~Part 4~
Perfect.
She was utterly perfect; beautiful in every way. She taunted him, teased him, waited for him to make his move. He wouldn't yet, it was still too soon. He would make her wait; make her sit in agony until he gave her the final release that she longed for.
Perfection came in many shapes and forms, but hers was ideal. She was pure. Not dirty like the rest of the human race, she was clean.
He lifted her motionless body with little effort. Her weightlessness was part of her purity. The other had been heavy; she was not. This one was the One, the only one pure enough for him. She would be his queen, reigning with him over all of the world. She was his.
He lowered her into the bathtub, where the unsoiled water lay. It was the last step needed to complete the sanitization. He smiled, picking up the bar of soap from at his feet. He caressed her body with it, lifting the grime from her pale skin, cleansing her soul, her heart, and her mind. She would struggle with him no longer. She would be his willing slave, wanting nothing more than to please him.
And she was now the only one that could please him. All others would seem beneath her, not quite up to par. She had raised the bar to a place no other woman could reach.
Finished with the soap, he wrapped it in plastic. He would not let himself touch the dirt that had once covered her body. With the methodical ease of someone who had done this before, he squirted a blob of shampoo into his hand, and ran it through her thick, gorgeous hair.
The scent of the shampoo, the feel of her lustrous strands between his fingers, the gentle humming of the bathroom light; it all excited him. Every time, it thrilled him. But this time was different; this girl was different from the others. She would die, yes, but not the same way as the others had. She was special.
Perfect.
He stood, soap still covering his fingers, and moved to grab the scissors. She needed a haircut.
He picked up the scissors and began to snip.
***
Lois paced from her couch to the window and back again. Clark would be there-- as Superman-- any minute to give her more information on the new development.
<Lucy's pregnant.>
The thought resonated in her mind, working its way into the unoccupied corners of her brain, thoroughly shaking her. It definitely wasn't something Lois had expected. She guessed that Lucy hadn't predicted it either.
All Lois had now were millions of unanswered questions. How long had Lucy known? Who was the father? What was she planning to do about her pregnancy? When would she have told the family? Would she have told the family at all?
There was a soft knock on her window, and Lois shook her head to clear it. She motioned for Clark to come in. He had been climbing in and out of her window for nearly two years; he knew how to let himself in.
"Hi, Lois," he said, tentative. She could see the contrition in his big brown eyes, and almost gave in. Dealing with everything that had been happening lately alone was difficult. All Lois wanted to do was curl up in Clark's arms, and let him hold and make it all better.
But she couldn't.
"Hi, Clark," she replied, just as cautious.
He took a step toward her, "Lois, can we talk for a minute? About us?" He took another step towards her.
"Clark, I…"
"Lois, please just hear me out. You don't have to say anything, just listen." He looked like a kicked puppy, trying to make amends.
Lois braced herself, leaning against the back of her couch. Did she want to listen to Clark?
<No.> She would rather not be on the same planet as Clark right now, let alone in the same room, listening to an explanation that would probably make too much sense and only convince her to love him again.
<You never stopped loving him.>
No, was *not* going to listen to him.
<But maybe you need to.> That little voice was becoming really annoying. She gave in. Mutely, she closed her eyes and nodded, giving him permission to speak.
"Well, uh, where do I start?" he mused aloud, as though he had forgotten a carefully rehearsed speech.
"How about the part where you lied to me?" Lois snapped, unable to hold her tongue.
"Okay. We can start there," he said calmly. "Lois, I never wanted to lie to you. I care far too much about you want to hurt you like I did. From the beginning, I wanted tell you truth. I hated lying to you. But I didn't know any other way. I came to the Planet to fulfill my dream, to become a writer. I wanted to spend my life doing what I loved: journalism. I never planned to meet you, to get so close to you. I never expected to share this secret with anybody. I never have. But, Lois, I *did* meet you, and we *did* get close, and I *am* going to share this with you. Not because you opened my shirt and found the suit, but because I feel that we are at a point in our relationship where you need to know. Do you remember what happened New Years Eve?"
<Oh God, he's talking about the kiss. I wonder if he thinks about it as much as I do.>
"I though you weren't going to make me talk," she objected. It was a façade, yes, but it was the only defense she had left. Sarcasm was a familiar shield, and she needed that kind of familiarity in situations like this.
"Well, yeah. You can just shake your head yes or no." He took another step closer to her.
"Yes, I remember, Clark."
"Well, do you remember the part where I said I had something to tell you? My New Year's Resolution?"
<To tell you something. Something very important.> His words rang clear in her head. She had thought him cruel at the time for not telling her, but had soon forgotten due to… other, more pleasant, things.
Lois nodded silently.
"This is what I was going to tell you. That I'm Superman. I have wanted to tell you for so long, Lois." He looked her in the eye, trying to gauge her reaction.
"Then why didn't you?" she found herself asking. "Why did you uh" she motioned to her lips in a gesture that spoke clearly of embarrassment, "instead of telling me?"
He bowed his head. Lois guessed he hadn't been expecting her question, or her silent reference to their kiss.
"Well, Lois, I… I kissed you before I told you, because I wanted to know how it felt, at least once. I knew that once you found out that I had been lying to you, you'd hate me and I might not get the chance to kiss you ever again." When she didn't reply, he added nervously, "Plus, it was New Years Eve. Midnight. It's tradition."
Lois was floored. When she had asked the question, she had expected an answer, but not *that.* For such a lunkhead, Clark sure had a way with words.
"Clark, I…I…" She couldn't put together a coherent thought, much less a sentence. All she wanted to do was throw herself at him and let her instincts take control.
"Clark, I need to think about this," she managed to whisper. "It's a lot to take in, you being Superman and all. Not to mention the… other stuff. I have to sort out what I'm thinking and feeling before I can really say anything, one way or the other. But I do care about you, Clark."
<Whether I want to or not,> A voice inside of her said sarcastically.
"Now, please," she said, her tone back to normal. "We really need to worry about Lucy. I mean, she's my sister, and she's kidnapped. That is my number-one priority right now."
"Right," Clark said. He backed off a couple of steps, giving Lois her space. "As I told you on the phone, they found a couple of things in Lucy's apartment. One of them was the positive pregnancy test. Also, she had like, twenty chocolate bars stashed in her bedside table, which the cops would like to attribute to her pregnancy. I told them that the Lane family seems to have a predisposition for chocolate. "He grinned, looking to Lois for confirmation.
"Actually, Lucy was never much of a chocolate eater. I always thought she was crazy because of it. Maybe she is." Lois shrugged. She had never understood why her sister had stuck to fruit and veggie diets in high school, instead of Lois' preference for chocolate éclairs. Even after she had detailed to Lucy the nutritional value of chocolate-- it contains milk-- she still stuck to celery.
"So it might have been one of those weird cravings that women have due to her pregnancy?" Clark asked.
"Definitely. Did they find anything else?" Lois asked impatiently. She was beginning to wonder if the 'pressing information' that Clark had told her about over the phone was only an excuse to get her to talk to him about their relationship. Twenty hidden chocolate bars could not help find Lucy.
"You mean besides the fact that Lucy was about as good of a housekeeper as you are a cook?" he teased with a gentle smile. "Her apartment was spotless."
"Clark…"
"Okay, okay. They did find something rather interesting. There was a phone message in the same desk that they found the chocolate. It read, 'Call Jeffrey Dole…'"
"Maybe that's the other man!" Lois exclaimed, interrupting her partner who just stared at her, puzzled. Seeing his confusion, she explained. "I went to go interview Lucy's latest ex-boyfriend today, and…"
"Without backup? You could have gotten hurt. You know Lucy's choice of boyfriends isn't always the safest, or the mildest, or--"
"--and the only thing I managed to get out of him was that Lucy dumped him for another guy. Maybe Jeffrey Dole is the other man."
Clark stopped yammering to Lois about safety and stared at her open-mouthed. After a few long seconds, he gulped loudly. "I sure hope not, Lois, because the phone number belongs to *Jimmy.*"
"Are you saying that you suspect Jimmy Olsen, cub reporter, of being my sister's kidnapper?" Lois couldn't help giggling a little. Jimmy? A kidnapper? She just couldn't picture it. The very idea seemed comical.
"No, I'm not saying anything like that. Of course not! I'm just saying that he may have something to do with this mess. Maybe some guy got jealous of whatever relationship Jimmy has with Lucy and did something drastic."
"I guess that's a--"
"Lois, wait," Clark said, turning his head toward the window. His eyes widening, he hollered, "Get down!"
Lois heard three shots, then everything went black.
