of its bullets. He pocketed both the gun and the bullets in his coat, as he raced into the supply closet. A second later he emerged in a red, blue, and yellow blur, heading towards Lois's car.
He rounded the corner to see Lois on the ground being choked by an assailant. Seeing that Lois was in danger and not just being detained, he poured on the speed, shattering the windows of a nearby car. Not even pausing to land, he zoomed up behind the man, grabbing him by the back of his shirt collar, and flung him away from Lois. The assailant bounced off one of the structure's pillars, knocking him out cold.
Clark then knelt down next to the gasping Lois, and gathered her up into his arms. She was hyperventilating, trying to get air into her lungs as fast as possible.
"It's OK now, he can't hurt you anymore, Ms. Lane. Take slow deep breaths." Her breathing began to slow down as the superhero continued to rock her and speak to her in soothing tones. "That's it, nice deep breaths."
Her eyes fluttered open, and she appeared to be disoriented as she looked into his eyes. In a labored whisper, she got out, "Who are you?"
"Just a friend. I heard that you were in trouble, so I flew in..."
Her eyes flew open wide and she exclaimed, "Superman!"
Clark sighed and shook his head. "Why in the world do you think that's my name?"
"Do you have another?" she replied with a weak smile.
"No... yes... it's complicated, I..." Clark stopped when he realized that they were still on the ground, with him holding onto Lois. There was something vaguely... 'uncomfortable' wasn't quite the right word... but there was something disconcerting about the feeling of her in his arms. Clark sighed, trying to decide how to answer her. He was now resigned to the fact that 'Superman' would now probably be his new name while working in the suit.
'Oh, well, it could be worse,' he thought to himself. He remembered some of the names attributed to him over the last year. There was that Japanese newspaper that had called him, what roughly translated into, 'Superior Man'. Or the tribe in northern Nigeria that referred to him as 'The Caped God'. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to Lois.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Lane, would you like to try to stand up?"
Lois contemplated her ability to do so for a moment before answering. "I think so. Besides this floor is awfully cold."
Clark helped Lois to her feet, and slowly released her to stand on her own. Something seemed wrong about letting her go, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why. No sooner had he let her go, when she suddenly looked at him with a panicked expression.
"Oh my God, Clark is..."
"...fine," he finished for her. He crossed his arms and assumed his best superhero pose. "Someone tried to detain him at gunpoint, but he managed to... subdue his assailant. I left him at the other end of the parking garage, tying the person up. Speaking of which..."
Clark disappeared at super speed, doing what he should have done when they first arrived at the parking garage - checking to make sure no one else was there waiting to attack Lois again. Within a second, he determined that no one else was lurking in the garage. Then, for good measure, he zipped over to the storage closet, where his assailant still lay. He retrieved some rope from the closet and tied the man up, then returned to Lois, and tied her assailant up also. He was back, standing next to Lois within six seconds of leaving, her face a little slack-jawed at the display of his powers.
"Wow, you're fast. I could only make out a blur when you were moving."
Clark made a superhuman effort not to smile at Lois's reaction. "The parking area is all clear, now. Mr. Kent is over toward the entrance of the garage, waiting for you. I have to go... attend to something else. Will you be all right for now, Ms. Lane?"
"Sure -- except you still owe me an interview," she replied slyly. "Especially since you saved my life... again."
Clark raised a curious eyebrow. "Really? Is that the rule?"
Lois chuckled, and shrugged at his question. "If it's not, it should be. Besides, I'll promise you an honest and fair interview." She crossed her arms, and stared him right in the eyes, unconsciously imitating his own stance.
"I'll keep that in mind. But not right now, I have to be going." He turned to go, but then something she had said struck him. He turned back and asked, "Why did you say 'again'?"
"Huh? Oh, right. Well, this is the second time you saved my life. The first time was in the Congo. Of course you weren't wearing that costume at the time."
"How do you know it was me who rescued you?"
"Come on, only a 'Superman' could have done what I saw that day. So why weren't you in costume that day?"
"Suit."
"What?"
"I refer to it as the 'Suit'."
"Fine, suit then. So why weren't you in it?"
"At the time I didn't want to be noticed. The suit tends to draw attention."
Her eyes roamed up and down his body, and then locked back onto his eyes. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. So why..."
"Ms. Lane, I really don't have time for an interview right now."
Indignant, Lois replied, "I am not... This is not an... I mean I was just..."
Clark just looked at her with his eyebrows raised in an inquisitive look, as she tried to find the right words. Finally, with a sheepish expression, she got out, "OK, I'll wait 'till you're ready."
Clark had to bite down on the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning. She really was a little spitfire. It was kind of cute how she tried to sneak in a question or two...
Clark was surprised at his thoughts. Since when did he start associating 'cute' with his new co-worker? Suddenly, he had the feeling that he needed to leave. "I've got to go. Goodnight, Ms. Lane."
"Good night, *Superman*. Oh, and you can call me..."
Clark whooshed away at super speed, leaving her in mid-sentence. He had started to feel like he wanted to let Lois get to know him... while he was in the suit. He couldn't let that happen. He needed to remember to remain distant and... and... superhero like, while he was being Superman. He shouldn't let his real personality leak through to his Superman character.
Clark stopped short in mid-air. 'Oh, Lord. I'm beginning to call myself that now.'
He shook his head, and then zoomed back to the storage closet, emerging a second later in his street clothes. He stood beside his still unconscious assailant with his arms crossed, waiting for Lois to appear. He quickly realized that he was standing there like he had the suit on, and had to will himself to relax. He stuck his hands in his pockets, and leaned against the wall, assuming a more 'Clark-like' relaxed pose. A few seconds later, he could see Lois approaching him.
As soon as she reached him, she blurted out, "Clark, are you OK? Superman told me that you had..." She stopped speaking upon directing her eyes at the unconscious man on the ground. She slowly turned her attention back to Clark with an incredulous look on her face.
"You did that?"
Clark shrugged noncommittally. "I got lucky. He passed by an open door, and I was able to swing it into him. Must have hit him in just the right place, 'cause it knocked him out."
Lois looked at him again like she was trying to figure him out completely. It was an unsettling feeling, like somehow she was going to discover who he really was just by looking at him. Which was ridiculous, of course.
Ludicrous.
Preposterous.
Wasn't it?
Suddenly he felt worried.
Finally, she chuckled and declared, "Clark, you are the weirdest Kansas farmer I have ever met. Not that I've met many Kansas farmers. In fact you're the only one. But still, if I had met more, I'm sure you would be the most unique one I will ever meet. But I'm glad you're all right." Then, after looking at the assailant one more time, she grinned, and said, "I guess you must have picked up some 'Door-Fu' lessons when you were in China, huh?"
Clark, now feeling less apprehensive, shook his head. "Naw, like I said, I just got lucky." He shrugged his shoulders again, then before Lois could think about it any more, said, "I think, maybe, we should go retrieve your purse, and call that police friend of yours on your cell phone."
"Probably a good idea, but I left my purse on the ground back there." Then, after a glance at the unconscious man on the ground, "I guess that guy isn’t going anywhere, so we might as well go call Henderson."
"Sounds like a plan."
With that, they both headed back to Lois's jeep to retrieve her purse.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lois walked next to Clark in silence, with the events of the last few minutes finally beginning to sink in. She had had close calls before, but that had been one of the closest. If Superman hadn't shown up to save her, she would be dead right now. She had covered up her reactions with Clark by babbling again, a time-honored technique she had honed over the years, but now she felt like she just needed a hug. Clark would be a good candidate for that, of course, but she didn't want to give him the wrong impression. Not that a little nudging wouldn't hurt...
Still, she didn't want him to feel uncomfortable either. She got the impression that Clark, for all his obvious warmth and empathy, tended to keep people at arms' length. She was sure that there was some experience in his past that had made him that way. Maybe she could coax it out of him in time, after they had gotten to know each other better.
That was assuming he would want to get to know her better. She had to be honest with herself and admit that she was a tad on the intimidating side... sometimes. OK, a lot of the time, but she hated to let people run roughshod over her life. She thought back to the people... men... who could have really messed with her life, if she had let them. Like Claude --
Now there was a piece of work. She had thought him interesting, and was always a sucker for a French accent. But something had struck her as phony about him, and he was much too sure she would just fall into bed with him if he gave her the chance. After she brushed off his advances, he proceeded to sleep through the entire population of females in the newspaper business... those who would have him, that is. In the end, he got caught sleeping with the wife of one of the board members at the Daily Planet, and got his French butt canned on the spot. Later, it was discovered he had stolen every tidbit of information he could from those women that would further his career. She even heard a rumor that one of his big scoops was actually stolen from one of his 'girlfriends'.
But, somehow, Clark made her want to drop those defenses. He had that 'lost puppy dog' air about him. She just wanted to bring him home and take care of him. The thought suddenly created a picture in her mind of Clark all curled up, sitting next her on the couch, while she scratched him behind the ear. The thought made her giggle out loud.
"What's so funny?"
Oh oh, busted. Thinking quickly, she replied, "Um, I was just thinking about you learning 'Door-Fu' in China, that's all. Just a silly thought."
"Oh, I see." Then, grinning, he said, "You should see what I can do with windows."
"Yeah, I bet you're real dangerous there, Kent. Criminals of the world beware. As long as Clark Kent has a door or window at hand, I won't have to worry about anybody killing me." She stopped and turned toward Clark. She had only meant her words in jest, but they caused her to realize just how close she had just come to dying. A look akin to panic grew on her face, and now that the adrenaline had worn off, the weight of what had just happened enveloped her. She began to feel her body grow cold, barely registering the fact that Clark had asked her something.
"Huh?"
"I said is anything wrong, Lois? You just froze up for a moment there."
She wrapped her arms around herself in a vain attempt to stave off the coldness in her soul. Knowing that she needed to answer him, she raised her head to look at him, but the words were stuck in her throat. The more she tried, the harder it was to form the words. The detached part of her noted that Clark was looking very worried. Then the floodgates opened and the words came pouring out...
"Wrong? No, nothing's wrong. I've been threaten before, it's just part of the job. Close calls happen all the time - it's not the first time someone tried to kill me. I've gotten out of tighter spots, like that time in the Congo. Of course, Superman was there to save me that time, but I didn’t know about him then. I would have thought of a way out. Just like now. I would have thought of something. Right, Clark? I mean that's me, old Mad Dog Lane... old indestructible Lois. Can always think her way out of a jam, no matter how tight it is. Right? So nothing to worry about, I'm just dandy. Yep... just dandy..."
She cast her eyes down and started to hyperventilate, feeling like she was falling and there was nothing to hold on to. Gently a pair of arms enveloped her, and drew her into an embrace. Soothing words entered her ears, helping her slow down her breathing. She gripped onto those arms like they were her life preserver, holding her above the storm. She should feel ashamed of breaking down like this, but she didn't. This had been her closest brush with death yet, and the culmination of years of close calls crashed down upon her. After so times barely escaping injury or death, she needed something... someone to hold on to. She didn't weep, but the coldness was far worse. She drew warmth from being inside Clark's arms, which strengthened her enough to start to get past her fears.
After a few minutes wrapped in his arms, she heard a whisper in her ear.
"Better now?"
She nodded her head wordlessly, and slowly disengaged herself. Clark seemed reluctant to let her go, but finally let his arms drop to his sides. When she looked into his eyes, the caring there warmed her as much as did his embrace. She smiled a crooked smile and said, "Some tough reporter I am."
He didn't answer her, he just stood there, smiling supportively at her. He was obviously waiting for her to make the next move. "Thanks, Clark. I'm sorry, I don't usually act so... so..."
"Human?" he finished for her.
"Well, yeah. I think it all just caught up with me. I don't mean just today. I've had a few close calls in the past."
"A few?"
"All right, more than a few. But that was so close. I can still feel his hand around my neck not being able to breathe. The worst part was I thought I was being careful. Get in my car, go straight home, and lock the doors. But I still almost got... got..." She couldn't bring herself to finish the thought.
"It's OK now, he can't hurt you anymore, Lois."
Clark's statement broke Lois out of her reverie. Once again, she felt a strange déjà vu feeling. Had she heard Clark say something like that to her before? She didn’t think so, but somehow it was like he had said it to her before. She looked at the concern in Clark's eyes, and again it struck her as something so familiar. A strange thought crossed her mind. Maybe she had met Clark in a previous life, and she was remembering some past experience with him from long ago.
'I have definitely begun to lose it,' she thought to herself. Then out loud to Clark she said, "I know. Thanks, Clark... for everything. Don't worry, I've been though worse. Now, let's call Henderson so he can cart these guys away. And then we need to get back up to the newsroom to write this all up. We need to put this in front of Perry first thing in the morning. He's sure to print the story now, and we have to be sure that this is exposed before the Messenger launch. There is no way that NASA can ignore this now."
She smiled confidently, trying to show Clark that she was indeed ready to get on with the story. Nothing like the smell of a prize-winning story to get her back on track.
She turned toward her jeep, and purposely marched toward it as fast as she could without breaking into a sprint, Clark close behind her.
A minute later, they were back at her jeep, and she retrieved her purse from where she'd dropped it. Finding her cell phone inside, she hit the speed dial for Henderson, and waited for the police station to answer. She knew it was late, but knowing Bill he was still probably in his office sifting through the clues on Platt's murder. Someone finally answered and informed her that Henderson would be with her in a moment, then put her on hold.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clark shook his head and chuckled, following his tornado of a partner as she stormed off to retrieve her purse. He had to give her credit, she really bounced back quick. Most people would be shaken for a while, but after that one small anxiety attack, she was right back in the game. She was quite a woman... person.
They were able to quickly find her purse, and Lois pulled out her cell phone to call the police. It was amusing to note that the Inspector's phone number was on her speed dial. After she asked to speak to Inspector Henderson, he could hear the mind-numbing elevator music coming through the phone receiver as she was put on hold. After a couple of moments, she covered the mouthpiece to address Clark, smiling sweetly at him
"Oh, Clark, by the way, I wanted to you to know how much I appreciated your support just now. But, just so you know, if you breathe a word of what happened, I'll have to kill you."
"Don't worry, Lois, your secret is safe with me."
"Yeah, I've heard that one..... Bill? Lois Lane. You need to get down to the Planet right away..... No, I didn't blow anything up..... No, I didn’t kill anyone. Listen, seriously, two goons jumped Clark and I in the parking structure..... No, we were able to subdue them..... No! I told you I didn’t kill anyone..... Clark Kent, my... um, partner from this afternoon..... Yeah, the linebacker..... We've got them tied up, so they're not going anywhere soon..... OK, we'll be here..... Bye."
She snapped the phone closed, and looked up at Clark. "He's on his way."
"Good. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, I've been through worse before. Probably. Anyway, I'll be fine. So what do you want to do while we're waiting for the cops?"
Clark shrugged. "I don't know, we could..."
"We could swap life stories, but I don’t think we have enough time to do that. At least I don't. Come to think of it, with your travels, you probably don’t either. How about favorite sports teams? I love football. Don’t know why, just love it. How about you, who do you like?"
I... um, like the Chiefs, though it's just hometown loyalty."
"Hmmm, I root for the Mustangs, same reason. So are you really from Smallville? That's not a gag, is it?"
Clark wasn’t sure how they had gotten back to talking about his hometown, by way of football teams. He gave up trying to follow her logic, and just went with the flow.
"Yes, I'm really from Smallville. What's so strange about that?"
"I don't know. I mean is it really... *small*? If it is, that wouldn’t be a very creative name, would it?"
"Any more than calling the largest city in the world Metropolis?"
She contemplated that for a moment before answering. "Point taken. Still..."
"If you must know, Smallville is named after Nathaniel Small, the town's founder. I swear I have to explain that to every person I meet from a big... city." Clark's sentence trailed off as he once again experienced a small bout of déjà vu. But he shook it off quickly and continued.
"Anyway, I thought we didn't have time to swap life stories."
"We aren't, I was just curious." Lois sighed, and then leaned against her jeep with her arms crossed, her eyes staring unfocused and straight ahead. After several minutes of silence, she turned to Clark, and started to ask, "So when did you leave..."
Lois was interrupted by the sound of an approaching car. Soon the parking garage was illuminated by the red and blue lights of three approaching police cruisers. They stopped close to where Lois and Clark stood, and several police officers filed out, including Inspector Henderson.
Wordlessly, Henderson walked over to where the assailant lay, and just looked at him for a few seconds. Then he turned his attention back to Lois and Clark.
"Lady, you should come with a Surgeon General's warning. Are you sure he's still breathing?"
Lois smirked at his comment. "Yes, he's still breathing. And for your information, I didn't do that, Superman did."
"Super... Who or what is Superman?"
"You know, the guy in blue and red tights. Been doing rescues and catching criminals for the last few months in Metropolis." She looked at him like he was crazy for not knowing exactly what she was talking about. Never mind the fact that there was no way he could have seen the article where she gave the superhero his new name.
"Riiiiight. Did he take care of that other guy I saw at the entrance, too?"
"No, that was Clark's doing."
"That was Clark's... oh never mind. You people are giving me an ulcer." He turned to the uniformed policemen, and barked, "Joey, take these guys in and book them. Make sure the Doc looks them over first. And I want someone to read them their rights as soon as they're conscious. Got it?"
"Sure thing, Inspector," responded the officer who was obviously 'Joey'.
Henderson spun back to face Lois and Clark. "You two, upstairs. I want to know what's going on. And, Lane, don't tell me you don't know, 'cause I know you do. And you..." He pointed a finger at Clark. "...you're supposed to keep her out of trouble, not encourage her."
Clark just smiled, and shrugged. "Mr. White didn't tell me that part, he just assigned me to assist Ms. Lane."
Lois and Clark turned to each other, with grins on both their faces, then turned back to Henderson. Both tried to look as innocent as possible... and failed. Henderson just shook his head and grumbled something as he walked past them toward the elevator.
Looking very nonchalant, Clark looked at Lois and asked, "Shall we follow him, Ms. Lane?"
"I think we shall, Mr. Kent."
"He doesn't looked pleased with us, Ms. Lane."
"No indeed, Mr. Kent. Can't imagine why."
"Neither can I. Shall we?"
"We shall."
They turned in unison and headed together toward the fuming Inspector, who was waiting for the elevator to arrive. Without turning her head Lois said, "You know, Mr. Kent, if we are going to continue to speak this way to each other, you'll need to carry an umbrella when you walk."
Clark, likewise, spoke without turning his head. "I'll keep that in mind, Ms. Lane. If I do obtain this umbrella, will that mean you'll be donning skin tight leather outfits?"
Lois stopped walking, looked at Clark, and with mock annoyance said, "In your dreams, Kent. "
Clark looked at her, barely containing a chuckle. "OK, I'll skip the umbrella."
That elicited a laugh from Lois, who just shook her head at Clark. "You know, I think we've been working too long. Nice to know I'm not the only crazy one here."
"Yeah, nice to know."
A silence descend between the two of them. For some reason Clark started to lose focus on his surroundings, and began to only see Lois's deep, brown eyes. Something was mesmerizing about them, and he couldn't look away, or speak. Lois, too, seem held by something as she just stared back at him.
"Hey you two, I don't have all night! Get you fourth estate butts over here."
Both Clark and Lois jumped at Henderson's voice. Lois shouted back at Henderson, "Oh, hold your horses, we're coming."
They grinned at each other for a second, embarrassed, then went to join Henderson in the elevator. On the way up Clark began to think about what just happened. Whatever it was, it worried him. He was practically flirting with his work partner. What the heck was he thinking? He wasn't thinking, that was it. He had got lax, and let her get under his skin. He would have to start to act more professional around her. Letting her get close like that was much too dangerous, and something he definitely couldn't afford to do.
As the doors opened on the newsroom, Clark was satisfied that he had chosen the right course of action. But as he watched her leave the elevator, he thought about the playful exchange he'd had with Lois downstairs. Well, he could act professionally with her, and still be friends, right? Yeah that was it, just friends. Good friends. That couldn't hurt, could it?
Happy with his decision, he followed Lois and Henderson to the conference room, ready to help his new partner... and friend.
... to be continued
