For anyone still out there
.
Thanks to Kathy!
Last time:
He took the time to release the Whites before heading back to the parking lot where Lois had slumped onto a bench.
"Hey," he said quietly. "Are you okay?"
She shook her head. "No. I don't feel so good."
He scooped her into his arms and flew off towards the hospital.
*~*17*~*Lois lay in the bed, staring at the window but not really seeing what was outside. The doctors didn't think there was anything seriously wrong with her but they wanted to keep her for observation.
She didn't want to stay.
Clark wanted her to.
Worry wart.
He'd stayed with her as long as he felt he could, but he was restless the whole time and she finally told him to go and see if he could figure out what was going on – who Dave and Sarah really were.
She'd even promised to stay put.
She hadn't promised for how long.
It had been another two hours and night was falling.
She had to get out of there.
She contemplated calling her nurse and telling her that she was leaving AMA – against medical advice – but decided that just leaving was probably a better plan. Nurses and doctors would try to convince her to stay, maybe draw attention to her, call security, and she didn't want any of those things.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed, stopping to rub her neck.
She'd fought men before – including Jason Trask just a couple of weeks earlier – but she'd never been flung quite like that. Almost like he was shooing a fly away.
Why hadn't she waited for Clark? Because she wanted to get there early and scope out the situation before he got there. Because she didn't want to be completely dependent on him and Superman to get stories. Because she needed to prove to herself that she was a competent investigator on her own. Besides, she'd left him a note.
Of course, the end result was that she was doubting herself even more.
She sighed, pushing the thoughts from her mind as she found her clothes and dressed quickly, already more than a bit sore from hitting the wall. She found a piece of paper and left a note sitting on her pillow that she was leaving so that they wouldn't be worried about her wandering around the hospital in a concussion induced stupor or something.
Her room, thankfully, was at the end of the hall and it was the work of only a few seconds for her to slip out of her door and into the stairwell. Minutes later, she was hailing a cab, glad that she had her purse with her.
"Where to, miss?"
She bit her lip for a moment, thinking. "344 Clinton," she finally said. From there she could make some phone calls but still get some rest. And surely Clark would come back there at some point. She could also change into some of his clothes – they would be much more comfortable than the business suit she was currently wearing.
The ride wasn't long and Lois soon found herself wishing Clark had already given her a copy of his keys. She checked first under the mat, then under the flower pot before stretching to check above the door.
No key.
She dug through her purse, finding a dusty paperclip on the bottom. A few seconds later, she was inside. She looked around but found no sign that Clark had been there recently.
She picked up the phone to call the Planet when she realized the balcony door was open and she heard voices outside.
"How much are you willing to sacrifice personally to put me away?"
She peeked out the door.
Dave Miller was there, his back to her. Superman was on the other side of him, but he hadn't noticed Lois' presence yet. Sarah was between the two of them, looking from one to the other.
If she timed it just right, she might be able to tackle Miller while he was distracted. And hope that she was wrong about his Kryptonianness. Otherwise she'd end up right back in the hospital.
"Plenty," Clark hissed. "You threatened millions of people and two of my friends because you knew I knew them."
"That's a good attitude." Lois couldn't read the tone of his voice. Almost... gloating?
Miller touched his watch band and a green cone appeared around him.
Clark gasped and stumbled backwards almost as though he'd been struck.
"Ching!" Sarah yelled.
Ching? Who was Ching?
Lois didn't dwell on it but saw her chance, lunging towards the other man. She knocked him against the small outer wall before scrambling towards Clark who was in obvious pain.
Before she could get to him, her arms were grabbed and she was dragged away by Sarah.
She was much stronger than she looked.
Miller struggled to a sitting position. "Two guesses what this is. It rhymes with Kryptonite. Lois, no helping."
Clark was staring at her, obviously not happy that she was there, but his attention was drawn back to the other man as a gun suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"Turn it off," Lois told him, trying to sound as menacing as she could while still held prisoner.
"Okay, it's Kryptonite," Miller mocked her. "Actually, it's a Kryptonite force field. What's the matter *Super*man? Don't you still want to put me away?"
"I'll take a piece of you." Lois struggled with Sarah, determined to get away but her wrists were firmly held in place. "Let go!"
"He has to do this alone," Sarah told her.
"Do what alone?" Lois asked.
Clark struggled towards Miller and the force field but he couldn't get close enough before the pain overwhelmed him.
"That's good," Miller told him. "Run away. Or better yet, just fly away." He was obviously getting weaker himself, though Lois wasn’t sure why. He turned to Sarah. "See? I told you."
"You can't hide in there forever," Clark gasped at him.
"I don't intend to," Miller shot back. He brandished the gun.
"What are you doing, Ching?"
Who was Ching?
"Simple," Miller – Ching? – told her. "Testing the Man of Steel. I intend to shoot myself." He looked at Clark. "Of course, you could try to stop me. But if you decide to do that, you'd have to pass through the force field. That, of course, would be lethal."
"Ching, I order you to stop now!"
Order him? Why was Sarah ordering... Ching?
"I'm beyond orders," he told her, still staring at Clark. "So, you can either let me die, the man who tried to kill Olsen and White, plus a million other people, or... you can kill yourself trying to save me."
"He's bluffing," Lois said hopefully.
"I wasn't bluffing about the bombs, was I?" he reminded her. "Five."
"Ching, don't do it!" Sarah pleaded.
"It's the only way to prove to you that I'm right. Four."
Sarah, distracted by Ching's actions, had loosened her grip on Lois' wrists.
Lois wrenched away from the other woman, diving towards the man in the force field.
"Lois! No!"
She could hear Clark yelling as she struggled with the other man. He threw her off, spun her around and she found herself staring at Clark.
With the gun pointed directly at her temple.
*****
TBC
