Okay, what, if anything, needs to be added?
Suspicions: 9/9
by Nan Smith
Previously:
The figure of a man clad in the uniform of a security guard appeared suddenly, less than ten feet from her hiding place. Ellen screamed and threw the phone at him. He ducked, and incredibly the little instrument bounced off the bridge of his nose. She turned to run, one hand groping in the pocket of her suit as he recovered and lunged toward her, his hands outstretched. His clutching fingers caught the sleeve of her jacket and she screamed again, trying to wrench free.
There was a screech of tires and a splintering crash, and her assailant jerked halfway around. Unbelieving, Ellen saw Sam's treasured Mercedes as it burst into the garage, part of the shattered, wooden arm that regulated cars entering the lot still clinging to the grill, as she aimed the little canister of teargas and sprayed her captor full in the face.
The Mercedes screeched to a stop and Sam leaped out. "Ellen!"
The would-be assailant was clutching his face, choking and coughing, tears running down his cheeks. Ellen sprayed him again, for good measure. Sam ran toward her, and Ellen saw that his face was unnaturally white. "Ellen, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Sam. This man --"
"He's a murderer." Sam grabbed her and held her tight against him. "My God, I've never been so scared in my life!"
There was a whoosh of air, heralding the arrival of Superman, but held tightly in Sam's arms, Ellen barely noticed.
**********
And now, the conclusion:
"Daddy, are there any other stories about Oz?" Jonny wanted to know, as Clark closed the book. The Wizard of Oz was finished at last, and both his younger sons had groaned over the fact that Dorothy had returned to live in Kansas and left the fairyland behind.
"As a matter of fact, yes," he told them. "They're at your grandparents' place in Kansas. Your grandma read them to me when I was a little boy."
"Could you ask Superman to bring us the next one?" Jimmy asked, eagerly.
"Well, I guess I could," Clark said. "I'll do it the next time I see him. Now, you two settle down and go to sleep. Jonny has school, tomorrow."
"I can't wait until school's out," Jonny said. "Then we get to stay up later."
"Well, right now, I have a little work to get done," Clark said, "and I want your mommy to get some rest, tonight." He leaned over for good night kisses. "Night, guys."
"Night, Daddy," Jimmy said.
"Night," Jonny echoed. "Don't forget the night light."
"I wouldn't forget that." Clark snapped on the little wall light, shaped like Superman, and turned off the overhead light. "Go to sleep, now."
In the living room a few moments later, Lois was fidgeting, restlessly. "Has the clock stopped, or something? What time is it?"
Replacing the book on its shelf, he glanced at his watch. "Five after eight. Your mom and dad should be here pretty soon."
Lois rolled sideways on the sofa. "And here I am looking like some kind of prehistoric polliwog," she said.
"Lois, you look exactly like what you are," Martha said. "The mother-to-be of a set of triplets."
"Yeah, but this is kind of a special occasion," Lois said. She glanced at the drawn curtains, as if to assure herself that no one outside could see in. "It's not every day that you -- well, you know."
"Yeah." Clark forced a smile. "I know we can trust your parents, but I guess I still feel a little nervous about it. Still, it's the right thing to do."
"Yes," Martha said, suddenly. "It is."
"I just hope Mother can take the shock, after what happened today," Lois said.
"Your mom was incredible this afternoon, honey," Clark said. "She's tougher than anybody gave her credit for. After what she did, I guess I can see where you get it. We should have told both of them a long time ago." He grimaced. "On the other hand, telling people about this isn't what I do best."
The doorbell rang. Clark swallowed and resolutely squared his shoulders. "I guess this is it."
Sam and Ellen were standing close together at the door when he opened it, and he saw Sam's arm protectively around his wife's waist. Sam had been shaken by the events of the afternoon, he realized, perhaps more than Ellen was. By the curb, he could see the Mercedes with two minor dents in the grillwork. There had been a time when Sam would have been upset at the damage to his car but this afternoon, when Superman had arrived to apprehend the man who had stalked Candy Valenzuela for weeks and had tried to kill Ellen Lane, Sam had shrugged off the scratches and dents without a blink. "That's what insurance is for," he'd said. "Are you *sure* you're all right, honey?"
Ellen had assured him several times that she was, and seemed rather surprised by his concern.
Now, however, she appeared to have adapted to the new attitude on her husband's part, and even seemed to be enjoying it.
"Come in," Clark invited. "How are you this evening, Ellen?"
"I'm fine," Ellen said. "It's not often that I'm given credit for stopping a serial killer."
"Reporters have been calling all evening," Sam said. "We've had four book offers, so far, two different talk shows want Ellen to appear as a guest, a magazine wants to do a photo feature on the apartment, and some network was trying to talk her into consulting on a TV movie about the whole thing. I finally turned off the phone. These people are insane."
Clark found himself chuckling at the incredulous expression on his father-in-law's face. "Well, they smell money," he said. "People love it when a bad guy is brought down by his intended victim. Come on in before somebody spots you."
The stepped into the small entryway, and Ellen held up a hand. "Clark," she said, "I wanted to say something before I lose my nerve."
"Oh?" He paused, slightly surprised, and as an afterthought, closed and locked the door.
"I wanted to apologize to you. I was out of line for saying the things I did, and I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"
Clark found himself gaping slightly at her and had to consciously close his mouth.
"Sam and Lois -- and both CJ and Marta -- told me that I was wrong. If I can't take their word for it, I can't believe anyone," Ellen said. "I should have listened to them. If I had, this thing today might not have happened."
"And Roderick Wilkinson might have killed Candy Valenzuela," Clark said. "You may have saved her life, Ellen. Of course I can forgive you. It was partly my fault, too. That's the reason Lois and I asked you and Sam over, tonight. We should have explained this a long time ago."
Sam's eyebrows went up a fraction. Clark held the inner door for them and followed them into the living room.
"Hello, Martha," Sam said.
Martha Kent smiled at them and glanced at Clark, but said nothing.
"Please, sit down," Clark said. He firmly quelled his nervousness. It was odd, how he hadn't felt nervous telling this to Wyatt Dillon -- on the other hand, Wyatt had pretty much figured it out ahead of time.
Sam and Ellen took the love seat. Ellen looked at Lois. "How are you feeling?"
"Much better, once I knew you were safe," Lois said. "Fortunately, I was able to get hold of Clark when I heard you scream, over the phone. He'd been looking for you. I was afraid we were too late."
"I didn't realize you were looking for me, too," Ellen said, turning to Clark. "I suppose you got hold of Superman."
"That's what I was going to explain," Clark said, firmly. "Lois and I talked it over, and we both decided that we needed to tell you the truth. We should have told you years ago, but I'm not good at telling anyone about this. Even Lois figured it out for herself."
Ellen started to speak, but Lois interrupted. "First, you have to know that you can't tell anyone about this. It's a dangerous secret; if anyone who shouldn't finds out, it could pretty much wreck our lives, and yours, and the lives of anyone else close to us. And, if you think the media attention you're getting right now is bad, this would be a thousand times worse."
Ellen glanced uncertainly at Sam. Clark saw him squeeze her hand. "Go on."
Lois looked at Clark. "Honey?"
Clark swallowed, and took a deep breath, then another one. "This is harder than I thought it was going to be."
"I know," Lois said.
Clark closed his eyes, opened them and began to spin in place. When he stopped, standing before Sam and Ellen in his colorful costume, he felt incredibly exposed. He folded his arms and looked Ellen Lane directly in the eyes. "This is what we weren't telling you and Sam. We should have, but as I said, telling people about myself isn't something I'm good at doing. The only other persons that I've ever told were CJ and Marta, and that was because I didn't have a choice."
**********
Superman. Her son-in-law was Superman.
Ellen stared back at the super hero, trying to re-arrange her thoughts a second time in one day and wondering why she wasn't more shocked. Even after having seen the transformation, right in front of her, it was difficult to take in, but perhaps it was something of an anticlimax after the earlier events of the day. Clark looked larger and much more intimidating in this role, but in his eyes she could see a hint of anxiety, and that suddenly made him human again.
She looked at Lois, lying on the couch, and saw the anxiety in her face as well. Her daughter had carried a torch for the Man of Steel for nearly two years, and had married her reporting partner in the end. But, she had married her dream man, after all. Her respect for her daughter rose a notch. Being Superman's wife couldn't be easy. It made being a doctor's wife sound simple.
"Well," she said, finally, "I guess that explains a lot. I always wondered why Superman didn't come to your wedding."
"I need to apologize to both of you," Superman said. Somehow his voice was deeper and more authoritative than it had been as Clark. "We didn't tell you, and we should have. Trusting you was never an issue, though. I guess both of us were afraid of the danger it would put you in -- and there's the fact, as I said before, that this is something that I'm not good at. I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me."
"I guess," Ellen said, slowly, "this explains why Superman always shows up conveniently when you're in trouble, Lois. It makes me feel a little better about that, at least." She turned back to her Kryptonian son-in-law. "What did you mean, you didn't have a choice about telling CJ and Marta?"
"They're beginning to develop super powers," Lois said. "CJ is a Kryptonian, and a relative of Clark's. The whole thing is too complicated to even try to go into, but we had to tell both of them so they wouldn't accidentally hurt someone. We'll have to tell Jonny, Jimmy and these three eventually, too ..." She patted her middle. "But not yet."
Super powers, Ellen thought. Her grandchildren were going to have Superman's powers. Suddenly, a number of things began to make sense.
"That was how CJ overheard us, the other night," Sam said. "He has super hearing."
"And, so does Marta," Ellen said. "I'm glad to have that cleared up, at least." She eyed Clark, thoughtfully. He still looked worried. "I guess if you can forgive me, I can forgive you, Cl -- Superman. It's only fair."
His expression relaxed. "Thanks, Ellen."
"I have to admit," she said, "that I didn't expect to hear this, when Sam said you'd invited us over, tonight. I was prepared to accept on faith that you weren't doing what I thought you might be doing -- but this is a lot better. At least, now I'll know where you're going when you make a stupid excuse and take off. Really, Lois, you ought to think of some convincing reasons for him to leave. Even Candy Valenzuela at your office thinks they're lame. She just thinks you have some kind of arrangement with Superman and that he's giving you exclusive interviews."
"She does?" Clark asked.
"She and I had a private talk this afternoon. She's a good person, and she gave you a pretty favorable personal recommendation."
"Really?"
"She called you 'Mr. Straight-Arrow'. After I thought about it, I realized it just seemed to fit."
Martha laughed. "Maybe you, Lois and I should get together and make a list with more original excuses for him," she suggested. "Between us, we ought to be able to come up with some good ones."
"That's not a bad idea," Sam said. He looked at Clark's face and laughed. "Relax, Superman. You should know who the real bosses are in our family."
"Yeah," Superman said. "I figured that out quite a few years ago."
**********
Upstairs, Clark heard the sound of a door opening, and an instant later Jimmy's voice spoke from the direction of the stairs. "Superman? Did my daddy ask you about the Oz books?"
"Yes, he did, Jimmy," Clark said. "And if your grandmother says it's okay, I'll fly out to her farm tomorrow and ask your grandfather to let me bring one back for your dad to read to you."
"Jimmy," Lois said. "Why aren't you in bed?"
"I'm thirsty," Jimmy informed her. "I'm getting a drink."
"Then get it and go right back to bed."
"Yes, Mommy." Clark heard his youngest son's footsteps as he made his way to the upstairs bathroom. He drew a long, relieved breath.
"Well," he said, "can I get anyone some coffee?"
There were nods all around, and he turned to make his way into the kitchen. When the door swung shut, he made a quick change into his regular clothes, picked up the Pyrex coffee pot and set it on the tray with the coffee cups and coffee cake that he had prepared a short time earlier. The door opened behind him.
"Can I help, Clark?" Ellen asked.
"Thanks," he said. "Why don't you bring the dessert plates? I sort of ran out of room on the tray."
She smiled and picked up the stack. "Clark, I wanted to say again that I'm sorry for thinking what I did."
He started to answer, but she held up a hand. "I'm not an easy person to deal with -- I know that. And you've always been a gentleman to me, even when I must have irritated you terribly. I appreciate what you've told Sam and me. I don't think it was an easy thing to do, but now I can stop worrying about Lois and the children -- at least, when it comes to her marriage."
Clark gave a soft laugh. "I'm glad you added that last part. Even Superman worries about her, sometimes, even though she's cut back on a lot of the riskier stuff. I see where she gets it, though. You gave Superman a case of déjà vu, today."
She cocked her head at him. "Do you always talk about yourself in the third person?"
"All the time," he admitted. "Sorry. Mom and Lois are always after me about that, too."
"I guess I'll get used to it," she said. "I have a lot of questions to ask you."
He eyed her warily. "Okay ... I guess."
"Oh, not tonight," she said. "I think all of us have had enough for tonight. But don't think I'm letting you off the hook."
"Wouldn't dream of it," he said, wondering what he'd let himself in for, now.
"Tomorrow will be soon enough," Ellen said. "It will give me time to think of some good ones."
Naturally, Clark thought. Now he knew where Lois got her curiosity, too. He backed out the door with the tray, holding it open with his heel for Ellen to follow him. She did so, and preceded him into the living room.
"There is one thing I want to know, though," Ellen said, as he set the tray down on the coffee table. "How *did* Lois figure it out?"
The End
