It was touch and go there for awhile, wasn't it? We weren't sure that Lois could get past all that stuff, and we weren't sure you could come up with a believable scenario for Clark's survival.
I liked how she got over a lot of that anger after three days, and began to think about what might have really been going on in Clark's mind right after the shooting. I thought it was a stroke of genius for you to have her compare Clark's decision to play dead with his impulsive arrival on the scene way back when they were investigating the Space Station Promethius stuff. He just burst through that door first, and THEN stopped and thought about it. She was right-- he focused solely on protecting her, and never even thought about what might happen if Clark was shot. Once she realized that, the next step toward working things out was easier.
And I guess there's nothing like a near-death experience to convince you that maybe you need to step back and listen to his explanation.
She was also pretty smart to see that however sorry Clark genuinely was, it was as important for him to forgive himself as it was for her to forgive him.
I found the "hey, he survived" story believable-- but I don't know much about guns. Can a pager stop a bullet? I know these baddo's guns were as old as they were, so it wasn't like Clark was gunned down by automatic weapons fire or similar. I guess the gun wasn't that powerful?
The amnesia-homeless-shelter thing was great-- especially the part about a homeless person thinking Clark was his cousin.
I'd never make fun of a homeless person on purpose, and there are many homeless people who are mentally competent who are homeless due to monetary circumstances rather than any inability to function in society. But it put a believable extra touch on Clark's story, as opposed to his "conveniently" stumbling into a shelter. And then to get Boris to back it up... like I said, pretty believable.
While we had all speculated about it, and in his thoughts Clark rationalized his losing himself, it was a lot easier to believe this could all happen once he started actually explaining his behavior to Lois.
“That’s my point. Clark is dead as far as everybody’s concerned. And so I thought it would be best if...”
“If you pretended to be dead, even to yourself?” she supplied for him when he hesitated.
And that was it, wasn't it? He considered himself dead in all but actual fact.
I found this exchange hilarious:
She shook her head. “Silly. I’ll be your girlfriend. Clark Kent’s.”
“But that’s just it! You can’t,” he protested. “Lois, Clark is dead.”
“No, he’s not,” she scoffed. “Clark, you’re right here with me.”
“Yeah, but everyone thinks I’m dead,” he pointed out softly. “So I can’t be with you as Clark.”
“Yeah, but you’re not dead,” she pointed out logically. “See? You’re right here. Large as life - and just as lunkheaded,” she added, pulling a face at him.
“Lois, I know I’m alive - but no-one else can know that! I was shot at point-blank range, remember?”
“I know that,” she said, waving away his objection as if it were nothing. “But the fact remains that you’re not really dead. So what’s the point in carrying on pretending that you are?
Both of them were completely right, and making a lot of sense, but they just weren't connecting, were they?
So, angst and all, it was a fun read. I'll be here when you two decide to write some more... waiting... more-or-less patiently (more "less" than "more", actually). So carry on-- go ahead, write some more!
~Toc
Good work. 
And I like the fact that Perry's showing he's not just yodeling. 
![[Linked Image]](http://www.click-smilies.de/sammlung0304/weihnachten/smilie_engel01.gif)
Beautiful! 
This explanation might've seemed a bit implausible, actually, without the backup of Lois's friend, and also the fact that Clark is alive, <g> but when you put it that way with the backing up of another person and the fact that Clark survived - which is ultimate - it makes sense. It's less complicated than it sounds, and I love the thing with the beeper because it reminds me of a version of Peter Pan I liked when I was little - where one of the Lost Boys shoots an arrow and accidently hits Wendy, but she's saved by the button Peter gave her. 
Earlier, I thought Clark was a real crook - but in the final chapter you made me see that his behaviour made sense. 
