A new author! Welcome to the boards!

It's an interesting take on this time period. Clark displays some negative emotions in the BatP/HoL arc, but you're right to note that at the end of HoL, that's all swept away. He's immediately there for her, and they don't focus on the aftermath in an emotionally complex way. (That can be said for MANY of the arghs...I mean, arcs the writers put us through.)

How will Lois react to Clark when they met again? Will she retreat, since she didn't get that emotional support from him right away? Will he admit his feelings to himself, then admit them to her, without relying on crossed fingers? Will they find a way to work together despite the fact that the Planet is gone? Many possibilities...

I hope we see part two soon.

Yes, welcome to the boards!

Glad to see a new story by a new author!

Love this concept, and one I've also wondered about since the show first aired. Looking forward to seeing how you resolve the anger and hurt from BatP and HoL in both Lois and Clark. Ambivalence is a great take and could apply to others (Lois, their friends and Martha & Jonathan).

I'd love to see where this story leads our favorite couple. Great start. I always thought the show glossed over Clark's feelings too quickly. I'm glad fanfiction allows to delve deeper into so many areas that a 1 hour show couldn't. I'll be keeping an eye out for the next post. Sarah

Great beginning! I, also, welcome you to your first official posting on the boards and your first story.

I wondered at first why Clark was avoiding his own apartment, having completely forgotten the lack of privacy he had at home with all of his house guests.

I agree that Lois usually has better judge of a person's character than she had with Luthor. I mean, she did accept Superman right off the bat, no questions asked. Okay, that might be the only good example. She was suspicious of Clark from the get-go, but then again, she had been burnt by co-workers before. And, in her defense, Clark was lying... er... omitting a very important detail about himself from their friendship and maybe she could sense that (sense that he was holding something back). She knew that he withheld information from her (i.e. the globe, his undercover assignment at the Star, his biggest secret -- per their discussion from Ides of Metropolis -- just to name a few) and maybe she could sense he was still holding back. Although, that doesn't explain why she wouldn't trust his opinion on Luthor. Did she naturally think just because he could be jealous of the billionaire that he would change his personality and start lying to her?

I could see that those words and her actions to Clark on the park bench (and towards Superman right after) and refusing to believe his warning about Luthor, especially after what he had just dealt with in the cage, would continue to upset him. He deserved better from Lois and some acknowledgement that he was "right" this time.

Clark, somewhat, gets back at Lois in Madame Ex by not believing her when she says that someone was impersonating her. After all, not only does he have a quite believable impersonator working in the city (oh, wait, he doesn't know about Barry, yet), but he also had the clone try to replace Superman not too long ago. They certainly have some work to do on their friendship to rebuild their trust.

His natural tendency is to run away from personal confrontation, so him retreating to a lone hotel room to lick his wounds makes sense. I'm glad that he had the decency to let everyone know that he was safe, not that they seemed too worried about his disappearance. I do think you nailed Jonathan and Martha's helicopter parenting in this part. They do seem to drop everything to fly out to Metropolis often enough.

I, too, am curious to see where you'll be taking our favorite characters. Clark is certainly suffering from ambivalence at this point in their relationship. Will Lois bend her stubbornness enough to admit that she was wrong or to thank Clark for trying to warn her?

I wish you luck in finding a beta. My spare time is zilch nowadays, but I'm pretty good at nagging people to post the next part. If you create the FDK post to accompany each part (make sure that you click the box that says "Add Topic to my Watched Topics" or you can also follow this one by doing the same. Click on "Topic Options" and scroll down to and click on "Add Topic to Watched Topics") you'll get an email announcing every time someone posts to that thread.

This is a really good start - can't wait to see where you go from here!

I agree that the series really seems to gloss over the inevitable relationship problems between the characters at this point. After all, finding out that you rank behind a mass murderer in your best friend's affections has got to be just a touch frustrating(!), and that's without 2 days of torture, the loss of his powers and super-identity, the loss of his career, and the unintentional displacement from his home. If he wasn't just a little irritable after that lot, he wouldn't be human(oid).

I like the involvement of Henderson - but I hope for Clark's sake that he's good with a soldering iron!

I agree with all of the above and its neat to see a new author tackle this aspect of the Lois and Clark story.

Welcome to the boards!

Hi and welcome to the boards ...

I very much enjoyed Part 1 of your story--love the title by the way, perfect!

And to add another agreement into the discussion, I also am enjoying a more 'real' take on where Clark would probably be emotionally after the last few weeks of career, relationship, friendship, and Luthor-related 'blows' that have been dealt his way.

For Clark to jump back to normalcy--after all of that craziness--is quite unrealistic. And even though it made for some great moments (i.e. see my pic, thanks to Lady Loisette, and quote--love that hug ), I think I am really going to like where you are taking us.

Great start! . And again, welcome .
Laura

Thanks for the welcome, everyone! I appreciate all the enthusiasm! My poor hubby has gotten sick of me ranting about my fic, so it's nice to hear some not-bored feedback I love this timeframe Angst just gives so much scope for character development!

Virginia, thanks for the how-to tip! I'm totally clueless in the message board department.