Meowoof is in this chapter. [Linked Image]

There's a surprise here!

I guess I should tell Caitlyn haters beware!


~~~~~~~~~~~

From part 17...

Caitlyn answered, "Jon, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that was a *very* minute amount of kryptonite." She took the gauze from Clark and said, "Good, it's already healed."

Jon walked over to his dad. Incredulously he said, "So what Caitlyn is saying is that was really nothing?"

Clark answered, "Well, it stung, but considering what I've been exposed to in the past, that was very, very mild."

Jon answered in a very quiet, "Oh. Okay. Good night." He decided he'd have to think about that awhile. Then maybe he'd talk to Zared. "Good night."

Caitlyn said, "I think we freaked him out. That should start to work in about ten or fifteen minutes." He nodded.

"I know you are really tired, but will you stay with me a bit." She nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~


A New Hero Part 18


Caitlyn ran her hand through Clark's hair. "You are a stubborn man, Kal."

"You need to remember to call me Clark." He smiled at her, reached his hand up and brushed the side of her face.

"I know. I think I've been doing fairly well. I did that on purpose." She leaned down and kissed him lightly on the lips.

He put his arms around her as he kissed her back. "Hmm.. You taste good - sweet. What did you eat?"

"Flan."

"Oh. You taste pretty good even *without* flan. I can think of some things..."

She blushed. "Clark!"

"And you'll like it. I can guarantee it." He grinned at her wickedly. He scooted over then patted the bed. "Lie down beside me until I fall asleep."

"You are incorrigible." He patted the bed again. "Alright, but just remember..."

"Yes, ma'am." She lay beside him and he pulled her to him. He turned on his side, raised up on his elbow and kissed her again.

"Clark, you aren't *behaving*!" She tried to turn his attention elsewhere, and said, "I talked to Claire while I was downstairs getting something to eat." He pulled her shirt up a little and danced his hand over her abdomen. Then he ran his hand up higher. "Clark, I... ooohhh. Ummm... I *shouldn't* have listened to you."

"You like that?" He kissed her again then pulled her t-shirt up even more for better access. "Hmm... You just took a shower... left some things off, I see. For me?" He moved his kisses elsewhere.

"Ummm.... She.. she.. Did you know... ummm..." She was rendered speechless as Clark continued his elsewhere kisses and moved his hand much lower... "Ahhh... Claarrrk... " He pulled her closer to him. "Clark, you can't... and you're.. ummm..."

He said huskily, "No, but there are certainly some things I can for do you. Isn't there, Caitlyn?" He trailed kisses over her upper body as his hand stayed diligently busy in nether regions.

Moments later, he smiled and said, "Ah, such a nice rosy glow. I know you haven't been sleeping well. Think you'll sleep better tonight?" He giggled. He seductively kissed each the fingers of his hand then brushed his mouth against hers urging her to open her mouth. She complied with his wishes. "Ah, yes, you definitely taste good. I'd do... ahem... *more* to help you sleep well if I wasn't hurting. Now what..."

"Hasn't the pain medication started working?"

"Yeah." He shook his head a little and his eyelids were heavy. "What were you saying about Claire?"

"Mmmm... I definitely think I'll sleep well. But not here! That was... Oh, my!" She sighed. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He kissed her lightly on her cheek.

She smiled. "So Claire is the one that hates me, huh? Anyway, I believe she likes me at least a little now. I think she is still unhappy about *us* though." She watched as Clark fought sleep. "Anyway, to make a somewhat long story short, Alex is pushing her really hard to have sex. I think.. I hope.. I convinced to her break up with him. Alex. I bet that name's a real thorn in your side."

"Can't judge people on their name. Think about folks named Cain. I don't think people.. believe... they all go out ... and kill their brothers. But I don't like Alex." Normally he would be upset at the idea that some guy was pushing his daughter into sex, but he was so sleepy. "Yeah. I hope you... convinced her... She's way too... young..." He smiled and fell asleep.

She brushed his lips with hers and said, "Good night." She stood up, straightened herself up, and walked out. She thought as she walked down the hall that their relationship had just... ummm... stepped up a bit and that he was definitely talented. She thought, 'And my goodness, he only... Oh, my.' Things were going to be very interesting, and seeing that she was his doctor, she knew that oh-so-well. She was going to have to make sure she only sat in a chair when she examined him. No more sitting on the bed. And especially no more lying down beside Clark... at least not now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning after Anamarie got the children off to school, she sat down for a few moments to catch her breath. It was the last day of school before summer vacation and she thought that it seemed kind of silly to get the kids off just to be there for a couple of hours. She really didn't have to do anything with the older kids to get them off except wake some of them up, and she did usually made breakfast if Clark didn't, which he hadn't done for some time. Claire was extremely difficult to awaken this morning. It was usually Jama or Chloe that didn't want to get up - not Claire. Chloe told Anamarie that she thought Claire had stayed up way too late the night before. Clark Kent had good kids. And he was a good employer. That was why she liked her job so much. She was very surprised about Jenni's and Zared's situation, but Clark had been so understanding. But then he was so full of kindness. She had been so pleased that he was going to let her off for an entire month.

The television was on the 'This Day' show. Her attention was pulled from her musings to a news bit they had on. They were repeating an interview that had been on the night before on 'Day and Date'. There was a lot of excitement over this particular interview.

Kimmie Coutro had interviewed the wife of the Metropolis Mutilator. She had been in hiding since he had tried to kill her in the Phoenix desert. She had shot him in self defense. She was talking about how Superman had rescued her and how very grateful she had been because she had finally been able to get away from her husband. He wouldn't ever let her cut her hair, and every so often would insist that she change the color of it. She had been in terror for her life living with him. He had often beat her and would actually lock her in a room at times. She had tried to leave him many times, but he had always found her. She said that one time he had brought her back 'home' literally by dragging her by the hair. She had just returned to Metropolis because she felt it was safe now that he was in jail.

Anamarie watched the interview with rapt attention. She knew the woman Kimmie Coutro was interviewing, but she hadn't seen her in over ten years.

The woman was her sister Margeaux.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caitlyn woke up at 10:00 am. Goodness. She hadn't slept that long since she couldn't remember. She was really glad she had the day off. Her colleague was making rounds, so she didn't even have to do that. Clark was right. He had done wonders in helping her sleep.

She felt a little guilty; she hoped he was okay. Usually she checked on him several times during the night.

She headed toward his room. When she got there the door was open, but he wasn't there. She hoped that he wasn't in his office working. She'd have his hide.

~~~~~~~~~~~

She *did* find him in his office. She should have known. He had his full attention on his computer. He looked much better this morning, but he had promised to not do any work today.

"Good morning, Clark."

He looked up and was a little surprised to see her. He hadn't realized she had come in. "Hey."

She looked over his shoulder. He was playing a slow paced computer game. "Well, at least you aren't working."

He flashed that gorgeous smile at her. "I promised not to today, didn't I? Did you just get up?"

"About ten minutes ago. What time did you get up?"

"About a half an hour ago. I slept well. I don't remember the last time I slept that well. You took good care of me last night. I take you slept well?"

She blushed. "Yes, I slept well, but who took care of whom?"

He blushed, too. "I guess I got a little bold, huh? But you... um, didn't seem to mind."

"Well... I did sleep well. Just remember that..."

"I know. I know, Dr. Kira. I know."

Clark looked up as Anamarie ran past his office and she seemed to be upset.

Clark called to her, "Anamarie!"

She came to the door. "Yes, Mr. Kent."

"Clark. What's wrong?"

"Well, I was just going to call my mom about... Did you happen to see any of the news the morning?" she said frantically. He shook his head no. Then she told him about the interview.

"Your sister? Oh, wow. She did an interview? I'll bet the D.A. is not happy about that. That could really hurt the case against the Metropolis Mutilator."

"I hadn't thought about it that way. I was just so shocked to see her. It seems to me she has just put her life in danger all over again." Clark nodded. "I'm going to go call mom to see if she knows about the interview." Anamarie continued her journey down the hall.

Clark turned back to his computer. "Let me see if I can find that interview on the internet." After he had found it and Caitlyn and he had both watched it, he said, "Oh, crap! I remember that woman, now. It also makes me remember something else. When she shot him, I rescued him in the desert. He called me 'god'. It would have been nice if I'd known he was going to become a serial killer. I would have tried to see that he was put under heavier security. He escaped when he killed the deputy guarding him at the hospital." He squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

"Now don't get upset. You've got a graduation to go to. Why don't you go lie down?"

He shook his head no. "I haven't been up that long. But I will go sit down in the family room and relax." He stood up. "I take you haven't eaten breakfast. Come on, walk with me."

The walked together to the family room where he sat down and Caitlyn continued to the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Caitlyn came back to the family room, Clark was reading a book and was falling asleep. She bent down and kissed the top of his head. "Since you are falling asleep, I'll give you a reprieve from my palpating hands for now."

He grinned at her. "Thank goodness."

"I'm going to run home and get poor neglected Meowoof and bring her over here. I'll tell Hannah to keep an eye on you."

"You worry too much. A cat that thinks she a dog coming to this household. One more thing in the mix...."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Poor little Meowoof had gotten plenty of love from her human this morning. Where ever had she been? She couldn't be happier.

Her human had been all over this magnificent place. So many places to explore and she had only begun. She could smell that other person she liked, too, but she hadn't found him yet. Rest assured that she *would* find him though.

She didn't understand some other cats getting so upset over things like being moved to another place. She didn't care what place she was in as long as it was safe and her human was there. And here, she would have two fine friends to play with and one she wasn't so sure about. Snooty cat anyway. Didn't he know that dogs were fun?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caitlyn had been back at Clark's for about an hour. He was still asleep. She had put a pillow over his abdomen, because she knew that Meowoof might get a little exuberant upon seeing Clark. It was never much fun to have a cat land on your abdomen and even more so when you were recovering from major surgery.

Anamarie had left to go speak to her mother, so when the doorbell rang, Caitlyn answered the door. A lady with strawberry blond hair stood there. She looked vaguely familiar.

The woman said, "Hello. I need to speak to Clark."

"Come in. But he's asleep."

The woman came in. She crossed her arms. "You must be the nanny. Well, you need to wake him up. It is very important. Oh, I'm Mayson Drake-Smith by the way."

Caitlyn nodded. "Now I know why you seemed familiar. I'm Caitlyn Kira."

"Oh, you're definitely not the nanny, Dr. Kira."

"You know who I am?"

"Only by reputation. You did a good job of saving Superman's life. The city is grateful. I can sympathize with his injuries. I nearly died because of a car bomb many years ago. They say Superman saved my life by flying me to the hospital, but that was only after Clark pulled me out of the car. I have very few memories of that day. Clark and I were dating then."

'Dating?' Caitlyn thought. Clark had told her about that particular incident, but he never mentioned they were dating. She also thought it seemed pretty obvious that Mayson Drake-Smith thought it was Clark who had saved her life. What irony. She mentally shrugged. She spoke to Mayson, "What's this about?"

"I can't tell you. But I do need to speak with Clark."

Caitlyn motioned to the living room. She sighed. "Sit down and I'll go wake him up."

Mayson sat down. She wondered why Dr. Caitlyn Kira would be here. She thought about it another moment and then decided Clark's home seemed a likely place for Superman to recover since they were friends. That's probably why she was here; she would be tending to Superman. That was just as well since she wanted to speak with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jenni was talking a stroll around the house. She had been hoping to get to go to school today. They would only be there for a couple of hours, but Zared had convinced her stay home. He was right. It was more important that she get to go to graduation tonight.

She saw Mayson Drake-Smith sitting in the living room and wondered why she was here. Surely she didn't want to talk to her. She'd told her she probably wouldn't need to talk to her again until they were ready for the trial.

She started towards her to ask, when she was accosted by Meowoof. "Well, who are you?" She picked the cat up. "You are a very friendly girl, aren't you?" When she finished petting the cat, she looked back towards the living. Mayson Drake-Smith was no longer there. She continued her walk as Meowoof went her own way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caitlyn walked into the family room just as Meowoof jumped on the arm of the chair. He began scratching her behind her ears and she was contentedly purring. "She likes you, Clark."

He gave her one of his heart-melting smiles. His smile was just so... disarming. "I know."

"It appears she's feeling very neglected. Let me guess? Time for palpating hands, right?"

She smiled warmly at him. "Yes, I need to do that, but you have a visitor - Mayson Drake-Smith. She says it's very important she speak with you."

"Mayson? Really? Are you sure it isn't Jenni she wants to speak to?"

"No. She wants to talk to you. She said you used to date."

"No. We never dated. She did throw herself at me, though. After her accident, she was pretty confused about the previous couple of weeks. She may really think we did date. Heck, she may think we did more."

"Throw herself at you?"

"Well, let's just say she was hot for me." He rolled his eyes. "Wonder what she wants. You might as well show her in."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Caitlyn went to the living room. "Mrs. Drake-Smith. Clark is awake. Would you like me to get you something to drink?"

"Some water would be nice. Thanks. Please call me, Mayson." Caitlyn nodded. As they walked to the family room, she said somewhat suspiciously, "Superman is here, isn't he? That's why you're here."

Caitlyn just gave her an odd look. "Actually, I'm a.. a friend of Clark's."

"Oh." Mayson nodded in understanding.

Caitlyn said, "There's Clark. I'll get you some water and be right back."

"Okay, but I need to talk to Clark alone."

"That's fine. I'll bring the water to you and then leave."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Mayson stopped and petted Meowoof a bit then sat down. "Clark, I tried to find you at work. A mountain climbing accident, huh?" She stopped and gave him a closer look. "You look like hell, Clark."

"Well, most people keep telling me I look like crap, so that's a change. What do you need, Mayson? I thought you may need to speak to Jenni Green."

"Well, yes, I do, but that's not why I'm here. Why would I come to see her here?"

"Ummm... Jenni lives here now. She and Zared are engaged."

"Zared is your oldest, right?" Clark nodded. "He's a little young to get married, isn't he?"

Clark sighed and nodded. "Yeah. She's.." He sighed. "... pregnant. Please don't tell anyone that. They haven't said anything publicly about it yet."

"Actually, I already knew she was pregnant, but that's because of the Mutilator case, you know. I've seen her operative report."

Clark had to wonder if she had seen his. Since she had seen Jenni's and they were shot by the same man, she probably had. Thank goodness there would be nothing there to give his secret away.

"No, I won't say anything. If I didn't know she's here then that's a good thing. Maybe no one else will, either. She could possibly be in danger." She took a deep breath. "The Metropolis Mutilator escaped last night, and murdered one of the guards - a female with long hair - while he was at it. I was hoping there was some way you could get in touch with Superman. I'd like to talk to him."

Clark had paled at her statement. "Is his wife safe? I can't believe she did that interview."

"Me either." She just shook her head. "We didn't even know about her."

"The guard.... Did he commit his usual type crime? Does she..." He swallowed hard. "Does she still have her hair?"

"You know about that? You shouldn't."

He lied. "I know... because of Jenni." He certainly couldn't tell her he knew because she and Bill Henderson had told Superman, now could he?

"Oh. You still probably shouldn't know. But you are a reporter, so you know when to keep your mouth shut. He didn't take her hair. He wouldn't have had time to commit his usual atrocities, thank goodness. Is there anyway I can talk to Superman? He is here, isn't he?"

"He can't help you, Mayson. I'm sure Caitlyn can tell you that."

Caitlyn walked in and handed Mayson a cold bottle of water. "I can tell her what?"

"That Superman can't do anything to help her."

"So he *is* here, then? Thank you, Dr. Kira."

"You can call me Caitlyn. Superman is *still* quite ill so I don't imagine he could be of any help." She looked at Clark with sympathetic eyes as she walked out.

Mayson looked at Clark, "Yes, I thought he might be since no one has seen him. The city has only seen the new guy. I still need to talk to him."

Clark was truly perplexed. Normally, he go 'find' Superman, but considering how pale and thin he was, he was afraid he'd be recognized. He briefly thought about telling Mayson the truth. She had mentioned 'dreams' to him a couple of times. No, no, he couldn't do that. Mayson didn't hate Superman like she used to, but she still had ambivalent feelings about him. She just didn't make her feelings well-known anymore, though. The public would not like a district attorney that didn't like Superman.

"Clark?"

"I never said he was here. Can I take a message and get back to you?"

"No, no, that's won't do at all."

"He can't help you."

"Yes, I know he can't physically help us, but considering we now have a dangerous serial killer on the loose, I wanted to talk to him about what happened. He's only given a very brief statement."

"What's there to say, Mayson. A lot of people saw what happened."

"Yes, I'm aware of that, but now, it seems he may have had contact with the Mutilator in Arizona. We have a murderer on the loose and *any* information we can get will be of help." She paused. "Clark? Why are so reluctant? You've always helped with things like this before - things like helping us find Superman. I assume the two of you are still friends. Right?"

Clark stood up, "Oh, *hell*, Mayson!" He walked out of the room.

Mayson wondered if his reaction was good or bad. She decided to just wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clark found Caitlyn sitting at the piano. "Hey, I didn't know you played."

"Just a little. After hearing Jon, I wouldn't dare play while he is around."

"Oh, I'm sure Jon wouldn't mind hearing you play. He's really good, isn't he? He got accepted at Juliard, you know, but he wanted to stay in Metropolis, so he is going to the Metropolis School of the Arts."

"No, I didn't know that. Wow! That school is every bit as good as Juliard"

Clark told her what was going on. He sat down beside her and started playing chopsticks and she began to accompany him. "What am I going to do? 'He' needs to talk to her, but I'm pretty sure I'd be recognized. Especially since I look like crap so everyone keeps telling me." He rolled his eyes. Actually, Mayson thinks I look like hell."

She kissed him on the cheek. "Honey, I don't know. But there is a madman on the loose. Maybe you should just tell her. Surely as the D.A. she can be trusted considering the circumstances."

He shook his head no. "You don't know how she *really* feels about 'Superman'. She's not as bad as she used to be, but I think I'd rather trust Bill Henderson."

"Then tell Mayson that Superman will talk to Bill but not her."

"I'm sure that would go over *so* well." He put his head in his hands. "Maybe I can talk her out of wanting to talk to 'Superman'." He pursed his lips. "No, that's not going to happen." He took a ragged breath and covered his mouth with his hand. "Have her come to my office, will you?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mayson sat down in his office. "Nice office, Clark. Did you find him?"

"Yeah." He looked up at her.

"Clark, are you okay?"

"Not exactly. In order to help you catch this guy, I'm going to... trust... you..." He swallowed hard. "...with my... life. Don't betray me. You really don't won't to see me angry. I'm only doing this because this guy is one of the worse serial killers ever known."

She narrowed her eyes. "Are you threatening me?"

"Yes. I guess I am. Mayson, you know that dream you've told me about..."

~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Even heroes have the right to dream.~~