It's still Friday, so here's the rest of MagiKal
The End Of All Illusions
"Do you think it was him?" Lois ran her hand over Houdini's head.
Her heart raced, twisting with a strange mixture of dread and hope as once again she studied the dark sky. There was no sign of Clark, nothing since the shooting star she'd seen go down over Suicide Slum. She'd been watching the sky from the Daily Planet's roof then, hoping to see him return.
The ball of fire had fueled her hope enough that she’d taken the next cab with Houdini right by her side.
Now she wasn’t so sure. Perhaps they were just on a wild goose chase. The sky was dark again, just a few stars here and there. Would she even notice his dark shadow? How was he supposed to find her here when he came back? On the fringes of Suicide Slum, her hope had expired. Lois was scared, both that she would find Clark here and that she wouldn't. Falling from the sky in a ball of fire couldn't bode well for anyone, not even for someone like Clark.
She was terrified of losing him.
Her stomach clenched, making her feel sick. Breathing in and out seemed like an effort all of a sudden. But she had to know, even if she'd find his body broken. Not knowing what had happened to Clark was even worse. As Houdini barked, she was sure he'd agree.
Could she have seen a part of the asteroid that had miraculously preceded the rest?
It seemed unlikely.
She wanted the shooting star to be Clark and Clark to be all right. But if he were fine, surely he'd have come looking for her by now.
Lois stood at the fringes of Suicide Slum and couldn't bring herself to move. Houdini waited next to her, head lowered and tail between his legs. He missed his master and so did she.
The setter barked again. His whole body tensed before he flurried into motion. He darted off, but stopped at the next corner and looked over his shoulder to see if she was following.
Lois ran after him.
Was it a good sign that the setter picked up speed? Now and again, Houdini would check on her only to move faster afterwards. Soon Lois was jogging at a speed she couldn't keep up for long.
She was grateful for Houdini's presence, though. The streets of Suicide Slum were dangerous in the daylight. Now that darkness had descended upon the city, Lois felt a chill creep up despite the exertion. She could only hope that even the thugs were celebrating tonight.
MagiKal had saved Earth from Nightfall. She still couldn't believe it. When Clark had told her he was going to destroy the asteroid, she'd thought that maybe he'd turned a bit delusional. After all, nobody could be that strong.
The scientists at EPRAD had laughed at him, too, until he'd demonstrated what he could do. He'd lifted a rocket carrying a space shuttle that had been scheduled to take off a few days later and had flown it high up into the sky only to safely land it afterwards. That had convinced the scientists he wasn't just a fraud begging for attention.
Lois knew that revealing himself had been Clark's personal nightmare. But he'd seen no other way. True to his word MagiKal had managed to destroy the asteroid.
Clark had risked so much. He'd been aware there was no going back from letting an asteroid disappear.
Once he succeeded everyone would know that he wasn't just creating illusions, because EPRAD hadn't been able to keep their secret for long. Other scientists had discovered Nightfall, so the whole world was watching.
This morning MagiKal had taken off to the jeers of the crowd. People had been convinced he was just trying to show off. They knew better now. But there was no telling how they were going to perceive him after learning about the extent of his powers. If Clark survived that was.
In the past couple of days she'd seen Clark's fear - of the asteroid but maybe even more of how this would change their relationship. He'd been scared that people in general and Lois in particular would fear him.
He'd risked a lot up there. Until EPRAD had lost contact, Lois hadn't allowed herself to consider that above everything else he'd risked his life.
Now it was all she could think about.
Lois' breath now came in panting gasps, her sides were hurting with a stitch. Houdini barked and darted off at a pace that no human could hope to keep up with. Lois tapped into her own last reserves, knowing that it could only mean Houdini had smelled Clark.
She prayed he had and that by some divine intervention Clark was unharmed. Breathing heavily she followed the dog around the next corner.
Houdini stood at the edge of a huge crater, barking and pacing back and forth. The flickering red glow of fire painted a wall on the other side of the hole in yellowish light.
Lois supposed it was the fire that kept the dog at a distance. Her throat was tight and her heart was hammering in her chest as she caught up to Houdini.
From the edge of the crater, she saw a figure on the ground. The man was lying on his stomach naked but for a few odd pieces of fabric that hadn't been burned. His skin was covered in soot, dust and pieces of broken concrete.
Blood was oozing from a few cuts. A faint red glow emanated from a crystal sticking out of his back. Paralyzed, Lois stared at Clark's unmoving form. Her racing heart beat in her throat and her guts turned into an ugly twisted mass.
Lois' gaze darted over his back and what she could see of his face. Agonizing seconds ticked by until she discovered that he was still breathing. A low moan escaped his throat as he moved groggily and then stilled again.
Lois managed to shake her stupor and rushed toward him.
"Clark!"
She dropped to her knees beside him and placed her hand on his back, shaking him lightly. His skin was cool to the touch. Clark grunted in reply, but didn't move. His breathing was labored.
"Clark, say something, please."
Houdini had overcome his fear of fire and joined her, starting to lick his master's face. The setter whimpered and nudged Clark with his snout. Lois prayed for a reaction, any reaction that would tell her how Clark was doing. But he remained still, safe for his chest rising and falling with rattling breaths.
Should she try to rouse him or would she injure him further? Panic took hold of her as she realized that she had no idea how she could help him. Should she call an ambulance or hope that he'd recover on his own?
Would the doctors at a hospital even know what to do with Clark?
Lois' mind raced as she tried to decide which way to run in order to find a phone. Her gaze once more drifted across his back and lingered on the red crystal. There was at least something she could do for him, even if it was probably too late for that. She seized the crystal with two fingers and pulled it out.
Then she scrambled back to her feet, threw the crystal away and turned to climb out of the crater to get help.
"Lois?" Clark's breathy voice startled her.
He coughed, weakly at first but soon his whole chest seemed to spasm. With trembling arms he pushed himself up, gasping for breath between coughing fits. Startled by the unexpected sound Houdini whimpered and backed off, taking refuge behind Lois' legs
Lois watched Clark with trepidation. "I'll get an ambulance."
But he shook his head, his eyes wide with panic. "I'll be --"
He coughed again, so hard that it seemed like his lungs might come out. His whole body shook with the effort. But eventually the spasms subsided.
"Fine," he rasped.
Slowly, Clark managed to get to his feet. Once he stood, he looked down at himself and took in his naked form. He grimaced and scanned his surroundings, probably searching for something to cover himself with.
Lois watched him helplessly, then suddenly remembered that she was wearing a coat.
She shrugged out of it and handed it to him. "Take this."
"Thanks." With trembling hands he took the coat and wrapped it around himself, his relief obvious as he managed to tie it enough that he was mostly decent.
She watched him, half expecting him to lose his balance as he swayed a bit. Worry, relief and love all filled her chest, mingling to a jumble of emotions that made her throat tight. Her eyes filled with tears and she wasn’t even sure if they were tears of joy or sorrow because Clark looked anything but fine.
A sob escaped her. "How are you?"
He seemed to ponder that for a moment, while he studied his soot-covered hands. "Okay, I think. Tired, but otherwise I'm good."
He made a step toward her, and opened his arms to wrap them around her. She hesitated, afraid that he might topple over and call his own bluff. But when his arms closed around her in a gentle embrace, his frame steady and soothing, she buried her face in his shoulders, the tears now spilling freely as she melted into him.
“I thought I’d lost you.”
“Shh, it’s fine,” Clark whispered into her hair. “The asteroid is destroyed and I’m still here.” His gurgling laughter filled the air, as if he couldn’t quite believe it himself. “I’m really still here.”
He let go of her and grinned the most dazzling smile she’d ever seen on his face. She felt a similar smile spread across her own face and now she knew that her tears were tears of joy, because he was still alive and still with her.
For a moment they just stood there, grinning at each other, mesmerized by the fact that neither had lost the other until Houdini found his courage and dashed toward Clark. The setter jumped up at him with such enthusiasm that Clark lost his balance and landed on his back.
"Hey, buddy, careful." Clark laughed. "This asteroid really took it out of me."
As Lois watched them, her heart swelled with more happiness. She wanted to pull Clark into another hug and never let go of him. She wanted to be as close to him as he would let her, for however long he would let her until they found-
Suddenly, she remembered that she had already found the solution to his hiccups. She couldn't wait to tell him that he was rid of the crystal.
They were going to have a future.
She couldn’t help herself. If she’d thought that she’d been deliriously happy before, there were no words to describe how she was feeling now. Lois knelt beside him and flung her arms around Clark once more. She didn’t care that Houdini was a part of their embrace, and the dog seemed happy to have both his people at his side.
But after a while, he slipped out to leave them their privacy and Clark gently tilted up Lois chin to seal her lips with a fierce kiss. Time and space lost their meaning as his tongue explored her mouth.
Part of her longed to tell him the good news, because he had a right to be just as happy as she was. But she just couldn't bring herself to pull back.
She couldn't get enough of him, not even now that she knew she wouldn't have to let go of him again.
Ever.
Last edited by bakasi; 09/01/23 02:42 PM.
