Ellen pinched the bridge of her nose, as if warding off a headache. "Of course you would marry an alien," she mumbled under her breath. Then, looking at Jonathan and Martha, she added, "Uh...no offense."

I laughed and laughed at this. It's perfect.

He'd known all along that he would have to prove his claim of being Superman. He'd thought long and hard about what he could safely do to show that he wasn't lying to them. He couldn't risk a spin change or flying, fearing that it would consume too much energy to do so, thereby putting unnecessary strain on his heart. Carefully, he sent a thin beam of his heat vision at the wick. For a moment, it smoked, then a bright flame burst into existence.

"That's ah..." Sam sputtered, seemingly unable to get anything else verbalized.

"I know," Clark said, nodding his head once in agreement.

"A parlor trick, no more than that," Ellen mumbled, as if trying to convince herself.

"And this?" Clark asked gently.

He picked up one of their steak knives, which he'd placed nearby in case Sam and Ellen had needed further persuasion. With a swift thrust, he brought the blade down on the bare flesh of his arm, point downward in an effort to stab himself. The sharpened steel struck his skin, buckled, bent, then finally snapped, leaving not so much as an indentation in his arm.

"That...is a little harder to explain," Ellen admitted. Clark could see that she knew the knife was very real. After all, it had come from the set Lois had owned before they'd gotten married and purchased a newer set of cutlery for themselves.

Another totally Ellen moment:

We all love our Ellen moments

Mike

I guess I can be first! Been waiting for the next part. It seemed kind of slow but probably due to the breakneck pace of the first two parts . But as usual your story telling is excellent.

You might want to edit the story because you put the beginning Jonathan and Martha telling the Lanes about their finding Clark in the spaceship in twice. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.

I liked the part where Clark was including Ellen in on the medical team even though Sam's expertise will probably be the most useful but if they go for the transplant they might need her as some sort of support in the O.R.

It seemed like sort of a setup chapter and expect the fireworks to re-ignite in the next chapter.

Mike

I laughed and laughed at this. It's perfect.

It totally is emblematic of Ellen and Lois's relationship.

Mike

Actually you missed an opportunity to have a totally Ellen moment. You could have had the knife been part of a set she gave them when they got married...

Mike

Clark chuckled. "He does. Or, rather, I do."

He removed his glasses and undid the first few buttons on his dress shirt, just enough to pull the material apart to reveal the S shield and blue suit beneath. For a moment, no reaction registered on Dr. Klein's face, save for a look of utter confusion. Then, slowly, it seemed to dawn on the man. His demeanor changed. Confusion gave way to shock. Weariness melted away as his eyes widened and his mouth opened up into a small O.

"Are you telling me...?"

"I am, Dr. Klein. It's all true. He and I are one and the same."

For a long moment, Dr. Klein studied the face before him, saying nothing. Then, finally, "My, God. I mean, I always knew you were close...and always felt like Lois was closer to Superman than a mere friend...but this..." His voice trailed off. He looked pointedly at Lois' belly after a moment. "But that would mean..."

Lois smiled warmly as her hand fluttered to her stomach. "That you were wrong."

"For the first time, I am thrilled to hear that," the doctor said, returning the smile.

If it was possible, Dr. Klein's mood darkened further. "I should have seen this coming," he lamented.

"Hey," Clark said, standing and touching the man on his shoulder. "No one could have known. I didn't even suspect that anything was wrong, until the other day."

"I'm your doctor," Dr. Klein argued.

"And I am a complete biological anomaly," Clark reminded him with a grin. "Normal isn't normal for me. Even if we'd been looking for damage, chances are, we wouldn't have found anything."

"I suppose that's true," the doctor grudgingly agreed. "How are you feeling otherwise?"

"So far, since that one attack, I've been feeling okay. Like my usual self, to be honest. The worst part has been forcing myself to not use my powers."

This bothers me.


Maybe I'm reading something in here that isn't intended, but I always look for "bad guy" angles any time Clark can't be Superman for a while. And I can't escape the feeling that this is exactly what some really, really evil genius has come up with to keep Superman out of his hair. The fact that it's also deflecting the best team of investigative reporters on the East Coast is just a bonus.

Anyway, I think this is an original and very interesting tale. And don't worry about this chapter moving a little slower. You can't run a distance race at top speed or you'll crash and burn. I'm sure you're saving enough for a finishing kick. Loved the Ellen stuff, too. "Of course you married an alien." Translated, that may mean, "Lois, you never liked any of the young men I suggested to you, the ones with excellent breeding and well-established families and lots of old money."

You're posting the next part when?

Yay! clap I really like people knowing the secret. Having Dr. Klein and Sam and Ellen involved just makes this whole scary/sad situation seem a little less hopeless (and a lot less lonely for Lois and Clark).

I really liked this part of their conversation with Dr. Klein...and the doctor realizing just how 'wrong' he was notworthy. The friendship that they all share really was evident in your writing here...

I hadn't thought about the fact that Dr. Klein would potentially feel guilty for not seeing this issue for Clark on the horizon. Clark did a great job of talking the doctor's guilt down--and in a real matter of fact sort of way. With all the work Bernie needs to do for Clark, getting rid of some of his guilt is a really good thing, I'd guess. He needs to be able to concentrate.

Oh--last bit...I wanted to also mention that I think Clark is handling everything really well. You've definitely written some fear into him for the situation, but you've added a lot of level-headedness and also maturity. Lois, too. I'm really looking forward to seeing them lean on and depend on each other in these next chapters...

Great job--can't wait for more dance

Yay! Ellen gets to learn the secret too. She doesn't get left out.

Maybe I'm reading something in here that isn't intended, but I always look for "bad guy" angles any time Clark can't be Superman for a while. And I can't escape the feeling that this is exactly what some really, really evil genius has come up with to keep Superman out of his hair. The fact that it's also deflecting the best team of investigative reporters on the East Coast is just a bonus.

Anyway, I think this is an original and very interesting tale. And don't worry about this chapter moving a little slower. You can't run a distance race at top speed or you'll crash and burn. I'm sure you're saving enough for a finishing kick. Loved the Ellen stuff, too. "Of course you married an alien." Translated, that may mean, "Lois, you never liked any of the young men I suggested to you, the ones with excellent breeding and well-established families and lots of old money."

You're posting the next part when?

Two revelations for the price of one. (Three, if you count Sam and Ellen separately.) Each unique and perfect for the characters involved.

Looking forward to part five.

Joy,
Lynn

Terry,

I agree that this part bothered me also. I recently finished "Lonely is the Man" and it covers the story of Clark at age 250 finding his next love. One of the points of the story was that everyone thought the original Clark had died (the remainder of his and Lois's offspring and their offspring had died) due to his being very frail the last time anyone saw him (doing a heroic thing) and he disappeared. Well he actually had just quit being Superman and without the strain and the help of plenty of sun he basically rejuvenated back to his late 20's. This reference in this chapter keeps me wondering (back to that regeneration thing) that if he just kept himself under control for a period of time wouldn't the heart repair itself. Now we know how hard that would be for him, in the referenced story he had offspring to keep up the heroic stuff while he just went into retirement.

It continues to be part of this story that just doesn't fit for me.

Mike

I shouldn't read this story when I'm feeling depressed. I read chapter 3 when I was already down, and it was so sad!!!!!!!! I think I almost cried.

I read this chapter when I was in a much better mood.

I'm glad that Lois and Clark have a better support system now that Dr. Klein and the Lanes are in on the secret. Something that confused me as I read, though, is that at the beginning of the conversation I assumed that Jonathan and Martha didn't know about his heart, but by the end it seemed like they had already known. I guess that they would have called when they found out that Superman had collapsed after the bridge collapse, but they wouldn't necessarily have known about the results of the tests that Dr. Klein ran. It would have been less confusing if there was a mention of having talked to Clark's parents before the Lanes came over.

You're doing a great job of capturing the characters' emotions, especially how distraught Lois and Clark conflicting with their joy about their baby.

Jonathan and Martha shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Clark and Lois had both spoken to them at length about letting Sam and Ellen in on the secret, the two of them having dropped everything to take a red-eye flight to Metropolis the day before. Clark had wanted to fly them in himself, but Dr. Klein's warning about using his powers had rung in his ears and chilled him to his very soul. To use his powers, especially in some grand fashion, would put even more stress on his heart, which could very well be fatal.

I was angling for this: (and I may need to spell it out better in the fic)

The damage Deathstroke (coupled with whatever his body was doing after the youth sucking machine) was immediate and permanent - like it killed off heart cells, so there was no chance to recover from the damage. That added additional stress onto the living cells, which broke them down too.

Also, plot gods?

Actually it is the plot gods concept and of course your excellent story telling that has kept me in this thing rather than just dropping our due to my reservations about your story premise. I keep thinking I will just stop then the next chapter comes, I read it, and get back hooked again.

Your true evilness is spinning a good tale, even one I really don't want to read.

Mike

Beverly's interpretation of Ellen Lane has always bothered me ...until now! What a great scene!

Now that the Lanes and Dr. Klein are onboard, where do we go from here?

Um...there's some not so happy stuff coming. That's all the warning I can give you.

I appreciate knowing at the outset that things won't go well. Sometimes I'm in a mood where I can handle sad stories and enjoy them, and other times I just want some happy fluff. Despite being apprehensive about what's going to happen, you've written a compelling story that I'm enjoying, and I look forward to reading the rest of it.

Cardiac stem cell transplants?

Cardiac stem cell transplants?

Interesting theory, but I don't think stem cell research was that advanced in 1998.

Sorry, guys!

Yeah but neither was time travel

Mike

I've got it! Maybe they could clone Clark's heart from of the healthy cells still in it so he could be his own heart donor. I know the notes for cloning had been destroyed, but with Clark's eidetic memory, he'd be able to recreate them. Assuming, of course, that he actually really did see them in TOGoM, and assuming that the process would also work on Kryptonians.

I see that part five has dropped. I'm half looking forward to, and half dreading, reading it...

Joy,
Lynn

Part five actually dropped in error. For a little while last night, I was convinced it was already Thursday.

Part five actually dropped in error. For a little while last night, I was convinced it was already Thursday.

Here I was thinking you were speeding up the update process because of all of the interest .

Mike