OUT OF TIME
By ML Thompson <thomplaw@tbaytel.net>
Rated PG 13
Submitted October 2000

______________

What if Luthor's plan in the 'House of Luthor' had succeeded? He 
would have married Lois and Superman would be dying in a kryptonite 
cage in the basement of Lex Towers. Beware, early in this story, 
Clark does die. Sorry. But the question remains, will Lois and Clark 
get a second chance or are they 'Out of Time'?

No copyright infringement is intended. I recognize that the 
characters are not mine. I am just borrowing them for a little fun 
and not for any profit.

* * * * * * * * *
OUT OF TIME
By: ML Thompson
* * * * * * * * *

Lois pushed open the sliding doors and stepped out onto the sandy 
beach of the exclusive resort. The sun was already making the air 
hot, but Lois didn't feel the heat. She felt cold. She pulled her 
robe further around her and glanced back into the room she had just 
left. She sighed in relief. He was still asleep. She walked a little 
further away, as though putting some distance between them would 
protect her.

She thought back over the past month. Where had things gone so 
terribly wrong? She snorted. She knew exactly when things had started 
to go wrong. It was when Lex proposed. She hadn't known him well 
enough to contemplate marriage, but she'd still said she would think 
about it. Why hadn't she just said no right then and there? She knew 
the answer to that too. She had been flattered. Lex Luthor, the third 
richest man in the world, a man many speculated would never marry, 
was asking her. It was quite a head trip. Then things spiraled out of 
control. The Daily Planet was destroyed. She got a new job at LNN. 
Clark told her he loved her. Her rejection of him resulted in an 
estrangement between them. She told Superman she loved him. He 
rejected her. Craving some sort of stability in the shifting sands 
that had become her life, she accepted Lex's proposal.

From then on, things seemed to take on a life of their own. She went 
from being someone who was known only by name, to being hounded by 
paparazzi. Her picture showed up on every rag in the country - as 
well as quite a few legitimate papers and magazines. Lex pushed her 
to marry him quickly by claiming that the tabloid headlines would 
only get worse if they delayed. She still didn't quite remember 
agreeing.

She thought back to yesterday morning. She had been in tears as she 
stood in front of the mirror getting dressed for her wedding. She 
hadn't wanted to go through with it, but it was already too late. She 
had seen the press beginning to congregate at the front of the 
building. The wedding was being televised - although she couldn't 
imagine anyone wanting to watch it. The problem was she had given her 
word to Lex - she couldn't back out now. If she did the whole world 
would know her for the fool she was. Her reputation as a serious 
journalist would be in tatters. No. Going through with the wedding 
had been the only viable option. That didn't stop the cold.

Yesterday morning was also when she first realized that there was 
more between her and Clark than simple friendship. What, she didn't 
know. She realized it only minutes before the wedding march started. 
She realized it walking down the aisle. And she realized it as she 
was exchanging her vows with Lex. She had just kept wishing for a 
little more time to sort things out. Somehow she thought... What 
difference did it make now what she had thought? She was out of time. 
She had married Lex Luthor.

But the worst part of the day had been last night. For some reason, 
Lois hadn't counted on last night. Of course, she had known that 
marriage to Lex would include intimate relations, but she had never 
let herself consider what it would be like to be with Lex when she 
had these feelings for Clark. The only way she had been able to get 
through it was by closing her eyes and imagining that it was Clark 
touching her. Afterwards, the guilt had come. Guilt for betraying Lex 
by thinking about Clark. Guilt for betraying Clark by being with Lex.

Lois took a deep breath as she watched the sunlight play on the 
waters of the Mediterranean Sea. She knew that she couldn't allow a 
repeat of last night. She had married Lex and she was determined to 
at least try to make a go of her marriage. That meant that she had to 
put Clark out of her mind.

She felt tears come to her eyes as she thought about doing that. 
Clark was her best friend - the only real friend she had ever had. 
And maybe if he hadn't told her that he was in love with her or if 
she hadn't come to realize that his feelings were not altogether 
unreciprocated, they could have continued to be best friends. But 
there was no way that could happen now - not if she had any chance of 
making her marriage work. She could not continue to play 'what if...' 
with Clark and find happiness in her new life. She had to put Clark 
behind her.

Arms were suddenly wrapped around her from behind. "Come back to bed, 
darling," said Lex into her ear before kissing her neck.

Lois closed her eyes. She had hoped for a little more time before he 
woke. She swallowed hard, before nodding and allowing him to take her 
back into the bedroom.

* * * * * * * * *

"Something must have happened to him," Martha said.

"You don't know that, Martha. Maybe he's somewhere licking his 
wounds. I mean, he has to be torn up about Lois' marriage to Luthor," 
replied Jonathan.

"But, Jon, that's just it. Superman hasn't been seen since the day 
before her wedding. Do you really think he would disappear before she 
married Lex Luthor? Afterwards, I could understand, but not before. 
Besides, you know as well as I do what he said he was going to do."

"You mean about stopping the wedding by any means possible?"

"Exactly. I think he was planning, if he couldn't find the evidence 
he needed on Lex Luthor before the wedding, to show up at her wedding 
as Superman and whisk her away. But I watched the wedding. Clark 
never showed up. I tell you, something must have happened to him."

Jonathan sighed. The truth was he was worried about Clark's 
disappearance too. After all, if Clark needed a safe place to 
recover, he would probably come to the farm. "So, what do you want to 
do?" he finally asked.

"We're going to Metropolis to find our boy."

* * * * * * * * *

Clark groaned softly. He tried to move his head. He wanted to see 
something other then the top of the green cage, but his head would no 
longer move. He had no idea how much time had lapsed since he had 
heard the sounds of wedding music being piped into the cellar. Or how 
long it had been since he had heard Lois' sweet voice say, 'I do.' In 
Clark's heart, that had been the moment of his death. The rest was 
just a formality.

He wondered briefly if Luthor wasn't doing him a favor. After all, 
death couldn't be as painful as seeing Lois with that monster and 
knowing there was nothing he could do. The only reason he didn't want 
to die now was that he truly believed that Lois would need him some 
day. Now, he wouldn't be there when she did.

He knew it wasn't long now. He closed his eyes. He didn't want his 
last thoughts to be of the cage. He thought instead about Lois. Her 
face, her voice, her drive, her humor, her tenacity, her... "Lois," 
he murmured as death finally claimed him.

* * * * * * * * *

"Clark!" Lois gasped, coming fully awake.

"What is it, darling?" asked Luthor, waking up beside her.

"Nothing. Umm... Just a dream, I guess."

"Humm... Well, it sounded like a nightmare. Do you want to tell me about it?"

"I really don't remember it," Lois lied. She lay back down, trying to 
get her breathing under control. "Good-night, Lex," she said, rolling 
over on her side away from him.

"Good-night," Lex responded, quickly falling back to sleep.

Lois lay there and shivered. She felt for it. It was gone. Since 
early in their relationship, Lois had felt some sort of invisible 
bond to Clark. At first, it drove her crazy. Then, as their 
friendship grew, it became a source of comfort - a constant 
connection to him. It was some sort of intangible thread that seemed 
to link their souls. She closed her eyes and reached for it. She 
trembled when she couldn't find it. 'Come back to me,' she silently 
cried, fighting off the darkness. She hadn't felt this alone since 
before she met Clark. She buried her head in her pillow, trying to 
muffle the sound of the quiet sobs that rocked her body.

* * * * * * * * *

"What do you mean, there's nothing until tomorrow?" gasped Martha.

"I checked with all the airlines. Even if we took a milk run, the 
plane wouldn't get to Metropolis until tomorrow. So I booked us on a 
flight tomorrow." Jonathan sighed. "Look, Martha, I think we have to 
prepare ourselves for the possibility that..."

"No! My boy's alive. I'd know it if..."

"Martha!" Jonathan exclaimed, reaching out to catch his fainting wife.

* * * * * * * * *

"Excellent," said Luthor into the phone early the next morning. "You are sure?"

"Absolutely," replied Mrs. Cox.

"You know what to do with the body?" asked Lex.

"Yes. I've called Nigel and he's taking care of everything."

"Good."

"So, are you enjoying your honeymoon?"

"Definitely. That's one of the benefits of winning the war."

"What is?"

"Plundering the wealth. Swapping sweat with the enemy's woman."

* * * * * * * * *

Clark was disoriented. The last thing he remembered was being at LNN. 
He had just asked Lois if there was somewhere private they could go 
to talk. He knew Lois was considering Luthor's proposal. He had 
decided to tell her how he felt - that he was in love with her. 
Now... Where was he? He looked around. All he could see was white. 
Not white walls or white ceilings. Just white. It was as if his eyes 
were closed and a bright light was being directed at his closed 
eyelids. He shook his head. His eyes were open. What was going on?

* * * * * * * * *

"Did you know that this island was once owned by Aristotle Onassis? 
Apparently, he used to bring Jackie here," said Luthor.

"Humm..." responded Lois, taking the last sip of her drink.

"Of course, that was early in their relationship, when things were 
good between them," he added. He had expected a little more of a 
reaction. After all, the Kennedys were the American version of 
royalty.

"Could you get me another drink, Lex?" Lois asked, handing him her 
glass. "Only this time, don't skimp on the vodka. That last drink had 
hardly any kick to it at all."

"Lois, that was your third drink."

Lois glanced over at him. "So?" she challenged.

"It's only one o'clock in the afternoon. And you didn't eat breakfast 
and you barely touched your lunch."

"It's my vacation. I just want to relax. Do you have a problem with that?"

Lex had never seen Lois in a mood like this, but he let it go. Let 
her have her tiff, or whatever it was. Nothing was going to bring him 
down from the natural high the phone call earlier today had given 
him. It had taken him a year, but he had won. He had won! He walked 
over to the bar and fixed Lois another drink. He was just settling 
back into his chair when a voice on the radio interrupted the 
classical music playing in the background.

"We're sorry to interrupt your afternoon," came the voice over the 
radio. "But we've just received word that Superman is dead. That's 
right folks, Superman's dead. Apparently his body was found this 
morning tied to the remains of the large globe that used to mark the 
front of the Daily Planet."

Lois' drink slipped from her hand. She ignored it as she rushed to 
the radio to turn it up. The alcohol in her system almost caused her 
to slip. By the time she got there, the radio had gone back to 
playing music. She found the tuning button and began to search 
frantically for a station that would have more details. She finally 
found 'Voice of America.'

"...no word yet on how someone managed to kill him, although from the 
way his body was found, it's pretty obvious that foul play was 
involved. We will keep you informed as any new information comes to 
light."

"I have to go home," Lois said, spinning around to look at Luthor.

"But, darling, we're on our honeymoon."

"I have to go, Lex. I have to be there. I at least want to go to his 
funeral and say good-bye. Can you understand that?"

Luthor looked at her for a moment. Yes, he certainly could understand 
that. His wife had been in love with the superhero after all. 
Besides, it could be fun attending Superman's funeral under the 
pretext of comforting his new bride - Superman's friend. He nodded 
and then left to make the necessary arrangements.

Lois sank back down into her chair after he left. She felt completely numb.

* * * * * * * * *

"Martha, come here," yelled Jonathan. Since Martha's fainting spell, 
they had been taking turns monitoring LNN. They were now fairly 
certain that something had happened to Clark. What they didn't know 
was if it was as Clark or Superman. They tried calling Perry and 
Jimmy in an effort to see if it was Clark. They were very careful - 
just saying that they were trying to get in touch with Clark. When 
neither Jimmy nor Perry knew anything - although they both suggested 
that he was probably off somewhere getting drunk - Martha and 
Jonathan turned on LNN. Surely if something had happened to Superman, 
it would be big news.

When Martha came into the room, Jonathan flicked off the television. 
He wanted to prepare his wife for what she would see.

"Why is the T.V. off?" Martha demanded, reaching for the remote 
control. Jonathan's hand stopped her.

"Martha, I think you should sit down."

"I don't want to sit down," Martha said, again reaching for the remote.

"Martha, please."

She relented, allowing Jonathan to lead her over to the couch. When 
she was sitting, Jonathan sat down beside her. She looked over at 
him, her expression one of complete stone, waiting for him to speak.

"He's dead, Martha," Jonathan said, confirming what she already knew. 
"I just want you to be prepared when you see the T.V."

She gave a blank nod. He handed her the remote. She stared at it for 
a long time. Now that the moment was here, she couldn't quite bring 
herself to turn on the television. She finally pushed the appropriate 
button. The television took a moment to warm up, but when it did, a 
sob escaped from Martha's throat. The television was showing 
Superman. He had been strung up by his hands from the remains of the 
Daily Planet's globe. His boots and cape were still on and it looked 
as if the insignia from his suit had been stitched to his bare chest. 
Other than that, he was naked. LNNŐs only concession to this shocking 
image was a white dot over his genitals.

"We'll collect his body tomorrow," Martha finally said, in a broken voice.

"We can't, Martha."

"What do you mean, we can't? I'm going to Metropolis and I'm bringing 
my boy home."

"Martha," Jonathan said softly. "It's not Clark that's dead. It's Superman."

"What does that matter now? He's dead."

"Martha."

She just looked away. She knew Jonathan was right. They had, since 
the attempt on Clark's life by Jason Trask, discussed the possibility 
of Clark's death. They both knew if he was killed as Superman, they 
would have to distance themselves from it. They would also have to 
try to find an explanation for Clark's disappearance. Otherwise, they 
would be hounded by the press, but more then that, they would become 
the target of every bad guy who had been brought down by Superman 
this past year.

"I'm still going to Metropolis," Martha said.

Jonathan let out a short breath. "Martha..."

"There will probably be a million people lining the streets for his 
funeral. I want to be one of them. I want a chance to say good-bye."

Jonathan looked into his wife's very moist eyes for a moment before 
nodding and taking her in his arms.

* * * * * * * * *

Clark closed his eyes, shutting out the white. Time had no meaning to 
him. There seemed to be no beginning or end. He found that images of 
his life were already beginning to fade. He had to concentrate. His 
apartment. He concentrated on his apartment, detailing in his mind 
every aspect of it. He then held his breath and opened his eyes.

Clark gasped. He was standing in the middle of his apartment. He 
looked around at the familiar surroundings. He let out a sigh of 
relief. It had all been some sort of very strange dream.

He turned at the sound of a key in the lock. He tried looking through 
the door. No luck. He tried again. Still he failed. Kryptonite 
exposure. He didn't remember feeling kryptonite, but that was the 
only time he had ever lost his powers. He tried floating. Now, that 
he could do. Why were some of his powers affected and not others? He 
turned his attention back to the door as it opened.

"Mom, Dad, am I glad to see you," Clark said as Martha and Jonathan entered.

"What is it Martha?" Jonathan asked.

"Nothing," said Martha, shaking her head. "I just got a funny feeling 
that Clark would be here."

"I am here," objected Clark.

"I know, honey. It's hard seeing all his things and knowing that he's 
not coming home," Jonathan said, putting an arm around his wife.

"But I am home," objected Clark. He placed himself directly in front 
of his parents, trying to get their attention. They just ignored him, 
proceeding into the room.

"I'm going to try calling Lois," Martha said.

"She's on her honeymoon," Jonathan reminded her.

"I know that, Jonathan, but I imagine she'll come home when she hears 
the news. Besides, she might know something."

With that Martha went over and picked up the phone.

Clark was stunned. honeymoon? What were they talking about? Who had 
she married? He knew Luthor had asked her to marry him, but she 
hadn't accepted yet. And he was about to tell her how he felt about 
her. Something was very wrong.

"I tried. Apparently, she has returned, but with all the calls she's 
getting from the media, the receptionist wouldn't put me through," 
Martha informed Jonathan when she got off the phone.

Clark could hardly stand this. He had to know what was going on. 
Lois. His mom had indicated that Lois would know. He wasn't getting 
nearly enough information here. He went to the door and reached for 
the doorknob. His hand went right through it. He had a feeling of 
panic. He was trapped here. Suddenly, he remembered how he had gotten 
here. He closed his eyes and concentrated on Lois' apartment. When he 
opened them again, he was standing in Lois' darkened apartment.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois didn't even bother to check her messages. There seemed to be 
hundreds, and the secretary responsible for taking them was still 
spending all her time answering the phone.

"I'm going for a walk, Lex," she announced, grabbing her shoes and 
jacket and heading for the door.

"Do you think that's wise, darling? You saw the reporters congregated 
in front of the building."

"I'll find a way past them," Lois announced, turning and heading out.

Luthor smiled as he watched her go. He had, one by one, removed every 
single one of her support systems. First, he destroyed the Daily 
Planet, leaving her floundering professionally. Then, he gave her a 
job where her colleagues were loyal to him - and he had given them 
instructions to maintain a professional distance. Next, he had given 
her friends enough information about his involvement in the 
destruction of the Planet to make them suspicious of him, but not 
enough to prove it. After that, all he had to do was sit back and 
watch her drive away all her friends by her defense of him. It had 
worked beyond his wildest expectations - especially with Clark Kent.

Now, Superman was gone. Luthor figured the death of her hero would 
leave her completely alone in the world. She would soon come to 
realize that she couldn't afford to lose him too. It was bound to 
make her desperate to keep him. That would give him the leverage he 
needed to get her under control.

There was only one wild card in his carefully shuffled deck - Clark 
Kent. Kent would have to die to ensure that he didn't find a way back 
into her life. Well, that and the fact that Kent knew that Superman 
had come to see him before his wedding. There was only one little 
problem. He had, as of yet, been unable to find Clark Kent. Still, it 
was only a matter of time before he did. In the mean time, he would 
have Lois followed on the off chance that she could lead him to Kent.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois had no problem evading the press. After years on the other side, 
she knew every way around them. That knowledge had gained her more 
then one exclusive interview. She then lost the tail she assumed Lex 
had sent for her protection. She could take care of herself and right 
now she didn't want an audience.

When she had heard about Superman's death... Actually, after the 
shock had worn off, she had almost been relieved. She felt bad about 
that, but after her dream last night, she had been worried that 
something had happened to Clark. Since she couldn't seem to come up 
with a plausible excuse to call Clark on her honeymoon, she had dealt 
with it in good family tradition - by getting drunk. Until then, she 
hadn't understood the comfort her mother found by getting lost in a 
bottle.

Then the news had come about Superman's death. She breathed a sigh of 
relief. Somehow, she must have mixed up what had happened to Superman 
with Clark. She again searched for her connection to Clark, but was 
still unable to find it. She refused to speculate about what that 
might mean. He was okay. He had to be okay. She would mourn for 
Superman, but she would go on. She wasn't so sure that would be the 
case if something happened to Clark.

Once she was certain she was alone, she grabbed a cab. She gave the 
cabby the necessary instructions and leaned back in the seat. Only a 
few more minutes and she would know for herself that he was okay.

Lois spent the entire trip trying to ignore the little voice in the 
back of her mind that kept trying to point out that all she had to do 
to know if Clark was all right was to pick up the phone and call him. 
She ignored the nagging feeling that there was more to going to his 
apartment than just a need to know that nothing had happened to him. 
She wasn't breaking the vow she had made to herself to put him behind 
her. She would just check up on him and then go back to the penthouse.

* * * * * * * * *

"Where's your new bride, sir?" asked Nigel, seeing his boss sitting 
alone in the study of his penthouse.

"Out crying for her dead lover," Luthor replied evenly.

"Doesn't that bother you, sir?"

"No. I'd be more concerned if she weren't. You see, Nigel, I planned 
this. Superman lived to know that I had married Lois Lane. Yet, by 
killing him I ensured that Lois would be completely alone in the 
world. I intend to use this opportunity to make my wife completely 
subservient to me."

Nigel looked intrigued.

"Did you get the tissue?" Luthor asked.

"Yes, sir. Once he was dead, it was easy enough. But there is one 
thing I don't understand."

"What's that Nigel?"

"Well, you tried making a clone a few months ago, sir. Why would you 
think this time would be more successful?"

"Because this time, with no Superman, there's no hurry."

"I don't understand."

"Cloning a fully mature human is on the edge of science. As a result, 
our first attempt wasn't perfect. The clone was destined to die. 
However, the cloning procedure itself isn't scientifically all that 
radical. That is, if you don't mind waiting for a child to mature. I 
have a scientist who claims he's perfected it - on sheep of course. 
We've kept his breakthrough very quiet. Although, I believe there are 
some other scientists who are also close to a solution."

"So what are you saying? That someone is going to have a child 
created from Superman's cells?"

"Not just someone, Nigel. Years ago, I had a vasectomy rather than 
having to worry about women claiming I got them pregnant. The 
procedure is reversible, but with this development, I don't need to 
do that. My wife will have Superman's 'son' and I will raise him. I 
plan to make Superman's son in my image. It is the ultimate revenge 
and the ultimate power."

"How are you going to convince your wife to go along with this?"

"She won't know. She'll just think that we're having problems 
conceiving. So we'll have in vitro fertilization done. What she won't 
know is that instead of injecting my sperm into the egg, I will have 
the egg genetically altered so that she'll have a superpowered child."

"Won't she figure it out when the child starts to develop Superman's powers?"

"By then, I'll have tight enough control on my wife that she won't 
dare oppose me - or she won't survive her opposition."

* * * * * * * * *

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Martha," objected Jonathan.

"Clark wrote it because he wanted her to know," Martha argued.

"That was when Jason Trask almost killed him. He didn't know then 
that she would marry Lex Luthor. You know as well as I do that Luthor 
is probably the one who killed him."

"I still think she has a right to know. Besides, if anyone is going 
to make the connection between Clark's disappearance and Superman's 
death, it's going to be her. At least if we give her the letter, 
she'll understand the importance of keeping it a secret. Besides, she 
loved him, Jonathan."

"Martha, we've been through this before. If she loved him, she 
wouldn't have married Luthor. She might not even find out that Clark 
is missing. I mean they hadn't exactly been seeing much of each other 
since her engagement. With her wedding..." Jonathan shrugged.

Martha let out a short breath. "Okay, if she returns the call, we'll 
see, but I won't seek her out to give her the letter."

"Fine," replied Jonathan. "I'd be surprised if we ever even hear from 
Lois again. She's got a new life now. It's what she wants."

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Jonathan walked over and 
opened it. Jonathan's mouth dropped open when he saw Lois standing on 
the other side.

"Is Clark here?" she asked in a small voice, her eyes quickly 
scanning the room.

"Umm... No," replied Jonathan.

"Do you know where he is? Or when he's coming back? I have to talk to 
him." She noticed that Clark's parents seemed a lot older since the 
last time she had seen them. She tried to ignore the sinking feeling 
in her stomach. "I suppose he's somewhere trying to find out what 
happened to Superman. I guess I should have expected that. I don't 
know what I was thinking. That he'd be home at a time like this. So 
where has he gone? Has the city contacted him about funeral 
arrangements?" Each statement was said a little bit more quickly then 
the last. No pause was given between sentences, not even after the 
questions, as Lois sought not to see the grief so evident on the 
faces of both Martha and Jonathan. Finally, Lois ran out of air. An 
oppressive silence hung over the room for a minute until Jonathan 
finally broke it.

"Lois, why don't you have a seat?" said Jonathan quietly, laying a 
hand on Lois' arm.

She jerked her arm away. "I don't want to have a seat. I really 
should go find Clark. He might need my help tracking down Superman's 
killer. I..." her voice suddenly broke. She sank quietly down onto 
the steps. She sat in silence for a moment, fighting to control her 
voice. "What happened to Clark?" she asked quietly.

Martha and Jonathan's eyes met. Martha's eyes held an unspoken 
question. Jonathan nodded in reply.

"Why don't you come over and have a seat on the couch, honey?" Martha 
suggested. Lois didn't reply, but when Martha put her hand under 
Lois' arm to help her up, she allowed herself to be led to the couch.

"Clark asked us to give you this if it ever became necessary," Martha 
said, handing her an envelope.

Lois looked into Martha's eyes for a moment. What did she mean by 
necessary? But then she tore open the envelope and pulled out the 
letter.

'Lois. If you are reading this, I guess you already know that either 
Clark or Superman is dead. Since I don't know which one, I'll just 
have to start by telling you something that you probably don't want 
to hear right now. Until our encounter with Jason Trask, I never 
really thought about death much, but I guess that's a moot point.

'I'm writing this because I want to be the one to tell you. I'm not 
sure how to say this so I guess I should just tell you as simply and 
honestly as I can. Lois, I'm Superman.'

Lois gasped. No. This wasn't happening. She handed the letter back to 
Martha. "Look, I know Clark loves a good joke, but this is just 
cruel. I'm going to go find Clark." She got up and headed for the 
door.

"Lois..." started Martha and then stopped as she watched Lois.

Lois strode to the door. Her hand was on the doorknob when suddenly 
she sank to her knees, the sobs racking her body. Martha was there in 
an instant, wrapping her arms around the younger woman. Lois turned 
and returned Martha's embrace. The two women knelt together on the 
floor for a long time crying in each other's arms.

* * * * * * * * *

"What do you mean, you lost her?" Luthor demanded.

"I'm sorry, sir," replied a very nervous man. "I lost her at about 
the same time she lost the reporters."

Luthor waved his hand, dismissing the man.

"Incompetents," Luthor said to Nigel. "Find me someone who can do 
this job. I want to know where my wife is at all times."

"Yes, sir."

* * * * * * * * *

Once Martha and Lois regained some control, Jonathan helped them move 
back to the couch.

"Listen, while you finish reading Clark's letter, I'll go make some 
tea," said Jonathan, handing Lois the letter again. After all, it was 
essential that Lois understand the importance of keeping this 
information quiet. They figured Clark would address the issue 
himself. If he didn't, they would have to.

Lois took a deep breath before turning her attention back to the letter.

'I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you in person. I guess I owe you 
some sort of explanation for that. I don't want you to think I didn't 
trust you. I could give you lots of reasons. I could tell you that I 
have never before told anyone. I could tell you that I was at a 
complete loss about how to tell you. I could point out the dangers to 
you if you knew. I could even tell you that I was afraid that you 
would be mad at me. All of that would be true.

'But none of those are the real reason. Lois, I've fallen as hard for 
you as you have for Superman. I guess the main reason I never told 
you is that I wanted you to fall in love with the real me - Clark - 
instead of the celebrity - Superman. If you are reading this letter, 
I guess that never happened.'

Lois let out a sob when, in a moment of absolute clarity, she 
realized just what her feelings were for Clark. She did love him. In 
fact, she had been in love with him for months. She was just too 
scared to admit it - even to herself. "It did happen, Clark," she 
said softly.

"What happened?" Martha asked. Lois just shook her head and continued 
to read, tears streaming freely down her face.

'Lois, I have a favor to ask of you. It is imperative that no one 
make the connection between Clark and Superman. I'm worried about 
what will happen to my parents if they do. Trask made it clear that 
he not only intended to kill me, but that he considered my parents 
human traitors for raising me. As a respected journalist, you are in 
a position to help them concoct a cover story that will explain both 
the deaths of Clark and Superman. I know what I'm asking of you. I 
know that I'm asking you to compromise your journalistic integrity, 
but I am asking you, for both me and Superman, to help them. It may 
save their lives.

'There's just one more thing that I want you to know, although it may 
not matter. I fell in love with you on the day we were first 
introduced in Perry's office. I think you are a remarkable woman, 
Lois Lane. Love, Clark AKA Superman.'

Lois stared at the letter for a long time.

"Do you mind?" Martha asked, gesturing to the letter. "We never read 
it, but..."

Lois looked at Martha for a moment, before nodding and handing her the letter.

Once Martha had finished reading the letter, she asked, "How did you know?"

"Know what?" Lois asked.

"Well... It just seemed as if you were expecting us to tell you that 
something had happened to Clark."

"Oh." Lois paused. "It's going to sound crazy."

"Try us. After discovering a baby in a spaceship, we find that not 
much surprises us anymore."

Lois actually managed a small smile. She took a deep breath and 
began. "Last night... I had a dream that something had happenedto 
Clark. Then when I..." She let out a short breath. "I tried to find 
Clark - in my mind, I mean. I know it doesn't make any sense, but 
I've always had some sort of connection with Clark. I could always 
feel him. When I woke up, he wasn't there."

Martha then told Lois how she had known. When Martha finished, they 
compared the time that she had awoken from the dream to the time that 
Martha had fainted. Given the time differences, they realized the 
times were the same. It might not hold up in a court of law, but they 
were both confident they now knew the time of death.

Martha and Jonathan also satisfied themselves that Lois understood 
the importance of keeping the connection between Clark and Superman a 
secret - even from her husband. It was a very dejected young woman 
who finally said good-night and Martha and Jonathan were left with no 
doubt that she had loved their son.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois pulled the keys out of her purse. She was here because she 
wanted to be alone. She didn't want to go back to the penthouse right 
now - for reasons she couldn't quite put into words, she didn't want 
Lex to know how devastated she really was. She unlocked the apartment 
and made her way inside. Once there, she sank down against the door. 
She didn't even bother to turn on the lights. What was the point? She 
had never felt so completely lost. She wondered if death might be 
preferable to this living hell.

"Lois," said a familiar sounding voice.

Lois shook her head. He wasn't here. It was just her grief. But then 
her name was repeated. Lois was immediately on her feet. It sounded 
like him, but she knew it couldn't be.

'Who are you?" she asked into the darkened apartment. "Don't try 
anything, I know karate."

She heard a soft, almost relieved laugh. There was no mistaking that 
sound. "Clark?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes," Clark replied.

She looked in the direction of the voice. She could make out a 
silhouette in the darkness. She reached over and flicked on the 
light. She let out a sob as she saw Clark standing by the sofa. He 
was alive. It only took her a moment to cover the distance separating 
them. He reacted quickly, moving around to the other side of the 
sofa. She stopped and looked at him in confusion.

"Umm..." Clark said, clearing his throat. "It's just... Something 
strange is happening here, Lois. I don't know what it is or if it's 
contagious, but I don't want you exposed."

Lois felt a sinking feeling in her heart. "What do you mean?" she 
asked quietly.

"Well, I was in my apartment earlier this evening. My folks were 
there, but they couldn't see or hear me, although Mom seemed to sense 
something. Then, while I was waiting for you, I discovered... It's 
easier if I show you. Maybe you'd better sit down."

"Just show me, Clark."

Clark sighed before reaching out and touching the back of the sofa. 
His hand disappeared through the fabric. "I can't open doors or grab 
things, but I can sit down and not sink to the floor. I guess that's 
an advantage." He shrugged. "I have no idea what happened to me. I 
mean, the last thing I remember is being with you at LNN. I asked you 
to go somewhere private to talk and then..." He gestured helplessly.

Lois looked at him thoughtfully. To her knowledge he had only been at 
LNN once - the day he told her he loved her, but that had been weeks 
ago. Unless this was somehow in the future. She shook her head 
slightly. What was going on here?

"That day at LNN - what did you want to talk to me about?" Lois 
asked, wanting to narrow down the options.

Clark shifted slightly. "Umm..." he paused, not quite looking at her.

She looked at him curiously until suddenly she understood his 
problem. As far as he was concerned, she didn't know that he loved 
her. "Did you want to tell me that you're in love with me?" she asked 
quietly.

Clark looked up at her in shock. "Umm... well... umm..." He fell 
silent again. This wasn't quite the way he had planned to tell her.

"You already told me, Clark. You told me weeks ago." Lois walked over 
and sat down on the couch. He followed her example, being sure to sit 
as far away from her as possible.

He studied his nails for a moment. "What did you say?" he finally asked.

Now it was her turn to look at him in shock. Of course! He didn't 
remember any of it. So what should she say? Should she break his 
heart all over again? How could she do that? Especially now that she 
knew she felt the same way.

"I love you too, Clark. I didn't think it was possible to love anyone 
as much as I love you." Okay, so it wasn't exactly a lie. After all, 
she hadn't said that this was what she had told him when he first 
told her how he felt. Of course, she knew that was the assumption he 
would make.

Clark let out a short breath. "Really? Oh, thank God. When I heard my 
folks talk about you being on your honeymoon, I sort of worried..."

"Worried?" Lois asked nervously.

"It doesn't matter, Lois. So, I take it we got married. boy, I really 
wish I could remember that."

Lois looked down. She knew she should correct him, but she really 
didn't want to. What he was saying was what should have happened. For 
a few minutes at least, she wanted to believe it too.

"I wish I could touch you," Clark said quietly.

"Try, Clark," Lois encouraged. She needed that physical contact too. 
She had a feeling she knew what was happening here - at least she had 
a theory. She wanted him to touch her. She wanted to prove that 
feeling wrong.

"But what if I have something contagious?"

"I don't think that's it. Please. I need you to touch me."

Clark sighed before moving a little closer. He cautiously reached out 
his hand. He hesitated before gently touching her cheek with the back 
of his fingers.

She closed her eyes and let out a quiet breath. "It feels like a 
breeze on my skin," she said softly.

He started to move his hand away.

"No," she gasped, instinctively reaching out to hold his hand against 
her cheek. Her hand went right though his. They both stared in horror 
at their respective hands for a moment, before Clark raised his hand 
once again to her face. A sad sort of sob escaped from the back of 
her throat as his hand traveled over her face and neck.

Clark turned so that he was sitting cross-legged on the couch beside 
her. At the moment, he was less concerned about his physical state 
than he was about Lois. If she needed to be touched then that's what 
he would do. Besides, he wasn't exactly averse to touching Lois. They 
would figure out the rest later.

He moved both hands up to her face, gently touching her. She moved so 
that she was also sitting cross legged on the couch - their knees 
softly touching. She brought her hands up slowly and touched his. She 
could feel the same brush of air under her fingertips. She closed her 
eyes and allowed her fingers to run up his arms and over his 
shoulders. She allowed the feeling of him to guide her movement. She 
brought her hands slowly down his sides, before moving them up the 
muscles of his chest.

They sat there for a long time just gently touching, when Clark said, 
"Have you noticed?"

"What?" Lois asked, opening her eyes.

"The more we touch, the more... substantial our touch becomes."

Lois looked down at where her hand was gently stroking his chest. He 
was right. Whereas before she only felt a gentle breeze under her 
fingertips, she could now make out the muscles of his chest. Were she 
to push, she was sure that her hand would still go through him, but 
he was much more substantial then when they first touched.

She smiled slightly as she felt his hand slowly make its way over her 
cheek. Clark moved his hand around to the back of her head, and then, 
leaning forward, gently pulled her toward him. She knew that if she 
didn't allow his hand to direct her movements, he would be unable to 
do so. So she leaned in. She closed her eyes as his lips approached 
hers. Their lips met, and in an instant, the contact between them was 
strengthened. They both jumped back slightly in shock.

"Wow!" exclaimed Clark.

"I guess the level of intimacy of the contact also determines the 
speed of this procedure."

"I'd say," said Clark. He raised his eyebrows slightly. "So, what do 
you say we try that again?"

She smiled, leaning back toward him. Their lips met again, the 
contact between them increasing.

For Lois, the kiss was almost painful. Clark was dead. Of that she 
was now certain. What was happening now was either a grief induced 
hallucination or Clark was a ghost. Still, she continued to kiss him 
because as she did, she could tell that the bond between them, which 
had been broken by death, was being restored. She could, once again, 
feel his presence. And it was that which, more then anything, she 
couldn't live without. As a result, not only her body but her soul 
craved his touch.

When the kiss broke, she took his hands in her own and raised them 
for a moment to her lips before taking a deep breath and moving his 
hands to the top button on her blouse. It didn't even occur to Lois 
that she shouldn't be doing this - that she was married to Lex. Her 
mind was completely absorbed in what was happening between her and 
Clark.

Clark looked into her eyes for a moment, seeking reassurance that he 
understood her silent invitation. Once he was satisfied, he slowly 
began undoing the buttons on her shirt. His eyes left hers and 
followed his hands as he undid first one and then a second button.

Clark was drawn to the skin revealed as if he were metal filings in 
close proximity to a magnet. He abandoned her buttons to run the back 
of his hand down the soft skin of her neck. Lois drew in a sharp 
breath. His fingers seemed to be blazing a trail of fire across her 
skin.

After a moment, Clark looked up again into Lois' eyes. "Are you sure 
about this, Lois? I mean, this is sort of weird. Maybe we should 
just..."

"I'm sure, Clark."

A slow smile spread across Clark's face. "Well, I guess we are 
married, so..." Clark didn't notice Lois' sharp intake of breath as 
he continued. "Although, I must admit that I don't remember our 
vows." He paused. "Say them?" he finally asked.

"Say what?" Lois asked in response, trying to pull her mind away from 
the sudden realization that had come crashing around her with his 
last comments. She was married to Lex. No matter what this was, she 
had to stop it.

"Your vows. Please, I don't remember them and I just want to hear you 
say them once. I know mine. I've always known that my love for you 
was eternal." He raised a hand to her cheek. "It's just that... It 
feels like I've waited my whole life to hear those words from you."

Lois gave him a sad smile. Surely, she could at least give him this. 
She ran her hands through his hair and looked into his eyes as she 
said, "Clark, I will love, honor and cherish you. For better or 
worse. For richer or poorer. In sickness and in health. Until 
death..." Her voice came to an abrupt halt as she realized that the 
final thing had already happened.

Clark heard the words, but it didn't register with him that there 
were still three words to be said. She had ended abruptly enough that 
it sounded as if she had simply ended. He smiled slightly and moved 
his hands back down to her blouse.

It took Lois a moment to realize that Clark was continuing to 
unbutton her blouse. She drew in a sharp breath. He thought they were 
married. He would never be doing this if he knew the truth. She 
couldn't continue to keep this from him, but the idea of 
discontinuing now caused a physical pain in her chest. She closed her 
eyes for a moment, steeling her resolve, before her hands came up and 
stilled his.

"What is it?" Clark asked softly. When she didn't respond, he reached 
out and placed a finger under her chin, pushing slightly upward, 
telling her he wanted her to raise her head. She did so. "What's 
wrong, Lois?" he asked again.

Lois let out a short breath. "I'm not quite sure where to start."

"Well... what about starting at the beginning?" he suggested, while 
gently stroking her cheek.

She nodded, almost imperceptibly. "Okay... Well, I guess I should 
start with the day we talked in the park after we left LNN."

"I thought..." Clark cleared his throat. He wasn't exactly sure what 
he thought, but at this moment he had a sinking feeling about where 
this was going. He suddenly wasn't sure he wanted to hear what she 
had to say. "Look, Lois, why don't we just leave this for later. You 
know, I was thinking that..."

"Clark, please. I don't want to have this talk either, but you have 
to know the truth."

Clark closed his eyes. He liked believing that she loved him and that 
they had gotten married, but it didn't quite jive with what he had 
overheard his parents talking about. They had talked about her being 
on her honeymoon, not them being on their honeymoon. He had pushed 
those doubts to the back of his mind when she told him she loved him. 
Now that she wanted to start with their talk that day at LNN, his 
doubts once again came flooding to the surface. And if they weren't 
married, but she was on her honeymoon...

He opened his eyes avoiding hers, instead looking at her mouth before 
reaching his hand once again behind her head to draw her lips back to 
him. This time she didn't come.

Lois realized that Clark had a pretty good idea what the truth was 
already. Knowing that, she decided just to skip through everything 
that had happened between them.

"Clark, I'm married to..."

"No, Lois. Please don't say it. I don't want to know." Clark got up 
and walked again until he was behind the couch.

"I'm sorry," whispered Lois, looking down. "It was a mistake. I love 
you. I didn't lie about that."

Clark let out a short breath. "Oh, well then, I guess that makes 
everything all right," Clark responded sarcastically. "How could you 
marry him, Lois?"

Lois didn't respond. She just stared absently at her hands. She knew 
that she was responsible for this outburst, not only by marrying Lex, 
but by letting Clark believe that she had married him instead. She 
glanced up at him. His face was a mask of emotions. There was the 
anger, certainly, but behind that, Lois could see the anguish. 
Anguish which she had certainly intensified with her lie - okay, so 
not lie exactly, more like deception. At least that's what she tried 
to tell herself.

What Clark saw in her eyes when she looked up was an apology, but 
behind that was something which shattered his heart. He could tell 
she was in a lot of pain. How long had she been married to Luthor? 
Not long, obviously. Had she discovered yet just how much of an 
animal he was? Had he hurt her? No. He couldn't think like this. If 
he did, his resolve to pull away from her would crumble.

"I have to go, Lois," Clark said, making his way to the door.

Lois was up in an instant. She made it to the door before him and 
automatically reached out and laid a hand on his arm.

Clark looked down at the feel of her hand. He felt a weight settle in 
his heart as he did so. It was an all too painful reminder of what 
had transpired or, even more importantly, what had almost transpired 
between them only minutes ago. Her touch, although not exactly solid, 
was certainly tangible.

"Clark, please don't go," Lois pleaded.

Clark met her eyes. "I have to, Lois. I can't stay here. Not when..." 
He never finished his sentence, but then he didn't have to. He knew 
and Lois knew all the reasons he couldn't stay. He gently removed 
Lois' hand from his arm and walked the remaining distance to the door.

"Clark, we need to talk. I have a theory about why you..."

"Lois, I can't," said Clark, not turning to look at her.

But she couldn't let him go. Not like this. Not when he didn't even 
know what had happened to him. And if his parents couldn't see him... 
She was the only one who could tell him what was going on.

Clark's hand stopped only inches from the doorknob when Lois said, 
"Superman is dead."

Clark spun back around. "No!" he gasped.

"Yes, his body was..."

"It's not possible."

"...found in front of the Daily Planet building."

"But you don't understand."

"Don't I?" Lois said softly, raising an eyebrow.

"No. It isn't possible. I... He can't be... It's just..." His voice 
trailed off as his mind sought to, but couldn't quite, reject the 
information he was being given.

"Do you remember this?" Lois asked, holding out an envelope.

Clark was confused by the change of subject. She handed the envelope to him. 
He went to take it from her, but when she released it, it floated 
through his hand and down onto the floor. Suddenly, the realization 
was too much to bear. Clark sank down against the door.

Lois let out a short breath before lowering herself onto the floor 
beside him and picking up the envelope. She removed the letter and 
opened it up so that he could see it.

"Your parents gave me this today."

He took a look at the letter, quickly discerning what it was. "Have 
you read it?" he asked, although he was fairly certain he already 
knew the answer to that.

She nodded.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Clark spoke again.

"Lois, I know I should have told you about Superman. I really didn't..."

Lois gave a snort. "Do you really think I care about that - given everything?"

"I suppose not."

"Clark, losing you is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. I 
don't know how I'm going to..." Her body began to heave with quiet 
sobs.

Clark instinctively reached out to take her in his arms. Suddenly, he 
stopped, pulled back and got to his feet. "I have to go," he said 
firmly. He reached for the doorknob and his hand went through it. He 
let out a frustrated breath, and stepped through the door into the 
hallway.

>From the hallway, Clark could hear Lois' crying and her continued 
>pleas with him not to leave her. He closed his eyes. He thought of 
>the Arctic ocean and suddenly the hallway disappeared leaving him 
>standing on an iceberg. He sat down dejectedly on the edge, dangling 
>his legs in the water.

* * * * * * * * *

After Clark left, or after her hallucination ended, whichever it was, 
Lois cried for a long time. Once a sort of numbness set in, she 
called Lex to tell him that she was going to stay at her apartment 
for the night. He gave her such a hard time about it that she went 
back to the penthouse simply to end the argument. Normally, she would 
have become more stubborn when confronted by Lex's demands, but with 
everything that had happened, she no longer had the strength to fight.

The next morning, she got up, got dressed and headed to the police 
station. She had promised Martha and Jonathan last night that she 
would try to find out what she could about Superman's death. They 
couldn't do it without raising unwanted questions.

"Inspector Henderson," Lois said, walking into his office.

"I've been expecting you," Henderson said softly.

Given his usual gruff exterior, his gentleness today almost pushed 
Lois to tears. She steadied herself and said, "I understand you're 
the one investigating Superman's death."

"Yes."

"What have you found out?"

"Well, that depends."

"On what?"

"Whether you're here in a professional or a personal capacity." When 
she didn't seem to understand, he continued. "As far as we know, 
Superman doesn't have any family - at least not on earth. Now, 
everyone knows that there is... was a special relationship between 
you, your partner and Superman. I'm prepared to treat you and Kent as 
family on this, but only if the information will not be released to 
the public at this time."

"I'm here as family," Lois responded quietly, the grief she felt by 
saying the words giving them a slightly strangled sound. But, it was 
true. She was here for Martha and Jonathan and she truly believed the 
only reason she wasn't family herself was because of her own 
stupidity - after all, Clark had made it clear last night just how 
serious his intentions were. Of course, the Clark she had seen last 
night was probably just a figment of her overactive imagination, but 
she still believed the images it had portrayed.

Henderson got up and came around to close the door. He gestured her 
to a chair. Once she was seated, he filled her in.

"We conducted an autopsy."

"How? Superman's invulnerable."

"He wasn't when we found him." While Lois tried to grapple with that 
information, Henderson continued. "The cause of death was some sort 
of weird radiation exposure."

"You mean he was exposed to a nuclear explosion or something? But 
that doesn't make any sense. I saw him stop the meltdown at the Lex 
Corp Nuclear Power Plant and he wasn't affected."

"It wasn't nuclear radiation. In fact, it wasn't a type of radiation 
that any of the specialists we consulted have ever encountered. We 
have no idea how he was exposed to it. We also don't know who strung 
up his body. But, I promise we'll do everything we can to find out." 
Henderson paused for a moment.

"We do have an approximate time of death," Henderson continued.

"When?"

"About 4:00 p.m. the day after your wedding."

"That's what we figured," mumbled Lois.

"What?" asked Henderson, looking at her curiously.

"Nothing. Why is it only approximate?"

"Normally, the time of death is figured out by looking at degree of 
rigidity, body temperature and other such considerations. In 
Superman's case... Well, he wasn't human so we don't know how much of 
that remains the same." Henderson shrugged. "Oh, there's one other 
thing that's kinda unusual."

"What?"

"Apparently there is a sizable piece of flesh missing from his right thigh."

"What? What does that mean?"

"We have no idea, but I can tell you that it was taken after he died."

"What's going to happen to his body?"

"Some scientists have petitioned the city of Metropolis to have his 
body to conduct scientific experiments."

"What!" gasped Lois.

"Relax. The city of Metropolis has refused them. I think they're 
afraid of the public outcry if they were to agree. So they're going 
to have a state funeral for him. They'll be taking care of the 
arrangements and the expenses, but I'm sure that if you get in touch 
with them, they will be happy to have your input. They're hoping some 
family will step forward. In the absence of actual family... Well, 
anyway, that's really all we have at the moment."

"Thanks, Henderson," Lois said, rising to leave. "By the way, will 
you let me know when his body..." Her voice broke. Henderson waited 
in silence as Lois struggled to get herself under control. "...when 
his body is sent to a funeral home?"

"No problem. If you need anything else, please contact me. And 
Lois... I'm sorry."

She gave him a sad smile. Henderson instantly realized just how 
devastated Lois really was.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois slipped into a nearby bar after leaving the police station. She 
was surprised to find one open this early. She wasn't looking for a 
drink, but after the other day, she figured Lex wouldn't question it 
if she went to a bar, and she needed to lose the tail - again.

She sighed. Well, she had known it would be difficult to have a 
private life married to Lex. She just never realized that it was 
Lex's surveillance she would be trying to avoid - and she assumed the 
man following her now worked for Lex. It was sweet of him to be 
concerned about her safety, but she didn't need the protection. She 
understood that a man in Lex's position had to take precautions. She 
just wished he had talked to her about it first.

She slipped out the back door of the bar and made her way to Clark's 
apartment to tell Martha and Jonathan what she had learned. She 
didn't want to have to explain to Lex why she had gone directly from 
the police station to Clark's place. Besides, if she lost the tail 
often enough, maybe he'd realize that she didn't need protection.

"Tell me something," Lois asked, when she arrived. "I have dozens of 
reporters camped out in front of Lex towers. Why aren't there any 
here?"

"I think some of it is because Clark gave you a lot more Superman 
exclusives than he kept for himself. There were some here earlier. We 
told them Clark was out of town. They hung out for a while, but then 
I think they decided that the fishing might be better elsewhere," 
Jonathan informed her.

"Besides," Martha continued, "...considering how your relationship 
with Superman has been portrayed by the tabloids... I think your 
reaction to his death is of more interest than Clark's would be. So, 
were you able to find out anything from the police?" Martha asked, 
handing Lois a cup of coffee.

"Yes. Apparently Inspector Henderson is handling the case. When he 
was satisfied that I was there for personal, not professional, 
reasons, he was quite helpful. Oh, that brings up a point. Henderson 
told me that if I contacted city hall about the funeral arrangements 
for Superman, they were prepared to treat me as family since Superman 
has..." She swallowed hard. "...had no known family. So I thought... 
Well, if you have any special requests or... Well, if you want to be 
in the funeral procession or come to the burial or something, I'm 
sure I could arrange it."

Martha gave her a wry smile. "Thanks, honey, but I think it's best if 
we're not visible. We simply intend to watch the procession with the 
crowds."

"Can I watch with you?" asked Lois in a small voice.

"Of course, honey. I think Clark would like that."

"Umm... That reminds me. I had... well, sort of a strange experience 
last night."

"What kind of experience?"

"After I left here, I went back to my apartment.... Clark was there. 
Well, sort of. I mean, I know it was probably just a hallucination, 
but he didn't know he was dead. It was..." Lois shrugged. She was 
immediately enfolded in Jonathan's bear-like embrace. She cried 
quietly against him. Finally she pulled back, "I'm sorry. I seem to 
be doing that a lot lately. Do you think I'm losing my mind?"

"Oh, honey," said Martha. "You're grieving, that's all. I'm sure 
that's all it was in your apartment too. It's not uncommon for people 
who lose loved ones to think they see them afterwards."

Lois looked at her and nodded. She was right. It was probably just a 
dream or a hallucination or something.

"So what did you find out at the police station?" Jonathan asked.

"Right. Well, it's sort of weird. Apparently Clark was killed by some 
sort of radiation exposure."

"Kryptonite!" exclaimed Jonathan.

"What? You mean the rock that Jason Trask from Bureau 39 claimed 
could kill him?" asked Lois.

"That's the one. According to Clark, Trask told him that it emitted a 
type of radiation that could kill Superman. When Clark was exposed to 
it, he collapsed. Fortunately, we were able to get him away from it 
before it did any permanent damage, but he did lose his powers for a 
few days. So, who might have kryptonite?" asked Martha.

"Well, Clark destroyed the piece Wayne brought to our place, but 
Wayne did say that he sent a piece in for testing," said Jonathan. "I 
never thought... That must be the one that was used."

"Do you think Bureau 39 is behind his death?" asked Lois.

Martha and Jonathan looked at each other for a moment, both wondering 
the same thing - should they tell Lois what they thought. Finally, 
they seemed to come to some unspoken agreement.

"Lois, we have a theory. I'm not sure you're going to want to hear 
it, though," said Martha.

"Is it Lex?" Lois asked. Watching them struggle to come to a decision 
had brought back everything Clark had told her about Lex.

"That's what we think."

Instead of immediately denying it, as she would have only a few days 
ago, Lois looked at the two people sitting with her. She could see no 
reason why they would make up a story about Lex - unless they had 
been unduly influenced by Clark. But under the circumstances, maybe 
it was time that she heard the whole story for herself - even if it 
was only to rule Lex out as a suspect. "Why do you think that?"

Jonathan began by filling her in on the history between Superman and 
Luthor. Then Martha took over.

"So when you decided to marry Luthor, Clark knew he had to stop it. 
We expected if he wasn't able to find a way before your wedding, he 
would show up at your wedding as Superman and whisk you away. When he 
didn't... That's how we knew something was wrong. No one has seen or 
heard from Clark or Superman since the day before your wedding. 
Luthor had to be worried that Superman would stop the wedding. I just 
think the timing is too coincidental for it to be anyone but Lex 
Luthor. I'm sorry, Lois."

Lois took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she tried to 
evaluate what she was being told. "So you think that Clark was killed 
because of me?"

"No. Not directly. This had as much to do with Luthor and Superman as 
it had to do with you. Think about it, Lois. You and Lex hadn't even 
been dating very long before he asked you to marry him. And the 
tabloids have made you out to be Superman's girlfriend for the past 
year."

Lois hated it, but it suddenly all seemed to make sense. She was just 
a pawn in a battle between Superman and Lex and she had allowed it to 
happen.

"But Superman could have stopped me from accepting Lex's proposal in 
the first place. I don't understand."

"I don't think Clark really believed that you would say yes to Lex. 
And he kept hoping that you would discover the man behind the splashy 
suit."

Lois looked down. "I did, you know. I realized the morning of my 
wedding that I cared about Clark as more than a friend. I just didn't 
have the courage to stop the wedding."

"Oh, honey, don't do this to yourself. Clark wouldn't want it."

Lois gave them a sad smile. They obviously didn't blame her, but that 
didn't stop her from blaming herself. If they were right and Lex was 
responsible, she had been an unwitting accomplice. She pushed that 
thought to the back of her mind. "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. 
Henderson told me one other thing."

"What?"

"Well, apparently when they found Clark's body, someone had taken a 
piece of flesh from his thigh."

"Why? Do you think someone was just taking a souvenir?" asked Jonathan.

"If someone wanted a souvenir, wouldn't they just have taken some 
hair or the cape or the boots. Why would anyone want some of his 
flesh?" asked Martha.

Lois suddenly looked at them in horror.

"What?" they both asked in unison.

"Do you recall when someone made a clone of Superman?"

"Of course," began Martha. "Oh. You don't think..."

"I certainly do. We've got to find whoever killed him. We have to 
prevent them from making another clone. If it is Lex, I promise I'll 
find out."

"That raises another problem," said Jonathan.

"What?" asked Martha.

"I don't think we can allow the city of Metropolis to bury him. I 
mean, what if someone else decides to do this?"

"You're right," said Lois, her mind already working through the solutions.

"But how do we get his body without telling anyone who we are?" asked Martha.

"We steal it," said Lois evenly.

* * * * * * * * *

After his outing in the Arctic, Clark came back to Lois' apartment. 
At first, he went to his place, but it was just too hard witnessing 
his parents' grief. So he came here. Lois was no longer home. She had 
obviously gone back to Luthor's penthouse, so he decided this was as 
good a place as any to decide what to do now. He knew her lease came 
up for renewal in another month so he hoped that she was planning to 
hang on to the place until that happened. After all, with his death, 
his parents would be looking to get rid of his apartment. It would be 
even harder if there was no where for him to go.

When morning came, he decided to take action. He figured if Lois 
could see him, maybe others could too. So he tried finding Perry and 
Jimmy and even Cat, but couldn't. He tried talking to people on the 
street, but no one was able to see or hear him. He even tried going 
to a fortune teller and a medium, but there was still no response. So 
he came back here, hanging around in an apartment in which he was 
unable to even turn on the light.

Clark was at a complete loss. The only person he seemed to be able to 
communicate with was Lois and she was married to Lex Luthor. So, what 
was supposed to happen now? Was he condemned to this half existence 
for eternity? Would he have to watch the woman with whom his soul 
seemed to be connected married to someone like Luthor? Would he just 
have to watch as life went on without him?

No, he couldn't do this. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to 
the whiteness. At least there, his memory was dying. He concentrated 
and tried to see the whiteness. He opened his eyes. He was still in 
Lois' apartment.

Clark walked into the kitchen and looked around. He stuck his head 
through the fridge door. He sighed. He couldn't see what, if 
anything, was in the fridge. He figured that answered the question 
about whether the little light in the fridge stayed on when the door 
was closed. It was good to know that at least some of the great 
mysteries of life were answered after death.

With nothing better to do, he stuck his face into the cupboard. He 
sighed. Tea. What he wouldn't do for a cup of tea. Not that he was 
either hungry or thirsty, but those were things that he had never had 
to worry about before and he still loved tea. He walked over to the 
kitchen table. Only one of the chairs was pushed out far enough from 
the table for him to sit down without being in the middle of the 
table. He put his elbows on the table. They went right through. He 
growled in frustration.

"Bad day?" asked a voice from behind.

Clark spun around. Lois was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. 
He really missed having superpowers. Normally, well at least when he 
was living, she would never have been able to get that close without 
him hearing her.

"I'm sorry," Clark muttered. "It's just... I didn't think you'd be 
here and it's just too hard to stay at my place with my parents 
there." He shrugged dejectedly. "I don't know what to do, Lois. I 
mean, for some reason you're the only one who can see or hear me. And 
I don't know why I'm here. And I don't know what I'm suppose to do 
about it. And... And... And... I can't even have a damn cup of tea."

Lois was startled. Clark didn't ramble. She did. And he didn't swear. 
She let out a slow breath before speaking.

"Well, I don't know about the rest, but let's see what we can do 
about the tea," Lois said softly, walking over to the cupboard.

"Lois, even if you make tea, I can't pick up a cup. So it won't do any good."

"I have an idea," Lois said, continuing to make the tea. "It may be a 
little radical, but I just want to see if we can do this. Then... 
Clark, there must be a reason you're still here. We'll find it, okay?"

Clark snorted. When he didn't respond, Lois looked over at him. She 
didn't think she had ever seen Clark looking so completely dejected 
before. She walked back over to the table. She lightly ran a hand 
through his hair. She found that she could even brush a stray lock 
off his forehead. "We'll figure this all out, Clark."

"And then?" asked Clark.

Lois swallowed hard. What then? If he was her hallucination, would he 
just disappear? If he was a ghost, would he just go to whatever lay 
on the other side of death? No. She wouldn't think about that now. 
"We'll figure it out when we come to it." She walked back over to the 
counter and busied herself with the tea.

Neither said anything as they waited for the water to boil. Lois was 
desperately trying not to think about the future. Whether she was 
hallucinating or not, for right now she had Clark back. She wondered 
briefly if she was losing her mind, but then decided that if this was 
what losing your mind was like, she'd take it. The only problem would 
be if she recovered. Even if they could never be more than friends, 
she didn't think she'd be able to stand losing Clark again. She now 
knew, without any doubts, exactly how dark the future looked without 
him

For a moment, a nagging little voice in the back of Lois' mind 
reminded her of the vow she had made to herself to forget about 
Clark. She immediately silenced it. After all, that vow had been made 
before she knew Clark would die. Besides, if she was the only one who 
could see or hear him... Her conscience tried to tell her that she 
was simply justifying her desire to be with Clark, but she ignored it.

Clark spent the time thinking about Lois' marriage to Lex Luthor. In 
fact, for the past number of hours, it had been a consistently 
reoccurring thought. Even if she was the only one who could see him, 
he wasn't sure it was good for them to have contact. She had chosen 
Luthor. He was dead. What good did it do either of them for him to 
take advantage of this indefinable connection that seemed to exist 
between them? Still, he didn't leave.

The water boiled and Lois quickly attended to making the tea.

"You have to warm the pot first, Lois," Clark informed her.

She gave him a dirty look. "I know how to make tea, Clark," she responded.

Clark's lips twitched. "I don't know, Lois. It seems to me that I 
remember a time when you forgot to add the tea and everyone drank hot 
water."

Lois' eyes flashed. "So, a girl makes one mistake..."

"And then there was the time..."

"Watch it, Kent. A guy in your position doesn't want to get the only 
one who can hear him refusing to talk to him," Lois warned. Of 
course, she was thoroughly enjoying the casual banter that had always 
existed between them. Clark could sense that.

"Oh, I don't know. Now that I'm a ghost, you could find yourself 
haunted for life if you tick me off."

The smile in Lois' eyes faded to be replaced by something much 
deeper. "Promise?" she whispered. They held eye contact for a moment 
before Lois turned back to attend to the tea.

When it was ready, she poured a cup and brought it to Clark. She set 
it in front of him. He reached out and his hand went right through 
the cup.

"I told you," he said to Lois.

"Okay, well let's try something." She picked up the cup of tea 
herself. She raised it to his lips. "Drink," she instructed.

He moved his hands up to hers before trying to take a sip of tea. It 
worked. He looked at her in surprise.

"Lois, it worked. Why did you think..."

"How come your suit was never damaged?" Lois asked.

"Excuse me?"

"Your Superman suit. Why didn't it get burned off when you were in a 
fire? Why didn't you get bullet holes in it when you were shot?"

"There's an aura that surrounds my body... You think that's what's 
happening here?"

"Clark, yesterday you were able to undo the buttons on my blouse. 
I've thought about that a lot," Lois said, pushing a stray strand of 
hair behind her ear.

"I have too," Clark mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Lois said, not certain she had heard his comment.

"Nothing," responded Clark.

A small smile passed over Lois' face before she continued. "Anyway, 
the only thing that makes sense to me is that my blouse was touching 
me. I thought..."

"You thought great," Clark said, raising her hands which were still 
holding the cup back to his lips. "And all kidding aside, this is 
really good tea."

"You have taste buds?"

Clark smiled. "No. And to tell you the truth, I really can't taste 
it." He raised her hands with the cup to his lips again and took 
another sip. "But I swear, this is the best tea I've ever had."

Lois looked at him curiously for a moment before realizing that he 
seemed to be relieved to have at least solved one small problem. She 
smiled. "Well, look at it this way. Since you can't cook at the 
moment either, you're probably better off not being able to taste 
anything I might make."

Clark laughed.

* * * * * * * * *

Luthor grabbed the insistent telephone. "What is it?" he demanded.

"Mr. Luthor, I have the Mayor on the phone."

Lex calmed himself. Given the advantages the Mayor could provide, 
Luthor always tried to tolerate him - although the man could test the 
patience of a saint. "Put him through," he advised his receptionist.

"Mr. Mayor," Luthor said when his receptionist advised him to go 
ahead. "What can I do for you this morning?"

"I was hoping to speak to your wife, Mr. Luthor," said the confused 
man on the other end of the line. He had asked to speak to Lois 
Luthor and didn't understand why he had been put through to Lex 
instead.

"She's indisposed at the moment," replied Luthor. "Is there something 
I can do for you?"

"Well... We were wanting to talk to her about Superman's funeral. You 
wife is... was a umm... friend of the superhero and we're hoping she 
can answer some questions for us."

Luthor was silent for a moment as he considered the issue. He had 
realized some time ago that Superman did not arrive on earth a year 
ago. He had grown up here. Maybe Lois had some information that could 
be helpful in tracking down the friends and family of the Man of 
Steel and maybe she would give something away if she were involved in 
funeral preparations. Luthor smiled. If he could find these people, 
maybe the game could go on.

"I'm sure she'll want to be involved. But as you can imagine, she's 
taking his death hard. What if I come and sit in on the preparations? 
Maybe I can get her there later."

"That would be most helpful," replied the Mayor, although he did 
wonder if Luthor would be of any assistance without his wife.

"Fine. When are you meeting?"

"In about an hour."

"Good. I'll see you then."

Luthor was just hanging up the phone when Nigel arrived.

"Good news, sir?" asked Nigel, seeing the pleased expression on the 
face of his boss.

"That was the Mayor, Nigel. It seems that my wife and I are going to 
be helping with Superman's funeral preparations. Don't you think it's 
ironic?"

"What, sir?"

"That first I kill him and then I help plan his funeral."

"Yes, sir. Delightfully ironic."

* * * * * * * * *

Clark looked at Lois for a long moment before he asked the question 
on his mind.

"How did I die?" he asked softly.

Lois looked at him in shock for a moment. She let out a short breath. 
It was still hard to believe that Clark didn't remember any of it. If 
anyone had a right to know about the events of the last few days, it 
was him. She just wasn't sure she wanted to be the one to tell him. 
Still, she took a deep breath and proceeded to fill him in on what 
Henderson had told her.

"I don't think we can leave my body with the city," Clark replied 
after she finished.

"That's the same conclusion your parents and I came to," Lois informed him.

"They can't claim my body, Lois. It would be too dangerous for them."

"We know, Clark. So, we're waiting to hear from Henderson when your... umm..."

"Body?"

"Yeah, is sent to a funeral home. Then we're going to steal it."

"You're going to what?" demanded Clark.

"You heard me. I mean, it's not exactly as if your parents wouldn't 
have a right to claim your body anyway. We are just doing it a 
little... unofficially."

Clark let out a short breath. "I'm going with you."

Lois nodded. He certainly had the right to be there. Although, 
without a body, she did briefly wonder if he would be of any 
assistance.

"There's something else you should know. Apparently someone took a 
tissue sample from you. I think they may have wanted it for..."

"Cloning! Lois, we've got to find it."

"I know, Clark."

There was a moment of silence before Clark spoke again. "Does the 
world know that Superman's dead? I mean, you told me that my body was 
found in front of the Daily Planet - what does that mean?"

Lois pulled in a sharp breath. "Umm... yeah, the world knows."

"I assume it's being covered on television. I'd like to see. Would 
you mind turning on the television?"

Lois was silent. She really didn't want him to know how his body had 
been found if she could help it.

"Lois, please," Clark said softly.

He rose from the table and took her arm. He tugged gently and she 
rose. He led her into the living room and over to the couch. He then 
took her hand and placed it on the remote control. She hesitated.

"Clark, I really don't want you..."

"It's okay, Lois. I know it must be bad. I still want to see. Maybe 
it will trigger some memories. If I can remember who killed me, it 
will go a long way in helping us find out who has those tissue 
samples."

Lois nodded and pressed the power button on the remote. The T.V. came on.

"...have confirmation that both the Pope and the Archbishop of 
Canterbury will be attending the funeral?" asked the man on the 
screen.

"Yes, Bill."

"I don't think I've ever heard of a time when those two have both 
been present at the same function."

"That's right, Bill, but Superman's death seems to have struck a cord 
with everyone. A statement was issued by the Catholic Church saying 
that the Pope and the Archbishop intend to use this trip to get 
together and strengthen the ties between the Roman Catholic Church 
and the Church of England."

Clark looked over at Lois. "Maybe some good can come out of this after all."

She reached over and took his hand before saying softly, "I'd rather 
have you back."

"You'll always have me, Lois," Clark responded.

Lois looked at him for a moment, but didn't respond. She wasn't even 
sure if he was here now, so how could she know how long she'd have 
him? They turned their attention back to the television.

"It does seem as if a lot of previously competing interests are 
taking this opportunity to set aside their grievances and talk about 
reconciliation."

"That's true. Our Middle East correspondent reported earlier today 
that a number of Arab leaders have asked for meetings with the Prime 
Minister of Israel while they're here in Metropolis for the funeral. 
That's also true of the Russian President and Chechen rebels. It 
seems that the whole world is striving to commemorate this event by 
taking to heart the values that Superman stood for."

"Thanks, Bill," said the anchorman, before addressing those watching. 
"For those of you just joining us, we are continuing our round the 
clock coverage of the death of Superman. I'm sure most of you have 
already seen this, but we would like again to show you the shocking 
sight that greeted the citizenry of Metropolis yesterday morning."

With that came the image of Superman's body strung up in front of the 
Daily Planet. Clark drew in a sharp breath. Lois' hand tightened 
around his in response. It took her a moment, but then she stared at 
their joined hands. Her hand hadn't gone through his when she had 
squeezed.

"Well, that's quite a final image," Clark finally said.

"I take it that doesn't help you remember?"

Clark shook his head. "But maybe something else here will," he 
continued as he watched the police cut his body down. "Do you mind if 
we continue to watch?"

"No. But, Clark, I do have a bit of good news that might make this a 
little easier to take."

"What's that?"

She looked down at their joined hands. Clark suddenly realized just 
how substantial their touch had become. "Can you still put your hand 
through me?" he asked.

She held his hand in hers and tried pressing her fingers into the 
palm of his hand. Her fingers momentarily disappeared into his hand, 
but it was like pushing her fingers into a very ripe tomato without 
the skin. She instantly withdrew them. Unlike a tomato, there was no 
residue left behind on her hands, for which she was very grateful.

"Well, it seems we've gone from jello to tomato," Clark laughed.

"It isn't funny, Clark," Lois rebuked him.

He was about to give a glib response, but stopped when he looked in 
her eyes. She was on the verge of tears. "I know," he said, pushing a 
strand of hair behind her ear in a gesture of comfort before turning 
his attention back to the television.

"World leaders are expected to be here in record numbers. There is 
only one country so far that seems to be sending the Minister of 
Foreign affairs."

"Which country is that?"

"Canada. Apparently, the Prime Minister has sent his regrets, but he 
can't make it. I guess he is skiing with his family and won't be able 
to make it back in time."

Lois turned to Clark. "Clark, is there skiing in Canada this time of 
year?" she asked.

"No," Clark responded.

"Then what do you suppose that's all about?"

Clark just shrugged.

* * * * * * * * *

The entire city counsel was already present and the meeting was well 
underway when Luthor arrived at city hall.

"But St. Paul's Cathedral is larger. It seems that the city is going 
to be overrun by celebrities for this funeral," objected Councilman 
Anderson.

"Do we know Superman's religion? That might decide the issue of which 
church, or whatever, should be used for the funeral," asked the 
Mayor. He looked around at those gathered, who in turn glanced around 
at each other.

"I don't think he ever said what his religious beliefs were," said 
Councilman Beck. "Would Mrs. Luthor know?" he asked, turning to 
Luthor.

Luthor shrugged. "She might." After all, if she did know how he had 
been raised, she might know what church, or whatever, his family 
belonged to.

"Why don't we use the football stadium? That might allow more of the 
people of Metropolis to attend."

"I spoke to the Police Chief about that possibility this morning. He 
said that with all the world leaders that are expected, security 
would be a real problem if we had it in the stadium."

There was a murmur of agreement. The city didn't want to have to call 
in the military to help with security. They were afraid of the message 
that might send. And they certainly didn't want any incidents.

"Well, we've had offers from all of the city's big churches, mosques 
and synagogues. Why don't we narrow it down to those that would work 
in terms of size and then leave the final decision to Ms... I mean 
Mrs. Luthor. When will she be available?" asked the Mayor.

"I'll be sure she's here tomorrow morning," Luthor said.

"Do you think maybe you could give her a call to see..." asked 
Anderson. His voice trailed off at the look on Luthor's face. "Or 
maybe not," he concluded quietly.

"Okay, well I guess the next question is who's giving the eulogy," 
the Mayor informed them. "I could do it. Or maybe we could get 
someone like Perry White. He was quite a spokesman for the Man of 
Steel when he was alive."

"My secretary got a phone call from the White House. Apparently, the 
President wants to do it," said Beck.

"Well, I guess that rules me out," said the Mayor. "So, are we all in 
agreement about the President giving the eulogy? After all, I'm not 
sure how we can say no."

The group muttered their agreement.

"Now, does anyone know if Superman had any family that should be 
included in the procession?" the Mayor asked, bringing up another 
point.

"I'll ask my wife about that too," said Luthor, realizing that this 
was a perfect opportunity for him to find out exactly how much she 
knew about the superhero.

* * * * * * * * *

As Martha and Jonathan made their way toward Lois' apartment 
building, they made note of the handful of paparazzi hanging around. 
However, since there were a number of apartments in the building, 
they were confident they could slip in without being noticed. After 
all, these people were obviously hanging out here in case Lois showed 
up.

"Come in," Lois said, when she answered the door in response to their knock.

"You look better, honey," said Martha, feeling somewhat reassured by 
the return of color to Lois' cheeks.

"That's because of Clark," said Lois, closing the door behind Martha 
and Jonathan.

"Clark?" asked Jonathan.

"He's here."

Martha and Jonathan shared a knowing look.

"I'm not going crazy," Lois said, looking over at Clark for 
reassurance that the statement was true.

"We didn't mean..." began Martha.

"Look, I know how it sounds. And if I were in your position, I'd 
probably think I was losing my mind too. But he really is here."

"Where?"

Lois gestured to Clark. "Right there."

Martha and Jonathan looked where she had gestured, but saw nothing.

"Do you want to help me out here, Clark?" she demanded.

"honey, it's okay. You don't have to..." Martha began.

"Tell her that I'm the one who destroyed her Magnolias when I was 
eight. It wasn't Betsy, our cow. I was playing football with Tommy 
and I made a great catch into the middle of her flowerbed."

Lois immediately repeated the message.

Martha looked at her in shock. "How did you know about that?"

"Clark told me."

"When?"

"Right now. I told you..."

"He's here?" Martha asked uncertainly.

"Now, Martha, you know he's not here. Lois could have known about 
that..." Jonathan started, afraid that Martha was getting her hopes 
up.

"I didn't," Lois objected.

Martha looked at Lois, the hope obvious in her eyes. She wanted so 
desperately to believe what Lois was saying.

"Look," said Lois. "Ask me anything. Things I couldn't know."

The older couple found a couple of seats and looked at each other, 
using that mysterious form of unspoken communication that takes place 
between husband and wife.

"Okay," began Jonathan, once they had decided the issue. "How old was 
Clark when he started to fly?" She had only learned about Superman 
from them so she couldn't know that from before Clark died.

"Eighteen," said Clark.

"Eighteen," repeated Lois.

"How did he find out he had heat vision?" Jonathan continued.

"I lit the barn on fire," said Clark.

"Really?" asked Lois, looking at Clark.

"Yeah. I guess I was fifteen. I had a fight with dad. I walked 
outside the barn, turned and glared back at it and it caught on fire."

"He lit the barn on fire," Lois said.

Martha gasped.

"Did it burn down?" asked Lois.

"It would have. But dad..." Clark's answer trailed off as Jonathan 
began to talk.

"No. We put it out in time. Well, once I managed to snap Clark out of 
his shock. Lois, how did you know?"

"I told you. Clark is here."

Martha got up off the couch. "Where?" she asked.

When Lois told her, Martha began walking towards Clark. Lois 
continued to direct her until she was standing directly in front of 
him.

"He's right in front of you," Lois said.

"How far?" Martha asked.

"A couple of feet."

Martha looked briefly at Lois before nodding and turning back toward 
Clark. She raised a hand slowly and began to stretch it forward. Lois 
watched in fascination as Martha's hand stopped upon coming into 
contact with Clark's chest.

"I think I feel something," Martha said softly. "But it's probably 
just in my mind."

"Mom," Clark breathed. He too could almost sense a soft movement 
against his chest, but this feeling was even less than when he and 
Lois had first touched.

"I wish I could touch you," Martha said, her voice betraying her emotion.

"I wish you could too," Clark responded.

"I have an idea," said Lois, getting up and coming over. She walked 
up behind Martha and placed her hands over Martha's.

Martha gasped. "I can feel him," she said, running her hand over her 
son's chest.

"I can't believe that worked," Lois said, almost as surprised as Martha.

"How'd you do it?" Martha asked.

"I don't know. But we discovered that Clark can interact with the 
physical world, as long as that world is being touched by me."

"That's remarkable. Jonathan, come here," said Martha.

Jonathan was still skeptical. He walked toward where the women were 
talking. "I'm not so sure about this," he said.

Lois just took his hand in hers and raised it to Clark's shoulder. 
She heard Jonathan let out an unexpected breath.

"My boy," he breathed. He tried to gently slap Clark's arm. His hand 
sunk into Clark's shoulder. He jumped back.

"He's not exactly solid, Jonathan," Lois informed him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It just sort of surprised me. The important thing is that 
my boy is here."

Once everyone settled down again, Martha and Jonathan informed Lois 
that Henderson had left a message on Clark's answering machine. 
Apparently, he had done so when he hadn't been able to get through to 
Lois. The body was being taken to Harbourview Funeral Home this 
afternoon.

"I say we do this after dark tonight," said Jonathan.

"I agree," said Lois. "I don't think we can count on them keeping him 
there long. Besides, someone else might be considering stealing his 
body."

"Now there's a pleasant thought," groaned Clark.

Lois reached over to where Clark was sitting and lightly stroked his knee.

"Have you explained to Clark what we're doing?" Martha asked, 
noticing the gesture.

"Yes. He realized the necessity of it before I even told him what we 
planned to do."

"Okay, so you're the expert, Lois," Jonathan said. "What do you suggest?"

"I'm not sure if I should be offended or not," said Lois, a touch of 
amusement in her voice.

"Don't be, honey," Martha put in. "It's just that Clark has told us 
about a number of your adventures. They're sort of out of our league."

"Okay, I think the first thing we need to decide is what we're going 
to do with him once we have him."

"Shouldn't we first figure out how we're going to get him?" asked Jonathan.

"I don't think so. Because what we need to pull this off will 
probably depend on what we're doing. I mean, if we're just planning 
to take him to another funeral home or burying him ourselves, we 
would probably want to do this differently than if he is going to be 
with us for a few days. I mean, if you wanted to take him somewhere 
out of Metropolis, shouldn't we get a refrigerated truck?"

"I don't think that'll be necessary," said Jonathan. "At least at 
home, the funeral home does the embalming as soon as the body 
arrives. Once that's done, refrigeration isn't necessary. But we do 
need to get an enclosed truck."

"I want to take him home," added Martha, answering Lois' original question.

"We were wishing we could bury him on the other side of the old 
fishing pond," Jonathan informed Lois.

"I'd like that," Clark said.

"Clark approves," Lois informed them. "So, we need to figure out 
where we're going to get a truck on short notice. I suppose we could 
rent one, but I really don't like the idea of having one of us 
attaching our name to the rental form. It could lead the police to 
his body."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Clark was the one who broke 
the silence, at least for Lois. "What about Louie? I mean, he knows 
guys who knows guys."

"I imagine he could round one up, but do you think we can trust him 
with this?" asked Lois, leaving Martha and Jonathan looking at her 
oddly, even though they knew what was going on.

"We tell him as little as possible. And we make sure he doesn't tell 
anyone else, but yes. After all, unless we get... Actually, I guess 
unless you guys get caught, he probably won't connect the rental of a 
truck with the theft of Superman's body." To Lois' look of disbelief 
he added, "I hope."

Lois looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. "I agree. I think we 
can trust him. After all, he's always had a soft spot for me."

"I noticed," Clark responded with a grin. "And I don't buy the notion 
that it's only because you were his daughter's tennis partner." Lois 
picked up a cushion off the couch and threw it at him. It went right 
through. "You know there are some definite advantages to being dead," 
Clark added looking at the cushion.

"What are you two talking about?" Jonathan asked. "Keep in mind that 
we can only hear one side of the conversation."

Lois filled them in. They agreed that this was probably their best 
shot. After all, if they rented a truck the traditional way, it would 
mean identifying one of them to a party they didn't know. At least 
this way, the only one who would know was someone Lois trusted.

Lois immediately went to the phone and made a call. Louie was only 
too happy to get her a truck. When asked that he not tell anyone who 
it was for, his only comment was to ask if she thought he was born 
yesterday. He would have the truck waiting for her by five o'clock, 
he assured her.

Martha, Jonathan, Lois and Clark spent the rest of the day mapping 
out their plan. They decided they needed to take a trip over to the 
funeral home to figure out their plan of attack. As they were getting 
ready, Martha mentioned for the first time the paparazzi they had 
seen outside.

"Are you sure they were paparazzi?" Lois asked.

"People hanging around watching the building, carrying cameras. Who 
else could it be?"

"It's just that no one knows I've been hanging out here. I thought 
all the paparazzi were at Lex Towers." Lois shifted. "I guess it's 
better that it's the paparazzi than anyone else."

"Why would you say that?" Clark asked.

Lois shrugged. "I've been followed since I got back to Metropolis."

"Who's following you?" Clark asked.

"I think Lex is having me followed," replied Lois evenly.

"What?" exclaimed Clark, jumping up. "How could he..."

"It's okay, Clark. I'm sure he's just concerned about my safety."

"I take it he finds the fact that Lex is having you followed 
offensive?" asked Martha.

"I guess you could say that," responded Lois, looking over at Clark's 
stormy expression. "But I'll be okay. In fact, being married to Lex 
may help us figure out who has the flesh from Superman's thigh. And 
before you say anything, Clark, as long as he doesn't know that I 
suspect something, I'll be fine. And besides, for all we know Lex 
might be completely innocent here."

Clark didn't look convinced, but he lowered himself slowly back into his chair.

"So how do we get past the paparazzi?" asked Jonathan.

"Well, I say that we check the back entrance. Clark can do that," 
suggested Lois.

"I suppose that makes the most sense," said Martha.

"If that way isn't clear, maybe you should stay here," Jonathan suggested.

"Oh no. I'm going. I've been losing the paparazzi since we got back 
to Metropolis. I can do it again."

Fortunately, the back door wasn't being covered. They slipped out 
easily. They then hailed a cab to take them to a car rental facility. 
They decided that it was better if they rented a car since they 
didn't want to be sitting in a cab when they checked out the funeral 
home. Martha, Jonathan and Lois waited in the car while Clark checked 
out the interior of the funeral home.

"You know, it could be really handy having an invisible partner," 
Lois informed Clark on the trip back to her apartment. When they got 
there, Jonathan and Clark went on in, but since it was almost five, 
Lois and Martha decided to go pick up the truck.

* * * * * * * * *

"So, what's going on between you and Clark?" asked Martha when Lois 
pulled the car back out into traffic.

"What do you mean?" asked Lois, trying to use her most innocent voice.

"Lois, I may not be able to see the way Clark looks at you, but I 
have noticed the way you look at him. And I know my son. I've known 
he was in love with you since he first mentioned you."

Lois looked intently at the road.

"Relax, Lois, I know this is none of my business. I just don't want 
you to get hurt." Martha paused for a moment before saying, "You must 
know there's no future with Clark. Maybe he's here now, but there's 
no guarantee that he'll be here tomorrow. And then there's Lex to 
consider."

Lois immediately felt her temperature rise. This was her life. She 
was a big girl and could damn well make her own decisions. How dare 
Martha... She looked over at Martha to respond, but stopped when she 
saw the sincere concern evident on Martha's face. Lois immediately 
softened. After all, Martha was only saying what she had been 
thinking.

"Nothing is happening, Martha. Even if I wanted something to happen, 
you know Clark. I'm married - he wouldn't forget that. Although I 
admit that I was tempted not to tell him."

"What do you mean you were tempted not to tell him? Didn't he know?"

"No. He doesn't remember anything since before I accepted Lex's 
proposal." Lois cleared her throat. "Actually, since before he told 
me he loved me. I have no idea why."

Martha was thoughtful for a moment. "I wonder..."

"Wonder what? Do you have a theory?"

Martha nodded. "You know how people who go through a trauma sometimes 
don't remember it? Accident victims and so forth."

"But, Martha, he doesn't remember a lot more than just his death."

"Well, sometimes accident victims don't remember the entire day 
before the accident. And Clark experienced more trauma than just his 
death around that time."

"You mean like my rejection of him."

Martha nodded. "And the destruction of the Daily Planet, not to 
mention the loss of your friendship and your acceptance of Lex's 
proposal."

"So you think the total trauma of that time has wiped out his memory."

"It's only a theory," said Martha.

"I guess it's better than any theory I have."

They drove along for a few minutes more before Martha spoke again. 
"Lois, I want you to know that Jon and I consider you family. I hope 
you can think of us the same way. We'll miss Clark that much more if 
we lose you too. If you ever need us, just call. We'll always be here 
for you."

Lois' eyes got moist. "Thanks, Martha," she said softly.

* * * * * * * * *

Jonathan entered Lois' apartment. Although he couldn't see anything, 
he assumed Clark was still with him. "Listen, Son," said Jonathan. "I 
have something I want to say." He paused. "That is assuming you're 
even here. I guess if you're not, no one will know that I'm talking 
to myself." He took a deep breath before plowing ahead. "I know you 
can't respond, and I know it might be none of my business, but 
there's something I want you to think about."

Since his father's face bore a look he only saw on it when his dad 
was seriously troubled, Clark gave him his full attention.

"We raised you right, so I know you'll do the right thing. I just 
want to make sure you understand just how vulnerable Lois is right 
now. She took your death really hard." Jonathan took a deep breath. 
"You need to remember that she married Lex Luthor of her own free 
will. She'll have to decide for herself what to do about that. I just 
don't want you doing something to make it more difficult for her. She 
needs to make a decision that's right for her. After all, who knows 
how long you're going to be here."

"I know that, Dad," Clark responded, although he knew his father 
couldn't hear him.

"I just don't want you to hurt her," Jonathan concluded. "I guess 
that's enough said." He paused briefly before saying, "I guess, 
though, if you're really here, there's something else I'd like you to 
know. Your mom and I are really proud of you, Son. The luckiest day 
of our lives was the day we found that spaceship in Schuster's field."

Clark was sincerely touched. His mom had always been much more 
comfortable expressing her emotions than his dad. He was also touched 
by his father's obvious concern for Lois.

* * * * * * * * *

"Where's my wife, Nigel?" Luthor demanded.

"Umm... Well, sir, it seems that she spent the entire day at a bar 
near the police station. She went in after her trip to see Inspector 
Henderson about Superman's death and she has been there ever since."

* * * * * * * * *

It was dark when a truck made its way toward the funeral home. As 
they drove by, Clark jumped out.

Jonathan stopped the vehicle a short distance from the funeral home 
and the women got out. Then Jonathan drove the vehicle to a back 
alley that they had found earlier in the day. There were no 
streetlights but there was a good view of the back doors of the 
funeral home. He turned off the engine and waited.

Lois and Martha slipped into an alley and approached the funeral home 
from the back. Since the funeral home was not in a residential 
neighborhood, they weren't overly concerned about being spotted. 
However, there was still the danger of being noticed by the odd 
businessman staying late, so both women had their hair hidden under 
caps and were wearing the obligatory dark clothes. To avoid leaving 
fingerprints, they also wore gloves.

Clark met them at the back of the funeral home. He had done a final 
reconnaissance inside to be sure everyone was gone.

"It's clear," Clark told Lois as they approached.

"Clark says it's clear," Lois informed Martha, before pulling out her 
lock picking equipment and bending down by the door to jiggle the 
lock. Clark stepped further away from the women huddled by the door 
in order to check out the area. No one was around. He really wished 
his enhanced vision had survived death. However, none of his 
superpowers had. He could float, but he suspected that had to do with 
him not having a body rather than having had superpowers. Just then 
he heard Lois make a satisfied sound as the tumblers fell into place 
and the door clicked open.

"I hope there's no alarm system," Lois commented.

"I wouldn't think they usually worry about break-ins at a funeral 
parlor," said Martha, being more familiar with security problems in 
Smallville than Metropolis. "Although I must admit I'm a little 
surprised that they wouldn't have thought some security was necessary 
given who they're holding here."

"That's our city leaders," responded Lois in disgust. "On the other 
hand, this is one time I'm glad they didn't think ahead."

"I wonder how they'll react when they find out his body's been 
stolen," asked Martha.

"If they live up to tradition, everyone will find someone else to 
blame. Which way should we go, Clark?"

"Follow me," Clark responded, leading them from the back entrance, 
past a reception room and a small chapel. He stopped at a door at the 
far end of the hall. "In here," he instructed.

Lois turned the door handle, but it too was locked. She sighed and 
bent down with her lock picking equipment. "I wish I at least had a 
little bit of light," she complained.

"I don't think we can risk it, honey," Martha said, confirming what 
Lois already knew.

Breaking this second lock took a little more time because Lois had to 
go solely on feel, but she managed to do it. Soon, they were inside a 
room that smelt deeply of formaldehyde. Both women took an immediate 
step back.

"What's wrong?" asked Clark, being unable to smell anything himself.

"It stinks," Lois informed him. "Listen, Clark, I think we can do 
this ourselves. Why don't you go watch out front in case someone 
decides to make a surprise visit?"

With that Clark nodded and left. Given the fact that only Lois could 
see or hear him, he made the perfect lookout.

There was enough light coming through the windows to allow Lois and 
Martha to search the place without turning on the lights. Superman's 
body was not exactly where Clark had told them it would be, so they 
had to look through a number of caskets to find him.

"Omigod," Martha whispered when she opened an elaborate casket with 
gold handles.

"What is it?" Lois asked, immediately coming to her side.

"My boy," she sobbed.

Lois was actually relieved that was all it was. Martha's response had 
her wondering if something more had been done to Superman's body. 
However, he was lying in the casket looking... almost as if he was 
sleeping. They had a Superman suit on him and his cape had been 
positioned with great care around his body. They had added makeup to 
give him more color. If he hadn't been so incredibly still, the women 
might have been tempted to shake him to wake him up.

"We've got company," Clark yelled from the front room.

Lois grabbed Martha. "We've got company," she whispered and the two 
women dashed for a nearby closet. They scampered into the close 
confines and had just gotten the door closed when a light came on in 
the room.

"Are you sure he's here, sir?" asked a deep distinguished sounding 
voice with an English accent.

In the closet, Lois had to stifle a gasp when she heard a second man 
say, "Yes, Nigel. Inspector Henderson left a message for my wife to 
that effect."

"What is it?" Martha whispered in her ear.

"Lex," she responded. She lowered herself to her knees to look 
through the slats in the closet door. It confirmed what she already 
knew. Nigel St. John and Lex Luthor were here.

"I just wanted to see his body once, Nigel. I have a couple more 
things I want to say to him - when we last spoke I was getting ready 
for my wedding, so there wasn't much time. Where is he?"

Both men looked around the room before Nigel said, "He's over here, sir."

"Ahh..." said Lex, a note of supreme satisfaction in his voice. "You 
don't look quite so smug now, do you?" he said to the lifeless body. 
"I won! You were a worthy advocate, but I won! I married the woman 
you loved and look at you. She's mine and you went into eternity 
knowing that. Now..." A smug look crossed Luthor's face. "...I intend 
to find out who you really were. You see, I know you were raised on 
Earth. When I find out who was responsible for that, I will make sure 
they regret ever knowing you." Luthor chuckled. "So you see, the game 
goes on."

Lois felt Martha's hand tighten on her shoulder at the words.

"And tonight," continued Luthor. "...while you lie here, eternally 
helpless, I will once again go home and claim my prize - Lois Lane. 
And I will think of you the entire time."

Lois was just about to swing open the door and confront Luthor right 
then and there when she heard another voice.

"You won't get away with this, Luthor. I'll bring you down if it's 
the last thing I ever do," Clark spat.

Lois suddenly stopped and looked out through the slats again. After 
Clark's promise, Luthor pulled his jacket further around his 
shoulders and looked suspiciously around the room.

"What is it?" Martha asked into her ear.

"Clark. He's not taking this too well."

"Can Luthor hear him?"

"No, but he sure senses something."

"This place gives me the creeps, Nigel," said Luthor, involuntarily 
shivering. "Let's get out of here."

"Very good, sir," Nigel responded, before both men made their way to the door.

It was a few moments later before Clark's voice said, "It's safe to come out."

"Lois, I'm so sorry about..." Clark began as the women emerged from the closet.

"Let's just get this done," Lois snapped, her voice tight.

Clark took a deep breath and went back to watching for any other 
unexpected visitors.

It was quite a task getting Superman's casket onto what is known in 
funeral homes as a church truck. From there it was just a matter of 
pushing the church truck down the hall to the back door. Clark 
checked outside and, once he was satisfied it was safe, told Lois. 
Lois opened the back door briefly and waved in Jonathan's direction. 
He backed up to the back door and the three of them loaded the casket 
into the covered truck. It was only moments more before the truck 
disappeared carrying three passengers, one ghost and one dead body.

"What happened?" Jonathan asked. "When I saw those two men enter, I 
thought..." His voice trailed off at a look from his wife. "What?" he 
asked in confusion.

"Later," Martha said quietly. Lois just stared blankly out the 
window. They drove along in silence for a few minutes before Clark 
spoke.

"I wonder if it's possible for me to get back in my body," Clark mused.

Lois looked at him in shock. Of course. Why hadn't she thought of 
that? "Find a deserted place and pull over," she said to Jonathan.

"What is it, honey?" Martha asked.

"Clark just wondered if he could get back in his body."

There was a new air of excitement in the truck as Martha and Lois 
offered Jonathan advice on where to go. Clark tried to offer his 
opinion. However, since Lois was the only one who could hear him and 
she was too busy giving her own advice, he didn't get any recognition.

Finally, Jonathan pulled into a parking lot at Central Park. There 
was a dark corner at the far end. There were a few cars but, given 
the late hour, there were no people around. Three people got out of 
the truck and went around to the back. One ghost simply walked 
through the barrier separating the front and back of the truck. 
Jonathan was the one to open the casket.

"Any suggestions?" Clark asked.

"Clark wants to know if there are any suggestions," Lois informed the 
other two.

The other two occupants of the truck just shrugged their shoulders.

"Okay. Well, here it goes," said Clark walking up to the casket. He 
took a deep breath as he looked down at his lifeless body. He 
wondered briefly if there was any point to this since the embalming 
process had obviously already taken place. Still, it couldn't hurt to 
try. He climbed over the side of the casket. Only Lois could see as 
he lowered himself so that he was lying inside his own body. As he 
did, Lois explained to Martha and Jonathan what he was doing. All 
three held their breaths, beseeching the deities, as they waited.

"It's not working," Clark finally announced, sitting up while his 
body remained lifeless.

"Try again, Clark," Lois urged.

Martha reached over and took Jonathan's hand. Lois' comment informed 
them that this wasn't working.

Clark lay down again and tried to feel his body, willing it to move. 
He closed his eyes for a moment, forcing himself to concentrate on 
moving just a finger. Nothing. He tried again. Still nothing. 
Finally, he sat up, letting out a frustrated breath.

"This isn't working, is it?" asked Jonathan. Lois shook her head as 
she watched Clark's ghost climb out of the casket. It was a 
completely deflated group that got back in the front of the truck.

They arrived shortly at the car they had rented earlier. It was 
decided that Martha and Jonathan would take the truck while Lois took 
the car back to her apartment. She would return it in the morning. 
Clark accompanied Lois to the car as Martha and Jonathan drove off.

* * * * * * * * *

Luthor carefully pushed open the grungy door to enter the bar. He 
sniffed in disgust at the crowded, smoke infested establishment 
filled with members of the working class. He looked briefly around at 
the half drunk, wildly flirtatious crowd. This was no environment for 
his wife. He was determined to put a stop to her... He looked around 
again. There was no sign of his wife.

He took a moment to remove a twenty dollar bill and a picture from 
his billfold before walking up to the bar.

"Have you seen this woman?" Luthor asked the bartender.

The bartender looked at the picture and let out a low whistle. He 
then glanced back at the man requesting information from him.

"I'm near the end of a double shift. It's hard to remember who's been 
here," replied the bartender.

Luthor held his temper at the man's behavior when he looked at Lois' 
picture. Instead, he showed the bartender the twenty in his hand. 
"Maybe this will refresh your memory," said Luthor. The bartender 
went to reach for it, but Luthor pulled it back, deliberately holding 
it just out of the man's reach.

"Yeah, all right," started the bartender. "She was here earlier, but 
I don't think she stayed long." After he finished, he reached again 
for the bill in Luthor's hand. Luthor immediately backed up, putting 
the bill back in his pocket.

"Let this be a lesson to you. Always..." He emphasized the word. 
"...get the money up front. And never..." Again he emphasized the 
word. "...drool over my wife."

With that Luthor stormed out of the bar, cursing the surveillance 
team for its incompetence.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois was obviously not in the mood to talk, but Clark tried anyway. 
He was cut off abruptly by Lois in the closest thing to anger she had 
directed at him since his death. Knowing that pursuing what had 
happened in the funeral home would be counterproductive at this time, 
he backed off, directing his attention instead to the road. As he 
recognized familiar sights, it suddenly occurred to him that she 
wasn't heading for her apartment.

"Where are you going?" he finally asked.

"To the police station," she said, as if that fact should be perfectly obvious.

"What? Why?"

"Lex killed you. I'm telling Henderson what we heard."

"What?" Clark exclaimed. "You can't do that."

"Why not?" Lois demanded.

"Lois, Luthor never actually admitted to killing me."

Lois thought back to what she had overheard. "He admitted that he 
spoke to you just before my wedding."

"But according to what you told me, Superman didn't die until a day 
after your wedding. Think about it, Lois. You're Luthor's alibi at 
the time of my death."

"But he could have had you incapacitated before my wedding. Martha 
said you disappeared the day before my wedding."

"I agree, he could have. But Mom can't come forward to tell Henderson 
when I disappeared without revealing who I am. We don't have enough 
to go to Henderson. Besides, have you thought about how you'd explain 
being at the funeral home, especially when Superman's body turns up 
missing?"

Lois pulled the car over to the side of the road. She hated to admit 
it, but Clark was making perfect sense. And when she thought back 
over the conversation Lex had had with Superman's body, Clark was 
right. She was now convinced that Luthor was responsible for Clark's 
death, but Lex hadn't said anything that could be construed as an 
admission of guilt. In fact, he had said that the last time he had 
spoken to Superman was before his wedding. And since Clark hadn't 
died until the day after... She brushed away a tear that had 
inadvertently slipped down her cheek.

Without saying a word, Lois suddenly pulled the car back onto the 
road making a death defying u-turn and heading toward her apartment, 
leaving tire tread on the road behind her.

* * * * * * * * *

Martha and Jonathan pulled the truck onto the side of the street a 
short distance from Clark's apartment. They looked around and decided 
it should be safe here. Before returning to Clark's, they went in the 
back of the truck to spend some time alone with Clark - or at least 
his body.

When they reemerged, they were visibly shaken. When they were with 
Lois, it was easy to believe that Clark was still here, but that 
wasn't so easy when sitting beside his lifeless body. They managed to 
collect themselves, being careful to ensure the truck was securely 
locked.

They wanted to stay for Superman's funeral - or, as may be the case 
now, his memorial service. They would take Clark home for burial 
then. There was not a lot of energy in their steps as they made their 
way back to Clark's apartment.

Once there, Jonathan held his wife in his arms until she sobbed 
herself to sleep.

* * * * * * * * *

Luthor pulled out his cell phone and called the penthouse. Mrs. Cox answered.

"Is my wife there?" he asked immediately.

"No, I'm afraid she's not," the woman answered.

"Has she called in?"

"No."

Luthor didn't even bother to say good-bye as he hung up the phone. He 
immediately dialed another number - Lois' apartment. There was no 
answer.

"Take me to Lois' apartment," Luthor demanded of Nigel.

"Very good, sir," replied Nigel, pulling the limo out onto the street.

* * * * * * * * *

Bill Church had some doubts about this. He and Lex Luthor had a tacit 
understanding that neither was to tread on the other's turf, but if 
this was for real, it would be worth risking Lex Luthor's wrath. 
Intergang, under Church's leadership, would definitely become the 
dominant force for evil in the world - provided that he could come to 
an understanding with Dr. Monro.

There was also the danger that Luthor would use his super race to 
destroy Intergang. It was for that reason that Church broke his 
understanding with Luthor to visit Metropolis.

Church's car pulled up in front of a modest house in a respectable 
neighborhood and, together with two bodyguards, made his way to the 
house and rang the bell.

It was only a few moments before a ruffled man with unruly white hair 
answered the door.

"Dr. Monro, I presume," Church said.

"Yes," Simon Monro said cautiously.

"I understand that you're working on something that might be worth a 
lot of money to me."

Monro's eyes narrowed. "How much money?" he asked.

"How does ten million dollars strike you?" Church asked.

Monro smiled. "Won't you come in?" he asked, stepping aside to allow 
the men outside his door to enter.

* * * * * * * * *

Lois and Clark entered her apartment in silence. Neither had said 
much since their conversation in the car earlier. Both were lost in 
their thoughts of what Luthor had said at the funeral home.

Lois now knew that, whatever genuine feelings Lex might have for her, 
his primary motivation in marrying her was that he, unlike her, had 
realized how Superman felt about her. She could hardly believe that 
she'd been suckered into it. However, she also knew that, as much as 
she might hate it, she could not let him know what she knew. After 
all, her marriage to Lex gave her access to places others were not 
allowed. She was determined that if he had married her in order to 
get revenge on Superman, she would turn the marriage around so that 
she used it to get revenge for Superman.

Besides, if Lex suspected that she knew he had killed Superman, her 
life would be in real danger. After all, if he had found a way to 
kill Superman, what chance did she have against him? She briefly 
considered the possibility of leaving him, but quickly rejected that. 
After everything he had done to get her to marry him, she doubted 
that he would let her go easily. And given how famous her face had 
become and the connections and resources Lex had at his disposal, she 
figured her chances of hiding from him were not good. If Clark were 
still alive, maybe she would consider leaving Lex, but now... She 
knew Clark would still do everything he could to protect her, but how 
much could he really do from beyond the grave. No, the only way to 
free herself of Lex was to bring him down. That meant staying with 
him until she could.

Lois knew what that might mean - intimacy with Lex. After all, they 
had only been married a few days. She had begged off sex last night 
by claiming that she was too upset about Superman, but after 
overhearing his comments today, she doubted that excuse would work 
again. She had an idea about how to avoid it tonight. She hoped that 
it would work, but even if it didn't she didn't see any other way 
around it. She glanced over at Clark. She also knew that she couldn't 
tell him any of this, but his silence told her, as much as any words 
could, that he was thinking similar thoughts.

Clark kept replaying Luthor's words at the funeral home in his mind. 
The situation Lois was in now was entirely his fault. If he'd been 
more careful not to show his feelings for Lois when in the Superman 
suit, maybe she would have been spared all of this. Clark was being 
particularly tormented about an incident when he had pretended to be 
under the influence of the pheromone compound. He had seen it as the 
perfect opportunity to tell Lois how he felt about her without any 
repercussions. But Luthor had been there. Luthor had heard Superman 
tell Lois that he loved her and had watched Lois melt when she kissed 
Superman in response. At the time, Clark had seen Luthor's presence 
there as a bonus - an opportunity for the man to see where Lois' true 
feelings lay. Now... He rebuked himself for being so careless.

Clark couldn't stand the thought of Lois going back to the penthouse 
again. He just wasn't sure how to broach the topic, but he had to try.

"Umm... Lois, I know you don't want to talk about this, but..."

"It's none of your business, Clark," Lois responded as briskly as she could.

"It's my fault you're in this position. If I'd been more careful 
about my feelings for you when I was in the suit..."

"Have you ever considered that I wanted to marry Lex? Maybe I don't 
particularly care why he married me, just that he did. After all, Lex 
is handsome, rich, powerful and successful. Before our marriage, he 
was considered Metropolis' most eligible bachelor. What woman 
wouldn't want to be his wife?"

Clark let out a sharp breath. He felt as if he'd just been punched in 
the gut. "You don't mean that."

Lois knew what she was doing to Clark - and she hated it - but the 
alternative was to let him know how much she hated the idea of going 
back to Lex's tonight. If she did that, although there was no way he 
could prevent it, she also knew that he would never let her go alone. 
And, if she was right that Lex wouldn't take no for an answer 
tonight, she didn't want Clark there. It would destroy her if he was 
forced to witness her with Lex.

"Don't I?" she responded, folding her arms across her chest and 
raising an eyebrow.

"You can't stay with him, Lois," Clark tried again. "Please, you 
heard what he said tonight. I'm terrified of what he'll do to you if 
you go home."

"What goes on between Lex and me is none of your business. I'm his 
wife." She forced herself to not react to the obvious pain she was 
causing him.

"That's what my dad said too, but that was before we overheard him 
tonight. You can't..."

"Can't? Lex Towers is my home now. Lex is my husband. You don't have 
any right telling me what to do with regard to my husband. If you 
keep this up, you'll find yourself figuring out who killed you 
without my help."

Clark drew in a sharp breath. He couldn't stand the thought of Lois 
with Luthor under the best of circumstances. Under these 
circumstances, it was almost unbearable, but she had obviously made 
her choice. And she was right. He had no right to assume that he 
could talk to her about her relationship with her husband. It was 
just so hard when her husband was the monster Clark knew Luthor to 
be. He clenched his hands by his sides.

Lois noticed the gesture and decided that she could make one 
concession to her comments. "I'll be careful, Clark," she said 
softly. "And thanks for caring."

"But Lois..."

His final warning was cut off as her fingers found his lips. "Don't, 
Clark," she said softly.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Clark quickly made his way 
over to the wall beside the hall and stepped through. He was back 
inside almost immediately.

"It's Luthor," he informed her, trying to keep the panic he felt for 
her out of his voice.

Lois immediately sprung into action. She went to the cupboard and 
pulled out a bottle of vodka and a shot glass. She opened the bottle, 
and poured half it down the sink before rinsing the shot glass in it. 
She spilt a bit on the kitchen table and then wetting her hands with 
it, applied it to her neck as if she were a man putting on after 
shave. As her last act, she rinsed her mouth with vodka, spitting it 
into the sink. With that, she made her way to the door just as the 
knock was repeated.

"What?" slurred Lois as she reached the door. She fumbled with the 
locks before opening it to reveal Luthor. As she opened it, she 
stumbled back into the room, causing Luthor to step forward and 
steady her. She deliberately fell against him, allowing him to get a 
good whiff of her new perfume.

"Hi, honey," she slurred.

"Oh God, Lois, you're drunk," Luthor said in disgust.

"I am not," Lois objected, scrambling against him to regain her 
footing. Once she had, she swayed backwards, once again losing her 
balance. She landed on her butt on the floor.

Clark couldn't help but admire the performance. She made quite a 
convincing drunk. He sobered as he realized that, considering that 
her mother had a problem with alcohol, she had probably learned this 
act growing up.

"We're going home," Lex informed her.

"Home," slurred Lois, before lying back on the carpet and closing her eyes.

Luthor tried to get her to walk, but she mostly refused. He half 
dragged, half carried her out the door of her apartment. As he went 
to close it, he looked back inside. He felt that same disturbing 
feeling he'd had in the funeral home earlier.

When he finally got her outside, he was approached by Nigel. Lois 
took note that the paparazzi who had been here earlier were no longer 
around. But then she had not been at home when darkness fell. When 
her lights failed to come on, they must have decided she wasn't here.

Nigel helped get Lois into the car. Once that was accomplished, 
Luthor fished through Lois' purse while speaking to Nigel in front of 
the open door.

"Check out her apartment. I swear I could feel another person there. 
If it's Kent, you know what to do," Luthor said, handing Nigel a set 
of keys that he had dug out of Lois' purse.

"Yes, sir," said Nigel. He instructed one of the two men who had made 
up the surveillance team outside the bar earlier to drive the limo to 
Lex Towers before taking the other and heading back inside Lois' 
building.

Lois listened to all this from her 'drunken stupor.' If Clark had 
been alive, it would have been hard to maintain her act after hearing 
that. Although it wasn't a direct threat, the way the words were said 
left Lois with no doubt about their meaning. Even knowing there was 
nothing Lex could do to Clark, it was hard not to react, but her only 
hope of avoiding sex with Lex tonight was by being so repulsive that 
he wouldn't want her, so she continued to play the role. Besides, the 
fact that he was talking so openly in front of her told her that he 
was not questioning her performance.

* * * * * * * * *
"So tell me exactly how this cloning process works, Doctor," Bill Church said.

"First, you grow the cells to be cloned until you have a good supply. 
This normally takes some time but with Superman's physiology the 
process has been remarkably fast. I already have enough that I could 
do this process tomorrow. It is magnificent almost being able to see 
the cells multiply before your very eyes. I found..."

"Doctor!" Church interrupted.

"Right. Well next you have to transfer to the cells to a minimal 
media. That allows the cells to live, but stops them from dividing 
and causes them to enter quiescence. Once again, the cells have 
already entered the necessary state. Then when the cultured cells are 
in a quiescent state, you take an unfertilized human egg and remove 
the nucleus. This can be tricky because you have to minimize damage 
done to the egg. Once the nucleus has been removed, you take one of 
the quiescent cells in its entirety and implant it inside the coat 
around the egg. Finally you electroshock the egg. That fuses the two 
cells. Once that's done, the egg is implanted in the human mother 
where she will carry it to term."

"So how certain is this process?"

"Well, a lot of the cloned embryos will not survive because of 
cellular damage and other mishaps. So you have to do a lot of them 
and expect that most won't survive."

"Okay, I'm interested," said Church, the doctor's frankness 
convincing him that what the doctor had was genuine. "There is one 
condition, however. I get everything."

"You mean that you want me to betray Lex Luthor complete