T O C From #9:
"Have I made myself clear, Maxwell?"
"Yes, Mr. Thorul. It goes against my professional ethics, however. I do want to go on record in saying that."
"Believe me; I appreciate your integrity, Maxwell. I just don't need you to act on it right now. Understood? Your goal is to ensure that Ms. Lane *never* goes back to work full-time."
"Well, for the money you're paying me to have 'integrity amnesia', what can I say?"
"Yes, the money I've offered you *is* pretty obscene, even for me. I do look forward to reading your report tomorrow afternoon. Good day, Maxwell."
10 Lois and Clark were up bright and early; there had been a Superman mini-emergency at 4:00 a.m. (tractor-trailer rollover on the interstate which blocked both lanes), so after the "hot line" rang, requesting Clark's assistance, Lois got up as well. She was feeling anxious, overcome with a sense of dread, and couldn’t go back to sleep. She had buried a great deal of her negative experiences in Brazzaville, and wasn't looking forward to re-hashing them with a complete stranger. Somehow, even though she wasn't quite confident herself that she was emotionally stable, she would be damned if she'd let some shrink tell her she couldn’t go back to work! It was then that she had an epiphany, realizing that Clark was her life-line; if he hadn't been so supportive right from the time they met, she might have ended up in a psychiatric ward upon her return to Metropolis. Somehow, Clark's love had lifted her up and enabled her to be the person she used to be. How she loved that man!
A sudden "whoosh" announced to Lois that Clark was back. "Everything okay, sweets? Sounded like a real mess out there; I turned on the TV and saw you in action," she said enthusiastically. "It would have taken highway workers all day to remove that truck if you hadn't been there to help."
Clark kissed her, and then headed towards the shower. "Got to get this oil and grease off of me. And the tractor-trailer was carrying refrigerated goods – milk and stuff – what a mess on the highway. Be right back, honey."
Lois smiled and again, counted her lucky stars that Clark was her husband.
"Nothing like an early-morning catastrophe to signal the beginning of the work week," he smiled as he re-entered the living room, several minutes later, wearing only a towel, finger-combing his hair. "No one was hurt; the tractor-trailer driver had exceeded his legally-allowed driving hours, according to his logbook. The authorities are going to cite him. Apparently, he fell asleep at the wheel. Thank God it was 4:00 a.m., not rush hour!"
"Thank God for Superman," she gushed. "In my personal life, as well as planet Earth. What would life be like without you?"
"Honey… is there something going on in that beautiful head of yours? Where's that sarcasm I've learned to love? I *know* you're not a morning person. Are you still worried about meeting with Dr. Deter this morning? I thought I took your mind off of that last night quite effectively," he said with a sexy smile.
"Yes, you did at that," she responded, reflecting back to their recent love-making session. "I wish I could spend all day in bed with you. But I guess I have to face the reality that is my new life sooner or later. I feel like a kid who doesn't want to go to school on the first day back after summer vacation," she lamented. "'Mad Dog Lane' is being a wimp."
"Honey… there are many things you are, but a *wimp* you are *not*," Clark asserted. "You've had a horrible ten years, and this last week has been a real whirlwind. You need some down time. Maybe you *shouldn't* go back to work full-time yet. Getting adjusted to life back in Metropolis may take some time, after all," he said, enveloping her in a warm embrace, kissing her forehead. "Give yourself a break."
"Maybe you're right; I just don't want some stupid shrink to tell me I *can't* go back to work full-time. I want to be able to make that decision myself."
"There. That's better. Your stubbornness is coming back," he smiled.
"You are my life-saver, Clark Kent. I couldn't do any of this without you, you know."
"I don't know about that. You're a survivor. But it's a nice thought."
"How about we go out for a nice breakfast before I have to go to this stupid session with 'Dr. Deter'?" Lois asked.
"You got it, honey. Do you want to stay in Metropolis, or go somewhere more exotic?"
"Let's stick to Metropolis, sweets. It feels more like reality if we stay in town. As much as I love being able to fly off anywhere with you at a moment's notice, I think staying grounded will do me more good right now. You understand, right?"
"Of course, honey. Wherever you want to go is just fine with me."
~~~~~
Lois was to be Dr. Maxwell Deter's first appointment of the day. Thorul had filled him in on Lois' ten years in the jungle, living in various refugee camps. He was going to treat her as if he was evaluating a post-war trauma victim; in all likelihood, her latent symptoms would be the same. That being the case, it would be fairly easy to comply with Thorul's request not to allow her back to work on a full-time basis. Therapy sessions three times a week would prevent that, wouldn’t they?
Lois arrived promptly at 8:00 a.m. Clark had wanted to accompany her, but she insisted on going alone, so he headed over to the Daily Planet – a *very different* Daily Planet, complete with a temporary editor-in-chief, since Perry wouldn't be there for another week or so. He had given Lois his cell phone, so she could call him at the Planet after her session was completed; he would swing by and pick her up.
The receptionist handed Lois a clipboard with a pen and a medical questionnaire. "Before Dr. Deter sees you, we need you to complete this form for us. And I understand that the Daily Planet is to be direct billed for services rendered?"
"Yes, that's correct, since they *required* me to be here," Lois responded sarcastically. She began completing the form, which started out asking routine medical history questions. On the second page, the form required her to describe why she was seeking psychiatric evaluation.
She wrote:
My employer is requiring this session. I spent ten years in different refugee camps in Africa and the new owners of the Daily Planet want to make sure that I am mentally fit to go back to work. Lois felt the anger welling up in her. She always thought of the Daily Planet as a safe haven for her, and now it felt like a scary, foreboding place to return to.
She finished the questionnaire, and handed it back to the receptionist. "Dr. Deter will be right out to see you," she replied, taking a cursory look at the form to ensure its completion. "Please have a seat."
Several minutes later, the very handsome Dr. Maxwell Deter entered the waiting room and introduced himself to Lois. "Ms. Lane? I'm Dr. Maxwell Deter," he said, reaching for her hand in greeting. "I'm pleased to meet you. Won't you follow me?"
Lois did a double-take as she stood up to return the handshake. <Wow! He's almost as good-looking as Clark. Well, if I *have* to do this, at least he's not bad to look at. Lois Lane! You're a married woman. Stop.>
Dr. Deter was also somewhat unnerved by the stunning beauty that was Lois Lane-Kent. Thorul hadn't warned him that he might fall in love with his new patient. This new development might cause him to take quite a different angle in her treatment!
Dr. Deter instructed Lois to sit in a comfortable leather chair, which appeared to recline if need be, while he sat at his desk, notepad and tape recorder ready. He clicked the "record" button on the machine, heralding the beginning of the session.
"Lois, I understand that you probably aren't comfortable being here. Would that be a fair statement?"
"Definitely," Lois replied. <Answer his questions, don't volunteer anything, Lane!>
"Tell me about the person you were before you went to Africa. Describe your thoughts, feelings… then we'll contrast them to who you believe yourself to be *now*."
"I was a career-driven woman who didn't let anything or anyone get in my way. I had little time for personal relationships, and getting the big story was my only goal in life."
"Why were you so driven? Did you think you didn't deserve some happiness in your personal life as well?"
"Relationships with the opposite sex never ended well. I was betrayed, cheated on… there was nothing good about them. I had pretty much written men off at the time I convinced my editor to let me travel to Brazzaville."
With a warm, rather sexy smile, Dr. Deter asked, "Didn't you think that there might be an exception to that rule? That perhaps you had never met the right man?"
"I never let myself think that way. It was easier to just focus on my career and getting ahead." <Quit looking at me like that.>
"So you went to the Congo, tracking down a story. Tell me what happened after your arrival there."
"As soon as I got off the plane, some African men 'escorted' me from the airport and dumped me in the jungle with no wallet, no clothes except what I was wearing, and therefore no way to verify my identity. It was only because of my martial-arts training and the fact that my father had been a military man that I survived. He taught me to be as tough as nails, and it panned out."
"You were an army brat, so to speak? Your family traveled a lot growing up?"
"No, my mother didn't want to pull me and my sister out of school every year, so we hardly ever saw Dad. When we did, he treated both of us girls as if we were his sons. No showing of emotion, whatsoever. When he was on leave and came home, all my parents ever did was argue - my mother always accused Dad of cheating on her. He *is* a good-looking man. Women were always coming on to him, and my mother knew it."
"So it's safe to conclude that one of the reasons you had 'written off men' as you say, is that you never had a role model of a quality relationship at home, so you didn't believe it to be possible?"
"I guess so," Lois conceded. <Do I really have to talk about this? Ugh!>
"Tell me about your first month in the jungle. How you survived, against all odds," he persisted.
"Well, my girl scout training helped. I was able to mark my trail so if I got lost, I could figure out where I came from, and try a different route. Eventually I started eating fruit off the trees to survive, and one day I came across a hidden refugee camp. The Ninja Rebels were everywhere, so the refugees kept moving under the cover of darkness. One night when they were traveling to a new location, I just joined them, blending in, and eventually I learned to communicate with the other women in the camp. My French was rusty, but it started to come back to me."
"What was your most terrifying experience in all of the ten years you spent in a refugee camp, Lois?"
"Watching the Ninja rebels ravage the Congolese women, night after night. I can close my eyes and still see it clearly. It was horrifying to listen to their screams. It made me hate men even more than I already did."
"Why did they leave you alone?"
"I kick boxed a rebel that came up to me in the groin soon after my arrival in the refugee camp. The insurgents became afraid of me. I was referred to as 'Linda, the white terror" by them. I don't know why they didn't kill me. Somehow, I intimidated the lot of them. The other women looked up to me. They were in awe of me, actually. I became their leader of sorts."
"Why didn't you try to let someone know you were alive?"
"My family had been threatened by the creeps that threw me in the jungle. If I was ever to surface, they would kill my parents and my sister. So, I kept a low profile, called myself 'Linda', and figured that this would be my life."
"Why do you believe you were kidnapped?"
"Have you heard of Lex Luthor? That's why. And that's all I can say about that."
"Let's talk now, in the present. Why did you get married so quickly? I find that fascinating, since you had dismissed the possibility of having any personal relationships in the past."
Lois' eyes filled with passion and love as she spoke of Clark. "That's true, and it surprised me as well. But sometimes, the person is so right for you, that you throw away all of your previous inhibitions and mindsets, and just let yourself go for it. And that's what I did."
"It sounds like you love him very much, Lois. He's a lucky man."
"Yes I do, and I'm luckier than he is. I truly believe that he's the reason I'm not a complete 'basket case' right now."
"That's an interesting statement, Lois. Would you mind if on our next session I use hypnosis to regress you? I'll be able to recall some of your more buried memories of your ten years in Brazzaville using that method. You may have suppressed important events that may surface unexpectedly, and for me to give you a 'clean bill of health' psychologically, so to speak, I need to dig a little deeper."
"Do I have a choice? Of course, I'd rather not have you pick my brain like it's a fruit salad," she said sardonically.
"Well, it's going to be a recommendation to the Daily Planet in my report, Lois. So, no… you don't have a choice, unless you don't want to work at the Daily Planet anymore. In that case – yes, you have a choice."
"Fine; I'm not hiding or suppressing anything," she replied, not necessarily believing the statement herself.
"Good. Then we'll see you back here on Wednesday. Please make another appointment with the receptionist out front. Pleasure to meet you again, Lois." He gave her another toothy smile and opened the office door, motioning her out to the waiting room.
"Yeah, just great to meet you too, Dr. Deter," Lois replied as she walked by him, somewhat insincerely. "See you on Wednesday."
~~~~~
She phoned Clark as soon as she exited the office, with tears in her eyes. <Lane, get a grip. What are you getting so emotional for?> She was frustrated to get Clark's voice mail, and not the live person. <What could he be doing? Maybe I'll have him paged.> Suddenly she heard a sonic boom and seconds later Clark appeared next to her, dressed as Superman.
"Honey, let's go. I'll explain later," he said, sweeping Lois up in his arms before she could offer an objection.
When they were above the clouds, he released her from his arms, holding her hands only so they were literally floating on air. "Honey I don't think you really want to go back to work at the Planet. You're never going to guess who the new City Beat editor is."
"Sweets… I don't know anyone… I haven't been around for ten years," Lois stated.
"Unfortunately, this person is not from the United States. Take a guess," he persisted. "You met him just recently."
Lois' eyes widened. Could it be? "Not Mark Boyle…" Clark's eyes affirmed her guess to be correct. "Omigod."
"Apparently when Perry starts back to work next week, Mark is going to report directly to him. Right now he's the Acting Editor in Chief as well. Since Perry and Mark had a falling out years ago, this should be plenty interesting," Clark continued. "But I know that Mark has the 'hots' for you, and I'm not going to appreciate him constantly leering at my wife. Having him work there is probably Thorul's way of keeping an eye on us so we don't try to investigate Intergang or Edge Enterprises too thoroughly."
"I *hate* this! And this Dr. Deter I just saw wants me to see him several times a week for hypnotherapy, in case I have any repressed memories from Brazzaville which may affect me negatively down the road. What a bunch of B.S," Lois whined.
"Honey… is it possible that you *have* blocked out bad memories? I know the conditions there were horrendous; I saw them for myself when I went over there to bring you home. Ten years of living like that has got to negatively impact even a strong woman like my Mad Dog Lane!"
"So you think I'm crazy too?" Lois cried out.
"No honey… not at all. But even if you *were* crazy," he said, bringing her close enough to kiss her lightly on the lips, "as long as you were crazy for *me*, it would be okay." He beamed at her, and she began to loosen up and smirk back at him.
"You're such a charmer, Propaganda," Lois said, cracking a smile finally. "But I have to go and face everyone at the Planet, even if Mark is there. I can handle him. I've never been a quitter, and I'm not going to pick *now* to start. Let's go – I want to start setting up my workstation and show these bastards that they can't wear Lois Lane down!"
Clark had a huge grin on his face, and, this time, kissed her passionately. "Ok, 'Mad Dog', you asked for it!" With that he enveloped her in his cape, and streaked down through the clouds, towards the ground.
Less than a minute later, Clark and Lois were entering the lobby of the Daily Planet, with Lois attempting to salvage her wind-blown hair with her fingers, using her reflection in the revolving door, before they went upstairs.
"Morning, Mr. and Mrs. Kent," said the security guard warmly.
<"Clark – where's Walter, the nice man that was here before?">
<"Probably on his break. Why?">
<"Just watch and learn, Propaganda… watch and learn!">
"It's 'Ms. Lane', thank you. And your name is?" Lois asked curtly.
"My name is Scott, Ms. Lane. I'm sorry. I heard that you and Mr. Kent just got married."
"We *did*. But the name is *still* Ms. Lane. Have a good day, Scott," Lois said, over her shoulder as she walked away abruptly.
<"Honey, that was downright mean. I thought we had a good breakfast. Did you really have to snack on him? That was a good sized portion, actually.">
<"He'll get over it. He's too young a kid not to know that women don't always change their names when they get married.">
<"Does it bother you that much when you're called 'Mrs. Kent'?">
<"Yes, it does, Clark. It has nothing to do with how much I love you, either - so don't go there. I couldn't love you any more than I already do even if I tried. But being 'Mrs. Somebody' implies that you're 'Mrs. Nobody'. And this girl will never be that!">
<"Whew! I guess you're all primed up for the newsroom now. Go get 'em, girl tiger!">
<"You're lucky I love you, Propaganda!">
<"Ditto!">
~~~~~
TBC
