Sorry it took so long, but I had to throw away 20 pages of writing that just didn't work out. So here is Part 9. Part 10 is already on the way to the Beta Reader / Rat. It's shorter than last post, but Labrat assured me that it average length for a post.
-- Taivas
From Part 8...
==============
Nigel nodded and left the office. Lex retrieved a cigar from the box on his desk, and carefully prepared it for use. He then lit it and took a long, slow drag.
He looked at himself vainly in the wall mirror, and with mock sympathy he uttered, "My, my Antoinette, such heartache you will cause. First the Shuttle's destruction, then the deaths of two innocent reporters, and finally taking your own life. Such are the things that tragedy is made of. Mr. Shakespeare would have been proud."
He smiled to himself in mirror, satisfied that all was right in the world... his world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
... now Part 9
Reflections, Part 9
Clark walked next to Lois on their way into the Planet building. He kept looking into the shadows, searching for hidden assailants ready to attack them again for the information on the Space Station. He didn't know why, but he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Usually he could absolutely control his body's reactions, but now he couldn't shake the feeling of panic growing within him. Maybe it was some Kryptonian sixth sense that was alerting him to an unseen danger. But even using his enhanced senses, he couldn't detect any threats.
"Clark, did you hear me?"
Clark turned in surprise, suddenly aware that Lois was trying to ask him something. "What? Sorry, what did you say?"
Lois smirked at him, obviously amused at his confusion. "So where did you go just now?"
"Sorry, I just was thinking about last night. So, what were you telling me?"
Lois shook her head and chuckled. "I was telling you to get upstairs and start writing up our interview. I'm going around the corner to pick up my evening dress from the cleaners."
"Oh... Well, I'll go with you."
"Why? Don't think I can handle the big, bad drycleaner?"
"No, I just thought, you know, that we should, um... stick together."
Lois gave him an exasperated look, but then quickly changed it to a smile. "I'll be fine, Clark. No one is going to jump me in broad daylight in a drycleaners. Besides I can take care of myself. So stop playing nursemaid and get up there and start getting that interview typed up."
Clark was torn, but grudgingly had to agree with her logic. Besides, with his speed he was only a second away if he heard her in trouble. "All right I'm going. But you be careful."
"OK, *Dad*, I promise not to talk to strangers." She snickered once more and turned to walk down the street.
Clark couldn’t talk his eyes off of her as she walked away. The further she got from him, the more his anxiety increased. He could feel his heart rate increase with each of her steps. He wanted to chase after her, but felt himself rooted to the spot. As she reached the corner, Clark snapped, and started to chase after her. Something terrible was going to happen, he just knew it somehow.
"Lois, stop!" he shouted as he moved toward her. Just as she was about to go around the corner, she turned her head and smiled sweetly at him. He must have shifted into hyper speed, for she appeared to be moving in slow motion. In the next second, she disappeared around the corner. As soon as she was out of Clark's sight, a gunshot rang out.
Now Clark was moving so fast that the rest of the world appeared to be at a standstill. He turned the corner, and froze at the sight of Lois lying in the street, her blouse soaked in blood. He rushed over to find Lois with a bullet hole in her chest, and blood pooled around her. He immediately took off his coat, and at super speed tore it up to fashion a makeshift bandage.
He knelt down beside her, and pressed the material into the wound, to try to stop the bleeding. Lois opened her eyes and saw him kneeling over him. She still had enough energy to place her hand on the hand he was using to hold the bandage in place. He could see blood trickling from her mouth, and as she tried to speak, her body was racked with coughs.
Finally she got out in a labored whisper, "Why did you leave me Cl..." But she expired before she could finish. Tears were running down Clark's face freely, and he cradled her in his arms, oblivious to the blood.
"No, no, no! Lois, I'm so sorry. I should have never have left you."
***
"Clark! Come on, wake up, we're here."
The scene before him dissolved away, and slowly became the interior of Lois's car. He sat up quickly in his seat, and grabbed Lois's arm with a wide-eyed expression.
"Lois, are you all right? Are you hurt?"
Lois scowled at him in confusion. "Am I all right? Are *you* all right? That must have been some dream." When he didn't move or answer, she looked down to where he was holding her arm, then back up at him, an amused smile on her face. He suddenly realized his hand was on still on her arm, and quickly removed it.
"Sorry."
"Oh, stop apologizing; you had a long night. Though you'll have to share that dream with me later. It sounds like it was real interesting." As they both got out of the car, Clark realized that they were, once again, in the Planet's parking garage. He did a quick scan to make sure that there were no lurking predators, and then jogged to catch up with Lois, who was on her way to the elevator.
As she reached for the elevator button she said, "You know, Clark, you really should have gotten some sleep last night. It's going to catch up with you. You're not Superman, you know."
Clark froze and did a double take at her statement. She turned to look at him, and scowled at the look on his face.
"What? You OK, Clark?"
Clark shook his head and said, "Yeah, sure. I was just thinking you were right. Maybe I'll get my second wind after a cup of coffee."
She smiled, and entered the elevator that had just arrived. "Always works for me. Let's go."
As he joined her in the elevator, his thought about how tired he must be to let something like that slip through. He needed to be more careful around Lois. She was a sharp investigative reporter, used to picking up small clues and finding the truth. He didn't even want to think about what would happen if she found out his secret. A story like that would be a sure-fire ticket to a Pulitzer.
Though, would she really publish his secret if she found out? She was 'Mad Dog Lane', but she really did seem to be a reporter for the sake of making the world a better place. He didn't see her doing something just for the glory or fame. Still, he didn't need the burden of someone else knowing his secret. The last time was bad enough.
But Lois wasn't Lena. At least he didn't think so. He had thought he could trust Lena, but in the end she betrayed that trust. What if his initial impression of Lois was wrong too? How did he know she wouldn't go off and write the story of the year, at his expense? He didn't really know her, and there was no way he was going to trust someone so quickly again.
The doors of the elevator opened, and Lois made a beeline for her desk. Clark went straight to the coffee station and fixed a cup for each of them. When he got back to her desk, she was already typing her notes from the interview into her computer. Without looking away from her computer screen, she held up her hand to accept her cup of coffee, and took a sip, without even checking the temperature of the coffee.
"Hmmm... Thanks Clark." She continued to type furiously, until at last she had transcribed the highlights of the interview. She took another swig of her coffee, and turned to Clark to ask, "So, what do you think? Did I leave anything out?"
Clark studied the screen for a moment, and then leaned over and pointed to a word on the screen. “It should be ‘a spokesperson for NASA said’, not ‘NASA said’. NASA is not a person.”
Lois turned her head toward Clark and shot a scathing look at him. “So now you’re an editor?”
Clark turned to look at her, and smiled as he declared, “Chief Editor – Smallville Press.”
Lois just smirked, and rolled her eyes. After looking back at the screen for a moment, she sighed and made the correction Clark suggested. Without looking at him, she made a show of resaving the file with a flourish of keystrokes, and then looked directly into his eyes with an amused look. “Happy, now?”
“Beautiful.” He looked directly back into her eyes before realizing that their faces were only a couple of inches from each other. He quickly straightened up, cleared his throat, and said, “I mean, it looks great. We should send it to Perry.”
Lois lost the amusement on her face and said softly. “Sure, Clark.”
She turned slowly back to her keyboard, and sent the story to the printer. Clark went to collect the printout, and then joined Lois back at her desk to piece together the whole story for Perry. They worked together in relative silence for the next half hour, pulling the rest of the story together. Every so often, Clark would sneak a look at his coworker, wondering why he had suddenly felt self-conscious about being so close to Lois a moment ago.
He had to admit to himself that he had an idea why he felt that way. But he couldn’t let himself be distracted like that. Lois was his coworker, and nothing more. He needed to remember that anything more was out of the question. Besides he had enough of strong-willed women, and Lois was certainly no wallflower.
After they were done, they delivered the story to Perry, who grunted his approval after reading the first couple of pages. He then waved them out, telling them not to be late for the ball. They collected their belongings and rode the elevator to the lobby.
They rode quietly down until, without looking at Clark, Lois asked, “So, Smallville, what do you think of your first couple of days at Planet? Everything you expected?”
Clark chuckled at her question. “Well, I expected that I would need to wait at least a couple of weeks before the first attempt on my life.”
She smiled slyly at his comment. “Just one of the perks of getting to work with me.”
Clark looked over at Lois seriously, and was about to say something, but got interrupted when the elevator arrived at the lobby. He followed her out toward the entrance, but stopped her before she left the building.
“Listen, Lois, I know you’re used to all of this, but I’m not. I want you to be careful, and not do anything crazy. These guys are obviously very serious, and we don’t know how many people are involved.”
Lois crossed her arms, and gave him a stern look. “Listen, Kent, I’ve been taking care of myself long before you showed up. I’m sure I can take care of myself now.”
“I’m sure you can, but you're not invulnerable. I’m just saying you should make sure that you don’t get yourself into a situation where you don’t have any backup.”
“I see. So, are you volunteering to be my permanent body guard?”
Clark could see that she was getting defensive about his concerns. He better just back off for now. And she did have a point, he couldn’t guard her 24/7. “No, I know I can’t to do that. I just don’t want to lose you.”
Her expression softened and she let her arms slowly drop to her sides. She just stared at him, not saying anything. Clark suddenly felt self-conscious again and looked away from her, focusing on the exit door. “I guess we better get going.”
Without waiting for a response, he started walking toward the exit to the parking garage. Lois followed him out, and they both walked back to her jeep.
“So, Lois, do you want to drop me off at my hotel after you pick up your dress?”
Lois stopped and gave him a confused look. “Pick up what dress?”
“Your evening dress at the... drycleaners.” Clark eyes lost focus as he tried to think why he had the notion that she needed to pick up a dress. Remembering that it was part of his dream, he looked at her sheepishly and said, “I just thought that... um... Never mind, my mistake. Shall we go?” He put on a bright smile to cover his faus pax.
She gave him a suspicious look, then continued on to her jeep. After they got into the jeep, Lois pulled out and headed towards Clark’s hotel. A few minutes later, they pulled up to the Apollo hotel.
“OK, Smallville, be ready at seven-thirty, I’ll pick you up right here. And don’t make me wait.”
“I’ll be ready. See you then.” He got out, and stood by as Lois pulled away, presumably heading toward her apartment. When she had gotten a few blocks down the street, Clark jogged around the corner, and ducked into the alley next to his hotel. A second later, a blue and red blur streaked into the sky.
Clark, now as Superman, tracked Lois in her jeep from the sky, making sure she arrived safety at her apartment building. He watched as she arrived and used his enhanced vision abilities to make sure she got to her apartment safely. For added measure, he swept her apartment with X-Ray vision, making sure their were no lurking strangers. After a quick search of the surrounding area, he was satisfied that she was safe for the moment. He shot up into the upper atmosphere and headed toward Kansas.
A few moments later, he landed behind his parents' house, and changed back into Clark. He listened for a moment and heard his father working off in the east field, struggling with something or other. He shifted into hyper-speed, and was standing next to Jonathan Kent a couple of seconds later. His father was trying to negotiate a fence post, getting it to stand up straight, and hammer it into the ground.
Not even turning around to look at Clark, his dad said, “Are you just going to stand there gawking, or are you going to help an old man out?”
Clark grinned and walk over to help. Taking the post from him, Clark lined it up in the proper position, and brought his fist down, driving it the proper distance into the ground.
“Got six more of those to do, if you’re not too busy.”
“No problem, Dad.”
Clark picked up the posts, one at a time, and drove them all into place in the space of a minute. His dad just stood there grinning at him while he worked.
“You know, son, it’s not fair that you don’t even work up a sweat when you do that.”
Clark just grinned and shrugged. Jonathan Kent chuckled and slapped his son on the back, motioning him to follow him. “Come on, son, let’s go see what you mother is up to. Maybe if you’re here I’ll actually get a hot meal on a Tuesday night.”
“Why is Tuesday so special?” Clark asked as they made their way back to the house.
“Tuesday is her ‘art night’. I either get leftovers or sandwiches. By the way, your mother says you owe her for three pounds of coffee.”
Clark laughed again. “I promise to replace it with interest after I cash my first paycheck. And I’m sorry, I can’t stay, I just came by to pick up some clothes. So you’ll have to fend for yourself tonight.”
“Humph! Oh well, I had a urge for ham and cheese tonight anyway.”
They walked on toward the house together, Clark looking over the fields as they went. “The crop looks good this year. How long ‘till harvest?”
“I expect five, maybe six weeks. I got a buyer for the whole lot. A baby food company, of all things. They’ve already shown me their ad campaign for a new line of ‘organic’ baby foods. I even have to sign an affidavit saying I only used organic methods in the farming.”
Clark smiled at his father’s obvious amusement of the company’s marketing ploy. “Hey, Dad, maybe they’ll put your face on the jars. I can see it now... ‘Farmer Kent’s Organic Baby Food’. You’ll be famous.”
“Please, one famous person in the family is enough.”
“But Clark Kent is not famous. I’m just another reporter for a great Metropolitan newspaper.”
“True, but Superman is famous. So one’s enough for me. Besides we don’t need the extra attention.”
Clark groaned at his father’s use of his alter ego’s new name. “Don’t tell me that story got out here, too.”
“Are you kidding? Your mother and I heard it from Dan Rather last night on the nightly news. And you should see the websites your mother has found already. You may have to trademark your name soon, if you want to protect it,” he said with a wry grin.
“Oh please, Dad, don’t even think that. I have a hard enough time keeping up with my creation.”
“Whatever you say, son.” Just then they arrived at the house. Jonathan went around to the side and stored the tools in the tool shed, then joined his son inside.
“Dad, I’m just going to say hi to Mom, then I have to get going.”
“Where are you going, honey?”
Clark turned, and saw his mother standing in the entryway of the kitchen. She had a welder’s mask on her head, which was propped up, and was holding a pair of bulky gloves in one hand.
“Oh, hi, Mom.” He walked over, and kissed his mother on the cheek, being careful not to knock the welder’s mask off her head. “I have to go to a formal ball tonight, and I came to pick up my tux.”
“No time to stay for dinner? I can whip something up real quick.”
“Yeah, son, can’t stay for dinner?” his father added, a pleading look in his eyes.
He gave his father a smirk. “Sorry, Mom, but Lois is picking me up at seven-thirty, so I got to get back so I’m not late.”
His mother suddenly looked surprised, and removed the welder’s mask to place it on the counter. “Really? You’re going to the ball with someone? So who is this Lois?” Martha looked hopeful as she asked her questions.
“She’s just a fellow reporter I work with. We’re going there to cover the ball for the newspaper.”
“So, is she pretty?” she asked with a smile.
“Mom! This is work. She’s not my date.”
“Oh. I see.” Then after a beat, “So, is she pretty?”
“I guess so... I didn’t really think about it. She a fellow reporter... a fellow, award-winning reporter. And I’m helping her on a story. And that’s all there is.”
“OK, honey. I understand. So do you get along with her?”
“I guess. She can be a pain sometimes, but we work all right together. And she’s a terrific reporter.”
“Hmm. Sounds like it’s good experience for you, honey. So what is she like... other than pretty?”
Clark rolled his eyes, and shook his head. Then he thought about it for a moment. What was Lois Lane like?
“Well, Mom, she’s hard to pin down. She tenacious, and can be a little on the headstrong side. She obviously wants people to think that she’s tough and uncompromising, but her bed is full of stuffed animals. I thought that was strange. And she watches soap operas.”
Martha was about to interrupt and ask Clark something, but Jonathan stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder, and shaking his head. Clark eyes focused off into infinity as he continued.
“She can be a real pain sometimes, and she hates to accept help. But then again she didn’t say anything about watching over her while she slept.”
Martha’s eyes got very wide, and she opened her mouth to speak, but Jonathan just gripped her shoulder a little tighter.
“Apparently, she’s also a human target for a large contingent of the criminal element in Metropolis. Superman may have to make a career out of protecting her.” He sighed, and then refocused back on his mother. “Speaking of which, I better get going.”
He left in a blur and returned a second later holding a suit bag. He handed the bag to his father, then spun into his Superman suit.
“Bye, Mom and Dad. I’ll drop by in a couple of days.” He took the suit bag from his father, carefully folded it over his arm, and left through the back door after kissing his mother goodbye. A sonic boom announced his taking to the sky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Martha and Jonathan walked out the back door, and looked up at the afternoon sky.
“So, Martha, what do you think?”
Still gazing into the sky, she replied, “I think our boy’s head hasn’t caught up with his heart yet.”
“Yep, he’s in trouble, all right.”
They leaned in to hug each other, and continued to look into the sky. Martha then said nonchalantly, “If she breaks my boy’s heart, I’ll have to hurt her.”
“We’ll see dear, we’ll see.”
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... to be continued
