Thanks!

Corrina.

ETA - In case you've lost the timeframe, it's Thursday evening.

Wowowow!! Evil Cliffie! And now a compressed timeframe to look for a solution to save Clark!! I almost feel sorry for Scardino to be assigned the dirty work, and I hope he rises to the occasion and finds a way to disregard the order. Refusing to carry out a heinous order would salvage his character for me

Hi Corrina!

I'm finally getting caught up on your epic stories. I couldn't let myself start them until Man Under was finished. Loved Aussie Rules, and now this story has me hooked.

A couple of things that stand out about this story:

- It reminds me so much of Awaken My Heart, only in reverse. I mean in the sense that Lois was Kal El's prisoner (effectively) and now Clark is Lois's prisoner, literally.

- That very power differential makes the ethics of even hinting at a romantic relationship very tricky. The very reason that we have taboos about relationships between people in unequal power situations is to protect the less powerful. And a guard/prisoner is about as unequal in power as you get. That makes for a lot of dramatic tension. It's a bit mitigated here because Clark is clearly physically very powerful, so Lois is putting herself at his mercy every time she enters his cell, but she still has a huge advantage over him. He is completely dependent on her for every facet of his life. She can walk away at any time. He doesn't have that option. For that reason I hope that they won't start a romantic relationship before he escapes. Even talking about it is uncomfortably close to the line as it is. He's really in no position to say 'no' to anything she might ask.

- The other thing that mitigates the situation is that Lois has clearly declared that her loyalty lies with Clark, so in that sense she isn't really his guard anymore. She's his ally who is betraying her duty to her agency in favor of her higher duty to justice. She's more like a double agent than his guard.

-I'm glad to see that you're bringing their escape plans to a head sooner rather than later. At the rate their relationship is progressing, there's no way they would last another two weeks without crossing some serious boundaries. Besides, I'm always nervous that someone is going to show up unexpectedly when they had too much unauthorized stuff in that cell to cover up quickly. Clark could toss it all into the staff room at super speed, but Lois would still have some very awkward explaining to do.

You have a very creative imagination, which makes your stories very enjoyable for the very reason that we have *not* seen this plot before. It's nice to have something so very new and unpredictable.

One more comment overall: I smile sometimes because your Aussie shows in tiny ways. I don't think there is anyone born in the U.S. with the name Neville or Angus. It's not distracting--more like an inside joke.

Have a good holiday!

Michelle

Holy sh*t! well the relationship certainly progressed. Now the feelings are out in the open! Whooo Hooo! But the ending was scary. Of course I know it is not going to end like this. Most likely Scardino will tell Eric that he did the deed and he'll just let them go and tell them to disappear. Or they will escape first and then Scardino will tell him it is done. This way the Alien is dead and no one will come looking again. No one will know Clark's name because the record will be destroyed. I am not sure how you will fix this in the end but I can't believe you would subject Clark to any more pain at this point. It would be too cruel. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE SOON.

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. Five days! Only five days left for Lois to free Clark. Sure you don't want to cancel your summer plans so we can see it play out in real time?

Definitely a jump forward in their relationship, but I'm fine with that -- they are running out of time, and even though they don't officially know it yet, I think they do on some level. Lois's gut has been telling her for some time that she needs to move things along. And now it's all coming to a head very soon!

Aside from the obvious, do you know what jumped out at me during Menzies call to Scardino? That Shadbolt is going to be sent back into the field! How do his bosses know nothing of his family situation? It just shows how out of touch both Menzies and Scardino are -- they should know this stuff. So will Shadbolt realize he has nothing to lose by helping Lois since he's going to quit or retire at the end of the project? Or will she be able to help him stay in Metropolis in some way if he helps her with her escape plan? I can't wait to find out!

An on-the-edge-of-her-seat Kathy

First things first - do we get one more update before you abandon us for vacation or is this it?

Lois's thoughts were nice to see, all her questions and worries will be answered by the end of the section! And she goes in to nap by Clark, aww

I like this line of thinking

*gulp*

Heh. I love all of Lois's seemingly innocent queries. In a very intense conversation, they made me chuckle.

Mine are sufficiently melted as well.

This almost seemed like a prelude to wedding vows. V. lovely.

And now Menzies... the die is cast! One thing is that he seems to be delegating and not demanding to see Clark's head on a platter. Perhaps there's the possibility of negotiating with Scardino? Shadbolt isn't going to like what has been planned for him which might help L&C's cause. But ultimately whether Clark is dead or out means the same for Shadbolt's assignment, it ceases to exist. Gah! the clock is officially ticking. I can't wait to see what happens.

Wow!

Wow ... what an evil cliffganger! Lois thinks she has a couple of weeks to prepare and help prepare Clark for the outside world; instead, she got handed less than 4 days considering she only gets the call from Scardino on Friday.

The "precarious" conversation was very well written, handled with care, and I am glad that you addressed those issues/concerns about once they get out, they might find other people more attractive and realise the other isn't really what they'd want.

BTW, I'm with Kathy if we could have experienced this story in "real time" with part 23 on Friday, 24 on Saturday and 25 on Sunday

I am also fine the the "big" jump in their relationship - they are running out of time fast!

As always, cannot wait for more

Holy freaking cow! I cannot believe how far you've taken them (and us).

That was my favorite line out of the whole thing. I love she comes right out and says it. Then her reaction when Clark doesn't even TRY to lessen it. It just struck me as really sweet.

Great job! I'm still loving the story and will anxiously be awaiting more.

*Gulp* so destroying the operation meant destroying Clark!

Well, we know she won't just up and leave Clark... but will she know what they are planning?? And what can she do to stop it??

Oh, so hope Lois learns what is up FAST and she gets Clark out of there!!

Joy

Some of your speculation is close, some not so close.

Michelle

How lovely to hear from you Michelle. And to hear that you've been reading my fics.

You make some great points. I didn't set out to write another AMH, but the further I got into the story, the more obvious the similarities became.

LOL about the names. I think of Angus as being Scottish and Neville as being English - although I know of people with both of those names here in Oz.

Happy Waiting, Happy Girl. I hope everything goes wonderfully well for you and the little one.

Laura More pain for Clark ... I'll try to keep it to a minimum. Is that OK?

Kathy

I'm writing Trail 7 and I'm up to Sunday, so 'real time' would be about three parts a day!!

Good point about Shadbolt. It's not Menzies' operation - although he's high-enough-up to throw around orders - and he's been on leave for a year. Scardino has had this operation in his portfolio for two years - but he's never shown any interest.

Emily

Re Lois trying to initiate physical contact with Clark - it's not just about advancing their romantic relationship. She believes that becoming accustomed to human touch is vital to Clark's recovery - and who better than Lois to help him readjust?!?

Evelyn It always amuses me when a reader says she can see so many possible paths forward. I can usually only see one, and it's so obvious to me that I can't imagine any others!

DW

*That* won't be possible. I won't have access to the 'net on Sunday!

Jen The part you quoted was pivotal - they've both made admissions.

And yeah, we've come a long way. But things started so badly that fixing them was always going to take awhile.

MozartMaid

Lois is thinking that whatever Trask *did*, she can undo. I mean, she's been undoing Trask's 'work' since she first walked into the compound.


OK - posting schedule. The original plan was to post one more part before the week-long break. However, I've reconsidered overnight.

To thank you all for such lovely, encouraging, and insightful FDK, I'm going to *try* to post 23, 24, and 25 in the two days before I leave.

I probably won't be able to reply to FDK much, but be assured that whenever I do manage a few minutes of 'net access, I will be checking the boards.

Corrina.

3 parts in 2 days?!?! Sounds awesome!

Oh wow!

But I will say this... my first thought at Clark being re-exposed to the rods in order to kill him was that it would allow Lois to cut into his shoulder and remove the kryptonite! Yay! Maybe Shadbolt will be asked to do 'the deed' but he will have second thoughts after exposing Clark to the rods and let him escape; after all, what will be left to prove he was executed and cremated other than a box of ashes?! Will be interesting to see how you do bring Clark's freedom about, Corrina.

I'm now going to be checking the boards more often that usual waiting for the next part to be up! Way to go!

Have a wonderful week's holiday, Corrina!

Cheers
Elizabeth

Yikes! Time for Lois to move her timetable... and FAST. I sure hope Scardino will be calling her to warn her in the preview you showed for part 23. I suppose he'd have to let her know either way since he'd have to take all agents, Lois included, from this assignment that all traces of need to disappear. I can imagine how Lois is going to take the news. She sure won't be laughing.

That being said - I'm gonna go back to waiting for the next 3 chapters (and more) with bated breath - just like always - to find out how they go through with their escape and their plans after that. (You mentioned last time I commented that my crazy ranting was weaving in and out of your plans. I'm eager to find out how it all fits together)

Woohoo! More chapters sooner - always a good thing!

(Although there is a niggling voice in the back of my head saying, "You better be careful what you wish for, remember the cliffie at the end of 'Junction.' If history repeats itself, you'll be stuck for a week with nothing.) *smacks logical voice and continues happy dance over more updates*

Jen I thought about how 23 ended and figured it wasn't nice to leave you there for a week.

Elizabeth

I guess it's not really a spoiler to admit that I *will* get him out.

Thanks for the good holiday wishes. Hobart Town, here we come!

True Love Hi. I'm glad you're still reading.

Yeah, Scardino is going to have to tell Lois.

I will warn that some questions (not just yours) won't be answered in 'Bridge'.

Emily I was thinking that if I posted the parts, you could set your own reading schedule. There will be a break at the end of 'Bridge' while I holiday and then rebuild my buffer.

Thanks,

Corrina.

3 parts in 2 days? It feels like Christmas, only better

Thank you so much!

Getting 4 updates within 3 days certainly spoiled me of course, now I have to try to figure out what FDK goes where

Good, now Clark just has to learn how to say the same thing before he meets Mayson Mind, no. But will he be able to articulate?

Hmm... still got a lot to learn, the poor boy. Still thinks his opinion matters...

"After all, I'm a Kryptonian Prince and you're just a Human Commoner. It would never work.

He raised his right hand and looked at it briefly before he asked back, "What do you think?"

Umm... this is bad?

On the other hand, it could make the perfect disappearance, as long as they let Lois do the clean-up.

Off to part 23...
Michael

DW 3 parts in 2 days - and it was *still* slower than real time!

Michael

Funny, that!

I haven't written Mayson in this fic - if she appears, it will be a surprise to me!

Thanks,

Corrina.