Heaven Part II
The unspoken dialogue between Lois and Clark replayed itself in Lois’s thoughts the whole way back to Metropolis. Lois had started to question her decisions. It was obvious that Clark really loved her, the way that every woman wants her mate to love them. He was good and kind and drop dead gorgeous. But she didn’t feel that way about him…did she? But did she feel that way about Lex?
Ultimately Lois decided that it had to be this way or hers and Clark’s friendship would perish. Eventually he would find someone and fall in love and have all of the things that he wanted to complete him…she told herself.
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When Lois got back to Metropolis, she called Clark to let him know that she had made it home. She was relieved that the answering machine picked up and she really didn’t have to talk to him. It would break her heart to hear his sadness.
It was no surprise that within a week after Lois returned Lex announced that he was shutting down the Daily Planet. He promised severance packages and help finding new jobs for all of the Planet’s employees. Lois expected nothing less. After his big announcement, Lex approached Lois.
“Lois, may I talk to you in the editor’s office?”
“Sure,” Lois answered as she followed Lex into Perry’s old office.
“Have a seat.” Lex lit a cigar. “Have you heard from your friend, Kent?”
“He said that he was taking some time…to…to explore his options.” Lois asked herself almost immediately <“Why did I just lie to Lex. Is my subconscious mind trying to tell me something? It is no secret that Clark hates him. He had even begged me not to tell Lex of his whereabouts. I won’t betray his trust.”>
“Ahh, I see.”
Lois was not convinced that Lex believed her.
“Have you seen Superman?” Lex eyed Lois carefully.
“No, actually I haven’t. I was starting to wonder where he is. Have you seen him?”
“No, I haven’t.” Lex reassumed control. How dare she turn his question around into a question? He would fix that in due time. “The reason I called you aside is because I want to re-offer you a job at LNN, chief anchor, or any position you’d like, really.”
“Lex, I don’t know what to say. I really am not a…”
“Think about it my dear and give me your answer over dinner tonight.”
“But, Lex I don’t…”
“I will not accept ‘no’. Now what time should I send a car for you? Say six?”
“Okay…six it is.”
“Thank you, my dear. Now run along. I assume that you have to make lots of preparations.” Lex kissed Lois on the cheek and dismissed her.
It really pissed Lois off the way Lex was sometimes so condescending to her, treating her like a seven year old…<”Now run along.”> But Lois figured that it was all unconscious and that he probably didn’t know he was even doing it. He was always in such a powerful position that he was probably just used to assuming the authoritative role. She would bring it to his attention later.
That night over dinner, Lois accepted Lex’s offer as chief anchor and another subsequent invitation to dinner. She almost felt backed into accepting the position but Lex had assured her that he was just trying to secure her from the sure crumbling of the newspaper industry in Metropolis.
Before Lois knew it, she and Lex had been dating regularly over about six weeks. But she was starting to get uncomfortable with Lex. He was becoming more overbearing and Lois was becoming claustrophobic. On occasions Lex had made comments about things that she had said or done in the privacy of her own apartment. She was starting to think that maybe he was watching her.
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Clark regained his powers within the first week that he was back in Kansas. He contributed his recovery to the bright pure sun and the clean air of the country. He had moved his stuff from Metropolis via Superman express and was careful not to run into Lois. He avoided her calls because it was just too painful to talk to her right now. Fortunately she had been staying out of danger and not needing Superman because he could never deny her safety.
Clark found out that his real estate agent, Teresa, lived next door with her Black Lab, Maci. He found out accidentally one day when he was outside in his hammock, where he liked to escape to. He had fallen asleep as an alternative to grieving over his non relationship with Lois. Suddenly something wet on his face startled him awake. He sat up so quickly that he fell out of the hammock. He looked up from the ground where he fell into the big brown eyes of a beautiful Black Lab. She seemed to be almost smiling as her tongue hanged from her mouth. Clark laughed and reached up to rub her head. Maci leaned her head farther into Clark’s touch and whimpered. Clark noticed her dog tag around her neck which read “Maci”. He knew that such a beautiful dog had to belong to someone but whom.
He sometimes heard Maci’s owner call her but for a long time never saw her. Eventually, one day Maci didn’t go home when she was called and her owner came through a path in the woods to find her. Clark gulped in surprise when he saw Maci’s owner…Teresa!
Many days Maci would come over to keep Clark company as he sat outside. He had even brought her dog treats. Clark and Teresa had become very good friends as well. Incidentally she lived in the house right next to Clark, on her own 2 acres. It turns out that it was her mother that never got to live in the house that Clark bought. Her sister had moved away to Texas with her husband but Teresa stayed in St. Peter. It gave her a sense of closeness to her mother who was buried there. They were from Wichita originally.
Through their friendship, Clark had learned that Teresa had been engaged to a US Marine fighter pilot who was deployed to a ship in the Mediterranean near Beirut. That was a good strategic location to launch an air attack on Iraq from. With reluctance, Lieutenant Ethan Allila, broke up with Teresa before he deployed because he said that he didn’t want her to feel obligated to him. He was also afraid that more than dying that he would become seriously injured and she would stay committed to him out of pity.
<Teresa fought for Ethan to understand that she did not want to break up and that she would wait for him to return, but in the end he had just walked away. She did show up at the airport to see him off on his flight. She had told him as she kissed him on the cheek that in spite of his stubbornness, she would always love him and would never forget him. As he stuck his chest out to bout face and be the Marine that he was trained to be, a lone tear escaped which was Teresa’s undoing. She quickly retreated from the gate, blinded by tears.>
Teresa did not hear from Ethan for a month so she got his mailing address from one of the wives whose husband was in the same unit as Ethan. She had first written him a long loving letter and sent a huge box of goodies. That opened up the communication lines. He responded to the first letter by asking Teresa to forget about him and told her that there would never be anything more between them. Teresa ignored him and continued to write him at least twice per week and send him goodies at least twice per month. Sometimes she would hear from him frequently and then there would be a time when she didn’t hear from him for weeks. She assumed that that was when he was not able to write. She always told him that she loved him at the end of her letters but his endings were never that intimate. He was trying to keep her at a distance.
Clark encouraged Teresa to stand by Ethan because he probably didn’t really want to break up with her. It was just the thing to do. Teresa already knew that and was anxiously waiting for four more months for him to come home. His tour in Iraq was to be a year. Teresa still had her engagement ring that she wore around her neck and stared at teary eyed as she told Clark her story.
Clark had confided some about his love for Lois but just could not bring himself to give the details that Teresa had given him. He just wasn’t ready to talk about it yet. Teresa understood, but with the little information that she was able to get Clark to reveal, assured him that Lois was struggling with herself. She assured him that he was a great catch for to anyone able to tie him down.
When Clark was down Teresa’s Black Lab, Maci would come over and keep Clark company. Somehow Maci just knew.
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Lois had tried to call Clark numerous times but always got his voice mail, even at work. She had spoken to Dean a few times and he assured her that he would give Clark the messages but Clark never returned her calls. Dean sounded a lot like Clark, well spoken and intelligent. She had seen editorial pictures of Dean and he even had some of the same features as Clark; thick black hair, brown eyes and a handsome strong face. Finally after a couple of months, Lois stopped trying.
Lois had started to hear of a Superman rescues but had not actually witnessed one. Because she had become a TV news anchor, the chances were now slim to none that she would get herself into enough trouble to warrant Superman’s assistance.
Lois started to feel that that Lex was reading more into their ‘dating’ than she was. She didn’t feel any more for him than just a casual companion. Lately being in Lex’s company would eave Lois with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She wasn’t quite sure why but she was starting to not want to be in his company. Whenever she suggested that they date other people Lex became rigid and possessive with a stern “NO”. At first Lois thought it cute that Lex was possessive but then it started to scare her.
Lois’s and Lex’s dates went from ending with short kisses on the cheek or lips to him encroaching her mouth with kisses that nauseated her. She would do all she could to get away with a kiss on the cheek but it didn’t always work. Lois decided that the nausea from Lex’s kisses came from a combination of the cigars that he smoked and the fact that he was not Clark Kent.
Lois had started to think about Clark a lot and that last kiss that they shared and she so stupidly walked away form. Clark’s kiss awakened something inside of her that she didn’t know existed and left her out of control and wanting more. Somewhere during the couple of months that Lois had returned to Metropolis and started regularly dating Lex, she became aware of the fact that she needed Clark in her life.
There was something not right about Lex and frankly it scared her. She missed Clark. Sometimes she would find herself sitting, thinking…about her future and could hardly imagine it without Clark in it. If Lois were honest with herself, she was falling…had fallen in love with Clark at some point. She had come back to Metropolis to get away from him but it only made her miss him more. But something else had happened, too. Lex had slowly changed Lois into someone that she didn’t know. She had become more docile and afraid…of Lex. Now, she saw Lex as threatening, just as Clark had told her he was. She was afraid of what he was capable of. All she wanted to do right now was get away from Lex and go to Clark.
Three months after Lois’s return to Metropolis Lex proposed. She was a bit taken off guard. But unlike Clark’s proposal, sincere and heart felt, Lex’s proposal was just a matter of course, the thing to do. It was like some grand finale that he was working up to.
“Well, Lois, my dear…have you thought about my proposal?” Lex was smoking his cigar as usual. Lois was becoming nauseated.
“I don’t know, Lex. I need to think.” Lois had become frightened of Lex. She had to get away from him.
“We’ll have dinner tomorrow and I’ll expect your answer then.”
“Sure.”
The day that Lois was to give Lex her answer, she rushed home from LNN to shower and prepare her speech…her refusal to Lex’s proposal. On her way home, she thought of Clark. He had been right. And there were so many criminal things that Lex was suspected of having involvement with. During her stint at LNN Lois had accidentally uncovered an inventory of crimes that Lex was linked to. He held a lot of secret meetings and always passed them off to her as business when she inquired about them. The ultimate shock was when Lois heard Lex and Ms. Cox talking about Superman returning and needing enough Kryptonite dust to not just incapacitate him this time but to kill him. Now Lois knew why Superman was missing in action for that time.
Why didn’t she listen? Clark was always honest with her. He wasn’t jealous…he was telling her the truth. Anyway Clark had wanted to love her…not possess or control her like Lex did. Why didn’t she see that before? And Lois realized that she needed Clark now more than ever. She missed him. She needed someone she could trust. She had to get away from Lex!
In the shower, Lois continued to think about Clark. She had promised herself that once she ended this thing with Lex she would physically go back to St. Peter, Kansas, find Clark and make things right with him. She wasn’t sure if he would have her back, accept her apology, her friendship, but she had to try. She didn’t deserve him for sure. She couldn’t help but notice that the thought of seeing Clark again made her have a tingling deep in the pit of her abdomen.
Lois finally finished in the shower and dressed for dinner with Lex. He had offered to send a car but she convinced him that she could get more done faster if she drove herself.
Just as Lois was about to leave, the phone rang. When she picked up the phone she heard a high pitched deafening noise. She could not hear the person on the other end speaking and all she could say was, “Hello” repeatedly. Suddenly it dawned on her. Her phone was bugged!
Lois abruptly hung up the phone and went back into her bedroom. Without being obvious she snooped around and spotted a tiny microphone in her alarm clock and with all of the lights off she quickly spotted a tiny red flashing light coming from the bathroom. A tiny camera! Lex had been watching her and listening in on her for how long? She suddenly felt dirty and violated. What a sick bastard he was. But she had to go on, pretending that she didn’t suspect anything.
Superman had been seen occasionally, helping with large scale disasters but Lois somehow didn’t think that he would still be at her beck and call. He seemed almost evasive lately. Calling for his help was probably fruitless so she grabbed her keys and headed for her Jeep. When she got into the Jeep she suddenly had a notion that it may be bugged, too; maybe like a GPS tracker. Lois took a few deep breaths and started the Jeep’s engine. Then she turned on the radio. Oh God she needed Clark. Together, Lane and Kent could defeat Lex.
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Lois tried to appear relaxed with Lex. They ate dinner in essential silence. She barely touched her wine. She wanted to be completely lucid and not have her judgment clouded. The proposal was coming back soon. She could feel it.
Lex was no fool. He could tell that something had spooked Lois.
“Lois, my dear, do you have an answer to my proposal?” Lex had lit a cigar.
“Y…yes, Lex. I…I am really grateful that…The truth is that I’m not ready to get married…yet. We hardly know each other; I mean…we’ve only been dating exclusively for about three months.
I just don’t think it would be a good idea right now…”
“Well Lois, I’m sorry to hear that because I disagree.” Lex’s eyes narrowed. “You see, I think it would be perfect!”
“But Lex…the truth is…is that I’m in love with someone else.”
“What? Who? That alien Superman? What the hell can he offer you? He’s a freak in tights!” Lex got in closer to Lois’s face and glared through her eyes. “Lois, perhaps you didn’t get it. It doesn’t matter what you think. You don’t think in this relationship. I do all the thinking. Now that little proposal was just to humour you. You don’t really have a choice. I have already made an announcement and I will not be embarrassed!” Lois looked in Lex’s eyes and saw pure evil, tail and pitchfork included.
“No, Lex, please! I will not be bullied into marriage, Lex!”
Just then, Lois felt a blow to her face, so powerful that she hit the floor. Lex straddled her and held her wrists up beside her head and started to push up the hem of her dress. When she resisted he kicked her.
“Lex, please…no…”
“What? Saving it for that alien? I thought you were screwing Kent until he up and left. I realized that he was not in your league, but Superman…well…I was surprised to see him back. I thought he had gone some place and died after the Kryptonite dust got him.”
“Please, Lex…you’re hurting me. Please…why?” Lois sobbed.
Lex slapped Lois again. She tried to escape but his hold was just too strong. Lois realized that it was not Lois Lane standing there getting knocked around by Lex. She had become someone else that Lex had created. She was docile and submissive. Lois Lane needed to get back and quickly.
After multiple blows from Lex and the feeling of hitting her head as her body was being thrown up against the wall, some mental self encouragement kicked in and Lois went into survival mode. Lois fired back with a solid kick to Lex’s groin and some self defense moves that left Lex on the floor moaning. Lois took the opportunity to escape. She knew that she had to get as far away from Lex as possible but she couldn’t go home. She would think of something.
Lois got out of Lex’s grasp, kicked off her pumps and ran as fast as she could tasting her own blood in her mouth and guarding every breath she took. She finally exited the elevator on the first floor running as fast as her injuries would allow to her Jeep. She raced away from Lex towers. She had to think fast. Eight blocks away was the Metropolis Police Station. That was her answer.
All Lois could think of was getting to Clark. She had to think of a way to get there before Lex could find her and track her. She had to get away. Fortunately, she saw where she had left her purse as she looked around her Jeep. Only her driver’s license and her VISA card were in there. She reached under her floor mat and found the emergency $200 that she always kept there. Thank God for her paranoia. This would get her at least a good start.
Lois parked and ran into the MPD asking for Henderson. She was thinking of an escape plan. How could she leave Metropolis and escape Lex. She couldn’t exactly ask for help from Superman. She needed Clark to help her.
While she waited for Henderson to come out she stood there thinking. She happened to see an ATM machine and decided to get more money out just to be safe. She would be gone a while. When she put her card in, the ATM stated that the account was not active. Lois tried a couple of more times but the machine was consistent. She then took out her VISA card which she held for emergencies and inserted it into the machine and it declined also saying account not active. Then it dawned on Lois. Lex had shut down her assets.
Someone touched Lois on the shoulder while she faced the ATM machine in deep thought. Lois spun around on her heels in a self defense stance.
“Oh, God, Henderson…it’s you!”
“Lois, what the hell happened to you?” Henderson noticed that Lois was barefoot with facial bruising, torn clothes and he was sure that there was more that wasn’t visible to the naked eye or Lois wouldn’t be down here looking for him at this hour.
“Lex…tried to…I refused his proposal and he…I finally got away. I left him injured on his floor. He’s tracking me Henderson. I’ve got to get away. Please, help me!” A single tear escaped Lois. That was something that she really didn’t want Henderson privy to.
“Whoa…whoa…wait! What are you talking about? Were you ra…?”
“No…no…he just beat me…” Lois whispered.
Lois proceeded to tell Henderson about the cameras and bugs in her apartment and possibly in her Jeep.
“Henderson, I need to get away. I need your help! I just need to get away from here until I can feel my way…regain my bearings. I have $200 to my name. Lex cut off all of my accounts and credit cards.” Lois started to sob on Henderson’s shoulder.
“Shhh, Lois. I’m going to help you. But you must make a statement. We have enough evidence…we planned to arrest Luthor early in the morning on multiple charges. We’re planning for the early morning because…” Henderson whispered, “…we have a snitch in the department. We haven’t been able to confirm who yet but we have a good idea who. I’m sure that Lex will make bail, but then we’ll just have to watch him, closely. And you need to be examined and file a formal report.”
“No! I’ve got to get out of here. If he catches up with me…”
“Lois…Lois…we can examine you here in the police lab and take pictures. You really need to go to the hospital and be seen by a physician…”
“Can the medical examiner just do it here?”
“Oh, God Lois…I’ll se what I can do. Where will you go? We can get you around the clock…”
“No! I ‘m going…just driving…I’ve got to get out of here!”
“I’ll see what I can arrange.” Henderson placed his arms around Lois’s shoulders and led her to the medical examiner. Henderson explained the situation and the ME gladly followed Henderson’s instructions. She owed him that much. Henderson turned Lois over to Dr. Warner and stood outside the door down near the main hallway. He wanted to see who came and went. He made a silent oath to himself that he was going to find who did this to Lois.
Forty five minutes later. Lois emerged from the ME’s table. She had no broken bones but multiple contusions, bruised ribs and a big hematoma on the side of her head near her ear. She did get eight stitches across her temple. Dr. Warner had given her a prescription for pain medication but Lois had escaping on her mind. Lois filed her formal police report and went to find Henderson. On the way to Henderson’s office she passed the door to the outside of the precinct. She noticed a Maybach parked on the outer side of her Jeep, just sitting there. Lex. He had found her. Henderson walked up behind Lois.
“Lois…”
“Oh God! You scared…Lex, he’s out there! I just saw his Maybach! He found me.” Lois was frantic.
Henderson looked out but didn’t see Lex’s Maybach. “Lois, I don’t see anything but your Jeep. Are you sure that you don’t need to be checked out by…”
“I know what I saw! Please, Henderson…I need your help!”
Henderson grabbed Lois by the hand and led her back to the ME’s office. “I have something for you, Lois. Just play along until we get behind closed doors,” he whispered.
“Lois, you need to be seen in the ER…”
“No! I’m not…”
“We called the paramedics to drive you. Lois you’ve been hurt!”
“But…”
“You’re going!”
Henderson and Lois finally made it into the ME’s office. Henderson’s plan was in action.
“That little dialogue was for the snitch, Lois.”
“I figured so.”
“Okay. The ambulance is the decoy. No one will be in it except the driver and his partner riding in the back. When they leave, I’m sure that they will be followed by Luthor. We’ll get him, don’t worry. We have an unmarked car for you. Here’s another $150 for gas…food…you know. The tank is full. Here are some scrubs and prison issue tennis shoes to change into and a baseball cap so that you look like a guy. Where will you go?”
“I don’t know…just…west. Don’t worry I’ll get the car back…”
“Oh, I was just gonna say that if you happen through a small town called St. Peter, Kansas, I have a friend there. His name is Sergeant Sean O’Neill. Leave the car with him. He’ll get it back to me. He owes me.” Then Henderson gave Lois that knowing smile. He knew.
Lois kissed Henderson on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“Get out of here. And if you need anything else, you know my number.”
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Nigel St. John followed the ambulance to Metropolis General Hospital from the police precinct at a safe distance in Lex Luthor’s Maybach. What he didn’t realize is that he was also being followed. When the ambulance reached the ER dock he couldn’t see which much. He called Lex on the phone.
“She’s here, sir.”
“Well done, Nigel. I’ll see you in a few.”
Fifteen minutes later, Lex Luthor arrived at Metropolis General Hospital’s ER. He got the receptionist’s attention.
“My fiancée was brought here just moments ago, apparently injured…Lois Lane. May I see her.”
After looking through the registration files, the receptionist looked to Lex and said, “I’m sorry, sir, but there is no Lois Lane registered.”
“That’s not possible. She came in by ambulance…”
“Sir no one has come in on my shift tonight. I know that because I found it strange for us to be so slow, tonight. I’ve been here since seven and it’s now…what…nine forty…”
“Damn!” Lex slammed his fist on the counter. He knew then exactly what ha happened. He’d been decoyed!
Lex’s thoughts were interrupted by the commotion that he turned to face. It was the Metropolis Police Department, led by Henderson. Nigel was in handcuffs.
“Alexander Luthor, you’re under arrest for murder, extortion, conspiracy to murder, assault, kidnapping and other charges too numerous to list at this time. You have a right to remain silent…”
“I know my rights! I’ll have your badges for this…” The police lead Lex out of the hospital screaming threats. Henderson smiled to himself. He knew that Lex would make bail by morning but this would buy her a little time. By the time Lex would actually leave the MPD, Lois would be far gone, probably in Ohio or nearing Indiana by then. He would surely drag his feet processing Lex’s release.
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Lois made it to the interstate from the police department in fifteen minutes. The unmarked car gave her some room to exceed the speed limit if she had to. But right now she had a long drive ahead of her. She thought about taking some back roads but after some thought found it to be probably safer to be on the wide open road. She had a hand held map that she picked up at the police station. Henderson offered her a portable GPS but it spooked her and she opted not to take it. She estimated arriving in St. Peter at about 5 o’clock tomorrow evening. She had $350 to her name and a gas guzzling V8 Crown Victoria. She could only buy the bare minimum because she wasn’t sure how much gas prices would rob her to get there. Lois was not very religious but found comfort in praying to God to lead her to safety…to Clark. And then a sense of peace came over her and she knew that she would find him.
Lois’s first eight hours were troubling. She was sore, tired and scared. When she stopped for gas she was paranoid, looking around. She was afraid of being followed. After all she was not easy to miss with the Frankenstein scar across her temple. People stared but she would quickly get back to the car and started again. A few times she started to doze off. She sang out loud with the radio, rolled down the windows and anything else she could do to stay awake. After a couple of hours of fighting sleep, she got a second wind. This wind would take her to St. Peter.
At 3 o’clock Wednesday evening with the time change, Lois arrived in Wichita. She was tired and down right hurting then. She still had about an hour to go so she could only take the Motrin that she had been taking along the way. The Lorcet that Dr. Warner had prescribed would just make her sub functioning brain resign. Besides she hadn’t had it filled anyway. She didn’t have time.
Lois thought more intensely on the drive from Wichita to St. Peter. What would she say to Clark? When he had tried to be a friend to her and warn her about Lex, she had basically called him a liar. She accused him of being jealous and refused to accept the information. Then he proposed, showing her how much he wanted to be with her at any cost. What did Lois do? She ran away from him, into Lex “Satan” Luthor’s arms. So, now how could she just show up at his home and ask him for help…ask for him to accept her without consequences. She didn’t deserve Clark.
Lois had only had three bottles of water and a bag of chips on the drive. Truthfully it hurt her to chew. She felt sort of queasy but wasn’t sure if it was from not eating or taking the Motrin on an empty stomach. She decided that she would just ask Clark for a shower and a two hour nap and then catch a bus or a train…to…somewhere. She counted her money. She only had $67 left. That wouldn’t get her very far. Maybe she would ask to borrow a few dollars from Clark just until she could get on her feet.
Finally, Lois crossed the St. Peter county line…into Heaven…to Clark. Lois was grateful that Clark had passed the place on his way to the airport…when she broke his heart. It was a few minutes after five in the evening. Just like heaven it was a clear and sunny May Wednesday, 88ºF and dry. There were no cars on the road and all of the noise was from nature. There were a few tractors in the fields but not much else. There was a Keith Urban song playing on the radio. The song embodied the exact shambles that controlled hers and Clark’s feelings. Lois turned onto the road that lead to Clark’s driveway. She knew this was it because she saw his grey 4Runner just outside of the garage door. The last part of the song was playing as she put the car in park.
Would it help if I turned a sad song on
"All By Myself" would sure hit me hard now that you're gone
Or maybe unfold some old yellow lost love letters
It's gonna hurt bad before it gets better
But I'll never get over you by hidin' this way
I've never been the kind to ever let my feelings show
And I thought that bein' strong meant never losin' your self-control
But I'm just drunk enough to let go of my pain
To hell with my pride, let it fall like rain
From my eyes
Tonight I wanna cry
Lois sat for a moment to control the sobs that escaped her while she was immersed in the song. She could not allow Clark to see her this way…not after all she had done to him.
tbc...
~My fictional characters' names are made from parts of the names of my family members and my seven year old's imaginary friends.
