Okay, I have the first part of the story done. It's not going to be long and there are three different ways it could go. I'll decide after I see comments from the readers (I hope there will be some). Please comment freely on what you see and let me know what you think.
Nan
Disclaimer: The familiar characters and settings in this story are not mine. They belong to DC Comics, Warner Bros., December 3rd Productions and whoever else may have any legal right to claim them, nor am I profiting by their use. The story is based on the Lois and Clark script "House of Luthor" and all parts and ideas taken from that script are hereby credited to the writers of the show. Any new characters, settings, and any changes in the story belong to me.
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Nuclear Option (Part 1 of 4?)
By Nan Smith
Clark Kent switched off the news. He knew Superman should be listening to the broadcast, keeping alert for problems that he could assist the authorities in solving, but the anchors were reporting all too frequently on the upcoming nuptials of Lex Luthor, Metropolis's most prominent citizen, to Lois Lane, well-known investigative reporter for the Daily Planet, the world-wide newspaper whose headquarters had been destroyed by a bomber three months ago today.
He flopped down on the couch and stared at the ceiling. Today, the world was just going to have to take care of itself. Superman was on strike. He wasn't sure that he would ever wear the red and blue costume again.
He and Lois had just had their umpteenth fruitless argument where he accused her of blindness and she had accused him of jealousy. He had stormed off, leaving her angry and nearly in tears, but for once he wasn't going to cave in. Why Lois Lane's tears should bother him when she had taken his declaration of love and trampled it into the dirt he didn't understand, but they did -- only just this once he wasn't going to let her know that despite the way she had treated him, he still cared. He cared a lot.
Still, the investigation was progressing, and with Perry, Jack and Jimmy on his team, he shouldn't be worried. But he was. Lois's wedding was barely two days off now, and he was deathly afraid they wouldn't be in time to prevent it.
That part, he was fully determined on -- bringing Luthor to justice was something that he had worked on for months and it looked as if it might finally be within his grasp. The billionaire had descended to some fairly obvious tactics to destroy the Planet, and thereby Lois's support structure, and this time the trail he had left was not obliterated quite fast enough to cover his tracks. He had tried to pin the crime on Jack, but he had reckoned without Jack's realizing that someone in the juvenile facility was there specifically to get rid of him, or the boy's subsequent escape. Jimmy and Jack were now hot on the trail of John Black, who might very well supply the missing link that could bring Lex Luthor down for good.
In a way, he was looking forward to presenting his evidence to Henderson and being present when Luthor was arrested. The expression on Lois's face would be worth it when she realized that Clark Kent, the know-nothing hick farmboy from Kansas, had been right all along, and that she, the ace reporter for the Daily Planet had been completely blind. And she couldn't even say that he had tried to leave her out of the loop. He'd told her countless times, but she had chosen to disbelieve him.
That had hurt, and his triumph would be sweet, but underneath he knew that he wasn't going to enjoy it nearly as much as he should. Yes, he would enjoy Luthor's downfall, but Lois's humiliation and pain he knew quite well that he wouldn't enjoy. It was infuriating when he let himself think about it, to know that in spite of the way she had crushed his love for her underfoot, he wouldn't appreciate her comeuppance. He couldn't. Lois meant too much to him, and in spite of her utterly exasperating and frequently callous behavior, especially where his feelings were concerned, he didn't want to hurt her.
But, of course, he had little choice at this point. If he let her marry Lex Luthor, he would be to blame for much more pain and misery for her down the road. Better to rip off the bandage now and expose the corruption underneath than to do nothing and let her marry the man -- and possibly find out disastrously later. But he didn't have to like it.
Suddenly, the confines of his apartment were smothering him. He had to get out, away from everything that reminded him of his last months at the Daily Planet and his partnership with Lois Lane. Why on Earth was he still tearing himself apart over what couldn't be? She had made it abundantly clear where he stood. Whether or not she married Luthor -- which he wasn't going to permit if he had to swoop down and carry her off from the church door -- Clark Kent stood no chance of being part of Lois Lane's future except in the position of friend and work partner: a thoroughly anemic shadow of what he really wanted. Unless he somehow changed the dynamics of the whole situation.
Well, why not? What did he have to lose at this point? He had two days. If they hadn't found their proof by then, he was going to have to go for broke.
He left the apartment, locking the door behind him. The phone rang as he half ran down the steps, but he ignored it, letting the telephone answering machine take the message, and began to walk. He didn't know where he intended to go, nor did he really care, but staying in the apartment was more than he could stand. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he strode along, scowling deeply. Exactly how he was going to do this he wasn't sure, but he had two days to decide. After that, if Lois still wouldn't listen -- well, there were several small, uninhabited islands that he knew of in tropical waters, where she could stay until he had his proof. Kidnapping might be a bit extreme, but if that was what it took to save her from the most disastrous mistake of her life, he was ready to take the consequences. She would never forgive him, of course, but why should he let that stop him? He was at the point where there was nothing left to lose.
Of course, he admitted unhappily, he couldn't escape some of the blame for the situation. If he hadn't been so angry the day she had rejected his declaration and then turned around and asked him to find Superman ...
He'd been heartbroken and furious at her, and had wanted to hurt her like she had hurt him. He should have known better, but he'd let his emotions get the better of him and by the time he'd realized his mistake, Lois had accepted Luthor's proposal and it was too late.
Only he wouldn't let it be too late, at least to save Lois from a man who would destroy her -- perhaps not physically, but certainly he would destroy the spirit that made Lois the unique person that she was. Clark had already seen her change from the independent woman he had known to an uncertain, shaken woman looking for some kind of anchor to cling to. Since Superman had rejected her she had turned to Luthor -- just as Clark suspected now that the man had schemed to arrange all along -- and it was partly his fault. But at least he could still make some repairs. If the tangle couldn't be unraveled, the only way out was to cut it. He would have to wait until the last second, but if worst came to worst, cut it he would.
The decision made, some of his inner turmoil quieted and he glanced around, a little surprised. His aimless walk had taken him to the ruins of the Daily Planet, and he stood looking at the figurative ruins of his life. One bomb, for which Luthor had framed Jack, and the billionaire had shattered the lives of how many people? Was this the pattern of Luthor's life? Destruction, ruin and chaos for the little people who didn't matter, all so that Luthor could achieve his goals. And how long would it be before he had done the same to the beautiful woman that he intended to marry? -- a woman that Clark would have been willing to give anything for.
Probably not long. Lois would inevitably find out and react with her usual exquisite tact, he reflected with a certain grim humor. And since Luthor held all the cards, the results would not be good for Lois. No, he really had no choice but to act. Lois might be stubborn, maddeningly pig-headed and insensitive to her partner's feelings, but there was no way he was going to let her go through with this, even if she killed him later. She might be Mad Dog Lane, but he had a few things going for him that she didn't. He was a lot stronger than she was, and he could fly.
Okay, that was two things, but nobody was counting except him, and with Lois he was going to need every advantage he could get. She was bound to be annoyed with Superman right now, too -- especially after the way he had treated her that night in her apartment. Clark winced now at what he had said. He had been angry, but that had been unnecessary and cruel. He could have let her down a little more gently. In fact, he could have told her about Luthor if he'd been thinking of other things than his hurt feelings. Well, it was time to set his hurt feelings aside. Lois had never given him any reason to hope, and she was legendary for the way she dismissed the feelings of others. Why should he have expected anything else?
Because he was her partner and, he'd thought, her friend. Obviously their friendship wasn't as deep on her side as his. He was going to have to accept that and live with it, but he couldn't let Luthor destroy her because he, Clark Kent, couldn't act like an adult. Lois's life was more important than anything else right now. He could say his good-byes later, after this was all over, after Luthor was under arrest and Lois was safe and free.
Then he would decide whether he ever wanted to be Superman again.
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tbc
