I've been reluctant to post this, but my arm kept getting twisted, so... this is the sequel to
Hearts Divided . For a brief refresher, you can watch the
trailer that El made for it, last year. (The link is to the .wmv version; if you want realplayer, that's at the
FOLC Video site)
******************
dedicated to Elena
Hearts United
by Pam Jernigan
Lois Lane awoke slowly, trying to clear the cobwebs out of her brain. She'd had the weirdest dreams. First, she'd dreamed she was her comic book counterpart, living and working with her very own Clark Kent, but she'd had that dream lots of times since she started reading the comics. That wasn't the really weird one. The other dream had been something about being undercover, then kidnapped -- to a spaceship! -- and then falling in love with one of the aliens, who loved her too, but couldn't stay... She wondered fuzzily if she'd eaten too much pizza last night.
"Wake up, Cinderella..."
Lois smiled. She knew that voice. It was the voice of her dreams, the voice of Clark Kent, the voice of the handsome alien... Her eyes flew open. It was a real voice -- her dreams had come true. Lord Kal-El of the house of El of New Krypton was here, and he was all hers. She squinted against the light to see that he was crouching down by her bedside, his face close to hers. "G'morning."
"Good morning," he replied with gentle good humor. "It's time for breakfast... what would you like? I can set out cold cereal, or..." He paused for effect. "I *think* I can manage microwave pancakes."
"Um... pancakes." A huge yawn nearly cracked her jaws. "Why am I so tired?"
He leaned in for a brief kiss. "Probably because we were up half the night working on the Tsunami thing. I'll go get breakfast started, then, and let you get dressed." Still smiling, he got up and left the room.
Lois stared at the doorway he'd disappeared through, slowly processing that he was really here, and remembering. There had been aliens, and a spaceship -- and Kal-El had given up his chance to rule a whole planet, just so he could be with her. It seemed too good to be true.
Maybe, once he'd been here for more than a week, she'd be able to relax. It had been a busy few days since he'd returned to Earth; but that had been working. Now that that was wrapped up, she looked forward to spending more time with him. Maybe she could talk him out of his noble insistence in sleeping on her couch rather than next to her. The thought was thrilling and scary, all at once.
She focused on that corner of her mind that held her mental connection to him. A shey-ana bond, he'd called it. It wasn't telepathy, exactly, just an awareness of his presence in her world. She visualized it as a floating ball of fire. At the moment, the ball was burning evenly and cheerfully, radiating the warmth of Kal's contentment.
It felt very odd to always have that connection with him. Odd, but she was finding that she liked it.
The distant ding of her microwave brought her attention back to the here and now. She'd have to hurry up and get ready for breakfast.
****
Kal-El regarded his soulmate across the tiny kitchen table. She was looking beautiful this morning, and a little shy. It had probably occurred to her, as it had to him, that they still had a number of unsettled issues between them.
"You know," Kal observed, "one of the things I always loved about Earth was the amazing variety of foods."
Lois looked up at him expectantly. "Yeah?"
"Oh, yes. Indian, Chinese, American, French... I tried all sorts of things, when I was here before."
"So, you can cook?" She smirked at him. "I thought you lords of New Krypton didn't sully your hands with that sort of thing."
Kal grinned. "Let's just say, I went out to eat a lot. I ate a lot of pre-packaged foods, too. My favorite was probably the pop-tarts."
Lois didn't quite laugh, but he could feel her amusement bubbling beneath the surface. "That's at least half the diet of college students everywhere, you know. The other half, traditionally," she added, "has been macaroni and cheese."
"Well, you know me. I'm very traditional."
She laughed at that. "I'll have to remember to stock up for you."
Kal glanced down at his plate. She'd just touched on one of the peskier unresolved issues. "Yeah, about that..."
She looked up. "What about it?"
"Now that the immediate crisis is resolved... I can't..." He paused, and rephrased. "We have to talk about permanent living arrangements."
Lois narrowed her eyes warily. "What do you mean? It's been no trouble sharing -- it's been nice. Hasn't it?"
He reached across the table to capture her hand. "I want to live with you, shey-ana. Don't ever doubt that."
"I know." She quirked a smile. "I can feel it. So then what's the problem?"
"We're not yet married."
"Yeah, so? We're both adults..."
He sighed, trying to find a way to explain himself. "Lois, living here, making love to you... that would be how a man behaves with a concubine. And I don't want you as a concubine."
She raised an eyebrow at him, a faint sense of amusement trickling through their link.
"Okay, part of me wants you any way I can get you," he admitted with a grin, then sobered. "But the larger part... well, we need to get married first."
She frowned at him, and the sense of her amusement dissipated. "I distinctly recall you *asking* me to be your concubine."
"And I distinctly recall you being quite insulted at the question," he replied wryly. "Look, that was when I thought I had no choice but to marry Zara. I didn't believe I had anything more to offer, and I was desperate not to lose you. But now, well, I can treat you with all the respect you deserve."
Come to think of it, while they'd both been assuming it would happen, he hadn't yet formally asked her to marry him. He'd held off, due to a vague sense that she deserved the most romantic proposal he could muster. He needed to spend some time planning that.
She still seemed unconvinced. "What if I tell you it really doesn't matter to me?"
He shrugged slightly. "I'm afraid it really does matter to me. You deserve the highest honor I can give you -- and, to me, that means getting married first."
She took a deep breath, studying his face. Kal thought about how much he loved her, and valued her, and let that affection and respect flow full-force through their bond. The mental image of her emotions brightened. He felt the moment she decided to stop fighting.
"Hmm..." She smiled wryly and reached for his hand. "Okay. But we'd better get married as quickly as possible."
Kal smiled. "My thoughts exactly."
"Well, then." Lois squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. "We need to get you some new identification."
Her sense of determination was rubbing off on him. "Yes -- I used to have a number of things under the name 'Kal Lewis,' but I'd gotten rid of them."
"It's just as well, really," she assured him. "I do *not* want to go through life as Lois Lewis. Not when we've got a choice in the matter." She pushed back her chair and stood, carrying her empty plate to the dishwasher and setting it inside. "But it will probably take a few days to get decent fakes."
"I don't know if he's still there," Kal replied, copying her actions, "but I knew a guy in West River who does very nice work."
She raised an eyebrow, smiling. "You would. Tell you what, it's a beautiful day outside -- let's you and I go for a walk. Since it takes me longer to get ready than you, and if it wouldn't wound your male dignity too much," she smirked at him, "maybe you could clean up the kitchen."
"Oh, I think I can handle it." He grinned. "And you're just looking for an excuse to call me a sexist creep again."
She grinned back, not denying it. "I'll be ready in a few minutes." She disappeared into her bedroom, leaving only a mental echo of laughter.
****
Lois walked slowly around her block, hand in hand with Kal, just enjoying the mere fact of his presence. It was a beautiful day, and she was happy. Still, practicalities refused to go away entirely. "I hope your guy in West River is still there. I've never had to worry about getting fake identification before now."
Kal glanced sideways at her. "And you don't really like the idea, do you?"
She sighed, trying to put her uneasiness into words. "Well, no, I don't. My whole life has been about following the rules and respect for authority. This just goes against everything I believe in." She squared her shoulders. "But it's necessary, so we'll do it anyway."
"I do know how you feel, you know."
She glanced up at him. "Yeah, I guess you would, from what you've told me about growing up on" her voice dropped to a whisper, "New Krypton."
"Yes. But I've had a little more experience at bending the rules. It does get easier, with practice."
She snorted softly. "Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. But never mind, I'll deal with it. The more pressing question is, what name to use?"
"You said you didn't like 'Lois Lewis'," Kal commented. "Does that mean you're planning on sharing this new name?"
Lois shot him a startled look. "That's what I was thinking, yeah. Do you have a problem with that?"
"No, not at all." He looked rather startled in turn. "It's a very traditional NK thing to do, and it's pretty traditional here, too, from what I've seen -- but it's gotten less popular in the last few decades, hasn't it?"
"I suppose." She pondered that as they turned a corner. "I hadn't been keen on the idea of changing my name, to be honest. But under the circumstances, I think I'd better, don't you?"
"Why's that?"
She glanced around to see if anyone was close, and then lowered her voice anyway. "Well, if you're going to be Superman, I can't really stay Lois Lane, can I? It'd be a dead giveaway."
"Ah, good point." He grinned. "I guess that means I can't call myself Clark Kent?"
She rolled her eyes. "That would seem to follow logically, yes. I kind of wish you could, really, but it would be *way* more trouble than it's worth. No, you should stay Kal -- it's kind of unusual, but this *is* Metropolis. We've got immigrants here from every corner of the globe, and they all have different types of names."
"There's an idea -- we can go through the phone book later, and see if we spot anything we like."
"Sounds like a plan. Seriously, though, we have to do something to protect our privacy. Even if I change my name now, there will still be all sorts of records with the old one."
"True. Do you have any ideas?"
"At the moment?" She sighed. "No."
They approached the neighborhood news stand and she slowed down, pulling Kal to a halt as well. The National Whisper and Metro Post were both running pictures of yesterday's near-disaster, but she skipped past those to find and purchase a copy of the Daily Planet. The headline screamed, 'TIDAL WAVE AVERTED, CONGRESSMAN IMPLICATED.' She grinned up at Kal. "Nice work."
He peered over her shoulder. "What do they know about the tidal wave?"
"Pretty much everything, except for how it was stopped," she reported, skimming through the article. "They've got Harrington and Rourke. Arms-dealing, bribed politicians, sabotage -- the works. Well, there's no mention of us, but the cops know more than half of this stuff came from me."
"Hey!" Kal gently jostled her shoulder.
"Okay, okay, it's from me and my new partner," she corrected herself cheerfully. "Let's go peruse this in private." She folded up the paper and started walking.
"Hey, I thought we were old partners," Kal teased.
Lois flashed him a grin. "Yes, but I didn't think I could explain the whole spaceship thing to the cops."
"What's so hard about that? Just tell them you were kidnapped by aliens."
"Yeah, that'd work. Has anyone explained the term 'funny farm' to you yet?" Laughing, she led them into the lobby of the apartment building.
***
Kal waited until they were back inside her apartment before drawing her close. As she giggled, he pulled her into his arms for a kiss. He closed his eyes, concentrating on feeling her, with his lips, his hands and with his mind. Her presence sparkled in his mind's eye, giving him a warm feeling of contentment.
He'd never believed in love. Not growing up on New Krypton, where life was harsh and marriages were arranged. But there had been a legend of an emotional bond that some couples formed -- "shey-ana." He hadn't really believed in that, either, until he'd experienced it for himself. With Lois. Now, he was always aware of her -- could feel an echo of her emotions. It was strongest when they were actually touching, but never really went away. He tended to visualize it as a standing waterfall, with varying colors and intensities, but that didn't do it justice.
**I love you, Lois**
She moaned into his mouth, then broke away, her eyes wide. "I heard that. Normally I don't hear you thinking. I can feel you, get some idea of what you're feeling, but usually that's it." Her speaking pace picked up as her excitement grew. "And I know you said you could read my surface thoughts, if you choose. But I didn't think it went both ways. Does this shey-ana thing include telepathy?"
He shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. It might have to do with how close we are to each other."
She smiled slowly. "I guess we'll just have to experiment a lot."
"Hmm, sounds like it. It might require some long-term study," he warned her, tracing a finger along the side of her face.
"Oh, that's terrible," she replied, sounding distinctly unalarmed. "But if we must, we must. The things we do for science..." She sighed theatrically, then leaned in to kiss him again.
****
"Morning, Francine!" Brenda practically bounced into the theater's back office.
Francine winced at the young black woman's energy, but smiled in spite of herself. "Good morning, Bren."
"Have you seen today's Metro Post?" Without waiting for an answer, Brenda moved to her desk, dropping a tabloid on Francine's desk as she passed.
Francine rolled her eyes. "No, and you shouldn't either. It's full of crap, you know that."
Brenda grinned at her. "Well, they do claim Earth has been visited by aliens."
Francine snorted at that. "So what has you so excited?"
"It's the story about the tidal wave."
Francine sighed and pulled the paper closer for a look. "Mystery Man Defuses Tidal Wave," she read aloud.
"Check out the picture."
"Okay..." Francine glanced at it. "It's a shot of the tail end of the wave."
"Yeah, now really look at it, girlfriend. They've helpfully circled the important part."
Francine squinted to focus. "It's a blurry shot of ... wait a minute." She sat up straighter. "Are they saying this little blob is a person?"
"Yep. There's an enlarged version inside, and it sure looks like a guy to me."
"A guy who can float in midair?"
"Just like Superman, yeah." Brenda smiled smugly. "I've been reading up -- since we're friends with Lois and all. And it occurs to me that she's hanging out with a certified, authentic alien these days."
"You think this is Kal?" Francine threw her partner a pained look. "Bren, he can't fly."
"Not as far as we know. But hey, just by looking at him, you'd never guess he was from another planet, either. And the timing's interesting, don'tcha think?"
"Well... I guess it couldn't hurt to ask them. Think she'd tell us if it really was him?"
"She'd damn well better, after everything we've been through."
"Yeah," Francine conceded. "Being harem girls together does make a sort of a bond."
tbc...
