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Part 13

"Superman? What about him?"

"I know what happened to him. There's a lot more to it than him just going away for a while."

"You've talked to him?"

Clark sighed. "Lois, I didn't want to tell you this before because I didn't want you to think that I was trying to ruin your life or your plans, but Lex is responsible for Superman going away." He held his breath and tentatively waited for the explosion to come.

Her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. "Lex is responsible for what!?"

The words came rushing out before he lost his nerve to tell her. "Luthor held Superman prisoner in a kryptonite cage for days, causing him to lose his powers permanently. Unfortunately, the evidence has disappeared and Superman only has allegations against Luthor."

Clark thought he was prepared for Lois' reaction, but still jumped back when Lois threw up her hands and said, "Whoa! Back it up! He has no powers?"

"No powers. It was confirmed by a doctor." Clark sat on eggshells and waited for the rush to come as Lois processed the information. He wasn't disappointed.

"Oh! So you saw Superman in a hospital? That's why you were wearing those hospital scrubs. Do you have an explanation for the ripped up cape? There was blood on it! Is he hurt?" she spilled out, her mouth not keeping up with all the questions in her mind.

"No, his hands were slightly injured, and that's where the blood came from. They're completely healed." Clark sighed and continued, "The cape was left in the cage, and we believe that Luthor planted it in the bay. Superman was lured into a cage made of kryptonite and left to die. Luckily, he was able to escape after being in there for days."

All of a sudden, she jumped up and began to pace wildly. "Omigod! I can't believe I was so duped by that pondscum-sucking weasel. You tried to tell me! Superman tried to warn me, but did I listen? No! I saw only what I wanted to see in him."

"I don't know how you can even stand to be around me after all you knew, and how I wouldn't believe you. Clark, I'm sorry." Closing her eyes, she fought back tears of regret and guilt for believing a cold-hearted billionaire over the words of the two men she admired most in the world. No wonder Superman had not want to come to her for help. He had been thinking about marrying the rat that tried to kill him! And Clark had to listen to her rave about what a great humanitarian that weasel was. "I kept throwing that skunk in your face..."

A warm hand touched her face, and she felt herself being drawn once again into a pair of strong arms. She stiffened a bit then relaxed against his shoulder. After a few moments, a pair of strong, but gentle hands gripped her shoulders to pull her away, and she found herself gazing into his warm forgiving eyes.

"Lois, I said my vows to you a few minutes ago, and I meant every word. I'm not going away. You said you trusted me, and maybe that's why I never truly gave up on you, because I trusted you too, even though I didn't realize it myself at times. I trusted that you would finally see the truth in Luthor, and now you have. Don't beat yourself up over this. Let's not let him ruin what we swore to each other – our new life together."

"You could have told me when we first ran into each other tonight and I was finally ready to listen. Why did you wait?"

"Because I wanted to talk to you instead of yelling. I had to try to see your side of things."

"You mean you were willing to listen to my distorted excuses? Even when you knew I was considering marrying a madman?"

"I was grabbing at straws, but yeah, I had to. My parents encouraged me to have one more try."

"Oh, Clark! Your mother has been so encouraging to me too. I thought you hated me, but she straightened me out."

"Chalk it up to Mom," Clark smiled gratefully. "I never would have made it through the past couple weeks without her."

"Yeah, you were a wreck this morning... Was it really only this morning that we talked? Seems like an eternity..."

"Only this morning. Like a lifetime ago." Clark walked over to the trench coat that was carelessly thrown on a chair remembering all that he had been through today.

Lois followed him and touched the coat lightly. "And Superman... how is he dealing with this? Really dealing with this?"

"He's getting used to things. He's enough like a human now that he will adapt; he'll be okay. He's gone away, Lois, and has been told he's not getting his powers back. Physically, he's fine otherwise."

"Gone away? To where?" she asked, feeling her heart sink.

"To be with people who care about him... and to start over."

"I cared about him, I mean, he was a friend mostly, even if I did have these other feelings for him. I can't really blame him for not coming to me for help. I was so duped by Lex that he probably didn't trust me."

"He knows you care, Lois." He fought the knot tightening in his stomach over the mention of his alter ego.

Lois noticed the tension lining Clark's face and realized that she was doing it again. Hurting Clark unintentionally over Superman.

"Don't. Stop right there, mister. Don't even get started obsessing about Superman again. Even though I may wonder and worry about Superman, I know things never would have worked out with us. He was above all of us, Clark, and I don't think we could have been happy together. Not like us; nothing compares to being with your best friend. Even if he were here, I'd choose you."

Clark felt the last bit of apprehension disappear as he turned towards her. "Yeah?" Her face was beaming at him. He wanted to kiss her so badly, but instead, casually placed his forearms on her shoulders, grinning down at her.

"I don't deserve you, but just try to get out of our wedding, buster." She poked him in the chest then moved in for an impulsive hug. "What we're going to do to that two-faced pile of cow manure is nothing compared to what I'll do to you if you think I'm walking away now!"

Clark chuckled as his arms tightened around his fiancé. This was going to take some getting used to, along with the fierce protectiveness that Lois seemed to feel for him already. "We're going to? Does that mean we're investigating? I strongly believe that he was behind the bombing of the Daily Planet."

Scowling, Lois shook her head furiously. "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me. What've you got?"

"There's no proof..."

"Yet," Lois interrupted determinedly, feeling the old investigative fire rise up inside. "Lex is not going to know what hit him. So when do we start?"

"Hmmm... How about after our honeymoon? Even Mad Dogs need to rest once in awhile."

"Honeymoon?"

Clark felt Lois stiffen a bit beneath his arm that was still looped around her shoulder as he led her to sit down on the sofa again. He reassured her by saying, "Just a quick weekend getaway doing something fun. Trust me?"

Lois felt her apprehension slip away. "Are we going to plot our investigation? That's fun."

"We can start, but don't you think we need to relax a bit together? I know I need to regroup after all that has happened. A little sun, fresh air, getting out of the city...?"

He pointed to the kitchen where the still unopened ice cream waited in the freezer. "We could have a junk food festival, just the two of us. And it would serve us well when we come back. Think of all the calories we'll need to burn off, and we'll get the chance if we're chasing after Luthor."

Lois scowled at the mention of Luthor's name. "On second thought, maybe you're right. I think we need to get all thoughts of the past few weeks out of our minds and come back refreshed."

"Part of me wants to plunge right into the investigation, but Lois, I'm still worn out from helping Superman and from worrying about you. I was about to leave town for good."

"Leave town? Why, Clark?" She turned to him in shock, and grabbed his arm as if to prevent him from leaving.

"I guess the same reason you were willing to marry Luthor. I didn't have anything left that hadn't changed for the worst."

She lay her head on his shoulder and said contritely, "I'm sorry for putting you through all of that, Clark, and you've been sick recently! Of course, we should get away."

Clark rested his head on hers, laying his hand over the one on his arm. The moments passed silently as they found solace in each other's presence.

Lois felt the stress of the past few weeks drain from his body, her cheek pressed snugly against his shoulder. Clark had been through a lot of turmoil, and part of it was her fault, but it was also within her power to do something about it. They were a team now - more than a partnership, more than a best friendship - about to commit to a life together. That didn't scare her at all. If fact, it was rather comforting to know that Clark was going to stick with her through thick and thin. She had to admit to herself that a weekend away from Metropolis would do her wonders, also. Everything would still be here, villains included, when they got back.

Superman was alive and off to goodness-knows-where, her future with Clark was now secure, and the Daily Planet was opening on Monday. A sudden thought stopped her in her tracks.

Omigod! That scumbag still owned the Daily Planet, and she was going to work for him on Monday.

Her face grew pale as she realized she still had to deal with Lex concerning his marriage proposal. And what was she going to do about working at the Daily Planet? There was no way she could work for that low-down piece of worm-dirt, at least without revealing her true feelings.

Her new true feelings...

How could she have been so blind as to not have seen what was so plain in front of her face? Lex had turned her into an experiment in artificial stupidity. Where had her brain gone?

She leaned against the back of the sofa then let her weight fall forward into her hands. It was a miracle that Clark still cared for her, a miracle that Clark was willing to forgive her after all he had been through with Superman.

"Clark?" she muttered, somewhat muffled because she was covering her face.

His hand was on her back immediately, and his voice close to her ear. "What is it, Lois?"

"The Daily Planet. That ratfink still has the Daily Planet and I'm supposed to go to work on Monday."

Clark's hand on her back stilled. He felt the bile in his stomach rise at the thought of Lois working for that monster again. He opened his mouth to protest, but shut it before uttering a sound. Lois was her own person. No matter how much he detested the prospect of her working for him, he had to let Lois make her own decision.

If he had learned anything in the past hour it was that Lois had chosen him above Luthor, and even Superman. If their marriage was going to work, if there was any hope for more than friendship between them, then he needed to believe in her commitment to him.

"Clark?" she muttered again. Her voice was low and a bit shaky. She took his hand and gripped it tightly, almost painfully. He could feel her reaching out to him for support as he waited for her to tell him what had her upset.

"I know you said you never wanted to work for Lex, but I can't do it without you. Will you work at the Daily Planet again? With me?"

She straightened up and looked him in the face. "We can do this, Clark, you and me. Think of it, working there right under that scumbag's nose the whole time we're investigating him. We've gotten through all these crazy misunderstandings and stupid thinking. I think we can do this, together. What do you say?"

Gripping her hand equally tight, he remembered the horror of being in the cage for days and felt the hopelessness of dying creep back into his heart. Lois had been a lifeline to him while he had been captured, and he didn't want to ever let her go now that he had her back.

Watching over her as Superman had been difficult at times. Mostly he was afraid that his composure would slip, and he would reveal his true identity to her after the latest brush of death, but it would be meaningless now that he had no powers. How was he going to keep track of her now that he couldn't detect her heartbeat from a mile above the city? How was he to hear her cry for help now that he no longer had super hearing?

Now she was offering a way for him to keep an eye on her, especially with Luthor still around. But could he do it? Seeing that sadistic killer everyday would drive him insane, especially if they were going to be investigating him. Lois would be putting herself in danger.

He and Lois would have to be civil to Luthor in order to maintain their cover. As though Lois was reading his thoughts, he heard her speak softly and confidently, "What can he do to me? I won't be available because I'll be your wife."

His heart turned over at her words. "That's what I'm afraid of, Lois. This man is capable of anything, even using you. I don't think that would stop him."

"Okay, so he might be a teeny bit mad that I've turned his marriage proposal down, but we can handle him. We're going to be partners again, so being seen together 24/7 is going to be like old times. Granted, we'll be married, but even before, we were always together."

"You don't get it. We're going to be investigating him! We'll be the enemy, the foe that is out to put him down. Do you think he would spare you if he thought you had the goods on him?"

"Listen, Clark. I'm going to admit that I'm not doing all this for Superman. This is the Daily Planet we're talking about. If we can prove that pig was behind the bombing of the Planet, then who knows what is going to happen to the ownership. I think we need to do this for us, for Perry and Jimmy and all who love that newspaper as much as we do."

"Maybe you should stay out of this. Maybe if I do the investigation, you'll be safer..."

"Clark, you're such a worrywart! What's happened to you and me together braving all things? I know you want to keep me safe, especially after what happened to Superman, but come on! We can do this much more efficiently if we work together. I'll even let you pick a couple of locks this time."

Clark squeezed her hand and gave her a grin. Their friendship had regained its past degree of intimacy and seemed to be reaching a higher level of trust. This rational way of dealing with each other was a calming breeze compared to the irrational communication of before.

"How generous of you," he replied. "Okay, we'll work together at the Daily Planet, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to stop worrying about you."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," she retorted. "So now the next question for you, do we tell everyone we're married, or do we keep it a secret?"

Clark jaw dropped open and he exclaimed, "Why would we want to do that?"

Patting him on the arm, she said, "Relax, silly. This could be the perfect undercover guise that we need. If Lex thinks that I'm still considering marrying him, then he won't be so closed up about stuff. I'll be able to keep him occupied while you do the snooping. See, I'm willing to share. You can even take my lock-picking kit. What's mine is yours. After all, we'll be married."

Married. She was using that word so liberally now, like they had decided this weeks ago. To him, it was a sign that she was very comfortable with their decision and that alone thrilled him to no end.

Of course, he loved her. More than anything. But that involved keeping her safe. Keeping her safe meant that he needed to be in close proximity to her in order to keep an eye on her. If he alienated her now, then the marriage would be off, and they would be back to square one, not trusting one another.

How was he going to get used to not being able to watch over her incognito as Superman? She had expected the superhero to save her from certain perils, so what was she going to do now? He could only voice his concerns and let her go. She was bound and determined to do this, but with his support he would at least know part of the time where she was.

"Lois, you know this goes against all my instincts, but something about this plan is just way too dangerous. What if he tries something? I just couldn't bear it if he hurt you in any way."

His hand was tense in hers, and it took her aback to think that she was adding stress again to Clark's life. And he was right. If Lex tried something, anything,then she wasn't sure she'd be able to play along without turning him into a soprano. That would certainly blow their cover.

To Clark's surprise, she quickly answered, "Okay, I won't do it. Let's tell everyone we're married, and that way when we're spending every waking second together, it won't look suspicious. Routing out that piece of sleaze from the Daily Planet is important, but I won't compromise what we promised each other."

"Thank you, Lois. If anything happened to you..." Clark let out a ragged sigh. "...but a thought just occurred to me. What if knowing you had married someone else instead of him sets him off? I almost wonder if you would be safer if Luthor still thinks he might have you."

"What?" She bumped him with her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at him. "Wasn't that what I suggested a couple minutes ago?"

Clark nodded sheepishly before explaining. "Lex Luthor is a man who will let nothing get in the way of what he wants. If he thinks that someone is trying to prevent that, then he is not above murder. Lois, I don't mean to upset you, but that was why he captured Superman. Luthor wanted him out of the way so you would accept his proposal."

"Omigod!" Her hand flew up to her forehead, then raked down the side of her face in shock.

Clark grabbed her hand and waited until she looked him in the eye. "Lois, Luthor will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He's ruthless and cold-hearted. What I'm trying to say is that he is dangerous and not to be underestimated."

"It was because of me, Clark, because of me!"

"Lois," Clark tried to get through to the shocked Lois. "I did not tell you this to make you upset. I don't blame you, and I am sure neither Superman, nor anyone else does. I only told you this to make you understand that we're not dealing with an ordinary criminal. This guy has money and power and no scruples at all. He will kill if thinks someone is getting in his way."

"But I didn't know..." she blurted confusedly.

"I just want to keep you safe. I want you to understand that we are both the competition or anything on that order. I don't think I could stand it if anything happened to you."

Her face softened, and she briefly touched her forehead against his. "Clark, I almost lost you, or thought I had. Believe me when I tell you that I'm not in any frame of mind to do anything to risk whatever we have going for us."

Clark smiled wistfully at her words then said softly, "So what are we going to do? I mean about telling people we're married."

"Play it by ear? See how we feel about it in a couple of days?"

"I don't think I'll be thinking about anything in the next few days but getting married. How about you?"

"Nope!" Reclining back against the corner of the couch, Clark was thrilled to have Lois scoot closer and snuggle next to him. It seemed as though they couldn't stop touching each other now that their relationship was restored. His heart leaped with a bit of hope. With a bit of patience, or lots of it, perhaps there was a chance that she would see him in a different light someday.

She had balked at the thought of a real honeymoon, but perhaps, if they got through this investigation of Luthor intact, and with the billionaire in jail, then maybe something would happen between them in the future. For now, he would have to give her the leeway to be Lois Lane, and maybe someday, Lois Lane-Kent in mind, body and spirit.

He would have to be cautious, letting her make the first moves, unless there was no doubt in his mind that she wanted a touch, a hug, or someday, even a kiss. Yeah, she was calling the shots in their relationship, but that's was perfectly okay with him. If a life with Lois consisted of her snuggling against his chest, being able to hold and protect her as he was doing now, then he was more than willing to do it.

A couple of sleepy yawns later, Clark said reluctantly, "I hate for this night to end, but I suppose I should take you home. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow, getting our blood tests and making some plans."

She nodded sleepily, then snuggled her head against his shoulder. "Do I have to?"

Clark chuckled lightly, "You've spent the night here before."

"Unless you think it will ruin my reputation."

"Which reputation? The Mad Dog one, or the best reporter this side of the Atlantic?" After a few seconds of waiting, her breathing had become steadier, and her silence was broken with a tiny snore.

Clark carefully grabbed a throw hanging over the back of the sofa and draped it over the both of them, then brushed a feather of a kiss against the dark head resting on his shoulder.

"Goodnight, Lois," he breathed. "I love you."

******