Part 5
It had been a long walk home. Half-garbed in his Superman suit, Clark hadn't wanted to be seen walking, or half-crawling down the streets of Metropolis. As for the time, he had no idea what time it was; only that it was the wee hours of the morning and that the city had practically shut down.
He had to duck into alleys and hide behind bushes in order not to be noticed, but at last, he flagged down a taxicab and pretended to be a Superman impersonator coming back from a late party.
The cabby had been nonchalant, and seemed like he was used to taking people dressed in bright spandex home every night. Clark wasn't very concerned. He knew he would be worried about who had seen him once he got home and recovered sufficiently, but all he could think about was the heavy weight of exhaustion that was beginning to cloud his mind again.
Luckily, Clark had a couple of twenty-dollar bills tucked inside his socks. Wearing a wallet while wearing the suit was not a good idea. Even though the cape hid it, the wallet left an unsightly lump in his back pocket and he was afraid that he would lose it during a hairy rescue. Cash was so much easier to conceal. He never knew when it would come in handy – Lois always required food, considering the condition of her kitchen pantries, and it was easier picking things up in his Superman garb.
He got out of the taxi about a block from his apartment and walked the rest of the way. All he wanted to do was fall into bed and sleep. He wearily trudged up the front steps of his apartment building. If there was going to be fall out from his carelessness, then it would be dealt with later.
A newspaper was lying in the doorway and Clark kicked it inside, watching, as it skittered under a table just inside the door. After stripping off his suit, he collapsed on his bed gratefully.
*****
Lois scowled at the bustle of the newsroom around her. She still hadn't gotten into the swing of things at LNN. She had been passed over in the other employees' attempts to run the news station. They had brown-nosed her occasionally, but as for actually helping her get acquainted with LNN, they were no help.
She had been increasingly disturbed by some rumors – a news article in one of the rags had reported that Superman had been seen walking drunk around town two nights before. She knew that it couldn't be true - the superhero just didn't do drunkenness. Had to have been some lowlife trying to give him a bad rap.
But in all actuality, she was worried about Superman. He had not been seen for days around Metropolis, and apparently, hadn't been spotted for certain since that night he had visited her in her apartment.
No rescues, no public appearances, not even a sonic boom. And she was beginning to think it was all her fault. When he had said goodbye to her, he had been so sad and his words had been so final. Was it possible that she had driven the superhero from the city? His attitude had been one of defeat...
Oh Superman! Where are you? she thought as the tears threatened to spring to her eyes.
Suddenly her attention was diverted to the television monitor a half a room away.
The head anchorman reported, "The recent absence of the Man of Steel in the skies of Metropolis took a grim turn today. The tattered remains of what appears to be a red cape were found floating in Hobbs Bay earlier this morning. Police reports indicate that faint bloodstains were found on the material and that they are investigating.
"It may never be determined if it is Superman's blood on the alleged cape or if it is indeed Superman's cape... Fans are reportedly lining the shores of the bay hoping to be the first to catch a glimpse of their fallen hero..."
Tears sprang to Lois' eyes and she felt guilt wash over her. He was gone!! Just like every person in her life that she had loved, Superman had disappeared... vanished...
Maybe he was just off nursing a wounded heart... after all, he had said that he loved her. Maybe this was just his way to regroup. And, he had been rumored to have been seen walking around drunk two nights ago. But what about the cape that had been found? It had to be some sort of cruel joke. Superman was invulnerable! No one was positive that it was his actual cape. Some sick twisted mind had planted it in response to the rumors of the past couple days.
She had to get out of here... take a walk in the park and... and... look for any signs in the sky that he was still around.
He had to be; Superman just had to be all right!
*****
Clark stirred in his bed, then rolled over with a groan. Sleep... wonderful sleep. His stomach growled, but lying face down quieted it somehow. Eat later... all he wanted to do was to sleep... and he did.
*****
Lex was furious. He couldn't believe that the spandex-clad clown had escaped its destiny. There should have been no way that Superman could have gotten out of the kryptonite cage that he had set for him.
He punched the replay button and watched the escape from the cage again. After Superman had collapsed the first time, he had thought it was the end of the overgrown boyscout, so Luthor had dismissed the guards and decided to wait to collect the body at a more private time.
Death should have been in order.
But somehow, the stupid hero had slipped away. He could only hope that his not popping up in public meant that he had crawled away to die in a hole somewhere. The kryptonite had been altered to slowly eat away at his molecular structure. The hair that he had obtained from him to create the Superman clone had been very useful in providing insight into how his body worked. And he was never expected to escape.
In the meantime, he had to distract Lois. She had been ignoring him the past few days ever since she had muttered Superman's disgusting name as he was kissing her.
There had to be some way to capitalize on Superman's disappearance. Perhaps by turning it to his favor he could get Lois to marry him once and for all.
He picked up the phone and dialed...
******
Lois opened the stairwell to the top of floor of the LexCorp building, and quickly looked around. This was the first time she had been on the roof of the tallest building in Metropolis and it scared her a just a teeny bit, she realized, as she gripped the door handle.
She had been able to talk her way up to the roof by convincing everyone in her path that she was going to get up there, by either going around them or by plowing through them. At first, Lex's employees had resisted her bullying her way through the building, but she had warned them that Lex would not like them treating her this way and they complied. She was sure that someone was waiting for her inside the stairwell... they could wait all they wanted; she didn't care. The view was fantastic... and scary.
It was the highest she had been out in the open like this, besides flying in Superman's arms.
A tiny whimpered escaped her mouth as she wondered about his whereabouts again. He had always been there to help her when she needed him the most. He had always come in the nick of time to rescue her from whatever peril she had managed to get herself into with the latest 'scum of the day'.
How was she going to manage if he was truly gone? Even though she'd handled things fine before Superman had flown into her life, deep down she realized her luck had been stretched to the max. She had begun to take more risks, pushed herself a bit harder because she knew that Superman was always waiting in the wings ready to swoop in and save the day.
She looked at the pebbles on the roof and two footprints, both of which had distinctive heel marks, were dug into the gravel. Deep heel marks... like someone had jump down from... She looked up and only saw blue and clouds – the sky. Superman must have landed on this roof.
She knelt down and touched a heel print, noting that they were the only ones visible. They probably were a few days old; the wind must be fierce up here at times and blew the pebbles to an even level.
Becoming a bit braver, she walked to the edge of the roof and looked out at the city below her. What would happen if she suddenly fell off the edge? Would that be enough to rouse Superman out of whatever funk he was in? She just couldn't believe that it was his cape in the bay... or that the blood was his. Superman was invulnerable, for Pete's sake! It just had to be a cruel trick. It just had to be!
"Superman!!" Her voice startled her; her screams caught in the wind and faded rapidly.
She waited, her muscles tensing with expectation, but there was nothing - nothing but the wind and sky. Superman wasn't coming.
Tears stung her eyes as she suddenly longed for the strong shoulder of her best friend. Clark would be the only person who could possibly comfort her now. But look at what she'd done to that relationship – cast him off like an old shoe.
Maybe it was time she tried to mend the increasing chasm between them – before it had gotten so wide that it was impossible to cross – before she lost him totally. She could sure use one of his hugs right about now...
Looking up at the sky, she combed the clouds one more time for Superman, then turned on her heels and left through the stairwell door.
*****
Clark stumbled from the bathroom and crawled back under his covers. His head was muzzy and his eyes couldn't focus. Something was wrong. The effects of the kryptonite shouldn't be lasting this long. But for all he knew, this was a normal reaction to an extended exposure. He had to get help... somehow!
He groped for the telephone and after a couple of stabs at the buttons, managed to dial the operator.
"Connect me to Jonathan Kent... Smallville, Kansas." A wave of nausea knotted in his stomach, "Now!"
He leaned his head into his hand to stop the dizziness. "Mom?"
"Hello... Clark?" His mother's voice rang distantly through the phone receiver. "Honey, we're so worried about you. We've been watching the news. Are you all right?"
Clark choked back a strangled reply, but managed to whisper, "No, I need you. Mom, Dad... can you get here... soon?"
"Already have our reservations. We'll be there in a few hours. Honey, can you call someone... Lois?"
Clark eyes popped open wide at the mention of her name. Lois. No. Lois couldn't know about him yet. She was still with Luthor, the man who had done this to him.
"No. Will be okay until you get here... not going anywhere."
"We're coming, honey! Just hang on!"
"Will be in bed. Sorry I can't pick you up this time..." Clark leaned back into his pillows. Had to sleep...
The phone slipped out of his hands as his eyes shut one more time.
*****
Lois dialed Clark's number and could only hear a busy tone. It had been that way for a couple of hours. She guessed he had the phone off the hook and didn't want to speak to anyone... especially her.
She hung up the phone and stared at the news monitor. Nothing new had been found concerning Superman. She just hoped that if any news broke that it was in Superman's favor.
*****
Cool hands... Clark felt them sweeping across his brow and into his hair. His mother's voice was tickling his senses and he knew everything was going to be all right. Momma was here...
Water touched his dry lips and he swallowed, feeling the cold, life-giving substance trickle its way down into his body. He opened his eyes and managed a weak smile.
"You're here... thanks for coming, Mom."
"Just rest, honey," Martha said, sounding relieved that he was aware of his surroundings.
"Not a problem, Mom..." Clark murmured as he rolled over again.
******
Lois stood at the steps of Clark's building and stared at his front door. It had crossed her mind several times in the past few days that Clark might know the whereabouts of Superman. Phone calls to his apartment hadn't produced any results. She had stopped by the other day, but it appeared that Clark was out of town. A couple of newspapers were stacked against the door and she had taken the liberty of tossing them for him. No news reporter in his right mind would want to read two days old news.
So she had leaned the current copy against his door and had left.
Now she had returned after wrestling with the thought that Clark wouldn't want to see her after she had rejected his love. To tell the truth, she missed his steady presence in her life; she especially wished that they could discuss Superman. Clark always seemed to know how to get in touch with him. He had an uncanny ability to know exactly how to reach Superman and just maybe he was the only person who knew where the superhero was.
She didn't want to hurt Clark anymore. She had callously thrown Superman in his face that day in the park and it hadn't been fair to him.
But weren't these different circumstances? Superman's cape had been tattered and found in the bay... with blood on it! Unconfirmed, but it was frightening all the same. Surely Clark wouldn't hold that against her if she wanted to question him about Superman? He was supposed to be his friend also.
Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.
To her surprise, Clark's mother opened it up. "Lois! I was hoping you'd show up."
"Hi, Martha! Hoping? Is Clark all right?"
Lois detected a quick look of concern on the older woman's face before she turned around and motioned her inside.
Martha sighed and said, "Clark's been sick, dear, but he's doing fine, really..."
"I had no idea! What's wrong?"
"Just the flu, but you know men; they can't handle sickness very well. They have to huddle in blankets and sleep a lot. They revert back to being babies again." Martha laughed as she faced her once again, but Lois didn't see it in her eyes. She was clearly worried about Clark.
"Can I see him?"
"Sure, honey. He's sleeping pretty soundly; I don't think he's going to wake up. He's had some sleep medication."
"That's okay, I had something to discuss with him, but maybe it's not a good idea now. I don't know if he's told you what happened between us, but let's just say that I may not be very welcomed. I'll just go..."
Martha put her arm around Lois' shoulders. "I think Clark needs you. It's you he's been asking for..."
"Really?"
"I don't know how he'll feel after he's awake, but while he's sleeping, he's been calling your name. That's why I'm so glad you're here."
"He has?" Lois turned from the older woman and headed for Clark's bedroom. Just as she had been warned, he was asleep, looking rather pale even in the dim light from the lamp.
She sat down on the side of his bed and stared at her best friend... or was it, ex-best friend? His hair was tousled and a thin sheen of perspiration glistened on his forehead. Short dark whiskers covered his face, and it appeared he hadn't shaved in a few days. She laid her hand on his brow and fingered that wayward lock of hair that always seemed to tumble forward.
His head was slightly warm to the touch, but it wasn't the slight fever that had her worried – it was the haggard look on his face. Like he'd been dragged over the coals and was in shock.
Guilt suddenly pierced her heart – she should have been here for him! Clark had hardly ever been sick in the time she had known him. The one other time he hadn't felt well they had been in Smallville and his mother had taken care of him then, also. Some friend she had turned out to be – smashed his heart to bits, then left him to fend for himself when he got sick.
She reached to grab his hand, barely concealed by his comforter, and was startled when she felt the soft gauze that covered his palms and fingers.
"Martha?" she called softly. "What's wrong with his hands?"
Clark's mother appeared around the corner from the kitchen, looking rather flustered. "Oh, his hands! He slipped off the porch and scraped his hands pretty bad."
"He does have a hard time with peanut butter jars... was he sick when this happened?"
Martha hated lying for her son, but covering up his activities had become second nature to her. Actually, she didn't know how those ugly burns had gotten on Clark's hands, but she was sure it wasn't a pretty story.
"I think he was just coming down with this flu when it happened. He must have gotten dizzy or something and fell," Martha said, matter of factly.
"Is he going to be okay? He looks so sick!"
"Just a nasty strain of flu, dear. It just seemed to hit Clark worse than other people."
Martha scurried out of the room, quite pleased to see the concern that Lois was showing for her son. Clark clearly loved Lois – she had highly suspected it the time he had brought her to Smallville. Every time someone brought up her name, there had been a twinkle in his eye and a secret smile on his lips - something she had never seen on her son's face before he had met Lois.
Now this girl was stroking her boy's cheek and holding his hand... Nope! It wouldn't take much!
She left Lois to her privacy and went to make some tea.
******
