Thanks,

Corrina.

Whoopee!!! Another terrific part of this amazing story. So glad to see the up front talk between Longford and Shackbolt and Lois that really seemed to clear the air and bring them closer to at least being of equal mind in most things, and to bring them to feeling on the same team -- at least I thought/hope so.

My heart was breaking for Clark as Lois was thinking she would have to totally break with communicating with him, but I really LOVED her thought processes as she realized that she could just convince everyone else that she had totally pulled back from the prisoner and was just totally and coldly professional, avoiding any suspicion of over-involvement. Smart girl!

Keep those parts coming; we need more more more!

I could not get into this feedback thread fast enough. What a pivotal chapter. Dare I hope that Moyne is gone for good? Maybe he could get hit by a bus too?

I was actually going to comment about something from the end of the last chapter but you revisited it in this chapter too. Scardino's comment...

Even before seeing Lois's POV, I thought that he was being unfair in his assessment. Without being inside her head, there really hasn't been any indication that she's become personally involved. To the impartial observer Lois's behavior could result from wanting to ensure that the prisoner's conditions are more humane b/c she is an honorable person and not to do with any kind of personal investment. I find Scardino's blind eye in the blatant disregard for the abominations that have occurred almost a passive support of Clark's treatment.

I love Lois's assessment of the situation.

This frightened me.

This made me much happier.

This made me dissolve into a puddle of warm gooe.

As for the rest the setup with Longford and Shadbolt seems good on paper. Hopefully it will work out to be so.

Your teasers at the beginning of the feedback are torturous! Are you posting on any sort of schedule? Can't wait to read the next part. It just gets better and better!

love this story... .can't wait for more updates!

Oh, I forgot to add my favorite part in this one:
Wonderful!

Definitely a pivotal chapter. I was hoping for some Lois/Clark interaction, but even though we didn't get that, the plot definitely advanced in this part. I'm highly relieved that Moyne seems to be out of the picture, at least for now, and that Scardino seems to understand exactly what happened between Moyne and Lois. He might not want to make waves with his superiors, but his reaction when Lois told him about Moyne's rape threats proved he's taking her seriously now.

I'm also very pleased at Lois's conversation with her two assistants. Even though they are still afraid of the prisoner, they seem to both be relieved that Moyne is gone for good and are willing to work with Lois on the changes she's making in the prisoner's care. Very positive signs! I can breathe a small sigh of relief now that at least Clark won't be beaten anymore. And Lois will have 8 hours every day where she will be completely alone with him! Surely she won't be able to resist communicating, right?

As for why Clark isn't talking, I'm starting to wonder if a previous reviewer was correct when s/he theorized that perhaps the "surgery" mentioned early on was to cut Clark's vocal chords or otherwise incapacitate him. It would certainly match up, time-wise, with when Clark stopped talking ... so is it a psychologic barrier or a physical one at this point? And now that he's being allowed to heal, will he be able to regain this ability? Can't wait to find out.

More, please! Or as my 9 year old says, "Please with an extra helping of please on top?"

Kathy

Oh how I am loving this fic! I keep checking to see how much of the chapter i have left while I'm reading than get sad when I get to the end.

I love that Moyne is gone. Thank goodness!! Can't wait to see some Lois/Clark interaction and to see if he finally speaks.

Thank you once again for this wonderful fic!

Corrina,

First, thank you for your kind words.

Now, on to the feedback:

I have so many questions! They are not questions I want you to answer here. They're questions I anticipate finding the answers to as I read along. (I can still remember our teachers, way back when, forever drilling it into our heads to "be an active reader". )

Does Clark know Lois's name now? She was sitting in the staff room, with the door wide open when she called Scardino and said, "This is Lois Lane." Clark's powers are returning, but not yet 100%. Could he hear her?

I keep going back to why Clark isn't talking. I understand the psychological explanation, but I'm still wondering if there isn't something physical. Kathy, you made an excellent point; I'd forgotten that Clark is Superman! duh. Once he becomes "Super" again, any operation could heal, and he'd be good as new. Now, I'm leaning back towards my original theory... that the operation did something to his ability to talk. Maybe he can talk already and doesn't even know it.

On the other hand, I keep going back to the conversation Shadbolt had with Lois awhile back, where he told her that it was his understanding that the alien had spoken at one time, but that he, personally, had never heard him speak. Yet, Shadbolt was one of the two who performed the operation. Wouldn't he have mentioned that? I don't know...

Next question: Why does Clark shrink back from the door? Again, I understand the psychological explanation, but could there be more? Perhaps *this* is what the operation was about. Could they have implanted something that would activate if Clark goes through the door? Something that causes him pain, or that releases kryptonite in his body, or something like that?

Or, maybe he's been told that if he leaves the cell his parents will pay the consequences. It has to be something powerful, because of the way he withdrew his hands the second they reached the threshold. He didn't push Moyne all the way through, even though he knew Lois would have to struggle (painfully) to get him the rest of the way into the staff room.

I can't help but wonder why Longford cannot change his schedule. This is the second time he has said it is impossible for him to do so. It could just have been a way for you to get Lois on the day shift, but I wonder if there is more.

And, of course, I'm curious to see what Lois gives Clark in the upcoming chapter that makes him smile. Possibly the candy? Or, could she have written something in her next note that amused him?

I loved this: and this: Clark protecting Lois, and Lois safeguarding Clark's future. That is the way things are supposed to be.

More, please!

BUT He is NOT an impartial observer, he is part of the system and it is a standard defense mechanism to blame the source of change; claiming they have a personal bias. After all if they DON'T that implies something is wrong with them, if he admits to himself that Lois is doing what any unbiased good person would do, that means Daniel should have already taken action if he is a good person.

love this story and eager for the updates

I haven't replied for a couple of chapters, but that doesn't mean I haven't read them So much of what people are saying in here is what I'm feeling, so I hesitate sounding like a broken record!

How frustrating that the camera didn't pick up on the details at the door, but I am glad that the video did cast some doubt on Moyne's story. Good riddance!

Scardino has always been a little obnoxious, but his inability to act before Trask's death and his unwillingness to believe Lois' story make me dislike him even more. What happened to his thoughts on Lois' reputation at the beginning of the story? IIRC, Lois is known as the consummate agent. I understand that she's coming off of a bad mission and her partner was brutally killed, but does one tough situation trump her excellent record in this business? Besides, if she's good enough to get the job, then they need to trust her judgement and let her run the operation as her experience and conscience dictates. Aaarrgh! I get so frustrated at seeing such a blatant example of men not accepting a woman working in a "man's" profession.

My heart ached for Clark at the end. Lois came into the operation and he experienced such a turn-around in fortune. He's got to be feeling that his actions have ruined everything - real food, a way to wash himself, being treated with decency... Clark has probably jumped to the conclusion that something must have happened to Lois. He can't avoid the similarities to the other two men that treated him well - and they were both brutally murdered in his cell while he was incapacitated by the Kryptonite! Now his dinner is late. I can only imagine what kind of guilt and sadness he must be experiencing now.


I still hate the waiting that comes between story posts, but I can't seem to stop reading.

More soon? Please?

BJ

Loved this part again - glad that the tape did indicate some doubts regarding Moyne's story, Lois realising that Clark took the bullet for her and my favourite part:

That was so beautiful.

And Lois' plan to keep communication between herself and the prisoner "quiet" is brilliant. So, for her first 8 hour shift, I wonder what is she going to do? Keep communicating via paper and crayons for now?

Looking forward to more!

Loving your story so far. I was eating a Snickers bar while I was reading this part. So, I had to smile when I read

I hope she shares with Clark. I see that in this universe the Snickers bar is made by the rival company Hershey's instead of Mars, Inc.

Looking forward to the next part.

Ann

Evil.

I just realized, wouldn’t it be fun if Trask had been a family man with a house and a white picket fence and a Stepford Wife, taking the kids camping and showing them how to lay animal traps?

Did I mention ‘evil’?

Sounds like things are getting a bit too real for ‘Call me Daniel’.

Can’t wait to finding out if things really do start to become amicably. I’m guessing, no.

Could it be this simple? Does he have that much intuition about the time of the day?

Check. But will she be able to stay detached from Mr. Kent. No Check

Looking forward to Bridge-3. /waits on pins and needles/

Michael

LoL. You would think that, having lived several years outside of Hershey, Pa., I would have caught that, but it went right by me. I guess that just shows how engrossed I am in this story!

Corrina, The reference to "scrubby facial hair" in the preview above has got me thinking about when (and how) Clark is finally going to get a much-needed shave and haircut. I wonder, will he remain like this until he's finally set free? Or, will he be asking Lois for a pair of mirrors and give her a demo of his 'vision gizmo'?

And I can't wait to find out what Lois's reaction will be when she finds out her 50-some-odd years old scraggly prisoner is not only young but drop-dead handsome.

As usual, Corrina, your writing has me hooked! Love the story, can't hardly wait for the next part each time you post.

I whole-heartedly second this comment. Am dying to see the reaction!

Cheers
Elizabeth

Is there anyone else other than me that checks about 10 times a day to see if the next part is posted yet?

Rabid fan? Me? nah...

Guilty! LOL

OK Superquick ... I have a lunch date with my son. for being such wonderful readers.

Hopefully the next part will be posted tomorrow morning.

Corrina.

Worse. I went back through the last several chapters to count the days in between posting, just to make sure I wasn't getting desperate too early.

Sorry part 12 is giving you fits, Corrina. I know very much how that goes!

Kathy

Hee. Glad to know I'm not alone. I even consulted the world clock to ascertain time zones in Australia to see exactly when "tomorrow morning" would be.

I'm also guilty of checking multiple times a day. Glad to hear it not just me. :-) I'm loving this story and can't wait for more!

OMG I did the same thing, LOL! So glad I am not alone

/nods emphatically/ Especially during those times when there's another commute ahead and no new story update to read.

Michael

Evelyn Lois is working in the dark - which is another reason why everything has to progress so slowly.

Emily

True to a point. Scardino thinks of this operation as sort of like a wart - small, unimportant, irritating, and unlikely to go away. He deals with it by ignoring it.

Then Lois comes, and she sees things differently. Scardino's first reaction is a realisation that perhaps she shouldn't be working again yet.

That comes first because it's easier to deal with than Framework's explanation - that Daniel should have done something himself.

Asking about his parents - because it indicates that Lois has communicated with the alien.

(And it forces Daniel to face the uncomfortable possibility that there are others involved.)

flowerpot Thanks, more coming ASAP.

Kathy

Thanks - I really appreciate that comment.

bellarase Lois and Clark interaction is coming, but I don't think it is realistic that Lois (given her training and job) would just walk in there. Particularly after what happened on her previous assignment.

Vicki Great speculation, Vicki. As you said, I'm not going to answer your questions, but many of them made me smile.

Framework That's true - it just takes awhile for DS to get there.

Joy Glad you're enjoying the fic, Joy.

LadyMoira

I know it was awful to take everything away from Clark, but I'm having fun giving it back to him. And part of that is appreciating little things that often go unnoticed.

Brenda I'm really glad that Clark's actions seemed realistic. I think it would be so easy for him to assume the worst.

DW

Well, yes. Sort of.

Ann That candy bar caused more problems than it was worth!! The first one I chose - after some research on the Hershey's site - wasn't a bar! Then a question was raised as to whether what I'd chosen was available in 1994. Finally, I settled on Snickers because a)I knew it was a bar, and b)my BRs were fairly sure it had been around a long time, and c) we have them in Australia, so I actually knew what I was talking about.

Ooops about the manufacturer!!

Michael Trask, Stepford wife, kids camping ...

Yep.

Those pins and needles can't be comfortable, Michael!

Vicki The scene you allude to has been playing in my head for a couple of days. It's not written yet, but I can't help smiling whenever I think of it.

Elizabeth Thanks for the enthusiasm, Elizabeth. Next part is up.


RE the time zones - it's easier if I just say my time, because it's going to be different for everyone else. I'll keep trying for somewhere between 2 and 3 days between parts. Part 12 is written and BRed, and Part 13 is being much better behaved.

Jen P Glad you're enjoying it. Thanks.

Sorry Michael, twice a day is just not going to happen!


Many thanks to all of you for your interest and wonderfully encouraging comments. I know the early parts were tough going, and I'm so glad that, having persevered, you're finding the fic enjoyable.

Corrina.