Clark took a deep breath as he surveyed the contents of his desk, thinking ahead to the evening. He stacked all his grading and shoved it in his bag, along with a few pens; he’d do it tonight, sitting at Lois’s dining room table. Even if she had to work, even if she had to be in the newsroom where he couldn’t be seen, or if she wanted to go to bed early, just being in Metropolis would make him feel less off-balance.
He had made it through a full day of teaching classes. Certainly not the best teaching he had ever done, but he didn’t think he students minded given that all they wanted to talk about was his recent adventures.
As the day dragged on, though, he found himself increasingly worried. He knew Lois was fine. Luthor was locked up, and she was perfectly safe at work. But being asked a nonstop string of questions about the events of the past week had worn on him.
By the end of the day, he couldn’t stop thinking about her tied to that chair, gag in her mouth, blood running down her face, and smoke all around. He had been so sure he was going to lose her. So sure he wouldn’t make it to her on time.
He just wanted to see her. Then he would be reassured that she was safe and whole and…his. He needed to hear her heartbeat and her voice. He needed to touch her.
He was just closing the flaps of his bag, his mind racing with everything he still had to do, all the work he had to catch up on after missing two and half days of school, when Lana walked across the hall from her classroom and into his room, clearly concerned. “How is she? Are you OK?”
“Lana. She’s fine. I’m fine. Thank you for taking over the newspaper meetings while I was gone. It didn’t even cross my mind.”
She waved a hand in the air, dismissing his gratitude. He could feel her studying his face.
“Clark.” She shook her head and closed his door, giving them some privacy. “You’re not fine. I can tell.”
“Look, I appreciate your concern, I really do … but I really need to get to practice and—“
“They can start without you. Take a few more minutes. You look like you’re still pretty stressed. She’s really OK?”
He blew out a deep breath, trying to center himself. “She is. Rope burns on her wrists. Scrapes and a ton of bruises, plus a gash on her head. No concussion, thank goodness, but she had a headache for a while, probably from whatever he used to knock her out. Plus she was coughing a lot from the smoke inhalation, but the doctors checked her over and did chest x-rays, and they say she's going to be fine. Her wrist is badly sprained – that’s the worst of it. And the bruising. She’s just really sore and struggling to do things one-handed. But she says she’s getting used to it. She’s back at work today.”
“That sounds horrible, Clark. She must have been terrified.”
Clark barked out a laugh, knowing it sounded a bit hysterical but completely unable to reign it in. “Oh, she’s fine; tough as nails. She and her coworkers keep telling me about all the other times she’s cheated death. Like that’s supposed to make me feel better.”
Lana hesitated. “I saw the fire on the news. It was…intense. It’s a miracle she made it out with just a sprained wrist and some bruises.”
Clark closed his eyes, the fire raging behind his eyelids. “It was horrible,” he said when he opened his eyes.
“It must have been…really hard to find her,” she said softly. “You must have been so scared.”
He froze. None of the news reports had mentioned his name. They all said that she had been rescued along with the others trapped in the building when the fire started.
“I don’t…”
“Did anyone see you?” she asked quietly.
“Lana,” he said softly, his world crashing down around him.
He was dumbfounded, unable to form a response, but Lana went on without him. “I was so worried about you. When you took off in the middle of the day sick…. You don’t get sick. You never get sick. I called you, and you didn’t answer. So I went to your house, but you weren’t home. I called your parents, and they said you weren’t there, but they were being all cagey. And then I heard she was missing. And I realized…. And I turned on LNN and saw the fire….”
He didn’t say anything, but he could feel himself trembling. The silence dragged out between them.
“You’re always so careful. And you’ve always made it clear that you didn’t want to talk about it,” she said, tears in her eyes. “But you had to know…that we know that you’re…special. Pete and I. We’ve always known. The things you can do…. And if someone pulled her from that inferno, and the worst of her injuries is a sprained wrist…that has to be your doing. And that must be the scariest thing you’ve ever done. So…can we stop pretending? So you can tell me what happened? So I can be here for you? We love you. We just want to help you.”
He sat back down in his chair, too stunned to speak. And then the tears came unbidden, and he let out a soft sob. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I never told you.”
She closed the gap between them, bending and wrapping her arms around him. “We can talk about that later. Tell me about the fire.”
She squeezed him once more and then stepped back, grabbing a stool and dragging it next to his chair, and sitting beside him. She rested a hand on his knee and waited patiently for him to speak.
“I looked everywhere,” he whispered, wiping his eyes. “I had no idea where she was. If she was still alive. And then I heard about the fire. And I knew. She’s been investigating CostMart and Intergang for months. And their connection to Luthor and the fires. It’s all…part of the whole…anyway. I knew.”
He hesitated. Not sure exactly how much Lana knew. Not sure how many details to include.
“When I got there,” he said finally, “the whole building was in flames. There were firefighters everywhere and people being evacuated. But she wasn’t upstairs with the CostMart employees. She was downstairs, in the basement. In the secret Intergang offices. She was…”
He stopped, picturing her again like he had found her. He looked up and made eye contact with Lana for the first time since starting the story. She was watching him closely, her face full of compassion, tears in her eyes, matching his.
“She was tied to the chair. She was bleeding. She was gagged. I thought… It was…”
“Clark,” she said softly. “That’s awful. You must have been so scared.”
He nodded, unable to speak for a moment. “I burst…through the door.”
He hesitated, watching Lana for a reaction. She nodded, clearly understanding what he was saying. Not just burst in – but burst through. Acknowledging openly for the first time his superhuman strength. She squeezed his knee and nodded for him to keep going.
“I broke the ropes. I carried her out. It was…. There were flames everywhere. And so much smoke.”
“Did she…understand?” Lana asked. “Did she already know? Did she know you could save her?’
He shook his head. “I hadn’t…told her anything. I wanted to, but…”
“But you’ve never told anyone?” Lana asked softly.
He nodded. “She… I carried her to the ambulance. They started giving her oxygen and checking her head wound…. And she just looked at me. And I knew. That she knew. I was so scared she would hate me. Be…disgusted by me.”
“Oh, Clark,” Lana said sadly.
“I love her,” he whispered.
“I know,” she said. “Did anyone else see? Did anyone else say anything?”
He shook his head tightly. “There was so much going on. No one saw anything or thought anything of it. Later, at the hospital, the police came to take our statements. And I panicked. Because I didn’t know what she would tell them. I didn’t know what I should tell them. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”
“Oh, god,” she breathed. “That’s so scary; of course you panicked. What did you do?”
He laughed. “I didn’t do anything. She… She sent them out of the room. Said she needed privacy. And then she made up a whole cover story. And told me what to say. So our stories would match.”
Lana’s worried face smoothed out into a smile.
“Afterward….when we were back at her apartment, I told her everything. I was sure it would be the end of us, but…”
“But?” Lana prompted.
“She loves me,” he said with a little laugh, still incredulous.
Lana laughed. “Of course she does. She’s been in love with you this whole time, you dolt.”
He laughed again and swiped at the tears leaking from his eyes. “God, why am I crying? I’ve cried more this week than in the rest of my life combined. I didn’t even cry this much when I thought my dad was dying.”
“It’s been a pretty crazy week,” Lana said.
“You don’t know the half of it,” he said, suddenly desperate to tell her more. “When I was there over break, Luthor tried to kill her. He had someone shoot at her. I…”
“You saved her from being shot?” she asked, mouth hanging open.
He nodded.
“And then you saved her from a fire?”
He nodded again.
“And you were worried she was going to break up with you?”
He laughed. “Something like that?”
Lana shook her head. “How is she really? With all of this?”
“She’s really okay,” he said. “Physically she needs some time to heal. As for….me. Us. She seems…really okay. Like…really okay.”
“I’m glad she knows,” Lana said. “I’m sorry it happened the way it did. But I’m glad she knows. I’m glad you can talk to her.”
She looked so sincere, but also sad. And he knew she was wishing he had confided in her earlier.
“When I told her that I’d never told anyone…ever…you know the first thing she asked me?”
“What?” Lana asked.
“Why I never told you,” he said.
Lana let out a whimpering sound that was half laugh, half cry. And he knew she was wondering the same thing.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have told you. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. Or didn’t trust you. I was just scared.”
“I know,” she said. “We know.”
“Maybe we can… Maybe in a week or two, I can bring Lois, and we can sit down and talk. The four of us. I want to tell you everything.”
She nodded eagerly. “We’d love that. Just name the day.”
He stood and tugged her up from the stool, giving her a hug.
“Thanks,” he said. “For…everything. I have to get to practice. But we’ll talk about this more soon.”
“Any time,” she said, sniffling and dabbing at her eyes. Then she turned and started to walk out of the room.
He paused, remembering his conversation with Lois; the fear that had kept him from telling her for so long.
“Hey,” he said, waiting until she was looking at him to continue. “You know…. I would never do anything…special…that could hurt the kids. I’m so careful-”
“Clark,” she gasped, her face crumpling, tears falling suddenly. “We never…. Of course you wouldn’t. God, they’re safer with you than they are with us. You didn’t really think we’d….”
He shrugged, holding back another round of tears. She walked back over to him and wrapped him in a hug. He clung to her, letting go of the last of that fear.
“They love you so much,” she whispered. “We love you so much. We never, ever worried about that. Ever.”
She pulled back to look at him, and he nodded, unable to speak through the lump in his throat.
She swiped at her face and laughed. “I’m a mess. Let’s hope no one sees me coming out of your classroom looking like this. I don’t even want to imagine what the rumor mill would come up with.”
Clark laughed, scrubbing a hand over his own face. He watched Lana walk back across the hall to her own classroom, and then picked up his bag and headed to practice.
*****
The tires of Clark’s truck crunched down the gravel driveway, a flurry of snow reflecting the glow of his headlights. One last thing to accomplish today, and then he could head to Metropolis for the night. He was aching to see her, to hold her, but this had to be done today. He couldn’t wait any longer.
Practice had gone smoothly. It was clear Jake had worked the team hard that week in his absence, and he was no longer worried about having abandoned them the week of a recruiter’s visit. In between drills, his team had peppered him with questions about Metropolis and Luthor and the bunker.
It was only after practice was over that Travis, who had been unusually quiet during practice, approached and asked how Lois was recovering. He had remembered suddenly Hannah’s admission that she and some of her fellow newspaper staff had been worried, and he realized Travis must have been among that group. He had assured the boy that Lois was recovering well and would be back to normal in no time. And he had made a mental note to tell Lois about their genuine concern.
For his part, he’d had a tough time focusing on the practice, still reeling from the discovery that his secret had not, in fact, been a secret from Lana and Pete. His mind swirled with memories both ancient and recent, trying to put together what they knew and when. He was shocked by the relief he felt, knowing they knew. That he didn’t have to hide from them anymore. That he didn’t have to wonder or worry about how they would react if they found out.
He parked his truck and hopped out, the slam of the door loud in the quiet evening. He walked up to the porch of the white farmhouse and reached for the doorknob, then hesitated. Regret churned in his belly as he thought of how he had behaved the last time he was here.
He had been right. His fear had been justified. His decision to tell Lois had been the correct choice. But that didn’t stop him from replaying the shocked look on his mother’s face when he yelled at them or her gasp of surprise that had echoed in his ear as he disappeared mid-sentence.
He reached up a hand and knocked twice. There was a pause, and then his mother threw the door open. She was wearing an apron and twisting a dish towel in her hands.
“Clark? What in the world are you doing? Get in here.” She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the living room, closing the door behind him, and then hugging him.
He stood awkwardly in front of her, not sure how to start this conversation. “Last time I was here, I wasn’t exactly…. I wasn’t sure how happy you’d be to see me.”
“Oh, you ridiculous child. Of course I’m happy to see you. Jonathan!” she yelled, turning her head toward the stairs. “Clark’s here!”
She turned back to him and looked at him for a minute, shaking her head. “We’ve been worried sick,” she said softly. “Are you okay? Is she okay?”
Jonathan appeared at the top of the stairs and then hurried down to greet him. He, too, reached immediately to hug him, and Clark felt the irritation he had been holding onto melt some.
“We’re fine,” he said. “She’s…pretty beat up. But she’s going to be fine.”
“Thank goodness,” his mother said, and he could feel her genuine concern for Lois. “When we heard…. Well, we were just eaten up with guilt. We knew you were worried, but we never imagined anything like that would happen.”
“He nearly killed her,” Clark said softly. “If I hadn’t…. She was tied up in the basement. The whole building was in flames. It was collapsing down around her. No one knew she was there. I found her. I flew her out.”
He watched the stunned looks on their faces for censure, but found only horror.
“She knows. She knows everything.”
In the kitchen, a timer sounded.
“Come have dinner with us,” his mother said gently. “Tell us everything.”
He nodded, and then followed her into the kitchen, where she pulled a casserole from the oven and carried it to the table where salad was already waiting. He went to the cabinets and pulled out a place setting for himself, and joined them at the table.
They were quiet as they served themselves. Finally, when their plates were full, Clark rested his hands in his lap, and looked between them. “It was the only way to save her. And I don’t regret it. I’ll never regret it. No matter what happens. But you don’t have to be scared. She loves me. She’s accepted me completely, in a way I didn’t even know was possible. And she helped me. When we were in the hospital after, the police came to take our statements…and she covered for me. She came up with a story to explain how I got her out. She lied to the police for me. And she kept my name out of the paper. She protected me. Because she loves me.”
His parents looked stunned. Then his mother smiled tentatively. “She’s really special, isn’t she?”
The lump in his throat was back. He nodded. “She’s wonderful. She makes me so happy.” He paused, then continued more solemnly. “She’s worried you’re going to be angry that she knows. She’s worried you don’t like her.”
Martha made a tsking sound and shook her head. “Of course we aren’t angry with her.”
“And we don’t dislike her,” Jonathan added. “Not at all. We just hardly know her.”
“I want to change that,” Clark said. “I want you to get to know her like I do. She’s…incredible.”
He watched his parents pass a look between themselves, and then his mother took a breath and spoke for them both. “We can see how much you care about her. And she does sound very special. It’s just…she’s your first girlfriend. And this all happened so fast. She’s only been your girlfriend for a few weeks.”
Clark shook his head. “I know it feels fast to you. And that’s my fault for not telling you more about her sooner. But things between us…it’s been growing for months. Since I met her last spring. It was never truly platonic. We just didn’t know how to make it work with the distance. But since this summer, I’ve talked to her every day. For hours. She knows everything about me. Things I’ve never told anyone. Not just…this. But everything. She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met. I’m completely in love with her. I’ve never felt like this before. I never thought this was even possible. That’s why I never dated. I never thought I’d meet someone who could accept me like she does. I never thought I could have this. And now that I do…. I’m never going to let her go. I’m never going to change my mind. This is it for me. She’s it for me.”
His mother looked at him with tears in her eyes. “Give us a chance to love her like you do. We loved spending time with her when she was here. And we just want you to be happy. But we don’t know her like you do. We didn’t even have her phone number to call you back when we got your message.”
Clark felt a flash of chagrin. He hadn’t even thought to leave them her number to call back. He had meant to call them again later that evening, but then he had gotten so wrapped up in taking Lois flying and searching for Luthor that it hadn’t seemed like a priority. He should have made time to call them.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking clearly this week. I should have left you her number. I’ll make sure you have it before I leave. I’ll be there a lot, especially over the next few days while she’s still recovering from the worst of it, so you should definitely have her number in case you need to reach me.”
“I thought you said she was doing okay?” his mother said, immediately worried.
“She is,” he said. “But her wrist is badly sprained and…. It’s just hard for her to do a lot of basic tasks one-handed. Especially because she’s so sore…. Her whole body is covered in bruises, so she can’t lift her arms or stretch and contort to…. Anyway, she needs help washing her hair and getting dressed. That sort of thing. I’ll head back there as soon as I leave here and spend the night, so I can help her shower and get dressed for work again in the morning. And then I’ll be back here for work and the game tomorrow night. Then back to Metropolis for the weekend. She says she’s starting to feel stronger – that she probably won’t need as much help after this weekend. But we’ll see. She pushes herself really hard. I don’t want her to hurt herself worse. I really wanted her to come here and recover for a couple weeks, but there’s so much going on there with Luthor and her investigation…. She just can’t.”
His parents were quiet for a moment.
“You’ve been helping her shower and dress?” his father said finally. The flicker of surprise on his face was replaced quickly by a fond amusement.
Clark hesitated. He hadn’t realized exactly how much he was telling them about his relationship when he said that. He felt his cheeks flush, and watched his mother grin with delight.
“That’s very sweet,” she said. “I’m glad she has you to help her. It sounds like she needs someone to take care of her right now. And it sounds like she really trusts you, to let you help her like that.”
He nodded, then shifted the topic back to less awkward ground. “She really wants to get to know you better too.”
“Well, Thanksgiving is only three weeks away,” Martha said. “I know the holiday will be chaotic, but we should plan some time over the weekend for the four of us to sit down.”
“I was actually thinking…I could bring her for dinner on Sunday?”
“Well,” Martha said, clearly surprised. “She’s welcome, of course….”
“But that’s a big trip just for dinner,” Jonathan finished. “You said she can’t take any time off work. And a plane ticket will be expensive on such short notice. I hate for her to spend all that money just to fly in for the day.”
Clark hesitated, then shrugged and gave them an awkward grin. “She doesn’t….need a plane ticket. I can bring her.”
“You could…bring her?” Martha said. “You mean…fly her?”
“Is that…safe?” his father asked, clearly flummoxed. “That doesn’t seem like a good idea. For her, I mean.”
“She loves to fly,” Clark said softly. “It was her idea. Not…family dinner. But that I could bring her here.”
“She loves to fly?” Martha asked quietly.
He nodded, unable to stop the smile spreading across his face. “It’s…. I never imagined…. She loves it. Like I do. It’s….I want to take her…. There’s so many things I want to show her. And I want to bring her here. A lot. I want you to spend time with her. Not just when she comes to visit officially – publicly – but in between those visits too.”
“Well, then,” Jonathan said simply as he reached for his glass of iced tea. “That’s settled then. You’ll bring her to dinner Sunday.”
Clark smiled, and picked up his fork finally.
“Tell us more?” Martha requested hopefully. “You took her flying? Where did you go?”
They ate slowly as he filled them in on so much of what they had missed. His flight with Lois, their discovery of Luthor’s lair, and the fun they had working together on the story. This morning’s copy of the Daily Planet was sitting on the kitchen counter, and his mother gushed with excitement over his front page byline. His father chimed in too, mentioning that they’d bought multiple copies, including one that had already been cut up and added to the scrapbook they kept of his published articles. He laughed, amused by their enthusiasm, but flattered by the way his parents both still celebrated his achievements.
He glossed over Lois’ rescue and his terror as he waited to confess his secret to her, not wanting to relive it all again when they were having such a nice conversation. He knew they would want to hear Lois’ version of the events as well, and he figured they could wait until her visit this weekend to dive into all the details.
He left out, too, for now, his discovery that Lana and Pete were in on their secret, figuring they’d had enough shocks for one week.
By the end of the meal, he felt much better. He loved his parents, and they’d always supported him and trusted him. Things were changing, and change could be scary. Given how dramatically those changes had come about for them, it was unsurprising that their reactions had all been less than ideal. But he felt confident now that they were shifting into a new, and better, stage of their lives and their relationship.
After dinner, he found himself antsy as he helped clear the table, eager to get back to Lois, missing her after a long day away. His mother watched him out of the corner of her eye as she ran water for the dishes, and finally turned off the water and laughed.
He looked at her, confused. Jonathan approached from behind, dropping a hand on his shoulder and laughing too. “You’re not fooling anyone, son. We can see you’re dying to get back to her. Go on. I’ll help your mother with the dishes.”
“Take her those leftovers,” his mother added, nodding to the tupperware containers stacked on the counter. “I’ll make her a few freezer meals this weekend. Stuff that’s easy to eat with one hand.”
His heart clenched at her offer. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Go on,” Jonathan said. “Tell her we’ve been worried about her. Tell her we can’t wait to see her on Sunday.”
He hugged his parents and gathered the leftovers, more eager than ever to get back to Metropolis and her.
