And another fun part.
The good cop/bad cop theme had me in stitches, especially when Lois knew instinctively which one she'd be playing then blinked when Silas suddenly became the bad cop. LOL!
She felt her cheeks grow warm. Silas was watching her closely. “No, not... really,” she said, in the same instant Clark spoke a quiet, “We aren’t.”
Gah! Lois ... Lois ... Lois is holding even more tightly to the idea that they are married than Clark. Oh, so good ...
Silas’s stern look softened immediately. “God. I’m sorry. It’s... the clone, right? You guys are in that in between place now? Should be married, but aren’t yet. And... well... that was the one thing I just couldn’t... well, not the only thing, certainly, but definitely one of the big ones I just couldn’t fathom... so terrible.”
The look Clark gave her was wary, bordering on fearful. “Why do I feel like we don’t want to know?”
Major, major woobie lip time. Believe me, Silas, I know exactly what you mean. (And another nice nod to future as fandom.)
Clark’s hand moved to her back, rubbing lightly up and down her spine, his fingers smoothing the tense muscles in her shoulders. He was doing it entirely unconsciously; one look at him told her he was miles away. Maybe someplace watching the demise of an entire society. Of their every living relative. The future of millions.
Krypton all over again.
You know what gets me about this part? Not just that she goes to him for comfort and he instinctively gives it (probably getting it for himself at the same time, just by touching her), but the next part ... the Krypton part. Because it's *Lois* who thinks this. The soulmates thing, the bond, the deep, powerful *understanding* that they have between them ... is right here. She knows him. Knows his mind. Knows his heart and his fears. Even after just a few weeks. Two hundred years and a few weeks, but all the same. It's beautiful.
“It’s bad.” His voice shook precariously on the last word. “Really bad. And once I tell you, if I tell you, then I can’t... untell you, and you might wish I could.” Tears he had spent days fighting spilled over, hot on his cheeks, and she blurred to his vision.
“If it hurts you, I want you to tell me.” There was no hesitancy in her voice.
I love him ... love them. And am I the only one who can't help but picture Lois and Clark in this scene? I can't remember if you gave us physical descriptions in the earlier parts, so maybe Hank and Elise are blond and look nothing like our L&C, but the way they interact, the way he loves her so intensely yet takes the weight of the world on his shoulders to protect her and her family ... it's very Superman-ish, even if he doesn't have powers. Whether he has Clark's soul or not, he's a true hero.
Beside him, Lois tensed and her eyes flew wide. He felt the jolt run between them like a current. “Helpers...” she murmured.
Ah! The jolt; the bond. Minor mention, yes, but I'm a big fan of the bond coming out in subtle ways like this so ... thanks.
He set her down. Lois beamed at him, grabbed his face between her hands and kissed him back soundly. “That was so easy, Clark. Why didn’t we think of that before?”
He raised his hands to cover hers, casting about for just the right words for this moment. “Believe me, Lois, I thought of this right away. The very first day. The very first second I saw you. I just didn’t think you would...”
Wait, whispered a small, still sane voice inside his head. Hang on.
“...um...what are we talking about... exactly?” he finished somewhat lamely.
ROTFL!!! Literally! Well, almost. But I did laugh so hard and so long that my husband poked his head down the stairs and said, "Are you OK? What could possibly be so funny??" LOL!
And then the ending ... the last scene ... fabulous dialogue, CC! From "He loads new data kind of slow" to "Lucky for them they're so good looking" ... awesomely fun! And, "the bakery". What a way to end it ... just so freakin' brilliant, you are.
You know what this reminds me of? The middle point of an hour episode. You know, how they always spend the first fifteen minutes setting up the problem, then the second fifteen minutes building up the seriousness of the problem until it reaches a crescendo ... and then the next two acts are devoted to running around to find the actual solution.
And that's where we're at! The extra long commercial break at the half-hour ... a two week long commerical break. That's a lot of Pepsodent.
Sigh. This is when I need my fanfic TiVo to do some time shifting.
Have a safe and wondeful trip, CC. We'll all be eagerly awaiting your return.
Kathy
EDITED TO ADD: Now that I've read the earlier comments, I'm surprised that so many readers are shocked Silas doesn't know about the Peacekeepers. To me, that was a given. If Silas thought Tempus was a comic book character, why would he know about time cops and peacekeepers? They have clearly gone to a lot of trouble to make sure no one knows -- not even Elise, and she's married to one of them -- so there was never any doubt in my mind that Silas would have no clue what Lois and Clark were talking about. Indeed, the mere fact that he thought about the bakery at all makes me proud of the boy's observation skills.
