Despite talking to Lois every night before bed, he still had the nightmares. Last night he heard the explosion of a gun and arrived in the Super suit to the alley where she had been shot before becoming fully awake enough to realize that Luthor’s maniacal laughter had all been in his head.
Whoah, that really
is frightening. Poor Clark. OTOH, won't that be a bit stifling for Lois?
A couple of days before, he and Lois had been walking to lunch when a car backfired. Normally, Clark could tell the difference, but he almost blasted with her into the sky instead. He caught himself at the last second and ended up moving her against a wall and covering her with his body.
Must have been nice for Lois.
“She’s obsessed with Superman, but not like those starry-eyed groupies from back home. Maybe there was a little of that at the beginning, but after she realized that I was in love with her as she was with me…” He saw that Wells was looking at him with astonishment. “Yes, I know that by allowing my true feelings for her to shine through while I was in the Suit was wrong, but I was unable to hide them from her, no matter how much I tried. I don’t know how that other Clark from your dimension was able to keep it secret from her for so long.”
My Wells muse deigned to make an appearance (he's shown up in a conceptual story that is nowhere near ready): Oh dear me. Oh my. Well that is problematic.
“Are you planning on informing her?”
“Someday,” Clark admitted, burying his face in his hands. “She loves Superman, but I’ve refused to move that relationship forward for her own safety. I don’t want what happened to Lana to happen to Lois. Fortunately, Lois’s and mine – Clark me – friendship is growing closer every day.”
Clark, the reason Lana was in danger was because they knew Clark Kent was Superman. If you told her you
are Superman all your issues would be solved (I've always believed her issues with Clark being Superman stemmed from "Barbarians and the Planet/House of Luthor" where he is somewhat crass and cuts of the romantic potential.
“I don’t understand how you can lie to the woman you love, but I cannot fault you for it as the Clark from my dimension acted in the same manner,” Wells said.
Oh Wells, you should remember something another English writer once wrote: "The course of love never did run smooth."
Although I'd say that for these two it's a veritable rapids!
“But who is ‘Chuck’? Who is this man she confused you for?” Wells asked.
“I have a crazy theory for that actually. The other day we were talking about her novel, and I think my nickname came from the hero,” Clark said with laughter. He loved the idea that upon meeting him, Lois had considered him romantic hero material.
It is really kind of endearing that she would place him in the relationship role right out of the gate (even though she's still fighting it.)
“No, Lola Dane was an alias that Lois used on an undercover assignment,” Wells explained. “And Clark had used the name…” He paused as his eyes widened. “You mentioned that you two worked together on the Messenger explosion, and that Superman made his debut when Ms. Lane found a bomb on the Prometheus. That there is a rogue group of paramilitary men hunting Superman by the name of Bureau 39, which happens to have this dimension’s Kal-El’s spaceship. You and Ms. Lane also worked together on the invisible man story and her father not only built cyborgs, but cyborg boxers. This incident led to Ms. Lane being kidnapped by Max Menken and subsequently being shot by Lex Luthor as he tried to rescue her.”
Ooooohhh... he's putting the 2(.5) and the 2(.5) together to get the 5 that's needed her!
“Other than the ‘Chuck’ incident, did Ms. Lane display other unusual facets to her personality?” Wells asked.
“Well, Lois is a bit of an oddball. I believe that’s what makes her and I such a great match, and such great reporters. Her semi-psychic hunches and my abilities…” Clark said before Wells interrupted.
“Psychic hunches?”
“She’s really great at guessing people’s names, and when she walked into Bureau 39’s warehouse, she wanted to call Perry in right away as if she knew that everything was going to disappear,” Clark explained with a shrug.
Wells, I hope you're seeing that this is a case of double deja-vu and I'm sure you're aware deja-vu in time travel is significant.
“I already know the answer to the question, but I feel I must ask it. Clark, are you ready to go home?” Wells asked.
“No,” Clark replied, surprised that Wells would even ask. “This Lois and I have a connection. I feel it and I believe she does too. I need more time.” He wondered if Wells could tell he was just being polite. Clark could see no reason to ever return to his home dimension. This new dimension had a living breathing Lois, and he was able to have a private life, and it needed him as much as his home dimension did. A pang of regret filled him as he realized that both dimensions needed a full time Superman, not just a part-time one. He frowned.
All things told, he does have a better life overall as compared to his previous universe, even without Lois. I'd say it's a step up.
Wells set down his mug with a nod. “Thank you for the tea, Clark. I would like to do a little more checking on this psychic power of Ms. Lane’s. I wonder if it has anything to do with… um, no point in biasing my research,” he said, standing up. “That is an interesting development.” He thought for a moment. “Three months from now will be… November 1993.” He nodded. “Yes, I’ll revisit you then to check on your progress.”
I bet he's picking up on the elements of deja-vu and going to do some historical research of the baseline universe and compare it to the current future of this one.
Clark stood up. He doubted anything would happen between then and November that would convince him to return to his home dimension, and he almost said as much to his time-traveling friend, but he decided against it. He was curious whether Wells would learn anything about Lois’s psychic tendencies. He held out his hand. “I’ll look forward to seeing you then, Herb. I hope by then to report happy news to you.”
The expression in the older man’s eyes as they shook hands might have been doubt but Clark couldn’t fathom why.
I'm guessing he believes that Clark is basically making the same mistakes the canon one did and will find himself in a green K cage like the canon one did.
“I’m the reason Superman has cut back his rescues. He doesn’t want to do anything with Metropolis anymore. I pushed too hard,” she said.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Lois,” Clark said, even though she was right, like always.
Oh Lois, you're wrong but as usual, you are right.
And now both my LnC and Reeveverse muses are both saying: Of
course I'm right, when am I not?
Her faith in Superman after weeks of sour moods, after all he had said and done to her pierced his soul painfully. “No, Lois, there can only be this way. Like you, he’s mourning the end of your relationship.”
“He’s what?” Lois growled. “No, don’t repeat it, Chuck. You can tell that flying lunkhead, that he better not be sitting around moping instead of doing his job. I haven’t given up being a journalist because of this. I’m not sitting at home going through a box of tissue every night instead of trying to track down the men who spied on me and Lucy.”
You tell him, Lois!
He knew that Lois didn’t really feel that way. In his heart of hearts, he knew that she was still Superman’s biggest cheerleader, but he hadn’t known she could also be his harshest critic. Since their meeting in the woods, she had been colder, harsher, and more blunt. Everyone at the Daily Planet, Perry included, was more than happy to have Clark as their buffer. He had overheard more than a couple of people who had questioned his sanity for agreeing to be her partner, and that had been the kindest rumor being spread about why he didn’t ask for a reassignment.
That's the better thing about Lois. While she may adore the lug she isn't above telling it like it is.
It might have had to do with his confession of his true feelings. By telling her that he wouldn’t make love with her until she loved him as he loved her, she felt like she had power or control over him. This could be a test. What would it take to push him too far? Did he truly love her? Or was he lying?
I kind of think you're reading too much into this, Clark. Sometimes a spade is just a spade.
Superman raised an eyebrow and focused his gaze in the direction the tomato had come. “Mr. Nunk, did you bring enough lunch for everyone, or was that tomato and those two others you brought just for me, yourself, and your photographer? While I do enjoy the different flavors of many foods, rotten tomatoes are not among them, nor is it not necessary for me to consume food to survive on your planet as I get my energy from sunlight.” He glanced back at the stain on the curtain. “I’ll be sure to inform S.T.A.R. Labs where to send the bill for soiling their nice fabric.”
*whipcrack*
She looked at Superman and pictured him peeling down his blue suit, exposing his chest for the examination. Her eyes flashed back up to his in a silent inquiry.
“And before you ask, Ms. Lane. No reporters will be present during my examination. I doubt you’d want any at your next doctor’s appointment either,” Superman said, causing the male reporters to laugh, the female ones to groan in disappointment, and her to flush.
FLIRT ALERT! FLIRT ALERT! FLIRT ALERT!!
She hated it when he went off, and she didn’t know where he was. It was one of those personality traits about him that drove her nuts. She abhorred the thought that there might be a part of his life that he didn’t share with her, when she shared everything from her life with him. He had said that he was keeping stuff from her. She had thought he had been mostly joking; now she wasn’t quite so sure.
You're the one that told him to get back on the saddle, now you'll just have to deal without your Clarkie-bear (was going to write "Chuckie-bear" but it was giving me vibes of the "Chuckie" doll and didn't like that.)
“Because by the time you type it up, it will be old news,” Cat returned. She leaned toward Lois, and lowered her voice, “You never did take my advice about Clark, did you?” She shook her head. “Of course, you didn’t. You’re more tense than ever before. Lois, you need some release, and you need it now. Clark loves you, and would do anything to make you happy. If you don’t want to do it for yourself, could you please put the rest of us out of your misery?
and
She wasn’t quite sure what Cat meant by ‘release’, but she was smart enough not to ask. It probably had something to do with releasing pressure from the sexual tension between her and Clark. She had tried to let off steam between her and Clark, thank you very much, but Clark had turned her down. Twice. She swore, if he turned her down a third time, she would most likely kill him.
Lois is right and I'm sure if Cat knew that Clark had turned down Lois like that you can be sure he'd be getting an earful.
