Okay, I'm not early... but I am on time. I said Tuesday and here I am. <g>
Enjoy!
Table of Contents From Part 5:
Dr. Klein was nodding at her but he seemed totally engrossed in what he was doing, like a kid with a new toy. Lois cleared her throat. “Ultimately I’m hoping you can discover some way that we can combat its effects on Superman.”
The doctor continued his examination, mumbling things quietly to himself.
“Dr. Klein? Are you listening to me?” Lois finally asked exasperatedly.
He looked up and smiled sheepishly at her. “Yes, Ms. Lane, I am. And I can understand why this has to be kept quiet. You don’t have anything to worry about. I will make this a top priority and I’ll make sure that I’m the only one with clearance for this project.”
“Thank you, Dr. Klein, and Superman thanks you.”
He nodded at her. “I will of course need Superman to come in so I can do preliminary work-ups on his DNA through some blood work.”
Lois’s eyes widened in surprise. She obviously hadn’t thought things through all the way. Of course he would need biological information on Superman if he hoped to find a way to combat the Kryptonite’s effects on him. That, however, was going to be tricky. Especially since Clark didn’t know what she had done, and he might not approve of it.
“When I see Superman the next time I’ll let him know that in order to proceed you’ll need him to come in and do some tests,” she assured him.
“Good. Our next hurdle will be figuring out how to get past his invulnerability in order to draw a sample of his blood.”
Lois smiled tightly at him. If only he knew how little of a problem that was right now. Clark had told her that he didn’t know how long it would be before his powers started returning. That meant she needed to talk to him about this soon, while he was still vulnerable enough to get a blood sample from.
She grimaced at just the thought of that conversation.
**********
PART SIX
**********
Lois entered Clark’s room to find him sleeping. His parents were nowhere to be seen. She walked quietly over to his bed and touched her hand softly to his forehead. It was much cooler than last night. That was good.
Clark’s eyes fluttered open at the contact and he smiled at her. “Hi. Did you get some sleep?”
She withdrew her hand a little self-consciously. “No, not really.” The truth was she hadn’t even tried. Her mind had been racing since the time she had left this room only a few hours ago – it somehow felt like days ago. “It looks like you did.”
He nodded. “Yeah, a little. I worried myself to sleep thinking about you.”
Lois blushed. “It wasn’t any big deal, really. I didn’t hit a single snag getting in and out of LexCorp.” She smiled and breathed on her fingernails and then rubbed them across her chest in a motion suggesting she was pretty proud of herself.
Clark’s smile broadened. “I should have never doubted the awesome skills of investigative reporter, Lois Lane.”
She smiled back. “Yeah. I’m pretty good at covert operations...” Her smile disappeared. “I just can’t see what’s right in front of my face.”
His smile fell and he looked away from her. Lois shifted uncomfortably on her feet. She had hardly sat down all night and her feet were killing her. She glanced over at the chairs that Martha and Jonathan had been sitting in and decided to change the subject. “Where’re your parents?”
“Down in the cafeteria,” he said, without looking up. “They’re early risers and have been up for a while, living on a farm will do that to you. I told them to go get something to eat.”
She nodded and walked over to sit down in one of the chairs.
“Clark, I need to...” “Lois, there’s something I...” They both said at the same time.
“Let me go first,” Lois told him. “I did something last night that I’m not sure you’ll agree with completely, at least not at first. But I need you to hear me out because I think...”
She was interrupted by a loud knock at the door. She sighed in frustration as Clark’s voice rang out, “Who is it?”
“It’s Henderson,” the gruff voice said from behind the door.
“Come on in,” Clark told him.
Henderson opened the door and walked inside. “Hi, Clark... Lois.” He frowned. “I thought you were going to call me when he woke up.” He fixed her with a stare.
“Cool your heels, Henderson. It was the middle of the night. You couldn’t have come down here to interrogate him then anyway,” she snipped.
Henderson raised his eyebrows slightly. “Not get enough beauty sleep last night, Lois?”
“Uhhh, what can I do for you?” Clark interjected.
“I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions, Kent, that’s all. Nothing too strenuous.”
What was he going to ask? Clark tried to keep the anxiety from his voice, “O-kay...”
Henderson came closer to Clark’s bed and pulled out a notepad and pen. “First, how are you doing? Since I did come down here to check on you and not just to ‘interrogate’ you.” He looked at Lois as he said the last part and she had the decency to look chagrined.
“As well as can be expected under the circumstances, I guess,” Clark told him chivalrously. Lois frowned. She knew he had to feel like crap. Why didn’t he just say so? Was it a macho thing, or a polite farm boy thing? Maybe it was just a ‘superhero’ thing?
Henderson nodded at him. “Good. Tell me, what do you know about Superman? What happened to him?”
Lois was watching Clark’s face and she swore she could almost literally see the blood draining from it.
“Uhh, what do you mean?” Clark stammered. Lois could hear the waver in his voice. Come on, Clark, she thought at him. Don’t give Henderson any reason to be suspicious.
“Surely Lois told you that we found Superman’s uniform in the same room that I found you and Lex,” Henderson said with an expectant-looking frown. “Did Lex do something to Superman?”
Lois bit the inside of her cheek in an effort to quell the images that were flashing through her mind. Did Lex do something to Superman? That was the understatement of the year. She had seen the cage. He had trapped Clark behind metal bars reinforced with Kryptonite and tortured him like some sort of animal.
The thought almost made her sick, but then she realized Clark looked like he was going to be ill so she decided maybe it was time for her to intercede in his behalf. “Superman was helping with the investigation into Lex,” she answered for Clark. “Lex called Clark and told him that he wanted to meet with Superman. When Superman didn’t come back, Clark decided something was wrong. He went to see Lex and...”
Henderson eyed her pointedly. “Excuse me, is your name Kent?” When her face flushed, he continued, “No, I didn’t think so.” He turned back to look at Clark. “Is that right, Clark?”
A little color seemed to have come back into Clark’s face finally. “Yeah, that’s about it. I went to LexCorp to confront Luthor and he caged me in that wine cellar. He came back down to check on me later, actually had the nerve to come inside the cage and threaten me. He said he would deal with me after his wedding was over. Anyway, I managed to lift the key to the cage from him and that’s how I escaped.” He paused for a second and glanced briefly towards Lois before continuing, “But I don’t know what’s happened to Superman.”
Henderson let out a sigh. “I see. Well I sincerely hope he’s okay. A few people at the precinct still aren’t sure where they stand on the Superman issue, but I for one would miss him if he was gone.”
“We’ll be sure to tell him that if we see him,” Clark assured him with a small smile.
“Okay,” Henderson said, closing his notebook, “I guess I’m done here. Clark, as soon as you break out of here, I’m going to need you to come fill out some paperwork down at the station and give your account of what transpired yesterday.”
Clark nodded. “I’ll do it first thing.”
“Lane,” Henderson pointed at her. “I trust you’ll keep yourself out of trouble while your partner’s laid up and Superman’s missing. I’ve got plenty on my plate right now without you adding to it.”
Lois scowled at him. “I always stay away from trouble; trouble just has a way of finding me. I can’t help it if I flush out the best stories. I’m just blessed that way.”
Henderson smirked. “Yeah, well since you don’t have a paper to work for right now, I don’t think you need to go chasing after any hot leads.” He waved to both of them as he opened the door. “You two take care. I’ll see you later.”
“Can you believe him?” she huffed after the door had shut.
“Well he does have a point, Lois. We are currently unemployed,” Clark reminded her.
“Not for long. You should see Perry, Clark. He’s been going around talking to investors about buying the paper and getting the Daily Planet back in business. He’s already had one meeting with a Mr. Stern. I don’t think that went exactly the way Perry planned but still, it’s a start.” She smiled encouragingly at him.
“Well if anyone can do it, Perry can.”
She nodded. “I’m actually surprised that he hasn’t come by yet this morning. He told me yesterday when he left the hospital that he’d be here first thing this morning and that’s not like...” Lois broke off in mid-sentence as there was another knock at the door. For crying out loud, she thought, what was this? Grand Central Station?
“Come in,” Clark answered, without even asking who was at the door. If Lois hadn’t been afraid of someone overhearing her, she would have asked him if his powers were coming back. She looked up to see Martha and Jonathan walk through the door. Martha was carrying a plate of food with her that was obviously meant for Clark. Lois could tell because of the unhealthy array of foods it contained. Clark’s diet no longer surprised her anymore. What did surprise her was to see Perry come walking in behind Martha and Jonathan.
“Look who we found on our way back up,” Martha announced, smiling.
Perry came over and shook Clark’s hand. “How ya feeling, son?”
“Like someone hit me with an axe,” Clark joked lamely. “How are you, Chief?”
“Me? I’m finer than frog hair split four ways.” Perry’s face split into a wide grin and Clark chuckled at the funny southern saying. “I just got off the phone a little bit ago with a man whom I’d pitched the paper to, Mr. Stern. Apparently he’s seriously reconsidering my proposal. There’s no offer on the table yet, but it was encouraging.”
“That’s great, Chief,” Clark said with a smile, taking the plate of food Martha was holding out to him.
“Would it help if I met with him and talked to him, Perry?” Lois asked, getting up out of her chair to offer it to Martha. Martha shook her head but Lois stepped away from the chair, insisting. “Because I can be pretty persuasive when I want to be.”
Perry’s face beamed in a grin. “Honey, there’s a big difference between persuasive and pushy.” At her look of protest, he continued, “No. I think it’s best if your old editor fights this battle on his own. I just need my reporters to get well and be ready to hit the streets when we’re back up and in business again.”
“You got it, Chief,” Clark told him, setting his plate of food off to the side on his table.
Lois frowned. “I think in order to get better that means you’re going to have to eat something, Clark.” She gestured at the food. “What’s wrong? Don’t tell me...” She crossed her arms in front of her. “You don’t like hospital food.”
“Well...”
“Clark for someone who eats Ho-ho’s and Dingdongs, you can’t be that picky. You need to eat something,” she insisted.
Clark smiled softly at her. It wasn’t often that he got to see her mother hen side. And obviously she had forgotten that he didn’t really need to eat. His energy – his strength – came from the sun. “My stomach still doesn’t feel up to eating anything yet.”
Lois winced sheepishly at him. “Oh.” She remembered Superman telling her once that he didn’t have to eat but he liked to. Obviously if Clark’s stomach was still iffy he wouldn’t actually enjoy eating.
There was a knock at the door and then a nurse came in. ”I’m going to need everyone out of the room for a little bit.” She smiled at Clark. “Since you’re awake and doing a little better, we can take your catheter out.”
Everyone began to file out of the room and Lois reached over to pat Clark before walking away. Clark took hold of her wrist gently and stopped her. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
Clark glanced over and Lois followed his eyes. His mom and dad were talking to the nurse. Clark looked back at her and continued in a quiet voice, “For helping me with Henderson and for protecting my secret. And not just *that* secret. Thank you for leaving out the part about the Kryptonite. I don’t think it would be safe for anyone to know that it really can hurt me – not even Henderson.”
She nodded, immediately feeling uncomfortable. Once Perry left she had planned to talk to Clark about Dr. Klein. But if what Clark had just said was any indicator, he wasn’t going to be in agreement with what she had done - giving that Kryptonite specimen to Dr. Klein. In fact, he just might be angry with her when he found out. Lois decided that it would probably be better for her to just let the dust settle for a bit before she brought that point up for debate.
Suddenly, she felt uneasy being there. She felt like she needed to get some fresh air and maybe try to get a little sleep. Her body had given up complaining and was now flat out shouting pleas of protest, and her mind wasn’t as sharp as it usually was. Things would look better after she’d had some sleep.
“Clark, I’m going to run home for a little while and try to get some sleep.” She slipped her wrist from his hand and gave him a pat. “I’ll come back and check on you later, okay?”
Clark nodded. He could tell she was exhausted and he could use some more sleep himself. “Okay, I’ll see you later.”
**********
Lois woke up on a pad in her apartment with an uncomfortable pain in her lower back. One of the first things she needed to do was get her bed back from wherever it had been taken. The movers were supposed to be taking her clothes and personal effects to LexCorp, which they hadn’t done yet – thank goodness. And they were supposed to move her furniture and decorations into a storage facility until she decided what she wanted to keep and what she was willing to just get rid of. Lex had told her it was all up to her.
It looked like all they had managed to move so far was a few of the heavier pieces of her furniture. Her bed, both loveseats, her desk and her TV were all gone. She had written the name and number of the moving company on a note and pinned it to her fridge – the one thing they wouldn’t be moving. She just needed to call and arrange for them to bring her stuff back... and keep them from moving anything else.
Oh, that reminded her, she needed to call her landlady, Mrs. Harper, and let her know that she wouldn’t be moving after all. That probably needed to come first. Then she’d also need to call the utility companies to make sure her phone, electric, and water continued uninterrupted. Lois wasn’t sure but she thought they were scheduled to be disconnected just a few days after her wedding. So that didn’t give her much time.
Having made a mental list of things to do, she got up and stretched - trying to relieve a little of the stiffness from sleeping on the floor. Maybe a hot shower would help. She padded into the bathroom and went through her normal morning routine of taking a shower, brushing her teeth, styling her hair and applying her make-up. Once she felt ready to face the world again, she grabbed her phone and dialed her landlady.
“Hello?” the woman’s kind voice answered.
Lois began pacing around her living room as she spoke, “Hello, Mrs. Harper? This is Lois Lane. I gave you notice that I was moving out this week...”
“Yes, dear. I need to give you your copy of the paperwork that you signed to terminate your lease. I was going to stick it in your mailbox if that’s okay.”
Lois stopped in front of her fish tank and ran one finger along the glass, tracing a fish as it swam. “Actually, I was calling to inform you that I won’t be moving after all. I’d like to just tear up that termination agreement, if that’s possible.” The fish stopped swimming and turned to look at her.
Yes, that’s right, she thought at the fish, we’re not moving. You get to stay right here where you’re comfortable.
“Oh, dear,” Mrs. Harper said worriedly. “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
Lois sighed. “Well if I can’t cancel the agreement, then can I just sign a new lease agreement?”
“No, it’s not that. I’ve... well, you see, two-bedroom apartments in this part of Metropolis are hard to find and... someone has already signed a lease agreement to move into your apartment next week.”
Lois felt her jaw drop. She was being evicted!
Her landlady continued talking when she didn’t say anything. “I’m sorry, dear. But don’t worry; I do have a one-bedroom apartment you could move into. It’s opening up two weeks from tomorrow. With Lucy not living with you now, I’m sure you probably don’t even need that second bedroom anymore.”
Lois felt the panic creeping into her voice, “But that means I need to be out of here sometime this week and that other apartment isn’t going to be ready for another week after that. Where am I supposed to stay in between?”
“That does present a bit of a problem, doesn’t it? I am sorry. But that’s the best I can offer you.”
Lois scowled. She supposed she’d just have to let the movers come get her stuff, after all, and store it until she could move back in. She could get a room at a hotel in the meantime – although with no job and no money coming in, it was going to tax her credit cards. But what else could she do?
She’d cross that bridge when she came to it.
**********
Clark began to ease himself down onto his couch, fighting to control the pain. They had just gotten back from the police precinct, after filing the report that Henderson had needed, and he was glad to be home. However, he wasn’t sure sitting had been such a good idea. But he was going to have to sit down sometime - it might as well be now. He just hadn’t realized how many abdominal muscles it took to do something as simple as sitting down.
“Here, Clark, let me help you,” his dad offered.
Clark held up a hand to stop him. “No, I’m fine, really. I’ve got to learn how to do this on my own.”
“Clark, honey, about that,” his mom said with a concerned look on her face. “Why don’t you come back to Kansas with us for a while? I could look after you until your powers return and you get well...”
“No, mom.” He shook his head letting out a tight breath he had been holding as he relaxed into the couch. “I don’t want to put any extra stress on you or dad right now. I know this is the busy time of year with the crops.”
“It’s going to stress me out more to know that my boy is up here in pain and dealing with this all on his own.” Her voice wavered a little and Clark could tell she was struggling to get a handle on it. “You don’t have a job right now to worry about, Clark, and you need someone to help you. Please let me. You were a healthy child your whole life. I never had to worry about you being sick or getting hurt like other kids. But you are hurt now. Let me take care of you.”
Clark could see how much it meant to her and she was right, he didn’t really have anything to keep him from leaving Metropolis for a while. The truth was, before all this happened, he had been thinking of leaving Metropolis permanently because of Lois. He couldn’t stand the thought of living so near to her after losing his heart to her. The temptation would be too great to visit her as Superman.
He sighed, rehashing the same argument to himself. He didn’t want to be loved for just part of who he was.
So maybe it would be good for him to go stay in Kansas for a bit. At least until his powers came back. He certainly couldn’t do any good here as Superman until that happened.
“Okay, mom. I’ll come back with you and dad. Just give me a day or two to rest and get my stuff packed...” He hesitated for a moment and swallowed before continuing, “And say goodbye to Lois.”
Martha nodded at him and went into the kitchen, probably to fix them all something to eat. Clark still wasn’t sure he felt like eating anything. He glanced around the room trying to remember where he’d left his phone.
“Do you see my phone, dad?”
“It’s in here,” Martha said, picking it up from the counter. She brought it to him. “Are you going to try Lois again?”
“Yeah. Surely she’s off the phone by now. I don’t want her to go to the hospital and find out from them that I checked myself out.”
Martha caught Jonathan’s eye. “Why don’t you come in the kitchen and give me a hand.”
Clark dialed Lois’s number and put the phone to his ear, hoping she hadn’t already left.
“Hello?”
“Lois? It’s Clark.”
“Clark? Is something wrong? I’m sorry I hadn’t made it back to the hospital yet. I’m having a bit of a problem with my apartment and I’ve been on the phone all afternoon and...”
Clark grinned to himself as he listened to her go on. “It’s okay, Lois. There’s no problem.” At least he knew now why her phone had given him a busy signal every time he had tried to call. He had begun to worry that something was wrong. “I was just trying to catch you before you left your apartment to let you know that they released me. I’m home now.”
“Home? Really? That seems awfully fast. Are you sure you’re ready to be home?” The concern in her voice was unmistakable and it made him feel good despite the pain he was in.
“Trust me. I’m more than ready to be home. Anyway, I just wanted to call so you wouldn’t waste a trip down to the hospital.” Wanting to change the subject, he backtracked a little. “But what’s wrong with your apartment? You said you’re having a problem?”
“Yeah. I’ll tell you about it in a little bit. I was just getting ready to come see you, so I’ll just come over.” There was a pause and then she added, “If that’s okay. I mean, if you’re not feeling up to it then...”
“No, I’m fine, really,” he did his best to assure her. “Please come over. I need to talk to you about something too.”
“Oh... okay. Well then I’ll see you in a few. Bye, Clark.”
“Bye, Lois.”
Clark hung up the phone and closed his eyes as he sunk a little further into his couch. It wasn’t going to be easy to say goodbye.
**********
“Kansas?” Lois repeated the word numbly. “You’re going to Kansas?” she asked, this time with a little heat in her voice.
Clark wondered now if it had been such a good idea to have his parents go out for a while so he could talk to Lois alone. He hadn’t thought this would upset her. “Just for a while, until I feel a little better and my powers start coming back.”
He watched anxiously as Lois got up from his couch and began to pace the floor.
“Listen, Lois, it makes sense. And besides, according to what you just told me, you need a place to stay for a while until your new apartment opens up. Since I’m not going to be here, you could stay in my apartment while I’m gone... free of charge. You can’t afford to stay at a hotel without a paycheck coming in.”
Lois felt tears trying to start at his generosity but her pride got in the way, “I’ve got a little money put away. I’d be fine,” she replied stubbornly.
Clark sighed, realizing that he’d offended her without meaning to. “I know you would, but save that money for a real emergency. My apartment is going to sit here with or without you. You might as well use it.”
Lois sighed deeply and rubbed her hands up her face and through her hair. “You can’t leave. There’s something you... Oh, I should have told you... You just can’t leave.”
She had his full attention now and he raised an eyebrow at her. “Why? What haven’t you told me?”
Lois looked a little pale and she sat back down again. But she didn’t sit beside him on the couch; she sat on one of the chairs at the kitchen table.
Clark felt a knot forming in his stomach.
“I should have told you this earlier. Actually, I probably should have asked you before I did it. But that’s water under the bridge now.” She had begun to play nervously with the placemat sitting on the table in front of her and she wasn’t looking at him.
The knot tightened.
“Lois, what did you do?” Clark asked hesitantly, afraid of what the answer was going to be.
“I called my father and got the name of a very well respected scientist at STAR Labs. His name is Dr. Klein. Dad told me I could trust him...”
“What did you do?” He repeated, his mind blaring with warning alarms. She knew his secret. She knew about Kryptonite. And she knew he had been injured badly. What exactly had she gone to Dr. Klein for? And what had she told him?
Lois fidgeted nervously in her chair. What had she done? Clark would never trust her again. At that moment she wished she could take it all back, undo what had been done, but it was too late. Her heart ached inside her. “I’m sorry... I thought it was the right thing to do. I was trying to help you.”
Clark struggled to get up off the couch. “Lois, what did you tell him about me?”
“Nothing. I didn’t tell him anything about... Clark,” she said, her voice rising in pitch. “Your secret is safe, I promise. I... I took the piece of Kryptonite to him so he could examine it.”
Clark had begun slowly walking towards her but her words brought him to an abrupt halt. “What? Why? Why would you do that, Lois? I told you to destroy it. To get rid of it. How could you do something like that behind my back?”
“I’m sorry,” she repeated, silently begging him to believe her. “I only did it to try to help you...”
“Help me? By exposing me?” He ran a hand through his hair exasperatedly. “I should have known.”
“Known? Known what?” Lois didn’t like his tone and it sparked a flicker of anger in her. Unable to sit still any longer she got up and began to pace. “I don’t know why you’re acting like this. I had your best interests at heart. You really should be thanking me. It’s not like I told Dr. Klein who you really are.”
“No, but I suppose that’s next,” he snipped.
“What do you mean?” she bit out, unable to calm herself in the face of his accusations.
“The truth about Kryptonite and what it can do should have stayed a secret. It should have never left the confines of my immediate family... and now you,” he said, pointing a finger at her. “But you went and blabbed it to the first doctor you could find – some man who I’ve never even met before and know nothing about. Are you trying to get me killed?”
Lois looked like he had slapped her. She opened her mouth a couple of times but nothing came out. Clark’s legs felt weak but he wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of watching him have to sit back down, and he was entirely too upset to sit down anyway. “But why should I have expected any more from the great investigative reporter, Lois Lane – who always has to keep digging, has to know everything about everybody... who hates secrets?” He snorted loudly. “It won’t be long before the whole city of Metropolis knows I’m Superman at this rate. Why did I ever think you’d be able to keep my secret?”
Lois stood there still gaping at him. Then she quietly walked over to him and promptly slapped him in the face. Clark reeled from the pain in even that small action – both physically and emotionally.
“How dare you,” she said, her voice low and steady, but brimming with emotion. “I did what I did to help you, you dim-witted, thick-sculled... Kryp...” Lois wasn’t sure what the term for his people would be, but she tried again anyway, “Kryp..tonian! Because I... care about you.”
She walked away from him and went up the stairs towards his front door. “Goodbye, Clark,” she said quietly. “I hope you get better in Kansas.”
And before Clark could even think of what to say, she had slammed his door shut behind her. “Wait, Lois!” he called out. Why had he been so harsh? He made his way slowly up to the door, cringing with each step that he climbed. He opened the door wide and shouted after her, “Lois!”
But she didn’t answer and she didn’t come back. He shut his door and leaned his forehead against it, taking a couple of deep breaths to stave off the pain in his side. His heart stung with her words and what she had called him.
How far her hero had fallen in her eyes.
**********
To Be Continued...
