As always, there are many people I want to thank for their help, in a variety of 
ways, in the completion of this story. Everyone who read and commented on 
Zoomway's Message Boards, or who sent me comments privately or on IRC: your 
encouragement, suggestions, nagging, agonised screams, begging for new posts and 
general enthusiasm are very, very much appreciated. Several people, over the 
couple of months I was writing this story, gave me excellent suggestions which I 
couldn't resist using: ShayneT, Sheila, Sherry, amac, Tank and others, your 
ideas were excellent and thank you for the inspiration. Elena, thank you so much 
for the wonderful suggestions for Italian meals, and for the tiramisu story, 
which was just perfect! Anne, Erin, Helene and Jenni, who nagged me to let them 
see sections in advance and then `rewarded' me with lots of encouragement, ideas 
and support, you were a great help too. Many thanks to you! And to Laurie, my GE 
for the Archive, who had to edit this monster of a fic and did so in record 
time, you have my sincere gratitude too. :)

Even more important, I want to thank my beta-readers for their help with this 
story: Pam, Irene and Yvonne. As always, your assistance was invaluable. Each of 
you cheered and encouraged me throughout the writing of this (yet again!) very 
long story, you caught errors and inconsistencies, and each of you had some 
wonderful ideas which really helped to make this story better. Irene, I am 
especially indebted to you for several fantastic ideas, most of all the 
postscript to the story. Thank you! 

All rights in recognisable characters in this story belong to DC Comics and 
Warner Brothers; no breach of copyright is intended by their use in this work of 
fiction. Don't sue; I can't afford it! <g>

------------
Story: Green Card
Author: Wendy Richards <wendy@lcfanfic.com>
Rated: PG-13
Submitted: June 2001 
-----------


~~~ Green Card ~~~


Clark Kent picked up a copy of the Daily Planet at the newsstand in front of the 
Planet building, smiling to himself at the headline. "I'm from another planet, 
and I'm here to help: Superman speaks exclusively."

At last, he knew where he was from, even if he didn't know the full story and 
might never know more than he knew now. And he'd been able to put people's minds 
at rest about Superman. After Jason Trask, it had occurred to him that other 
people might well be worried about this strange being with such amazing powers. 
He wanted them to know that he meant no harm; only good.

In the newsroom, Lois was still receiving the congratulations of her colleagues 
for capturing the exclusive. Enjoying the irony of the situation, Clark crossed 
to Lois and offered her his hand. "Nice one, partner! How'd you pull that one 
off?"

She looked him up and down briefly, in retaliation for the 'partner', he knew. 
"Oh, when you have the kind of experience I have, you'll understand that these 
things can be pulled off if you approach them the right way. Though you do need 
the talent to begin with," she added, her tone doubtful.

Clark laughed. "You never know, Lois - one of these days I might just surprise 
you," he taunted gently before moving to sit at his desk and begin the day's 
work.

Things quietened down soon after that, and an hour or so later Clark was busy 
writing an article on the controversial siting of a new parking lot on the east 
side of the city. But then his attention was caught by his alter ego's name 
being mentioned. Glancing up, he discovered that Lois's article was being 
discussed on the LNN mid-morning news round-up. Smiling slightly again, he 
resumed working.

The new anchor's next remark made his head shoot up again; incredulous, he 
listened to the report.

"...and, in a surprise twist following Superman's confirmation that he is indeed 
from another planet, the Department of Immigration and Naturalisation has just 
announced that it has obtained a warrant for Superman's detainment, on the 
grounds that, as an alien, he has no official permission to reside in the United 
States. Superman is requested to report to his nearest INS office as soon as 
possible so that his application for permanent residence in the US may be 
processed."

Clark stared at the TV screen, his jaw slack. This was a twist he certainly 
hadn't expected: that his new alter ego would have immigration problems! How far 
would the INS take this? Would they issue a warrant for Superman's arrest if he 
didn't comply? Would they actually begin deportation proceedings?

It seemed that the newscaster had already thought of this; the broadcast 
continued, "One of our team at the press conference, Linda Montoya, asked the 
INS's spokesperson whether the INS was actually contemplating deporting 
Superman. Linda, what was the response?"

"Well, Steve, the INS press officer was very cagey, which I have to say doesn't 
look good for Superman. He did comment that it appeared that Superman arrived in 
the US without any valid visitor's visa, and also that it appears that America 
does not have any reciprocal visa arrangements with Krypton. That makes him an 
illegal alien, the INS claims. And Superman does not appear to have any visible 
means of support, which the INS would usually regard as damaging to a claim for 
permanent residence. So, personally, I'm not sure I rate Superman's chances very 
highly."

"Linda, this seems ridiculous. Do you mean that the government might have 
Superman deported? After all the good he's done over the past week? I mean, he 
saved the lives of everyone on the Prometheus transport ship!"

"I know, Steve, but where there's rules there's bureaucracy, it seems. All I can 
say is that Superman better get himself a good lawyer, and fast!"

Clark slumped in his chair, feeling depressed. Today had begun so well for him; 
he'd really enjoyed reading Lois's article in the Planet. She'd done a great job 
of turning his not-very-informative interview into a good story, using the 
'truth and justice' quote he'd said she could attribute to him to very good 
effect in order to portray him as a decent man who was dedicated to the cause of 
good. A true hero, she'd called him. Some of it had been a little embarrassing, 
he'd thought, but overall he'd been very pleased with the article. He'd even 
hoped that it might go some way towards assuring other potential Jason Trasks 
that he wasn't out to take over the Earth.

And now... now, Superman was being summoned to an interview with the INS and 
could be asked to leave the country.

It was no good telling himself that it was only Superman who was affected, and 
not Clark Kent. As Clark, he was in no danger; no-one apart from his parents 
knew that he was an alien, and they weren't about to tell anyone. As Clark he 
had all the correct documentation. As Superman, though, he had nothing.

He could, he supposed, pretend that Superman had a lair somewhere in the Arctic 
which was his place of residence, and that therefore there was no need for him 
to satisfy the US's immigration rules. But he wasn't sure that one would hold 
water. Superman spent too much time in the US, and in Metropolis in particular. 

Clark sighed heavily, an anxious feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. He 
had no idea what he was going to do about this. But he'd call his parents later. 
Maybe they'd be able to come up with something.


***********

"Are these people crazy? What are they talking about? They can't deport 
Superman. There'd be a national riot!"

Lois sprang out of her chair and began to pace the newsroom, gesticulating in 
disgust as the news broadcast continued. "I always knew the government employed 
idiots," she muttered scathingly. 

Were they really considering deporting Superman? Superman, the best thing by far 
to happen to Metropolis in a long time?

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Perry hovering in the doorway of his 
office, and she hurried over. "Perry? Did you see that?!" she demanded 
incredulously.

"Yep," he grunted briefly.

"Well, I hope the Planet's going to run an editorial saying they're all crazy! 
They can't deport Superman! What is the government thinking? The Planet needs to 
take  a lead on this, Perry - the government should be giving Superman honorary 
citizenship, not threatening to throw him out of the country, after all he's 
done - " 

"Now, hold on here a moment," Perry interrupted. "Lois, I know as well as you do 
that Superman's done a lot of good for this city. But the Planet can't just rush 
into some campaign here. For all we know, the INS might have a point. Superman 
hasn't been here all that long - do we know what his real agenda is? And anyway, 
if we start short-cutting the proper immigration and citizenship procedures for 
Superman, does that mean we do the same for everyone with enough power or money 
to impress people?" As Lois tried to protest, Perry laid a hand on her arm. 
"Look, I'm not saying he should be deported. But what's wrong with him at least 
making the effort to talk to the INS?"

"So they can decide that he doesn't fit their neat little pigeonholes, and deny 
him the right to stay in America?" Lois threw at the editor. "I can't go along 
with that, and if that's going to be the Planet editorial line I refuse to 
support it."

Not waiting for Perry's response, she stalked back to her desk, already 
beginning to plan a campaign for Superman which she could run without the 
resources and backing of the Planet. As she reached her desk, Clark Kent caught 
her gaze; unlike the other Planet staffers, he wasn't still caught in discussion 
of the INS's announcement. Instead, he was staring intently at his computer 
screen, busily clicking the mouse every few seconds.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

Kent's head turned sharply, revealing a startled expression. "Oh... ah... I was 
just... checking the INS's website. To see what Superman would have to do to 
apply for US citizenship."

"Oh! Uh... that's good. Good idea, Clark. Umm... let me know what you find out," 
she said, awkwardly. Irritating though he frequently was, Kent did seem to have 
some occasional good ideas, and this one would be useful in several ways. After 
all, if she was going to campaign for Superman to be allowed to stay in the 
country, she needed to know what she was up against.


***********

Relieved that Lois had accepted his excuse, Clark continued reading the INS 
website. So far, he hadn't learned anything to reassure him one bit. It didn't 
help that the standard term used for a non-US national was 'alien'; he'd been 
aware of this meaning of the word, but he couldn't help flinching every time he 
came across phrases such as 'the illegal alien' or 'expedited removal of the 
alien.'

So far as he could tell, Superman satisfied none of the eligibility criteria for 
permanent resident status. He was neither the offspring, the sibling or the 
spouse of a US citizen. Clark Kent was, of course, the son of US citizens, but 
Clark Kent was an American citizen. 

He had wondered whether Superman could apply for a green card based on 
employment, but that seemed something of a long shot. He wasn't actually 
employed by anyone to do what he did; no-one had actually asked him to become a 
Super-hero, and certainly no-one was paying him for it. Not that he wanted 
payment, but...

Clark could almost visualise the conversation with immigration officials...

"So, Mr Superman, you say that your occupation is 'Super-hero'. Are you arguing 
that this qualifies you as an alien with extraordinary ability?"

"Well... um, yes, I mean, I don't *think* there's anyone else who can do the 
things I can - "

"Sure. So, do you have any proof of the extraordinary ability you're claiming? 
We require evidence of certification, prizes awarded, national and international 
recognition, and so on. You *have* read form EB-1?"

"I can read it now, if you give me a copy..."

"But we should tell you that 'Super-hero' does not appear anywhere in our list 
of preferred or even recognised occupations, Mr Superman. So we should perhaps 
caution you that your application is unlikely to succeed. Do you have a 
sponsoring employer?"

"No..."

"And you've already been resident in the United States for at least two weeks? 
Where's your Arrival-Departure Record card? That would have been given to you at 
your entry point into the country."

"Uh... I can fly under my own power, you see, so I don't need to use airports," 
Superman protested.

"So you entered the country illegally, and intended to remain here illegally. 
I'm afraid that the United States Government cannot consider any application for 
permanent residence status from you, Mr Superman. We're going to have to place 
you under arrest..."

Arrest?

Clark shook himself mentally. He was going crazy. There was no way that anyone 
was going to try to arrest Superman. But the fact remained that the INS intended 
to inquire into Superman's status, and - short of confessing to his true 
identity - he couldn't see any way of getting Superman's position legitimised.

Though even confessing to the INS that Superman was really Clark Kent wouldn't 
solve his problems. Not only would it lay himself open to the kind of thing he'd 
been avoiding all his life - being treated as a specimen to be examined - but it 
would then put Clark Kent's citizenship in doubt, and his parents could be 
charged with harbouring an illegal alien. 

No, he needed to find another way around this. Clark checked his watch; just 
past noon. If he left now, people would just assume that he was taking a lunch-
break.

Less than five minutes later, he was airborne and on his way to Smallville.


**********

Just what was Kent up to? It almost seemed as if every time she wanted him for 
something, he'd disappeared. She needed to ask him what he'd found out from the 
INS website, but his desk was empty. Someone had seen him grab his jacket and 
head for the elevator ten minutes ago, which suggested he'd left the building.

Growling to herself, Lois cast a glance at Kent's computer. It was still 
displaying the INS website; on impulse, she sat at his desk and began reading. 

Half an hour later, she sat back and reassessed the situation. It looked very 
much as if Superman would have no case at all to be granted US citizenship, or 
even temporary residence, under existing rules. He wouldn't even qualify for 
exceptional leave to remain. There was only one way through which Superman could 
legitimately apply for citizenship, and she was sure that he'd see that option 
as a desperate measure, and not one he'd be willing to contemplate.

However, she couldn't see why no-one was demanding that he be awarded honorary 
citizenship - after all, he'd not only saved the lives of dozens of Americans 
already, but he'd also saved the space colonisation programme. For that alone, 
he more than deserved to be made a US citizen.

Perhaps it was time to call one or both of the New Troy senators; maybe the 
Mayor of Metropolis should be on her call list as well. And if President Garner 
remembered the support the Daily Planet had given him during his election 
campaign - even before he'd been chosen as his party's candidate - she might get 
to speak to him too, or his Chief of Staff. If she could show that there was 
enough support for Superman, something could be done.

So she needed to start generating public support for a campaign to give Superman 
honorary citizenship. It would be much easier if Perry had been sensible and 
allowed the Planet to lead such a campaign, but for some reason her boss had 
chosen this precise moment to break a habit of a lifetime and actually *support* 
bureaucracy and officialdom. Just what had got into her editor, Lois had no 
idea; Perry White had never been a man for sitting on the fence, as he'd seemed 
to be doing during their conversation. But she planned to do everything she 
could to try to change his mind. Superman deserved all the support he could get.

And, in case Perry had somehow forgotten, Lois intended to remind him of just 
how much the Planet owed to Superman. The man had already saved the lives of two 
of the newspaper's reporters - in her case, twice - and thanks to Lois's 
exclusive interview last night, and the fact that the Planet had been the one to 
break the story of Superman's existence in the first place, sales were well up.

The Planet owed Superman a lot, and it was time they began to repay that debt.


***********

"Well, what do you guys think I should do about it? Just ignore them? Or show up 
and let them interview me?" 

For the last half-hour, Clark had been pacing about the kitchen of his parents' 
house in Smallville as they talked about the INS announcement and he filled them 
in on what he'd found out so far. He was feeling a little happier because of his 
parents' instant support and sympathy for his predicament, but was conscious 
that they still needed to work out what he needed to do.

"Well, what are your options?" Jonathan asked slowly. "If Superman turns up, and 
tells them that he wants to apply for permanent residence or US citizenship, 
what then? I mean, surely the government wants Superman here?"

"I would have thought so, Dad, but this announcement kind of threw me. And 
there's been nothing since. I half-expected the President, or Congress, or 
*someone* to say that Superman was going to be offered honorary citizenship, so 
he didn't have to respond to the INS after all. But that hasn't happened. I 
don't know - maybe the President is too caught up in trying to get his budget 
past Congress to take an interest in this. Or maybe he wouldn't be interested 
anyway. And that tells me that the INS isn't going to make any exceptions for 
Superman."

"And, from what you say, Superman doesn't qualify under any of the criteria," 
Martha added. "Wait a minute... couldn't you claim asylum? Tell them you're a 
refugee from Krypton?"

For a moment, Clark thought his mother might be on to something. But then he 
remembered having skimmed the section on asylum seeking on the INS's website. 
Shaking his head, he explained, "It seems that in order to claim asylum you have 
to be from a country which the US has declared is a country with political 
refugees. Or humanitarian refugees, I guess. Anyway, I don't think Krypton 
counts - not only do I not know where it is or whether it still even exists or 
why I was sent here from there, but no-one's ever heard of it!"

"That shouldn't make you any less a refugee," Martha insisted. "Should it? I 
mean, for all we know you could have been sent here because there was a civil 
war or something on Krypton, or maybe your family was being persecuted... who 
knows?"

"Who knows indeed," Clark echoed. "But the problem is that I can't prove any of 
that. And since I don't know if it's true, I'm not even sure I could argue it 
convincingly."

"So it looks like there's no legal way for Superman to stay in America," his 
father summed up.

"No. Which is why I don't know what to do," Clark confessed.

Jonathan frowned. "What happens if you don't turn up?"

"I don't know. But I guess, if they're following procedure, they'll issue a 
warrant for Superman's arrest and instigate deportation proceedings," Clark 
answered, sounding depressed.

Jonathan shrugged, puzzled. "But where would they expect you to go? I mean, we 
know you're from Krypton, but how are they going to get you there?"

Clark shrugged. "If it even still exists - which I have absolutely no idea 
about. But I doubt they'd consider that their problem. As long as I'm no longer 
on US soil, who cares?"

But Martha frowned at that. "This is silly, Clark. How could they deport 
Superman?"

"I don't think they could, but that's not the point," Clark said glumly. "Think 
about it - suddenly Superman's breaking the law, an illegal alien in every sense 
of the word. How could I go on helping people under those circumstances?"

"Sounds like you need a lobbying campaign on your behalf," Martha suggested. 
"Would the Daily Planet help? Or how about going to see someone influential, as 
Superman - I don't know, the mayor, or Lex Luthor even?"

Clark shuddered at the thought of having to ask Lex Luthor for anything. "Mom, I 
guess I didn't tell you two that I think Luthor was behind those 'tests' a week 
ago. I think he'd be glad to see Superman run out of town - and, frankly, I 
wouldn't want to be beholden to Luthor for anything." 

He paced around the kitchen again. "Sure, I could go and see the mayor, or even 
go to Washington, but how do I know that would do any good? I don't get the hint 
that anyone actually wants Superman to stay." He grimaced. "I even overheard 
Perry White telling Lois that Superman didn't deserve special treatment."

His parents gave him sympathetic looks. "That's a pity," Jonathan drawled 
slowly. "I thought Perry White was a decent guy."

"He is," Clark agreed. "Which is why he said it, I think. Superman hasn't really 
been around long enough to prove his loyalty, I guess, and I think Perry's 
attitude is, why should rules be broken for him and not anyone else? Look at 
that recent scandal in England when a newspaper alleged that a government 
minister pulled strings to get a couple of wealthy friends British passports!"

"But could you continue to be Superman if you pretended that he lived somewhere 
else?" Martha asked.

"I thought of that. But it's too obvious that Superman's base is Metropolis - he 
responds to lots of local incidents there, and I've only once gone outside 
Metropolis to help at a major emergency," Clark answered, aware that he'd got 
his pronouns mixed up. It wasn't easy to talk about himself as two separate 
people. 

"Well, I guess you might just have to sit tight and see what happens next," 
Jonathan counselled. "But it would be a real pity if you had to give up Superman 
just because some bureaucrats were more interested in the paperwork than the 
good you can do."


**********

That evening at home, Lois began to draft a letter to send to a number of 
Metropolis's most influential citizens asking for their support for Superman. In 
the background, LNN was on, but she wasn't particularly paying attention, until 
a mention of the INS made her look up from her work.

"...and the latest news on the Superman-as-illegal-alien story is that the INS 
has just announced that it is applying for a warrant for the Super-hero's 
arrest," the newscaster announced. "In a statement fifteen minutes ago, the INS 
said that since Superman has not presented himself for interview, or made any 
attempt to get in contact, either himself or via a representative, the INS now 
has no option but to begin deportation proceedings."

Lois stared at the TV screen in disbelief. Despite her earlier concern, she'd 
never really believed that the INS would go so far as to deport Superman - or 
would be allowed to go that far. And yet it was actually happening. Once they 
had the warrant - which wouldn't take long, it seemed - Superman would be under 
threat of arrest and forcible deportation. That meant that any time he turned up 
to rescue someone or helped at an emergency, any officer of the state present 
would be under an obligation to arrest him. 

But why was the INS doing this at all? Okay, according to the letter of the law 
Superman was indeed an illegal alien, and Lois supposed that if anyone else 
other than Superman had been involved she'd be supporting the INS 
wholeheartedly. But the fact remained that this was Superman and, illegal 
entrant or not, he had already saved dozens of lives - American citizens' lives. 
And he'd also saved the space colonisation programme. So why try to get rid of 
him? Why was the INS targeting him?

It would have made perfect sense if they'd just turned a blind eye. After all, 
there was no general outcry regarding Superman's presence in the US; if 
anything, he'd been welcomed with open arms. There would have been considerable 
support, not only for ignoring the illegality of his status, but also for 
awarding him honorary citizenship. Lois strongly suspected that there was 
something going on behind the scenes here. 

There had to be a hidden agenda here. This reeked of someone with some degree of 
leverage over Immigration and Naturalisation, someone who had a reason to want 
Superman out of the way. Not that she had any idea who it could be, but that had 
never stopped Lois Lane getting her man - or woman - before now. She could - she 
*would* - check out that possibility. But that would take too long, as would her 
plan of getting public support to help Superman.

The campaign she'd been carefully planning would be useless. Superman needed 
something which would help him *now*, not in a couple of days when she'd managed 
to get enough people on her side. 

He needed an urgent solution, otherwise he'd be persona non grata and could find 
himself ostracised - unless the INS got mobbed instead. And so far there seemed 
little chance of that. To Lois's amazement, very few people seemed to share her 
horror at the thought of Superman being treated as an illegal alien. So much for 
the national outcry she'd anticipated.

Oh, there was a small protest group camped outside the INS's Metropolis office 
waving placards demanding that the government leave Superman alone. But that 
seemed to be the extent of it, and LNN certainly hadn't given them any real 
publicity; their presence seemed to be mentioned as a mere afterthought, 
commented on in a tone of voice which suggested that it was to be expected  that 
these crazies would come crawling out of the woodwork at times like this. Lois 
had itched to get down there and join them, and thus force the Planet to cover 
it, but she'd realised quickly that more direct action was needed.

No, this situation called for more desperate measures. Taking a deep breath, she 
crossed the room to one of the big casement windows, flung it open, and yelled, 
"Help, Superman!"

Within seconds, the sound of rushing wind became audible, and shortly afterwards 
Superman was hovering outside her window. He gave her a puzzled look. "Ms Lane? 
Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"No, but you are," she told him. "I wanted to talk to you about this INS thing. 
Will you come in?"

Superman frowned. "Talk to me...? You mean you want an interview?" He sounded 
irritated. 

"No!" Lois insisted immediately; then she thought better of her denial. "Well... 
I mean, if you'd like to give one, I'm sure it could only help you. But that's 
not why I wanted to talk to you. Have you heard about the latest statement from 
the INS?"

Superman sighed, then climbed in through her window. "There's been another since 
this morning? I've been out - there was a fire across town..."

Lois eyed him sympathetically. "They've applied for a warrant for your arrest, 
and they want to start deportation proceedings," she answered, pulling a 
disgusted face. 

Superman appeared to falter at the mention of 'deportation'. Blinking, he looked 
away. "Thanks for warning me, Ms Lane," he said abruptly, and turned back to the 
window.

"Superman, wait!" Lois called immediately. "I had some ideas... I wondered if 
you wanted some help...?"

"Help?" He turned around slowly. "Ms Lane - "

"Please, Superman, call me Lois," she interrupted him. "You make me sound like 
my mother!"

And she most *definitely* did not feel like anyone's mother! Watching him 
surreptitiously as he approached, she allowed her gaze to trail briefly over the 
rippling muscles and lean physique encased in the *very* tight Spandex. Not for 
too long, in case he noticed... but she could never think of this man in any 
kind of a *blood* relationship! The only relationship she wanted with Superman 
was one which entailed close contact, lots of touching - and kissing - and 
whispered words of love and desire. She could imagine them flying through the 
air together, limbs entwined, hands and lips clasped...

She shook herself quickly; daydreaming about Superman was a wonderful pastime, 
but not one for which she had any time right now! 

Looking at him just in time to see him smile slightly at her words, she heard 
him say, "Lois, then. I appreciate your concern, but I'm not sure how you could 
help." 

Oh, her name sounded very sexy on his lips... "Well, I was planning a campaign," 
she explained, pushing her fantasies aside. "I was going to write to every 
influential person I know, in this state and beyond, to put pressure on the 
government to grant you honorary citizenship. I think it would have worked, 
too."

"Would have?" Superman queried. 

"The INS escalated things a lot faster than I was expecting," Lois explained. "I 
needed several days to get momentum going on a campaign. I don't think we have 
time for that now."

Superman nodded, his expression despondent. "Lois, I appreciate what you tried 
to do. Thank you. Now, I'd better - "

She interrupted him again. "You know, it occurred to me that this could be 
deliberate - someone could be putting pressure on the INS because they want to 
get rid of you. Do you know someone who might have that kind of power, and who 
might dislike you enough to want you out of the way?"

This time Superman grimaced wryly. "Lois, I could imagine that most of the 
criminals in the country might want me out of the way. And, yes, some of them 
might well have that kind of influence. But if you're asking me whether I can 
think of anyone specific... well, I think the answer's no."

"You think? You mean you're not sure?" Lois returned instantly. "Who?"

But Superman shook his head. "I really can't say, Lois. I could be making a wild 
guess, simply because the person I'm thinking of has made it clear to me that he 
considers me a nuisance - and he's powerful enough to have plenty of officials 
and politicians in his pay if he wants. But he's also too careful to risk owing 
anyone favours, or letting too many people know what he's up to. So I doubt it 
could be him."

"I suppose it could just as easily be some crazy senator who only associates 
aliens with invasions," Lois muttered sarcastically. "Trask can't be the only 
conspiracy theorist around."

Superman nodded. "Possibly. Anyway, I'd better get going - "

"What are you going to do? Have you a plan?" Lois asked quickly, before he could 
leave.

He grimaced, sighing. "No. This... isn't something I expected, and I haven't 
been able to decide what to do yet. I did think about going to be interviewed, 
but the overall tone of the INS's announcements seemed pretty hostile - I wasn't 
sure what kind of reception I'd get."

"Not good, is my guess." Lois sighed too, pulling a face. "I really don't 
understand why they're being allowed to do this, Superman! After all the good 
you've done here, all the lives you saved, the way you saved the Space Programme 
- how could the government just stand by and let those darned paper-chasers in 
the INS order you out of the country like some undesirable!" Gritting her teeth 
before she could really lose her temper, she stared unseeingly down at her feet.

"Lois." She felt a hand on her arm then, and looked up to see Superman standing 
close to her, looking resigned. "Lois, I can understand it. I did 'out' myself 
as an alien, after all, remember? You wrote the story yourself."

"Yes, but what does that matter? You being from another planet, I mean?" Lois 
objected. "The whole point is, you do so much good, and for them to treat you 
like this - it's an insult!"

"Maybe, from one perspective," Superman argued quietly. "But from another - 
Lois, the rules are pretty clear, and I violated them. I'm an alien, and I'm 
obviously living in the United States illegally. And when so many people are 
deported or refused entry every week, it's not surprising that they had to 
investigate the country's most famous - or infamous - illegal, is it?"

"Don't tell me you feel sorry for them!" Lois exclaimed, staring at the Super-
hero.

He shook his head. "Of course not. But they are just doing their jobs. All of 
which... leaves me with a problem, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do about 
it." He paused, and sighed again. "I... um, this *is* off the record, isn't it?" 
he asked quickly, giving her a piercing stare.

"If you want it to be, sure," Lois assured him. "I wanted to talk to you as a 
friend, not as a reporter. Although, you know, I think in PR terms it might do 
you good to issue some sort of a statement - you know, to make it clear that you 
don't consider yourself above the law and that you are taking the INS's request 
seriously. Not that *I* think you should take it seriously, but I know how it'll 
look if you don't."

Superman seemed to consider that for a moment or two, then nodded. "You may be 
right. Let me think about it." He paced a little in the confined space of Lois's 
living-room, his cape billowing behind him; she began to feel some concern for 
her ornaments, but - unusually for such a large man - he seemed to be able to 
control his movements to the inch. Then, turning back to her, he added, "I had 
this idea of building a lair - an igloo, maybe - somewhere north of Alaska, in 
the Arctic Circle, and declaring that my home. That way, any time I was in 
Metropolis I'd only be visiting. Though I guess even then I'd still have to have 
a visitor's visa..."

That was crazy! She couldn't let him do that! "Superman, that would never work! 
Okay, I know you're fast, but would you actually hear people calling for help 
from that far away?" The other disadvantage, she knew, was that if he based 
himself thousands of miles away, why should he choose to favour Metropolis with 
his presence? Other cities would be closer to the Arctic - even other countries. 
What if Canada or Greenland or the Nordic countries made him a better offer? 
Then she'd never see him again.

That thought depressed her profoundly.

But he was shaking his head. "You're right, I couldn't. The only way I could 
make that work would be by pretending to live up there - and then the INS people 
would ask the same question as you just did. How could I get to Metropolis so 
quickly every time..." He trailed off, running one hand through his slicked-back 
hair, and Lois noticed, for an instant, an uncertain look in his eyes before he 
turned away.

That gave her the courage to make her own suggestion. "Superman, I've given this 
a lot of thought, and there is another way around it, you know."

His head turned, and he gave her a hopeful look. "What other way?"

She inhaled deeply. "Superman, if you marry a US citizen, then you could stay. 
Okay, the INS would have to be satisfied that it's not just a marriage of 
convenience, and they make you wait two years to get your green card, but long 
before then we would have got some momentum on a proper campaign to make you an 
honorary US citizen, so we wouldn't have to stay married if you didn't want 
to..." She trailed off, conscious that he'd been staring at her in disbelief 
ever since she'd mentioned marriage. 

Slowly, he repeated, "If I marry a US citizen... Lois, am I imagining this, or 
did you just propose to me?" His expression was unreadable; distant and possibly 
even unfriendly.

"Just a paper marriage, Superman, to satisfy Immigration and Naturalisation!" 
Lois insisted quickly. Of course she'd love a real marriage with Superman... or, 
at least, the idea had its appeal. But she knew very well that he didn't want 
the same. Why should he?

He remained silent for quite some time, walking over to the window and staring 
out into the dark night. At least he wasn't rejecting the suggestion outright, 
Lois thought; unless, of course, he was simply searching for the words to let 
her down gently.

Finally, he turned to face her, his expression solemn. "Lois, I want you to know 
that I really appreciate it that you're willing to do that for me. But I can't 
marry you. There are all sorts of reasons why it would be crazy, you have to 
know that."

"Name one." She regarded him coolly; Lois was not going to let him see that she 
was hurt by his rejection of her offer.

"Your safety, for one!" he exclaimed, as if that should have been obvious. 
"Lois, now that people know what I can do, there are a lot of criminals out 
there who'd love to find a way of stopping me or controlling me. One of them 
tried only a week ago - I'm sure you noticed I wasn't around for a couple of 
days, because the Daily Planet commented on it. Someone was setting up a series 
of potentially fatal 'accidents' to test my speed and my strength and my 
determination. People's lives were being put at risk, and I couldn't let that 
continue."

He paused, inhaled deeply, then continued. "Lois, if I married you to help me 
apply for US citizenship, it'd have to be public knowledge. There's no way it 
would work otherwise. And that would mean that every criminal, every psychopath, 
every mass murderer in Metropolis would know that the best way to get to 
Superman is to get his wife. I'm invulnerable, Lois, but you're not - do you 
really think I could put you in that kind of danger?"

Superman's face was taut, his emotions obvious this time: fear for her, anger at 
those people who would use her, and others, to get to him, and frustration from 
his attempt to convince her that her proposal was dangerous. 

Yes, when she looked at it that way, marriage to Superman could put her in 
danger. 

And yet it was the only way he could legally stay in the country. 

"Superman, you can protect me," she pointed out. "Can't you?"

He looked incredulous at that. "Every minute of every day, Lois? And are you 
telling me you'd be happy to have a permanent bodyguard? Anyway," he added, "it 
wouldn't work. All it would take would be one criminal who tried to make me 
choose between saving you and preventing him doing whatever it was he wanted. 
How could I make that kind of choice?"

That did make sense, Lois acknowledged. And at the moment no-one seemed to try 
to get that kind of leverage over Superman, because he didn't appear to be close 
to anyone. 

Before she could say anything, he added, "I've already had to rescue you from 
that madman Trask, who tried to use you to get to me. If you were more publicly 
associated with me - no matter what your motives - you'd be in far worse danger 
every single day!"

"Clark too," Lois pointed out, then noticed with surprise a strange expression 
on Superman's face. It was quickly hidden, though, and he nodded.

"Look, Lois, I do appreciate your concern. But I'm going to have to handle this 
myself," he said firmly.

"How?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure yet. But I guess I'll have to pay the INS a 
visit."

He was turning to leave, but Lois remembered something. "Superman, we discussed 
whether you wanted to issue a statement, remember? I think it could help your 
case - well, at least in the public eye."

After a moment, he nodded. "Okay. You'll see it's printed in the Planet? Or were 
you thinking that I should call some sort of a press conference?" It was clear 
that the latter didn't appeal.

Lois considered for a moment. Of course an exclusive in the Planet would please 
Perry and enhance her reputation still further. On the other hand, Superman 
needed to get this statement out as soon as possible, and it wasn't even certain 
that she could get something into the Planet's morning edition. 

She made a swift decision, putting aside any thought of Perry's wrath. "We'll 
draft a statement now, and I'll release it to the usual media outlets - if we do 
it in the form of an interview with me, and I fax it from the Planet, people 
will know it's genuine. And if I keep some stuff back for the Planet, that stops 
Perry  - my editor - tearing me apart for giving away a big news story."

Superman agreed, and they spent the next twenty minutes working on the 
statement. He surprised her by being more media-savvy than she would have 
expected, and she also quickly realised that his Super abilities weren't merely 
physical: the man was also highly intelligent and very knowledgeable. 

If only he hadn't been so against her idea...

Still, she thought, as he got up to go, even if he had accepted her proposal it 
was hardly as if it would have been a real marriage anyway. He might respect 
her, and possibly even like her, but it was clear that he wasn't attracted to 
her. 

"Lois." His deep voice interrupted her thoughts. "Thank you for your help 
tonight - and for your very generous suggestion. I do appreciate it, very much."

She shook her head. "You're welcome, Superman. I told you, I don't want to see 
you ordered to leave the country. And... I meant it. If you change your mind, 
the offer's still open. And... and I wouldn't expect anything, you know?" she 
added awkwardly.

He seemed bemused. "Anything...?"

"Oh..." She knew she was blushing. "Well... um, well, I guess you probably know 
I like you... a lot. But I didn't offer to marry you because of that. I did it 
because America needs you, Superman. And... if you did change your mind, I 
wouldn't expect you to act like a husband or anything, except when we needed to 
convince the INS. I'm not expecting a relationship here, I guess I'm trying to 
say." She ducked her head as she spoke, hoping to avoid letting him see how this 
discussion was embarrassing her. Of course she *wanted* a relationship with him 
- hadn't she just been fantasising about precisely that only a few minutes ago? 
But if promising him otherwise would reassure him... 

"Lois." This time his voice was soft, and he waited before continuing. She 
looked up after a few moments when he said nothing further and saw him watching 
her, his expression wry. "I admire you very much, Lois. I... think we could be 
friends, except that I've told you why I can't afford to be associated with 
anyone. I'm not turning down your proposal because I don't like you."

"Yes, I understand," she assured him, trying not to blush again. "But I mean it 
- if you change your mind, the offer's still open."

Superman nodded. "I appreciate that. But my reasons still stand." He turned away 
and walked to her window, and she followed him. Just before he stepped through, 
he turned; raising one hand, he touched her face lightly with two fingers. 
"Goodnight, Lois. And thank you."

Before she could react, he was gone, the fluttering curtain the only physical 
sign that he'd been there.


***********

Lois Lane had asked him to marry her... and he'd *turned her down*?! 

Was he crazy? Clark asked himself as he flew back to his own apartment. He'd 
been crazy about Lois since the day he'd met her, a bare three weeks earlier. 
He'd tried to get her to go out on a date with him, but she'd had a prior 
engagement... with Lex Luthor. 

Next to the third richest man in the world, Clark Kent didn't exactly get 
noticed.

He laughed hollowly at the thought of what Lois's reaction would be if she knew 
she'd just offered to marry Clark Kent; then laughed for real at the 
improbability of such a scenario ever happening. 

Still grinning, he landed on his balcony and strolled through to his apartment, 
shedding the Spandex on the way; a few seconds later, Clark Kent was sprawled on 
the couch watching TV.


**********

Superman's statement was quickly picked up by the twenty-four hour news media, 
and it caused something of a stir. LNN initially simply reported it without 
comment, but once the news round-up had finished the channel moved into a studio 
debate. Present were a representative of the INS, a member of the public who had 
been rescued by Superman, and LNN's senior news editor.

It should have been an interesting debate. But, very quickly, it became clear 
that LNN's agenda was to portray Superman as somehow believing himself above the 
law.

Even the man whose life Superman had saved, while praising the Super-hero, 
argued that his good works didn't automatically give Superman the right to be 
treated as an American citizen when he clearly wasn't. The law was the law, no 
matter whose situation was under discussion. After all, America didn't get to be 
the world's greatest democracy by giving any of its citizens favourable 
treatment; and likewise, out of all the thousands of people who sought US 
citizenship every year, no-one could be singled out for special treatment beyond 
that allowed for by the rules. That was what rules were for, wasn't it? To make 
sure democracy survived.

The news editor took this argument further, suggesting that Superman's statement 
actually showed a degree of arrogance, in suggesting that the Super-hero could 
set his own agenda in the matter of his illegal presence in the country rather 
than obeying the rule of law. That had Lois yelling at the screen in angry 
frustration. Arrogance? What arrogance? She'd helped to draft that statement 
herself, and it contained *nothing* which could be seen as arrogant.

Why would LNN want to push an anti-Superman agenda? Lois wondered. What had the 
Man of Steel done to upset anyone at that channel? Or... did it go beyond the 
news editors and the executive producer? She stared at her TV set as it occurred 
to her to wonder whether Lex Luthor might for some reason prefer to see Superman 
banished. 

That, though, didn't make sense either. Lex Luthor was an upstanding, respected 
businessman; if anything, someone in his position would admire Superman for what 
he did. No; this incident, if anything, only showed that LNN was operationally 
very independent from its owners. Which had to be a good thing for journalism, 
even if Lois couldn't say she admired the results.

However, none of this was helping Superman; if anything, things were about to 
get worse for him.

************

Clark, while not at all surprised at the editorial line being taken by LNN given 
its owner's resentment of his Super-hero alter ego, realised very quickly that 
public opinion was being directed against Superman, possibly even as part of a 
deliberate campaign, whether associated with the INS move against him or not. It 
was possible that Luthor had just, in a typical opportunist move, rushed to 
seize the high ground. That made things even more difficult than he'd thought, 
and he acknowledged that he now had to find a solution as a matter of urgency.

Maybe the simplest thing would be to retire Superman. He'd almost done that 
before, but Lois's thought-provoking remarks had reminded him that his alter ego 
gave hope to the world, and as such was needed. The world needed a Superman, 
she'd told him.

The world needed Superman. But did Clark Kent need him?

Clark had been grappling with that question ever since Superman had made his 
first appearance. Oh, sure, Superman gave him a way of helping which, for Clark, 
was completely safe. As long as he could maintain the secret of his dual 
identity, then Clark Kent could have a normal life. Simple. 

But he hadn't anticipated the extent to which Superman would take over Clark 
Kent. 

It wasn't just that - until this immigration thing had changed the news agenda - 
Superman had become some sort of national hero,  the name on everyone's lips and 
the poster in everyone's window. Everywhere he looked, there was Superman. 
Everywhere he went, people talked about Superman. He himself had started to talk 
about himself in the third person. But, in addition to all this fuss, he was 
actually having to create a personality to go along with the Spandex suit. 

There was that interview he'd felt compelled to give to Lois, in part as an 
apology for the fact that she'd almost been killed because of him, and in part 
to try to reassure people about his intentions. There was the fact that he'd had 
to pay a visit to Lex Luthor to impress upon that megalomaniac the dangers of 
underestimating Superman. And, in all that, the need to ensure that Superman 
neither looked, sounded, nor behaved like Clark Kent.

Who was he? Clark or Superman? Clark was beginning to feel as if he didn't know 
any more. And that made him wonder whether the fact that the INS had begun 
deportation proceedings might be a good opportunity for Superman simply to 
disappear, as mysteriously as he'd arrived.

Maybe. That would certainly solve the problem.

He could give a press conference as Superman, announce his intention to leave 
the US, and... just fly off. 

The idea had appeal, Clark considered as he made himself coffee before getting 
ready for work. Definite appeal - 

Then his Super-hearing kicked in. Two express trains had collided as both had 
attempted to move onto the same line into the city centre. It was rush-hour, and 
both trains were full. Both had derailed, and there was a risk of fire. And 
heavy traffic on the surrounding roads meant that the emergency services 
wouldn't be able to respond as quickly as they'd prefer.

So much for retiring Superman. In under a second, Clark was on his way, the 
sonic boom in his wake the only signal of his departure.


*************

Still fuming over the fact that *Clark Kent* had managed to come into the 
newsroom with the scoop on Superman's presence at the site of the train crash, 
Lois answered her phone with rather less than her usual politeness.

"Yes?"

"Lois?" The voice sounded familiar, but strangely husky, as if the speaker was 
in some way trying to disguise his voice.

"Yes... um, yes, it's Lois Lane. To whom am I speaking?"

"It's me... Superman," the speaker announced.

Lois felt her heart flutter, but she immediately damped it down. How did she 
know it really was Superman? It could be anyone. It could be someone from the 
newsroom, playing a practical joke. Come to think of it... She glanced around, 
noticing that several of her colleagues, including Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen, 
weren't at their desks. 

"Who?" she asked coolly.

"Lois, it *is* me," her caller insisted, still quietly but more firmly this 
time. "I don't blame you for wondering... Anyway, I wanted to talk to you. About 
what you suggested last night."

That *had* to be Superman, Lois thought. No-one else could possibly know about 
that... 

"Yes, Superman? Do you... um, have you changed your mind? Or," she added 
quickly, realising that she probably sounded very forward, "do you have another 
idea you wanted to discuss? I'm sorry the statement didn't help," she tacked on, 
wondering whether he blamed her for that.

"That's not your fault," he answered quickly. "I should have known it wouldn't 
be enough. And, yes, I want to discuss your... proposal. Can we meet?"

"Umm... yeah," Lois stammered. "Where? I guess you don't want to come to the 
Planet - do you want to meet me at my apartment?"

"It would be easier," he agreed. "How long will it take you to get there?"

"Fifteen minutes," she estimated. 

"I'll be there."


**********

Clark hovered outside Lois's apartment window, wondering for the hundredth time 
whether he was doing the right thing. This was a crazy idea. He'd said exactly 
that the previous evening when Lois had suggested it. There were so many reasons 
why it was impossible.

And yet, it looked very much as if the only way Superman could continue to exist 
was if he found a way to comply with Immigration and Naturalisation 
regulations... and marrying Lois seemed to be the only way he could do that. 

His momentary impulse to get rid of Superman altogether had vanished the instant 
he'd had to go to help at the train crash site. It had become apparent to him 
very quickly that, without his assistance, many people would have died. Diesel 
leaks had quickly started a couple of fires, and since the fire service hadn't 
arrived by that point, only his swift intervention in dousing the flames with 
his freezing Super-breath had prevented one of the overturned carriages - from 
which people were still struggling to escape - from becoming an inferno.

Superman was needed, all right. He couldn't possibly reconcile with his 
conscience any decision to 'retire' his alter ego.

But once things at the accident site had calmed down a little, Clark had 
wondered what might have happened had INS officials realised that their target 
would have rushed to help. Could they have turned up with police officers and 
their arrest warrant? Not that they could have prevented him flying off, but 
that wasn't the issue. He didn't want to give rise to a situation in which 
Superman resisted arrest or became a fugitive. And yet, for as long as he 
allowed this to continue without finding a solution, Superman risked arrest any 
time he turned up to help in an emergency.

He couldn't allow that to happen, either.

So the only solution, given the INS's apparent determination to pursue the 
question of Superman's alien status, was to accept Lois's offer. He wasn't at 
all happy about it, for a number of reasons. Most important of these was Lois's 
own safety; being publicly associated with Superman in this respect was going to 
put her at considerable risk, and they needed to discuss how they would handle 
that. Second, there was the danger that, because he would need to spend a lot of 
time at Lois's apartment because of the need to maintain the fiction of a 
happily-married couple, Lois might actually figure out that Superman was really 
Clark Kent. He knew only too well that Lois was a very clever, intuitive person. 
So far, the only thing which had prevented her doing too much digging about 
Superman was the fact that she was over-awed and a little infatuated. Once 
familiarity helped her overcome that, he wasn't sure how long he could prevent 
her from seeing the resemblance between her 'husband' and her colleague.

Besides that, even if he did manage to maintain his disguise, he would be living 
even more of a double life than he was at present. Thus far, as Superman all he 
did was fly in to an emergency, help out, maybe give a brief interview to the 
assembled press, and then disappear again. Last night's conversation with Lois 
had been difficult, in as much as he'd had to maintain the Superman persona for 
longer, and he'd consciously had to make the effort to sound and look different 
from Clark Kent. Spending more time with Lois, as he would have to in order to 
convince the INS and the media that their marriage was genuine, he would be 
forced to create a personality for Superman which was different to his 
personality as Clark Kent.

And it would have to be convincing; after all, Lois would be spending her days 
working with Clark - and if they continued to work together on assignments as 
they'd done so far, he would be spending a *lot* of time with her - and some of 
her evenings with Superman. He would have to become a very talented actor indeed 
if he was going to keep her in the belief that Superman was a different person.

As he waited for Lois to arrive, it crossed Clark's mind that one way around 
that difficulty would be to tell her the truth: that Superman was actually Clark 
Kent. That would make much of this a lot easier: no having to keep up an act 
around Lois, no worrying whether she would recognise him, or that he would make 
a fatal slip, such as commenting as Superman on something he should only have 
known as Clark or vice versa. The trouble with that course of action, though, he 
reminded himself, was that his relationship with Lois - as Clark - wasn't all 
that good. She barely tolerated him most of the time, even though he suspected 
that he'd managed to earn her grudging respect after the trick he'd played on 
her to get his revenge. They'd also worked together effectively to investigate 
Jason Trask, even though the man had got away. 

So Lois no longer treated him as a useless greenhorn she had to babysit; but she 
still seemed to consider him something of a nuisance. She was also behaving 
rather oddly around him: keeping her distance and being quite formal in her 
manner when they had to speak about anything. Since that had only started after 
they'd been thrown out of Trask's plane, Clark suspected that she was trying to 
ensure that he didn't make the mistake of taking their kiss - the memory of 
which still made him sweat - in any way seriously.

All that meant that he had absolutely no idea how Lois would be likely to react 
if he did tell her the truth. Would she be as willing to help Clark Kent as 
Superman? That wasn't at all clear. He suspected that, apart from her mere 
toleration of Clark, she'd be likely to be angry with him for deceiving her - 
regardless of the fact that he'd had absolutely no reason to tell her the truth. 
There were all sorts of good reasons why he had to maintain the Superman 
disguise, and - until now - not a single reason why he should make an exception 
for Lois. 

His father's warnings, which he'd grown up with and was reminded of every time 
he went home now, had always made him cautious about his true nature. Who knew 
what might happen if his secret got out? Not just that Clark Kent was Superman, 
but everything that entailed. It wasn't just that he himself was from another 
planet, or that some government body might want to run experiments on him. The 
knowledge that Clark Kent was Superman could get his parents killed. So that was 
one of the most important reasons for keeping silent about who and what he was.

But, okay, this was different. He was marrying Lois so that Superman could stay 
legally in the country. She was doing him one heck of a favour, and she wasn't 
exactly getting a lot in return. So - apart from the fact that it would make 
things easier for him - didn't he owe her the truth, in a way?

Or did he? And what if she did react badly to the news that she'd agreed to 
marry the hick from Nowheresville she had so little time for?

And anyway, how could he be sure that he could trust her to keep his secret? 
Even if he persuaded her not to expose him - which would be difficult, given 
that she'd almost be guaranteed awards for that story - could she be relied upon 
not to give him away in any of hundreds of ways? What if she made a slip while 
they were being investigated by the INS? What if she said something at work, and 
someone overheard? Could she remember to separate the two parts of his 
personality at all times?

He didn't know Lois well enough to guarantee that she could be trusted. No, he 
had to maintain the fiction with her as well as with everyone else. But, just 
for a moment, he allowed himself to indulge in a wistful dream in which he told 
her everything and she accepted him as Clark, and she insisted that they should 
still marry so that Superman could stay. And perhaps, given time, the marriage 
of convenience could become something else... 

The sound of her window opening then roused him from his thoughts, and he moved 
forward to step into her apartment.

"You wanted to talk to me, Superman?" Lois said immediately. "You hinted that... 
you'd changed your mind about my suggestion...?"

"Well, I want to discuss it some more," he said quickly; he wasn't ready to 
commit to anything just yet. "I'm still very concerned about the danger to you 
if you did marry me, and I want you to be sure you know what you're getting 
yourself into."

"I know," she insisted immediately. "Superman, I've been looking after myself 
for years now. And I was getting myself out of tight spots long before you came 
along. Not that I'm not grateful to you or anything, but I can take care of 
myself, you know. And..." She began pacing, a sure sign that Lois's quick 
intelligence was in overdrive. "I think that being known as your wife could 
protect me - after all, how many criminals are going to take the risk of ticking 
off Superman?"

"Unless they're using you to get to me," Clark pointed out.

"Sure, but how many will take that risk?" Lois objected. "You're fast. You see 
just about everything. You're Super-strong. And you're invulnerable - nothing 
can stop you! So why risk making you mad?"

"If someone wants to control my actions, then making me mad will be the least of 
their worries," he answered bluntly. 

"Yeah, but I don't see why anyone wouldn't do for that," Lois argued. "Sure, if 
you're married then your wife would be an obvious target. But how would you 
react if someone kidnapped - oh, I don't know, half-a-dozen people off the 
street and threatened to kill them unless you did what he wanted. Would you 
behave any differently if the threat was to people you didn't know, instead of 
to me?"

Clark sighed. "Possibly not. But the difference is that bad guys don't 
necessarily know that."

"No? Wasn't too difficult for me to figure out." Lois actually smirked at him. 

Well, if nothing else, Clark thought, all this was certainly changing Lois's 
attitude towards Superman. The coy glances and the hero-worship had all 
disappeared. That was good... at least, he hoped it was good. He hoped that this 
new attitude didn't also mean that she would start viewing Superman with the 
same questioning approach she took to just about everything else. If she did, 
his secret could soon be history.

Time to return the conversation to its proper track. "Lois, I'm just worried 
about what could happen to you if we do this."

"I know that," she told him. "And I'm just worried about what could happen to 
you if we don't. I heard about what you did this morning. This city needs you, 
you have to know that." She paused, then added, giving him a curious look, "I 
hope Clark told you the same thing?"

"Clark?" He eyed her warily. 

"Yeah. He talked to you this morning. At least - " Now she was looking puzzled. 
"He got in late to work because he'd been at the crash scene, and he had an 
interview with you."

Oh, that. Clark sighed silently, relieved. "Yeah, that's right. And... uh, yeah, 
he told me that I had to stick around."

"So we don't have any choice," Lois announced determinedly. "So, where do you 
think we should go to get married? It has to be somewhere with no waiting 
period, which means no blood tests either."

She was taking their marriage for granted now, Clark realised. And she was 
right; it was the only solution. He was still very unhappy about the idea of 
putting her at risk, but that was something they would just have to deal with. 
And, much as he disliked the idea, Superman would probably have to move in with 
her, to some extent. Of course, they'd have to make the appearance of living 
together, for the INS; but if Lois's safety was in question, the more obvious 
signs of Superman's presence in her apartment the better.

And he noticed something else, too: she was assuming that he would fly them 
wherever they needed to go for the marriage ceremony. Of course he would, but it 
amused him to notice Lois's casual appropriation of his abilities. Smiling, he 
answered her question. "I know it's the first port of call for quick marriages, 
but I'd really prefer not to go to Las Vegas."

She grimaced. "Tacky! I'm sure we can find somewhere else."

"Any ideas?" he asked her; finding out where to get a quickie marriage had never 
been top of his priority list.

"Well..." Lois moved over to the small desk set against one wall. "I did have to 
research this once, for an article in the weekend supplement. There's a website 
which should help us..."

Half an hour later, they had discovered that they could get married in 
Sacramento, California, without a waiting period. They could even complete the 
licence application online, though Lois decided it would be better to complete 
it, print it off, and bring it with them; emailing it could enable someone to 
tip off the media. Some form of photo-ID was required, however, to obtain a 
licence.

"That does it, then - we can't do it," Clark muttered. "I don't have ID."

"Nothing?" Lois seemed very taken aback.

Well, he had plenty as Clark Kent. But nothing at all as Superman. "Nothing."

Lois looked him up and down, which made him feel distinctly uncomfortable. 
"Well, it's not as if anyone could *doubt* who you are..." she drawled. "And all 
you have to do is float a few inches off the floor to prove it, right?"

Embarrassed, Clark looked away. It was at times like these that he really wished 
his mom hadn't made the Suit quite so *clinging*. "Ummm... well, the form does 
say photo-ID is necessary, Lois. I can't see them making an exception for me - 
not when it's the law."

Lois shrugged at that. "Okay, we'll get you one."

"How?" He stared at her.

But she simply grinned at him and walked across to her telephone. Before 
dialling, she turned and winked. "I know guys who know guys..."

Clark groaned. Forgery, on top of intent to deceive the INS; if they failed to 
get away with this, he was in *big* trouble!


**********

An hour later, Lois had called the Planet to say she'd be gone for a couple of 
hours and was ready to leave for Sacramento. Superman had left shortly after 
she'd arranged the ID, saying that he had things to do and would be back. Now, 
she sat waiting for him, wondering whether she was out of her mind.

She was about to fly to the other side of the country to marry a man she barely 
knew, had a crush on, and who had made it clear, by his actions as well as his 
words, that this would be a marriage in name only. If he felt anything for her, 
it was respect and a degree of liking. Superman was not going to fall in love 
with her - anyway, she thought, how could she know whether Superman *could* fall 
in love with, or even be attracted to, an Earth woman? He was Kryptonian, after 
all, and she knew nothing about his own people's mating rituals.

Okay, this wasn't going to be a permanent arrangement. But they could have to 
stay married for a couple of years, if they couldn't sort out his residency 
status before then. Was she actually going to be able to cope with being 
Superman's wife for that length of time? With being, as far as the public and 
the media was concerned, the woman with whom Superman was intimate, and yet 
behind closed doors being merely a friend who was doing him a favour?

And would he have to move in with her? That was something they hadn't discussed. 
They had to make it appear as if they were living together as husband and wife, 
and so Superman would have to have some possessions in her apartment - but what 
kind of possessions? Clothes? What did he wear when he was off-duty? Lois asked 
herself wildly, having visions of him wandering about her apartment in matching 
pyjamas and dressing-gown in royal blue with a red 'S' logo. Did the Suit come 
off? And... 

...and what did he look like underneath the Suit?!

They should have discussed the practicalities, she admitted, once again pushing 
her fantasies aside. But there wouldn't really be time for that, since she'd 
already called the registrar's office in Sacramento and made an appointment for 
their interview. They would have to go straight there once Superman got back.

And then there was the question of announcing their marriage, and how they'd 
deal with the press. Being a reporter herself, some of that would be 
straightforward for Lois: the Planet would get the exclusive, which would take 
some of the other media organisations off her back briefly. But she imagined 
that her apartment building would most likely get doorstepped, and that she 
could have TV cameras following her wherever she went for a few days. She would 
be big news, which would be a very different experience for someone more used to 
*writing* the news than starring in it.

"Second thoughts, Lois?"

She'd been so absorbed in her thoughts that she'd completely failed to hear the 
rush of wind which normally heralded Superman's arrival, Lois realised as she 
looked across at him, standing tall and remote by her window. He was watching 
her, his own expression unreadable. At once, she understood why. He was giving 
her a chance to back out if she wanted, and he clearly didn't want to try to 
influence her in any way by his own behaviour.

But that made her remember why they were doing this in the first place. If 
Superman didn't marry her, he'd be deported and branded a criminal. They had to 
get married.

So she smiled and shook her head. "Not at all. I'm ready to go, if you are?"

He shook his head. "I have to know that you're absolutely sure about this. If 
you're having doubts, Lois, I won't let you go through with it."

That was the wrong thing for him to say, Lois thought. If he'd known her better, 
he would have realised that telling her he wouldn't let her do something was 
like showing a red rag to a bull. She raised a challenging eyebrow at him. 
"You're not *letting* me do anything, Superman. I offered. That's all there is 
to it."

He was silent for several moments, then nodded. "Okay." 

As he moved towards her to pick her up, she found a rush of courage and asked a 
question which had been bugging her for days. "What's your name? You never told 
me, and I guess if we're going to be married, even if it is just for 
convenience... well, it would be nice to know..."

Superman frowned, looking taken aback. "My *name*...?"

"Well, I called you Superman," Lois reminded him. "You must have a real name? 
Okay, I can understand if you don't want it known, but can't you tell *me*?"

"My Kryptonian name, you mean?" He looked embarrassed, awkward, Lois thought. 
"I... actually don't know. I mean, I'm sure I have one, but I don't remember 
anything about Krypton at all."

Lois stared at him in dismay. Had he lost his memory somehow on the way to 
Earth? The poor man! He clearly knew nothing at all about himself, except that 
he had these amazing powers. It was no wonder he'd looked stunned that first 
day, when he'd saved the Prometheus transport vessel. The poor guy was probably 
still traumatised!

But his expression altered then. "Lois, if you're ready, I think we should get 
going."

Nodding, she allowed herself to be picked up, looping her arms around his neck 
and relaxing against his chest as she prepared for the flight to Sacramento. 
Being held close to him sent thrilling sensations through her entire body, and 
she had to resist the urge to caress that broad chest. Would being married to 
Superman - however temporary and fake an arrangement - mean that she'd get more 
opportunities to be with him like this? Lois certainly hoped so. She wanted to 
derive some benefit from the arrangement!


*********

Landing outside the county clerk's office in Sacramento, Clark hurried Lois 
inside; he didn't want them to be the focus of curious stares before they'd even 
obtained their licence. Actually, he wasn't even sure that they would be granted 
a licence at all; while Lois had managed to get him some photo-ID, he felt sure 
that even the description of his status as 'alien and Super-hero' wouldn't 
prevent any official from deciding that it was fake.

The woman at the reception desk stammered a greeting, clearly amazed to see 
Superman. Clark felt several pairs of eyes follow them as they walked towards 
the marriage unit, where they needed to hand over their completed licence 
application form and wait for their interview. He felt like turning around and 
asking them if they wanted him to pose for photographs. Problem was, they 
wouldn't hear the sarcasm - and if they did, it wouldn't do Superman's 
reputation any good. Right now, when Superman was in danger of being deported 
and when only marriage to Lois would save him, was not the time to make himself 
more enemies.

But why couldn't people understand that he didn't *want* to be considered public 
property? It wasn't as if he was a rock singer or movie star, seeking to be in 
the public eye and courting publicity as a result. All he wanted was to be able 
to help people. And all he wanted in return was to be left alone.

<Come on, Clark, don't be so naive!> he told himself cynically. <You're a 
reporter, for heaven's sake! You know how it works. And if you weren't Superman, 
you'd be out there with the rest of the pack hunting him down. Your motives 
might be different, but your behaviour would be the same, and don't try to kid 
yourself it wouldn't>

He felt a hand slide gently into his palm then, and glanced down to see Lois's 
hand holding his. Turning to her in surprise, he heard her murmur, "You looked 
nervous. And anyway, I thought this might look more convincing."

She was right. He folded his fingers around her hand and grasped it lightly.

Bending towards her then, he said softly, "Remind me again why we're making this 
a public thing? I noticed we could have applied for a confidential licence, 
which wouldn't be available for inspection... the press wouldn't have to find 
out..."

She gave him a long-suffering smile. "Think about it, Superman! The reason we're 
getting married is so the INS will leave you alone. They've gone public about 
wanting you deported and issuing a warrant, so if they back off they're going to 
have to give a reason why. We can't avoid our marriage being public knowledge!"

He nodded. "You're right. I just needed you to tell me again," he admitted 
ruefully.

"That's okay. But anyway, a confidential licence is only available to couples 
who can show they've been living together as husband and wife for two years or 
more - god knows why, but that's the rule. And there's no way we can claim that 
about you and me!"

"True," Clark agreed, and was rewarded with a  reassuring squeeze of her hand.

When they walked into the office of the marriage unit, two more heads turned to 
stare at them. "Uhhh... Can I help you, Superman?" a stunned-looking woman asked 
after a moment.

"We're here to get a marriage licence," Lois replied quickly, for which Clark 
was pleased. Now that they were here, he had no idea whether she was still 
nervous, but she certainly wasn't showing any sign of it. "We have an 
appointment," she added more firmly.

The woman checked a list on her desk, then raised her head again to stare at 
Superman. "Uhhh... I don't have you listed anywhere here, Superman," she told 
him.

"Oh, the appointment will be under my name," Lois again answered before Clark 
could comment. "That's Lane. L-A-N-E. Ms."

"Oh, you're here all right, Ms Lane. But your... ah, *fiance* is listed as Mr 
Man," the woman told her, sounding very puzzled.

Lois grinned. "That's him," she agreed, gesturing towards Clark, who was feeling 
even more like an exhibit at a fair. "Super-Man."

Deciding that it was time he said something, Clark asked firmly, "Where do we 
hand in our licence application?"

"I'll take that." The other occupant of the room got up and came across to them, 
holding out her hand for the form. "It's my job to check that you've completed 
it correctly, before the clerk interviews you."

They followed her to her desk and sat down as she read through the application 
form. To Clark's relief, she didn't seem to find any problem areas; she made 
several approving noises and ticked off sections of the form as she read. Then 
her gaze shifted to a different section of the form, and she read aloud, 
"Groom's personal data."

He closed his eyes briefly and waited.

"Groom's first name," she read aloud. "Super."

"Uhh... that's me," Clark agreed.

"No middle name. Groom's last name... Man." Now she raised her gaze from the 
sheet of paper to stare at him.

"Well, it's the only name I have," Clark protested. He knew he sounded feeble, 
but there was nothing he could do about it.

"Date of birth. Hmmm. 'In Earth chronology, probably 1966. But I can't be 
certain.' Can't you be more specific than that?" she demanded.

Well, he could, Clark thought, but that would entail revealing that he'd been on 
Earth since he was a baby, and that wasn't information he was prepared to reveal 
to anyone. "That's the best I can do," he replied.

She sighed. "Okay. Well, you're obviously an adult, so I suppose we can live 
with that. Well..." She frowned then, and stared at him again, clearly puzzled. 
"Is there a state called Krypton?"

"No, actually, it's a planet," Clark explained. "That's where I was born. Uh... 
I'm afraid the form didn't seem to have an option for aliens."

"Oh... you're an extra-terrestrial, of course," she answered, as if that 
explained everything. "Okay... no previous marriages. Occupation: Super-hero." 
She paused, then looked across at her colleague. "Joan, do we have a Standard 
Industrial Classification number for Super-Hero?"

"I don't think so, Alice," the other woman replied doubtfully.

"Hmmm. We'll put you in with emergency service workers, I think," Alice decided. 
"As for Business Type, I see you left that blank."

"I wasn't sure what to put," Clark explained. "I mean, Life-saving and Emergency 
Rescue isn't exactly a business type."

Alice scribbled something. Then she glanced up again. "You've written Unknown 
next to your father's name."

"That's right," Clark agreed.

"But you've also written Unknown next to your mother's name!" She gave him a 
very perplexed look.

"I don't know anything about my parents, except that they are - or were - on 
Krypton," Clark explained. "I have no memories of my home planet at all. If I 
ever did know anything about my birth parents, I've forgotten it."

Alice frowned again; then, suddenly, she smiled. "I know! We'll put you down as 
a foundling."

Clark stifled a startled exclamation; after all, they couldn't know the truth. 
He became aware of Lois, who was sitting next to him, as she began to fidget and 
behave anxiously, and he quickly grabbed for her hand. This wasn't going too 
badly so far. The only questions remaining related to his address, and they'd 
agreed that he should list Lois's apartment.

"I need to check your ID." The woman's statement took Clark by surprise, and he 
held his breath as he handed over the ID card which Lois had obtained for him. 
She, of course, would have no difficulty; her driver's licence was perfectly 
acceptable and would get barely a glance from the apparently efficient Alice. 

She studied his ID card carefully, then glanced across at him, then back at the 
card, then at another document on her desk, and then stared at the card again, 
shaking her head. "Well, I guess this is an acceptable photo-ID," she told him 
at last. "But I've sure never come across the Association of Super-heroes and 
Crime-Busters before!"

"He's the founding member," Lois retorted immediately, and Clark gripped the 
sides of his chair to stop himself forcibly preventing her from saying another 
word.


**********

Well, they'd got through the initial stage easily enough, Lois thought as she 
and Superman were ushered into the county clerk's office for their interview. Of 
course, it would have helped if Superman had been a little more quick-thinking 
on occasion; it was obvious that he wouldn't have been able to manage without 
her help!

She wouldn't have imagined that he could be so nervous, but it had been clear to 
her the whole way through that initial interview that he'd been terrified that 
the assistant wouldn't accept his answers and would refuse to allow them to go 
any further. Surely he'd realised that all he had to do was give Alice the 
trademark Superman smile and she'd have done anything he asked? 

Obviously not, she thought wryly as she pushed the door closed behind them.

The clerk looked equally bemused to see Superman walk into his office, but he 
recovered quickly and directed them to take a seat. He glanced down at a list on 
his desk, then said, puzzled, "I have a Ms Lane and a Mr... Man scheduled for an 
appointment."

"Yes, that's Superman," Lois explained again. "I didn't want to say exactly who 
he is because I didn't want this to become a media circus before it has to. Is 
there a problem?" she finished curtly, hoping that the man would drop his 
idiotic quibbling and get on with the interview.

"No, of course not." He held out his hand for the licence application, then 
scanned it quickly. "Okay, this looks as if it's in order, though your 
application is a little... well, unorthodox. Superman, I understand that your 
immigration status is at present under examination?"

Before Superman could answer, Lois interjected, "Does this have anything to do 
with our getting a marriage licence?"

"Strictly speaking, no," the clerk agreed. "But I am under a legal obligation 
not to condone any illegal arrangements."

"I don't believe that I am doing anything illegal in wanting to marry Ms Lane," 
Superman replied immediately.

"Probably not. But you are, I hope, aware that the Immigration and 
Naturalisation Service won't simply look at your marriage certificate and 
immediately grant you leave to remain in the US?"

"Of course." Superman's response was abrupt this time. "Are you suggesting that 
the only reason I'm marrying Ms Lane is to obtain US citizenship?"

Clever question, Lois thought. He wasn't telling any lies or making false 
claims, but he was throwing the argument back at the clerk - and the reason for 
their marriage wasn't any of the clerk's business as long as they complied with 
the legal requirements.

"That's not my concern," the clerk acknowledged. "That's between the two of you 
and the INS." 

The question of their motivation for marriage having been disposed of, the 
remainder of the interview progressed without a hitch, and they were issued with 
a marriage licence. Back in the outer office, Alice then offered to fit them 
into the registrar's schedule there and then. 

Less than fifteen minutes later, they were legally married.

Lois emerged from the registrar's office, Superman walking beside her and 
clutching their marriage certificate, and she immediately fell back against the 
wall, staring down at the simple gold band on her finger, as the realisation 
sank in. She was married - and married to Superman, at that! The entire process 
had taken less than an hour from the time of their arrival in Sacramento. It was 
still only midday in Metropolis - and she was a married woman.

She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Lois? Are you okay?" Superman's voice 
sounded concerned.

Shrugging off the trepidation she was feeling about whether she'd done the right 
thing, Lois made herself smile at him. "Sure. I was just letting it all sink in 
- you know, us being married."

"It's a lot to take in, I know," he agreed. "But, Lois, I promise I'll make this 
as easy for you as I can. I'll try not to get in your way, though I guess I'm 
going to have to spend some time at your apartment and make it look as if we 
live there together. And I'll do my best to make it clear that no-one better 
even think of trying to get at me through you."

"Of course we'll have to make it look as if we live together," Lois agreed. 
"That doesn't bother me - leave as much stuff as you want at my apartment. I'll 
give you a key too, though I guess you don't really need one..." She trailed off 
as she realised again that they really hadn't discussed the practical 
implications at all.

Superman sighed, then gestured towards the exit. "Maybe we should get back to 
Metropolis and then talk about what we do next?"

Nodding, Lois grasped his offered hand and husband and wife left the building 
together.


**********

On the return journey, Clark decided that he should really talk to the INS 
sooner rather than later, and Lois asked him to drop her off at the Planet 
building. He did so, guiltily conscious that he had also been absent from the 
newsroom for some time now. He also knew that he and Lois needed to talk rather 
urgently about how they should behave as a 'married couple', but they agreed to 
meet at her apartment as soon as she finished work.  He trusted her to handle 
the media aspect: as he'd told her on the way back, he'd prefer that they issue 
a news release, or give the Daily Planet an exclusive, than have some journalist 
discover their marriage and splash it as a front-page scandal story.

He also said, in response to her question, that he didn't want them to do a 
press conference. To Lois, he explained it as simply not wanting to turn this 
into any more of a media circus than it had to be, as well as thinking it would 
probably be a good idea to avoid too many awkward questions in a live situation. 
Privately, Clark was still very dubious about his ability to maintain the 
Superman persona over a prolonged period; add to that the stress of a press 
conference situation, and he doubted that his secret would remain secret for 
very long. 

His other worry was still whether he would in fact be able to pull off being 
Superman in situations where he wasn't simply flying in and out again. If he had 
to spend more time with Lois, could he maintain the facade? There had been a 
couple of moments in the county clerk's office when he'd thought he was in 
danger of letting the facade slip. Thankfully, Lois didn't appear to have 
noticed anything.

Less than five minutes later, Superman walked through the door of the Metropolis 
INS office. A flustered receptionist instantly sprang to her feet and greeted 
him, asking if he was there to see the local manager.

"If that's the appropriate person, yes," Clark answered, and was then 
immediately shown through to an open-plan office beyond the reception area, and 
from there into a smaller room, empty apart from a small table and four chairs. 
He was directed to one and asked to wait.

Two minutes later, a man and a woman entered; both greeted him courteously but 
briskly and introduced themselves as immigration officers. The man - who made 
great play of the fact that he was a *senior* immigration officer - was tall and 
stocky, and he stared at Clark as if he was examining him through a microscope;  
the effect was to make Clark feel as if he should almost apologise for sullying 
the room.

"So, I take it you've come here voluntarily in order to turn yourself in, 
Superman?" the man asked, his tone almost sneering. His female partner, a thin 
woman in her forties, winced, and smiled apologetically at Clark.

"Actually, no," Clark answered, directing his response to the woman. "Ms 
Roberts, I don't believe that I have any reason to turn myself in. I apologise 
for not responding to your office's request for an interview before now; being 
from another planet, I wasn't aware of the US's position on extra-terrestrials 
as opposed to non-nationals. But I believe I satisfy at least one criterion to 
qualify for permission to remain in the US, and possibly for citizenship in due 
course."

"Oh?" Ms Roberts frowned. "And that criterion would be?"

"I'm married to a US citizen."

The man, who'd introduced himself as 'West', leaned forward across the table in 
what could almost be seen as a threatening manner. "You *married* a human? An 
American?" He sounded appalled by the prospect. "I very much doubt whether this 
is either legal or advisable - " 

"It's perfectly legal," Clark interrupted. "I have the marriage certificate 
here." He laid the document on the table, very careful not to let go of it. 

West gazed intently at the certificate, as if memorising it. "I see it's dated 
today. *Very* convenient!"

Clark shrugged. He hated lying; on the other hand, being completely honest would 
get Superman into deep trouble, and would defeat the object of the arrangement. 
Any marriage entered into for the sole purpose of gaining a green card wouldn't 
qualify, and could even land Lois in trouble with the law. And yet that was 
exactly why they'd got married. The knowledge that Superman was deliberately 
lying here was causing Clark considerable agonies of conscience, but he knew 
he'd had no other choice.

"Today was the earliest we could fit it in," he answered casually. "My wife and 
I are both busy people."

Ms Roberts coughed lightly, and Clark turned to look enquiringly at her.

"Umm, Superman, well, of course this does change things somewhat. If this 
certificate is valid, and it looks valid to me, our office will naturally 
withdraw the arrest and deportation warrant. But you do understand that our 
investigations do not end merely because you are married to an American 
citizen?"

"Of course I understand," Clark answered smoothly. "My wife and I will be happy 
to fulfil any requirements you may have of us - I'm assuming that you will need 
to interview us both?"

"Yes, of course. We usually wish to speak to the couple on two or three 
occasions, until the INS is satisfied one way or another about the bona fides of 
any marriage in such circumstances," Ms Roberts explained.

"And there may be more than usual in *these* circumstances," Mr West added, in a 
low growl. His sceptical expression made clear to Clark that he would see it as 
his duty to prove the marriage a fraud. "In *this* case, you may expect that we 
will use the power given to us by law to visit your home - either by appointment 
or unannounced." 

That statement, effectively a declaration of open warfare, came as no surprise 
to Clark. Ms Roberts seemed more taken aback; she glanced, alarmed, at her 
partner, then turned back to Clark, giving him a weak smile. "Ah... anyway, 
Superman, once the INS is satisfied about the status of this marriage, the next 
step is either that you will be awarded permanent residence status - 
conditional, of course - or that we may seek an order to deport. Which outcome 
we choose depends on our findings, of course!"

"Yes, I understand," Clark told her, deliberately not including her partner in 
his smile. Mr West clearly intended to set out to find obstacles to granting him 
resident status, and there was probably little Clark could do, in the way of 
mounting a charm offensive, for example, which would persuade him otherwise. "I 
also understand that if I'm granted permanent residence status that will be 
conditional until Lois and I have been married for two years."

"Ah, yes, your wife," Mr West barked suddenly. "Why did she not come with you 
today?"

"She had to go back to work," Clark answered smoothly. "She's a journalist - I 
expect you've probably heard of her. She works at the Daily Planet."

"Well, I do most certainly look forward to meeting Ms Lane - or should that be 
Mrs Superman?" West drawled. "It will be fascinating to see what kind of woman 
could actually contemplate *marrying* an extra-terrestrial!"

"Philip!" hissed Ms Roberts, who then turned to give Clark a rather sickly 
smile. "We do have some forms we'll need you to complete. When we've processed 
them, we will be in touch to arrange interviews and home visits. Philip, maybe 
you could go and get the forms for Superman?" she asked timidly.

"No, why don't *you* get them," Philip West retorted aggressively, in a tone 
which made Clark want to lecture him on courtesy towards co-workers. "I have a 
few more questions to ask Superman here."

Ms Roberts scurried out of the interview room, and Philip West then glared 
directly at Clark. "I'm giving you fair warning. You might be able to hoodwink 
my *partner* with your smiles and your Super-powers and your practised charm. 
But none of that works on me. I don't believe that this 'marriage' is any more 
real than Ronald McDonald. Actually, I don't know how any normal, self-
respecting woman could bring herself to marry an alien, but that's another 
matter. I know this marriage of yours is phoney, and I'm going to prove it."

Clark simply smiled; it wasn't worth arguing with the man, although his casual 
hostility, apparently based on no more than Superman's being from another 
planet, was not only offensive: it was hurtful. 

As the door opened to re-admit Ms Roberts, West continued, "Tell me something. 
Is this marriage even going to be consummated? *Can* you have sex with an Earth-
woman, Superman? And don't try to tell me that's none of my business!"

Clark ignored Ms Roberts' shocked exclamation and instead stared straight at 
Philip West, giving the man his most intimidating Superman look. "As I 
understand it, it wouldn't be a real marriage otherwise. So what do *you* 
think?"

"I know what I think, Superman," West drawled. "I just need to prove it."

"Ah, Superman, here's the forms," Ms Roberts interrupted, placing several 
documents on the table. "Would you like us to give you some time to fill them 
in?"

"No need," Clark assured her, reaching for the pen provided. In under a minute 
he pushed the completed forms across to her. "There you go."

Ms Roberts blinked. "Thank you!" she squeaked, as Philip West grabbed the forms 
from her and scanned them. 

"That's all for now, Superman," he said, standing up. "We'll be in contact with 
you." And Clark shouldn't think that this would be easy, was the clear unspoken 
message in the sneering glance West gave Clark as he swept out of the room.

Deducing that he was free to go, Clark thanked Ms Roberts and left the room. As 
he returned to the reception area, though, he noticed a throng of people 
outside, blocking the door. Some carried placards proclaiming, "Deport the 
alien!", and those people seemed to be carrying on a bitter argument with others 
whose placards read, "Make Superman a citizen NOW!!!".

Groaning silently, Clark glanced at the receptionist, wondering whether she 
would tell him if there was another way out. But her expression told him that 
she was the one who'd alerted people to his presence here. He couldn't tell 
whether there were any reporters among the crowd, but it would probably be a 
good idea to watch what he said anyway.

He pushed the door open, and at once several people rushed towards him. Before 
he could extricate himself, one woman, in her forties with bleached-blonde hair, 
flung herself against him and screamed, "Superman! Marry me and you can become a 
US citizen!"

He gripped her by the upper arms and held her away from him, but before he could 
say anything another woman, thirty-ish and plump, grabbed his arm. "I'll marry 
you, Superman! You can fly us to Vegas and the INS will have to leave you 
alone!"

The obvious retort was to announce that he was already married, but Clark didn't 
want to do that until he could find out what Lois was doing with the story. He 
grimaced, muttered something indistinguishable, then shot vertically upwards 
leaving the crowds yelling in his wake.


**********

"Lois! Where in the Sam Hill have you been?" Perry demanded as soon as Lois 
emerged from the elevator. "And where's Kent?"

Lois glanced across to the bullpen. "I've no idea, Chief. Haven't seen him since 
this morning," she said carelessly. "I've got a *big* story for you, though. 
It's probably too late to get it in the afternoon edition, I suppose, and the TV 
networks will have picked it up by this evening, but the Planet gets the 
exclusive behind-the-scenes story!"

Perry frowned. "What about? And where *have* you been?"

Lois slipped her arm through her boss's and steered him towards his office. 
"I've been getting married," she announced with a grin. 

"Married?! Lois, what - ? Why didn't you say anything... ask for the day 
off...?" he began incredulously, then broke off as Lois deliberately closed his 
office door behind them and swung around to face him,  her expression serious.

"Superman and I got married. In Sacramento," she explained, and waited for the 
explosion she knew would follow.

Perry sank into his chair, staring at Lois in disbelief. "Honey, do you have any 
idea what you're getting yourself into here?"

Her eyes narrowing, Lois asked in a dangerous tone, "What do you mean by that, 
Chief?"

"What...? Oh, I'm not talking about Superman," Perry hastened to explain, 
clearly interpreting from Lois's expression how she'd understood his question. 
"I mean the INS. You know they're not just going to accept this marriage at face 
value."

"Sure I know that," Lois answered impatiently. "We can deal with that. It's not 
a problem."

The editor was silent for several moments. Then he shrugged. "Well, it's your 
life, Lois. And I know Superman seemed to like you - you're the only reporter 
who's really had anything much to do with him since he got here - heck, you're 
the only person he seems to have spoken to, apart from when he was rescuing 
someone. Just be careful, honey, y'hear? We really don't know enough about him - 
we don't know anything about what he's really like."

Lois stiffened. "I know him, Perry. He's a good and decent man."

Perry shrugged lightly. "I know he seems that way, Lois. But all I'm saying is 
that we don't really know much more than that. That's why I wouldn't support you 
yesterday when you wanted the Planet to support a campaign to let him stay. We 
just can't know that he's really as benign as he seems yet. Now, don't get 
sassy, Lois," he added as she was about to interrupt. "I like the guy. I think 
he's probably as good as he seems. All I'm saying is that I've been around the 
block a few times. I've seen people you'd think were saints turn out to have 
hidden agendas. Now, maybe Superman really is on the up and up; I sure hope so. 
I just think you should be careful, is all."

"I hear you, Chief," Lois said softly. "And I will." Not that it was necessary, 
she thought. She knew Superman was exactly what he appeared to be. The man 
didn't have a devious bone in his body. In a different tone then, she added, "So 
what do you want to do about the story?"

Perry frowned. "Who else knows?" 

"Superman's at the INS now, telling them he's married and getting the arrest 
warrant lifted. I guess it's possible they might issue a press release."

"Okay; we still have time to get something into the final print run of the 
afternoon edition," Perry said thoughtfully. "A short paragraph on the front 
page should do it. I take it the Planet will get an exclusive interview?"

"With me? Sure!" Lois agreed. "Don't you want me to write the story?"

"You're too close to it. No, I'll get someone else to interview you - and if 
your *husband* would agree to be interviewed as well, I would appreciate it."

"I'll ask him," Lois agreed non-committally, not at all sure that Superman would 
agree. "So what line is the Planet going to take on this marriage?"

"Line?" Perry queried, his tone deceptively innocent from what Lois could tell.

"Yes, line. As in, are you going to claim that this is a fake marriage only 
entered into for the purpose of getting Superman a visa?" she demanded.

"Well, is it?" Perry asked softly.

"You print anything like that and I'll quit," Lois threatened.

"Lois, I've told you that we'll run an interview with you and Superman. Now, you 
know how to handle an interview - and you better believe that a Planet 
journalist will give you an easier ride than a hack from the Star or someone on 
LNN, even if it won't be a PR spread. You *did* see that LNN studio discussion 
last night?" the editor added disgustedly.

"Yeah, I did. And I can guess the kind of questions we'd be asked over there. 
Which is why this is the only interview we'll be giving about this marriage."

"Fine," Perry accepted. "Once Kent gets back, send him to me. He can do it."

Clark Kent? Lois pulled a face almost automatically, but as she left the 
editor's office she decided that she wasn't unhappy with the idea. At least 
Clark was likely to treat the interview seriously, unlike Cat who would no doubt 
seize the opportunity to ask all kind of intrusive questions; questions Lois was 
doing her best to avoid asking *herself*. And Clark was unlikely to sneer, 
unlike Ralph. 

Yeah, Clark would do. Lois went back to her desk and tried to concentrate on her 
other work, but her mind kept drifting back to the very brief marriage ceremony, 
the few moments when she'd exchanged wedding vows with the man of her dreams. 
Wedding vows which were no more than an expedient measure, to ensure that he 
wasn't deported. Wedding vows which would be unmade once he was granted 
permanent resident status.

She stared down at the shiny new band on her finger. They'd almost forgotten 
rings, until she'd mentioned it to Superman just before he'd left her to make 
the final arrangements. Just before they'd gone before the registrar, he'd 
produced one small box; he'd told her that he hadn't got himself a ring because 
it would be difficult to wear one all the time when he was helping at rescues. 
The ring almost seemed to glare accusingly at her, a symbol of something which 
wasn't as real as it should be.

Just what kind of marriage would this be? She had no idea; she and her *husband* 
hadn't even talked about the arrangements. He'd have to spend time with her; 
would he actually move in? How close would they get? Would she have a real 
opportunity to get to know the man behind the suit? Was it even possible that he 
might come to care about her... that the marriage might somehow become real, 
even if it wasn't starting out that way?

But that wasn't going to happen, she reminded herself firmly. The only reason 
he'd married her was to gain citizenship. And that was all there was to it. 

"Lois?" A voice from beside her snapped her out of her introspection, and she 
turned her head to see Clark looking at her patiently.

"Clark! I... uh, I was thinking about something..."

"I could see that." He smiled lightly. "I'm sure it was something important, 
too. But Perry wants me to, uh..." He gestured at her hand, at the band she'd 
just been staring at herself. "He told me about you and Superman."

Lois regarded him suspiciously. "I suppose you're going to tell me I'm crazy 
too."

Clark shook his head as if the idea had never occurred to him. "That would be 
none of my business, Lois. All I want is the interview Perry asked me to get - 
is it okay if we do that now?"

Getting to her feet, Lois nodded. "Can we do it in the conference room? I know 
this is hardly going to stay a secret, but I'd feel more comfortable..."

"Sure. To be honest, so would I," Clark answered, and Lois shot a swift glance 
at him. Her new-ish colleague did seem to be acting a little awkward about this, 
and she wondered why. Interviewing people was part of his job as a reporter, and 
she'd seen him do it a few times now. He was even quite good at it. Unless, she 
thought, he felt awkward because she was a co-worker and he was reluctant in 
case it seemed intrusive? That was possible; one thing she'd learned about Clark 
Kent was that he seemed a pretty sensitive kind of guy.

In the conference room, she took a seat opposite Clark and watched as he flicked 
his notebook open; then he rubbed a finger along the bridge of his nose in what, 
to Lois, looked like a nervous gesture. Then he glanced briefly at her before 
saying abruptly, "So, you and Superman got married, right?"

"Well, you know that already," Lois told him impatiently, wondering whether she 
was going to have to babysit him through the interview.

Clark pulled a face. "I'm just wondering how you want to handle this, that's 
all. I mean, if you want to give me the spiel about how you two fell madly in 
love at first sight and today was the first chance you got to run off to 
California to get married, sure, just do that," he told her, his tone ironic. "I 
guess that's what you'd like me to write, anyway?"

"What is your problem with this, Kent?" Lois demanded irritably. "Is this 
because I warned you off me?"

"Oh please!" Clark snorted. "Lois, think about it. The timing is very 
convenient, let's say. Yesterday the INS announces they've issued a warrant for 
Superman's arrest, prior to obtaining a deportation order. And today you marry 
him! What do you expect people to assume, Lois?"

The fact that Clark was right made Lois even more irritable. "What are you going 
to write about this?"

"What do you want me to write, Lois?" he countered. "Look, I have to ask you 
these questions. Because if I don't, someone else will." Having made that 
unanswerable point, he continued, "I'll listen to whatever you want to tell me 
in order to counter that, and that way your rebuttal gets printed. Let's face 
it, isn't it easier to take the hostile questions from me than from Larry Myers 
on LNN?"

Lois pulled a face, remembering the previous evening's LNN debate. "I guess 
you're right." He was right; she knew that. The Planet's coverage of the 
marriage couldn't be pure Hello!-style: no-one would ever take the Planet 
seriously as a newspaper again if it printed something that bland and 
unquestioning. So Clark would have to make some attempt to question the veracity 
of the marriage. He'd have to demonstrate that he had asked her some awkward 
questions, and that she'd been convincing in her replies. He would have to 
mention the INS and Superman's status as an illegal alien. But he was also right 
in that it would be much easier dealing with these questions in the safety of 
her own newsroom than it would be in front of a potentially hostile audience in 
an LNN studio.

So she let Clark ask her all the awkward, embarrassing questions and she gave 
him answers which, she knew, wouldn't stand up to hostile questioning but which 
he would accept and write up, as he'd assured her. Yes, the marriage was very 
sudden. Yes, she certainly understood that some people might wonder at its 
coinciding with the INS's warrant for Superman's arrest, and there was some 
degree of truth in the speculation that they had married today because of that. 
But that was where the coincidence ended, because she and Superman had talked 
about marriage before today. They would have married anyway, but the INS's 
action simply made them move rather more quickly than they'd been planning to. 
Yes, she hadn't known him all that long, but relationships worked that way 
sometimes: love at first sight, if Clark wanted to put it that way.

Scribbling notes as she spoke, Clark intervened only to ask additional 
questions, for which Lois was grateful. He also seemed to be avoiding eye-
contact with her, which made the process easier; she was finding it 
uncomfortable enough as it was. It seemed to her that he also wasn't finding the 
experience particularly easy. Finally, he rose, declaring that he had enough 
information; just before he left the room, though, he hesitated and regarded her 
with a watchful expression.

"Something else you wanted to ask, Clark?" Lois commented tartly.

He shook his head. "Just... well, I just wanted to say, be careful, Lois. I hope 
you know what you've got yourself into, that's all - I don't want you to be 
hurt." 

Lois drew a sharp breath at his words. But before she could respond he had 
turned and left the room.


***********

Clark hadn't wanted to do that interview; in fact, when Perry had instructed him 
to interview Lois, his first instinct had been to search for a reason - *any* 
reason - why he couldn't. But a moment's thought had made him realise that it 
was actually a good idea. For one, he really did need to know what kind of spin 
Lois was putting on her sudden marriage to Superman - and now, he had to admit 
that her idea of playing it as something which had been on the cards anyway and 
had simply been brought forward as a result of the INS's actions was an 
inspiration. 

Second, he'd thought that he was more likely than some of their colleagues to 
treat Lois fairly over the whole thing. Of course he had to ask some awkward 
questions, but he was also well aware that some other Planet staffers would have 
put the same questions to Lois in a far less easy manner. She had just done him 
an enormous favour by marrying him to save him trouble with the law, and helping 
her out with handling the publicity was the least he could do in return.

However, he hadn't realised just how much the frequent glimpses he'd caught of 
her wedding ring would bother him. Well, not 'bother' precisely, but it 
certainly left him feeling unsettled. He was talking to the woman who was his 
*wife*, and she had no idea who she was with. But then, he reminded himself, she 
was married to *Superman*, not Clark. And there were too many reasons why he 
couldn't let her know any different.

With any luck, he would find a way to expedite the process of gaining 
citizenship for Superman, and she would be able to divorce him and get on with 
her life.

He *hoped* that he'd managed to hide from her any hint that he had any kind of 
personal involvement or interest in the situation. It hadn't been at all easy to 
pretend that this was just any other interview with someone who was no more than 
a work colleague. Nor had it been easy to pretend that he had nothing more than 
a professional interest in Lois's answers. He'd had to avoid looking at her 
throughout, otherwise he knew he would have given himself away, and he'd been 
only too glad when the interview had finally come to an end and he could escape 
from the conference room.

However, one memory nagged at him for some time after he'd written up the 
interview. She'd effectively told him that she'd fallen in love with Superman at 
first sight. Had she simply said that as part of the process of persuading 
people that the marriage was real, or...

...or did she mean it?


**********

"You did *WHAT*?"

Clark paced once more around his parents' kitchen, wondering if he could 
possibly have explained himself any more clearly. He'd thought he'd laid things 
out pretty well, in fact, so his parents' confused and appalled responses - in 
unison, what was more - took him considerably aback.

"I got married, Mom, Dad. Well, Superman did. Lois offered, and... I couldn't 
see any other way out of the situation, so I... accepted."

"Clark, how could you put a virtual stranger in that kind of danger?" his father 
demanded. "And expose yourself to the possibility that she could find out your 
secret?"

At the same time, his mother said, her tone incredulous, "How on earth could you 
allow that poor woman to make that kind of sacrifice?"

"Mom!" Clark exclaimed indignantly. "What do you mean, 'sacrifice'? It's not as 
if I'm not... I mean, I'm not *that* horrible to live with, am I?" he added, 
appalled.

"That's not what I meant, Clark," Martha Kent explained patiently. "In order to 
help you, Lois has effectively removed herself from the dating or marriage scene 
for the next two years. And she's an attractive woman, Clark, and she's at the 
kind of age where most professional women these days are looking around for 
someone to settle down with. Now do you see what I mean?"

He did. Strangely, that aspect of Lois's situation hadn't occurred to him; all 
he'd seen was that the woman he desperately wanted to be *his* woman had become 
his, but not in the way he wanted. 
 
"She offered, Mom," he said defensively.

"That's beside the point," Martha pointed out. "She thinks Superman is a real 
person. You've encouraged her to believe that by marrying her as Superman. What 
does she expect from this relationship?"

Indignant that his mother could believe he'd deliberately mislead Lois, Clark 
exclaimed, "Nothing at all! She made that completely clear. It was only so that 
Superman wouldn't be deported. We have to pretend to be properly married - I'm 
going to have to make it look as if Superman lives in her apartment, but since I 
can get there in seconds if I'm needed, I don't actually have to *be* there all 
that much."

"I hope you're right about that, Clark, because all this is going to complicate 
your relationship with Lois as *Clark*, you know," Martha said quietly, then 
turned away to pour more coffee.

Clark turned to his father. "Dad, don't you think I thought about Lois's safety? 
I turned her down at first precisely because of that. But then the INS escalated 
things and I didn't have much choice. Anyway, we've talked about it and I think 
I can take care of it."

"Just make sure you do, Clark," Jonathan Kent said heavily. "And if there's any 
way you can sort out this issue of Superman's citizenship sooner than the two-
year period the INS will make you wait, do it. It'll be fairer on Lois that way 
- and also reduce the risk of her finding out that Superman is really you!"

Clark nodded, sighing.


*********

Lois paced up and down her darkened living room. It was almost nine in the 
evening. She'd made her escape from the Planet not long after the afternoon 
edition had hit the streets, unwilling to be doorstepped either on her way out 
of work or at her apartment entrance, but she'd also hoped that her 'husband' 
would come to see her so that they could discuss their strategy.

More than four hours later, she was still waiting. 

Surely he knew they needed to talk? She needed to know how he'd got on at the 
INS, apart from anything else. And they needed to work out their strategy. She'd 
expected that he'd come over just as soon as he could. Although he could have 
been helping at some emergency situation which hadn't been reported on the news, 
she thought wryly. 

Their marriage certainly had been reported on the news; the Planet's short 
front-page item, together with a brief statement released in the late afternoon 
by the INS, had been the main item on all the evening news bulletins. She and 
Superman were the biggest story in town. A smaller item on some news bulletins 
referred to offers which had been made by several other countries to Superman: 
offering him a home, a salary and citizenship if he cared to move to France or 
Germany or Australia - or even Cuba! - to work as a Super-hero. She could only 
be grateful that they'd got married that afternoon, before Superman knew about 
those alternatives.

And, of course, the various representatives of the media were doing their best 
to get to the story - she'd barely closed the door of her apartment when the 
phone had started ringing. Most were hoping to find Superman in residence, of 
course, but plenty were happy to make do with the new Mrs Superman - or Mrs Man, 
as her marriage certificate suggested.

Lois had responded to the editor of LNN's night-time news magazine show by 
informing him that the exclusive story of her courtship and marriage with 
Superman would be in the following day's Planet. Then she'd unplugged the phone. 
She'd also had to unplug her fax, because five minutes later a fax had arrived 
from the Metropolis Star offering her a cash incentive in return for an 
interview. And then they'd tried her cellphone, which was also now switched off.

When her pager had gone off about an hour ago Lois had been furious, wondering 
which news organisation had managed to get hold of the pager number which should 
only have been in the possession of a few employees of the Daily Planet. 
However, the number displayed had been Perry White's; he'd simply wanted to 
assure himself that she was all right. He'd been surprised when she'd admitted 
that her new husband was not with her, but she'd brushed that off. The fewer 
people who had real reason to suspect that this marriage was not what it 
purported to be, the better.

And that included her family. Before leaving work, Lois had called both of her 
parents, and her sister - newly moved to California - to tell them the news. Her 
mother had almost had hysterics right there and then, and her father had reacted 
in an alarming manner, demanding to know whether Lois had taken leave of her 
senses and whether 'this alien' was even capable of understanding what marriage 
was all about. Lois had been tempted to retort that Superman probably had a 
better idea of what marriage should entail than Sam Lane.

Only Lucy had been excited by the news; although Lois was pretty sure that her 
sister was suspicious of their motives, Lucy had exclaimed that she hoped 
Superman would fly Lois out to see her very soon, because she *really* wanted to 
meet her new brother-in-law. Neither of her parents had expressed any interest 
in meeting Superman, Lois reflected now, but then, she wasn't altogether sure 
that she really wanted to have to introduce them to him. 

All that mattered, as far as her family was concerned, was that they shouldn't 
make any attempts to discredit the marriage. As long as they didn't do that, 
Lois really didn't care what they thought about the situation. 

A tap on the casement window startled Lois, and she snapped out of her musings 
and went over. It was Superman; once she opened the window, he stepped inside. 
Despite having been in his company for much of the morning, her stomach and 
heart were still doing flip-flops; she took several intakes of breath to try to 
calm herself.

"I... uh, I guess I'll have to give you a key to the apartment," she said, 
trying to hide her nervousness now that he was here and unsure how to broach the 
conversation which needed to be had.

"That would be kind," he acknowledged, "though I'll probably mostly use the 
window, if that's okay with you?"

"Oh! Uh... sure! Uh... would you like a drink or something?"

Superman inclined his head. "That would be nice. Coffee, if it's not too much 
trouble."

Lois was actually grateful to have something to do; standing in her living-room 
with a man she barely knew and yet was married to was an uncomfortable 
experience. All her normal poise seemed to have deserted her. A bare ten minutes 
ago she'd been silently cursing Superman for his inconsiderate behaviour in not 
coming to see her; now that he was here, she couldn't even tell him that she'd 
been waiting to talk to him. Apart from anything else, now that he was in front 
of her, large as life, she was sharply reminded of just how attractive he was, 
how close-fitting his Suit was, and just how the very sight of him affected her.

He followed her into the kitchen, leaning against the counter as she started to 
prepare coffee. "I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner. It's been kind of busy," he 
explained. "There was a gas explosion in a high-rise in the next state - people 
trapped, dangerous masonry - I thought I had to help out."

Well, that was probably why there'd been nothing on the news, Lois reflected 
silently, trying to focus on her task and not on the powerfully-muscled body 
inches from hers. Just catching sight of his chest rising and falling was too 
much of a distraction for her. Metropolis's media was notoriously parochial, she 
reminded herself, forcing herself to concentrate on his explanation for his 
tardiness; the next state might as well be on the other side of the world for 
all the notice most reporters and news organs took of it. She briefly considered 
asking him for an interview about the incident, then dismissed it: even in the 
Planet, such a story would be buried on about page twenty, below the fold and 
underneath a report on the city council's pest control committee.

"Oh, that's okay," she replied quickly, realising that her silence was causing 
him to give her a curious look. "Umm... did you see the reporters camped out 
outside?"

Superman nodded. "Yeah - I deliberately circled the building before coming to 
tap on your window. I figured it would be a good idea to be seen arriving."

So that the impression was given that he was living with her. Yes, that was 
sensible, she thought. Did that mean he didn't plan to leave? Or that he'd find 
a way to leave without being seen?

She wasn't quite sure how to ask him that, so instead she just nodded. "Okay. 
Ummm... I gave the Planet an exclusive interview, by the way - did the blushing 
bride stuff. I thought we needed to give our version of the story as much 
publicity as possible."

Superman nodded. "Good idea. Ah... did Clark Kent tell you that I ran into him 
later this afternoon? He asked me a couple of questions as well - I figured it 
would look even better if he had comments from the two of us. He told me what 
you'd said, so I just confirmed it, really."

That was good of Clark, Lois thought in surprise. He could have ambushed 
Superman, if he'd wanted; could have tried to see whether Superman gave 
different answers to the same questions. That would really have blown their 
story out of the water. But then, Clark had made it pretty clear that he knew 
what was really going on, and that he was prepared to help her make it look 
good.

"That's good, yeah," Lois told her husband. "But, you know, we need to discuss 
this stuff - we have to make sure we both say the same things if anyone else 
asks us."

"I know," Superman agreed. "I know we can trust Clark not to try to do us harm, 
but I wouldn't trust those guys camped outside your building."

That made Lois frown. Just how well did Superman know Clark Kent? But that 
wasn't important for now. She finished making the coffee and handed him a cup, 
stepping back to allow him to add milk and sugar, then led the way back into her 
sitting-room.

"Where do you want to start?" she asked him, having decided that it might be 
easier to let him take the lead. 

"Well, I should tell you about the INS," he began, giving her a rueful look. "It 
wasn't as straightforward as I'd hoped."

"Well, we knew it wouldn't be," Lois answered with a shrug. "They were never 
going to accept this as legitimate right off the bat. So what do they want? I 
guess they need to interview me?"

"Yes, they'll be in touch to arrange for you to come in. But the senior 
investigator  - a man called Philip West - said that they would come here, to 
your apartment, as well."

"Oh." She'd half-expected that, so it wasn't too much of a surprise. 

"This guy, West, was pretty hostile, actually," Superman elaborated, and Lois 
gave him a quizzical look. He expanded, and she listened in amazement. 

"That sounds somewhat over-zealous to me," she murmured. "Which ties in with all 
the rest of it - this whole thing is way over the top. There has to be more to 
this than meets the eye."

Superman gazed at her, frowning. "You mean someone has a hidden agenda here?"

"Could be. We know the military - or at least Trask, if he really is a maverick 
- regards you as a threat. Maybe this is another way of trying to get rid of 
you. Maybe someone's pulling strings at the INS - I wondered about that last 
night - and now it looks as if they have their own man on the inside too."

"It could be," Superman agreed, looking sombre. "Of course, if someone's really 
out to get me, as opposed to the INS just being particularly efficient, this is 
going to make our... arrangement even harder. We'll have to pull out all the 
stops to look convincing, Lois." He sighed. "I'm sorry to do this to you."

Just what would pulling out all the stops mean? she wondered, her heart doing 
bellyflops. Did he mean that he might actually move in? No, surely not. She just 
couldn't imagine Superman doing that, much though she wanted him to. Did it mean 
that they would be seen together publicly? That he might... might actually kiss 
her for the benefit of onlookers?

Swallowing as the thought of Superman kissing her made her mouth feel dry, she 
shook her head. "Don't apologise! I knew what I was getting into when I offered. 
Anyway, we'll just have to do everything we can to make it look like you live 
here. You'd better bring over some of your stuff... um, whatever kind of stuff 
you have, I guess," she finished awkwardly.

"I don't have much. Some spare suits, one or two other things, that's all," he 
said quietly.

"What do you sleep in?" Lois asked, then bit her lip as she realised just how 
intimate a question that was.

Superman looked away, obviously embarrassed, then muttered, "Not a lot. I guess 
it might be a good idea to get some sleepwear and leave it here, if you don't 
mind."

"If I don't mind?" Lois echoed, squashing down thoughts of what 'not a lot' 
might mean. "We're married! And we got married in order to convince the INS to 
let you stay here, remember? So that means that we do whatever's necessary to 
convince them. You need sleepwear, toothbrush, spare suits, a razor, some 
personal possessions - anything you can think of, and they need to be visible."

"I don't use a razor," Superman said, his tone almost abstracted. "As for 
personal possessions... well, I don't really have any. But I guess I can get 
some things," he added quickly as she gave him a curious look.

"That would be a good idea," she assured him, wondering inwardly just what sort 
of things he meant. "And we need to talk - I'm pretty sure I'm going to be asked 
all about you, so I need to be able to answer questions. As you do about me."

Lois thought Superman seemed to be uncomfortable at that, but he then drew a 
deep breath and gave her a determined smile. "Okay. But the problem is that 
there isn't a lot to tell about me. There's so much that I just don't know about 
myself."

That could be a problem, Lois thought. "Well, okay, maybe to begin with you 
could tell me why you don't use a razor?"

He smiled at that. "Heat vision. I use a mirror - reflect it off that and onto 
my face. I cut my hair the same way. An ordinary razor wouldn't work on me - in 
fact, I'd probably break it. Just like if you tried to cut my hair with a 
scissors, the scissors would break."

"I guess you're really strong, then," Lois mused admiringly.

"Very. You need to know how strong?"

"It couldn't hurt."

He shrugged. "I haven't yet encountered anything too heavy for me to lift. I can 
fly a disabled jumbo jet - and you saw me giving the Prometheus passenger 
transport a lift into space."

"Okay, so you can lift all known objects. You can see through things... is there 
anything you can't see through?" Lois asked curiously.

Superman gave her a wary look. "Do you need to know that?"

"Well, I might get asked, and it would look weird if I didn't know."

"I can't think what my ability to see through things has to do with my 
application to become a US citizen," Superman muttered; if Lois didn't think it 
was impossible, she'd have sworn Superman was sulking.

"It doesn't, of course," she said dismissively. "It's all about me proving that 
I know you as well as I should know the man I'm married to, if it's a real 
marriage."

He sighed. "Yeah, I suppose so. It's just that this is information I'd really 
prefer wasn't made public."

"And telling me is making it public?" Now Lois was annoyed; after all, she'd 
done Superman a rather huge favour, to say nothing of the way her own life was 
going to be disrupted for the next year at least, and he wasn't willing to trust 
her?

"No, but telling the INS would be," he explained. He paused, obviously thinking, 
then added, "Okay. Yes, there is one thing I can't see through. But even that's 
not information I want widely known - you can imagine what it might cause."

"Okay," Lois agreed, subdued. There was one thing he was unable to see through, 
and he was unwilling to tell her what it was. And yet he probably thought he'd 
demonstrated considerable trust by telling her even that much!

"There are things I should know about you, too," Superman said abruptly. "All 
the sort of things I don't know about myself - age, date and place of birth, 
where you went to school and college... everything like that."

He was changing the subject. Lois accepted it, but her heart sank. Even after 
all she'd done for him, he still wasn't willing to trust her. Resigned, she 
leaned forward and matter-of-factly gave him the answers to his various 
questions; he nodded, and she realised that he'd committed the answers to 
memory.

"I need to go now," he told her. "Don't worry, no-one will see me leave. And 
I'll come back in the morning, if you don't mind - I can bring some stuff with 
me then, and I'll fly you to the Planet."

"You'll fly me?" Lois echoed. "Why?" Not that she wasn't delighted at the 
prospect, but it surprised her.

"Do you really want to walk out of here past a crowd of reporters?" he asked 
dryly. "And you'll probably find the Planet will be staked out as well. If I fly 
you, you don't have to fight your way through all that. And your co-workers will 
see me giving you a ride in, and that should help to assure them that this could 
be a genuine marriage."

Even though it wasn't, Lois reflected silently. "I should give you that key," 
she said abruptly, getting up to find her spare key in the drawer of the 
dresser. Handing it to Superman, she bade him goodnight, almost glad to have 
reached the end of this strangely uncomfortable conversation with the man she 
was actually, unbelievably, married to.

He seemed to hesitate, then he bent his head and brushed his lips against her 
cheek, sending thrilling sensations shooting through her. "Goodnight, Lois. I'll 
see you in the morning."

A second later, he was gone, his departure so swift that she hadn't even seen 
him move.


***********

Well, that hadn't gone too badly, Clark mused as he padded silently into his own 
apartment and prepared for bed. They'd made a start in working out what needed 
to be done to give the outward appearance of reality to this marriage. And he 
thought he'd managed to deal with Lois's disappointment that he wouldn't confide 
in her as much as she wanted.

He *couldn't*. Quite apart from whether it would be safe to tell her about the 
lead, he knew so little about his Kryptonian self. There were so many questions 
he simply didn't have the answer to. And it was definitely a bad idea to let 
Lois see that there was anything else to Superman other than the Kryptonian.

So they would proceed as they'd started. It was possible that their relationship 
could grow into a comfortable friendship; he certainly hoped so. The difficulty 
would be in ensuring that he never let his Super persona slip; if Lois 
discovered that her husband was actually Clark Kent, who knew how she would 
react? 

But it would be okay. It *was* okay. And they could deal with the INS, as long 
as each of them was careful and remembered what they'd agreed.

Clark smiled as he closed his eyes for sleep. All was going to be well.


**********

A noise in the living-room early the next morning startled Lois into getting out 
of bed, grabbing her dressing-gown and seizing a nearby table-lamp, and going to 
investigate. Wielding the lamp above her head, she rushed into the outer room... 
then stopped abruptly at the sight of Superman standing in the middle of the 
room.

He raised an eyebrow at her makeshift weapon before saying dryly, "If this is 
the 'Wife mad at husband because he stayed out late' scene, I should warn you 
that you're far more likely to get hurt than I am." An impish smile curved at 
his mouth as he finished speaking.

Embarrassed, Lois dropped the lamp on the couch. "I... heard something, and 
thought it might be an intruder..."

Superman frowned. "I suppose I am an intruder..."

"Of course you're not!" she insisted. "We are married, after all..."

"Yes." Again, he looked momentarily awkward. "Anyway, maybe I should have called 
first or something. I d