I liked this ending a lot. Yes, L&C have had terrible things happen. Yes, they weren't there for each other. Yes, they've suffered for three years. But nothing is out of reach, they have a chance, they can forgive and move on. Sometimes that's more of a victory than any Superman rescue.

Well written, Tank.

Well done. Delightful.

Well done and this time Clark gets the hair cut. Good job. laura

Wow. I believe this calls for a sequel.

Funnily enough, I didn't even need the angst warning; I just took one look at the link and thought "Hm, a Tank fic. Do I want to read angst today?" Still, this wasn't too bad; I didn't lose my will to live, nor do we need a "repair job" of any kind. Yes, a lot of crap happened to Lois and Clark, but now they're back together. They can move on.

I guess what I'm saying is, this fic is just right.

ETA: It just hit me like a ton of bricks that the first fic Tank posts a warning about is probably the least angsty (all things considered) thing he's ever written. Am I mistaken here, or is this Tank's subtle way of making a funny? <_<

here I was bracing myself, and this actually left me feeling happy!

I'm not as sanguine as Joy. The end is redemptive and hopeful, but these two still have a *lot* of grief to work through. I have no doubt that they will end up helping each other heal, but neither of them will ever be the same as they were before.

But that's the way real life is--losses happen that can never be made up. We all admire Lois and Clark for the risks they take to fight injustice, but, in a world where the happy ending is guaranteed, the risk is illusory. Every once in a while it's good to be faced with how things could have gone very wrong indeed.

As long as it's not a steady diet.

The ending made it worth getting through the gruesome bits.

I found Lois's reaction to her guilt to be the most fascinating part. I read the fic yesterday and thought about it through the day.

At first, I thought it was OTT - she cannot logically be blamed for giving in to such reprehensible torture.

Then you brought in the pride aspect - which fitted so well with the character of Lois as we know her and also provided a reasonable basis for why she would feel such responsibility.

Lois tried to find a way to be in control - and, so she thinks now, that was her great mistake.

I loved Jennifer! Yes! Someone who just cuts through the garbage and helps them see they are going round and round in a totally unhelpful circle.

Great story, Tank.

Corrina.

Thanks to the gentle readers who tried this little fic out. Normally I wouldn't have even bothered with any sort of warning since neither Lois nor Clark died in this fic.

But given the response to Terry's recent fic, I thought it prudent to give some sort of 'bummer' warning to indicate that there was an unpleasant set up for the short.

Of course, being the softie that I am, I caved and allowed Lois and Clark to live happily ever after... kind of.

Tank (who has a few other nasty scenarios for Lois on his back burner)

A very tankish story, Tank And there was humor, too.
The way you unfolded Lois's history, you had me imagine all sort's of terrible things had happened, so when I read that Clark was still alive, I was actually surprised. After all, why wasn't he with her? And he even managed to keep on being Superman, didn't take bloody vengeance on Intergang, now that he had lost everything, etc, etc.

Michael

PS: So are you going to give us a sequel with Clark's side?

Well, I did sort of cover Clark's side by stating that he had been looking for Lois, but she had so effectively dropped off the radar that he couldn't find her.

Now you might find that hard to believe, but Clark had virtually nothing to go on. When he finally got up the courage to see her at the hospital she was already gone.

He had no clue as to where she might have went, and he couldn't be sure about her feelings since he was feeling the guilt over not rescueing her.

There are a lot of people in the world, and even a Superman can't look everywhere. Now I know that there are super computer/government ways to try and find someone through social security and credit cards, but lets just say that Lois was aware of those and found a way around them. After all is was only a short.

Tank (who has no interest in Clark's part of the story since it would involve him without Lois)

Just re-read this since it hit the archive. Great fun. As for why it took him three years, well I'm sure it was only a part time search.

Knowing Clark he first had to work through the "After all I let happen to her she'll never want to see me" blues.

Plus I am sure that everyone who hurt Lois, his parents, and the Daily Planet staff was made to really wish they had left her alone.

I can picture him working his way through the chain to grab amass evidence that would stand up in court.

Really dumb move on the part of Intergang.

So with wallowing in guilt, digging up the dirt and super rescues, he could only spend a small amount of time looking for Lois.

I loved the WAFFy ending. I also cringed at the mention of Lois's hands and what had been done to them. I play the piano and the guitar -- I can imagine what that must feel like. A writer with a smashed hand is just... ouch. Poor Lo-Lo.