Hi Author!
This story is what is known in this fandom as a Tank story. I don’t want to say more here that could spoil the story except: read at your own risk.
I wonder if PuffyTiger added this on her own or was prompted by the author. And if the author knows what they did when they started this…
The smell of curry drifted through the brownstone - spiced, savory and warm, like a hug in a bowl. Snow fell steadily outside, the world muted by a thickening blanket of white.
Lot’s of sensory input. And a single hyphen as an m-dash. This could indicate that I have to revise my guess for Kathryn84 on The Secrets of Dating…
“…snowfall expected to reach six to eight inches in some areas by tomorrow evening.
And Kathryn might still be locked in her Advent Calendar mood. She’s also a long enough member of the fandom to have appreciated Mary’s recent Build-your-own-adventure, as well as the hay-days of Wendy and Tank fic…
“But I didn’t know *you* were that eager to spend time with your family?”
Oh, look, ye olden times asterisk! That’s not a hallmark of Kathryn’s. Hmm…
“And I still can’t believe we agreed to spend a whole weekend in one cabin with both sets of parents, my sister and her newest crush.”
Sounds like a recipe for disaster.
She blew on it gently, then tasted. “Mmm. Okay, I need to confess. This is the real reason I married you.”
Outside, the wind nudged at the windows now and then, rattling them just enough to be noticed.
By the time they were clearing the table, the steady hum of the storm had grown louder.
Lois glanced over her shoulder as she loaded a plate into the dishwasher. “I’m telling you, that’s more than light flurries.”
This whole at-home scene does invoke Kathryn’s style with the Advent Calendar.
She gave him a look and shrugged. “But your parents will be there too, so it’ll balance out. And if tensions rise, we can always fake an emergency and fly off somewhere.”
Lois is being very pragmatic here. Do the in-laws know?
“And I packed an emergency chocolate stash, just in case.”
![[Linked Image]](https://cosgan.de/images/midi/nahrung/h025.gif)
From the living room, the news anchor’s voice floated in: “…and authorities are continuing to investigate what appears to be another sniper attack near the Central Business District.
Oh dear. And this is why we had to option of posting the Tank warning in it’s dedicated thread (
https://www.lcficmbs.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php/topics/1736/tank-ending-warnings#Post1736). Although, from the unpinned nature of it, it never took hold. Or the Tank Endings died out. Also, no one today would notice and check.
Aaaanyway, with the warning and Chekov’s Gun, I’m just a bit worried about Lois’s health down the road…
He shook his head. “They did. But the shot was fatal. Instant. There was nothing for Superman to do. I didn't even see the victim.
The discussion on Discord is correct, this is dark. Would Kathryn do dark? Would Mary?
One little boy called it, quote, ‘like Santa, but with muscles and a cape.’”
“Speaking of emergency supplies, are you done packing ours?” Lois asked.
The chocolate stash?
“Eh,” he shrugged, “fate’s had its shot.”
Okay, Kathryn uses very recognizable speech tags
/rushes off to update author assignments.
Clark smiled. “And pretending we know how to play Scrabble without cheating.”
“Speak for yourself. I am a paragon of virtue and vocabulary.”
/eyes the ‘virtue’ part suspiciously/
Clark looked at her with a mock stern expression. “You mean you’re going to invent words in scrabble until everyone else gives up.”
She grinned. “It’s called creativity. And confidence.”
You win at Scrabble by playing the players, not the letters.
Clark chuckled, pulling her even closer. “I like watching you - I don’t need a reason.”
Lois leaned in, eyes dancing. “I noticed - that time we played strip poker.”
She smirked. “And what did I tell you?”
He kissed her cheek. “That next time I should give you advance notice so you could wear the good lingerie.”
![[Linked Image]](http://cosgan.de/images/midi/frech/k025.gif)
She smiled faintly. “It’s been a week since we had dinner together without a pager or a phone call and Ralph’s going to start spreading rumors if we keep arriving separately.”
Oh this is cute! They could disappear into the storage closet?
Outside, the snow thickened against the windows, but inside, everything felt still - safe.
I at first read this as “still safe”. Nice touch!
The story’s short enough. I’ll just continue in one FDK posting.
Lois noticed. “What is it?”
He didn’t answer right away. “Nothing,” he murmured. “Probably just my imagination.”
But the furrow between his brows hadn’t eased.
Lois studied him for another beat, then sighed. “Alright. Grab the keys - I’ll double-check the kitchen.”
She turned heading down the hall.
Behind her, Clark moved–
And then–
Crack.
Not snow. Not thunder. Not the pop of a backfiring engine.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
Just the sickening sound of impact.
He collapsed on top of her, shielding her as he always had - but…
He was heavy. Too heavy.
Was it…was it…green?
As if something had pierced more than his body.
And then pain - real pain.
A pain he couldn’t hide.
And in that instant, Lois knew.
You did a great job making it about 80% clear that it was Clark who was shot, not Lois, but there’s this 20% of doubt left. Great job!
“Clark - talk to me. Where are you hit?”
He winced, jaw clenched. “Back… left side…” His voice was low and tight with effort.
So, the sniper’s trying to get Superman’s attention by shooting kryptonite bullets?
Lois pushed to her feet and sprinted to the hallway cabinet. First aid kit. Kitchen drawer. She grabbed what she could - antiseptic, gloves, tweezers, a flashlight and a lead box they had bought months ago in an antique store - just in case.
Kind of sadly adorable
The bullet hadn’t gone through - it had shattered.
Possibly weakened by the window pane.
She worked carefully, methodically, the way she had once pried a Kryptonite bullet out of a stranger in a cape with only a letter opener.
Great mirroring to her earlier observation about the time when Lex’s Ex shot Superman.
But as she lifted the gauze the wounds hadn’t closed up. He wasn't healing. Instead, it had begun to bleed more, a dark, steady ooze that defied everything she knew about him.
/points at Tank Ending warning instead of a WHAM warning/
She pressed her hand against the wound, gently moving the tissue to look for more shards.
Gripping.
![[Linked Image]](https://cosgan.de/images/midi/konfus/c010.gif)
He was shivering uncontrollably. Lois threw every blanket over him. Still not enough. His lips were pale, almost blue. She turned toward the fireplace, desperate to get a fire going.
Clark stirred under her hands. "Lois–"
"Shut up and breathe." Her voice broke slightly. "I’m almost done."
Eeeep!
And then he passed out.
~~~ \S/ ~~~
Chapter 3
She’s not going to take that well. And for that matter, so are we! Great cliffhanger pacing!
Stripping off her own sweater, Lois slid under the blankets and pressed herself close, curling around him as well as she could. He was ice-cold to the touch, but at least… at least the kryptonite seemed to have come out completely. She prayed that moving him hadn’t ripped anything.
![[Linked Image]](https://cosgan.de/images/midi/konfus/a030.gif)
“Just Us” – great title. Still, where’s Dr. Klein when you need him?
The woodpile was nearly gone.
Clark had meant to restock it. But the week had been full of rescues, emergencies… everything but time.
And then she saw it: the bag with the wooden rocking horse.
![[Linked Image]](https://cosgan.de/images/midi/konfus/a058.gif)
And then, as if summoned by dread, her gaze slid back to the bag in the corner.
The rocking horse.
A choice loomed before her.
~~~ \S/ ~~~
What will Lois do???
![[Linked Image]](https://cosgan.de/images/midi/konfus/c016.gif)
It’s clear to me that this isn’t Mary unless she completely switched her formatting and pacing, so I have to say, Kathryn, this is great work you did there
Don’t worry, I’ll do both!
For a few precious moments, a wave of heat radiated outwards, a fleeting warmth that momentarily pushed back the encroaching chill.
"Lois..." he whispered, his voice barely a breath. "You... you always knew how to... keep me warm."
Awww…
Also, is it wrong to wonder if maybe there’s a kryptonite splinter embedded in the wood?
His eyes, fixed on hers, slowly lost their light, their focus blurring into a distant, empty gaze. His body went limp, a dead weight in her arms.
Eeeep!
Without the spark guard - forgotten in her panic - there was nothing to catch them. One ember landed on the rug. Another found the hem of a curtain. And in the blink of an eye, the room began to burn.
Oh dear! More Tankyness!
Their cars, lost in a white-out on an unseen patch of black ice, slid off the treacherous mountain road, plunging silently into the ravine below. No one would find them, no one would ever know.
Eeeeep!
Congratulations - you’ve chosen the Tank Ending, everyone is dead, you really shouldn’t have burned a piece of Clark’s childhood.
![[Linked Image]](https://cosgan.de/images/midi/boese/a045.gif)
This is kind of a layered whopper you did there. But you did confirm it was the author who intentionally went all Tanky there.
And now for the supposed happy ending?
Her voice cracked as she whispered into the space between them. “Come on, you stubborn farmboy. I didn’t fight off Kryptonite bullets and freezing wind and dig splinters out of you just for you to give up now.”
Fun Lois!
“Lois…”
Her heart stuttered.
“I’m here,” she choked out, cradling his face in both hands, kissing his cheeks, his forehead, anywhere she could reach. “I’m right here.”
Awwwww
He blinked slowly, as if it took effort, then gave her a weary, crooked smile. “I think so. Unless this is a really weird dream and you’re an angel with cold feet.”
Cold feet! Lois getting cold feet is another very clever multi-layered jibe
“Easy, honey.” He coughed - a dry, rasping sound - then cleared his throat. “I just woke up from almost dying - I don’t think I’m coherent enough to handle Lois Lane in full babble mode.”
It’s sweet how you turned up the humor in the happy ending version!
Lois brushed her fingers through his hair, her touch tender. “Don’t you dare scare me like that again.”
Hey, it was Lois’s fault for almost getting shot!
“You’re warm. And soft. And you smell nice.”
A surprised laugh burst out of her, exhausted but genuine. “Wow. Nearly dies and still finds the energy to flirt. You must be feeling better.”
He got shot in the back, not… well… /gestures/
He gave her a lopsided smile. “I almost died. I deserve cuddles.”
“Cuddles, huh?” she teased, even as she was already climbing onto his lap and tucking herself into his side. “Is that the official medical term?”
Professional caregiving.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered into his hair.
And neither was he.
The End
Awww… This was heavy stuff
Want:
- Angst
- A snow storm
- A wooden rocking horse
Ahhhhh… that’s why. Nicely done!
My guess stands as
all thanks punctuation.
As for the prompts. Hmm… Another one where I can’t place the source
Michael
