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From Part 4:Clark had been willing to sacrifice his secret, and thus his safety, for her. Twice, he’d come after her and saved her life. Didn’t that suggest at least a deep caring, if not love?
And the way he looked at her, too - not all of the time, but sometimes when she’d turned to look at him she’d caught him off-guard. He’d been gazing at her with a tender, longing expression in his eyes. Lex had never looked at her like that. With lust, certainly - but never with anything approaching tenderness.
Time would tell, Lois told herself. She had time, anyway, if Clark was insisting on her getting a divorce before he’d contemplate beginning a relationship with her. If he still wanted it then - if she still wanted it then - maybe she could believe that it really was love. On both sides.
All the same... A slow smile crept across her face again as she remembered the way Clark had looked both times he’d told her that he loved her. And the way it had made her feel.
Cherished.
**********
Now read on...Having superhuman abilities was very useful when it came to getting in and out of his apartment without being seen, Clark reflected as he landed lightly on his balcony carrying coffee and doughnuts. He’d had to go out in search of food again. He really had to do something about furnishing his apartment properly, including getting a fridge and a coffee-maker. Unfortunately, that would have to wait. For the sake of Lois’s safety, he couldn’t afford to let Luthor know that he was in Metropolis.
Lois was sitting on the sofa when he walked into the living-area. She was yawning and still looked tired, which was hardly surprising; during the night, he’d woken her up several times to ask her what he knew she felt were stupid questions, following Jill’s instructions.
“Hi.” She gave him a sleepy wave as she noticed him.
“Morning. I brought you coffee.”
“Oh, coffee!” She closed her eyes and a blissful expression covered her features. “You really are a lifesaver, Clark!”
He grinned and brought the drink and a doughnut over to her. “Sorry I can’t offer you a better breakfast than that. This place... lacks a few of the usual homey facilities.”
“I noticed.” She smiled, looking amused. “And if you didn’t have to spend your time helping me I’m sure you’d already have taken care of it.”
He shrugged. “It can wait. This is more important.
You’re more important.”
He meant that trying to prove that her husband was a murderer and getting him safely locked away in prison was more important but, judging by the blush which crept over her face, Lois clearly interpreted his words more personally. Not that he minded. She was important to him in that way too.
“Thank you.” Her hand touched his lightly before she took the coffee from him.
He took a sip of his drink, watching her over the rim of the takeout cup. “You’re very welcome.”
She glanced down at herself. “God, I need a shower. And I’d kill for a change of clothes.” As if realising what she’d said, she bit her lip. “Sorry. Stupid thing to say - ”
“It’s only a figure of speech,” he said instantly. “As for the clothes, I can lend you something of mine again. Or - I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go shopping, but if you tell me what size you need I could get you some stuff...”
She was shaking her head. “I don’t have any money, Clark.”
“That doesn’t have to be a problem. I can lend you some.”
“I can’t take money from you!”
“Why not?” He shrugged faintly. “I’m pretty sure you’re good for it. It’s really no problem.”
Avoiding his gaze, she said awkwardly, “Of course I’d pay you back. Assuming I’m not on the run for ever - ”
“You won’t be!” he said emphatically. “Come on - you’re the best there is when it comes to investigating! We’re not going to fail.”
Her expression brightened, as if she’d needed the reassurance. “Yeah. You’re right. But anyway, Clark,” she added more soberly, “I know you can’t afford to lend me money. You don’t have a job either right now.”
“Look, I know how you feel,” he said sympathetically. “But you do need some stuff. I mean, I can lend you T-shirts, but my jeans are way too big for you. And I guess you wouldn’t really want to borrow my underwear.” He bet that his blush was even redder than hers. “So let me lend you some money. I can afford it. And after breakfast I’ll fly you to a small town somewhere a long way from Metropolis or Smallville and you can buy a few things. Okay?”
She nodded, realising that he was right. “That sounds great. Thanks, Clark.”
“No problem. How does somewhere in Georgia sound?”
“Perfect.”
*********
Lex wasn’t the only man who could take her halfway across the continent at a moment’s notice. At least, Lois mused as they landed at the back of a parking garage in Gainesville, Georgia, Clark asked her first if she wanted to go. With Lex, even before he’d stooped to kidnapping her, he’d always assumed that she was happy to go along with his suggestions.
As much as it embarrassed her to borrow money from Clark, he was right. She desperately needed new underwear, whatever about outer wear. He’d given her fifty dollars in fives and tens before they’d left his apartment, telling her that he had his chequebook and ATM card with him if she needed more. She didn’t intend to need more. If this town had a Target or a K-Mart, she’d get what she needed there. Even if once she’d never have dreamed of shopping at either place.
And anyway, it wouldn’t be sensible for Clark to use any traceable method of payment. She had no idea whether Lex would think to connect Clark with her disappearance; to her husband, it would seem impossible that Clark could have traced him to Colorado, let alone got there himself. But she didn’t want to leave any trail which could point to Clark’s whereabouts.
Twenty minutes later, she rejoined Clark where she’d left him having a coffee in the K-Mart restaurant, several carrier bags in her hand. It had surprised her just how much fifty bucks could buy in a discount store like this. A pair of jeans, two blouses, two T-shirts and a couple of packs of underwear. She’d even had enough left over to buy a cheap pair of sandals; the pair of Martha’s shoes she’d borrowed at the farm really didn’t fit very well. She’d already changed into the jeans and one of the T-shirts.
He smiled as he approached. “You look good.” And the admiration in his eyes was real.
So unlike Lex once again. Lex, of course, would have pulled a pained expression at the cheap chain-store clothes, refusing to acknowledge that anyone could possibly look good in anything so inexpensive and mass-produced. On the one occasion he’d seen her in sweats, he’d been appalled.
The fact that Lex would have hated what she was wearing made her like it all the more. “Thanks! It feels good to be wearing something that fits. And I think I’ve had about enough of designer clothes to last me a lifetime.”
“Ready to go back and start work?” He stood.
“Oh yeah.” In fact, she couldn’t wait.
She let him guide her into an alley leading to the service entrances for the local shops, and in less than a second they were in the air again.
Yesterday, she’d wanted desperately to have Lex brought to justice for at least some of his crimes so that she’d be safe from him. She’d never been so terrified in her life as she’d been all day yesterday, especially once he’d come to the farmhouse and found her. Waking up in Clark’s bedroom to see Lex standing over her had been the single most frightening experience of her life - even more terrifying than when he’d held a gun on her the night before. Then, it had been unexpected. Yesterday, she’d known that her husband had no compunction about killing her, and that he considered her a liability. She’d woken up, seen him and known that she didn’t have long to live.
Yesterday, she’d been petrified. Today, she was angry. Blisteringly, furiously, vengefully angry.
He had fooled her. Lied to her. Taken her for a complete sucker. Patronised her. Tried to buy her with all of his ‘little trinkets’ - which she should have thrown back in his face. Or refused to accept in the first place, no matter how rude it would’ve seen. Clark hadn’t actually said so, but she was pretty sure that she’d read his expression correctly yesterday - he thought she shouldn’t have accepted them.
Once she’d married him, Lex had ‘managed’ her. Decided her whole life for her. And then, once she became an inconvenience, tried to get rid of her.
No, she wasn’t afraid any more. She was consumed with cold, hard rage.
Lex Luthor had no idea just what was coming to him.
Though he was probably already beginning to realise that he’d bitten off more than he could chew by tangling with Lois Lane and Clark Kent, she thought with a sudden grin.
“What’s that?” Clark queried.
“I was just wondering if he’s still searching the Rockies for me,” Lois explained, still smiling.
“Actually, he’s back in Metropolis,” Clark told her, to her surprise.
“He is?”
“I flew over his penthouse earlier, when I was out getting the coffee. I... was curious,” he said, leaving her to wonder what he’d been curious about. “And I saw him - he was barking out orders into a telephone. Telling someone that he wanted you found, and he didn’t care in what condition.”
Lois shivered slightly, but then reminded herself that she wasn’t afraid any more. Angry. Not afraid. Furious with Lex... and, if she were honest, with herself too, for all the mistakes in judgement she’d made which had led her to the position of being married to him.
Though at least she could be proud of having got the better of him yesterday. She’d escaped from him herself. Knocked him down and hurt him - and
that had felt good.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
He gave a faint shrug, which she felt rather than saw. “I didn’t want to make you any more frightened than you already were. And it’s no surprise that he’s looking for you.”
“I’m not scared.” She saw his expression of doubt, and immediately emphasised her statement. “I’m not, Clark. I’m angry now, not scared - trust me. So, where was he sending people to look? Do you know?”
“There’s a team in the Rockies. Another went to Smallville, but they won’t find anything there.” He smiled. “What Lex Luthor - and his buddies in the state police - don’t understand about small towns is the loyalty factor. If he’s asking about me, no-one will tell him anything. Especially if Rachel doesn’t co-operate - and she won’t. Oh, she’ll pretend. But she won’t give away anything.”
“But... your parents...” Concerned, Lois looked at him. “Won’t they be in danger?”
“I doubt it. He’s got no reason to go after them. Sure, he might suspect that I have something to do with your disappearance this time too, but he can’t prove it. And if he tries to suggest that I was anywhere near the Rockies yesterday everyone will just laugh at him. Even people who might suspect that I
could get there without a plane. I agreed with Mom and Dad last night that, if anyone asked, they could say that I’ve gone away to look for work. Which is both true and credible, since everyone in Smallville knows that I want to get a job at a paper in the city.”
People in small towns protect their own. Lois had seen some evidence of that yesterday. She just hoped, for Clark’s sake, that he was right.
*********
“So, where should we start?”
They were sitting on the old sofa in Clark’s apartment, supplied with coffee, pens and paper. Lois, looking determined, had tucked her hair behind her ears and seemed deep in thought. He believed her when she said she was angry now. And he was glad; although he didn’t know Lois the person very well, he was very familiar with Lois Lane the journalist, and he’d been sure that the frightened, ready to bolt person he’d plucked out of the water yesterday wasn’t the real Lois. Today, the real Lois was ready to fight back.
“You said you thought he could’ve been responsible for the explosion at the Planet,” Lois said, bitterness in her tone. “I think you’re right. So we need to look into that.”
Clark nodded, not sure whether Lois was angry at her husband for yet another of his probable crimes, or with herself for not having seen through him. “It’s not going to be easy. The case will have been declared closed, right, since someone’s in prison for the bombing?”
“Yeah. But there are still things we can look at. Maybe find a way into it...” She chewed the tip of her pen for a few moments, staring into the middle distance. Then, thoughtfully, she said, “You know that Lex bought the Planet about a week before it blew up, right?”
“Yeah. Wasn’t the paper in financial trouble or something?”
“Yes, and that’s the really strange bit. I mean, the Planet’s one of the oldest newspapers in Metropolis. It’s the most respected. We consistently picked up more awards than any other paper. So why would it suddenly be in trouble?” She hesitated, then added, “You know, I never really questioned that bit before. Newspaper management was just something I figured was the business of the suits upstairs. My job was to bring in the stories. I didn’t care how they managed the paper as long as they kept paying my salary and didn’t interfere with how I did my job or the sort of stories I got to write.”
“So why the financial problems?”
Lois was clearly remembering. “Advertising. Suddenly a lot of our major customers pulled their advertising. You know that most of a newspaper’s revenue comes from advertising, not sales?”
“Yeah.” Clark nodded again. “So almost overnight most of the paper’s income stream vanished?”
“Pretty much. I remember Perry seemed worried sick about it. He couldn’t figure out why it had happened - we hadn’t changed our editorial line on anything, or printed anything which would’ve upset people. I mean, it’s not as if it was an election year and the paper was suddenly supporting an anti-business candidate or anything like that.”
“So it’s possible that someone scared - or persuaded - your advertisers away?” Clark suggested. This was beginning to make some sense. After all, as Lois had said, why would a paper as established and reputable as the Daily Planet suddenly be in financial difficulties out of the blue? If its advertisers had been manoeuvred into deserting the paper, then it would be an easy target for a takeover... by Lex Luthor.
But if Luthor had wanted to own the Daily Planet, why buy it only to blow it up? He was pretty sure that his earlier speculation about that was right on the money. But would Lois think that he was crazy?
He needed to lead up to it carefully.
“I can understand why Luthor might want to acquire his own pet newspaper,” he said, furrowing his brow as he spoke. “I mean, he owns his own TV station already. It would fit very well into his empire, and I could see him assuming that the paper would be another means of getting across his propaganda.”
“Not if you knew Perry White,” Lois objected. “Okay, Perry never seemed to see through Lex either, but he’s your textbook incorruptible editor. There’s no way Perry would ever allow the Planet to be used as anyone’s personal messenger.”
“Hmm. Maybe Luthor thought that your editor could be persuaded?” Clark thought aloud. “But still, what wouldn’t make sense to a lot of people is why buy a newspaper only to destroy it a week later.”
Lois gave him a sharp look. “Yesterday, you said that the bombing was all very convenient for him. You said that’s what made you wonder if he was involved.”
“That’s true.” He frowned again. “I guess I was wondering whether it was really plausible, after all. I mean, I can see how he manoeuvred into a position to buy the paper, but it must have cost him. To start with, bribing the advertisers - I’d guess he found a way to offer them cheap rates somewhere else. Then actually buying out the paper - ”
“At a knock-down price, considering the share price had hit the floor,” Lois pointed out dryly.
“Yeah. So he got a bargain - but still, it had to be a few million dollars’-worth of bargain. And then he blows it up?”
Lois’s eyes narrowed. “You were hinting that it was all part of his strategy to get me.”
He had been. It all sounded insane, in a way, though. That someone like Lex Luthor would scheme to buy a newspaper, and then blow it up, just to get one woman in his power. Could the man really be that Machiavellian? Or was he actually not quite sane?
Though what they did know was that Luthor had been desperate to get Lois into a position where he could control her. He’d clearly wanted that very badly indeed.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“I think... that you’re right. It was very convenient. I mean, I’d turned down his marriage proposal. I was still seeing him, true, but making it clear that I meant what I’d said. I was very happy with my life as it was - and he knew that. He knew how much I loved my job and loved the Daily Planet.” She paused, and he could see self-disgust creep into her expression. “He knew I didn’t have a life apart from the paper. I didn’t have friends. Didn’t have a social life.” She rolled her eyes. “
He was my social life! If I wasn’t seeing him, I’d often put in an eighteen-hour day at the paper. I mean, how pathetic is that, Clark?” she threw at him, but didn’t give him a chance to respond before continuing.
Not that he was sure what he would’ve said, anyway. His heart ached for her - for the lonely woman she’d clearly been, even if she hadn’t recognised at the time how lonely she’d been.
“
I was pathetic. I built my whole life around my job. And when it was taken away from me I completely fell apart. I saw that yesterday when I was telling you about it - saw how obsessed I’d become about it all. I mean, other people managed to get on with their lives, didn’t they? They got other jobs. While I... I just stood around feeling lost. And I let myself be vulnerable enough that when Lex asked again I said yes.”
Again, she paused, but resumed speaking before Clark could comment. “So, yes, you’re right - the explosion was very convenient. So convenient that I guess I could believe he arranged it to make me turn to him. If he was that desperate...”
“If he was desperate enough to try to kill you once he realised you knew the truth about him - and desperate enough to want to marry you when he realised that you just
might know something he doesn’t want you to know,” Clark observed, trying to keep his voice calm and not allow Lois to see the emotion he was feeling - fury at her husband’s actions, and at the same time desperate sympathy for her - “then I’d say yes, he was desperate enough to blow the Planet up to force you into where he wanted you.”
Lois rolled her eyes. “Just as if I was some object that he coveted. A rare work of art, a sculpture - ”
She broke off abruptly and her eyes widened. And Clark could hear her heart begin to beat more quickly. “That’s it!” she exclaimed excitedly.
“What?”
“What I saw! What he was afraid I’d remember!”
***********
...tbc
