I agree with BJ that Bob is a wonderful character. The way you write his silences are priceless - heck, the entire conversation between Lois and Bob is priceless:
Hello, Bob.
>> Hello, Lois. I am pleased to – <<
Bob? Are you there? What happened? Where'd you go?
>> Something has changed. Something about you. Let me compare – yes, I see. Lois, are you aware that the baseline identification scan I performed on you the first time we communicated does not match your current readings? <<
I'm not surprised.
>> I was not aware that humans passed through any kind of physical metamorphosis. Is that what has happened to you? <<
No. You're probably picking up on the fact that I've got Clark's powers now.
>> <<
Bob? Hey, come back!
>> How did this "copy' process take place? <<
I don't know. We were hoping you could tell us.
>> <<
Bob? Hey, Bob, don't go all stoner on me now! We need your help! Bob?
You're saying we should sleep on it?
>> If I comprehend the idiom correctly, then, yes, please sleep on it. <<
Okay. Can I go now?
>> Please remain in contact with my outer shell for a few moments. I must take additional physical readings from you. Hmm. Lois, did you know that you are currently ovulating? <<
Wowzers!
Bob doesn't understand the finer points of politeness and discretion, does he?
Or could it be that Bob is suggesting that Lois is looking more and more like a
very fine mate for Clark - and speaking about that, is she aware that she is currently ovulating? So if they would like to get married about now....
Much of the rest of this part concentrated on Lois and Clark's interplay. This is wonderfully written:
She stepped up behind him and put her arms around his chest, then she leaned her cheek against his wide, solid back. “You don't have to make excuses for yourself, Clark, especially not to me. And you aren't responsible for those deaths. You told me that they had all died before you even knew that a bomb had gone off. There wasn't anything you could have done. You didn't cause them and you couldn't have prevented them.”
She felt him shudder and nod. “I know. But it doesn't make it easier.”
He stepped away and she let him go. “No. But you can't carry the guilt of every death, every injury, every crime you might have prevented. No one can. You do all that can do, Clark, and you have to leave everything else up to the rest of us. You can't do everything or save everyone, but if you do what you can, that's enough.”
I love the way she is embracing him, in a non-intrusive way, as she is telling him this.
Well, after that things soured between them:
She wrenched her hand free. “Just because you don't have any feelings doesn't mean – “
The back of his hand stopped two inches from the side of her face. The force of the air he'd pushed with the swing blew her hair back and ruffled his mother's window curtains.
This is borderline shocking. I don't like what Lois is saying to Clark. She desperately wants to contact Luthor and assure him that she is okay. She also thinks that Clark ought to be just as anxious to contact Rebecca. When Clark won't allow them to contact Luthor and Rebecca, she accuses Clark, in a very mean way, of lacking feelings.
This is the second time that a Lois of yours has spoken to Clark in a way that seems just too mean for her. The first occasion was, of course, when she said horrible things to Clark in "The Maysonry of Life". I thought that Lois's reaction in "Maysonry" was too out of character for her, but here I can agree that it is at least possible that she might hurl such an accusation at Clark in the heat of the moment.
Your Lois is quick-tempered but also warm-hearted. It could be that she is right that Clark's feelings for Rebecca are not very deep, and I guess it remains to be seen if Clark can love deeply. Still more, it remains to be seen if he can really show his love to his loved one, particularly if Lois is going to be the one he loves.
The fact that Clark was about to hit Lois, and with full super-strength to boot, is nothing less than shocking. Certainly Clark knew that Lois is invulnerable and couldn't be hurt. Still, what does he know about how long her powers will last? What if he had hit her with full force, and right at that moment her invulnerability ran out?
But even if he knew that she could not be hurt, the fact that he would hit her is still shocking. Here in Sweden, counsellors usually tell women that they should leave their husbands or partners the first time they use violence on them.
So Clark didn't actually hit Lois. He stopped his hand inches from her face.
How does Clark react to his own loss of control? Not by being horrified at what he almost did to Lois, and certainly not by apologizing for it. Instead, he continues to look at her with fury in his eyes, and he speaks to her with the same kind of barely-controlled fury:
Despite her own new-found confidence in her powers, Clark's dark eyes frightened her. They were as hard and cold as frozen granite, yet more full of fire than she'd ever seen, and his voice rode the razor edge of barely leashed fury. “Don't ever accuse me of not having feelings, Lois. Not ever. I'd like for you to tell your family that you're not hurt. I wish I could tell Rebecca that I'm alive and well. But we have a higher priority. Unless you've given up on finding the rest of those gun-runners – “
Well, sigh. Your Clark doesn't lack feelings, Terry. He has fury to spare, that's for sure.
I agree with his priorities, though.
Well, I'm glad that Clark really thought about his loss of control:
Bob's warning that two people who were linked as he and Lois were would share feelings and attitudes came back. Was it possible that Lois's tendency to quick anger was undermining his own control? Could she be influencing him in that way?
He shook his head. Even if it were true that Lois's attitudes were literally rubbing off on him, it wasn't her fault. And blaming her for his problem would do no good. He was the one with the anger issues. He was the one who had to get his temper under control. And he was the one who had to make sure that he never lost it, never let his temper loose.
And he was the one who had to make sure that he never – never! – came close to hitting Lois again.
Yes, Clark. You do need to get your temper under control.
Could it be that his feelings for Lois contributed to his dance near the edge of the control cliff? He liked her – he like her a whole lot – and she was one of the few people whose good opinion of him was important enough to him to make him change his behavior. On top of that, he respected her and wanted to keep her as a friend. He cared about her.
And after a moment's consideration, he decided that he cared about her more than even a good friend probably should. After all, she trusted him enough to fly with him and learn from him how to control her new-found powers. And she listened to him when he needed to say things to her. She was probably – no, definitely – his best friend.
But she shouldn't have insulted him. After all, even Superman had feelings which could be hurt.
Feelings which, at the moment, were as much a mystery to him as anything else he could think of. Those feelings couldn't possibly be anywhere near what he thought they might be. No way. There was no way he was in love with Lois Lane.
He'd keep telling himself that. Maybe he'd even come to believe it eventually.
I'm glad that Clark is feeling, more and more, that he loves Lois, but I find it depressing that his love for her would make it more likely for him to hit her. Actually, that is pretty much what a rather typical wife-batterer may say - he loves his woman, he needs her, so he has to hit her to make her behave and make her stay with him.
And Clark certainly isn't ready to ask forgiveness:
-* Clark? Are you listening? *-
-* Yes. *-
Okay, she thought, we're going to be terse with each other. -* I think we should have that chat with Bob as soon as possible. *-
-* I agree. Dad and I should be finished in about forty minutes. Is that soon enough? *-
-* Yes. I'll be helping your mother with her chores. *-
-* I'll find you when the time comes. *-
And the link faded from his end. Still mad, she thought. Well, she was too.
If I was Martha in your stories, Terry, I would be worried about Clark in two ways. First, I would be worried that he would be hurt or killed or that he would work so hard that he would just buckle under or sink into a depression. But second, I would worry that he could lose control and use his mighty strength to hurt or kill other people.
Perhaps Martha should warn Lois. And if she doesn't want to do that, perhaps she should have a talk with Clark.
Ann
