<Checks for rotten fruit, angry mobs, and guys in black SUVs>

Ooh, this is getting good! I'm loving it so far! Can't wait for more! I never considered an x-ray not being enough for Clark, because of his high density, a very good point. Also, it goes against everything in me but I love the cliffhanger note you left it on. Clark could DIE!!!

P.S. Some of the SUV guys are mine, but they're there to protect you and possibly... persuade you to post the next chapter as soon as possible. Use them with caution.

DC,

I guess a tomato or two...

Not sure I am buying this one. Curious as to how you will explain that his aura is intact because he was still invulnerable, with the aura he should spontaneously heal (he has every other time).

Minor confusing issue that Bernie still does not know that Superman and Clark are one in the same. Lois is right at her 3rd Trimester (knowing the sex of the baby) and he has not been brought into the loop yet.

Waiting on how you get Clark a transplant as the only way would be to expose him for a period of time to Kryptonite and that would greatly elevate his BP and heart rate (at least it has every other time he has been exposed) and how would his severely damaged heart handle that.

Can't wait until the next chapter.

Mike

Despite my normally not liking death fics, I decided to give this one a try. I am enjoying it so far.

So... Assuming that Clark can get a heart transplant, who will the donor be? I am assuming that a newborn infant's heart would be too small to transplant successfully into a grown adult's body, so I think the baby is probably safe. (Safe from the author, that is; by this I mean that DC won't have the baby dying of natural causes shortly after birth and having his heart put into Clark's body.) Normally I would say that Kryptonians and humans are probably too different for Clark to receive a human heart, but given that they are compatible for reproduction in this story, such a transplant might be possible. If it is, then the donor could be just about anyone in canon or original to Deadly Chakram. (Of course, if DC wished to be truly evil, she could arrange a series of circumstances in which the donor turned out to be Lex. Or even Tempus; now that might be a bit of irony Tempus wouldn't like.) But if such a cross-species transplant isn't possible, then the only people who could donate a heart to Clark would be other Kryptonians. Ching? Zara?

Hmmm... Thinking some more about Tempus, perhaps some time travel will be involved; maybe the baby will grow to adulthood and when he dies, Wells will transport his heart back in time. There are so many possibilities!

Of course, Deadly Chakram might be playing mind games with us all, and Clark might actually die in this story. (Please, no. )

Joy,
Lynn

Lynn,

I am not normally a fan of death fics either but DC is one of my favorite authors and she did say (in the first FDK) that this one is "But I wanted to keep it on the "realer" end of dark." but who knows what that means...

Only time and posting schedules will tell. But I agree with you about the donor. Heart transplants aren't like bone marrow transplants (think "Gift for Life" by SDQ and Jenni Debbage) for the child to be the donor he would have to die. I guess that would be one way to not put a toy back in the box...

Mike

Evil! I can't wait to see where you go with this.

Lynn,

While have no real problem with Clark dying in general. I guess how it will impact Lois and the child is what bothers me and might make me not like the entire story. I really liked the way Lady Loisette handled Lois's death in "Love's Enduring Power" and the gift Lois left for Clark and his dealing with it made me really like the story. Again, as I said I really don't normally like death fics but am trying this one anyway. After all I normally like DC's work and I took a shot on Lady Loisette's effort and liked it. However I don't ever expect a death fic to be in one of my top 10 fics...

Mike

You can find out the sex of a baby as early as 16 weeks by ultrasound. That's early in the second trimester. I was also a bit surprised that they hadn't been seeing Bernie, but maybe they decided that they'd only go to him if the ultrasound or other tests showed abnormalities.

I don't think it was used in the show, and is therefore never (or rarely?) brought up in L&C fics, but red sun spectrum lights will take away Clark's powers without hurting him. He just reverts to what's normal on Krypton. I imagine that Clark wouldn't figure that out until Zara & co. show up and comment on the different color sun, but we're way past that point now. But I expect that if they knew about red sunlight's effects in the story, they would have used it when Bernie took Superman's blood.

I haven't decided whether Clark's going to die or whether DC's pulling a bait-and-switch on us. Maybe Clark ends up fine and Lois dies in childbirth? Or they lose the baby? Lois is accidentally exposed to the kryptonite that they're using to make Clark vulnerable enough to operate on?

Aha! I KNEW his battle with Deathstroke was the culprit -- at least partly.

Oh no... Who can give Superman a heart transplant? I just hope he doesn't die... I know you warned us, but, oh man... OK, let me think of a way out of this... my best hope would be a clone of Clark, like in Vatman -- even though, technically, a Clark/Superman would have to die. Even worse, yet possibly more viable, would be an alt-Clark...sacrificing himself because he can't find his Lois and has no will to live... OK, I really hope it doesn't go that dark...

And I really hope there's some light at the end of this seemingly dark, dark tunnel...

I am sorry I mis-typed, I meant the end of the 1st Trimester (too many threes in there)

I had not heard of the Red light concept before...

As I said as long as it ends on a reasonably decent up note I can take death fics but some just end on such a downer that I just put them away to never be thought of again. I always look at this stuff as entertainment and most downer topics just don't entertain me. I don't mind angst as a way to make the characters work for the goal but angst for angst sake really isn't my cup of tea.

Mike

Ooh, things are getting interesting. I'm looking forward to the rest of the story.

Eek--yikes--uh oh! Why do I get the feeling that Clark is heading to the pine box? Oh yeah, I remember...a heart transplant?! Our poor, poor Clark. .

I didn't see a heart transplant coming. I didn't think of the BY or B&C&C&L concepts, either. Really curious as to what is going to happen.

I haven't read a lot of WHAM/death fics--but not because I don't like them. I think I'm mostly just drawn more towards the 'happy ever after' ending type of stories for Lois and Clark, since they are my favorite 'couple'--with admittedly, any type of obstacle thrown into the storyline to get to that ending. Movies though--and other books (which are something I haven't read any at all of since finding L&C fanfiction ) that end on a really sad note sometimes I really do end up liking...every once in a while a good cry is kind of needed, I guess, and does feel great.

I'm not hiding any fruit/etc behind my back--yet ....we'll see .

So far I'm thinking that: Clark is the most likely one NOT to make it out of this story, but I'm having thoughts of Lois and/or the baby, also. And, unless there is some horrible accident type of thing and whoever that random character is that DC creates dies so that Clark can end up with his heart (?), I'm not sure where the 'spare' heart is going to come from. I dunno? You have me stumped, DC .

I've kind of gone the time travel route with my thoughts, too--a grown up child of theirs dies? A former Clark--like in Soul Mates?

Something happens to give Clark 'more' life and reverse the BY life sucking after-effects--therefore eliminating the need to replace his heart? But then you have an empty pine box--you haven't eliminated anyone.

Yeah, you just need to post soon ...I've got nothing .

Laura

I have more faith in DC to not follow the obvious route. I mean it would be kind of a straight forward fic if Clark has heart problems, Klein says he needs a transplant, they try the transplant, it doesn't work, he dies. No twists and I suspect DC has some twists up her sleeve (or hidden somewhere anyway). I put forth a possibility in the first FDK that could still happen but only 8 more parts to find out. I doubt we will really know until part 9 or 10 does kind of build up the edge doesn't it?

Mike

Unless, of course, something like the BY machine is somehow used again and it sucks the life out of someone else to rejuvenate Clark. Of course, Clark would never willingly go along with that, but if he had been rendered unconscious before it happened, could you imagine the guilt he would feel knowing that he were alive only because someone -- presumably unwillingly, at that -- gave their life for him?

DC, this is definitely the mark of a good story -- you have us all speculating on what will happen, and coming up with lots of different possibilities.

Joy,
Lynn

True--good points, Mike and Lynn...

I'm sure there will be twists and turns--and we won't even begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel until towards the very end with this story. I really like all the guessing involved--she's got us hooked .

And I completely agree--if someone were to get injured to save Clark, he wouldn't/couldn't live with that knowledge. Not sure where you'd go from there story-wise if Clark were to find out that info...

Only way to answer all of these questions? DC--please...Post, Post, Post!

Poor Clark!

Where on Earth is Bernie going to find a new heart for Clark? Somehow I cannot imagine anybody from New Krypton stepping up to the task.

Actually, DC makes a very good case considering Clark gave Jimmy some of his life force and then turned around and battled Deathstroke. Now I am anxious to know what happens next!

Please DC, don't make us wait too long!

Hey Mouse! Is school done?

I'm going to *attempt* to do a Mon/Fri schedule, assuming the girls give me enough time to prep and polish things, and finagle with the ending of it - I'm not quite there, just looking for the perfect moment to end it on (I already have the gist of it in mind, and mostly written).

So...I'll use the SUV guys as bodyguards.

Glad you enjoyed the cliffie! I do try! (And I have even better ones coming!)

Hi, Mike!

Well, maybe I didn't make it clear enough (possibly something to change in archive prepping) that it was like - the damage was done but never really healed because of the continued stresses of his super abilities.

I do address Bernie - no worries!

I've worked around the elevated BP/heart rate thing in an evil way. Thanks for reading!

The baby is safe. I wouldn't kill a newborn to give Clark a heart. I'm not quite that evil. (I think.)

No time travel for this one. It's slightly more grounded in reality than that.

Thanks for taking a gamble on this story. I do appreciate it!

Thank you, Mike! That's quite a compliment - we have SO many fantastic authors on the site, so I'm honored to be a favorite of yours.

Thanks! Hope you enjoy the ride!

Yeah, I was thinking Lois is around 20 or so weeks here (at least nowadays, anatomy scans are done at the 20 week mark, or as close to it as possible).

No red light/Superman II plot device. Even if Clark knew about it, he wouldn't be able to replicate it.

I LOVE all the speculation on who isn't making it back into the box, BTW!

You pretty much nailed it, Mozartmaid!

Interesting theories you have there...

Thanks! More soon, I promise!

Hi, Laura!

Thanks for reading! You have some interesting theories. I won't comment on anything specific though. I'd hate to spoil things. More to come at the end of the week.

Me? Straight-forward? I try very hard not to be!

Thank you, Lynn! I appreciate the kind words, and hope the rest of it stacks up for you!

I agree that Clark would never be 100% okay with someone's death, even if it got him a heart. BUT, the question is: will he live that long?

Thanks, Morgana! New part should be up Friday-ish.

Also, I think it's cute how everyone assumes I'm only going to kill one person...

...

The reason I am assuming that is based on your WHAM warning, "One of my toys isn't going to make it back into the box." I had interpreted that as exactly one, not a minimum of one.

Joy,
Lynn

Well if she kills Lois (one toy) then the baby dies with her...

Mike

It just hit me that she said she would not kill the newborn child to get the heart (not THAT evil) but then she never said anything about Lois dying with child. I hope this is not the case as I hate to see this trend developing (Love's Enduring Power just last week). Now I am confusing myself!!

Mike

Well, one *important* one, but some less important others.

Oh dear, now you're really making me nervous! I will wait quietly and watch to see what happens next. Hopefully I won't bit my fingernails down to the quick!

Yay! I'm enjoying making people nervous in this one!

WHAT?!!!!!

You ended on that sentence?!?!

Now I'm on the edge of my chair till I find out more.

I'm with Mike - how can Superman's heart be so damaged when he has the healing aura, the yellow sun, blah blah blah?

(Of course, you could always plead Necessity of the Fic to the court.)

That's what they always do, plead that is...

Mike

Hi, IO! Thanks for reading!

I do explain it a little bit later, when Clark and Bernie have a conversation. Basically, Clark sustained permanent damage while fighting Deathstroke (wasn't healing as he was almost having a heart attack due to Deathstroke's powers). Over time, that "bad spot" worsened/weakened his ability to heal in his heart.

Also, plot gods demanded it. (Sorry, Mike!)