"A doctor," I commanded the man. Serrated shards of light and darkness were alternating within my head and embers burned in my left arm; the only way to distract myself was to focus on what we needed to do. "We need a doctor. Clark--"
There's that distancing thing again, Lois.
"It's nothing," I said with a shrug that made me immediately wince with pain, belying my statement.
Typical Lois.
"Clark!" I exclaimed, a ray of light suddenly piercing through the mental haze. "Do you know what this means? We have Nigel! If we can get him to testify against Luthor, we...we could be almost done with this."
So *that* was her revelation? *sigh*
As if my thought had summoned him when my cries for help couldn't, a whoosh preceded Superman's hasty entrance into the warehouse. His step checked briefly as he took in the scene. A strange expression reshaped his features, but when he met my eyes, I saw only aloof neutrality.
Oh no! *groans* Anti-Supes to the anti-rescue!
"I'll take him," Superman offered. "It looks like I was...too late...for the original rescue. So, the least I can do is drop him off for you."
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
"Oh, thank you!" I sagged a bit in relief.
Oh come on, Lois? Are you *that* thickheaded??>
Not that I was in the best shape to analyze his expressions; not that I could tear my attention from Clark's quickly dwindling strength and warm touch to focus on the superhero.
Well, at least she's so focused on Clark.
"Clark. We'll talk later."
Oh oh!
"I'm sorry," Clark mumbled when I had to support him on our way up the steps into my apartment building. "I thought I was done with this."
Hmmm....he thought his strength was back fully? Or he thought he'd never make a rescue again?
For a long month, Clark had faced the kind of treatment I had gotten such a small taste of today...and I hadn't come for him. I hadn't even looked for him. Luthor might have been the one who imprisoned and tortured Clark, but I was the one who had let him stay there.
It's so fantastically sad how much Lois is beating herself up for Clark's imprisonment. Such a wonderful thing to see.
A slightly guilty expression painted itself across his face. "I overheard you talking to Perry."
So the superhearing is really starting to come back?
Something took my heart in a tight hold as I stared back at him, something that made colors seem brighter, edges seem sharper, and days seem both longer and shorter and altogether infinitely more worth living. Something that made it hard to breathe and stilled the dizzy swirl the room seemed to want to travel around me.
The word you are looking for is: LOVE.
"It was easier this morning," he said, as if that explained anything. His jaw clenched as he looked away. "I don't know that it'll be as easy tomorrow."
True, soon he'll need his heat vision for that again.
a second thought, I stretched myself out beside him and took him into my arms, resting my head on his chest.
It would be hysterical if Perry walked in right about now...
I frowned suddenly. That hadn't been Clark. That had been Superman. He had crashed through the thick, reinforced walls as if they had been paper and caught me before I could fall. He had carried me outside into the cool air and set me down on my feet only when he was convinced that I could remain upright.
Clark hadn't been there that day.
And Superman hadn't been there the day in Smallville when I had suddenly--as sudden as the sound of a gunshot--realized just how much Clark meant to me, not just as a partner, but as a friend. When I had seen how close I could come to losing him and ran to him and taken him into my arms because I knew, then, that I did not ever want to be without him.
Interesting parallel to how Clark's/Superman's face touch clues in Lois in the show. Hopefully this version of Lois is as swift on the uptake.
I had almost kissed Clark.
Yeah, the *almost* part of that is the problem.
*Hopeful bubble for a Lois revelation pops*
Finally, with a deep sigh, I burrowed closer to Clark and slept, falling into a dream where Clark cradled me in his arms and took me flying through the skies, his glasses casting bright sparkles of light until I took them off with a laugh and tucked them protectively close to myself as the wind caressed us with cool fingers.
To quote Tempus: "Hello? Duh! Clark Kent *is* Superman!"
"Your statement?" Henderson repeated. "Superman? What are you talking about? You're sure you're all right?"
And that comes as a shock to no one. Are you getting the big picture yet, Lois????
Bingo! At least you figured out *something*, Lois!
Another wonderful chapter! Please post more soon. This is slow torture waiting to see what is going to happen!